Throughout the season, Chris Finch has been a controversial person among Minnesota Timberwolves fans.
Plenty of observers questioned his offensive creativity, player development, and whether his voice in the locker room had run out, given the team's inconsistencies. Hand up, I had my doubts -- but I was wrong, and so were a large number of Wolves fans who called for his job.
The shorthanded Wolves closing out the Denver Nuggets in six games is a testament to Finch's excellent coaching. Time and again, Finch has proven that he is a fantastic playoff coach, and this series cements his brilliance.
Finch went from having some people questioning his future with the Wolves to proving that he is one of the league's best coaches, especially in a playoff setting.
Chris Finch is proving that he's a fantastic coach
As mentioned, winning the series without Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, and Ayo Dosunmu is an incredible coaching accomplishment. It shows how connected the Wolves are and how Finch can get the most out of all of his players.
Beyond that, Finch simply pushed all the right buttons throughout the series.
This included trusting Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels to guard Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Frankly, many coaches would have strayed away from guarding these great players one-on-one. Nevertheless, it worked to perfection as Jokic and Murray both struggled immensely (for their standards). Notably, Jokic shot 44.6 percent from the field, and Murray shot 35.7 percent from the field.
Gobert and McDaniels deserve a ton of credit for their defensive excellence, but Finch came up with a perfect game plan, and he deserves credit for this.
The Wolves' ability to punish the Nuggets' weak defenders and attack the rim was central to their success. Minnesota's personnel provided a big advantage, but Finch also set up their offensive strategy.
During their Game 6 win, Finch called some great plays and directed players where they had to be on the fly as the Wolves often operated without a point guard.
This is now the third straight year the Wolves have won their first-round series despite being underdogs. Finch's stellar game planning has been a common thread to each of these upsets; time and again, he's found ways to expose his opponents' weaknesses and emerged from the series as clearly the better coach. And in the last two years, this has ultimately helped the Wolves reach the conference finals.
If Finch and the Wolves can upset a 62-win San Antonio Spurs team, that would add to Finch's growing reputation as one of the league's best coaches. This could officially move him to the Erik Spoelstra, Rick Carlisle, and Joe Mazzulla tier of elite coaches -- if he's not already in this class.
Over the course of an 82-game season, there are bound to be some highs and lows. Frankly, I overreacted to some of these lows. Regardless, Finch has consistently proved that when it matters most, he can create fantastic game plans and get the absolute most out of his team.
Without a doubt, Finch has proven that he's not only the right coach for this team, but he's a truly great coach, and even his detractors have to give him credit.
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