Chris Finch has quieted some of his detractors in the opening round of the playoffs who have frequented social media throughout the season, particularly after the Minnesota Timberwolves' losses. His plan on both ends against the Denver Nuggets has featured many more hits than misses, and much will be forgotten if the Wolves can eliminate their biggest rival in the postseason for the second time in 3 years.
Of course, it became more challenging once Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo both got injured in the first half of Game 4. After a Game 5 loss where Minnesota often played hot potato with the ball (25 turnovers), a better offensive performance is needed. Terrence Shannon Jr. could be the spark off the bench to help provide that, but Finch had a puzzling quote regarding the second-year player that brought back some of the head coach’s biggest haters.
“It starts with gotta be ready, he’s gotta be engaged, he’s got to be fully committed to that side of the ball... the only way I can clean him up is to sit him on the bench, right? That’s the only way I can clean it up. He knows what we need from him right now. So he’s got to be ready, and he’s got to be ready to execute defensively, and there’s no reason he shouldn’t be a good defender with his body type and athleticism," Finch said when asked how he can clean up Terrence Shannon’s defensive struggles.
The Wolves certainly could use Shannon's offense
Perhaps Finch didn’t exactly say what he was thinking. Usually, repetitions on the floor are what cleans up a player’s deficiencies, not watching from the bench. If he stated that he didn’t trust Shannon because of not yet figuring it out on defense, it would have made more sense to the fanbase.
Remarkably, Game 5 was the third time in his last five playoff games, dating back to last year, that TSJ has scored more than a point per minute. In just shy of 14 minutes of action on Monday, the 2024 first-round pick scored 15 and connected on four of his six 3-point tries. He also combined for 82 points over Minnesota’s last three regular season outings.
I wrote yesterday about Jaylen Clark getting rotational minutes for Game 6. That was with a caveat though in that it should really just occur if Denver is having their way on offense. The Nuggets had their best offensive performance in Game 5, and Clark made life very difficult towards the end of the game for Jamal Murray.
I also wrote that if both teams are struggling to score, or if it’s just the Timberwolves having trouble, then Shannon would be the better choice. He has a past playoff history of being instant offense off the bench, and that continued on Tuesday.
Shannon clearly isn’t always engaged on defense. Finch also mentioned that TSJ has the needed athleticism and the correct body type to be a good defender, but he just hasn't figured it out.
Shoutout to X user @Huncho_Jman for tweeting out a video of all the defensive possessions he was involved in during his first stint of Game 5. Sometimes there’s more than meets the eye when watching a player on defense, and while these possessions don’t necessarily look great for Shannon, there’s nothing too egregious (in my opinion).
It’s just an odd time to possibly affect Shannon’s confidence when he clearly may be needed to help Minnesota advance without their starting backcourt. Offense is needed without them. Hopefully, Finch’s words don’t exactly match his actions, and he plays Shannon when more scoring is needed, instead of just “sitting him on the bench”.
Add us as a preferred source on Google