The Timberwolves need a massive change and even Chris Finch knows it

It would be unfair to label the Minnesota Timberwolves' 17-10 start to the season as outright poor. However, it's certainly been uneven, and the Wolves have had a few truly bad losses. One of these losses came on Wednesday night when the Wolves lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 116-110. During the game, Memphis had eight players, including Ja Morant, sidelined.

While the Wolves were missing Anthony Edwards and Mike Conley, this was a game they should've won. The Timberwolves' process, especially offensively, was rough or, in Chris Finch's words, horrendous.

The Wolves shot 39.8 percent from the field and 29.5 percent on 44 3-pointers. There was little structure, and the Wolves routinely took the first possible shot. In general, this has been a problem for the Wolves this season. After the game, Chris Finch admitted he could have done a better job of calling plays.

"I got to do a better job of getting us organized, calling plays, stuff like that too," Finch said after Wednesday's loss.

Finch needs to call more plays especially when the offense goes cold

Listen, I'm not part of the anti-Finch crowd. Frankly, I think it's a bit silly to be purely against a guy who has led the team to back-to-back conference finals appearances. His ability to empower players, in part, makes Finch great. However, a lot of times, they need more structure and set plays.

This isn't something that's one-off from this game; it's been a common problem for Minnesota. Losses against the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, for example.

The Timberwolves rank seventh in isolation frequency this season, but just 15th for points per isolation. When you have Edwards and Julius Randle, I don't have a big problem with a heavy isolation diet. Nevertheless, when it's not working, you have to call some plays.

On Wednesday night, specifically, Ant was out, and former DPOY Jaren Jackson Jr. was guarding Randle. The continued isolation plays on JJJ were nonsensical, and the Wolves didn't do anything to find a better matchup for Randle.

Minnesota posted a 77.3 offensive rating in the halfcourt, which is well below its season average of 100.7.

Again, I have no problem with a lot of isolations if the matchup calls for it, but when the offense is dry, it's on the coach to draw up some plays. Thankfully, Finch seems to understand that, but it's on him to live up to his words and implement more plays going forward.

I'm not a coach, so I could be off-base, and please take what I say with a grain of salt, but it seems like the Wolves lack core principles or go-to plays other than isolation. High pick-and-roll with Gobert, double drag (two on ball screens), or get action (a pass directly into a dribble handoff) seems like the closest to me. Those are nice plays, but not exactly super creative ones, and again, they often lead to isolation.

The Wolves have seemed to have some success with horns action (two players at the elbows) and pindowns or stagger screens. Here's a nice example of horns leading to an open shot for Rudy Gobert.

Regardless, the Wolves don't utilize these plays enough.

Screen-the-screener actions, such as Ram action and Spain pick-and-roll, are taking over the league, yet you rarely see these plays with the Wolves. In terms of basic tracking data, the Wolves are 26th in pick-and-roll frequency, which is a concern, given that they don't have many creative off-ball plays.

These plays all create open shots, and it would benefit the Wolves to use some of them more often, especially if the offense goes cold. It's a promising sign that Finch admitted he needs to call more plays, but the burden of proof will have to be seen whenever the Wolves' offense goes cold next.