To put it mildly, Chris Finch has a lot of critics. Some are valid, but others will never be satisfied with the team's performance. No matter which way you spin it, Finch is the most successful head coach in Minnesota Timberwolves franchise history.
He ranks first in team history in win percentage, playoff wins, and playoff berths. Granted, to be the winningest coach for a franchise with this kind of underwhelming history isn't as impressive as it would be for a storied franchise, but he has still done a good job manning this ship.
Nevertheless, the biggest knock on Finch is that his teams have seemed to hit a wall in the playoffs for the past three years. This new-look roster looks to be the best-constructed that he's worked with, so if they continue to hit the same wall, that could throw Finch's job into question, as he might be out of excuses.
Chris Finch has had a lot of scapegoats in the past
During all of the Wolves' shortcomings, especially in a playoff setting, a lot of fans pointed the finger at Finch, among other things. However, the front office has continued to believe in him as the head coach. The front office has shipped out key members of the team because of playoff faults, like Karl-Anthony Towns and Julius Randle,
With these moves, the front office is signaling that the incoherent roster construction is the primary reason for falling short in the playoffs, and not the quality of coaching. Honestly, I do believe that that's the case. The roster the last two years specifically was not a championship-caliber roster, and expecting Finch to reach the finals with that team isn't realistic.
Now, though, the roster fits together better than ever before. They have a true point guard to set everyone up on offense, and the entire team seems to know their role, which at times was extremely unclear in the past few seasons.
The roster construction can no longer be the reason for shortcomings
I hate to say it, because as of recently, I have become more of a Finch defender than previously, but if this roster flames out early in the playoffs, it will probably be Finch's last year coaching this team.
He has all of the pieces in place to compete for a championship: a potential top-five talent, an All-Star-caliber point guard, a DPOY-caliber center, and multiple elite role players. The team also has a great balance of youth and experience.
If blame can no longer be placed on roster construction, barring one of the team's top players, playing severely below expectations, or a season ravaged by injuries, Chris Finch would be the next change made should the Timberwolves underwhelm.
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