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!["Julius [Randle] was really good for us in the Denver …](https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/gcdn/content-pipeline-sports-images/sports2/nba/players/1343009.png?format=png8&auto=webp&quality=85,75&width=140)
NBA Base: Chris Finch says the Timberwolves are looking to add another playmaker this offseason to help Anthony Edwards 👀 "We definitely need another ball handler and playmaker and somebody who can, you know, initiate the offense, take the load off of Anthony, get Anthony back to his natural best spot. I think there's a lot of things that we gained by putting Anthony on the ball. I think there's a lot of things he learned by, you know, having him on the ball. I think those things will pay off, you know, in subsequent seasons, you know, to be quite honest with you, so and that's a silver lining. But there's no doubt we need somebody to kind of help him. It it just put too much on his plate."
NBA Base: Chris Finch calls out NBA media and fans for "overreactions" on Julius Randle and Chet Holmgren: "Julius was really good for us in the Denver series... Now we see Chet Holmgren is no good. I can't stand these overreactions... I turn my TV off in the morning during the playoffs. I don't want to hear it."
Chris Finch on Anthony Edwars: "I think he's done a phenomenal job of cleaning up his shot selection offensively. He takes far more efficient and better shots in the flow. One of his weaknesses was he just didn't take a lot of really good shots and he would miss. He was a volume shooter and didn't make them all the time. And defensively, he's just a headache. His size, his length, his timing, his presence, he comes everywhere early, and he makes plays defensively that we've never seen. The amount of ground that he's able to cover, he really destroys the mid-range."
Chris Finch: "I felt that going into Game 6, we tried to make some adjustments that were clearly not right. I kicked myself for doing it, just because I felt we didn't probably need to be as extreme. I flipped the matchups around. We put Rudy Gobert on Castle, and we started with Julius Randle on Victor Wembanyama, trying to mitigate Wembanyama's hot starts. We did a good job, but then Castle got loose on us. It wasn't a scheme that we were overly comfortable with. We've done it from time to time, and it maybe just wouldn't have been the time to do it."
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Marc Stein: "Mike Brown at best was the sixth choice for this job. Remember that the Knicks asked for permission to speak to Jason Kidd, Ime Udoka, Quinn Snyder, Chris Finch, and Billy Donovan. All of those teams said no. Jason Kidd and Billy Donovan both got contract extensions and no longer coach the teams where they were a year ago. It really looked like the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau without a plan to replace the first coach who had taken them to the conference finals this century. For things to turn around to this degree, the teamwork, the way that team has come together, the way Karl-Anthony Towns has embraced a new role, the way Mikal Bridges, who has been so maligned for how many draft picks he cost the Knicks, and the level that he has been playing in these playoffs."
Darren Wolfson: "There is a ceiling on this roster. The Wolves realize that. Tim Connelly realized it last summer making a push for Kevin Durant. I foresee roster changes coming. Nothing has changed on my front. We've talked about this for multiple months. They are not firing the head coach. Chris Finch has multiple years, two years left on his contract. First off, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are not cutting the big fat check to Chris Finch for millions of dollars to go away. But even so, those guys are big believers in Chris Finch. So roster changes need to come for this team to have a fighting chance the next couple years. Yes, they want to be in the Eastern Conference, but that's still a few years out if it even happens. So for the next few years, how do you compete with the Spurs and Thunder? You need another superstar. They would love to acquire Giannis."
Tim Reynolds: Want to hear something wild? Will Hardy now has the seventh-longest active tenure among all NBA coaches, after Jason Kidd's ouster in Dallas. Erik Spoelstra, Steve Kerr, Tyronn Lue, Mark Daigneault, Chris Finch, Rick Carlisle ... and then Will Hardy.
Jon Krawczynski: Wrote the day after the season ended that Chris Finch would be back. Tim Connelly today: “He was masterful in the Denver series. We’re not here w/o Finchy, the playoff success he’s had. I’m just thankful he’s a partner and thankful he’s our head coach.”
With eight minutes left and the Spurs ahead by 33 points, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch conceded defeat by pulling his starters, including Edwards, who finished with a team-high 24 points on 9-for-26 shooting. Rather than head straight for the Minnesota bench, Edwards made his way to the Spurs bench to offer his congratulations to coach Mitch Johnson and his players. "I never seen that before," said Castle, who led the Spurs with 32 points, a playoff-best 11 rebounds and six assists. "It was cool," Castle said of the act by his fellow Georgian. "We were competing all series, so for him to come over there and show that kind of respect is definitely cool."
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Jon Krawczynski: Chris Finch putting Ayo Dosunmu in the starting lineup tonight for the first time in these playoffs. Bet you'll see Shannon as the featured ball-handler with the second unit.
Anthony Slater: Chris Finch called it "completely unprofessional" for Tony Brothers to confront him during a stoppage in the fourth quarter. Finch said Brothers failed to give him a timeout initially, finally did and Finch told him "I want my three seconds back." Players held Brothers back.
Hoop Informatics: Here is the video of NBA referee Tony Brothers interacting with Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch until Naz Reid steps steps in to hold Brothers back
Here is the video of NBA referee Tony Brothers interacting with Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch until Naz Reid steps steps in to hold Brothers back
— Hoop Informatics (@hoopinformatics.bsky.social) 2026-05-09T04:46:16.304Z
Tom Orsborn: Chris Finch on Spurs swarming Edwards so well in Game 2: "Our spacing around those traps was awful. Our decision-making coming out of it wasn't very good either. So we didn't help him, but I thought he was largely trying to make the right play out of that situation."