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Bubes has long been the right-hand man for Wolves head coach Chris Finch, winning him over when both were in New Orleans and then serving as his chief of staff in Minnesota. He’s done everything asked of him, including serving as the man on the hot seat during games to determine if Finch should challenge a call, spending a season as an assistant with the G League team in Iowa and easing Finch’s day-to-day operations by helping with planning, organizing and communicating with the rest of the staff. “He deserves the opportunity just because of how important he’s been to me,” Finch said. “So, I figured this was the summer to do that.”
Darren Wolfson: "I know from Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez down to Tim Connelly, to Chris Finch, to Pablo Prigioni, Elston Turner, others on the coaching staff, other guys, that the Wolves feel like they have a really good infrastructure in place to help LaMelo mature that much more. And there is a thought from the deep dive that they've done, that LaMelo took a big step forward last year, certainly on the court. We can have the conversation about the car accident off the court, but on the court, accepting playing lesser minutes, playing 28 minutes a night compared to 35 minutes a night. You look at that Charlotte Hornets offense, number one in the league from January 1st on. They were also a really good defense from January 1st on. LaMelo Ball drove a lot of that. The Wolves also feel like with their medical staff in place, and hey, recent history says this is a fact, the Wolves do a really good job of keeping their guys on the court compared to the rest of the league."
"How much of his style helped you prepare for what you are about to embark upon?" Micah Nori: "The one thing that coach Finch is, he is very very good at what he does. Number one, there's no paranoia with him and the other thing is he will let you coach and gives you a voice. When those things happen, I was fortunate to be with him for a long time and work with him. Philosophy-wise and the way we think about basketball is very very similar."
Jon Krawczynski: "I think Tim Connelly and Chris Finch have long believed that LaMelo Ball is a perfect fit for Anthony Edwards in that backcourt. And I know that over the last several years, they have checked in on LaMelo and Charlotte a couple of times. Each time they were turned away, and so something has happened in the last couple of days or weeks to get the Charlotte Hornets to a point where they were comfortable parting with LaMelo Ball."
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Nori’s former boss, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch, said Tuesday that he wished more attention had been paid to Nori’s accomplishment than to the terms of his contract. “I thought it was a shame that a lot of the story about Micah’s great opportunity was overshadowed by the nature of the deal that he signed,” Finch told reporters before the NBA Draft. “That’s a personal decision. That’s a business decision. That’s between him, the team and the agent.”
“I know this: There’s 30 of these jobs,” Finch said, “They’re hard to get. They’re incredibly rewarding in a lot of different ways. I know he wasn’t focused on certainly money, but he was first focused on opportunity. That’s what we preach to all of our guys here. You should chase opportunity, not money. “Then, I also know that you’ve got to bet on yourself in this world,” Finch said. “Especially when you’re an outsider. … We consider ourselves a little bit of outsiders. We weren’t raised in the game. We didn’t play at Carolina or Duke, so sometimes your path is just different and you’ve got to take chances along the way. I’m super excited for him.”
Dane Moore: Chris Finch said he and Micah Nori "see the game the same way". Asked Finch how he would describe the way Nori sees the game. "Certainly through a modern lens. He's got a great kind of balance between the freedom of the game, how analytics feeds into that, allowing players to migrate to their strengths, keeping things pretty simple... I just love the simplicity with which he sees the game."
Ryan Eichten: Chris Finch on what he sees for Terrence Shannon and Jaylen Clark: "It's about creating pathways for those guys to be able to play. You might say like, isn't that the coach's job? But sometimes, you know, there's a gridlock. So we've gotta look at how we can either kind of change things around or get to a point where these guys can get a more consistent role." (2/2)
“I think he’s come late to the (head-coaching) party, but that doesn’t mean he’s not more than ready and won’t be successful,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch told The Athletic. Added Timberwolves assistant Elston Turner: “A good pick. He’s worked for a lot of teams, been in a lot of positions, been with some big-name players. A good, good pick.”
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In Minnesota, where the Timberwolves have won five playoff series over the past three years, Finch entrusted Nori with handling the details of the game. “He is elite in what I call the small pieces of the game,” Finch said. “Small not that they are unimportant, but small in that they are often overlooked. He’s elite with lineup combinations. Elite with rotations. Elite with special situations, whether it’s ATOs (after timeouts), end of game or just understanding how to maximize possessions. He’s just been huge for us here in that regard.”
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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."