-
Eric WoodyardESPN
The international experience and worldly outlook of newly hired Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch were what intrigued basketball operations president Gersson Rosas.
During Monday’s introductory press conference, Rosas welcomed the former Toronto Raptors assistant to try to turn things around after firing Ryan Saunders after Sunday’s loss to the Knicks in New York.
“The things he’s been coaching around the world at different levels, those experiences, I think, are very relevant to our current game,” Rosas said. “We play a very international game in the NBA, and the experience that Chris has, the perspective he has, the time he’s been coaching outside the NBA, helping the NBA too, I think those perspectives, that experience is really important for our organization on both sides of the floor. “
In addition to Finch’s stops in Houston, Denver, New Orleans and Toronto as an assistant, he also coached any of the Rockets’ G-League affiliates, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, who won the 2010 championship. .
Internationally, he coached in England, Germany and Belgium.
“I’d like to be judged by wins and losses. That’s what it’s all about,” Finch said. “It’s about winning and I hope we can stack some victories on top of each other. Beyond that, we want to see the growth of our young players and we want to develop an identity. I think if we can get all three, that’s a man. run, if we get two out of three, I think it’s a big step forward. “
While the timing of the hiring is not desirable, with Minnesota in a four-game losing streak while in last place in the league standings between 7 and 24, Finch is trying to make the most of the situation.
“This is a less-than-ideal situation for a coach and we don’t have summer, we don’t have preseason,” Finch said. “We have a back-to-back, but that’s life in some of the leagues I’ve coached, and those challenges have sharpened my decision and my ability to be prepared, and I see it as a big challenge right now and we’ll find out in as we move forward, we will slowly find out what changes we need to make. “
All this, Finch is not afraid of the task.
“I think we can breathe a little confidence in the list and these guys can find some joy,” he said. “It’s hard when you lose. It’s a tough league to win. It’s very close, but we’re not a million miles away.”
Rosas described Sunday as a “crazy day for everyone involved.” He called the choice to dismiss Saunders tough, but said the decision to make a change was made over the weekend.
The Timberwolves ’main office went through the process of figuring out who would be available during the season, but it wasn’t yet certain until Toronto granted Finch permission to interview for the new role, which happened on Sunday afternoon. The decision to replace Saunders came after the loss of Knicks.
The deal was finalized Monday morning.
“The decision to fire Ryan wasn’t made until Sunday, and by that time we were ready for the game, and to be fair to Ryan, those decisions take time,” Rosas said. “We talked to the property and when we met with our leadership group it was a process and a decision that was not easy and you have a team going through the season in a pandemic where there is no pause button .
“There’s no stop button, there are shooting games and games that need to be prepared. And we did the best we could in the time environment they gave us.”
Rosas said they examined internal options such as David Vanterpool and Pablo Prigioni in the squad, but that they were realistic about their league. Rosas didn’t feel he could get the real change they needed without being “bold and direct with this opportunity”.
“With Chris, we have a guy here with whom we share a vision, we share a philosophy, and we feel very confident in his ability to impact that team,” Rosas said. “And unfortunately, with our struggles over the last year and a half, the ability to change that narrative would be difficult from an internal perspective.”
“I haven’t heard too many external comments, just because it’s been a real whirlwind for 24 hours for me,” Finch added. “I can say I’m very excited and I enjoy every day I have in the NBA. I live the dream.”
The Timberwolves will face the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday night.