The Timberwolves prepared for a second-round playoff series against the reigning champion Nuggets by beginning their most significant practice week of the season on Wednesday in Minneapolis.
Their head coach wasn’t present either.
Chris Finch had surgery on Wednesday to fix his ruptured patella tendon in his right knee, so he was a little busy.
Rudy Gobert of Wolves commented, “It feels a little weird, obviously,” regarding the coach’s absence.
Following a successful surgery on Wednesday, Minnesota will now watch to see how the coach feels and heals over the next several days. The squad will take a plane to Denver following practice on Thursday. The current idea is for head coach Finch to be in Denver for Game 1 on Saturday, however assistant coach Micah Nori is unsure if the coach will be on that aircraft.
What role does that leave open?
Nori added, “You’re always talking through hypotheticals, but not until we know exactly what he can do once he’s out of recovery.” “If he is unable to be on the sidelines, his only option that he has discussed with us is that he will attend the pregame meeting. After that, he will probably watch from a suite, and he may come down for halftime with any thoughts he may have.”
Sending signals to someone on the bench during the game in an attempt to exercise control from a distance was one thing Finch was fiercely opposed to. With his staff’s continuity and experience, he doesn’t think that’s required. Finch has already stated that Nori, who will cover for him on the sidelines in the event that he is unable to, possesses head coaching qualities.
Throughout the season, Finch gives each of his assistants the authority to take charge of their own departments.
However, Minnesota will look into any and all options to get Finch onto the bench as soon as it becomes physically possible for him to do so.
“I believe that’s what we’re attempting to examine—all those many kinds of tasks. We’ve even discussed relocating the trainer’s chair—that is, the vice president of player health for the Timberwolves, Gregg Farnam—out so he can stretch. He still has a table there where he can extend his leg, and everyone just slides down a seat, Nori said. We are therefore considering those many choices. Needless to say, ensuring his safety comes first. Secondly, though, we will definitely do so if we can manage to get Finchy down on that bench.
On Tuesday, Finch carefully collaborated with the crew to create a weekly schedule for getting ready for Denver.
“What he anticipated, what he would believe would have to be the highlights or the focal points of what we needed to address and sort of outlined procedures,” Nori remarked.
The week off Minnesota had prior to the Denver series is reminiscent of the week off Minnesota had between the regular-season finale and the Phoenix playoff series. This was how the week was structured in terms of preparation.
“The guys kind of got what they needed, so it helped with recovery,” Nori remarked. “We took two days.” “Wednesday was more focused on player development, with an emphasis on customizing how players will guard specific individuals or how we anticipate them doing so based on the movie. On Thursday, we’ll have an excellent practice and work through the finer points of the game plan, ready to polish it for Friday.”
Minnesota is still marked by Finch. Nevertheless, Nori believes the coach should have won NBA Coach of the Year, and the Wolves will still miss him.
According to Mike Conley, “He’s our leader.”
Conley and Gobert, however, acknowledged that the guys are prepared to step up when necessary. And everyone expressed their complete faith in the coaching staff to set the Wolves for success.
“They’re essentially expressing what you would anticipate from those veterans: ‘We got you. We’ll take care of this and that. stated Nori. “The athletes have excelled.” Nothing is going to change, as I stated to them in that passage. It’s not as though I’m trying to walk in here and tell everyone, “We did that, but let’s try this and do that,” or anything like that. No, it’s more of the same, and I believe that my personality and Finchy’s are quite similar. The guys have only discussed the fact that, at the end of the day, he was just trying to do what he was doing, despite the fact that he is obviously far wittier, smarter, and all that.
Finch’s spirits are “remarkably high” right now, according to Nori.
In true Finchy style, he prefers not to be the center of attention. He has faith in the players as well as in all of us, Nori remarked. “You guys take care of yourselves,” he says. You’re done for now. The players will ultimately determine the outcome of this series.
Leave a Reply