The Minnesota Timberwolves’ season is entering a critical point. Yes, they are still 21-13, good for the sixth seed in the Western Conference. However, expectations are higher for a team with championship aspirations, and the Wolves are clearly below title contention now. With the West quite open outside of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Wolves should take advantage and put together a great January.
However, over the past four games, the Wolves are just 1-3, including double-digit losses to the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets. Changes need to be made, and this is a responsibility of both the coaches and the players. After a 24-point outburst against the Hawks, head coach Chris Finch shot quickly the idea of changing the rotation.
“No, no, it’s not. We’ve been flipping the rotations all season, so no,” Finch said when asked about possible rotation changes.
On the one hand, I understand that Finch has made changes, including inserting Bones Hyland into the rotation, mixing up the young players’ minutes and staggering Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle even more. Still, when the team is struggling, the coach has to make changes, and there are plenty of opportunities for Finch to make some adjustments.
Chris Finch’s unwillingness to make changes is hurting the Timberwolves
Rotational changes can mean different things. Most people think this means replacing one of the nine to 10 players who could get minutes each night (which is still something the Wolves should explore). However, it is also about better setup combinations.
One thing I’ve discussed ad nauseam is pairing Jaden McDaniels and Jaylen Clark more often in the non-Rudy Gobert minutes. As a refresher, without Gobert, the Wolves have a terrible defensive rating of 123.6 (sixth percentile via Cleaning the Glass). For McDaniels and Clark this improves significantly to a DRTG of 111.6. Yet McDaniels and Clark are only responsible for 12.3 percent of the non-Rudy minutes.
Pairing your second and third best defenders when your best defender is sitting is a logical but powerful solution to this problem. Finch’s failure to consistently embrace this solution highlights a degree of stubbornness and an inability to maximize rotations.
Additionally, Finch recently paired Bones Hyland and Mike Conley together (often in non-Rudy minutes), a lineup combination that makes no sense on paper or in reality. Changing these lineup combinations would be very beneficial for the Wolves.
While I can understand Finch’s hesitation to include another player in the rotation, the Wolves rank 26th in bench points, and something needs to change. I’d like to see if Johnny Juzang can provide a spark. The 24-year-old can certainly shoot and can give the Wolves the scoring boost they desperately need. I know it’s a bad time, but it’s no small feat that Juzang scored 10 points in eight minutes against the Hawks.
Rookie Joan Beringer may not provide a scoring boost, but he could help them maintain some level of defense when Gobert is off the field. The Wolves should give him a chance sooner rather than later, especially since they expect him to play a big role next year. With how poorly the Wolves bench has played, a change wouldn’t hurt.
The trade deadline is still just over a month away, and the next phase will determine how aggressive they will be. Nikola Jokic’s injury gives the Wolves a clear chance to break into the West’s top four.
However, they are underperforming, and if they continue to do so, Chris Finch’s inability to make any sort of rotation and/or play-calling adjustments will do tremendous damage to the team. Finch is a great coach, but like some players, it’s fair to ask for some improvement on his side during this cold spell.
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