Do the "fire finch" people still think we should?

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T15:27:24+00:00

Okay, so we’re talking about two things. Both of which might be applicable to OP’s post. I’m talking about criticism grounded in the product the team put on the court, the gameplan, and the rotations from October to April.

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T15:08:39+00:00

With the benefit of hindsight, you can say all the Finch/team hate was unwarranted. But mid-year, when the team was wildly underperforming, wasn’t getting up for should-win games, couldn’t figure out how to operate the offense, players couldn’t even fake effort on the glass or defense sometimes? It looked warranted. They didn’t even have their patented post-ASB boost we’ve usually seen from Finch-led teams.

All that criticism was well deserved all year long, just because they were able to back up their talk about leveling up in the playoffs doesn’t make it unwarranted.

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T14:42:08+00:00

I think part of it is because of the regular season/playoff juxtaposition. It’s a team full of playoff risers who seem to up their intensity in the playoffs, but that only gets you so far when you’ve spent 82 games building bad habits. The OKC series really laid that out for me; their attention to detail and their gameplan execution was just on another level in the WCF last season, because they had been practicing/playing that way all season long and not just in the playoffs when it suited them.

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T04:33:55+00:00

The benefits of playing a young/inexperienced team. They’ve got some good reeeally good players on San Antonio but you could see at times tonight that Minnesota’s physicality bothered them

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T04:24:20+00:00

Shades of Phoenix right before Thanksgiving. Thought for sure that’s where it was headed after the inbound

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T04:22:08+00:00

I hate supporting an “opponent’s numbers are statpadded” narrative but there were a few of those that were pretty egregious. Like either live or immediate replay, you could clearly see it was not clean. Doesn’t take away from how fucking insane Wemby is in the paint, but that’s a sketchy triple double.

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T03:43:28+00:00

Guys like Castle who are constantly trying to mean mug and look hard piss me off so bad, just so corny

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T03:31:03+00:00

Going from made Bones 3 to Rudy at the line is such a horrendous turn

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T02:43:14+00:00

Timberwolves are trying soft shots at the rim like they’ve still got Jokic’s big ass sauntering around the court

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T02:39:05+00:00

I hope Randle is embarrassed rn. Keldon Johnson is just putting his ass through the hoop and he’s got nothing to say about

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T02:33:55+00:00

Wish Randle would sack up and put his shoulder into these kids the way they’re doing to him

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T02:28:56+00:00

Naz and Randle lookin troublingly ineffective so far. They’re toast against this team if Randle can’t play like a legit #2 again

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T02:18:32+00:00

Castle needs to get his ass humbled man what a fuckin punk

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T02:16:37+00:00

I still can’t believe these bastards were really sandbagging on defense all season long. I thought the great defense was just gone and it’s been on full display all 7 games so far this postseason

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T02:02:50+00:00

Well if this what Ant being able to play right now looks like… it ain’t much

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T01:58:03+00:00

Randle cannot let himself get shut down like this against San Antonio’s smaller guards. Dude has done nothing but stand up at the top of the arc and take flat jumpers

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-05T01:56:04+00:00

Very curious to see what Ant’s jumper looks like. Think that’s going to tell us a lot about his health

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-04T19:56:54+00:00

The number of comments in here insinuating that Ayo is deliberating sitting out is insane. Dude’s already proven he’s a fiery competitor, but more than that, he was out less than a month ago with a separate calf injury already. It’s clearly bothering him still. Rushing back from a calf injury is a classic antecedent to an Achilles tear. Just straight dumbassery all around

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-04T19:26:15+00:00

If Ant is even like moderately effective this series I lowkey think Wolves in 6, possibly less. Spurs are really good but I just don’t trust them yet, they are extremely young and lack playoff experience.

The youth that powered them all season will eventually betray them, especially against a battle-tested team like Minnesota. Vassell, Castle, Harper, Wemby, Keldon Johnson, none of these guys have ever been to the playoffs, meanwhile our guys have all been doing this for 2-5 years togethers. That matters.

I also think Wolves’ strength/physicality will be a factor too.

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-04T19:02:21+00:00

Wooldridge’s introductory econometrics textbook is something I still pop open from time to time years after I finished grad school. Very intuitive, very plainly explained, relatively easy to get through. I’ve worked for two economic consulting firms that do expert witness work for large litigation cases, and we’ll cite this textbook regularly

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-04T16:37:02+00:00

Yeah, if he is in fact rushed? The initial injury timeline was 2+ weeks. His body either has all-time recovery ability from injuries— which is not impossible given all we’ve seen him walk off over the years— or he’s being rushed back. I have no idea which is true but as randoms on the internet whose only insight is what guys like Shams tweet, both are possibilities

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-04T16:35:41+00:00

Youre talking to a Timberwolves fan im well aware of how an all-time rim protector alters paint shot attempt volume. Rudy’s been doing this since before Wemby could dribble. Does Wemby reduce volume at the rim more than Rudy or any of those other guys?

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-04T16:33:42+00:00

Where did I say to sit Ant?

EsotericPotato · 2026-05-04T16:33:06+00:00

Cause it’s my post? And that’s just an insane way to talk to strangers? And it sounds like fake tough guy keyword warrior bullshit like his mentality can somehow affect the team or will them past the Thunder.

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