Timberwolves' Chris Finch: 'We had to look at ourselves in the mirror'

Minnesota might've refound its defensive identity.

Nov 4, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch talks with Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) during a free throw against the Charlotte Hornets in the second half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Last Saturday's loss to the San Antonio Spurs bothered Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch. So much so that he says it ruined his Sunday. On Monday, things went better in a dominant win over the Charlotte Hornets. What was different? The defense that finished No. 1 in the league last season showed up for the entire game.

"The best part about Monday was for 48 minutes we saw our defensive personality. We've seen it in glimpses — we haven't seen it in the measure that we needed to see it coming into the season like we saw it all of last year — so it was good to get that edge back, and we were just better. That's gotta be our identity and the guys recognize that. We gotta continue to play that way," Finch said Wednesday in an interview with Paul Allen on KFXN-FM 100.3

Finch praised the offense and said the team is getting a lot of good shots and he expects more to fall as players get into a rhythm, but the defense had been hit and miss and "that's not us," Finch said.

"We had to look at ourselves in the mirror and say, 'Hey, what are we doing here?'" Finch continued.

The 114-93 win over Charlotte was the first time Minnesota held an opponent to under 40% shooting. They did that a league-leading 23 times last season.

Team	Shooting percentage
Lakers	44.2%
Kings	46.3%
Raptors	45.6%
Mavericks	48.4%
Nuggets	44.6%
Spurs	51.8%
Hornets	39.8%

Finch, who turned 55 on Wednesday, wants to see the same mindset on a nightly basis.

"There's habits that you have to maintain," Finch said. "As we build this thing up, these are the lessons that we need to learn. It' slike a lot of things in life. You can tell people 'don't touch that hot stove' and then you watch them touch the hot stove — those are frustrating, but we'll see now. We have to do the same in Chicago, we have to do the same in Portland ... it can't just be a one-time thing."

More from Finch

Does Jaden McDaniels, who is averaging 2.4 rebounds per game, need to step it up on the boards? "We do need him to up his rebounding, there's no doubt about it," Finch said.

Should McDaniels average more than one block and one steal per game? "He definitely has the tools to fill all the stats on both sides of the ball," Finch answered. "When you look at his stat line, he should definitely fill out all the columns."