Chris Finch’s great anger paid off
We were midway through the first quarter when Anthony Edwards, then Julius Randle, broke the teeth of the Thunder defense. Both players call for fouls and Chris Finch explodes down the sideline…
In the crosshairs of the coach: the roughness of Oklahoma City, which he considers too often “covered” arbitration. The tone is raised, until the inevitable: two techniques and exclusion, logically, for the coach beside himself.
Except the episode looks as much like a bloodbath as it does a sent signal. Chris Finch had a message to convey, both to the officials and to his players. And, hearing the locker room, the timing was perfect.
“It really motivated us”, explain Naz ReidAnthony Edwards assuring that the team “fed on the energy of the coach”. “It was nice to see. He was obviously involved in the match, so I don’t think it was rigged. In a situation like this, we want to fight for someone who is fighting for us.”
“It was not thrown out in vain”
Pour Donte DiVincenzothe episode also buzzed with Target Center… then his team.
“He gave everyone energy, not only us, but also the fans. We shouldn’t do that, but from that moment it was clear that they controlled the next four or five minutes, and then it was our turn. We took advantage of the energy in the room.”
So, staged or not by the coach, who has made a habit of losing his temper every now and then? For your first assistant, Micah Noriit is important that his message gets through, The Wolves recovered 47 free throws during the meetingcompared to just 30 for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder.
“of course yes”answered the assistant when asked if Chris Finch’s message had been heard. “What we kept telling the team … was, ‘He’s not shut out for nothing.'” Meaning: keep going to the basket, keep attacking, stay in attack mode, because now they’re going to call fouls.»
2025-12-20 12:04:00
