MILWAUKEE - Over the past two whirlwind days, new Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has talked a lot about offense, since he made his NBA reputation specializing in it.
But in his first game as an NBA head coach, Finch received plenty to digest related to where the Wolves need to improve on defense, as the Bucks walloped the Wolves 139-112 at Fiserv Forum on Tuesday night to hand Finch the most lopsided loss in a Wolves coach's debut.
Giannis Antetokounmpo spun and muscled his way past any defender who tried to get in his way for 37 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. The Bucks seemingly hit at will from three-point range through three quarters, when their percentage from deep was 56% on their way to shooting 48% for the night.
If the Wolves' team psyche was in a vulnerable state following the rollicking 48 hours that included Ryan Saunders' firing and Finch's hiring, the Bucks showed them little mercy from late in the second quarter onward, when they scored 12 consecutive points, all on threes, to go up 79-62 at halftime.
"I'm sure [emotions] played a part but these guys are professional, they're ready to go and this transition was never going to be seamless," Finch said. "I got to learn them. They got to learn me. We got to learn just how to play through these games until we can get a little bit of a rhythm and settle in a little bit."
On the sidelines, Finch appeared to be upbeat throughout the night, clapping often as the Wolves transitioned from one end of the floor to the other. Individual conversations with players near the bench included a lot of pats on the back.
Finch's biggest takeaway from the Wolves' defensive effort — a lack of physicality. It was something Saunders also decried at times.
"They didn't feel us all night," he said. "We didn't put our bodies on them. We needed to do that and of course early on, they got the rim and later in the game they got the three-point line."
