SAN ANTONIO – One of the defining characteristics of Timberwolves coach Chris Finch is he treats each player on the roster with the same demeanor. He tries to hold each player accountable, regardless of their salary or how much they've accomplished in their careers.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch praises Gregg Popovich's style and success
Spurs coach became all-time leader in wins because of his approach, which works with different players and different generations.
March 15, 2022 at 3:44AM
That's also a trait of the Spurs' Gregg Popovich, who set the NBA career record for most wins by a coach on Friday with 1,336, passing Don Nelson.
"It's incredible, the standard of excellence he's maintained here no matter the team, no matter the circumstances, they always play hard, always play the right way, they always battle you," Finch said. "He coaches the same way no matter whether he's got superstars or rookies."
Popovich has also won five NBA championships in his time with the Spurs, with the first coming in 1999 and the latest in 2014. Popovich has sustained that success across different periods and styles of the NBA. Why?
"He keeps things really simple," Finch said. "I don't think anything they do is overly complicated. That allows you to kind of shape it as things evolve, just because you're not entrenched in all these intricacies that you've got yourself bound up in. He plays to his best players and he's always done that."
Players Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard were the stars Popovich helped develop in San Antonio. The last few years have been more of a struggle for the Spurs, who find themselves on the outside of the play-in picture in the final weeks of the season. The Spurs have found another All-Star in Dejounte Murray and a promising young forward in Keldon Johnson as they try to figure out which pieces might fit best next to them in their next iteration of the franchise.
Popovich credited his players after breaking Nelson's record on Friday.
"It's just a testament to a whole lot of people," Popovich said, according to ESPN. "Something like this does not belong to one individual. Basketball's a team sport. You preach to your players that they have to do it together and that's certainly been the case in my life with all the wonderful players and coaches, the staff that I've been blessed with, the support of this wonderful city.
Finch said he hasn't had the chance to get to know Popovich all that well in the coaching fraternity, but the admiration has always been there.
"He's not afraid of his players," Finch said. "He's never been afraid to coach his players. That's the single biggest thing I've learned from him and also – just not to take all this stuff so seriously."
Injury updates
Center Naz Reid missed Monday's game because of back spasms. Guard Patrick Beverley (eardrum injury) and Jordan McLaughlin (right groin tightness) came into the game as game-time decisions. Beverley was in the starting lineup but McLaughlin missed his second game in the last three. Jarred Vanderbilt missed his third game in the past four because of a left deep thigh bruise.
Fouls not troubling
Karl-Anthony Towns got in foul trouble in each of the Wolves' previous two games after the issue had not crept up for Towns in a while. Finch said he didn't notice any bad habits creeping back into Towns' game.
"I thought some of the foul calls were just super light. Wasn't a lot there. So, I'm not putting too much into it," Finch said.
The league's two-minute report actually flagged two fouls that weren't called on Towns late in the Miami game, both for grabbing an opponent's arm.
The Wolves are coming off back-to-back losses in Portland and are on a three-game losing streak.
