After his operation, following his rupture of a patellar tendon in his right knee, Chris Finch can no longer spend his matches standing, walking to accompany the game and give his instructions. He is now in the second row, behind his assistant Micah Nori, on a chair.
This new situation totally worked in Game 1 in Denver, the Wolves winning by managing to limit Nikola Jokic on defense.
“It’s a little surreal to be so far away from the action, but it’s been great,” says the Minnesota coach. “I felt like I was safe. I have the greatest confidence in our staff and their abilities. They did a remarkable job. We communicated well. Obviously, all this was made even better with a great victory. This is our new reality. We have to find the rhythm. »
“ We share the same brain”
And the players, how did they experience this change? Were they disturbed by the distance from their coach? “It worked better than I thought.”concedes Kyle Anderson.
“It was pretty cool. We could still hear Chris Finch, he was in our ears”explains Jaden McDaniels. “We were looking for him too, it’s not as if he wasn’t there anymore. Micah did a great job relaying messages and giving us confidence. They are the same. The coach is just sitting now. »
Even sitting and on a chair placed between the first two rows, the coach gave instructions and called systems, few in this meeting specifies Micah Nori, notably via his other assistant Pablo Prigioni. The connection between the two men is perfect. “We are on the same wavelength. We share the same brain. We are really in sync”concludes Chris Finch.
