{"id":1919320,"date":"2026-05-05T19:51:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1919320"},"modified":"2026-05-05T19:51:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:51:42","slug":"chris-finch-says-victor-wembanyamas-playoff-blocks-record-was-aided-by-missed-goaltends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1919320","title":{"rendered":"Chris Finch says Victor Wembanyama\u2019s playoff blocks record was aided by missed goaltends"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Victor Wembanyama had a historic night on defense<\/a> in the Game 1 loss of the San Antonio Spurs\u2019 second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

However, the\u00a0 Timberwolves are sending a clear message: They\u2019re not backing down and plan to keep coming at the newly minted NBA Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

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Wolves coach Chris Finch said it would be nice if they got a little help from the officials as well.<\/p>\n

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Finch said his coaching staff reviewed video of Minnesota\u2019s 104-102 victory,<\/a> and they believe at least four of Wembanyama\u2019s playoff record-breaking 12 blocked shots should have been ruled for goaltending.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe even a fifth,\u201d Finch said Tuesday. \u201cTo me, it\u2019s a little alarming that none of them were called. Here\u2019s a generational shot blocker who is 7 foot 6, who goes after everything, and there\u2019s no heightened awareness that these blocks could be goaltends?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wembanyama was credited with seven blocked shots in the first half, as the Wolves struggled to adapt to playing an opponent with such imposing rim protection after Nikola Joki\u0107 and the Denver Nuggets rolled out the red carpet for them on nearly every drive in their first-round series win.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama was aggressive in challenging shots on Monday night while facing his countryman and mentor, Rudy Gobert,<\/a> who has a record four DPOYs. Wembanyama\u2019s second block was a goaltend, as he hit the ball after Terrence Shannon Jr. got it to the glass on a layup attempt.<\/p>\n

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Wembanyama got Shannon again later in the game, but that won\u2019t stop the 25-year-old Wolves wing from continuing to go at him.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s gonna have to block it every time,\u201d said Shannon, one of Minnesota\u2019s most aggressive drivers. \u201cI ain\u2019t going to stop going downhill. I told him that when he said a little something after he blocked my second one, but he got to block it every time, and I know he ain\u2019t gonna block it every single time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wolves kept attacking Wembanyama throughout the night, and it wasn\u2019t until the fourth quarter that they seemed to find a few answers for his long arms and defensive range.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think decision-making can improve a little bit,\u201d Finch said. \u201cBut I love the mindset to keep going, to go and keep going. That\u2019s what we do. We attack the paint as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Finch underscored the importance of officials calling goaltending when it happens. If he is right that four calls were missed, that would have given the Wolves an extra eight points.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know the value of eight points in an NBA game? It\u2019s massive, right?\u201d Finch asked, rhetorically. \u201cThat\u2019s also 33 percent of his blocks were goaltending, uncalled. If I were to give you a 33 percent raise, you\u2019d like that, right? That\u2019s a huge number.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another eight points would have turned Game 1 into a comfortable win for the Wolves. Instead, they had to hold their breath until Julian Champagnie\u2019s 3-pointer at the buzzer missed just left to preserve a huge victory for Minnesota.<\/p>\n

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Whether or not Wembanyama gets called for goaltending more often in Game 2 on Wednesday night, the Timberwolves made no bones about their plans to go to the rim against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s inevitable. He\u2019s 7-6,\u201d Naz Reid said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to get some of them. Just attacking with that resiliency, getting downhill at will and trying to make the best of those situations, whether it\u2019s to score at the rim or kick it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finch said the Timberwolves would not submit any plays to the league for review because he knows that wouldn\u2019t change the outcome of a game that has already been played.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to keep coming,\u201d Finch said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to make some better decisions in how we attack the rim. But all credit to the guys for not being discouraged. We should\u2019ve walked away with another eight points.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Victor Wembanyama had a historic night on defense in the Game 1 loss of the San Antonio Spurs\u2019 second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, the\u00a0 Timberwolves are sending a clear message: They\u2019re not backing down and plan to keep coming at the newly minted NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Advertisement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1919320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1919320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1919320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1919320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1919320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1919320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1919320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}