Chris Finch Calls Gobert's Accountability Comments 'Disappointing'

A day after Rudy Gobert called out his teammates' lack of effort in a loss to the Pelicans and suggested coaches may have to provide accountability by benching players who don't hustle, Wolves head coach Chris Finch pushed back and didn't hide his frustration with Gobert for delivering that message in a public setting.

"I’m well aware of his comments," Finch said at practice on Saturday. "I’d say a couple things. One is, anybody who knows how we do things here knows there's a high degree of accountability. Secondly, I handle all of my conversations with ourselves in-house. Disappointing that he felt the need to go outside. But nonetheless, that’s been addressed already today. There's never been a team that's won anything meaningful that’s substituted their way there."

That last line from Finch seems to be his way of saying that pulling players out of the game, whether due to poor effort or performance, isn't the answer. And in doing so, he appears to be putting the onus back onto the players to bring the level of effort the team needs. That's the tone he took earlier this week after a loss to the Grizzlies, when he exasperatedly said "ask them" and "it's on them" after he was asked how he can get more energy out of his guys.

It's becoming a trend for Finch to put the responsibility for effort onto his players and to at least somewhat recuse himself from having any control over the matter. It's true that he can't just bench Anthony Edwards or Julius Randle whenever they don't try on defense, because those are the team's two best offensive players. But it's also concerning that despite Finch's talk of the Wolves having a "high degree of accountability," this issue keeps popping up over and over.

Chris Finch and Anthony Edwards | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

It also might be worth keeping an eye on the Finch-Gobert dynamic moving forward. Not only did Finch publicly criticize Gobert's comments on Saturday, he also called out his star center in his postgame presser on Friday after a reporter praised Gobert's play against the Pelicans.

"I didn't like our rim protection tonight, from him or anyone else," Finch said. "He had a decent stat line, but the impact overall by him and the others at the rim was just not there."

It's worth wondering if Gobert's comments on Friday night were a result of building frustration from what he might perceive as preferential treatment for different players on the roster. At least anecdotally, there have been occasions this year where Gobert gets benched for extended periods if he isn't playing well, but Edwards and Randle never seem to be held to the same standard — at least in terms of playing time.

The Wolves' next opportunity to improve their effort level comes in a Sunday matinee against the Clippers at Target Center (2 p.m. CT, ESPN).

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