Pelicans close to hiring Nuggets Assistant Coach to staff

The New Orleans Pelicans are closing in on the hire of Nuggets assistant coach Chris Finch to join Alvin Gentry's staff, league sources say.

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 19, 2017

Who?

A highly regarded offensive assistant. I expect this was more of the FO hiring rather than Gentry. They probably think Gentry needs some help diversifying his offense.

https://twitter.com/espnsteinline/st...18241049120768

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Originally Posted by neitzelbaby12

https://twitter.com/espnsteinline/st...18241049120768

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The Pels, sources says, are eager to add Finch's offensive brainpower to the staff to spark the Anthony Davis/DeMarcus Cousins partnership.

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 19, 2017

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Originally Posted by thiefinthenight

The Pels, sources says, are eager to add Finch's offensive brainpower to the staff to spark the Anthony Davis/DeMarcus Cousins partnership.

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 19, 2017

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Thank you, not sure how to embed tweets on my phone :/

This is huge for NOP. Finch is considered one of the better offensive minds in basketball. And he knows how to make two bigs work together. https://t.co/I4QDsv0lj0

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 19, 2017

It depends on who you ask, but Finch was at least partially instrumental in building the Nuggets’ offense this year. 5th best https://t.co/27z86nCa9B

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) May 19, 2017

The Nuggets offense was incredible this year and Finch gets a lot of the credit for that. Somewhat unconventional having Jokic play point-C.

— Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) May 19, 2017

Nuggets were #5 in ORTG and #1 since DEC 15 when Jokic became the starter. The style the Nuggets adopted on DEC 15 was brilliant, IMO.

— Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) May 19, 2017

@ESPNSteinLine Finch played an enormous part in helping the Nuggets to the No. 1 ranked offense in the league since Dec. 15 (when Jokic became the starter)

— Harrison Wind (@NBAWind) May 19, 2017

Well he sounds like promising addition

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Between Weber, Gentry, and now Finch, that is a lot of offensive brain power for the Pels. And that's not counting what Erman brings.

— Kumar (@FearTheBrown) May 19, 2017

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Originally Posted by Silverfoxx

Who?

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Assistants are usually not known leaguewide.
How many Pels assistants will U remember without checking?
And without Kumar tweet?

Steve Kerr and Pop have many great assistants.
Smart play by Pels.

Never heard of him before, but from what little I've found out in the past hour, this seems like a great hire.

And I cannot stress this enough. Not every coach would've thought of allowing a 6-11 C to play PG the way Jokic does.

— Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) May 19, 2017

Dell hired a great assistant in Erman, and now perhaps another one in Finch. Credit needs to be given. Also to Gentry for accepting help.

— Kumar (@FearTheBrown) May 19, 2017

Pelicans hiring highly regarded assistant coaches is a good thing. Maybe the draw of BoogieBrow helps in recruitment there.

— David Fisher (@DavidFisherTBW) May 19, 2017

Has the office pool started on how long before someone post a replace Gentry with Finch comment?

Good. Hope this means more cutting by more players than DC (should he stay).

OK we got the coaches, but coaches don't play. We need the players around AD and Boogie to make this work.

Gentry shouldn't have a staff. Homie should be sent on the next flight out of town.

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Originally Posted by SilkySlim

Gentry shouldn't have a staff. Homie should be sent on the next flight out of town.

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Gotta give credit where it's due though, Gentry now has one of the best defensive and offensive assistant coaches in the league.

Personnel will be an issue still though. But Gentry has put together a really great supporting staff.

Sounds like a promising hire if they can seal the deal.

Ok listen up everybody , Gentry is going to be here next year it's already been announced can we move on for Gods sakes . Let's think positive hopefully this guy can bring something to this team .


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Originally Posted by MistaWhoDat

Ok listen up everybody , Gentry is going to be here next year it's already been announced can we move on for Gods sakes . Let's think positive hopefully this guy can bring something to this team .


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Exactly where I'm at like let's move on to the draft and free agency

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Scroll down a little piece on chris Finch
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1...s-watch-summer


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Originally Posted by bahmamamba

Exactly where I'm at like let's move on to the draft and free agency

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This! It's time to move forward with what we have and hope for the best.

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Originally Posted by DaFranchise80

This! It's time to move forward with what we have and hope for the best.

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This! You guys should check out my thread about 2nd round prospects. It's alot to be excited about with this offseason!

I don't wanna hear no more Negative pessimistic crap. Let's keep this good momentum moving. Great hire. Read alot about the guy.

Has it gone through? I'm anxious to hear this one get locked in.

Edit:

Scott Kushner says:

"New #Pelicans** asst Chris Finch served as the Nuggets' lead offensive asst last year. Denver finished No. 2 in offensive rating post-ASG."

https://twitter.com/scottdkushner/st...45178660413442

There's also this tweet from Kushner:

"I can confirm @ESPNSteinLine's report that Chris Finch will fill a spot on Alvin Gentry's staff."

So it sounds like it's a done deal. He's the most locked in writer we have for the Pels.

Really excited about this hire, just from the tweets posted here. If anyone finds any articles or other material on coach Finch, please share it here. I'm glad we brought in an offensive assistant, who seems to specialize in bigs and offenses based around the front court. I like that alot, since my main gripe in keeping Gentry was that his system has been more guard-oriented.

Now let's bring in the right players to make it work.

For those that want to know more about his career and what he's done:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chri...h_(basketball)

A short summary would be, he has taken every team he has coached to either the finals of the league they are in or outright champions except for 1 team. He did it twice in Europe, and once in the D-League before finally being hired by the Rockets in 2011. He was eventually named as Associate Head Coach for them until last year when he went to the Nuggets as Associate Head Coach.

The guy has the chops and the resume to soon get a head coaching offer. Makes me wonder why he decided to do a lateral move to the Pelicans. Maybe he feels like if he can turn this team into a contender the Head Coaching offers will come, sort of like Gentry and Luke Walton at GS.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

For those that want to know more about his career and what he's done:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chri...h_(basketball)

A short summary would be, he has taken every team he has coached to either the finals of the league they are in or outright champions except for 1 team. He did it twice in Europe, and once in the D-League before finally being hired by the Rockets in 2011. He was eventually named as Associate Head Coach for them until last year when he went to the Nuggets as Associate Head Coach.

The guy has the chops and the resume to soon get a head coaching offer. Makes me wonder why he decided to do a lateral move to the Pelicans. Maybe he feels like if he can turn this team into a contender the Head Coaching offers will come, sort of like Gentry and Luke Walton at GS.

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Or to go down the UNO/Champ avenues, perhaps he is the potential next HC candidate for the Pels should Alvin not be re-signed (or retire if that comment someone mentioned about Barkley trying to convince him not to has any truth to it).

Good on us bringing in another offensive mind, maybe we will be able to create some sort of hybrid offense to maximize AD and Boogie's talent.

You can't be conventional. Cuz AD and Cousins aren't conventional players. Way too skilled for their sizes.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

For those that want to know more about his career and what he's done:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chri...h_(basketball)

A short summary would be, he has taken every team he has coached to either the finals of the league they are in or outright champions except for 1 team. He did it twice in Europe, and once in the D-League before finally being hired by the Rockets in 2011. He was eventually named as Associate Head Coach for them until last year when he went to the Nuggets as Associate Head Coach.

The guy has the chops and the resume to soon get a head coaching offer. Makes me wonder why he decided to do a lateral move to the Pelicans. Maybe he feels like if he can turn this team into a contender the Head Coaching offers will come, sort of like Gentry and Luke Walton at GS.

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Isn't Erman already the associate head coach?

So Finch replaces Pack I see


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Originally Posted by MistaWhoDat

So Finch replaces Pack I see


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Wait really?

Robert Pack is no longer on the #Pelicans staff. He's trying to land a G-League head coaching job, per his agent Warren LeGarie.

— Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) May 19, 2017

Let's see if this embeds properly.

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Originally Posted by bahmamamba

Wait really?

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So, Chris Finch will replace Robert Pack on the #Pelicans bench. Both sides presented the split as amicable.

— Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) May 19, 2017

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Originally Posted by Rheem654

So, Chris Finch will replace Robert Pack on the #Pelicans bench. Both sides presented the split as amicable.

— Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) May 19, 2017

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Really liked him damn but hey he's trying to get a head coaching gig more power to him

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Originally Posted by billfromfinance

Robert Pack is no longer on the #Pelicans staff. He's trying to land a G-League head coaching job, per his agent Warren LeGarie.

— Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) May 19, 2017

Let's see if this embeds properly.

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I wonder if he could possibly coach our G-League team, when we get one.

Btw, when did it become the G-League, instead of the D-League?

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Originally Posted by RUFshreve

Btw, when did it become the G-League, instead of the D-League?

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Brand new change, aligning with Gatorade as a sponsor.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the...ade-2017-02-14


I think we are still a fair bit off from having a team, so hard to say. He could get the summer league team.

Awesome, really love the way the Nuggets play. Just want to see better movement off the ball from this team as a result of this hire.

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Originally Posted by billfromfinance

Or to go down the UNO/Champ avenues, perhaps he is the potential next HC candidate for the Pels should Alvin not be re-signed (or retire if that comment someone mentioned about Barkley trying to convince him not to has any truth to it).

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That is certainly possible. I can't see a reason for him to make a lateral move unless he feels there is potential for advancement either here or by improving our offense and then getting the HC offer he wants.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

That is certainly possible. I can't see a reason for him to make a lateral move unless he feels there is potential for advancement either here or by improving our offense and then getting the HC offer he wants.

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Yeah I'm also not sure if Pack left on his own to chase a HC gig, or if his yearly review didn't go down well and that was the nicely worded out for him. Reading around there has definitely been the potential HC label thrown around with Finch so always possible. Personally I just hope our players are open to his ideas and smart enough to run with them. Seems to push the players to constantly be probing and testing the defense, and giving them the freedom to make the right choices themselves. Movement on and off ball important. Theoretically it shouldn't be a big difference, Gentry values the same things. Our groups intelligence has been questioned though, hopefully some willing new signings will help. Another point is the coaches finding the right balance between o and d. The points around solos shooting suffering because of the drive to get back on d, maybe a comfort with the system will help allow more focus on offense.

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Originally Posted by UNO Gracias

Good on us bringing in another offensive mind, maybe we will be able to create some sort of hybrid offense to maximize AD and Boogie's talent.

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Galineri NEXT ?

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Originally Posted by Tinman

Galineri NEXT ?

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I just thought about that move as well. Is it possible?

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Originally Posted by UNO Gracias

I just thought about that move as well. Is it possible?

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Man, would that be a deadly front line.

It's an interesting hiring fr the Pels. I was first worried of a possible "replacement" of Erman given how effective was the pels defense after Cousins' trade but now I see only upside in this hiring.

One name that could come up due to Finch now is Deng, Finch coached him with the GB national team so I'm sure there is still a bound between the two of them.

Curious about the offer given to Finch.
Nugs have upwards trajectory.

Was it DMC -AD combo? Or future HC commitment?
Finch is exactly a type of assistant who soon becomes HC.