MILWAUKEE -- Chris Finch had a total of one practice and a shootaround to get as familiar with his new players as he could.
So entering his first game as head coach of the Wolves -- and as an NBA head coach -- Finch stated he wanted to make things simpler for the Wolves, to give them structure but freedom to operate in that structure.
"Every day is going to be a huge learning curve for us, and for me, in particular," Finch said. "By kind of freeing things up a little bit, hopefully it shows me what they're capable of in different situations, and then we hopefully shape it from there."
Much of Finch's public comments over his first two days on the job revolved around offense, that's how Finch made his reputation. But while he may want the offense to play with more freedom, he got a close look at what he needs to do to tighten the defense in a 139-112 drubbing at the hands of the Bucks.
The potential for a post-coaching change surge of inspired play, which sometimes can happen, wasn't evident from the end of the first half on as Milwaukee and Giannis Antetokounmpo did whatever they wanted. Antetokounmpo had 37 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while Bryn Forbes had 23 off the bench and Milwaukee shot 20 of 42 from three-point range (48%). THe Bucks led by as much as 29 in the fourth before they seemed to get bored and allowed the Wolves some garbage time buckets.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists for the Wolves. Malik Beasley added 26.
The offense was flowing for the Wolves in the first quarter. It helps when shots are falling from the outside. The Wolves set a season high for first-quarter with 36. Finch professed to operate the offense through Towns, and that was certainly the case Tuesday. There were times Finch called for Towns to post up on one side of the floor while the other four lined up along the three-point line on the weak side, allowing Towns as much room as he could to take his defender one-on-one.
Towns finished the first half with 20 points as the Wolves hung with the Bucks through most of the first 24 minutes. The freewheeling approach also seemed to benefit Malik Beasley, who hit 4 of 5 from three-point range.
The Wolves finished the first quarter within two of the Bucks 38-36, as Antetokounmpo was able to dominate any defender the Wolves tried to throw at him. That helped Milwaukee get open shots from the outside, and it took advantage of that in the second quarter.
A Towns three-point play pulled the Wolves with 58-57 with 5:32 to play, but the rest of the quarter belonged to the Bucks.
Milwaukee outscored the Wolves 21-5 the rest of the quarter to extend the lead to 79-62 by halftime. Anthony Edwards had a rough end to the half which included a couple of turnovers and missed shots. Then the Bucks finished the half with four consecutive threes while the Wolves didn't score. Edwards finished the game 3-for-13 for nine points. Antetokounmpo topped Towns' 20 in the first half with 22 of his own.
The Wolves shot a respectable 51% in the first half and 41% from three-point range. The only problem was Milwaukee shot 63% and 56%.
The Wolves, however, had a streak of 5:15 from late in the second to early in the third quarter in which they didn't score a point. When Beasley snapped that drought at the 9:25 mark of the third, the Wolves were down 19.
The Bucks didn't let up, especially from outside. They buried another 8 of 14 threes in the quarter to take an impressive 113-89 lead into the fourth.
"We need to make sure that we have a good foundation with simple, highly executable coverages and strategies for a young team," Finch said before the game. "We don't want them overthinking anything out there where there's a lag time in their performance and reaction."
Finch will have some things to correct when he watches the film.
