Chris Finch was upset with the number of Victor Wembanyama blocks he thought were goaltends but were not called in Monday's Game 1. He hopes Wednesday's Game 2 is different.
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama set a new NBA Playoffs record with 12 blocks in Game 1 of the second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
At least ... that's what the box score will read. The Wolves believed many of Wemby's rejections were actually uncalled goaltends.
After Monday's series opener at Frost Bank Center, Minnesota head coach Chris Finch issued his reaction to the officiating.
"At least four of them were goaltending. Maybe even a fifth," Finch said in frustration. "To me, it's a little alarming that none of them were called."
The 7-4 Frenchman, Wembanyama, was the league's first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year. His excellence is clearly noticed most in his interior defense, but the opposition still hopes for more fairness in how the officials control the game when he's in.
"Here's a generational shot blocker, who is 7-foot-6 and goes after everything, and there's no heightened awareness that these blocks could be a goaltend?" Finch asked. "The third possession of the game was a goaltend, and it was a clean, obvious one."
Finch references a sequence where Wembanyama and French counterpart Rudy Gobert began the game with a trio of stuffs at the rim. The third, Wemby's second, came against a drive by lefty guard Terence Shannon Jr. It clearly hit the backboard first, but play resumed rather than Shannon getting credited with the bucket.
Fans online have joined Finch in arguing that this was more than just one instance.
In playing devil's advocate, perhaps Wembanyama's intent to attempt to block each and every shot attempt in his reach makes for an even tougher call for the referees, who understand that the nearly 9-foot reach of the Spurs star often results in a block. That was the case throughout the regular season as Wembanyama, for a third year in a row to begin his career, led the NBA in blocks per game.
"He’s gonna have to block it every time," said Shannon. "I ain’t 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’t gonna block it every single time."
Legally, maybe not. But whether the officials make the call or not is another story.
"Let's just say there were four [goaltends]," Finch explained. "That's eight points. You know the value of eight points in an NBA game? It's massive. That means 33% of his blocks were goaltending uncalled. If I were to give you a 33% raise, you'd like that, right? It's a huge number."
Yes, the Timberwolves still won Game 1 by a pair, but the significance remains. Minnesota is trying to take two from a Spurs team that has been dynamite at home these playoffs.
Before the series shifts north, Finch and his team are pleading for a heightened focus, because the game plan of challenging Wemby won't stop.
"We’re going to keep coming," the coach said. "We’ve got to make some better decisions in how we attack the rim. But all credit to the guys for not being discouraged. We should’ve walked away with another eight points."
Or, suggested Gobert, another notorious rim protector, maybe the best course of action is lenience on both sides.
Said the elder French center: "I wish I had that type of treatment, too."
