Through one win in the first four games, Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman had been alternately pleased, unhappy and generally positive, but never had he been so fire-breathingly furious as he was after Friday night’s 121-109 loss in Sacramento.
That prompted him to take the unusual step of holding a morning walk-through Saturday before the second of back-to-back games at Portland.
Call it Remedial Defense 101.
“When you lose with effort, that’s all you can ask of a player,” a considerably calmer Wittman said. “Guys are going to make mistakes. That’s what this game is. But if we’re going to make a mistake, it can’t be because of effort. Not because we were tired. It’s got to be because we were overaggressive and we overcommitted. And (Friday) night wasn’t one of those. I can’t sugarcoat it because that’s when you do fall into accepting coming out and playing that way.
Randy Foye, who shot 8-for-35 in the last three games before losing the starting point guard job to Sebastian Telfair, has gone 9-for-18 in the two games since.
Wittman didn’t call out Jefferson by name Friday, but it sure sounded like that’s who he meant when he said, “We’re not committed individually and we’re not committed as a team defensively. It’s not everybody. Right now, we’re running up and down the floor, if I get my touches, that’s all they’re concerned about. … We have some guys who have been two, three, four, five years in the league that have lost. At some point, your pride has to kick in, your heart has to kick in.”
Asked about the message Wittman sent by removing players abruptly, Jefferson said: “I don’t know. That’s him, that’s him.”
From the Charlotte Observer:
Kevin Love is moving into the starting lineup for the Timberwolves, following a 14-point, nine-rebound, three-block game, mostly paired against Duncan. Had he been available when the Bobcats picked at No. 9, I have no doubt he would have been their guy.
Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune on Kevin Love:
He was asked before he started his first NBA game in his home town if he expected a different reception this time.
“I hope so, that would be nice,” he said. “When (Portland natives) Damon Stoudamire made, when Mike Dunleavy, Jr. , made it, people applauded them. When somebody makes it from their hometown, from Portland, from Oregon, if you made it, I think people should respect that. If they don’t, that’s their problem.”
On Saturday, he returned to the arena — just 10 minutes from his home in the suburb of Lake Oswego — where he attended games as a boy and was politely received during pregame introductions. The home state fans saved their boos for Love and his father, Stan, until after the opening tip.
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