From Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune:
The NBA rescinded the automatic fine that accompanied the two technical fouls that got McHale ejected after the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Milwaukee, presumably deciding after further review that his questioning of the officiating crew didn’t merit such a penalty.
Wyn/Canis Hoopus posts a picture of actor Kevin James sporting a Wolves jersey during his recent visit to Minnesota.
Wolves owner Glen Taylor on the differences between Kevin McHale and Randy Wittman:
“Their personalities are a little bit different in the sense that McHale is always positive; even when things go wrong, he turns them into positives,” Taylor said Tuesday. “He has that unique ability to do that. You can really see that he’s encouraging the guys; even when they miss shots, he says things like ‘good shot, good try.’ I see that he’s very upbeat.
“Also, I’m close enough to see that he runs things fairly simple. He’s not a complicated coach; he’s a positive, uncomplicated coach.”
Wittman?
“Randy was just more serious,” Taylor said. “I would guess he had more plays, more numbers.”
Stephen Litel/Downtown Journal chatted with Mark Madsen about the team’s recent performance.
This team is full of young men. Is the recent turnaround an indication of those young men maturing off the court and thereby showing a new maturity on the court?
“I think that is part of it. We did have an incident, but it’s nice, occasionally, to have a situation when emotions run high and we’ve had that in the last month or two. That tells me the guys care. I’m not going to go into details of who it was or what happened, but guys really care enough to really get into it. I don’t think we had that last season here. When I saw that–yeah, you might have had to of pulled guys apart for a second–but, in the long term, it’s two guys who really care about winning. If that attitude permeates throughout the rest of this team, good things are going to happen.”
Jefferson got in a little extra work after the morning shootaround with Love, trying to pass along a few veteran tips.
“Al is great because I think Kevin gets a little bit technical,” McHale said before the game. “Believe me, Al is not throwing technicalities at him. … It’s great because it’s a good blend of Kevin being a little bit analytical and Al just being a free-wheeler.”
Jefferson’s unorthodox shooting style isn’t easy to emulate, but McHale said he wasn’t worried that it might mess Love up.
“Actually, all that stuff works,” he said. “You’ve just got to be free to do it. … It’s hard to teach, but it’s all very effective if you can ever get it.”
Ken Berger/CBSSports.com puts Mike Miller at #2 and Rashad McCants at #7 on his list of the “NBA’s most appetizing trade bait.”
Who wouldn’t want a 28-year-old, 40-percent career 3-point shooter on a short contract? The Timberwolves, who are heading nowhere but the lottery with or without him. Miller is getting healthy again after missing time with an ankle injury, and his shooting touch will be in demand…
Randy Wittman made McCants a reluctant sixth man, and his role hasn’t changed much under Kevin McHale. McCants becomes a restricted free agent in July. His best chance to increase his value would be to find a new team before the deadline and prove he finally is ready to tap into his potential.
Carney, in his third year, hadn’t been doing much, either. In his rookie season with the Sixers, he missed games because of a stomach virus, injured shoulder and twisted left knee. In his second year in Philly he averaged 5.8 points and 2.1 rebounds. Not much for the No. 16 overall pick in the draft.
Clearly these guys were born to be Timberwolves, right? But not so fast. Carney has blossomed. At first, he got minutes because of injuries. But he did so well that he’s locked himself into the rotation at the expense of McCants.
McCants, who prepares for games by oiling up his shooting elbow, has been biding his time on the bench over the past week or so, rarely even stepping on the court. He’s been sitting quietly, too. But I have a feeling that if this goes on much longer, something very loud is going to happen. That’s just a hunch. We’ll see.
No. 2 vs. No. 5: The Michael Beasley vs. Kevin Love matchup closed as a decision in slight favor of the Heat’s Beasley, who closed with 14 points and seven rebounds. Love, the No. 5 pick in June’s draft, finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
Selected by the Timberwolves with the No. 34 pick in the second round of last June’s draft, Chalmers was immediately dealt to the Heat in a prearranged deal.
“It turned out pretty good,” said Chalmers, who has been a starter since opening night. “The biggest thing is probably the weather.”
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