Wittman was a decent dude, but his abysmal career record speaks to his inability to connect with or motivate the players. Even when he was the top assistant to Flip Saunders, his whining and constant criticism — Wally Szczerbiak was a frequent target — provided part of the soundtrack to watching the Wolves courtside in the late 1990s and into the current decade. McHale? He yells a lot less, offering JV-like encouragement (“Let’s box out, guys!”) and showing a genuine desire to see the players succeed on a personal level in spite of his vested desire to watch the roster he assembled thrive.
“I just think people were beaten up a little bit, beaten down, and just was tired of the situation,” Foye said. “When he came and took over, we knew things were going to change. We didn’t know how fast. We thought it would probably take longer.”
From Jonah Ballow/Timberwolves site: Audio of Ryan Gomes and Kevin Love talking about Friday’s game at Phoenix.
Shooting guard/forward Mike Miller scored just four points on 1-of-7 shooting against the Heat and is averaging 5.5 points in six games since returning from his second sprained right ankle.
McHale, asked if the ankle is still impeding Miller, said: “I’m sure it is. But he had a good practice again today. It usually starts with good practices and it’ll carry over. He’ll be fine.”
Not long after practice officially ended Wednesday, a handful of Timberwolves players and coaches lingered on one end of the court playing a boisterous one-on-one contest inside the paint. On the other end, guard Randy Foye worked silently on layups and pick-and-roll techniques.
If the Wolves — who were outscored 30-9 at the free-throw line Tuesday in a three-point loss to Miami — have any thought of going on another run this season, they will have to win their battles inside.
“It’s important to get an inside-outside combination going,” said Rodney Carney, who had the latter going Tuesday with a 3-for-6 performance from three-point range. “[Tuesday] I was hitting them so I stayed out there and kept shooting them. We have to have a combination, though. I’m going to try and stress to get to the hole a little bit more and not just stay outside and keep shooting.”
Some of their long-suffering fans got all whipped up by the five-game winning streak that ended on Tuesday, ignoring the fact that all five wins were against lousy teams (composite record: 63-131, .325).
Take a deep breath, and consider this: The Wolves are on pace to win 24 games. If they play .500 basketball the rest of the way, they’ll win 33 — one more than they won in 2006-07, when they traded Kevin Garnett, blew everything up and rebuilt. One win isn’t a lot of progress to show for two seasons.
Joe Luther at Rashad McCants’ website makes a list of the player’s “all-time best offensive performances”:
With Minnesota still trying to figure out Rashad’s place in its rotation, it seems the perfect time to take a look back at his all-time best offensive performances.
One thing is clear from our retrospective: No. 1 can put up points in a hurry.
A point worth noting: When Rashad has scored 24 points or more — as he did in the five games listed here — Minnesota is 4-1.
From C.J/Star Tribune:
Kevin James, the comedian from TV’s “The King of Queens,” was at the Mall of America promoting his new movie, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” on Monday. In addition to a red carpet event at the mall’s theaters, James signed autographs with the Timberwolves’ mascot, New Crunch (which is what I call all who have succeeded my friend, Original Crunch). The mascot was tardy, probably delayed by the snow-snarled traffic, and focused about making up the time as he furiously cranked out signatures and slapped the autographed photos on the table.
Told that he was being outperformed by a mascot, James said, “He’s quicker. What can I do?” Of course, because the mascot is mute, the guy in the furry suit had the advantage of not having to interact with fans.
And he was a testy wolf. At one point, the wolf had the nerve to cop an attitude with Bloomington Police Sgt. Rick Hart, whose many hats include being in charge of the bomb squad. Even without words, Crunch was able to convey his dismay that Hart apparently walked by without paying proper attention.
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