From Ross Siler/Salt Lake Tribune: Kirk Snyder: A life unraveled
Wolves forward Ryan Gomes missed his fourth consecutive game because of a high ankle sprain. He participated some in the team’s shootaround Sunday and is hopeful a full practice today at Target Center will prove his ankle ready to play Tuesday against Atlanta.
He missed the chance to play in Boston, where he played his first two NBA seasons. “You want to take care of your body first when you have an injury,” Gomes said. “It’s not about playing a game against your former team, it’s all about playing the rest of the season. I’d rather make sure I’m 100 percent after having a full practice.”
He missed the chance to play in Boston, where he played his first two NBA seasons. “You want to take care of your body first when you have an injury,” Gomes said. “It’s not about playing a game against your former team, it’s all about playing the rest of the season. I’d rather make sure I’m 100 percent after having a full practice.”
And while the Timberwolves almost certainly have no regrets about the key piece of the deal that brought Kevin Garnett to Boston, Perkins — like Jefferson — is quickly establishing himself among the top young big men in the game.
This year has been challenging for Jefferson on a personal level as he has been working his way back from the torn ACL in his right knee that ended his season last February. Jefferson entered last night’s game averaging 16.8 points and 9.1 rebounds and is regaining his confidence.
“The past eight or nine games, I’ve kind of been getting my rhythm back,” Jefferson said. “I kind of thought I was going to pick up where I left off, but it’s not that simple.”
While Perkins is reaping the rewards of his hard work – a championship and perhaps even an All-Star appearance this season – Jefferson is still laboring in Minnesota. There is a semblance of sympathy from Perkins, but he also realizes how suddenly NBA realities can change.
“Yeah, I do,’’ Perkins said when asked whether he felt bad for Jefferson. “[But] the scary part about it is they got a young team. We got an old team. So maybe in three or four years it will be turned around. So you never know.’’
“Yeah, I do,’’ Perkins said when asked whether he felt bad for Jefferson. “[But] the scary part about it is they got a young team. We got an old team. So maybe in three or four years it will be turned around. So you never know.’’
The Wolves’ apathetic start forced coach Kurt Rambis to call out his team in the locker room at halftime.
“It came from our lack of organization, our lack of ball movement and our lack of aggression offensively,” he said.
“Our alignment is set up so our transition defense is already organized to begin with. When we weren’t organized, they were just pushing the ball down the floor, and we didn’t have a chance to get back on defense.”
Minnesota responded with a decidedly better effort in the second half, outscoring Boston 63-56 to pull within 12 points in the fourth quarter. But the hole proved too deep to climb out.
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