Wolves Updates 2/7

Colangelo said USA Basketball on Wednesday will announce between 25 and 28 names in the mix to play in Turkey as well as in the 2012 Olympics in London...
While Colangelo already has said Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant is assured of playing in Turkey, he wouldn’t reveal other names on the list. However, sources confirmed Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge, Minnesota’s Kevin Love and New York’s David Lee are among those who will be named.
From Mike Rand/Star Tribune: Q&A with Jonny Flynn and Kevin Love
Q Do you ever tune out during a break and watch the dancers or contests instead of Kurt Rambis?

Flynn The only time I do that is when I’m out of the game, and the mascots and people are jumping off the trampoline. It was a good one at the Target Center [recently]. They had all the mascots on the trampolines and shooting half court shots. I tuned out for a long time during that one.

Love Yeah, especially when the Klondike stuff is happening and you see Big Al on the screen, you just can’t help yourself. Obviously when the dancers are there, you can’t help but look sometimes...

Before Saturday’s game, the Wolves had held their previous three opponents — the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and Dallas — below 40 percent shooting from the floor. Memphis shot 51.7 percent (45 of 87), but the Wolves made key defensive stops in the fourth quarter to erase a seven-point deficit.

Rambis credited the recent turnaround to the players’ work ethic and their belief in the coaching staff.

“If you look at where we started and what the team has been through, this team has made tremendous progress,” Rambis said. “I’m very proud of where the players are right now. The guys are executing the offense and doing what it takes to get stops.”

From Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune: Jerry Zgoda’s Sunday Insider: Jefferson, Love and ????
It’s not easy, the Wolves coach said, “but some of the turnovers I have to expect because I’m asking the guards to do different things than they’re used to doing.”

Until Saturday, when the Wolves made only seven turnovers in a 109-102 victory over Memphis, that had led to an avalanche of miscues on the floor — more than any other NBA team, in fact. The Wolves had committed 814 turnovers before Saturday’s game, 36 more than second-worst Phoenix. Jonny Flynn, who handles the ball more than any other Minnesota player, ranks 17th in turnovers per game — but given that the top 10 includes players such as Steve Nash, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, it’s not necessarily anything to be ashamed of.

Still, the Wolves even made their winning streak a little more difficult by committing 51 turnovers in the first three games, an average of 17 a night.

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