From Britt Robson/On The Ball:
It’s instructive to see the connection between the Wolves’ improved performance and dramatically fewer minutes of late for both Craig Smith and Rashad McCants, two players McHale obviously wanted to feature more prominently after he took over from Wittman. Smith has been victimized by Minnesota playing teams that murder him in matchups, such as Orlando and Dallas, but the fact remains that there are more of those teams than a mysteriously infatuated McHale thinks, and as scouts continue to suss out the Rhino’s pronounced strengths and weaknesses and plan accordingly, he loses the power of surprise.
Wolves coach Kevin McHale said Rashad McCants’ reduced playing time in the last two games had nothing to do with the fact that he was in Las Vegas for a New Year’s Eve party.
“It has to do with energy level,” McHale said. “He had a great practice today. When you practice like that, you’ll play. That’s what you’ve got to do. If you don’t have good practices, don’t have good energy, then it’s hard for me to play you.”
Jonah Ballow/Timberwolves site chatted with Stephon Marbury when he was at the Target Center last Friday.
JB: What do you think about this Wolves team so far?
Marbury: I think these guys can play; they’ve showed signs against really good teams. They came to New York and beat New York. We have been kind of up and down but I think when these guys stay steady and focused on the game and just go out and continue the gameplan, they show signs of beating really good teams in the NBA.
Ballow also posts audio from Kevin McHale, Ryan Gomes, and Rodney Carney from Monday’s practice.
Marc Stein/ESPN lists the Wolves at #24 in his weekly power rankings.
Here’s a “Did You Know?” that kind of sneaked up on us: Our pal Kevin McHale would be sporting a 5-1 record since Christmas had his Wolves just been able to hang onto their 29-point lead Tuesday in Dallas.
The Minnesota Timberwolves should set Mike Miller free, and Dallas would be the best landing place for him.
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