Wolves Updates 6/4

Tim Leighton/Pioneer Press on Brook Lopez’s workout: 
Lopez, 20, worked exhaustively on shooting and
footwork drills with vice president Kevin McHale, assistant general
manager Fred Hoiberg and assistant coaches Jerry Sichting and J.B.
Bickerstaff. Former NBA player Jim Petersen, the team’s television
analyst, was recruited to defend and get physical with Lopez in the low
post. 

 
Petersen, 46, more than held his own, even stuffing
a couple of Lopez’s shots…
 
Also from Leighton:
The Wolves also are trying to arrange an individual workout with O.J. Mayo of Southern California.
 

-Winona State’s Jonte Flowers and the University of
Minnesota’s Dan Coleman, Spencer Tollackson and Lawrence McKenzie will
participate in a Wolves workout session on Friday.



 
 
 
"Right now, we’re in a situation where we’re going to assess for that
three spot, eight or nine guys pretty hard," McHale said. "Then we’re
assessing a whole other level of guys in case we move out of that three
spot. So we have a lot of guys that we’re looking at."
 
Lopez’s shooting range impressed McHale, but he used a good chunk of
the workout to put Lopez in positions he would expect to be in were he
playing for the Wolves.
 
"He’s just a 20-year-old kid," McHale said. "He’s just a big ol’ puppy. But he did some things that you liked."
 
 

 
UCLA freshman forward Kevin Love is one of another eight players McHale
hopes to bring to Minnesota for workouts in two weeks. McHale said he’d
like Lopez to return to work against other draft prospects that week.

Also from Zgoda: 

Lopez finished last in two drills — a lane-agility test and
three-quarter court sprints — among 80 players tested at last week’s
Orlando pre-draft combine, according to ESPN.com. He measured 6 feet, 11.25 inches without shoes and 7 feet, one-half inch with shoes.
 
 
 
 
The Timberwolves will see more prospects in
Houston next week when they hold join workouts with the Rockets. Among
those the Wolves have an eye on — with two picks in the second round
— is Indiana’s DJ White.
 
Wolves assistant J.B. BIckerstaff is back from coaching an all-star team in China.
 
 
 
 
Meanwhile, there’s no question Saunders will be a
hot coaching commodity. The rumor mill likely will start swirling —
especially in these parts. Get ready for a steady stream of: The
Timberwolves should rehire him!
 
That’s not going to happen, obviously. The
Timberwolves still haven’t admitted drafting Ndudi Ebi was a mistake.
They aren’t about to take ownership of their gaffe in firing Saunders.
(Or Dwane Casey, for that matter.) So that’s just idle jabber
.
 
Arrow to top