ducks
10-16-2004, 11:11 AM
Wolves' subs getting chance to show skills
BY MIKE WELLS, Pioneer Press
Griffin, Powell, Stepp and Rickert aren't household names, but look over at the Timberwolves' bench during exhibition games and you see Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell and the rest of the team's regulars cheering them as if they were the stars.
While many of the veterans play limited minutes and use exhibition games to work out the kinks, players such as Eddie Griffin, Kasib Powell, Blake Stepp and Rick Rickert are playing for their NBA futures. That's why every nifty move usually gets a towel wave by Cassell or Garnett pumping his fist.
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"We enjoy watching our young guys," Garnett said. "It sort of makes you flash back to your younger days. What you're doing is sitting there watching the future in front of you. We enjoy competing against them. At the same time, we encourage them to do well."
Garnett is often in the huddle during timeouts, giving words of advance before the real coaches meet with the players.
Powell, who played for Bobby Knight at Texas Tech, was part of the unit late in the fourth quarter Thursday night in Birmingham, Ala., that helped pull off a 99-96 victory against an Atlanta team that had many of its key players in the game. Powell scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter.
"He has a great knack for the game, a high IQ for the game of basketball," Garnett said about the free agent. "He's going to be a blessing to a team one day, I'm telling you, whether it's going to be with us or with somebody else."
At the rate he's playing, Griffin is locking up the backup forward spot. He had another solid outing — 11 points, nine rebounds and two blocks — against the Hawks, and he's second on the team in scoring at 11 per game.
"We're a veteran group, we knew we could help him," Garnett said of Griffin, who is trying to resurrect his career. "He's just scratching the surface on what he can do. Get Mac (Kevin McHale) with him and show him some of those moves. He's going to be really nice."
When told of the compliments he's been receiving from his teammates, Griffin cracked a childlike smile.
"It feels good because all of them are all stars and they're rooting for us," Griffin said. "They want us to get good. It makes you play harder and feel good about yourself."
In the zone: It's not uncommon for coach Flip Saunders to throw off an opposing team by using an assortment of his offensive plays, but he added a new wrinkle against Atlanta when he had his starters play predominantly zone defense. The decision worked well because the Wolves outscored the Hawks 32-18 and held them to 31.6 percent shooting from the field in the first quarter.
"We wanted to get it on tape so we can take a look at it," Saunders said. "We haven't done it early, so our starters never got in a flow. I thought it got us off to a pretty good start."
Briefly: The Wolves get tough back-to-back road tests when they face defending NBA champion Detroit on Sunday and Eastern Conference finalist Indiana on Tuesday.
• Garnett is going to repeat as most valuable player, Michael Olowkandi is going to redeem himself from last season's disappoint and be the league's most improved player, and the Wolves are going to advance to the NBA Finals, according to SI.com.
The Wolves are going to lose to Detroit in the Finals, the Web site predicts.
Mike Wells covers the Timberwolves and the NBA. He can be reached at [email protected].
BY MIKE WELLS, Pioneer Press
Griffin, Powell, Stepp and Rickert aren't household names, but look over at the Timberwolves' bench during exhibition games and you see Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell and the rest of the team's regulars cheering them as if they were the stars.
While many of the veterans play limited minutes and use exhibition games to work out the kinks, players such as Eddie Griffin, Kasib Powell, Blake Stepp and Rick Rickert are playing for their NBA futures. That's why every nifty move usually gets a towel wave by Cassell or Garnett pumping his fist.
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"We enjoy watching our young guys," Garnett said. "It sort of makes you flash back to your younger days. What you're doing is sitting there watching the future in front of you. We enjoy competing against them. At the same time, we encourage them to do well."
Garnett is often in the huddle during timeouts, giving words of advance before the real coaches meet with the players.
Powell, who played for Bobby Knight at Texas Tech, was part of the unit late in the fourth quarter Thursday night in Birmingham, Ala., that helped pull off a 99-96 victory against an Atlanta team that had many of its key players in the game. Powell scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter.
"He has a great knack for the game, a high IQ for the game of basketball," Garnett said about the free agent. "He's going to be a blessing to a team one day, I'm telling you, whether it's going to be with us or with somebody else."
At the rate he's playing, Griffin is locking up the backup forward spot. He had another solid outing — 11 points, nine rebounds and two blocks — against the Hawks, and he's second on the team in scoring at 11 per game.
"We're a veteran group, we knew we could help him," Garnett said of Griffin, who is trying to resurrect his career. "He's just scratching the surface on what he can do. Get Mac (Kevin McHale) with him and show him some of those moves. He's going to be really nice."
When told of the compliments he's been receiving from his teammates, Griffin cracked a childlike smile.
"It feels good because all of them are all stars and they're rooting for us," Griffin said. "They want us to get good. It makes you play harder and feel good about yourself."
In the zone: It's not uncommon for coach Flip Saunders to throw off an opposing team by using an assortment of his offensive plays, but he added a new wrinkle against Atlanta when he had his starters play predominantly zone defense. The decision worked well because the Wolves outscored the Hawks 32-18 and held them to 31.6 percent shooting from the field in the first quarter.
"We wanted to get it on tape so we can take a look at it," Saunders said. "We haven't done it early, so our starters never got in a flow. I thought it got us off to a pretty good start."
Briefly: The Wolves get tough back-to-back road tests when they face defending NBA champion Detroit on Sunday and Eastern Conference finalist Indiana on Tuesday.
• Garnett is going to repeat as most valuable player, Michael Olowkandi is going to redeem himself from last season's disappoint and be the league's most improved player, and the Wolves are going to advance to the NBA Finals, according to SI.com.
The Wolves are going to lose to Detroit in the Finals, the Web site predicts.
Mike Wells covers the Timberwolves and the NBA. He can be reached at [email protected].