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Game previews:
While Rubio may be an ocean away, Kahn said he’ll be keeping closer company with the point guard soon.

“I’m headed over there in February and will spend a lot of time over there in the spring,” Kahn said. “And I think as we move into the new year, I look forward to working with the Barcelona club and Ricky’s agents to determine how we work collaboratively this summer.

“My plan would be that after things settle down a little bit and are into 2010, that we start to figure out what can we do this summer, realistically, in coordination with Barcelona, to help his game. And then, of course, the following summer, he would be (in Minnesota).”

Love’s statistics say otherwise, but the second-year forward claims he needs to “find my rhythm” after missing the Wolves’ first 18 games with a broken bone in his left hand. He remembers getting his shot blocked in one game because he failed to make a fundamental pump fake. In another game, he said he was late several times on passes to teammates and leaned too far back on his jumpers.

Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis noticed Love’s occasional issues on the court and had a chat with him after practice last week.

“Like a lot of young players, he wants it to happen yesterday,” Rambis said. “That’s not how it works. It takes time. Kevin wants everything to be perfect all the time. That’s what drives him as a player, but it will also make him a very good professional.”

From Darren “Doogie” Wolfson/Star Tribune: Will David (Kahn) become Goliath?
Save for the Celtics’ first-round playoff exit to the Pacers in 2005, Jefferson has not been close to the postseason. What’s more, Jefferson’s teams are a combined 153-284 in his six-year career.

As Jefferson improves exponentially, the teams around him crumble and then are put together again, hoping for different results. This time it was president of basketball operations David Kahn, who took over for Kevin McHale, overhauling the roster, shipping out veterans such as Mike Miller, former Boston College standout Craig Smith, and ex-Celtic Sebastian Telfair and bringing in young guards Ramon Session and Jonny Flynn, among others.

The Timberwolves play hard – really hard – for new coach Kurt Rambis, but the youthful errors constantly cost them victories. Jefferson is counting the days until the franchise moves on from this stage and he can match team success with personal success.

From Jim Fenton/Patriot Ledger: Celtics and Timberwolves: A tale of two teams
Rambis now coaches way off in Minnesota, but he remains a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild from his Hollywood acting days, which include performances in such unforgettable television series as “7th Heaven” and “Malcolm and Eddie” and the major motion picture “Eddie” starring Whoopi Goldberg.

As such, he received recently from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences a collection of films to screen and vote on for Oscar consideration.

“What? Does he really?” Wolves forward Kevin Love asked. “I didn’t know that. I thought they were kidding about that. I really did.”

That’s how the Wolves ended up watching the critically acclaimed independent film “The Hurt Locker” on an off day in Salt Lake City last week.

The Kings passed on Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio in the June draft, only to see Minnesota take him fifth overall. Kurt Rambis passed on his chance to win the Kings’ coaching job, only to be named the Timberwolves’ head man two months later while Paul Westphal was given the job in Sacramento. Former Kings coach Reggie Theus joined Rambis as an assistant, also joining a man in fellow assistant/Detroit Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer whose name would occasionally come up in Kings coaching searches as a potential candidate.

But while it seemed over the summer that their on-floor fates would be as similar as their off-floor moves, that couldn’t be further from the truth as they face off today in the first of three road games for the Kings.