With Miller and rookie forward Kevin Love on board, the Wolves might not need McCants’ scoring as much as they did last season, but he’s still a big part of their offense.
What they want him to do is put those same skills to better use on the defensive end.
“He has got the ability to get to the rim,” Wittman said. “He has got the ability to shoot the three, to spread the floor, to score points quickly when he’s coming off the bench. He doesn’t need to be warmed up. So there’s no reason why he can’t be better defensively.”
Steve Aschburner/SI.com includes Randy Wittman on his list of 5 coaches likely to find themselves on the hot seat this season.
When Wittman returned from the 2006-07 season — the final squandered year of Kevin Garnett’s stay in Minnesota — and strapped in for an extreme makeover, the first word uttered was “patience.” It was management advising Wittman, rather than the other way around, because the coach already had one frustrating stint (62-102) with the Cavaliers and wasn’t eager to ugly-up his record any more. But after one full season (22-60) with a revolving-door roster of kids and castoffs, Timberwolves boss Kevin McHale is talking about a .500 finish. Wittman, respectfully, has guessed more in the range of 32-35 victories. If that’s not progress enough for McHale, and he stays committed to the players on hand, Wittman could take the fall. Changing the coach could buy the Wolves an extra marketing year, too, with the fans, who thought seven consecutive first-round exits were bad until they stopped reaching the playoffs altogether.
From Hardwood Paroxysm – Kevin Love Can Do Things With A Basketball You Can’t (video)
From KEYC.TV (video):
The Timberwolves were out in the community today.Corey Brewer and Assistant General Manager Rob Babcock put on a basketball clinic at East Junior High School.The two showed over a hundred seventh and eighth graders how to play the game under control.
Coming off a 22-60 season, few are billing the Minnesota Timberwolves as “must-see” entertainment this winter.
Still, there are a number of reasons why the Wolves should be infinitely more watchable. And it starts with not having to watch Marko Jaric and Antoine Walker anymore.