Al Jefferson has been a mentor to me, and he’s been great. Everyone on the team has been great as well. It feels good to have those guys be able to speak to me because they’ve been rookies as well. They’ve said rookie year is the hardest because you have your rookie duties and you have so much stuff thrown at you. Sometimes, people feel obligated to get down on the rookie to make an example out of them, but these guys say, “Keep you head high and soak it all in and take it to the chin if anyone comes at you hard.” We have a good set of guys who have been helpful to me.
Before the opening of another sure-to-be unfulfilling Timberwolves season, Al Jefferson took the entire Timberwolves staff, of over 100 people, out to dinner at JD Hoyt’s Steak house in Minneapolis. A nice gesture, probably intended to thank the staff before they have to clean up the perpetual mess that will be the T-Wolves season (we kid because we love). In all seriousness, this is a first-class gesture for a kid who realizes that he is now The Man in Minnesota. KG is in Boston and now has the championship that he should have won in Minnesota. Jefferson is the most valuable part of that trade, a man whom our own Bill Simmons called a “potential franchise player.”
Only in his fourth year, straight out of high school, Jefferson clearly recognizes that his image transcends the game of basketball…
Research on 82games.com has shown that teams which have a strong preseason record after a sub-30 win season tend to improve significantly. You can look it up. The T-Wolves went 6-2 in October. Look out.
Jason Collins is practicing fully after missing the opener and the entire exhibition season while recovering from elbow surgery, but Wittman said the center is going to need time to get into game shape..
Guard Mike Miller will donate $100 for every three-point shot he makes in Wolves home games to Sanford Health children’s hospital in his native South Dakota.
Brewer is up for it, but he alone can’t hope to contain any team for a full 48 minutes.
Defense has also become the forte of Timberwolves reserve Rodney Carney. In 13 minutes Wednesday, he was the only Minnesota player who got into the game but did not score a point. However, he had one of the Timberwolves’ 10 steals, which ultimately contributed to 21 points off Kings turnovers.
The Minnesota Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation’s Operation Minnesota Heroes Month, presented by POPP.com, tips off this Saturday, Nov. 1, as the Wolves host Military Night during their game vs. Dallas.