Timberwolves’ players were shocked at the news of Sam Mitchell being fired in Toronto, pointing to Sam as a former coach of the year, most simply shook their heads saying “I can’t believe this league.”
-Amusing Note: Apparently Al Jefferson and Sebastian Telfair had a friendly wager; Al challenged Bassy’s ability to dunk the ball, putting $500 on it. Bassy apparently tossed the ball off the backboard and jammed it home. Bassy openly questioned Al about where his money was; Al responded jokingly “I don’t pay people I can beat up…” Guess Al forgets Sebastian is from Conley Island – they don’t play in Coney Island.
The Timberwolves will make some changes to their starting lineup for tonight’s game at Orlando, inserting Kevin Ollie at point guard, with Randy Foye moving to shooting guard and Mike Miller going to small forward.
“I thought Kevin came in and really gave us some good energy,” coach Randy Wittman said, referring to Monday night’s 100-90 loss at Charlotte. “It picked up. He gets after it defensively and that’s where it’s got to start for us. We’ve got to make sure we start this game defensively with good pressure on the ball and great effort right out of the box. I think that Kevin provides that for us.”
Ollie starts at point — insert your own comment here about what that means for that position and the Wolves’ future (other than maybe Spanish teenage whiz Ricky Rubio) — and Randy Foye starts at shooting guard, Mike Miller moves to small forward, Ryan Gomes move to power forward and Al Jefferson slides over to center to take Howard.
That gets Ollie, who Wittman became enamored with in Monday’s loss at Charlotte, on the floor from the start, allows Gomes to cover Rashard Lewis, who isn’t a power forward really but plays one on TV, so Jefferson isn’t left out on the perimeter chasing Lewis.
It also could allow the Wolves a better look at Foye strictly at two guard if they intend to make a deal for a point guard.
Minnesota is now thin at the small forward position with the loss of Corey Brewer for the season. Rodney Carney and Rashad McCants will have to come off the bench to help the Wolves account for the absence of Brewer. Sebastian Telfair continues to give Minnesota a different look with the second unit as he uses speed to create a faster pace. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 PM in Orlando.
Wittman said there is no surgery date yet for forward Corey Brewer, who is out for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Doctors are still waiting for the swelling to go down before operating.
“It’ll be a couple weeks,” Wittman said.
Beating the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday counts for little. That might have been the worst NBA team I’ve seen. But how the Charlotte Bobcats won this game could count for a lot if they use it as a template for how to get better.