Kevin Love goes on a donut run for his teammates as part of his rookie duties (WCCO video).
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here for the forum’s thread for tonight’s game against Atlanta
Game previews:
Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson will miss Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves due to a “viral infection,” according to coach Mike Woodson.
Jefferson promised he would use his all-star snub as motivation but said it had nothing to do with back-to-back 34-point games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics.
“No, I’m just playing, man,” he said. “I’m feeling good, that’s all.”
McHale wasn’t so sure.
“Like I told Al, the only thing you can do, big fella, is go out there and prove them wrong,” he said. “He got 34 against two very good defensive teams.”
• Wolves front-office guys Jim Stack and Fred Hoiberg joined the team Tuesday after scouting Connecticut 7-3 center Hasheem Thabeet and Louisville forward Earl Clark, among others, in the Huskies’ runaway victory Monday in Louisville, Ky.
• McHale on being named Western Conference Coach of the Month: “Well, it’s a nice honor to have. What it really shows is the team played well.”
• Chris Richard and Blake Ahearn — among the last Wolves cuts in October — will play in the NBA Development League’s All-Star Game that is part of the NBA’s All-Star weekend in Phoenix.
From Kelly Dwyer/Ball Don’t Lie: Gomes to Timberwolves: ‘I got this’
Harrison Sanford: How does it feel to get to watch your son in person?
Randy Wittman: It feels good. I hate it because I’m not very good watcher with my background in coaching. I’d much rather coach than sit in the stands. It’s an opportunity for me that I haven’t had even through his high school days being a professional coach; our schedules didn’t match, so this has been fun.
The power forward averaged 12.6 points (on 54.3 percent shooting) and 10.0 rebounds in January as the Timberwolves went 10-4, salvaging some of their dignity in the wake of an abysmal start. His reward? A Rookie Challenge snub, which Minnesota coach Kevin McHale called “utterly ridiculous.” Love ranks fourth in the league in rebounds per 48 minutes, trailing Marcus Camby, Dwight Howard and Andris Biedrins.
Granger, you might recall, was the 17th player taken in the 2005 draft. That was, you also might recall, three picks after the Wolves took Rashad McCants 14th. McCants is expected to sit on the bench again all night long tonight.
Kevin McHale said he “really liked” Granger in that draft and considered him a unique player, but said he was warned off by doctors who “red-flagged” a knee injury that ended Granger’s final season at New Mexico.
Funny, but doctors’ warning helped scared McHale off both Granger and Brandon Roy and yet the Wolves had three first-round picks in a row — McCants, Randy Foye, now Corey Brewer — who all missed a good chunk of a season with a knee injury.
Caleb Sherman writes about his father David Sherman, the Wolves photographer.
From Sports On A Stick: Seeking NBA Street Cred, Kevin Love Shoots Stranger with Pellet Gun, Feels Terrible
Apparently, Colorado makes me want to listen to female singer-songwriters, because Cat Power is going into the CD deck next. Cat Power and I have a history with long, depressing road trips. I only truly understood her album “The Greatest” after a trip to Minneapolis for training camp with the Timberwolves. I knew I had almost no chance to make the team, not only because I didn’t have a guaranteed contract, but also because I was nursing a knee that I knew wasn’t healthy. (I later had arthroscopic surgery.) It was a bleak trip up I-35. “The Greatest” helped me through it.
Randy Foye returns to a familiar arena – the Wachovia Center – on March 25th to play the Sixers.
The Randy Foye Foundation encourages members of the Nova Nation to purchase your tickets through the RFF. Tickets are face value, and a portion of your purchase will go directly to the RFF.
