Spotted courtside on tonight’s ESPN telecast of Kansas State’s loss to
Texas in the Little Apple (Manhattan, Kan.) was Kevin McHale, who was
seated next to team player personnel guy Zarko Durisic, who was seated
next to Phoenix GM Steve Kerr. They watched Beasley, the 6-9 freshman
forward who appears a lock for this summer’s No. 1 overall pick…
 
 
 
Jefferson gives the Wolves something elemental–a big man constantly at
threat to score in the low block. Yet an increasingly vexing problem as
the season has progressed has been finding him a worthy partner, a
relatively potent and consistent player who can score and dish on the
perimeter to create space and synergize the offense. Unfortunately, the
quartet of candidates being seriously auditioned thus far have varying
degrees of skill in terms of commanding the floor and shooting the
ball, ranging from the "pure" point Telfair to the point machine
McCants, with Marko Jaric close to Telfair and Randy Foye closer to
McCants in skill sets…
 
  
 
 
"I thought it would probably be a little bit easier
for me," Foye said Monday. "But right now, it’s a struggle. I know I’ll
fight through this. I’ve been through tougher challenges in my life
than going through a little slump in basketball."
 
Foye’s numbers through his first 11 games can’t be
sugarcoated: He is averaging 8.7 points on 35.8 percent shooting in
25.5 minutes. He suffered perhaps his worst performance Sunday during a
99-83 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, scoring a season-low two points on
1-for-6 shooting.
 
 
 
Stephen Litel/Hoopsworld talks to Craig Smith about why the team is "continuing to fight":
We have a lot of character and a lot of heart. I mean, we don’t like to lose games even though we’ve lost a lot. We want to go out there and just continue to get better, so we build momentum going into next year. 
 
 
 
Walker wants out because he says he has accomplished too much and still
has too much to offer to sit on the bench while the Wolves play their
future. Veteran Greg Buckner, though, said he was happy to see last
week’s trade deadline pass without his name called.
 
“I didn’t want to go,” he said. “I like Minnesota a lot. Right now,
we’re trying to figure out a mix of young guys who are going to be here
long term. I’m going to be here for a while, so I’m happy…"

 
 
The subject: independence for Kosovo. As an ethnic Serb, it’s not hard to guess where Jaric stands on the issue.
 
First of all, I don’t want to get involved too politically in this,"
Jaric began. "But I’m just thinking that it’s very unfair what is
happening in my country right now. How powerful Western nations are
making decisions on what needs to be done over there."
 
 
 
 
Previews of tonight’s game against Utah:
 
Click here for the forum’s game thread