Beasley still not ready to return; Barea ready for more minutes

Greetings from Target Center.

After covering two road games in two nights, Jerry has a much-deserved day off. So I'll be your humble narrator tonight.

Here are some pre-game nuggets:

--Michael Beasley is still wearing a boot on his right foot. The swelling has gone down a bit on the mid-foot sprain, but he still can't put any weight on the ball of his foot, and so he's probably not going to be ready any time soon. I'm guessing he won't be on the team's two-game road trip this Friday and Saturday.

--As Beasley was talking tonight, Kevin Love strolled past and said, "Keep the ball moving, Mike." That, of course, was a reference to Love's joking remark about why the ball moved so well in the Wolves' victory in Washington. Love joked that it was because Beasley wasn't in the lineup. A joke a minute, these guys.

--J.J.. Barea responded well to his playing time yesterday and, according to coach Rick Adelman, should be able to play more minutes tonight.

--Adelman said the key to the Wolves starting halves better could be simple. "You're going to have to make shots," he said. "We had some good opportunities last night and didn't convert 'em."

--The starting lineup will not change. BUT...Adelman did say that continued slow starts could force him to re-evaluate that. Adelman likes Barea and Ricky Rubio coming off the bench together.

--Adelman also talked at some length about the development of Derrick Williams, Adelman sees Williams as one of the few players on the team capable of putting the ball on the floor and attacking the basket. "He's one of the guys with a lot of potential to expand his game," Adelman said. "It won't happen all at once for him. We have to continue to keep encouraging him to mix in a nice shot selection, where he takes a three, and then attacks the basket."

--Adelman was asked about the struggling Wes Johnson. "I know he's a much better player than he's played," Adelman said. "I think a lot of it is his shots aren't falling, and he's losing his confidence level."

That's about it for now. I'll blog back at you after the game.