Greetings. Youngblood here, making my first Wolves road trip of the year. Luckily, I hopped a plane Friday night and was able to avoid any travel delays. Wonder if I'll be that lucky tomorrow.
Anyway, a few items:
--It is no coincidence that Luke Ridnour was a bit more assertive down the stretch in Friday's victory over Detroit at Target Center. It's something he has been pushing himself to do, and it's something coach Kurt Rambis has been asking for more of. Indeed, Rambis talked to the team about it before the Pistons game, suggesting Ridnour had to be more take-charge on the court and that the other players had to start listening to him more. It worked for one night, anyway.
--Tonight's game features two of the top three rebounders in the league in Kevin Love and Joakim Noah. Love leads the league with 15.7 rebounds per game. Orlando's Dwight Howard is second at 12.2 and Noah is third at 12.1. Love was saying before the game that they have similar results but different styles. I'll be writing a bit more about this in tomorrow's paper.
--Guess Jonny Flynn won't be able to get in that D-League back-to-back after all, as Sioux Fall's game tonight was snowed out. Rambis said he doesn't yet know whether or not Flynn is ready to make his NBA return. Heck, he doesn't even know if Flynn will be able to get back to the Twin Cities in time for tomorrow's practice. But it looks like he'll be going on the road with the team, as will Martell Webster.
--Darko Milicic is still looking a bit hobbled, but he'll play again. He said he'd hoped the sore quad contusion would loosen up during Friday's game, but it didn't.
That's about it. I'll get back to you after the game.
