Well, Wolves coach Rick Adelman was skeptical about Luke Ridnour's belief that he'd be ready to return from a sprained ankle tonight.

Ridnour will not play.

Indeed, Adelman said he doesn't anticipate taking Ridnour to Denver tomorrow for Wednesday's game. "I just can't see him playing until, maybe Saturday (against Oklahoma City)," Adelman said. "That's maybe wishful thinking, too."

Greetings. Kent Youngblood here. I'll be covering the game tonight.

Adelman was quite talkative tonight in his pre-game meeting with reporters. Here's an overview of the things he discussed:

--Adelman said he and his staff took a little different approach with the team today. The message: No excuses. Adelman says injuries have clearly affected the Wolves' ability to play at a high level, especially on offense. But, when talking to the team, Adelman said more effort was needed on defense. "There is no excuse to not go out and put it on the line every night," he said. "We have to play hard every night. We have nine games left in the season, we've dropped off in some things... defensively especially."

Again, Adelman can understand the difficulties on offense. But on defense? Every team runs their version of the pick and roll. But the Wolves have to defend it better. "The guys on the court have to know that, they may beat you. They may execute better than you can defend them. But you have to be in the right spots. You have to give yourselves a chance. That's what we did today. We talked about being responsible. We should not break down the way we've been breaking down.

--Ricky Rubio is back in town and was moving around on crutches tonight. He will hold a press conference tomorrow. "he seems really upbeat," Adelman said.

--Adelman has considered changing around his starting five. But, for now, he appears set on having Michael Beasley continue to come off the bench.

--Adelman all but said Darko Milicic won't play again for the Wolves this season.

That's about it for now. Have a good night. I'll get back to you after the game.