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Wolves' Flynn endures first test
The rookie guard scored 14 points - all on free throws - and helped the Timberwolves beat the Bucks in a preseason game in Mankato.
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MANKATO - Summer has become autumn, but Timberwolves rookie guard Jonny Flynn can't escape this nagging feeling that wherever he goes, so goes Brandon Jennings.
The point guards saw each other everywhere each went before last summer's NBA draft. On Sunday, their paths met again in the Wolves' preseason-opening 117-103 victory over Milwaukee in Mankato.
Flynn estimates he and Jennings -- the first ballyhooed prep star to bypass college ball to play in Europe for a year -- participated in "eight or nine" pre-draft workout together, including one at Target Center that convinced new Wolves boss David Kahn to choose Flynn with the sixth pick. Jennings went to the Bucks at No. 10.
"It seemed like he was everywhere," Flynn said. "I couldn't shake him. Everywhere I was at, he was there."
The two began their pro careers Sunday night inside Bresnan Arena, where Flynn started for a Wolves team that built early leads of 10-2 and 14-3 and never trailed on a night when they attempted 56 free throws and made 50.
Part of that number -- the Wolves averaged 23 free-throw attempts last season -- can be attributed to whistle-happy replacement referees working preseason games while the NBA and its referees' union dicker.
Flynn was in good measure responsible for the other part. He missed all five shots he attempted but reached the free-throw line 15 times and made 14 -- all of his points -- in his debut.
"Overall, I give myself a good grade," said Flynn, who also had seven assists and three turnovers. "With Al Jefferson and Kevin Love out there, there's a lot of room for a guy like me to get to the basket."
For one night only, Jennings -- matched up mostly against Wolves guard Ramon Sessions when both teams went to their benches -- appeared quicker, rangier and less disciplined with a 14-point, five-assist, two-turnover performance, at least compared to his summer-workout partner and newfound friend.
"We knew each other a little in high school, but not as friends," Flynn said. "This summer, we got pretty close because I went to basically every workout with him. We know each other pretty well now. There's that little rivalry there."
Flynn won the opening round Sunday in a game when both the Wolves and the Bucks limited the minutes of some of their best players who are recovering from season-ending injuries a year ago.
The Wolves shut down Jefferson and Corey Brewer -- both recovering from winter knee surgeries -- at halftime. Bucks center Andrew Bogut (back) played only the first nine minutes and Michael Redd was limited to 16 minutes (the same number as Jefferson and Brewer) while he heals from a torn anterior cruciate knee ligament suffered last season.
"Probably about what I expected," Wolves coach Kurt Rambis said of his team's first game together. "We did a lot of good things. We did a lot of poor things. Way too many turnovers (25). We forced too much, but I also asked players to expand their games, something they probably haven't been asked to do."
For Flynn, that means learning to do what Rambis calls "reading situations and orchestrating the offense" rather than relying on a pick-and-roll game he already knows and facilitates so well.
"I need him to get his teammates involved," Rambis said. "They're counting on him."
Flynn reminded a questioner after Sunday's game that it has only been five days since the Wolves reported for their first training-camp practice.
"It's going to take us more than a week to get better," he said. "I think we'll get better day by day, and that's good."
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