sports
Jerry Zgoda missed the entire Kevin Garnett era, but he's back covering the Timberwolves after working the beat for their first four seasons two decades ago. In between, he covered a bit of everything: Gopher men's and women's basketball and NCAA athletics, golf, outdoor recreation, sports media and a little Vikings and Twins.
Posts about Wolves practice news
Rubio not expected to make two-game trip West
Posted by: Jerry Zgoda Updated: January 1, 2013 - 1:59 PM
My colleague/boss Dennis Brackin covered practice for me today at Target Center while I head to the airport to catch a flight westward for this quick two-game trip to Salt Lake City and Denver.
He reports:
* Don't expect Ricky Rubio to make the trip because of that stiff back that caused him to miss Saturday's victory over Phoenix.
Rick Adelman said it didn't make much sense to put Rubio and his spasming back on a plane to Utah and Denver for back-to-back games, the second of which he's wasn't going to play anyway.
Instead, unless there's a late change in plans before the team flies today, they'll keep him here for treatment and try to get him healthy for Saturday's game against Portland.
The start time for that 7 p.m. game, btw, won't be changed to avoid conflict with the Vikings' playoff game at Green Bay because Portland plays the night before in Memphis and needs 24 hours before it plays again and because the Wolves have their big, annual prep Shootout scheduled for Saturday and the headlining Apple Valley-Robbinsdale Cooper game is set for 3 p.m. and there's no wiggle room to move the start time up a couple, three hours.
* Andrei Kirilenko makes his return to Utah to play the Jazz for the first time after playing his first 10 NBA seasons there.
He said after practice that he can't imagine how he'll feel walking out onto the court and said he probably will recognize every fan sitting in the first 20 rows there.
Roy misses practice for personal reasons
Posted by: Kent Youngblood Updated: December 28, 2012 - 3:42 PM
Wolves guard Brandon Roy, working his way back from knee surgery, missed Friday's practice due to personal reasons.
The team didn't specify what those reasons were. But, given Roy's history of knee problems, his attempt at a comeback this season, and the work he has put in to return from his latest surgery, it's hard not to wonder whether the absence Friday was knee-related.
"As far as I know it's personal reasons," coach Rick Adelman said. When asked later if he thought the absence was knee-related, Adelman said, "I have no idea. Just personal reasons."
Roy has been working hard to return from Nov. 19 surgery on his right knee. In a recent interview he said his knee had responded well to the procedure and that he had not contemplated leaving the game again. After a hard practice Thursday Roy said he felt good and, given another good practice Friday, hoped to return to action Saturday against Phoenix.
Now any return will have to be pushed back.
Meanwhile:
--Adelman said Ricky Rubio has been cleared to play up to 24 minutes a game, but whether he will or not depends on how well Rubio is playing and how the game is going.
--Chase Budinger said there have been no setbacks from his November surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee. He said he hopes to return in time to play "20-plus" games, which means he is aiming for a mid-March return.
--Adelman said Kevin Love -- who declined to talk with reporters Friday -- appears to be out of rhythm so far this year, with his injuries a possible contributing factor. "It's just something he's going to have to work through, play through," Adelman said. "He's really important in the way we play. When he's making shots it opens it up for everybody."
B-Roy eyes Saturday return, Pek back at practice
Posted by: Jerry Zgoda Updated: December 27, 2012 - 10:23 PMThe Timberwolves worked out today in the first of a rare set of back-to-back practices before Saturday's game.
A couple quick things:
* Brandon Roy practiced fully and intends to do so tomorrow. If Friday's workout goes well, he said there's a chance he could return for the first time since Nov. 9 for Saturday's game.
"If everything feels good, I'll talk to Coach and see if Saturday is the day," he said.
Roy did 5-on-5 half-court work on Thursday and will scrimmage with his teammates on Friday in his first back-to-back practices since he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee five weeks ago.
"These two days are good for me," Roy said. "Today was a good day, so going again tomorrow will just give me the confidence and reassurance that I can go out there and play in the game."
* Big Pek practiced normally today after he fell ill during Wednesday's 87-84 home loss to Houston.
He left Wednesday's game in the second quarter and returned near the end of the third quarter after getting intravenous fluids administered in between.
"One moment, I feel really bad, like I have a breakdown in my body," he said. "I just feel bad. I start almost to see stars. It was better to go out because I couldn't help them. I just make more damage inside if I stay, so I go out, take some IVs and feel better."
* Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio worked on their conditioning long after practice today.
Love -- who went 3-for-14 shooting against the Rockets -- ran on an anti-gravity treadmill that takes the weight bearing off his knees and ankles while Rubio leapt from a standing-still position onto blocks.
Rubio seemed to come through his increased 21 minutes played Wednesday with no issues.
* Love is sixth among frontcourt players and Rubio eighth among guards in the second release of All-Star Game balloting released Thursday. Neither has a chance to be voted a starter, and it's unlikely Love will make it back as a coach's pick unless he and the Wolves get very hot in a real hurry.
* If the Wolves beat Michael Beasley, Wes Johnson and the Suns on Saturday, it will be their first winning (7-5) December since 2004 and their third-best December winning percentage (.583) all time.
Yo, Yeo!: Wolves get practice visitor, Rubio return still uncertain
Posted by: Jerry Zgoda Updated: December 10, 2012 - 8:05 PMThat was Wild coach Mike Yeo watching the Wolves' practice courtside at Target Center this afternoon.
Guess he's got some free time on his hands.
Yeo also chatted with Rick Adelman for about 20 minutes after practice, picking his brain on, among other topics, how to plan and prepare a team to play a condensed, lockout-shortened season.
Adelman has done it twice, most recently with last season's 66-game sked.
Yeo will get his chance, IF the NHL and its players pull their heads out and reach a new labor deal before it gets too late.
Yeo called Adelman's advice "helpful and insightful."
"The chance to speak to a person like that with experience and his success, it's great for a coach like me," Yeo said.
Adelman, after all, is closing in on his 1000th NBA career victory this season.
Yeo has won 35 NHL games.
He laughed when I mentioned the prospect of 1,000 career victories.
"That's what makes it so impressive and great for me to have the chance to speak to somebody like that," Yeo said. "One thing I certainly have a value for is experience and success. I have an awful long way to go to reach something like that."
Other tidbits from practice:
* Two weeks ago, the Wolves internally set Wednesday's game against Denver as a target date for Ricky Rubio's return.
On Monday, Adelman said he still doesn't know if Rubio will return Wednesday, Saturday against Dallas or sometime beyond that.
He said it will depend on how Rubio's knee tests out for strength and endurance and the decisions management and the medical staff make about an upcoming schedule that has the Wolves playing four games in five nights -- including three on the road -- after Wednesday.
He said they still must decide if Rubio will be on a minutes limit and how best to approach that, if he'll play back-to-back games and if Adelman wants to start him or bring him off the bench.
"He could go out and play some right now, but is that the smart thing to do?" Adelman said. "I'd like to see him where he's ready to go andright now I don't think anybody can gauge that. He seems fine given the injury he had, but you don't want him to get other injuries by going out too soon and pulling a muscle, doing something like that."
* Brandon Roy shot for the second consecutive day back with the team, but isn't ready to practice yet.
Adelman said he hopes Roy will ramp up his activitiy next week if he comes through this week still feeling fine.
He said Roy looks good, but will know more after seeing him cut and move on that arthroscopically repaired knee next week.
* Adelman said Nikola Pekovic practiced unaffected today by that hurting ankle that bothered him three games last week.
* Derrick Williams continues to say all the right things about remaining patient with his playing time, or rather outright lack of it.
He said he talks to his agent -- Kobe's guy, Rob Pelinka -- every day after life things, but said they haven't discussed requesting a trade.
I asked Williams if his patience is unlimited and he said, "I wouldn't say that," but said he's not about to complain about playing (or not playing) behind guys like Kevin Love and Andrei Kirilenko.
Cavs' coach fined $25K for Friday night's comments
Posted by: Jerry Zgoda Updated: December 9, 2012 - 6:19 PMWell, Cleveland coach Byron Scott apparently should have tried another way.
Miffed after the Timberwolves attempted 35 free throws to his team's nine, Scott said this after the Wolves' 91-73 victory at Target Center on Friday:
"I am trying to figure out a way to say this without getting fined," he said. "It was that bad, it really was. It was that bad. I understandthat we are playing in Minnesota. We went to the basket just as much as they did. I think we had 38 attempts in the paint to their 34 and we got nine free throws. I think that speaks for itself."
The NBA spoke Sunday afternoon when it fined Scott $25,000 for that public criticism of the game officials.
Kevin Love attempted twice as many free throws -- 18 -- as the entire Cavaliers' team.
Some other news from Sunday and the Wolves' practice at Target Center:
* Brandon Roy is back with the team after spending the last couple of weeks back home in the Pacific Northwest while he recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery.
He was alongside his teammates in the weight room, but didn't practice.
* Terry Porter coached practice because Rick Adelman went back to Oregon on Saturday to attend a court dedication ceremony at the community college where he got his first head-coaching job, in 1977.
Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore., dedicated its Ward Paldanius Court, named after the college's former athletic director who hired Adelman to his first head job after a playing career in the NBA.
* The Wolves' next game, against Denver on Wednesday, is just three days away.
Will Ricky Rubio make his NBA debut that night.
Not if you believe Porter, who when asked if Rubio looks game ready said today, "Oh, I don't know, I imagine it's a long way before that happens. There's a lot more practice he has got to get under his belt and some more evaluations before they give him the clearance."
ADVERTISEMENT
recent posts
- Postgame: Say what? Wolves rally, win without Love
- What will it be tonight for Wolves?
- Homecoming: Kirilenko returns to Utah
- Rubio not expected to make two-game trip West
- Wolves bring back Lazar Hayward
- Wolves sign Lazar Hayward
- Postgame: Wolves heating up in December
- Roy to explore "additional treatment options'' on knee; Rubio out tonight
- Roy contemplating retirement?
- Roy misses practice for personal reasons
- B-Roy eyes Saturday return, Pek back at practice
- Postgame: Wolves lose another lead in Houston loss
- Love will play vs. Rockets, more Ricky likely, too
- Without Love, Wolves go small today in New York
- Eye injury will keep Love out of the lineup Sunday
- Postgame: Wolves stop that streak at 12, beat OKC
- Wolves waive injured Howard, Lee could be lost for season as well
- Postgame: Wolves double up Heat on boards, still lose by 11
- Pekovic, Love will play tonight at Miami, Rubio won't
Post By Category
- Wally Ellenson: "I definitely just wanted to play."
- NHL update: Parise says it'll be 'pretty stupid' if talks blow up
- RandBall: The Vikings' four-game path to franchise purification
- Reilly, Lucia, Potulny go for gold with the U.S. at the world junior championships
- Postgame: Say what? Wolves rally, win without Love
- Rayno: At No. 9, are the Gophers still underrated?
- DNR announces fish restoration effort, lacking detail
- New study seeks to solve moose mystery
ADVERTISEMENT
inside the StarTribune
-
425 Portland Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55488
(612) 673-4000
- Company
- Subscriber Services
- Website
- Buy Ads
- Store
- Connect with Us
© 2013 StarTribune. All rights reserved.
StarTribune.com is powered by Limelight Networks
Newspaper Subscriptions
eEdition
RSS
Newsletters