I wrote about Steph Curry for the Friday paper and startribune.com.

One quote that didn't make my column jumped out at me:

Wolves coach Sam Mitchell is trying to develop young players and compete at the same time. He fought off questions from national media people before the game, noting that the Wolves would have to improve by 30 or so games to have a realistic chance of making the playoffs.

With Ricky Rubio out with a hamstring, Mitchell played Zach LaVine 25 minutes on Thursday. Because Curry was torching LaVine, Mitchell played Andre Miller's old bones for 21 minutes.

Miller played admirably, using his savvy to at least temporarily slow down Curry.

LaVine was minus-22 on the night. Miller was plus-11. But when Miller looked fatigued near the end, Mitchell went back to LaVine.

That seemed to drive fans bonkers. I think it was the right call. Miller is not a part of the future. LaVine could be.

After the game, the quote that jumped out at me was this, from Mitchell: ``The thing about it is that you commit so much effort to trying to slow Steph Curry down - he still gets 45 points. So then you sit there and wonder, OK, if you don't do those things and just try to play conventionally, he might get 60. All you can try to do is take the ball out of his hands as much as possible, put pressure on him and test his shots. I thought our guys were there, he just makes those shots. He makes some tough shots."

Yes, he does.

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Talked about Curry on two podcasts this week. The first was a Bay Area podcast with San Jose Mercury News columnist Tim Kawakami and ESPN Raiders reporter Bill Williamson. Kawakami is not prone to hyperbole but he lavished praise on Curry and on the Wolves' young stars. Williams and Kawakami both broke down the Raiders-Vikings matchup.

Also, Wolves beat writer Jon Krawczynski and I discussed the Wolves in greater depth. Both podcasts are at MalePatternPodcasts.com.

@Souhanstrib