CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Timberwolves guard Marko Jaric likely will have a magnetic resonance imaging exam on his right thumb today, with his status to be determined for Wednesday night's game against San Antonio at Target Center.
Jaric sat out the Wolves' game at Charlotte on Monday, two days after he aggravated the injury against the Nets in New Jersey. The 6-7 guard, who's averaging six points and 22.4 minutes a game this season, said he initially injured the thumb a few days earlier, when an opposing big man brought a rebound down hard on his hand.
"I was playing game after game with the pain, and it was not getting better," said Jaric, who struggled through a first-half stint against the Nets and did not return.
Jaric said that, over his career, he has jammed all 10 of his fingers, but that this one was the most painful.
Any ball will do
Like a lot of NBA players, Trenton Hassell said the synthetic ball used until Sunday had more forgiving bounces and rolls once it hit the rim. Generally, though, the Wolves guard has opted out of the league's great ball controversy, saying he was willing to play with either version (microfiber or leather).
"I play with worse balls in the summertime back home," said the Tennessee native, who returns in the offseason to Clarksville. "We play with balls you buy at Wal-Mart or wherever. Indoor, outdoor. I just adapt."
Gee, wouldn't a big-time NBA player like Hassell be able to pony up and bring a few premium basketballs to those summer pick-up games?
"Shoot," Hassell said, "if I bring it, I ain't going to get it back. That's the only problem with that."
Tar Heel connection
Charlotte's Raymond Felton and Sean May were suited up Monday night while Wolves guard Rashad McCants still was in street clothes. But on Sunday, they were all equals, all partners, all teammates again when they were honored in Chapel Hill at North Carolina's game against Dayton.
Having his buddies' jerseys hoisted to the rafters of the Smith Center made it even more memorable for McCants. He and Felton had persuaded May to join them with the Tar Heels, and their plan paid off with the 2005 NCAA championship.
"We were pretty much Carolina boys who wanted to be there. We just got another guy who was ready to play," McCants said. "The friendship that we all have makes it all special. We all did our jobs: Sean got the rebounds, Raymond got the assists, and I scored. We knew what we needed to do to win."
By the way, to clarify, there is a difference in Chapel Hill between "retiring" a jersey and "honoring" it. Only seven have been retired, which requires that the Tar Heel be a consensus national player of the year; Antawn Jamison, in 1999, was the last one to achieve that honor.
More than 30 have been honored. Retired numbers are not issued again; honored numbers are.
A training resolution
Head coach Dwane Casey and his staff had dinner on New Year's Eve at Jocks & Jills, a sports bar chain in which assistant Randy Wittman is an investor. Apparently, a common resolution emerged over the mozzarella sticks.
"To get this train going straight," Casey said, as he moved his hand in exaggerated, right-to-left-and-back 'S' curves. "Keep it from going this way, then that way, then this way. Being consistent."
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