Wolves' McCants sees green when the ball swings his way

The young guard has developed a healthy scorer's mentality, not afraid of being benched for missing some shots.

By Kent Youngblood, Star Tribune

Last update: November 13, 2007 - 8:24 PM

Maybe the biggest difference for Rashad McCants this year is where he's looking: Ahead, to the next shot. Forward, to the next opportunity. Not back at the bench wondering, "Is that it?"

McCants, the Timberwolves' starting shooting guard, also is a better ball handler than he was when he arrived from North Carolina in 2005. His shot might be a little better, too. He has a better idea of what to do to be in position to score before he gets the ball.

But more than anything else, he has what every player wants when they check into a game.

"It's called the green light," McCants said after the Wolves' practice Tuesday. "It's called take the shot, make or miss, and take another shot."

His role has changed. The Wolves need -- and McCants very much wants to be -- among the leaders on a team being remade on the fly. Both on the court, where McCants has already shown the ability to score, and off it. Which is why he spent time Tuesday talking both about his game and the need for "younger" players to be patient as coach Randy Wittman experiments with his rotation.

This from a 23-year-old, third-year player. Of course, on the Wolves, 23 is practically grizzled.

McCants came to the Wolves from Carolina as a first-round draft pick with an NCAA championship ring and an expectation. Latrell Sprewell was gone, he figured, so that shooting guard spot was there for his taking.

That was before he went through the growing pains most rookies face, and then a second season that was all but wiped out after microfracture surgery on his right knee. When he did play it was in starts and stops, a few minutes here and there.

He is the starting off guard now, and he stays in that spot. And if at times it appears he's hanging his head -- or shaking it -- there is a reason.

"Some of the coaches here think I get down on myself about some shots," McCants said. "But the thing I tell them is I'm a perfectionist. My whole career I've been told, bad shot, good shot. So I feel I have to make every shot to stay on the court. I have to be comfortable to miss shots and know I won't come out of the game. Being a leader, like a Kobe Bryant or a Dwyane Wade, knowing if they miss two, three shots, maybe turn the ball over a couple times they're not looking at the bench"

That he yearns to be a leader is clear. He was part of a freshman class empowered early at North Carolina, where a once-proud program was looking to rebound from an 8-20 season. He left three years later a champion.

And now, after, in his words, "sitting in the back seat" for two seasons, McCants has moved up. Let's say he's riding shotgun for Al Jefferson. The Wolves need pure scorers and McCants said he thinks he can be one.

"He can create a shot, he can post up, but he's always done that stuff," Wolves vice president Kevin McHale said. "His handle is a little tighter, and he knows what he can and can't do. But Rashad is a scorer. He can score the ball."

McCants ranks second on the Wolves in scoring, at 15 points per game. He has hit on 57 percent of his shots and on half his three-pointers (8-for-16). Perhaps more importantly, he has shown the ability to slash to the basket. That's a valuable commodity from the shooting guard spot that the Wolves haven't had much of in their history, with the exception of Sprewell.

On McCants' to-do list? Continue to work on his defense. He has a tendency to follow the ball and lose his man.

"And twos in this league will make you pay for that," Wittman said.

Said McCants: "We're a post-first offense. Our main objective is to get it into Al and play off that. I'm playing off of Al, off of Theo [Ratliff], playing team basketball. Hopefully as the season goes on, I'll get some [isolation plays], some post-ups, and people will really see what I can do."

But he won't force it. McCants has waited a long time to get this chance to start.

Kent Youngblood • kyoungblood@startribune.com

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