Wittman returns with humor and back intact

It was at the end of the Timberwolves game in Memphis on Dec. 1 that the pain became too much for Randy Wittman.

This is not a reference to the Wolves' ugly loss to the Grizzlies, which was difficult to watch. That was not nearly as hard to take as the paroxysm of pain Wittman felt in the closing minutes.

"I felt like I got hit with a bolt of electricity; that's probably when it happened," Wittman said. "I had a bulging disk there, and I think it just finally gave out. I woke up [the next day] and there was no way I was able to do anything."

Wittman returned to practice Monday, just five days after having surgery to repair a ruptured disk that sent pain shooting down his legs.

"I feel great; it's night and day," he said. "I couldn't take it anymore. I'm glad I got that behind me."

Wittman has gotten some relief, but it's still slow going. He can't sit or stand for more than 30 or 40 minutes at a time. And it's still pretty hard for him to get from one position to the other. As Wittman joked Monday, he might still need top assistant Jerry Sichting to jump up and yell at the refs during games.

"If I'm already up, I can yell," he joked. "If I'm not, it will be, 'Jerry, get up.' "

But to hear Wittman tell it, the biggest change in him comes in his attitude toward his team. Turns out absence made his heart grow fonder.

"As a coach, this is the first time I've ever been away and looked at things from afar," Wittman said. "And I told our guys I've got bigger belief in them now than I did before I left, in how they played."

Wittman was impressed with how the Wolves bounced back from poor games against Memphis and the Lakers -- and a bad start to the Atlanta game -- to put themselves in position to defeat the Hawks.

"Being down 19 [vs. Atlanta] and playing as bad a first quarter as you could play? It could have gone in the category of the Memphis game," Wittman said. "And it turned into a situation where we should have won the game. And then [the victory over Phoenix] speaks for itself. As I told them, we've played with every team in this league, all the good teams -- Dallas on the road, San Antonio, Denver twice, Phoenix. My belief in what they can do is greater."

Wittman said he plans to stick with the group that led the Atlanta comeback and started the Phoenix game, with Al Jefferson at center, Craig Smith and Corey Brewer at forward and Sebastian Telfair and Marko Jaric at guard.

"We need to feel great about ourselves in how we played the last couple games," Wittman said. "I thought we had great energy from the group we're playing now as starters."

With four games over the next five nights, Wittman will also need his bench. Michael Doleac was strong off the bench against Atlanta. Against Phoenix, the Wolves bench went just three deep, but Chris Richard, Ryan Gomes and Rashad McCants all played key roles in the game.

"We've got to make this a stepping stone for us," Wittman said.

Tonight's game in Washington also starts a stretch in which the Wolves will play four out of five games on the road. The team is still banged up. Veterans Greg Buckner (calf), Theo Ratliff (knee) and Antoine Walker (ankle) are still hurting, with Walker the closest to returning.

Guard Randy Foye had his knee re-examined Monday, but the results won't be available until today. Still, he made the trip to Washington with the team Monday afternoon.

So did Wittman, who has made a remarkably quick return. He came back with his sense of humor intact.

"I have to be careful in what I'm doing here, but it was either that or my marriage was going to be in trouble, my staying home this time of year," he said.