Doleac makes the most out of least minutes

By KENT YOUNGBLOOD, Star Tribune

Last update: February 6, 2008 - 12:50 AM

Most game nights, Michael Doleac watches.

The 6-11 Doleac is a big man on a Timberwolves team that usually likes to go small, with 6-10 Al Jefferson in the post.

Doleac didn't play in 30 of the Wolves' first 46 games. But Monday, with Houston and 7-6 Yao Ming in town, Doleac got his seventh start.

In his 10th season, Doleac has learned a difficult skill: how to be effective when minutes are rare and irregular. The first time the Wolves played Houston it was a one-sided affair (a 113-82 Rockets victory on Jan. 11), but not because of Doleac, who scored 10 points and kept Yao to 15, well under his 22.1 season average.

Monday's 92-86 Houston victory was Doleac's second opportunity against the Rockets' big man. Yao scored 16 points in 36 minutes; Doleac scored two in 18 minutes.

"It's difficult," Wolves coach Randy Wittman said. "But guys have roles on a team. That's the thing that sometimes young guys don't understand. You have to be able to accept roles."

The key for Doleac is to keep the same routines on practice days and game days.

"It's always a challenge to stay sharp, but it's part of the deal," Doleac said. "You just stay consistent in all the work you do. If you have the same routine, when you're playing and when you're not playing, you minimize the drastic differences."

Fine-tuning in Sioux Falls

When the Wolves decided to send rookie Chris Richard to the NBA Development League, he got a first-class ticket to Sioux Falls; Wolves VP of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale drove him down there, and spent a couple of days there with Richard.

"We talked about a lot of stuff," McHale said. "We talked about what I thought he should work on, things he had to get better at. I wanted to spend some time with him to make sure he understood why we were doing this. No matter who you are, it's hard not to think 'Is this a demotion?' "

Richard has played two games with the Skyforce and gotten a double-double in both games. In the first game he had 10 points and 11 rebounds in 22 1/2 minutes in a 116-91 victory over Fort Wayne. The next night, again against Fort Wayne, Richard played 23 1/2 minutes going 7-for-12 for 14 points with 12 rebounds and two blocked shots.

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