The last one out of the weight room and out of the gym, Kevin Love finally approached the Timberwolves locker room down a long Target Center corridor Saturday afternoon and declared himself in shape, and yet still in need of working his way into the season.
Apparently, there's a difference.
"No, I'm not out of shape, no," he said. "I'm not out of shape at all, no."
On Friday, Wolves coach Rick Adelman was asked what kind of condition his three Olympians -- Love and Russian team members Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved -- were in after a demanding summer.
He singled out Love, saying he needed to build up his conditioning to the way it was before.
On Saturday, Adelman elaborated and sounded like he was talking about Love's concentration and intensity -- shaking off mental fatigue after a long summer -- as much as conditioning.
"I don't know if it's playing shape, but getting mentally into the practices so we can get better as a team," he said. "There are a number of guys who are veterans -- Andrei, Brandon [Roy] -- and we understand they need to work themselves to a point where they're ready to go. But by the same token, when we're out here practicing we needed to have everybody's attention so we have a chance.
"We're not a playoff team. We didn't win anything last year. So it's important that we're ready to go."
Love said he arrived early and left late for Saturday's practice, the Wolves' first back at Target Center after a four-day training camp in Mankato. The Wolves open preseason play Wednesday against Indiana in Fargo, N.D.
"My body feels awesome," Love said. "I'm still relatively young for this league. I just need to get my sleep, get rest. I knew coming in, I'm not where I wanted to be. I have time the next few weeks to refine all that stuff.
"If I can be as less worried about it, I would be. But I'm not. I'll keep shooting extra shots, staying after practice, getting in before practice like I did today and staying in the weight room and I'll be all right."
