Tireless Saunders having a blast with his juggling act

MANKATO – Now that he has accepted not one but two exhaustive and time-consuming jobs, you'd think new Timberwolves coach and old president of basketball operations Flip Saunders wouldn't have time for attending to every last detail.

You'd think…

A reformer of the team's roster last summer, Saunders has guided it on the court at this week's training camp in Mankato by being a master of minutiae.

That means stopping players in mid-drill to correct them. It also means introducing all kind of gimmicks — no matter how small — to keep them engaged.

"This is a game, you're here to have fun," Saunders said. "You're here to stimulate players. You're here to motivate them."

On Friday, he opened practice by commanding players to throw footballs around rather than basketballs, an exercise that led him to conclude European center Nikola Pekovic is better suited for the position of offensive lineman than quarterback.

On Tuesday, he brought a magician — the Amazing Hondo, of course — to camp for some sleight of hand.

On Thursday, he had players pull numbers out of a hat to pick sides for a shooting contest after which Kevin Martin and Corey Brewer reportedly walked away with a little extra spending money.

"The more jobs Flip has, the better he is," Martin said with a smile. "I think he likes all those responsibilities."

Each day all week, he has offered up a Word of the Day, one of five keys to collective team success. One player with exemplary practice performance the previous day earns as his reward an actual key with the day's word on it.

Thursday's Word of the Day was "execution," but not in the context that former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John McKay meant it long ago when he was asked about his woeful, winless team's execution and he replied he was all for it.

Saunders' methods have been compiled from a career spent studying how other coaches have worked. He attended several NBA camps every fall — from Pat Riley's Lakers practices to Bill Fitch's Celtics or Phil Jackson's Bulls practices — when he coached seven seasons in the Continental Basketball Association.

More recently, he has paid attention to how Seattle Seahawks football coach Pete Carroll manages his players.

"I've been exposed to a lot of different situations," he said. "You pick and choose what works and what might not work, just like how in coaching your system evolves. … My camps have always been a combination of teaching and competition. Certain teams thrive on competition, that's what motivates them. I try to keep the players' interest, keep them intrigued, keep them wanting, keep them doing the unexpected."

He also calls himself a product of coaches for whom he played, mainly former Gophers coach Bill Musselman, who also was the first coach in Wolves history.

"You have to do something for the players to believe in how you want them to play," Saunders said.

"I've always been that way. I was weaned on Bill Musselman, so I was weaned on things — whether it's in the game, before games, in practices — done to create not only camaraderie but also to create competitiveness within the group."

Some ideas are simply intended to solve problems and make players' lives easier: Last summer, Saunders ordered trading cards made for each Wolves player, who sign them stack by stack in advance and hand them to inquiring fans who seek autographs at public functions.

It's an idea he decided upon that's intended to satisfy fans while always saving players' time and energy.

"He doesn't come at you with the same approach that every other coach comes at," Wolves veteran forward Thaddeus Young said.

"I definitely have never had a coach like that. He's different and I like that about him. You can begin to like him just because of his demeanor and who he is."

Usually a bundle of twitching, boundless nervous energy, Saunders seems calm, more at peace during this week in Mankato.

Maybe it's because he's back doing the job — "I'm a coach," he said — that he has done much of his life. Maybe it's a statement on how he feels about a team whose roster he has mostly created himself and now will lead on the floor.

"They're picking things up, they're playing hard, as a staff we're enjoying coaching them," Saunders said. "I told them, 'I'm sure there are times I'm going to hate you.' I'm sure that's going to happen, but not yet."

Notes

• Brewer chipped two teeth in a collision with Young while each chased a loose ball during Friday's practice. He didn't finish practice and returned to the Twin Cities for dental work but is expected to practice Saturday. "That's a major injury for him because the way he smiles, it takes away all that laughing and smiling," Saunders said.

• Pekovic and rookie Glenn Robinson III returned to practice Friday after missing Thursday's work. Pekovic was rested to reduce the wear and tear on his ankles and feet. Robinson mildly sprained his ankle during Wednesday night's scrimmaging.