One wise Wolf

MANKATO - The fourth morning of training camp left Timberwolves rookie Kevin Love suffering from a reaggravated bruised finger to go along with a bruised ego following a poor defensive showing during the two-hour session.

Coach Randy Wittman chalked up the performance by Love to a typical rookie experience. Veteran Brian Cardinal, part of the draft-night deal that sent Love to Minnesota via trade with Memphis, had some more encouraging words for the newcomer.

"He told me after practice, 'You know what, Rook, I've been there before. Any advice you need, we've got a lot of people who can help you out,'" Love said. "I thought that was great, because [Friday] was very tough for me. I was down in the dumps a little bit, and he helped me pick my head back up."

Known in the past as "The Custodian" or "The Janitor" because of his nature to dive to the floor to sweep up loose balls, Cardinal now knows one of his main jobs with this team might have to come from the bench.

"I'm just trying to fit in wherever I can, whether that's on the court playing or whether that's on the sideline picking other guys up," he said. "This is my ninth year, and it's nine more years than I ever thought I'd get. It's been a great ride, a lot of ups and downs. I'm just trying to help guys out and talk to them."

Cardinal, a 6-8, 245-pound forward, broke into the league in 2000-01 as a second-round draft pick by Detroit following a college career in which he finished as Purdue's all-time leader in steals (259). He had a solid two-year stretch in 2003-04 and 2004-05 when, with Golden State and Memphis, he racked up 1,255 points, 39 blocks and 154 steals and 542 rebounds in 134 games.

He had offseason knee surgery in 2005 and hasn't been the same on the court since. He missed the first 20 games of the 2005-06 season, and his mark of 37 games played a year ago was the most since. He has started only one game in each of the past two seasons.

A sore calf might keep him out of tonight's preseason opener at Milwaukee.

"It's hard. It's disappointing," Cardinal said of the past few seasons. In fact, he failed to appear in 23 games last year because he was stuck on the bench. "But the beauty of this league [is] you worry about the things you can control. If you worry about the things you can't control, it messes with your mind."

One thing Cardinal, 31, can control is his attitude toward the game.

"The NBA's a crazy league, a crazy business," he said. "I'm excited to be here. I don't know if it's going to turn into a lot of minutes. Who knows? I just want to go out there and put on a Timberwolves uniform. That's awesome."

Adding to Cardinal's excitement of being in Minnesota are his family roots here.

Both his parents were born in the state (Dad in Blaine, Mom in Marshall) and though they relocated to Illinois, he does have many family members in the area. While playing for the Boilermakers, Cardinal said he would try to line up 50 tickets when coming to Williams Arena to play the Gophers.

He promises that those family fans will see the same type of player they remember from his college days.

"He's like those gnats that fly around at a picnic; you want to smack them every once in a while," Wittman said, referring to Cardinal's peskiness. "I like that.

"He does a lot of good things. He's an instinctive player. He's a very, very aware team player defensively. He's one of those guys who takes a charge."

Kevin McHale, the Wolves' vice president of basketball operations, pretty much echoed Wittman's sentiments.

"Absolutely," he said. "He knows what he's doing. And guys like that will only help."