Stuck on the dunk tank

After so much change, the Timberwolves are exactly where they were a year ago: 1-8, with an eight-game losing streak after Wednesday night's 107-84 loss to Portland at Target Center.

Two nights after they tied two franchise records in a 146-105 loss at Golden State, the Wolves led by seven points early, then got outscored 67-38 over the next two quarters to a Blazers team that beat them for the 10th consecutive time.

"I mean, get beat by 40-some points?" Wolves forward Al Jefferson said when asked to compare efforts from one game to the next. "Believe it or not, I think we made some steps up tonight."

Often sullen and short-answered after losses, Jefferson was introspective and expansive in a postgame address two nights after he dressed so slowly and silently in Oakland.

"This isn't going to get any better unless we start attacking and hitting back," he said. "One thing about dealing with a young team, when your head is down, it's hard to pick it back up. Right now, we let teams hit us and we don't even hit back. Most times somebody hits you, you're supposed to hit back.

"We have to dig inside of us, in our hearts. Believe it or not, this still is the best job in the world. Even when you're going through things we're going through now, we got to make the best of this, man, because the NBA career is like dog years. They go by so fast. Here I am 24, six years in. I look up and I'll be 30 on my way out."

Jefferson knows a lot about young, losing teams in that six-year NBA career. The only time he has reached the playoffs was in his rookie year in Boston.

"Five out of six years in the league, young has always been a problem," he said. "Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody puts too much pressure on themselves. Everybody thinks the coach is riding them. Everybody's frustrated with themselves, myself included."

Ryan Hollins started for the first time this season Wednesday in a move that slowed down Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge as intended. Portland then simply exploited a mismatch at center between Greg Oden (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Jefferson, who still is trying to find inside himself the player he was before February's knee surgery.

Afterward, he preached the same mantra coach Kurt Rambis delivered pregame: Patience.

"I used to think that patience was just the right thing to say, but it's really going to take some time," Jefferson said. "It really is. Look at where Portland was three years ago: They were where we were. We got to understand that. We've got young players, a new system we're trying to learn. That's not an excuse for not playing hard. Myself, I was thinking, 'Yeah, OK, I'm back. My knee's good. I'm going to pick right up where I left off.

"That's not the case. I talk to other guys who had this surgery. It takes a year to get back to where you were. I'm not patient with that. I feel if I'm not bringing 20 [points] and 10 [rebounds] every night, I'm not doing my job. I just have to realize that 20 years ago, this was a career-ending injury. I worked [hard] to get back to where I am right now and I got to continue to work to get to where I was when I got hurt, and even better."

Somebody asked after Wednesday's game if Rambis' complex triangle passing offense takes away some freedom from a gifted low-post scorer who plays so instinctively.

"To answer your question, no," Jefferson said. "If you notice, I'm getting my shots. I'm getting the shots I got last year, the year before that and the year before that. I'm not making 'em. I don't have no complaint about this offense. I'd understand if I'm not getting my shots. I'm just not making 'em. That stinks for me, but it's going to come.

"I keep telling myself every night when I go to sleep, I just got to be patient. Let it come back."

Jefferson's teams the past five seasons are 104-233 and have lost 58 games or more each of the past three seasons.

Somebody asked him how many dog years in the NBA that is.

"I can't do the math right now," he said. "A lot."