Wolves coach Sam Mitchell wants more from Zach LaVine on defense

MILWAUKEE – In the ever-progressing development of Wolves guard Zach LaVine, interim coach Sam Mitchell has another challenge for the young man:

Defend better.

LaVine's second season has seen him come off the bench and, lately, start. He has played point guard but lately mainly shooting guard as Mitchell and the Wolves have settled on a young, athletic starting five. And, in the 16 games before facing the Bucks on Friday in Milwaukee, LaVine averaged 17.1 points and shot 49.3 percent.

Mitchell loves the mismatch LaVine presents to opposing teams on offense. But he has to do more on the defensive end, especially against more physical opponents.

"Zach is going to get stronger," Mitchell said. "He's going to get better at everything he does as his body matures. But I would say, for Zach, he's got to continue to remember that he needs to develop that Avery Bradley-type defensive mentality.''

Bradley is Boston's defensive-minded shooting guard. Undersized for the position, Bradley is known for guarding bigger opponents. LaVine is 6-5 but still slight. "He needs to learn how to guard bigger guys," Mitchell said of LaVine.

And if he does?

Of course, LaVine knows he has to get stronger.

"The [bigger guards] are always trying to post me up," he said. "I just have to fight 'em, get 'em off the block. Then, on the offensive end, try to run 'em."

Injuries and personnel moves have had a dramatic impact on the Timberwolves bench.

Over the past 15 games, no team has used its bench less than the Wolves. Before that, with Kevin Garnett and Tayshaun Prince in the starting lineup, no team used its bench more.

With Garnett, Nemanja Bjelica both hurt and with Andre Miller and Kevin Martin both gone, the Wolves bench, with the exception of Prince, is a very young, inexperienced group.

Mitchell wants more out of the bench. "I want my kids to learn," he said. "But, if you look at our bench, we have a lot of inexperienced guys there. My main focus is making sure [Shabazz Muhammad] gets his minutes. But our bench just has to play better. It just has to. The thing that's amazing to me is the young guys hang in there. A lot of times we play other teams even with our starters. So we have to do a better job of getting a few more minutes for guys off the bench.''

That will be especially true in the coming days. Friday's game was the first of four in five nights.