In another time and place, Rick Adelman coached teams with players whom he trusted nightly to finish games.
That was long ago, when he had Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter and Buck Williams on a Portland team that reached the NBA Finals twice in three years or Chris Webber, Vlade Divac and Mike Bibby on a Sacramento team that won 61 games and came within a call or two of reaching the Finals.
That was then.
Now 51 games into a season during which his Timberwolves have fallen three games below .500, Adelman continues to search for the right answers in fourth quarters when his team too often can't make a shot or hold a lead.
He has benched starting point guard Ricky Rubio on several occasions and sought other options as well on nights when veteran Kevin Martin's shot wasn't falling or he looked tired.
Adelman has stuck with star Kevin Love and starting center Nikola Pekovic — when both are healthy, of course — to game's end, but otherwise mixes and matches with a willingness that has provoked repeated questions from media members in interviews and from fans on various social-media platforms.
"I'm just trying to get a win," Adelman said last week when asked about such decisions. "You keep asking me those questions. Obviously, I don't have any intentions but to try to win the game. … The matchups and how the team is playing, that's it basically. It's just a feel.
"You don't think I'd do something if I didn't think it would help us win a game, do you?"