Center is just latest position for Wolves to run by committee

DENVER - Ever get the feeling that your workday is just one committee meeting after another? Bet Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman does.

Let's see. With Randy Foye out with a knee injury, the Wolves have run a point guard by committee. They also have a platoon approach at times for off guard and small forward.

Well, here's another: center.

First, the update on starter Theo Ratliff, who missed his second consecutive game because of a sore knee. Ratliff just got back to the Twin Cities from Birmingham, Ala., where he had the knee examined by specialist Dr. James Andrews, who confirmed what the Wolves doctors had determined: There is no need for surgery right now, as there is no obvious reason for the pain Ratliff is feeling.

"I think they're just going to try to rehab it here for the next week," Wittman said. "I don't think they see anything to operate on. So unless it becomes exploratory, I think they'll rehab it, see if they can get [the pain] to quit through that."

Ratliff will have the knee re-examined in a week. Until then? Another position-by-committee approach.

Against Cleveland's big center Zydrunas Ilgauskas Wednesday, that meant giving Michael Doleac his first start since the 2005-06 season.

Friday presented a different -- and more difficult -- challenge. Denver's big man Marcus Camby likes to play on the perimeter on offense, an area where Doleac would be likely to struggle defensively. So Wittman didn't even activate Doleac, opting to start Mark Madsen at center, his first start since Feb. 15, 2006.

An outside view

Denver coach George Karl reiterated what he said on opening day: That he would never have traded Kevin Garnett. And while he is impressed with the play of Al Jefferson and the direction the Wolves are taking, he said he hoped the veterans on the Wolves roster were providing leadership.

They'd better, he said. Why?

"I don't think you can ever go all young, unless you get [Shaquille O'Neal], [Tim] Duncan or KG in the draft. [But] if you're building it with just good, solid draft picks? You'd better put 'em with some veteran guys to teach 'em to grow up fast. [Because] losing is the worst coach in basketball.

"He teaches you awful habits. Pointing fingers and the blame game comes when you lose 75, 80 percent of your games."

Wittman's response when told that Karl said he would never trade Garnett?

"He didn't," Wittman said.

Backup plan

It had never happened before, Corey Brewer said, and it won't happen again. Brewer was late to shootaround Wednesday and ended up sitting on the bench until late in the third quarter.

"I overslept. Shootaround is at 11. I usually get there around 10. But I woke up at, like 11:30. I was freaking out. I didn't think I was going to play at all."

As a result, Brewer has a backup plan for the future: multiple alarms.

"I set all three of my phones," he said. "I set everything now."

Etc.

• Point guard Sebastian Telfair rejoined the team in Denver after missing Wednesday's game to attend his grandmother's funeral in New York.

Kent Youngblood • kyoungblood@startribune.com