Beasley staying home

Greetings.

With Jerry jetting off to D.C., i was lucky enough to go to practice.

Upon arriving I was told that Michael Beasley had an MRI. which confirmed he had a right mid-foot sprain. He will not travel with the team and will not be re-evaluated until after the team returns.

J.J. Barea, meanwhile, felt good enough about his hamstring to take part in practice and he might be available tomorrow.

So, the obvious question: Who will start in Beasley's place? And how will that affect the rest of the starters and the rotation?

Coach Rick Adelman said he hadn't decided yet. Or, perhaps, he had decided not to tell us yet. But here's how it looks. If the Wolves want to go with a smaller lineup, I think Wes Johnson could see some time at the small forward position. Of course, then the question is, who will start at shooting guard? Would that mean Ricky Rubio could make his first start alongside Luke Ridnour in the backcourt? "We'll consider anything at this point," Adelman said. "I haven't thought about it that far. But you know, we'll figure it out as we go."

If the Wolves are looking for a bigger lineup, rookie Derrick Williams would be in line for a start, or at least increased playing time. Anthony Tolliver would also fit into that mix.

Other nuggets from today:

--Adelman said he is currently facing his biggest challenge as an NBA coach, given the job of turning around the team and the lack of practice time to do it. "The stuff we're running, we're not getting anything to what I'm normally used to seeing," he said. "I truly believe it's just we haven't had a chance to drill it in. We've had such a short time. And maybe it's my fault for not realizing it and ... putting too much in."

--Tolliver said he had more belief this team would turn things around than he did at any time last season. "I know last night we reverted a little bit, didn't really play well," he said. "It's going to happen sometimes in this league. You'll have some bad games. But the real question is how are you going to react? How will you respond? We'll see what we're made of these next couple games and go from there."

--Rubio said teams are already starting to play him a little differently. That's the result of the scouting teams do. It didn't take long for teams to start adjusting their defenses for the crafty Rubio. "In the beginning they didn't know me," he said. "They didn't watch me too much. But after two or three games they know me better and they know which are my weaknesses and they try to do what they have to do to win. I have to improve, see what I can do, to help this team."