Patrick Reusse: Brewer brings energy even if his shot is still a work in progress

Corey Brewer was the seventh overall selection in the 2007 NBA draft. He was such a bricklayer as a rookie that there was the impression the Timberwolves had spent this lofty choice on a player destined to be a defensive specialist.

The Wolves talked up Brewer's improvement in 2008 training camp, and then he played only 15 games before being injured. He underwent season-ending surgery on his right knee.

There was a massive restructuring during the offseason that included the trade of Randy Foye and Mike Miller to Washington. Foye was erratic and Miller was reluctant as shooters last season, but they still appeared to be the Wolves' best options to make some jump shots from the off-guard position.

As members of the Wolves Fan Club gathered in their broom closet to discuss the team, a leading question was: "Who is going to be get most of the time at off guard? You need a shooter there, and Brewer isn't him."

So much for theories on the need for marksmanship as a second guard. Five games into the schedule, Brewer has played more minutes -- 35 per game -- than any of his teammates. And he is also challenging Al Jefferson, the go-to guy in the pivot, for shots taken: 79 for Big Al and 77 for Brewer.

What hasn't moved much is Brewer's shooting percentage. As a rookie, he took 486 shots in 79 games (six per game) and made 37.4 percent. He didn't play enough last season for a legitimate comparison. And now, much-used early in his third season, he's taking 15 shots per game and making 36.1 percent.

Wolves coach Kurt Rambis was saying before Wednesday night's game with Boston that the basics of Brewers' shot look good -- the rotation, the arc. The problem is that Brewer has a tendency to get off balance as he readies to release the shot. He will fall back or twist his body, and then a sweet rotation isn't going to help.

That said, Corey Brewer has decided in his third year to throw all he has onto an NBA court and see what happens. The caution of his rookie season is gone. There is no evidence of a lingering problem with the surgically repaired knee.

"You have to play with emotion," Brewer said. "You have to play with energy. That's what I'm trying to do."

The main attraction on Wednesday was the return of Kevin Garnett to Target Center -- for a third time as a member of the Celtics, and for the second time as an active player. The Celtics had cruised through a 5-0 start to the point KG was playing only 28 minutes per game.

The Timberwolves ignored a few thousand empty seats and announced a sellout. Still, the return of KG seemed to be old news.

The crowd was bemused by the way the young Wolves hung with Boston into the fourth quarter. And then the fans actually started to get into it as the neophyte Wolves still wouldn't go away.

Oleksiy Pecherov was matched against Garnett for much of the night. The Ukranian made nine of 14 shots and finished with a game-high and career-high 24 points.

Brewer missed "Pech" when he was open in the final minute. And then in the final seconds, with the Wolves trailing 92-90, Brewer tried to drive through a seam and get to the basket. Garnett reached out, got a palm on the ball and referee David Jones called a jump ball.

Garnett celebrated with a strong-arm gesture to the folks in the expensive seats. There were 3.6 seconds left, the Celtics knocked the jump ball to the backcourt, and escaped with the two-point victory.

"I thought it was a foul, but I'm not the ref," Brewer said. "You have to go with the ref."