Miller time -- again. Big man returns to help Adelman

MANKATO - Brad Miller just won't go away.

The former All-Star center who was traded twice after he announced his retirement last spring is back at Timberwolves training camp, invited by the coach he played for on three different teams.

Rick Adelman invited Miller to Mankato for a few days because he thinks his big guys will benefit from the wisdom Miller accumulated running Adelman's famed "corner" offense in Sacramento, Houston and Minnesota.

Miller, 36, accepted the offer thinking it will help him decide whether he wants to pursue a coaching career rather than just retire to his homes in Sacramento and Indiana, and because there's good deer hunting in southern Minnesota this time of year.

He awoke at 3 a.m. Wednesday and was hunting by sunrise. By noon, he was working with Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Greg Stiemsma and others, showing them passing angles from the free-throw lane's "elbow" area and other nuances he learned during a 14-season NBA career.

"I played this game a long time, you'd think I learned a thing or two," Miller said. "I better have learned something."

Adelman said he isn't sure if Miller will return in a recurring coaching role after the team returns home to Minneapolis from Mankato on Friday.

Apparently, even two-time All-Star Love can learn a thing or two from another All Star.

"He even taught me a few things, tried to break me of a few bad habits," Love said. "He'd make a great coach, especially on this team. He's a great guy to get along with. He knows when to take it seriously and when to keep it light."

And Miller, still a country kid from Indiana, certainly is not a guy to overstate things.

"It's not too bad," he said when asked how he likes coaching.

His teamWolves owner Glen Taylor watched most of Thursday's practice, chatting behind one basket with president of basketball operations David Kahn, before he headed to the Twin Cities for the Lynx's second-round playoff opener against Los Angeles.

"He has been terrific," Adelman said of Taylor. "He really means it when he says this is a family organization. He really tries to do that, tries to get to know the players, tries to get to know the families. It helps when an owner is that accessible to you. He always has been really good to me, listening, accepting input. It has been good, the whole year."

Staying healthySecond-year guard Malcolm Lee watched the end of Thursday's practice on the stationary bike because of what the team called "groin tightness." Everyone else seemed to participate normally, including Stiemsma, who has practiced fully during camp's first three days after playing through foot injuries last season.

"My feet have felt good, almost surprisingly good," Stiemsma said.

Etc.• Adelman praised Russian rookie Alexey Shved after Thursday's practice. "Alexey was really good today," he said. "He shot the heck out of the ball. He gives us another guy who can shoot it with range. There are just pieces we're finding out about, and we have to find out how we're going to use these guys."

• Adelman said Love and Pekovic are set as starters, but he expects to experiment with different combinations around them during a preseason that begins Wednesday against Indiana in Fargo, N.D.