Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman ended each of his long training-camp practices in Mankato last week the same way: He lined up his dog-tired players on the baseline and summoned one after another to the free-throw line until somebody inevitably missed. Then he blew his whistle and they all ran sprints from one end of the court to the other and in between.
And often the first player up and back was not little Luke Ridnour or J.J. Barea but rather big, bad Nikola Pekovic, the 6-10 European center with the skulls and warrior tattooed on his arm.
"You just don't see that with big guys," Adelman said.
He does now, after Pekovic came back from summer a few pounds lighter and most noticeably leaner, down from 12-plus percent body fat to 8 percent.
"I feel good, I feel stronger and everything," he said. "Most important for me is I can run more. That's something I can do. If I can run more, I can stay longer in the game."
Staying in the game was an issue his rookie season two years ago, but not because of his conditioning. Big and bruising, he had trouble learning what NBA referees considered a foul, and NBA referees probably took their time learning about him.
Playing time also became an issue late in last year's breakthrough season because of bone spurs on his ankles that first pained and then sidelined him.
Now the bone spurs are gone, shaved off during a May surgery, and Pekovic is entering his third NBA season -- a contract season for him -- wiser and noticeably leaner after a second season in which he contended for the league's Most Improved Player award.