Tough weekend for Tyus Jones as Apple Valley, Duke fall

It was an interesting weekend for Wolves guard Tyus Jones.

Not necessarily great, but interesting. While he and the Wolves were splitting a two-game road trip, Jones was following both his younger brother, Tre, in the Minnesota high school tournament and watching his former team, Duke, in the NCAA tournament.

"It wasn't as good a weekend as I'd have hoped,'' he said. "But it happens.''

First Tre Jones helped Apple Valley advance to the state title game, only to lose in the closing seconds to Cretin-Derham Hall. Sunday he watched Duke lose in overtime to Kansas with a Final Four spot on the line.

"I felt the pain more for my brother,'' Tyus said after Monday's morning shootaround. The Wolves will host Memphis tonight at Target Center. "Seeing him down. It hurts a little more. I hate to see Duke go down as well. But I know they'll be in the same spot next year.''

Tre Jones is going to Duke, as his older brother did. Tyus Jones led the school to the 2015 NCAA title, earning most outstanding player honors in the process.

After the Wolves beat the Knicks in New York Saturday, Tyus watched the first half of the Apple Valley-CDH game on the bus on the way to the airport. After that he relied on texts from friends and family to keep up.

What did he tell his younger brother? "Just to use it as motivation,'' Jones said. "I told him, 'Hey, you were in the state tournament four times. A lot of guys don't get to go. I only went once. He won two of 'em. I know, for him, it will sting. But I told him it's time to get ready for the next level.''

Sunday wasn't much easier, with Duke losing. Jones had bets with Wolves teammates Andrew Wiggins and Cole Adlrich – both of whom went to Kansas – and both made sure to give Jones a hard time.

"That's OK,'' Jones said. "They'd have been hearing from me if it was the other way around.''

Meanwhile, Wiggins was ready for a prediction: "Kansas has some talent,'' he said. "I feel we're going to win it all this year.''

Other notes from the shootaround:

Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said Derrick Rose – who has missed two games because of a sprained ankle – is getting better. The swelling is down and he's getting close. But he won't play tonight.