Wolves notes: Mexico City game puts Wolves in rare air

MEXICO CITY – Forty-four years later, Bob Beamon's Olympic long-jump record of 29 feet-plus reached in the altitude of the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games still stands.

Somebody tried to convince Wolves rookie point guard Zach LaVine that — just as a baseball or golf ball flies farther in thinner air — he'd be able to jump higher and dunk even more spectacularly Wednesday night at 7,300-foot elevation.

That's 2,000 feet higher than Denver's Pepsi Center.

LaVine's eyes brightened when such a notion was mentioned.

"If that's for real, I might be trying to do some dunks in warmups to see if I'm flying around a little extra," he said.

"I think you can convince Zach of a lot of things if you really put your mind to it," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "He's one of those 19-year-olds whose eyes are wide open and pretty much believes what everybody says when it comes to the NBA."

With injured Ricky Rubio back home in Minnesota, LaVine made his second consecutive NBA start Wednesday night against Houston in Mexico City, where both teams dealt with the effects of the altitude.

"It's the same for both teams," Saunders said. "From our perspective, we've been playing a lot of people. It's not like we've been playing guys 40 minutes."

Saunders intends to play LaVine 26 to 30 minutes a night at any altitude and said Wednesday he remains committed to moving forward with LaVine and veteran Mo Williams at point guard while Rubio remains out for weeks.

"You definitely notice it," LaVine said of the altitude. "I woke up and it just feels drier, different. You feel it a little bit when you run, but I'm getting used to it."

The Wolves made second-year forward Anthony Bennett active for Wednesday's game after he missed two losses in Florida because of a swollen knee injured when he bumped Chicago's Joakim Noah in the season's third game. Bennett had two points in nine minutes.

Saunders coached a Continental Basketball Association team on a trip to Mexico City in the 1980s, but McHale hadn't been back since he was 21 and playing for the United States in the World University Games.

So much has changed since the Wolves last visited Mexico City, just 11 months ago when they arrived for a game that never was played: Saunders has replaced Rick Adelman as coach, Rubio is home injured, J.J. Barea is back playing in Dallas, and the team has gone for a youth movement with Andrew Wiggins, LaVine and Bennett.

Oh, and big man Nikola Pekovic didn't wear the wraparound sunglasses he sported the last time. The most endearing moment of that trip last year was Pekovic sitting alone on the team's bench after practice oblivious to all that was swirling around him and singing "I Believe I Can Fly" to himself.

Saunders, when told LaVine intends to exploit Mexico City's altitude with his hops, said: "Hopefully he stays on the ground and makes good decisions rather than just jumping high."