In charge of a defense that finished last in the NBA in too many categories last season, Timberwolves interim coach Sam Mitchell has stepped backward in order to move forward.
Back to long training-camp practices in which his team went nearly two hours with barely touching a ball to start Tuesday's first practice.
Back to the basics, such as starting with something as simple as the defensive stance and beginning to install a system intent to strengthen their defense from the perimeter on in.
"We know we have to get better defensively, and the only way you're going to get better is to work on it," Mitchell said. "We understood at the end of last season that we just have to get better at it. The players understand that, the coaches understand that. You have to work at it and try to get better every day."
The Wolves have accomplished veteran defenders Kevin Garnett and Tayshaun Prince. They also have eight players on their roster who are 24 years old or younger. Included are five who played just one collegiate season.
"We started with the very basics, and that's what you have to do sometimes, especially today with young players," Mitchell said. "Most of these guys had one year of college. They play AAU ball, but it's not like when I played high-school and college ball and we just got drilled and drilled and drilled on stance and sliding and turns, all that stuff. We just felt we had to start our defense with the stance and get back to basics."
A veteran such as Prince — four times named to the NBA's all-defensive second team in his younger years — can't remember revisiting something as remedial as the basic defensive stance since he played for Lawrence Frank in Detroit four seasons ago.
"I haven't done that for a while," Prince said. "In Memphis, we had a very veteran team, so we spent 20, 30 minutes on defense, did a couple 'show' drills and stuff like that and went on offense … Sam threw into everybody's ear what the defensive percentages were last year, last in the league. So the most important thing is putting it in our ear right away and letting guys know."