Minnesota Sports Forum

This is great news. He will be able to work himself back into form slowly with this squad. Looking forward to some Pek Smash.

It might just be a smoke screen, but there's a quote from Mitchell in today's Strib which puts some cold water on anyone expecting much from Pek anytime soon:

"It'd be nice, but I'm not going to hold my breath," Mitchell said. "When he comes back, how many minutes can we realistically give Pek? How many minutes do we leave him out there? We don't have a team that's built so we can give unproductive minutes. Pek is going to have to do his work. We're working with him. But without practice time, it's going to be tough for him. When he's ready, we'll figure out how to use him then. But right now, I don't even think about it. It does me no good to start planning on something that I have no idea when it's going to happen."

http://www.startribune.com/pekovic-can-practice-but-against-whom/363890041/

Seems to be the right approach by Mitchell. Assume he can't play until Pek proves otherwise.

Carlos Danger wrote:It might just be a smoke screen, but there's a quote from Mitchell in today's Strib which puts some cold water on anyone expecting much from Pek anytime soon:

"It'd be nice, but I'm not going to hold my breath," Mitchell said. "When he comes back, how many minutes can we realistically give Pek? How many minutes do we leave him out there? We don't have a team that's built so we can give unproductive minutes. Pek is going to have to do his work. We're working with him. But without practice time, it's going to be tough for him. When he's ready, we'll figure out how to use him then. But right now, I don't even think about it. It does me no good to start planning on something that I have no idea when it's going to happen."

http://www.startribune.com/pekovic-can-practice-but-against-whom/363890041/

I don't know if it's a smokescreen or reality, but I tend to think it's more about Sam-speak. One thing I don't particularly like about Sam is he often puts the most negative spin he can on things. It's funny because Mike Zimmer does the same thing. They are both pathological perfectionists, and seem to only see what needs to be improved. I've noticed whenever a reporter asks Sam an optimistic question (like "are you excited to be getting Pek back?), he refuses to join in the optimism, but rather tells the reporter what is bad about the situation. I always chuckle listening to Sam and Zim.

I think Sam is going to be able to put Pek out there for 5 minute stretches when the situation demands it, and it will be great to have him available against bulkier centers. Pek's playing style isn't the kind that needs much time to get back to peak levels...rolling to the basket for layups and banging underneath is a less precise process than precision passing or 3-point shooting. Pek's conversion rate near the basket fell drastically when he was hurting, and I expect it to return to normal levels if he really is pain free as he says.

Q12543 wrote:Seems to be the right approach by Mitchell. Assume he can't play until Pek proves otherwise.

Any good leader knows how to under promise so you can over deliver! :-) Yes, this is a better approach than what they did to Rubio earlier in the year when he was expected to play for about a week and then took a lot of flak for being "soft".

Carlos Danger wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Seems to be the right approach by Mitchell. Assume he can't play until Pek proves otherwise.

Any good leader knows how to under promise so you can over deliver! :-) Yes, this is a better approach than what they did to Rubio earlier in the year when he was expected to play for about a week and then took a lot of flak for being "soft".

Excellent point, Tony...maybe Sam is exhibiting some growth too like his young pups after botching the Rubio situation.