Practice Today

[Coolbreeze44]

They didn't actually practice. Instead sat in a circle at center court and "cleared the air". Sounds like an act of desperation to me. Sam is too emotional for this team. These young guys need to have some fun with the game. There is just too many mood swings by the coach, and just swings in general. Take the Tom Kelly approach. Show up to the arena, prepare yourself to play, enjoy what you are doing, and have a short memory. Don't get too high or too low. It's no wonder we've been streaky both good and bad so far this year.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

It was one big group hug. Here's story:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The day after the Minnesota Timberwolves' most embarrassing performance of the season, the reeling group gathered at their practice facility ready to get back to work.

Only they didn't practice at all. Instead, interim coach Sam Mitchell brought the team together at center court for 90 minutes of talk and soul searching, giving each player the opportunity to offer his view on what wasn't working and what had to change going forward.

Such is life for a team that has lost seven of the last eight games and was run out of the gym in Philadelphia on Monday night by a 76ers team that had won just three times before then.

''I think it was good for us, for our young guys to hear what they think of each other and what they expect from each other,'' Mitchell said. ''It was all positive. But everybody was just honest with each other, with the expectations of each other, what we need to give, from each other, to make our team more complete.''

The Timberwolves were one of the surprise teams in the league early in the season, getting off to an 8-8 start with victories at Atlanta, Chicago and Miami. With Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine and Ricky Rubio forming a promising young core buttressed by Kevin Garnett, Tayshaun Prince and Andre Miller, the worst seemed to be over for a franchise that hasn't made the playoffs since 2004.

The progress has been much harder to see lately, with lackluster efforts against struggling opponents like the 76ers, Bucks and Nuggets and a ghastly 5-13 record at Target Center.

They haven't scored 100 points in their last eight games, have seen their once-solid defense crumble and shoot 3-pointers like teams did 20 years ago. Most troubling, they have exhibited very little energy while Mitchell has lamented over and over again just how long it takes for young players to learn how to play and compete at the NBA level.

Now the Wolves have joined the Lakers, Suns and Kings - all franchises in some sort of turmoil or disrepair - on the list of teams who have lost to Philly.

''I think we've touched the bottom now,'' Rubio said. ''So we've got to find it somehow. Maybe because we're young and the rookie wall is on our minds or whatever. I don't want to say any excuses. It's us being aggressive going out there and wanting to win.''

Throughout the season, Garnett, Prince and Miller have been the most vocal in practices and in the locker room. But Tuesday's meeting gave the youngsters a chance to make their voices heard.

''They have a lot to say,'' Mitchell said. ''They have feelings, they have their perspective. They have things they feel like are fair, and things that are unfair. So you give them a chance - you give anyone a chance - to say what they're thinking.''

Mitchell tried to focus the conversation on sacrifice, setting aside concerns about stats or playing time for what is best for the team. He told the story of how he neared the end of his playing career and voluntarily gave up his starting spot to a young Garnett, a move that he said opened doors for his post-playing career as a coach.

''You can hear it in their voice. You can see it in their face. You can tell the sincerity of it and that it's coming from the heart,'' Mitchell said. ''The hardest thing in this league is to say to another player, 'You've got more talent than me. I expect more out of you.'''

Whether the session will help solve some of the issues plaguing the team remains to be seen. They host the Nuggets on Wednesday night, Kevin Love and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night and the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

''It's probably the best practice of the year, for us,'' Towns said. ''Especially more like a therapeutic session, allowing us even more to come together as a team and as a family.''

Mitchell said both Kevin Martin, who has not played for the last seven games while the Wolves try to trade him, and Nikola Pekovic, who has not played this year after having offseason surgery on his Achilles, could return to the lineup on Wednesday night.

That's a little bit of good news for a roster that sorely needs some right now.

''I would say we can beat anybody but we can lose to anybody because that's what young teams do,'' Mitchell said. ''Our thing for our young guys is being more consistent in our play, our focus and our concentration. And bring it to the table the best that you have every night.''

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Not totally surprising given the implosion of the team right now. May be this is a turning point, may be not. Only their play on the court will tell us if this made any difference.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

Pek and KMart could be back. I like having more bodies as that means players aren't just handed minutes.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I'm fine with Pek getting minutes when he comes back, but please don't put Martin back in the rotation just to shake things up. A huge problem with this team is we have too many guys playing and most of the team is getting inconsistent minutes. How does Sam expect consistency from his players when he has none as a coach? Some nights KG and Prince end up with big minutes, other nights it's other guys, etc. Find a 9-10 rotation and play them the same way for a month with no fluctuations. Then re-evaluate and try something different if you have to. This is a year of trial and error. We weren't expected to win anything being led by 1st and second year players. Play them with consistency and then adjust based on how they play. Stop worrying about squeaking out wins by giving certain guys a little extra run on some nights and let these guys figure it out as a team. If Sam and the organization want consistency, they have to start being consistent themselves and make tough choices like cutting guys out of the rotation. Martin was a good first step. Let's not back track just because we hit a rough patch. Keep teaching and keep supporting and the wins will come eventually. And for the love of God start chucking 3's. I don't care what it takes, but our lack of 3pt shooting is an absolute joke right now and we seem to be the only team in the league that can't figure it out on any level.

[Lipoli390]

Today's therapy session might give the team a temporary bump for a game or two. But they will ultimately revert to who they've been the past several weeks because today's group discussion didn't address the underlying problems. This team hasn't been regressing because players had feelings they needed to share with one another. The team has regressed because of how they are being coached - much of which has been discussed enough in other threads.

As if to underscore that Sam doesn't understand the problem, he emerges from today's therapy session saying that Martin may be back in the lineup. Yes, after orchestrating a group sharing session to get the team back on track, Sam does another flip-flop, once again exhibiting the kind of inconsistency and scatter-shot coaching that has gotten this team off the track in the first place.

1. Zach will be our starting SG. Never mind, I just realized he's too small to be a SG, so I won't have him as a SG or as a starter.

2. I'll start Prince instead for more size and defense. Never mind, I'll start Martin instead of Prince for more scoring.

3. I'm going to play the young guys because they need to develop. Never mind, I'm going to give Prince and and Martin more PT. Oh players don't develop during the season, they only develop in the offseason.

Glad the young guys had the chance to share their feelings with one another today. But how about incorporating the 3-point shot into the offense in lieu of long twos? How about encouraging players to shoot with confidence so they don't repeatedly pass up easier shots, hesitate and double clutch? How about implementing an offense that has pace and plays-call that fully take advantage of this team's youth, speed and athleticism?

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

So now with Pek and Martin back in the lineup, we'll have fewer minutes to dole out to our younger guys, great strategy Sammich. We'll have to give minutes to 12 guys? So we couldn't trade Martin, so now he's back in the mix? What a disaster this team is right now.

[60WinTim]

I thought I heard "Kev back" in Smitch's comments, too. I replayed it a few times and he said "Pek". But he did say "get those guys back" after KMart and Pek were mentioned. So I am not sure if we should expect KMart back or not.

Tyus has been bad. LaVine at SG has been even worse. I would be surprised if KMart is back in the rotation, but I certainly wouldn't blame Smitch for doing it given how crappy the team has played as of late.

[Coolbreeze44]

Apparently Sam didn't take this time to address his methods or reassess what he's doing. His focus was 100% on the players and the changes they need to make. This according to AP Jon Krawczynski.

[Coolbreeze44]

I thought I heard "Kev back" in Smitch's comments, too. I replayed it a few times and he said "Pek". But he did say "get those guys back" after KMart and Pek were mentioned. So I am not sure if we should expect KMart back or not.

Tyus has been bad. LaVine at SG has been even worse. I would be surprised if KMart is back in the rotation, but I certainly wouldn't blame Smitch for doing it given how crappy the team has played as of late.

Nobody else wants Martin, so you either have to release or play him. When I campaigned at the trade deadllne to get rid of Kmart because his value was only going to go down, some on here fought me on that idea.. They said because of how KMart plays his value was going to stay the same from year to year. We'd be better off listening to the old ball coach once in a while.