EARLY SEASON MEDIA CATCHUP PRESS CONFERENCE WITH RICK ADELMANPress: "Rick your Timberwolves team has had a mixed start to this season, but you've managed to stay above .500 so far. Why have the results been so varied?"
Rick Adelman: "I think even though we've had a solid preseason, this is the first time in a long time that all of our key guys have been healthy and able to play together for any measurable time. Last year was incredibly tough, our team had more player games missed with injury than any other club. When we're hot, we're hot, but we've also seen some situations where the momentum is strongly against us and we haven't been able to steady the ship which leads to a couple of these blowout losses that we've seen."
P: "Your most recent game against the Cavs was one of those. They're responsible for 2 out of your 4 losses, why have your team struggled against a team that you'd probably be expected to beat?"
RA: "We have our game plan, and it revolves heavily around our starters. We saw when Kevin Love went down with foul trouble in the last game, we were unable to cope with his absence. A few of the other guys weren't able to step up on offence and make shots, and instead turned the ball over alot. We can't lose our head when Plan A fails, we need to be just as successful with our Plan B, Plan C, D, E and F. In terms of the Cavs, they are an up-and-coming team with plenty of upside. A couple of their younger players have gained some experience and they are in an era now where they will punish poor defence and have the firepower to keep their scoreboard ticking over. They're exciting to watch on offence and if you can't make your own shots, they will leave you behind. That is what we saw in the last game."
P: "Kevin Love scored a personal and franchise high 54 points in the previous game against the Clips and has been on fire most of this year, but when he isn't performing the team seems to go down. Your thoughts?"
RA: "As I said, a few of the guys who would be expected to carry the scoring load when he is off the court, or in any kind of slump, haven't consistently been able to fill the void. Guys like Pek, Kevin Martin, Corey Brewer have all had some impressive offensive performances this year but they all need to be ready to be 'that guy' if Love isn't scoring. We aren't a one-man team, and these guys need to get more consistent to prove that to everyone."
P: "Love's rebounding totals are lower also this year..."
RA: "I think by now the rest of the league are aware of how good a rebounder Kevin is. He kind of came from nowhere over the last couple of seasons, an unlikely kinda guy to be a rebounding leader. But the league is wise to it now and this year we have seen him targeted alot harder on the missed shots. Everyone knows now you have to check him on every missed shot. But we've been working on this with him in training, he is strong enough to hold his own in a rebounding contest, we know that. But he has seen some recent improvements to his vertical leap which we think will help too."
P:"Your starting 5 seems pretty set, the sign of a settled team. But the bench players minutes and performances seem to fluctuate a fair bit."
RA:"You want a solid starting 5. To keep changing your starting 5 because of injury or form slumps is disruptive, and most good teams you'll see have a pretty consistent starting 5. As for our bench, it's healthy to have a bit of competition for spots. Depending on the matchups or situations within a game, you'll see more of this player or less of that player. It's more about what's needed at the time, the matchups, the lineup of our guys on the floor at the time as well. We are lucky where we have a number of swingmen that can all shoot and drive so it's sometimes hard to determine who to put into a game. Chase, Robbie, Alexey and Shabazz can all do similar things, but each with their own style so it's just a matter of what fits best at the time."
P: "On Shabazz Muhammad, he hasn't broken through into the regular rotation as yet..."
RA: "Shabazz is still young and hasn't played big minutes yet. But he is always ready when called upon. He has a good attitude towards his training and has shown improvements already. I wouldn't be suprised if he's earning some more regular minutes soon."
P:"How much is Nikola Pekovic's ankle affecting is play?"
RA: "We are being careful with his minutes so we've seen Kevin playing a bit of Center while we go slightly smaller by putting Dante or Luc in at the power foward spot. Also we've seen some success with Gorgui Dieng playing that shutout defender role when he's called upon. So we have options. Pek is tough and will contribute solidly whenever he is on the floor, it's just about how much we can afford to play him, he's already reinjured once."
P: "What can you tell us about the Derrick Williams trade?"
RA: "I think it's widely seen as a win-win for both clubs and both players. Derrick needs a team that needs him as a starter. He was always playing behind Kevin Love which for him personally probably wasn't the best situation. He lacked consistency on offence because of limited minutes, but I think we can all see that wasn't really his fault. He'll be put to much better use in Sacramento. We get Luc in return who helps fulfil some defence needs for us so I think everyone is better off for this trade."
P: "What can we expect from the Wolves going forward?"
RA: "With the trade done, and a pretty solid idea of what it is we have to work on to improve, you can expect to see us deliver the season that the fans have been waiting for for so long. We obviously want to keep in touch with the top 8 in the West and anything less than a playoff appearance for us this year would be falling short of expectation. We've made some personel changes to help us get to where we need to be. In this league you're either contending, or you're rebuilding. You don't want to be somewhere in the middle. We've made it clear which end of the spectrum we feel we are at."