bon ben finalement pas de transfert aux wolves et Casey va tenter de qualifier son equipe pour les PO avec le meme effectif...
Wolves opt to stand pat, but aren´t sitting around
Still adjusting to find their new identity after January´s blockbuster, the NBA tarde deadline was allowed to pass quietly by.
As practice wound down Thursday afternoon it became pretty clear that Timberwolves coach Dwane Casey had the same team and the same challenge:
Take a team altered by a trade a month ago and try to get it to the point where it´s still contending for a playoff spot a month from now.
The NBA´s trading deadline came and passed without a move from the Wolves.
"What we have is what we´re going to go with," Casey said.
But in which direction? At the very least, Casey´s job is clear: There will be no need for further introductions of new faces into the lineup, but he has to get more out of the group he´s had in place since the trade with Boston at the end of January.
So Casey spent practice trying to encourage players who have been on the wrong side of his rotation while at the same time trying to get more consistency from a team that has been anything but.
Encouragement? Casey spent a half-hour talking with guard Marko Jaric, who, after an extended stay on the bench, appears ready to re-enter the rotation, at least a little.
The consistency might be a bit more difficult for Casey, who addresses one issue only to have another crop up. For example, in the days leading up to the All-Star break the Wolves weren´t having trouble scoring but suffered on defense. Coming out of the break the Wolves went to Washington and played fairly well defensively -- holding the Wizards well under their season average -- but slumped on offense after a strong first quarter.
"It´s like the chicken and the egg," Casey said. "We concentrate on defense for a couple of days and boom, all at once, your offense goes."
With two days to prepare for Denver, Casey spent a day on defense, much of Tuesday on offensive execution.
What happened in Tuesday´s game in Washington -- when the Wolves managed just nine second-quarter points -- had less to do with new faces still learning to play together and more to do with bad decisions: The Wolves stopped running the floor and moving the ball, started taking quick, ill-advised shots, losing a 19-point lead in the process.
"It seems it´s one thing or another," Mark Madsen said. "Lately that´s been what it is. Our offense is good and our defense sputters. Or our offense is great and our defense maybe isn´t as good. Our challenge is to get those two synchronized."
And do it with the players at hand. For a team that may have been waiting or expecting a trade-deadline move, this much is clear: The Wolves will have to fight back toward .500 with the squad it currently has.
