Media Day Wrap Up

Focused on the new-look Wolves, cameras and reporters aimed to capture smiles, personalities and individual and team sentiment about the upcoming season during media day Friday at the Wolves training facility in Target Center. Wolves players rotated from photo shoots with the likes of the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press and NBA, while answering questions from the press.

Theo Ratliff stretched his condor-like wingspan, Craig Smith posed with the children’s book Wolf’s Coming and Randy Foye broke down his handles while concentrated on his smile and keeping his eyes focused on the camera. There also was a booth where Wolves players shot footage to be played on the jumbotron at games this season, which will prove to showcase some flashy dance moves from Corey Brewer and Ryan Gomes.

This was the first time many members of this group of Wolves were in uniform together at the same time and it was apparent that they have already spent some time getting to know one another this off-season. The team now prepares for a 10-day training camp in Turkey where they will have few distractions and ample time to continue to bond and grow on and off the court.


What they had to say:

Like the abundance of players on the Wolves roster at the moment, there was no shortage of questions at Wolves media day. One of the primary topics of discussion of the day focused on the potential of a competitive training camp abroad. Here's what some of the Wolves players and staff had to say about that and more at media day:

Head coach Randy Wittman on his thoughts about all the new faces in Wolves camp:
A: Well, it’s going to be fun… This camp is going to be very competitive from every position. We’ve got eight, nine new faces and every opportunity for everybody to step up and claim what’s theirs, and so from a coaching standpoint, a spectator, … I think it’s going to be an interesting camp, and one that we’re going to be able to do a lot of teaching in.

Brewer on whether he thinks having training camp in Turkey will be good for the team:
A: I think it will because it will give us a chance to bond. To be around each other for 10 days in a different environment gives us a better chance to learn each other.

Rashad McCants on how this year will be different from the last:
A: I try not to think about last year and how it ended, how it began, the year as a whole. I think this year is totally different from the aspect that I am completely healthy now.

Smith on which two Wolves players he thinks have a great opportunity to step up and lead the team this season:
A: I think it’s going to be a couple of young guys stepping up to the occasion. I think Rashad and Randy will be able to step up and put themselves in a leadership role.

Juwan Howard on the youthful talent on the Wolves roster:
A: This is a young, talented group of players that has a chance to be special, and I mean that. You look at a guy like Al Jefferson, a Gerald Green, Rashad McCants, or Craig Smith, or Randy Foye, that group right there, that’s a good core to build a team and obviously this organization has done their homework to put together a good group of talent. And more importantly, they seem like good character guys.