Searching For His Niche

Searching For His Niche

After missing nearly half of the 2007-08 season, Wolves guard Randy Foye is looking to put together a solid, complete year.

Slow start aside, Timberwolves third-year point guard Randy Foye knows what a difference a year makes.

Just a year ago, Foye was shelved on the bench because of a left knee injury that had a time limit no crystal ball could predict. “I knew I had a problem probably the second day of training camp,” Foye said of his forgettable start to the 2007 season. “I knew after the first day that it didn’t feel right, because even after getting ice, it was still killing me. I tried to play through it, I played through the whole training camp…but then I got a CT bone scan, and that’s when it showed up.”

The “it” Foye was talking about was an injury that cost him nearly the first half of last season. After a rookie season in which he played all 82 games averaging 10.1 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.7 rebounds, Foye found himself watching from the sidelines as the game seemed to pass him by during his sophomore season.

“Fred Hoiberg called me with the results of the bone scan and he told me I was going to be out three weeks, so I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll rest it up.’ I thought I would only miss 11 games, then I went back three weeks later and the doctor said it would be another three weeks. I went back again and he said another three weeks,” Foye said. “So it just dragged on and got frustrating.”

In some ways, his first two seasons in the NBA have dwelled more in the frustration neighborhood than in the fantastic area code. Even though he played his entire rookie season alongside Kevin Garnett, his on-court relationship with an NBA legend was short-lived. The Wolves, of course, dealt Garnett to the Boston Celtics after Foye’s rookie season. Then came Foye’s sophomore season, which was hampered out of the starting gates by injury.

“I was just free my rookie year,” Foye said. “Coming into my second year, I felt a lot of pressure because I knew I was one of the key guys after [Garnett] was gone. When I got injured, I took it tough. The team was struggling so bad, and I wanted to play so bad that a lot of times I was in tears when I went home at night.”

It is safe to say that Foye’s evolution from being a playmaker and point-getter in college to being an NBA floor general has been a slow transition. Foye finished last season averaging 13.1 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.3 rebounds.

This is a transition year for Foye. While he still is considered young, this is his third season. The Wolves are counting on a big year from Foye in many ways.

“My main focus this year is just being a leader,” said Foye, who EA Sports NBA Live ‘09 projected to be the NBA’s Most Improved Player for this season. “I know we have enough offensive power to win, but doing those little things on defense are going to make us pass teams who are slacking. It’s not that tough being a floor general, some people make it tough. As a floor general you just have to talk. You have to speak up. You have to lead by example. And that’s it.”

The Wolves entered the season with a trio of point guards: Foye, Sebastian Telfair, and veteran Kevin Ollie. Because of a suspension to Telfair, and a slow start from Foye, Ollie was the recipient of more playing time than expected in the preseason. But the Wolves hope that changes. Few would like to see Foye succeed more than Wolves coach Randy Wittman.

“I’m harder on my point guards than anybody else,” Wittman said. “I demand more of them than anybody else. [Foye’s] an extension of me out there on the floor. The more I can sit there and watch the game, the better.”

That’s what Wittman demands of Foye.

“He’s a good kid, sometimes he’s almost too good of a kid,” Wittman said. “There’s got to be a time when you kick a teammate in the seat of his pants; there’s a time to be emotional. His personality doesn’t draw that right now. Ideally, you’d like your point guard to be that guy. You look at the Magic Johnsons and the Isiah Thomases and all the great point guards who had the ability to do that, their teams were pretty good.

“This is the time (a player’s third season in the NBA) that you start to come into your own as a player, who you are and what you’re capable of doing. He’s going to show us that, even if you have some bumps here and there.”

In addition to stabilizing the temporarily turbulent point guard position on the court, Ollie hopes to help out the youthful Foye and Telfair any way he can. “Both Randy and Sebastian, they’re fairly young,” said Ollie. “I don’t want to hover over them, but whatever they need, I’m here.”

Even though he is healthy, the season didn’t start with the pomp or circumstance Foye had hoped for. In the first two games of the season, Foye hit just 3 of 24 shots.

“I talked to [Kevin McHale] about it and he laughed at it,” Foye said. “He was like, ‘You went 3 for 24 in the last couple games. I had stretches where I shot worse than that.’ He said just keep playing. That’s what I’m doing. So I’m just looking forward to going out there and trying to win, not really worrying about if I’m making the shots or not.”

But the shots did start to fall with more frequency for Foye as he made 14 of 29 shots (48.2%) over the ensuing three games. And despite the slow start for himself and the team, Foye looks around the locker room and sees reason to be optimistic.

“I’ve got Mike Miller and Big Al next to me,” Foye said. “I’ve got Gomes, Sebastian, Craig Smith, Kevin Ollie, all these veterans. It just feels like we have a team with that group, and that’s how I played in college. I just love the situation I’m in right now. With my shooting ability and my athleticism, I can make anything happen with these great players around me.”