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All three of those players are back this year, and added to the mix is rookie combo guard Alexey Shved. Combine that group with shooting guard Brandon Roy and second-year combo guard Malcolm Lee, and the Wolves should have a collection of sure-handed players in the back court. “We upped our passing game, and I think we’re going to be more versatile defensively,” Adelman said. “Just watching their scrimmage play, they’re already doing things that we need to be doing. They don’t have to think about it.” Veterans like Roy and forward Andrei Kirilenko, if healthy and able to play at the level they’re accustomed to, should provide an added spark offensively on the wing. Kirilenko showed during the Olympics he can still run the fast break—doing so with Shved—and Roy is a sure-handed jump shooter who should get open looks while playing next to Rubio and his unpredictable passing style. Add in forwards Chase Budinger and Derrick Williams—two high flyers who are known for being recipients of outlet passes on the fast break—and this team has a collection of players who can work from half court sets, run the floor and, if all goes to plan, play a sure-handed defense on the other end of the court. “We have been playing a little pickup and seeing the unselfishness and everyone just knows how to play the game,” Ridnour said. “It’s going to be a lot different team and look. It’s going to be fun.” Roy said his dad is an avid NBA fan who has questions each night about different members of the team, which helped him understand just how many important pieces to the puzzle are on the club this year. “He always asks, ‘Has this guy come in? Have you met Rubio? Have you met Kevin Love? Has Kirilenko been there?’” Roy said. “That’s been exciting to meet everybody, see guys in person, and you know, again, I’m just looking forward to training camp so that way we can start practicing and trying to build that team chemistry.” No question, this group was assembled out of last year’s highs and lows. Adelman said he’s ready to see what this team can do. “We were actually pretty good the first 40-plus games. The last 20-plus, we were awful,” Adelman said. “It just brought us right back to where we were the year before. We felt that we needed to make some changes. We needed some energy, needed a more versatile team with more ball handling than we had before…It’s just a time when you look around for people who are going to meet those needs. We’re fortunate that, just looking at the guys in the past week or so, we’ve got a chance to be a lot better in a lot of areas.”