Practice Report: Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012

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Alex ConoverWeb Editorial AssociateEmail

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After a four-day break, the Timberwolves are waiting until tomorrow—game day against Denver—to evaluate two injured plays who can give quality minutes to the lineup. Both J.J. Barea and Nikola Pekovic practiced today, and coach Rick Adelman is hopeful that they are ready to make their comeback soon. “We did do a really light practice today,” Adelman said. “We were trying to save their legs, get them ready for tomorrow. This team’s got a lot of energy.” Barea is hoping to get clearance tomorrow to sneak back into Minnesota’s rotation. “I don’t think it will be worse unless I run into the scorer’s table again,” Barea joked after practice. “I’m going to fight through some soreness for a little bit. If I’m able to move like I move, then I’ll give it a go. But tomorrow I’m going to come in the morning, get some treatment again, and see how I feel in the morning. It’s a game-time decision.” Barea averaged 9.3 points over four games this year before spraining his foot against Orlando. Another crucial part of Minnesota’s lineup is Pekovic. The third-year center from Montenegro averaged 15.3 points and six rebounds over his first seven games. His presence has been sorely missed lately, especially in the Wolves’ last loss against Golden State where their interior defense was exposed. “Pek’s fine,” Adelman said. “He says he feels good, so hopefully between now and tomorrow, nothing happens. [Denver’s] got some big guys around the basket, and they’ve got energy guys who are long. We need Pek out there.” Adelman on Roy’s surgery Brandon Roy was back at Target Center on Tuesday, walking with crutches after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. The timetable is approximately one month for his return, and despite the tough injury luck the Wolves are having this season Adelman said it might be good he underwent the procedure. “In some ways it’s good that they found some things,” Adelman said. “Because he was complaining about that, that he felt something wasn’t quite right. Hopefully if they can clean that up and he can get back on the floor, he feels better than when he decided to do this. I think he can be a positive, and I think we’re going to know a lot about where he’s going 2-3 weeks down the road.” Adelman said Roy could tell something wasn’t quite right, and Roy has said he’s had soreness since bumping knees in the team’s preseason game against the Bucks and again two Friday’s ago against the Pacers. “When you’ve had the problems he’s had with his knee, and then when you feel something that’s not quite right, I think he was feeling what wasn’t quite right from when we started camp,” Adelman said. “He was feeling good then, but then after he got it bumped, it didn’t. So I think he was very concerned. I think if they would have found nothing, we would have said, ‘Well, what’s going on here?’ But I think they cleaned some things up, and I’m hoping it works for him.” Adelman said he wasn’t sure exactly what the doctors found. “They sent me a bunch of stuff,” Adelman said. “But all I saw was meniscus in there and all these other terms. I don’t know what it meant.” Quick Hits

  • J.J. Barea on seeing Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio return to team practices: “It’s great. They’ve been great teammates off the court, so I think having them at practice helps everybody.”

 

  • Adelman said this week the team gradually added plays back into the system: “I think it’s just getting guys used to sets, and then when we get the cavalry back you start putting stuff in that’s part of those sets for those people. I’ve been thinking about that, gradually moving to that area so when Kevin [Love] comes back and Ricky [Rubio] comes back and we start getting our whole team, we can just move right into it and we can go right into those areas.”

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