We kept an eye on the latter end of Wednesday's practice and jotted down a few notes about how some of the players looked. But before we get to that...

The two biggest stories coming out of Target Center right now are Al Jefferson's potential contract extension (or lack there of) and the point guard situation. Accordingly, we were there when Randy Wittman and Kevin McHale addressed the gathered media.


Wolves Head Coach Randy Wittman
Q: On if the team is getting any closer figuring out the point guard situation:
A: No, we're going to get another day tomorrow to look at different combinations as we did today and yesterday. No, we're not any closer.

Q: On the Al Jefferson contract situation with the deadline looming:
A: Obviously I think that's a decision that (Jefferson and his agent) make and obviously they feel very confident in whichever way they go. If they take the deal, obviously I think it wins them security. If not, I think they feel good about why they're not doing it and feel comfortable going into the season without a deal.

Q: On Telfair's defense:
A: He's the one guy who can give us 94 feet of defense. He's going to change the tempo both offensively and defensively. He can slow down a team that speeds it up on us and can also speed us up when we're bogged down a little bit.

Q: On what Telfair did or didn't do with previous teams:
A: I think he's responded well. I can only go by what my experience with the kid is. Not with what has happened in Portland or Boston. There are certain situations where players for whatever reason it doesn't work out with one team then all of a sudden he's a good fit with another team. It's just a matter of finding the right team. He's done everything I've asked him to do and now it's just time to perform and do it when it counts.

Q: On Chauncey Billups getting comfortable with his third team:
A: Yeah, Chauncey did over his career. I think Detroit was either his fourth or fifth team (it was his fifth in seven seasons). He found a real niche here and got his feet stabilized a little bit.

Q: On how much he's thought about the Nuggets:
A: Not really, I'm still concerned about us. Everything we do from a defensive standpoint is designed to handle anything we're going to see in Denver. I just want our guys to recognize and react to certain things that happen on the floor and not necessarily what one particular team is going to do.

Wolves VP of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale
Q: On the Al Jefferson contract deadline at midnight tonight:
A: You really want to get something done. For the player, he's under contract for this year, so he's doing something for the future. For the team, you have the right of first refusal so you can see where the market is again next year. So you want to get something done but if you don't ... Usually things get done when there's a little bit more of a crunch. But I hope we do, I think Al has been a tremendous player here. I said it before, watching him and studying him and getting ready for the different trades, I knew he was good, but he's better than I thought he was. He does things that are really hard to teach and things that are very instinctive. He's got flypaper hands. You wonder how the ball just falls to him all the time, but he just puts himself in position for those to fall him. So, he's been really good and I'd like to get something done. But if we don't it's not the end of the world. He's not going to leave and not play Friday night; he's under contract for next year. But I would like to get something done.

Q: On Jefferson's character:
A: I don't know how many times you guys have got a chance to spend with Al, but Al's about as nice a young man as you're going to find. I don't anticipate that being any kind of problem whatsoever. You would like to get something done, but if you don't, I've got a feeling that Al's going to go out and do what he does every single night that he can because that's who he is.

Q: On what McHale is hoping to do with the contract:
A: Hopefully we can get something that's fair for both parties. That's really what you want. Everybody thinks that you like to get a guy on the cheap and say that we just screwed this guy, but that guy gets upset. So, it's just better to do a deal that's good for both parties. It's not good to overpay either, because that happens in this league too. Hopefully we can do a deal that's fair for both parties and that's what we're looking to do.

All right. Now for a few observations from practice in our Wednesday Wolves Roundup:

Telfair Picks Up Pace
Among the quickest players in the entire NBA, Sebastian Telfair was all over the place for the second team, pressuring the "starters" full court in the final segment of practice. It was mostly Marko Jaric against whom Telfair went, and to his credit, Jaric didn't cough one up. But the pressure D often delayed Jaric's squad enough to legitimately affect the latter's offensive set. That kind of pressure is going to bother a lot of opponents. Speaking of point guards...

Jaric Runs With First Team
Jaric was wearing the black jersey and running the first team in practice today, though coach Wittman explicitly mentioned no decision has been made as to who will start. Alas, the first team has traditionally worn black and the second wears white. This may be because Kevin Garnett would never, ever wear anything but black.

McCants and Jefferson Continue to Impress
McCants and Jefferson continue to look excellent offensively. With the ball moving really well for the black jerseys once they got away from the full-court pressure, McCants and Jefferson got several nice looks at the hoop, and rarely missed. Just like Friday night against Milwaukee. Hopefully this will continue on Friday against Denver.

Dunk Me
The second team punctuated a solid performance with a Corey Brewer steal at mid-court, followed by a Telfair lob to Gerald Green for a massive two-handed jam. With Green and Brewer on either wing and Telfair sprinting down the middle at full speed, it's a nice looking, freakishly athletic fast break that Minnesota can run.

After Practice
Once again, Gerald Green stayed after practice to work on his jump shot with some of the assistant coaches. It's always a good sign to see guys taking extra reps, but some players do shoot before practice, when we're not down there to watch. Meanwhile, Jefferson stayed late working on low-post moves with assistant coach Ed Pinckney.