The Wolves have their first preseason game out of the way, and head coach Ryan Saunders liked what he saw out of his team, even if it was a loss.
Minnesota played a faster-pace of basketball, and ended up shooting mostly 3-pointers and layups, the two most efficient shots in the NBA.
Preseason game No. 2 is Thursday night against the Warriors at the new Chase Center. Saunders is looking for continued development from a team that has a lot of new faces on it.
“Just continue to have daily growth,” Saunders said on Thursday morning. “That’s a big thing with our group that we talk about a lot, not skipping steps, not being a team that is just complacent with going through the motions or going through what the day may be, whether it be an off day, whether it e a preseason game that in the end, the record doesn’t necessarily count, so we want to make sure we’re still getting better and still improving on the things you want to improve upon.”
Even if this roster wasn’t full of a bunch of new faces, there would still be a lot of adjusting throughout this preseason considering the Wolves implemented new offensive and defensive systems. Everyone is learning together.
“It’ll be a work in progress but I feel good where we’re at,” Saunders said.
One player who is new to the NBA entirely is rookie Jarrett Culver. After a slow start against the Suns, Culver found his groove, playing both guard spots and finished with 11 points, three rebounds and two steals, shooting 5-for-8 from the field.
“I think his ability to stick with it. It can be tough checking into an NBA game even if it is just a Summer League game or a preseason game, that NBA logo is different and you realize that you’re in the league and so you got to take a step and a moment to enjoy that, but you also need to understand that it’s time to perform.”
Tipoff between the Wolves and Warriors is set for 9:30 p.m. CT on NBA TV.