The Wolves are in Philly on Tuesday to take on the Sixers in a matchup that is getting a lot of attention mostly because of the trade between the two squads that brought Robert Covington, Dario Saric and Jerryd Bayless to Minnesota and sent Jimmy Butler and Justin Patton to Philly.
Wolves players and coaches spoke on Butler yesterday, which we covered in our practice report here. There were more questions about Butler at shootaround but the Wolves’ answers were very similar today, so let’s focus on the side of the trade that wasn’t talked about as much…
RoCo And Dario’s Return
This will be the first time Saric, Covington and Bayless will be back in Philly since the trade. It’s disappointing that Covington won’t be able to take the court but he is still enjoying the chance to see some familiar faces.
That being said, Covington’s relationship with Philly is complicated. Though he loves the organization, it wasn’t always the easiest crowd to play in front of.
“If you can make it here you can make it anywhere,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed the fans both good and bad, embrace it all, overall this is my true first home and I’ll always love here. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Being part of a rebuilding process like the one he went through in Philly also taught Covington lessons that he has brought with him to Minnesota.
“Adversity is going to hit no matter what. You got to take the good with the bad, you got to learn from all your mistakes, you got to learn your lessons and ultimately each and every day you have to come in and get better,” he said. “Just trying to be a great leader on and off the court just like I was here. Lead by example doing the right things and taking guys under your wing.”
Now that Covington and Saric are in Minnesota, Interim Head Coach Ryan Saunders has a better idea of what Philly misses about them.
“One thing you can never take away from those guys or underestimate in terms of Robert and Dario is their passion and their will to win. Any team would miss them taking that away from them,” he said.
Stopping Embiid
In order to have a chance at winning tonight, the Wolves need to slow down Joel Embiid. While that job will primarily fall on Karl-Anthony Towns, Saunders said that it’s important for the whole team to step up and work together to contain him.
“It is a challenge. There’s a lot of bigs in this league that can score the ball on the block and score from the outside too. That’s where Embiid poses a challenge, he’s so dynamic with things. But the main thing is playing without fouling and keeping engaged,” said Saunders.
Towns has been on a roll lately so there’s little doubt he’ll be able to go toe-to-toe with Embiid. Both teams’ No. 1 priority will be stopping the other’s center, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.
You can catch Wolves at Sixers at 6 p.m. CT. Read more about the matchup and find out how to watch here.