The Wolves’ eagerness to return to basketball post-All-Star break was apparent on Wednesday when players and coaches filled the gym well in advance of their afternoon practice.
“I’m excited,” Wolves head coach Ryan Saunders said. “I missed it last week. We want to get back and get back to getting better.”
However, the Wolves returned from All-Star break with one large chasm in their newly-assembled roster.
On Wednesday, Ryan Saunders announced that Karl-Anthony Towns would not practice and is expected to miss upcoming games as he’s evaluated for a wrist injury he suffered before the All-Star break.
Now the Wolves will have to get their new players up to speed with one another and the team’s system without their franchise player included in the mix of things.
But with or without Towns’ whose return has not been given a set timeline yet, the Wolves will do their best to get their newest additions acquainted with their team as quickly as possible.
Saunders said the start of Wednesday’s practice would be treated similarly to a training camp meeting.
“I’ll go over expectations, I’ll go over offensive identity, defensive identity,” Saunders said. “If you go back to the Atlanta trade, I believe it’s nine new faces in that film room.
“You want to make sure that everyone’s on the same page.”
Without Towns, for the time being, Saunders expects his team to implement fewer post-up plays and to install more “free-flowing game” with the guards and wings. Fans got a glimpse of that at the Feb. 12 game against the Charlotte Hornets that featured a starting backcourt of D-Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley for the first time at Target Center.
Beasley and Russell combined for 54 points and 14 assists against Charlotte and provided the type of guard play fans have been pleading for.
“Playing with D-Lo in the second game was huge for us because we’re the backcourt so we have to get together and learn things,” Beasley said, already drenched in sweat 10 minutes before the start of Wednesday’s practice. “We need to learn a lot of things, but we’re going to grow.”
When asked about measuring the expectations for the final 29 games of the regular season, Russell said the Wolves’ focus will be on their own group.
“Feel like we just need to focus on us,” Russell said. “Focus on what we can do better from the last game and come in here and dissect the film and be locked in in practice and just keep taking steps forward and go in that right direction.”
With or without Towns, this new group will strive to control what it can control by out-competing its opponents.
“Be the harder-playing team at all times,” Saunders said. Not having a Karl-Anthony Towns in the lineup, whether it be one game, whatever it is, it’s a hit. But we also want to do what’s best for the player, you want to do what’s best for the team in the long run, you also want guys to step up in that time, too. You learn a lot about others when they get opportunity.”
Beasley, who’s seen his role grow immensely in just a short time with the Wolves, knows Towns’ absence can’t impede on this team’s development.
“(KAT is) a big piece to our team, so it’s tough but like in Denver, we had a next-man-up mentality,” Beasley said. “The next guy has to step up no matter what. We’ve got to be ready to play.”
Naz Reid is one player who could see an expanded role while Towns recovers.
The rookie big man is averaging 11.4 minutes and 7.4 points per game this season after appearing in 19 games with the Wolves but saw those numbers improve to 15.6 minutes and 10.1 points per game in the seven games he played in during Towns’15-game absence (knee) from Dec. 18 to Jan. 15.
“Naz, being a young player, he’s going to be getting very meaningful minutes here,” Saunders said. “Once again, this is something we think will help us in the long haul.”