Two days after a blowout loss to lowly Sacramento, one day after the players were given a day off, the Timberwolves returned to practice to prepare for perhaps the toughest stretch of the season.
The Wolves did this without Kevin Love but with questions of what that 32-point loss said about the team's direction.
First, Love: The power forward's sore left groin -- first injured in Utah last week -- kept him out of practice and has him listed officially as day-to-day. More will be known Wednesday, but the team and coach Kurt Rambis is preparing for the possibility Love will be unavailable for Thursday's game in Dallas at the very least.
But what of the mood of the team? After Sunday's loss, Rambis again bemoaned the team's lack of ball movement on offense and inability to make stops on defense. After the game, forward Anthony Tolliver talked of the team's Jekyll-and-Hyde nature, playing well one night but poorly the next, and wondered why some players on the team don't "bring it every night."
So, the question being asked Tuesday: Is Rambis' message still reaching the players?
Love, Tolliver and Martell Webster, each speaking for himself, said yes.
"He's doing a great job," Tolliver said of Rambis. "He's doing what he's supposed to be doing. It's us, as players, we just have to take more accountability and responsibility for our actions. ... I've been bought in from Day 1. It's tough sitting back and watching sometimes when people don't buy in. Because you can't do more than he does."
Nobody is mentioning names. But it's hard to ignore the Wolves' up-and-down nature. Rambis has said it a bunch of times -- and again Tuesday -- that the Wolves' offense flows when the ball is being moved and shared. And yet time and again, the Wolves stop moving the ball and try to play one-on-one basketball.
It has to be difficult, particularly for a young team, to remain focused down the stretch of a season when there are few, if any, tangible goals to be reached. Perhaps the high-profile schedule coming up will be a motivating factor.
But is the message getting through?
"I don't know, I hope so," Webster said. "We say all the right things. But we all know the result comes in the action. We'll see how guys play. That speaks for itself. ... The proof is in how we play."
They might have to play without Love. He first felt the pain in his left groin muscle in Utah last week. Adrenaline got him through Saturday's game with the Lakers. But he was unable to return to Sunday's game after getting a break. Love said it's important to him to play in all 82 games, but he also said he wouldn't push the injury. The Wolves are preparing as if Love won't be available in the short term. Rambis said Tolliver, Anthony Randolph and Nikola Pekovic would all help should Love not play. The starter would be determined by matchups.
As for the team, much more will be known Thursday. There was a report two weeks ago -- one Wolves president of basketball operations David Kahn vigorously denied -- that Rambis might be replaced after the season ended.
Love said Rambis addressed the team after Sunday's game and before practice Tuesday about the need to refocus for the final 11 games.
The players said Rambis has been consistent and, at times, very vigorous and vocal in his approach. "He does a great job of putting us in situations to make us successful," Tolliver said. "It's our job to go out and execute it. We've had problems doing it during the season."
Said Webster: "Of course I don't want to see him go. None of us does."
