After some hours to reflect, and after a lengthy film session, Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau was still talking about toughness — or the lack thereof — in the wake of Monday's loss to Memphis.
The loss, called by guard Jeff Teague the worst of the season "by far,'' pushed the Wolves into sole possession of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference entering Tuesday's NBA games.
And while Thibodeau talked about the need to look ahead to Wednesday's game with lowly Atlanta, it was important to have learned the lessons that came from a loss to a Grizzlies team that came to the Twin Cities having lost 23 of 24 games.
Thibodeau said he talked to his team about the need to be mentally ready to bounce back. He talked about not taking teams with bad records for granted.
But he also talked, over and over, about toughness.
"There is a preseason intensity,'' he said. "Then there is the start of the regular season. And now you have a playoff race going on.
"You're facing a guy like [Grizzlies center Marc] Gasol, who has a lot of pride. And the physicality? We didn't do a good job with that.''
Thibodeau said the Wolves lacked that toughness on the perimeter when the Grizzlies went with a three-guard set of Mario Chalmers, Dillon Brooks and Wayne Selden, who came off the bench to score 23 points.