[外電] Wolves revved up after big win

看板Timberwolves (明尼蘇達灰狼)作者jerod (KG4MVP)時間19年前 (2007/01/31 21:39)推噓1(1推 0噓 2→)

留言3則, 1人參與討論串1/1

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/16584661.htm On Monday, the Department of the Interior announced that the gray wolf has been removed from the endangered list. Later that night, Kevin Garnett and Randy Wittman seemed to make the same announcement concerning the other Timberwolves of Minnesota. But just how far will the Wolves' shocking victory over the Phoenix Suns, the best team in the NBA, carry past Monday night? And how much does the newly ordained head coach have to do with this sudden surge of life apparent in the Wolves the past few games? And just what did it mean when Garnett, the 44-point superstar Monday night, sought out Wittman after the final buzzer to smack him in the chest, embrace him and then all but propose? "It was really heartfelt in letting him know that we'll fight for you every night," Garnett said. Said Wittman: "It means something when a player the stature of Kevin kind of takes hold of the team and says, 'Hey, we're going to play hard no matter what.' People have got to follow that direction. That meant a lot." Whether this is all about a short-term high in the wake of last week's coaching shakeup or a longer-lasting culture shift initiated by Wittman, something looks remarkably different — and right — about this team as it faces the fifth game of the rest of its life under Wittman. Players say that beyond the X's and O's that Wittman insists they follow, his energy and upbeat message have made a big difference in the inspired-looking play apparent during the four games under him — particularly Saturday's victory on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers followed by Monday's shocker. "Coach Wittman has injected confidence in everybody on this team," Garnett said. "Even the guys that don't play. … I've seen guys sort of get redefined as far as confidence and become a big factor in our winning. It's definitely a shot in the arm." Ricky Davis said the players already had confidence and that he sees little difference in that confidence since Dwane Casey was fired last week and Wittman was promoted from assistant. But Davis, whose midgame run-in with Casey less than two weeks ago contributed to the former coach's demise, said Wittman brings a fire with his message. "He does have a passion and emotion for the game, and he lets all 13, 14 guys know that he believes in us, and he has confidence in us winning these games," Davis said, "and that definitely rolls over from the starters to the bench." Where does it come from? "You've got to believe," Wittman said. "If the coach doesn't believe, these players have been around too long that they're going to see that. Sometimes that feeds in a negative way. I've got great confidence. I've felt really relaxed in this role, even though it was thrust upon me pretty quickly.'' That's not an indictment of the former regime. Wittman didn't see anything lacking that way, he said. "No, that's just who I am," he said. "I'm just going to be me." Maybe that's why it seems to resonate with players. That and the fact he's getting a few more players involved more deeply in the game plan each night. Plodding bench player Mark Madsen, for instance, played a season-high 25? minutes Monday night against one of the quickest up-and-down teams in the league and became a major influence, especially defensively, in the outcome. Guard Marko Jaric also has been shifted into a bigger part of the team's plans, albeit through only four games. And Davis has taken on greater defensive responsibility, assigned to defend Sam Cassell in Los Angeles and Phoenix's Steve Nash on Monday for significant stretches. "The No. 1 thing, other than the effort being constant every night, is I've got to get these guys in position to take advantage of their talents," Wittman said, "each of them, from Kevin on down. I want to put these guys in positions where they can succeed." "It's definitely working for me," Davis said. Now if they can keep this flush of up-tempo emotion going against the Pacific Division-trailing Sacramento Kings tonight at home — and for 37 more games this season after that… "If we can't get momentum off of this, something's wrong," Madsen said after Monday's big win. "I do think that we can get some momentum here and really make a push to get a high seed in the playoffs." Talk about confidence. -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 218.170.218.246