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Wolves begin camp at St. John's
 Media Credit: Ryan Henry Wally Szczerbiak pulls up for a jumper during a scrimmage Saturday night at St. John�s University.
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 Media Credit: Ryan Henry Latrell Sprewell stretches during practice Saturday. The former Knick missed media day Thursday but arrived on time Friday.
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Collegeville -- The Minnesota Timberwolves arrived at St. John's University for training camp Thursday with a new look.
Their warm-ups contained only the outline of their current Timberwolves logo that usually features the face of a wolf. The facial features of the wolf were blanked out and the word "WIN" was embroidered inside the logo instead.
With the offseason additions of Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell and Michael Olowokandi, it looks like the Wolves are prepared to do just that.
After seven straight first-round eliminations, the Wolves have built almost an entirely new team with only four returning players from last season (Troy Hudson, Gary Trent, Wally Sczcerbiak and Kevin Garnett.) Thanks to the offseason moves, many NBA analysts have placed the Wolves among the top five teams in the Western Conference and a legitimate title contender.
"There's an excitement around this team that's never been here since I've been here," Szczerbiak said. "We're just trying to get our wind and the plays under our belts and stuff like that, but so far so good. We've got some good ball players on this team and we're just going to make each other better, so it's a lot of fun."
Sprewell shows up
Camp wasn't without its problems.
Sprewell, already with a lingering sour behavioral reputation, missed media day Thursday because of a mis-communication of dates between coach Flip Saunders and Sprewell's agent Bob Gist. Apparently Gist gave Sprewell a letter saying that media day was Friday instead of Saturday, so Saunders didn't fine the former New York Knicks All-Star.
Sprewell's reputation baggage still lurks from an incident involving him choking former coach P.J. Carlisimo when he played for Golden State. Since then Sprewell has been on his best behavior according to NY Knicks' coaches and players. Sprewell,who averaged 16 points per game last season and 19 over his four seasons with the Knicks, was actually a fan favorite in New York. That was one of the reasons Minnesota was so surprised to get him in a four team deal that sent Keith Van Horn to New York from Philadelphia.
The Timberwolves weren't the only ones surprised.
"I was a little disappointed because I love New York, but when you look at the team here, and the guys that you're playing with, you can't help but to be excited," Sprewell said. "I think (my style) has been fitting in pretty well. I always knew the system here was good. Every time we played the Timberwolves it was always a tough cover for us."
Sprewell was also a tough cover for the Timberwolves and many other teams in the NBA. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard is just the kind of slashing offensive threat the Timberwolves have been looking for. Sprewell also has playoff experience, averaging 18 points a game in both the 2000 and 2001 playoffs for the Knicks.
"There is a lot of different stuff to learn on offense, and that's great for a player like myself," Sprewell said. "There's a lot of movement running off the picks, and I like to come off pin-downs where I can slash, shoot and create for myself and the other guys."
One of those guys will be All-NBA First Team forward Kevin Garnett, who looks to be happier than ever with his three new quality additions and a generous $100 million extension. The two All-Stars already seemed to be clicking on and off the court in practice Friday. When Sprewell was asked about his opportunity to play with Garnett, a rare smile appeared.
"It's going to be a lot of fun."
"Kandi" optimistic
After losing their only true center Rasho Nesterovic, the Timberwolves found themselves scrambling this summer.
In good faith, Nesterovic's agent Bill Duffy notified the Wolves of another possibility to fill the void. It turned out to be none other than 1998's No. 1 draft pick Michael Olowokandi.
Owner Glen Taylor, Vice President of Player Operations Kevin McHale and coach Flip Saunders wasted no time by taking a flight to California to meet Olowokandi at his house.
"That right there showed me commitment," Olowokandi said. "That wasn't something that I was used to and I jumped at the opportunity."
The 7-foot, 270 lb. center was born in Lagos, Nigeria but grew up in England where he never played high school basketball. He thrived on such natural ability that he had many NBA scouts saying he could be the next Shaquille O'Neal.
Not exactly. Olowokandi has averaged 9.9 points and eight rebounds a game over the last five years as an L.A. Clipper, along with gaining a reputation for being lazy and injury prone. The big man suffered a season-ending knee injury last season after just 36 games.
The real story is how Olowokandi played in those 36 games before he sustained the injury. He averaged 12 points, nine rebounds, 38 minutes and caused a stir around the NBA in such a way that there was talk of him being invited to the 2003 All-Star game.
So far this season, Olowokandi has attended camp as a spectator after having his second arthroscopic knee surgery in eight months. However, the Wolves aren't too worried by his minor surgery and expect the "Kandi Man" to be back before the regular season. McHale said it could be as early as two weeks.
Two weeks may seem like forever for an anxious Olowokandi.
"I'm ecstatic and so excited that I can't contain myself," he said. "I caught a snag with the injury, but we just have to be patient. I'm optimistic and I want to get back and ready to go."
The Timberwolves are hoping that Olowokandi will be the consistent hard-nosed scoring center that will compliment Garnett's interior game and propel the teams interior defense with his dangerous shot blocking ability.
"It all remains to be seen," Olowokandi said. "Obviously the success of this team is a lot more important than any individual. If helping out the team means having to do a little bit more, then that's a challenge I'm definitely up to, and I'd love to have that."
Team chemistry
One of the biggest concerns for the Wolves this season is how well their newly-acquired talents will share the ball.
That issue has been nonexistent to the point that Kevin Garnett actually had to yell at a couple players to shoot the ball Friday.
"We're all veterans and when you've got a bunch of veterans on a team, we're just playing basketball," said point guard Troy Hudson. "We've been doing that for so long that no matter who it's with, if you play with someone for a couple hours, you pretty much feel their game. We've been playing against each other for years, and we know each other's game, so it's not hard to pick up on the chemistry part."
Hudson played with Olowokandi from 1998-2000 with the Clippers, and the two already have a bit of a bond this season.
"I know I could dump it in to Olowokandi but he better kick it back out to me and let me take the shots," Hudson joked as Olowokandi lounged beside him.
"(Hudson's) too worried about his hair." Olowokandi responded as a shot at his teammates dreads.
As for personalities, the Wolves have all kinds.
But, how does the team get Stanford graduate Mark Madsen, big-city groomed Latrell Sprewell, one year removed prep star Ndudi Ebi and multi-million dollar star Kevin Garnett to find something in common? According to McHale, they don't have to.
Some players may not have a lot in common off the court," McHale said. "They may not talk much or do much of anything, but if they complement each other on the court, that's great chemistry. These guys are professionals."
Enjoying the area
Although the Timberwolves preseason camp was in Collegeville, many of the players and coaches stayed at hotels in downtown St. Cloud. The St. John's facility and the St. Cloud city life received mainly good responses from the players and staff.
-McHale: "It's nice to get the guys away from home together. As opposed to everyone going home and seeing their wives and kids, they'll go to their hotel rooms and bond a little bit."
-Olowokandi: "Everybody that I've met so far has been very accommodating, warm and hospitable. Fanfare is everything. You feed off the energy of fans. I can tell that they are very committed to this team. That's a very different environment for me."
-Hudson: "It's like our back yard. It's only an hour away from Minneapolis. Everybody here is a Timberwolves fan so it's like a home away from home."
Camp notes:
-Former Tulsa star Brandon Kurtz and Kevin Garnett were exchanging words during practice Friday night. Kurtz apparently called one of Garnett's rim-friendly free throws lucky. Wrong move. Garnett took the ball straight at him for the rest of the scrimmage shouting "I'll show you lucky!"
At the end of practice Garnett was lined up behind Kurtz in Laker drills. After every lap KG screamed "I'm behind you Tulsa."
-Cassell and Hudson sat through part of practice Saturday do to leg cramps.
-Tuesday the Timberwolves will participate in an innersquad scrimmage at 6 p.m. at Sexton Arena. The event is open to the public but is already sold out.
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