Wolves get first win of the season, Rambis waiting to find team captain, James reacts to Tolliver's spoof and more
Recaps of last night's win over the Bucks
Anthony Maggio/FOXSportsNorth.com: Beasley shows up big in Wolves' first win
Associated Press: Timberwolves Beat Bucks For 1st Win Of Season
Dana Wessel/1500ESPN.com: Timberwolves beat Milwaukee to get first win; team wants to run
Kent Youngblood/Star Tribune: Some ugly moments didn't keep the Wolves from enjoying their first victory of the season.
Recaps of tonight's game at Memphis
From Charley Walters/Pioneer Press:
Minnesota Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis wants to name a team captain, but hasn't found a player worthy of the title yet.
"I want somebody to show me," Rambis said after the Wolves lost their opener to Sacramento.
From Ray Richardson/Pioneer Press:
The Timberwolves don't play in Miami until Tuesday night, but they already seem to be on LeBron James' radar.
James learned of Wolves forward Anthony Tolliver's YouTube spoof of his infamous "Decision" spectacle when he announced he was leaving Cleveland to play for the Heat. Someone told James about Tolliver's 68-second spin-off ("The Decision, Part Deux") Friday night before Miami's home game against Orlando.
Tolliver, a free agent in the summer, held up a sheet of paper during a homemade video in August to announce he was leaving Golden State to take his talents to Minnesota. James said he hasn't seen Tolliver's video, but he had a quick response.
From Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune:
During a five-minute media availability before he, Wade, Bosh and the Heat absolutely dismantled formerly mighty Orlando 96-70 by holding the Magic to 25 second-half points, James amicably chatted on a variety of subjects.
That is, until somebody asked the final question, one about Tolliver's spoof.
James turned icy and said: "I didn't see it, but I heard about it. We play Minnesota twice."
From Peter Vecsey/New York Post:
Rambis claimed his decision to use Anthony Tolliver , who came into the league unannounced three seasons ago and played for four teams before this one, had more to do with his outstanding defensive effort (4 blocks, 7 boards and a steal) than anything Love did wrong.
Untrue. When the two met for 30 minutes yesterday, I'm informed, Rambis told Love he benched him for "defensive" reasons, not realizing, I guess, that games sometimes can be won at the end other, too.
There were numerous times in the meat of the matter where it might have been nice to have Love's intelligence, screen-setting, offensive rebounding tracking device, and 3-point, floor-spreading ability out there.
If Rambis doesn't believe in Love by this time, if he perceives him as a defensive liability, in close games, this early, vs. an ordinary opponent, it might be overtime for team president David Kahn to choose between the two.
From Ball Don't Lie: BDL's 2010-11 Season Previews: Minnesota Timberwolves
From Kurt Helin/ProBasketballTalk: Wolves have little hope of getting more compensation for Webster
From Anthony Maggio and Patrick Donnelly/foxsportsnorth.com: AM/PD: Running with the Wolves
From Kent Youngblood/Star Tribune:
Two of the biggest Luke Ridnour fans in Target Center on Friday were from out of town: Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles and Bucks second-year point guard Brandon Jennings.
Ridnour is starting at the point for the Timberwolves, at least until Jonny Flynn comes back from hip surgery. He spent the past two seasons with Milwaukee, and last season, while the Bucks surprised many by turning themselves into an Eastern Conference playoff team, Ridnour served as a security blanket for Skiles and a mentor for Jennings.