After seven losses in their last eight games, the Minnesota Timberwolves took a timeout from the grind of practice and tried to right the ship by holding a 90 minute team meeting.
Minnesota fell to Philadelphia 109-99 Tuesday night and dropped to 12-23 on the season.
Since the beginning of last season the Philadelphia 76ers are 3-1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and 19-96 against everyone else.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) January 5, 2016
Wolves interim coach Sam Mitchell said after the team watched film, they went onto the practice floor and held the meeting where all players – veterans and youngsters alike – were encouraged to talk.
“We talked about what we wanted to be as a team,” Mitchell told the Star Tribune. “Normally the coach is the one who’s always talking. But we let the players talk. What are the goals for the year, as a team, individually? And I think it was good for us.”
The newspaper notes some of the themes, according to Mitchell, centered around sacrifice and what sacrifices each player needs to make to make the team better.
According to the Associated Press, Mitchell felt it was important to get his team back on the same page.
After Minnesota hosts Denver on Wednesday night, the road gets a little rougher with Cleveland, Dallas and Oklahoma City all coming to town next.
The meeting left Wolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns feeling positive. He called it the best practice of the season.
“I can’t tell you how valuable this practice was to us,” Towns told the Star Tribune. “Especially to our growth, and our process and our success. I personally know how practices like this can lead to big success, because at Kentucky we’ve had a lot of these and they about only led to greatness and great things.”
Towns was clearly feeling the vibe. Veteran guard Ricky Rubio was cautiously optimistic.
— Kent Youngblood (@BloodStrib) January 5, 2016
