(BLOG UPDATE (1:49 p.m. Pacific): I forgot to mention that rookie forward Jon Brockman is likely out with back spasms. One less to big to help push Al Jefferson around.
MINNEAPOLIS - What better place to start a fire than this whip-out-the-winter-coat-and-hat locale?
It's cold here, of course, as it always is in December and the many months before and after. And while Spencer Hawes can relate to this feeling, his coach said it's time for the Kings third-year center to heat up if he wants his starting job back. While Westphal wouldn't indicate which lineup he'll be going with tonight, I was told that Hawes will come off the bench just as he did on Wednesday against Washington.
"The main thing we want from Spencer is continued aggressiveness at both ends,"
Westphal said at this morning's shootaround. "And I think that when he plays with a fire, he can be effective. And when he doesn't, he struggles. And so, we need him, and we want him to maximize his potential for his good and for the good of the team. That's what he needs to do."
The stat of most relevance here is blocks, as Hawes has taken major steps backward in his ability to help defend the rim and use all seven feet of his frame. He has just one block in the last six games. Hawes isn't the only young player Westphal is hoping gets back on track, though.
Westphal and I talked recently about second-year small forward Donte' Greene as well, and the coach discussed what he wants next from him now in the wake of some subpar play recently. Again, it's not all about one area, but Greene is scoring far less efficiently (and less in general) recently.
In an 11-game stretch between Nov. 7 and Nov. 29, he hit 44 of 80 shots (55 percent). In the eight games since, he is shooting just 39.7 percent from the field (25 of 63). His scoring average in that time is almost irrelevant, as it's more about Greene making the most of the chances that are there for him to take on the offensive end than it is scoring big on a consistent basis.
"It has been very impressive to watch where he has come from and where he is now, but we want to make sure he doesn't slip back to the land of more flash, less substance," Westphal said of Greene. "I think it's important that he keep concentrating on his fundamentals and his role on the team and I think that he can continue to show improvement. But if he thinks he has got anywhere now, that would not be a good assumption. You've got to stay hungry.
"Focus has always been the concern with Donte, and it needs to keep being the concern. He has to concentrate...He's somebody that definitely can score and we want him to score. But we're not measuring his effectiveness on scoring. He's not the No. 1 option or the No. 2 or even the No. 3 option. That doesn't mean he's not going to have games where it comes his way, but he's out there to play defense and supplement the offense. And if he starts having his priorities a little bit different, then that's not going to work so well for the staff."
The T-Wolves, of course, haven't forgotten how the Kings blew them out at Arco Arena on Saturday 120-100. We'll see in a few hours whether they get their revenge or if the Kings break their seven-game losing streak on the road.
"It'll be interesting," Westphal said. "They played us tough for two and a half quarters (on Saturday), and then we broke it open. So we know that they can be good. We know that we struggle on the road and that this is a tough place to win traditionally. We've got to play well, and we need it."
From The Bee
'Kings, T-Wolves going in opposite directions,' By Sam Amick
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune
'New Wolves tandem starts to jell,' (Jonny Flynn and Kevin Love) By Jerry Zgoda
From the St. Paul Pioneer Press
'(Damien) Wilkins throws in a speech,' By Ray Richardson
TONIGHT'S GAME
KINGS (11-13) AT MINNESOTA (4-22)
When: 5 p.m.
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
TV: CSNCA.
Radio: KHTK (1140 AM).
Kings update: For as frustrated as the Kings were to falter late at Portland Tuesday and fall to 1-10 on the road, the Rose Garden is no easy place to fix a team's road woes and the Blazers - while disappointing thus far - are far from pushovers. That's not the case today, as the T-Wolves have been bad no matter the location as they are 2-11 at home and away.
Wolves update: As the Kings well know, a win at Utah can lift the spirits of a struggling team. They did it Nov. 7, then kept the momentum going as it sparked a three-game winning streak. But Minnesota had no such luck, upsetting the Jazz on their home floor on Monday then getting blown out by the lowly Clippers two days later at the Target Center (120-95).
Probable starters
KINGS
No. Player Pos.
13 Tyreke Evans G
20 Donte' Greene SF
5 Andres Nocioni SF
34 Jason Thompson PF
31 Spencer Hawes C (This is no longer the case, of course)
TIMBERWOLVES
No. Player Pos.
10 Jonny Flynn PG
22 Corey Brewer SG
3 Damien Wilkins SF
42 Kevin Love PF
25 Al Jefferson C - Sam Amick
