Mar.28 vs. Phoenix Suns - Sam Mitchell and Earl Watson Pregame Quotes
Timberwolves Interim Head Coach Sam Mitchell
Do players get renewed energy with so little games left?
"I wouldn’t say renewed. You've got to be careful with guys… For us, we got some things to play for. We
got some young guys. The thing I do wrestle with, every time I look at ESPN and I see three, four teams
and they’re holding guys out for rest. These are playoff teams. These are teams that are jockeying for
position, trying to hold onto a position. Sometimes I question myself. Should I give an Andrew Wiggins or
a Karl-Anthony Towns, a Zach LaVine (time off)? You think about the last two months, the minutes we’ve
put on them… When you’re really young, your body’s not ready for it."
How much will the 3-point shot help Andrew Wiggins with his game?
"Any time you have a guy who can do things like going to the basket like Andrew can do, if he starts
making the three at a 35-36 percent clip, what do you give him? Teams are always going to make you
shoot a three (if they need to) because of the percentage of the shot. Just too many things happen when
a guy drives to the basket. Gets you in foul trouble, gets your team in foul trouble. I think it’s just going to
make him better."
Is Ricky Rubio’s improved scoring coming from playing alongside LaVine? Health? Hard work?
"Probably all of it. All of it. Can’t say one without the other. Probably a combination of all those things."
Interim Suns Head Coach Earl Watson
On their last game against the Wolves…
"The last meeting against Minnesota came down to the last shot, the couple last plays actually. Unique
game, in the first half they scored 22 points by halftime, so that was big, 10 in the first quarter, 12 in the
second. We understand also in the first quarter they’re a big transition team, that’s half their points, so we
have to focus on getting back in transition, Ricky [Rubio] is a great point guard when he passes ahead,
passes over the defense, and they have great athleticism on the wings."
If he’s satisfied with his team’s pace of play…
"No, and it’s for a lot of reasons. When we took over this team as a staff, like I said as a young coach my
biggest mistake was extreme change, we had almost like 3 hour practices. We had no energy for the
games. So we took it back, because we were in games, we had enough energy to get in games, we didn’t
have enough to finish games. You can’t have extreme change at the end of the season. So, we decided
to go with subtle change. So once we have a full training camp, learn how to cut and pass well, that’s
when our pace will pick up."
On what impresses him about Devin Booker…
"Devin’s accountability and his maturity. Devin wants every big shot. He seeks it and he accepts it. Make
or miss he’s accountable for it. Last game he missed a big shot down the lane and I could see in his face
that he was just crushed, to the point where it’s just painful, not to the point where he was discouraged.
We had a conversation over text after the game, he told me he would never let me down again, which is
funny because he can’t hit every game winning shot. I told him to just be you, we believe in you, we love
you and the future is now for us."