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Wolves Head Coach Randy Wittman

Q: On McCants:
A: He is out here shooting, that’s a positive. He didn’t practice. It’s sore. He felt much better yesterday and came in for treatment on the day off and felt better. We’ll take him on the trip. I’m not sure if he’ll play or not. We’ll see.

Q: On McCants’ performance prior to his injury:
A: He was doing a nice job. He was in a good mode of attacking, wasn’t settling for jump shots, taking the ball to the basket. He needs to keep doing it.

Q: On Greg Buckner in the early going:
A: Buck has been playing good. I can’t ask for him to give him any more than he’s giving. I’d be stupid to say, Hey Buck, you have to give me more. I’m probably stretching him going 39 minutes but I had to have him on the floor against Orlando.

Q: On Buckner as a scoring threat:
A: People don’t ever say that Buckner is a shooter. In Dallas, he played that way, off of Nowitzki and them at the three-point line. You don’t think about that … All of a sudden he knocks a couple shots down. I didn’t anticipate it but that is what he really did at Dallas. I’d like to keep him at this level, but he has given us a big lift.

Q: On Buckner defensively:
A: We knew he was versatile and more of an offensive threat than Trenton (Hassell). He has the ability in different situations to shoot. He’s a shooter if he’s open. Let’s just keep him at the same numbers.

Q: On comparing Buckner and Hassell:
A: A little different. Trenton was a great one-on-one defender. Buck is a great team defender. He reads situations well. He has that team understanding.

Q: On matching up with Kobe Bryant:
A: There will be different guys that will have to guard him. Marco (Jaric) will have to play him some. Corey (Brewer) will play him some. Gerald (Green) will get his chance.

Q: On Mark Madsen’s recovery progress:
A: I can see sometimes during play that he has limited range with it (shoulder). I’d like to see him get more range before we go forward.

Q: On whether Gerald Green will be activated:
A: I anticipate it. He went today and came in yesterday for his toe. It looks good so I anticipate that if his toe is good than he’ll be activated.

Q: On Theo Ratliff’s recovery from the flu:
A: He’s not quite where he is. He had a virus so he’s still fighting that a little bit. I asked him after practice and he said ‘fine.’

Q: On the Lakers:
A: I know that on opening night (Kobe Bryant) put up 45 and I don’t know what he has done since then. We have to play concepts. What type of team are we? We need to learn about defending post-ups, pick and rolls and things like that - not necessarily who we are playing. That is eventually where we have to get, but right now it’s more teaching these guys what we have to do.

Q: On getting the first win:
A: It’s important. They know it. We know it. That’s what this league is all about. But you know what? It’s also about doing things the right way and we’ve done a lot of things the right way. That’s part of the growing process. That’s why I don’t want these guys to get down. We are 0-3 and I don’t want anyone to be happy with that. I’m not happy with it, but I am happy with what we are doing.

Q: On performing down the stretch:
A: We have to make plays. It’s the fourth quarter and we have to make plays. Other teams have done that to us. Rashard Lewis hit three big shots and we had great defense on two of them. You have to make plays in the fourth quarter and we’ve tried to emulate that as practices goes along. Now is not the time to gamble on a steal and give them a layup. Now is not the time to reach in when they are in the bonus in a tie game with a minute and a half to go. Those are the things we have got to learn now. Those are the same things that have hurt us in the first three games.

Q: On Corey Brewer playing more aggressively:
A: I want him doing that. That’s who Corey is. Corey isn’t a catch-and-shoot player, he’s a slasher.

Wolves guard Rashad McCants

Q: On if he’s surprised about the quick recovery progress:
A: Definitely. Looking at it over and over again, it’s eerie, the way I went down and all. But I’ve had many ankle sprains and this one probably hurt the worst. I did a lot I didn’t expect to do today and it feels even a whole lot better than it did yesterday. In the next couple days, I hope to return.

Q: On seeing time during the road trip:
A: Definitely Sacramento, if not the Lakers. Just depends on how I feel at shootaround tomorrow. Just a matter of icing and getting it ready for tomorrow.

Q: On guarding Kobe Bryant:
A: You need four ankles to cover Kobe. You need the heart and determination—that’s the one thing that separates the men from the boys. Against Bryant you have to have the heart and you have to be fearless..

Q: On losing close games:
A: We really can’t worry and stress ourselves about close games. We could be 3-0. Other teams that are struggling as well as us that you would expect to win. Nobody expects us to win, but we expect us to win. One thing we have to focus on is doing what we are supposed to do and not worrying about other teams and situations. We just have to come in here and get better everyday. The wins are going to come … everything will turn our way, calls, shots, rebounds … all that stuff will come if you keep working hard.

Q: On getting down after losing first three games:
A: That is a winner’s response when you’re used to winning. You lose one, your head drops for a second and then you’ll realize that there is tomorrow. You can always do better and prepare for the next win. That’s one thing that we have to instill in our young guys … No matter how hard you work, sometimes you end up on the losing end but you learn that coming in everyday.

Q: On the frustration after the injury:
A: I felt the pain and I got up quickly. I walked it off and I thought it would go away if I just walked it off. As I started to come back on the floor I thought “no way could this be happening” after fouling out in New York, foul trouble in Denver, after microfracture surgery. You think that you’re done with all the bad luck, but luckily for me it was nothing serious. I’ll bounce back.