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It began nearly two months ago with a phone call from Wolves' PR man Mike Cristaldi. I'd seen Kevin Love's first few games as a Timberwolf and was ridiculing reports from the Wolves' brass that Love had a 35-inch vertical jump, knowing from my own eyes that his hops weren't nearly that strong. I'd also ascribed the comment to Wolves' GM Jim Stack, noting that it was memorable because Stack had said so little during his tenure and yet went overboard on Love in the wee hours after the last minute trade with Memphis on draft night. Cristaldi said Stack wanted to talk with me about what I'd written and of course I said fine, whenever it was convenient.

Well, the first time we were going to do it, I had rotten laryngitiis and so had to cancel. Time lagged, and then Cristaldi finally called again and asked it I could do it just before Minnesota played the Thunder at Target Center on January 7--a week ago yesterday. Sure. And so we did: About a 15-minute talk that I figured I'd post in this downtime between the Tuesday night game with Miami that I wrote about on Wednesday and the Friday night game out in Phoenix that I won't blog about until late Sunday.

First, Stack just wanted to say that if he had left the impression that Love had a 35-inch vertical, that it wasn't what he meant to convey. "I thought maybe you misconstrued what I said. Kevin is not a bad athlete. But we didn't draft him because he was a great athlete and if that is how it came across, I certainly didn't mean that. It was more in the context of, I think his numbers compare favorably with Al Horford's, and I don't think anybody has disputed that Al Horford is athletic enough to be in the NBA.," he said, as we settled into a pair of seats on the sidelines about an hour before tip-off. Fair enough. Looking back over my live-blogging that night, I noticed that I directly quoted Stack about the Horford comparison and then paraphrased the more specific notes about a 35-inch vertical and a 9-inch wingspan, meaning I can't be sure it was Stack who directly said those things. But no matter: The guy had made himself available to me and I thought it best to ask a few other things. My tape recorder is one of those tiny digitals and there was a lot of ambient crowd noise, but as best I can make it, here is a transcript of the rest of our conversation.

JS: I wasn't saying that Love is a great leaper or a great athlete, because we know he is not. But I think when you put him in certain situations--like what Kevin [McHale] is trying to do, which is get him more on the baseline, catching the ball and going to the rim. Whereas when Randy [Wittman] was coaching him, Randy coached Dwight Howard in Orlando, they had this thing called circling under, where as the guard in the high pick-and-roll is coming off, you [the big]  try to get in front of your man and create that lane to the bucket. And if the guard can't turn the corner, you try and hit that big in the lane near the basket, and that is not really Kevin's game. And Randy was trying to incorporate that and did incorporate that with us. It was the exact opposite of how I thought the kid should be used.

BR: Especially given how many times he's had his shot blocked that way, catching and shooting in the low block.

JS: Absolutely. But anyway, that was kind of the gist behind why I wanted to talk to you; to sort that out about what I said [about Love on draft night].

BR: No problem. And now that we're here, let me ask you a few other things. Has it been a month since the change with Kevin?

JS: I guess about three weeks.

BR: So, on a practical level, what has changed?

JS: I think in the front office, well obviously one change is that Kevin is concentrating his full duties on coaching the team and I am kind of the head man on working the phones and keeping wired into what is going on. Our goal is trying to get the team playing better and where we are at. 

BR:  When you say you are wired in and heading the phones, does that mean you are the one looking for and receiving talk about trades or looking for reports from scouts about draft picks or scouting reports from players in Europe?

JS: A combination of all of that, yes. I think this time of year, with the [trade] deadline about a month or five weeks away, you circle around the league. I think there is stuff that I have looked at myself, where if I could make this or that happen for the team to put us in a better position, it is all that stuff. 

BR: Now if there is something you like in terms of a deal, whether it is something you generate or something that comes to you, what will unfold then? Will you take it to Glen [Taylor]? Will you take it to the committee upstairs like Rob [Babcock] and Freddie [Hoiberg]? Will you meet with Kevin [McHale]?

JS: Well generally I work a little bit independently, where I think I can talk to Glen and just wait and see, because generally trades take time to germinate; you've got to lay a seed, plant a seed, maybe lay down some parameters. I don't think you just pick up the phone and say, 'Okay, I'll trade so-and-so for so-and-so." It is over a period of weeks.

BR: So everybody is eventually kind of being apprised of what you are thinking at some point though--or at least Glen is?

JS: Exactly. You try and give him the heads up and he knows the thought process and what is going on.

BR: But in this 'seeding' process, how much will let you let other people know about it during that period?

JS: I'll try and keep things closer to the vest then. Until I really feel like I've got something that is warming up--because there is so much banter that goes back and forth and if you talk about all that it is just a waste of breath. But if I feel like there is something, hey, that is moving along, progress being made, I give Glen a little heads up and then maybe bounce it off Freddie a little bit. But I am more in the 'wait until I get further down the field' before I start throwing stuff out. That's how I work it.

BR: I am not going to ask specifics because I know you wouldn't tell me anyway, but what are teams generally wanting to discuss with you? Are they looking for cap relief from you guys, or talent from you guys, or looking to unload cap relief on you guys, or what?

JS: It depends on the situation. We've got expiring contracts and we've got guys who are valued around the league. We've got three or four guys who I could say we could probably do some stuff if we so choose to. So it depends on the team and where they are at in their incubation process.

BR: Has the dynamic with other teams changed in the past week or two as you guys have been winning and playing better?

JS: Well it always helps.

BR: But from your end as well as their end. I mean, there had to be a point at some time in this season where you guys had to seriously think about whether you wanted to strip this roster right down to the studs.

JS: Right.

BR: Versus now, where maybe you are saying, 'Oh, maybe we have a 2 guard after all.'

JS: I think right now, the fact that we have been playing better, although it has been against some of the dregs of the league, at least it is showing that we are getting some staying power, and that the guys are feeling better about themselves and we can sustain our level of play for a longer period of time. That being the case, I think the league might be saying, 'Well this guy is coming into his own a little bit,' and that type of thing. So obviously when you win you deal a little more from a position of strength. But at the end of the day, whether that becomes the main component or not remains to be seen. Just because a guy has a couple of good weeks, there is the whole breadth of things and that takes a while for the process to work out.

I'd like to give Kevin a little credit here. Kevin couldn't have taken over at a worse time. We had one practice and we played about six games in eight or nine days against some really tough teams. Now he has been able to show guys how we are going to play, getting guys to feel a little bit better about themselves--I think that has been one of his big strengths. Getting guys confident with themselves and getting them to be relaxed and playing within a system. Just having an indentity and a system of play. Before we were kind of all over the place and morphed into whoever we were playing that night and that became a big problem. Hopefully it will continue to be more cohesive and we will see the identity take place enough where we can say, 'okay, this is more of a long-term guy and we need more of this and more of that.' When you can't establish an identity and style of play, it is very hard to pin those things down. So that is kind of where we at. We are on that road, but I would like to walk down that road a little further before we jump in and draw conclusions.

BR: Everybody is talking about 2010 in terms of free agency and how teams are preparing. A realistic appraisal is that you aren't going to get the LeBrons and Wades of the world in that year anyway.

JS:  Right. But what I said publicly is that we have cap space to sign major free agents. I think if you make that statement, whether you can definitely get guys are not, that lends credibility and viability to the franchise. It is, 'Hey, we can stand toe to toe and compete for these guys.' Whether you go that route or not.

BR:  And you do have an owner who has been willing to spend money in the past.

JS: Exactly.

BR: At the very least you've got somebody who agents should want to talk to.

JS: No doubt about it.

 BR: But what I was trying to get at before, is have you considered trying to jump-start the process and start angling for some other free agents who aren't the big guys but who are coming out in 2009 who could help you, or by dealing with teams who are positioning for 2010 who might unload their players?

JS: It all depends, sure. That is stuff we are definitely looking at. I think there are some undervalued players who have already signed deals that maybe we could target and say, 'With this skill set with the rest of the guys we have here, he could be a great fit,' and use a little of our [cap] room that way and still have enough to go get somebody, another significant piece, in 09 and then you are a little more viable.

BR: When you look at the roster of this team, what is the biggest need, a center or a point guard?

JS: I think we need more overall playmaking and a defensive presence at the basket. Those are the two areas where I think we really have to address. And I'm disappointed to date that we haven't shot the ball better. Because I thought going into the year that that was an area where we are really going to do well and for whatever reason, whether it has been the system or the identity we haven't done that. When you consider that McCants has taken a step back from averaging 15 and 41% from the 3, and that Foye struggled early on, and now we are starting to fine--

BR: --and for whatever reason you haven't been getting the production out of Miller.

JS: Right, and Love I thought would shoot better earlier, but he's going to go through some rookie ups and downs. I thought that would be one thing you could say though: That we could put lineups on the floor that would be able to put the ball through the basket. I think that is going to get better and better, Britt, I really do. Because guys are better understanding 'This is where I need to be,' and 'This is the style we are going to play.' Where--I don't want to denigrate Witt, that's your guys' job--but he had so many plays in our system with only one option and nothing laid on top of each other and guys were more worried about what the play was. Now we have fewer plays and more options and that's what we're shooting for and I think that is a more pleasing style for the fans too.

BR: How did the decision to move Randy more permanently to the 2 guard take place?

JS: I don't know that it is a permanent move, from the standpoint of we want to play a multi-push offense. Telfair will get the lion's share of the minutes with Ollie out, but as we saw the other night, he's not going to play all 48 minutes. Randy has got to play at the point. Now we want him to play to his strengths and be an attacker. I think he makes plays better on the move rather than reading things and choosing this option as opposed to that option. That being the case, we should get him aggressive early and then move him over to the point a little bit, and get him into some angle pick and rolls. That's where his execution skills come to the fore, versus setting things up. If you look at the league, there are maybe 8 to 10 teams that can really play a system with a [true] point guard. They're hard to find. For me, if you have joint combo guards, you might as well have two or three of them because then they become more interchangeable and hopefully we are big enough to defend, which I think Randy has proven.

BR:  And then there is the center. It does seem like Jefferson and Love can get some rhythm, and I can see how they fit on offense. Defensively, what happens: Do you just go with the best matchups?

JS: You know Al has definitely, the job for him is to step up and play better defensively: Pushing guys off their spots, running back, being a presence in the lane, moving laterally on the pick and roll defense, all those things. I think Kevin is a pretty good help defender. What Kevin does is open his body up so guys can get in on him. The rules where you can use an arm bar and a bent elbow are there, but he has a good feel for help and then getting back to his man and getting a rebound area for himself. But to answer your question, yes: I believe this very strongly and I know Kevin [McHale] does, that as a rookie I know fans want Kevin [Love] to play more minutes. People have said 'Why doesn't Kevin play more minutes?' I think I have heard you say that, to develop him. The thinking is, if you give things to these guys, the rookies, too soon and too easily, they take it for granted and don't appreciate it enough and they don't work at it. Even going back to my days in Chicago; we had Horace Grant, Scottie Pippen, all these guys and we started Brad Sellers and Charles Oakley and we made the younger guys earn their spurs. As we go on near the halfway point, Kevin's minutes will go up. But that's why we have a Brian Cardinal out there. Because he does provide some elements of comfort and some cerebral elements that Kevin can learn from and appreciate the way he goes about his job. That's the thought process there. Now if we had a LeBron or a Carmelo or some special talent, that is a little different. But this is the way we are approaching it.

BR:  Okay, I appreciate all the time, thank you.

JS: Now you can't say this is the guy 'who doesn't say anything' [laughs], or 'who almost never talks,' I think it was. This has been fun. Whenever you want to talk, I'm available.