Garnett and Brandon: fire and ice
By Arnie Stapleton
The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — One pounds
his chest, whacks himself in the
head and implores the crowd to
go wild.
The other is easygoing with a
baritone voice, always looking as
if nothing in the world could
bring his mellow blood to a boil.
The fiery Kevin Garnett and the
icy Terrell Brandon just might be
two of the most contrasting char
acters in the NBA.
Brandon’s style is appreciated
by his coaches and teammates on
the Minnesota Timberwolves. But
it’s always been the No. 1 knock
on the point guard because some
see his demeanor as a sign of
aloofness or apathy and liken his
mild manner to meekness.
“I’m burning inside,” insisted
Brandon, who kept the Wolves
alive in the playoffs with a great
game against Portland on Sunday.
“Everyone shows enthusiasm dif
ferently. I’m very intense.
“I hope you understand I have
a passion for this game and it
burns inside as much as aiiyone
else.”
In fact, coach Flip Saunders
sees Brandon’s tranquil tempera
ment as the perfect complement
to Garnett’s demonstrative style.
“I have this analogy: I’ve always
said the reason the United States
is such a strong country is because
we’re a melting pot,” Saunders
said. “We have a lot of different
personalities and I think the same
thing with a team, you have a
melting pot. All the players can’t
have the same temperament.”
Saunders said the differences
“makes them both better and
stronger.”
Malik Sealy said it’s good to get
both ends of the spectrum on the
court.
“Those are our two leaders and
they definitely give you the best of
both worlds,” he said.
Trail Blazers coach Mike Dun
leavy said team chemistry is often
dependent on such volatile mix
es, as evidenced by his own lead
ers, Scottie Pippen and Rasheed
Wallace.
The passionate play is often a
product of youth and the more re
served behaviors are the domain
of veterans. To win, you need both
“No question.”
Brandon was just three re
bounds shy of joining Garnett
with a triple-double Sunday and
he held the Trail Blazers’ best two
point guards to 2-for-13 shooting
in Minnesota’s 94-87 victory that
cut Portland’s series lead to 2-1.
It was the kind of performance
the Wolves figured they’d get
that experi
ence and that
energy.
“It is impor
tant to have
that mix,”
Dun lea vy said.
from Stephon Marbury before he
forced last year’s three-way trade
that sent him to New Jersey and
brought Brandon to the Twin
Cities.
After signing a six-year, $59
million extension last summer,
Brandon became an easy target for
criticism when the Wolves stum
bled to a 7-13 start this year.
Vice president Kevin McHale
defended Brandon, saying he was
the least of his troubles.
And Saunders said the Wolves,
who have never advanced past
the first round of the playoffs,
need Brandon’s savvy as much as
Garnett’s emotion.
“Terrell has more of a comfort
ing effect, a soothing effect on the
team when he’s out on the floor,”
Saunders said. “He never gets too
ruffled when things are going bad
and he never gets too high when
things are going good.
“He pretty much keeps that lev
el head.”
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Blazers
aren’t
worried
By Arnie Stapleton
The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — The Port
land Trail Blazers aren’t panick
ing.
“We’re in a great mood,” Scottie
Pippen said with a shrug before
the Blazers’ workout Monday.
Coach Mike Dunleavy said the
Blazers lost Game 3 Sunday at
Target Center because they were
outshot 54 percent to 42 percent,
simple as that.
“There were certain things
they did very well, obviously one
of them was make shots,” he said.
“And in some cases, that’s what
we didn’t do very well. We had
some opportunity baskets that we
didn’t make. But a lot has to be
given to the presence of their de
fense.
“And our guys have to come
back with a greater sense of ur
gency and close it out here.”
One of the Blazers’ biggest
misses was an alley-oop dunk by
Rasheed Wallace that bounced
off the rim in the fourth quarter.
“But ultimately they made the
big shots,” Dunleavy said.
Damon’s game
Damon Stoudamire said he
had a restless night after his poor
performance in Game 3, when he
scored just 2 points, both from
the foul line, and went 0-for-8
from the floor.
“I can’t act like it didn’t hap
pen. It happened. Now, I forget
about it. It’s the next day,”
Stoudamire said Monday. “But
last night, no, I didn’t forget about
it. I thought about it a lot.
“But there’s really nothing I
can do about it now. The only
thing I can do is make amends to
morrow.”
Stoudamire said his problem
was picking up his second foul
early in the game and taking a seat.
“I don’t need to improve noth
ing; I need to stay out of foul trou
ble,” he said. “First of all, I never
really got into the flow of the
game after I picked up my second
foul. But other than that, I just
need to be more aggressive.”
Stoudamire was limited to 28
minutes, while his counterpart,
Terrell Brandon, played 48 min
utes and scored a career-playoff
high 28 points.
“Tomorrow, if Terrell’s going to
play 48 minutes, he’s going to
have to work for 48 minutes,”
Stoudamire said. “So, that means
that he’s going to have to chase
me around. I’ve got to make him
work a little harder because if
you play 48 minutes, you’re sup
posed to be dead tired at the end
but he looked just as fresh at the
end of yesterday’s game.”
Mutual feelings
Scottie Pippen had this to say
about his falling out with former
Houston teammate Charles
Barkley, who won’t even say his
name on television broadcasts of
these playoffs: “I’m not a fan of
Charles Barkley, so I don’t watch
him if he’s on TV. So, the feeling
is probably mutual.”
Pippen also said he’s not out to
prove he can win a ring without
Michael Jordan, with whom he
won six championships in Chica
go^
“That’s not my goal. Winning
is what’s important to me,” he
said. “It’s not about me being able
to say I was able to win without
Michael.”