Timberwolves' wish come true: It's Wally's world

Szczerbiak finally gets what he's always asked for: a bigger role in
the offense. Now he has to stay healthy and perform

From Steve Aschburner, Star Tribune


Or, put up and shut up.

Either way, that's what Wally Szczerbiak faces this season with the
Timberwolves. And he knows it.

For several years, most notably last season, Szczerbiak has wanted
to do more, play a bigger role, log heavier minutes and have a
greater impact on whatever the Wolves eventually accomplished.
Either that or he wanted out, brazenly wondering about a trade last
April mere minutes after the end of the most disappointing season in
club history.

It was bad form, something the 6-7 swingman admitted and regretted
when the Wolves convened for training camp earlier this month.

Besides, cracking the Wolves' "Big Three," getting the coaches off
his back, straining at a leash that held him in reserve -- all of
that is so-last-year for Szczerbiak now.

This year, he figures to be the team's second offensive option,
maybe even 1A to Kevin Garnett. He has thrived in the preseason in
what he sees as Dwane Casey's more egalitarian coaching style. At
28, he should be in his absolute physical prime, capable of another
trip to the All-Star Game four years after his first.

Put up, in other words, or shut up.

"There's no question, this is what I asked for," Szczerbiak
said. "So it's up to me to stay healthy and step up. I'm not going
to run away from expectations. I put expectations on myself and on
this team.

"I can't complain now, because the table has been set for me to
succeed here this year. ... I'm not going to deny that, so far, it's
been a lot more fun this year for me."

The health part, once again, has been a problem, with a right
midfoot sprain suffered in the first preseason game limiting
Szczerbiak to only two more. Talk about the agony of the feet: It
was a dislocated toe on his left foot that limited him to 52 games
in 2002-03, a strained plantar fascia in that foot that held him to
28 appearances a year later in what was Minnesota's best finish ever
(58-24).

But Szczerbiak was the team's top scorer in the past two games, and
his 17.3 average was the Wolves' preseason best. He sank 17 of 29
shots (59 percent), half of his eight three-pointers and all 14 free
throws.

Casey has lavished praise on Szczerbiak's ability to shoot, run the
floor and finish and envisions using him around the perimeter in a
Seattle-type attack. Defensively, Szczerbiak at least has learned
what Casey wants in a team concept.

"Wally is a solid defender, not a great defender," the new coach
said. "Our schemes can protect him. Wally is not going to shut out
Kobe Bryant or Tracy McGrady -- there's not a human on this planet
who can do that. But with our schemes, we want him to make them take
tough twos. We don't want to give up easy threes. That's something
Wally can do."

Playing well never has been the whole equation for Szczerbiak;
fitting in has been an issue as well. Certainly he has the seniority
and experience to rank as one of the team's veterans. If all goes
well this season, he will move into second place in franchise
history in games started and points scored.

Still, his "outsider" status after Kevin Garnett coalesced with Sam
Cassell and Latrell Sprewell two seasons ago while Szczerbiak was
sidelined was a variation on the uneasiness or distance that, for
all the denials, has existed between him and Garnett almost from Day
1.

Last season, as the Wolves sagged under Cassell's and Sprewell's
personal agendas and their dropoff in production, there were
glimpses that Garnett valued Szczerbiak more. Szczerbiak has sensed
a thaw, too, evident in the time he spent as Garnett's guest in a
box at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York this summer.

"We're getting along great this year," Szczerbiak said. "A lot of it
is understanding. As a rookie, I didn't know how young players were
treated in this league. I came in and felt like, if I worked hard
and did what the coach said, I should be treated like all the other
guys. But you've got to earn your stripes in this league.

"We're a little more in the same realm of life now. KG's kind of
settling into the family thing. And realizing that you don't play
this game forever, so enjoy it while you're doing it and have fun
while you're doing it."

Szczerbiak has swum upstream with some teammates, too, for the zeal
and confidence he shows as a scorer. It's a subtle bias not faced by
players whose strengths lie elsewhere.

"In this league, pretty much everyone gets labeled one way or
another," said Wolves scout Rex Chapman, known for most of his 12
NBA seasons as a shoot-now, defend-later type. "There will be a guy
who's labeled a 'rebounder,' and that's a positive. Then a guy like
Wally will get labeled as a 'shooter' -- that's a good thing, too,
yet for a lot of people around the league, it turns into a negative.
Like that's the only thing he does."

In Chapman's view, Szczerbiak has a strong post game, gets easy
baskets by running hard on the wings and does fine defensively in a
team scheme (rotating, being in the right spots)

"The problem with labels is, sometimes those things are
misinterpreted as being selfish," Chapman said. "Hey, he's doing
what this team pays him $10 milliion a year to do. You can put all
the Dennis Rodmans out there you want, all the rebounders and
hustlers, but as long as we're keeping score, you'd better have some
guys like Wally Szczerbiak on your team."