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Minneapolis/St. Paul - The Minnesota Timberwolves announced the team will open its 2010 Training Camp on Saturday, Sept. 25 on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato in Mankato, Minn. The 2010 Timberwolves Training Camp is presented by the Hilton Garden Inn - Mankato.

Timberwolves Training Camp will include daily practices from Saturday, Sept. 25 through Wednesday, Sept. 29 at Bresnan Arena in the Taylor Center on the Minnesota State University, Mankato campus. The Timberwolves will wrap up their 2010 Training Camp by staging an open scrimmage at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 29 at Bresnan Arena. The scrimmage is free and open to the public, though a ticket will be required for admission. Tickets for the scrimmage can be picked up beginning at noon this Wednesday, Sept. 15 at any of the following locations: Hilton Garden Inn-Mankato (20 Civic Center Plaza); MSU Events and Meeting Services Office (Room 219 in the Student Union); Mankato-area Buffalo Wild Wings locations (12 Civic Center Plaza #1715 or 301 St. Andrew's Drive).

The Wolves Training Camp schedule will include two practices each day from Saturday, Sept. 25 through Tuesday, Sept. 28 (10 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 5-7 p.m.), with an additional morning practice (10 a.m. - 12 p.m.) on Wednesday, Sept. 29 before the Open Scrimmage later that night. All practices will take place at Bresnan Arena. Training camp practices are closed to the public, but media will be allowed access for the final 30 minutes of each session. The entire training camp schedule is listed below. As in the past, the 2010 Timberwolves Training Camp at Mankato State University will be marked by a number of community events and appearances by Wolves players and staff. Events during this year's camp will include a Reading Timeout in which Wolves players will visit Roosevelt Elementary School on Tuesday, Sept. 28, and a visit by players and team management to Campus Kitchen on Wednesday, Sept. 29 to help package meals for those in need. Additional details surrounding these community events, including which players are scheduled to participate, will be released at a later date.

Before departing for Mankato, the Wolves will host the team's annual Media Day on Friday, Sept. 24 from Noon - 2 p.m. on the team's practice court inside Target Center.

jade_hippo wrote:at least Joe had some upside. I'm not really sure what Ager does? I don't really even remember seeing him play ever and hasn't he been in the league like 5 years?

JerryZgoda #Timberwolves bringing DeMarr Johnson, Maurice Ager, former Gopher John Thomas and former Wolf Jason Hart to camp to fill out roster about 1 hour ago from Twitter · FLAG

revprodeji wrote:DerMarr Johnson is interesting.

Johnson's god brother is Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley.

Klomp wrote:

revprodeji wrote:DerMarr Johnson is interesting.

He would be more interesting earlier in his career. He is 30 now, and hasn't played since the 2007-2008 season. Wikipedia told me why he's here:

Johnson's god brother is Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley.

B Calrissian wrote:I can't believe he is 30 already. Is a god brother like a "brotha"? I have never heard that phrase/title before.

While the rain dripped from the sky on a cloudy day in Mankato, the sweat poured off the Wolves players inside the Taylor Center on Monday morning. The first training camp practice featured a few familiar faces but mostly a new cast of members to start a fresh season.

After the players warmed up around 10 AM, the coaching staff quickly assembled the team to begin a set of defensive drills. The focus was clear from the first whistle; attention to the defensive side of the court will be a critical part of the Wolves success this year. Communication, rotation, awareness, and effort were all key defensive philosophies preached during the two-hour practice. Minnesota surrendered 107 points per game last season and the 2010-11 squad seems dedicated to drastically improving that number.

Here are some other news and notes from today’s practice:

No. 4 On The Floor
The No. 4 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft has been dealing with a nagging hamstring injury since Summer League. Today, Johnson participated in several of the early drills before sitting out the final scrimmage portion of the practice. The team is looking to keep a careful eye on that hamstring and limit some of his activity as a precautionary measure. In his brief time on the floor, Johnson was solid from the perimeter and squared off against Michael Beasley in a couple of 1-on-1 drills.

Coach Flynn
Jonny Flynn continues to recover from the offseason hip surgery. However, the second-year point guard was walking around without a noticeable limp or any sign of pain. He watched every second of practice and remained in constant communication with the coaching staff and his teammates. In true Flynn fashion, he was upbeat and smiled throughout the two-hour workout.

Vocal Leaders
A young team featuring a group of new players will need leaders on and off the court. Fresh off winning a gold medal in Turkey two weeks ago, Kevin Love has accepted a leadership role with this team. About 30 minutes into practice, Love was vocal, expressing the need to take open shots when they are available. Love appears to be confident and prepared to become the extension of the coaching staff, which is good to see on day one in Mankato.

The Wolves spent abundant portions of both morning and evening sessions working on their defensive concepts on a day Kurt Rambis said was "night and day" difference from training camp a year ago in terms of its competitiveness and intensity.

Rambis also tried to instill quickly an "all-for-one and one-for-all" concept, partly by making his team run lines when they failed to pick a teammate up off the floor within two seconds during a morning scrimmage.

When forced to run again, Milicic not only touched the end line, he kept going and going, taking more strides and touching the first row of seats before turning back.

Upon completing his sprints, Milicic was visibly angry, a development that caused Beasley to come over and attempt to console him..

Beasley basically said, if you have to run again big fella, we're all running again with you.