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It was time to clear the air.

And so, with only 23 games left in the season, hoping to take at least a few steps forward before it's over, the players and coaches met before Saturday's practice to let it all out.

"It was a meeting to kind of get the elephant out of the room," Beasley said. "Everybody had a lot of things on their mind, a lot of things they were frustrated with, with other players or coaches, with the way we've been playing. It was more of an honesty meeting than anything else. I think that's what we needed."

It was not a loud meeting, Beasley said. The players are discouraged, but they weren't pointing fingers. That said, it appears the meeting was a frank one.

"I wouldn't say any shots were taken at players' style of play or attitude, but some very good points were made," Beasley said. "Some honest points, things we needed to hear. Overall, it was a great meeting. We'll see what kind of effect it has on us."

Actually, Beasley said, considering the frustration level on a team that has lost seven in a row, he's surprised there wasn't at least a little bit of finger-pointing.

"Nobody wants to blame [someone else]," he said. "Everyone is holding themselves accountable."

But they also wanted to make themselves heard. There isn't a lot of time left this season, and everybody wants to at least end the season on a positive note.

"It was big for us," said forward Anthony Tolliver. "Everybody got a chance to get some stuff off their chests. I know I did. I was the first one to speak up, because I can't stand losing. ... I've never been in a situation like this, where not only are we losing, but we're losing a lot of uncompetitive games. We're not competing in every game. And that's unacceptable."

Wolves coach Kurt Rambis could feel his team's frustration building.

"There was a period where we were playing OK, and then, with Michael getting hurt, and family issues with players ... it kind of set us back in terms of our mental outlook, of who we are as a team," Rambis said. "You could see it. Hopefully being able to voice [their opinion] and hear other's voices talk about what we need to do will get 'em playing harder and being more consistent."

Themes? Neither Rambis nor the players got into specifics. But some of the talking points included players helping each other, playing harder, accountability.

"They all mentioned our games in Houston and New Orleans," Rambis said of back-to-back road victories before the current seven-game slide. "They talked about how well they played together as a team, how the ball moved and how fun it was to play, how unselfishly [they played]."

Part of the problem might be the tendency for players to try to do more individually when the team struggles rather than focusing on playing together. One thing is clear: The losing streak has badly damaged the team's belief in itself.

"I think our team confidence has gone down tremendously," Tolliver said. "Especially over the last four, five games. It's been pretty rough."

Beasley took that a step further.

"We have to play with confidence," he said. "We play games just to get games over with. Everybody thinks we're going to lose, so we think we're going to lose. We have to get some confidence back. Even though we've lost 40-plus games, we need to go out and play like we haven't lost, that we can't be beaten. I think attitude can take you a long way."

It remains to be seen how far Saturday's meeting will take the team. Beasley said the long practice that followed the meeting was a good one.

"Everybody was focused," he said. "It was physical, intense. It was a different feeling today. I feel better about the last part of the season."

Calinks wrote:Mark Madesn did it.

jballer_13 wrote:Anyone know what "family issues with players" that Rambis was talking about?

post0115 wrote:I know players aren't supposed to point fingers, but here are some of the things that should have been said at the meeting.

...
- Beasley needs to play defense. Before the season he talked about being a leader on this team which I think he should be given his skill set. However, leaders in addition to other things must lead by example and his defensive effort and pride needs to improve for him to be a true leader.
- Beasley needs to become our clutch guy. He is the only one with the skill set to make a big shot on his own.

Dan's with the Wolves wrote:Did this team meeting result in less triangle more pick and roll? It seems especially in the Piston game, I saw some plays that I haven't seen in a long while? anybody else notice that?

I recall Rambis, at the beginning of last season, purposefully limiting the pick and roll game to get the young players to expand their games to beyong pick and roll. Has the initial learning phase ended and now the team is going to play to their strengths?