Tom Powers: Dos Lobos and the rest of the Timberwolves look like fun

One day after Christmas, Rick Adelman got to open the biggest surprise package of his career.

He had been thinking about it for weeks, envisioning what it would be like to tear off the blue-and-green wrapper and get a peek at what's inside. On one hand, he was like an excited kid, dying to see if he really was getting something special. On the other, he had to be a bit nervous. Other coaches have been very, very disappointed when that wrapper came off on opening night.

"Other teams I've had, I knew what might be coming out," Adelman said before his Wolves ran onto the floor against Oklahoma City.

The problem is there's never a gift receipt. In other words, there's a no-return policy. It's all yours, like it or not.

As it turned out, Adelman's surprise package yielded a pretty decent present. But there will be some assembly required. His Wolves lost to the Thunder 104-100 in an entertaining, competitive game at Target Center. The Wolves actually had the ball, down by two, with 17 seconds left. But Michael Beasley, who never met a shot he didn't like, misfired with the game on the line.

For Adelman, there were times when the parts didn't seem to fit together quite right. There is no instruction sheet with this team, so some improvisation is in order. Part A needs to be matched with Part C. He needs to try different combinations. But it is clear that most of the parts are there. Adelman just has to figure it out.

"I really liked a lot of the pieces

we have," he said. "We have to figure out how to win these games in the fourth quarter."

This team is young, and the new guys, at least, didn't know enough to be scared against a very good OKC team - perhaps the best in its division. The opening game of a Wolves season often has served as sort of the first few steps of a long and agonizing death march. This one didn't feel like that.

The youngsters were loose before the game. I stopped by Ricky Rubio's locker and announced: Rubio and Barea

Ricky Rubio makes a no-look pass to a teammate in the first half as the Minnesota Timberwolves played the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Wolves' season opener, at Target Center in Minneapolis on December 26, 2011. At left is OC's #6 Eric Maynor. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi) (Scott Takushi)

- Dos Lobos!

He looked at me quizzically. I repeated: Dos Lobos. Now, you wouldn't think it possible to screw up the pronunciation of two words as simple as "dos" and "lobos." That means "two wolves" in Spanish, just in case you are the ultimate gringo. And a bunch of folks have written to suggest that was a fitting nickname for the Spanish-speaking backcourt of Rubio and J.J. Barea.

Eventually, it was as if a light bulb illuminated over Rubio's head.

"Dos Lobos!" he said. It did not sound at all like what I had said when he repeated it.

"OK, that's good," he noted with a smile.

As it turned out, Dos Lobos played great.

Rubio was very good. "You can see the court vision he has," Adelman said.

So was Barea. Before too long, this duo likely will see the bulk of the playing time in the backcourt. Barea plays as if he has just chugged a dozen cans of Red Bull. Rubio looks nothing at all like a rookie. They were very impressive, not to mention fun to watch.

Passing by Derrick Williams' locker, I mentioned to him that I had a tough deadline so I'd appreciate it if he played fast. No fouls, I told him. At first he didn't get it. Then he laughed. "That's always our goal," he said.

All in all, not a bad debut for the team. The guys were kidding around and seemed very happy beforehand. Clearly they were ready and undaunted by the team's miserable past. And Adelman wasn't going to be too hard to please, anyway. All he wanted for Christmas was for his team to play better defense and to outwork its opponents. Of course, the term "better defense" is relative. It would be hard not to play better defense than last season. I think he meant better as in decent.

Adelman mentioned in particular the need for much better transition defense before the game. As it turned out, the Wolves got off to a great start and stayed in command until that transition defense broke down about midway through the second quarter. Suddenly, the Wolves found themselves trailing, which led to some halftime adjustments.

And I don't mean halftime adjustments like Kurt Rambis used to make: switching from one soft drink to another. I mean real Xs and Os stuff designed to stop the bleeding. Starting in the third quarter, they got back on defense much quicker.

Other than the disappointing outcome, I didn't sense much misery afterward from the packed house. Seemed as if they had a good time. That's already an improvement over last year.

Tom Powers can be reached at tpowers@pioneerpress.com.

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