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DTP · 10-06-2006, 11:09 PM

Quote:

MANKATO, Minn. ? Here's something that might be of interest to Timberwolves fans who wish all-star Kevin Garnett would post up on the low block and stay there.

The 7-foot Garnett spent time this summer practicing his three-point shooting.

No joke.

"It's coming (along)," Garnett said this week. "I'm not going to rely on it, because you all know I'm from the block. The block is what got me here. I'm going to stay with the block. But that's not to say I'm shy about shooting it. I've been working on it, working on it really hard, but I can't forget about that block."

Garnett was perhaps the team's best three-point shooter during a drill earlier this week in training camp. He had streaks of four and five in a row, outshooting most guards in the drill.

No one knows how much Garnett actually might shoot threes in games once the regular season starts Nov. 1. Dwane Casey won't be calling plays for Garnett to step behind the arc for an open shot, but the coach has confidence in his franchise player.

"His outside shooting has improved," Casey said. "He's brought a three-point game into the year. That's something new he brought in. He's shooting it consistently. I don't know how much he's going to use it, but he's worked on it."

Garnett is a career 29.7 percent three-point shooter during his 11 years (152 for 511). His best season was in 1999-2000, when he made 30 of 81 attempts (37 percent). His most attempts came in 2001-02 (116), but last season he shot only 30.

Rotations: The first, second and third teams appeared clear early this week in training camp. Kevin Garnett, Trenton Hassell, Mike James, Ricky Davis and Mark Blount were the starters; Marko Jaric, Troy Hudson, Mark Madsen, Eddie Griffin and Justin Reed the backups; and Randy Foye, Craig Smith, Bracey Wright, Vin Baker, Paul Shirley and Tyrone Ellis the third-stringers.
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Wow, Garnett taking more 3s this year will be fun to watch. I think Minnesota as a whole will be fun to watch this season and I think they are going to have some fun over there with Davis, James, Foye, KG, McCant when he comes back and the rest of the guys they have down there. Last year they didn't close games though, I remember that ABC game when they were killing Philly all 1st half and pretty much the 3rd qrt and let Philly comeback to win it in the last few seconds. They can't let that happen a lot this year. Also James/Davis/Hassell/Garnett/Blount ain't that bad of a starting lineup IMO, look for them to grab the 7th or 8th seed this season and you heard it first from DTP.