Minnesota Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman doesn’t mind Jose Barea outburst – NBA Update
Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Rick Adelman has brushed aside concerns regarding Jose Barea’s outburst on Sunday, saying that the player was right to get angry about the situation. The Wolves let slip a huge 21 point lead against the Golden State Warriors
and Barea wasn’t pleased about the performance of his teammates.
The Minnesota Timberwolves started the current NBA season with much promise but that has slowly faded away and their campaign has lost purpose. While in contention for a playoffs spot earlier on, the Timberwolves failed to deal with injuries to key players
Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Luke Ridnour and Nikola Pekovic.
The injuries, combined with the negative string of results, clearly took the air out of Minnesota and that did not go down well with Barea. The point guard who won the NBA World Championship last season with the Dallas Mavericks was very upset after his
current side’s loss against the Golden State Warriors and in a post game interview he let the frustration show.
Barea lamented that many players on the Wolves roster simply did not caring about winning matches and that needed to change.
"We've got problems here," Barea said. "We've got a lot of guys that don't care. ... We're just going to keep getting L's until we get players here that care."
His comments were seen in a negative light by the players, and the media who believe that Jose was perhaps a bit harsh on the rest of the roster. His coach though doesn’t share the view.
Instead, Adelman believes that it shows that Barea really cares about winning, and cares about the franchise. He said that it was a healthy sign to have that competitive streak in the game of basketball and feel pain when you lose games.
"You have to really feel the hurt when you lose games after the game is over," said Adelman. "When you lose a game like we did on Sunday, I think the frustration just took over with him. It certainly did with me, too."
Adelman went on to state that with a team like the Minnesota, young and inexperienced, and confined to the lower half of the NBA for long, the culture had perhaps become one to accept losing. That is why he was happy with Barea’s outburst, as it signalled
a competitive streak and a desire to win that is must for the franchise.
"People should get mad. People should not accept that," Adelman said. "I think young players sometimes have to learn that. The game ends, you don't get dressed in 10 minutes and leave. At least you think about it.”
Barea signed for the Timberwolves as a free agent after leaving the Dallas Mavericks.
Tags: