Greetings.

Youngblood here, filling in for Mr. Zgoda. Here's what we learned from talking to the two coaches prior to tonight's game:

1. Wolves guard J.J. Barea (hamstring) was sore after trying to give it a go yesterday against Dallas and will be rested. Wolves coach Rick Adelman didn't know how long he'd be out, but it could be a couple games. Barea didn't necessarily re-injure the hamstring, but it was sore. "I have no idea what it means for the future," Adelman said. "But, for tonight, he's out."

2. Michael Beasley, who cut the index finger on his left (shooting) hand against the Mavericks, will give it a go despite the pain and the five stitches. He will play with the finger taped to the middle finger on the hand. We'll see how it affects his shot.. Well, we know it will affect his shot. Because he said so. "It affects it a lot," Beasley said from the locker room. "I can still do everything, it's just going to hurt."

Beasley said he can shoot right-handed, but he didn't think Adelman would appreciate it. "After a couple air-balls, he would notice," Beasley said.

3. Adelman stressed the need for the team to respond the right way to Sunday's victory over Dallas. "They won a game last night," he said. "They didn't win the championship. They have to come back tonight and play a solid game. That's what we're trying to strive for."

Adelman referenced the way the Wolves came out to start the game in Milwaukee after a difficult loss to Oklahoma City on opening night. "We have to go out and compete," Adelman said. "That's what our team hasn't done in eh past. they've kind of been up and down. We can't do that. We did that in the second game of the season. ... We have to come out strong to start this game, build off last night and not just be happy we got a win last night."

One final note: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was asked about Ricky Rubio. Specifically, how difficult it would be for him to adjust to American culture. Popovich's response was classic: "These guys, they travel around the world," Popovich said of international players like Rubio and his own Manu Ginobili. "They're more cultured than we are. Everyone acts like Americans are the ones... we have sort of an arrogance about us. Like we're the cultured ones? Are you serious? Have you watched TV lately? Have you seen what Americans do? How many languages do you speak? And you wonder how they're going to adjust to our culture? I hope they avoid it and keep their own!"