MinnesotaSportsScene.com

Timberwolves rookie forward Kevin Love has a lot of learning to do, and if coach Randy Wittman has his way, it will be defense that Love, and the rest of the team, learn first. In year two of the post-Garnett era, Wittman is again preaching defense to a team still looking to find an identity the way real estate lovers are looking for Outer Banks rentals.

Part of the identity issue was solved last season when Al Jefferson, the cornerstone of the trade that sent Garnett to Boston, asserted himself as the team’s top big man, posting better numbers than Garnett most of the season, despite being on a losing team while Garnett rode the Celtics to his first NBA Title.

Love will be part of the mix this year, but whether he plays starter minutes alongside Jefferson or comes in off the bench alongside Jason Collins remains to be seen.

“We were at a point where was a team we were just treading water,” Wolves GM Kevin McHale told a hastily-assembled press conference Tuesday night, just hours before the President’s State of the Union speech. Call it McHale’s State of the Wolves address.

While President Bush is expected, among other things, to call for Americans to cut oil and gas consumption by 20 percent over the next decade, McHale’s message was simpler: he was cutting the Wolves’ coach halfway through Dwayne Casey’s second season with the team.

Now, without the Wolves to worry about, Coach Casey can look into some Outer Banks rentals as he awaits his next chance to coach in the NBA. Certainly, that would be easier than looking into ways to improve a team loaded down with bad contracts like those given to Eddie Griffin, Marko Jaric and Troy Hudson.

Stepping into his place is Randy Wittman, who seemed destined to become the next Wolves head coach since he was brought back to the team as a first assistant during the off-season. Wittman began his NBA career as a Wolves assistant under Flip Saunders and has coached the Cleveland Cavaliers a few years back.

The last 42 games and any possible post-season run will be Wittman’s job interview for a long-term contract. The job’s his to lose, and he will have every chance to do well.

But the biggest roadblock to Wittman’s success remains the same roadblock that Casey faced: ineffective general manager Kevin McHale.