It remains to be seen when Robert Covington will return from a bone bruise on his knee that’s kept him out for more than two months.
Interim Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders said Tuesday that many of the defensive schemes he has in place are predicated on Covington being on the floor.
Prior to the all-star break, Saunders noted he was optimistic the Wolves would have a healthy team when they returned from the break. That was a week and a half ago.
“We initially probably thought Robert was going to be back a little bit earlier just in terms of timetable,” Saunders admitted.
Saunders said the Wolves might have to adjust their defense schemes without Covington, which suggests the All-NBA defender’s return might not be imminent. Saunders said there’s no specific “final hurdle” for Covington to clear before returning to action.
“It’s continuing to see just how his knee responds,” Saunders said. “That’s the big thing, (for him) to respond with contact, with longer durations going up and down.”
MISSING DENG
Like Covington, Luol Deng remained out Tuesday against Oklahoma City. It’s the third straight game the veteran wing missed since straining his Achilles in Atlanta.
Deng appears to be close to getting back to action, a welcome sign for the Wolves. Minnesota has struggled, particularly defensively, without Deng on the floor.
“I think Lu’s toughness and his willingness to do a lot of little things is something that would be missed on any team,” Saunders said.
“He provided great minutes for us in that stretch when we were undermanned, and then also getting some good, quality wins and some wins that we feel would move us toward getting us signature wins, and then he goes down and gets hurt and it does hurt us. He’s a good boost for the group, too, when he’s out there. We definitely miss him, but we also know we have plenty on this team and we expect guys to step up.”
BATES-DIOP GETS CHANCE
One of those players getting playing time in Deng’s absence has been rookie forward Keita Bates-Diop.
The second-round pick in last summer’s draft played sparingly for Minnesota prior to the all-star break, but has appeared in five of the Timberwolves’ six contests since the break.
He played 26 minutes in Minnesota’s loss to Washington on Sunday.
Bates-Diop said he’s simply “trying to make a positive impact out there.”
“I think I’ve done pretty well with that,” he said. “It’s limited minutes, but I feel like I’m doing good things out there.”
He’s used his time on the bench wisely, noting that he’s watching players like Deng and Dario Saric and what they do on the court, then done his best to emulate it.
So far, so good.
“It’s a small sample size, but he’s smart knowing what to do offensively, he’s a good cutter and then defensively he’s probably been better guarding smaller guys than we might have imagined initially,” Saunders said. “So, obviously there’s always room to grow, especially with rookies, but he’s definitely shown a lot of promise in a small sample size early on.”