The Minnesota Timberwolves used the draft to add a pair of players possessing the skills they want for the wing positions.

Even if Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop prove they are capable right away of a place in the rotation Connor Williams Jersey , though, there is a question about how much they will actually play as rookies. This is, after all, the team run by Tom Thibodeau, who is as likely to prefer experience over potential as any head coach in the NBA.

”Practices are important. Playing time is based on performance. You earn that,” Thibodeau said. ”That’s not just something that is given to you.”

Okogie and Bates-Diop, during their introduction at a news conference Tuesday, sounded like they understand the climb they face. All five starters for the Wolves last season averaged 33 minutes per game or more and ranked among the top 36 most-used players in the league, with Jimmy Butler third and Andrew Wiggins ninth.

”Everybody wants to play a lot as a rookie, but that comes with trust and learning the system and being productive out there,” said Bates-Diop, the Big Ten Player of the Year award winner at Ohio State last season who dropped into Minnesota’s lap with the 48th overall pick in the second round after most projections pegged him much higher on the board.

Okogie A.J. Green Youth Jersey , who was selected 20th overall out of Georgia Tech, also expressed a willingness to accept the no-nonsense, tough-love supervision that comes with playing for Thibodeau.

”I’m definitely comfortable with it,” Okogie said. ”I’ve never really had a coach who wasn’t hard on me.”

Both players will go through an adjustment phase with their offensive game, beginning with the longer 3-point shot. Bates-Diop led the Big Ten in scoring (19.8 points per game) and Okogie was fourth in the ACC (17.9 points per game), though, so they’re not coming to the league without any shooting prowess. They’re not one-and-done prospects, either. Okogie will be 20 before the season starts, and Bates-Diop will turn 23 in January, just two months after Wolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns.

What will help them the most toward working their way onto the court is the athleticism, tenacity and versatility they’ve exhibited while playing defense. That’s at the top of reasons Thibodeau and the front office targeted these two, enamored by a high leap and a long reach that makes switching from a 6-foot-4 classic shooting guard to a 6-foot-10 stretch power forward doable. Bates-Diop and Okogie were two of the four non-post players with a ”wingspan” of 7 feet or more at the NBA scouting combine last month.

”You can kind of be in two places at once Braden Smith Youth Jersey ,” Okogie said.

The other factor in their favor? The roster. Butler and Wiggins don’t currently have any backups in place, with Jamal Crawford’s decision to opt out of his contract and become a free agent. There’s nobody else who played on the wing last season who is under contract entering the start of free agency this weekend.

So just how important is it for a rookie to play right away?

”I think it’s important,” Okogie said. ”Is it the most important thing? Probably not. But if I was given a chance to produce and to help this team win nothing would give me more joy than that. So hopefully it happens, and I’ll work and do everything in my power to make it happen.”

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ST. LOUIS — A month ago, St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen was saddled to the bench. Now he’s the league’s second star.

Allen went 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .961 save percentage in wins over Boston, Vancouver and Columbus last week. The Blues’ 2-1 win on Saturday ended the Blue Jackets‘ 10-game winning streak.

“We’ve got a good thing going right now,” Allen told NHL.com. “I just happened to get the honor.

It’s not a huge deal. Right now, we’re headed in the right direction. Seven games left, a big one tomorrow and looking forward to it.”

Allen earned the second star behind Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and ahead of Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor.

Allen went 2-13-0 from Dec. 14-Feb. 25. During that span, Carter Hutton went 11-5-0 and earned the majority of the playing time before being sidelined due to an injury.

With Hutton shelved, Allen found his game again.

“Both have had really good years for us and obviously there was a time where with Jake, maybe it wasn’t going as well Ronald Jones II Jersey ,” Blues coach Mike Yeo told NHL.com. “We could point to the goal scoring, we could point to a number of things, but I think by his standards, I think by our standards, we knew that there was another level there and certainly we’re seeing it right now with Jake.

“But Carter’s play during that time, that was real important for the group. You need two goalies in the NHL right now. The days of a guy being in the net for 70 games a year and being problem-free for the whole season, it’s too difficult not. It’s too much parity, it’s too much with all the schedules, too demanding. The importance of two goaltenders probably has never been more important.”

Hutton returned to practice on Monday and likely will get a start over the weekend when the Blues have back-to-back road games in Vegas and Arizona.

Allen figures to get the nod as the Blues host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. St. Louis had won five straight and entered Monday holding the second wild card in the Western Conference.

The Blues are 0-2-0 against the Sharks this season, including a 2-0 loss in San Jose on March 8.

The Sharks won their eighth straight, edging the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in a shootout on Monday. It is tied for the third-longest winning streak in Sharks history and is their longest since winning nine straight from Nov. 13-Dec. 4, 2008.

Kevin Labanc scored the game-winner in the fifth round of the shootout and Martin Jones made 28 saves.

“It wasn’t pretty for a lot of it Roquan Smith Jersey ,” Jones told NHL.com. “But we found a way to win, and we’ve been doing that a lot lately, so that’s a good sign.”

Sharks forward Joe Pavelski said the team cannot get complacent.

“Our game’s still in a good spot, but it has to go back up a level instead of trending down,” Pavelski told NHL.com. “We understand where we’re at, what time of the season it is, what needs to be done.”

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