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Are The Timberwolves Rookies Ready For The NBA?

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The NBA's regular season starts this week, with the Timberwolves tipping things off Wednesday night in Memphis.

After a month of training camp and preseason, the question is, How ready for the NBA are all their young players?

Zach LaVine can't wait to experience his first NBA game.

"I'm just anxious now," the Wolves rookie guard said. "It's only a couple days away, so I'm ready to get it going."

Experience is something the Timberwolves have little of this upcoming season. With all the young players getting meaningful minutes, you might as well call them the Timber-pups.

"I have an idea how the veterans will react," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "But our young guys are part of what we are, what our future is, and they're going to have to play."

The Wolves have seven players on their roster with less than two years of NBA experience. And it's not like they've grown into veterans just in the course of the last month.

But they have learned from the veterans.

"Some of the vets help you along in practice, help you outside, and just how to live your NBA life," LaVine said. "They've been through it, gone through it. So those little key tips help out."

No.1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins agreed.

"They're teaching us every day," Wiggins said, "About certain things, and always keeping in mind that this is the game of basketball. We were meant to be playing this. Don't let it stress you out. Have fun playing it."

But it won't always be fun. And Flip Saunders knows he'll have to be patient.

"At times, we're going to go through some growing pains," Saunders said. "And at times, we might lose a game because we might play a young player, and maybe we keep him in because we don't want to destroy his confidence, but sometimes we might have to bite the lip."

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