This is a mindset in professional sports, though, that often proves more detrimental to success than it fuels a drive to succeed. Gomes has learned the downfall of such an approach, and lately he's been thriving as a legitimate scorer for the fallen Minnesota Timberwolves near the end of another lost season.

"I have a tendency sometimes to get down when I miss three or four shots, and then ... I might pass up a wide-open look because I'm thinking about the plays before," Gomes said after practice late Thursday afternoon.

He added: "Basketball is a game of mistakes. You're not going to make every shot. ... You're giving up on the next play already if you're thinking about the previous one."

Coach Kevin McHale has tried to instill that thought process in these players, a philosophy more important since star and leader Al Jefferson's knee injury. The Wolves are long gone from the playoff chase, so they're quietly trying to build some momentum and develop to be ready in the fall when Jefferson returns.

Gomes, for his part, is focused on becoming the second or third scoring option; point guard Randy Foye is the other player near the top of the pecking order.

There's no better time than this to establish that rhythm, that confidence and that reputation, when the pressure's off and some of the opponents are playing at their best in pursuit of postseason positioning. The initiative Gomes is following, at the behest of McHale, is to simply be more aggressive when the Wolves have the ball.

"We really need that type of aggressiveness out of everybody," McHale said.

After playing mostly power forward his first two seasons in Boston and last season with Minnesota, Gomes has adjusted to more time at small forward. Earlier in the season, he was exhausting plenty of energy on defense while trying to guard All-Stars like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. In the last month or two, he's been able to focus more on the offense.

In Wednesday's win over Memphis, Gomes had 25 points in 33 minutes. Over his last 15 games, the last 14 without Jefferson, Gomes has averaged 19.3 points. Though part of that production is simply due to Jefferson's absence, Gomes has been the most consistent all-around player since the devastating injury on a team that took several weeks to emerge from the post-Jefferson funk. The Wolves are just 2-12 without him.

"Some games you're not going to have your greatest nights and you're not going to play your best, but the effort has to be there and the energy has to be there," Gomes said. "That's what we have to look at."

With contributions that transcend scoring, Gomes has so far proven his worth after the Wolves re-signed him to a five-year contract last summer as restricted free agent.

"He's in a really good groove," McHale said, adding: "When Al got hurt, I said, 'We'll find some stuff out about some guys and we'll feature guys a little bit more.' ... Ryan's a very very good player."

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