--Coach Randy Wittman kept rookie Corey Brewer on the floor a season ago because of his defensive acumen and an organizational edict to fully evaluate the team's many young players.

Now with Kevin Love and Mike Miller signed up to spread the floor for Jefferson down low, Brewer will be asked to prove he can do what his 37.4 shooting percentage showed he could do not a year ago.

"He's going to have to make open shots, there's no getting around it," Wittman said. "Until he improves his consistency making that 15- to 18-foot jump shot, teams are going to help off him and play five against four. He's going to have to have confidence this year and not lose confidence, which was his big thing last year.

"You're going to go through hard times and good times in this league, and you can't throw away that confidence when some bad things happen."

--Wittman says it's not so and Kevin Love himself says maybe just a little, but it looks like the rookie from UCLA put back on some of those 15 pounds he lost to impress scouts and prepare himself for the June draft. He says he already has interviewed three or four chefs in Minneapolis and will pick one to prepare healthy meals for him.

"I've got to keep it healthy: gluten-free, low-fat," Love said. "I need to make sure my body is getting the right things, but it has to taste good. I can't be eating cardboard every day."

But isn't a professional chef expensive, even for a fellow who will make $3.3 million this season?

"I'm only 20 years old, but I'm learning what you can write off on your taxes," Love said. "I only went to UCLA for three-fourths of a year, but I did learn a couple of things."

--Veteran Mark Madsen needs a root canal when he returns from Mankato to repair damage done when Kevin Love accidentally hit him in the mouth the first day the two worked out together at Target Center last month. Madsen needed 13 stitches and had a tooth loosened when Love's other arm struck him as Love attempted a dunk.

When told Madsen should be introducing him to the NBA rather than the other way around, Love said: "I didn't mean to, especially not on the first day. I felt bad. I called him up and apologized. He's probably one of the greatest guys in the league."

--Forward Craig Smith is sporting a new hairdo at camp: a variation of a mohawk, or what he calls a "wavy hawk" because of his naturally curly hair.

"Just something different, something new," he said. "People have different styles. It just happens to fit me pretty good."

Asked if he's offering to give teammates a new look, he said, "If they've got clippers and they need a cut, I'm sure I can give them the same cut I've got. Maybe even better."