McHale, who moved from the Wolves front office to the bench after the firing of Randy Wittman last week, was instrumental in helping a young Wally Szczerbiak develop his inside game, a talent the Cavs are taking advantage of this season.

"He really helped me become the player I am," Szczerbiak said after practice Monday. "He drafted me, kind of molded me, schooled me, taught me a lot about the game - on and off the court."

Although Minnesota didn't use the sharp-shooting Szczerbiak in the post much - not with a guy by the name of Kevin Garnett on the roster - the lessons were not wasted. McHale will get to see for himself when the Cavs visit the Wolves on Wednesday night.

The Cavs have been using Szczerbiak in the post more when they go to a smaller lineup.

"He has an effective post game," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "We have a post play we go to with him quite a bit, especially if he hits his first shot [from that position]. If he hits his first one - he's already a confident person - but [his confidence] is off the charts when he hits one or two.

"He's a lot bigger, a lot stronger than what most people think until you get down there and have to bang with him. But not only that, he's got a nice Basketball IQ in understanding how and when to get fouled.

Because of that, it really has helped his post game.

"He's a back-down, power-post guy. Because of his length, size and intelligence, he can shoot a turnaround over people or step through people to get a great look at a layup."

The 6-7, 240-pound Szczerbiak was drafted by Minnesota out of Miami University with the sixth pick in the 1999 draft. He spent the first six years of his career with the Timberwolves but was traded to Boston in 2006 and to Seattle in 2007 before coming to Cleveland in a megadeal at the trading deadline last season.

Szczerbiak said that even when McHale was the Timberwolves' vice president of Basketball operations, he was no stranger to the practice court. And when the Boston Celtics Hall of Famer - one of the greatest post players ever - gives advice on playing down low, who's not going to listen?

"He was very hands-on as a player personnel guy," said Szczerbiak, who also was part of the Wolves team that went 19-12 under McHale after he fired Flip Saunders in 2005. "He was always teaching his rookies and young guys post moves. He was out there watching practice and going through stuff after practice with the guys.

"He does a great job, really knows the game, really knows the ins and outs of what it takes to be a player, what it takes to be successful. I don't know how long he'll [coach], but for now I think those guys have to be loving it."

So what was the best advice Szczerbiak got from McHale?

" 'Whenever you've got a little guy, don't mess around - turn and shoot,' " Szczerbiak said, laughing. "That's good advice. That's real good advice."

Injury updates: The Cavs had a no-contact practice on Monday, so there were no official updates on the status of Zydrunas Ilgauskas (sprained left ankle) or Daniel Gibson (sprained left big toe.)

"I feel OK," Ilgauskas said. "It feels better every day. The swelling went down. For the first time today I did Basketball drills a little bit. We don't really have a date for a return. We're just going to treat it day-to-day and see how it feels."

Holiday cheer: Szczerbiak, Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao, Mo Williams, Sasha Pavlovic and Lorenzen Wright were part of a group of Cavs who visited children at the Cleveland Clinic on Monday afternoon.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mschmitt@plaind.com, 216-999-4668