Wally:"I want to start"

小妖

From St. Paul Pioneer Press:

In most years, Timberwolves swingman Wally Szczerbiak would return from
an injury, come off the bench for a couple of games and then be put back
into the starting lineup.

Things changed last season after he missed the first 53 games with a
strained plantar fascia in his left foot.

The Wolves had a starting lineup they liked, and it was resulting in
wins. Trenton Hassell complemented the Big Three of Kevin Garnett,
Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell because all he had to do was play
defense and hit open jumpers. As a result, Szczerbiak did not start a
game during a season for the first time in his career.

But this is a new season, and the former all-star has different
expectations. He's fully healthy and plans on regaining his starting spot.

"I want to start. I don't care what people say about starting and
getting minutes," he said. "I do not like coming off the bench. I didn't
enjoy it last year. I flat out want to start. I've got to go out and
earn it, and that's something I've been trying to do so far in training
camp. I've got to produce when I'm out on the floor and let the coaches
decide."

Szczerbiak said he doesn't like it because it's tough for him to get
into a rhythm.

"I'm not used to it because I've never done it my whole career," he
said. "It's something the team asked me to do, so I did it last year.
But by no means would I like to do it again."

After two injury-filled seasons in which he has played only 80 out of
164 regular-season games, Szczerbiak entered training camp injury free.
He spent the summer adding 10 pounds of muscle and playing basketball
three times a week while splitting his time in the Twin Cities and New York.