* The big joke around the Timberwolves locker room was the fact Blake Ahearn had a huge game after getting poked in the eye. Ahearn was poked in the left eye during training camp and yesterday he was poked in the right eye during practice. Despite some issues with a sore eye Ahearn started the game shooting a sizzling 6-6 from the field for 15 points in his first nine minutes off the bench. This was part of a 18-5 run by Minnesota which burst the game open and provided them with a 47-31 advantage. While watching Ahearn light it up I couldn’t help but think of Matt Moore checking the stats from this game and then writing a post about how great the D-League is at developing future NBA players. After the game tonight Ahearn joked with the media, “Everyone’s been on me about wearing goggles but I’m not wearing goggles yet. Unless I get poked a couple more times you won’t see Horace Grant out there.”

* Another bench player who stood out tonight for Minnesota was Rodney Carney. Following the game Ahearn joked that playing alongside Carney was tiring because he was getting out on the break and running “like a gun went off.” When Carney was told about this comment he chuckled and said, “Oh no, I just see holes and sometimes I can get there faster than other people. I try to pick my spots and get there. It happened a couple of times tonight and I took advantage of it.” Carney did a great job of finding the holes in the Raptors defense and gave Minnesota a big spark off the bench with his 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

* Joey Graham got the starting nod tonight to help get him back into game shape. Don’t worry Raptors fans, this isn’t a case of Jamario Moon being in the doghouse. Graham was placed into the starting five because he’s missed the first four preseason games and this was Sam Mitchell’s way of giving his conditioning a jump start. Although I was skeptical at how this would play out tonight I have to admit I was a fan of what I saw. Last year I would cringe when Graham would get the ball on the wing because he looked to be out of control and would force shots up. Tonight felt like I was watching a different player because Graham looked patient and did a good job letting the game come to him. Throw in the fact he scored 12 points and snagged 4 rebounds and it was impressive debut for Graham.

* The Timberwolves started a 6′7″ centre tonight. Yes, you read that right: Craig Smith started at centre despite giving up a couple inches in his match-up to Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal. Before the game Sam Mitchell was asked for his thoughts on this and he chuckled while responding that if there aren’t enough seven-footers you may as well play the player that gives you the best chance of winning. Turns out that wasn’t Mitchell’s last laugh tonight over this as Smith didn’t do much to help Minnesota win tonight as Bosh exploded for six points in his first eight minutes of burn. This resulted in Smith being yanked and finding a seat on the end of the bench until the start of the third quarter. Don’t let the mohawk fool you - even though Smith may look tough he’s not going to have much luck intimidating opposing centre’s this season.

* Once again Andrea Bargnani was instant offense off the bench with eight points in his first six minutes of burn. He finished the game with game high 22 points in just under 28 minutes of burn.

* Roko-Leni Ukic is off to a great start but if I were the coaching staff one area I’d work on him with is getting more aggressive with his outside shot. There were a couple of times tonight where he would find himself wide open on the perimeter but he didn’t even look for his shot. If Ukic is able to start nailing that shot then it will open up more drives and make him a lethal player on the offensive end due to his blinding speed and nasty crossover dribble.

* Something that impressed me tonight about Kevin Love is that he was sitting next to Brian Cardinal and Mark Madsen to soak up advice from the wily vets for most of the night. I’ve noticed that most player want to sit with their friends during games and joke around, however Love was intent on watching the game and learning all the nuances of the NBA. I was able to chat with Love briefly following the game and I have to admit I walked away impressed with the maturity of the rookie.

* Hassan Adams failed to enter the game tonight and I can only assume that Sam Mitchell’s done giving him minutes because the coach feels he longer warrants the “charity.”

* I feel like a complete schmuck tonight. I was able to talk with Randy Foye before the game and after he gave me some great quotes I messed up recording the audio. I was also able to talk with Corey Brewer briefly but I’m not sure if that audio was lengthy enough to warrant an exclusive interview post. Hang in there, I’m still in preseason form and I’ll get my act together for the home opener.

* If you’re a Timberwolves fan I highly recommend you check out Canis Hoopus for some great content like  this hilarious commercial of David Harrison trying to sell Kinetico Water.

* Thanks for reading my third and final Game Notes for the 2008-09 preseason. I won’t be posting any more Game Notes until the Raptors home opener on October 31 but make sure you check back for some feature articles over the next two weeks. I also wanted to remind you to keep an eye out for Rashad Mobley posting his game notes for Wizards home games this season.