Many Timberwolves fans have noticed center Rasho Nesterovic's improvement on offense. His numbers are up across the board -- he averaged 9.7 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 51.8 percent before Sunday's game at Portland, compared with 4.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 46.1 percent shooting last season. He is visibly more aggressive, and his teammates are far quicker to get him the ball.

Nesterovic made equally impressive strides on defense, though, in ways not readily apparent. He already has blocked 43 shots, compared with 63 last season, and the coaches have praised him for his enhanced grasp of both man-to-man and zone schemes.

"The rule changes helped him, and he's helped us," coach Flip Saunders said. "Right now, he is one of our best team, off-the-ball defenders at helping out, recovering, doing things like that."