As the Wolves finished up practice Saturday before hitting the road for Toronto, Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio started doing some conditioning exercises.

I thought Rubio, coming back from knee surgery, looked very nimble. The Wolves have bringing Rubio along slowly, deliberately. But, week by week, he looks to be doing more. Saturday he was doing lateral movement exercises with Love. The two would shuffle laterally the width of the court at one end line, then sprint the length of the court. Rubio didn't look to be holding back much in either phase; during his sprint he looked very fast.

I would imagine Rubio isn't far away from starting to do some cutting exercises.

Both Love and Rubio are going with the team on the trip, which will take the Wolves to Toronto and then Brooklyn. This isn't big news; coach Rick Adelman believes it's important the two remain with the team as much as possible.

"All of our staff is on the road, so they get treatment there," he said. "And I think (Love and Rubio) need to be around the team. I just think they can help our guys, talking to 'em. Then, when they do come back, it's more of a seamless transition. And it helps the guys who are playing."

Here are some other nuggets gleaned from talking with Adelman today:

--Adelman thought Brandon Roy looked good in his first regular-season game after a one-year retirement. But he knows Roy can get better. "He's still getting his legs underneath him," Adelman said. "I'll take all the outside shots he took last night {Roy was 4-for-14 from the field, 0-for-5 on three-pointers}. Eventually he's going to make them."

As for Roy's ability to play at regular-season speed, Adelman said Roy's first step is still there, and he showed he can get to the line late in games as he did Thursday. "I think it's going to take some time with him," Adelman said. "He missed a whole year."

--Adelman reiterated that he liked many of the shots the team took – and missed – Thursday. "First quarter I thought we were really good," he said. "I thought the third quarter, that team that started, got really out of synch. They didn't move the ball, they didn't play together well."

That said, Adelman said all but two or three of the 17 three-pointers the Wolves took were good shots.

--Luke Ridnour's second-half minutes were limited by the play of J.J. Barea rather than any concerns over the sore back he nursed during the preseason. "I just felt J.J. had it going. I just wanted to keep him out there."

That's about it for today. Jerry will be with the team on the road.