http://www.startribune.com/511/story/1027683.html For 50 games, Mike James was supposed to be Jason Terry. For the past six, and from here on out, he is supposed to be Jerry Stackhouse. Or is it Devin Harris? The Dallas model of team-building has been cited more than a few times over the past 12 months or so in the Timberwolves' front office, to the point of occasionally making player-to-player comparisons. For instance, Dirk Nowitzki vs. Kevin Garnett -- is one significantly better than the other? And which would you choose? From there, they'd go right down the list by position: Josh Howard vs. Ricky Davis. Erick Dampier vs. Mark Blount. Greg Buckner vs. Trenton Hassell. Differences? Sure. But differences worth 21 victories in the standings, the gap between Dallas' 47-9 record and the Wolves' 26-30 mark? "No," Wolves coach Randy Wittman said after practice Monday. "That's where they have taken off. I want our chemistry to be better. I think it can be better. I'm not looking at them for whether they're overachieving or not. Should we be better? Yes." Said Davis: "We match up great on paper. On paper, it's A+, A+. But it's about getting a team chemistry and guys all being together. That's the most important part." One matchup that was supposed to be closer was at point guard, where Terry and James can be classified as veteran scorers who shoot first, pass second and manage to get the job done. On paper, anyway. James averaged 20.3 points last season while shooting 46.9 percent with 5.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds as his Toronto club finished 27-55. Terry was at 17.1 points, on 47 percent shooting with 3.8 assists and 2.0 rebounds for a Mavericks team that went to the finals. The Wolves signed James to a four-year, $23.4 million deal last summer -- the Mavericks were one of the teams looking at him as a backup -- then got about half the production it hoped for. So now James (11.0 ppg on 42.4 percent shooting) comes off the bench, getting a taste of the sixth-man role handled in Dallas by Stackhouse or, more recently, Harris. For a couple of nights, he even played like it, scoring 20 points at Washington in the first game back from the All-Star break, then getting 17 (15 in the first half) against Charlotte the next night. But James hasn't reached double figures in his other four games off the bench, so there clearly is room for growth. Stackhouse averaged 13.0 last season and 11.4 this season used primarily off the bench, and last week Harris had games of 17 points against Miami and nine points, seven rebounds and four assists off the bench against Denver. "Mike has become more aggressive in coming off the bench for us," Wittman said. "I like what I've seen since we've made the change. He's gotten his aggression back offensively." Said Kevin McHale, the team's vice president of basketball operations and a two-time Sixth Man Award winner early in his NBA career: "With the first unit, with Ricky [Davis] and Kevin [Garnett], [if] you come off the bench, you end up being the first option instead of the second or third or fourth. It's better for you." James declined to be interviewed Monday, so he might not be sold on the role. But Davis served as Boston's sixth man for almost three seasons and found the fun in it. "The sixth man is usually an energy guy, a guy who can score and get the rhythm of the game going," Davis said. "Doc [Rivers, Celtics coach] had me going in as sixth man in Boston, and it was a great fit, me coming in with spark. Some people might have an ego with it. A lot of guys in the NBA have been starters all their lives. Some guys adjust to it better than other." Still, there's that great incentive of being able to shoot often against the other team's second unit, right? "I lick my chops against the first unit," Davis said. Well, James used to, which was why this switch was made. --

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