http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/16848260.htm Marko Jaric waited more than a year for this. Jaric was in the Timberwolves' starting lineup Tuesday night for the first time since Feb. 4 2006. This time, he started at shooting guard in place of Trenton Hassell, who missed the game against the Los Angeles Lakers because of a sprained left ankle. Jaric was excited about his return to the starting five after the morning shootaround. "It's been a long time," said Jaric, who started the first 46 games of last season, his first in Minnesota. "I have my chance to hopefully play good, stay in the lineup, hopefully win games. That's all I care about right now." Jaric said he was focusing on defending Kobe Bryant, who began the day averaging 29 points a game, which ranked second in the NBA. Welcome back to the starting lineup, Marko. "That's how it is," Jaric said. "In the NBA, every day you're going to have somebody tough to guard." The Wolves planned on defending Bryant as a unit, so all the pressure wasn't on Jaric. "Our mind-set is we have to stop him together," Kevin Garnett said. Coach Randy Wittman liked Jaric's excitement about being back in the starting lineup. He just hoped it wouldn't translate into jitters. "We don't want him to go out and quickly pick up two fouls," Wittman said before the game. Wittman said he decided to start Jaric because of the veteran's active defense, which the coach hoped would help the Wolves start the game well. Jaric averaged 5.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 20.2 minutes through his first 52 games as a reserve. Rebounding woes: The Wolves set a franchise record for rebounding futility Sunday against Boston, getting outrebounded by 30 in a double-overtime loss. Garnett was assigned to help guard Paul Pierce along the perimeter in the overtime periods, and that took him out of rebounding position. He had just one rebound after the fourth quarter. Center Mark Blount had three rebounds in 36 minutes. Jaric said the team's struggles on the glass have more to do with hustle than matchups. "We're missing the will, I think, to get those rebounds," he said. Not much happening: Wittman said McCants suffered no setbacks to his surgically repaired right knee after playing a season-high 32 minutes at Boston. It was McCants' 15th game back. Wittman wants McCants to be involved in the offense. He took two shots in 32 minutes against Boston and looked tentative. "His biggest asset is aggression as a player," Wittman said. "I want to make sure we get that out of him when he's on the floor." --

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