http://www.startribune.com/511/story/1111409.html Late in the third quarter against Toronto on Monday night, the Wolves' Rashad McCants drove the lane and made a layup. Two possessions later he hit a three. At the start of the fourth quarter, McCants scored six consecutive points on a jumper and two athletic moves. In about two minutes of clock time, he had scored 11 of the Wolves' 13 points. A similar situation occurred earlier, in the second quarter, when Craig Smith scored 11 points. Randy Foye also has grabbed the spotlight recently and been the Wolves' most dangerous threat. Coach Randy Wittman committed to playing his three youngsters -- Smith and Foye are rookies, McCants is in his second season -- well before the Wolves were officially eliminated from the playoff chase. So how has the youth emphasis played out? Wittman sees McCants' legs coming back strong after summer surgery. He sees Smith adding post passing to his offensive game. He sees Foye proving to himself he belongs in the league. Wittman also sees growing pains, what he calls "the ups and downs of playing in the NBA." For every two steps forward, a step back. There are key turnovers, ill-advised decisions in the post. For Foye, one difficult task is learning how to defend the pick-and-roll at the NBA level. Anyone who watched Monday's loss saw that lesson in progress. Here is Wittman's view of each of his young players: RANDY FOYE The good: Foye is unselfish. He has worked hard on his jump shot and has proven on many occasions to be a good player at crunch time. The stat: Foye has averaged 14 points and 4.2 assists in his past five games. Needs work: Consistency, especially on defense. Says Wittman: "He's going to face different [types of players] on different nights. He's going to have to defend in pick-and-rolls, learn how to do that. That's one of the hardest things for a guard to learn at our level." Rashad McCants The good: His legs are coming back after offseason microfracture surgery. In recent games, he has been elevating well on his jumper and has begun to go to the basket more. The stat: McCants is shooting 36.7 percent from the field and 28.1 on three-pointers for the season. But in his past four games he has hit 18 of 37 shots overall (48.6) and seven of 15 three-pointers (46.6). Needs work: Keep looking to drive to the basket. Says Wittman: "We have to get him to attack the basket more." CRAIG SMITH The good: After a lull, Smith is scoring again, including 17 in a season-high 31? minutes Monday. He is also averaging nearly six rebounds per game over his past 18. The stat: He ranks fifth among rookies in scoring (7.1) and fourth in rebounding (4.7). Needs work: Smith is learning to pass out of the post rather than force bad shots. Says Wittman: "He has to continue to work on that -- creating opportunities for other people. And, because of his size, he has to understand he can get into other people to create space to rebound." --

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