The thrilling highs of a last second win over the Indiana Pacers Friday night were echoed by a strangely balmy Twin Cities Saturday of 69 degrees. The same phenomenon held true after the Wolves suffered a slow, painful loss in Chicago to the Bulls and the Twin Cities got smacked with overnight thunderstorms and a frigid, sleety Sunday high of 36 degrees.

The Wolves loss at the hands of the Bulls came without Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love, Brandon Roy and JJ Barea. In the second half the situation was compounded by the loss of Chase Budinger to what is being called a twisted knee. Negative x-ray results were good to hear, but he’ll be given an MRI in Dallas Monday.

Budinger had been brought in over the summer to give coach Rick Adelman a dependable wing option off his bench. Someone who was familiar with his system and excelled at its most common movements: corner 3s and backdoor cuts. His expanding mid-range game was on display over this last week as he hit multiple jumpers off curls at the top of the key.

The options if Roy or Barea are unable to go in Dallas get even slimmer now. Is it time to give Alexey Shved all the starter’s minutes he can handle or does Adelman keep his playmaking with the second unit on the bench? Does Malcolm Lee get more time to expose his limited jumper? Will Conroy, anyone?

Luke Ridnour certainly becomes an indispensable part of the Wolves’ backcourt rotation. The scoring has to come from somewhere as Derrick Williams’s offensive ineptitude reached new heights with an 0-10 performance Saturday.

Whether driving into traffic and throwing a layup off the bottom of the rim or squaring up and hesitating… to jab-step… and throw a pump fake… and then consider another awkward euro-step drive before throwing up another errant jumper.

Guy should be given tape of Dante Cunningham — who is absolutely killing it from the top of the key — in hopes he will recognize just what an open jumper is.

Nevermind the frustrating forays towards the bucket, a major achievement in this young season would be to just recognize when nobody is within six to ten feet of you — and you are within ten to fifteen feet of the hoop — that that is an ok shot, and you should just go straight up and nail it without hesitation.

The missing of lay-ups and inability to cope with any contact whatsoever are issues for another day.

Alexey Shved has made these Olympics a coming out party. Simply said, his short career has peaked during this pool play. According to Sporting News, he averaged 10.5 points and 5 assists in the Olympic qualifying tournament, improving upon his Eurobasket tournament numbers of 8.5 PPG and 3.1 APG. In these four Olympic games he has bolstered all these totals to 15.7 PPG and 8.3 APG. Should Wolves Nation take this play as a sign of things to come or rather just a small sample size worth overlooking?

Before answering this question, it is worth asking if Shved is best suited to be a point guard and a true court leader? As of now, the Wolves already have three point guards in Ricky Rubio, Luke Ridnour and JJ Barea.  The current roster would suggest Shved is destined to be their backup shooting guard.  Although he seems to excel in his current role as PG, Shved may actually be more successful working off the ball. During the Olympics, Shved has consistently shot the ball with confidence and solid form- most closely resembling that of Mike Miller or JR Smith.  Yet, his ability to create his own shot may go unnoticed playing alongside Ridnour or Barea.

Rubio has near unrivaled court vision, perfectly suited to Shved’s ability to space to floor and cut to the basket.  Unfortunately, Ridnour and Barea are far from the ‘true point guard’ Rubio has quickly become. Both are more inclined to create their own shot, even when contested. Trade rumors suggesting Ridnour or Barea could be moved should signal Shved’s importance to this team and which PG front management believes can best adjust to his needs.

Shved’s skills may be greatly valued but his faults should raise some eyebrows as well. Even with impressive numbers during these Olympics, Shved has struggled. During Russia’s win against Spain, Shved played limited minutes. Coach, David Blatt commented on this controversial decision by stating, “Do you know the story of Icarus? He put wax on his wings and began to fly and everyone believed he was superhuman. Suddenly the sun shone brightly on those wings and they melted and he fell. Now, Alexey, to his credit, has had an amazing Olympic Games and really has come out in a big way, as he did last summer for the Russian national team in our medal-winning performance…. I think he was just too good too fast for too long, and you know, his day came that he wasn’t that good and I recognized it.” Mythical comparisons, while theatrical in this sense are just as telling for a player’s boundaries.  Blatt’s comments point to the gift and risk Shved presents as a player.  Seemingly smooth, quick and controlled Shved must learn when to dictate the pace of game for the benefit of his team and when to prove himself as player.

I believe Shved will be best judged with Rubio out of the lineup. Ultimately, he will either show he is effective scorer off the bench or the play maker we have witness during these Olympics. Rubio may be his perfect court mate, but Shved has much to prove and needs to improve this team. His talent will be told in Rubio’s absence- an opportunity I expect him to embrace with style and enthusiasm.