Barea: I Don’t Have to Change My Nature

Kevin Love called out (J.J.) Barea and Dante Cunningham for sitting on the bench during timeouts and pouting because they weren’t playing late in a Jan. 8 loss to Phoenix during which the Wolves blew a six-point lead with 96 seconds left.

On Tuesday at Phoenix, Barea again clearly was unhappy when he was taken out midway through the fourth quarter. Saunders on his weekly KFAN radio show said he put Barea “on notice” and said he needs to contain his emotions better.

“It’s going to be tough for me to change,” Barea said. “I can calm down a little bit. I let it go real quick. I get a little mad. I wish I could be out there a little longer. Things happen and then I get back to getting my team going from the bench.

“I don’t think I’ve got to change it. I care about the game. I care about the team. I care about winning. So sometimes I show it a little bit more than others. No big deal.”

via Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune