The defensive scheme, which the Wolves will use as a change-up with man-to-man and other trapping defenses, is allowed because of a rule change meant to speed up the pace of games and obliterate isolation offensive play. For the first time since a two-month period in the league's infancy, zone defenses are acceptable in the NBA, with one major twist: A defensive player no longer can camp out in the lane unless he actively is guarding a player. Violation of the new three-second defensive rule results in a technical foul, making traditional zone defenses such as the 1-3-1 or 2-3, each of which has a player permanently positioned in the center of the lane, virtually impossible.

The defensive wrinkle is a bonus for the Wolves for two reasons: 1) Saunders wrote a handbook on the subject, making it easier to teach his team, and 2) should opponents choose to play zone against them, the Wolves are good enough perimeter shooters to score over the top of them.

"There's been a lot of talk that this is the same old team coming back," Saunders said. "As soon as the rules changed, I thought that with the team that we have, it would benefit us more than any other team in the league. I've said that from Day 1, and I don't think in the preseason that has changed."

Indeed, the Wolves haven't changed that much.