Rasho Nesterovic is who he is. Accept it. The Timberwolves have.
When Minnesota opens the regular season Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers at Target Center, fans will see a slightly bigger, slightly older, seemingly more-confident fourth-year Slovenian center. Coach Flip Saunders said Nesterovic will "more than likely" start, and based on his exhibition and practice performances, he should look familiar to those who watched him play aggressively and average 7.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 27.5 minutes during the first month of last season.

The question is, will the 7-foot, 248-pound Nesterovic slowly transform into the inconsistent, slump-shouldered player who lost confidence and averaged just 3.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 14.2 minutes after Dec. 1? Even his coaches and teammates will have to wait and see. They know only one thing for certain:

"You can't push him to be something that he's not," four-time all-star Kevin Garnett said. "I look at Rasho as more of a finesse big man. He's not your Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O'Neal, gonna-back-you-down, gonna lift weights till he's swelled in the head. He's more of the David Robinson, gonna-face-you-up, left, right, drop step, great footwork, great mechanics, great fundamentals, that type of thing.

"And I think sometimes he gets a knock because we need that Gary Trent, that Tom Hammonds, that force to be at the 5 (center), a people-come-in-here-and-I'll-knock-him-on-his-(butt) type."