Timberwolves coach Chris Finch responded with a joke when asked about Minnesota’s excellent ball movement in its exhibition opener against Denver earlier this month.

“This is passing and cutting season,” Finch quipped.

The evidence of that mounts with each season. A year ago, Minnesota’s offense was majestic in the preseason slate, with a high volume of ball and body movement and players passing up good shots to generate great ones for others.

It’s the purest form of offensive basketball — one that’s easier to play when stats don’t count.

Finch warned a year ago that it all could come to a crashing halt when the ball tipped for real. He was proven prophetic as Minnesota inched out of the gates with a bogged down offense in its season opener in Los Angeles.

The story heading into the 2022 exhibition slate was the high level of buy-in from D’Angelo Russell coming off a productive offseason. He was dealt ahead of the trade deadline.

Josh Minott was last year’s camp darling. He finished the year with 276 minutes played, 12th-most on the team. Donte DiVincenzo played brilliant basketball in the exhibition slate in 2024, then struggled mightily over the first third of the season.

All that is to say, little in the preseason can be believed or taken seriously.

That’s not to suggest fans shouldn’t consume or enjoy their first taste of the season.

Just don’t use any breadcrumbs from preseason basketball as hard evidence to draw meaningful conclusions. It’s rarely predictive of what’s to come.

The Dallas Mavericks were blitzed twice by the Wolves in Abu Dhabi, then lost to Real Madrid to open the 2023 preseason. Dallas went on to win the Western Conference.

The Nuggets looked entirely lost during their 2024 exhibition slate, then came as close as anyone to knocking off Oklahoma City in the 2025 playoffs.

Rob Dillingham lit up a Chinese Basketball Association team Monday at Target Center, six days after looking unplayable in a loss to Indiana.

There isn’t much reason to put stock into either performance. The Timberwolves have seen Dillingham play in NBA regular-season games. They watch him compete in camp every day. That’s all far more valuable data than what can be gained in preseason or Summer League competition.

Meanwhile, Mike Conley has played 14 minutes total this preseason, as Minnesota preserves its veteran floor general for when the games start to count.

The Wolves use training camp to attempt to establish habits they can carry throughout the ensuing eight months of basketball. But exactly which ones take hold won’t be clear until Minnesota plays Portland in the regular season opener a week from today, and beyond.

That’s when the real data will be collected. When the real storylines will unfold. When the impact players will determine the trajectory and outcome of the Timberwolves’ season.

Everything until then is entirely subject to change.

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By GERALD IMRAY

Madagascar’s military seized power from the civilian government on Tuesday, a high-ranking commander announced after President Andry Rajoelina fled the sprawling Indian Ocean island country for his safety.

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The ouster of Rajoelina, who himself came to power as a transitional leader in a military-backed coup in 2009, capped weeks of protests led by young people fed up with power and water outages, persistent poverty and a lack of opportunities, among other issues.

Rajoelina’s office issued a statement calling the coup “a serious breach of the rule of law” and insisting that the state “remains standing.” But Col. Michael Randrianirina, whose elite CAPSAT military unit tipped the scales of power in the country last weekend by siding with the protesters, said “We are taking power,” as demonstrators celebrated with soldiers in the capital, Antananarivo.

Here’s what to know about the events that led to Rajoelina’s ousting.

A youth-led uprising

The uprising started weeks ago when protests erupted over chronic water and electricity outages. It snowballed into larger dissatisfaction with Rajoelina, alleged government corruption and poverty, which affects about 75% of the country of roughly 30 million people, according to the World Bank.

Protesters shout during a protest calling for President Andry Rajoelina to step down in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

The protests brought thousands onto the streets in several cities and initially sparked a harsh crackdown by security forces that left 22 people dead and more than 100 injured, according to the United Nations. The government disputed those figures.

Although civic groups and labor unions also joined in, the protests were led by a group calling itself “Gen Z Madagascar,” though participants have insisted there isn’t a leader and that they were inspired by recent youth uprisings in Nepal and Sri Lanka.

An protester watches police near burning barricades during a protest calling for the president to step down in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe)

Soldiers join the protests

A key moment came Saturday when Randrianirina and his soldiers accompanied protesters to a main square in the capital and demanded that Rajoelina step down. The CAPSAT troops exchanged gunfire with gendarmerie security forces still loyal to Rajoelina, and one CAPSAT soldier was killed, according to Randrianirina.

Members of the CAPSAT military unit are cheered by protesters as they arrive to address a crowd, announcing plans to take over the government and dissolve the Senate and the electoral commission (CENI) in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

On Tuesday, protesters cheered on the CAPSAT troops as they stood on armored vehicles in Antananarivo’s streets. Although Rajoelina’s office said only some CAPSAT troops were backing the protesters, the unit said other military units, including the gendarmerie, stand with them.

CAPSAT is the unit that also rebelled against the Madagascar government in 2009, leading to the military-backed coup that brought Rajoelina to power as a transitional leader. There are strong parallels between the two coups, in that CAPSAT troops also joined a wave of anti-government protests against then-President Marc Ravalomanana 16 years ago, forcing him into exile.

24 hours of turmoil

After weeks of pressure on Rajoelina, a chaotic 24-hour period began Monday when the president’s office announced he would deliver a speech to the nation on state television and radio. The speech was delayed for hours and was finally only broadcast on social media after soldiers arrived at the state broadcaster’s buildings.

In his speech from a secret location, Rajoelina said he had been forced to flee to a safe place because of a plot to assassinate him at his palace. He called for the constitution to be respected and pushed back against demands for him to resign.

This grab taken from video released on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, shows Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina giving a speech from an unknown location after an apparent coup attempt forced him into hiding. (Presidency Of The Republic Of Madagascar via AP)

He then attempted to reassert his authority by issuing a decree dissolving parliament on Tuesday, but lawmakers ignored it and overwhelmingly voted to impeach him. Right after the vote, Randrianirina announced the military takeover while standing with other soldiers in front of a historic presidential palace in the capital. He said the armed forces would form a council made up of officers from the general military and the gendarmerie, a military unit that polices civilians, and would appoint a prime minister to “quickly” form a civilian government.

France reportedly helped Rajoelina escape

Malagasy and French are both official languages in Madagascar, which is the world’s biggest vanilla producer and, because of its geographic isolation, is known for its biodiversity. Since gaining its independence from French colonial rule in 1960, it has struggled to overcome poverty and political instability, including a series of coups.

A report said that Rajoelina was flown out of Madagascar on a French military plane, throwing scrutiny on any role the former colonial power played in helping him escape.

Asked about any French involvement in extracting Rajoelina, French President Emmanuel Macron said in Egypt on Monday: “I’m not confirming anything today. What I want to express here is our deep concern, and to affirm France’s friendship with the Madagascar people.”

Rajoelina reportedly also has French citizenship, which has been a source of discontent for some Madagascans.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

Three potential candidates have emerged as the Twins’ search to replace longtime manager Rocco Baldelli is underway.

A source confirmed the Twins are conducting interviews with James Rowson, Derek Shelton and Ramón Vázquez, which the New York Post first reported earlier on Tuesday.

Rowson spent three seasons as the Twins’ hitting coach and currently serves in that role for the Yankees, Vázquez is the Boston Red Sox bench coach and Shelton served as the Twins’ bench coach for two years before managing the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Rowson, 49, was a popular coach during his time in Minnesota, leading the Bomba Squad to a major-league record 307 home runs in 2019. He was particularly close to Byron Buxton, flying into town in the winter for the center fielder’s celebratory press conference after he signed his seven-year contract extension in 2021.

Fresh off the success of the 2019 season, Rowson was named the Miami Marlins’ bench coach. He returned to a hitting coach role with the Detroit Tigers in 2023 before joining the Yankees in 2024.

Rowson, who has been talked about as a potential managerial candidate for years, and Shelton, 55, were both part of Baldelli’s first coaching staff, and both departed after the 2019 season.

Shelton, who was a finalist the last time the Twins had a managerial opening, went to Pittsburgh, where he managed for more than four years before being fired during the middle of the 2025 season.

He was a longtime coach before that, getting his first major league opportunity in 2005. In all, he has been on five different MLB coaching staffs, serving as hitting coach, quality control coach, bench coach and manager.

Vázquez is the only one of the three who has not worked for the Twins. The 49-year-old spent parts of nine seasons as a major league infielder before coaching and then managing in the minor leagues. After one year on the San Diego Padres’ coaching staff, he joined the Boston’s coaching staff in 2018 and has served in a number of roles since then.

The Twins are one of eight teams currently searching for a manager after Baldelli’s seventh season in charge ended with 92 losses and a second consecutive fourth-place finish. Two other teams — the Pirates and Texas Rangers — have already filled their jobs with internal candidates.

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A Woodbury man was fired from his job as a St. Paul police community engagement specialist Tuesday after charges say law enforcement recovered nearly 10 pounds of methamphetamine and other drugs from his home.

Jamond Leroy Glass (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)

Jamond Leroy Glass was arrested Friday after a package with drugs was intercepted by police at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and delivered to his town house, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Washington County District Court charging the 34-year-old with first-degree possession of more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.

St. Paul police hired Glass into the non-sworn, paid job on March 10, according to a department spokesman. Glass was put on leave on Saturday and fired Tuesday.

Glass was one of four such specialists, who work full time and “provide a critical service by working as a liaison between the community and department,” the city’s website says.

According to the complaint, Washington County sheriff’s detectives were contacted Friday by airport police who had intercepted a package containing a large amount of suspected meth. It field-tested positive for the drug.

The package was addressed to “Kay Wilson” at a Cobble Hill Court townhome in Woodbury.

Deputies conducted a controlled delivery of the package, while maintaining surveillance, until it was grabbed by Glass, who brought it into the townhome, the complaint says.

Deputies executed a search warrant on the town house and found in the master bedroom 9.8 pounds of meth, 1.68 pounds of fentanyl and 10 1⁄2 grams of cocaine. Also in the room were two handguns and loaded magazines.

Glass went before a judge on Monday and was released from jail the same day after posting a $50,000 bond. An attorney for Glass, who is due back in court Dec. 1, is not listed in the court file.

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Mayor Melvin Carter addressed the allegations against Glass on Tuesday following a news conference at the State Capitol with other mayors in which they urged lawmakers to take legislative action on gun violence prevention.

“The allegations are really concerning, and if proven true, really, really disappointing,” Carter said. “We have a responsibility to care for folks, and that’s the work that we do. Obviously, you have folks in any system, in any employment system, in any line of work, who slip through the cracks and are able to get into spaces that they really shouldn’t be. And, like I said, if these allegations end up being proven true, this will feel like one of those instances.”

Mara H. Gottfried contributed to this report.