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MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Timberwolves have added Ed Pinckney as an assistant coach on Tom Thibodeaus staff.The Wolves announced the move Sunday. Pinckney coached with Thibodeau for five years in Chicago. He returns to Minnesota, where he was an assistant from 2007-09 under Randy Wittman.Pinckney is highly regarded throughout the league for his work as an assistant and did receive several interviews for head coaching jobs while he was with the Bulls. He comes to the Timberwolves from Denver, where he spent one season under coach Mike Malone.The Timberwolves have been holding training camp for a week, but it took some time to work through some contractual issues Pinckney had with the Nuggets in order to complete the deal.Pinckney played in the NBA for 12 seasons. Austin Bryant Jersey . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). 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The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. Calvin Johnson Jersey . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Robeisy Ramirez flummoxed his opponent for three Olympic rounds, landing precise punches and nimbly avoiding trouble. From bell to bell, the gold medalist showcased the same spectacular skills common to so many fighters from Cubas matchless boxing institution over the previous half-century.Ramirez then waved and pumped his fist at the cheering crowd before holding a long, gracious conversation with reporters from all countries.That second part is, well, revolutionary.The new generation of Cuban Olympic boxers in the Rio de Janeiro ring shares much with its glorious predecessors, from superb athletic talent to peerless technique.What they dont share is the reticence, standoffishness and arrogance that characterized the dominant Cuban squads under famed coach Alcides Sagarra and his successors. The new stars also dont seem to care about the longtime restrictions, both spoken and unspoken, on Cuban athletes interactions with the media, Olympic employees and even other competitors.Just like its nation, Cubas famed boxing team is opening up to the world.Its something were doing on our own, said Joahnys Argilagos, the light flyweight world champion who received Olympic bronze Sunday. Its true we, the Cuban fighters, never spoke that much, but this is a new generation. We are getting around more. We have more information. We are more loose.Cuba sent two defending Olympic gold medalists to Rio, both fighting in new divisions. While Ramirez won Sunday, Roniel Iglesias lost a contentious bout to Uzbekistans Shakhram Giyasov a day earlier, yet still stopped to speak thoughtfully and at length to reporters about the defeat.When former world champion Lazaro Alvarez also lost a tight decision to Brazils Robson Conceicao in the lightweight semifinals Sunday, he discussed it with the humility and patience showed by Ramirez.Everyone still has their choice whether they wish to speak to reporters, but I dont mind, Ramirez said. I know how it was in the past, but I like to talk about my fights. Its no problem for me.These Cubans also have a sense of humor. When heavyweight Erislandy Savon, the nephew of Felix, lost his heavyweight semifinal to clinch a bronze, he stormed past reporters from the West and Cuba -- but then abruptly stopped and turned to say, Very sorry, but I have to go to doping control.Light heavyweight Julio Cesar La Cruz also blew off reporters Sunday after beating Brazils Michel Borges to clinch a medal, buut he grinned and shouted that he had to study his next opponent, who was in the following bout.dddddddddddd La Cruz later returned and spoke at length.It is a normal evolution, Argilagos said. Nobody from one day to the next said, `Hey, lets start talking more. It just came from us naturally.Sagarra ran the Cuban program for 3 1/2 decades until 2001, learning training methods from the Soviet Union and then Russia, and applying them to the islands best athletes. His fighters were restricted from interactions with others, and not just to combat the constant threat of defection.Sagarra usually forbade interviews while the team was abroad, even for transcendent heavyweight three-time Olympic champions Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon. A perceived aloofness permeated their attitudes in the ring, where they often didnt celebrate or congratulate.But much has changed in Cuba in the past four years -- and not just with the so-called Cuban Thaw, which led to normalization of relations with the United States.While their predecessors were forbidden from pro careers, some of the current Cuban Olympic fighters have spent the past three years traveling the world as participants in the World Series of Boxing, the professional team fight league set up by the International Boxing Association.Its a good opportunity to fight the best in the world, middleweight Arlen Lopez said. It helped us prepare for the same opponents at the Olympics.Cubas decision to field a WSB team -- nicknamed the Domadores, or Ringmasters -- fulfilled a long-held goal of AIBA to present the islands brilliant boxing talents to the world more frequently than once every four years.Cubas program clearly faces challenges in adapting to AIBAs rule changes since the last Olympic cycle. Along with the absence of headgear, fights are no longer scored on a punch-counting system that played perfectly to the Cubans superior athletic grace. Thats forcing changes for Cuba, which has historically built on long jabs, precise counterpunching and an overall elusiveness that doesnt guarantee similar success under the new 10-point system.Yet Argilagos claimed the 68th Olympic medal in Cubas boxing history Sunday, and a handful of teammates are almost certain to follow.We have many good boxers, La Cruz said. Cuba has great fighters. This year is no different. ' ' '