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Greg Stiemsma: An unbelievable tragedy in Boston today too. Can't believe people are sick enough to do things like that. #PrayersForBoston Twitter @gregstiemsma

Greg Stiemsma, Boston 

Greg Stiemsma: Wow great championship game! Congrats to Louisville and Coach Pitino. Twitter @gregstiemsma

Minnesota Timberwolves, Coaching, NCAA, Greg Stiemsma, Rick Pitino 

Eric Patten: Matt Barnes ejected for flagrant-2, shoving Greg Stiemsma around the neck Twitter @EricPatten

Matt Barnes, Greg Stiemsma 

Greg Stiemsma: Feel horrible for @Rajon Rondo, I know he will have a quick recovery. Twitter @gregstiemsma

Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Rajon Rondo, Injuries, Greg Stiemsma 

Wolves center Greg Stiemsma wasn't in much of a better mood before Thursday's game than he was after Wednesday's, when he fouled out in eight minutes and marched straight to the locker room late in the 106-84 loss to the Jazz. Adelman said he didn't see Stiemsma walk off but didn't have an issue with it, either, after Steimsma fouled out. "I was not real happy with those officials anyway," Adelman said. "He was upset. If I could have, I might have walked off, too. If I noticed, I might have followed him." Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Minnesota Timberwolves, Greg Stiemsma 

He internalized his problems to cope. When his parents asked how school was going, he kept the conversation short. When they asked how he was doing, he smiled and tried to appear happy. It couldn’t have been farther from the truth. “It’s kind of a weird feeling,” Stiemsma said. “You’re kind of in a funk, kind of not really motivated. I didn’t really do much with my teammates at the time, who were great. Some of my best friends now were even some of my teammates from then. But it was kind of laying around, sleeping a lot. If I didn’t have to go to practice, I probably wouldn’t leave my bedroom. I’d just go get something to eat and that’s about it.” CSNNE.com

Minnesota Timberwolves, Greg Stiemsma 

These changes in mood didn’t go unnoticed, though, especially by the team’s trainer, Perez-Guerra. As part of the team for more than 20 years, Perez-Guerra views his job as more than treatment and taping before a game. He uses his time with the players to talk to them, see how things are going in their lives, and help however he can. In Stiemsma’s case, he could sense something was wrong. “Between [academics] and basketball not going as well as he wanted to on the floor, he started becoming more and more withdrawn, sad, almost to the point where he really didn’t care about basketball,” Perez-Guerra told CSNNE.com in a telephone interview. “He was looking more towards, why was he feeling this way -- ‘Why am I here? I’m not sure I really need to be here or I don’t deserve to be here.’ There were a lot of complicated issues that he was dealing with.” CSNNE.com

Minnesota Timberwolves, Greg Stiemsma 

Ultimately Stiemsma received the news he had been anticipating but was trying to ignore -- he was academically ineligible for the 2006 Spring semester. “Some tears were shed [when I found out],“ he recalled. “That was one of those days where I didn’t want to do anything. I had to be at a couple of meetings. I just showed up and was there, but I wasn’t saying much. I was just thinking about all of the people that I let down, the whole town, my coaching staff, my teammates.” CSNNE.com

Minnesota Timberwolves, Greg Stiemsma 

And then there was that 3am visit, which both men brought it up as a significant moment in their relationship. “I knew that he was having a really, really rough day that day and I was really concerned,“ Perez-Guerra recalled. “Obviously in these cases you can’t rule out anything and I just wanted to make sure he was ok. I feel that that’s part of what I do as an athletic trainer beyond treatment, rehabilitation, but also being there for people who may have a mental issue going on. “I honestly felt a little uncomfortable and I just wanted to go and make sure he was alright, and that’s what I did. … I believe we talked for about two or three hours, and I think that’s where he took the next step and decided that he had a problem and he wanted to get better.” CSNNE.com

Minnesota Timberwolves, Greg Stiemsma 

In the third quarter of Saturday night's Minnesota Timberwolves/Golden State Warriors tilt, Love found himself caught in the air and with a whole lot of teammates surrounding him with heads turned. Instead of chucking a shot, firing a pass in hopes that someone would turn around, or tossing it off the backboard Kobe Bryant-style, Love tossed the ball off of teammate Greg Steimsma's back. The ball, now legally cleared, bounced back into Love's hands as he then used those same impressive skills to bait Warriors forward Carl Landry into a foul. Watch: Yahoo! Sports

Minnesota Timberwolves, Kevin Love, Greg Stiemsma 

Stiemsma signed a two-year contract (the first season and $2.575 million are guaranteed), and four years after the University of Wisconsin graduate began his world tour of basketball, he's almost as close to home as he could possibly be in the NBA. (Only Milwaukee and Chicago boast closer NBA teams to Randolph, a small town in southeastern Wisconsin where Stiemsma grew up.) After Boston fell through, Minneapolis was where he wanted to land, and two weeks into the preseason, Stiemsma is already finding a sense of comfort. "It's awesome," Stiemsma said. "It's the most fun I've had playing in a long time. It's the most comfortable I've been on the floor without always looking over my shoulder and being worried about I'm going to be cut, if I'm going to stay, all that stuff." Fox Sports North

Minnesota Timberwolves, Greg Stiemsma 

Darren Wolfson: I'm told Stiemsma (right foot) is fine. #Twolves just being cautious holding him out of 5-on-5 ahead of a long season. Still worth watching. Twitter @DarrenWolfson

Minnesota Timberwolves, Injuries, Greg Stiemsma 

Stiemsma signed a two-year contract that fits into the “room” exception slot -- $2.575 million – for teams under the salary cap, but the second year is not guaranteed, in good measure so the Wolves can be sure his feet are healthy. He was limited from February through the playoffs because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot and a bone bruise in the right foot. He withdrew from playing for the U.S. Select team against Olympians in Las Vegas last month because he was receiving treatment for the plantar fasciitis, a troublesome condition that has ended more than one NBA career. Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Minnesota Timberwolves, Greg Stiemsma 

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed unrestricted free-agent center Greg Stiemsma to a contract. Per team policy, terms of the contract offer were not disclosed. "Greg had a fine rookie season for the Boston Celtics and is just beginning to mature as a player," said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. "The physical nature of his game and his ability to rebound and block shots will be a welcome addition to our front court." NBA.com

Minnesota Timberwolves, Free Agency, David Kahn, Greg Stiemsma 

Jerry Zgoda: Stiemsma's deal is two years, but the second year is not guaranteed Twitter

Minnesota Timberwolves, Free Agency, Greg Stiemsma 

Jerry Zgoda: Stiemsma: "You didn't have to twist my arm too hard" to come to Minnesota, his No. 1 choice if he wasn't going back to Boston Twitter

Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Greg Stiemsma 

Jerry Zgoda: Stiemsma: "I'm excited to be back...It feels good to be kinda home, so close to where I grew up." Twitter

Minnesota Timberwolves, Greg Stiemsma 

Greg Stiemsma: My dad is the toughest guy I know, beat colon cancer last year and today is his 2nd liver cancer surgery and he's always been positive. Twitter

Greg Stiemsma 

Bayno will travel to Montenegro for two weeks in August to work with center Nikola Pekovic, who should be cleared by then for full-contact practice after undergoing May surgery to remove bone spurs from his ankle. Newly signed center Greg Stiemsma -- who will be officially introduced Thursday at Target Center -- will either work with Bayno and Pekovic in Montenegro or with Bayno in Los Angeles next month. Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Minnesota Timberwolves, Nikola Pekovic, Bill Bayno, Greg Stiemsma 

Jerry Zgoda: David Kahn will introduced Brandon Roy as newest Timberwolf at T.C. at 1 p.m. Tuesday. He'll do the same w/ Stiemsma on Thursday Twitter

Minnesota Timberwolves, Free Agency, David Kahn, Brandon Roy, Greg Stiemsma