Timberwolves point guard Alexey Shved doesn't help the stereotype that Russians don't smile, and his teammates want that to change.
Last season, Ricky Rubio was caught by a TNT microphone telling Shved to "Change your face, be happy, enjoy it." Now, Minnesota's new center Ronny Turiaf has chimed in on the Russian's facial expression during games, claiming Shved's a better player when he smiles.
"If Alexey smiles, everything else takes care of itself," Turiaf told StarTribune. "If he doesn't smile, he's a different player."
However, Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman is more concerned with Shved's energy as opposed to his smile, and is particularly concerned with how the point guard presents himself when he's not controlling the ball.
"His whole game has been when he has had his hands on the ball," Adelman said. "He's really good then. When he's off the ball, he has a tendency to shortcut things.
"He just has to stay with it and become a cutter as well as a ballhandler."
Shved himself acknowledged that it wouldn't hurt to appear more positive during games, but said that smiling will come with winning games.
"Maybe sometimes I am thinking about the game and I am not smiling," Shved said. "First of all, this is the game. You need to win this game and afterward, I can smile."
