"The pain is so large and we cant really say right now exactly

MINNEAPOLIS -- With a roster full of some of the best young talent in the league and a new, playoff-tested coach to lead them, the Minnesota Timberwolves entered this season as a trendy pick to finally end a 12-year postseason drought.Ten games into this still-young season, Tom Thibodeau finally erupted after watching his team give away yet another double-digit lead in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets that dropped them to 3-7.Its not that the Timberwolves are losing games this season that has angered him. Its how they are losing them, with the same mistakes occurring over and over again, particularly during the third quarter of nearly every game.A big part of learning is trial and error. So when you go through something and it doesnt work, you should learn from it, Thibodeau said after a 115-108 loss to the Hornets on Tuesday. The second time around, it shouldnt be the same way. That has to change and it has to change fast.The Timberwolves have been one of the best offensive teams in the league this season, with Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns and Zach LaVine all showing skills that have fans cautiously hopeful that the franchise is finally ready to return to relevancy.But they have been a disaster on defense and atrocious after halftime. They have been outscored by 91 points in their 10 third quarters this season, by far the worst margin in the league. Only one game this season have they outscored their opponent in that period -- a 36-point win over Memphis in which the Grizzlies were resting stars Mike Conley and Marc Gasol.The devastating ball movement that leads to wide open shots disappears, too. Thibodeau said his players start holding and dancing with the ball, which bogs down the flow. Contested jumpers lead to missed shots, which open up transition opportunities for their opponents.The defense at the rim and on the perimeter is nonexistent. Layups, dunks and 3-pointers rain down on their heads as they scramble to get things under control. Wash, rinse, repeat.Were playing really well and it just turns and ruins the whole game, LaVine said Wednesday. It ruins all our spirits. Going into the next game, you feel like youve got it figured out. Were up 15, 12 points and were going good and its a nosedive.The results are familiar to fans. Target Center announced just 10,349 fans for the game against the Hornets on Tuesday. Average attendance during the five homes games is just over 13,000 per game in a building that holds close to 20,000, certainly not what the organization expected in the highly anticipated run-up to the season.There are only so many promotions, so many giveaways, so many marketing tools the business side can use to sell tickets and spur interest. With a team that has been bad for this long, the fans are going to make them prove that things are different before they start investing.This is the best team Ive ever been around, said point guard Ricky Rubio, in his sixth season with the Wolves. I get mad thinking that were wasting time. Were not learning. Its time to change.The Wolves do have things to comfort them. They are the best team in the league in point differential in the first quarter, first in 3-point shooting percentage and fourth in offensive efficiency. Thibodeau is considered a defensive mastermind, so it could just be a matter of time before his new charges start to execute his system the way he wants to see it done.But if they do want to make the playoffs and end that interminable drought, they know they have to get going soon.There is no easy way out. Its work, Thibodeau said. Were more than capable of doing it. 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Isiah Kiner-Falefa Rangers Jersey . -- Stanfords Kevin Danser knelt on one knee and hardly moved on the sideline as Michigan State celebrated its Rose Bowl victory and his Cardinal teammates made their way to the locker room. TORONTO -- Top-seeded Serena Williams advanced to the Rogers Cup quarterfinals Thursday, beating 13th-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-0, 6-3. Williams, coming off a tournament victory 2 1/2 weeks ago in the Swedish Open, set up a match Friday against Slovakias Magdalena Rybarikova. "She wasnt able to play her game as much as she wanted to," Williams said. "When you play such a high-ranked player, you have to go in there with the mindset of do the best you can before they can step all over you." Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli retired because of an abdominal injury early in the second set of her match against Rybarikova. "Kind of excess of tiredness and exhaustion on my body," Bartoli said. "The pain is so large and we cant really say right now exactly (if) there is a tear at some point or if its just like a huge tightness." Rybarikova led 7-6 (5), 1-0 when the seventh-seeded Bartoli stopped playing. Playing her first event since returning from a hamstring injury that sidelined her since her major victory in London, Bartoli was in obvious discomfort ass she walked to the player bench area, where she had a trainer stretch her arm and leg.dddddddddddd. "Everything that happened for me since a month (ago), its not without any tiredness," Bartoli said. "It took me so much energy to win my first Grand Slam that at some point I will have a kind of low and its normal. Im human. At the end of the day I cant be winning after winning after winning without feeling at some point a kind of exhaustion." Earlier, fourth-seeded Li Na of China fought back from a three-game deficit in the final set for a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over Serbias Ana Ivanovic. Third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland also advanced to the quarterfinals, beating American Sloane Stephens 6-1, 7-6 (2). Fifth-seeded Sara Errani of Italy beat Alize Cornet of France 7-5, 7-6 (3); and Romanias Sorana Cirstea edged Serbias Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-4. In late matches, sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic beat 12th-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-3, 6-3; and Slovakias Dominika Cibulkova topped 10th-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-3, 7-6 (4). ' ' '