Thoughts, observations and other stuff from opening night — preseason, at least — of the David Kahn/Kurt Rambis/Jonny Flynn era in Mankato:

* Al Jefferson played his first game since tearing that ACL in New Orleans and certainly didn’t look like he’d been away eight months. He also didn’t look like — at least not this night, he didn’t — the Al we knew the last two years. He was as efficient as ever — 6 for 8 shooting for 14 points in 16 minutes — but he scored primarily not through his accomplished low-post game but on jumpers from the elbows he found open in the team’s triangle-ish offense.

He said afterward he has been working on that jump shot since he heard Kurt Rambis was going to bring elements of the triangle offense with him from L.A. He pointed out how big men shot the ball in the offense under Phil Jackson with the Bulls and Lakers, but made sure to mention Shaq as an exception. He played just the first half — as did Corey Brewer– on the advice of the team’s training staff determined to bring him back safely from February knee surgery.

The Bucks also brought back slowly Andrew Bogut (played only the first nine minutes) and Michael Redd (16-plus minutes) from season-ending injuries last year.

* OK, whistle-happy replacement refs called the game, but…the Wolves still reached the free-throw line 56 times and made 50 of them. Remember the Wolves averaged 23 attempts a game last season. Flynn quickly showed he’s not shy going to the rim. He didn’t make a field goal attempt (0 for 5), but got to the foul line 15 times and made 14. Rambis mentioned Jefferson, Love and Flynn when he said this team is going to get to the free throw line. We’ll see what the number is when the regular refs get back on the job.

* Yes, Love delivered another double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds) in less than 22 minutes and if this opener is an accurate indication, he’s going to score in this offense. He made one of two three pointers and as he did in many of the week’s scrimmages, is stretching his game out toward the three-point line. Afterward, Rambis said Love can expand his game to become a three-point threat if he learns to keep his balance and not fade away on his shot, a flaw that leads shots to come up short.

*  Ryan Hollins certainly is a project, but he also is incredibly athletic. He blocked a shot and got to the free-throw line eight times, including nearly leaping through the rafters for a putback dunk attempt on which he was fouled. The big question about him — and probably the reason the Wolves could sign him — is his basketball IQ.

* Rambis lamented the team’s 25 turnovers, but that’s not completely unexpected for a team learning pieces of a new system in just five days. Ramon Sessions had six of those turnovers, five of them in the second half, the final two on offensive fouls. Rambis suggested he was trying to do too much and is trying to learn cold a system that’s most demanding of its point guards.

* Corey Brewer’s offense didn’t look improved any — 0 for 4, 2 points — and he played all of his 16 minutes in the first half,. He did start the game on Redd and didn’t allow Redd a shot until the Bucks guard hoisted up a long three six minutes into the game. His defense is going to keep him on the floor a good bit, but at small forward rather than shooting guard, I’d guess.

* Ryan Gomes had a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) and played the most of any Timberwolf, by seconds more than Flynn and Sasha Pavlovic.

* Pavlovic is going to help this team with his shooting (even though his 1-for-4 on threes) and his length. He just looked like a pro player out there.

* Rambis on his team’s debut: “Probably what I expected. We did a lot of good things. We did a lot of poor things. We had way too many turnovers. We forced too much, but I also asked players to expand their games, something they probably haven’t been asked to do. Overall, I thought our guys did a good job of playing hard and playing together. A lot of guys played hard and played well, but we still have a long way to go.

The Wolves are expected to get their first day off Monday since camp started Tuesday with four consecutive days of two-a-day practices. They next play Toronto Friday at Target Center.

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