<div align="center">vs. <font color="navy">The Minnesota Timberwolves (2-2)</font> vs. <font color="purple">The Los Angeles Lakers (3-1)</font> Time: 5:00 PM Pacific Place: The Target Center TV: Local <font size="5"><font color="navy">Wolves' Head Coach</font></font> <font color="navy">Dwane Casey</font> <font size="5"><font color="navy"> Wolves' Projected Starting Lineup</font></div></font> <div align="center"> <font color="navy">Season Stats Marko Jaric - 9.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 6.1 APG Trenton Hassell - 6 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.0 APG Wally Szczerbiak - 12.8 PPG, 4 RPG, 2.5 APG Kevin Garnett - 22.0 PPG, 10 RPG, 6.8 APG Michael Olowokandi - 9.3 PPG, 6.8 RPG, .3 APG</div></font> <div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="purple">Lakers' Head Coach</font></font> <font color="purple">Phil Jackson</font> <font size="5"><font color="Purple">Lakers' Projected Starting Lineup</font></font> <font color="purple">Season Stats Smush Parker - 17.8 PPG, 4 RPG, 3.8 APG Kobe Bryant - 36.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 4.8 APG Lamar Odom - 16 PPG, 11 RPG, 6.3 APG Kwame Brown - 6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1 APG Chris Mihm - 8 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.3 APG</font> <font size="5"><font color="navy">Bench</font><font color="purple"> Factors</font></font> <font size="5"><font color="navy">Key</font><font color="purple"> Players</font></font> (<font color="navy">Kevin Garnett</font>, <font color="purple">Kobe Bryant</font>) Projected Stats <font color="navy">Kevin Garnett: 19 Points, 13 Rebounds, 6 Assists</font> <font color="purple">Kobe Bryant: 42 Points, 5 Rebounds, 5 Assists</font></div> <font size="5"><font color="navy">Keys</font><font color="purple"> to</font><font color="navy"> the</font><font color="purple"> Game</font></font> <font color="navy">Minnesota:</font> <ul> [*]<font color="navy">Contain Kobe</font>- Kobe Bryant has been shredding teams all year long. Trenton Hassell needs to clamp down on defense and make Bryant take bad shots. [*]<font color="navy">Give the Ball to Garnett Often</font>- If Kevin can get the Lakers frontcourt in foul trouble early, it should be clear sailing for him to have a monster game. [*]<font color="navy">Neutralize Odom</font>- If Lamar Odom is taken out of the game, the Lakers offense could dwindle. Lamar is the facilitator for the Lakers, if Minny takes him out, they take out a crucial part to the offense. [/list] <font color="purple">Los Angeles:</font> <ul> [*]<font color="purple">Kwame Brown</font>- Kwame Brown needs to get on track, what a game to do it. He has had big games against top tier power forwards in the past, well...let's do it again Kwame. [*]<font color="purple">Kobe</font>- He needs to continue his tear. He's shooting nearly 50% and averaging nearly 37 a game. There should be no reason why that pace stops tonight. [*]<font color="purple">Roll Again on the Road</font>- Game two of a 4 game road trip, they took game 1 from Atlanta and sit at 3-1 for the season. With a win tonight, there will be more confidence built into them, and that's a good thing. We need confidence. Hopefully our frontcourt has a big game, becuase they need the confidence the most. [/list] <font size="5"> <font color="purple">Prediction</font></font> The Lakers are rolling early. They've beat the Nuggets, a top Western conference team twice, and the lowly Hawks. I think they'll come in here and start slow, but pick up the pace. I take L.A. in this one...102-97.
Big test for Kwame Brown tonight matching up with KG. He needs to use his size to keep KG out of the paint. Kwame has the speed to defend KG out on the perimeter, but he can't let KG get inside and force the double teams. On offense the Lakers need to get Kwame the ball early to get him active in the game, and hopefully pick up some cheap fouls on KG to get him on the bench. Lakers have to get into the habit of winning when they play back to back. Go Lakers!
Lakers off to a quick 11-2 lead. Kwame has 4 points so far and drew a foul on KG. Help defense is looking great.
KOBE! with a monster slam on Kandi. WOW! PJax just called timeout to yell at the defense. Chris Mihm is looking terrible once again. He's allowing Kandi to get some cheap baskets by not boxing out. Mihm also batted away a rebound instead of securing it with two hands. Put in Bynum already! Kwame update ... 4 points / 4 rebounds
Kobe already has 10, he is taking the rookie McCants everytime the Lakers are on offense. Lamar Odom is attacking Wally when Kobe isn't doing his thing, Odom has 7 already. Kobe should have 4 assists by now, but Odom missed a wide open layup after the ball rimmed out, and Devean missed another wide open layup trying to get fancy instead of slamming it. Kwame 4 points / 6 rebounds and NO FOULS yet. He's outplayed KG after the 1st quarter. Lakers lead 23-14 heading into the 2nd quarter.
Now Profit is taking it to McCants. The Laker guards are taking in the post and overpowering him. McCants had a nice move himself though, but so far he's been a weak link on the court for the TWolves. KG has gone to the bench and the Human Can of RedBull is on the court Kwame 6 points / 7 rebounds still no fouls. Lakers lead 33-24. Both Kobe and KG are now on the bench.
Damn Minny's bench has sparked a 12-3 run and have outscord the Lakers bench 21 to 7. The TWolves take the lead off a KG dunk. Chris Mihm has picked up his 3rd foul in just 12 minutes. He continues his disappearing act on the road. After a rough start, McCants has picked it up on defense, drawing a charge on Odom, and getting a couple of steals. Lakers need to finish the rest of the quarter strong and get a commanding lead back.
The game is tied at halftime, real stupid play at the end of the game on defense for the Lakers. They took the lead, but no one got back with time left on the clock and KG threw a TD pass to Wally for a layup to tie it at 45 each. This is anyone's game in the second half, I wouldn't be surprised to see this game go into OT. The story of the night so far is Kwame Brown for the Lakers. Kobe has 18 points already on 8/13 shooting, only two FTAs though. Kwame Brown 8 points / 7 rebounds and still no fouls. He's doing very well against KG holding him to 2 of 7 from the field. Troy Hudson and Eddie Griffin are killing the Lakers off the bench. For some reason Hudson always smokes the Lakers and plays like an All Star. Look for Smush to get more involved in the 2nd half. He didn't take a single shot and only has 1 assist. Seems like whenever Mihm or Kwame is having a good game, Smush will struggle. Just not enough basketballs to go around, but Smush has to do a better job in the transition defense. He has to realize he's the safety plug and not allow the TWolves to cherry pick on the other end. 45 to 45 at the half. Go Lakers!
Shapecity, please stop abusing your powers as administrator, follow the JBB guidelines please, 7 posts in a row is absurd: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Spam is not allowed at JBB, under any circumstances. Excessive violations to our Spam Policy is subject to immediate suspension. Our definition of spam includes but is not limited to: * Posting in a way that demotes the overall maturity of the board, including excessive disregard to proper grammar and misleading titles. * Making a post that adds little or no value to the discussion. For example, "No way, you're stupid." * Making a post for the sole use of increasing your post count. Also known as "post padding." * Obnoxious posting format, such as making a post in which the first letter of every word in a sentence is capitalized. For example, "Tim Duncan Is My Favorite Player In The NBA." * Making a post in which every letter in every word is capitalized. * Posting a thread directed toward a specific member. For example, "Mel, Please Read!!" * Posting a URL with nothing that describes where the URL takes you to. * "Baiting," or posting for the sole purpose of escalating emotions. </div> If you can't follow these rules, you will receive a warning from a moderator and/or administrator. Thank you. Now, to the game: Good play so far, we let them back in towards the end of the half though. Kwame is having a good game, frustrating Garnett and grabbing boards. I look for Kobe to stay hot and Kwame to heat up on the offensive end a little more. C'mon L.A., we can pull this out. P.S.: Shape,
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting K8B:</div><div class="quote_post">Shapecity, please stop abusing your powers as administrator, follow the JBB guidelines please, 7 posts in a row is absurd: If you can't follow these rules, you will receive a warning from a moderator and/or administrator. Thank you. Now, to the game: Good play so far, we let them back in towards the end of the half though. Kwame is having a good game, frustrating Garnett and grabbing boards. I look for Kobe to stay hot and Kwame to heat up on the offensive end a little more. C'mon L.A., we can pull this out. P.S.: Shape, </div> you cant really say he's padding or anything, he's just updating us on what is happening. back to the topic, the fouls are really starting to kill us.
They are quality posts and this is a damn good game, much to talk about. It also doesn't help when I have a laptop right in front of me while I'm watching the game. The TWolves took an early 5 point lead, but the Lakers have fought back and now lead 53-52. KG is continuing to struggle against Kwame. He's not able to dribble past Kwame and isn't strong enough to clear space when initiates the contact. Smush has picked up the pace in the 2nd half as well. Kwame 10 points / 9 rebounds in 25 minutes
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting phiLA:</div><div class="quote_post">you cant really say he's padding or anything, he's just updating us on what is happening. back to the topic, the fouls are really starting to kill us.</div> Agreed, the fouls are killing us right now. It's the difference in the game so far, the TWolves have twice as many attempts. I still don't know how Hassell is still in the game, let alone only 3 fouls. He's hacking like crazy out there and getting away with the hook everytime he dribbles. TWolves lead 68-61 after three quarters. Lakers are in striking distance, but they have to stop fouling and letting the Twolves get into the bonus early Kwame 10 points / 12 rebounds
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting phiLA:</div><div class="quote_post">you cant really say he's padding or anything, he's just updating us on what is happening. back to the topic, the fouls are really starting to kill us.</div> It was a joke
Zero free attempts for the Lakers in the 2nd half!!! Steve Javie jobs the Lakers again. Kobe Bryant is just forcing it with 4 minutes left and the Lakers are now down by 13 points. The Lakers couldn't figure out the Zone defense put on them and they stopped running their offense. 82-69 with 2:45 left.
Good effort tonight, but not enough! what happend to SMUSH? 0pts? Just a great team effort by the Wolves tonight, winnig blocked shots 9-1. Griff with 4 blocks! 13pts and 8rebs 44 sec left
Complete collapse in the second half by the Lakers. The TWolves win 88-74 in a game they should have won. Smush wasn't really flowing tonight, and was using most of his energy on defense. The free throw discrepancy was ridiculous in this game though. I hate to pin the loss on the refs, but it's Javie and he has consistently jobbed the Lakers. Minny's bench made a huge difference as well, they outscored the Lakers bench 36-19. Way too, many second chance opportunities for the TWolves, too. The only bright spot was Kwame getting a double/double and playing well all night long.
I think Kobe should of shared the rock a little more. He should of realized he wasn't so hot from the field in the 4th, and should of shared it a little more. I know Kobe has a tendency to take many shots when down and with little time left, but if he wants to be thought of the victorious team leader, he needs to trust in his teammates a little more. Now I am not saying he doesn't pass, I just think he can pass more. And Phil Jackson, please teach them how to prevent these pathetic fouls, especially from Devean George. Man, what does he do to get these calls, blow air into their face? And we need to work on keeping the OFFENSIVE fouls to a strict minimum... Lakers were looking good by the end of the first half, then it went straight to hell. Minnesota always had that tendency to figure out the Lakers by the second half for some reason. Just like the playoffs a few years back.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting K8B:</div><div class="quote_post"> <font color="purple">Kobe Bryant: 42 Points,</font></div> A little much for a predicition don't you think? Not the best game for Garnett... 8-16 from the field, not his best shooting night but Im glad to see Griffen get quality minutes. I couldn't catch the game but I wondering if Griffen had any of the minutes with Garnett on the floor?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting purehoops:</div><div class="quote_post">A little much for a predicition don't you think? Not the best game for Garnett... 8-16 from the field, not his best shooting night but Im glad to see Griffen get quality minutes. I couldn't catch the game but I wondering if Griffen had any of the minutes with Garnett on the floor?</div> Wasn't too much for Kobe's point predicition with the way his season was going. At the half, he had 18 points on 8-13 shooting. He was on pace for 46, I think it was a fair prediction, as a lot of people will tell you. The whole Laker offense just died in the second half of the game.
