Rockets at Timberwolves 12-13-03

<u>Houston Rockets(13-9) at Minnesota Timberwolves(13-9)</u>

Head Coaches
Jeff Van Gundy/Flip Slaunders

Probable Starters
Steve Francis/Sam Cassell
Cuttino Mobley/Latrell Spreewell
Jim Jackson/Trenton Hassell
Kelvin Cato/Kevin Garnett
Yao Ming/Ervin Johnson

Rockets Outlook - dexter
The key for the Rockets is very simple, stop KG at all costs. The Rockets did a good job of stoping Tim Duncan in their previous games, and it will be crutial tonight. On defense, Kelvin Cato will be huge factor since he has to guard KG. Since Kandi is out, Yao Ming will be able to play help side defense as Ervin Johnson isn't a threat to score. Keeping KG out of the paint and forcing him to shoot jump shots is the best option the Rockets have. The other player to stop is Latrell Sprewell. I am going to go out on a limb and predict he will have 25+ points in the game. Cuttino Mobley is just not a good enough player to handle him.

On offense the gameplan is simple. Feed Yao down low. Since Kandi is not playing, Yao should have an easy time down low in the paint. Yao didn't really show up against San Antonio however tonight he needs to show up big time tonight. The Rockets also need to do a good job of moving without the basketball and shooting. Shooting especially killed us against the Spurs. If we shoot as bad as we did against them, we will lose the game. The other problem area has been turnovers, however I am a believer that movement on offense, will help those turnover numbers go down drastically.


Timberwolves Outlook - twolvefan11
The key for the Timberwolves this game will be keeping Ming off the boards. We must keep Garnett down low to guard Ming at all times. On defense, Cassell will have to bring his "A" game today to contain Francis. Keep Francis to a minimal concern, and we will have this game. We must keep their other perimeter threats such as Piatkowski, Jackson, and Mobley from getting hot from the outside. Our zone will likely keep that to a minimum.

On the offensive end we must make our outside shots. Sprewell might get a lot of looks, but we must also get Garnett some looks outside, too. Garnett might not be posting up as much because of the presence of Yao Ming, so we will likely have only one post player the whole game. So the key on offense is, make our jump shots. If we do the things mentioned above, we will win this game.

Game Prediction - dexter
The Rockets shooting can't get much worse than it was against the Spurs. I think we are bound to shoot better against the Wolves tomorrow. Yao Ming and Kevin Garnett will be the keys for tonights game. Yao must be a force on offense and the Rockets must stop Kevin Garnett on defense. This game is hard to predict. When the Rockets are "on" shooting wise, we can hang with any team, however when we are "off" we can lose to the worst teams in the league.

I am projecting a Timberwolves victory. They are playing great team basketball and are on a hot streak. The Rockets are on the exact opposite. The Rockets will rebound, however it will not be tonight. Wolves over Rockets 88-82.

Game Prediction - twolvefan11
Timberwolves are on a hot streak and the chemistry is becoming great. All we need to do is continue what we have been doing, and we will have this game. All we have to do is stop Francis from being hot, and we should win this game by more than 6.

Timberwolves 95
Rockets 87

Here is the link to the thread in the Rockets forum: http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9988