<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There are indications the Wolves will be able to overcome the absences of Hudson and Szczerbiak against Sacramento. That brings us to another question: Will the Wolves be able to overcome the presence of Olowokandi against Sacramento? There were times this season when you watched Olowokandi and wondered how much he cared. Now, you watch him and the effort is obvious, but almost everything he touches -- especially the basketball -- has been turning to mush. Kevin Garnett can't guard Webber and Miller, or Webber and Divac, or Miller and Songaila, simultaneously. The Wolves absolutely will require effective play from the 7-foot Olowokandi to contain the Kings' collection of big men. The best way for the Wolves to win this series would be for Olowokandi to effectively contest Webber for 25 minutes a game. That would enable Garnett to hang with Miller. If Olowokandi can't do that, then Garnett has to guard Webber, and Miller becomes a serious problem.</div> Link The Twolves will need his help not only on the defensive end but also on the offense. The team are missing alot of key players like Troy and Wally. If he can't play better and smarter, the team will probably lose because of that. He also needs to stay out of foul trouble. Like the article wrote KG can't defend 2 players at the same time but Ervin will also help out.
Olowokandi and Johnson will be key in this series. They have good big men in Vlade, Miller, and Webber. And Madsen can also be associated with Olowokandi and Johnson, because his defense will be key against either Miller or Webber.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Just-Magic:</div><div class="quote_post">Link The Twolves will need his help not only on the defensive end but also on the offense. The team are missing alot of key players like Troy and Wally. If he can't play better and smarter, the team will probably lose because of that. He also needs to stay out of foul trouble. Like the article wrote KG can't defend 2 players at the same time but Ervin will also help out.</div> I knew that Patrick Reusse wrote that. He didn't pay any attention to the T'Wolves all season until the playoffs started. Now he's suddenly the expert on them??? I know more about this T'Wolf team than he does. I've watched 65-70 T'Wolf games this year. I've taped them & rewatched them. I know most of their sets. I know their rotation patterns, too. To highlight Reusse's ignorance, he even wrote that he was worried that the T'Wolves would freeze Wally out of the offense when he was struggling. He wrote this because that's something they did last season. In fact, if he'd even read a couple of the Strib's articles about a week earlier, he would've read that Sammy C was quoted as saying he was working hard to integrate Wally into the offense. Since Sammy C was playing the most minutes at PG, it's relatively safe to think that that'd insure Wally's not getting frozen out of the offense. Also, if Reusse had watched a couple games, he would've noticed that Hoibs & Wally were working extremely well together & that Spree & Wally were having some fun running the break together. By the time we reach the WCF's, Reusse <font color="Red">might be up to speed </font> but I won't hold my breath.
My brother called Olowokandi Olomakenzie which is pretty funny. But from my opinion, I think he was one of the worst picks ever made. What made the pick even worse is the fact that he was a number one pick. What a waste. He has super tall with super long arms but he is still junk. I'm just saying that he wouldnt exactly be one of the people that the twolves can depend on in the clutch.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting westsidecronicl:</div><div class="quote_post">My brother called Olowokandi Olomakenzie which is pretty funny. But from my opinion, I think he was one of the worst picks ever made. What made the pick even worse is the fact that he was a number one pick. What a waste. He has super tall with super long arms but he is still junk. I'm just saying that he wouldnt exactly be one of the people that the twolves can depend on in the clutch.</div> Let me outline why I like Kandi: 1. He's one of the 3-4 best on ball shotblockers in the league. Duncan, Ratliff & Ben Wallace are both better but after that, Kandi's right in there. What I've loved seeing is how he'll block dunk attempts & how he'll get the block before the ball's 6" out of the guy's hand. That's great timing. 2. The T'Wolves can rely on him to play defense & rebound. That's all they need him to do. The MV3 are there to score & whatever points Kandi gets them are pretty much gravy when he's defending & rebounding. He's pretty efficient at getting offensive rebounds, too, giving the T'Wolves extra opportunities & putting extra pressure on a team's defense. 3. While I agree that Kandi isn't great for a first overall pick, he's more than adequate as a first rounder. Not only that but let's give McHale & KG time to help him with his post offense. Let's give him a full training camp to get on the same page with his teammates, too.
I'm not too sure on this, but I believe that Olowokandi got only two rebounds in a game. <u>TWO</u> rebounds for someone who is the center and who is very tall with very long arms.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting westsidecronicl:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm not too sure on this, but I believe that Olowokandi got only two rebounds in a game. <u>TWO</u> rebounds for someone who is the center and who is very tall with very long arms.</div> When did this happen & who did this happen against? If it was against the Nuggets, then it's perfectly understandable. That isn't a reflection on Kandi as much as it's a reflection on the type of offense the other team runs. A better way of rating Kandi's effectiveness is in taking a look at his production the last month of the season. Kandi's shotblocking, especially how he did against Duncan & some other solid post players is a bit more important than his rebounding. Being able to dedicate a single player to a superstar is a great way of stopping the rest of the team. When we beat the Spurs in our last meeting, Kandi & Erv defended Duncan without help. Trenton stuck like glue on Parker & threw him off, too. In the end, that led to a T'Wolf victory. During these playoffs, I'd rather have a defensively solid roleplayer like Kandi than someone who can score in the post but is a defensive liability. Kandi fits the role nicely.
I doesnt quite matter if Kandi got only 2 rebounds in a game, everyone has bad games. Its understandable, Olowakandi has been my favorite big man after KG and Big Ben because he plays defense, and hits the boards like a fat man and cake. Olowakandi has a future in this league give him his time and he will live up to expectations.
Well Kandiman played well in those last 2 matchups vs the Kings during the regular season vs the Kings. He did an excellent job on the boards in the 2nd half of the game where the wolves beat the Kings in Arco to basically take the West. So if Kandiman can play some dense & control the boards thats all you can really ask of him at this point. You have to set your standards low for the play of Kandiman. You just dont know what your going to get from him on a night to night basis. One night he may play 30 minutes. And end up giving you a double- double. Or he might have a bunch of games where he only plays like 5 minutes. And commits a bunch of dumb fouls. So let just hope kandiman puts on his "thinking cap" ,and has a smart productive series. If not EJ will be thier to give the Wolves at least a little something at the center spot. He has been solid all season long. Age has limited his production. But his effort level has been 100% all season long. And I expect the same from him in this series as well. I still think Gary Trent needs to play in this series. He only played in 1 game during the Denver series. And I can understand. Denver's frontline is extremetly athletic on both ends of the court. But Sac, isnt that athletic on their frontline. Chris Webber is playing on half a leg. And Vlade just celebrated is 102nd birthday. So Sac-town's moblity will be some what limited. That gives Flip the opportunity to give Trent some minutes. If Flip can give Trent about 15-20minutes. And Gary can provide 7 or 8pts per. It would be a huge lift to a bench that lacks scoring with Wally & T-Hud out. Fred Hoiberg is the only person the wolves can count on for consistent bench points right now. I think with the Wolves' defense, they can keep this series played in the 90pts area for the most part. With the Big Three giving you around 70pts per game. That means that they have to find away to get 20 more points from their role players. Hoiberg can give you 7 or 8 a night. That leaves about 13 pts more that needs to be scored. Hassell can give you about 5 or 6 on most nights. But you really need him to focus on stoping Peja. But anyway with Hassell's 5 or 6, that leaves about 7 or 8 pts need. Gary Trent can give you those 7 or 8 pts, especially if Kandiman isnt going to produce. That will give the Wolves the 90pts to put themselves in position to win most night in this series. I dont think the Wolves can win games if they let the kings get into the plus 100pts area. Maybe' if the big Three have games where they score 90(+)pts together. They had a few of those during the regular season. But for the most part, I think the Wolves defense is going to have to hold the kings to around 90pts a night. I think the Wolves can do it. Trenton Hassell should pose problems for Peja shooting touch. And the Kings are without their big bench gun Bobby Jackson.
