Details: When: Tuesday, November 23rd Where: Target Center, Minneapolis Time (Seattle): 5:00 TV: FSN, League Pass Projected Starters: <font color="green">Seattle (9-2)</font> Luke Ridnour Ray Allen Rashard Lewis Reggie Evans Jerome James <font color="navy">Minnesota (6-3)</font> Sam Cassell Latrell Sprewell Wally Szczerbiak Kevin Garnett Michael Olowokandi Injury Troubles: <font color="green">Seattle</font> Vitaly Potapenko: Broken hand, ruled out. Ibo Kutluay: Knee tendinitis, ruled out. Flip Murray: Quadricep strain, ruled out. <font color="navy">Minnesota</font> Kevin Garnett: Sore shoulder, probable Michael Olowokandi: Flu, probable Ndudi Ebi: Knee injury, ruled out. Brief Notes: <ul> [*]The Timberwolves appear to be Seattle's most daunting task yet. With a big, physical front court and a talented back court, Minnesota seems to have the advantage despite the Sonics's 9-2 record. This is the first game these two teams will play as rivals in the Northwest Division which they have the first and second best record in respectively. [/list] <ul> [*]Reggie Evans and Danny Fortson will have a difficult task of caging the beast that is Kevin Garnett. KG leads the league in rebounds, is 11th in points per game, and 10th in assists per game. Can you say versatile? Number 21 will be on the minds of every Sonics player when he is on the floor. [/list] <ul> [*]This will be the first game following the inevitable snap of the Sonics winning streak last Sunday against Boston. The type of play we see from the Sonics in this game will be indicative of the character and guts of this team. Being able to bounce back from a momentum busting loss will be a great step forward for the Sonics this season and will build confidence among the players that should carry throughout the season. [/list] <ul> [*]Ridnour Watch: Luke had one of his worst games on Sunday making only a single three-pointer which combined with his field goals made gave him...three points. He dished only five assists but led the team with three assists. Ridnour will match up with seasoned veteran Sam Cassell who will, for the most part, do the dirty work of giving the ball to his excellent supporting cast but will not hesitate to take young Luke to school. Luke has been in a little slump as of late and should look to hop out of it. [/list]All predictions, analysis and discussion relating directly to the game, both before, during and after, to be posted in this thread.
I think this is an important game for both teams, Seattle needs to prove that they are as good as their record say against one of the league's best teams. And the Wolves just want to keep Seattle in their sights early in the divisional race, while Cassell & Sprewell get their legs under them so they can go on their run like last season. Anyway, I think Danny Fortson could be huge for the Sonics tonight because outside of KG, the Wolves arent that good of a rebounding team. So Forston has a real chance to control the backboards for the Sonics. Antonio Daniels has to put pressure on Cassell on both ends of the court, since Daniels has really been shooting the basketball well. I think Sammy going to be really aggressive tonight with Ray on the other side of the court. I think the Wolves have to use Trenton Hassell tonight alot to limit Ray effectiveness. He did a good job against ray a few times last year. But one game Ray got him in foul trouble early. And went on to light him up for about 30pts that night. So Trenton Hassell going to have to stay out of foul trouble trying to guard Ray. And the Wolves need to make sure they dont allow Ray to get off to a good start while Sprewell and Wally S. are matchup against him until Hassell checks in the game. I think you will see a Eddie Griffin-Rashard Lewis matchup alot to tonight, that should be interesting. The problem at the end of the day is the Sonics dont really have anyone to matchup well against KG. But who does really. Anyway, the Sonics are going to have to shoot lights out to win this game because if this game is played in the 85-89pt range. And comes down to the other things like making defensive stops etc. they cant beat the Wolves. Seattle got to put plenty of points on the board to beat the Wolves.
I think if Reggie doesn't try to do too much he can really limit Garnett. He has the ability to guard him (somewhat) on the perimeter, so if he gets in KG's face and makes him miss a few shots in the beginning, it's possible to get in his head a little. Of course, Reginald will need some help from the weakside defenders, especially James. If Jerome can challenge KG at the hoop without fouling, it will help a lot. I won't be able to watch the game, but the Sonics suck so we'll probably lose.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Dregur:</div><div class="quote_post">Seattle is 9-2. -The Grinman </div> Yeah I know. I was doing the preview in a hurry at school, my bad.
Reggie has had a bit of success against KG in ther past, I remember a game in his rookie season where he played physical defense on KG to the point where Garnett snapped and got himself a silly technical. banging KG is definately the way to play him, because if you just stand off and hope to cut off the drive, he'll just nail jumpers on you all day. Ray has got to step up here, after two relatively quiet games. Every game is important, but every game against a western opponent, particularly a divisional rival, is even more important.
Casual is one of those guys that is destined to be a loser for life, so anything positive he says about this team ends up cursing them. It's a system that works well, how much are Memphis going to pound us by mate?
When will teams start taking us seriously??? I'm becoming more and more convinced that our style of play is a recipe for permanent success this year. We have no drop off when we go to our second unit and b/c of that we are able to take advantage of other teams second units. Our best five may not start the game, but I think that McMillian is balancing both units as best as possible right now. I know I've given McMillian a hard time in the past, but as of today no one is doing a better job coaching their team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Supersonic:</div><div class="quote_post">Casual is one of those guys that is destined to be a loser for life, so anything positive he says about this team ends up cursing them. It's a system that works well, how much are Memphis going to pound us by mate?</div> I can't believe their are still non-believers. The sonics are for real. Miami goes 1-4 against the west. Seattle 8-1. Crap, they're on my championship contender list!
