Well, this is the game of a battle of two elite teams in the West. The Wolves have not been elite this year, but we will be there at the end of the year. The Spurs have had a great start to their season, just dominating their opponents at home. Key Matchup- Kevin Garnett vs. Tim Duncan. This is probably the most debated issue in the NBA, who is better? The key tonight is who is going to play the better defense. Both of their offensive skills are amazing, and neither of their defenses can really contain the other. In other words, Duncan can't stop Garnett, and Garnett can't stop Duncan. So, whoever can get the better handle at containing the other, their team should come out with the victory. Keys to Victory- The very obvious one is to stop Tim Duncan. But on a sidenote, our bench has to play much better. Last game was not a good game by the bench. Griffin was 2-11 shooting, Hoiberg had zero points, and Hudson, although he had 17 points, was forcing things. We have a deeper bench than San Antonio, and if we can use it, we can win. What could Hurt Us- The Spurs guard play. The defense by our backcourt has been disgraceful so far this year, witht he exception of Hassell. Containing Parker and Ginobili could hurt us. Cassell doesn't really feel like playing defense, and when you have a mad man like Manu driving down the court, it could lead to some easy buckets. Must play defense! I guess my key word in this game is containment. There is it.
I think the Wolves will keep Cassell off Parker and let him cover Bowen, who doesnt do much on the offensive end. The Wolves will still be stuck defensively if Sprewell doesnt play because you use Hassell to keep Parker out of the lanes, like they did alot last year. Sam on Bowen, that leaves Wally S. matched up against Manu. Manu is to quick off the dribble & in the open court for Wally, last year that was Spree's cover which was more favorable to the timberwolves, so It will be interesting to see how the Wolves matchup. I think we shall see alot of Zone, cause man to man without Spree the Spurs guards become a difficult cover. The Spurs frontcourt is struggling alongside Tim Duncan. Rasho isnt producing much, so if the Wolves can get a strong performance from Eddie Griffin they actually have a chance to pull out the frontcourt edge, something the Wolves werent able to do alot in their 4 matchups with San Antonio last year. Rasho was really a frontcourt difference maker for the Spurs in several of those games. Effective Pick & Roll play, last year Cassell put alot of pressure on the Spurs either shooting the Basketball coming off those Pick & roll screens or making plays for others. In that 1st matchup in San Antonio, Cassell in the 4th really took it to Bowen coming off those screens. So the Wolves definately need strong Pick & Roll play between Sammy C. and KG. And lastly they need a strong all-around performance from Trenton Hassell. With Spree out they are going to need his defense on the court a majority of the night, that means the Spurs are going to look to hide Parker on Hassell, as well as give Hassell alot of open looks. All Hassell has to do is keep the Spurs Defense honest, from doubling every screen & roll. And take advantage here & there when the Spurs put Parker on him. Given the past way the Spurs have played this Wolves team defensively, Hassell is going to see alot off opportunites, a strong 10 or 12 point night would be nice. Anyway, big game for the Wolves, I expect to see alot more enrgy & ball movement then what was displayed most of the Cavs game.
Another frustrating loss tonight. After a great first half, the Timberwolves did absoultely nothing in the second half especially when they did not make the big shots like the Spurs did in the fourth quarter. They showed no energy in the fourth quarter. Wolves resorted to selfish basketball in the fourth quarter like they did Tuesday night. Whatever they did in the first half, they did not do that in the second half tonight. Give the Spurs defense credit as they made adjustments in the second half. They can shut anyone down, but it did not mean the Wolves had to be undiscipline in the fourth quarter as guys threw shots rather throw the basketball around. Troy Hudson is starting to annoy me. Yes he was successful in the second quarter making shots from downtown, but when he was not successful making shots, he still kept throwing it out there. How about scoring in the paint? Wolves were doing a good job scoring in the paint in the first half so why they stopped doing that in the fourth is beyond me. I am just not happy with the way our PGs are playing. Sam has been really ineffective lately. I don't know what it is. Some people like Barkley thinks that Sam is so consumed about his contract situation. That's hogwash. I doubt that issue is affecting his performance. I just wish Sammy would somehow get to the paint and score than throw jumpshots. I also wish the PGs would give KG the ball a lot more than shoot ridculous jumpers as soon as they get the ball. I thought the Wolves could have done a better job giving the ball to KG tonight. Michael Olowokandi shows what an enigma he is. He played a very good first half in which he was making things happen like blocking shots, getting rebounds, and putting the ball to the net, but he was completely a no-show in the second half. He set the tone in the first half yet he was invisible as usual in the second half. This is why he is so frustrating to watch. He has the talent to do good things as you saw in the first half, but the lack of consistency seems to bother him. I don't know what it is. It's disgusting to watch. You know what pains me about this loss. It's bad enough losing to a rival in the Spurs, but it's even worse when you got that idiot Charles Barkley predicting the Wolves choking at halftime. The Wolves made him look good and that bothers me. The Timberwolves are far away from the Spurs level. They got long ways to go from catching up to San Antonio and to being the best team. They are just average. I personally think Flip may have to shorten the rotation and probably bench Wally to wake this team up. The best way to describe the Timberwolves right now is that they stink.
Another frustrating loss tonight. After a great first half, the Timberwolves did absoultely nothing in the second half especially when they did not make the big shots like the Spurs did in the fourth quarter. They showed no energy in the fourth quarter. Wolves resorted to selfish basketball in the fourth quarter like they did Tuesday night. Whatever they did in the first half, they did not do that in the second half tonight. Give the Spurs defense credit as they made adjustments in the second half. They can shut anyone down, but it did not mean the Wolves had to be undiscipline in the fourth quarter as guys threw shots rather throw the basketball around. Troy Hudson is starting to annoy me. Yes he was successful in the second quarter making shots from downtown, but when he was not successful making shots, he still kept throwing it out there. How about scoring in the paint? Wolves were doing a good job scoring in the paint in the first half so why they stopped doing that in the fourth is beyond me. I am just not happy with the way our PGs are playing. Sam has been really ineffective lately. I don't know what it is. Some people like Barkley thinks that Sam is so consumed about his contract situation. That's hogwash. I doubt that issue is affecting his performance. I just wish Sammy would somehow get to the paint and score than throw jumpshots. I also wish the PGs would give KG the ball a lot more than shoot ridculous jumpers as soon as they get the ball. I thought the Wolves could have done a better job giving the ball to KG tonight. Michael Olowokandi shows what an enigma he is. He played a very good first half in which he was making things happen like blocking shots, getting rebounds, and putting the ball to the net, but he was completely a no-show in the second half. He set the tone in the first half yet he was invisible as usual in the second half. This is why he is so frustrating to watch. He has the talent to do good things as you saw in the first half, but the lack of consistency seems to bother him. I don't know what it is. It's disgusting to watch. You know what pains me about this loss. It's bad enough losing to a rival in the Spurs, but it's even worse when you got that idiot Charles Barkley predicting the Wolves choking at halftime. The Wolves made him look good and that bothers me. The Timberwolves are far away from the Spurs level. They got long ways to go from catching up to San Antonio and to being the best team. They are just average. I personally think Flip may have to shorten the rotation and probably bench Wally to wake this team up. The best way to describe the Timberwolves right now is that they stink.
^I agree with you on alot of levels but Cassell & Troy Hudson did alot to get the rock to KG last night. But KG just struggled, he had alot of open shots he didnt make, he missed alot of plays around the basket. I think its easy to blame the PG's everytime KG struggles but I dont think that is the case last night, it is on some nights tho....KG struggles being effeicent against Duncan. Anyway, Kenny Smith said it best the Spurs defense was effective cause they double Cassell before he got to half-court alot getting the ball out of his hands. And in the half-court they jumped every pick & roll situation with KG & Sam, which meant that guys like Wally S, Spree etc were going to be the guys making the plays instead of Sam & KG. And the Wolves dont win that way. They when when Cassell & KG make the game easier for the likes of Wally, where he is just a finisher, same with Spree. Anyway I wished Flip would have took Cassell off the ball and callled Cassell # more in islotation situations in the post against Parker. The Wolves are successful when they force Bowen to have to guard Sam, cause it ends up causing alot of matchup problems for the Spurs cause they left with Parker mis-matched trying to guard Spree or Wally. But the Spurs never were forced to put Bowen on Cassell, cause Cassell never really got involved in the offense. 5 shots in the enitre game, the Spurs will live with that all day.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Henacy:</div><div class="quote_post">^I agree with you on alot of levels but Cassell & Troy Hudson did alot to get the rock to KG last night. But KG just struggled, he had alot of open shots he didnt make, he missed alot of plays around the basket. I think its easy to blame the PG's everytime KG struggles but I dont think that is the case last night, it is on some nights tho....KG struggles being effeicent against Duncan. Anyway, Kenny Smith said it best the Spurs defense was effective cause they double Cassell before he got to half-court alot getting the ball out of his hands. And in the half-court they jumped every pick & roll situation with KG & Sam, which meant that guys like Wally S, Spree etc were going to be the guys making the plays instead of Sam & KG. And the Wolves dont win that way. They when when Cassell & KG make the game easier for the likes of Wally, where he is just a finisher, same with Spree. Anyway I wished Flip would have took Cassell off the ball and callled Cassell # more in islotation situations in the post against Parker. The Wolves are successful when they force Bowen to have to guard Sam, cause it ends up causing alot of matchup problems for the Spurs cause they left with Parker mis-matched trying to guard Spree or Wally. But the Spurs never were forced to put Bowen on Cassell, cause Cassell never really got involved in the offense. 5 shots in the enitre game, the Spurs will live with that all day.</div> I DISS AGREE! in front of Duncan it's always a tough match up for the two of them. duncan scored 19 but 8-23 from the field and didn't contribute that much till the seconed half/fourth courter.kg did his best and tried...afcourse it's tough against duncan i don't dissagree with that.what i can claim is that it was the battle of the role players cassel,sprewell,wally vs.bown,manu,parker-at this battle SAS totally took minny out while wally doing his 22 parker-manu did 41 together and you know you saw that bown contribute in the fourth. Flip has got to get the strategy right! he can't pull garnett out of the game in the begining od the fourth as well as cassel-but he must cause he won't let them rest and give the time to the bench players earlier! i think he must be blined to don't see that is the reason for those ugly losses!
Who here actually thought T'Wolves stood a chance? not me. Spurs just took it to another level in the end. Besides... no one beats the spurs at home except those sonics '
Henacy: I am pretty sure KG did not get the ball much in the fourth quarter. I also did not like the fact Flip put KG in the bench for the first few minutes of the fourth quarter. I thought he stayed in the bench too long. Spurs role players are so much better than the Timberwolves role players. Wolves role players are good, but Spurs are even better because they got youth and energy. Plus Manu and Tony can really go run and attack the rim well. They can penetrate. I wish the Wolves could have that. I expected the Wolves to win this game. Heck I expect them to win every game considering how great they are. They were allegedly a great team that was supposed to win it all and they still might, but right now, no game is easy. Wolves are far from the class of the Spurs. They got long ways to go.
"Briefly: It was clear something was wrong with Wolves point guard Sam Cassell; he took only five shots. He bumped his shooting elbow when he hit the floor. He finished with just four points to go with five assists and six turnovers." I got this snipett from Mike Wells of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. If that is the case, this team is in huge trouble. They need a healthy Sam Cassell.
