I'M not a specialist in game previews like most of you here...all i'll say is that this is a very important game for us to prove who we are! why we were marked champion by most in the offseason! this is the time to give a run for it! last time the two teams met in november we won by 11 while KG giving 25 21 R. and 8 asissts...cassel preformed also with 19 and wally was on the sarting lineup with 21... http://www.nba.com/games/20041116/MIAMIN/boxscore.html now...cassel is hurt...wally's on the bench...but, we recentley getting back those numbers from KG, AC passes a lot! wally has found himself even from the bench,madsen is on fire with energy and spree is getting stable... but! they have SHAQ! they have WADE!...stop one of them out of getting connected to the others with his talents and KG,Wally giving theres....we can make a W for ourselves good luck Wolves! make us proud!
This game will be damn tough, but for some reason I see Minnesota having a chance to pull it off. I think the key thing in this game will be our offense: It needs to be on fire. I'm looking for Latrell to have another good night, and for KG to have a big night,... at least... we needs scoring from everyone to win. The reason I say offense is because Minnesotas defense simpply wont be able to stop Wade and Shaw, possibly the two most un-guardable players in the league. Wade can penetrate and get to the basket all day, and has recently become more of an outside shooter. As for Shaq....no one can guard him. So, its up to the offense to out-do Miami's. If they pull this game out, and especially if Latrell puts up good numbers again, I might actually feel like they can do this whole play-off thing.
Anyone who knows anything about KG knows these are the type of games he looks forward to. I expect him to put up number (as usual) but I do believe that the Wolves might get taken in this one becuase of our Center play and the fact that we have beaten them already. But I don't feel totally confident and know that our team could bear it's fangs and cool off the Heat. If I had to put my life on it, I would grudgingly place it on the Heat. But if I had to put money on it, I don't have a problem with sticking with my team.
If I were the TWolves I'd play small ball tonight and turn this game into a shoot out. The Suns used the same strategy against them and beat the Heat 122-107. Shaq had a big game, but the Heat could not keep up with the up and down pace of the Suns. The TWolves need to force Miami to make the adjustments instead of trying to match up against the Heat. The TWolves have a lot of offensive players, who can finish on the break. C- Kevin Garnett PF - Latrell Sprewell SF - Wally Szerbiack SG - Fred Hoiberg PG - Troy Hudson With that lineup Shaq will be forced to play defense, instead of having him lurk around with Thomas or Madsen on the floor. If the TWolves can swing the ball around, and push tempo, Shaq is going to have a helluva a time keeping up. If the Heat try to play zone, then the TWolves can light them up from the perimeter with Wally, Spree and Hoiberg. On defense the TWolves just need to cause chaos on the floor. The TWolves best chance of winning this game is to make a disciplined Heat team, play undisciplined basketball. Damon Jones is going to salivate if this game turns into a shootout, because his favorite thing to do on the court is shoot. With him shooting instead of setting up the offense, Shaq and Wade will get less touches.
I may be the only one, but I don't feel that this is a horrible loss. We made moves, but they countered and hit timely shots. I don't want to go with the "missed calls" line, but I did see a number of calls that were missed that might have put a dent in their momentum. Am I putting it on the refs, DEFINITELY NOT. To me, this was a Heat win, not a Wolves loss, if you know what I mean.
it aint horrible...but it's still a bad loss...THe Wolves shud be fighting for the 8th spot and they better play like they do...btw,how aobut d.Wade's dunk on KG?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">If I were the TWolves I'd play small ball tonight and turn this game into a shoot out. The Suns used the same strategy against them and beat the Heat 122-107. Shaq had a big game, but the Heat could not keep up with the up and down pace of the Suns. The TWolves need to force Miami to make the adjustments instead of trying to match up against the Heat. The TWolves have a lot of offensive players, who can finish on the break. C- Kevin Garnett PF - Latrell Sprewell SF - Wally Szerbiack SG - Fred Hoiberg PG - Troy Hudson With that lineup Shaq will be forced to play defense, instead of having him lurk around with Thomas or Madsen on the floor. If the TWolves can swing the ball around, and push tempo, Shaq is going to have a helluva a time keeping up. If the Heat try to play zone, then the TWolves can light them up from the perimeter with Wally, Spree and Hoiberg. On defense the TWolves just need to cause chaos on the floor. The TWolves best chance of winning this game is to make a disciplined Heat team, play undisciplined basketball. Damon Jones is going to salivate if this game turns into a shootout, because his favorite thing to do on the court is shoot. With him shooting instead of setting up the offense, Shaq and Wade will get less touches.</div> Honestly, that stratergy for the Wolves would have never worked Sprewell & Wally are pretty horrible rebounders, the Suns can play alot of small ball because of the athletism of their guards & wing players like Richardson & Marion to rebound the basketball. And Kg would get into foul trouble trying to guard shaq that deep in the post with the desil playing at the level he is right now. Plus imo, KG's post defense isnt anywhere near where it use to be, so having him be the main defender most of the night on shaq would have spelled trouble. plus that as a main lineup takes Hassell off the floor the only guy in a Wolves uniform that could even imagine staying in front of Wade. Granted it doesnt matter now cause the Wolves still loss. But I think they went about it the right way for most of the night. They let John Thomas, Madsen etc be pshyical with shaq most of the night. And used their big body fouls, Shaq knock down 13-19. But you still want him to have to make it at the line then give up easy baskets down the court every trip. And Hassell did a good job limiting Wade most of the night. It just came down to the fact that the Wolves couldnt execute in the important minutes of the 4 quarter. And that has been something that has plaques d this team all year long.
we fell out in the fourth...but did a real tea effort..after all they do have SHAQ...ok so we lost...but how could dallas be losing to the lakers right now?! we should take comfort in the lakers losing this one cause dallas lost to them a week ago...but naaa dallas is down 3 1:10 left to the last buzzer..i really hope they can pull this one...if not, i'm looking forward to SA not letting us down and win against denver and the SUNS doing the same tommrow....but the teams focus anyway has to be on winning vs. orlando today!
This is still a bad loss, it's probably because this happened so many times , you know. They were up by 8 in the 3rd, but Miami went on a run that they had no chance of stopping. I'm kinda dissappointed in the team not being able to make the right decisions when it mattered most. One play that comes to mind is when Hassel rebounded, took the ball dow n the court, dribbled around a bit, then took a shot and missed. That costed us a possesion where we could have set something up and scored. Dont think i'm blaming anything on Hassel, the whole team made bad decisions. It doesn't really matter to me though, i'm not going to hope that other teams lose just because the Wolves cant handle their opponents. If Denver pulls of wins against the Spurs and Pheonix I will be extremely impressed, and they will deserve their 7th-8th spot in the standings. and on a side note, Wade THREW IT DOWN HARD on KG. Wow, he was pissed after getting that T and from being guarded by Hassel, he just slammed it right on him.
The score doesn't indicate how close this game was. The TWolves led for most of the way, but fell apart in the 4th quarter. I thought KG should have got a foul call two times taking it against Shaq. Those were big possessions and swung the momentum back to the Heat. Once the Heat took control of the driver seat, they never looked back. I think Kenyon Dooling really killed the TWolves off the bench. He had some big buckets and some clutch defensive plays. The TWolves just had far too, many turnovers (16) to win on the road, and Sprewell/Wally really struggled all game long. The one position the TWolves had a decisive edge in offensively didn't produce for them. Eddie Jones almost scored as much as Spre & Wally combined. It was the difference in the game for the Heat winning and the TWolves losing.
Great effort by the Wolves, but in the end, the Heat got the job done and showed why they could be the team to beat when all is said and done. It came down to the fourth quarter. Miami made shots while the Wolves did not as they turned the ball at the worst time. That was the difference. When McHale started to call the Hack-a-Shaq in the final minutes of the game, I knew it was over. Shaq made his free throws as he always does against the Timberwolves. This Heat team has really impressed me in the last two months and tonight was no different. A great team can do it all and that's what Miami is doing. Like the Spurs, the Heat play great defense and take advantage of other team's mistakes. You saw that in the fourth quarter and most of the game. Miami's D was opportunistic. They did a great job swiping the ball and then translate it into easy layups and points. Miami's defense is stingy. Miami is great offensively. Not only they can beat you in the paint, but they can shoot from the outside. Miami did lot of scoring in the fourth quarter from the paint and they got two guys who can do that in Shaq and Dwayne Wade. What impresses me so much about Miami is how they run their offense. Watching their offense is an art. They can pass the ball well and find the open guy as you saw tonight. Stan Van Gundy, the astute Heat coach, knows how to create a great offense that is friendly to everyone. It starts with Shaq. Shaq is like a point guard where he makes everyone better. He is making role players like Doleac, Laettner (I never see him had a year like this year from him), Shandon Anderson better. That team is a machine. I love watching that team. KG was fantastic. He played a very good game. I thought Troy and Anthony was solid. Mark Madsen was good out there. I thought the effort was fine. I can't complain. Tip your hat to Miami. That's a very good team over there. Just watching the Heat, I couldn't help but think of the good ol days of last year for the Timberwolves. They need to build on this effort and do something more tommorow night against the Magic. They gotta dig in. They can't come out flat tommorow night.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting j_a_d_e:</div><div class="quote_post">btw,how aobut d.Wade's dunk on KG? </div> That was sick. Wade got a technical and then he just went out and got that dunk. Speaking of slam dunks, TNT showed a clip of Shaq destroying the rim at AWA and the Meadowlands in his rookie year. God that was funny. I know fans got a laugh at the Meadowlands with the rim broken, but that rim almost hit Shaq that year. Fortunately, Shaq ran out. I am not sure if he notice.
No surprise here. Only surprise is, since when did Shaq learn to shoot freethrows? We tried the Hack-A-Shaq and he nailed almost everyone he attempted. We fell apart in the fourth quarter. Miami went on a 17-4 run or something of that sort. Then, when we were within four, we blew it and Miami ran away with it. No surprise losing to the best team in the East. I thought we would lose anyways. We are now a full game out of the final playoff spot.
The Heat played a pretty mediocre game until that stretch at the end of the 3rd QTR and the entire 4th QTR. After that stretch and the 4th QTR, the Heat got together and started playing defense and executing on offense. It jus goes to show how easily the Heat can blow a team out when they put in effort and play defense. I loved it when the T-Wolves went to Hack-a-Shaq. Shaq made 1-2 the first time. Then he made 2-2 the next time. Then 2-2 after that and as he got back on defense he passed by the Wolves bench and told Kevin McHale "It don't work!!!" Anyways I feel bad for KG, this season is really hard on him (as well as the T'Wolves who care). I hope they atleast get to the playoffs this season and make a run for it. If not, then next season Sprewell's contract comes off the books and there's plenty of good free agents available.
I am not crazy about the Hack-a-Shaq stuff. I really am not. I think McHale wanted to foul a player just so the Timberwolves wanted to get more poessession on the clock and he figured that he can get that and hope that Shaq misses the free throws. It did not work since Shaq made his FTs. I just knew this was over as soon as that gimmick came to play. One thing about Shaq. He misses free throws, but when he needs to make his free throws when everything is on the line, he gets it done. Heat4Life: Timberwolves are still in salary-cap hell even when Spree's contract. Wolves got long-term contracts in Cassell, Olwokandi, and Hudson that will affect them to sign a bonafide free agent. The only thing the fans got going is that we will get a new GM and coach.
