<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 a link to the thread in the Timberwolves forum: http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9989
This will be a good game, no doubt. The Timberwolves need to end this little funk they are having at home, and if they win this game, I think it will end it. The Rockets are a great team, so this will be a fun one to watch.
Dexter, do you ever think the Rockets would try to place Yao on Garnett to match his length, especially in the post?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting purehoops:</div><div class="quote_post">Dexter, do you ever think the Rockets would try to place Yao on Garnett to match his length, especially in the post?</div> Eh. It is sort of up for grabs on who will guard him. Cato has the strength to push KG around down low while Yao has the height that Cato doesn't. If I was Jeff Van Gundy, I would put Yao on KG and put Cato on Johnson. I think Yao will give KG more fits than Cato would just because of his tremendous size. Shooting over Yao is a lot harder than shooting over Cato. Another option, would be put Cato on the KG and have Yao come from the weakside. The problem with this is KG is a very athletic player and a very good passer. Doubling him with Yao will leave someone open and more than likely KG will find them. There are a lot of different things the Rockets could do tonight. Yao on KG would be the best option, in my opinion.
I think that second option is more likely, putting Cato on KG and letting Yao roam free on defense(cuz it doesn't take much to shut down Ervin Johnson). That way KG can't lure Yao out from under the basket to free things up for Spree and Sam to drive. Better for Cato to try bullying KG, and let Yao own underneath. There's a good chance Cato will have a big game, since KG will probably be coming over to help on Yao quite a bit.
I think that JVG is gonna give Mo Taylor more time tonight as he is quicker and more of an offensive threat than Cato.
Rockets turn out to lose the game 95-72. The key stat tonight was the Rockets FG %. They shot 38% from the field while the Timberwolves shot 48%. If that wasn't enough the Wolves out-rebounded us 47-36. Key Players in the Game Yao Ming - 10 points, 2 boards(will not cut it) Steve Francis - 16 points, 8 boards, 5 assists Cuttino Mobley - 4 points, 4 turnovers, 4 rebounds Sam Cassell - 25 points(11-15), 6 assists, 6 boards Kevin Garnett - 19 points, 13 boards, 6 assists, 6 blocks Latrell Sprewell - 14 points, 5 boards, 5 assists Two things that jump out at me besides the rebounding numbers and the shooting percentage. One is that our PG got the most rebounds and second is that Yao Ming was a complete non-factor tongiht. When we shoot bad and Yao is a non-factor, we will not win games. Congradulations to the Timberwolves, the played a great game and executed their gameplan to perfection.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">How did Yao only get 2 rebounds? Shocking to say the least.</div> Shocking to me too. I mean he is only 7-6 and 310 pounds. Its not like he is that much bigger than everyone.