Home  /  Archives for John

Preview – Minnesota Timberwolves vs New Orleans Hornets 3-17-13

March 17, 2013 by

hornets wolves previewSetting the stage:

For the fourth and final time this season, the Timberwolves will meet the New Orleans Hornets.  Minnesota has taken two of the three prior meetings, including a rout last month at the Target Center, where our Pups pulled away early and never looked back, winning 115-86.  That win snapped a six game losing streak for the Wolves at the time, but they haven’t had much to smile about since.

While maintaining that big lead against the Hornets is one thing, the Wolves are coming off of a loss on Friday night to the Rockets in which they blew a 20 point lead in the second half.  While the team continues to play with only nine capable bodies, those types of losses shouldn’t happen.  As of this morning’s writing, there is no news on whether or not Pekovic or Kirilenko would be available for tonight’s game.  The team didn’t practice on Saturday and Adelman has cancelled this afternoon’s shoot-around.

The Hornets come into Sunday’s game on a two game losing streak as well.  Their last loss also came on Friday night against the Wizards.  If the team is looking for any type of good news, it can be found in the fact that Eric Gordon is back on the court again for the team.  Gordon has played 30+ minutes in each of the team’s last two games.

Our Pups are only 1.5 games ahead of the Hornets in the loss column this season, so this game could have ping pong ball implications.  If the Hornets win tonight, it brings the team closer to the potential coin flip for lottery positioning.  The entire premise of this paragraph is making me nauseous so I am going to stop now and not say/type where the rest of this goes.

Player to watch:

Eric Gordon – Gordon has missed a tremendous amount of time again for the Hornets.  However, when he plays, he is typically putting up respectable numbers.  Gordon matches up nicely against Ridnour and Shved, so it could be another big performance from the SG.

Match-up to watch:

Ricky Rubio vs. Greivis Vasquez.  This match-up has been highlighted before in earlier previews this season and there isn’t a reason to not do so again.  Vasquez has been phenomenal against the Wolves this season, averaging 13.3 ppg, 12 apg, and 5 rpg in the three, prior match-ups.  As you are likely well aware, Rubio has been a monster over the past month or so.  His earlier games against the Hornets were not very successful, but we should expect to see a much stronger performance from Ricky this evening.

Predictions:

Sunday home game for the Pups and let’s hope for a little luck o’ the Irish!

Final score prediction: Timberwolves 100, Hornets 91

Three stars of the game predictions:

  1. Ricky Rubio
  2. Derrick Williams
  3. Eric Gordon

Let’s go Wolves!

Filed Under: Game Previews Tagged With: , ,

Minnesota Timberwolves 100 – Houston Rockets 108

March 15, 2013 by

wolvesrockets315Game Summary

On Friday night the Wolves visited the Houston Rockets to start the St. Patrick’s Day holiday weekend.  There was no luck of the Irish (or any other nationality) for our Pups in the Toyota Center as the Wolves fell and fell hard.  Interested in a quick Recap - Minnesota Timberwolves 100 - Houston Rockets 108.  Interested in more?  Here is how the night transpired.

The Wolves continued on without Nikola Pekovic and Andrei Kirilenko, their 8th and 9th games missed in a row, respectively.  The starting lineup remained as Rubio, Ridnour, Gelabale, Williams, and Stiemsma.  The Rockets opened up with Jeremy Lin, James Harden, Chandler Parsons, Donatas Motiejunas, and Omer Asik.

Early in the game, Derrick Williams picked up an offensive foul that was arguably the worst I have seen called all season.  Not two minutes later, Williams picked up his second offensive foul and he was on the bench less than four minutes into the game; with the team already down to a bare minimum of able bodies.  The writing felt like it was on the wall for this one pretty early.

However, the Wolves played very well early despite missing Williams.  Dante Cunningham played well and the Wolves hit 59% of their shots in the 1st quarter.  Mickael Gelabale had a very strong quarter, with 4 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.  Greg Stiemsma also played well, shooting 3-3 from the field for 6 points to go with 2 blocks.  At the end of the 1st, the Pups held a 27-22 over the Rockets.

The good times continued for the Wolves in the 2nd quarter, as they were able to stave off an early run from the Rockets.  In the latter portion of the quarter, the Wolves were able to increase their lead and it had the early looks of a blowout.  Minnesota outscored Houston 30-17 in the quarter to take a 57-39 lead.   Here are a few halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • The NBA TV studio crew practically destroyed the Wolves in pregame and spent most of halftime trying to change the topic
  • The Rockets looked like they were asleep at the wheel, with 15 turnovers through 2 quarters
  • Total team effort from the Wolves; 57 points, with four different players with a team high 8 points
  • It is amazing how well the Pups look when they hit shots – 55% at the half

The Rockets started the 3rd quarter like a completely different team, hitting jump shots and playing much better defense.  They started the quarter on a 12-5 run to cut the Wolves lead to 11, forcing Adelman to burn an early timeout.  James Harden came alive in the 3rd quarter and took it to the Wolves.  Unfortunately, the Wolves didn’t make any defensive adjustments (i.e. switching Rubio and Ridnour on one end of the floor) until there were less than two minutes in the quarter and after the Rockets cut the lead to 5 points.  After a wild, final ninety seconds of the quarter, the Wolves took an 80-74 lead into the 4th quarter.

There was another 12-5 run by the Rockets to start the 4th quarter, which gave the home team the lead and forced another timeout by Adelman.  The remainder of the quarter was not much better.  With two minutes left in the game, the Rockets still had the Wolves doubled up in the quarter, 25-12 and held a 99-92 lead.  At this point, realistic fans should have been well aware that this game was over.  The Wolves couldn’t do anything to stop or contain the Rockets in the second half and ultimately fell 108-100.

Keys of the Game

  • Game of two halves – Wolves defense gave up 39 points in the 1st half and 69 points in the 2nd.  They scored 57 points of their own in the 1st half and were held to 43 in the 2nd.
  • Rebounding – The Rockets outrebounded the Wolves 44-36, allowing Carlos Delfino to grab 10 rebounds (4 offensive).
  • Three point shooting – The coaching staff needs to put a limit on 3PT’s taken during a game and put some type of penalty on the team when it exceeds said number.  For a team that is really, REALLY bad at long range shooting, the Wolves remain way too trigger happy.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. James Harden – Huge second quarter from Harden without any response from the Wolves – 37 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists, including 16-18 from the FT line.
  2. Jeremy Lin – Virtually the exact same comment as above for Harden.  24 points and 8 rebounds.
  3. JJ Barea – Barea had a nice game for the Wolves, with 19 points off the bench on 8-12 shooting.
Filed Under: Game Recaps Tagged With: , ,

Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves at Houston Rockets 3-15-13

March 15, 2013 by

Photo credit: Buzzfeed.com

Photo credit: Buzzfeed.com

Setting the stage:

The Timberwolves will once again grace the national audience with theirpresence, as NBA TV will be airing tonight’s game against the Houston Rockets. The Timberwolves are coming off of a loss Wednesday night in Indiana, a day after upsetting the Spurs at Target Center.  The Rockets come into the game with a 35-30 record on the season and are currently in the 7 seed in the Western Conference.

The two teams have met twice before this season, both in Minnesota, with each team claiming a victory.  Back on 12/26, the Rockets caught the Pup

s with aChristmas hangover, making a ferocious comeback in the 4th quarter to steal the victory.  The Wolves returned the favor on 1/19, with a 92-79 drumming of the Rockets at TC.  The latter game was a coming out party for Chris Johnson who had recently joined the team at that time.

In terms of injury news, there is nothing new to report for the Wolves.  Love and Budinger will remain out and it doesn’t look promising for Kirilenko or Pekovic.  There is also a small chance James Harden misses Friday’s game with a sore foot.  He is listed as a game time decision.

Player to watch:

Chandler Parsons – Friday night’s game is another opportunity to say “what if…” from prior draft nights.  Parsons is an excellent shooter from the SF spot and is averaging a little over 15 ppg and 5 rpg.  In the two earlier match-ups this year, he had been held in check by the Wolves wings, so he might be due for a breakout game.

Match-up to watch:

Ricky Rubio vs. Jeremy Lin.  Rubio has been on fire over the past few weeks and likely helping a lot of fantasy teams these days.  After a rough start to the season, Jeremy Lin has found consistency in his game, particularly in March.  Lin has averaged 13.8 ppg and 5.2 apg, but is doing so in a much more efficient manner, shooting 49% from the field for the month.  I couldn’t speak about a strong month without mentioning Rubio’s numbers halfway through the month; 14.4 ppg, 8.7 apg, 6.9 rpg.

Predictions:

The Rockets are fighting to stay in the top 8 in the conference and they can’t afford a letdown game right now against one of the weaker teams in the NBA.

Final score prediction: Timberwolves 86, Rockets 94

Three stars of the game predictions:

  1. Omer Asik
  2. Chandler Parsons
  3. Ricky Rubio

Let’s go Wolves!

Filed Under: Game Previews Tagged With: , ,

Timberwolves VOTW: Crunch Kills the Miami Harlem Shake

March 13, 2013 by

The Minnesota Timberwolves digital team strikes again with another gem.  After the Miami Heat released their Harlem Shake video – which I still don’t fully understand this craze, but that is neither here nor there as I’m 85 years old – the YouTube hits continued to climb.  Well, the Wolves staff countered with this beauty, enlisting Crunch to do the damage to the poor soul in the video.

With almost four million views on YouTube at the time of this posting, we surely aren’t the only ones who loved this week’s VOTW!  Well done Timberwolves, well done!

Filed Under: Video of the Week Tagged With:

Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves vs San Antonio Spurs, 3-12-13

March 12, 2013 by
No Parker, no sympathy from Pups fans. Photo credit: ESPN.com

No Parker, no sympathy from Pups fans. Photo credit: ESPN.com

The 49-15 San Antonio Spurs visit the Target Center Tuesday night to take on the 21-39 Timberwolves.  Andrei Kirilenko and Nikola Pekovic remain sidelined with injury, while Tony Parker will miss the game for the Spurs again.  The Spurs are coming off of a victory Monday night against the OKC Thunder.  The Wolves are coming off of a lost weekend where they were blown out in Denver on Saturday and destroyed by the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night.

To say this is a mismatch might be an understatement.  The Spurs now hold a two game lead over the Thunder for the top seed in the Western Conference, while the Wolves do a little bit more “tanking” before their regulars are all ready to go, that includes Kevin Love and Chase Budinger who may be able to return soon.

These two teams have met twice earlier in the season, with the Spurs taking both games by double digits.  Back on 1/13, the Spurs handled the Wolves in San Antonio by a final score of 106-88.  The Wolves got a little bit closer on 2/6 at the Target Center, but ultimately falling again 104-94.

Player to watch:

Tim Duncan – The Wolves are missing their starting front line of Pekovic, Love, and Kirilenko.  The old man should be able to pick apart the Wolves in his 24 minutes or so of action.  While it pains me to say this, appreciate what Duncan brings to the table and what he has meant to the Spurs franchise.  I imagine this is one of the last few times he will be stepping foot on the TC floor.

Match-up to watch:

Alexey Shved vs. Manu Ginobili.  A look at a past 6th man of the year award winner vs. a potential future winner (not this year).  Shved and Ginobili have similar builds.  While Shved has hit the rookie wall, Ginobili keeps plugging along.  Now in his 11th season in the NBA, Manu continues to be a double digit scorer and leading contributor off the bench for the Spurs.

Predictions:

The only reason this game is of interest is because the Wolves are playing for “The Champs Belt” tonight.  The Wolves held the belt for approximately 24 hours earlier this season and will be looking to shock the world.  If NBA League Pass drops Sean Elliott on my broadcast, I’m likely just checking in from afar from time to time.  (If you haven’t checked out “The Champs Belt”, please do take a look for a good look at basketball history.)

Final score prediction: Timberwolves 78, Spurs 94

Three stars of the game predictions:

  1. Tim Duncan
  2. Kawhi Leonard
  3. Ricky Rubio

Let’s go Wolves!

Filed Under: Game Previews Tagged With: , ,

Minnesota Timberwolves 77, Dallas Mavericks 100

March 10, 2013 by

nba_mayo_love_580Game Summary:

The Timberwolves were back in action Sunday night at the Target Center after a tough loss in Denver Saturday night.  The turnaround time left a little to be desired for the club, but there isn’t much more needed to say or speak of Saturday’s embarrassment and the best thing to do is get out on the court again.

Andrei Kirilenko and Nikola Pekovic remained sidelined and it doesn’t sound very promising that they will be ready for Tuesday either.  Given their absence, the starting lineup for our Pups continued to be Rubio, Ridnour, Gelabale, Williams, and Stiemsma.  The Mavs starting five included OJ Mayo, Mike James, Jae Crowder, Dirk Nowitzki, and Chris Kaman.  Shawn Marion missed the game due to an injury, giving Crowder the starting nod.

Earlier in the day, I talked myself into this game by making it an unofficial scouting report for David Kahn on OJ Mayo.  Please pass this on to Kahn and attach Mayo’s resume.  I really want Mayo in a Wolves uniform next season.  In fact, I’ve wanted him in a Wolves uniform since he left USC.

Neither team set the nets on fire in the 1st quarter.  The Mavs shot 42% from the field, only be “bested” by the Wolves and their 36% FG%.  Derrick Williams the full twelve minutes and was very aggressive in and around the paint.  He finished the quarter with a game high 9 points and 5 rebounds in the quarter.  Dallas got a lift from its bench, when Rick Carlisle went to them with about 4 minutes left in the quarter.  Vince Carter and Elton Brand helped give the Mavs a 21-20 lead at the end of the 1st.

The 2nd quarter started but no one told the Timberwolves.  Dallas took advantage with a 12-0 run to start the quarter, leading to an Adelman timeout.  I envision the huddle went something like this:

Adelman: “Look, I don’t want to be here either, but please wake up!”

Huddle: (empty stares)

Dallas matched their 1st quarter output in less than six minutes in the 2nd, outscoring the Pups 22-7 halfway through the quarter.  The Mavs shooting rose to over 50% for the game as they continued to make shots and feel little resistance from the Wolves defense.  At the half, the Mavs held a 56-44 advantage.  Gelabale hit a runner for the Wolves as time expired in the half, cutting the lead to 12 points.  Here are a few halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • JJ Barea’s bad side was in full effect again tonight – 2-7 from the field, -16 in +/-.
  • Amazingly, that wasn’t the teams lowest +/-, as Alexey Shved “led” the team with a -19 in the half.  Shved has hit the rookie wall … hard.
  • While not leading his team in anything but minutes played in the first half, OJ Mayo chipped in 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.  Have I mentioned that Mayo needs to be on the Wolves radar this summer yet?

Coach Adelman tried mixing things up a bit to start the 3rd quarter, going with a different lineup of Rubio, Barea, Ridnour, Williams, and Stiemsma.  Unfortunately for the Wolves and the fans at the game, it didn’t help change the results.  The Mavs opened up a 19 point lead in the 3rd quarter and settled in with a 78-61 lead going into the final frame.

The only bad news for the Mavericks that came in the second half was that OJ Mayo rolled his ankle in the 3rd quarter under the rim.  It is a little eerie, and probably fitting, that Mayo would roll his ankle at Target Center.  He would fit right in with the current locker room of injured Pups.  However, Mayo returned to the floor in the 4th quarter, showing his toughness and durability; areas that the Wolves desperately need.  He finished the game with 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, showed the ability to play both guard positions, facilitate the offense in both the half court set and on the fast break, and defend.

Back to the game itself; the 4th quarter was more of the same from both teams.  Simply put, the Wolves are a lackluster team right now and look to be going through the motions.  Tonight’s game was tough given the trip to Denver last night, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of talent that this team can put out on the floor right now.  The team is not good, period.  To recap – Minnesota Timberwolves 77, Dallas Mavericks 100 and it didn’t feel that close in the 2nd half.

Keys of the Game:

  • Three point shooting – The Wolves are not good at 3PT shooting, yet they continue to launch from downtown entirely too much.  Tonight’s woeful performance, 2-18.
  • Rebounding – The Mavs dominated the boards tonight at the Target Center, with a 59-40 advantage.

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Vince Carter – The Mavs really took off when Carter entered the game.  He finished with a game high 22 points and 9 rebounds.
  2. OJ Mayo – His 8-8-7 and all-around play mentioned above helped lead the Mavs to the easy victory Sunday night.  Have I mentioned that the Wolves next GM should be at his door at 12:01am when free agency starts this summer?  (See what I did there?)
  3. Elton Brand – It was throwback night at the Target Center apparently.  Brand finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, practically dominating the paint against the Wolves big men.
Filed Under: Game Recaps Tagged With: , ,

Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets, 3/9/13

March 9, 2013 by

Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver NuggetsSetting the stage:

The Timberwolves travel to Denver on Saturday night to take on a division rival in a match-up that pits us against another very hot team.  Denver comes into Saturday night’s game riding a seven game winning streak, which has moved them up into the middle of the pack in the Western Conference playoff picture.  Denver has moved to 41-22 on the season.

Meanwhile, the Wolves are coming off of a two night rest after beating the Wizards on Wednesday night at the Target Center.  While the team had a few days off, they have not gotten much healthier, as both Pekovic and Kirilenko are expected to remain on the sidelines for Saturday’s game.  The team practiced on Friday and news coming out of the session was that Kevin Love was in attendance and taking jump shots.  Please let his return happen soon!  (Thanks @Alex_Cono for a great use of Vine!)

Without Love and a number of others, Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams remain in the spotlight for the club.  Both have been performing more than admirably over the past few weeks.  While it hasn’t led to many wins, at least it is something for Pups fans to keep an eye on.

Minnesota has played Denver tough this year and has accounted for one of the Nuggets’ rare losses on its home floor (1/3 – 101-97).  The teams also split a pair of games in Minnesota earlier in the season (11/21 & 12/12).  You may recall that it was in the last game against the Nuggets on 1/3 where Kevin Love reinjured his hand and hasn’t been seen since on the court.  The respective seasons of both teams have certainly tailed in different directions since that moment.

Player to watch:

Kenneth Faried – The “Manimal” turned some heads with his performances during All-Star Weekend.  Faried – the 22nd pick of the 2011 draft – has steadily improved his game and truly is a “rising star” in the NBA.  He is averaging 12 ppg and 9.6 rpg for the Nuggets this season in just under 30 mpg.  With all of the injuries to the Wolves front line, it will be important for Derrick Williams to stay out of foul trouble and box Faried out of the paint on both ends of the floor.

Match-up to watch:

Greg Stiemsma vs. JaVale McGee.  What?!  I’m tired of comparing Rubio and (opponent PG) in the preview.  McGee continues to baffle announcers, fans, writers, and probably his teammates and coaching staff.  He is getting less than 20 mpg this season averaging 9.6 ppg and 4.7 rpg.  Should I point out the 20.9 PER and scream for more minutes or just watch this video … and scream for more minutes?

The match-up against Stiemsma should be interesting to say the least.  There is at least a 25% chance these two get tangled up and a double technical foul called, right?  Stiemsma’s play over the past few weeks has not been very strong.  He continues to pick up too many quick fouls and has to check out of games.

Predictions:

The Nuggets are coming off of a big win against the Clippers Thursday night.  With the day off in between, I don’t expect the Wolves to catch them napping.

Final score prediction: Timberwolves 87, Nuggets 102

Three stars of the game predictions:

  1. Andre Iguodala
  2. Kenneth Faried
  3. Danilo Gallinari

Let’s go Wolves!

Filed Under: Game Previews Tagged With: , ,
«Older Posts
Newer Posts»