Game 10 Preview: Blazers vs. Timberwolves

by Dave on Nov 14, 2008 11:47 PM PST

We just played Minnesota and their Six Power Forwards of DOOOOOM last Saturday so there's no need for a full preview again. Suffice it to say Al Jefferson is their key, they have problems giving up offensive rebounds, shooting from deep (except for Mike Miller, of course), and, well, letting their opponents average 105 per game.

Keys to the Game:

1. If you either slow down Al Jefferson's scoring or match him point for point you should be able to beat the ‘Wolves.

2. This is a game where Portland should dominate on the boards.

3. Deny the middle and make the Timberwolves score from the perimeter sidelines.

4. Offensively the Blazers need to go hard into the heart of the Minnesota defense. Post-up play is one way to do that but it allows the defense to get set. Even better: get past your initial defender and take the ball down deep. You're guaranteed to have an easy scoring attempt or a pass to someone else for an easy scoring attempt.

5. Speaking of passes: two decent ones in any possession and you'll have whatever shot you like.

The guys over at CanisHoopus were quibbling with Point #3 the last time I made it, but it's a pretty safe bet that having McCants and Foye and company hoisting over the top is a lot better bet than letting Jefferson and Love work inside. Last game we held them to a comparatively low 41.7% from the field and let them shoot a comparatively high 41.% from distance and won the game. Do it again. Long shots = long rebounds = running = rampant score escalation = Minnesota is done.

Don't forget the Jersey Contest form for this game is right here.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

Tweet Comment 29 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I predict a big win.

The ‘08-’09 Blazers first blowout, in fact.

Our boys will be fatigued, yes… but I think they have something to prove against this team after that close one in Portland. Add to that the less than stellar showing tonight and our boys will be a little chippy.

The Blazers were thinking about the road trip rather than the T’Wolves last time… not so tomorrow.

We win big.

"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car"

by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Nov 15, 2008 12:06 AM PST reply actions

Well, I'm 9-for-9 so far, but for the first time feel like I'm totally lost on this one...

…………………………. My religion is that home teams win, and road-back-to-back teams ALWAYS lose, but then Detroit came to LA on a road back-to-back and handed the Lakers their first loss of the season, so there ya go.

I’m sticking with my religion, I reckon, but with misgivings… Narrow win for the Wolves coming. Roy logged 42 minutes in New Orleans and Nate isn’t gonna be savvy enough to sit him for half the game in Minneapolis… Tired legs kill.

"Sergio is clearly the MJ of 3rd string point guards!" —Mortimer Pritchard

by timbo on Nov 15, 2008 12:12 AM PST reply actions

Misdirection from the JC Leader, I suspect

Elizabeth had a partner and he had a rap from the cops, Him and Lenny Suckerpunch were just out Tooling around

by Lizzy Lowblow on Nov 15, 2008 2:16 PM PST up reply actions

Wrong again, timbo

We’ll get this one.

Not a blow-out, but not a buzzer-beater, either. Good solid 8-12 point win.

Greg won’t play any more than he did against the Hornets, perhaps less, but will likely be at least as effective. They don’t really have any answer to him.

Look for Rudy to come up big.

The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.

by jscot on Nov 15, 2008 12:36 AM PST reply actions

Oden needs to be in this game while Jefferson is out there. He will block Jefferson's shots and if you stop

him you stop the Timberwolves. Blazers should win this game.

by BRoyInThe4th on Nov 15, 2008 12:39 AM PST reply actions

I wish CanisHoopus and AtTheHive actually had people to talk to

when are their fans going to show up? or do they not have fans?

by Bust a Bucket on Nov 15, 2008 12:55 AM PST reply actions

It takes a while to build the fanbase

I think even talking to the bloggers is a good thing though. You have to figure these guys are pretty thoughtful and pretty good writers to be where they are. How often do you have direct access to that? And when there are only, say, five comments on the whole site you KNOW your friendly neighborhood blogger is going to give you a direct and personal response!

—Dave

by Dave on Nov 15, 2008 1:02 AM PST up reply actions

Last year...

…the Wolves had a TV broadcast with a rating that corresponded to 1,700 viewers. Large chunks of the state preempt their radio broadcast for local high school hockey (we’re in a hockey state, after all). They practically give tickets away on a nightly basis. It’s a long way from the place it was when KG was around.

There’s a sense around what I would call a majority of fans that the Wolves have blown 2 chances at getting The Man in the draft: Roy and Mayo. I disagree on the Mayo account but the way this front office has behaved since 99 (blowing the draft; taking Wally + Will Avery over guys like Andre Miller, Rip Hamilton, Shawn Marion, and Ron Artest) has really turned off most of the fan base. To tell you the truth, it’s hard for even die-hard fans to get excited about this team because even though they have some nice assets in Mike Miller and 4 potential 1st rounders, the guys making the decisions have shown nothing to make fans believe they can close the deal when luck presents them with an opportunity. Luck + competency = good GM’ing. I wrote it on Hoopus today, but there’s no such thing as Pritch Slapping without Kevin McHale and a coin flip. You guys have a competent GM who is able to capitalize on what comes his way. It’s exciting and you have to feel good about your chances. The Wolves have a 6’10" boob with goofy sweaters who is able to fail without accountability. Even when they luck themselves into a good situation, they FUBAR everything.

Anyway, I’d say that the Wolves’ fan base is at its lowest point ever right now and it won’t start going up until there are some changes in the front office or until they land The Guy.

The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com

by Stop-n-Pop on Nov 15, 2008 8:27 AM PST up reply actions

Please say what you really think

by jscot on Nov 15, 2008 11:32 AM PST up reply actions

From his game preview over at Canis Hoopus

While you may hear quite a bit about how good of a GM Kevin Prichard is (and he is), remember that the Blazers are the Blazers only because of another Kevin (McHale) and a coin flip. Otherwise, we Wolves fans are headed off to watch KG, Roy, and Oden go up against the young upstart Blazers, led by…well, perhaps Mr. Foye. Did I mention that it’s a pain to have to be reminded of all this 4 times a year? As you can imagine, the term “Pritch Slapped” is especially nauseating in these parts. There’s no such thing if the Wolves had a 1/2 way decent front office.

by Norsktroll on Nov 15, 2008 11:57 AM PST up reply actions

Portlanders may get a kick out of all those "Hockey Mom" jokes

but the T-Wolves front office isn’t laughing.

Those dang Hockey Moms need to get their kids watching basketball and nice sport that thrives when hell freezes over.

Sorry if I’m just a cultural bigot, but I don’t get hockey.

by Bust a Bucket on Nov 15, 2008 2:51 PM PST up reply actions

They start 'em early here in Minny...

…we have a 5 year old down the block taking skating lessons and his dad ices over the backyard for practice.

The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com

by Stop-n-Pop on Nov 16, 2008 12:55 PM PST up reply actions

The people in Minnesota

never really embraced the ‘Wolves fully even in the Garnett-Marbury era. That’s when the first fan-base rush started and I remember announcers begging people to come and see what was going on. Once they caught on to KG they started coming. I bet seeing him win a championship in Boston just stung. There’s not enough Minnesota Nice in the whole state to cover that.

—Dave

by Dave on Nov 15, 2008 11:46 AM PST up reply actions

It did...

…sting a bit when KG won. McHale had the right idea of surrounding him with 2 good players + a bunch of role guys but Spree and Cassell turned into Ricky Davis and Mike James and….well, the FUBAR’d it.

As for the embracing of the team, keep in mind that the Wolves almost moved to NOLA before Glen Taylor bought the team and KG came to town. We also have the Twins, Vikings, Gopher basketball (when Clem was in town they were VERY popular) and now the North Stars/Wild. When Marbury came to town the Target Center was THE place to be to see and be seen. That ended the year after the WCF and it’s not going to come back any time soon.

Although, as far as Minnesota sports goes, we’re quite used to losing our big time players. Losing KG hurts but so does David Ortiz, Johan Santana, and Randy Moss. Hell, look at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett. If the Twins don’t pull off the Young trade and resign Santana, they have a top 3 in their rotation of Santana, Liriano, and Graza. Oh well. I guess what I’m saying is that we’re used to giving up the best players in this town. In fact, one of the things fans said to themselves about Mayo is that he would have simply pulled a Marbury and left us.

The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com

by Stop-n-Pop on Nov 16, 2008 1:00 PM PST up reply actions

How does Kevin Love fit in?

People love to hate the kid in Portland.

Do you think he has any upside, or what you see is what you get?

by Bust a Bucket on Nov 15, 2008 1:01 PM PST up reply actions

I think he has a ton of upside...

…he’s one of those guys you can watch play and say to yourself “he really gets it”. There’s not too many of those guys here in Minny. He and Brewer are the only guys you can tell really have a high B-ball IQ.

The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com

by Stop-n-Pop on Nov 16, 2008 1:03 PM PST up reply actions

Let's not get too ahead of ourselves

Let’s keep a level head and don’t underestimate this or any other team. Even teams with losign records win some games. Let’s not allow them to get one on us. Go in there and dominate. Go Blazers! Believe!

by dpnim on Nov 15, 2008 2:27 AM PST reply actions

I'm personally worried about this game.

Perhaps it’s misgivings from last season, but save for our first game against Minnesota, we haven’t played games against teams that aren’t as good as us. And that worries me. I worry that last years play down to the competition thing comes back again to rear its ugly head in this game.

by isoldout on Nov 15, 2008 3:24 AM PST reply actions

yeah but thems was pre season and we never had our good teams on the floor..

but I share your worry….

for some reason we’re still playing down to scrub teams and making them look better than they are…..

The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out burns out farms and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.

by faith on Nov 15, 2008 6:10 AM PST up reply actions

Scrub teams?

The T-wolves are the only scrub team we’ve played. Miami on the road is NOT a scrub team.

by jscot on Nov 15, 2008 6:19 AM PST up reply actions

pre season teams= scrub teams.

good morning/afternoon/evening jscot! :)

The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out burns out farms and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.

by faith on Nov 15, 2008 6:42 AM PST up reply actions

I'm a man for all hours

Good morning to you.

by jscot on Nov 15, 2008 7:46 AM PST up reply actions

I thought the Blazers were unfocused against Minne...

and that they knew they were hitting the road. I didn’t see a real concentration until the 2nd half when they scrambled for the win.

That’s why I think blowout this time. They’re not focused on anything else. After the game they are flying home for 2 days and then leaving for the Sacto game. Big winners tonight.

"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car"

by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Nov 15, 2008 10:32 AM PST up reply actions

What I'm leaning on

is that we only need 1 of the next 2 to come back from this trip with a winning record. That would be marvelous.

2-3 Good
3-2 Marvelous
4-1 Unbelievable

Personally I hope we give ourselves a chance at unbelievable tonight, as it would be far nicer that way. Plus Golden State is a tough matchup.

—Dave

by Dave on Nov 15, 2008 11:45 AM PST up reply actions

REBOUNDS REBOUNDS AND MORE REBOUNDS!

If last night was gregs comming out party, I"m hoping for a riot tonight…

I remember reading comments from his former coaches and they all indicated that oden slims waaaaay down as the season progresses….so I imagine he’ll be feeling alot more comfortable (he’s played the timber pups what 3 times now) THIS is GREGS TEAM TO BEAT…if there ever was a game that I wanted greg to dominate it’ll be this game….start the second with greg in, never pass him the ball…let him get mad, THEN IN THE THIRD!!! UNLEASH THE BEAST!!! have blake penetrate hooking around the hoop from the weak side and run the ball baseline hand deliver it to oden on the block…AND BOOOM!!! allllll night.

40-20-10 pts-rebounds-blocks (one day man one day) GO ODEN!!!! GO PORTLAND!!!

I miss martell!!!!

The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out burns out farms and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.

by faith on Nov 15, 2008 6:08 AM PST reply actions

Oden Should Start

Let’s get rid of the kid gloves and start the guy. He has proven he could be an inside presence and rebound.

by Balian on Nov 15, 2008 9:07 AM PST reply actions

nah

keep him coming off the bench for the foreseeable future. he needs a lot more seasoning to gain confidence.

We cannot put up with this flagrant lack of accountability anymore.

by MT Suit on Nov 15, 2008 9:43 AM PST up reply actions

Dave, I finally entered the jersey contest!

It’s gonna be Blazers 98 – Wolves 84. Rudy get’s the second most assist’s to Sergio’s 12. Look for him to play alot tonight. We scoree alotta points, we play some good D, Andy gets to be happy after the game again, and perhaps, we shall have more dancing in the streets. Lord knows last night I had to take it to the goodfoot.

Let’s forget last night, except of course, Gregory’s coming of age party, he’s 33 and finally started looking like a beast.

Can’t wait to get out of work at 2! Then, we play some ball, then the Blazers play some ball!

I come here to meet chicks...

by BlazermaniacAndy on Nov 15, 2008 10:59 AM PST reply actions

Blazers will win

They have to rebound after last night, they should be hungry and LA should be mad that he was supposed to win last nights game and ended up taking a bunch of 3’s. He had better play more inside tonight.

by tominhawaii on Nov 15, 2008 12:02 PM PST reply actions