Minnesota Sports Forum

You guys seem to forget how hard it is to win on the road in the NBA, even against teams that are as bad as us (Lakers and Denver). I say 1-2.

I'm staying with my 2-1 forecast, but one reason they may win their first two road games is PG matchups. Point guard is the most difficult position to adapt to in the NBA, and there were lots of signs that Russell and Mudiay are not ready to be reliable options yet. Both turned the ball over at an alarming rate in preseason, and Sam's aggressive trapping defense and Rubio's long arms are going to give them fits, I believe. Losing the PG matchup was a major contributor to our 66 losses last year...maybe it turns around and becomes a huge advantage in our first road trip.

I went with 1-2 but reasonably hoping for 2-1

Bottom line for me is we gotta get one win of these somewhat reasonably winnable games early on so the season isn't basically over well before the AS break. It would be nice to have a decent amount of success in the wins column to keep guys going a bit.

Sure these fans are on the road but it's early in the season when teams aren't really in top form. I don't want to say anything happens the first 5-10 games of the season but we can hope.

monsterpile wrote:I went with 1-2 but reasonably hoping for 2-1

Bottom line for me is we gotta get one win of these somewhat reasonably winnable games early on so the season isn't basically over well before the AS break. It would be nice to have a decent amount of success in the wins column to keep guys going a bit.

Sure these fans are on the road but it's early in the season when teams aren't really in top form. I don't want to say anything happens the first 5-10 games of the season but we can hope.

But doesn't that apply to us too? Based on our pre-season results, I would say we are a long ways from being in top form.

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I went with 1-2 but reasonably hoping for 2-1

Bottom line for me is we gotta get one win of these somewhat reasonably winnable games early on so the season isn't basically over well before the AS break. It would be nice to have a decent amount of success in the wins column to keep guys going a bit.

Sure these fans are on the road but it's early in the season when teams aren't really in top form. I don't want to say anything happens the first 5-10 games of the season but we can hope.

But doesn't that apply to us too? Based on our pre-season results, I would say we are a long ways from being in top form.

Yeah, that's why I would be delighted with 2 wins out of the first three. Our last game against the Bucks was really the only preseason game where we looked ready for the start of the season. We need to expect to see a lot of guys getting used to Sam and each other in the early going.

Right, I would be delighted with 2 wins as well. Hell, we should be downright ecstatic to go 2-1 or 3-0 to start the year. But what do you predict will happen? That requires a more sober assessment.

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I went with 1-2 but reasonably hoping for 2-1

Bottom line for me is we gotta get one win of these somewhat reasonably winnable games early on so the season isn't basically over well before the AS break. It would be nice to have a decent amount of success in the wins column to keep guys going a bit.

Sure these fans are on the road but it's early in the season when teams aren't really in top form. I don't want to say anything happens the first 5-10 games of the season but we can hope.

But doesn't that apply to us too? Based on our pre-season results, I would say we are a long ways from being in top form.

Yeah, that's why I would be delighted with 2 wins out of the first three. Our last game against the Bucks was really the only preseason game where we looked ready for the start of the season. We need to expect to see a lot of guys getting used to Sam and each other in the early going.

Come on Q I said I was selling hope there not fact. Why you gotta bring me down? :) We have the same predicted record for this stretch.

monsterpile wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I went with 1-2 but reasonably hoping for 2-1

Bottom line for me is we gotta get one win of these somewhat reasonably winnable games early on so the season isn't basically over well before the AS break. It would be nice to have a decent amount of success in the wins column to keep guys going a bit.

Sure these fans are on the road but it's early in the season when teams aren't really in top form. I don't want to say anything happens the first 5-10 games of the season but we can hope.

But doesn't that apply to us too? Based on our pre-season results, I would say we are a long ways from being in top form.

Yeah, that's why I would be delighted with 2 wins out of the first three. Our last game against the Bucks was really the only preseason game where we looked ready for the start of the season. We need to expect to see a lot of guys getting used to Sam and each other in the early going.

Come on Q I said I was selling hope there not fact. Why you gotta bring me down? :) We have the same predicted record for this stretch.

Yes, I see the realists are gaining ground. Three of us now have us pegged for a 1-2 start.

Thinking about it. I don't see us losing the first game at home.

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I went with 1-2 but reasonably hoping for 2-1

Bottom line for me is we gotta get one win of these somewhat reasonably winnable games early on so the season isn't basically over well before the AS break. It would be nice to have a decent amount of success in the wins column to keep guys going a bit.

Sure these fans are on the road but it's early in the season when teams aren't really in top form. I don't want to say anything happens the first 5-10 games of the season but we can hope.

But doesn't that apply to us too? Based on our pre-season results, I would say we are a long ways from being in top form.

Yeah, that's why I would be delighted with 2 wins out of the first three. Our last game against the Bucks was really the only preseason game where we looked ready for the start of the season. We need to expect to see a lot of guys getting used to Sam and each other in the early going.

Come on Q I said I was selling hope there not fact. Why you gotta bring me down? :) We have the same predicted record for this stretch.

Yes, I see the realists are gaining ground. Three of us now have us pegged for a 1-2 start.

We played only playoff teams in the pre-season and went 2-6. LA, Denver and Portland all are highly likely not playoff teams. You can't fully use pre-season to predict regular season results, but we also faced much tougher competition all of pre-season than our first 3 games and we managed to win two games against better competition. We could easily go 3-0 against these 3 teams based on talent. The realism is dropping one of the road games because young teams typically don't win a ton on the road.