Timberwolves--Magic, Season Opener

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Battle of the Nikola's!

Good game to get the season started right. Game should be a win for us as long as we don't come out flat and get toasted on fastbreaks. Dipo's going to be the best athlete on the court and Tobias Harris isn't anything to play around with either. Hopefully, though, the Wolves are just too much on offense and get timely defensive stops while dominating on the glass. Also keep the opponent's FG% lower than ours or even with ours would be fine since we should win the free throw margin.

We have the better team on paper, just have to execute. That's why they play the games.

Timberwolves/Magic assumed starters:

PG- Ricky Rubio/Jameer Nelson
SG- Kevin Martin/Arron Afflalo
SF- Corey Brewer/Mo Harkless
PF- Kevin Love/Glen Davis?
C- Nikola Pekovic/Nikola Vucevic

Tobias Harris is a better player than Davis, but I don't think they'd want him on Love. Maybe they go big and start Harris at the 3 and have Harkless and Dipo off the bench. I live in Florida and yet I'm not 100% what starting lineup they'd throw at us. Go figure.

Too excited for the season. Wish it was Wednesday already!

[Lipoli390]

Interesting to see the matchups as you've identified them. The teams look a lot closer on paper than I would have thought. I'd rank Ricky above Nelson, but Nelson is no slouch. I'd rank Martin and Afflalo even. Martin is the better offensive player, but Afflalo is better defensively and not bad on the offensive end. I'd rank Harkless above Brewer. Harkless is a better scorer and more athletic. Brewer is more experienced and a slightly better defender. Given Pek's preseason play and poor conditioning at this point, I'd give Vucevic the edge. Love is much better than Davis or anyone else they match up against him.

So it looks pretty even. Nevertheless, the Wolves should win. The Wolves are the better overall team and will have home court. But the Wolves better bring their A game.

[60WinTim]

Adelman is apparently saying he does not know about the SF position, yet, and that it might change night by night depending on match ups.

Reading between the lines, I think this means Brewer will be coming off the bench, and the starting SF could be any one of D-Will, Hummel, Dante or Shabazz on any given night.

How depressed will everyone be when D-Will loses his spot in the rotation to Hummel?!?

[bleedspeed]

How depressed will everyone be when D-Will loses his spot in the rotation to Hummel?!?

I won't be. It is a team game. Put the best unit on the floor. If the starting 5 clicks with Hummel in the lineup so be it.

[Monster]

I agree with Bleed. We also should remember Hummel is actually talented. Take away those knee injuries (yes thats significant) and people keep saying over and over he might have been a lottery pick. The guy has shown ability in the past to be a good basketball player and fared quite well in a competitive league in Europe last year. I haven't seen him play in preseason but he looked well physically in preseason. He probably isn't going to overwhelm with his athletism but he is no plodder either. Its not out of the question for a guy picked in the 2nd round to become a decent starter. I am no way planning on it but I think I would just be happy for Hummel's accomplishments and our luck and actually developing a guy than be disappointed in Williams. Some team would take Williams off our hands if it comes to that.

Unfortunately the SF position is no more decided than it was after the offseason was basically over and we are one martin injury away from being in flux at SG as well. Basically its like we were last year at those positions only the names have changed. Its time for some younger players to step up their game and solidify those spots even if that means solid. contributors off the bench. That didn't really happen overall last year. Guys like Williams and Shved shows some flashes but not enough to say you could count on them going forward. Its going to be very interesting to see how things pan out.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Couldn't find a Kevin Martin thread to post this in, but I think it's a pretty damn good stat in K-Mart's favor that I haven't seen anyone on this board say yet.

According to Synergy Sports, Martin drew fouls on 8.4 percent of his possessions in 2012-13. As a point of comparison, LeBron James drew fouls on 8.8 percent of his possessions.

Think people have just looked at Martin's numbers per game and say his FT attempts have gone down, which is true, but his usage did also. 8.4 percent isn't anything to scoff at. That's big time.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

this isn't the regular season opener right? Were still in preseason?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

this isn't the regular season opener right? Were still in preseason?

Wolves/Magic is first regular season game. Pre-season is over. The games count now.

[Lipoli390]

Couldn't find a Kevin Martin thread to post this in, but I think it's a pretty damn good stat in K-Mart's favor that I haven't seen anyone on this board say yet.

According to Synergy Sports, Martin drew fouls on 8.4 percent of his possessions in 2012-13. As a point of comparison, LeBron James drew fouls on 8.8 percent of his possessions.

Think people have just looked at Martin's numbers per game and say his FT attempts have gone down, which is true, but his usage did also. 8.4 percent isn't anything to scoff at. That's big time.

Interesting stat, Cam. Thanks for posting.

[mjs34]

Adelman is apparently saying he does not know about the SF position, yet, and that it might change night by night depending on match ups.

Reading between the lines, I think this means Brewer will be coming off the bench, and the starting SF could be any one of D-Will, Hummel, Dante or Shabazz on any given night.

How depressed will everyone be when D-Will loses his spot in the rotation to Hummel?!?[/

Wouldn't surprise me at all. It's the type of move I have come to expect out of Adelman. He seems to prefer putting a less talented lineup on the floor rather than having to actually coach younger more talented players.