jman3134 wrote:I think that we should win in a blowout. (no offense to TWolves fans) We match up very well with Minnesota. They are weak at the point, a position where we have been historically weak. So they will have a tough time exploiting us there, especially with the improvement of Conley Jr.
Then, on the interior, Kevin Love is solid, but I question whether he can handle Marc Gasol. We should be able to dominate inside and grab lots of second chance points. And then at small forward, we should have a big advantage with Gay. Would not be shocked if he dropped 30+ tonight.
The key to this game for us is going to be OJ Mayo's defense on Wes Johnson. We cannot let him go off because that would be our downfall. Also, Arthur is going to have to slow down Beasley. If we can do that defensively, it should be a blowout.
1. You will be surprised by Luke Ridnour. Despite his journeyman history in the NBA, he has been great in Minnesota, putting up 20/5/6 and 13/6/7 in his first two games.
2. Kevin Love can't handle Gasol, that is true. Luckily, he won't have to. As much as he's struggled offensively, Darko Milicic has been very good for us on the defensive side of the ball with 9 blocks in just two games (has played a total of 48 minutes). As far as offensive rebounding, Minnesota had a 20-9 advantage vs Milwaukee.
3. The Gay vs Beasley matchup scares me a bit. However, Gay will also have to defend Beasley on the other end of the floor.
4. Honestly, I'm not worried about the matchup of Johnson vs Mayo. There was a long stretch in the second half of last night's game where Johnson was defending Brandon Jennings, and he was doing a good job. On the other side, Johnson should be able to shoot right over the shorter Mayo. However, if Ellington starts for us like he has been, I expect Mayo to go to work right away on him.
Whats the deal with Randolph, is he hurt?
vs. 
