First Five Games

weasel · Post #1 » by **weasel** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 7:58 pm

As excited as most of us are for the start of the season, do we start the season 0-5 and get thrown off the Media Darlings bus? We have a BRUTAL stat to our schedule with three of the top four teams in the league, the Bucks home opener, and an aging but still very good Spurs.

On the plus side, the shortened training camps and pre-season mean most teams will probably be rusty to start the season and not firing on all cylanders, so maybe we can catch a break there.

vs OKC, at MIL, vs MIA, vs DAL, vs SAN.

Going anything other than 0-3 against OKC, MIA & DAL will be a very pleasant surprise. And I'm guessing we have maybe 30-40% chance to beat MIL and SAN.

B Calrissian · Post #2 » by **B Calrissian** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:11 pm

Yeah that is a tough 5 games. Bucks would clearly be the easiest to beat but they will probably give it their all and then some because we just beat them twice in preseason.

The Spurs will be interesting. Love seemed to step up his defense vs Duncan in the past but I wonder if he will still be strong enough. It'd be nice to have Duncan out on the perimeter trying to cover Love or Williams.

phonzadellika · Post #3 » by **phonzadellika** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:50 pm

I'm going to make a bold prediction, 3-2 with wins over OKC, MIL and SAN. We'll also be competitive against MIA and DAL. The hype machine will explode.

Yes We Kahn · Post #4 » by **Yes We Kahn** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:56 pm

3-2 would be awesome. 2-3 would still be a success. 1-4 is probably the most likely, unfortunately.

I'm pulling for 3-2 with the same wins phonz mentioned. OKC will be on the second half of a back-to-back. With MIL, although its tough to beat a team a 3rd time and its the real deal now, I still think we are the better team. SAN will be a tough game, but we had some good close games last year and Adelman will pull us over the top.

Torcher · Post #5 » by **Torcher** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:21 pm

Yes We Kahn wrote: SAN will be a tough game, but we had some good close games last year and Adelman will pull us over the top.

Time to get some sweet, sweet revenge against them. :eyebrows:

Foye · Post #6 » by **Foye** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:46 pm

I would be ecstatic if we started 3-2.

2-3 is alright as well. Just hope we don't start 0-5

Wingman · Post #7 » by **Wingman** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:56 pm

We will learn a lot from the first five games. If we can play competitively against the upper echelon I will be quite pleased. I think we should beat SA and Milwaukee, but if we split them it wouldn't kill my enthusiasm.

Kingleonel · Post #8 » by **Kingleonel** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:29 pm

The team will have to defend that's a tough first 5 games. David Stern didn't go easy on this team early. If they can get 3 wins the team should be thrilled. 1 to 2 wins is more likely looking at the schedule.

Peezo · Post #9 » by **Peezo** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:10 am

Its nice that they are here for 4 of 5 though. We should draw pretty good crowds for the early excitement (I'll be there monday!) and even have a decent showing of Twolves fans in MKE. When I was at school in MKE I knew a few people who traveled to the Bradley center to cheer on the pups. That was pre-Rubio hype!

Here is hoping that we can manage 3-2.

diegoluis · Post #10 » by **diegoluis** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:19 am

The sixth game is against Memphis, a hard rival too. I think we can get 2 wins. The game against OKC will be excitin g to watch. It's important for a young team like Wolves to win that first game.

moss_is_1 · Post #11 » by **moss_is_1** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 1:23 am

I could see us losing all of them, possibly winning against Milwaukee and SAS(we played them tough all last year), and maybe even beating OKC since they will be on a back to back and we should be fired up..

southern wolf · Post #12 » by **southern wolf** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 1:46 am

This is why I'm not getting too carried away with the pre-season results. It's going to be a really tough first week and a half of the season, I just hope if we do go 1-4 or 0-5 the players don't get too down on themselves.

Our games against the Spurs were so frustrating last season, I don't know how we didn't beat them. They're the team I want the wolves to beat most this season, apart from the Heat of course.

kingrory · Post #13 » by **kingrory** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 7:20 pm

Dual · Post #14 » by **Dual** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 7:36 pm

MNRunLeft · Post #15 » by **MNRunLeft** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 9:33 pm

I'll be very happy with a 2-3 start given the opponents, anything better than that would be icing on the cake. If I were betting I think 1-4 is the most likely, and 0-5 would be a disappointment.

kingrory · Post #16 » by **kingrory** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 1:20 am

I honestly see Milwaukee as a very probable win.
I also think the Mavs are leaps and bounds weaker than last year. Definitely not a guaranteed win, but without Chandler last year they barely put us away 108-105.

Although I don't really buy into the whole "he was on the team so he has all the dirty on 'em!", I do believe Barea's knowledge of Dallas's system can't hurt.

I think we'll give every team a fight. Rubio and Barea were missed on Wednesday night, not only because of the dynamic they give us but also because they seem to motivate the rest of the team.

Bubstubbler · Post #17 » by **Bubstubbler** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:40 pm

weasel wrote:vs OKC, at MIL, vs MIA, vs DAL, vs SAN

That's just brutal. Odds of winning imo:

OKC - 40% (match up with them pretty well, actually)
@Mil - 40%
MIA - 25%
DAL - 35%
SAN - 35%

So expected wins: 1.75

So I'd guess 2-3 or 1-4.

champalift · Post #18 » by **champalift** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 12:06 am

I am waiting for the year that San Antonio falls apart. They are an old team and this compressed season could hurt them drastically. We played well against them last year if I remember correctly. I agree with the Dallas take too. They are obviously a very good team but losing Barea and Chandler will definitely hurt.

Post #19 » by **Klomp** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 6:55 am

The NBA schedule makers have kept the Timberwolves at home for six of their first seven games in this lockout-shortened 66-game season, but they sure didn't do them any favors.

Those six home games are against Oklahoma City in Monday night's season opener, Miami, Dallas, San Antonio, Memphis and Cleveland, interrupted only by a quick trip to Milwaukee on Tuesday.

"It's a beast," Wolves All-Star forward Kevin Love said. "We have a very tough stretch. Right out of the gate, it's pretty tough for us. We need as much time as we can get on the floor together, just to get ourselves going. Playing those teams will be a little different because they've been on the floor so long together. They've been able to put together in two weeks of training camp what we haven't been able to put together.

"That's where that time on the floor really makes a difference."

Take away the Cavaliers and those first five teams visiting Target Center this season had a combined .676 winning percentage last season.

"We all know the NBA is hard," said newly signed guard J.J. Barea, a member of last season's NBA champion Mavericks. "We might as well get it going and start it off hard. It's going to be a good challenge for us the first week of the season and we'll go from there. I got no question about this: The coaches did a good job getting us ready for the first game. Now we'll see what happens."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/136213893.html

shrink · Post #20 » by **shrink** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 12:09 pm

Bubstubbler wrote:
weasel wrote:vs OKC, at MIL, vs MIA, vs DAL, vs SAN

That's just brutal. Odds of winning imo:

OKC - 40% (match up with them pretty well, actually)
@Mil - 40%
MIA - 25%
DAL - 35%
SAN - 35%

So expected wins: 1.75

So I'd guess 2-3 or 1-4.

We're going to get along fine.