True Test: Upcoming schedule

[EuroPacer]

As we all know, we have had a great start to the season. The coming ten or so games are going to be very tough though, I thought I'd try my hand at some predicting (whilst procrastinating).

25/11/13 VS Minnesota
W
I think we just about got this. Minny has been playing well and they are incredibly productive this season (over 106 per game), Martin was a very good pick-up for them, but our defense at home should be enough to shut their production down just enough. However, we need a solid offensive performance from the bench players to ensure we don't drop behind too much. I have a feeling Stephenson might be the X-factor in this game.

27/11/13 @ Charlotte
W
We should win this, Jefferson is coming back, but I expect Roy to shut him down just enough. The Cats haven't been bad this season though, so it won't be as straightforward as it has been in recent years. Will be good to see J. McRoberts back in the Fieldhouse. I expect D. West to be the difference maker though, so let's hope McRoberts doesn't have a great night.

29/11/13 VS Washington
W
As it is at home I expect this to be a W as well. That would take us to 15-1 (if we win the Minny game) a great start all-round. Washington is a potential banana-skin though, if Beal and Wall heat up enough they are a threat. I expect Roy to be strong defensively in this game against Gortat/Nene. Paul George will be the difference offensively.

1/12/13 @ Clippers
50/50
First of a long and hard Western road-trip. This game is going to define the way the whole trip goes I feel. We should be able to make things very difficult if we can exploit the paint offensively. We need a fully focussed defensive effort though and I am going to call this a 50/50.

2/12/13 @ Portland
L
I don't know what happened to Portland, did anybody expect them to do this well? With Robin Lopez replacing Hickson they now have a viable big man to patrol the paint. We all know LMA is a threat and West will have his work cut out with him. Our bench will have to make the difference here, Stephenson needs to be productive in that second unit and we need Scola to be very productive as well. I don't think we will take this game, if we do that will be a massive bonus.

4/12/13 @ Utah
W
Time to rest some weary heads against a massively underwhelming Utah Jazz. We should have our way inside on the grounds that Kanter is a very young Center with lots to learn, Hibbert should prove way too much for him. Favors is potentially solid but has been underwhelming so far this season. I am hoping for a blow-out so we can rest some legs in the fourth quarter. It will take a good start to the game though. PG to be man of the match.

7/12/13 @ San Antonio
L
I am really looking forward to this match-up. It should be a cracking game as I suspect Pop will want to try his best against a potential Finals opponent. Kawhi Leonard versus Paul George should be a great two-way battle and Hill will want to play well against his old team. Add the apparently good relationship between Hibbert and Duncan and there are plenty of good story lines. I think the Spurs will be just a bit too much on the grounds that this is the fourth game in the west in a week. If we win Paul George will be responsible.

8/12/13 @ Oklahoma
L
The biggest problem here is that it comes a day after the Spurs game. I think we are better than OKC but there will be weary legs out there, PG24 will have to be full-on against Durant and with Westbrook healthy Hill will have his work cut out as well. We could win IF we manage to control the paint on both sides, Hibbert should be able to dominate Perkins but again, tired legs will play a role. If we do win it means Hibbert has done a great job.

10/12/13 VS Miami
L
Unfortunately I expect the road-trip to impact on this game, I think it might be our first longish losing streak of the season. Miami will feel that this is an ideal game to claw lost ground back/add to the lead. I expect James to have found some rhythm after his apparent injury problem at the start of the season, making it the third game in a row where PG24 has a tough match-up. If we win it will be because of Paul George making the difference and it would be a massive bonus, but I don't see it at the moment.

[mikepacernation]

I'm really nervous about this western conference trip we are facing the elite of the west next week big measuring stick..

[Grang33r]

All those big teams, that we are worried about as a "big test" such as Portland and Spurs, will have to make their rounds and come east at some point as well.

[npchristian]

As we all know, we have had a great start to the season. The coming ten or so games are going to be very tough though, I thought I'd try my hand at some predicting (whilst procrastinating).

25/11/13 VS Minnesota
W
I think we just about got this. Minny has been playing well and they are incredibly productive this season (over 106 per game), Martin was a very good pick-up for them, but our defense at home should be enough to shut their production down just enough. However, we need a solid offensive performance from the bench players to ensure we don't drop behind too much. I have a feeling Stephenson might be the X-factor in this game.

27/11/13 @ Charlotte
W
We should win this, Jefferson is coming back, but I expect Roy to shut him down just enough. The Cats haven't been bad this season though, so it won't be as straightforward as it has been in recent years. Will be good to see J. McRoberts back in the Fieldhouse. I expect D. West to be the difference maker though, so let's hope McRoberts doesn't have a great night.

29/11/13 VS Washington
W
As it is at home I expect this to be a W as well. That would take us to 15-1 (if we win the Minny game) a great start all-round. Washington is a potential banana-skin though, if Beal and Wall heat up enough they are a threat. I expect Roy to be strong defensively in this game against Gortat/Nene. Paul George will be the difference offensively.

1/12/13 @ Clippers
50/50
First of a long and hard Western road-trip. This game is going to define the way the whole trip goes I feel. We should be able to make things very difficult if we can exploit the paint offensively. We need a fully focussed defensive effort though and I am going to call this a 50/50.

2/12/13 @ Portland
L
I don't know what happened to Portland, did anybody expect them to do this well? With Robin Lopez replacing Hickson they now have a viable big man to patrol the paint. We all know LMA is a threat and West will have his work cut out with him. Our bench will have to make the difference here, Stephenson needs to be productive in that second unit and we need Scola to be very productive as well. I don't think we will take this game, if we do that will be a massive bonus.

4/12/13 @ Utah
W
Time to rest some weary heads against a massively underwhelming Utah Jazz. We should have our way inside on the grounds that Kanter is a very young Center with lots to learn, Hibbert should prove way too much for him. Favors is potentially solid but has been underwhelming so far this season. I am hoping for a blow-out so we can rest some legs in the fourth quarter. It will take a good start to the game though. PG to be man of the match.

7/12/13 @ San Antonio
L
I am really looking forward to this match-up. It should be a cracking game as I suspect Pop will want to try his best against a potential Finals opponent. Kawhi Leonard versus Paul George should be a great two-way battle and Hill will want to play well against his old team. Add the apparently good relationship between Hibbert and Duncan and there are plenty of good story lines. I think the Spurs will be just a bit too much on the grounds that this is the fourth game in the west in a week. If we win Paul George will be responsible.

8/12/13 @ Oklahoma
L
The biggest problem here is that it comes a day after the Spurs game. I think we are better than OKC but there will be weary legs out there, PG24 will have to be full-on against Durant and with Westbrook healthy Hill will have his work cut out as well. We could win IF we manage to control the paint on both sides, Hibbert should be able to dominate Perkins but again, tired legs will play a role. If we do win it means Hibbert has done a great job.

10/12/13 VS Miami
L
Unfortunately I expect the road-trip to impact on this game, I think it might be our first longish losing streak of the season. Miami will feel that this is an ideal game to claw lost ground back/add to the lead. I expect James to have found some rhythm after his apparent injury problem at the start of the season, making it the third game in a row where PG24 has a tough match-up. If we win it will be because of Paul George making the difference and it would be a massive bonus, but I don't see it at the moment.

I like it but I think we will win the OKC game. This group is really mentally tough and I don't think they are going to drop two in a row... at least not yet.

Anything is possible though .

[EuroPacer]

Welcome to the forum npchristian

I agree the group is tough and I hope to be pleasantly surprised, but I have this feeling the combination of opponents and the timescale is just going to prove a bit too much, hopefully you are right though! Winning the OKC game this trip will be a massive bonus.

[Starkiller]

Also about the Spurs, historically, Pop owns us.

[SmashMouthRod]

It is a tough road trip. I think they will end up .500 on it though. The game against Portland in the Rose Garden will be tough. They are playing out of their minds lately and have good bench production. Defensively Indy can match up with any of the teams. I think San Antonio will be an interesting matchup as well for the reason StarKiller presented. But should be a win. OKC and Miami will be games I will watch closely because those could be potential ECF and NBA finals matchups. Paul George will undoubtedly prove if he has made the jump in this stretch. I predict he will play very well and that the team drops only 1 of the games unless an injury occurs. I expect Granger to be back soon to help.

[EuroPacer]

Well, first prediction was on target, great game for George Hill, he bossed Minny around today.

Also love that we had another fast start, it looks like the offense is really rolling now compared to the first ten or so games, other teams had better start to become weary if we keep playing like this. I was not impressed with the bench production though, pretty poor overall: Can someone teach OJ to shoot threes when closed down... two airballs is a bit embarrassing, even when under pressure! I think a lot of it might have to do with the 8 player rotation run by Adelman, I also think that is responsible for Minny's inability to perform in the final quarter.

I thought Roy had a very quiet game (he did a great job shutting down Pekovic in the paint though) but only realised Mahinmi had had a better game coming off the bench after seeing the box-score. Well done Ian!

[mizzoupacers]

That's a bitch of a six-game stretch after the Charlotte game!

Go into the West Coast trip 15-1, beat Utah, and pick off one of the other four teams, and I'll feel good about how things have gone heading into the Miami game. Then you really want to beat Miami on your own court.

[EuroPacer]

Funny, I posted it would be good to see McBob back in the Fieldhouse whilst knowing it was at Charlotte... At least the prediction was accurate. Loved seeing Hill take it to the hoop aggressively in Q1.
Watson was obviously tremendous, scary shooting in the fourth quarter.

Also: I was VERY impressed with Kidd-Gilchrist defending PG24, this is the first time I have seen a defender actually able to make every look PG got difficult.

[mikepacernation]

As we all know, we have had a great start to the season. The coming ten or so games are going to be very tough though, I thought I'd try my hand at some predicting (whilst procrastinating).

25/11/13 VS Minnesota
W
I think we just about got this. Minny has been playing well and they are incredibly productive this season (over 106 per game), Martin was a very good pick-up for them, but our defense at home should be enough to shut their production down just enough. However, we need a solid offensive performance from the bench players to ensure we don't drop behind too much. I have a feeling Stephenson might be the X-factor in this game.

27/11/13 @ Charlotte
W
We should win this, Jefferson is coming back, but I expect Roy to shut him down just enough. The Cats haven't been bad this season though, so it won't be as straightforward as it has been in recent years. Will be good to see J. McRoberts back in the Fieldhouse. I expect D. West to be the difference maker though, so let's hope McRoberts doesn't have a great night.

29/11/13 VS Washington
W
As it is at home I expect this to be a W as well. That would take us to 15-1 (if we win the Minny game) a great start all-round. Washington is a potential banana-skin though, if Beal and Wall heat up enough they are a threat. I expect Roy to be strong defensively in this game against Gortat/Nene. Paul George will be the difference offensively.

1/12/13 @ Clippers
50/50
First of a long and hard Western road-trip. This game is going to define the way the whole trip goes I feel. We should be able to make things very difficult if we can exploit the paint offensively. We need a fully focussed defensive effort though and I am going to call this a 50/50.

2/12/13 @ Portland
L
I don't know what happened to Portland, did anybody expect them to do this well? With Robin Lopez replacing Hickson they now have a viable big man to patrol the paint. We all know LMA is a threat and West will have his work cut out with him. Our bench will have to make the difference here, Stephenson needs to be productive in that second unit and we need Scola to be very productive as well. I don't think we will take this game, if we do that will be a massive bonus.

4/12/13 @ Utah
W
Time to rest some weary heads against a massively underwhelming Utah Jazz. We should have our way inside on the grounds that Kanter is a very young Center with lots to learn, Hibbert should prove way too much for him. Favors is potentially solid but has been underwhelming so far this season. I am hoping for a blow-out so we can rest some legs in the fourth quarter. It will take a good start to the game though. PG to be man of the match.

7/12/13 @ San Antonio
L
I am really looking forward to this match-up. It should be a cracking game as I suspect Pop will want to try his best against a potential Finals opponent. Kawhi Leonard versus Paul George should be a great two-way battle and Hill will want to play well against his old team. Add the apparently good relationship between Hibbert and Duncan and there are plenty of good story lines. I think the Spurs will be just a bit too much on the grounds that this is the fourth game in the west in a week. If we win Paul George will be responsible.

8/12/13 @ Oklahoma
L
The biggest problem here is that it comes a day after the Spurs game. I think we are better than OKC but there will be weary legs out there, PG24 will have to be full-on against Durant and with Westbrook healthy Hill will have his work cut out as well. We could win IF we manage to control the paint on both sides, Hibbert should be able to dominate Perkins but again, tired legs will play a role. If we do win it means Hibbert has done a great job.

10/12/13 VS Miami
L
Unfortunately I expect the road-trip to impact on this game, I think it might be our first longish losing streak of the season. Miami will feel that this is an ideal game to claw lost ground back/add to the lead. I expect James to have found some rhythm after his apparent injury problem at the start of the season, making it the third game in a row where PG24 has a tough match-up. If we win it will be because of Paul George making the difference and it would be a massive bonus, but I don't see it at the moment.

so far ur prediction have been true the clips game could've gone either way


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[EuroPacer]

Yeah, pleased this game fell to us. I hope to be wrong on a number of the others, but even if I am not, coming out of this stretch with a 17-5 record is not bad.

Tomorrow is going to be a really tough game, I really don't think we will win that, if we do I will be very happy.

[EuroPacer]

Sorry for double post, just wanted to add my reaction to the Blazers game.

Sad to see I was right, although I havent seen the game yet, it looks like it was close all the way. I really had hoped for Stephenson doing more than foul this game though, I am not quite sure why our back court struggled so much, maybe seeing the game will explain that!

Utah in a couple of days, lets go Pacers!

[EuroPacer]

Triple post

I really did not think we would come out of this stretch with only two losses. The wins against both of our biggest challengers are real bonuses. Losing to OKC on the back of the game at the Spurs was, in my mind, completely acceptable and expected. The game against the Blazers shows that back-to-backs are our achilles heel when it comes to playing two strong teams in a row.

19-3... still can't quite get my head around it.

[Wizop]

and all 3 losses are on the second night of back to backs. crossing fingers that Granger will provide the depth we're missing.

[Moooose]

Vogel's gotta do something about those back to back's. It wears down our bigs, at least from what I have observed. I do hope Granger can somehow take the minutes off either West or Scola on a small ball lineup.

[Wizop]

I think it'll be enough if Granger can take minutes off of Lance and PG. Scola can rest West and if the opponent goes small, we have Copeland.

[Moooose]

^ That's the ideal scenario but we haven't seen Copeland log in decent minutes as a reliever to either West or Scola. He's too slow to guard the SF's and not that physical enough to guard the opposing PF's as well, just like what he did in our game against Chicago.