11/10/12 Wolves @ Bulls
Wow, what a game last night. Let us first bask in the glory of AK47's unbelievable poise and unselfishness, Budinger's brilliant cut, and Gerald Green's great fantastic defense.
Tonight the Wolves face a similarily undermanned Chicago Bulls squad in Chi-town. Some brief keys to the game.
-Bench Play. Yet again. The Wolves' depth and team efforts have been critical in this shocking early season run through 5 games. The Bulls have more depth than some of the other teams the Wolves have faced to date, but still got worse this offseason. With Budinger likely getting the start in place of Roy tonight, and Barea out, our depth is starting to suffer a touch. It will take a complete team victory and another big game from Shved off the bench to get the dub tonight. HAM is slowly becoming sort of a poor-man's Taj Gibson here in Minnesota, and his role tonight vs. Taj will be crucial. But we have Stiemsma, and the rest of the league does not.
-Boozer/D-Will. Probably the Bulls' best offensive weapon tonight with a favorable matchup against D-Will. Derrick will have to hustle early to contain him, and keep working hard. Is it just me, or is Derrick looking like a more well-rounded contributor thus far to start the year? His defense has been passable and he is not forcing his shots as much. As a D-Will cynic, his play of late is encouraging for his future as a contributor. Even Adelman has been singing his praises
-Back to Back #2. The Wolves' 2nd back to back effort of the season starts tonight. While the schedule-makers were kind in terms of the opposition to start the year, the games to date have been rather condensed. Last week had tilts against Toronto and Brooklyn on back to back nights with the Wolves obviously emerging victorious in Brooklyn. Let's see how they respond on night 2 on the road tonight with fewer options.
-Prediction. Embrace Homerism. I am forever conditioned to expect the worst from this team, but this unexpected run to start the year is starting to change the mantality. While predicting a win tonight is very tempting, the Bulls have more firepower in the starting lineup and thus will likely emerge victorious. If the Wolves do win tonight, it's time for a full-on switch to blind homerism. Especially with the Bobcats coming to town in a few short days.
Not much else. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and tune in at 7:00 tonight to catch the game.
@Daddyfatsax He'll be playing soon enough. These injuries are just devastating.
Good stuff. Hopefully we can somehow win this game?!?! Man, that would be EPIC! I don't like our chances though, because the team is sooooo thin right now due to injuries. Bummer. We might be able to keep it close though? If we win this one, holy crap I'll eat an infinite amount of crow. I just can't see it happening. :-(
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@CollegeWolf If we did the research, I am 89% sure this team is the most injured over the past two years of ALL the teams in the league. It's a travashamockery.
Oh, CW...Derrick Williams looked awfully solid on D. His man defense was even stout much of the time...He is giving HAM a run for his money! Way to go #2 pick, you're almost a backup!
@Daddyfatsax Yeah man, our injuries have been just freakin UNREAL. I would definitely bet we are one of the top teams in the league with "games lost" the past few seasons.
Williams is almost as good as our backup PF that we traded a backup shoint guard for. Yay!!!
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@CollegeWolf Well, Lee is likely as good or a better defender (That's what he is known for) and can finish inside better. So...Maybe Derrick Williams can score in the mid-range game better?
@Daddyfatsax Considering their draft positions, Lee is not any worse than Williams.
And gall damn that is freakin depressing.
@CollegeWolf I spoke too soon. He's terrible this game.
They are hanging with the Bulls, that's good. Malcolm Lee is playing amazing basketball...fine, a bit of an exaggeration. but he's been fine. Showing he might be an NBA player!
@Daddyfatsax @CollegeWolf I was actually impressed by Williams' passing last night.Also, more injured than the Blazers? Eh.
