Owner Real Deal Posted December 24, 2011 Owner Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 TIME: 7:00 PM ET TV: NBALP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owner Real Deal Posted January 9, 2012 Author Owner Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 The Minnesota Timberwolves haven't won a game in Toronto in nearly eight years, but there's reason to believe that slide could be coming to an end. Ricky Rubio looks to build on another encouraging performance for the Timberwolves on Monday night against a Raptors team coming off an embarrassing loss. After spending the last two years playing in Spain, Rubio is quickly emerging as a solid NBA point guard. In Sunday's 93-72 win over Washington, the rookie finished with 13 points, a career-high 14 assists - one fewer than the entire Wizards team - and six rebounds. He came off the bench with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter with the Timberwolves (3-5) down by four points and quickly hit a 22-foot jump shot to start a 17-2 run that gave Minnesota - plus-29 when Rubio was in the game - the lead for good. Rubio has recorded two double-doubles in the last three games and is establishing a strong relationship with Kevin Love, assisting on four of his seven field goals Sunday. "We're happy to have him now," said Love, who had 20 points and 16 rebounds - his eighth straight game with at least 20 and 12. "Today's just an example of how good he is - and how good he can be. Who's to say? He's still working on his jump shot. He's still working on his game." Derrick Williams, the No. 2 overall pick in last year's draft, is also developing into a solid player. He finished with a season-best 14 points and seven rebounds on Sunday. The Timberwolves were opening a back-to-back-to-back stretch - all without forward Michael Beasley, who sprained his right foot during Friday's loss to Cleveland - while the Raptors play their first of three games in as many days beginning Monday. Toronto (3-5) has dominated the recent series with Minnesota, winning 13 of 14 since 2004-05, but the Wolves did beat the Raptors 103-87 at home on Jan. 29. The addition of Rubio and Williams could be enough to help Minnesota snap a seven-game losing streak in Toronto in which they've lost by an average of 10.9 points.http://www.nba.com/games/20120109/MINTOR/gameinfo.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headliner Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Minnesota has a deep talented young team this will be a tough match up for the Raptors at every position. Raptors just need to player tough defensive and solid execution on the offensive end. Demar needs to step up on both ends to give the team a fighting chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 How badly does Love outrebound Bargnani tonight? 2-1?3-1?4-1?5-1? I'll go with him getting 20 boards to Bargnani's 5, so 4-1. It will be difficult with him having to guard Bargs on the perimeter all night, but I have faith in him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Johnson making Love look like Bargnani on the boards. Maybe I should've asked how bad Amir will out rebound Love by? 4-1 for Amir so far including 3 offensive boards. I really don't like how passive DeRozan has been to start this game. He has touched the ball in the post twice and immediately passed it back out one time, took a few pointless dribbles the next time and then threw it out again. Bargnani ended up scoring on one play, but I still want to see him be more aggressive when he gets a mismatch. He did have a nice drive at the very start of the game, but he missed it and since then hasn't looked to attack at all. Bargnani has been very aggressive, though, which is nice to see. Almost all of his shots have been right around the hoop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 That is how DeRozan should play. Gets Barea in the post, establishes position, gets the ball, immediately backs him down and shoots right over him for the basket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 J. Johnson and Davis both with some very impressive blocks on Rubio. James Johnson really is one hell of a shot blocker when you consider his size and the position he plays. If he was 6'10 or so instead of 6'7-8, I honestly think he would be one of the league leaders in blocks. His timing really is impressive. Some really soft calls have been made against the Raptors so far in this game. Barea has been gifted an And 1 already (not to mention getting away with an obvious travel) and Randolph got a very, very weak ball out call against Amir who was, at least from what I saw, completely straight up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Lmao. Wolves have taken 14 free throws in 5 minutes this quarter. And... make that 16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 DeRozan really is useless with the ball in his hands. Just runs right through Rubio without even attempting to make any sort of move. Triano did a great job of using screens and cuts to free him up, which is how he is going to be effectively offensively. This season he has been basically a glorified spot up shooter and given the ball in late clock scenarios. Both of those are areas where he does not thrive in. They really need to find a way to get him moving and utilizing screens because he clearly isn't capable of creating for himself right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Toronto is picking apart the Wolves right now. Amir is busting his ass keeping Love off the glass. He hasn't always succeeded, but he has done as good of a job as you could hope. He has also played great defense on him. On offense, Bargnani is hitting everything right now. He is playing with so much confidence right now and everything he takes looks like it is going to fall. He is also doing a nice job using his length on defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Barbosa comes into the game and the Raptors lead falls from 12 to 4 in a matter of 3 minutes. He is really becoming a cancer to this team. He needs to be dealt ASAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunkinDerozan Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I'm a bit late but I just want to say I was very impressed by Amir Johnson's ability to defend Kevin Love all game long. He really shut him down and that was what won us the game. Not to mention him getting 19 points. Bargnani was also very good putting up 31 points. The only problem I saw was Derozan again appeared a bit shaky. Hopefully he bounces back soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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