Howlin' T-Wolf

Previews: ESPN-AP, Star Tribune

Advanced Stats courtesy of Hoopdata:

Offensive Efficiency:

Wolves: 91.3 points/100 possessions (28th)

Clippers: 101.9 points/100 possessions (21st)

Defensive Efficiency:

Wolves: 106.9 points allowed/100 possessions (24th)

Clippers: 104.8 points allowed/100 possessions (19th)

Probable Clippers starters:

Baron Davis, Ricky Davis, Al Thornton, Marcus Camby, Chris Kaman

Bonus!: You need more than Ricky Davis!??! How about Craig “The Rhino” Smith but this time with goggles!

The Wolves came oh so close to beating the Clippers in their last meeting but fell 93-90 on November 2nd. Then again that was the same week they somehow hung with the Celtics. In reality that week was an aberration as they shot the lights out against the Celtics and the Clippers were merely trying to give the game away down the stretch.

The key again for the Wolves is to put 4 good quarters together which they haven’t been able to do at all this season. But as seen previously if any team is going to give them a second chance it just might be the Clippers.

Keys to the game:

Finding another scorer besides Al Jefferson. This has by far been the biggest problem for them this season as Jonny Flynn’s scoring ability has been mostly handcuffed by Rambis’ desire for him to get the offense running and be a traditional point guard. (Read that sentence again, it’s a contradiction I know.) In fact the more this goes on the more you have to question a coach trying to fit the players into the system rather than find a system to fit the players. Flynn’s ability to create is what allows him to score which in turn allows him to dish once the defense reacts. Without him scoring early he neither gets in a rhythm nor is able to create for his teammates. The only other efficient second scorer we’ve seen this season was Ramon’s game against Houston last week when the second unit came in and rebounded and were able to get out and run.

Rebounding. Going against twin towers Camby and Kaman, and not to mention Smith off the bench, the Wolves need to key in on rebounding the ball tonight. If they can they just might be able to get out and run and create some offense the easy way. It’s also key to their offense as they don’t shoot well they need as many second chance points as they can get.

Mental Toughness. This is the key Rambis has been harping after every game. This team continues to breakdown every game just all of a sudden when one or two bad things happen. Somebody needs to step up and anchor this team through those stretches and get the to play with mental toughness for all 4 quarters. Paging Jonny Flynn, paging Jonny Flynn.

Prediction: The Wolves shoot the ball better than usual, Jonny is allowed to create on offense and run the pick-and-roll with Hollins and finishes with 24 points, the Wolves win the rebounding category and are able to run for 20 fastbreak points, and the Clippers stumble down the stretch which all leads to the Wolves second win of the season 103-94. Believe it? Yea, neither do I. Probably another 98-92 type loss that really wasn’t that close. But hey maybe it won’t be by double digits for the first time in 8 games.