Wolves vs Nets

The Wolves will showcase their depth tonight in Brooklyn. 


Still Hibernating:

Rubio and Love are still recovering and hope for them to see the floor in by mid-December.

Rubio is set to start cutting in practice.

Love has not hinted that the set 6 - 8 recovery period has fluctuated.

Brandon Roy, as to be expected, has not caught up with the pace of the league he said goodbye to just last  year.  He had 5 turnovers and did not take any shots, in the first half, of Sunday's loss to the Raptors.
 
 Just Pups:

Alexey Shved, Will Conroy, and Malcolm Lee will all see extended minutes.


Wildcats to Wolves:

Chase Budinger and Derrick Williams will need to show why the feline species isn't all that bad on the hardwood either.  Derrick starts are sure to be limited as the year moves on and needs to show he has the ability to be a make plays when called upon.

Brooklyn:

Gerald Wallace and Josh Childress are inactive.

Second game played in new Barclay's Center.

Defeated Raptors 107 - 100 Saturday.

Wolves must keep their Alpha-Males (Pek, AK47,Stiemsma) out of foul trouble. 

Contain Deron Williams or he'll go all Kyle Lowry on us. (22-7-5)

HOWL

Spurs

Anybody got any nicknames for the Spurs?  Preferably degrading..

Brooklyn

Basketball is back in Brooklyn, if you were not already aware. 

No reason the Nets should let this remain close, but MAN, Melo is lickin' his chops to play under this kind of atmosphere. 

Nets will compete all year which will add some more Flavor that is lacking out East.

Finally....

@xZaCh

Steve Nash

I want to come clean, I'm not going to be upset if the Lakers win the title.  I will continue to despise the Lakers as a whole, but, to see Steve win a title would make an inevitable Heat - Lakers final bearable. 

Worth noting that Batum has so far earned hiz dollazz.  Him playing well all season is sure to leave Wolves fans with a bitter tasting 'what could have been' Halloween Candy.

TrickOrTreat.
Zach

The World Series

I know, I know.  Game 1's already in the books.  Let's forget that for just a moment.....  And forget that I got both LCS wrong, while we're at it.

Starting Pitching
Verlander, Fister, Sanchez, Scherzer
vs
Zito, Bumgarner, Vogelsong, Cain

Advantage: Tigers

Verlander-Zito is probably the mismatch of the series.  Zito has been the pitching equivalent of Vernon Wells the past few years, and yet here he is, starting game 1 of the World Series with a possibility of getting a second ring.  It's crazy, and yet here it is.  Verlander, however, has been the most dominant pitcher of this postseason, and the potential to see him three times in this series, however slim, really tips the scales.  Vogelsong has been a revelation in his own right, and he's got the edge in his game, but that's the only one where SF has the decided advantage.  Cain is amazing, but Scherzer has been smouldering, himself.  Bumgarner has all the talent in the world, but hasn't shown it of late.  It's a close one, but the Tigers have to take this.

Verlander >>>> Zito
Fister > Bumgarner
Sanchez << Vogelsong
Scherzer < Cain

(And of course, Verlander gets torched game 1.  Hooray small sample sizes!)

Bullpen
Valverde, Benoit, Coke, Dotel
vs
Romo, Affeldt, Casilla, Lincecum

Advantage: Giants

I simply cannot get behind a team that relies on Valverde right now.  I've been shouting from the rooftops that he's not that good ever since his days in Houston, but I didn't see an implosion like this coming.  Conversely, Lincecum moving to the pen has strengthened this unit to the point of impenetrability.  Brian Wilson?  Who needs him?

Lineup
Jackson 8, Infante 4, Cabrera 5, Fielder 3, Young 7, Peralta 6, Garcia 9, Avila 2
vs
Pagan 8, Scutaro 4, Sandoval 5, Posey 2, Pence 9, Belt 3, Blanco 7, Crawford 6

Advantage: Tigers

This is another tough one, considering how the Giants have hit in the past few games, but Cabrera and Fielder are better than anything the Giants would put up there.  Granted, Posey's next, and he's pretty darn good, but then I'd probably put AJax, and 3 of the top 4 is enough to swing things toward the Tigers.  Defensively, the Giants have a pretty big advantage in skill, but all small-sample caveats apply.  Yeah, the Tigers are more likely to gaffe, but that doesn't mean they will.

Prediction:  Giants in 6

After all that, I still think the Giants win.  Call it a feeling, and say what you want about momentum, but the Giants sure feel like they're the chosen team this year.  I picked them to lose both round 1 and 2, and yet here they are.  Why not a couple more wins?

St. Louis vs San Francisco

And here I was 0 for 2.  I'd like to think Washington will be back, and I think they should be, but that' still a painful way to exit the playoffs.

Starting Pitching
Lynn, Carpenter, Lohse, Wainwright
vs
Bumgarner, Vogelsong, Cain, Zito?

Advantage: Cardinals

Yeah, I think Matt Cain is the best of the bunch.  And I can't say that the St. Louis bunch acquitted themselves all that well last round.  However, I still think I'd take Waino and Carpenter over Bumgarner.  This year, I might take Loshe and maybe Lynn over him.  Over their career, MadBum should be better than those two, possibly even Wainwright, but not yet, not now.  And, while they may not have announced it, Barry Zito may be making a postseason start for San Fran.  That immediately swings the advantage the other way.

Lynn < Bumgarner
Carpenter >> Vogelsong
Lohse <<< Cain
Wainwright >>>>......> Zito

Bullpen
Motte, Boggs, Mujica, Rosenthal
vs
Romo, Lincecum, Affeldt, Casilla

Advantage: Giants

Well, I can't much put Lincecum anywhere else, can I?  The Cards did a splendid job shutting down the Nats in late-game situations, outside of that one Werth bomb.  The Giants just look better right now with Romo and Casilla shutting down the back end and Lincecum available for the long role.  The wild-card in this mix is top prospect Shelby Miller in the Cardinals' pen.  He's got big league stuff, but didn't make an appearance in the Division Series.  He could be the Cards' answer to Lincecum's long relief, which might be enough to swing this toward the Cards.

Lineup
Jay 8, Beltran 9, Holliday 7, Craig 3, Molina 2, Freese 5, Descalso 4, Kozma 6
vs
Pagan 8, Scutaro 4, Sandoval 5, Posey 2, Pence 9, Belt 3, Blanco 7, Crawford 6

Advantage: Cardinals

For me, it really comes down to the 2 hole here.  Beltran is still a hitter capable of power, speed, and average.  Scutaro has average, and a little speed.  The 3-6 for both lineups stack up pretty evenly.  Yeah, I'd take Posey over Craig, though Craig has been pretty good.  I'd take Molina over Pence, especially since Pence has been hurt.  And, to be honest, the Cards have been hotter.  They hit .265/.378/.458 against a damn good Nationals pitching staff.  The Giants put up a sub-.200 team line against a similarly-talented Reds staff.

Prediction: Cards in 6
They were the team nobody was talking about heading into the playoffs, as the last team in the NL to clinch.  Without Pujols, they don't have the same name impact they used to.  But now they're hot.  And whatever you may attribute "hot" to, even down to random statistical aberration, in a short series, it doesn't take much to win and send you on. 

Mulligan Please?

Over the past 15 years, there have been many mistakes made by every single franchise when it comes to drafting in the NFL.  Tom Brady stands out the most of course, but not even the top scouts across the country could have predicted what was going to come from Tom Brady over the next decade.  Looking back with the knowledge that we have now, it’s really easy to see who messed up over the years, and who made the correct selections.  Yet, I still think there were situations in which the teams knew exactly what they could have drafted, but decided to go in a different route anyway.  I.e. Any team could’ve traded up with the Saint Louis Rams to select Robert Griffin III, who should go down as one of the better quarterbacks of this generation.  It was an open auction for 30 NFL franchises, and a couple of organizations could have really helped themselves.  (Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs – I’m looking at you.)  For the next four years, RG3 would likely be better than their current quarterbacks, and he’d cost half the price.  Here are my top 5.

#5.  Tim Couch going #1 to the Cleveland Browns.  (1999) For those that don’t remember, the Kentucky Wildcats were one of the first teams in the NCAA to switch to the spread offense, when the West Coast and Pro-Set were still in high demand.  Yes, Tim Couch threw some fantastic numbers while playing for Kentucky.  But they threw deep, and they threw a lot.  There wasn’t much to see in his case as far as accuracy was concerned, and he never really had to beat a pass rush.  I believed that Donovan McNabb was the best quarterback prospect in that draft, but better for the Browns would’ve been Ricky Williams or Edgerrin James.  Their line was crap (they were an expansion team), and Tim never really had the quality, coaching, or teammates to take him to a high level.  Credit to him though, he did avoid the rush adequately, and his rookie season showed more passing TD’s than interceptions.  But, Donovan’s wheels may have helped him avoid an ever-consistent pass rush, and either of the two running backs would’ve taken the pressure off of a quarterback playing immediately.  The Browns running back that year?  -- Terry frickin’ Kirby. 

#4. Courtney Brown going #1 to the Cleveland Browns. (2000) Yes, the Browns defense was pretty bad in their inaugural season, but that offense couldn’t move the ball either.  I really enjoyed the tandem of Courtney Brown and LaVar Arrington at Penn State.  But the Big Ten was really light that year, and I think both benefited from having the other.  Neither one should’ve gone as high as they did.  Chris Samuels was the #3 pick to the Washington Redskins and started immediately.  Lomas Brown was a serviceable LT for the Browns, but did they forget he was 36!?  Chris Samuels and Donovan McNabb definitely change the Browns trajectory.

#3. David Carr going #1 to the Houston Texans. (2002)  I already believe that the Houston Texans understood their mistake when years later they decided to draft Mario Williams #1 overall, when most believed that three players should have been drafted prior to him.  The mistake that led to this selection. - Passing up on one of the greatest physical specimen in NFL history, that of Julius Peppers.  He played two college sports at a high level.  He had one of the greatest scouting combine performances in history.  Even watching him, one could tell he was a great player waiting to happen.  Yet, the Texans thought that a quarterback coming out of Fresno State, who had yet to play against great competition was the way to go.  He didn’t even show great accuracy there either.  In these teams’ defense, strong armed quarterbacks were the way to go during this era.  Thank you Peyton Manning.   I guess the good news is that they didn’t draft Joey Harrington.  Although, I had him rated higher than David Carr at that time anyway, because he won some significant games while at Oregon.  And even though things led to the Texans drafting Mario Williams years later, many would probably agree that Julius Peppers is and would have been the better player for the Houston Texans. 

#2. The Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens select Todd Heap with the #31 pick. (2001)  Don’t get me wrong, this pick could have been way worse.  They actually drafted quite the player at the end of the first round.  Yet the entire world knew what the Baltimore Ravens didn’t have at the time, and that was a quarterback.  The quarterback selected right after Heap?  Drew Brees.  Now, there are many reasons why this happened.  First, no one wanted a short quarterback in those days.  Drew might be six feet tall on a good day.  Second, his arm strength was lacking.  When a Mr. Russell is selected #1 in an NFL draft, you know what is valued and what is overlooked.  But I still haven’t seen someone come out of college with the throwing accuracy of one Drew Brees.  RG3 is quite close though.  Matt Ryan does well in this department too.  But Drew had the most overlooked attribute in the NFL in abundance when he came out of Purdue in 2001.  Intangibles!  He is a born leader.  He shows no fear.  He doesn’t feed into all the criticisms.  Joe Flacco has been to the NFL playoffs every year of his NFL career, but how much of that can be attributed to him?  This defense would’ve been a gift for Drew, and Drew would’ve been the same for them.  Baltimore could’ve challenged New England and Indianapolis year after year if they had just been ahead of the curve and drafted a short quarterback without great arm strength out of an Indiana school by the name of Drew Brees. 

#1. The aforementioned JaMarcus Russell is taken #1 before a number of NFL greats. (2007)  With the exception of Jamaal Anderson going #8 to the Atlanta Falcons, the Oakland Raiders could have selected any other top ten player and gotten more production.(Calvin Johnson, Joe Thomas, Adrian Peterson, etc)  Or they could’ve guessed correctly and drafted Darrelle Revis or Pat Willis and been set for 10 years.  I doubt that would’ve happened; I don’t think anyone knew that two Hall of Famers were about to go #11 and #14 in this draft.  But the whole world knew that Calvin Johnson would probably be one of the all-time greats.  A scout had said that prior to the draft that he had seen 3 perfect prospects during the 25 years of scouting for the NFL.  Two of them were the #1 pick in their drafts (John Elway, Peyton Manning).  The other was Calvin Johnson, and he went #2.  Shame, I say.  JaMarcus Russell might be the only player in NFL history that didn’t have a single productive game.* On top of that, they had Daunte Culpepper and Josh McCown at the time. Give Daunte Culpepper a Calvin Johnson instead of what they had, (Ronald Curry & Jerry Porter) and the Raiders may have had a fighting chance.

*Note – He had one.  18 for 25, 236 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 turnovers.  Against the Houston Texans in 2008.