NUGGETS PROBABLE STARTERS
KEY
POS. NO. PLAYER
HEIGHT WEIGHT
PPG RPG APG (Points, Rebounds, & Assists Per Game)
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
Small Forward 15 Carmelo Anthony
6-8, 230
2006-07: 28.9 6.0 3.8
Finished the preseason ranking sixth in the NBA in scoring with an average of 19.0 ppg in five games.
Power Forward #4 Kenyon Martin
6-9, 240
Career: 14.8 7.4 2.2
Shot an impressive .619 (13-21) from the field during his three preseason appearances
Center #23 Marcus Camby
6-11, 235
2006-07: 11.2 11.7 3.2
Finished the preseason ranking first in the NBA in rebounds with an average of 15.0 rpg in three games.
Shooting Guard #5 Yakhouba Diawara
6-7, 225
2006-07: 2.1 1.7 0.9
Closed out the preseason with 12 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals at Portland on 10/26.
Point Guard 3 Allen Iverson
6-0, 165
2006-07: 24.8 3.0 7.2
Finished the preseason tied for first in scoring (21.0) and ranking sixth in assists (6.0) in six appearances
TIMBERWOLVES PROBABLE STARTERS
KEY
POSITION NUMBER PLAYER
HEIGHT WEIGHT
PRESEASON STATS: PPG FG% RPG APG SPG/BPG
Small Forward #8 Ryan Gomes
6-7 250
Preseason: 9.2 pts (53.8%), 5.5 reb, 1.2 ast, 0.50 stl
Power Forward #25 Al Jefferson
6-10 265
Preseason: 17.9 pts (55.2%), 13.4 reb, 0.9 ast, 0.63 blk
Center #42 Theo Ratliff
6-10 235
Preseason: 7.6 pts (60.0%), 4.4 reb, 1.0 ast, 2.80 blk
Shooting Guard #1 Rashad McCants
6-4 210
Preseason: 15.2 pts (52.0%), 2.6 reb, 2.6 ast, 1.20 stl
Point Guard #3 Sebastian Telfair
6-0 175
Preseason: 8.3 pts (38.1%), 3.7 reb, 3.7 ast, 1.33 stl
NUGGETS INJURY REPORT
OUT: Anthony Carter suffered a 3rd metacarpal fracture on his right hand and underwent successful surgery on 10/10. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks
OUT: Chucky Atkins suffered a severe right groin strain at Phoenix on 10/25 and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.
TIMBERWOLVES INJURY REPORT
OUT: Guard Randy Foye: Sidelined indefinitely with a stress reaction in his left patella, an injury that caused him to miss five preseason contests (Oct. 15-23).
OUT: Forward Mark Madsen: Underwent surgery on Aug. 17 to repair the pectoral muscle in his right shoulder, and is expected to be sidelined until mid-November.
ON THE AIR
Tonight’s game will be televised on Altitude with Chris Marlowe and Scott Hastings handling the telecast. The game will be broadcast on KKFN AM 950, with Jerry Schemmel doing the play-by-play and Jason Kosmicki hosting the studio courtside.
KEY MATCHUP: SG Yakhouba Diawara vs Rashad McCants
George Karl probably will stick with Yak over Linas Kleiza as 2-spot starter. Rashad McCants, with Ricky Davis gone, has the chance of a lifetime to get his career untracked. Will McCants explode against Diawara? It’s within the realm of possibility. It's also a very real possibility, as always, that Yak will come up almost empty offensively. If the Wolves clean up at this position, and Al Jefferson hangs tough against Camby and Martin, this will be a contest.
NUGGET'S KEYS TO VICTORY
Stay Cool and Confident - The Nuggets can hardly lose as long as they stay calm, cool, and confident. They need to keep turnovers and 3-point attempts within reason, and it should be a relatively easy win. But yes, I know, the Nuggets are not known in recent years for easy wins.
Distribute the Ball - Iverson, the new NBA assists leader, needs to continue to do exactly what he did against the Sonics. Iverson dishing to Kleiza on the perimeter has become a particularly deadly Nuggets weapon. A.I. should avoid the big temptation of jacking up alot of long jumpers against Telfair, and he should let Melo and Kleiza worry about the threes for now.
Watch out for Al Jefferson- If Nene is not playing well, or much, then Al Jefferson poses a bigger threat. Camby and K-Mart alone are going to have to make sure that Al Jefferson, who had a big preseason, is kept under control.
TIMBERWOLVE'S KEYS TO VICTORY
Contain & Limit Melo as Much as Possible - This is always one of the keys for any opponent of the Nuggets. Under the Karl regime, Melo is alot more reluctant to shoot if double teamed than he used to be, so you can always double team him if all else fails.
Go After Iverson- Try to rattle Iverson by getting him into foul trouble and by pressuring him to turn it over alot. If you can rattle him enough, he might start resorting to the shoot first, shoot second, and pass third mentality, which would be very dangerous for the Nuggets.
Give Rashad McCants a Total Green Light - Tell McCants to shoot at will. McCants shot 52% in the preseason, and with Minnesota emptied of high octane veterans and hurting injury wise, McCants and Telfair have a rare, wide open opportunity to get something going. So Telfair, and especially McCants, should go all out for the home opener win.
OVERALL PREDICTIONS
Most folks are predicting that the Wolves are going to lose a lot of games this year, anywhere from 55 to 70 of them. But this is their home opener, and there are young players on the team who have the chance of a lifetime to improve their games. But if you had to predict, you would predict that no one for the Wolves is going to have a huge game, and so the Nuggets will control the tempo and, by the end of the 3rd quarter at the latest, the scoreboard. You would predict that the Nuggets will be leading by 5-10 at the half and by 10-15 as the final horn sells. Don't tick me off GK: pull ALL starters for any and ALL garbage time.
