Game 1 roster predictions / Impact with Rubio/Love early

[iliketurtles24]

Never mind

[Hawkeye15]

Sacramento may be an ideal matchup for our Ridnou/Roy/Bud/AK/Pek lineup. Their best player Cousins will be neutralized by Pekovic, Kirilenko is a good defender on those undersized active PF's like Robinson and I don't know if they have a good SF who can abuse Budinger.

Evans will kill us, and Cousins is flat out better than Pekovic, but hopefully we can get him in foul trouble early.

[Aleksandar]

Evans will kill us, and Cousins is flat out better than Pekovic, but hopefully we can get him in foul trouble early.

Yeah, I forgot about Evans, he could be nasty against us, in theory. He can easily go around our guards, and Pekovic can't block.

On the other hand, I don't know why you believe Cousins has advantage over Pekovic. Pek should at least slow him down big time, if not destroy him completely.

[Hawkeye15]

Yeah, I forgot about Evans, he could be nasty against us, in theory. He can easily go around our guards, and Pekovic can't block.

On the other hand, I don't know why you believe Cousins has advantage over Pekovic. Pek should at least slow him down big time, if not destroy him completely.

Cousins is a better player. No doubt in my mind. Cousins is a dominant rebounder, and scorer in the paint.

The 2nd time we played Sac, Rubio not being there was obvious. He guarded Evans the first time we played them, and he totally shut him down. When we played the Kings again, Evans attacked at will, and killed us.

[Aleksandar]

I hope you're wrong about that matchup. Anyways, we'll see what happens when the game starts.

[PurpleJesus]

I have ignored this thread for too long...

Barea (because Ridnour missed so much time in the preseason)
Roy
AK
Cunningham (because Adelman doesnt seem to have to much faith in Williams, and Cunningham may have earned it in preseason)
Pek.

[Aleksandar]

I found this on NBA.com http://www.nba.com/2012/news/11/01/b...s=iref:nbahpts Looks like Roy will be getting at least 30 min per game, and if his knees hold up, he could possibly end up being a full time starter and a go to guy.

I'm not sure how I feel about this, I hope I'm wrong and he can actually return to 100% his old self(minus quick fist step). But I just have a bad feeling it will backfire. If he starts driving to the basket aggressively, and bumping around all game long all season long, he may reinjure himself. I mean, even young, fit and healthy guys get injured often..

[thechom80]

Luke
Roy
AK
Dante
Pekasaurus Peks

[RyBayBay]

Ridnour on Thomas
Roy on Thornton
Kirilenko on Evans
Cunningham on Robinson
Pekovic on Cousins

[Steved1828]

Excited for tonight! I think we are going to hold up alright and maybe even surprise some people until Love gets back. (need to be somewhere around .500) Then we will get rolling and hopefully when Rubio is ready to play again that will be the spark that gets us over the hump and back into the playoffs.

Starting lineup:
Ridnour
Roy
AK
Cunningham
Pek

I think they are going to use Cunningham in the starting lineup to set a defensive tone and then Bud, JJ, and Williams will come off the bench to provide a scoring punch with the second unit.

[Oefarmy2005]

Cousins is a better player. No doubt in my mind. Cousins is a dominant rebounder, and scorer in the paint.

The 2nd time we played Sac, Rubio not being there was obvious. He guarded Evans the first time we played them, and he totally shut him down. When we played the Kings again, Evans attacked at will, and killed us.

I think you are underrating Roy on the defensive end. And I would take Roy, Bud and AK over Johnson, Beasley and Love on the defensive end any day of the week - so we should be better. I honestly think that while the Kings are talented and hungry, it is a winnable game if our bench comes through and we play good D. We do need someone to score, so Roy has to stay healthy until Love/Rubio are back because he is clearly our best player now.

[silverson]

I think that Pek's role will be crucial tonight. AK and Cunningham are experienced enough to know when to cut inside so it will be up to Pek to break the game to them.

[Hawkeye15]

I think you are underrating Roy on the defensive end. And I would take Roy, Bud and AK over Johnson, Beasley and Love on the defensive end any day of the week - so we should be better. I honestly think that while the Kings are talented and hungry, it is a winnable game if our bench comes through and we play good D. We do need someone to score, so Roy has to stay healthy until Love/Rubio are back because he is clearly our best player now.

check out what Evans did to us without Rubio, who guarded him primarily. He lived in the paint Until proven otherwise, I don't trust our perimeter defense outside AK.

[Hawkeye15]

yeah Pek is going to need to be a 19/11 guy while Love recovers.

[WSU Tony]

I think there is no way in hell Williams is starting a single game this year. He can have good scoring nights here and there, but he's not even close to Love/Cunningham/AK/Budinger overall contribution to the game.

I fully agree with AK/Bud starting and Cunningham/Williams backing them up. Very good offense/defense balance, assuming AK can handle the opposing PFs.

Bump.