Battle of retooled franchises

                                   OUTLOOK:

This one is a battle between the two worst teams in the Western conference, according to the standings of course, because I do not believe these are the two worst teams in our beloved West.

A little context is in order though.

At different points of the season, these two teams suffered great reshuffling on their rosters (with Minny having the biggest reshuffle I’ve ever seen, probably in NLL history), not to say that that is a good thing, or a bad thing, it just depends on which way you choose to look.

Starting with Minny, a team that currently carries a 11-22 record, and has brought in two All-stars, one injured and one healthy, a Greek who’s not a Freak and a glitch marksman with egomaniac issues.

Oklahoma City on the other hand, comes into this one with a 9-27 record. The haul of this team was a little different, trading a big piece from his team for a younger Center who everybody thinks will break out every year and never really does and a point guard who has a lot of ball skills but hasn’t really taken off as expected, yet.

Still, I think these two teams have a good bit to look forward to when all their pieces can come together and peak as a unit, we’ll just have to wait a bit more for that to happen, and while we do, I present to you the matchups for this one, the key players, the X-factor matchup and my pick afterwards.   

ther that are very close in the Eastern Conference Standings, and both still hold hope for getting to that 8th seed in the East as we head to the final stretch of the season.

MATCH-UPS:

Kosta Koufos X Jonas Valanciunas

Koufos' defensive ability will come into play as Valanciunas certainly has more weapons on the post with his varied skillset set of moves and shooting touch. Good thing for Minny that Koufos has made a name for himself on the defensive side so we’ll see if he can hold Jonas from going off.

Martell Webster X Jimmy Butler

Martell has stabilized himself as a sharpshooter, close to those 3-and-D models we’re seeing nowadays. Jimmy was supposed to have that ceiling as well, then he didn’t care and blew every projection out of the water this season. Possibly a candidate for MIP, plus his defense is already stout. Webster is gonna have his hands full.

J.R. Smith X C.J. Wilcox

J.R. is an excellent scorer off the wing for his team, he’s the clear alpha-dog on this matchup and while C.J. prides himself on the offensive side of the ball, he will be called upon by coaches as he tries to slow down the Glitch King from hurting them too much while still having steam to be effective on what he does best.Probably too much to ask for the rookie.

Chris Paul X Dennis Schroder

Paul is as prolific as they come at the PG position, one of those once in a generation type players, and while Dennis has had a solid season so far, he is outgunned in this one. Dennis just needs to stay in front of Paul and use that speed of his to try and prevent CP3 from having one of those 40 point games he post ever so often. Should be fun to watch though.

                                 X-FACTOR MATCH-UP:

Nerlens Noel X Amare Stoudemire

Offense vs. Defense. And what a match-up this is!

Our X-Factor matchup features Noel's defensive ability, he’s been touted and got into the league with that reputation and Amare’s swiss-army knife type of a skillset that has years of experience under his belt despite having lost a step or two meanwhile still being payed like a MEGA STAR!

While all that might be true, what is interesting to note is that Noel himself is averaging a double-double, which means he might give Amare a taste of his own medicine.

Can’t wait!

 OUR PICK – Minnesota Timberwolves:

With Minny having a complete backcourt in the lineup, and OKC missing a key guy in that area in Burks, I think the Wolves will take thi one, but it was almost a push, because OKC is better inside. What did swing the pendulum towards Minny was the fact that backcourts still rule our league. Don’t get me wrong though, this one looks to be a close game.