Second game of the preseason, Matt Bonner is going back to his roots as the Raps take on the C's in Manchester, New Hampshire where the Red Rocket was born and grew up. Joey Graham, Tony Allen and Al Jefferson will be out for this game. Well the Raps respond to Sam's challenge and rebound the ball like men do against an average front court in LaFrentz and Blount, or will we get blown away once again on the boards? Who wins the point guard tourney that's going on within the Celtics roster? Will it be Dickau or Banks? Maybe West? ... How much time will Gerald Green, a projected Raptor before the 2005 draft, and a player Babcock passed on twice, see in tonight's game after he looked lost in 7 minutes of action in Boston's first preseason game? Tune in FSW East for the game (people in the states), as for the cats in Canada, this game isn't televised Bonner is expected to start tonight, and as I mentioned, Joey will be sidlined with knee tindinitis he aggrevated in the Utah game. Peace.
Saw the highlights on the score...Bonner went nuts! How about that steal and lay-up...then that nice steal and dish to Mike Jaaaaames! Mike Jaaaaames looks great and I'm sure he'll be a very consistent Raptor addition...Hoffa looked lost in the 10 nanoseconds I saw him in. I didn't see any highlights from Calderon...really, really excited to see some of his game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MAKEOUTCITY:</div><div class="quote_post">Saw the highlights on the score...Bonner went nuts! How about that steal and lay-up...then that nice steal and dish to Mike Jaaaaames! Mike Jaaaaames looks great and I'm sure he'll be a very consistent Raptor addition...Hoffa looked lost in the 10 nanoseconds I saw him in. I didn't see any highlights from Calderon...really, really excited to see some of his game.</div> Calderon didn't look bad at all, he looked solid if unspectacular, and James just abused Dan Dickau all night, who looked like a damn sieve. Bonner did have a great game in front of his home crowd, he was hitting everything he took. But Mitchell did the right thing and gave the youngsters and 'tweeners time on the floor, rather than trying to win the game, so we didn't get to see Bonner as much as he would have liked, but he got to start, so that was nice. Other than that, Bosh looked his steady best, if a little more buff and athletic than he did last season, he was playing like a 3 with the ball, but in the position of a 4, which was impressive, but then again, from what I hear, that's his calling card. James looked like a good replacement for Alston, but it was against some truly subpar defensive effort in the first quarter. When Ricky played him later on, he looked as lost as the next guy, but he played well nevertheless. CV fouled out as Gomes kind of beat up on him in the fourth quarter, but he played a great game, and really showed that he was worth a high pick, in time, he will be a great contributor. Big men played like garbage, save Bosh, and definitely need work on foot work and boardwork. The interior defense wasn't good by any stretch, and the rebounding out of the second unit was pitiful. Still a promising game for the Raps.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bobcats:</div><div class="quote_post">Hey CW, did Bosh and Villanueva play at the same time? If so, which position did they each play?</div> As far as I saw, they didn't, but the way Mitchell was divvying the minutes, I wouldn't say that it won't happen this preseason. He appears to be high on CV, and with any luck, he will continue using him in a more broad role (or at least a large one) like he did tonight. Come to think of it, there may have been about 10 second span right before the half ended where they were on the floor together, but that's kind of moot, as Sam just wanted his best defenders on the floor for one last play, so that doesn't really count. But I would say look for it to happen in the preseason at some point, Mitchell seems to playing lots of different floor combinations, so I wouldn't put it past him. P.S. Why couldn't y'all Canadian fans watch the game? That definitely sucks.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Crywalker:</div><div class="quote_post">As far as I saw, they didn't, but the way Mitchell was divvying the minutes, I wouldn't say that it won't happen this preseason. He appears to be high on CV, and with any luck, he will continue using him in a more broad role (or at least a large one) like he did tonight. Come to think of it, there may have been about 10 second span right before the half ended where they were on the floor together, but that's kind of moot, as Sam just wanted his best defenders on the floor for one last play, so that doesn't really count. But I would say look for it to happen in the preseason at some point, Mitchell seems to playing lots of different floor combinations, so I wouldn't put it past him. P.S. Why couldn't y'all Canadian fans watch the game? That definitely sucks.</div> Thanks for answering all the questions. I really do hope Villanueva will live up to the 7th overall pick. Though it's very, VERY unlikely, I would just love to see him win ROY and see the look on Stephen A. Smith's face. That would be priceless. BTW, Canadian sports channels arn't all that big on basketball, so they wouldn't even think of televising a preseason game.
Last night's game wasn't even broadcast live on Raptors TV, imagine that. I dealt Bogut and Devin Harris for CV3 and Telfair in my fantasy league, so I'm holding high hopes for Villanueva. I think if he's given the minutes, he will produce, and on this team, he's bound to.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Locke:</div><div class="quote_post">Last night's game wasn't even broadcast live on Raptors TV, imagine that. I dealt Bogut and Devin Harris for CV3 and Telfair in my fantasy league, so I'm holding high hopes for Villanueva. I think if he's given the minutes, he will produce, and on this team, he's bound to.</div> Remember, it's CV31 now. But whatever, I certainly agree with on his potential, he just needs minutes.
Villanueva is proving me wrong. I didnt think he was **** when the Raptors drafted him but he's growing on me a lot and really quickly. He's just got a bad shot selection if that was gone he'd probably be in the running for ROY this year, and who knows it might be different in the regular season. Villanueva is amazing, he's much much better than I thought. Canadian sports channels suck, I have Raptors NBA TV and they show most of the raptors games on 'Raptors Game In a Hour'.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Buckets:</div><div class="quote_post">Canadian sports channels suck, I have Raptors NBA TV and they show most of the raptors games on 'Raptors Game In a Hour'.</div> Canadian sports channels? Don't you mean the Hockey channels?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bobcats:</div><div class="quote_post">Canadian sports channels? Don't you mean the Hockey channels?</div> Btw, I read in the Star a few days ago that there is a HD Raptors TV in the works. I have a 42 inch LCD HDTV but I've never seen a HD basketball game yet. Is it any better an experience? I know we're going way off topic here but....why not?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Locke:</div><div class="quote_post"> Btw, I read in the Star a few days ago that there is a HD Raptors TV in the works. I have a 42 inch LCD HDTV but I've never seen a HD basketball game yet. Is it any better an experience? I know we're going way off topic here but....why not? </div> Basketball games in HDTV are amazing.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Basketball games in HDTV are amazing.</div> They are pretty tremendous.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Locke:</div><div class="quote_post"> Btw, I read in the Star a few days ago that there is a HD Raptors TV in the works. I have a 42 inch LCD HDTV but I've never seen a HD basketball game yet. Is it any better an experience? I know we're going way off topic here but....why not? </div> are u telling me that Raptor games aren't broadcasted in HD?? There's HDTSN and HDSNET channels, and they both show Blue Jay games in HD..... y not the Raptors? that would seriously suck if they weren't on hd b/c i just got an HDtv w/ the Rogers hd package and i was really looking forward to watching some high res rap games.....
I know that they broadcast at least a few last year in HD, because i was looking at 2/3 of the screen on my crappy normal TV.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dunksworth:</div><div class="quote_post">are u telling me that Raptor games aren't broadcasted in HD?? There's HDTSN and HDSNET channels, and they both show Blue Jay games in HD..... y not the Raptors? that would seriously suck if they weren't on hd b/c i just got an HDtv w/ the Rogers hd package and i was really looking forward to watching some high res rap games.....</div> Yeah, same here. I got a Rogers HD Box in July and am looking forward to seeing HD Raptors games. I do know that HDSNet and HDTSN broadcast HD NBA games, but I'm not sure if they broadcast Raptors games in HD. It sucks if they don't, but that would be the only reason I can think of for the launch of a HD Raptors TV. Can anyone who had the HD box last season clarify? Were there HD Raptors games on Sportsnet HD and TSN HD?
