Official Game Thread: Cleveland @ Toronto (2/21/07)

<div align="center"> <font size=""4"">@</font>
<font size=""4"">Cleveland Cavaliers</font> VS. <font size=""4""><font color=""Red"">Toronto Raptors</font></font>

<font size=""4"">31-22, 2nd Central</font> <font size=""4"">29-24, 1st Atlantic</font>

<font size=""4"">WHEN: Wed., Feb. 21, 7:00pm
WHERE: Air Canada Centre
TV: NBALP, SCORE
</font>



(click on logo for team stats)

<font size=""4"">Starters</font>

<font size=""1"">Ford, Parker, Garbajosa, Bosh, Nesterovic</font>

<font size=""4"">Bench</font>

<font size=""1"">Bargnani, Humphries, Graham, Slokar, Peterson, Martin, Calderon</font>

<font size=""4"">Team Injuries/Inactive List</font>

<font size=""1"">Sow, Jones, Tucker</font>




(click on logo for team stats)

<font size=""4"">Starters</font>

<font size=""1"">Snow, Hughes, James, Gooden, Varejao</font>

<font size=""4"">Bench</font>

<font size=""1"">Jones, Marshall, Pavlovic, Pollard, Wesley</font>

<font size=""4"">Team Injuries/Inactive List</font>

<font size=""1"">Newble, Gibson, Brown, Ilgauskas</font>



<font size=""5"">Who's Hot</font>




<font size=""1"">Bosh: 27.8 ppg in last 11 gp / Bargs:16.5 ppg in last 4 gp</font>




<font size=""1"">LeBron: 27 ppg in last 4 gp / Hughes: 17.3 ppg in last 3 gp</font>



<font size=""5"">Key Match-ups </font>


<font size=""3"">Larry Hughes vs. Anthony Parker</font>


<font size=""3"">LeBron James vs. Jorge Garbajosa</font>



<font size=""3"">Fox Sports World's Head to Head Match-ups</font>
(click either player photo to see numbers against one another)

PG vs. PG

SG vs. SG

SF vs. SF

PF vs. PF

C vs. C




(click on image for preview *NOTE: only available on "Game Day")



<font size=""4"">Prediction</font>

<font size=""4""><font color=""Red"">Raptors</font></font> - 106
<font size=""4"">Cavs</font> - 102</div>


Well, let's hope and pray that the all-star break didn't kill our momentum. We're at home where we play at our best, and we're meeting up with a hot Cleveland Cavaliers squad. So I expect nothing less then an extremely tight match-up with the Cavs, meaning that we're gonna squeak out a close one on Wednesday night.

Predict and discuss!

<div align="center"><font size=""5""><u>Raptors Girl of the Game</u></font>

</div>

 

Come on J, you can do better than Jessica Simpson!

Lol... great preview as usual.

 

Jessica's titties look unshaped for a reason.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Nasty Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Come on J, you can do better than Jessica Simpson!</div>

I don't about you Nasty, but I'd still wear her arse as a helmet.

Anyhow, updated the game thread guys. As per my "Raptor Headlines for February 20, 2007" you'll see that Ilgaukas is going miss Wednesday's game because of personal reasons. But, just because he isn't playing don't think things will get any easier for us. Varejao's been doing a fantastic job filling the void. Last game he played when he started in Ilgaukas' place he ended up with 17 boards.

 

i like that old school cavs logo

 

Jessica Simpson = Dumb as bricks, but hot as hell. She's the kind of girl, that if she farted in your face during sex, you'd just ignore it lol!

Awesome preview as usual Doc J!

It's a pretty good thing for us that Z is out...he's killed us in the passed. And so far this year, Gibson has torched us lol. Raps at home are tough to beat. I like your prediction, and agree. Raps win in a close one!

 

Let's go we can take the Cavs easily if our momentum is still with us. Everyone is rested and ready to go... I can't wait for this.

 

I heard her IQ is actually really high. Is it also true that MTV payed her to act stupid on Newly Weds?

 

i wouldn't be surprised if that news about her high IQ is true. she went from washed up to tens of millions of dollars by playing up and into a stereotype.

i really think we can go 3-0 this week with the cavs being the biggest challenge but a sellout crowd plus our momentum carrying in from the pre all star break should help significantly.

 

<div class="quote_poster">hustler Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I heard her IQ is actually really high. Is it also true that MTV payed her to act stupid on Newly Weds?</div>

I doubt it, we've all seen her acting skills in movies and commercials and there's no way she would be able to pull that off.

Stupidity must come natural to her.

 

Cleveland has a very good record against the Western Conference, but has actually been mediocre against the East. It kind of suggests that they play down to their competition, and I think the Raps definitely have the ability to catch them off guard (especially with Z gone). I'm just hoping the break didn't leave them complacent.

 

very interesting game. The All-Star break probably came at the worst time for us simply because we were playing our best basketball this season at the time. Im interested to see if the players can get back into that type of groove again sometimes all it takes is an extended layoff/break and your back to the beginning all over again.


Anderson Varejao and Drew Gooden are players who IMO match up very well against CB4 also everyone seems to be writing Lebron off this year here is bill simmons take (the fact that he "spoke" to nba sources is why i am posting because generally his oppinions are intentionally perverse and not based on real knowledge but here is the quote: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">" Thumbs Down" To LeBron James, who coasted through the Skills Challenge on All-Star Saturday and played the All-Star Game with the uplifting, charismatic intensity of a female porn star trying to break one of those "most male partners in one afternoon" records. Could we end up putting him in the "Too Much, Too Soon" Pantheon some day? Will he become the basketball version of Eddie Murphy, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and every other celeb who became famous too quickly and eventually burned out?

Here's what I know. I had four conversations with connected NBA people over the weekend that centered around the same themes: LeBron isn't playing nearly as hard as he did last season; it looks like his only goal right now is to get his coach fired; he's regressing as a basketball player (especially his passing skills and his shot selection); he made a huge mistake firing his agent and turning his career over to his buddies back home (all of whom are in over their heads); he was a much bigger problem during the Olympics than anyone realized; he doesn't seem to be enjoying himself anymore; he has an overrated sense of his own worth and his own impact in the sports world (as witnessed by the ESPN interview last week when he answered the "What are your goals?" question with two words: "Global icon"); he's been protected by magazine fluff pieces and buddy-buddy TV interviews for far too long; he doesn't have the same relentless drive to keep dominating everyone like Wade and Kobe have; and basically, we're much closer to LeBron re-enacting the career arc of Martina Hingis, Eric Lindros and Junior Griffey than anyone realizes. This will evolve into THE dominant NBA story of the next two months. You watch."</div>
link

My personal take is Lebron is coasting but will turn it on come play-offs. Similar to LBJ rookie season were he coasted through pre-season like a savvy 10 year vet (at first i thought wow this guys is gonna bust but then bam he turns it on when it counts) but regardless Lebron is an intriguing story line....

 

Yahoo Preview is available for those who care.

 

Yes, I would say Lebron is coasting for sure. He's using too many excuses honestly, and I'm not sure what the future holds for him in terms of off court and on court success but it seems like basketball isn't his top priority anymore... that's just my take though. I guess the attention, media and hype finally did get to get his head unlike years past?

 

Interest first quarter so far. TJ Ford has been up and down. First he starts dominating the game by getting into the paint looking for the pass or getting to the basket... then he does a 180 and starts coming down the floor jacking up shots without passing the ball. Frustrating !

 

Cleveland ball, 20 seconds on shotclock, 25.4 seconds left in the game.

Toronto 85, Cleveland 84

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! VARAJAO WITH A NICE PUT BACK SLAM while covered and moving sideways!

Varajao has 15 boards I think. Whoever said Varajao matches up with Bosh well seems to be right.

EDIT: Drunkballer said Varajeo matched up well with Bosh.

 

Raps get a timeout, when TJ didn't have the ball.

Mo Pete misses the 3.

Good to see Donyell Marshall, he was positive about the Raps when interviewed.

 

What happened when we had the ball with 37 seconds left? I missed that sequence.

 

bosh had a wide open shot missed it, and the cavs came down and called the timeout. lebron drives, kicks, varejo with the put back slam.

 

Why in the world are we running plays through TJ in the final minutes. He's a good player, but why are we running an winning shot through him, when he plays good, but does not provide team chemistry. That was ridiculous, he's kinda like a black hole. I can't believe Calderon wasn't playing the last few minutes. I say the last 4 minutes, run everything w/ Calderon. We should have won that game. Honestly.