<font size=""4"">Three and counting</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Last night's loss demonstrated yet again that more than anything else, the Raptors miss Anthony Parker's defence. Toronto gave up 120 points in Cleveland on Saturday without Parker, who has a sprained right ankle. He is expected back for Sunday's game against Seattle.</div> <font size=""4"">Sam talks contract</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"I played in the league for 13 years," he said. "And never once did we sit in the locker room and discus the contract of our coach. Players either respect you or they don't, and having 'x' amount of years and dollars on your contract, does not give you any job security. If you lose the team, you lose the team. The only difference is, if you have years on your contract, you walk out of the door with 'x' amount of dollars. "I'm telling you how I handle things," Mitchell added. "If other coaches feel like they have to have a 20-year contract in order to do their job, that's their business and that's how they feel. As far as I'm concerned, I have a contract." </div> <font size=""4"">Wizards win the battle of the boards</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Peterson wasn't happy about the demotion, but he hasn't caused any controversy any other time he's been bounced from the starting lineup and he's not about to cause any now. "I've had success coming off the bench, I've had success starting," he said. "At this point in the season I'm just trying to help us get as many wins any way I can. "I'll worry about the rest later."</div> <font size=""4"">Grizzlies at Raptors</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It's not the classic matchup by any means but if there's anyone who knows the strengths and weaknesses of the 7-foot Memphis centre, it's his teammate from Spain's national team. Garbajosa is more likely to give Nesterovic some tips on how to handle Gasol but he'll get his moments trying to guard him as well.</div> <font size=""4"">Raps chasing their place in history</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"I would love for it to happen for these guys," he said here yesterday before the Raptors were routed 129-109 by the Washington Wizards. "If we can accomplish that, wherever they may go, whatever they may do, as long as there's a Toronto Raptors basketball club, they're in the history books forever."</div> <font size=""4"">Smith: Nothin' but (Inter)Net</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Here's one for all you T.J. Haters out there, and judging by the Monday e-mails I got, you are large in number. Against a zone, do you think his ability to get in the paint and make plays for his teammates is more effective than Jose's reliance on the high pick-and-roll? Not saying there's anything wrong with Calderon ? I've gotta be one of his biggest fans and have been since he got here ? but this hate on T.J. is getting out of control.</div> <font size=""4"">Raps Demolished</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"We just have to be more aggressive," Bosh said. "Blocking your man out, taking the challenge and keeping the guy in front of you and giving him one shot."</div> <font size=""4"">Wizards Demolish the Raptors</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"Energy-wise, everybody came out at a high level," said Haywood, who scored six of his 10 points and grabbed four of his six rebounds in the first quarter. "We knew we didn't want to lose to this team again just in case we played them in the playoffs and we didn't want them to have that psychological edge."</div> <font size=""4"">A return to form</font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"From beginning to end we had a real good air about us, a good personality about the game," Jordan said. "The chemistry, the togetherness, the comfort level. All game we didn't get too high or too low, and we did a lot of good things. A complete 48 minutes."</div> <div align="center"><font size=""5""><u>Sunshine Girl - 3/7/07</u></font> </div>
Doug Smith has got to get off MLSE's nuts. Seriously all the guy does is kiss bum non-stop. Calderon's reliance on the pick and roll? This is somehow justification of how TJ is a better pg? The reason why we play TJ is that he has more potential than Calderon, and I'm ok with that. But right now their levels of play are relatively similar. Not only does Smith think TJ is hands down better, but he thinks Calderon should play like 10 minutes a game and TJ should play 35. What a joke. He neglected to mention TJ forcing ill advised shots, over dribbling or being afraid to take it to the basket. He may be the future but there's no reason why we should act like he's throwing down flawless performances. There's still a lot to work on in his game.
I do think that TJ is getting a lot of the hate that should be directed towards our offensive gameplan, though. One of the reasons Calderon plays so well for us is that our offense is composed entirely of pick and roll sequences. I think Ford's been inconsistent, but I also think he's being forced to overdribble, because our offense becomes so predictable at times.
