<div align="center"> <span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><span style="color:#0073BD"><span style="font-family:Impact">Los Angeles</span> </span></span><span style="color:#0073BD">(15-31)</span> vs. <span style="color:#c8362d"><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><span style="font-family:Impact">Toronto</span></span></span> <span style="color:#c8362d">(26-21)</span> </div> <div align="center"> When: Friday February 8th, 2007 @ 7:00PM EST Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON TV/Radio: Rogers Sportsnet, FAN 590 </div> <span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><div align="center"> <span style="font-family:Impact"><u>GAME PREVIEW</u></span></div></span> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>No matter how much T.J. Ford is able to contribute, the Toronto Raptors believe having him on the court will only make them better. After seeing limited time in his first game back from a left arm stinger, Ford could have more of an impact as the Raptors try for a fourth straight victory over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night. In his first game since Dec. 11, Ford had four points and four assists in almost 17 minutes of Toronto's 114-82 win at Miami on Wednesday. Ford should provide good depth for the Raptors as he's eased back into action since colliding with Atlanta's Al Horford in that December contest where he had 26 points and eight assists. The point guard, whose neck injury in February 2004 while with Milwaukee forced him to miss the 2004-05 season, averaged 14.1 points and 6.8 assists in 17 games before missing the next 24. "It's about me getting back into a flow and the guys getting used to my style," Ford told the team's official Web site. "I don't think people expected me to come in and do the things that I normally do." It's uncertain how Ford will be used with Jose Calderon averaging 14.5 points and 9.7 assists since Ford went down. It would seem the two together could only benefit the Raptors, one of five Eastern Conference teams with a winning record. "(Ford's) fast and quick and he can get to that basket at will," said forward Chris Bosh, who had 24 points Monday. "He can find guys. Yes, Jose's been playing well, but imagine if you can have two guys playing at the same rate, splitting time. That's a good thing for us." Ford has a chance to see more time Friday against the Clippers (15-31), who have lost three in a row in this series since a 115-113 overtime win in Toronto on Feb. 5, 2006. Ford has totaled 31 points and 16 assists in his last two appearances against them.</div> <div align="center">Source: Yahoo!Sports</div> <span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Impact"><u>STARTING LINEUPS</u></span></div></span> <div align="center"> <span style="color:#0073BD">Sam Cassell - Quinton Ross - Corey Maggette - Al Thornton - Chris Kaman</span> <span style="color:#c8362d">Jose Calderon - Anthony Parker - Jamario Moon - Chris Bosh - Andrea Bargnani</span></div> <span style="font-family:Impact"><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><div align="center"><u>KEY MATCHUP</u></div></span></span> <div align="center"> <span style="color:#0073BD">Corey Maggette</span> vs. <span style="color:#c8362d">Jamario Moon</span></div> There's no telling which player the Raps send out to defend Maggette, because the Clippers lack a real consistent threat at the shooting guard and power forward positions. Nevertheless, this team needs to cut down on his penetration and box him out on the offensive glass. The Clippers team has been depleted by injuries and they're surprisingly one-dimensional. Either they throw up 3 pointers (led by Cassell) or they dump it down to Kaman (and the Raps have shown they can frustrate him). Maggette represents the bridge between that gap, because when he's splitting the defenders and getting into the lane, he opens things up both for the big fella and for the shooters. <div align="center"><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><span style="font-family:Impact"><u>PREDICTION</u></span></span></div> <div align="center">This is the start of a very easy stretch. The Raptors have let some very winnable games get away from them this season (Seattle, Philadelphia, LA Lakers) and I'm expecting them to come out with some intensity. It doesn't hurt that TJ should only have gotten in better sync with his benchmates over the last 3 days.</div> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><div align="center"><span style="color:#c8362d">Toronto 96</span> - <span style="color:#0073BD">Los Angeles 89</span></div></span>
<div align="center"><u><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><span style="font-family:Impact">Something to look at while you wait for the game</div></u></span></span> <div align="center"></div>
o This is the Raptors' 1000th game. So they pretty much HAVE to win this one o As soon as Kaman gets going put Rasho in for Bargs/Bosh. He frustrated the hell out of him the last time they met. o Raptors could be a bit rusty from their long stretch without a game. o I expect a blowout
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (AirJordan @ Feb 8 2008, 06:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>As soon as Kaman gets going put Rasho in for Bargs/Bosh. He frustrated the hell out of him the last time they met.</div> Yeea, Rasho played excellent D last game. I wouldn't mind playing small with Rasho in the center. Kaman had a tough time dealing with our guards cheating right after he received a pass. btw, where you been AirJordan? Long time no post.
This team is on a completely different level when we got Ford and Calderon. There's absolutely no drop-off and I actually think TJ is more effective playing equal minutes off the bench. Bargnani's played great D so far today. I like how he's using his length.
meh, we need games to get TJ back in shape, should've won but the raps know it, they will come out ready sunday and monday
Oh man horrible game by the Raptors, defensively I was kindof impressed but we got stops when we were suppose to but I have no clue what the hell we were trying to execute on offense in the 4th quarter, ugly lose. Im not as angry after today's lose as I usually am but thats because Washington is slumping and Cleveland is just hot lately so win or lose we are not moving anywhere in the standings for a while. Looks like we'll finish 5th overall in the East this year and either face Orlando or Cleveland.
I couldn't understand what happend in the fourth. We just went cold and couldn't get out of our slump. I have to agree with Chutney, horrible coaching in the fourth. We needed a shooter out there to strech the Clippers defense and create a 1-on-1 match-up for Bosh. He would of got fouled and gone to the line, and we possibly could of sent the game to overtime or won.
Really frustrating game: - For about a 5 minute stretch at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th, TJ Ford was no better than Juan Dixon/Darrick Martin. That was the bad side of TJ that made all of us call for Calderon to become a starter the past two seasons. He dominated the ball, really didn't initiate any offense, and took about 3 or 4 rushed shots in a row. That lost us the lead and very may well have cost us the game. - Bosh had his usual great statline, but I was disappointed in his game. The Clips made defensive adjustments in the second half that totally shut him down. Ironically, the LA Lakers did the exact same thing a couple days ago. They put a faster player on him and played a soft zone defense that had 2-3 players collapsing whenever Bosh put the ball on the floor. Most of the time, Chris recognizes this and passes out. But today, he rushed it almost every possession (driving into traffic, taking unnecessary jumpshots, etc.). And, I don't know if it was because he was in serious foul trouble towards the end of the game, but that was some terrible defense as well. I think Al Thornton ran the same play the exact same way 3 times at the end of the game, and each time Bosh was using his hands instead of moving his feet. It reminded me of the first game against Boston, when KG kept doing the same exact move in OT to beat us. If I was a coach, I would've been tempted to offense/defense sub him. It was that bad. - That brings me to Mitchell. Similar to the Lakers game, he looked absolutely clueless for the most part. He didn't call any timeouts when the Clips made that run to take the lead from us. He subbed in Calderon far too late, when TJ was stinking it up on the court. And he didn't make any defensive adjustments at all, when LA was basically running the same set play over and over again (with success). Shapecity said it best last week, at times Smitch can be a "glutton for punishment." - The good side was watching Andrea Bargnani. That may have been his best defensive game of the season, and it came against arguably one of the best low post players in the league. He fronted Kaman all game long, really using his body to push him out of the paint. He used his length to disrupt his shots and he looked very comfortable rotating around the court and showed much better awareness on the defensive end (as evidenced by his 4 steals). I would've liked to see him do a better job of sticking with Kaman on the second effort, but this was definitely something to build on. On the offensive side, he started the game playing great. It's a shame his shot wasn't falling at all towards the end though. I think he had 3 or 4 great looks from beyond the arc and only hit one. Those shots really could've won us the game. - I pointed out the need for the Raps to limit Corey Maggette, and he totally ran the game last night. Very, very weak perimeter defense by the Raps.
nice points chut. My observations are somewhat limited because as usual I had to listen to the game on the radio. Paul Jones does a great job of describing the action but it's hard to tell exactly what happened. that's where chut's points come in. I wondered what the deal was with Thorton at the end of the game. It sounded like he had Bosh in his pocket but I didn't know it was a matter if Chris being slow footed. That kinda shocks me. Sam certainly has to shoulder some blame in this mess.
Ya Chutney I've been around but just not posting, i'll try to get back to it. Bargnani is finally doing his job, hopefully this caries out to the playoffs. I've noticed that we never put TJ and Jose on the court at the same time anymore. I thought it was pretty effective last season down the stretch and with how Jose is playing this season, I'd like to see how it works out.
I won't rip TJ for this since it was his first home game back. But it's no excuse, we just sucked and couldn't buy a basket.
