<div align="center"> <span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><span style="color:#DB9A4A"><span style="font-family:Impact">Golden State</span> </span></span><span style="color:#DB9A4A">(0-1)</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">(1-0)</span> </div> <div align="center"> When: Friday October 31st, 2008 @ 7:00PM EST Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON TV/Radio: The SCORE, FAN 590 </div> <span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><div align="center"> <span style="font-family:Impact"><u>THOUGHTS ON THE GAME</u></span></div></span> That was one helluva way to kick off the season Wednesday night and the Raptors have the chance to capitalize on a radically different Golden State Warriors team. The team known for their explosive offense lost their best offensive weapon in Baron Davis as well as his heir apparent in Monta Ellis. Make no mistake, Don Nelson's squad can still score in bunches. Against Philadelphia, Toronto's bench (led by Roko Ukic) showed the ability to play the fast break and it'll be interesting to see if they can keep up with the Warriors. Rebound, rebound, rebound! Every single on of these Warriors crashes the boards hard with the intent of pushing the ball up quickly. The Raptors can't afford to stand and watch their marks because they only need a few seconds to put the ball in the basket. And on top of that, the Warriors can shoot the ball well and will make us pay for second and third chances. <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:#DB9A4A">DeMarcus Nelson - Stephen Jackson - Corey Maggette - Al Harrington - Andris Biedrins</span> <span style="color:#c8362d">Jose Calderon - Anthony Parker - Jamario Moon - Chris Bosh - Jermaine O'Neal</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:#DB9A4A">Corey Maggette</span> vs. <span style="color:#c8362d">Jamario Moon</span></div> The other half of the Baron Davis drama saw the Warriors reward Maggette a large contract. As he showed against the Hornets the other night, Maggette is now arguably the best scoring option on this team, regularly slashing into the paint and drawing contact. Toronto played excellent defense against a similar sort of player in Andre Iguodala, largely because of their new shotblocking presence. Jamario will most likely be matched up against Maggette and should adjust his defensive positioning to lead him into the big men. On the other side of the ball, it'd be nice to see him bring something to this team offensively for once. <div align="center"><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><span style="font-family:Impact"><u>LEO RAUTINS' INSIGHTFUL THOUGHT OF THE DAY</u></span></span></div>
Rumours have Al Harrington going to New York for Eddy Curry. Dunno if that one will pan out. The Warriors are a collection of talents but not a talented team. Toronto is the opposite--lacking individual skills but good as a unit (so far). Our games with the Warriors are typically track meets so expect this one to be in the 120s.
JO or Bosh will have a field day on Harrington. Maggette usually plays well againist the Raps so I expect him to have a big game. Hope we can shut em down.
I didn't mention it, but Anthony Parker will have to really step up his D against Stephen Jackson. That dude's a very potent offensive weapon.
First off wow. Nice job bas. I think TO really has to control the tempo of this game and should look to grind it out as much as possible. The Raps are too big for the Warriors to bang with down low and if the Raps can control the glass, they'd be smart to look to set up a half court offense.
I think Jose will do a really good job making sure the Raps play at their pace and never lose their composure if Golden State gets run easy transition buckets on them. I can still remember when TJ would get goaded in to play the Golden State style by B-Diddy.
this should be fun. despite looking a little weak, GS will still surely test our defense and our rebounding with the way they push and shoot the ball. look for moon, bargnani, joey, and ukic for some numbers and some highlights. more importantly, look for us to take this W.
here we go. drawing fouls. force a jump shooting battle and we're going to win. (after a couple misses by both teams)
holy F this has been one of the best sequences of play that i remember for the raptors. jo and bargnani man. this second unit is looking AWESOME.
this is surely the best i've seen from bargnani in his career. he's got that extra dimension of balance and strength that has always been severely lacking. from his first rebound i could see that spring in his step and his comfort on the floor. he's not up against the best frontcourt but i just like the way he's getting off the floor and the look on his face making plays at both ends.
