@ Toronto Raptors (26-34) at Washington Wizards (19-39) Wednesday March 3, 2004 7:00 p.m. EST Venue: MCI Center Probable Starters PG: Milt Palacio (TOR)/Gilbert Arenas (WAS) SG: Vince Carter (TOR)/Juan Dixon (WAS) SF: Morris Peterson (TOR)/Jarvis Hayes (WAS) PF: Donyell Marshall (TOR)/Kwame Brown (WAS) C: Chris Bosh (TOR)/Brendan Haywood (WAS) Coaches Kevin O'neill (TOR)/Eddie Jordan (WAS) Injury Report <u>Raptors</u> J. Rose - Hand A. Williams - Knee <u>Wizards</u> Larry Hughes - Wrist Jerry Stackhouse - Knee Chris Whitney - Ankle <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Vince Carter again looks to lead the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night when they visit the Washington Wizards. Carter returned after missing six games with moderate left ankle sprain and had 27 points and eight assists to help Toronto snap a season-high nine-game losing streak with an 89-86 victory at Miami. Carter made 10-of-24 shots and 6-of-6 free throws while playing 41 minutes. "Having Vince Carter back helped us a tremendous amount tonight," Toronto coach Kevin O'Neill said Tuesday "He played a great game and did a great job of getting shots for the other guys." </div> Click here for the Complete NBA.com Preview Keys to the Game From a Raptors perspective <ul> [*]Limit turnovers: The Raptors need to be smart with the ball and try to limit turnovers to limit their fast break chances. Limiting fast break points has been a key for a long time, mainly because the Raptors continue to lose games with either a lot of turnovers or too many fast break points given up. They can't win playing careless basketball. [*]Battle of the Boards: The Raptors need to rebound well if they want to win this game. Many times this season we've seen the Raptors stuggle on the glass and are often out rebounded. [*]Get off to a quick start: Last game against the Heat the Raptors found themselves down 30-15 at the end of the first quarter. We can't come back from a big deficit like that every game, so it will be important for the Raptors to score and defend the whole game on a consistent basis. [/list] <font color="red">thefranchise3's Prediction:</font> After losing 9 straight, the Raptors welcomed the return of Vince Carter and finally broke that streak against the Heat last night. Tonight the Raptors go into Washington to face an injury-plagued squad, who have been playing inconsistent as of late. I think with new engergy from last nights win, the Raptors shouldn't have a huge problem with them. Raptors by 7.
We better win......Carter is doing pretty good right now, some nice passes and making his shots, and MILT doesn't have that many turnovers, he's under 5 lol Sometimes I feel bad for Bosh, being so small and all poor guy. Marshall shooting bad WHAT?? since when does that happen
missed most of the first half, so i cant comment much from what i saw though, it was more good play from vince...driving and dishing, and kicking down jumpers bosh looks like hes been struggling lately...prolly his ankle glad we are up...cant wait for the 2nd half
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PG2:</div><div class="quote_post">Any one got the box score for the half??? Whos playing well?</div> who else? vince and donyell lol vince had a rough 3rd quarter though...1 for 5 i think beginning of the 4th and raps down by 8. arenas torched us in the 3rd
i blame KO for the lost, he waited till there was 5 minutes left to put vince back in when they were down by 16 or 14, horrible decison, and then he pulls vince out after playing only for 2 mins bc they were down by alot. He should of just left vince fro whole 4th, and maybe give him a breather at the end of 3rd. -oh ya has anyone notice this? KO always puts on the 2nd line at the beginning of fourth when they are down by not alot, but not little either, and he expects the 2nd line to maintain the score or cut the deficit, and usually it doesn't happen and the opposiing team increases the lead to double digits till KO decideds to put his starters back on.
Man its KO's decision, hes the coach. But he should have put Vince on a lot earlier in the 4th quarter. Donyell is the man he's deserved to be an allstar so many years in his career. He is dominating.
touhg loss, very winnable too. I can onmly comment on the second half. Terrible Terrible. I liekd the whole line change......*cough* Our shooting weas terrible and how many times did we get to the stripe?
We got outrebounded 61-38!!!! However...we had 19 assists compared to their 13, 13 steals compared to their2, and 6 turnovers compared to their 19. Imo....we shouldve taken this game but Palacio, Glover, and Pargo had a pretty rough shooting night. (combined 4 of 23) I was also disappointed to see KO's decision on Vince. Horrible loss for us right after getting a sweet win vs. the Heat.
Wow, how disapointing... This was a very winnable game and by the looks of it, they just couldn't capitalize. I was unable to watch the second half because I fell asleep , but it looks like I didn't miss much. This should have been an easy game, and it doesn't get much easier than this, our next game is Friday vs the Knicks at the ACC. The next 4 games after that: Sunday vs. New Orleans Tuesday at Indiana Wednesday vs Cleveland Sunday vs Atlanta If we can't win simple games against Washington I can't see them making the playoffs. It doesn't look like an easy road ahead.
I don't know how we let this one slip, my boy Arenas just started lighting us up, man he was pulling up at will and driving at will. I fell asleep in the 4th quarter and woke up to a loss, when the Raptors learn to take advantege of their oppurtunities they'll become a better team. We still need a real point guard, Milt doesn't cut it at all, and even Rose because he's so slow and can't drive and dish. Marshall was good and consistent as always, he went 8-18 and had 22 and 10, good game by him. He's basicaly been the only consistent Raptors this year. Carter settled for too many jumpers after a while, it just got outta hand, he made 6 shots in the first half (6-10), then made 1 in the second (1-8). He finished the game shooting 38.9%. Carter if you had just made one more shot you woulda shot 44.4% buddy. Big stat of the day, Washington 32 free throw attempts, Toronto 11, Toronto 33% from the field, and thats what its all about folks.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting McGrady^1:</div><div class="quote_post">i blame KO for the lost, he waited till there was 5 minutes left to put vince back in when they were down by 16 or 14, horrible decison, and then he pulls vince out after playing only for 2 mins bc they were down by alot. He should of just left vince fro whole 4th, and maybe give him a breather at the end of 3rd. -oh ya has anyone notice this? KO always puts on the 2nd line at the beginning of fourth when they are down by not alot, but not little either, and he expects the 2nd line to maintain the score or cut the deficit, and usually it doesn't happen and the opposiing team increases the lead to double digits till KO decideds to put his starters back on.</div> You have the issue absolutely, dead-nailed on the head. KO's rotations are Gawd awful. I mean damn. I wish we had a coach that got the best out of our players abilities, because come on, we aren't that bad talent based as we make it seem. Dead last in PPG and FG% when you have three, count 'em three, players who can put up 20 ppg any/every given night?! Jeebus...Also, for a defensive guru not being able to expand his repetoire to help us stop the other team(using the zone for instance) is beyond me. We don't have the greatest 1-on-1 defenders in the world, nor do we have a true Interior presence, so I don't get why we have to STICK to man-to-man D all game, and not even swtich it up every once in awhile. I hate this guy with a passion. Please MLSE, this offseason, please send us Doc Rivers, or even Jim O'Brien, and fire this bald idiot running the show right now. Go Raps!
Very true, if he wants us to win, Carter is gotta be playing close to 40 minutes a night, you can't be taking Carter out for so long and having scrubs in their. He needs to strategize his subbing, this is what some coaches do, you take you star out on a shooting foul, he's resting for free throws, then you take a timeout after the free throws which gives him more rest, then you put him back 2 minutes later. We should be doing this at the end of the 3rd quarter, take Carter out at about the 2 minute mark, then but him back after about 1 or 2 minuntes have passed in the 4th and let him finish the game.
Well, you know KO. Rookie coach that doesn't stick up for his players and does not want to cause controversy when it should be called. I'm very disappointed in KO. He doesn't deserve the last name O'Neill. This name is reserved for athletic stars.
Yea except theirs is spelt O'neal not O'Neill , so he really doesn't have the same name just the same pronounciation.
