@ Toronto Raptors @ Detroit Pistons Date : Friday, April 9th, 2004 TipOff Time : 8:10 est, 5:10 pt. Venue : The Palace Of Auborn Hills <font color="Blue">Starters :</font> <font color="Blue">PG Matchup:</font> Jalen Rose / Mike James <font color="Blue">SG Matchup:</font> Vince Carter / Richard Hamilton <font color="Blue">SF Matchup:</font> Morris Peterson / Tayshaun Prince <font color="Blue">PF Matchup: </font> Donyell Marshall / Rasheed Wallace <font color="Blue">C Matchup:</font> Chris Bosh / Ben Wallace .. <font color="Blue">Keys to The Game: </font> * Switch On D - Larry Brown likes to run high pick n' rolls in the early stages which frees Rasheed up for the three point shot, so Raptors have to switch immediatley instead of following their man, also Rich Hamilton and Mike James get most of their points coming off double screens or backdoor cuts coming off screens as well, so Moe, Vince and Jalen have to switch to prevent the easy baskets. * Put the effort on the glass - Sheed and Big Ben will not give up on the rebounds offinsivley nor diffensivley, Raps have to do an exceptional job on the glass. * Second Unit Screws! - As everybody knows, we have one of the worst benches in the league, Corie, Milt and Roger Mason have to put points on the board as long as containing their men difinsevley. * The V-J Combo - Raptors had a shot a beating Pistons the previous two games because they had big games from both Vince and Jalen, with Billups out, KO will look to post up Rose against the much smaller Mike James, as for Vince, Prince's long arms will prevent him from the open shot, so he has to take hard at Rasheed and Ben! .. <font color="Red">Air Canada's Take: </font> Raptors had a tough time battling the equally-powerfull Indiana Pacers on wednsday night, both of our games against the Pistons this season were without Rasheed, Chris and Donyell can't defend Detroit's front line, I call a Piston win in a close game, Pistons by 4.
The Raptors don't have enough size in the post to defend against Wallace and Wallace.The Raptors will need to penetrate more and get to the line.They can't always shoot jumpshots.And I hope Darko gets to play some minutes of the bench in this game.I predict the Pistons by 7.
Pistons by 5-7, I think we'll make it tough because they'll understimate us. KO has decided not to play the bench even though our season is basically over so we'll see the same faces on the court. If the Raptors come out strong then 5-7, if not then we lose by 12 points. Carter might have a hard time with Tayshaun or Darvin Ham, and Jalen should take advantage of the Mike Jams matchup. Correction: Don't we normally have Carter as the 3 and Mo-Pete at the 2?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">Does Jalen not know how to dribble the ball?</div> How about Mo Pete? Can't put a ball behind his back.
At the half, Raptors down by only 5, which is GOOD! <div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post"> Correction: Don't we normally have Carter as the 3 and Mo-Pete at the 2?</div> No, today Vince started at the 2, as I predicted.
Yeah, I don't know about the raptors finishing strong. I don't think it really will do any good, probably worse. We should lose the remainder of the season with a chance to get a good lottery pick. We'll get them all next year.
Did anyone hear the fan screaming at Rose? He was saying something like you know what you did here JR, man the guy was loud and just kept saying it.
i wish i could have followed the game. Anyways maybe it was that guy who was behind and shouted in the Pistons Grizzlies game three months ago, he was darn loud
raptors once again with aloss, but no one really expected them to win this. IOf we lose the rest of the games then the Raps will get a good draft pick, predicting the 5-6 pick.
I don't know about 5-6, these are the rankings right now from worst lottery team to best: Orlando [19-60] Chicago [22-57] Washington [22-54] Charlotte Bobcats Atlanta [26-53] Phoenix [27-52] LA Clippers [27-52] Toronto [31-48] Cleveland [32-47] Philadelphia Seattle Golden State Portland Utah I won't put the rest of the records but even if Phoenix and the Clippers win all their games we still have a better record than them. So we can get the 8th or 9th pick, or the 1st, 2nd or 3rd pick from the lottery.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">Did anyone hear the fan screaming at Rose? He was saying something like you know what you did here JR, man the guy was loud and just kept saying it.</div> I heard it too. The fan was screaming at him and then Jalen hit a fade-away jumper and stared him down and shut him up.
