Raptors @ Nets

<div align="center"> @
<font color="Purple">Toronto Raptors</font> (7-12) @ <font color="Navy">New Jersey Nets </font> (4-12)
Time: Dec.6, 2004; 7:30pm
Arena: <font color="Navy">Continental Arlines Arena</font>
TV: Yes Network, NBALP</div>

Preview: The Toronto Raptors enter tonghts game as the NBA's version of Six Flags Great Adventures. Everything right now, for the Raptors seems like a rollcoaster ride. The Raptors start the year on a three game winning streak with quality wins over the likes of Detroit, Portland & Houston. But that now seems like a century ago. Players have since came out in disagreement with head coach Sam Mitchell. And Sam Mitchell has went on the record blasting several players as well. Raptors star players Vince Carter and Rafer Alston have both been benched at one time or another this year. And the Raptors are currently in the mist of a 3 game lossing streak. The Raptors suffered losses to Orlando(129-108), Boston (91-89) & Cleveland (105-97). And find themselves fading in the Atlantic Division. The Raptors are hoping a vist to the swamp will be the cure to end their suffering.

But the Nets enter the game on a 2 game home winning streak. And have won 2 of their last 3. The quality of the Nets victories arent that impressive, wins over the Hawks & Bobcats. But for a team struggling to win at 4-12, every victory is important. And a boost to the team moral. The Nets get another huge boost tonight with the return of Jason kidd. The Nets are hoping the combination of home cooking & the return of their floor general, can lead them to their 5 victory of the year over the struggling Raptors.

<u>Projected Starting 5 </u>

<font color="Purple">Raptors:</font>
PG: Rafer Alston
SG: Vince Carter
SF: Jalen Rose
PF: Chris Bosh
C: Loren Woods

<font color="Navy">Nets:</font>
PG: Travis Best*
SG: Richard Jefferson
SF: Eric Williams
PF: Jason Collins
C: Alonzo Mourning

<font size="1">*Jason Kidd may start at point; It hasnt been confirmed if he will be coming off the bench tonight.</font>
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<div align="center"><u>Players To Watch</u>

<font color="Navy">Jason Kidd (Nets)</font> / <font color="Purple">Vince Carter (Raptors)</font></div>

The Return of Star Power

There is no question what the focus point from a Nets standpoint will be...Its the return of Jersey's floor General. Jason Kidd is making is return from offseason knee surgery that seen him miss the entire training camp, preseason and New Jersey first 16 regular season games. Kidd is looking to put a injured Knee & trade rumors behind him and lead the Nets on a winning path. But dont expect Kidd to return with a superman cape on and cure all that hurts the Nets. Kidd clearly will need time to rub off the rust in his game from time missed. And get his knee & the rest of his body back adjusted to game action. Kidd's return for the 1st couple of weeks is probably more than anything a inspirational sign. It will give the guys some hope what what the Nets maybe able to do in the 2nd half of the year. And once Kidd is back to almost full strenght.

Vince Carter is expected to make his return as well. Carter sat out the Raptors 105-97 loss to the Cavs on Saturday with food Poisoning. But many Raptors fans are wondering where has Carter been all season. After a summer that had Carter in the middle of every trade rumor in the league. And even rumors of a trade demand by Carter, Mr. Vinsanity's game has been anything but insane or out of this world. Carter has been in Sam Mitchell's personal doghouse on more than one occasion, which saw Carter on the bench in Key situations. Carter averaging a career low in minutes (31.2), Points (16.1), Rebounds (3.7), Field Goal %(.411), has some Raptors fans questioning Carter's heart & Passion for the game in Charles Oakley fashion. It seems like every game Carter plays from now to the febuary trade deadline is an audition for potential suitors. But Carter's athletism makes him a star powered attraction everytime he enters the gym. And being matchup against a fellow flight consious in Richard Jefferson, makes up the potential for a spectacular matchup.
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<div align="center"><u><font color="Purple">Keys To the Game Raptors </font> </u> </div>

<font color="Purple">Smart Shot Selection</font>. The Raptors find themselves getting in trouble when guys like Jalen Rose, Skip, Vince Carter, Mo Pete etc. fall in love with the three. And forget about taken advantage of their ablities to put the ball on the floor and get to the hoop & score or draw fouls. The Raptors must find a happy medium of when to take the perimeter J and win to be aggressive going to the hoop inorder for them to truely be effective.

<font color="Purple">Effort, Effort</font>. The Raptors effort always comes into play when viewing their Keys to success in the mind of Coach Sam Mitchell. Coach Mitchell was even quoted early in the season making a statement " if guys dont want to give the effort to play they should retire". The Nets despite their record are a team where their effort cant be questioned. They go all out for lose balls & play extremely hard on both ends of the court. It will be important that the Raptors match the Nets energy & effort.

<font color="Purple">Strong game from Raptors 2nd unit.</font> A key part of what makes the Raptors successful, when they are, is the play of their bench. The play of guys like Milt Palacio, Matt Bonner, Donyell Marshall Morris Peterson & Lamon Murray was key in alot of the Raptors early season victories against the Blazers, Spurs, & Knicks in Toronto. The Raptors need those guys to carry such play over to the road more consistenly.

<div align="center"><u><font color="Navy">
Keys To The Game Nets </font></u></div>

<font color="Navy">Supporting Cast </font> The Nets have come to expect strong performances from Richard Jefferson, Eric Williams & even Alonzo Mourning to a certain degree on a nightly basis. But inorder for the Nets to truely be successful the Nets need their role players to show up. Rodney Buford, Nedad Krstic, Brain Scalabrine had strong games vs the Hawks last game. But consistency is a big factor with these guys. The Nets need them to come out with strong consecutive performances.

<font color="Navy">Establishing Zo inside </font>. With the return of Kidd, it should be interesting to see how the Nets go about establishing Zo. Zoran Planinic & even Travis Best at times had a extremely hard time delivering the ball to Zo in positions where he could truely due damge. Zo would either catch the ball outside of the paint due to poor entry passes & be forced to take bad jumpers or put the ball on the floor, which led to turnovers. And their was alot of situations where Mourning got caught in the 3second lane by the refs because nobody could deliver him the ball inside. So look for the Nets to make it a factor to establish Zo when Kidd is in the game.

<font color="Navy">Controlling the Boards </font>. For the Nets controlling the backboards is always key because they need 2nd chance points to be successful on the offensive end. And defensively they give so much effort in their intinial defense that when they give opponents a 2nd chance to score its a heart breaker, every rebound & possession for a team that struggles to score like Jersey tends to do is extremely important.

<u>Closing Stantement</u>
Its a divisional game, every divisional win is important for the Nets. The Raptors are probably struggling more then Jersey is right now. The Nets need to get off to a solid start and force Toronto out of their comfort zone. And force this team to start questioning themselves. And Coach Mitchell to start 2nd guessing his players, thats when you know the Raptors are struggling.

Enjoy the Game

 

Thanks for the nice preview.
I agreed with this: "The Raptors are probably struggling more then Jersey is right now."
Kidd is coming back for this game and the Nets are playing at home, this is a important game for the team and the fans. The homecrowd will get wild and Kidd probably will come out from the bench, will boost the spirit for the Nets.
Raptors sucks on their road game, I think if the Nets can control the pace of the game, shoot wisely and control the board, they can win this by 5.
Cant wait to see Kidd's passing and running again!

 

I hope a win for the Nets cause theat would be great for Kidd. I think they have the power to win this game. Vince needs to do that what he is good at. Dunking, dunking.

Nets win by 5

 

nice preview henecy...big up

raps are struggling, but they are a jekyl and hyde type team. if you guys see the team that's beat detroit, utah, san antoinio and the heat amongst others...then you're in a whole lot of trouble. if you see the swiss cheese defense and careless lazy play that's cost us games like the blow-out by the magic then we are in trouble.

since the raps have been horrible in the passed 2 games, i think its time for an appearance from the good team...im gonna say raps by 8

 

I can't wait to see J-Kidd back on the court, ESPN confirmed he will be playing tonight

 

vince better play with energy and drive had to the basket ...or else i say raptors lose by 8 unless the bench goes wild again

 

I love your preview, Henacy. Thank you

 

pathetic loss...raptors seemed in control all game untill it came time to close out and win. cant blame the loss on carter's last second miss...we should have been up in the first place

 

Nice...

Jason Kidd 10 pts 6 rbs 3 asts
Richard Jefferson 26 pts 9 rbs 8asts
Alonzo Mourning 10 pts 10 rbs
Nenad Krstic 2 pts 9 rbs 3asts 1st 1blk

nice performance... my predict is almost correct

Kobe 8 Ball, sorry, you are wrong in doubling Nets beat Raptors....

 

<div align="center"> -
86-88</div>

<u>Leading Scorers</u>

<font color="Purple">Vince Carter</font> -22pts
<font color="Navy">Richard Jefferson</font> -26pts

<u>Player Of the Game</u>

<font color="Navy">Richard Jefferson (Nets)</font> -SG/SF

Game Statline
40(mins) - 8 of 16(Fg) - 10 of 12(ft) - 8(ast) - 9(rebs) - 26(pts)*

<font size="1">*and the game winning shot</font>
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<u>Post Game Wrapup</u>

There was no doubt entering the game that everyone in the continental Airlines Arenas main focus was the return of All-star Jason Kidd. Jason Kidd returned to the Nets lineup for the 1st time in 2004-2005. And Jason Kidd was up to the task, he provided the Nets with a much needed spark for a team with 4 wins entering the game. Kidd only finished the game with a solid 10pts & 6rebs. But his pressence was enuff to jumpstart the Nets. Richard Jefferson did the rest. Jefferson went back & forth in a exciting matchup with Raptors swingman, trading baskets & spectacular plays all night. But down the stretch RJ got the best of the matchup, knocking down a big fall away jumper in the paint with less then 10 seconds left, the eventual game winner. Carter had a chance to tie the game at 88 but missed a layup on the raptors last possession.

Along with the double-digit point performance from Kidd & Richard Jefferson, the Nets also got double -digits from Eric Williams, who chipped in 12pts. And a double- double from Mourning 10pts & 10rebs, including a key offensive rebound late that kept the ball alive for Jefferson's game winning shot. The Nets also got a solid combined effort from their bench. The Nets 2nd unit combine to produce 24pts led by Scalabrine's 7pts.

This was just the Nets 5 win of the season. But the ora surrounding the victory seemed alot different then the first 4 wins. Instead of the Nets just being happy to get a win, this victory seemed more like hope for the future. The Nets will look to carry over tonight's performance into tommorrow's matchup against the Cavs.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kobe 8 Ball:</div><div class="quote_post">No need to call me out, I am not the only one who thought the Nets were going to lose, and I can doubt the Nets too, if they dont shape up they are going to have a top 5 pick in the draft...</div>

Sorry, that is not a reason. You must tell your thinking about why Nets would lose, not just say I doubt. And when you are wrong, you say not only you.A bad excuse :-o