105-94 raps win. It was a good game, and good performances by mo pete and bosh. maybe we will have some momentum and put up a good fight against the kings unlike the last meeting.
Another point, Hoffa didn't do much offensively but I liked his fouls. All of them were hard fouls to prevent dunks/layups and I thought that's what we lacked in the games we gave up. It's just funny seeing the fouled players "try" to go up against Araujo and ends up backing away (ahem, Kelvin Cato) That layup by Mo was some SICK stuff, reminded me a little bit of Vinsanity at his finest. deception, that was Rafer and Donyell? I thought it was between Rose and Marshall, but oh well who gives a damn.
^Not only did Hoffa not do much offensively, but he pretty much did nothing at all except get 4 fouls. He didn't even have a single rebound. Disappointing night for Araujo but I hope he doesn't lose his starting spot because of this because I love the toughness he brings to the court. I also think it's funny how he reacts to guys like J-Rich and Cato who were ready to duke it out with him.... he just brushes them off like they don't even matter to him. We need guys like him. It's good to see Bosh dominating Howard this time around. I was afraid Howard was gonna have another 20+ rebound night, but Bosh did a great job only allowing him to grab 4 rebounds as well as only 5 points. Man, why can't Bosh come out this strong every game instead of just choosing the ones where he has to prove something? (ie matchups with KG, Duncan, etc.)
Hoffa's a beast of a man. And side note...whats with everyone bashing him saying he sucks and he's 25? I just looked and he's only 24.....bah....from the start i said he'll be a good investment and i stick to my statement. end rant. good game raps
Good win for the Raptors but they were making lucky shots all night. Did I say lucky? I meant lucky AND ill advised shots. The only bright spot IMO was Bosh and his agressiveness. His shot was falling and he was taking it hard to the hoop. All in all I don't think we should have won that game.
Yes, but should Orlando have won with Francis dribbling for 15 seconds every possesion, and with them also taking horrible shots? Nope...so the luckier team won because neither of us was really playing "good" basketball.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CourtVision:</div><div class="quote_post">Good win for the Raptors but they were making lucky shots all night. Did I say lucky? I meant lucky AND ill advised shots. The only bright spot IMO was Bosh and his agressiveness. His shot was falling and he was taking it hard to the hoop. All in all I don't think we should have won that game.</div> Name one player that really took ill advised shots. I thought almost every shot were good shots. You can say Rafer took some bad shots but the guy nailed 4 treys in a row, so why not let him try to nail some more? Mo was being aggressive as well.
francis seems to be suffering a bit from travis best syndrome...he dribbles the ball and goes nowhere and does nothing...not that he isnt a great player, because he is...but when he handles the ball too much, it throws the rest of the team out of their offence struggles as usual the raptors live and die by the jumper. we usually die by it...but tonight we were able to live by it, so we pull out a win. loved bosh's aggresiveness...i hope that type of play is what we can get from him on a consistant basis in a year or two a 6 game win streak is certainly possible...with last nights big win...our next 5 are against sacto, milwaukee, g-state, boston and charlotte. all of which are home games. sacto havnt exactly been a top team...g-state could be playing without j-rich....it certainly seems possible
Francis isn't a great player, a very good one, but not great, I like the guy, but he frustrates me a lot. He's not a player I'd want on my team by any means, especially as a PG. Please, we win one game and now we can go on a 6 game win streak? Common people let's be realistic here, we can win the majority of those games, but a 6 game win steaks isn't small, that's big. With our crappy defense and our inability to close out games we aren't beating 6 teams in a row especially when most of them are high scoring teams.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">Francis isn't a great player, a very good one, but not great, I like the guy, but he frustrates me a lot. He's not a player I'd want on my team by any means, especially as a PG.</div> well...he's not an "all-time" great...but he's currently a top 5 pg in the league...id say that makes him pretty damn good. we could sit here and argue how we differ on what "great" means...but lets not nit pick and just settle on "pretty good". sorry, but i just get annoyed when people try to tell me that my opinion is wrong. you wouldnt call him a great player...lots of people would. its a subjective term and an opinion <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Please, we win one game and now we can go on a 6 game win streak? Common people let's be realistic here, we can win the majority of those games, but a 6 game win steaks isn't small, that's big. With our crappy defense and our inability to close out games we aren't beating 6 teams in a row especially when most of them are high scoring teams.</div> its possible. are you saying that its not possible? look at the games...i didnt say it was likely or that it WILL happen...but based on our schedule, it does look POSSIBLE. will it happen? probably not...nothing wrong with being hopefull and optimistic though. jesus...as raptor fans, we dont really have much to look forward to this season...how about if some of us decide we want to feel optimistic and look ahead for once with a glimmer of hope, the rest of you pessimists just try and let us keep our spirits up eh? am i living in a dream world thinking the raps will win 6 games in a row...probably...is it possible that it will happen? yes. do i need you or anyone else to tell me that its not a realistic goal for this crappy team? hell no. but maybe for once in a long time i want to look ahead to the schedule and not see a pile of western conference power-house teams and be hopefull.
Great game, basically all the comments I wanna make, have been made already, so there's no point in repeating. About Orlando, I would've liked to see Howard get the ball more, because he can destroy, Bosh, Bonner and Marshall or whoever inside. About Steve Francis, Jack mentioned that Steve needed a PG on the court to make him a better player or something like that. Solution: Let Mobley walk after this season, even if Francis gets mad. Then let Jameer start at the Point, and Francis at the two. Plus Mobley will be demanding over 7 million, as a starting a salary, so I don't think it's a good idea to pay him that so he can come back.
hmm francis at the two? don't you think it might be a bit of a defensive liability (his lack of height)?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting illistic:</div><div class="quote_post">hmm francis at the two? don't you think it might be a bit of a defensive liability (his lack of height)?</div> iverson isnt a defensive liablity at the 2, so francis wouldnt be. francis is a mediocre defender at best...so if anything is going to be a defensive liability...its his defense lol
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dj_premium_plus:</div><div class="quote_post">iverson isnt a defensive liablity at the 2, so francis wouldnt be. francis is a mediocre defender at best...so if anything is going to be a defensive liability...its his defense lol</div> Iverson IS a definsive liabilty when he plays the 2 and matches up against a player who's capabale of posting up. But most of the time he defends the other team's PG even when he played the Point because Eric Snow was good enough of a definsive player to stop the other team's Shooting Guard. About yesterday's game, the ill advised shots were few and far between. I liked Sam's strategy for looking to Bosh everytime down the court, it forces him to do something with the ball. Looking for SacTown.
Exactly, Francis isn't a good defender at the point anyways, so it wouldn't make any much of a difference having him guard 1's or 2's. Just like Iverson when he was at the 2 he actually didn't even guard other SG's, Eric Snow did, but Iverson isn't that good a defender, he's great at anticipating, but gambles way too much and hurts the team defense [Rafer?], and his one on one defense is only okay.
iverson isnt that bad a defender...smaller guards get posted up. it happens. his perimeter defense is decent...face up he can guard, but when he gets taken down low thats when he gets punished. but name one smaller guard who doesnt get punished in the block anyways...my orginal point is that its not francis' size that would hurt them defensivly at the 2 spot...its his defense itself lol
We need a winning streak badly to get back into playoff contention, and I think right now is an ideal time for the Raps to get hot. I could see them pull of a lot of wins this month.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">Yes, but should Orlando have won with Francis dribbling for 15 seconds every possesion, and with them also taking horrible shots? Nope...so the luckier team won because neither of us was really playing "good" basketball.</div>This doesn't make me feel any better about winning the game or about the Raptors.
Good game by the Raps. I can see them pulling the next 5 games out of six. Sacto isnt exactly a walk in the park for the Raps. They really need to step up their D with this game. The next few games after Sacto are all winnable.
