<font size="5">For Starters: </font> <u><font color="Purple">Raptors: </font> </u> <div align="center"> <font color="Purple">PG:Rafer Alston SG:Morris Peterson SF:Eric Williams PF:Chris Bosh C:Rafael Araujo</font></div> <u><font color="Orange">Bobcats:</font></u> <div align="center"> <font color="Blue">PG:Jason Hart SG: Kareem Rush SF:Gerald Wallace PF: Emeka Okafor Crimoz Brezec</font></div> A dissappointing loss in Washington the other night and the Raptors are back at home against the expansion Charlotte Bobcats. After what happened in Washington on Friday night, the Raptors absolutely CANNOT afford to give up offensive rebounds like they did because that will only result in a dunk or a layup. Washington had Jamison, Ruffin, Haywood and Thomas, but the Bobcats have Emeka Okafor who's averaging a double double and a 7 footer in Primoz Brezec who cannot be ignored on the backboards. If the Raptors are going to win this one, they will have to box out on every possession and play solid inside D. <font color="Red"><font size="3"><div align="center">-Keys to the Game-</div> </font> </font> -Allow no penetration, especially by Gerald Wallace. He will bring the house down with a thunderous dunk if he's allowed to sneak past the D. -Give Bosh his touches. Again, stats don't lie and the Raps are 9-0 when Bosh scores 20+ points. Raptors failed to give Bosh the ball in the loss against the Wizs and they were so close to being blown out by 30+ points. -Rafer Alston needs to go back to the game in Minnesota and think 'Pass first, shoot second'. If he does that, the rest of the game will come to him and the team. NO one-on-one heroics this time. -Give up jumpshots to Kareem Rush rather than allow him to penetrate. He shot a woeful 4-14 in the game against the Mavericks. -Keep the Bobcats under 100 points. Raptors are 0-20 when an opponent scores 100 points or more. <font color="Red">Interesting Matchups:</font> <div align="center">Chris Bosh vs. Emeka Okafor </div> Chris Bosh has a 1-year experience in the NBA. But Emeka Okafor played 4 years at Connecticut, winning a championship. He's showing it on the court averaging 15.4 ppg and 11.3 rpg. Bosh has the advantage in quickness and length, but Okafor owns Bosh in strength department. Raptors should avoid putting Bosh on Okafor on defence, but go to him on offense everytime he's matched up with Okafor. No prediction on this one... Anything can happen after the game against the Wizs.
The Bobcats are hopeless, as the Raptors will win this 98-91. Okafor will have a big game with 37 pts, 12 rebs, and 5 blks while Bosh will have 20 pts, 10 rebs, and 2 blks.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting VinKanaddy:</div><div class="quote_post">- Give Bosh his touches. Again, stats don't lie and the Raps are 9-0 when Bosh scores 20+ points. Raptors failed to give Bosh the ball in the loss against the Wizs and they were so close to being blown out by 30+ points.</div>Good preview but I just wanted to point one thing out.... I think there was reason for Bosh not getting a lot of touches in our last game against the Wiz. He never really got into any type of flow on offense and whenever he did try to score, it looked like he was forcing the issue too much. He was also having a very difficult time trying to contain the physical Washington front court on defense, so it seemed like he was too exhausted to contribute anything on offense. And Besides, if he really wanted to get involved on offense he should be demanding the ball a lot more often, which he wasn't doing last night. This game against Charlotte worries me though. I would be predicting an easy win but after nearly losing to the worst team in the league at home last Sunday, anything is possible. The Bosh/Okafor matchup will be very interesting..... Hopefully Bosh can take full advantage of his quickness and length to win the battle. And if we can play good perimeter D against Wallace and Rush, we should be able to come out with a win. Raps 105 Bobcats 99
hopefully the bobcats arrived yesterday cause the snow storm in the GTA is really bad. and guys remember the raps struggle against sub .500 teams, the bobcats might offer more resistance than one might think. look for the raps to lose at least one of the two meetings this week.
Yea I don't know if we can win both, it's just that the Bobcats bring some much energy, and they play so much like a team, it's crazy. They might not be high in the experienced talent department, but man, they play hard. They've taken some good teams to very very close games, but they don't have people that can close out games. I predict: Raptors - 108 Bobcats - 102
Raps 145 Bobcats 75, we altered our starting line-up and started Milt, Lammond, Jalen, Pape, and signed Moisu. We dominate this one if this line-up is used!
Well, thanks to the Celtics, Sixers and Knicks' losing streak recently we're still 2 games behind the Sixers. New Jersey is catching up though, they're 15-24. We gotta take this one.
ya if we dont take advantage of other teams in the atlantic div losing right now....i dont know if they can catch up... i'll say Raps by 23 110-87 I just cant see Raps losing at home.
Breaking News: Donyell Marshall (wrist injury) and Lamond (flu) are out for this game. Let's just hope it's temproraly, our bench is weaker now.
^ Damn Jared Jefferies...That should of been a flagrant. Rafer was injured in this game, and og's fav player, Milt Palacio is stepping up! 101-89 right now with just above 3 minutes left. Bosh and Mo with 20+ points performances in the same game at home, again.
Raps win. Bosh, Rose and Mo with 20+ performances. Araujo played solid. Now let's just hope Araujo can keep Shaq under control
bosh and mo pete are really becomming a nice 1 - 2 punch. gives us a nice inside/outside combo, and when mo drives tothe bucket, it opens things up for bosh. i really like the way they play together, and both of them bring decent defense to the table, so its a pretty complete package. seriously...we dont need vince when mo pete is playing like this. mo's giving us plenty of 16-20pt nights...plus he gives us the perimeter D that vince didnt. im really happy with his play, and the overall play of the raps.
Good win, didnt watch the whole thing but it looks like mo pete had another good performance at home, along with bosh and jalen. It was pretty much an expected win i guess.
good game, Bosh's dunks turned the game around, but the 2nd quarter, and the 3rd quaters, were dissapointing, but Mr. 4th quarter played well in the 4th
Speaking of Mr. 4 quarter, he outscored the Bobcats 14 - 12. lol, not to mention a good 3-pt dish to Mo Pete. Anyone see Eric Williams only basket, it looked really nice. He did such a quick post spin move and had such an easy lay up. Bosh had 5 blocks!!! and another win with Bosh > 20 points.
Jalen Rose started off slow but had another nice game, the guy has just been beast, MoPete was hitting his wild layups again, and Bosh had a nice game, lotsa dunks today. The game was a little too close for comfort though, and we need to watch out when we're in their house because they're after this game 1-18 on the road, so they don't win on the road anyways. As long as we can bring the intensity when we're in Charlotte, we should win because they struggle closing out games.
Yea I saw Eric Williams' basket. He backed down, back down, and then just got off his defender with a spin towards the baseline and got a layup. Rest of the shots were all long range shots, and I don't think that's Eric's strength. Him and Rose should look to post up people. (Well, Rose was clutch in the fourth quarter again knocking down 3 treys with a hand on his face each time). Rose was talking to the fans who was telling him to shoot and he said something like "It's alright man Mo's gonna make that shot" and Walla! Mo nails the open trey. Then he was like "See? I told ya." Now only if Mo can stay consistent on the road... that will make a deadly trio with Bosh, Mo, and Rose. No wonder Isiah wants Rose By the way, with the win against the Bobcats and the Knicks' loss to the Bucks today, the Raps took the third place in the Atlantic Division and is 1.5 games behind the first place 76ers. I had a laugh looking at the standings... our division is the only division where there's only one projected playoff team and also the only division where the leading team has a losing record. Central Division is so unfair... They essentially have 3 championship-calibre type teams in Cavs, Pistons and Pacers with Bulls playing like they've seen a red scarf.
isiah is stupid for wanting rose though. he's the exact opposite of what the knicks need right now. knicks need a solid role player in there...a bruce bowen or tayshaun prince type of player. someone who can play some D, hit open shots...bring energy. jalen is just another offensive player...someone who needs a lot of touches and will take shots is NOT what they need on the floor at the same time as starbury and crawford. isiah isnt doing a very good job imo
Yea, but then it's Isiah Thomas. We should really add "Is Isiah Thomas trying to reach that $200 million salary plateau?" to the conspiracy theory thread that deception started. I feel for Knicks fans... The only smart moves beside from drafts he made were the trade for Stephon Marbury and the trade that got them Jamal Crawford.
