Awesome job by the Nets, although the way they gave up the lead is reminiscent of about 20 different games in the season in which they lost due to collapse in final few minutes. Very entertaining game, and it will be a very exciting series.
Raptors impressed me in their late fourth quarter run and have proved that they can win this series but this is a huge blow to the Raps. The first game is very important especially if you have home court now they are forced to perform at a higher level on the road and fell behind to begin. In the end, it was clear that NJ had more experience which was IMO the sole reason that they won, Vince, RJ, nor Jkidd were performing in the fourth yet NJ pulled away. I expect Raps to rebound on monday and this series to go to 7.
You know what guys this team just came out not knowing what to expect tonight. Its got to add to the stress when you see a packed house all wearing the same shirt and just going insane. Early it showed but in the second half they kind of settled down and we outplayed the Nets in the 4th we just fell to far behind early and it killed us. But we can beat the Nets, we can stop the nets, and we can score on the nets. Next game is going to be the real test if the Raptors take the next game I think they take the series because they always respond well and the way they can play late if they bring that all to the table they are going to win a lot more games then lose them. Although this one stings a bit atleast we know the season is far from over and they still have to beat us 3 more times and I just don't see that happening.
Just posted some of my opinions and observations from the game at my blog if anyone feels like reading something.
New Jersey won Game 1....I'm not worried though....Jason Kidd played unbelievably well passing wise...He had 15 assists in the game, and really pushed the tempo well. RJ also had a huge first half and finished with 28....Carter played like sh*t, but the other guys definately stepped it up. Nachbar is also a stud off the bench. People think this guy is just a shooter...well, he can do more...He's a slasher too, and he has been very aggressive this year...He had a good game...For us though, alot of our guys had playoff jitters, and we weren't able to really get it going until the 4th, and that was a bit too late. One thing that really hurt us was Chris getting into foul trouble...He still had a great game, but we sort of struggled when he wasn't on the court...TJ Ford obviously had a great scoring night. I think he finished with 21....He drove to the basket so effortlessly, it was fun to watch....and his jumpers were going down too. Only thing was, he failed to get our guys involved, and that ended up hurting us...Andrea played like crap..He had one jumper, but besides that, did nothing...He definately was scared out there in his first ever playoff game...Joey Graham was even worse though...He DIDN'T even score, and he committed a bunch of dumb turnovers...Juan Dixon hit 2 nice shots, but he had an inconsistent shooting game....Mo didn't do anything....Kris Humphries was decent, but not a great game from him....Anthony Parker really wasn't scoring until the 2nd half....He hit a bunch of threes in the 2nd, and really helped to propell our comeback in the 4th, but he wasn't scoring throughout the whole game....Jose Calderon really started to heat up in the 4th, but struggled when he came out in the 2nd quarter....I thought he did do a good job of setting guys up in the 4th, when he was on....and he definately made a bunch of nice shots...but in the 2nd when he was on, the offense kind of stuttered...He was inconsistent shooting wise, and wasn't really passing well either.Yeah, well we lost by 5...A bunch of our key guys off the bench were complete non-factors, we didn't pass the ball as well as we usually do...and we just didn't play like we did in the past month...we didn't have that swagger until the 4th, when the deficit was maybe too great for us to pull off a win...The good news? We played like crap, and only lost by 5 points....I'm sure that when we're on our game, we'll be able to win...This will definately be an interesting series....but I'm standing by my prediction. Raps in 6.....maybe 7...Oh, btw, I forgot to mention RJ's contributions...The guy was so aggressive, I don't know how many fastbreaks he finished off of...and he was attacking well....alot of his baskets came from inside, he didn't even take alot of jumpers...but he did make some, but sort of became cold in the 4th...Anyway, great game...He and Jason were very key for the Nets, along with Bostjhan...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MVPBaller @ Apr 22 2007, 02:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Nets own the Craptors.</div>You're a f*cking idiot...Yeah, those Craptors that got the 3rd seed...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MVPBaller @ Apr 22 2007, 01:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Nets own the Craptors.</div>Ha, that's what my dad said :shifty2: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>You're a f*cking idiot...Yeah, those Craptors that got the 3rd seed... rolleyes.gif</div>Calm it down man. It's fun pulling Raptors jokes.
Sorry Raptors fans, you guys might get out experianced in this series. There is only so much progress you can make in a single season. You went from 27 to 47 wins, and went from postseason-less to a number 3 seed. Just a too young team still.
I don't think it has a lot to do with their playoff experience as to why they lost yesterday..although it is a reasonBosh was in foul trouble off the bat and was out of the game from the 6 minute mark of the 1st quarter to the 6 minute mark of the 2nd quarter then when they made a run he was back on the bench and New Jersey gained momentum againIf Bosh wasn't in foul trouble the entire game I think Raps would of won..whenever he left the game they would let the margin they were losing by increase
Bosh did have a ton of influence, even beyond scoring. At the end of the 1st half (near the end anyhow) ESPN showed a stat that had the Raptors +10 w/ Bosh and -20 w/o him. His foul trouble wasn't the reason the Raptors got in such a big hole, but it was a major part of it.
Foul trouble is something that you can learn to manage though. I didn't see the game so I don't know if they were really cheap fouls, but fouling when its unnecessary can be a sign of inexperiance/nerves. Like I said, I didnt see the game, so that might not be it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (L_C @ Apr 22 2007, 10:12 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Foul trouble is something that you can learn to manage though. I didn't see the game so I don't know if they were really cheap fouls, but fouling when its unnecessary can be a sign of inexperiance/nerves. Like I said, I didnt see the game, so that might not be it.</div>That wasn't it.
I love how everyone is going against NJ in this series. Bosh foul trouble wasn't the reason the Nets won, so you could throw that excuse out the window. Bosh played the entire 3rd quarter. We went into the 3rd up 10, and ended it up by 13 (should have been 15 if it wasn't for a cheap foul called on the Nets.) So tell me how him on the bench really hurt the Raptors? Of course it hurt them a little, but we would still have played the same way with him in there. And if you want to concentrate on all the bad things that happened to you guys and you only lost by 5, think about this. Carter played a absolute horrible game, horrible. Usually when that happens, we lose by more then 10. That didn't happen. Your superstar did good, ours didn't. Mikki Moore only had 9 points, which was mostly in the first quarter, so that really didn't help us much. Our bench did crap besides Nachbar, so again that hurt us. We had a lot of negative things too, so don't act like you only lost to us by 5 at the top of our game. We were just as bad. When our superstar does horrible and we still win, thats a plus. Lets see Bosh did crap in the first half like Carter, and we are still winning by 10. I think you could say we are a better team then, cant you.
I wasnt able to watch the game because I had to work from 8am - 5pm so I had absolutly no chance, but howcome Bargnani had soo little playing time?? Was he playing horrible did he get injured? Because I would rather have him in place of Graham but I understand that Graham is playing due to matchups.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Apr 22 2007, 01:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You're a f*cking idiot...Yeah, those Craptors that got the 3rd seed... </div>You are a f*cking idiot. Nets own the Craptors.1-0 advantage in the series. :happy0144:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (playaofthegame @ Apr 22 2007, 11:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't think it has a lot to do with their playoff experience as to why they lost yesterday..although it is a reasonBosh was in foul trouble off the bat and was out of the game from the 6 minute mark of the 1st quarter to the 6 minute mark of the 2nd quarter then when they made a run he was back on the bench and New Jersey gained momentum againIf Bosh wasn't in foul trouble the entire game I think Raps would of won..whenever he left the game they would let the margin they were losing by increase</div>Andrea also did nothing....We usually count on him for like 12 points a game...also Joey Graham...Alot of players just didn't play well like I pointed out earlier.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MVPBaller @ Apr 22 2007, 02:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You are a f*cking idiot. Nets own the Craptors.1-0 advantage in the series. :happy0144:</div>OMFG....they won 1 game by only 5 points when we played like crap....series over!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Apr 22 2007, 01:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>OMFG....they won 1 game by only 5 points when we played like crap....series over!</div>Wow dude we played like crap too, don't use that as a positive. You didn't win when Carter did horrible the whole game and Kidd only gets 8 points, Moore with only 9. Nobody on the bench did crap besides Nachbar, so only Kidd, Jefferson and Nachbar really played well, and we STILL won. I wouldn't be so happy about that.
