<div align="center"> <font face=""Arial""><font size=""3"">Toronto Raptors</font></font> (2-3) @ <font face=""Arial""><font size=""3"">Sacramento Kings</font></font> (3-2) Venue: Arco Arena Date: Sunday November 12, 2006 Time: 9:00 PM EST Coverage: RaptorsTV</div> [DIV=50%] <div align="center"><font size=""3""><font face=""Arial"">Projected Starters</font></font> Mike Bibby - Kevin Martin - Ron Artest - Kenny Thomas - Shareef Abdur-Rahim <font size=""3""><font face=""Arial"">Reserves</font></font> Ronnie Price - John Salmons - Francisco Garcia - Corliss Williamson - Maurice Taylor <font face=""Arial""><font size=""3"">Coach</font></font> Eric Musselman</div> [/DIV] <div align="center"><font size=""3""><font face=""Arial"">Projected Starters</font></font> TJ Ford - Anthony Parker - Morris Peterson - Chris Bosh - Rasho Nesterovic <font size=""3""><font face=""Arial"">Reserves</font></font> Jose Calderon - Fred Jones - Joey Graham - PJ Tucker - Andrea Bargnani - Jorge Garbajosa - Kris Humphries <font face=""Arial""><font size=""3"">Coach</font></font> Sam Mitchell <font face=""Arial""><font size=""3"">Keys to the Game</font></font></div> Production from the Starters Sacramento's relies heavily on their starting lineup and only 4 players Kings have had consistent minutes coming off the bench. Toronto, on the other hand, has opened games poorly, while Mitchell has focused on attacking the opposing team's second units. This will be difficult against a Kings team, who's starters are all averaging over 37 mpg. If the Raptors want to stand a chance tonight, they are going to need one of their starters, other than Chris Bosh, to step up. Good Shots vs. Fast Shots Sam Mitchell has yet to distinguish the difference between the two and, as a result, the drop in Toronto's 3 pt. shooting from last season has been quite noticeable. Against a Kings team that is leading the league in opposition ppg (90.2 ppg), that means the Raps are going to have to focus on splitting the defense, forcing turnovers, and pushing the ball to get easier buckets. Interior Defense This is getting a little bit repetitive, but Toronto needs to clamp down in the post. We've seen a few players have huge nights against us, simply because our forwards and centers refuse to box out and keep leaving the baseline wide open. The Raptors can't afford to be outrebounded against a Sacramento team that is missing Brad Miller. <div align="center"><font face=""Arial""><font size=""3"">X-Factor</font></font> </div> <div align="center"></div> <div align="center">Chris Bosh</div> Despite new-found depth, the Raptors' wins against Milwaukee and Philadelphia have shown that they need Bosh to lead the way. The matchups seem to be great, as Sacramento is suddenly a bit weak in their frontcourt. Another big rebounding night and some timely buckets are a necessity tonight. <div align="center"><font face=""Arial""><font size=""3"">Prediction</font></font> Kings win 98-93. <font face=""Arial""><font size=""3"">Something to look at while you wait for the game</font></font> </div>
Nice preview Chutney, btw I laughed the first time I saw your sig, If you made it you did a good job. In this game, the matchups I look forward to seeing are Mo Pete vs. Artest. Parker vs. Artest. Parker vs. Kevin Martin. As well as Kris Humphries vs. whoever he matches up against. Have the Raps gotten 100 shots in any of their games so far? EDIT: Nets : 94 shots against them LOSS Bucks: 88 shots against them WIN Spurs: 76 shots against them LOSS 76ers: 93 shots against them WIN Hawks: 88 shots against them LOSS
for some reason i think the raps are going to win tonight. its more a matchup thing in favour of the raps- nobody matches up with bosh; ford if he runs hard, can't be caught and the raps have a much better bench than they do. however, kenny thomas as well as "big nasty always seem to have career games against us. btw, those chicks today are awesome, specifically the persian looking one
<div class="quote_poster">deception Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">for some reason i think the raps are going to win tonight. its more a matchup thing in favour of the raps- nobody matches up with bosh; ford if he runs hard, can't be caught and the raps have a much better bench than they do. however, kenny thomas as well as "big nasty always seem to have career games against us. btw, those chicks today are awesome, specifically the persian looking one</div> Who is big nasty? Corliss Williamson? I remember him just pushing around Raps and getting his way during one of the last few games he played against us.
<div class="quote_poster">SkiptoMyLue11 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Who is big nasty? Corliss Williamson? I remember him just pushing around Raps and getting his way during one of the last few games he played against us.</div> yeah "big nasty" is a nickname he earned from his college days when he was arguably the best college player of his generation.
I dont see why we can't win this game. Parker can contain Artest or Martin seeing as how he handled AI pretty well. No one on their team can really stop Bosh, and if we don't force shots I think we can win this one.
<div class="quote_poster">Iggy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I dont see why we can't win this game. Parker can contain Artest or Martin seeing as how he handled AI pretty well. No one on their team can really stop Bosh, and if we don't force shots I think we can win this one.</div> I don't think you can ever say you handled someone when they get 35 points. However, he did do a good job of getting in AI's way and challenging his shot. Likewise, neither Parker or MoPete was able to keep Joe Johnson or Josh Smith in check last game. I'm think Martin will continue that trend tonight. I'm also predicting Bibby to have a big game tonight against Ford. Any decent offensive point guard against the defense of Ford is not a good combination. I wonder if they're going to be putting Artest on Bosh at some points in the game? Bosh is due for a better offensive night than he had in the Atlanta game. I don't see us winning this one seeing as how we've played lately in the Philly and Atlanta game. Our defense has been awful and the Kings have four very capable offensive players in their starting lineup with Bibby, Artest, Martin and Shareef.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SkiptoMyLue11:</div><div class="quote_post">Nets : 94 shots against them LOSS Bucks: 88 shots against them WIN Spurs: 76 shots against them LOSS 76ers: 93 shots against them WIN Hawks: 88 shots against them LOSS</div> Thanks for finding that. Just seems to prove what almost everyone in this forum has been saying: the number of shots really isn't as important as the quality of them. I doubt we'll see a consistent pattern between the number of shots and team success, this year. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting deception:</div><div class="quote_post">btw, those chicks today are awesome, specifically the persian looking one</div> They're from "Deal or No Deal." I think the atmosphere will play a big difference in this one. We've never played well in Arco and I can see the Kings feeding off the energy of arguably the best homecourt in the NBA. The individual matchups seem to favour us, but I'm hesitant to say that it'll lead to a win.
<div class="quote_poster">Eclipse Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I don't think you can ever say you handled someone when they get 35 points. However, he did do a good job of getting in AI's way and challenging his shot. Likewise, neither Parker or MoPete was able to keep Joe Johnson or Josh Smith in check last game. I'm think Martin will continue that trend tonight. I'm also predicting Bibby to have a big game tonight against Ford. Any decent offensive point guard against the defense of Ford is not a good combination. </div> Well considering we know Iverson was on fire that night, if it weren't for Parker I think Iverson could have torched us up for 50 points with the way he was playing.
What a brutal start.....When a team is shooting poorly, the remedy seems to be to play the raptors....the kings shooting 60% after the first,eewww
Soooooo ? it's half way through the 2nd quarter and we are getting smoked respectively. -Now, by watching this game I think we can all tell the difference between John Salmons and Fred Jones. Salmons has got into the paint various times and has successfully created for his teammates while Jones has driven into the paint and turned the ball over about 3 times. Jones stunk for a period of about 6 minutes and completely screwed our offense. -If we aren't going to even try and find Bargnani on offense there is no point of him being on the floor, he's still a defensive liability. He does have a lot to contribute on offense though if we would just give him some touches. Clearly, he hasn't been incorporated into the gamelan at all because every touch he gets is just around the perimeter. How to coach basketball: by Sam Mitchell -When the opposing team hits 3 pointers consistently from the same spot on the floor, don't call a timeout to address the hole in your defense. Instead, just bitch about how bad your players played d after the game -Play 12 players within the first 16 minutes of the game. Make sure the combinations are as random as possible, that way no sense of chemistry can develop -Don't let your point guard run the offense, make sure the ball stays in the hand of your unstable swing man who constantly turns it over.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">That was your set play to close out the half? What the hell!?!</div> I looked the other way, what'd i miss? I think Mitchell needs to change his moto from "you can't teach defense" to "I can't teach defense"
<div class="quote_poster">a13x Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I looked the other way, what'd i miss? I think Mitchell needs to change his moto from "you can't teach defense" to "I can't teach defense"</div> Pass to Bosh outside the 3 pt. line, he can't get a good iso situation, so they pass it around a few times and get a bad jumper at the buzzer. You probably could've guessed it. What made it embarrassing is that he called a timeout specifically for that play (there was only 12 secs. left).
This is one the worst game's i have ever seen. The raptors have nothing, they should be trailing by more then 20. Bosh played avg. and everyone else stunk. T.J. was a turnover machine.....Nobody could hit open shots.....Just terrible. Hang your head in shame. HAHAHAHA Graham just passed the ball into the 4th row...nice
I've turned this one out at the end of the 3rd quarter. In other news my reward for buying raptors TV has been two of the ugliest displays of basketball ever witnessed. -Joey Graham sucks and should not play durring any meaningful point in the game. The pre-season is over. -With Mitchell's brutal unstructured offense, Calderon is superior to Ford in the half court set. -Fred Jones has sucked all game and continues to get more burn from Mitchell. -Props to (hold your breath) Jack & Leo for actually digging the raptors on how bad they are playing. This has been absolutely pathetic. Every team is now Doubling bosh and no one is stepping up as a legit 2nd option.
