Official Game Thread: Toronto @ Atlanta (2/2/07)

<div align="center"> <font size=""4"">@</font>
<font size=""4""><font color=""Red"">Toronto Raptors</font></font> VS. <font size=""4"">Atlanta Hawks</font>

<font size=""4"">23-23, 1st Atlantic</font> <font size=""4"">17-27, 4th Southeast</font>

<font size=""4"">WHEN: Fri., Feb. 2, 7:30pm
WHERE: Philips Arena
TV: NBALP, RAPSTV
</font>




(click on logo for team stats)

<font size=""4"">Starters</font>

<font size=""1"">Calderon, Parker, Garbajosa, Bosh, Nesterovic</font>

<font size=""4"">Bench</font>

<font size=""1"">Bargnani, Humphries, Graham, Slokar, Ford, Peterson</font>

<font size=""4"">Team Injuries/Inactive List</font>

<font size=""1"">Sow, Jones, Martin</font>



(click on logo for team stats)

<font size=""4"">Starters</font>

<font size=""1"">Lue, Johnson, Smith, M. Williams, Wright</font>

<font size=""4"">Bench</font>

<font size=""1"">Freije, Bozeman, Jones, S. Williams, Pachulia, Ivey, Childress</font>

<font size=""4"">Team Injuries/Inactive List</font>

<font size=""1"">Stoudamire, Batista, Claxton</font>



<font size=""5"">Who's Hot</font>




<font size=""1"">Bosh: 30.2 ppg in last 4 gp / Jose: 16 ppg in last 6 gp</font>




<font size=""1"">Johnson: 30.5 ppg in last 4 gp/ Smith: 17.8 ppg in last 5 gp</font>



<font size=""5"">Key Match-ups </font>


<font size=""3"">Tyronn Lue vs. Jose Calderon</font>


<font size=""3"">Marvin Williams vs. Chris Bosh</font>



<font size=""3"">Fox Sports World's Head to Head Match-ups</font>
(click either player photo to see numbers against one another)

PG vs. PG

SG vs. SG

SF vs. SF

PF vs. PF

C vs. C




(click on image for preview *NOTE: only available on "Game Day")



<font size=""4"">Prediction</font>

<font size=""4""><font color=""Red"">Raptors</font></font> - 107
<font size=""4"">Hawks</font> - 103</div>


We head into "Hotlanta" to meet with the Hawks who are currently on a roll and playing extremely well. Should be an interesting affair which I believe will win by the skin of our teeth.

Predict & discuss!

<div align="center"><u><font size=""4"">Chicky-poo of the day</font></u>



<font size=""4"">Minka Kelly</font> (Lyla from "Friday Night Lights")</div>

 

Nice GT Dr.J. Ya, the raps should tkae this one. Hawks are playing well but i think Bosh and Calderon will take over, and Ford and Mo will come off the bench and finish the job. Andrea has be playing well since he came back form the flu. and being added to the rookie tema aling with Garbo, is a big boost of confidence. Calderon should of been on the sophmore team, but as long is he is playing well for us, Im just glad he's here.

 

Quick question, is Calderon starting because Ford's not 100% yet, or was it Mitchell's decision to start him?

 

<div class="quote_poster">Epidemik Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Quick question, is Calderon starting because Ford's not 100% yet, or was it Mitchell's decision to start him?</div>

Sam apparently wanted to start T.J. against the Wiz, but Ford asked Mitchell to start Jose in his place because he didn't feel as though he was 100% yet. So, I think we'll ease Ford back into it slowly meaning and I presume Jose will get the start this evening again.

Hopefully that answers your question Epidemik.

 

We're going to lose this because it's on Raptors TV.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Dr. J. Naismith Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Sam apparently wanted to start T.J. against the Wiz, but Ford asked Mitchell to start Jose in his place because he didn't feel as though he was 100% yet. So, I think we'll ease Ford back into it slowly meaning and I presume Jose will get the start this evening again.

Hopefully that answers your question Epidemik. </div>

Ah I see, thanks for the answer. I really think it doesn't matter who starts, they're both good PG's that mesh with the team. But yeah, I'm thinking Jose will start again tonight, but it would be nice to see the combo of TJ and Jose at the 1 and 2 again like they did against the Wiz.

 

We better win this game, we have plenty of rest & atlanta sucks yet they already beat us twice this season.

 

We do have plenty of rest, and for once everyone is healthy. As long as Parker plays good D on Joe Johnson and we get Bosh the ball I think we'll take this one. IMO, we have the better starting lineup and whats more is, we have way more depth than them.

 

Holy crap, T.J. just threw up an ally oop to Rasho! and he flushed it!
The hawks are turning the ball over like crazy. Raps 44 Hawks 29
4 minutes into the 2nd.

 

Yea, that play surprised me. Ford with 7 assists in 8 mins. That's plain awesome. Man, I don't know how we didn't live without two awesome point guards before.

btw, I was just wondering this during the game. Who do you think will become a better overall player: Bargnani or Marvin Williams?

 

Any update on the game? I don't have Raptors TV so yeah, are we winning? Sounds like we're doing great by what you guys have posted so far.

 

100 to 87 Raps, 3:40 left....the raptors almost let this one slip.
Swirsky has to stop saying "MP3 download" everytime Mo hits a triple...its getting annoying.

 

Raptors 103 Hawks 91 FINAL
Raptors started out like gang busters, but wilted a little in the 3rd and 4th...but still very nice win.

 

Above .500 now!

Even though Ford had a great game today distributing the ball, I still thought that the offense didn't flow as smoothly as it did the past few games. Ford tends to dribble the ball around a lot more, and very often settles for the mid-range shot, which is for sure nowhere as efficient as Calderon's layups. I know I might be a bit hard on TJ since this is just his second game, but this is my honest opinion. Ford's still the better player, but right now he's not as able as Calderon. Don't know why Mitchell sat Calderon for so long this game. Ford was impressive early on but he seemed to be tired by the third quarter.

 

By the looks of it, New Jersey is going to lose to Orlando they're down +20 points in the 3rd. So this increases the gap between the Raps and Nets by a bit.

 

Nice win. Just a couple complaints:

-We did not box out the entire game. I don't know if it's the athleticism of the Hawks, but we never seem to box out against them and today we gave so many second chance points to players coming down the baseline, etc. That was part of the reason Atlanta made a run in the 2nd half.

-Like Locke mentioned already, TJ Ford was subbed out very late. I think Sam Mitchell got caught up in Ford' excellent play in the 1st half and totally forgot about the current situation. But regardless, we were treading water for a 2-3 minutes longer than we should've and Calderon's entrance was one of the main reasons we overcame their run.

Otherwise, it was an excellent effort by the Raps (especially in the 1st half).

btw, norespect I agree with the MP3 dowload thing. It got old fast.

 

Exactly....I know he likes to have signature lines, but he has too many and this one just plain stinks. MP3 is fine, but do you have to throw in the download every single time.....its like he finds a new line and has to beat it to death and ram it down our throats untill we all hate it.

and Chutney, i read that if you only had a week to live you would like to punch out swirsky,...how about beating him with a sack of salami and cheese...Poetic Justice

 

And he's always trying out lame ones. Remember a couple games ago, he tried "Ka-Bosh!" after CB4 did a nice dunk. Someone in the organization must've told him how lame it was, because I only heard it two or three times after that.


And, yea that's about as perfect a fate as you could find for him. Either that or kicking him in his "onions."

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">btw, I was just wondering this during the game. Who do you think will become a better overall player: Bargnani or Marvin Williams?</div>

Right now, I think Bargnani is more versatile. Bargnani has pretty good vision of the court, can put the ball on the floor a bit, and of course, isn't shy about taking big shots and he's got a lot of swagger for a rookie.

Marvin's more of a tweener, but I think down the road he'll be a very solid three unless he manages to bulk up and play the four because he's not rebounding as much as I'd expected him to. I think Marvin doesn't really fit with the Hawks and needs to get out of Atlanta in order to realize all of his potential though, where as Bargnani fits nicely with the Raptors.

 

Believe it or not, we're now 4 games behind for first in the conference. Only in the East...