<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Raptors centre Rasho Nesterovic will be making his 10th post-season appearance in this, his 10th NBA season. While Chris Bosh deservedly gets all the attention on the team, Nesterovic is having a breakout year and shows no signs of slowing down. In his past seven games, the classy big man has scored 20 or more points four times. "I don't even know who this guys is," head coach Sam Mitchell said as he continues to marvel at Nesterovic's professionalism and preparation. It's no secret that Mitchell will have Nesterovic matched up against Dwight Howard when the opening-round playoff series tips off in Orlando, likely on Sunday. "I think we match up well against them," Nesterovic said of the Magic. "Rebounding and small mistakes are going to decide the games." When the Raptors lost their first-round playoff series to New Jersey last spring, Nesterovic played a total of 71 minutes. Coming off a game-high 42-minute performance on Monday, Nesterovic will get considerably less minutes tonight in a meaningless game in Chicago, but he's expected to get extended time when the post-season begins. DROPPING THE BALL For the record, Howard made his post-season debut last spring when Orlando was swept in the opening round by the Detroit Pistons. Howard scored 29 points and hauled down 17 rebounds in Game 4. TIES TO TORONTO Familiar faces in Brendan Malone and Carlos Arroyo loom as the prelude to the post-season continues. Malone was coach of the expansion Raptors in 1995 and serves as an assistant coach to Stan Van Gundy. Arroyo appeared in 17 games in 2001 when Lenny Wilkens coached the Raptors.</div> http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Basketbal...297861-sun.html
Well I don't feel like looking at last year's boxscores. But this year Dwight had one game that would be considered dominant (by his standards). 37 points (13-16 FG) and 15 boards. He had another game in 30 min, 19 points (7-10 FG), 14 boards.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lavalamp @ Apr 16 2008, 06:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Well I don't feel like looking at last year's boxscores. But this year Dwight had one game that would be considered dominant (by his standards). 37 points (13-16 FG) and 15 boards. He had another game in 30 min, 19 points (7-10 FG), 14 boards.</div> 5 out 6 83%
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lavalamp @ Apr 16 2008, 05:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Well I don't feel like looking at last year's boxscores. But this year Dwight had one game that would be considered dominant (by his standards). 37 points (13-16 FG) and 15 boards. He had another game in 30 min, 19 points (7-10 FG), 14 boards.</div> Its tough to show his defense with statistics because Rasho shares minutes with Bosh, Bargnani, and Humphries, who are all inferior defenders. In fact, he really hasn't gotten meaningful minutes until this past month (Bargnani was starting for most of the season). My opinion comes from watching him play during the game. Nesterovic does an excellent job of fronting Dwight before he gets to the ball, pushing him out of the paint and out of his comfort zone. He's a really fundamentally sound defensive player that understands Howard's strengths. I'm not trying to say he'll shut him down, because he's never done that, but I do think he'll prevent him from going off and dominating the game. I look at him as this season's Anthony Parker. Before last year's playoffs, everyone assumed VC would dominate the series, not knowing how good a defender Parker was. He ended up negating him for most of the series, with smart, fundamental D.
Well Rasho played 35 minutes. Dwight I would say had a dominant game. 25 points (8-13 FG), 22 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 TOs, 5 blocks.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lavalamp @ Apr 20 2008, 04:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Well Rasho played 35 minutes. Dwight I would say had a dominant game. 25 points (8-13 FG), 22 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 TOs, 5 blocks.</div> Dwight definitely dominated defensively and on the glass. But offensively, he wasn't killing the Raptors. I thought Rasho played solid defense on him until the last 5 minutes of the game, where he got tired (he had to play extended minutes because of Bosh's foul trouble). And that was about the time where Howard rattled off 3 or 4 buckets in a row to push the game out of Toronto's reach. Also, I thought the Raps came in with the mentality that, if all else fails, they could send him to the free throw line (since he shot 59% this season). To his credit, he went 9 for 11 at the line and really made Toronto pay for it.
Rasho, AP and Kapono are the only ones who showed up Surprised? Kapono and Rasho have rings, and Parker won 2 Euroleague titles
