I think Washington takes this one. They've owned the Raps a lot the past few seasons, and the inside presence is really what will change the game. Washington seems to average so many offensive rebounds against the Raptors it's not even funny. MIKE JAMES!
I just dont see raps loosing this one.. I see raps winning by about 6+ points.. CB4 gets a double double and the rookies come out big
Actually I originally was thinking Toronto would win it, but Og15 is right, Washington always dominates us down low. It will take an incredible effort from our young guys for us to win this match up. I'm predicting Washington wins 97-92. Hopefully I'm wrong!
I'm predicting a very close loss for the Raptors. From the sets I've watched the game isn't lookingtoo pretty. Is there anybody inthe stands? Is anone else not pleased with the Red Court?
29-24 Washington after the first quarter. Joey looked great in the first few minutes knocking down a three and playing some solid defense on Jamison. The defense looked sloppy in the last 3 minutes of the quarter however and Jamison has been killing the Raps so far.
52-48 Raptors right now. Toronto was down 10 about three minutes ago and Jose Calderon turned it all around. Had a nice shot off a pick, then stole the ball and found Mo Pete for two. Charlie V's hitting some shots, and the Raps are crashing the boards well. Bosh needs to find his shot though, and the team is playing horrible defense. The rooks are all looking like gems.
Calderon...wow. I think barely noticed him when we got his in the summer. But I saw him on the Spanish national teams and I knew we got a World class player. I don't think we're gonna miss Rafer all that much after all.
57-54 for the Raptors at the half. Calderon and Peterson played great. The rooks all looked solid in the first half. Mitchell needs to get Graham in their for his defense.
JOEY GRAHAM IS SOLID...CHARLIE VILLANUEVA IS SOLID... CALDERON LOOKS LIKE ROBBIE WILLIAMS The Raptors look really promising this season and I hope fans stay patient...I love this team so much and I know they're going to surprise critics...Hoffa is still useless though in my opinion. I'm waiting for Alvin Williams to get in the game; it will be an emotionally moment to see him play again :]
I don't know why Mitchell is playing Bonner so often. His defense has been atrocious and he couldn't convert on two post ups on shorter players. The Wizards aren't leaving him open and Bonner isn't much help right now. I think that Graham or Villanueva at the small forward instead of Bonner would help a lot. Also won't mind James and Calderon on the floor at the same time. James is a slightly better shooter from the corner than Mo Pete and Calderon's penetration/kickout can get James a lot of open shots.
The Refs are STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! calling a foul on Rose that wasnt evne a charge..so dumb err raptors lost but whatever..this game should slap the doubters saying raps do not have potential they were crazy out there cv31..bosh..rose..mo-pete..mike jaaammess n jose did good aswell graham was OK..he could have been better i like what we have..we should be a good team this season
omg!!! the refs stomped our chances, but bosh should have played antawn better at the end, and CV3/Rose had chances to tie at the end
Raptors loose by 3 Raptors Key Players Bosh--17 points/1 block/14 rebounds Rose--20 points Mike Jammmes--11 points 7 assists Mo'Pete- 16 points/4 assists CV31--11 points/6 reb Loren Woods-9 rebounds/4 points:s
Raptors lose by 3, but they fought throughout the whole game which is a good sign of things to come. I still think Mitchell should have played the Spaniard in the 4th quarter and I have no clue what Bonner was doing all game long. Ugh! Calderon (5 STARS) demonstrated pass-first mentality and made the game so much more exciting the moment he stepped in. It won't take him long to get established well into the system and he's already showing signs of leadership --> the Spaniard might end up being captain, rather than Bosh (default)... WOW! Not only is he sexy...ehhh tooo sexyyy... I had fun watching him and how vocal he is in the court. Peterson (5 STARS) played well and made most of his 3-pt shots and played decent defense against a tough guard in Arenas. If he got more minutes, I think he could've contributed a lot more. Rose (4 STARS) played solid, but the refs didn't let him play his game and made many dumb calls. Bosh (4 STARS) struggled but he finished the game on a high note. Mike Jaaaames (3 STARS) didn't really make much difference in the game, except for that 3 pointer that put the Raps 1 point behind... CV31 (4 STARS) had a terrific game and things can only get better from here on out. I loved seeing him along-side CB4 --> they're going to make a great duo. Graham (3 STARS) had a great 1st quarter, but stuggled for the rest of the game, committing typical rookie mistakes. I have to admit, those pythons are 5 stars though. Woods (3 STARS) played a decent game, but I don't understand why they didn't give him more minutes in the second half. They need this type of game (rebounding) from him for the rest of the season. Hoffa and Bonner (NEEDS TO EARN STARS) were both lost in the defense and both didn't contribute at all in the offensive end. Very dissapointed in Bonner, especially in one of the plays at the end of the game --> He should have passed the ball out. Overall, he [Bonner] looked very rusty.
^ I agree I really like Jose's game (we need a nick for him aswell btw) he's a really good PG any chances of him becoming our starter? *next manu ginoboli*
It really did seem like we had a lot of charges called on us. Some of them were definitely fouls but I think a few were questionable. I thought given the size of our front court compared to theirs we did a really good job rebounding. You could really see the difference on the defensive end with Mike James as opposed to Alston... although our defense as a whole was nothing short of crap for most of the game. Jalen looked really out of the loop tonight... he really wasn't getting anywhere near the touches he was last year. I guess that's to be expected.. we probably don't' want him taking the shots anyways. It will be interesting to see how he handles not being one of the focal points of the offense. Our rookies have really good chemistry. Offense looked wayy better than last year.. Although, I think we settled for too many jump shots later in the game.. but I guess that's partially a reaction to having so many charges called against us when we went to the basket. We just weren't getting the calls in the lane with Bosh and Rose when they went to the bucket...
I think there is a big possibility that the Spaniard might start the next game, instead of Mike Jaaaames. I think a lot of the fans would rather see him because he's so vocal and makes everyone around him better. The bench is going to be very productive - I can see Calderon making it a lot easier for guys to score because he opens up the game, creating a lot of double-teams, which means Mo-Pete or anyone else is left for an open 3-pt shot (this game had many examples of this) where Calderon only had to pass the ball out into the corner after driving and attracting defenders. The last few minutes of the game was very vital for the Raps, and there wasn't much chemistry at all in the offensive end - they looked extremely flat and when back-to-back-to-back charge calls were called, it was over for the Raps. The Raps only needed to slow the ball down (2 vs 2 - Mike James and CV31) and Mike James committed the charge. On the positive end, we know that the Raps are going to fight until the end - The Wizards are a tough team to beat...and by team I mean, it's not easy to beat Gilbert Arenas. The Raps also showed that they've improved in their rebounding game :]
My thoughts on the game, Joey Graham played well with the limited minutes, he had an offensive foul, but it was his first game whatever. Made the first 2 baskets for Toronto and put in good defense. CV31 seemed pretty solid, able to hit the 3, also played some down low. I liked what I saw. Calderon totally changed the momentum when he came onto the floor, I really liked the way he performed for the team, considering I had never seen anything from him. Bosh wasn't playing the same way he played last year. He doesn't seem to have the rythym and wasn't beating his man off the dribble, which is one of his strengths. Jalen needs to pass, whenever he touches the ball he has a score first mentality then score second, and score third, maybe pass as a 4th option. If he never passes, teams will know just to help D on him and it will be a turnover or bad shot, which happened several times. Also Bonner wasn't playing like his old self. He didn't take any deep 2s, and spread the defense properly. His post game isn't his strong point, so I don't know what that was about. Also Washington had soo many interior passes and lobs to guys 3 feet from the basket. I think we need to work on our defense before anything else. I think we needed to play Woods more, because Bosh isn't very effective guarding Haywood. When we were playing Woods he was doing pretty good imo.
