Season Opener: Washington @ Toronto: 11-2-05

<div align="center">@
<font color="navy">The Washington Wizards (0-0)</font> @ <font color="purple">The Toronto Raptors (0-0)</font>
Time: 7:00 PM Eastern
Place: Air Canada Centre
TV: Local

<font size="5"><font color="navy">Wizards' Head Coach</font></font>

<font color="navy">Eddie Jordan</font>


<font size="5"><font color="navy"> Wizards' Projected Starting Lineup</font></div></font>
<div align="center">
<font color="navy">Predicted Stats
Gilbert Arenas - 23 points, 4 rebound, 5 assists
Antonio Daniels - 13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists
Jared Jeffries - 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists
Antawn Jamison - 17 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist
Brendan Haywood - 10 points, 8 rebounds, no assists</div></font>

<div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="purple">Raptors Head Coach</font></font>

<font color="purple">Sam Mitchell</font>

<font size="5"><font color="Purple">Raptors' Projected Starting Lineup</font></font>

<font color="purple">Projected Stats
Mike James - 10 points. 3 rebounds, 6 assists
Jalen Rose- 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
Joey Graham - 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Chris Bosh - 16 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists
Loren Woods - 9 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist


</font>


<font size="5"><font color="navy">Bench</font><font color="purple"> Factors</font></font>

Projected Stats
<font color="navy">Caron Butler - 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists</font>
<font color="purple">Charlie Villanueva - 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists</font>


<font size="5"><font color="navy">Key</font><font color="purple"> Players</font></font>

(<font color="navy">Gilbert Arenas</font>, <font color="purple">Chris Bosh</font>)
Projected Stats
Posted Above</div>

<font size="5"><font color="navy">Keys</font><font color="purple"> to</font><font color="navy"> the</font><font color="purple"> Game</font></font>
<font color="navy">Washington:</font>
<ul>
[*]<font color="navy">Stop the Home Crowd</font>- The Wizards, who are being vastly underrated by many "analysts" because Caron Butler isn't Larry Hughes, need to come out and stop any momentum the Raptors have from the home crowd. That'll be huge in the Wizards' success in this game.
[*]<font color="navy">The New Guys</font>- The new guys need to produce, they need to show the "analysts" that they can replace Larry Hughes. This goes out to Caron Butler and Caron Butler. Caron is on his third team in his short tenure in the league, but this looks like a settling point for him. Antonio Daniels will be playing some point, so he needs to distribute the ball well, get the Wizards' big men into it.
[*]<font color="navy">Ball Movement</font>- The guards need to look for the big men when they can, they can't hold the ball and force shots up. They need to move teh ball early in the shot clock and things will flow from there.
[/list]

<font color="purple">Toronto:</font>
<ul>
[*]<font color="purple">Mr. Bosh</font>- Chris Bosh. Get him the ball. Get it to him often. Antawn Jamison, who is not known for his good defense; but for his terrible defense, will be defending him. Chris Bosh should have good looks ALL NIGHT LONG.
[*]<font color="purple">The Crowd</font>- The Raptors, who aren't being taken seriously by basketball "experts" need to get the home crowd behind them. Gilbert Arenas can really explode whenever he wants, the Raptors need to feed off of the home crowd and strive to stop him with the momentum that they should have.
[*]<font color="purple">Contain Gilbert Arenas</font>- Gilbert Arenas is one of the quickest players in the league, especially going down hill. He can put the ball up with a good shot from virtually any angle on the court, and can slash with the best of them. Stopping Gilly is key for the Raptors in this one.
[/list]

<font size="5"><font color="navy">Random</font> <font color="purple">Movie</font><font color="navy"> Quote</font>: </font>
<u>Batman Begins </u>
Batman: It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.


<font size="5"> <font color="purple">Prediction</font></font>
Washington will come out looking to prove that they're an even better team without Larry Hughes, and the Raptors will come out looking to prove that they are a good team. I think this one will be close until about the last 5 minutes, when Washington will start to pull away. Washington wins, 102-94.

<font size="7">HAPPY 2005-2006 SEASON</font>

 

Jalen Rose killed his team down the stretch twice tonight. Once with a turnover and the other time with an offensive foul.

Antawn Jamison had a helluva game, and the new guys looked alright. Caron had some big baskets in a run where the Wizards took the lead.

The Wizards win their season opener, 99-96!

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">TORONTO, Nov. 2 (Ticker) -- Antawn Jamison flashed his All-Star form in the season opener.

Jamison scored 29 points and collected nine rebounds as the Washington Wizards started their season with a 99-96 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Washington was clinging to a 97-96 lead in the final minute when newly acquired Antonio Daniels found Jamison cutting to the basket for an floating layup with 12 seconds left.
</div>
http://www.nba.com/games/20051102/WASTOR/recap.html

Box Score:
http://www.nba.com/games/20051102/WASTOR/boxscore.html