Just do it. Just get it done. We need this win to restore our confidence and set the ship sailing in the right direction. New Jersey was bad, real bad, last place in the division bad, lowest point of the season bad, but the good thing is that if we turn around and get a win against the C*ntics, the pain of the NJ loss will seem like a distant memory and be replaced by the feeling of beating the most hated team in the NBA. It would also be a sweet measure of revenge after what happened 10 days ago when Garnett and Pierce willed the Celtics through while we appeared intimidated and out-of-place. We’ve had four “test” games so far this season: Philly, Detroit, Boston and Orlando. We’re 1-3 in these games with the only win coming against a Philadelphia team that beat us soon after. No matter what the talk coming out of the Raptors camp is there has to be a certain amount of doubt in the players of whether they can compete with the elite. A win here and a lot of that doubt disappears.
The Raptors announced that Jermaine O’Neal’s got a “strained left knee”. He’s got no structural damage and will be okay. I think I can speak for all of Raptors Nation/Country/Republic/Town/County when I say, whew. He did not practice on Saturday, his status is listed as day-to-day and he’s questionable for the Boston game. I figure given O’Neal’s competitive streak he’s not calling in sick for this one unless he’s in actual discomfort. Sam Mitchell says the Raptors are ready if he can’t go:
“We’ve already made contingency plans if he can’t go”
Right. You have to think that Kris Humphries figures a lot into that contingency plan. He’s played well in limited minutes and we’ll be counting on him to matchup against Leon Powe, Baby Davis and even Kendrick Perkins today. He’s got the goods to matchup with any of them, hold his ground and then some. Humphries always plays hard if not smart, you know that he’ll box out, take care of the defensive glass and crash the offensive boards. He gives up an inch to Perkins and about 50 points to Davis but its nothing Hump hasn’t made up for throughout his career.
The big difference in the lineup since the last time we played them is obviously Andrea Bargnani at the #3 spot. He’ll be up against the scum known as Paul Pierce, needless to say its Bargnani’s first real test on defense. Marion didn’t bug too much, Hedo had one good quarter and it wasn’t even against him and Bobby Simmons deferred to VC and Harris, but today Paul Pierce will be featured as Exhibit A, B and C. Win this matchup and we win the game, Garnett without Pierce is like Siegfried without Roy, Dharma without Greg, Larry without Balki, Grace without Will…you get it. Bargnani should make his 5 inch difference count against Pierce and we should look to establish him early. Even if the first possession fails, go back to him over and over again. Remember, early struggles don’t mean we lose the game, we’re at home and will have the crowd behind us, if we light the right spark under Bargnani it could be a delightful game.
Matt Devlin’s blog talks about how the Raptors struggled against the Nets’ zone defense and how the bigs’ rebounding was affected by dribble penetration. This reminds me, we can’t let Rajan Rondo go off on us, Calderon has to keep him in front of him at all costs. We’re already outmatched in a number of positions and can’t afford to lose the point-of-attack battle. If anything Calderon has to be the one to penetrate the Celtics defense and create for Kapono, Bargnani and Parker who will be waiting and ready on the perimeter. When I say “penetrate” I don’t mean use the pick to go three feet deep and kick-out to Bosh at the FT line, that ain’t penetration, that’s a glorified pick ‘n roll that has the same effect as a reset.
Chris Bosh is a competitor and knows that he came up short against Garnett last time around. He’s got to be mentally ready to challenge Garnett and not settle for inciting a double-team and kicking out. Yes, it’s a noble thing to setup a shot for your teammates by attracting an extra defender but this is the #1 defense in the league and you’ll be counted on to score when it counts, passing it up to Parker for a missed jumper just isn’t good enough. No decoys this time around. Kevin Garnett will cover him one-on-one and Bosh needs to go right at Garnett, maybe pick up a couple early fouls on him, get in his head for a change. It should be a battle, a great one at that too. Let’s go Chris, redemption is at hand.
The Raptors need to show two things in this game that have bee lacking this season – poise and mental toughness. We can’t let the occasion make us nervous because a nervous basketball player is a choking basketball player. We need to match their intensity and physicality. If KG starts trash talking, let him know how you feel about it by talking back and getting in his grill. Give a hard foul, get in someone’s face. After you rip down a contested rebound, swing an elbow or two. Put a sign in the locker room which says “No easy baskets”. If Paul Pierce crosses over Parker let him know its not the end of it by sending him to the line making the foul count. Pressure Rondo, he’s still their weakest link and susceptible to pressure. Get the ball out of his hands and make Paul Pierce bring it up and set the offense. Bump Ray Allen on the screens, grab his jersey if you have to and make life as miserable for him as possible. Set a goal for the game, “We will outscore them on the break” or “No offensive rebounds” and so on. Just win this one.
Needless to say our rotation needs to be playing at a high-level for us to pull this out. This means contributions from Kapono, Parker and even Solomon/Ukic. We can’t have a letdown in any area of the game. When Calderon goes to the bench it shouldn’t mean an automatic -6 in the next two minutes. If Solomon and Ukic come in and have trouble on offense, make up for it by sticking to Eddie House like white on rice. If Kapono is in the game he should be spreading the defense out for Bosh to operate or hitting the shots created for him by our guards or Bosh double-team kick-outs. Many of the Raptors have a habit of being total non-factors when playing significant minutes, Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker and Andrea Bargnani have all been guilty of that. Example: If Bargnani’s not being passed the ball on the perimeter, either crash the boards or make sure you get back on defense to prevent leakouts. If your’e doing neither than you’re a detriment to the team. Same goes for Parker and Moon, when a shot goes up you have a responsibility of more than just watching it go up.
Bryan Colangelo has asked the league to review the Flagrant 1 foul by Sean Williams which injured Jermaine O’Neal. The league automatically reviews all flagrant fouls anyway so I don’t know what Colangelo’s hoping to get out of this one. Does he honestly believe its anything more than a Flagrant 1, if that? I say just let it pass, its obvious that there was no malicious intent on Williams’ part. Am I the only one wishing the Raptors committed more of those types of hard fouls?
Quick site news. I finally figured out how to get the podcasts up on iTunes. You can now subscribe to the feed through iTunes and get any new episodes delivered right to you. Or you could just check the site. Whatever suits you.
Download the Opening Tip here. We’ll have a live blog going at 12:30PM EST and I promise not to forget to start it.
Enough talk, this post went too long, it really should’ve been four words: Let’s go you Raps!!!
14 Raps
“Posted at 1:20 am”
Boss!!!!
Yay! This post seemed optimistic, which is always good. Hopefully Bosh gets 39 for the win, because whenever he gets 40+ we lose.
If the Celtics are awake and ready mentally for a rare 12:30 PM Start Time … this one could get ugly for the home team.
I predicted we would take the first encounter, which we would have if we had kept our heads and played some D late.
I still think we have a bunch of guys that play up to the competition and Bosh will make sure his troops are ready. We are used to early Sunday games, so that is our advantage.
Raps win by 4.
Seriously. it’s a goddamn epidemic. Whichever team has a guy that scores 40, they lose.
The Celtics are gradually adjusting to life without James Posey and beginning to find their rhythm with their new rotations.
e.g. Their 18-pt at Minnesota, in a back-to-back on Friday, was a very solid outing following their home-court demolition of the Pistons.
Given that they played so poorly last time vs the Raptors, it would not be a surprise at all to see them lock-in early this go-round and attempt to smother the home side through the 2nd and the 3rd quarters with their trademark withering D, that frequently translates into a 10-15 pt road victory.
On the other hand …
[even without Jermaine O'Neal in their line-up]
The Raptors:
* Are very accustomed to these early Sunday afternoon tilts … recall how well the Raps played in this scenario last season vs Boston and how poorly the C’s played, in return, barely escaping on a late Ray Ray 3 for the W;
* Have their principal players, who opened that big 1st half lead on the Celtics two weeks ago … e.g. Bosh, Humphries, Moon, Parker, Calderon, Bargnani, Graham, Kapono and Ukic … healthy and ready to go;
* Have traditionally bounced back very well after tough losses under the leadership of Sam Mitchell; and,
* Will finally have the opportunity to try out their ‘bigger’ 1st Unit vs a HIGH END Team this season … with a fairly close approximation of the combination of players that would have been expected to compete for this franchise this year had they not traded for Jermaine O’Neal this past summer … sans a veteran replacement for TJ Ford and without Rasho Nesterovic.
Either way it plays out this is going to be yet another interesting game for the home side this season.
[Note: As I first suggested in the pre-season, there are 13 teams at-present in the Eastern Conference that look as though they might be able to remain in contention for 1 of the 8 playoff spots right until the end of the regular season schedule.]
agree w/ khan, i’m thinking this one gets ugly. raps haven’t shown they can contain dribble penetration, and w/o JO down low, they’ll be missing a key part of their secondary help (witness VC after JO left).
bargs on PP…i dunno, i can see PP’s eyes lighting up when he sees bargs lumbering out on him the first time. at least it’ll take away PP’s post offense (in theory). bargs will either hold his own, or be sitting on the bench with 3 fouls half-way thru the first.
as i see it, solomon is the key. if he gives them a typical (read: shitty) game, they have no chance. if he can come in & just not fuck things up too badly, and keep house from getting off, they might have a chance.
arse – good write-up. from what i can gather, you’re saying that the raps have to, essentially, have an excellent game-plan, and execute it to near-perfection, to have a chance. any evidence to date that that’s even remotely possible?
final thought – if bosh struggled against KG when JO was on the floor with him, how’s he going to do if his front-court partner is hump?
Oh Arse…why do you even have hopes for this one…now I’ll not only feel bad for the Raps but also for you when we lose today. I mean you’ve said all the things that the Raps need to do right to win the game but man c’mon..when was the last time the Raps played at the level you want them playing at…Jose can’t penetrate against anyone in the L without a pick and even if you give him the pick he does what you said:
“When I say “penetrate” I don’t mean use the pick to go three feet deep and kick-out to Bosh at the FT line, that ain’t penetration, that’s a glorified pick ‘n roll that has the same effect as a reset.”
Brace yourself, this is gonna get ugly
I actually like that Colangelo is pursuing the league about that foul on JO. Sure, it wasn’t that bad of a foul, but it’s the equivalent of Mitch getting on the refs in a game, or players barking for an And1. It’s the most an executive can do to send a message that you can’t push this team around without a fight.
Anyone see any Celtics in clubland last night? Maybe Sam Cassell organized a return to For Your Eyes Only. If these Celts aren’t hungover, this could be a tough game.
Are you actually putting stock that Sam Mitchell will outcoach another coach. Draw up the right offensive sets, for a team that cannot free style and break there man one on one. This should be a funny game. I say we will collapse in the 2nd qrt. I hope they prove me wrong.
IMO, Colangelo’s pursuit of this incident further with the League Office is a sign of weakness, not of strength. There did not appear to be any type of malicious intent on the part of New Jersey’s player. Strength would be … suck it up and compete, this is the Big Leagues Boyz …
Boston vs Detroit, Game 3, 1987, Part 1
Boston vs Detroit, Game 3, 1987, PArt 2
Watch all 7:27 of that first clip and then all 9:54 of the second one. What you’ll see for yourself is what it takes to become a championship team in THIS League … and it doesn’t involve crying to the League Office.
raptors by 4? seriously man? vegas has the celtics at -4.5, and the over/under at 185. means this will be a defensive game, which the raptors aren’t, especially without o’neal in the lineup.
i like the optimism though, most of us expected a split of jersey/boston. if they win today, huge. if they don’t…the Raptors drop under .500 = bad.
as for the sean williams flagrant on o’neal…i have to disagree about its intent a bit. whenever you grab a handful of jersey, and yank back, you may not want to hurt someone, but you are definitely intending on doing something. colangelo’s plea is more an attempt at getting focused eyes reviewing as apposed to a sign of weakness imho.
a win today would go a long way in healing everyone, not just the team. i think i speak for a lot when i say that loss was a tough one to swallow.
RapsFan: Exactly. After the Jose KG “incident” I think Colangelo realized that because his guys don’t get mouthy on the floor, they might need someone to speak on their behalf.
Khandor: Is it babyish? Sure, the players should do it themselves. That’s a problem with this team. BC knows it. We know it. And Khandor, you know it. But at this point everyone in the organization has to scrape for every advantage they can get. Including BC.
More pathetic denial…..you just can’t face the fact that this team, Bosh included, are a bunch of weak chokers…you’re not a superstar when you can’t play against the big boys….