Raps vs. Celtics Wrapup: Doing The Best We Can Edition

In front of 8, 868 fans in the basketball mecca of Manchester, New Hampshire, the Raptors dropped their second straight pre-season game, 107-100 to the Boston Celtics.

Recent acquisition Mike James led the Raptors with 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the floor. Rookie Charlie Villanueva had a strong game with 17 points and 6 rebounds, while Matt Bonner had 16 points in front of his adoring fans.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 19, while rookie Ryan Gomes, a Raptorshq.com favourite, chipped in with 18.

Chapman's Thoughts

- Morris Peterson had a typical road game: 1-10 from the floor. Does he really exist or is he just a real-life NBA Live character?

- Jose Calderon had six assists in 13 minutes of action. A point guard who looks to set up his teammates before looking for his own shot? Have we ever had that before?

- Loren Woods fouls out in 17 minutes. Rafael Araujo picks up five fouls in 17 minutes. Apparently, some things never change.

- On the way back home, the Raptors should just drop Corey Williams off at the Rucker Park.

- Tierre Brown (who my Calculus students affectionately named "The Ultimate Grinder") came back down to earth somewhat with nine points in 19 minutes. While not a traditional point guard, he shows an uncanny ability to get to the line, something the Raps have lacked in recent years.

- Speaking of getting to the line, Paul Pierce was 15-18 from the charity stripe. Think he got a few "hometown" calls?

- Turns out Pierce is tight with The Game, as he was shouted out in the liner notes of The Documentary. Other ballers who got shout-outs? You'd have to be a hardcore Pac-10 follower (like me) to know these guys: Former USC Trojans Jeff Trepagnier and Jerry Dupree and Rico Hines of UCLA infamy.

- Five Raptors did not play due to injuries: Eric Williams (knee), Pape Sow (groin), Alvin Williams (knee), Aaron Williams (ankle) and Joey Graham (knee). Coach Mitchell did not seem impressed with the Raptors trainers.

- However, Mitchell seems to be impressed with his team's effort thus far.

- Finally, the Raptorshq.com team would like to extend our sympathies to the Collier family, the Atlanta Hawks and their fans, on the passing of Jason Collier.

I remember following Collier through his collegiate career, first at Indiana and then at Georgia Tech. One of my first thoughts this morning, upon hearing the news, was his performance in a game late in the 2003-04 season. I attended the game with my father and we spent most of the game talking about Collier finally fulfilling his potential as he put up 21 points and 11 rebounds against the Raptors.