Media Watch for October 18, 2006/Game-day Preview vs. Cavs

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Oct 18, 2006 10:05 AM EDT

Good thing for pre-season.

Chris Bosh sat out yesterday's practice with the same sore heel that kept him out Sunday's pre-season match versus the Nets. He'll also now miss tonight's match against the Cavs in Rochester NY. Apparently it's only pre-cautionary but the last thing we here at the HQ want to hear is anything resembling Plantar Fasciitis concerning the Raptors' franchise player.

Also on the "banged-up list" - Fred Jones. After attempting to hurdle Awvee Storey on Sunday, Jones bruised his hand and is listed as day-to-day.

Apparently these injuries aren't much of an issue for coach Sam Mitchell. With the Raptors squad down to 15 after cuts to Cezary Trybanksi and Lavell Blanchard, Mitchell was hoping to get both Uros Slokar and Darrick Martin some game-time action...now it appears there won't be a problem.

One player who needs to get more minutes and play more consistently when he gets them is Joey Graham. Graham has been slightly better this pre-season than the last but still needs to show that he's ready to take his game to the next level. At present, some of the new Raptors have played well enough to warrant more playing time than Joey come regular season but Joey has stated that he's not worried. In fact, Joey believes this will be his breakout year.

TJ Ford is hoping to have his breakout season this year as well. While last year was a huge success for the young point guard considering the injury he was returning from, Ford is hoping to use this year to spring-board his career...and his salary. In fact Ford and his agent are currently in talks with Raptors' GM Bryan Colangelo in effort to extend the point guard's contract. The Raptors of course have until the end of the month to sign Ford or he will be a restricted free-agent come the end of the season. And that's a situation no Raptors' fan wants to see considering what the Raptors gave up to acquire Ford in the off-season.

Raptors-Cavs Preview

The Raptors take on the Cavs tonight as Toronto puts its 3-0 pre-season record to test. With the aformentioned injuries, expect a lot of the likes of Andrea Bargnani, Kris Humphries and PJ Tucker. Anthony Parker and Mo Pete will probably draw the assignment of chasing around Lebron James for whatever amount of time he plays and hopefully Joey Graham will get some time in this situation as well.

The Cavs are coming off a loss to the Washington Wizards and are only 1-2 so far this pre-season. However the Cavs have given there starters a rest for most of their first three games and have played the likes of Daniel Gibson, Scott Pollard, and Shannon Brown in crucial moments to try and see how the new players are gelling. Larry Hughes has been one of the best Cavs this pre-season and it appears that his hand injury from last season is behind him.

Expect this to be another fast-paced game tonight, especially since Sam Mitchell is still trying to coax his team to run, run, run ala the Celtics teams of the 1980's.

FRANCHISE

Tweet Comment 8 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Hockey has a method of player substitution that is somewhat unique. A player takes a very short duration shift and goes like hell. I've often wondered if that would work for pro basket ball. It appears that the Raps have depth enough to do rapid substitutions of 2 or 3 minutes and run other teams off the floor. The knock against this idea from players has always been that " you don't get the feel of the game" It would be interesting to see it tried though.

by Rt on Oct 18, 2006 12:14 PM EDT reply actions

graham needs a breakout season entering his 2nd year .
tj needs a breakout season as a raptor.
the whole raptors team really need a breakout .
i suggest , the whole team watch prison break together !

by nike on Oct 18, 2006 2:20 PM EDT reply actions

I think both graham and TJ will have a break out season, however graham just need to be more aggressive,TJ should be fine he just have to get use to is is team mates, but its gonna take some time.I think its gonna be interesting to see how the raptors handle the hype this season.

by Maurice Francis on Oct 18, 2006 5:53 PM EDT reply actions

I'm kind of glad Bosh is injured, lol, hopefully its minor but it will give some other guys a chance to showcase themselves. Funny how Sam is talking about the Celtics..hahaha...he's just trying to get away from the Suns comparisons and the only way to do that is to go back 20 plus years. RT, man...I don't know what to say to the rapid substitutions. LOL. I hope Tucker has another good game. He looked good against the Nets.

by Damir on Oct 18, 2006 5:54 PM EDT reply actions

Did Mitchell actually say somewhere that he wanted to get Slokar some PT?

I've been wondering why he hasn't given him at least a few minutes already...seeing as he even gave Trybanksi and Blanchard a few seconds of PT.

by MJ on Oct 18, 2006 8:22 PM EDT reply actions

Graham is going to have a heck of a time endearing himself to Sam and Brian this season. Think about it: The rotation will feature Ford, Jones, Mo Pete, Bosh and Nesterovic. Parker, Bargnani, Calderon and Garbajosa will be the first four players off the bench.

Figure that the Raptors will rely heavily on this nine-man rotation for most of the season, and Joey's the odd man out. And as we've seen whenever a player is buried on the bench, it's a catch-22: He needs to play more to get better, but the only way he'll see more burn is if he GETS better.

Joey's my second-favourite Raptors interview behind Mo Pete. So I don't have a hate-on for the guy. I just question whether or not he's going to get a fair shake this season.

And contrary to what Maurice Francis says, Graham does NOT need to be more aggressive, on either end of the floor. In fact, he could do for a cool-down. Too many crazy drives to the basket and over-aggressiveness on D is the combination that landed him in the doghouse in the first place.

As for RT's suggestion, there's no way quick subbing could work. Ask any player about the importantce of finding a shooting rhythm, and they'll all say the same thing: It's vital. Additionally, plays and strategies drawn up for basketball demand that certain personnel see extended periods of floor time. Besides that...hockey players only play 75-second shifts because it's all their bodies can handle. Basketball is a different game, and should be treated as such.

by James on Oct 18, 2006 10:03 PM EDT reply actions

I can't believe that 3/4s of the voters expect the Raptors to make the playoffs! People this is the preseason. It's fine to get pumped about a drastic team overhall, but outside of T.O. , let's just say the unbiased realists still put the Raptors as lottery pick front runners in 2007.

Sure if Ford turns out to be a Mustang and not a Focus, if Graham and Jones have breakout years, if Euroleague M.V.P.s translate to NBA starters and Both Bosh and MoPete can duplicate or improve on their best year ever AND stay healthy and 10 new teamates can gel, the Raptors COULD be playoff bound. I know that it's the Eastern conference, but that seems like a lot of ifs.

I still wouldn't mind having CV3 in the front court and a very late 1st rounder named Williams at the point to fight it out with Calderone. (if only draft day could be changed like Bill Murray's Grounghog's Day).

Maybe with all the changes the Raptors should storm onto the ACC floor to "Land of Confusion"

by House on Oct 18, 2006 10:08 PM EDT reply actions

I think there's plenty of reason for optimism. For one, when was the last time the Raps were missing any of their go-to starters and didn't lose consistently? Sure, it might be getting a bit ahead to consider the raps a lock for the playoffs, but there's a couple other teams in the east looking at the 7/8 spots as a possibility, but not a lock. I don't really think there's eight clear-cut above-the-rest teams in the east.

by Shep on Oct 19, 2006 9:10 AM EDT reply actions