3 In the Key - Toronto Raptors Game-Day Preview vs. Celtics

The Raptors will win today, mark my word. Chris Bosh will have a great game today. Il Mago can't guard anybody and will have a terrible game. But, the Raptors will still win with great play off the bench and the support of their fans. Go Rapstors Go.

Game is on, even with storm:

http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/pressrelease_121607.html

Let's destroy these pretenders

I'm so sick of the hype; no way we lose today

Do you guys realize the Raptors were 30-11 at home last year? (most of you probably do) Crazy. I'm looking for something in the same ballpark this year.

We got absolutely shredded to pieces last game, w/o Bosh, I know I don't have to remind anybody since it was right before this W streak (yet seems like eons ago). I'm just saying, damn, this would be a satisfying victory.

C'mon BargsBust, stop being a "hater" for Il Mago.....try channelling all that pent up frustration into joy and adulation for someone who at 22 years old is still learning....How much did we all know when we were 22?? Exactly!

Bosh and the boys I think will take it by 7 points and bargs will actually have a decent game.

I know how long it took me to recover after a similar knee spraion just to run around in my men's league...i can't imagine what it is like to get er up and going for the pro game.

Just a quickie as i have to go shovel the snow! Drive safe Raps fans heading to the game!

I'm out!

Fresh 1

Celtic's blogger giving us a chance today...let them know what's up:

http://redsarmy.wordpress.com/2007/12/16/dino-mites/#comment-3242

Peace

Even Bill Simmons is tempering his Celtics enthusiasm a little bit these days. Right now he thinks the Magic are a better team, and he might be right.

The Celtics' lack of depth was bound to catch up with them sooner or later. Ray Allen just can't play 40 minutes a game any more.

How can you temper your enthusiam for a 17-2 team. Magic are fallen back to earth lately. I for one did not think the Celtics would be anywhere near as good as what they are. Props to them for the quick start but it is a long season.
Like the Raps chances today. We've been playing much tighter lately and Sam knows his players better. Look for Hump to come up big again. Delfino and Kapono to keep doing what they do.
Harsh criticism on Bargnani - you do realize he's coming back from an injury. Look for him to drop some big threes today to get the home court going.

A win tonight would be huge. I'm with you franchise, would rather see ray allen play just so we can see how these teams match really match up.

Is Bargs the worst player in the NBA right now?

Man, Bargs has regressed huge. Its one thing to play injured and be a step slow, its another to be playing out of control. I'm not worried about the kids future, but for a team looking to win now and in the future, I almost wish we had drafted Lamarcus Aldridge instead. Bargs needs to find what keeps him on the court. Either get some fire on defense and push someone around and play like you're 7 feet tall, or show some move on the offensive end of the floor, work on a post-up game or something. I feel bad for the kid, but this is the NBA, time to start earning your check, dude.

And the Raps really could have used T.J. today. Rondo was killing Calderon all game long.

But the team can keep its head up, we lost to the best team in the league, no shame in that.

The jury is in as far as I’m concerned.

Losing to Boston for the third time is not so hard to take as how they lost. Boston brought to the game an intensity that Raptors could not match and they couldn’t have been more ready for them. There were times that they were manhandled and the Raps did not respond. Get angry, get in someone’s face but don’t walk away.

I’m sure for the rest of the regular season the team’s offense and defense game will improve and they will win their share of games and finish behind Boston but unless they meet another finesse team in the playoffs I don’t like our chances.

We need someone other than Bosh to score the high percentage baskets when the intensity is high and the jump shots aren’t falling but unfortunately Bargnani’s development is not where is should be. He was expected to be our ace but he’s been a big disappointment so far and I can’t imagine he can improve his game that dramatically to change the dynamics of this team this season.

What people sometimes forget about the Celts is that they are a veteran team. So the Big 3 haven't made the finals, they've all had long runs -- and Posey won with Miami, Pollard made the finals with Cleveland and went far with the Kings, House went far with Phoenix and even Scalabrine went to the Finals with NJ.

All the Raps have are Rasho, Kapono and Delfino making deep runs and they were all bench players for those Finals teams. So it's really unsurprising how the Celts, even without Allen, can bear down and outsmart the Raps at this point in their respective franchises.

Yeah, Bargs looks real bad, but he was quite decent last season and this one before he got injured, so I haven't given up like some knee jerk posters have, I've just benched him in my Fantasy league. Fresh1 put it into perspective how knee sprains can really linger. I'd "much" rather have Aldridge and his recurring plantar fasciitis or Ty Thomas and his benchwarmingness (Gay or Roy are looking pretty good right now, to their credit).

Oh yeah, and to those commenting on my grammar corrections, I'm sure if Franchise and Howland wrote like KeonClark and Marcia this blog would be a fair bit less trafficked. It's a matter of respect for your fellow readers to proofread your posts, or at least write intelligently. Guess you two don't have any (respect...nor intelligence). Whatever, I'm off to the tropics in 2 days.

Boston is simply better. Period. Would like to see how they stack up to San Antonio, their only real competition right now.

They are mature and team-oriented. make no mistake, Garnett is a real factor here.

Bargs? Give the kid a break. We saw last year plays from this guy that Hoffa couldn't even dream of. He is having a crisis of confidence, compounded with a body that won't cooperate right now. Who knows - maybe he is going through another growth spurt??

Big guys just take longer to develop, but when you consider the raw potential there...Give it time. I think this season we have a deep enough bench to take care of business. We may not beat Boston or San Antone, but we can handle pretty much anyone else.

Tinman, Marcia, if I had a hat, I'd be eating it. Mitch has been doing a good job coaching for a while, and the win streak is to his credit as much as anyone's.

This Boston game? Yup, agreed with Bosh: take away from this a schooling in defence, and keep plugging away at figuring out Boston. Not really worried about it.

If garnett is on the floor, bosh should be on the floor. Period.

Really good posters in this website.Calm, cool heads who don't exxagerate one way or another after a loss or a victory. It's hard not to take wishful thinking as reality.
I went to both Phoenix and Celtics games. Even though we lost I saw the best in NBA in terms of offense and deffense respectively (I have tickets to the Spurs too who I believe is the most complete team in NBA).
Our team is at a very young stage in their development: the personnel is inexperienced in NBA, the coaching staff is second-tier compared with the powerhouses, the winning mentality and its consequences doesn't change from a losing one in only 1 year. We do have though a world class front office and extremely talented players. It will take games like these ones to increase the rate of our growth and I really welcome them.
The only thing I'm worried about Bargs is that Mitchell doesn't start him as a Centre and play him 25-30' through his learning curve. Bargs is a rythm player who needs to know he has consistent time. Right now he's rushing everything to contribute to the team and he's not an explosive type of player. I believe this and the decision between Jose/TJ are the most important ones for our immediate future.

Some things I took away from this game. Veteran experience trumps youth and talent 9 out of 10 times in the NBA. Also, the Raptors are not tough enough (mentally and physically)… yet. These things go hand in hand. The Raptors have a lot of talent, but their lack of experience goes hand in hand with their lack of toughness. I don’t think this team needs to go out and get tougher personnel, I truly believe this will come with time. If you really think about it, Chris Bosh (24), Ford (23) and Bargs (22) could be as much as FIVE years away from their absolute prime. I don’t think it will take that long, but we still need patients.