Game-Day Preview - Raptors vs. Rockets

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Feb 28, 2007 12:00 AM EST in Media Watch

Yao Ming is still out.

Tracy McGrady might not play because of the flu.

And the Rockets are coming off an inexcusable loss to the Celtics where they blew a double-digit fourth quarter lead and shot only 32.1 per cent from the field.

Hey, we gotta start with some good news after that walloping the Spurs put on us Monday night right?

The Raptors try and get back to their winning ways tonight against the Rockets in Houston in what appears to be a battle of offense versus defense.

The Rockets as previously mentioned, are statistically the league’s top defensive club while the Raptors, Monday night’s disaster aside, are one of the top offensive ones.

Therefore I’m already seeing this game boil down to which team can execute their style best; the Raptors "move-the-ball and get out in transition" game, or the Rockets "slow things down and exploit mis-matches" system.

The Rockets are one of the league’s least efficient offensive clubs without Yao and while Bonzi Wells had 27 points Monday night in place of T-Mac, the club at times lives and dies by its long-range game. On Monday night they died hitting only one of 22 attempts from beyond the arc although the Raptors can’t afford to let the likes of Shane Battier, Luther Head and ex Raptor Rafer Alston, bomb away.

And this is the problem a healthy McGrady presents. He’s still one of the toughest players in the league to guard off the dribble and this creates tons of open looks for his teammates.

With Anthony Parker awaiting MRI results on his ankle, it’s almost certain that the Raptors won’t have him tonight to guard McGrady (assuming T-Mac even plays) and therefore either Mo Pete or Juan Dixon will probably be thrust into the starting lineup. Peterson’s length and size on McGrady would be advantageous but Sam Mitchell sounds like he wants to keep his bench group intact due to the way they’re currently playing together. Maybe Joey Graham gets the nod?

So what about the keys to a Raptors win tonight? Will Toronto be sent home to play the Bucks on Friday winning only one of their three road games on this swing? Here’s some of the things I’ll be looking to see tonight to ensure that doesn’t occur:

Bosh Bounces Back: CB4’s troubles with single coverage against athletic defenders has been well documented and discussed this season. So do we throw Juan Howard into that field? Howard will draw the assignment of containing Bosh tonight and this bodes well for a huge rebound performance for the Raptors’ All-Star. Bosh is much quicker and athletic than Howard and should be able to get any shot he desires. He should also be able to get to the free-throw line thanks to these attributes regardless of the presence of Mt. Mutumbo.

Containing T-Mac: I highly doubt that McGrady sits again tonight so Sam Mitchell and co better have done their homework. T Mac has carried the Rockets on his wonky back in the absence of Yao Ming and while he’ll still get his, Toronto needs to make sure they force him into fade-away jump shots with the shot clock winding down and not give him wide-open lanes to the basket. McGrady is leading the Rockets in assists this season so not only can he kill Toronto with his scoring, but his penetration opens up opportunities for Houston’s well-placed perimeter shooters. In this sense, keeping T-Mac under wraps disrupts Houston’s entire offence and forces players like Alston, Howard and Battier to adopt more of the scoring load, something they’re just not as effective in doing.

Everything Else: Yes, that’s admittedly a random key. However based on how ineffective Toronto was in nearly every department on Monday night, I’m looking to see a complete rebirth of sorts. The Raptors shot only 19 free throws against the Spurs and this simply isn’t going to get it done...especially from the team with the NBA’s sixth best percentage from the line. Toronto needs to come out aggressive and get to the rim. The Raps were also beat on the boards against S.A. and Houston is the league’s fifth-best rebounding club. Even without Yao Ming, players like Bonzi Wells, McGrady, Battier, and Chuck Hayes all rebound well at their respective positions. And let’s not forget Mr. Mutumbo. At 65, he’s still one of the league’s best shot blockers and Jose Calderon and TJ Ford are going to have to hit their jump shots and floaters as lay-ups will probably be few and far between.

I guess overall I’m just hoping to see a much more hungry and prepared Raptors squad than the one that took the court Monday night. A win over the Rockets would put a nice bow on a great month of February where they’ve won eight of their 11 matches.

FRANCHISE

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Comments

Can't really complain about the injury situation this year, we have been very lucky so far. Parker gone 4 weeks (i am guessing) is not so bad in a division where RJ, Krstic, Crawford, Pierce is/was out for long stretches.

Houston was embarrassed far worse than the Raps in their last game, and their fans will let them hear it, so if we can get to a quick start, maybe turn fans into boo birds and take away momentum.

BTW, what is the purpose of a "security" entry for the posts?

by Rubik Kube on Feb 28, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Franchise, great post as usual. Please forgive me if my rant is a little off topic, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

At a time when the Raps are doing well, selling out games, getting fans really excited coupled with the leafs doing really poorly and likely not making the playoffs, isn’t it time that more focused in placed on bball in the media?

Is anyone else frustrated at the lack of basketball IQ in some circles? I’m referring specifically to the Fan. They have a real problem discussing basketball. It does happen and I give them full credit for having a basketball show on Thursday nights (and for that matter for carrying the games which they are only doing because they lost hockey) and for having Armstrong appear occasionally to talk hoops.

However, and this is a big however, the prime time slots with Bob McCown and Stellick/Landry in the morning is absolutely abysmal.

McCown apparently has an unlimited number of useless hockey controversies that must be discussed. Even when bball is discussed, it’s usually a quick lead-in to the upcoming game broadcast, very superficial and focuses more on informal banter between the hosts. I don’t remember the last time they had a series discussion about an actual basketball matter. No mention of bball on the trade deadline.

I don’t really expect much from Stellick/Landry, except they have Mitchell on as the insider (weekly I think). This morning’s questions ranged from such intelligent questions as "if you won the championship, would you go to the white house if Bush was the president" to "who do you want to see in the white house next". You have the coach of arguably the second best team in the East and you can’t ask better questions than that? What about the state of Parker’s and Garbo’s injuries, what about "how will you address the defensive sets being thrown at Bosh and get him to be more effective against athletic big man? I could go on, but you get the picture.

I’m getting really tired of puck heads being forced to squeeze in basketball content on "Toronto’s hockey station". It’s time they brought in some real basketball people. Or better yet, is it time for another sports station?

by Erezona on Feb 28, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

it's all abou the $$$. for every raps fan, there are probably 10 puck heads. they win. period. until the raps start winning, and do it consistenly over a long period of time, (say...maybe a decade?) radio shows and tv will be carried ($$$) by everything leafy.

besides, we all know the raptors HQ guys will eventually have a show, radio or otherwise. we'll celebrate then. :)

by papa on Feb 28, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

I'm scared to watch with no AP in first unit. He's the closest thing we've ever had to a stopper not to mention everything else he does when we're desperate for a stop, steal, three, draw a charge, etc. With mopete sick too, i think we're in serious trouble. Hope I'm wrong.

by PayMoPete on Feb 28, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

ps, franchise: not too worried about rafer, I guess?

he's having a pretty solid season this year.
he's chucking a lot, but he's shooting a decent % from beyond the arc.

by papa on Feb 28, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

^I agree with you about the puckheads, it's ridiculous. I am so sick and tired of having to watch random hockey highlights on the sports show before they even get to the Raps highlights (or lowlights depending on who they're playing). It's absurd. I can't believe that there are actually people out here who would tune into sportscentre to see what happened between the St. Louis and Phoenix. Who cares!

Oh and on the note of hockey being anoying, what the hell is up with that guy from the Score (Steve Koulias)????
That guy gets way overexcited up anything hockey related. He's like a yappy Chihuahua. Yank him off the air and let's get some serious basketball shows.

by RZ on Feb 28, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Also off-topic, but Sam got a mention among the NBA coaching elite in Charlie Rosen's latest mailbag

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6501962

by Scrubzero on Feb 28, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

By the way, I e-mail the fan (contact@fan590.com). If you are frustrated, please do so as well. The more they hear from, the better the chance of getting some bball people on their shows.

by Erezona on Feb 28, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Erezona, I hate hockey, but still try to watch Bob McCown after anything significant happens concerning the Raptors. More likely than not he'll have Colangelo on the phone.

A major sports network in Canada focusing on basketball is like a major sports network in America focusing on hockey. Not enough fans to make money off of.

Anthony Parker IS THE GLUE GUY for this team. I would not underestimate his presence on this team. His value is second to Bosh only. Without him this team is sub 500.

by dkmo on Feb 28, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions