# Nov. 4th: Celtics (1-0) @ Toronto (2-0)



## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

CBC Sunday. 2:30pm

they got the imaginary atlantic crown.. or so i heard.

we got the banner








in reality & that's where you play the game.

Projected Starting lineups;

Raptors:
*C: Andrea Bargnani
PF: Chris Bosh
SF: Jason Kapono
SG: Anthony Parker
PG: TJ Ford*

Boston:
*C: Kendrick Perkins
PF: Kevin Garnett
SF: Paul Pierce
SG: Ray Allen
PG: Rajon Rondo*

Celtics' James Posey will play after serving his 1 game suspension.

settin up to be a great all-around entertaining game, both sides.
pre-season meeting in Italy was on the line till the end, great back & forth play... Carlos Delfino is probably going to play alot of minutes again vs. Pierce/Allen

i predict a big game from bosh, hopefully, win or lose, it's experience & a big test, another statement game.


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## seifer0406 (Jun 8, 2003)

My game breakdown:

Keys for the Raptors

- Defensive rebounding. The Raptors did a decent job against the Nets yesterday, a big improvement from the previous Sixers game. KG and Perkins aren't great offensive rebounders, so as long as everyone on the Raptors (Bargnani especially) take care of their box-out assignments we should be okay.

- Contain Paul Pierce. Bosh and KG matches up pretty well against each other so I'm not too worried about Garnett. Parker or Kapono should be fine chasing Ray Allen around. The main problem will come from Pierce imo as we have no one that can match up against him. If Kapono or Parker fails this assignment, Mitchell should bring in Delfino or Graham off the bench to try their luck. I would like to see the type of defensive intensity that we had in NJ where the Raptors contested almost every shot.

- Raptor bench. On paper our team depth is way better than the Celtics and we must put that in practice. Calderon should have a great game as nobody on the Celtics bench can guard him.

Prediction: Raptors 106 Celtics 100


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## madman (Oct 20, 2003)

all we have to do is play the big 3 tough and i think we have a chance, they have no depth and it really is the big 3 vs the raptors 12


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## cipher05 (May 23, 2006)

madman said:


> all we have to do is play the big 3 tough and i think we have a chance, they have no depth and it really is the *big 3 vs the raptors 12*


yepyep!


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## Flush (Jul 25, 2005)

I expect to see a lot of carlos in this game and maybe even a lot of joey.

Contain two of the three and its a cake walk.


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## dirtybird (Mar 16, 2007)

I believe that the Celtics are using Eddie House as their backup PG, which means that TJ and Jose should be putting alot of pressure on him while he's trying to bring the ball up the court because his dribbling is pretty weak. The one thing about Eddie House is the guy can shoot, so the Raps can't leave him alone.

I think that Delfino could probably do the best job against Pierce. He seems like the best Raptor at playing tough, physical defense.

If Doc Rivers keeps playing his Big 3 close to 40mins a game, I can't see this ending well for them. At that rate, one of them is going to break down (my pick would be Allen) and then that would be it for the Celtics.


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## Balzac (Jun 29, 2006)

Should be a great game. Too bad I have to work and won't have access to cable. Any way I could watch it on the net?


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## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

ditto ^^^


I wonder if Sam is creative enough to go deep in his bench and impose a full court press from the beginning and keep subbing constantly to wear out the big 3.


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## RC06 (Jan 30, 2007)

Wow, I've never been this amped up for a regular season matchup since Vince's return. This is yet another (even bigger) statement game for the Raps. Hopefully this game will be a stepping stone for us to finally get the respect that we deserve. This game is going to have the feel of a playoff game (the atmosphere and the intensity) and with that being said, I CAN'T ****ING WAIT FOR TIPOFF!

OT: This afternoon is going to be amazing (sports-wise). Raptors/Celtics followed up by Colts/Patriots! Oh. My. God. My *** is going to be glued to the couch all afternoon.

"Getcha' Popcorn Ready!"

*LET'S GO RAPTORS!*

...and Colts!


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## Onions Baby (Mar 12, 2007)

Yea, as the person above me stated it's the Big 3 vs. The Total 12.

I'm predicting a win from the Raptors in a game that will come down to who makes their free throws down the stretch. Hopefully Bosh breaks out with a 20/10 performance.


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## NeoSamurai (Jan 16, 2003)

Key to the game is our bench production. If we cant jump on their 2nd unit, we dont win.


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

I hope fridays defensive effort wasn't a fluke......crisp rotations, closeouts on shooters, help defense and few defensive mislapses....I was in complete awe!!

U.S media refused to give us much credit for the thrashing of NJ on friday, citing an off game by yhe Nets....however if we beat Boston today, they'll have to give us some respect.


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

i hear these good Ol CBC announcers in the background, guess that means it's gametime! i'll be back with updates randomly, yall know how i do.

LETS GO T.O.!!!!!!!!!!!


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

J-J-Jamaaaaaario

Moon is dressed for the game, maybe he gets some action.


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## seifer0406 (Jun 8, 2003)

Does anyone know of an online video feed that isn't the NBA league pass?


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## RC06 (Jan 30, 2007)

Let's get this thing rolling!


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## NeoSamurai (Jan 16, 2003)

Raps out of sync on offense...Should try to set the pick higher and have TJ explode to the net more...


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## RC06 (Jan 30, 2007)

Wow, what a difference a day makes. The Raps just can't seem to buy a basket. They're 1 for 10 to start off the game.

7-2 Celts.


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## Balzac (Jun 29, 2006)

Managed to get off work early. Wow, T.J. is playing really well. You still see him out of control sometimes, but his vision thus far has been exceptional.


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

really slow start, toronto only had 4pts @ the 5minute left mark of the 1st.

18-14 Boston.

without TJ Ford it would be 18-0


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## Balzac (Jun 29, 2006)

Rasho really has to do better than that. Bargnani also needs to dunk that ball.


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## RC06 (Jan 30, 2007)

We're storming back baby! Delfino with another three ball! The Raps are on a 10-0 run.

Timeout Boston.

23-22 Celts.


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

10-0 run for toronto's bench

back to back deep 3's for delfino.

this guy is good.


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

Delfino is on fire


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

37-26

Boston.

Bosh & Bargnani are like 0-14


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## seifer0406 (Jun 8, 2003)

Bosh can't get it together whenever theres a big game.


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## NeoSamurai (Jan 16, 2003)

Choppy, tight game...should have been expected considering the early weekend start time...Only down 7 which is good, not out despite the poor shooting...


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

Raps look mad shook 

Defense looks like its back to the norm :biggrin:, I knew it was too good to be true.
good thing Boston hasn't exactly lit it up

Bargs and Bosh 0-12

Boston leads 38-31


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

38-31 Celtics @ the half.

Toronto can NOT play any worse then this, we can get back in this.

*important stat*

Bargnani has 8 rebounds through 2!!!!!!


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## seifer0406 (Jun 8, 2003)

Positives:
- Despite shooting under 30%, we are only down by 7.
- Rondo in foul trouble, which means TJ will continue to own in the 2nd half.

Negatives
- Celtics only shot 38% also, that's bound to go up.
- Bargnani and Bosh are ice cold. Bosh tend to choke but I expected better from Bargnani.
- Only 6 assists. When our team is nervous they tend to go 1 on 1. And since our individual players suck in 1 on 1 situations, we get our *** kicked when we don't share the ball.


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## Mr_B (Mar 6, 2004)

We look like the Nets on friday thing is Celtics ain't really doing anything its just the Raps shots ain't falling


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

atleast bosh is trying to get to the line, isnt shooting jumpers much now, he just didnt get a couple calls that should have been, we got to make it a point to drive in the 2nd half.

the bosh & bargs rebounds are nice.


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

ANOTHER SWAT FOR BOSH!!!!!! 4 blocks on the game

40-35 boston, Bargs at the FT line!!!


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

TJ Ford, And1.

50-43 Boston.


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## chocolove (Apr 4, 2006)

argh, we gotta get Kapono out and Delfino in


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

TJ FORD

another and 1

54-46


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

what a disappointing effort considering Boston is playing average at best.

55 points scored going into the fourth quarter.....hey, live by the jumper, die by the jumper

this team looks like they pressed the snooze button and are still asleep...wheres the energy that they had on Friday????


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

Garnetts out, theres no reason why we shouldn't take it to the rim every time


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

70-66

Boston in the 4th.

Garbajosa playing well.

we need to get FOCUSED man!!!!!!!!!!!


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## RC06 (Jan 30, 2007)

Back-to-back three balls and the Raps are right back in this, folks.

70-66 Celts.


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## Mateo (Sep 23, 2006)

Raps getting the home cooking.


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

The Celts commentator Eishon has been complaining about fouls all game


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## RC06 (Jan 30, 2007)

We're headed to OT baby! Wow, what a ballgame.

Tied at 78.


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## Mateo (Sep 23, 2006)

The Celtics offense sucks. I'd say about 80% of the plays they ran in the 4th quarter turned into isolation pull up jumpers. That's not a high percentage play.

Doc has got to learn some plays or something. Please teach this man how to use Google. Otherwise bring in Larry Brown.


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

Ford's jumper has come a long way. Bosh on the other hand has been abused by KG on the offensive end


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## RC06 (Jan 30, 2007)

Yeah! TJ Ford for three! Tied ballgame!


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## RC06 (Jan 30, 2007)

Oh. My. God.

Ray-Ray with the game winning three in OT.

What a heartbreaker...


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

FORD CLUTCH!.. but ahh okay, it was a tough loss, we showed some damn heart tho, let's give some respect to T.O. for coming all the way back, OT, and that ford shot with 10seconds left in OT.

toronto played as bad as we could through 2, you gotta love it tho, this team is just growing & growing, KG & Ray were just lights out in the clutch.. we tried, i'm still happy about this game.


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

wow that sucked, I turned the channel for a second


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## Mateo (Sep 23, 2006)

.... I still haven't been able to see the final play because league pass crapped out.


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## seifer0406 (Jun 8, 2003)

Tough loss at home. I would expect a better performance by the Celts the next time we play as their team gets accustom to one another. We need to play better next time.


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

tj ford, big three off the inbounds to tie the game with about 7 seconds left..

come down the court, big pocket 3 from pierce to ray allen.

anthony parker had no chance to give us back the tie with a halfcourt heave.

we showed heart, real heart, this experience will help us, not hurt us.


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## DWest Superstar (Jun 30, 2005)

Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

weak effort by the Raps, but considering they almost got it to 2OT when they played this bad is a good sign of things to come

Defense was slow and offense was even worse


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

Extremely competitive fourth quarter. You guys have a really good team and the crowd is just on a whole new level


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

Mateo said:


> .... I still haven't been able to see the final play because league pass crapped out.


What a rip-off! I couldn't believe the kind of ending I was "hearing" 
:thumbdown:


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

Mateo said:


> The Celtics offense sucks. I'd say about 80% of the plays they ran in the 4th quarter turned into isolation pull up jumpers. That's not a high percentage play.
> 
> Doc has got to learn some plays or something. Please teach this man how to use Google. Otherwise bring in Larry Brown.


uuhhhhh.... Doc wasn't even with the team today


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## Darman (Jun 29, 2006)

seifer0406 said:


> I would expect a better performance by the Celts the next time we play as their team gets accustom to one another. We need to play better next time.


I think they just played like a team... they are expert players. Probably they can be better as a team but I think they won't win the division. 80 games and PP and Ray are injury prone: you can't expect they are going to play like today avery night.


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

David_Ortiz said:


> uuhhhhh.... Doc wasn't even with the team today



:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Mr_B (Mar 6, 2004)

TRON said:


> weak effort by the Raps, but considering they almost got it to 2OT when they played this bad is a good sign of things to come
> 
> Defense was slow and offense was even worse


which is why I'm not mad over this loss if the Raps play the game were used to seeing raps win this easy its actually a good sign that we hung with them playing as bad as we did good game boston


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

AllEyezonTX said:


> :lol: :lol: :lol:


what? his dad died


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## LamarButler (Apr 16, 2005)

Darman said:


> I think they just played like a team... they are expert players. Probably they can be better as a team but I think they won't win the division. *80 games and PP and Ray are injury prone: you can't expect they are going to play like today avery night.*


Lol. Paul Pierce injury prone? He gets injured 1 year and he's injury prone all of a sudden. And if you knew anything, the Celtics were milking his injury because they wanted to get a high lottery pick. Do some research man. Pierce, throughout his career, has an average of 73 games a season. He's only played less than that last year and in his rookie season.

Same for Ray. He gets injured badly one season and people make misconceptions about him. He has an average of 72 games per season. 

I wouldn't call either of them injury prone.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Mateo said:


> .... I still haven't been able to see the final play because league pass crapped out.


Me neither, I was about to throw something.


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## BeautifulStruggle (Jun 30, 2006)

If they have to continue to play the big three for extended minutes than injuries are a concern, even if they are healthy come play off time they will be fatigued greatly. We will just have to wait and see how these heavy minutes will affect them.


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

bottomline:

toronto played damn poor through 24 against a damn good team, forced it to OT with alot of heart against a starting lineup that is more then half all-stars, this is still a learning process for the team, still got 79 more games, we WILL improve because of this game, it's over we took an OT L, boston should no longer be on our minds moving forward, we are still the atlantic champions until the 79 is up, or even longer.


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## NeoSamurai (Jan 16, 2003)

Both teams showed a lot of character towards the end of the game. As a Raps fan, Im happy with the results, despite the poor shooting today. We fought hard late and both Bosh and Ford showed great character in the late possessions. The Big Three are legit and they have the right mix of veterans in Boston to succeed, so long as their bodies hold up and are ready to play late in April/May during the playoffs. We'll have 3 more shots at this team, so it'll be interesting how those showdowns end up since imo the sloppiness by both teams in the game was a result of the early afternoon start time. 

Good game tho...


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## madman (Oct 20, 2003)

wow i am so frustrated we shouldve beaten them, even though they werent on their best game either


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## seifer0406 (Jun 8, 2003)

David_Ortiz said:


> uuhhhhh.... Doc wasn't even with the team today


I didn't know that Doc wasn't at the game, but the team is still coached by him, they still run the same playbook, still uses the same philosophy. Most of what you see in game has already occurred in practice, and I don't see how it's not Doc's fault that the Celtic's offense isn't better than what it is right now with the 3 stars they have.


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## Onions Baby (Mar 12, 2007)

My heart sank when Allen hit that 3 pointer.. I thought I was going to die.

Gotta give props to KG though - Bosh was draped all over him but he hit two amazing fadeaway jumpers.


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

talk about highs & lows, the tj ford 3, after we saw him hit 2 crazy 3's earlier.. HIGH

Ray Allen comes down hits game winning 3 after so it seems never missing all night... ROCK BOTTOM LOW 

hahaha i'm alright tho, i'll survive so will my t.o. people in here, this game was a blessing in disguise watch.

ps. toronto, never, ever, never ever ever plays good on early sunday games Lol


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## chocolove (Apr 4, 2006)

I worry for the Celtics, their front court depth is horrible. That being said, as long as KG holds up they have enough shooters for them to be successful. I cant wait until the next time we play them.


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## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

Perkins is decent, he is a big body downlow to bang and defend in the paint, alter shots and rebound, that's all they need really. With KG playing 38min a game, that only leaves 10 minutes of non KG on the floor, which can easily be compensated with either Allen and Pierce on the floor. Who's the back up? Pollack?


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## Mateo (Sep 23, 2006)

southeasy said:


> bottomline:
> 
> toronto played damn poor through 24 against a damn good team, forced it to OT with alot of heart against a starting lineup that is more then half all-stars, this is still a learning process for the team, still got 79 more games, we WILL improve because of this game, it's over we took an OT L, boston should no longer be on our minds moving forward, we are still the atlantic champions until the 79 is up, or even longer.


The Celtics didn't play well either, though.


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

Dee-Zy said:


> Perkins is decent, he is a big body downlow to bang and defend in the paint, alter shots and rebound, that's all they need really. With KG playing 38min a game, that only leaves 10 minutes of non KG on the floor, which can easily be compensated with either Allen and Pierce on the floor. Who's the back up? Pollack?


you mean Pollard? yeah it's him and Scal getting the bulk of the backup minutes at 4 and 5. Not ideal. :dead:


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

Mateo said:


> The Celtics didn't play well either, though.


that is true, but KG & Ray carried them, who really stood out for toronto other then ford who shot the lights out for once. Bosh? nope not really until late in the game, Andrea? definitly not except on the boards, so i look at it as more of a positive since our main guys also had off games & we were still in it.


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## Mr_B (Mar 6, 2004)

After watching the post game interviews in full the raptors are confident it almost borders on arrogant lol these guys now know that Boston ain't cracked up to what the media hypes them to be


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## The Mad Viking (Jun 12, 2003)

Well considering how bad they shot in the first half, we should be content with that effort. Sometimes, you know, shots don't drop.

I though the coaching staff messed up with the idea of letting Bosh vs KG settle the OT game, particulary since Bosh's conditioning is iffy and he had already played 40 minutes. You could see him on the second last possession, he could barely stand as he straggled up court on offence.

No slight to Bosh, but why not stick to our offence, and why not double down on KG, it worked pretty well for the previous 24 minutes...

TJ was outrageously clutch. Of course, this scares me, because a lot of the time he stops passing late in close games when he shouldn't. But he did hit Kapono(?) with a nice dime near the end of regulation.


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## Timbaland (Nov 18, 2005)

The Mad Viking said:


> I though the coaching staff messed up with the idea of letting Bosh vs KG settle the OT game, particulary since Bosh's conditioning is iffy and he had already played 40 minutes. You could see him on the second last possession, he could barely stand as he straggled up court on offence.
> 
> No slight to Bosh, but why not stick to our offence, and why not double down on KG, it worked pretty well for the previous 24 minutes...


Bosh is the best we have, if he couldn't stop him then no one could. Even if he isn't 100%, I don't think anyone else can do as good a job. I'm pretty sure KG can hit that fadeaway pretty much over anyone in the league, so we shouldn't worry too much about it.

Plus we did double KG, but since he is such a good passer, it doesn't really help. I remember Posey hit back to back 3s off of KG passing out of the post.


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## bballking18 (Oct 2, 2007)

From the last play,

Parker got screened around the baseline area, thats y he's lated for 1 second to go cover Ray Allen.

Should have make a switch defense on that one.
and we used all our time-outs......


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

In hindsight it's really amazing that we were able to take Boston to Overtime when 3 of our most important players had such offnights.

Bargnani... 2-13
Bosh....... 5-15
Calderon... 2-11

In Overtime Sam could of forced KG to be the passer, but after seeing Ray Allen light it up from 3 all game (7-11) it was a hard decision to make. That's whats gonna make Boston so tough this year, they have a lot of weapons, and veterans that perform when it counts the most. 

I can't wait for round 2, hopefully we can repay them on thier homecourt :biggrin:


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

Sam comments on not doubling KG in OT.....


> “Let me see, James Posey hit three threes late in the game Ray Allen made seven; Eddie House made two or three. So where we going to come from? The problem with Kevin is if you come too early he picks you apart if you come too late he beats you and two of the shots he hit are fadeaway jump shots with Chris hanging off him.”


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/wbbasketball


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