# Raptors @ Kings, Nov. 25th



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

<center>
















*Toronto Raptors* (1-11) @ *Sacramento Kings* (5-7)
November 25th, 2005, 10:00 PM EST
TSN

<IMG WIDTH=100 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=0 ALT="JAMES, MIKE" TITLE="JAMES, MIKE" SRC="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/mjames0.jpg"> <IMG WIDTH=100 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=0 ALT="ROSE, JALEN" TITLE="ROSE, JALEN" SRC="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/jrose0.jpg"> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/mpeterson0.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"> <IMG WIDTH=100 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=0 ALT="BOSH, CHRIS" TITLE="BOSH, CHRIS" SRC="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/cbosh0.jpg"> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/raraujo0.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"> 
*Mike James, Jalen Rose, Morris Peterson, Chris Bosh, Rafael Araujo*

<IMG WIDTH=100 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=0 ALT="BIBBY, MIKE" TITLE="BIBBY, MIKE" SRC="/img/headshots/100x150/kings/BIBBY, MIKE.jpg"> <IMG WIDTH=100 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=0 ALT="WELLS, BONZI" TITLE="WELLS, BONZI" SRC="/img/headshots/100x150/grizzlies/WELLS, BONZI.jpg"> <IMG WIDTH=100 HEIGHT= 150 BORDER=0 ALT="GARCIA, FRANCISCO" TITLE="GARCIA, FRANCISCO" SRC="http://espn-att.starwave.com/media/ncb/2005/0326/photo/a_garcia_i.jpg"> <IMG WIDTH=100 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=0 ALT="ABDUR-RAHIM, SHAREEF" TITLE="ABDUR-RAHIM, SHAREEF" SRC="/img/headshots/100x150/blazers/ABDUR-RAHIM, SHAREEF.jpg"> <IMG WIDTH=100 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=0 ALT="MILLER, BRAD" TITLE="MILLER, BRAD" SRC="/img/headshots/100x150/kings/MILLER, BRAD.jpg">
*Mike Bibby, Bonzi Wells, Francisco Garcia, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Brad Miller*</center>


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## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

gonna b another long night..


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## Divine Spammer (Jul 11, 2005)

1-12 isn't nice. 
I wish that Chris has learned from his mistakes, and won't make them again. 
This kid deserves a W. Hopefully, Sam and Jalen won't interrupt.


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Peja has a sore hand and his status is a game-time decision. Odds are he won't play after a report in the Sac Bee said he was still stiff and had trouble handling the ball.

Despite having a lot of talent this Kings team has stumbled out of the gate. Will be another winnable game.

Araujo vs. Miller, again. Should be fun to watch them fight.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

lukin forward 2 this one hopefully i can catch it and update this thread GO RAPTORS


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Hoping for another big night out of Hoffa...


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## Timbaland (Nov 18, 2005)

No Peja should definitely help things out, but the Kings are still a playoff contender but they aren't the same team they once were. Gonna be a tough one for us but winnable. Hopefully Jalen and Mo can contribute more today than they did vs. the Clips and we can learn from out mistakes and execute down the stretch with the right people in the game.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

Hopefully Charlie will get more playing time. I'm liking this guy more and more.


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## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

speedythief said:


> Araujo vs. Miller, again. Should be fun to watch them fight.


fun like watching Tyson and Peter McNeilly fight? like that?
it's another possible W though. these west coast games kill me, ah while it's friday.


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## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

Turkish Delight said:


> Hopefully Charlie will get more playing time. I'm liking this guy more and more.


yea, lets hope if we're close at the end of the game (like the clippers) that he gets to play instead of the red rocket. don't get me wrong, but i mean if villanueva was in for the last minutes of the clips game, we would've had a better chance of winning.


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## ballocks (May 15, 2003)

i think our team will get better with every game on this trip. by the time they get back, they will have been removed from the toronto trollism for a week, which should be enough to get their minds out of the gutter.

while i think we played rather well in los angeles, i think we'll play even better tonight. we just gotta learn how to win. i don't even know what that means, but it does mean something, just can't put my finger on it. if we can get over the hump this weekend (starting tonight), i fully expect this team to start ignoring the bad publicity being generated from all over.

i hope bosh and jalen can recognize the importance of tonight's game. i think bosh _can_ dominate; i think jalen _might_ dominate. 

peace


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## Who-C (Nov 21, 2005)

All i want this game is to see Bonner get 7-12 minutes and enjoy his time on the bench this game, while Charlie getting the minutes he deserves and being on in crunch time. Also keepin Hoffa in for some extra minutes to battle it out with Brad Miller wouldnt be that bad either. Raps will probably piss this game away in the last 2 minutes like they did already in about 9 of their games.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

We've come out very strong right off the bat in the first two games. I'm hoping we can do the same this time around.


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## bigbabyjesus (Mar 1, 2003)

Winnable game.


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

I think it's a another possible W for the raps if they continue their strong play & finish out the 4th Q better.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

Who-C said:


> All i want this game is to see Bonner get 7-12 minutes and enjoy his time on the bench this game, while Charlie getting the minutes he deserves and being on in crunch time. Also keepin Hoffa in for some extra minutes to battle it out with Brad Miller wouldnt be that bad either. Raps will probably piss this game away in the last 2 minutes like they did already in about 9 of their games.


Welcome to the forum!

Anyways, I'm hoping to catch at least the end of this game tonight. I won't be able to watch the replay since I don't have Raptors TV.


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## VTRapsfan (Dec 5, 2004)

vigilante said:


> Winnable game.


That's the thing about the 05-06 Raps. Every game is _winnable_ and it seems like we'll win for a good portion of the game, but somehow we always manage to lose. I hope we can break that trend, because even though they know a higher lottery pick is a good thing, losing is terrible for the players' morale. I'd rather have the team win 29 games and get the 4th-6th pick than win 14 games and get the 1st.


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## bigbabyjesus (Mar 1, 2003)

RaptorsCB4 said:


> I'd rather have the team win 29 games and get the 4th-6th pick than win 14 games and get the 1st.


I'd say the same thing during the season.. but after the season, I'll be glad we only won 14 games.


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## arcade_rida (Jun 23, 2003)

I rather be the Raptors then the 76ers or the Knicks. I hate when teams just make the playoffs and get knocked out. There really isnt a point. Wouldnt you rather just get a lotto pick rather then getting knocked out in the playoffs? I mean like a 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 pick. Because getting the 10th pick to the 15th pick isnt really a big drop. (15 being the playoff team)


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Apparently its been over 8 years since we won last at Arco.

We're due.


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## Pejavlade (Jul 10, 2004)

2 of my favorite teams going at it and will be air'd here in vancouver!!! 

I think Kings take this one 116 to 103.


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## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

Game starts in about 25 mins, Im going to actually watch this west-coast game, cause tomorrow is Saturday  Raps better win this game.


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## superdude211 (Apr 3, 2004)

Araujo off to another hot start, hopefully he can keep it up all game this time


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## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

Tied at 26 after the first quarter. Raptors are playing well so far.


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## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

The Raps are leading the Kings 55-53 at half. Good game by the Raptors so far.
Raptors - .548 FG percentage
Kings - .435 FG percentage


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## Rhubarb (Mar 19, 2005)

Beating the Kings out on the break early on.


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

Joey Graham vs. Adur Rahim....Leeeeeeet's get rrrrrrrready to ruuuuuuuuuumble!!


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## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

wow, holly hoffa, great start for the beast.
Bosh is off to his typical great start.


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## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

damn, so close yet so far. 106-104. some mental breakdowns on defense in the last 5 mins


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## Rhubarb (Mar 19, 2005)

Another one down the drain.


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## vi3t_boi11 (Aug 14, 2004)

Damn!! the last two games been similar, the Raps are up 8 and they find a way to lose


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## kirk_2003 (Jun 23, 2003)

Araujo played great with the limited time he had, i thought... he had one offensive rebound in traffic that was good to see... good work big fella... if i had to blame anyone on the loss it would be jalen... even though he played better in the 2nd half, his mistakes was nasty/defense...


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## vi3t_boi11 (Aug 14, 2004)

Another tough loss to swallow, can't believe Atlanta beat the Pacers tonite


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## Odomiles (Mar 23, 2004)

I posted this is the Kings forum but it doesn't seem like many people even post there.

Bonzi Wells is nothing but a punk. I have no respect for that guy.

This is purely from a basketball fan's point of view because I'm not a fan of the Raptors and I definitely have nothing against the Kings.

Why would he elbow Araujo in the face like that? I can't believe he got away with it. You should be tossed for doing something like that. Especially since the only thing Araujo even did was box him out. He's playing hard in there and trying to be aggressive, not trying to hurt people, and Bonzi has to run up and elbow him in the face when he's not even looking? That's just disgusting and pathetic and I'd be ashamed to have a guy like that playing for my team.

Anyways, it's a shame to see the game end like that. I'm not a Raptors fan, as I've mentioned, but I couldn't help rooting for them after I had been watching the game for a while. A couple plays that really stood out for me were when Charlie Villanueva was posting up and got blatantly fouled by Kenny Thomas right in fron of the ref (he couldn't have been any closer to the play) and then the Kings got the ball and scored at the other end and got the foul. I know they say that rookies don't get calls but that's just ridiculous. Thomas didn't even come close to getting ball. Also, the toss on the Charlie V jump ball was atrocious. If you toss the ball up so poorly just blow your whistle and do it again. There's no way he would have lost it otherwise. Pathetic.

I should also bring up the Araujo offensive rebound play where he got called for the offensive foul on Francisco Garcia. I actually felt embarrassed for NBA referees after seeing that call.


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## vi3t_boi11 (Aug 14, 2004)

Yea, Wells had no business doing that to Araujo, he was just being agressive and doin his job, that foul on Villanueva was so obvious, and many other questionable calls made by the refs


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## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

we lost to a good team on a good play. played great, but in the end Miller is just too good of a passing center.
the whole team played really well, other then Bonner I guess, who didn't play too badly.


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

I guess you can be angry about the way things are going but I've just been laughing. I mean, we can't get any closer. This is like the fifth or sixth time we've been able to win and just haven't come through.

Has to be a learning experience for the guys. You can't give the other team an opportunity, you have to crush their neck late in the game. Go on a 10-0 run and create a gap they can't close. Too often we get soft and hand the game away. But it's nice to know that the team we have right now is knocking on the door.


Couple of things about the game...

- How many times did Garcia go back door on us? This umbrella zone we're running is decent, I'll give Sam credit for it. We seemed to discombobulate the Kings consistently with it and in some ways it made up for our interior weakness when Bonner and Villanueva were on together. If we can stop looking straight ahead all the time and notice the back cutter I think it is a scheme that will work. How many layups did Garcia blow tonight?

- Bosh was unspectacular tonight, despite having a very good game on offense. His defense wasn't there and his rebounding wasn't either. He seems stressed, still. Hopefully playing against another mediocre front court tomorrow will help get his confidence back up. Man o man can he score when we give him the ball in a good spot with time on the clock, though. He will be one of the most difficult guarding assignments in the NBA if and when he adds a bit more strength and knowhow. In some ways he is already.

- In the late game the Kings were able to prevent James and Rose/Peterson from giving Bosh the ball pretty easily, which was frustrating. They would send the extra man down to the right corner, typically Miller, and leave the other side open. Our guards, inclined to find the open man, would swing the ball the other way, and the Kings would quickly rotate. Bosh wouldn't get a touch on the high right screen and roll. Saw this two or three times in the last two or so minutes. Gotta realize that those shooters on the other side haven't been hitting shots, and Bosh can create for himself. He burned Miller and SAR several times by putting the ball on the deck and going tight around them to the net, drawing fouls. Our guards need to give him a chance to do that more often and it begins by finding him early and often.

- Bonner wasn't on the floor in crunch time, but again Sam's patterns are going to be criticized. Where were Graham and Araujo? Again, why Rose? I like that Charlie was on, even though he logged a lot of minutes late and looked gassed by the end, but I really thought putting Hoff back in would be better. You could even run the big line with Charlie at small forward. Wells was abusing Rose in the post anyways. For Hoff to not get rewarded for what might've been his best game since the early West coast trip last year is a shame. I understand if Mitchell was concerned about his knee or the fact he was getting into it with some of the Kings players, but ****, give him a chance! Also, I wanted Hoff to grab Wells by the throat and throw him into the stands after that cheap shot chin music with the elbow but Hoff isn't like that, so good for him. He didn't let Wells get him off his game--but Mitchell was there to do that anyways so that's how it goes.

- Speaking of Hoff, he's developing NBA match ups. Miller is one of his targets. He plays well against him and like last year these two fought for everything. Miller almost only scored when Hoff wasn't guarding him or was on the bench. When Hoff was on him the most Miller could hope for, seemingly, was the 20-footer. And that's the shot we want him taking. Kudos to Hoff on another strong game.

- I'm glad we like to help each other so much on defense but the excess switching and sending the extra man for doubles on the perimeter has to be our biggest weakness on defense, even bigger than interior presence. We send so much help we always leave open shooters nearby and are constantly getting torched by them. Probably would've been a quick and painless victory for the Kings had Peja been there waiting for that pass. We need to do a better job of recognizing who has the ball and what dangers are present. Do we really need to double most of these guys?

- Sam Mitchell's plays out of time outs are... nonexistent? Does anybody know what's going on there?


Anyways, many predicted our team to lose a lot, including most of us, but if we're going to lose games better it be these kinds of losses, no? As much as it sucks to lose these guys can't be taking these losses to hard. They can taste victory. Hopefully it is motivating rather than disheartening.


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Oh yeah, and the refs were poor again.

We're the Rodney Dangerfield of the NBA.


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## Divine Spammer (Jul 11, 2005)

Nakhs!
Only nakhs, that's all I can think of. 
I'm sure the Raps will win plenty of games further this season the they play. 
Just need to be concentrated down the stretch. 


BTW, Nakhs=Jinx (or something like that)


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## vi3t_boi11 (Aug 14, 2004)

Chris Bosh had a pretty good game tonite with 22 pts on 8-13 shootin but needs bring back the double digit reboundin, hasn't had a double double in the last three games after having 8 straight, once again the Raps were unable to get him the ball in the 4th quarter, partly due to the kings doing a good job of denyin him the ball in crunch time

Araujo had his best game of the season with 14 pts on 6-8 shooting, he was being agressive and matched up with Brad Miller well, lets hope he can do more of this throughout the season

Charlie Villanueva played pretty well, rebounded and score inside and out, had 13 pts and 7 boards in only 15 mins of playing time, Joey Graham had a solid game, was agressive, 4-5 shooting and had a thunderous dunk on the break, something we all like to see more, Jose also had a good game distributing the ball, finished with 6 assists in 12 mins


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## kirk_2003 (Jun 23, 2003)

one more thing... i think bonner is done... he cant even spotup anymore... IR him and bring on the next contestant... eric williams...


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## Sporty G (Sep 19, 2004)

speedythief said:


> Oh yeah, and the refs were poor again.
> 
> We're the Rodney Dangerfield of the NBA.


You know what? STOP LOOKING FOR EXCUSES.

Oh, wait. The refs were poor. Again.

It's amazing, even the commentators kept having to bite their tongues. The number of none-calls that SHOULD go the Raptors way are enormous. Unreal.

Still, there is no excuse for the Raptors to go almost four minutes in the final quarter without a point. Disgusting.

When Rose's shot bounced off the rim at the buzzer I burst into tears. Tears of frustration and anger and even more frustration. This is killing me slowly, especially when you realize how many close games they keep dropping.


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

don't look now but, with Atlanta's wins we are clearly the worst team in the league (record wise) 

Tough loss tonight, but entertaining game to watch for the most part. I'm sick of posting about Coaching rotations and Matt Bonner, so let's just take at second to think about how close Joey's head got to rim level on that dunk


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

I almost forgot to give credit to Hoffa, who almost looked like he belongs in the NBA tonight. I hope he can take some of this forward to the next game, so those people can stop booing him at the ACC.

IMO, Bosh needs to pick it up on the defensive end, I noticed he is making a concious effort not to pick up fouls so he can stay in the game, but looks a little soft right now. I would have like to see him challenge Brad Miller more, as Bosh is the superior athlete.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

damn sorry guys i fell asleep at around 1 so dint even see the start of the game tuff loss bt alot of positives eg hoffa and charlie with bosh shotting much betta... and on to the next game!


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## shapeshifter (Jun 13, 2005)

We're getting closer to winning. Every game we seem to be hanging in longer then the pervious game, which shows me the team is learning from their losses.

Also, i'm thinking that hoffa should have played some of the fourth, he did a good job of guarding Miller during the game.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Raptors are handing out early Christmas presents on this road trip. They could easily be 3-0, and at worst should be 2-1 so far. 

8 point lead with 7 minutes to play. And then our guys decide they all want to be heros by chucking long Js. Jalen, MikeJames, and CharlieV all with stupid, stupid shots down the stretch. Kings had no shotblocker and nobody who could keep our guys out of the paint. We just had to attack, get to the FT line, rebound and put this game away.

Charlie started the game really SOFT. He would take the ball into the paint and finish so weak it was killing me. But later he got tougher and dropped the shoulder into Brad Miller under the basket and finished strong. That is what he needs to do more of. That is his big advantage over Bonnner. Not chucking a horrible 3 late in the game. He had no impact down the stretch. He needs to be earning Sam's trust and last night didn't do it.

Hoffa and Graham may be the guys that give the Raps their identity as a team. They give us some toughness and let other teams know they can't just run us over. It was amazing how fluid Hoffa looked on offense. And the refs started to give him some respect because he was starting and scoring. And he was scoring so easily we could have used him down the stretch. But Sam can't trust him in those situations yet.

Jalen's decent third quarter made Sam keep him on the floor too much in the fourth. Sam thought this could be the breakout game for Jalen and hoped for the best. Bonzi owned him at both ends of the floor.

We have been playing so well lately that i am worried we are due for a stinker.


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## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

that was just a great game, and i don't really have many problems with it. we played well and where beat by a better coached, more experienced club. and a team that knows how to pull it out down the stretch, something that hopefully the Raps will start learning by the end of this season. all in all, another great loss. All the rooks, plus Hoff, looked good, Jalen had a very good game, same with MoP and Mike James.

In the end, this team is still finding what works for them, good loss boys!


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## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

for some reason we get very anxious wen we have the lead late in the 4th. mayb they feel like "we can finally win this game" and they take a back seat? i'm not sure, but we play a whole 45 minutes, while the last 3 minutes of the game we never seem to nail the coffin.


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## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

mostly cause we're a young inexperienced team.


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## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

the hawks seem to find a way to win at the end of both games that they won


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## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

The Hawks are having a very similar season as the Raps, having loss six games by less then 10. On any given night they could have lost that game last night by two. Both teams will be huge in a couple of years.


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## Ryethe (Nov 15, 2003)

Personally I can excuse the Charlie 3. He's a rook and he's going to do some completely stupid things from time to time. That doesn't mean he shouldn't be punished, just that in the long run, I'm not too worried. What does worry me is that James, Rose and Mo take these kinds of shots. They're supposed to be our VETS. Ugh.

James is truly a ball hog. I only like him on the floor when Jose is on as well. It stops him from dominating the ball. My biggest issue is when he runs screen and roll with Bosh and doesn't even look back towards Bosh's side. Ditto when Bosh has post position. Just frustating. I think one of the biggest issues that that no one knows how to make a post entry pass. Has this team never heard of a bounce pass? It's by far the most natural and easiest to catch entry pass. It's also the most difficult to disrupt. Catching the ball around the mid-section while holding off you man: Easy. Catching the ball in the chest area while holding off your man: Much Harder. For James specifically, there's entry passes that he know he can't make via a basic chest pass so he just ignores the situation and moves away from it. Frustrating.

As for positives, Hoff and Joey were great. They both showed a lot of toughness. But Joey. OHMYGOD. What a dunk. It's not that it was that difficult, but just the way he pulled it back and how high he was. And the ferocity of it. Can't forget that.


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## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

yeah Joey's dunk was sick.

James is in a much different role then he's ever found himself in. He's averaging a career high in min's, points, and assist's, and with out Jalen scoring his 18 points a game, someone has to. I've has him on a fantasy team so I love him grabbing all those stats, but for the proposes of the TEAM, then yes, he is a bit of a ball hog.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Atlanta has a couple of big time vets who are in their prime. Joe Johnson and Al Harrington. We have Rose and Peterson. Rose is done. And while Peterson may be in his 'prime' that is not exactly a great thing for us. Its actually kind of sad.


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Man that was a big bunch of bull**** right there. We had a 5 point lead with 6 minutes left, 100-95. We proceed to score TWO POINTS in the last 6 minutes. So wait - we have the ability to score 100 points in 42 minutes of play, but we can only scrounge TWO to end it? Come on. A loss like that you can't place squarely on anyone's shoulders, really, but once again I stress that all Mitch had to do was put the best lineup on the floor to secure the win. When we're a 1-11 team, we can't afford to put out a lineup of Mike James, Mo Pete, and Jalen Rose in the backcourt and just hope they miraculously catch fire at the end of the game and put it away for us! When he took out Jose at that critical juncture of the game, I had a bad feeling. When we were held scoreless for the next 4 minutes until Bosh finally came through and hit a shot for us, that feeling was confirmed.

Sam, all you had to do was carry on with the flow of the game in the fourth quarter, these last three nights, and we would have either had three more wins, or it would have actually been a valuable lesson to the young guys if we ended up losing anyway. Hoffa played a great game last night, why not put him in in the dying minutes? A lineup of Calderon-James-Villanueva-Bosh-Hoffa would have been perfect and would have put us in a much better situation to close out the game with a W. And the worst thing is, I don't even need to be suggesting this in hindsight! It was OBVIOUS to see, to any fan, any observant of the game! By putting out the lineup that Sam put out, he was taking a gamble. YOU DO NOT TAKE GAMBLES WHEN YOU HAVE A RECORD OF ONE AND ELEVEN.

UGH!


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## Peja Vu (Jun 9, 2002)

So close! Good game fellas! The Kings probably didn't deserve this one, but I'll take it...


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## bigbabyjesus (Mar 1, 2003)

Caught the fourth quarter, and man was I pissed off.

We were up 100-95 with 5-7 minutes left. AS soon as Mitchell puts his loverboy Jalen in, the Kings go on a 7-0 run - many of those points were from Jalen just getting abused in the post by Bonzi.

I don't even want to talk about this game, lol. I was too heated last night.

Mitchell loses yet another game for us. His love affair with Rose has to stop. Mitchell putting on Rose in the late part of the 4th quarter has lost us 4-5 games this year. It's unbelieveable. Someone has to slap Sam Mitchell. 

I used to support the guy, but game by game, my trust in him goes down more and more. I wouldn't even be mad if he got fired now. We could be 5-8 or 6-7 with one of us as the coach. Thats pretty scary.


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## sjinto (Oct 7, 2005)

After the last 3 games (all very close) - looks like we are continually being out-coached.

I know Sam doesn't have a lot to work with but we've been in all 3 games down to the wire.

It was most obvious last night when SacTo ran their last set play for Bonzi vs Jalen.

We got out-coached again.


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

The sad thing is, we didn't get out-coached because the other coaches thought up something better out of their experience or whatever. We only got out-coached because Sam screwed it up himself.


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## ansoncarter (Dec 22, 2004)

if I was the coach Mop, Jalen and MJ wouldn't see the floor until they stopped hogging it

and hoffa would have got WAY more touches. Even if he screwed up. 

and all those times Mop refused to pass to him? even though he's ridiculously open with perfect position? he'd get chucked over a trainers table. And if he complained I'd go "pfft whatever Mop"

and Joey would get more minutes and we'd quit using Zone so much cause it usually kills us. 

and Bonner if he keeps getting switched and guarding pg's would get benched


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## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

Budweiser_Boy said:


> The sad thing is, we didn't get out-coached because the other coaches thought up something better out of their experience or whatever. We only got out-coached because Sam screwed it up himself.


well, that's not entirely true, the last Sac posession, the winning bucket, that was a well designed play.


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

shookem said:


> well, that's not entirely true, the last Sac posession, the winning bucket, that was a well designed play.


 This is true. The one thing I thought directly after that play was, "shoulda put José on Mike after all..." but I don't even think that would have changed much.


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## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

they had a good play and diversion.

they ran the offense as if they were trying to get bibby the ball, but miller instead passed to wells for the easy 2. 

good play design, and ric adelman created the play based on what bibby did during the game.

nice job


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## TDrake (Jun 8, 2003)

I think the Raptors are really improving over the course of this road trip. If they can keep this up, in another month we should be able to recognize a team we can be proud of - not that I'm not proud of them now.

Blaming Rose for the loss - or Sam for playing him - is just pointless. Jalen was right on Bonzi when he made that last shot, he just got beat. We don't have anyone else on the team that could have done any better. As far as the last shot he took, there were 2 seconds left - it was a low percentage shot, but it was all we could get. Jalen's been struggling for a few weeks now, but he'll get his legs under him before long and start contributing again.

Our big problem was that we couldn't get the ball inside during the last minutes of the game - Sac. was able to put the weight on our guys and Bosh and Charlie couldn't get open. Maybe if Hoffa had been on the floor, he could have created some room for the other guys, but I can't criticize Sam for not being ready to trust him in that situation just yet (though he played a nice game). And we didn't get any calls from the refs either - but that's just part of the Raptor's story.

Just the same, I really enjoyed this game, as I have a lot of the games this year. This Raptors team is very entertaining and has a lot of promise. Compared to the drudgery of the games when KO was coaching, its a breath of fresh air. So, I don't want to get too down on Sam over these close losses. Like I say, another month or so could give us a lot more positive view of where this team is going.


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## bigbabyjesus (Mar 1, 2003)

I honestly don't see how you cannot blame Sam for this loss, and some of our other nailbiters.

His rotations in the 4th quarter are awful. He takes out the squad that generally keeps the lead, and inserts Jalen (who is ALWAYS struggling), and either Mo-Pete or Bonner (both of which are struggling). 

It was Sam Mitchells fault.


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## BBB (Jan 19, 2005)

Sam... waiting to be fired?


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