Beware the Big Purple Dino, I mean Dragon
Opponent File
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors play in the Air Canada Centre
in Toronto. Their 2006 - 2007 record was 47- 35 (first in the Atlantic).
Here's the Toronto
Raptors Roster.
Local Papers:
Toronto
Star
Toronto
Sun | Raptors
Team Pages:
CNNSI.com
| Raptors
ESPN.com
| Raptors
FoxSports
| Raptors
NBA.com | Raptors
Sportsline.com
| Raptors
Head Coach:
Sam Mitchell.
2007 Draft: None.
New Players:
C Maceo Baston (Free Agent); G Carlos Delfino (Trade); F Jason Kapono (Free Agent); F Jamario Moon (Free Agent).
Season Goal: Add another divisional crown and dvance further than the first round of the playoffs and convince us that Sam Mitchell is a good coach.
Record vs. Nets: 0 - 0
Toronto Raptors
(1 - 0) – Friday, November 2, 2007, 7:30PM EST – Izod Center
Slaying The Dragon
It started as an innocent attempt to build an elite squad of ballers. It ended up as an Atlantic Division leader, with an exciting brand of foreign ball. But then, the mighty dragon slaying Nets brought the Dinos back to earth with a first round knockout (and a relatively easy one at that). The Raptors still have what the Nets want - an Atlantic Division title, and they're more secure in their belief that their brand of ball shall rule. Chris Bosh now has some more help in Jason Kapono and Carlos Delfino to go with all the Garbajosa's, Bargnani's and Nesterovic's of the roster. But the Nets have already done it, reloaded, and look to do it again, so they shant be frightened.
Why
Should You Watch? This rivalry could turn into something classic - two teams understanding each other's weaknesses and attacking. Watch TJ Ford try to leave Kidd in the dust. Andrea Bargnani has a girl's name but he'll be a force in the league before too long, if not this year. Watch the Nets try to keep up with him. Oh, did I forget that Carter used to play for the Raptors, and still hasn't been forgiven for his comments about not always playing full out? There are so many emerging plotlines with these two teams, it promises to be fun each and every time.
- Joe
Toronto Raptors Cheat Sheet
The Story From Toronto: Toronto
Star: "Not much has changed on the Euro-tinged big-smoke roster, of course (although Jason Kapono, the designated shooter, is a fine pickup). So for Toronto to win the Atlantic again (and they will) their one player with significant unleashed potential, Italy's Andrea Bargnani, must assert himself as Bosh's sous-star. That's inevitable, to these eyes. And though he'll have to kick his foul trouble habit, he's smart enough to figure it out."
More from the Star: "Yesterday, Bryan Colangelo, the architect of the Raptors roster, was heard deriding the forecasters – the "so-called experts," he called them.
It irks him, and he acknowledged it motivates him and his players, that big-name acquisitions are still valued more highly than Toronto's chemistry and continuity. No matter that considerable doses of the latter have been the building blocks for model franchises like San Antonio. No matter that the U.S. has seen its all-star-laden Olympic and world championship representatives drilled by more seamless teams of relative nobodies for years now. But what's history to the teeming masses below?"
"The continuity ... the chemistry, you can't overlook that," said Colangelo. "It's something that might not show up in those pre-season (predictions) but it's certainly something that's going to help us find the success we need to find."
Pain Game: Toronto has no injuries to report. G Marcus Williams (foot) is out for the Nets.
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© 2007 Shawn Belschwender and Michael Kozlowski
