I remember when the Philly games used to be something to look forward to. You had Iverson, Aaron McKie, Tyrone Hill and Eric Snow to contend with and it was always a nervous affair. It’s one of the few rivalries the Raptors actually had; it originated when the Raptors lost to Philadelphia on Vince Carter’s last second missed shot. Since then there’s been some great games between the two squads including one earlier this year when Chris Bosh won it with a three. This however, was not one to be remembered.
Coming off a loss which should’ve been a win, the Raptors started off slow, even trailing by 8 at one point in the first half. But just like a 16 point lead against Dallas didn’t matter, neither did a 8 point deficit against Philadelphia. Starting late in the second quarter and going into the third, the Raptors blew the game wide open going up by 25 at one point. The usual suspects did the trick with Bosh going for 11-14 FG for 27 points, Anthony Parker for 17 and TJ Ford with 13 and 10. Joey Graham had a good game with 18 points which means he’ll stink it up for the next five.
Fred Jones saw the light of day for 7 minutes in which he looked like a deer caught in the headlights and expectedly remained scoreless. Confidence is a horrible thing to lose and it hurts even more when you’re a jump shooter. At times, it looked like he was second guessing whether to dribble the ball. No point in getting too excited about this game, it’s Philly and they’ll be sucking bad for a long time to come. If the Raptors would’ve lost this game, there would’ve been riots on Bay St.
Chuck Swirsky said something that I’ve been thinking for a long time. Every time I look at Andre Iguodala, I feel he should be playing for the Raptors. Iggy had a nice little game with 15 points but he’s not a star player and never well be. Nothing wrong with that except he needs a star player to play with in order to be fully utilized. In Philly there’s nobody that fits the bill and if the Raptors even have an outside chance of acquiring him, they should do it. I doubt it’ll ever happen. Samuel Dalembert is applying for a US Green Card which will make him forever ineligible to play for Team Canada much to Leo Rautins’ disappointment. Poor Leo, he won’t have Magloire or Dalembert for world competition; would’ve been quite a formidable frontline.
Chirs Webber, the ex-76er is signing with the Detroit Pistons. The overrated Webber, who has a chronic history of choking in the clutch or for that matter at anytime, has picked the Pistons as the next team he will torment. It’s surprising to see the usually selective Joe Dumars give this deadbeat a chance after his pathetic display of professionalism and skill over the last three years. Chris Webber needs to be taken to the backyard and “put to rest”.
Chuck Swirsky brought out the salami and cheese late in the third quarter. He could’ve brought it out sooner.
