Ladies Love Cool Andris in today’s Opening Tip.
Some are already calling for Jay’s head to be carried out in a sack and thrown off the CN Tower. Tonight the coach of Canada’s NBA team takes on the straight-shootin’ owner of the second most wins in NBA history. Nelson’s troops are banged up, while our Canadian warriors are, well, anything but warriors at times.
The Warriors have been as up and down as your lovely girlfriend when her monthly visitor stops by to say hello (or when your boyfriend finds out he missed out on the boxing day sale of assless chaps at Northbound Leather…(we don’t judge here at RR)). They beat the Celtics by 10, were hammered by the Lakers last night, lost to Miami, and their only win in a stretch of 8 came against Charlotte.
Our boys finally end this western trip tonight before heading back to face Denver at the ACC on New Years Eve. It’s good they can be together as a team that night, because they should have a pretty long list of resolutions to be reading off:
- see ball in air. jump.
- Jose to, um, defend more.
- Jermaine to actually run up-court
- Chris to re-find that fire and desire.
- Kris to get out of the coaches dog house
- Will to look at a teammate rather than the bucket
- Hassan to start earning his pay
- Andrea to audition for a mens hair product commercial
- Joey to study the word “consistency”
- Nathan to put his heart into getting back to the game he loves
- Jason to actually hit at least one shot per game.
- Jamario to make his lifelong agent a rich man (finally)
- Anthony to introduce me to his sister.
- Roko to check return fairs to Europe
- Jake to kiss his agents feet in thanks.
Starting Lineups:
Calderon vs Crawford
The Edge: Toronto – The perfect opportunity to show us that you can run some plays and also attack the basket, Jose. You’ll need to since Crawford is probably going to make you look like a windsock on the other end of the floor.
Kapono vs Belinelli
The Edge: Golden State – If nothing else, just because I like to say Belinelli. Personally, I think Kap continues his minimal offensive output and he will allow Belinelli to abuse him like you would abuse the key to the beer fridge at your local.
Moon vs Jackson
The Edge: Golden State – Anybody else wishing these guys were wired for sound tonight? Can’t you just imagine the jabbering going on between these two all night? Now that Moon is rocking the headband, they can exchange fashion tips. Why is it I can picture these two slap-fighting in the paint after getting tangled up?
Bosh vs Wright
The Edge: Toronto – A chance for Bosh to be a man and show this young pup that if you want to run with the big dogs, you can’t piss on your own leg. Look for Bosh to break out in this game.
O’Neal vs Biedrins
The Edge: Toronto – Tough one here, but if nothing else, O’Neal has shown lately that he can take it to big white guys. A small pocket of Raptor faithful continue to swoon when they see Biedrins, wondering how close we really have come to securing him in the past. About the same number are happy we have O’Neal instead. Me? I don’t know how I even lived without seeing O’Neal in a Raptors uniform. He is a God.
Triano Vs Nelson
The Edge: Toronto – That may surprise you, but as much as I’ve been a fan of Don’s, I sometimes wonder how good he is in one-game/in-game situations. I think he runs a great system that brings out the strengths of his players, but his individual play calling has never been one that I have loved. I give us the edge here only because I think we can run a few more looks than a banged-up Warriors team…assuming we are still in the game.
The Prediction:
Raptors by 6. The Warriors looked like a pack of dogs that got whipped by their owner last night against Kobe & Company. The Raptors had some positives to take out of Portland and I think the knowledge that this long road trip (and Christmas break) is over will spur them on.
