Arsenalist
CSKA Moscow 78, Toronto Raptors 86 CSKA Moscow was fun to watch. I can see what the hype about Ettore Messina is, his team moves without the ball, consistently communicates on the court, doesn’t take bad shots and is extremely disciplined in their approach. With CSKA down by 10 late in the fourth, they ran…
An excellent preview of tonight’s game is available in the local paper. Let me quickly recap: CSKA Moscow come in to Toronto after getting their asses handed to them by the Magic 96-66 where future Raptors coach Ettore Messina said Dwight Howard “looked like Godzilla” to them. Anthony Parker says they aren’t taking them lightly…
Philadelphia 76ers 85, Toronto Raptors 79 Before we start, check out East Coast and his great guest post here. Just like we brushed off the preseason wins we should brush off the preseason losses. So Philly comes in to our building, beats us and sends an early message that they’re ready to contend for second…
It really irks me when players and coaches make quotes like these, in this case it’s Jamario Moon talking about the Philly game: “I don’t think we’re going to show them everything we have in this game and neither will they.” Piss off. Seriously. What can you possibly do on the court that will compromise…
No longer does it have to end with Bosh, O’Neal and Bargnani. Krish Humphries is now part of the “Big Four” that Sam Mitchell will be relying on for muscle. A strong training camp and a couple good preseason games later Humphries is feeling good about his new heavier frame which he isn’t shy to…
Did you watch the Knicks game? If you did, how many time did you see Jamario Moon “drive the basket aggressively”? You didn’t because it didn’t happen so I’m going to go ahead and say that Mike Ulmer didn’t watch the game or if he did he was baked out of his skull at the…
New York Knicks 111, Toronto Raptors 113 It’s very hard to judge a preseason game because you don’t know whether to attribute mistakes to rust or inability. How seriously does one look at missed defensive assignments, box-out problems and general chaos on the defensive end? Is it just a bunch players trying to get a…
After a sluggish and defense-free first half where the Raptors gave up 28 points in the only meaningful quarter, we got our act together and led a third quarter charge ignited by our starters and finished off by our bench. The bench led the assault with Will Solomon and Andrea Bargnani netting 17 and 15,…
Pre-season will never tell you how good your team is but it might tell you how bad it is. That’s probably why Bryan Colangelo’s making the trip to Cleveland to see his team and prized acquisition in action. He’s also sure to keep a close eye on Sam Mitchell, Colangelo’s not a GM that meddles…
Captain Jack’s predicting 48 wins but at the same time says that 7 things need to go right for us: 1) We stay healthy 2) Unheard of second unit provides consistency 3) O’Neal plays 70+ games 4) Two of Humphries, Bargnani and Kapono have career years 5) High level team-defense and rebounding 6) Consistent effort…
Devlin’s talking to O’Neal and he’s saying that him and Bosh are passing shots up in scrimmage when they should be shooting. Call it two new friends being super-nice to each other and making sure the other has a good share of the pie. Will one of these two men will rise and make the…
That story about O’Neal going hard at Bargnani in Vegas over the summer is true. O’Neal was impressed by Bargnani’s resilience and toughness in the workouts and came away with a good impression of the youngster. I know, its still very early but it’s something to build on. The deviated septum surgery he had done…