Toronto Raptors preview

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

The 7-6 Toronto Raptors come to town having been held below 90 points in 
all but one of the past 7 games (94 against the Clippers last week).

This early in the season, the Raptors have already gotten through a 6-game 
road trip. All told, they've played 8 games on the road, winning half.

That's already four more games played than Boston. Toronto is coming to 
town off a B2B, or shall I say B4B  ("BadNews for Boston"). The Hawks, of 
course beat Boston twice coming in off back-to-backs.

Vince has led the team in scoring in every game. Here's how Paul compares 
to the leading All Star vote getter last year:

VC
26.8 ppg .426FG% .424 3ptFG%  .819FT%
5.7 rpg 4.8 apg 1.92 spg 3.00 to's

PP
27.0 ppg .447FG% .500 3ptFG% .727FT%
7.2 rpg 2.7 apg 1.78spg 3.22 to's

Its never hard to be a bit down on the Celtics captains, but clutch play 
and leadership is something Vince Carter and his fans must also struggle to 
address. The NBA.COM's preview notes:

"On Tuesday against Detroit, (Vince) Carter was scoreless over the final 
four minutes and missed a chance to tie the game when his mid-range jumper 
hit the side of the backboard. Against the Bucks, Carter was 1-for-5 in the 
fourth and did not score over the final six minutes. He also missed a 
potential game-tying 3-pointer as time expired. Even in last Sunday's 87-81 
victory over the Phoenix Suns, Carter was held scoreless over the final 
nine minutes."

Part of it must be all the weight he shoulders. Toronto's second leading 
scorer is Morris Peterson (13.6 ppg), a crafty scorer but not a guy you 
need to double team.

What Obie fears the most is the tall defensive triumvrate of Olajuwon, 
Antonio Davis and Keon Clark. We're talking 5.64 blocks between them thus 
far, and some monster games too. Add to that the Junkyard Dog, Jerome 
Williams, (7 ppg 5 rpg in 17 minutes), and you have guys licking their 
chops waiting for Walker to come inside. The Raptors average 8.23 blocks 
per game, which surprisingly is a fraction behind the league-leading NJ Nets.

So come inside he might not. I don't know if there is an official betting 
line in Vegas, but don't be surprised if the Celtics set a new record for 
3-point attempts in a game. What's even more possible is a new record for 
most treys combined in a game.

Toronto has actually chucked up and made more treys this year than the 
Celtics (in four more games, of course). They've bombarding opponents by an 
average of +9 points per game from three-point land. "A lot of good its 
doing them", you might say (7-6 record). This could have the makings of an 
ugly game, depending on your aesthetic preferences. If the shots fall, it 
could be kind of fun.

Boston is coming off a 4-29 performance from three-point land, and chucked 
up 66 attempts combined against Atlanta. Walker and Pierce are averaging an 
even 16 attempts per game for the season.

Walker (I know this will jinx him) has 43 rebounds in his last three games 
(14.3). Interestingly, none of our centers has led or tied for the lead in 
rebounds so far this year for Boston. Joe Johnson and Pierce have tied for 
the team lead once each. Olajuwon, incidentally, has 47 boards in the past 
four games, raising his average to 8.2 in 27.1 minutes. He's averaging 8.5 
points but his defense sounds nearly as good as ever (1.85 blocks, 1.77 
steals).

Joe Johnson is no longer a Rookie of the Month candidate, which is good 
since he can relax a bit. As we know, he averaged only 2ppg (2-12 shooting) 
against the Hawks. Strickland and Kenny have helped take the pressure off 
him though.

Not having seen the games, what I don't like about the 2-12 is that maybe 
Johnson's trying to be too perfect.  You know what I mean? Like he'd rather 
not make a play at all rather than make a mistake. Six shot attempts per 
game does not a third scorer make. He's pitched perfect ball for two weeks. 
Now that the first bubble has burst, he can go back to just playing 
aggressive, solid ball.

Joe Johnson is #1 in the NBA in assists-to-turnover ratio (9.7 to 1) and 
he's still shooting a solid .506 from the field. If he plays to his season 
averages, I do think we have a chance to beat Toronto.

If he struggles early, we might see one or both of our two other rookies 
out there tonight or tomorrow. Knowing Obie, this Toronto game is far too 
important to risk important minutes on a rookie. But if we win tonight, 
Kedrick or Forte's first extended coming out party might happen tomorrow 
against MJ. It would be about time.

Toronto has a clean-cut 8-man rotation, with the return of Jerome Williams. 
The guard rotation features Alvin Williams (.364FG%) and the so far solidly 
performing Chris "Honey" Childs (4.5 assists to 1.69 to's) who is shooting 
a decent by Raptors' standards FG% of .463 as is dangerous for three-point 
line. I don't see anything exciting about Morris Peterson's all-around 
numbers. Last time I saw him play, he seemed in the Rip Hamilton mold. He's 
enough of a veteran to school some of our rookies, but isn't in their 
league athletically. He'll hit some floaters, won't pass or rebound that 
well, but will show a real knack for scoring. Look out for three of four 
treys, but he's usually nothing special from there.

The Raptors average 94 points on .420 shooting, but hold opponents to 92 
(seven points below Boston's scoring average).

I somehow doubt we'll see all that many new wrinkles in this game. If the 
Raptors play us for the trey, I hope the Celts will have the sense to drive 
to the hoop on occasion. We'll also see if Boston actually runs a 
consistent fastbreak tonight. We need the hoop gods behind us a little. A 
hot shooting night would really put to rest some of our inquietude. This is 
one of those weekends that could really turn things around for our team.

Go Celts!

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