VC15, JO Goes Down, Celtics Too Much

Tuesday, November 25 2008-This is your Raptor Rant!

The Raptors fell to 6-7 after this weeks play. Let's start in Orlando, where the Raps were up by as many as 16 before falling to the Magic 103-90. The following night in Miami the Raptors overcame a 40 point performance by D. Wade by getting a monster performance by CB4 to beat the Heat 101-95. Coming back home to the cold might not have been a great idea for the Raps. Especially when a hungry and vengeful Vince Carter is your first test back! The Raps were up against the New Jersey Nets by as many as 18 points. Even with less than 2 minutes left in regulation, the Raps seemed to have the game locked, up by 7. Sadly, you can never count out VC15 when he plays the Toronto Raptors, especially in the Tdot! With 1.5 secs on the clock VC15 knocks down a fading 3pt shot with Anthony Parker in his grill. During the overtime period it looked like the Raps were in control, however Vince wasn't having any of that. After an AP (Anthony Parker) 3pt shot, in front of the Nets bench, sent the Toronto fans in a frenzy- a simple screen play for VC15 led to a reverse alley oop dunk...game done! NBA Champions, Boston rolled into the ACC on Sunday and crushed the spirits of the Raps and their fans. There was obvious frustration on the faces of fans and players. The Raptors need to play like a team and go back to what works for them. The high screen and roll with Jose and Chris is the bread n butter play. They seemed to get very unorganized at times and that's where mistakes happen on offense, something you cannot afford to do especially against a well oiled machine like Boston. The coaches and players are both to blame for things like this. The lack of 'killer instinct' will cause the team to dwindle down in the standings and is something that needs to change now.

Tomorrow night the Bobcats are in town and the Raptors should chew them up and spit them out, yes I said should. Friday, it's redemption time against the Atlanta Hawks, who like the Raps had an amazing start to the season. The Raptors then travel west to end off November and to the mid west to kick of December. All three games will be tough, Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz are all winning teams with a ton of swagger! That's it for this week, feel free to comment or email me, devo@flow935.com

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d.