Celtics vs Raptors 10/6

[FLCeltsFan]

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Celtics vs Raptors
Palalottomatica Arena
Rome, Italy
10/6/07 2:30 PM
FSN, NBA TV



Probable Starters
PG Rajon Rondo PPG 6.4 | APG 3.8 | SPG 1.64
SG Ray Allen PPG 26.4 | APG 4.1 | 3P% .372
SF Paul Pierce PPG 25 | RPG 5.9 | APG 4.1
PF Kevin Garnett PPG 22.4 | RPG 12.8 | BPG 1.7
C Kendrick Perkins PPG 4.5 | RPG 5.2 | BPG 1.3

Key off the Bench
James Posey, Tony Allen, Eddie House, Esteban Batista, Scott Pollard, Dahntay Jones, Leon Powe

Key Rookies
Gabe Pruitt, Big Baby Davis

Advantage: 3 All Stars in KG, PP and RA who are all hungry and have something to prove.


Probable Starters
PG TJ Ford PPG 14 | APG 7.9 | SPG 1.3
SG Anthony Parker PPG 12.4 | RPG 3.9 | APG 2.1
SF Jason Kapono PPG 10.9 | RPG 2.7 | 3P% .459
PF Chris Bosh PPG 22.6 | RPG 10.7 | BPG 1.3
C Andrea Bargnani PPG 11.6 | RPG 3.9 | BPG 0.8

Key off the Bench
Jose Calderon, Carlos Delfino, Juan Dixon, Jorge Garbajosa, Luke Jackson, Rasho Nasterovic

Key Rookies
Jamario Moon, Giorgos Printezis, Roko Ukic

Advantage: They have more returning players from last season and thus will have better chemistry from the beginning.

Key Matchups
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Bosh is one of the best young PF's in the league and KG is one of the best ever. This should be a good matchup, with KG coming out on top.

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This matchup pits two of the leagues premiere 3 point shooters against each other. Kapono has the edge in 3 point percentage (46% for Kapono vs 37% for Allen) but Allen has the edge in experience.

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Doc is going to have to prove himself this season. Youth is no longer an excuse for him and so the spotlight will be on him to produce wins with this team. Coaching matchups are going to be crucial.

A rivalry has arisen between these two team thanks to Gerald Green's dunks that got the team and fans all up in arms. The Raptors and their fans now hate the Celtics with a passion. The Raptors are the defending Atlantic division champions and we need to send them a message that the Celtics will win the division this season.

[birdie]

we must win it at least by 20+

[DERRENMATTS]

Nah, don't worry about it. It'll be awesome if we can win convincingly, but we must remember that we are a totally new team with a whole roster full of guys who have never played with one another. And we are having a bunch of guys competing to make the team.

Aside from the starting five (Perk, Garnett, Pierce, RAllen, and Rajon), and James Posey, we don't know what we'll get from the rest of the team. Hopefully Scalabrine, Pollard, and House will be consistent off the bench. We'll have to see about TAllen's return. And hopefully Powe will be better after a summer of hard work. But with Big Baby, Pruitt, Wallace, Manuel, Dahntay, and Batista all competing for a spot, there's a lot of uncertainty there.

We'll win the game, but if Toronto comes in with excellent team chemistry, we may have a close game.

[Celtic17]

I just can't believe the C's line-up.
Wow.
With good health, this team can take a title.

[mev17]

I agree with Derren, with the number of players on our roster, Doc will need to see which of the marginal players can play, so a big win is not necessarily important -- Manuel, Wallace, Jones et al will see many more minutes than normal.

[birdie]

I'm with you that the Big Three will not play much, everybody know what they can do, but we
must make a choice and make a good one, so the ? guys are the ones that must play much

[DERRENMATTS]

If I read carefully, I think the Big 3 will get ample playing time together so they can gel and form chemistry quicker.

[freshnthehouse]

We could lose every pre-season for all I care. As long as no one gets hurt and we are able to get a good look at which scrub players we need to keep, Im cool.

[Deleted]

Who cares about winning or losing?
Is all about putting the team together

[FLCeltsFan]

Welcome to Celtics Green mono74!! I agree that the presesaon is going to be all about putting the team together. PP, RA and KG will all need to play together to begin to build chemistry and Doc will also have to play the last 4 on the roster enough that he can make the decision as to which 2 stay and which 2 will be released. Just so we win when the games count.

[Global Celtic]

I'll be there.

It'll travel 2368km (i guess that's about 1200miles) from Porto, Portugal, to Rome just to see this game.
Hope to report this journey here. And hope we win, by the way.

[FLCeltsFan]

Awesome Global! I will be looking forward to your first hand report on the game. Have fun and I hope we dominate also!!

[FLCeltsFan]

Announcing the lineups now. Ray Allen, Rondo, Perk, KG, PP..... KG got the most applause by far. They pronounced Scalabrine Scalabrain

All the players are standing on the court and they introduce the whole team and then the starters who are sitting run out to the court. Bargnani got a KG level of applause. Pierce addressed the crowd with a big smile

Celtics starters KG,, Perk, Pierce, Rondo, and RA.
Raptors Ford, Bosh, Bognani, Parker, Kapono

[FLCeltsFan]

Pierce has a permanent smile on his face. Celtics in the unis with the Word Celtics in red white and green. KG jumping center against Bargnani. Celtics get the tip. Pierce gets the ball and goes directly to the basket and is fouled. Both FTs nothing but net. Ford on a drive and is fouled on the shot by Rondo. He hits both FTs. Game tied 2-2. Good ball movement. KG drives and kicks out. Rondo hits the jumper. Raptors miss a jumper and Celtics rebound. Rondo misses a jumper and Bosh rebounds. Raptors miss and Celtics rebound. KG with a great move down low and lays it in over the defender. Bosh misses and Celtics rebound. Rondo with a nice feed int he paint to Perk who finishes with a dunk. Bargnani hits a jumper off the pick. KG drives baseline and gets a reverse dunk and a foul. He hits the FT.

[cfoo]

we look like an allstar team. Garnett, Pierce and Allen are going to have a field day. Powe is the first guy off the bench.