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The main impression last night's Raptors-Sixers game left on me is that this is the best Raptors defense I have ever seen. Jermaine O'Neal doesn't just make an impact with his own shot-blocking-and-changing presense, he sets a tone that spreads through the rest of the team. A team like the Sixers that doesn't shoot well is going to match up very, very badly against this Raptors squad — because if you can't hit your shots, the Raptors aren't going to make it easy to get those points on the inside, either.
The Raptors' rebounding, of course, was a complete disgrace last night. The Sixers outrebounded the Raptors 56-33, and Toronto had 10 offensive rebounds while Sam Dalembert grabbed nine by himself. Teams aren't always going to be as inept at converting offensive boards as Philly was, so Sam Mitchell really needs to work on this in practice. If it was up to me, I'd bring JYD in as a rebounding coach.
The Links
Not that we didn't already suspect this, but Sam Mitchell explains his offensive gameplan with Bosh and J.O.: "We want Chris and Jermaine to get in that post and demand the basketball and when they get it, we want them to go hard and quick (to the basket). If they do that, then it's going to open up things for our shooters."
Jermaine had a pretty good response to some Philly hecklers.
As Michael Grange points out, Roko Ukic was very impressive in his NBA debut. He didn't look like a rookie out there. He seems more comfortable in a faster pace then Jose — who generally prefers to pull up on fast breaks and set up a halfcourt offense.
KnickerBlogger is feeling something towards his team he hasn't felt in a long time: pride.
On Court Surfing, find out why I'm actually rooting for the Knicks this season.
CelticsBlog ranks every NBA team's marketing campaign. His critique of the Raptors: "When I hear 'Canada's Team' I do not think of the Raptors." Well, who the hell do you think of, then? Note who he ranks first. This, my friends, is why Boston sports fans have succeeded in becoming the most intolerable fans in North America. Please know this, Boston fans: We don't hate you because you're winners. We hate you because you're obnoxious dickbags. Tahmee from Quinzee and all his buddies can get fucked.
The Detroit News gave each Piston a questionnaire and you can see their responses in this PDF. Since PDFs are annoying, here's my personal favorite.
So Rasheed wants to be a coach, huh? I guess he wants to break the record for most technical fouls by a coach, too.
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