Raptors Vol. 2 - [2-3] - Trade + Win + Monthly Recap

Ah, the good old days.

Anyhow, I'm really liking this, I miss playing Live 01.
As for the trades, I like the second Seattle deal and the Vancouver deal doesn't look too bad either.

Right now I have many other things to do this weekend, I'll probably play the next game monday or tuesday.

Raptors complete huge trade with Denver

Raptors get:
Antonio McDyess - PF - 80 overall
Keon Clark - C - 78 overall
Voshon Lenard - SG - 73 overall
Robert Pack - PG - 69 overall

Nuggets get:
Mark Jackson - PG - 79 overall
Kevin Willis - C - 78 overall
Corliss Williamson - 75 overall
Michael Stewart - PF - 70 overall

Antonio McDyess: This is Dice before the injuries, so Toronto is expecting much from it's new #1 big man. Athletic and powerful, look McDyess to blow up, especially when with VC on the court.

Keon Clark: The young center is another high-jumping shot-blocking big man.

Voshon Lenard: Lenard brings much needed outside shooting off the bench.

Robert Pack: Look out! here comes the 6'2'' point guard with a 40+ vertical leap! He will dunk on you

This trade makes Toronto's front court clearly one of the best in the league. There will be a lot of options with mixing Davis' and McDyess' offense and Clark's and Olowokandi's defense. Lenard and Dell Curry form a devastating clutch 3pt shooting duo. Robert Pack will be a backup PG to McInnis and Williams. The trade will bring even more youth to the team.

The focus will clearly be on the new additions during the next few games

Last edited by Tuomas on Tue May 30, 2006 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Scroll down for recap, player of the game, box scores and game analysis.

Raptors light it up against Rockets
New additions help seal the win early, first blow out win of season


Houston - Toronto : 72-107
(12-26, 25-34, 22-22, 13-25)
[ Houston Boxscore ][ Toronto Boxscore ]
Player Of The Game - Antonio Davis

Starting Lineups
Houston Rockets - Toronto Raptors
C: Hakeem Olajuwon - Antonio Davis
PF: Maurice Taylor - Antonio McDyess
SF: Walt Williams - Vince Carter
SG: Cuttino Mobley - Morris Peterson
PG: Steve Francis - Jeff McInnis

The Rockets had just snapped a six game skid and now faced the fresh Raptors in Toronto. The home team waited a strong game from it's new additions.

1st Half:
It was clear from the start that both teams wanted this game, the defense was tight and Toronto especially blocked a lot of shots. The first quarter turned around quickly as McDyess netted 10 points, most of them with easy dunks. Keyon Clark also contributed.
Kelvin Cato made some important baskets early in the second but Toronto kept running and gunning, with also pounding the ball inside. McDyess scored another 10 poitns in the second and the whole team shot 50% of the threes. Alvin Williams seemed to like the new offensive strategies with 10 points of his own for the quarter.

2nd Half
Houston didn't seem to be ready to play at the start of the second half and Toronto took advantage. Rookie Morris Peterson scored 11 quick points and the Raptors took off, finishing the game early.


Game Analysis:
Toronto looked like a new team on the floor on this night and it was just that shooting 46% from the field and 44% from beyond the arc. Raptors also rebounded well and blocked a huge amount of shots. On this night the Rockets didn't have a chance.

Player breakdown:
Antonio McDyess was the player of the game with 24 and 10. He seemed to fit perfectly into the offensive rotation, getting open looks when Carter was on the floor. Five Raptors reached double digits, especially Morris Peterson showed up big with 19. Carter netted a modest 17 but tonight it was enough since the whole team stepped up. On the defensive end he got an insane nine blocked shots. Voshon Lenard had a tough time getting open looks he needs and ended up scoreless. Keyon Clark had a so-so game with six points and seven rebounds.
On the other end, Houston got 18 from Mobley (6/33 from the field !!!), but due to poor efforts by Francis and Olajuwon they had no chance.


Top Performers:
Toronto: Vince Carter - 17pts, 8rebs, 9blks, 3ast, 1stl
Houston: Kenny Thomas - 8pts, 13rebs, 1stl, 1ast

Game Leaders:
Points: Antonio McDyess (TOR) - 24
Rebounds: Hakeem Olajuwon (HOU) - 17
Assists: Morris Peterson (TOR) - 4

Pictures:





Picture of the day:Antonio McDyess goes strong to the hoop.


Next Game
Toronto faces the Atlanta Hawks at home. Should be the easiest game of the season for Toronto so far.

Probable starters for the Hawks:
C - Dikembe Mutombo
PF-Alan Henderson
SF-Chris Crawford
SG-Jim Jackson
PG-Jason Terry




The following players have been added into the injured list:
Arvydas Sabonis - C - Portland

Player Of The Month:
Shaquille O'Neal - Los Angeles Lakers
Averages: 31.3 points, 16.6 rebounds, 3.3 blocks
The Lakers' centerpiece seems to be having another monster season. He unleashed his abilities in the game against the Raptors and showed glimpses of his season MVP form.

Rookie Of The Month:
Morris Peterson - Toronto Raptors
Averages: 15.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 3.6 blocks, 2.2 steals
Peterson is having a great rookie season on both ends of the floor. If he continues to produce numbers like this, there should be no real competition for the Rookie of the year honours.


League Leaders:

Points:
1. A. Iverson (PHI) - 33.3
2. S. O'Neal (LAL) - 31.3
3. V. Carter (TOR) - 31.2
4. K. Bryant (LAL) - 31.0
5. J. Stackhouse (DET) - 30.4

Rebounds:
1. S. O'Neal (LAL) - 16.6
2. D. Fortson (GSW) - 16.3
3. D. Mutombo (ATL) - 15.1
4. K. Garnett (MIN) - 13.8
5. M. Olowokandi - 12.4

Assists:
1. J. Kidd (PHO) - 10.6
2. S. Cassell (MIL) - 9.6
3. J. Stockton (UTA) - 9.3
4. T. Brandon (MIN) - 8.8
5. S. Marbury (NJN) - 8.7

Blocks:
1. V. Carter (TOR) - 5.8
2. M. Olowokandi (TOR) - 5.2
3. T. Ratliff (PHI) - 4.2
-. A. Mourning (MIA) - 4.2
5. A. Davis (TOR) - 4.0

[b]Steals:
1. M. Jackson (DEN) - 3.2
2. K. Anderson (BOS) - 3.0
-. E. Jones (MIA) - 3.0
4. M. Blaylock (GSW) - 2.6
5. D. Christie (SAC) - 2.4

Forgot to add minutes pg. Well... maybe next month.






Not much surprises here.

yo vince carter is a monster

Awesome trade, nice work. Congrats on the big win.

Good blockbuster trade
I remember playing with McDyess in Live2001, he was a beast.
And you got Robert Pack! Cool

damn sweet 01 dynasty

Great trade man, I was a bit worried you would go with the Seattle one, seemed to make your Swingmen too good and other players not so great...

I was concerned about a couple of things with those trades, the seattle one I would have got useless players, Vancouver one wouldn't have given me that much more scoring.

Now I could use a Antawn Jamison-like SF and a better PG, otherwise I'm really happy with my team.

I also tried more trades, I could have ripped Golden State from Jamison, Hughes and Fortson, but that wasn't a good trade after all. I also could have gotten Shaq from LAL, but I'd lose four good players for Shaq, Madsen and Medvedenko

Nice win after a good trade. Maybe you can move Alvin Williams to the starting lineup.

Off-topic: I edited Kobe's ratings in my Live 2001 to reflect this past regular season and I got a surprising 96 rating. Hot damn.

Jordan to come back, again?

Michael Jordan has stated that he is still interested in playing in the NBA. After a great career, it's interesting to see if his old 6'6'' frame is capable of modern NBA's physical game. Jordan also said that he has reunited with his old trainer Tim Grover to get him into shape before next season. If Jordan does return, the team most likely to get him would be the Washington Wizards, where Jordan has been a part of the organization.


Will we see his Airness on the hardwood one more time?

Jordan has already achieved everything including six championships and multiple scoring titles. Some say that his potential second return might not do good for his legacy, but it will no doubt bring more fans to the stands in Washington. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I love the come back of Jordan. I hope he has a good impact.

Vince Carter leading the league in blocks?

Well, I'm not too surprised, with his skills.

Good stuff on this.

It's because of the game, in 2001 blocking is too e-z. Right now I'm a bit tired of the game, but haven't even thought of retiring this dynasty, it will continue in a day or two.

How do I put patches in Live 2001? I know how to in live 06, but i started playing 01 and i don't know where to put the files.

The Jordan article is awesome.

Shaq seems to be dominating, his got great stats.