Raptors Dynasty {Kudos to those who can keep it up - over}

[Sac-1]

we are losing because Miller is injured and Bosh just got injured...we had no problem against Seattle when we had miller...he is coming back for our next game and i was actually going to do a trade with sacramento after the first trade but since we couldn't get a deal with any other team...the only choice was the Kings

[air]

I was looking at the ratings and it's tough to make a "shooting order". It's hard to say whether a post player is a better option to go to instead of a guard if they can both do a decent job. Some things I noted, you will probably know but that's all I came up with..

POST

Impossible for me to make an order here! Corliss Williamson is very good at scoring from down low and strong, the flip side is that he can't jump much or dunk. Some guys you might be able to torture with him.

Brad Miller is not a great inside scorer but has a range of 18 feet and a very good field goal rating. Always take an open jumper within 18 feet I say.

I suppose you must go to Bosh because he seems to be on court a lot, while Haislip is easily the best big scorer from the bench because of his athleticism. Sow is better than Woods and Araujo scoring inside.

THREES

1) Peterson
2) House
3) Alston
4) Rose

JUMP SHOT

1) Alston or Rose. Rose has height and a better jump.
3) Miller, within 18 feet.
4) House
5) Peterson
6) Murray

[Keo]

we couldn't get a deal with any other team...the only choice was the Kings

That's what I was saying. Anyways I said I'd let it go. The trades are good ones so I'm not too worried, good work sac-1. I just don't think you should think about making too many, let B52 come back and the Raptors will adjust to each other. We need to find some strategies that work.

[joeygraham]

That's the plan. I haven't been able to play this weekend as I have been running around (I just finished working for the summer so I no longer have an hour to kill every night before bed). I'll try to get some games done in the next couple of days. Next game is against Detroit with everyone healthy.

As for air's list, great job, but I can't see how House is a better 3 pt shooter that Rose and Alston, or even Murray. He doesn't have the little icon, so his rating has to be lower. But Alston will not be shooting as much, and when he gets cold, House will be there as he is almost as good a defender and it lets the other players be higher offensive options.

I'm out for the day again, but hopefully I can get a game in tonight. If not, I will try my hardest for one on Monday. Take care now. Any more strategy stuff would be great! And again, thanks to air for the lists.

[Keo]

I really hope we beat Detroit to show the league that we're contenders.

Air, I see you got the Avatar.

[air]

True. I did that by looking at the ratings but I have realized it's not all down to them, you have to play to really know the strengths of the players.

And the more you play the more you realize who's helping the team and who's not. That way you can make the smartest trades I think. If you keep the same group of players playing together you learn to make the best use of everyone.

[joeygraham]

Game vs. Detroit up soon. Also, player awards for October and stats for our boys as well as our former boys (now on Sac). You'll be surprised by some of the stats from the Detroit game. I'll try to get something up tomorrow. I don't quite have the limited free time as I used to. Rest assured though, while the next three weeks might be slower, once school kicks up I should be able to do a little more. Regardless, Detroit at home will be posted soon. Next game vs. NJ with a new member actually available to play.

[Mini ShaQ]

Hey Khalid man. Are you thinking about more trades or signings? I haven't heard nothin'...

[Sac-1]

Oh sorry forgot to PM you

[Mini ShaQ]

hehe. it's ok since it came now

[Sac-1]

Raptors Announce Signing

After the 5 for 4 trade the Raptors had a free spot on the roster, the Raptors General Manager Khalid started looking at the Free Agent list and he found a young PG, the Raptors signed 24 year old J.R. Bremer, Toronto says that he will be playing in their next game.

[Emiliano]

Nice signing...good job GMs

[Argentinian Power]

Yeah... good signing. I've already PM Graham to give him my thoughts regarding next game line-up, including Bremer in the bench.

[joeygraham]

All right, so I've played two more games, vs Detroit and New Jersey. We won both, including a sound thrashing of the Pistons in the third quarter. I don't have time to do recaps, but I'll post the box scores and some pics. They pretty much tell the story, except that Mo-Pete started off the NJ game with 3 straight 3 pointers to gives us a 9-2 lead. He was ridiculous.

Players of the games: vs Det: Bosh, vs NJ: Mo-Pete

I'll try to get the box scores up later today...sorry bout the delays.

[Sac-1]

i'll just look at the boxscores at photobucket

[joeygraham]

Shoot - okay - all photos and box scores from the Detroit game can be accessed here

All stuff related to the New Jersey game can be found here.

Sorry about the laziness - I just don't have the time to do it. The quick rundowns though:

Detroit. The clincher was the 37-14 3rd quarter where Rose just went off and the defense was all ours. We went on an 11-0 run. Bosh, Miller and Rose all reached 20 points. Alston and Peterson both cleared 10. Alston and House wrecked on defense with their steals. We won at home. Bosh was player of the game.

New Jersey: Tougher game. Mo-Pete went off for 9 straight points to open up the game and Toronto never really looked back. Suprisingly enough, their big men proved a bit of a challenge for Bosh and Miller and Mo-Pete carried us through the first half. He ended up as player of the game with his first double-double of the season. On defense, we could not contain Jefferson and Carter, but did provide tough defense for Kidd, who had a very substandard game on all accounts. Again, we won.

Now we sit somewhere at the bottom, but not last anymore. Our power ranking is still stuck at 30th, but I'm sure that will soon change. We are now 3-6. This also concludes the month. January has much more than 2 games.

I'm hoping the coaches and managers can take it away from here.

[Emiliano]

Assistant Coach's Thoughts:

" Great wins, we needed those...specially against two tough teams like Detroit and NJ. Bosh keeps impressing me. He is quickly turning into our franchise player. Mo-Pete had a great game vs. NJ. Not only scoring 24 points and making 4 3s but dishing out 10 assists. Regarding the bench, there are still some problems here and there but overall it looks pretty solid."- Emiliano Rebon

[Keo]

What was the purpose of signing Bremer??

[joeygraham]

Well, it was originally supposed to be so we had a better backup PG, but then we got House in the Sacramento trade. Then, because he's a PG/SG, I think he was signed because he makes our bench look stronger. Evidently, it wasn't all that great a pick up as can be seen in his stats, but I will leave that to the coaches to possibly do something about that. After all, we have Arujo and Evans on the bench; Arujo showed quite a bit of talent in his debut and Evans is another solid option if we are lacking someone to fill in at the 2 or 3.

Also, I have played some more games. Sorry for the no recaps for the Detroit and New Jersey games. Didn't quite have the time. Now I find myself with a spare moment, so I am working on a couple recaps. There were some good games. Hopefully the coaches and managers will do some more posting. By the time my recapping is complete, we will be right around the end of January. And I apologize in advance for the successive posts to likely follow. Also a big sorry for those posters here who's dynasties I have actually not been able to check for the past week or so. I will try to get to them soon.

[joeygraham]

Wolves Feast on Raptors
Garnett records double-double along with huge defensive numbers

[Toronto Box Score] [Minnesota Box Score]


Minneapolis, MN – The Timberwolves came out strong against the visiting Toronto Raptors. A defensive onslaught kept the Raptors to a score under 70 points for just the second time this season and their offense led by Latrell Sprewell’s game-high 24 points continued to put pressure on Toronto’s defense, who admittedly did a decent job limiting the T-Wolves to just 86 points.

The first half remained close and low scoring, with Minnesota leading 39-35 at half-time. Chris Bosh led the way with 12 points for the Raps and was named their halftime player, while opposite him was Kevin Garnett who put on a defensive clinic with three steals and two blocks by the half; he was also named player of the half with six points and three rebounds. The centres for the two teams were going off with the rebounds with nine a piece. The Raptors were finding it very difficult to get going offensively and had to settle for poor shots. Their defensive pressure did keep the team competitive.

In the second half, Sprewell and Garnett each scored nine points and the Big Ticket doubled his steals and blocks totals. There was one stretch in the third quarter where no one scored for over two minutes, in which the teams went up and down the floor only to have a shot blocked or a pass picked off; the series of defensive plays finally ended with Brad Miller throwing down a monster jam. The fourth quarter was the home team’s to run away with as they outscored their opponents by 10. With minutes left in the game, new Raptor J.R. Bremer sunk his first point in the purple and red, but could not follow up his free throw with another point. Lamond Murray tried to rally, recording a steal in the dying minutes, but it was too little too late. Three Raptors ended with double digit scoring and Brad Miller recorded a season-high 16 rebounds in the loss. The bench did produce, but perhaps just not enough in the points department, as it combined for seven rebounds, four assists, six steals, two blocks and 14 points, eight from 6th man Corliss Williamson. In the end, the Raptors were downed by player of the game Kevin Garnett’s Wolves 86-69 to fall to 3-7 on the season.


Highlights:
Bosh soars for the one-handed put-down
Woods shuts out Cassell
Griffin dunks it hard
Williamson grabs the O-board and puts it back
Miller hangs on to rim after breaking the scoring drought
Hudson hits from outside
Griffin rejects Bosh
Garnett stuffs Williamson's lay-up
Garnett rejects Peterson through the hoop
Bosh dunks off of House's steal

Coaches and managers available for comment.

[Kobe101]

Tough loss. Good luck next game!

[Emiliano]

Definately a game to forget...bad shooting from our part and bad defense. No one really showed to play and we lost the game because of poor effort.

[Sac-1]

the only effective players were Bosh and Williamson and maybe House

[Keo]

Man another loss! We have try something new and stop with the Player Movement for now before we mess up the Roster.

[joeygraham]

The team hasn't been changed outside of the addition of Bremer. Also, I'd count Miller's efforts as pretty good - a team high in rebounds and assists, not to mention getting the double-double.

Anyways, the Boston game is up next and I'm pretty certain this game will quickly be forgotten.