This Week According to Takman - Week 6 Preview
Courtesy of Raptors Forum Member takman_777
This week sees the Raptors continue their western trek after a loss to the Lakers in L.A. Sunday night. From there, they head to Denver to take on the rejuvenated Chauncey Billups lead Nuggets. With Carmelo Anthony injured and questionable for the game, the Nuggets come into the game riding a 2 game winning streak with 4 wins in the last 5 games with a loss to the Hornets last week and victories over the Bulls, the Rockets, the Clippers and the Timberwolves. At 12 – 6, they trail only the Lakers in the west and are 5th over all in victories this season in the league with the Trail Blazers. Since trading Allen Iverson to the Pistons for Chauncey Billups, the Nuggets are 8 – 3 having lost only to the Lakers, the Hornets and the Cavaliers in that period.
Without Carmelo Anthony, this Nuggets team will start the following lineup:
C- Nene
PF – Kenyon Martin
SF – Linus Kleiza
SG – Dahntay Jones
PG – Chauncey Billups
While the Raptors will continue with the same lineup until Jermaine O’Neal returns, which we do not know at this time.
C – Andrea Bargnani
PF – Chris Bosh
SF – Jamario Moon
SG – Anthony Parker
PG – Jose Calderon
With some of the defensive strides the Raptors have made this past week, I see this game as very winnable at this point. I like the matchups in the front court and feel we have the rotation to attack at all three positions all night. With Anthony Parker not having a top 10 player to guard all night, I look to him to build on his 19 point game against Kobe Bryant and perhaps be the difference in the game at both ends of the floor as he should be able to help in rotation much easier not having a 30 point threat as a check all night. Up front, I look for Andrea to keep Nene busy all night both inside and out. He is a very good defender both on the block and quite able to guard Andrea outside as well. Another double double from Andrea would go a long way to make Chris Bosh have the room he didn’t have against Andrew Bynum. I am not sure that Kenyon Martin can keep up with Chris and I look for Chris to attack the hoop and make K-Mart stop him. I can see CB4 going to the line 15 times or more.
Chauncey Billups will be the biggest problem for us as Jose Calderon will have a lot of trouble with the bigger guard as he seems to always do. With Chauncey playing at a very high level right now, I see this as our biggest problem to deal with. It will require all of the defensive improvements we have seen the Raptors make to keep this team out of transition and make them work the half court game as much as possible. I look forward to a very good game by both teams but I think that we match up well against this Nuggets lineup and have a solid shot at picking up a victory, but it will require some solid rebounding and transition defense for that to happen.
From here we travel to meet the Utah Jazz who come into the week 11 – 7 over all after going 2 – 2 last week defeating the Kings and the Grizzlies but losing to the Bulls and the Nets as Devin Harris went off for 34 points.
They will play games against the Kings and the Heat back to back Tuesday and Wednesday before hosting the Raptors on Friday. With Carlos Boozer missing the last 6 games, the Jazz have struggled to a 3 – 3 record having lost to the Bulls, the Spurs and the Nets over that period. Having Deron Williams back has been a huge lift for them at a time when they needed a boost.
After this game, the Raptors are home to the Trail Blazers who are sitting at 12 – 6 having beaten the Pistons on Sunday night. They bring a 4 game win streak into this week and are tied for second over all in the west as of Monday’s writing. This game will be a huge test for the Raptors as they return home from a road trip against the other 3 top 4 teams in the west! The Trail Blazers have games against the Knicks, the Wizards and the Celtics before the visit Toronto as the fifth game of a five game swing through the eastern conference. With Brandon Roy averaging 21 points and LeMarcus Aldridge averaging 16, this team is young and very much on the rise in the west. Let’s hope by Sunday, they will have been worn out by the Celtics and Jermaine O’Neal has returned healthy.
So this week we play teams with a combined 35 – 19 record. 49 – 20 if you add the Lakers. Let’s just say that if we can keep getting better as the team looks like it has, then this road trip will have helped us achieve that goal. Can we win them all? Of course, most games are not won or lost on the floor, but before the game in the locker room. These games will test the heart of the Raptors and Sam Mitchell. Let’s hope we see the team continue to challenge and grow as a team.
2 Comments
Jay on December 1st, 2008
You mean, it could be uglier than usual. It might get hot and busy in here in the next few days, but I’ll play the optimist and say that there is plenty of opportunity to make a statement this week (a positive statement…not a statement that says, um we’re not that good right now).
Doc on December 1st, 2008
The pessimist in me is not looking forward to the next 3 games. All the teams record wise are better than us, but in all sincerity are likely all stronger clubs than us too. This time next week could be very ugly here and elsewhere on Raptors message boards.