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I'm amazed at how off a lot of peoples opinions are in regards to this series.
The truth about this series is, Toronto made an adjustment in the last game to go small and it worked for them. They played well and were far more aggressive on defense. I still think we can handle it. I know SVG is totally aware of what they are going to do and will have our team prepared.

I think the way we are leaving their three point shooters to help out in situations where we don't need to help is killing us. The leagues most dangerous three point shooter being left open repeatedly is killing us (Bogans fault). I think they will go small and it will leave Howard guarding Bosh. Howard has to stay out of foul trouble and I would let Howard guard Bosh without help and let Bosh get his points and close out their three point shooters. I think Howard can contain him enough. If I were Howard I would let Bosh shoot the outside shot all day. That way Howard won't be pulled away from the basket, and can still dominate the defensive glass. Turn the Raptors into a Bosh jump shooting team. Then let Howard destroy him on the offensive end.

I also really like the fact that SVG played Gortat and would love to see more of him.

Jameer is having a great series.

The pressure is all on Toronto now. You can say anything you want about coulda shoulda woulda on Torontos part. They can say if they did this and they did that and if we did this and we did that all they want. Every game is different and now w e are going up there having done what we were supposed to do and now the pressure is really on them to hold serve. I think that will take the pressure off of some of our three point shooters and you will see a more relaxed team shooting the ball. It's still all about defense and we need to be playing defense with our feet and turn them into a jump shooting team. Keep it close and they will get tight and those jump shots won't fall quite as easily.

Still all the meaningless smack talk. Disrespecting Toronto is stupid at best and a huge Jinx at worst.

Lastly not to be a whiner but I watched that game over again and I slow played a lot of those flops and Toronto flops a lot. That one play they are complaining about. Bosh lost the ball on the way up and there was contact after he lost it but thats because Bosh is flailing all over the place forcing contact. One play he just ran into Howard and then he threw himself to the floor and they called Howard for the foul. On the other hand our team is not floping at all.

Yes, they do flop alot. it is a very cheap way to play. They should be embarassed really.

On another note, our 3 point guys had bad shooting nights, we had alot of bad calls, their shooters were hot, Bosh had a good night and we still won. I expect us to come out with a bit different plan maybe but we are a very good road team. Dont expect them to win but maybe, maybe 1 of the next 2.

SVG did a tremendous job of hiding Dwight on D...even when he was forced to guard Bosh as the Raps went small..there were tons of active hands coming over to help, clogging the passing lanes and preventing the drive to the bucket.

I thought that the best move of all was keeping Dwight on Moon when he was in the game...if you're going to give up something...you might as well give up a 20-footer to a rookie who may not be ready for the playoff stage. Great job of preaching and executing the defensive tactics.

BigCityCat wrote:...One play he just ran into Howard and then he threw himself to the floor and they called Howard for the foul...

There needs to be a clarification on how an offensive foul is called. I know on that occasion and the Keyon foul, TOR defenders were just throwing themselves into the Magic players' outstretched arm and falling down (from the ORL players' blind side too). I know that on defense you have to give a player some room or it's a handcheck foul if your arm is outstretched... Does this case apply when a defender is trying to get position on you. For the record I don't believe that the TOR defenders were trying to get position, I think their intent from the beginning was throwing themselves into the Magic players' arms and falling down as if they were cleared out.

I'm glad the Magic don't flop around. They're men about it.

Raptor fan here.

I think most Raptor fans agree that the 2nd last play of the game there was a lot of contact. Not sure if you guys had the overhead view or not, but on the T.O feed they showed a birds eye view and Dwight really got a lot of body on Bosh. That said, Bosh was fumbling the ball before the contact, not because of it. That coupled with the fact that refs tend to put their whistles away in the dying moments of a game resulted in a no-call -- which was the right call.

I'll be honest and say that I didn't take much interest in the Magic before this series, so my opinions are based on the fews games I've seen them play. You guys can complain all you want about Bosh flopping and some of those are legitimate complaints. Yes I am a Raptor fan, but I do think that Bosh at times goes down a little too easily. Not that I think he's trying to flop, he's just much weaker than the average PF in the league (see Richard Jefferson beating him in Game 6 of last years playoffs). That said, if you guys think Dwight Howard is a saint, you better take off you goggles. For every Bosh "flop" there's a no-call on Dwight for his man handling of players in the key. Take a closer look at the games and you'll see how much Howard pushes players in the back before he gets his rebounds.

I think the play you guys are referring to is the one where they caught Dwight for the elbow into Bosh's chest. It may have been a flop, but it was an offensive foul regardless of the flop. You can't swing your elbows and expect to get away with it -- especially when you are THAT big.

Just thought I'd share my opinion, though I'll probably get flamed for it.

DarthBane wrote:Raptor fan here.

I think most Raptor fans agree that the 2nd last play of the game there was a lot of contact. Not sure if you guys had the overhead view or not, but on the T.O feed they showed a birds eye view and Dwight really got a lot of body on Bosh. That said, Bosh was fumbling the ball before the contact, not because of it. That coupled with the fact that refs tend to put their whistles away in the dying moments of a game resulted in a no-call -- which was the right call.

I'll be honest and say that I didn't take much interest in the Magic before this series, so my opinions are based on the fews games I've seen them play. You guys can complain all you want about Bosh flopping and some of those are legitimate complaints. Yes I am a Raptor fan, but I do think that Bosh at times goes down a little too easily. Not that I think he's trying to flop, he's just much weaker than the average PF in the league (see Richard Jefferson beating him in Game 6 of last years playoffs). That said, if you guys think Dwight Howard is a saint, you better take off you goggles. For every Bosh "flop" there's a no-call on Dwight for his man handling of players in the key. Take a closer look at the games and you'll see how much Howard pushes players in the back before he gets his rebounds.

I think the play you guys are referring to is the one where they caught Dwight for the elbow into Bosh's chest. It may have been a flop, but it was an offensive foul regardless of the flop. You can't swing your elbows and expect to get away with it -- especially when you are THAT big.

Just thought I'd share my opinion, though I'll probably get flamed for it.

Dwight has a tendency to throw people to the ground when going for rebounds and he has gotten away with it a few times this series. I think the flop everyone is most angry with is the Calderon one off the inbound.

j-ragg wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
Dwight has a tendency to throw people to the ground when going for rebounds and he has gotten away with it a few times this series. I think the flop everyone is most angry with is the Calderon one off the inbound.

Ahh. I thought all the hate was for Bosh. I don't remember the foul on Dooling very well. I tried to purge my memory of the game so my heart could stop hurting.

Can't comment on the play itself, but from watching Dooling, I know he uses his long lanky arms a lot -- especially on defense for all those hand checks

I personally thought the calls were fairly even both ways, but that's just my opinion.

On a side note, were the fans chanting "Raps suck" or "Refs suck" late in the game? I think it was after Dwight got his technical, so I assumed it was "refs suck", but I could be wrong.

"This Ref Sucks"...was the chant that I heard at the game. :-\.

I was at the game. The chant was, "Ref you suck", which I can see why it sounds like Raptors suck, but was indeed not what we were chanting.

DarthBane wrote:You guys can complain all you want about Bosh flopping and some of those are legitimate complaints.

Looking at the bottom right corner, I have no complaints with this flop


..

My main focus was to be how we would defend the smaller line ups they will use in the next game.

Toronto = El Pescadito!

I am not worried about it because Hedo/Rashard aren't going 0-13 again. As long as they even have an average game offensively the Magic will win.

drsd wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



(picture)

Looking at the bottom right corner, I have no complaints with this flop :)


..

i think that flop was from jameer clapping in the corner as dwight dunked it...

DarthBane wrote:Raptor fan here.

I think most Raptor fans agree that the 2nd last play of the game there was a lot of contact. Not sure if you guys had the overhead view or not, but on the T.O feed they showed a birds eye view and Dwight really got a lot of body on Bosh. That said, Bosh was fumbling the ball before the contact, not because of it. That coupled with the fact that refs tend to put their whistles away in the dying moments of a game resulted in a no-call -- which was the right call.

I'll be honest and say that I didn't take much interest in the Magic before this series, so my opinions are based on the fews games I've seen them play. You guys can complain all you want about Bosh flopping and some of those are legitimate complaints. Yes I am a Raptor fan, but I do think that Bosh at times goes down a little too easily. Not that I think he's trying to flop, he's just much weaker than the average PF in the league (see Richard Jefferson beating him in Game 6 of last years playoffs). That said, if you guys think Dwight Howard is a saint, you better take off you goggles. For every Bosh "flop" there's a no-call on Dwight for his man handling of players in the key. Take a closer look at the games and you'll see how much Howard pushes players in the back before he gets his rebounds.

I think the play you guys are referring to is the one where they caught Dwight for the elbow into Bosh's chest. It may have been a flop, but it was an offensive foul regardless of the flop. You can't swing your elbows and expect to get away with it -- especially when you are THAT big.

Just thought I'd share my opinion, though I'll probably get flamed for it.

No reason to flame you. He's no saint, that's for sure. And I think he complains to the refs too much, also. Sometimes doesn't get back on defense because he complains -- I think that's something he probably learned from Steve Francis LOL.

But anyway, I'll take what he does over flopping (and I'm not saying that's the rep Bosh has nor have I seen most of the game yesterday, so I don't know what he did) any day. And I think I would probably feel that way if I was a fan of some team with a flopping big man, like the Suns. Reason is, he's trying to be physical, which you want out of your guy. Flopping to me is a sign that you're weak, and I never want to see that out of my guy.

ORL wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



No reason to flame you. He's no saint, that's for sure. And I think he complains to the refs too much, also. Sometimes doesn't get back on defense because he complains -- I think that's something he probably learned from Steve Francis LOL.

But anyway, I'll take what he does over flopping (and I'm not saying that's the rep Bosh has nor have I seen most of the game yesterday, so I don't know what he did) any day. And I think I would probably feel that way if I was a fan of some team with a flopping big man, like the Suns. Reason is, he's trying to be physical, which you want out of your guy. Flopping to me is a sign that you're weak, and I never want to see that out of my guy.

Yeh I like the physical play and I like the cockiness, because I think that attitude has rubbed off on the rest of the team. Unlike previous years this team is playing with more attitude. I do have to admit I was worried Dwight was going to let his fire get him kicked out of the game. If he gets himself thrown out of a game. This whole series could be lost for us. I hope the coaches reminded him of that because he did'nt need the extra with Delfino. I would'nt put it pst the Raps to try and get under his skin.

DarthBane wrote:Raptor fan here.

I think most Raptor fans agree that the 2nd last play of the game there was a lot of contact. Not sure if you guys had the overhead view or not, but on the T.O feed they showed a birds eye view and Dwight really got a lot of body on Bosh. That said, Bosh was fumbling the ball before the contact, not because of it. That coupled with the fact that refs tend to put their whistles away in the dying moments of a game resulted in a no-call -- which was the right call.

I'll be honest and say that I didn't take much interest in the Magic before this series, so my opinions are based on the fews games I've seen them play. You guys can complain all you want about Bosh flopping and some of those are legitimate complaints. Yes I am a Raptor fan, but I do think that Bosh at times goes down a little too easily. Not that I think he's trying to flop, he's just much weaker than the average PF in the league (see Richard Jefferson beating him in Game 6 of last years playoffs). That said, if you guys think Dwight Howard is a saint, you better take off you goggles. For every Bosh "flop" there's a no-call on Dwight for his man handling of players in the key. Take a closer look at the games and you'll see how much Howard pushes players in the back before he gets his rebounds.

I think the play you guys are referring to is the one where they caught Dwight for the elbow into Bosh's chest. It may have been a flop, but it was an offensive foul regardless of the flop. You can't swing your elbows and expect to get away with it -- especially when you are THAT big.

Just thought I'd share my opinion, though I'll probably get flamed for it.

If you say Dwight pushes off before he gets a rebound than you how many times do you think players hold his hands down and try to prevent him from getting the rebound? No one on the raptors can stop him. Face it.

Solid Snake wrote:I am not worried about it because Hedo/Rashard aren't going 0-13 again. As long as they even have an average game offensively the Magic will win.

Yea I kept thinking we would have a break out 4th quarter because they were due. What worried most through the game was the energy level that Turk was showing when he started missing shots. When he stops playing crisply the whole offense sputters.

StunnaINdaRUNNA83 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
If you say Dwight pushes off before he gets a rebound than you how many times do you think players hold his hands down and try to prevent him from getting the rebound? No one on the raptors can stop him. Face it.

Wait, are you saying Dwight only pushes off as a result of players holding his hands down?

I'm not talking about the pushes when both players go up in the air and he uses his off arm to push off (which is what I presume you are talking about since that is usually the time when arms get tangled up). I'm referring to plays like in Game 1 where he just pushed Anthony Parker (just one example) in the back and grabbed the board. Parker wasn't even really boxing Dwight out, he just had inside position and Dwight pushed him out of the way (and on to the floor) and grabbed the board.

And no, no one on the Raptors can handle Dwight. I totally 100% agree. That still doesn't mean Dwight should be allowed to illegally abuse opponents because he's bigger.

Your just falling for your own players acting skills. You do realize Toronto is pushing Dwight all game long you just don't notice because Dwight doesn't try to sell contact, and they simply aren't strong enough to outmuscle him. Its funny to think its one sided. It isn't, just one side acts like they got hit by a train and the other doesn't. Dwight is pushing the same amount he is getting pushed. Been like that all season long.