Friday, November 21, 2008

VC and the Nets Visit the ACC

Tonight is Raptors vs. Nets, 7:00 PM tipoff. The game is available on TSN, the Fan590, and at channelsurfing.net. It's Vince Carter's first return to Toronto this season, and of course he will be booed mercilessly. As he deserves.

What to Watch For:
- The Nets traded Jason Kidd last season for up-and-coming guard Devin Harris as well as scrub DeSagana Diop. Harris has been scoring at a solid clip, around 23 points per game, but he's been fairly ineffective as a distributor, with under six assists per game.
- New Jersey relies heavily on its two big guns to score, with only three players averaging double figures in points: Harris, Vince Carter at 22.6 per game, and Keyon Dooling at 10 even. This means that if Calderon and Parker can lock down their men, the Raps should have a good chance to win.
- The Nets are also giving up over 101 points per game this season. If the Raptors can establish Bosh, O'Neal, and a secondary scorer or two early, they should be able to score at will. This team has very poor big men, with Brook Lopez's non-existent D and Josh Boone's non-existent O, Bosh and O'Neal should have their way down low.
- In a match-up of soft foreign 7-footers, Andrea Bargnani (assuming he plays the 3) will be matched up with Yi Jianlian. Both are averaging around 10 points per game, but Chairman Yi has been a force on the boards, going for a little over seven per game. Andrea will need to think back to the definiton of "box-out" to keep Yi from being a game-changer.

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