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Rockets on fire
Raptors host Houston tonight.
Dajmo Raptors.
Rockets on fire
Boosh! We lost.
Slokar at least was perfect from the field for 4 points. Good job.
No it was Rasho's fault
Yao > Rasho
Rasho puts up a big fight
Nesterovic holds his own against Yao
When the Rockets' huge centre Yao Ming is still fresh, he is perhaps the NBA's most dominant inside presence. But when he carries that big 7-foot-6, 310-pound body around the floor, running on fumes, as he did most of last night, he is just an ordinary Yao.
"I don't think he's in the right shape yet after that injury," Raptors' hulking centre Rasho Nesterovic said, after bumping and grinding with the Chinese baller for 13 minutes at the start of the first and third quarters. "I'm sure once he's going to be completely fit and in good shape it'll be even tougher to guard him."
The running of the Yao at the start of each half was Nesterovic's assigned task and to their credit, the refs let the big man do his job. The game within the game with the two giants banging was unbelievable. Rasho and Yao did everything but throw punches in eight early minutes of rock 'n' roll in the low post. Yao did throw a vicious elbow that connected with Nesterovic's ribcage in the first round ... uh, quarter.
"You have to play him physical and try and tire him out," the 30-year-old Slovenian centre said of his exhausting night. "They let us play a pretty tough game. For a minute, it felt like a heavyweight fight. You try and make him as tired as possible so he's not going to make some easy shots that he would usually make. He's such a big presence under the basket. Not just a big body, but he knows basketball so good."
It went unnoticed and unappreciated by the disappointed Raptor fans, but by the time Rasho was done working over Yao, the towering Rocket was bent over and holding the hems of his shorts gasping for air, but such is Yao's influence that even his panting, one-count-slower presence created space for other Rocket shooters. That's a star.
"I try to prove something," Nesterovic said. "It's always a challenge, so I just try to do my best to do my job as good as I can to make his job as tough as possible."
In just over 13 minutes on the court last night, all with Yao on his dance card, Rasho held the Rockets superstar to six points on 2-for-6 shooting, with three rebounds. In Yao's other 20 floor minutes, vs. Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh and the rest of the leaner, more athletic Raptor defenders, he scored 17 points, with nine rebounds.
However, the die was cast early in this one. On this night, it was the supporting cast led by ex-Raptors Tracy McGrady, with 24, and Rafer Alston, with 23 points and nine assists, that foiled the Raps' strategy of physical attrition with Yao.
When Nesterovic was doing his dirty work and the Rockets' all-world centre was still his freshest, in the first eight minutes, Houston built a 26-8 lead.
There's no doubt that even though the result of the game proves how far the Raps have to go to join the league's elite teams, Nesterovic's head-to-head effort was business as usual. But this guy Yao's a superstar and he can influence events by his mere presence.
When the Raptors rolled into H-Town and crushed the Rockets 106-90 back on Feb. 28, Yao was still days away from returning to the lineup. This time, on the road, the Rockets turned it around to win by 14. That speaks volumes of Yao's value.
With the playoffs looming, just over a month away, the presence of Nesterovic, the Raptors' only version of a traditional NBA big man, takes on more importance. The playoffs are all about bashing big bodies like last night and since the likely first-round foes for the Raptors, as it currently stands, could be either the Bulls, with Ben Wallace, or the Heat of Shaquille O'Neal, Nesterovic's blunt talents will come into play.
"We're going to definitely meet big people," Nesterovic agreed. "For many years, now, in a row, the teams with good big people are in the finals."
Unfortunately, Nesterovic doesn't quite rank in the elite company of big men with Shaq and Ben Wallace and Tim Duncan, to give the Raptors that same historical edge, but in bringing it up, he clearly knows his NBA history.
LINK
Yao did throw a vicious elbow that connected with Nesterovic's ribcage in the first round ... uh, quarter.
Yao's on my list.
Seriously though, that is an excellent article- it tells the real story, what you wouldn't know just looking at a box score.
Sho's awesome. Fear the Sho!"I try to prove something," Nesterovic said. "It's always a challenge, so I just try to do my best to do my job as good as I can to make his job as tough as possible."
I want to go:
http://www.nba.com/raptors/raptorcom...arty_2007.html
Raptors about to play the Knicks.
Time for us to start another winning streak.
Wow! What an atmosphere in MSG!
Wow! What an atmosphere in MSG!
You have league pass? Lucky!
Not reallyYou have league pass? Lucky!
I can PM you if you want.
Not if I PM you first.Not really
I can PM you if you want.
What the heck happened to the Raptors in the third????
Raps being POUNDED by Knicks !
My Knicks are OWNING the cRAPTORS MUaahahahahahaahahahahha
71-51
The Raps had better put together and awesome fourth quarter. I know they can do it.
35 - 13 3rd Q for Knicks!
Raps are not playing well ; too many turnovers
Did they party last night? or maybe they were devastated by Toronto's loss to Montreal saturday (NHL ; as a matter of fact, Bosh knows some Maple LEafs players)
o- newsflash... we're playing the Knicks. Come on guys!
This is just bad.
What are u trying to say?
Slokar sighting!
Weren't you a Raptor during their playoff runs during 1999-2001?What are u trying to say?
Malik scored- stinker.
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