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Just good preparation for the Cleveland series.
syucks that ya'll were going to end up with the crippled Wizards and ended up with the Cavs..
then drew the Nets.
Nets are a veteran team. Watch out youthful Raptors..
Just good preparation for the Cleveland series.
I would like to take this time to acknowledge how damn wrong I was about the Raps this season. Very early on in this thread, I stated that I believed Sam Mitc would be the first coach fired and the Raptors would be a poor team for awhile.
I was wrong. The Raptors have become a good (and I like this) entertaining team. I am pulling for them to beat the Nets and make some noise so that Colangelo gets the credit he deserves for assembling a team that can morph into something real VERY soon.
Sam will still be the coach, I figure he'll get re-upped for two years, so I was wrong.
Garbajosa is my new favorite rookie foreigner and I'm hoping he can return to the player he was following his injury.
Go Raptors.
Beautiful sentiment and beautifully written.
Thanks Johnny Blaze !
RAPTORS RED-Y TO ROLL
( Their le not mine.
http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/2007...f_central.html
http://www.nba.com/playoffs2007/index.html#replay
Good luck to the Raptors. timvp doubted them at the beginning of the season, but they proved him wrong. Good young team with an assortment of talented players.
That said, I'm picking New Jersey to win the series. But seeing how it worked out the last time I picked against the Raptors, I am doing Raptor Fan a favor.
Good luck to the Raptors. timvp doubted them at the beginning of the season, but they proved him wrong. Good young team with an assortment of talented players.
That said, I'm picking New Jersey to win the series. But seeing how it worked out the last time I picked against the Raptors, I am doing Raptor Fan a favor.
Reverse mojo, eh? I'll take it.
I will try to catch the game tomorrow...Go Raptors(and Get em Rasho)!!!
Oh he will. Fear the Sho.
Whoosh- less than 12 hours till the game. I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!
Maurizio Gherardini and a Slovenian Connection
Slovenian ConnectionIt was like a little “Slovenian connection” here the other day.
Sixteen graduate students from the University of Maribor were visiting Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment trying to get a closer look to the marketing plans, the community programs, promotions and sports management side of the MLSEL business.
They also got to meet with Rasho Nesterovic and Uros Slokar and talk about their experience here: they were really excited as they took a picture with the two of them at centercourt .
Following the game, as we were talking about our next playoff opponent, New Jersey, we ended up realizing how another Slovenian, Bostjan “Boki” Nachbar, was going to cross our path soon, after playing a mayor role in the Nets’ season
I first saw Boki as a 16-year-old in an exhibition game at the “Ghirada” facilities at Benetton: we had invited two teams from the his hometown to play against our junior teams. The other prospect on the team was Sani Becirovic, a year younger than Bostjan, later drafted by Denver in the second round and today at the helm of the Panathinaikos team who will be playing in the Euroleague Final Four in a few days, one of the top combo-guards in Europe.
A year or so later the opportunity came to bring Boki to Benetton. I remember traveling to a small town right by the Slovenian border to meet with his father, Bostjan himself and his agent and try to convince them all that we, at Benetton, would have been the ideal option for his growth and development. It was already clear to me, as I had seen him again a few times in action after that very first game in Treviso, that he had all the tools needed to become a good player.
I liked him from the beginning as a person as well and I could feel that sort of a bond of trust developing as we were getting to know each other. He sounded very committed and you could feel his desire to succeed at the highest level.
In the beginning it was not easy for Bostjan in Treviso. As a matter of fact we decided to loan him to the team in Maribor for one season to let him play some minutes and gain confidence with his game. As he finally joined Benetton, he realized that it would not have been easy for him to find significant minutes on a winning team with a lot of good players.
But he was always patient, worked on his game all the time and smiled, even if he thought he could do more and play a bigger role. In his second last year, he came up to speak with me and tell me his concerns. It was a short conversation. I told him to be patient, to keep working, I thought he would be ready when the chance came: he nodded and always kept a smile on his face.
The next year, his final year with us, he was terrific. With Mike D’Antoni as a coach, we won the Italian Cup, the Italian Championship and reached the Euroleague Final Four. Boki’s patience had been rewarded and the NBA dream was becoming a real one.
And his NBA career has somehow been similar to the one in Treviso. He has been with different teams, he has once again patiently waited for his chance to come and today he shines for the Nets.
Boki, friend of mine... Best of luck, you deserve it... But not in this series...
Rasho Nesterovic, acquired in a trade with San Antonio as part of the Raptors' big off-season rebuild, leads the team in playoff experience with 56 games.
"We just have to come out and play our game, not get distracted with those people that are talking things like we can't beat them," said Nesterovic. "We've proved them wrong. Nobody predicted us to be in the playoffs anyways, and we are here. This is where the fun begins."
Underdog Raptors
I'm going to game 1 tommorow!! Ticketmaster released a small block of tickets and since my record store has a ticketmaster outlet I was in luck! :0)
The Raps have impressed me this year and there'd be nothing sweeter than kicking VC's pansy ass.
and Angel luv, I'll tell Rasho you said o
Is this counting just the games he played or also the DNP-CD's in 2005 and 2006?
He racked up 10 games or so playing in the first round for a few years with Minnesota. By my count there were only 46 possible postseason games he could have played with us.
It's this morning, its this morning, the game's this morning!
I should be sleeping in a little longer since I work all weekend, but don't know if I can- too excited.
I'm going to game 1 tommorow!! Ticketmaster released a small block of tickets and since my record store has a ticketmaster outlet I was in luck! :0)
The Raps have impressed me this year and there'd be nothing sweeter than kicking VC's pansy ass.
and Angel luv, I'll tell Rasho you said o
Oh my gosh, thank you!
I remember him.Sani Becirovic, a year younger than Bostjan, later drafted by Denver in the second round and today at the helm of the Panathinaikos team who will be playing in the Euroleague Final Four in a few days, one of the top combo-guards in Europe
Great article about Boki. Nice mention of Sho and Uros as well.
also, I'll be wearing a jersey that says "Quitter" instead of Carter on the back
also, I'll be wearing a jersey that says "Quitter" instead of Carter on the back
Hey, let's not get Carter fired up please.
According to NBA stats he played in 54 PO games.
I picked somewhere (maybe here) that Rasho is only active player with 7 (or is it 9) consucetive PO apereances (besides Duncan and Horry). Not that this should mean much, however it is interesting.
Been waiting for the playoff game in T.O. since game 4 of the 2002 first round vs. the Pistons! I'm getting hyped for this game.
Almost game time!
Dajmo Raptors!
I want to sit and focus on the game so I won't be actively blogging, but I will check in at the half.
I lied... commercial breaks too.
It is so cool to see the whole arena all red out.
at the constant Carter boos
I need to calm down. I think I am more nervous/ excited than them.
Sloppy first quarter by the Raps so far.
Booing VC at the beginning was understandable but damn enough already. I guess it's working though, he can't shoot worth a damn today. Nets still leading though, if he gets hot, Raps are screwed.
Why did Bosh play less than 6 minutes so far?
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