Ah, so many memories of classic Raptors-Grizzlies matchups of the past! Um, or not. Sigh. I gotta say that, in the 15 years these two teams have been in the league, one playoff series win between them is pretty Goddamn pathetic. What’s even more pathetic? The Raptors have a losing record (13-14) against the Grizz in those 15 years. Ugh.

Still, at least the Raptors have been actively trying to improve their team the past couple of seasons while the Grizzlies continue to get worse and worse. There’s hope in Toronto… there’s acute indifference in Memphis.

I can’t see any way the Raptors lose this game – unless they’ve all gotten so impressed with themselves after beating Cleveland that they take the Grizzlies lightly and don’t show up. That’s a distinct possibility for a team that has a long history of playing down to their opponents. The two teams split their two meetings last year, with each winning at home.

And, hey. They do have a few offensive pieces. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph are the type of big bodies that have troubled the Raps in the past, and OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay are the type of high-scoring wing players that have given the team fits. And of course, Allen Iverson has had some of his best games against the Raptors – although as I write this he’s still questionable with a hamstring issue (though he, of course, says he’s ready to go).

But after that… I mean, I barely recognize the names on the Grizz bench. Depth isn’t their strong suit. And none of the above are noted defensive specialists. And, hey… this isn’t the same old Raptors team. They’ve got frontcourt depth and bulk, even without Reggie Evans, and Jarret Jack, DeMar DeRozan and Antoine Wright add some defensive chops to the backcourt.

Like I say. There shouldn’t be any possible way for the Raptors to lose this game. On the other hand, this is the Raptors so I never take anything for granted…. But…. There’s no way they lose this one. If they can keep the Memphis bigs off the boards, and limit the open looks for the guards, this one should be a walk in the park. Right? Raptors by 12.

One thing to note here… this will be the first Raptors game Rogers customers get to see on TSN2, which we did not have last year – as you all know. I’m still so angry over last year’s fiasco and the general state of awfulness that surrounds the Raptors on TV that I will not be thanking anyone for allowing me to watch Raptors games on FIVE networks yet again. What a joke Raptors television production and broadcasting is. Was anyone else shocked by how awful the first game broadcast was? No, me neither. We saw at least two instances of cameras showing the sidelines or replays WHILE GAME ACTION WAS GOING ON, which has been happening for years. It’s shocking to me that this most basic principle of sports broadcasting – PEOPLE TUNE IN TO WATCH THE GAMES! – is constantly fucked up. We were subjected to ongoing audio and video problems. And for some unfathomable reason, rather than showing us viewers the introductory video that was played on the jumbotron, we were shown… people playing instruments. Um, what the fuck was that!? You really think that instead of showing the video that’s designed to get people pumped up for Raptors basketball, it was a better idea to show old people playing classical instruments? Do these people have a fucking clue? Sheesh.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 8:40 am and is filed under Game Previews, General Raptors, Toronto Raptors.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.