Raptors fall to Celtics but let’s read between the lines « Arsenalist

Raptors fall to Celtics but let’s read between the lines « Arsenalist
As with anything Raptors, it starts off with Bosh who had a pretty miserable game which had a lot to do with who he was playing against – Garnett. They weren’t matched up on every possession but when they were, KG clearly had the upper hand. The Bosh we saw today looked way too similar to the Bosh of the New Jersey series who looked uneasy with both his role and his game on the floor. Now settling for second-thought jumpers from 20ft is bad enough but it’s more the way he looked on the court, almost confused where to start his offensive moves. Of course anytime you give him the ball at the top of the key you’re just asking for trouble because, see, he’s a PF and has no business handling the ball over there. But we’ll attribute the dismal performance to mostly preseason legs, an injury plagued summer and a lot of Kevin Garnett.

The Italian Job

Dime » Blog Archive » The Italian Job
The Europe Live opener saw the Celtics beat the Raptors in front of Andrea Bargnani’s home crowd. Two of Boston’s Big Three looked good; Paul Pierce and his new baldie dropped 21 points and Kevin Garnett posted a 19-16 line, but Ray Allen was throwing up a lot of bricks … Garnett played like he was possessed. On one tip dunk he got so high he could have climbed into the rim … Boston’s X-factor this year, Rajon Rondo, didn’t look bad but didn’t look great either. He handed out 6 assists and made just one turnover, but his 2-for-7 shooting isn’t what the C’s need. And there was a couple times when Rondo over-dribbled and got caught in a trap. Still, consider this is the first preseason game of his second NBA season, played in a strange arena, and he was facing a good Toronto backcourt. We’ll cut Rajon a break for now … The Celtics starters played a lot of minutes for a preseason game — KG, Pierce and Ray each played 30-plus — but that makes sense considering they need to get used to playing with each other … On the other side, Jason Kapono looks like he’s been playing with the Raps for years. He stuck a couple jumpers and blended right in …

Il Mago’s stoic, but he can play

TheStar.com | Sports | Il Mago’s stoic, but he can play
As bad as he looked on defence now and then, he played with more abandon than he’s usually shown. And he confirmed why he’s going to be employed in the world’s best league for a long time, making a couple of three-pointers when the defence gave him the slightest space.

At one point Garnett glared at him – Garnett’s lips moving in rapid staccato that suggested the ongoing delivery of trash talk in Bargnani’s direction – and the young Italian didn’t shrink. He didn’t talk back. He didn’t change his expression from the usual blank. He did, on the contrary, look stronger than ever, convincingly holding off Garnett in the post more than once. Most important, when he touched the ball on his favoured end of the floor, he pulled Garnett out to the three-point line. He stretched the defence. He either created holes or filled one. He had 13 points on six shots.

K.G. steals spotlight in Celtics win

TorontoSun.com – Basketball – K.G. steals spotlight in Celtics win
All-star forward Chirs Bosh finished the game with 12 points and nine rebounds.

More importantly, his left foot, which bothered him most of last year, was fine.

“I’m going to try to play in all the pre-season games, so when the season comes, I’ll be full swing, unlike last year when I was forced to take some time off when I hurt my foot,” Bosh said.

“I feel like I’m going in the right direction.”

Garnett’s double-double kicks off Europe Live

ESPN – Garnett’s double-double kicks off Europe Live – NBA
The Italians have been won over by both sets of players during the week-long training camp stint and, despite suggestions that hometown boy Andrea Bargnani might be afforded an awkward welcome because of an uneasy relationship with the local press and some subpar showings for the national team, he was welcomed like a long lost son.

More importantly, for the Raptors and their hopes of defending the Atlantic Division title, the few minutes Bargnani then put in before his home crowd were of the highest quality.

After Garnett had beaten the young Italian with an early, devastating baseline move and dunk, drawing a foul and sinking the and-one in the process, Bargnani came straight back at his tormentor on the next possession and drained a long two pointer.

Raptors, Celtics Entertain Rome in Preseason Opener

RAPTORS: Raptors, Celtics Entertain Rome in Preseason Opener
Bargnani, last year’s top overall draft pick by Toronto, played his first game in his hometown in an NBA jersey and scored 13 points in less than 15 minutes.

“Andrea was pretty good. I probably could have done a better job at getting him back in, but I wanted to keep him fresh for tomorrow,” Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. “I know where Andrea’s at.”

T.J. Ford, who started at point guard for Toronto, led the Raptors with 15 points. Anthony Parker, Chris Bosh, Jason Kapono, and Bargnani rounded out the Raptors starting lineup.

The sold-out crowd of 11,118 at the Palalottomatica gave Bargnani a standing ovation when he came out for warmups and grew even louder when he scored six of the Raptors’ first eight points, including a three-pointer on his first attempt from the field.

Celtics working on transition offense

Celtics working on transition offense – The Boston Globe
Garnett, a 10-time All-Star, has said Mitchell taught him how to be a professional after entering the NBA out of high school.

Not long after the Celtics acquired Garnett in a blockbuster trade in July, he called Mitchell to tell him how ecstatic he was to be going to Boston. Garnett reiterated those feelings to Mitchell in Italy.

“[Garnett] loves being in Boston, loves his teammates,” said Mitchell, the winner of this year’s Red Auerbach Trophy as Coach of the Year. “He said if he knew the NBA was like this, he would have wanted to be traded a long time ago . . .

“I just think everybody does things a little different and he just enjoys it. When you’ve been in one place your whole career, you forget how other people do things and he’s never seen how other organizations work. I think he’s very impressed with the way Boston treats their players and how they do things.”

Celtics embark on rebuilding phase

globesports.com: Celtics embark on rebuilding phase
The Raptors were in the Celtics’ shoes last season — less the three big stars — and after handing out the name tags in training camp, they started the season 7-14.

Staying largely the same has been welcomed. “It makes a big difference, we know we have a really good thing going here and we’re trying to improve and continue the whole thing,” Bosh said. “I think it’s very good. You have to have chemistry on offence and defence.

“Boston might come in and have great chemistry off the bat, but you can’t rush it. Sometimes it’s not going to be the best situations and people get frustrated with that and tend to ask, ‘What’s going on?’ It happened with us. If they don’t come out and start the season spectacularly, people are going to wonder why.”

Celtics’ `Big Three’ creating a buzz in the NBA

TheStar.com | Sports | Celtics’ `Big Three’ creating a buzz in the NBA
Will it be easier him to flourish with the Boston Celtics? Without a doubt, says one of his closest friends in basketball.

“Oh, yeah, without a doubt because he has no ego,” Sam Mitchell said yesterday of Garnett, who makes his debut for Boston alongside Paul Pierce and Ray Allen this afternoon against the Raptors.

“Kevin doesn’t have to take the last shot, he doesn’t have to, quote-unquote, `be the man.’ He’s been the man and he’s always going to be the man to a certain extent because of how good he is and who he is and that’s never going to change.

“But he doesn’t have to feed his ego like that. I know the only thing important to Kevin is trying to win basketball games and compete for a championship.”

Bosh & Bargnani Photo from City Hall

ESPN – Olympics Photo Wire

Revamped Celtics take on Raptors in Rome

Revamped Celtics take on Raptors in Rome – International Herald Tribune
The Celtics take on the Toronto Raptors on Saturday to open the NBA Europe Live preseason tour.

Bargnani was selected by the Raptors with the No. 1 pick in last year’s NBA draft and will be playing his first game in his hometown in an NBA jersey. The Celtics have added two all-stars to their roster — former MVP Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen — and have nine other new players as well.

“It’s a brand new team, brand new players. We’re still finding out about each other,” said Celtics veteran Paul Pierce, another all-star. “The game vs. Toronto is going to be a good game for the people to come out and see two of the better teams in the NBA.”

Rome’s 10,500-seat Palalottomatica arena is sold out for the game.