10/22/10

Raptors Dit Bonjour Knicks, Bon Au revoir la Saison de Pre

I figured if Amir Johnson can try French so can we here at the Dino Nation Blog. So what was that in English you are wondering? Raptors say hello Knicks, good bye pre-season. Least that is what my French to English translation program says. I am not sure what Amir said in French but here is his attempt at it, rocking a Habs hat which will play well in Montreal. I know the first line is hello I am Amir Johnson after that I got no clue:




I am thinking battling Amare Stoudemire will be tougher then tackling the French language. I am also not sure how hard these teams will play given the fact they will meet again 5 days later to start the season. Safe to say there might be a little game playing by both teams. The Knicks unlike the Raptors have a lot of expectations and they did land Amare and some others. But Amare is not James, Wade or even Bosh. Raymond Felton another addition is not Steve Nash ether.

If the Raptors are going to shock the world or at least North America and contend for the playoffs in the East, this is one of the teams that they will need to beat to make that happen. I think the Knicks are a team that can be good enough to sneak in the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. What happens tonight does not matter nearly as much as what happens in 5 days. You only need to look to the NFL for examples of this. It has happened many times where teams meet up in the final week of season knowing they will face each other the next week in the playoffs. The result in that final game seldom means much. This is much the same. Whatever the result tonight I will almost guarantee the game next Wednesday will have a very different result in many aspects.

Still it will be a full house in Montreal and temptation to put on a show for both teams will be there. Also given the way these teams want to play it should have a fast pace to it and be up and down the floor. After all there is 5 days to rest after tonight so why not run. But obviously run carefully because the one thing both of these teams do not want is an injury at this late stage of the pre-season.

The real work for the Raptors starts tomorrow as they will kick things into high gear to prepare for the season. Practice may not be Allen Iverson's thing but for Raptors and all NBA Teams these last few days are pretty vital to put the finishing touches on their game plans for the upcoming season.

I think tonight will be a way to judge individuals and how they match up but not convinced we see much in terms of overall scheme from the Knicks or the Raptors. Still the best thing of all....PRE-SEASON IS OVER...after tonight.

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