Raps vs. Wizards Preview

While Toronto fans are moaning and groaning about Bosh and Calderon not being All-Stars, the Wizards have some legit beefs too. I’m talking about Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. The dynamic duo, lightning and thunder, Tough Juice and AJ, Axe and Smash…well, maybe not the last one, but these two guys have shown that maybe this team doesn’t need Agent 0 around at all. Now, when a big time player gets injured and a team picks it up, you always hear that they are playing better team ball, that there is better ball movement, etc. I don’t really think that is so much the case with the Wizards. I just think that without Arenas in the lineup, it has allowed Jamison and Butler the opportunity to show the amount of talent they really have, creating opportunities when there appear to be none, making tough plays when there are tough plays to be made. Take a look at the numbers these two guys are putting up:

Butler: 21.9 ppg, 7 rpg, 4.3 ast, +24.07, 91.5 FT%…sound like All-Star material to you? The only other guys with numbers like that are LeBron and Kobe. Well, if you are still on the fence, take a look back at what he did to the Celtics in those back to back games, pretty much taking things over in the final 6 minutes, dominating the game, no matter who they put out to cover him.

Jamison: 21.3 ppg, 10.4 rpg, +22.05 and he’ll log you almost 40 minutes per game. I’m sorry, but those sound like All-Star numbers to me too. There’s only one other guy in the East with numbers like that…the ManChild, Dwight Howard.

The Wiz always play the Raptors tough. I’m not sure what it is, but these games always end up as very entertaining engagements. The fact that they are playing a back-to-back will only help to bolster the atmosphere, especially if there are any shenanigans in the first game. I think Eddie Jordan is one of the more underappreciated coaches in the league. He always has his team ready to play and they are tough. You can’t push the Wiz around, which is why the Raptors are going to have to make sure they have some outside mustard working, because we all know what happens to the Raptors when somebody plays them tough. The thing is, the Wizards aren’t really that big, they’re not a bunch of Dwight Howards out there, but they’re just gritty when they have to be.

Another guy not getting enough credit? Antonio Daniels. The guy has been around for a while, but he just keeps going. He’s logging his 30+ minutes, picks up 8 or so points, drops 5 or so dimes, but the most important thing is that he seems to be a calming influence on the Wiz. Whenever they seem to get a little careless with the ball or when they get off their game, Daniels slows it down and gets them back into rhythm. It will be interesting to see how he fares against the Raptors.

Roger Mason Jr. will not have another one of those games.

Anyway, the Raptors are going to have to come out ready for this one. Once again, it will be important for them to come out in the third quarter with a game plan and some energy, because if Antawn and Caron smell blood in the water, look out. This might be another game tailor made for Barogi, because while he isn’t always so ready to attack the basket, he has been doing it more frequently and if he can get some inside work and then start stroking that shot, it will open things up for Bosh a bit more. Think of Barogi as a can opener. He’s vital to the whole process, but really, you just need him to perform his function in order to get to all of the good stuff. He does his thing and the rest of the guys will do theirs.

Enjoy the game.