OGT: Jan 11 Nets (15-21) @ Raptors (17-17)

[Legends66NBA7]

Game Links: http://firstrownow.eu/sport/basketball.html

Game Preview: http://www.nba.com/games/20140111/BKNTOR/gameinfo.html?ls=slt

[QUOTE]All five teams in the Atlantic Division started the season poorly, and still, with roughly 40 percent of the season already completed, none of the five have winning records.

A few of the teams have started to pick up their play of late, led by the division-leading Toronto Raptors. On Saturday night, the Raptors host one of the other hard-charging teams in the Atlantic, the Brooklyn Nets.

The Raptors (17-17) have won six of their past eight games overall, and four of five at home. Their improved play has coincided with the trade of small forward Rudy Gay and the elevation of Terrence Ross into the starting five. Since Gay was dealt and Ross moved into the lineup on Dec. 10, Toronto is 10-5, with the second-year small forward averaging 13.1 points and shooting 46.1 percent (41 of 89) from 3-point range.

"He's improving as a basketball player," point guard Kyle Lowry told the team's website about Ross. "Catching and shooting, his confidence is unbelievable. He's showing his versatility. He can play defense. He's scoring, but if you look at the defensive assignments he's had in the past few weeks, he's done a great job at it

[kmart]

The whole OVO thing is just a rip-off of Jay-Z and the Brooklyn Nets. I hope they change the colours to blue or something like that.

[Legends66NBA7]

The whole OVO thing is just a rip-off of Jay-Z and the Brooklyn Nets. I hope they change the colours to blue or something like that.

A Toronto sports team with a blue colour scheme ?

You don't say. :oldlol:

[kmart]

A Toronto sports team with a blue colour scheme ?

You don't say. :oldlol:

It would be a perfect fit! :D

[CarlosBoozer]

http://www.vanyaland.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/drake-raptors-612x340.jpg

[Mr. Incredible]

They shouldn't change their colors.

[The JKidd Kid]

Should be a good game. Both teams on the rise and have deprecated from the rest of the pack of futility of the Atlantic division. Too bad I won't be able to watch. Let's go Nets! :cheers:

[Legends66NBA7]

They shouldn't change their colors.

In the future, I hope they don't change it to gold like the one in the OP. I wish they brought back the first jersey they wore.

[Fresh Kid]

And considering it's Drake Night at the ACC, fans get these T-Shirts:


http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/229/files/2014/01/drake2-590x590.jpg

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/229/files/2014/01/drake1-590x590.jpg

Foreshadowing of future jerseys ?
I would burn dem shitz immediately:lol

[Bcogswell]

Well that was awkward

[Marv_Albert]

"People say he looks like chris tucker but he really doesnt" :facepalm

[kNIOKAS]

Raptors still marketing and promoting DeRozan.

[Sakkreth]

Should win this one, even though brooklyn started doing a little better lately.

[Kungfro]

Holy crap, Demar has as many rebounds as the entire nets team with 7 already.

[Bcogswell]

Holy crap, Demar has as many rebounds as the entire nets team with 7 already.

Allstar 2014

[GoRapz]

DeRozan with a nice dunk but obviously the guys in the truck have to change to the base line view :facepalm :facepalm :facepalm

[It's A VC3!!!]

Damn you Lowry. I feel like he just chucks up threes and hope they go in. That three could end up hurting the Nets. Also, Mirza is trash. When he's not shooting or making threes he is useless. Nets are going to lose this game. They just don't have any energy right now. It was stupid to rest Garnett. We are trying to make playoffs.

[kNIOKAS]

Now we have to listen to Drake guy. :rant

[niko]

Damn you Lowry. I feel like he just chucks up threes and hope they go in. That three could end up hurting the Nets. Also, Mirza is trash. When he's not shooting or making threes he is useless. Nets are going to lose this game. They just don't have any energy right now. It was stupid to rest Garnett. We are trying to make playoffs.

You have an old team, and two role players (Livingston and AK47) who if you play too much will break down, and not play at all. Sometimes you run into a wall. You'll make the playoffs unless for some reason you stop playing decent at all.

Play the younger guys and the non tired guys the bulk of the minutes, and see what happens. But don't break anyone chasing one game.

(Although i disagree wtih resting Garnett, I'd have played him and just watched the minutes and if things looked bleak, take him out. I don't think he does well with days off, i think it drives a bit of a wedge between him and Kidd to be honest early on.)

[kNIOKAS]

Salmon just travelled. The stream is lagging but I managed to make out of it THAT.

[It's A VC3!!!]

Andray Blatche has been complete trash since coming back. He is not even trying on defense and just hoisting shots on offense. It sucks to lose like this though.

[niko]

Andray Blatche has been complete trash since coming back. He is not even trying on defense and just hoisting shots on offense. It sucks to lose like this though.
Yeah, WTF happened there. He left for a few days, when he came back he was smirking like a mofo (i don't need to talk about it, that's what personal means) and he's been much more bad blatche than good blatche.

[Uncle Drew]

Dick Bavetta is done. :oldlol:

[It's A VC3!!!]

Finish that dunk you soft ass Plumlee. How the **** do you miss an open dunk and get the shit smacked out of you? That was a five point swing you soft shit.

[Sakkreth]

You mean they reviewed and still gave foul on Lowry ? :D

Ridiculous.

[niko]

You mean they reviewed and still gave foul on Lowry ? :D

Ridiculous.
That was ridiculous, he was standing there, he didn't undercut Pierce. How would you undercut Pierce, he jumps .000004 inches off the ground.

[kNIOKAS]

Finish that dunk you soft ass Plumlee. How the **** do you miss an open dunk and get the shit smacked out of you? That was a five point swing you soft shit.
So the claim that you're "a fan" of a certain team gives you an exclusive access for berating their players? Rather strange conception.

[GoRapz]

SMH @ these refs :facepalm :facepalm :facepalm

[It's A VC3!!!]

Yeah, WTF happened there. He left for a few days, when he came back he was smirking like a mofo (i don't need to talk about it, that's what personal means) and he's been much more bad blatche than good blatche.
I can deal with bad blatche. I can't deal with a not caring blatche. he isn't showing any signs of life on defense and doesn't even look to take a good shot. I don't know what happened but we need him to try harder, much harder.


nets are only down five but game has been real sloppy. i hope they can have a great second half. make a great push then they will have several days off. nets not getting any open looks and that needs to change.

[niko]

I can deal with bad blatche. I can't deal with a not caring blatche. he isn't showing any signs of life on defense and doesn't even look to take a good shot. I don't know what happened but we need him to try harder, much harder.


nets are only down five but game has been real sloppy. i hope they can have a great second half. make a great push then they will have several days off. nets not getting any open looks and that needs to change.
Blatche might have something wrong, you never know. Someone might have died, the girflriend might have left, some people don't cope with life as well as others. :confusedshrug: The problem is this Blatche was in Washington for literally years so it's got to give you pause.

[red1]

leggo raps. gotta take advantage of the nets b2b this should be a comfortable win

[Kungfro]

This is embarrassing right now.:facepalm

[Bcogswell]

Refs are bad.

[Grey Dawn]

bavettaneeds to retire

[Bcogswell]

Come on Lowry you got to make those.

[It's A VC3!!!]

get your ****ing ass of the court blatche. you are so ****ing stupid. just sit.. don't come back in the damn game.. nets need to score right now. they are going to let a 12 point lead evaporate in one damn quarter.

[Bcogswell]

DeMar :rockon:

[Bcogswell]

Patterson with the block and then draws the charge. :applause:

[Bcogswell]

DeMar drills the 3 to end the quarter :pimp:

[Kungfro]

Derozan!!

[kaiteng]

http://www.ebengregory.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Drake-Laugh.gif

[Uncle Drew]

Nets are in trouble. Momentum is fully in Toronto's hands.

[GoRapz]

DAMN!!!!!!! Anyone see Demar yell out "N*gga I aint worried bout nuttin!" :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

[kaiteng]

Grinding!

[It's A VC3!!!]

how the **** do the nets gain and lose a 12 point lead in one quarter? this is horrible. it all started with shit shaun livingston. he missed a wide open layup and the raptors went from down 8 to up 4 since then...

this is two straight threes that the raptors made at the buzzer. that is going to cost them...


it is inexplicable to let the raptors on a run like that in the last 3 minutes.

[Bcogswell]

http://www.ebengregory.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Drake-Laugh.gif

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

[It's A VC3!!!]

These refs have been trash in the second half. Just calling stupid shit.

[Bcogswell]

Got to get the ball back in DeMar's hands.

[Bcogswell]

Hayes fooling people with that free throw

[kaiteng]

Hayes' FT did it again. :oldlol: :oldlol: :oldlol: :oldlol:

[Bcogswell]

Hayes' FT did it again. :oldlol: :oldlol: :oldlol: :oldlol:

If only it didn't get Ross too.

[It's A VC3!!!]

Done watching the game. Horrible and inexcusable by the Nets. One of the most frustrating losses off the season. They had an 8 point lead with 4 minutes to go and found themselves down by 4 to end the quarter. A 12 point swing in 4 minutes. That was because Livingston has no idea how to make an open layup.

This is what the old shit Nets did. Losing leads in the matter of a few minutes.
No way the Nets should have entered the fourth down by four.
Again, Kidd is so stupid. Pierce was feeling it and he takes him out.

[Bcogswell]

Sick dunk by DeMar even though it didn't count

[kaiteng]

A lot of garbage are outta there. :rockon:

[JUDGE WITNESS]

toronto laying the smackdown :lol

[Kungfro]

It really bugs me that you can't hear the whistles.

[Bcogswell]

Done watching the game. Horrible and inexcusable by the Nets. One of the most frustrating losses off the season. They had an 8 point lead with 4 minutes to go and found themselves down by 4 to end the quarter. A 12 point swing in 4 minutes. That was because Livingston has no idea how to make an open layup.

This is what the old shit Nets did. Losing leads in the matter of a few minutes.
No way the Nets should have entered the fourth down by four.
Again, Kidd is so stupid. Pierce was feeling it and he takes him out.

http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/laughter.gif.pagespeed.ce.mJ2aDt3VAZ.gif

[It's A VC3!!!]

The Nets haven't scored in the fourth quarter at all. I'm not even watching the shit game. Just keeping updates on Twitter. They lost all of their momentum with that Raptors run.

[Kungfro]

Patterson +37 in +/- right now.

[Bcogswell]

Patterson :cheers:

[kaiteng]

http://i.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/drake-kid-dancingggg.gif

[Uncle Drew]

Patterson has a +/- of +37 right now.

[Uncle Drew]

Patterson +37 in +/- right now.
Beat me to it. :D

[It's A VC3!!!]

Good game Raptors. As a Nets fans I'm ****ing beyond aggravated that the last four minutes of the damn third quarter lost us this game. We should have went into the fourth with a double digit lead and momentum instead those four minutes made us down four entering the fourth and no energy right now. I'm irate. Nets will just enjoy their 6-8 seed and get bounced in the first round. Shit team.

[Bcogswell]

Bad turnover by Vasquez

[Bcogswell]

Nice bankshot by Patterson

[Young X]

Raps ballin' :rockon:

[Levity]

I really love me some Lowry

Drakes stoked :oldlol:

[PAOK]

dat lowry crossover

[kaiteng]

http://amazingsandwiches.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/salami-cheese-sandwich-800x533.jpg

[Kungfro]

Patterson has a +/- of +37 right now.

Finishes the night with +40. Outworked everybody on the court.

[Bcogswell]

Raptors win! Raptors win!

[GoRapz]

Give PatPat the max!! :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

Seriously though, this guy has been a beast on defense for us. I never knew he had it in him

[It's A VC3!!!]

This is also my first time hearing the Raptors feed and they are shit awful. they were like "can't let the nets hang around".. dunce, you guys are the raptors. yeah you have been playing better as of late but you are not good enough to put ANY team away, especially the surging nets. the game was won in the last four minutes of the damn third. shit job by the shit nets.

and they literally disagreed with every foul called on the raptors.

[Sakkreth]

Nice game :applause:

[JohnFreeman]

This is also my first time hearing the Raptors feed and they are shit awful. they were like "can't let the nets hang around".. dunce, you guys are the raptors. yeah you have been playing better as of late but you are not good enough to put ANY team away, especially the surging nets. the game was won in the last four minutes of the damn third. shit job by the shit nets.

and they literally disagreed with every foul called on the raptors.

It's a little bit shameful that the Nets only turn up when LeBron is in town. Seems they don't care otherwise.

[red1]

sorry bro raptors are just better than the nets. who woulda thunk it at the beginning of the season :lol

[niko]

This is also my first time hearing the Raptors feed and they are shit awful. they were like "can't let the nets hang around".. dunce, you guys are the raptors. yeah you have been playing better as of late but you are not good enough to put ANY team away, especially the surging nets. the game was won in the last four minutes of the damn third. shit job by the shit nets.

and they literally disagreed with every foul called on the raptors.
The Raptors right now are a better team than the Nets. The Nets aren't even in the playoffs. The Nets are 8 games under 500. WTF are you talking about?

[It's A VC3!!!]

The Raptors right now are a better team than the Nets. The Nets aren't even in the playoffs. The Nets are 8 games under 500. WTF are you talking about?
I said surging nets. the raptors announcers are acting as if the raptors are entitled to blow the nets out. i laughed when he said "raptors shouldn't let nets hang around". gosh, so damn irate at last 4 minutes of that third quarter.:mad:

[lpublic_enemyl]

I said surging nets. the raptors announcers are acting as if the raptors are entitled to blow the nets out. i laughed when he said "raptors shouldn't let nets hang around". gosh, so damn irate at last 4 minutes of that third quarter.:mad:
:lebronamazed:

[macmac]

I said surging nets. the raptors announcers are acting as if the raptors are entitled to blow the nets out. i laughed when he said "raptors shouldn't let nets hang around". gosh, so damn irate at last 4 minutes of that third quarter.:mad:

So you think a good team should let a team full of old scrubs hang around, instead of blowing them out?

I don't understand your logic :confusedshrug:

[JohnFreeman]

Net's aren't surging or making the playoffs. Sorry.

[niko]

I said surging nets. the raptors announcers are acting as if the raptors are entitled to blow the nets out. i laughed when he said "raptors shouldn't let nets hang around". gosh, so damn irate at last 4 minutes of that third quarter.:mad:
The first place team is entitled to say that about the team that is 8 games under 500. The Nets have pretty much sucked all season except 2 weeks. My Knicks are the same. You can act all outraged over the lack of respect your team gets but it comes off as kind of silly.

Nets lose to Atlanta on Thursday and you're basically back in the shitter. Nothing has accomplished, not yet.

[GoRapz]

I said surging nets. the raptors announcers are acting as if the raptors are entitled to blow the nets out. i laughed when he said "raptors shouldn't let nets hang around". gosh, so damn irate at last 4 minutes of that third quarter.:mad:

Well to be fair, we are better than you guys and you guys are coming off a b2b with a bunch of old dudes :confusedshrug:

Quit making excuses for your team dude. 'Surging Nets' he says :lol Where the **** were the Surging Nets tonight?

[Legends66NBA7]

Got back from the game not too long ago, but was relaxing for a bit. A recap from what I recall from the game...

-Atmosphere was great. Drake's appearance just added more excitement for an already great crowd. His intros were kinda corny, though. And yes, I do have the shirt I put in the OP.

-The Raptors defense from less than 4 minutes to go in the 3rd till the half way mark of the 4th... just amazing. Couldn't ask for a better effort from the Raptors. I enjoyed that run more than anything else in the game, as should every other Raptor fan.

-I have co-MVP's for the game, DeRozan and Patterson. After getting a tech, DeRozan had a great second half, while Patterson was nothing short of brilliant on defense. Rebounding (second chance opportunities), blocking/altering shots, and also scored well in the end. It was so critical, considering Amir and Jonas had off games on offense. What's up with Amir in this new year ? He's stunk scoring the ball, but his defense as always is still solid.

-Vasquez still seems to struggle with his confidence right now, but I think he's one good game away from breaking out of that slump. Salmons also went perfect from the field and provided what he could on defense.

-I didn't like the full out benching of Jonas from Casey (again, proving to have some bizarre lineups), but it edged out for a win. He's got to give more faith in his second year player. I've got to say, Hayes did do a solid job on defense during that run we had in the 3rd.

-Even though Lowry had more or less, an average game, Raptors still won by 16. Yes, Nets had the back to back, but this is the 2nd or 3rd straight game which the Raptors haven't clicked well on offense, but have gone to win the last comfortably. This team is poised to make another long win streak, as they will have the easiest schedule in the eastern conference now.

[Dave3]

Watched the game this morning on replay (avoided spoiling results).

The announcing was too much with the Drake stuff. They were acting like all of a sudden he's going to turn Toronto into Miami or New York to the other players in the league, and that'll never happen because it's still in Canada, which will continue to turn off players for various reasons. Not saying he won't have an effect at all, but they need to tone that down. Onto the game...

Got a little irked with the refereeing during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. I'm not usually someone who lets that bother them (refs are humans, make mistakes all the time, and overall they even out anyways) but damn there were some terrible calls. What made it worse was that we weren't playing that well anyways, so the refereeing at that point may have made the difference.

Liked the energy from mid 3rd quarter on, and love that Derozan asserted himself from that point on. Loved the hustle from Patrick Patterson, but wasn't impressed that Valanciunas was pretty much cancelled out by Plumle. Again the defense was good (Ross was great, if a little overaggressive early on) and the toughness inside. Good win to put a 4 game difference between us and the closest team in the division (probably the one that presents the biggest threat at the moment).

[Legends66NBA7]

The announcing was too much with the Drake stuff. They were acting like all of a sudden he's going to turn Toronto into Miami or New York to the other players in the league, and that'll never happen because it's still in Canada, which will continue to turn off players for various reasons. Not saying he won't have an effect at all, but they need to tone that down.

They asked for him to announce it, I'm sure. And no, I don't think he's going to have that impact that he turns Toronto into Miami. That wasn't his plan. I think it was just to bring more viewers to the game. He was tweeting to fans who weren't watching the game to tune in and he was getting feedback about how great an experience that was and wish they were there.

[niko]

They asked for him to announce it, I'm sure. And no, I don't think he's going to have that impact that he turns Toronto into Miami. That wasn't his plan. I think it was just to bring more viewers to the game. He was tweeting to fans who weren't watching the game to tune in and he was getting feedback about how great an experience that was and wish they were there.
I don't think anyone was saying it was or the team meant it like that, just that the announcers overplayed it as such.

[Legends66NBA7]

I don't think anyone was saying it was or the team meant it like that, just that the announcers overplayed it as such.

I haven't heard what Matt and Jack said. Maybe I'll look into, even though the In-game experience was way better that night.

[niko]

I haven't heard what Matt and Jack said. Maybe I'll look into, even though the In-game experience was way better that night.
Probably typical hyperbole. Can't be worse than the Nets announcers homering. Every good play is like it erases the fact they were pushing that team as a title contender.

[It's A VC3!!!]

Probably typical hyperbole. Can't be worse than the Nets announcers homering. Every good play is like it erases the fact they were pushing that team as a title contender.
Nets announcers are not homers. Best announcers in the game. Hence why this is back to back years that Ian eagle wins sports announcer of the year. Ryan rucco is bad but Ian eagle is the man. You're just terribly nitpicking

[avonbarksdale]

you are such a bad poster

[Boarder Patrol]

Just when you think they're gonna be good again and realize some of that potential they get blown out by the Raps. Just too fast and athletic.

Nets won't make noise. They're gonna be dead tired by the playoffs.

[Boarder Patrol]

Nets announcers are not homers. Best announcers in the game. Hence why this is back to back years that Ian eagle wins sports announcer of the year. Ryan rucco is bad but Ian eagle is the man. You're just terribly nitpicking

This. Nets announcers are my favorite part of the team.

[niko]

Nets announcers are not homers. Best announcers in the game. Hence why this is back to back years that Ian eagle wins sports announcer of the year. Ryan rucco is bad but Ian eagle is the man. You're just terribly nitpicking
I like Ian Eagle. Any complaints I have about Nets announcers are not Ian Eagle. The other announcers, they have become terrible homers. I really think the Nets told them to not focus on the negative. They are almost never negative. If you are watching this season (especially prior to the last 2 weeks) and are positive, you are a homer or high.

[niko]

This. Nets announcers are my favorite part of the team.
Net announcers are your favorite part of the Nets. Ok...

[Boarder Patrol]

Net announcers are your favorite part of the Nets. Ok...

Well I like watching them lose, but there's not much enjoyable stuff to watch :confusedshrug:

their announcers are solid.

[It's A VC3!!!]

I like Ian Eagle. Any complaints I have about Nets announcers are not Ian Eagle. The other announcers, they have become terrible homers. I really think the Nets told them to not focus on the negative. They are almost never negative. If you are watching this season (especially prior to the last 2 weeks) and are positive, you are a homer or high.
Which announcers are ever negative. You can't name me one. Even Mike of the Knicks at one point was furious with the Knicks but he always remained calm and said positive things. That's not what a homer is. A homer is the Bulls, Lakers and Heat announcers. Ian Eagle and Mike Fratello are awesome. Because they are not negative doesn't mean they are homers.

[Dave3]

I haven't heard what Matt and Jack said. Maybe I'll look into, even though the In-game experience was way better that night.
Yeah I meant the in game play by play. They were all over the guy. Still though, we won so no complaints there.

[niko]

Which announcers are ever negative. You can't name me one. Even Mike of the Knicks at one point was furious with the Knicks but he always remained calm and said positive things. That's not what a homer is. A homer is the Bulls, Lakers and Heat announcers. Ian Eagle and Mike Fratello are awesome. Because they are not negative doesn't mean they are homers.
It's not the same. All announcers focus on their teams but it doesn't mean you need to be homers. The level Breen is harsh on the players is something you never hear about the Nets. Knick announcers perspective is the Knicks dug themselves a huge hole by their own fault, playing badly, and now are playing better and they hope it can continue. Net announcer perspective is everything went wrong outside that the Nets cannot control and everytime the Nets are playing well it's all fixed. The fouls drive me nuts too. How many times do they point out a foul that the Nets should have gotten? But never the opposite. Perfect example, Blatche. When you are going nuts throwing things at your tv they don't criticize. They praise sometimes, when he is being "blatchian". Net announcers are more toward non homer than most nba announcers but that's because most nba announcers act like they have been given a roster spot.

You make it sound like Ian Eagle does every Net game btw, that's really far from the case, or maybe Ruocco is so bad he just feels like he is always on.

[Nets fan 93]

Well it's about time they're not so damn negative. It made watching them lose suck even more when they would freak out when the other teams had a nice play.

[Grey Dawn]

Tommy Heinson of the Celts = worst homer announcer of all time and still going

[brooklynsfinest]

Nets lost because Kidd didn't let Pierce play enough and because the regurees sucked and let the Raptors back in the game. If Pierce plays more and the refs aren't cheating then we'd win.

There's at least 10-15 games this year where bad referee calls have hurt us, take those away and we'd be 2nd in the conference.

[Boarder Patrol]

Nets lost because Kidd didn't let Pierce play enough and because the regurees sucked and let the Raptors back in the game. If Pierce plays more and the refs aren't cheating then we'd win.

There's at least 10-15 games this year where bad referee calls have hurt us, take those away and we'd be 2nd in the conference.

:roll: :roll: :roll:

:biggums: