Comments on: Match Ups – Toronto Raptors v/s Atlanta Hawks

By: thirdfalcon

thirdfalcon — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:36:17 +0000

No, Marvin will go on Turk. Bargnani is your worst starter except for maybe Derozan, 3 point shot or not. Smith almost always guard the worst big so he can play help defense.

Hedo is the guy we would have to contain to beat you, so that's who Marvin is going to guard.

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Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:02:20 +0000

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By: brothersteve

brothersteve — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:53:20 +0000

Very tough call.
If Raptors gel fast and are as good as they could be, they'll have the edge.
But it's hard to tell this early.
Hawks slightly better than last year. The Raptors significantly better than last year. Equals ?
Are the Raps a 50 win team or a 41 win team?

By: khandor

khandor — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:00:46 +0000

When these teams play this season the individual player match-ups from the Hawks defensive perspective should be as follows:

Bibby vs Calderon
Johnson vs DeRozan
Williams vs Bargnani
Horford vs Bosh
Smith vs Turkoglu

If Atlanta chooses to match-up like that on Defense, then, they will beat the Raptors.

By: Co Co

Co Co — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:47:53 +0000

Marvin is the best on ball defender on the Hawks team so I would expect him to be on Hedo. Al won't pick up his average to 11-15 points per game because the Hawks have absolutely no interest in having a post game and now they've added another shooter. Al's points will come strictly off put backs. For whatever reason Woody is content treating him like a dirty work player. This doesn't make sense. Word on the street is that Al has been working on his face up jumper all off season. I guess we'll see how that works out.

By: @RaptorsForum

@RaptorsForum — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:44:56 +0000

Stretching the defense is fine and dandy, but I'm really hoping to see less of Bargnani beyond the arc and more driving to the basket and working the post this season. Knowing that Bosh likes to settle for those mid-range shots, we're not doing ourselves any favours on the offensive boards if both our bigs are nowhere to be found in the key. That's where our depth in the front court will come in handy especially when they mix things up with guys like Amir and Reggie being paired up with Bosh and AB. They'll be doing all the dirty work under the glass.

Great breakdown Nat.

By: @RapsFan

@RapsFan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:38:18 +0000

Your analysis isn't a stretch at all. Covering Bargs on the 3 point line is going to be a challenge, but I expect 11-15pts from Horford, and he will badly out-rebound Bargs (worst rebounding center in the league), to me that's a beat.

They have nothing on Bosh.

By: Nat77

Nat77 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:31:54 +0000

I hear ya, I did keep Smith and Marvin as the Hawks main wings. Looking at games the teams have played in the past the bigs on the Raps have outplayed the Hawks every time. No way is Horford covering Bargs at the 3 point line and I just don't see him as an offensive threat yet. The added Joe Smith which will help slightly but I still give the edge here.
I think Josh Smith will be less effective since he will have to spend more energy playing Hedo (who plays more on the outside) unless they put Marvin on him.
I guess time will tell and this is just a version of my predictions

By: @RapsFan

@RapsFan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:25:05 +0000

I don't know if Toronto has the edge up front. For me, Smith/Horford have the edge over Bosh/Bargnani. Depth wise, the Raptors have the edge. This is more of a push or Hawks with an edge for me personally.

On the defensive end, the Raptors big will be expending energy as Smith and Horford are very active on the glass, and Horford drops 11.5 a game already, I am looking for that total to increase to 15 or so this season. Bargnani can't cover Horford…