How did a NBA team lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv. MTA is a very good team but they shouldn't beat a NBA team. Raptors played their starters most of the game. This is the first time in 27 years a NBA team has lost to them.
How did the Olympic Team lose to Argentina and Italy? They underestimated their competition and played a terrible team game. I'm sure it wasn't a whole lot different from the Raps game, except the fact that no one on the Raps starting lineup really deserves to be a starter beside Bosh and Rose.
A perennial Euroleague championship contender played a team that is, by far, the worst team in the NBA. While I doubt that Maccabi Tel Aviv could beat any other NBA teams (maybe New Orleans and Charlotte), it isn't suprising that they were up for this game and took care of business.
I dunno. The Raptors have talent - Villanueva is going to adjust very quickly to the NBA even though he's frustrating at times, Bosh is a poor man's Garnett, Rose can score, etc. By far the worst? That's a bit harsh.
Pathetic, getting beat on your home court and playing your league rules by a Euro team, I don't care what kind of "this is only a preseason game" spin you put on it. Babcock and Mitchell won't last long at this rate.
I'm starting to lose it with Raptor fans. Check out while appeared in my inbox the other day: And on and on about Charlie Villenueva, the next Bill Russell. It's one thing to disagree with me, because it's been proven time and time again that I'm a moron, but the "you b*stard American xenophobe"-taint that I get from each and every missive sent to me by Raptor fans is just pathetic. Talk about an inferiority complex...
Com'on Kelly. You have to say that you guys make us out to be the biggest joke in league history. Ripping on the Raptors seems like the ‘it’ thing to do. That’s why you’re probably getting all that hate mail. We drafted Villinueva because he WANTED to be here. Other players that were available at that position were not as enthused to be in Toronto as Villi. So wouldn’t you take him over say a kid like Green, who you would have developed into a star in four years and then seen him walk?
I could give a rip about Charlie/Green/whoever. Basketball isn't the issue. The issue every insecure Raptor fan crying about xenophobia when they perceive a slight to be there -- when there never is. How I've never said a cross word about the country in my life, and wouldn't have a reason to, but every email I and other writers get from Raptor fans is rife with anti-American nonsense.
There are more Raptors fans on the internet than 100 Clutchfans.nets. Why? Is it because Canada has only one pro basketball team, and the entire country is wired to the internet? And they have a huge chip on their soldier because of the losing, as well as the whole Canada thing. And they're contentious. I've seen like three 50-page threads on RealGM where fans who defend or rationalize Rob Babcock for taking Raphael Araujo in the draft go to war with fans who think he's an idiot who doesn't know what he's doing.
being up for a game versus not giving a crap can do a lot. unless all the guys on the tel-aviv team end up in the nba, then it's obviously not talent or team play (since i'm pretty sure nba coaches like team play).
According to the following article Link I wonder whether both sides then treated the game serious. Either way, the victory shouldn't be a surprise. The US team was beat fair and square in world championship tournament and Olympics. I am suprised Raptors can hold on to a Euroleague champion to the last few seconds.
Was the media ripping the Raptors back in '01 when they were a good team? Not that I can remember. Their GM has proven to be one of the worst in the NBA, and has made several bad basketball decisions. Dissing the Raptors because they're in Canada never really even occured to me. I just thought they sucked.
i apologize to you as a Raptor fan… hope it makes you feel better. by the way it’s the media up here that fills us up with b.s about how good the Raptor team is, especially on the radio(Since many of their on-air personalities(FAN590) work for the Raptors in some shape or form) . MOST of the guys on the radio were making fun of how the ESPN draft commentators reacted to Villi getting drafted at #7. They thought that if New York would have drafted him, this type of commotion would not have been made because *they know* basketball. So basically i am blaming the media up here in toronto for all the anti american b.s you have been getting. So it's not really the fans fault, we have been fed this crap from a long time.
One of the reasons why the media is making fun of the Raptors is because they already have Bosh and still had to get Villi and not someone else. You're strongest position was PF and you still had to draft another PF. NY doesn't have a solid PF like Bosh so it makes sense for them.
