24 31 de Outubro a 6 de Novembro de 2008 Stadium Suplemento Desportivo
Stadium Suplemento Desportivo 31 de Outubro a 6 de Novembro de 2008 25 “Let the games begin” The Toronto Raptors began their 2008-2009 season on Wednesday night in Philadelphia against the 76ers, and tonight they host the Golden State Warriors at the Air Canada Centre. There are a few new faces for the Raptors this season including Jermaine O’Neal. O’Neal, who was traded to Toronto for T.J. Ford, will be a force under the basket; which will alleviate the stress on Chris Bosh. He will be a second scoring option for the Raptors who look to improve this season. Teams will have to rethink double teaming Bosh in the post position because O’Neal is always a threat to score. Could O’Neal be the missing link in the Raptor’s line-up? We’ll have to wait and see how the season unfolds. With the departure of T.J. Ford, Jose Calderon will take on full time point guard responsibilities. This is exactly what the Raptors needed as Calderon outshined Ford last season with his clutch play. But will Calderon crack under the pressure of being the number one go to guy? This season will surely be exciting for Raptors’ fans that are anxious for a winning team in Toronto. The last two seasons were great but this year, the Raptors have to make a strong push in the playoffs. I know it’s too early to talk about the post season; considering the regular season has just begun; but, this team is on the verge of greatness, and basketball fans in the city are ready to have a winning season. It’s not going to be easy considering the Boston Celtics are going to look to repeat as champions. And since they haven’t really made any changes to their line-up, they are going to be hard to beat. The key for success here in Toronto is staying healthy and being competitive. Too many times last year, the Raptors fell short against teams ANTÓNIO M. NÓBREGA they should have beaten. This can not happen again this season, if they want to win a championship. They must come out of the gates strong and dominate the weaker teams. No more Mr. Nice Raptors! Agitar as águas para encarar ciclo infernal TRÊS JOGOS DECISIVOS FRENTE A NAVAL, DÍNAMO DE KIEV E SPORTING Naval (Liga), Dínamo de Kiev (Liga dos Campeões) e Sporting (Taça de Portugal) são os próximos adversários do FC Porto que podem ter uma palavra a dizer naquilo que será o resto da época azul e branca. É um ciclo de elevado grau de dificuldade, ainda mais tendo em conta que todos esses jogos vão ser disputados fora de casa. Se na Liga, uma prova longa, ainda há margem de manobra, o mesmo não se pode dizer relativamente à Champions e principalmente à Taça. Mas isso não retira a grande importância que o jogo na Figueira da Foz terá para o FC Porto, uma vez que se torna urgente terminar com o ciclo de derrotas consecutivas em que a equipa se encontra. RAPTORS WIN FIRST GAME Bosh had a sublime night of 27 points and 11 rebounds and combined with Jermaine O’Neal to outplay Philadelphia’s highly touted front court, as the Raptors opened the NBA’s regular season with an impressive 95-84 victory at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday night. With O’Neal chipping in 17 points and eight boards, the Raptor big men handled Philly’s Elton Brand (14 points, 13 rebounds) and Sam Dalembert (9 points, 17 boards, five fouls) in the first meeting of the reconstructed front courts. And getting solid contributions from the likes of Jason Kapono, 15 points including a dagger of a three-pointer that put Toronto up 11 with just under two minutes left, the Raptors were fully deserving of the victory. Jose Calderon, despite battling fourthquarter foul trouble, had 13 points and seven assists but was able to get a break because of a solid debut from Roko Ukic. Ukic, the rookie who’s earned the backup point guard role in part because Will Solomon is injured, was pressed into significant action in his first ever NBA regular season game when Calderon picked up two quick fourth-quarter fouls, giving him five for the game with 7:50 left and Toronto up by nine. Ukic, who had looked good with a couple of exceptions in his debut, held his own long enough to let Calderon get some rest before letting the veteran finish off the game. The Sixers were one of the big surprises of last season, putting on a stirring finish to grab the seventh playoff spot and giving the Detroit Pistons all the trouble they could handle in the first round. That finish, and the addition of Brand, has created all kinds of buzz about the team, buzz that coach Mo Cheeks would rather just go away. “I talk about just being who we are,” Cheeks said before the game. “I tried to make it a point to them to not worry about the expectations that people put on them because last year there were no expectations on them and we didn’t want to listen to those. Certainly expectations are a little bit higher and we don’t want to listen to those, either.” His counterpart, Toronto’s Sam Mitchell, begins his fifth season with the Raptors as he usually does – much more concerned than excited. His team, with the addition of O’Neal, has some expectations, too, but he went into the game worried about what could go bad rather than what could surprise him. “Like all coaches, you’re nervous,” he said Tuesday morning. “You’re irritable the day before the game, the day of the game. You just are because you’re thinking about 100 different things. “You don’t come in here thinking about all the things that can go right, you walk in the gym thinking about all the things that can go wrong. That’s just the nature of coaching.” The Raptors certainly gave him something to worry about in the first quarter, when they gave up an astonishing 22 rebounds (tying the most by a Raptor opponent in one quarter ever) and trailed by as many as eight. But winning the battle of the boards 17-10 in the second quarter, and scoring 33 points, the Raptors came back to take a 51-45 lead at the half. (in: Toronto Star) Uma vitória frente à Naval será igualmente importante em termos anímicos para a equipa enfrentar as deslocações a Kiev e a Alvalade. Agora como há dois anos, Jesualdo Ferreira terá, portanto, de agitar as águas. A última vez que o FC Porto perdeu dois jogos caseiros consecutivos, recorde-se, foi na época 2006/2007. Depois de umas prolongadas férias de Natal, a equipa não resistiu aos embates com o Atlético (Taça) e com o E. Amadora (Liga), comprometendo uma época que se perspectivava tranquila. Nessa altura, a reabilitação foi feita à base de trabalho árduo e diálogo e o volte-face verificou-se, curiosamente, num jogo com a Naval, esse disputado no Estádio do Dragão – vitória por 4-0, com golos de Lucho, Lisandro (2) e Adriano. Apesar dos recentes maus resultados que podem afectar a equipa no ciclo decisivo que se segue, a verdade é que este FC Porto de Jesualdo tem-se dado bem nos jogos fora de casa. Manter essa tendência é fundamental.