WOW they lose to this team :lolBIG:
*******
TORONTO<!-- /dateline --> -- Even home court is no longer an advantage for the beleaguered Toronto Raptors, not when the opposition is European champion Maccabi Tel Aviv.
With the overwhelming majority of the 17,281 in attendance at the Air Canada Centre yesterday throwing their support behind the touring Israeli club, Maccabi stormed back in the second half to earn a 105-103 exhibition victory over the Raptors.
<!-- /Summary -->It marked only the third time in 27 years that a National Basketball Association team had been defeated by a non-NBA opponent. In July, 1988, the Atlanta Hawks dropped a 132-123 decision to the Soviet national team in Moscow. In 1978, Maccabi scored a 98-97 victory over Washington, when the team was known as the Bullets. Before yesterday's game, NBA teams had a 26-2 record against international lineups.
"This is history," Pini Gershon, the excitable Israeli coach, said yesterday. "Everybody remembers the game Maccabi played and won against the Washington Bullets. They are still talking about it and I'm sure 20 years from now they will still be talking about this one."
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For the Raptors, winless in three preseason outings, it was an embarrassing result. After building a 12-point lead early in the third quarter, they sat back and allowed Maccabi to take the game to them.
Despite heavy playing time from marquee players Chris Bosh (44 minutes), Jalen Rose (40 minutes) and Morris Peterson (37 minutes), the Raptors' lead was sliced to 81-77 heading into the fourth quarter.
This only fuelled the excitement of the pro-Maccabi crowd, who jeered heartily every time the Raptors botched a play or missed a free throw and cheered lustily every time Maccabi made a basket. Several times the crowd started chanting "Macc-A-Bi, Macc-A-Bi" and the Toronto players just looked around in bewilderment.
"People support their country here a lot, and being in a diverse city I expect it," Bosh said about the lack of support from the Toronto fans.
"I'm going to stay away from that one," Rose said when asked if he was disappointed by the crowd's reaction.
The game turned in the final moments when Toronto guard Mike James made a slashing drive to the basket and scored on a lay-up over the outstretched hand of Maccabi centre Yaniv Green to knot the score at 103-103.
But there was still just more than 18 seconds left, enough time for Anthony Parker, a first-round draft choice of the New Jersey Nets in 1997, to drain a 15-foot fadeaway shot to win the game for Tel Aviv.
As Parker's shot slipped through the basket with less than a second remaining, delirious fans danced and waved Israeli flags. Yakov Brosch, the Israeli consul-general in Toronto, ran down the front row and high-fived spectators.
Toronto coach Sam Mitchell was not about to diminish the victory by disparaging Maccabi.
"I would look like an idiot to stand up here and disrespect a team that just beat you," Mitchell said. "You don't do that."
The Raptors realized last year, when they booked yesterday's game, that there was a strong possibility they could lose. Toronto is not that good an NBA team, and Maccabi has proven itself to be a formidable foe, having won three European championships since 2001 and 45 Israeli league championships since 1954.
Due to political unrest in the Mideast, heavy security measures are in place whenever Maccabi Tel Aviv travels abroad, and yesterday at the ACC was no different. Along with the normal security in place for Raptors home games, officers with the Metro Toronto Police VIP intelligence squad were on hand. Bomb-sniffing guard dogs patrolled the outside of the ACC as well as the interior of the building, paying special attention to the area around the Israeli bench.
NBA commissioner David Stern made a special trip to Toronto for the game and sat courtside with Larry Tanenbaum, the chairman and minority owner of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Raptors.
<!-- Addendum --><!-- Revisiondate --><!-- /Revisiondate --><!-- Memo --><!-- /Memo --><!-- /Addendum -->
*******
TORONTO<!-- /dateline --> -- Even home court is no longer an advantage for the beleaguered Toronto Raptors, not when the opposition is European champion Maccabi Tel Aviv.
With the overwhelming majority of the 17,281 in attendance at the Air Canada Centre yesterday throwing their support behind the touring Israeli club, Maccabi stormed back in the second half to earn a 105-103 exhibition victory over the Raptors.
<!-- /Summary -->It marked only the third time in 27 years that a National Basketball Association team had been defeated by a non-NBA opponent. In July, 1988, the Atlanta Hawks dropped a 132-123 decision to the Soviet national team in Moscow. In 1978, Maccabi scored a 98-97 victory over Washington, when the team was known as the Bullets. Before yesterday's game, NBA teams had a 26-2 record against international lineups.
"This is history," Pini Gershon, the excitable Israeli coach, said yesterday. "Everybody remembers the game Maccabi played and won against the Washington Bullets. They are still talking about it and I'm sure 20 years from now they will still be talking about this one."
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For the Raptors, winless in three preseason outings, it was an embarrassing result. After building a 12-point lead early in the third quarter, they sat back and allowed Maccabi to take the game to them.
Despite heavy playing time from marquee players Chris Bosh (44 minutes), Jalen Rose (40 minutes) and Morris Peterson (37 minutes), the Raptors' lead was sliced to 81-77 heading into the fourth quarter.
This only fuelled the excitement of the pro-Maccabi crowd, who jeered heartily every time the Raptors botched a play or missed a free throw and cheered lustily every time Maccabi made a basket. Several times the crowd started chanting "Macc-A-Bi, Macc-A-Bi" and the Toronto players just looked around in bewilderment.
"People support their country here a lot, and being in a diverse city I expect it," Bosh said about the lack of support from the Toronto fans.
"I'm going to stay away from that one," Rose said when asked if he was disappointed by the crowd's reaction.
The game turned in the final moments when Toronto guard Mike James made a slashing drive to the basket and scored on a lay-up over the outstretched hand of Maccabi centre Yaniv Green to knot the score at 103-103.
But there was still just more than 18 seconds left, enough time for Anthony Parker, a first-round draft choice of the New Jersey Nets in 1997, to drain a 15-foot fadeaway shot to win the game for Tel Aviv.
As Parker's shot slipped through the basket with less than a second remaining, delirious fans danced and waved Israeli flags. Yakov Brosch, the Israeli consul-general in Toronto, ran down the front row and high-fived spectators.
Toronto coach Sam Mitchell was not about to diminish the victory by disparaging Maccabi.
"I would look like an idiot to stand up here and disrespect a team that just beat you," Mitchell said. "You don't do that."
The Raptors realized last year, when they booked yesterday's game, that there was a strong possibility they could lose. Toronto is not that good an NBA team, and Maccabi has proven itself to be a formidable foe, having won three European championships since 2001 and 45 Israeli league championships since 1954.
Due to political unrest in the Mideast, heavy security measures are in place whenever Maccabi Tel Aviv travels abroad, and yesterday at the ACC was no different. Along with the normal security in place for Raptors home games, officers with the Metro Toronto Police VIP intelligence squad were on hand. Bomb-sniffing guard dogs patrolled the outside of the ACC as well as the interior of the building, paying special attention to the area around the Israeli bench.
NBA commissioner David Stern made a special trip to Toronto for the game and sat courtside with Larry Tanenbaum, the chairman and minority owner of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Raptors.
<!-- Addendum --><!-- Revisiondate --><!-- /Revisiondate --><!-- Memo --><!-- /Memo --><!-- /Addendum -->
