At Toronto tonight, I'd like to think the game will come down to whether Sam Mitchell will blink first and insert a smaller guard than Anthony Parker--Willie Solomon? Roko Ukic?--to try and deal with the double point guard lineup the Bobcats have been using. JRich might be back, but expect him to play limited minutes, if he does play.

Of course, I'd like to think the game will come down to who can defend both Augustin and Felton, since Calderon has been having trouble with quicker point guards and there's no way Parker or Jason Kapono can stay in front of Felton and respect his jumper, but the game will more likely come down to whether or not the Cats can stop the Raps' bigs. Bosh is Bosh, and you just need to see his stat lines and hot spots to get a picture of the nightmare matchup. As with the last meeting, Jared Dudley and Gerald Wallace should see plenty of time matched up on him. With Jermaine O'Neal's knee acting up again, the Raptors might benefit, because they can put Bargnani out on whoever the Cats' nominal center is, whether that's Ajinca, Hollins, or even Emeka, and he'll be able to defend adequately while pulling that guy out to the arc on the other end.

Shoot the lights out, guys. That's how you beat Philly. Now, just do it again.

===

While Wallace for Kaman would be painful, but possibly for the best, Richardson for Kaman would be an absolute coup for the Bobcats.

Put simply, Richardson makes so much money that he hinders the Bobcats' ability to go out and sign better players. He's a better player than, say, Matt Carroll, but it's the exact same issue.

If you have a 2001 Lexus that you've yet to pay off, and there's still $70,000 left to pay (which is $20,000 more than what is "fair value"), would you trade it and the payment obligations for a 2004 Toyota Tundra that costs $40,000 (which is just about "fair value")? If you're thinking about your total finances, you take the truck and the cheaper payment plan because you never want to overpay for anything. You'll change your lifestyle somewhat, because you can't do the same things with a Tundra that you can a Lexus, but you'll probably save enough money to do some serious repairs on your house (that's building a real bench or investing in international scouting in this analogy).