Good, Bad and Ugly, But A Win

I had a chance to live blog this game for The Score. So if you did happen to miss this game you can see how I called it as it went down. Here is a link to the Pistons and Raps Live Blog from the Score.com. It was a lot of fun to share in a Raps game with a bunch of Raptors fans on The Score. I really do enjoy my job live blogging sports for them. Nothing beats doing a Raps game though. Maybe the playoffs but beyond that nothing is as crazy. I have done many sports and no one brings it like you Raps fans. I was thinking today just how lucky I have been in the last 2 years to get to know some many great people. The readers of this blog and all the the other folks I have got to know some more than others. I think we all know Charles Oakley and getting to hear from him again was great. There is only one Charles Oakley and watching old highlights of him brought a smile to my face. I wonder what Oakley would say to Jose Calderon if he was his team mate?

Jose Calderon is really just not getting it done defensively. But on a night full of strange stat lines Jose having just 1 assist might have been the oddest. It was pointed out in the broadcast for the majority of the game he had none. His shooting has been far from stellar of late as well. He did make a clutch 3 down the stretch. That was after getting blown by Stuckey and Bynum so much he should have whiplash. Jarrett Jack on this night was a lot better. He had 9 points and 6 assists with 3 boards. He had a couple bad moments defensively as well but on the whole was much better. If you checked out the Live Blog above Jose was one of the more popular issues on the night. Many feel it will only be a matter of time before Jack takes over at the starting point guard spot. Jack of course did that last year in Indiana with T. J Ford. It may be a case of De Ja Vu all over again. Fitting statement on a night when the Yankees win the World Series.

Demar DeRozan had one of those nights that rookies will have. He had 3 points, 3 rebounds a steal and an assist. He got blocked himself twice and looked a bit out of sorts on this night. There will be days like that for Demar, but when you see the one big moment he did have, with the big dunk you see the future and it is bright.

I mentioned there were some strange lines in this one. Chris Bosh lived at the line tonight. He had 25 points and went to the line an eye popping 20 times making 15. Bosh has been having an amazing year and is finding a way to contribute night in and night out. But the most strange stat of the night belongs to Andrea Bargnani. Many had just given up hope on Andrea being able to get rebounds. Well he had 12 of them tonight and that is unreal. Andrea is starting to look like that #1 pick that at on time seemed to be a weight to heavy for him to bear. It seems we all underestimated him or at least most of us did. As good as it was for Andrea it was a pretty unimpressive night Marco Belinelli. He had one stretch were he made back to back horrible plays. It just was not his night at all.

Antonie Wright was solid and he was part of the bench that pulled the Raps back into this one. This was a game where as confusing as the Raps can be from game to game, in this night it was from quarter to quarter. Raps looked bad in the first till reserves came in. They exploded in the 2nd scoring 44 in quarter. The Raps who at one point had the lead up to 17 would give it all back and actually trail by 2. Only to have clutch performances down the stretch of the game from Hedo, Bosh and Bargnani. Finally Hedo gave us a glimpse of what we had been waiting for. A tremendous pick and roll play lead to a Bosh dunk and Bryan Colangelo must have smiled when he say that play.

Raps still have some serious defensive issues to solve. Ben Gordon went off at the start of this one. He would be the game's high scorer with 30. Bynum and Stuckey as mentioned earlier exposed Jose Calderon on D. But worried or not the Raptors desperately needed this win with 7 of the next 8 being on the road. The Raps are 2-2 and still leave you scratching you head even in victory. Maybe Chris Bosh said it best heading into this game. Really will anyone remember these games in April? I think the may thing one just base on the Bargnani 12 rebounds.

But Good, Bad or Ugly Raps found a way to win. It was a win that they truly needed BAD!!! A Monster road trip lies ahead with stops in New Orleans, Dallas (Chris Bosh Homecoming) and San Antonio. That is what made stealing a win from a depleted and tired Pistons squad a requirement.

But be concerned and worried tomorrow...FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS YEAR THE RAPS WIN!!!!

Raps 110 Pistons 99