Raptors West Coast Free Fall Marches On

This past Monday I happened to watch the Warriors play. Anthony Morrow was shooting the lights out from 3 point range in what would be another loss for the Warriors. But I walked away thinking the Raptors could have trouble with this team. Monta Ellis back in the mix and son of Ex-Raptor Dell Curry were also part of the reason things did not go well for the Raptors last night. The Warriors only dressed 9 guys and played 8 but that would be more than enough to beat the struggling Raptors 124-112. It would be a script similar to the one written Wednesday vs the Kings. The start was good the Raptors held a 35-25 lead after the first quarter. They would survive a 2nd quarter where they gave up 31 points to take a 4 point lead to half.

The Raptors would lose this one with yet another brutal start to the 3rd quarter. It got ugly for the Raptors from there. The Raptors would go on to lose this game for 2 reasons. Turnovers 17 of them and 6 of those from the franchise player Chris Bosh. Along with a 3 point defense that is proving to be one of the worst in the NBA. The Warriors made 16 long range bombs and shot 58% from behind the 3 point line. Bosh had 24 points and 11 rebounds but the 6 turnovers mentioned erased that performance.

If it is possible to give kudos to anyone in a night where your team loses to a 17 win team it would go to Jose Calderon. This game would have been far worse if not for Jose. He shot 7-8 from 3 point range and scored 24 points and had 12 assists. Jarrett Jack only scored 7 with 3 assists and 3 turnovers and was not good at all. Amir Johnson had a nice night but as it seems is always the case foul trouble limited him. Demar DeRozan also had 18 points and when this game had got out of hand Demar was finding ways to score.

The mood in the fan base of this team was bad heading into this one. It now has climbed to epic levels and no one is safe from the anger. I saw tweets and comments blaming Colangelo, Triano, Bosh and almost everyone in between. Raptor fans want someone to blame for this post All-Star break free fall that now sees the team back at .500 at 32-32 in 8th in the Eastern Conference.

The Raptors close this terrible road trip tonight at the Rose Garden vs a tougher opposition in Portland who beat the Warriors that the Raptors could not. Brandon Roy who some Raptor fans point to when they are unhappy with Andrea Bargnani. Also Portland fans are expected to get on Hedo who basically left Blazers at the alter in free agency. However having watched Hedo all year they should be holding a parade he didn't come. Perhaps a video tribute saying thanks. HeDon't last night had 8 assists which is great...but the 4 points and 5 rebounds....not so much last night vs Warriors.

Now I want to make it clear THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN. That being said could you imagine what would happen if Sam Mitchell came back to coach this team? It would be like a storm hitting this team and would do some serious damage. The one thing Mitchell always got right was how he pushed and challenged Chris Bosh to be great. Chris has had one of his best season prior to his injury. Since returning he has not been the same. Sam Mitchell always would never allow Bosh to settle and pushed to get more out of him. Could you imagine a Sam Mitchell post game scrum after the last 2 games this team has played? For the entertainment value alone it would have been worth watching. Triano clearly has a different style on motivation than Mitchell. What is also becoming clearer by the day is Jay's way is not hitting home with this team. If the Raptors some how manage to miss the playoffs can he honestly keep his job? It is hard for me to imagine that he can.

Here is your worst case scenario for the Raptors. The Raptors back into the playoffs in 8th. Triano keeps his job and Bosh leaves via free agency. This would leave the Raptors in a terrible spot and if you think things are bad now a next season under that scenario would be far worse.