Worst Loss Ever

Normally we would do a re-cap of a game. But there really would be not much point in doing so. After one quarter of play the Warriors losers of 6 in a row coming in had 45 points. They shot 81 percent in that quarter. At the half they had 84 points. A kid playing NBA 2k11 would have been hard pressed to match those numbers. But this was not a video game, it was reality and it was sad and pathetic. The 139-100 final was flattering to the Raptors it should have been worse.

I am tired of the excuses that are made for Jay Triano. The reality is when it comes to defence his team does not play it. The Raptors were short handed in this one with no Amir, Reggie and Jose Calderon would only play a half leaving with a hamstring injury. But all that said there was a complete lack of defensive effort on the floor on full display. Andrea Bargnani even Triano admitted earlier in the year has not improved as a help defender. He is let's be honest pretty much defenceless. While you can place the blame for that on Andrea it is Jay's job to change it. He hasn't and this team has had far to many performances like this. Sam Mitchell lost his job for far less. A Sam Mitchell team would rarely get total embarrassed as often as it has happened under Triano in less than 3 years. At the very least under Sam there was some evidence of accountability something that is clearly lacking under Triano.

I have watched this team for 16 years and been a fan for most of that time. I started covering the team with the blog for the last 3+ years. I have never seen a worse performance than what I watched last night. I was embarrassed personally for wasting my time watching this garbage. It was a low point in the 16 years that I have watched this team play basketball. If this team continues down this path to no where I am not sure that many can take it.

This was suppose to be a season about development. So ask yourself this question. Where has been the development on this team defensively, as a team, or even as individuals. I have seen next to none. That no matter what excuses people care to offer is on Jay Triano. He has failed to show any signs he can get a team to play acceptable defence on a consistent basis. While many will point to Bryan Colangelo for putting this group together, which is true some of the blame is his. That still does not factor in the lack of accountability on this team. The lack of perimeter defence, transition defence or anything with word defence in it.

Andrea Bargnani has proven to be a one denominational player and when he fails to do that he is a complete train wreck on the floor. He will never be the franchise player of this team for a very simple reason. No one can honestly have any respect for a guy that shows no effort on the glass or on defence. If you are a player scrapping for minutes on this team, how does it make you feel when you see that. I have heard the expression many times you want your best player to be your hardest worker. Andrea is not even close to that. Chris Bosh for whatever you think of him now, always gave an effort most times he stepped on the floor for a practice or a game. The guy that acts like a franchise player on this team is Demar DeRozan. He is not setting the world on fire with his defence either. But he is far less of a finished product than Bargnani and you do see a work ethic in DeRozan to give you hope for his future.

When you play Calderon and Bargnani on the floor together you are basically giving a team a 5 on 3 power play in basketball. One or both have to go. Which might be a tough task especially with Calderon who yet again pulled up lame. I remember I got hammered by some for calling him injury prone. Sorry to break the news to you folks but he is.

There are 10 games left in this season. While firing Jay Triano at this point is just a pointless and mealiness gesture. He has shown zero reason that he deserves to keep his job. If Jay Triano was from Boise, Idaho does anyone honestly believe he would have lasted this long? He out lived coach after coach as an assistant. He eventually was given the head coaching job making him the first ever Canadian Head Coach in NBA History. Jay Triano is a great person and a great Canadian, no one can or should take that away from him. That being said, do I care more about Jay than I do a franchise that I have supported from Day 1? Nope sorry I don't. His time is up and he needs to go. The longer he stays it is just wasting time.

After 16 years of this, I can honestly say that was the worse loss I have seen. I can also say as a fan it is one of the few times I have felt truly embarrassed to be a fan of the Raptors. Even when Kobe Bryant lit up this team for 81 you could rationalize that by saying well it was Kobe. There is no rationalizing away the fact the Jay Triano has coached this team to the bottom of the league on defence. He has to be gone if there is any hope for this team going forward.