The season is drawing to a close and based on Jay Trinao's pre-game presser last night it would seem what you saw last night is what you will get the rest of the way. Which means no Bargnani, Calderon, Amir Johnson, Barbosa etc. In terms of Johnson while Trinao would not elaborate he said that Johnson they have been told by doctors has more than just an ankle sprain. Given the Raptors have a long term investment in him that is cause for concern. How much cause you really can't say not knowing the full extent of what is wrong. At least it was slightly better than the standard hockey lower and upper body injury. We do have a body part an ankle that has taken a ton of abuse this season. Amir Johnson is likely done for the year and really gave everything he had for this team. A true warrior like effort and he did all he could to earn every penny he was paid. But Raptors move on nine strong or weak as the case maybe. Facing a Bucks team that had higher expectations this season than Toronto and has fallen well short of them. I was one of the view that did not praise the Bucks off-season. They in my opinion took steps backwards not forward and as they will watch the post-season with the Raptors and others it is hard to say I was wrong.
The Basics: Raptors 22-58 (Still tied with Wizards for 3rd worst in NBA) vs Bucks 33-47 (21-19 at home this being their final home game of the season)
When Last We Saw Them: I was there in person and watched the Raptors build a huge lead and almost watch it melt away. Maybe it was the Raptors small line up of just 9, the fact both teams had nothing but pride to play for, but whatever it was this felt like a summer league game. Raptors get the win and remained tied with Wiz for 3rd worst in NBA.
The Key Match Ups: No Bogut and Bargnani which is advantage Raptors as Bogut in previous match-ups has been unstoppable for the Dinos. Milwaukee goes with a undersized starting five and the one you might worry about most has the nicest hair in the gym. Carlos Delfino for whatever reason gets jacked up to play his former club and if he gets hot from 3 point land could make for a long night. Bayless has done well scoring and running the offence but on D not so much and Brandon Jennings is a guy that has potential to go off if you let him. Last home game of the year for the Bucks and Jennings would like to put on a show for his fans you would have to imagine. Demar DeRozan and Ed Davis are perhaps the only reasons to watch the Raptors these days and look for them to try to take advantage of lots of playing time and continue their positive play down the stretch.
Other Things of Note: Just want to say I had a great time in Toronto yesterday and covering the Raptors for another year. From fans of the blog, to people who have become friends, media friends and the Raptors staff and players it has all made for an enjoyable second season covering the team. More thoughts on this is in the post prior to this one if you care to check it out. Also I made my weekly visit to the Team 990 on early Saturday Morning. Not much Raptors talk in it but lots of talk about the coming NBA playoffs in it so give it a listen if you like.
Where is it on: TSN....No Really!!! The main network for one last time this season. How the Bucks get on a Main Network and on Wednesday the Heat do not is one of the mysteries of what the heck the people do in scheduling of sports in this country are thinking. Something tells me I never want to know. Psst....Miami Heat are a pretty big deal.....They have this guy that use to play for the Raptors too. Might have seen it on the news on ESPN.
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