Chris Bosh has been playing a key role for the Miami Heat as they lead the Thunder 2-1 in the NBA Finals. I mentioned on Friday how the the Raptors no matter what they may say after he has gone, were ill prepared to have him walk. Ultimately, when you think about the Raptors now they have basically just elevated Andrea Bargnani to the roll of Bosh on their roster. In comparing the two players they offer a much different skill set at first glance. Bosh would always be considered a better rebounder and Bargnani a better shooter. Still both at times have been questioned for their desire to defend and do the dirty work. In some senses the Raptors are still following the same model that they failed to have success with under Bosh. Bargnani quickly replaced Bosh in terms of his role on the team. The one role the Raptors have never replaced since he left was the one that Vince Carter filled with the Raptors. That dynamic small forward that could both attack the basket and make a poster, but still be able to hang out beyond the arc and bomb 3's at times.That is something the Raptors have not replaced. Demar DeRozan has half that equation in being able to attack the basket and make spectacular finishes. He lacks that three point threat to truly be taken seriously by a defense to worry about him.
The Raptors ultimate problems might not be all that different without Bosh as they were with him. I don't think Andrea Bargnani is a significantly better player than Bosh or every will be unless the Raptors fix these problems. Can Bargnani have more success than Bosh did if the Raptors find a dynamic wing option and a better point guard to attack the basket? Probably they can but they had seven years of trying to find those things with Bosh and were never able to find that proper mix. Another thing that was missing was a true center that could rebound and defend. The Raptors hope they have found that piece in Jonas Valancuinas. In many ways could develop into the Anti-Bargnani. If he can make up for Bargnani's lack of rebounding and have his back as help defender it could make for a nice pairing. Still, without that dynamic wing and attacking the hoop point guard the Raptors remain somewhat flawed.
Andrea Bargnani is no more a 1a player than Chris Bosh was. He just isn't that guy even if you believe the guy that exploded for about a stretch of 13 games is the real Andrea Bargnani moving forward. The one good thing about Bosh leaving has been it has allowed Andrea Bargnani to play at his natural position and even if it is just from a mental point of view, he is more comfortable at that spot. Ultimately the Raptors problems before Bosh and after him still are basically the same ones including the fact that Bosh ultimately left and went elsewhere.
It has always been a source of frustration for the Raptors top star whoever that happened to be to recruit players to come here to play along side them. Some will tell you if the Raptors start winning the players will come. Really think this is honestly true? I mean you may hate him now, but Vince Carter was at one time in Toronto considered one of the best players in the league and likely was the most popular. Raptors were winning and appearing on national T.V in the United States. What was he able to attract to the Raptors in terms of free agency? The answer is not much except of a past his prime Hakeem the dream that quickly turned into a Raptor nightmare. If he can't get anyone to come in that position on top of the NBA map can we honestly think that Chris Bosh could have or Andrea Bargnani and Demar DeRozan can?
Basically the Raptors are a team that by and large has had to build a team with only 2 of the 3 major components you have too build a franchise. In the time Bosh was here the Raptors would never venture into that level of being a tax team with greater penalties for being one the Raptors are no more likely to do that with Bargnani. In fact, Colangelo all but said that would be the case for this upcoming season. If you are not going to over spend a little and being willing to go that extra mile to try and change the Raptors free agency fortune it is going to be hard to see a solution to this problem.
Friday I was talking about hope and not so much today. Still if you want some hope of how the Raptors fix this problem in free agency I will give you a long term answer. You clearly have noticed that basketball has had a lot more talented Canadians playing the game these days. Legit Canadian Draft prospects are now becoming the norm and not the exception. If enough of these Canadians develop into true NBA players the Raptors will have a pool of free agents that would actually value the Raptors differently. The idea of coming home and playing here might be to much to pass up. Steve Nash has manged to avoid the temptation of it. Still as the numbers increase of Canadians not all of them will be able to resist you have to figure. This solution is not keeping Bryan Colangelo his job or helping out in the short term unless you in fact sign Nash. Over time though the Raptors need to consider this as their one advantage they have in free agency.
I guess what I am saying is the Raptors are still a team that is trying to build around primarily a power forward that has some obvious flaws but some obvious talent. So really has anything changed in terms of the game plan for the Raptors? Not so much I guess.
Showing posts with label Andrea Bargnani. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andrea Bargnani. Show all posts
5/3/12
Jack Armstrong Is Here For The Starting 5
As I mentioned Jack will be back to talk about the draft once the Lottery Balls have fallen. He obviously gave you a hint on his feelings on Anthony Davis but safe to say almost everyone shares that opinion that he is the consensus number one pick heading into the draft. We will be reaching out to others getting their thoughts on the season and off-season to come in the next few weeks. So stay tuned and be on the look out for more guests as we get prepared for the off-season. Jack is an honorary member of #TeamDNB for me. He has become our most popular guest over the years and it is mainly because of two things. The first is Jack and his no nonsense approach mixed with good humour that Raptor fans have come to love. Second his willingness to be a guest on a regular basis and show faith in me to do a good interview. Those two things are what has made him are most frequent and most popular guest in The Starting 5 and we are thrilled as always to have him on with us.
4/27/12
Raptors Last Day Of School
It was a long day in Toronto for me yesterday. First there was the annual end of the year press conference for the players. Normally commonly refereed to as locker clean out day, but the Raptors still had a game to play. A concert by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers allowed this uncommon event to take place. The common theme of those exit interviews was a general consensus that things had changed for the Raptors. This was stated from longest serving Raptor Jose Calderon to second year man Ed Davis. What was also a common theme was a desire to grab the brass ring and make it to the NBA Playoffs next season. To say it is one thing, to believe it is another. The respect this team seems to universally have for Dwane Casey has been obvious throughout the season. Ultimately the Raptors seem to feel they now have an identity and blue print to build on towards that goal of returning to the post season.
No one seemed to have any answers or be willing to share thoughts of what they needed in terms of additions to the roster that will help in that goal of being a playoff team in 2012-13. They all deferred to Bryan Colangelo who has a massive off-season in front of him. The days of everyone just accepting the genius of Bryan Colangelo is no longer just accepted anymore. The first thing that he will be judged on is his draft choice from last season in Jonas Valanciunas who if you hadn't heard will be coming next year. While the Raptors odds of landing Anthony Davis seem bleak at this point, if Valancinus lives up to the considerable hype it might not be the disaster it appears to be for some. In my opinion the Raptors would actually be better served in some respects to wind up the runner-up and select Michael Kidd-Gilchrist also of Kentucky. The Raptors need a better option at the small forward position. James Johnson can be a good player for this team but ultimately does not have the overall skill set to be in the starting line-up. Johnson spoke of his late season blow up with coach Casey and said it is in the past and that he respects him. If the Raptors add someone that ultimately will play in front of him, it will be vital that he is able to stay motivated and contributing. While he still strongly believes in his game on the offensive end, it will be his defensive game that will be what is required for him to be part of the solution.
Andrea Bargnani looked like another person when this season began. When asked what was his best memory from this season, he said it was two minutes prior to ultimately re-injuring his calf muscle in Utah. When that happened you saw some rare raw emotion from Andrea Bargnani. After that we saw little of Bargnani and the Andrea we saw after that point looked a lot more like the Bargnani we had seen in the past. Dwane Casey in his post season remarks today praised Andrea for allowing him to push him. Ultimately heading into next season there will be two main questions. One is if Andrea Bargnani can be healthy and when injures happen can he grind and play through them. The fact this same injury was a factor no less than three times this season has to be a major concern. In addition Andrea Bargnani needs to prove the guy that many were saying was playing at an all-star level is the guy that shows up next season. Italy will not be going to Olympics so Andrea unlike some other players will not be part of things in London. He will have a entire off-season to figure all this out.
Jose Calderon will be in London and likely playing major minutes for Spain given the fact Ricky Rubio is no longer an option for the Spanish Team. Raptor fans outside of Spain may not be so thrilled with that. The Raptors have not exactly had the best of luck in terms of players participating for Spain. Calderon had one of the more solid seasons he has had in the past few years. Colangelo dismissed any thought that Calderon will be going anywhere in his remarks to the media today. He praised Calderon's defense which has improved to some degree under Casey. I would debate how much it has in comparison to Colangelo's assessment.
There seems to be a common consensus that both Ed Davis and Amir Johnson can not both remain as part of this team moving forward. I would tend to disagree with that given the uncertainty to Bargnani's health moving forward. You can throw Linas Kleiza is in that mix as well but given the coming of Jonas, if for no other reason than to help with his transition to life in the NBA and North America it would make sense that he remains on the roster.
In terms of Ed Davis this off-season will be vital for him and his long term future with the Raptors. He has yet to have a full off-season and training camp based on injuries and the NBA Lockout. I personally have concerns about Ed and his ability to develop. He seems to need to be constantly pushed. Casey consistently as mentioned his desire to see Ed and Demar both hit the weights in the off-season and get stronger. Davis when asked about it responded in a rather concerning way. He felt that people will always be questioning his size throughout his NBA Career. This sounded a lot like what use to be said by a young Chris Bosh. That said, the comparison between Bosh and Davis ends there. It is one thing to put up 24 points in a game that the other team had no desire to win and doing it in a game that matters. The organization has stated that he will be the primary focus of the Raptors Summer League team in Las Vegas. Colangelo in his remarks today basically stated that Ed Davis will be held more accountable moving forward and there will be less tolerance in terms of allowing him to develop.
There will be not much said about Demar DeRozan in this post because I had a chance to talk with him later in the day prior to the game last night. Colangelo in his remarks today said that the sky was the limit for DeRozan and he mentioned the same things that Coach Casey has stated about Demar getting bigger and stronger. He also made the point that Demar was the youngest player on this roster on a team full of young players. Colangelo also broke some news in his remarks as he stated that Dwane Casey has got his contract extended. He also made reference to Casey earning bonuses based on this teams dramatic improvement on defense.
That sums up the interviews of the players and we touched on what Casey and Colangelo had to say. Will have more on that later today or tomorrow. However let's shift to the game from last night briefly and touch on a few points.
First the crowd was addressed by Jaamal Magloire and as I had mentioned I was not looking forward to this. It was all I expected and even more. Keeping in mind that Magloire is not even under contract for next season at this point. It is thought that the Raptors might be willing to keep him around and it is clear he is desperate to be around. All of that said he when out and thanked the fans and encouraged them to stick with the team. That is your standard stuff no shock in that. The next part was, in which he more or less gave a promise of the playoffs next season. I am fine if that is Andrea Bargnani talking or Demar DeRozan stating that. We are confident they are going to be here and be a huge part in making that happen. Jaamal Magloire for all of the praise he gets has little impact directly on the floor. Everyone will tell you about his impact off of the floor and that is hard to evaluate in it's actual impact. If he is back I would not be happy about it, but that will not shock anyone.
This game was a utter shame on so many levels. The Raptors and Nets played in effect a glorified Vegas Summer League game. The only thing that made this somewhat bearable was the performance of Ben Uzoh. He got a triple double and became the first Raptor to do so since Alvin Williams in 2001. Sure this game was utterly without meaning in almost every way. That said to get a triple double under any circumstances is not easy to achieve. If it was than surly someone on the Raptors would have done it in 12 years. If you want to earn some respect or dough in the future remember the name Ben Uzoh and triple double and you will have the ultimate trivia question in about 5 years. Who is to say what the future holds for Alan Anderson and Ben Uzoh and if they will ever wear a Raptor jersey again. What you can say is good for them in doing a solid job in building a case for themselves to be in the NBA even if that isn't here in Toronto. They had an opportunity and they ceased it and took advantage of it.
Ultimately this season was about Dwane Casey establish a positive identity for the Toronto Raptors. Everyone from the players, to the fans, to other NBA Teams now have an understanding of what it means to be or face the Toronto Raptors. It seems almost comical now how some people at this time last season were still convinced that Jay Triano would still be the coach of this team heading into this season. The best decision the Raptors made this past off-season was hiring Dwane Casey and nothing else comes even close to that. The fact he earned an extension based on his performance this season will surprise no one. The Raptors will pick up the option year on his contract. He has brought back an accountability to the Toronto Raptors that had been lacking for years. When you go in the Raptor locker room it is very clear who the boss is on this team and it is him. To earn the respect of NBA players and be able to get them to buy into what you are selling is a tough job and a constant struggle. In a season that was challenging for any coach in the NBA, it allowed Casey to thrive and survive his first season exceeding almost all expectations that may have been made on what he could realistically achieve.
Up next on our off-season madness of work will be taking a look at Demar DeRozan and hearing his thoughts on what lies ahead for his future and off-season. So be on the look out for that. Also as I was making people aware on Twitter I have lined up a number of guests to talk with us about the season that was and get their thoughts on the future. That begins with my favourite guest Jack Armstrong sometime next week. Many of you missed him on the broadcasts during the final stretch so you will get you fix of Jack here in the DNB. He always has some interesting thoughts on what is going on with the Raptors and I just love having him in the blog. He even helps me learn some things when he is. So that said the season is over but the Dino Nation Blog marches on the entire off-season for the most part. So make sure to stick with us through the off-season which promises to be an eventful one for the Raptors.
No one seemed to have any answers or be willing to share thoughts of what they needed in terms of additions to the roster that will help in that goal of being a playoff team in 2012-13. They all deferred to Bryan Colangelo who has a massive off-season in front of him. The days of everyone just accepting the genius of Bryan Colangelo is no longer just accepted anymore. The first thing that he will be judged on is his draft choice from last season in Jonas Valanciunas who if you hadn't heard will be coming next year. While the Raptors odds of landing Anthony Davis seem bleak at this point, if Valancinus lives up to the considerable hype it might not be the disaster it appears to be for some. In my opinion the Raptors would actually be better served in some respects to wind up the runner-up and select Michael Kidd-Gilchrist also of Kentucky. The Raptors need a better option at the small forward position. James Johnson can be a good player for this team but ultimately does not have the overall skill set to be in the starting line-up. Johnson spoke of his late season blow up with coach Casey and said it is in the past and that he respects him. If the Raptors add someone that ultimately will play in front of him, it will be vital that he is able to stay motivated and contributing. While he still strongly believes in his game on the offensive end, it will be his defensive game that will be what is required for him to be part of the solution.
Andrea Bargnani looked like another person when this season began. When asked what was his best memory from this season, he said it was two minutes prior to ultimately re-injuring his calf muscle in Utah. When that happened you saw some rare raw emotion from Andrea Bargnani. After that we saw little of Bargnani and the Andrea we saw after that point looked a lot more like the Bargnani we had seen in the past. Dwane Casey in his post season remarks today praised Andrea for allowing him to push him. Ultimately heading into next season there will be two main questions. One is if Andrea Bargnani can be healthy and when injures happen can he grind and play through them. The fact this same injury was a factor no less than three times this season has to be a major concern. In addition Andrea Bargnani needs to prove the guy that many were saying was playing at an all-star level is the guy that shows up next season. Italy will not be going to Olympics so Andrea unlike some other players will not be part of things in London. He will have a entire off-season to figure all this out.
Jose Calderon will be in London and likely playing major minutes for Spain given the fact Ricky Rubio is no longer an option for the Spanish Team. Raptor fans outside of Spain may not be so thrilled with that. The Raptors have not exactly had the best of luck in terms of players participating for Spain. Calderon had one of the more solid seasons he has had in the past few years. Colangelo dismissed any thought that Calderon will be going anywhere in his remarks to the media today. He praised Calderon's defense which has improved to some degree under Casey. I would debate how much it has in comparison to Colangelo's assessment.
There seems to be a common consensus that both Ed Davis and Amir Johnson can not both remain as part of this team moving forward. I would tend to disagree with that given the uncertainty to Bargnani's health moving forward. You can throw Linas Kleiza is in that mix as well but given the coming of Jonas, if for no other reason than to help with his transition to life in the NBA and North America it would make sense that he remains on the roster.
In terms of Ed Davis this off-season will be vital for him and his long term future with the Raptors. He has yet to have a full off-season and training camp based on injuries and the NBA Lockout. I personally have concerns about Ed and his ability to develop. He seems to need to be constantly pushed. Casey consistently as mentioned his desire to see Ed and Demar both hit the weights in the off-season and get stronger. Davis when asked about it responded in a rather concerning way. He felt that people will always be questioning his size throughout his NBA Career. This sounded a lot like what use to be said by a young Chris Bosh. That said, the comparison between Bosh and Davis ends there. It is one thing to put up 24 points in a game that the other team had no desire to win and doing it in a game that matters. The organization has stated that he will be the primary focus of the Raptors Summer League team in Las Vegas. Colangelo in his remarks today basically stated that Ed Davis will be held more accountable moving forward and there will be less tolerance in terms of allowing him to develop.
There will be not much said about Demar DeRozan in this post because I had a chance to talk with him later in the day prior to the game last night. Colangelo in his remarks today said that the sky was the limit for DeRozan and he mentioned the same things that Coach Casey has stated about Demar getting bigger and stronger. He also made the point that Demar was the youngest player on this roster on a team full of young players. Colangelo also broke some news in his remarks as he stated that Dwane Casey has got his contract extended. He also made reference to Casey earning bonuses based on this teams dramatic improvement on defense.
That sums up the interviews of the players and we touched on what Casey and Colangelo had to say. Will have more on that later today or tomorrow. However let's shift to the game from last night briefly and touch on a few points.
First the crowd was addressed by Jaamal Magloire and as I had mentioned I was not looking forward to this. It was all I expected and even more. Keeping in mind that Magloire is not even under contract for next season at this point. It is thought that the Raptors might be willing to keep him around and it is clear he is desperate to be around. All of that said he when out and thanked the fans and encouraged them to stick with the team. That is your standard stuff no shock in that. The next part was, in which he more or less gave a promise of the playoffs next season. I am fine if that is Andrea Bargnani talking or Demar DeRozan stating that. We are confident they are going to be here and be a huge part in making that happen. Jaamal Magloire for all of the praise he gets has little impact directly on the floor. Everyone will tell you about his impact off of the floor and that is hard to evaluate in it's actual impact. If he is back I would not be happy about it, but that will not shock anyone.
This game was a utter shame on so many levels. The Raptors and Nets played in effect a glorified Vegas Summer League game. The only thing that made this somewhat bearable was the performance of Ben Uzoh. He got a triple double and became the first Raptor to do so since Alvin Williams in 2001. Sure this game was utterly without meaning in almost every way. That said to get a triple double under any circumstances is not easy to achieve. If it was than surly someone on the Raptors would have done it in 12 years. If you want to earn some respect or dough in the future remember the name Ben Uzoh and triple double and you will have the ultimate trivia question in about 5 years. Who is to say what the future holds for Alan Anderson and Ben Uzoh and if they will ever wear a Raptor jersey again. What you can say is good for them in doing a solid job in building a case for themselves to be in the NBA even if that isn't here in Toronto. They had an opportunity and they ceased it and took advantage of it.
Ultimately this season was about Dwane Casey establish a positive identity for the Toronto Raptors. Everyone from the players, to the fans, to other NBA Teams now have an understanding of what it means to be or face the Toronto Raptors. It seems almost comical now how some people at this time last season were still convinced that Jay Triano would still be the coach of this team heading into this season. The best decision the Raptors made this past off-season was hiring Dwane Casey and nothing else comes even close to that. The fact he earned an extension based on his performance this season will surprise no one. The Raptors will pick up the option year on his contract. He has brought back an accountability to the Toronto Raptors that had been lacking for years. When you go in the Raptor locker room it is very clear who the boss is on this team and it is him. To earn the respect of NBA players and be able to get them to buy into what you are selling is a tough job and a constant struggle. In a season that was challenging for any coach in the NBA, it allowed Casey to thrive and survive his first season exceeding almost all expectations that may have been made on what he could realistically achieve.
Up next on our off-season madness of work will be taking a look at Demar DeRozan and hearing his thoughts on what lies ahead for his future and off-season. So be on the look out for that. Also as I was making people aware on Twitter I have lined up a number of guests to talk with us about the season that was and get their thoughts on the future. That begins with my favourite guest Jack Armstrong sometime next week. Many of you missed him on the broadcasts during the final stretch so you will get you fix of Jack here in the DNB. He always has some interesting thoughts on what is going on with the Raptors and I just love having him in the blog. He even helps me learn some things when he is. So that said the season is over but the Dino Nation Blog marches on the entire off-season for the most part. So make sure to stick with us through the off-season which promises to be an eventful one for the Raptors.
4/24/12
DNB Top 10- Things I Will "TRY" To Forget About 2011-12 Raptors Season
We have not done one of these in a long time. We even started doing a few top ten's in video but this is not one of those. This is what many would class as a forgettable season for the Toronto Raptors. There have been many of those lately. So what will I want to forget about this season most? So many options to choose from. Let's get this rolling.
#10 The NBA Lockout- I think I may be one of the last people still kind of ticked off about it. I mean the CBA never turned out to be what it should have been. The league lost 2 months of the season. This schedule has been a painful experience to do my job well. I probably won't forget this but most of you have and some even likely believe those NBA Cares Ads. Dwight Howard cares about Orlando as much as Shaq did.
#9 Anthony Carter- I honestly never really spoke to him in his time here. He kinda looked like a scary dude and with no Reggie Evans this year to have my back I felt keeping my distance was wise. I never saw the point in him being signed and actually was the first and maybe only to suggest the Raptors should have signed some kid named Jeremy Lin instead. He was cut and no one cared so what really was their to remember.
#8 Pound The Rock- This likely has no hope of happening. I mean it is written on stuff all over the ACC and their is that big rock as you enter and exit the Raptor Locker Room. That said, I am all for a good story and some inspiration. But people using this expression made me more feeling like pounding my head than any sense of inspiration from it. If the players like it and buy into it great. I am out of the Rock pounding game if I was ever really in it.
#7 Jamaal Maglorie's Raptor Career- Wait he is still on the team? This is true but he will be long gone this off-season if there is a God and he likes me even a little bit. This whole thing was a complete shame and an insult to the history of this franchise. Now when kids 25 years from now look up who was the first Canadian to play for the Raptors it will be him. If a kid asks me in 25 years about it here is what I will say. He was a guy that stopped being good 9 years before he ever was a Raptor. If you want to know about actual good Canadian Player read about Steve Nash who is in the NBA Hall of Fame (He will be).
#6 Leo Rautins and Rod Black- On their own they both can be annoying and provide no sort of entertainment what so ever. Together they are a toxic waste of time that makes 90% of viewers glad the mute button was invented. We as basketball fans have evolved since 1995 the way both of these individuals present the game to fans has not. They have not grown or cared to understand that this fan base is a lot more intelligent and smarter to basketball than it was back in 1995.
#5 Andrea Bargnani's Calf- This will be a good thing if I forget about this. It will mean that Andrea comes back next season and is healthy.Why do I know this is not going to be the case. Why do I think that Andrea Bargnani has the healing power of a Vince Carter in his prime. I don't know let's just call it experience.
#4 Primo Pasta- Please GOD SOMEONE END THIS AD. I CAN NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!
#3 Camo Uniforms- Again I would like to believe I can say good bye to these things. Sadly I don't think I will be. MLSE has found a way to hide behind doing something good and pocket some money for themselves. That is fantastic isn't it. No it isn't, and this, above all things is what got me the most angry about this season.
#2 Ed Davis- It will be for one of two reasons. He is on one of those 29 other NBA Teams he was auditioning for down the stretch or he actually had a full off-season of improvement and is sticking around as part of the core of this team. One way or the other it was a forgettable season from Ed Davis and some inspired play in games that don't matter won't change that.
and now the number one thing I would like to forget about this season. I was going to say the entire thing but that seemed like a cop out. So here we go get your hashtag ready.
#1 Rasaul "Friggin" Butler- From almost day one I was like what the hell is this guy doing here? It got me so upset I started a hashtag that became somewhat popular with Raptor fans. It was simple and to the point #CutButler, which the Raptors eventually did and stated they were allowing him to go to pursue options with a contender. Shockingly enough not even a contender for the D-League Championship let alone the NBA Championship came calling. What do you know. This was one of a trio of signings in the off-season that were just a joke and insulting to Raptor fans. No surprise that all three got mentioned in this. But if there was one guy that everyone could agree offered absolutely nothing it was THE BUTLER!!!
I will try to forget all of this, kind of like we forget things like Yogi Stewart....The Banger Brothers....oh wait that is right I was the guy that wrote an article Raptor Fans are like elephants and never forget. Sadly I guess I will remember all of this!!!
#10 The NBA Lockout- I think I may be one of the last people still kind of ticked off about it. I mean the CBA never turned out to be what it should have been. The league lost 2 months of the season. This schedule has been a painful experience to do my job well. I probably won't forget this but most of you have and some even likely believe those NBA Cares Ads. Dwight Howard cares about Orlando as much as Shaq did.
#9 Anthony Carter- I honestly never really spoke to him in his time here. He kinda looked like a scary dude and with no Reggie Evans this year to have my back I felt keeping my distance was wise. I never saw the point in him being signed and actually was the first and maybe only to suggest the Raptors should have signed some kid named Jeremy Lin instead. He was cut and no one cared so what really was their to remember.
#8 Pound The Rock- This likely has no hope of happening. I mean it is written on stuff all over the ACC and their is that big rock as you enter and exit the Raptor Locker Room. That said, I am all for a good story and some inspiration. But people using this expression made me more feeling like pounding my head than any sense of inspiration from it. If the players like it and buy into it great. I am out of the Rock pounding game if I was ever really in it.
#7 Jamaal Maglorie's Raptor Career- Wait he is still on the team? This is true but he will be long gone this off-season if there is a God and he likes me even a little bit. This whole thing was a complete shame and an insult to the history of this franchise. Now when kids 25 years from now look up who was the first Canadian to play for the Raptors it will be him. If a kid asks me in 25 years about it here is what I will say. He was a guy that stopped being good 9 years before he ever was a Raptor. If you want to know about actual good Canadian Player read about Steve Nash who is in the NBA Hall of Fame (He will be).
#6 Leo Rautins and Rod Black- On their own they both can be annoying and provide no sort of entertainment what so ever. Together they are a toxic waste of time that makes 90% of viewers glad the mute button was invented. We as basketball fans have evolved since 1995 the way both of these individuals present the game to fans has not. They have not grown or cared to understand that this fan base is a lot more intelligent and smarter to basketball than it was back in 1995.
#5 Andrea Bargnani's Calf- This will be a good thing if I forget about this. It will mean that Andrea comes back next season and is healthy.Why do I know this is not going to be the case. Why do I think that Andrea Bargnani has the healing power of a Vince Carter in his prime. I don't know let's just call it experience.
#4 Primo Pasta- Please GOD SOMEONE END THIS AD. I CAN NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!
#3 Camo Uniforms- Again I would like to believe I can say good bye to these things. Sadly I don't think I will be. MLSE has found a way to hide behind doing something good and pocket some money for themselves. That is fantastic isn't it. No it isn't, and this, above all things is what got me the most angry about this season.
#2 Ed Davis- It will be for one of two reasons. He is on one of those 29 other NBA Teams he was auditioning for down the stretch or he actually had a full off-season of improvement and is sticking around as part of the core of this team. One way or the other it was a forgettable season from Ed Davis and some inspired play in games that don't matter won't change that.
and now the number one thing I would like to forget about this season. I was going to say the entire thing but that seemed like a cop out. So here we go get your hashtag ready.
#1 Rasaul "Friggin" Butler- From almost day one I was like what the hell is this guy doing here? It got me so upset I started a hashtag that became somewhat popular with Raptor fans. It was simple and to the point #CutButler, which the Raptors eventually did and stated they were allowing him to go to pursue options with a contender. Shockingly enough not even a contender for the D-League Championship let alone the NBA Championship came calling. What do you know. This was one of a trio of signings in the off-season that were just a joke and insulting to Raptor fans. No surprise that all three got mentioned in this. But if there was one guy that everyone could agree offered absolutely nothing it was THE BUTLER!!!
I will try to forget all of this, kind of like we forget things like Yogi Stewart....The Banger Brothers....oh wait that is right I was the guy that wrote an article Raptor Fans are like elephants and never forget. Sadly I guess I will remember all of this!!!
4/12/12
Double D Returns To The DNB
Demar DeRozan has been one of the guys we have talked with a lot in the Dino Nation Blog. He came in the year I started having access to the Raptors and he has been someone that I enjoy talking with. This time around we talk about how the absence of Andrea impacts on his game in a basketball sense and how his mental approach has changed since the start of the year when Andrea is out of the line up. We also chat about his plans for the off-season which includes spending some more time in Toronto. He also is excited to have some normalcy back to his off-season with the NBA CBA issues now out of the way. His thoughts on the season and what has changed from last season as well as his feelings on his first year under coach Casey.
I think this was a pretty good interview with Demar and it looks like he is motivated to get to work this off-season. Coach Casey has stressed how much he wants to see both he and Ed Davis hit the weight room hard this off-season. Something that should be helpful in DeRozan taking his game to the next level. It is also great to hear he will be spending more time here in the off-season and still wants to bring back some form of charity game to the city. While not many folks miss Vince Carter in Toronto the charity game he established in the city was a great way to get your basketball fix in the summer time. It also gave me my first opportunity to interview NBA Players which was a great learning experience for me. Learning and growing are still very much a priority for Demar DeRozan. It will be interesting to see what he can accomplish now with the input and guidance of Casey and the organization to help him in that process. Keep in mind if things were different that DeRozan would be finishing his college career at USC and about to enter the NBA Draft. In this modern world it is rare to see any player stay till that senior year. Which is something that I understand and support. If a young man is talented enough to be in the NBA he should do that as soon as possible. It is the best thing he can do in terms of his own and his families future. DeRozan, in knowing him from when he has arrived, I have seen that he has grown and matured, but the one thing that remains the same is his dedication and determination to improve. To use a line he has used in past interviews, this a young man on a quest to be "not just good, but great", as the years pass the pressure from the outside to do that increases. This season you saw Demar have his struggles but he has fought through them and is starting to look again like the young man that could end up being something pretty special.
I think this was a pretty good interview with Demar and it looks like he is motivated to get to work this off-season. Coach Casey has stressed how much he wants to see both he and Ed Davis hit the weight room hard this off-season. Something that should be helpful in DeRozan taking his game to the next level. It is also great to hear he will be spending more time here in the off-season and still wants to bring back some form of charity game to the city. While not many folks miss Vince Carter in Toronto the charity game he established in the city was a great way to get your basketball fix in the summer time. It also gave me my first opportunity to interview NBA Players which was a great learning experience for me. Learning and growing are still very much a priority for Demar DeRozan. It will be interesting to see what he can accomplish now with the input and guidance of Casey and the organization to help him in that process. Keep in mind if things were different that DeRozan would be finishing his college career at USC and about to enter the NBA Draft. In this modern world it is rare to see any player stay till that senior year. Which is something that I understand and support. If a young man is talented enough to be in the NBA he should do that as soon as possible. It is the best thing he can do in terms of his own and his families future. DeRozan, in knowing him from when he has arrived, I have seen that he has grown and matured, but the one thing that remains the same is his dedication and determination to improve. To use a line he has used in past interviews, this a young man on a quest to be "not just good, but great", as the years pass the pressure from the outside to do that increases. This season you saw Demar have his struggles but he has fought through them and is starting to look again like the young man that could end up being something pretty special.
4/9/12
10 Things On Last Night, Tonight and Beyond
So it is late in the season. I am tired and need to combine a re-cap and a preview into one. Thanks to folks at St Louis Wings for hosting me for the night for the game with the Thunder. I learned that the Easter Bunny is bigger than the Dino Blogger in two ways. Still, the folks at St Louis Wings have always been great to me and it is a great place to catch a game. Any restaurant/bar that puts basketball first in Canada is a rare gem to find. That said back to business, here are 10 thoughts on what we saw last night and what to expect tonight against the Pacers and beyond.
1. The Result Was Obvious- There was not a doubt in my mind last night's Raptor game would end up with the result it did. The Thunder were in bad need of a win coming in and the Raptors provided that perfect springboard to do just that. OKC had sat a top the Western Conference for the majority of this season and getting passed by the Spurs made losing to the Raptors not an option.
2. Thunder Fans- There is a lesson to be learned for Raptor fans from the people in the stands in OKC. It has become the best home court advantage in the NBA. Be it crazy fat guys with bunnies painted on them with masks or just your average OKC Fan they all get it. I am pretty confident they are never worried if they are treated to a slice of pizza. I am also confident that even when they sucked, which wasn't that long ago, they were not rooting for their team to lose (Tank). They are people that are just passionate to have the NBA in their city. That passion has died down in Toronto. While Raptor fans are a loyal group they also have become jaded and divided at times. I understand why that is, but still when you watch a game in OKC you see what being a fan by it's true definition is all about. They are more than just the example of how to build a team they are an example of how to build a fanbase. I miss the days when Raptors fans were like this.
3. Bargnani Tough?- I really am starting to have serious doubts about the future of Andrea Bargnani. Again this calf injury becomes an issue and he sits the 2nd half. No the Raptors were not tanking, as I mentioned earlier this result was an obvious one. I am left to question what kind of pain threshold Bargnani truly has. This is aside from the debate on if he has truly turned the corner as player. Even if I am to believe that, which I remain unconvinced, it becomes a moot point if he is not healthy in the long term. I don't mean to diminish a calf injury but this has become rather ridiculous on some level.
4. James Johnson Saga- I have no idea what James Johnson did. I don't care what he did to be blunt. I do support what Casey has done in sending a message. That said enough already. It was pretty hilarious watching the Raptors try and guard Kevin Durant with James Johnson on the bench. Matching the potential MVP of league on a 10 day contract player is not just punishing Johnson, it is punishing the team as a whole. Casey was quick to get him in there. Let's all move on now though and give Johnson his spot back. Credit to both Casey and Johnson, along with team for keeping whatever happened on the down low. Sure we all would like to know what happened but honestly we really don't need to know.
5. Jaamal's Impact- If I hear one more time this year about the impact of Jaamal Magloire, I swear that I am going to puke. Tell me has there ever been a player in the history of this team praised for doing so little? I mean seriously. I guess it is a situation not unlike the one with Jay Triano, in which because he is Canadian people are wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt. Here is what he has been in reality. A trash talking tough guy that still knows how to commit a foul in the NBA and can occasionally show you he use to be a good to great player 10 years ago. That is all. He likely isn't coming back and I would seriously wonder if the Raptors had not come along, if he is even in the league at all. Sadly this is the guy that will go in the history books as the first ever Canadian Raptor. It makes me sad for all the young up and coming talent we have in this country that could have been that. The only old Canadian I would want to have that honour played basketball for his country and is a two time NBA MVP.
6. Barbosa Is Back- If you are not at least a little happy for Leandro Barbosa getting a chance to play for a playoff team you may have no soul. This is a guy that game here and never once complained and went out and did his job for the past couple seasons. Given this crazy NBA Sked, I confess I have not seen much of Barbosa since leaving. But based on the boxscores and random comments I see on Twitter he is doing what he does in Indiana and I am happy for him.
7. Roy Hibbert- I have said this consistently for awhile, it pains me to watch this guy play and know he will go down as a draft pick of the Toronto Raptors. Now it should be noted if not for the trade with the Pacers he would have never been picked by the Raptors. They felt he was too slow for their up tempo style of basketball at the time. That said, I at the time thought he was a great answer for the Raptors at center. He is never going to blow you away but he does all the things that you would hope that a center would do. On top of that having met him once he is a pretty great young man. Georgetown has not produced to many stiffs at the Center position over the years. It is one of the safest bets in the NBA draft when you take a center out of Georgetown. When you look back on that trade that brought J.O to Toronto the biggest loss in it was Roy Hibbert.
8. Raptors Can Be Spoilers- When you look at the Schedule remaining the Raptors could have a impact on the playoff race. Starting tonight with Pacers two games ahead of Boston for 3rd in the East, followed with games vs Sixers, Celtics, Hawks twice, Heat and Bucks. It gives you some motivation to go out there and try and win games. It is also the reason that people hate tanking in general. Tanking has an impact on the teams that are actually in the playoff race. This is why David Stern needs to step in and do something dramatic to the NBA Lottery System. It was designed to prevent this sort of thing. Still if you look around the league it isn't working. The concept of tanking is talked about far more than it ever was back in 1985 when there was legit concern teams would tank to land Patrick Ewing one of those Georgetown centers we mentioned earlier. I say this with all due respect to Anthony Davis, if he has half the career the Patrick Ewing had, he would be a fortunate young man. However, with all the hype surrounding him you would think he was better than that and going to project to be the next superstar of the NBA. I would venture to say that is vastly optimistic. He could turn into a fine NBA player and likely should. That said is he going to be better than a hall of famer or some great recent top picks? I don't see that. Don't believe me it is ok. I will rest easy knowing that I also never was impressed with this guy named Greg Oden and said Kevin Durant would be better. I am sure that I was laughed at for that and I will use the obvious line of who is laughing now?
9. Reality Math- What we knew before this season even started is now fact. The Raptors based on their loss in OKC and some other things last night have officially been eliminated from the playoffs. Still with nine games left which for fans feel pretty pointless, it is still important for some folks on this team. No matter what happens in these final games it will not change the fact this summer is going to be a huge off-season for the Raptors. What guys do down the stretch of the season may help shape/decide if they are going to be a part of this team moving forward. If for no other reason than that, this is ultimately why the concept of tanking is stupid. Players fighting for jobs and their place in the food chain are not going out to try and lose or even think of losing. Especially when you look at guys on 10 day contracts. They are fighting for their very NBA lives every night and day they step on the floor.
10. Time Flies Even When Your Losing- At some points this season has been very painful to endure. The losing combined with this crazy schedule can make your head spin. At least it has seemed to go by fairly quickly and the fact this NBA Season was only 66 games and not 82 games was a blessing given the state of this franchise. There has been so much blind hope for the future this year, it has bordered on the insane. While I do think the Raptors are heading in the right direction, the speed in which some think things will change is likely not going to be the reality. As bad as this season has been the Raptors ultimately did improve as hard as that is to believe at times. It speaks to how bad they were last season and how much it was needed to make a coaching change. I was one of the few that had been saying that long before it was cool. Funny how the people that weren't in favour all love Dwane Casey now and the change in direction of this franchise. I think one of the things I find most frustrating is how people change with the wind and are never truly brought to task for it. Yet when I go out of the box of and say something that ends up being right, I take abuse at the time for it and no one other than me says that I was right. Maybe people just have got use to the fact that I will tell them that I was. Whatever the case, I am proud of my track record on things and do take comfort in the fact that it must mean I know what the hell I am talking about at the end of the day. That is in many ways it's own reward.
So I decided to do this instead of a preview and it ends up being twice as long. Oh well the off-season and a bit of a break will be here soon enough. Happy Monday all and hope you had a pleasant holiday weekend.
1. The Result Was Obvious- There was not a doubt in my mind last night's Raptor game would end up with the result it did. The Thunder were in bad need of a win coming in and the Raptors provided that perfect springboard to do just that. OKC had sat a top the Western Conference for the majority of this season and getting passed by the Spurs made losing to the Raptors not an option.
3. Bargnani Tough?- I really am starting to have serious doubts about the future of Andrea Bargnani. Again this calf injury becomes an issue and he sits the 2nd half. No the Raptors were not tanking, as I mentioned earlier this result was an obvious one. I am left to question what kind of pain threshold Bargnani truly has. This is aside from the debate on if he has truly turned the corner as player. Even if I am to believe that, which I remain unconvinced, it becomes a moot point if he is not healthy in the long term. I don't mean to diminish a calf injury but this has become rather ridiculous on some level.
4. James Johnson Saga- I have no idea what James Johnson did. I don't care what he did to be blunt. I do support what Casey has done in sending a message. That said enough already. It was pretty hilarious watching the Raptors try and guard Kevin Durant with James Johnson on the bench. Matching the potential MVP of league on a 10 day contract player is not just punishing Johnson, it is punishing the team as a whole. Casey was quick to get him in there. Let's all move on now though and give Johnson his spot back. Credit to both Casey and Johnson, along with team for keeping whatever happened on the down low. Sure we all would like to know what happened but honestly we really don't need to know.
5. Jaamal's Impact- If I hear one more time this year about the impact of Jaamal Magloire, I swear that I am going to puke. Tell me has there ever been a player in the history of this team praised for doing so little? I mean seriously. I guess it is a situation not unlike the one with Jay Triano, in which because he is Canadian people are wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt. Here is what he has been in reality. A trash talking tough guy that still knows how to commit a foul in the NBA and can occasionally show you he use to be a good to great player 10 years ago. That is all. He likely isn't coming back and I would seriously wonder if the Raptors had not come along, if he is even in the league at all. Sadly this is the guy that will go in the history books as the first ever Canadian Raptor. It makes me sad for all the young up and coming talent we have in this country that could have been that. The only old Canadian I would want to have that honour played basketball for his country and is a two time NBA MVP.
6. Barbosa Is Back- If you are not at least a little happy for Leandro Barbosa getting a chance to play for a playoff team you may have no soul. This is a guy that game here and never once complained and went out and did his job for the past couple seasons. Given this crazy NBA Sked, I confess I have not seen much of Barbosa since leaving. But based on the boxscores and random comments I see on Twitter he is doing what he does in Indiana and I am happy for him.
7. Roy Hibbert- I have said this consistently for awhile, it pains me to watch this guy play and know he will go down as a draft pick of the Toronto Raptors. Now it should be noted if not for the trade with the Pacers he would have never been picked by the Raptors. They felt he was too slow for their up tempo style of basketball at the time. That said, I at the time thought he was a great answer for the Raptors at center. He is never going to blow you away but he does all the things that you would hope that a center would do. On top of that having met him once he is a pretty great young man. Georgetown has not produced to many stiffs at the Center position over the years. It is one of the safest bets in the NBA draft when you take a center out of Georgetown. When you look back on that trade that brought J.O to Toronto the biggest loss in it was Roy Hibbert.
8. Raptors Can Be Spoilers- When you look at the Schedule remaining the Raptors could have a impact on the playoff race. Starting tonight with Pacers two games ahead of Boston for 3rd in the East, followed with games vs Sixers, Celtics, Hawks twice, Heat and Bucks. It gives you some motivation to go out there and try and win games. It is also the reason that people hate tanking in general. Tanking has an impact on the teams that are actually in the playoff race. This is why David Stern needs to step in and do something dramatic to the NBA Lottery System. It was designed to prevent this sort of thing. Still if you look around the league it isn't working. The concept of tanking is talked about far more than it ever was back in 1985 when there was legit concern teams would tank to land Patrick Ewing one of those Georgetown centers we mentioned earlier. I say this with all due respect to Anthony Davis, if he has half the career the Patrick Ewing had, he would be a fortunate young man. However, with all the hype surrounding him you would think he was better than that and going to project to be the next superstar of the NBA. I would venture to say that is vastly optimistic. He could turn into a fine NBA player and likely should. That said is he going to be better than a hall of famer or some great recent top picks? I don't see that. Don't believe me it is ok. I will rest easy knowing that I also never was impressed with this guy named Greg Oden and said Kevin Durant would be better. I am sure that I was laughed at for that and I will use the obvious line of who is laughing now?
9. Reality Math- What we knew before this season even started is now fact. The Raptors based on their loss in OKC and some other things last night have officially been eliminated from the playoffs. Still with nine games left which for fans feel pretty pointless, it is still important for some folks on this team. No matter what happens in these final games it will not change the fact this summer is going to be a huge off-season for the Raptors. What guys do down the stretch of the season may help shape/decide if they are going to be a part of this team moving forward. If for no other reason than that, this is ultimately why the concept of tanking is stupid. Players fighting for jobs and their place in the food chain are not going out to try and lose or even think of losing. Especially when you look at guys on 10 day contracts. They are fighting for their very NBA lives every night and day they step on the floor.
10. Time Flies Even When Your Losing- At some points this season has been very painful to endure. The losing combined with this crazy schedule can make your head spin. At least it has seemed to go by fairly quickly and the fact this NBA Season was only 66 games and not 82 games was a blessing given the state of this franchise. There has been so much blind hope for the future this year, it has bordered on the insane. While I do think the Raptors are heading in the right direction, the speed in which some think things will change is likely not going to be the reality. As bad as this season has been the Raptors ultimately did improve as hard as that is to believe at times. It speaks to how bad they were last season and how much it was needed to make a coaching change. I was one of the few that had been saying that long before it was cool. Funny how the people that weren't in favour all love Dwane Casey now and the change in direction of this franchise. I think one of the things I find most frustrating is how people change with the wind and are never truly brought to task for it. Yet when I go out of the box of and say something that ends up being right, I take abuse at the time for it and no one other than me says that I was right. Maybe people just have got use to the fact that I will tell them that I was. Whatever the case, I am proud of my track record on things and do take comfort in the fact that it must mean I know what the hell I am talking about at the end of the day. That is in many ways it's own reward.
So I decided to do this instead of a preview and it ends up being twice as long. Oh well the off-season and a bit of a break will be here soon enough. Happy Monday all and hope you had a pleasant holiday weekend.
3/30/12
Chris Bosh Shines As Heat Toy With Raptors.
The Miami Heat got in at 4:30am were are told. Which for any other team would be a story. For Miami that is the regular team curfew in South Beach. There are lots of empty seats this year for Bosh's return to Toronto. A little different story last year. Raptors are a lot different too. That being said the Heat are pretty much the same unstoppable force they always are.
The game starts with a Bosh bucket in the lane to a smattering of boos. It would start a 10-0 run for the Heat to start this game and it was not a surprise. The lack of people in the building was considering the opposition beyond the Bosh return you have Wade and James two of the best players in the NBA. Raptors would get a basket after a time out but the beat down just kept rolling along with score 16-2. The Raptors would show small signs of life on offense but their defense was to make a joke and a point MIA. The Heat led 22-10 and really were getting whatever they liked on the offensive end. DeRozan had a few nice scores and on a drive to the hoop he cut the lead to 26-15 for the Heat. Raptors would get together a little run and make this a six point basketball game. Chalmers with timely 3 ball makes the lead back to 9. Still the Raptors kept charging and had got this back to a respectable close game down just 31-27 after one.
Bargnani was getting it done and he remains glued to the bench to start the 2nd. The Raptors were now a scrap bunch with Amir Johnson and others like Gary Forbes in the fray. They cut lead to just 2 for the Heat the closest they had been since practically the opening tip. Bargnani would return and maybe message received as he hit a baseline jumper to tie the game at 35. Raptors would get the lead on a Derozan lay up from a feed from Anderson on 10 day contract. Raptors lead 41-39. Chris Bosh had seen enough of this he makes a jumper and ties this game up. Then Wade with a great move of a pick set for him and to cap it off Lebron James with a dunk as the Big 3 go back to back to back scoring to give Heat a 47-43 lead. The Heat would expand that to a 59-51 lead closing out the half on a 12-4 run sparked by the Super Friends.
Bosh has 14, James has 14 and Wade has 13 points. Also with 14 points Demar DeRozan but he does not have the support to battle with the Big 3. Alley oop to James to start the half but the Raptors respond with Jose to Amir hook up. Amir getting the start in 2nd half replacing Aaron Gray in starting group. Bosh than gets a slam to groans from the ACC crowd. The Raptors were keeping it close as Demar nailed a jumper after another Amir score. The Heat were letting the Raptors hang around for now with the score 65-61. Back to back hoops from D-Wade would get the Heat lead back to 8. But the Raptors pushed back again and Bargnani three ball cut the lead to just three at 69-66. Bargnani after being benched for awhile got the message and has played much better since. Made a couple free throws to get the Raptors to just one point behind. Demar DeRozan meantime loves playing the Heat having an excellent night attacking constantly and he does again to tie the game up at 76. Heat again respond as Lebron James makes a jumper like it is easy as pie. Andrea Bragnani does one better with a big three ball to make it a one point lead for the Heat. James Johnson would score and the Raptors would lead this thing in the third 81-80. Raptors got their lead to three but then a wide open rookie Norris Cole nails a three and this game was tied at 83 after 3.
Heat again start the 4th and get out to a 4 point lead. Andrea Bargnani has been a totally different guy since getting benched early in this one. He fought for a rebound and drew a foul and then nailed a three on the extra possession he created. Bosh made a couple at the line but then James Johnson fires up a three ball and ties it at 89. Jose Calderon gets smacked in the face and called for a foul and doesn't like it and gets a tech. All that leads to three points for the Heat. Miami would get another star call as James Johnson got called for a charge. Heat go on a 8-0 run and lead 97-89. Out of time out Jose scores on a jumper of a nice screen. Wade answers that as he is fired up and was talking trash earlier. Chances of the Raptors winning had faded fast. Heat were playing defense much more to the level they normally do. That was the biggest difference in this worth quarter. A steal to drive home that point and D-Wade slam part of a 16-4 run that sees the Heat leading 105-93 with roughly 3 to play. Heat would go on cruise control the rest of the way. Bosh misses a dunk down the stretch fans got a chuckle but Bosh go a redo and smashed it down to give him 30 on the night to tie for the game high with D-Wade. Heat take this one 113-101.
Chris Bosh wins and all you get is a lousy slice of Pizza. Demar DeRozan had 28 and in this environment vs the Heat always seems to shine. Bargnani was terrible at the start, fantastic in the middle and was quiet late. It was a fun ride but the expected result.
The game starts with a Bosh bucket in the lane to a smattering of boos. It would start a 10-0 run for the Heat to start this game and it was not a surprise. The lack of people in the building was considering the opposition beyond the Bosh return you have Wade and James two of the best players in the NBA. Raptors would get a basket after a time out but the beat down just kept rolling along with score 16-2. The Raptors would show small signs of life on offense but their defense was to make a joke and a point MIA. The Heat led 22-10 and really were getting whatever they liked on the offensive end. DeRozan had a few nice scores and on a drive to the hoop he cut the lead to 26-15 for the Heat. Raptors would get together a little run and make this a six point basketball game. Chalmers with timely 3 ball makes the lead back to 9. Still the Raptors kept charging and had got this back to a respectable close game down just 31-27 after one.
Bargnani was getting it done and he remains glued to the bench to start the 2nd. The Raptors were now a scrap bunch with Amir Johnson and others like Gary Forbes in the fray. They cut lead to just 2 for the Heat the closest they had been since practically the opening tip. Bargnani would return and maybe message received as he hit a baseline jumper to tie the game at 35. Raptors would get the lead on a Derozan lay up from a feed from Anderson on 10 day contract. Raptors lead 41-39. Chris Bosh had seen enough of this he makes a jumper and ties this game up. Then Wade with a great move of a pick set for him and to cap it off Lebron James with a dunk as the Big 3 go back to back to back scoring to give Heat a 47-43 lead. The Heat would expand that to a 59-51 lead closing out the half on a 12-4 run sparked by the Super Friends.
Bosh has 14, James has 14 and Wade has 13 points. Also with 14 points Demar DeRozan but he does not have the support to battle with the Big 3. Alley oop to James to start the half but the Raptors respond with Jose to Amir hook up. Amir getting the start in 2nd half replacing Aaron Gray in starting group. Bosh than gets a slam to groans from the ACC crowd. The Raptors were keeping it close as Demar nailed a jumper after another Amir score. The Heat were letting the Raptors hang around for now with the score 65-61. Back to back hoops from D-Wade would get the Heat lead back to 8. But the Raptors pushed back again and Bargnani three ball cut the lead to just three at 69-66. Bargnani after being benched for awhile got the message and has played much better since. Made a couple free throws to get the Raptors to just one point behind. Demar DeRozan meantime loves playing the Heat having an excellent night attacking constantly and he does again to tie the game up at 76. Heat again respond as Lebron James makes a jumper like it is easy as pie. Andrea Bragnani does one better with a big three ball to make it a one point lead for the Heat. James Johnson would score and the Raptors would lead this thing in the third 81-80. Raptors got their lead to three but then a wide open rookie Norris Cole nails a three and this game was tied at 83 after 3.
Heat again start the 4th and get out to a 4 point lead. Andrea Bargnani has been a totally different guy since getting benched early in this one. He fought for a rebound and drew a foul and then nailed a three on the extra possession he created. Bosh made a couple at the line but then James Johnson fires up a three ball and ties it at 89. Jose Calderon gets smacked in the face and called for a foul and doesn't like it and gets a tech. All that leads to three points for the Heat. Miami would get another star call as James Johnson got called for a charge. Heat go on a 8-0 run and lead 97-89. Out of time out Jose scores on a jumper of a nice screen. Wade answers that as he is fired up and was talking trash earlier. Chances of the Raptors winning had faded fast. Heat were playing defense much more to the level they normally do. That was the biggest difference in this worth quarter. A steal to drive home that point and D-Wade slam part of a 16-4 run that sees the Heat leading 105-93 with roughly 3 to play. Heat would go on cruise control the rest of the way. Bosh misses a dunk down the stretch fans got a chuckle but Bosh go a redo and smashed it down to give him 30 on the night to tie for the game high with D-Wade. Heat take this one 113-101.
Chris Bosh wins and all you get is a lousy slice of Pizza. Demar DeRozan had 28 and in this environment vs the Heat always seems to shine. Bargnani was terrible at the start, fantastic in the middle and was quiet late. It was a fun ride but the expected result.
3/28/12
Pizza Delivered and A Win Too!!
I have always stayed consistent in trying to be honest in the DNB. In that vain I find it hard to get excited for any of the rest of this season. Jerryd Bayless no longer has to worry about it as he is out for the rest of the year. Demar DeRozan is back though at least there is that. But the season that promised nothing has delivered nothing so to say I am surprised would be a lie. Meanwhile, Andrea Bargnani had just 8 points and allow me to be the first to say that Andrea Bargnani may just be who we thought he was before this season. Actually I have already said that. Truth is the Bargnani post calf injury has been awful. One other note no James Johnson for this one and another under performer in Linas Kleiza replaces him in the starting line-up.
Naturally Andrea Bargnani starts like a house of fire. The Raptors mostly with Bargnani built a 9-2 lead. Bargnani had the first 7 points and than the other guy I mentioned who was struggling drains a three against his former team as Kleiza nails it to make it 12-4 Raptors. DeRozan nails a jumper as he returns to the line-up and the Raptors lead this thing 17-9. Raptors were continuing to keep control of this one lead by Andrea Bargnani with 10 points and they still had a 22-17 lead on pace for pizza with 5 to play in 1st. Nuggets cut it down to three point advantage and Jose Calderon made a jumper to push it to a 5 point lead. Ben Uzoh seeing his first minutes as a Raptor with score 25-20 Raptors. Not much changed while he was in there but he will fit right in with 2 quick fouls and Raptors lead 27-22 after 1.
Gary Forbes hits a three on his former team to get the 2nd quarter going. Forbes with another 2 and like Bargnani had in first it was Forbes starting quarter like a house of fire and Raptors lead 32-22. Some slippage but Forbes again stepped up with a big three. Still the Nuggets were starting to turn the corner. Yet another three this time form Calderon made it a 7 point lead briefly till Al Harrington answered with another three. Bargnani passed 6000 points which they made a huge deal of on the broadcast. Jack Armstrong with some clever wit asked after it occurred if he got a slice of pizza for that. Raptors were still on pace to get pizza and more importantly win a game leading 48-40. Denver was pushing hard this whole quarter and Raptors lead was shrinking fast down the stretch down to just one....then up one for Nuggets on back to back turnovers. Klezia buzzer beater 3 saves the lead at the the half for Raptors 55-53
Raptors came out and built on to their small advantage and got it up to 6 points. The Nuggets had only lead once briefly right before the half. Chandler who many Raptor fans drooled about were not drooling now as he tied the game up at 63. Lawson would give the Nuggets the lead and Dwane Casey frustrated gets called for a tech. The wheels were coming off in this game and honestly in this season to a large degree. Nuggets quickly extended that advantage to 6 points leading 69-63. A JaVale McGee dunk over Jose Calderon summed up how the momentum had changed nicely making it 73-67. DeRozan was doing his best to try to get Raptors back in it with lots of drives to the hoops and the lead was down to 2 with score 74-72 Nuggets. But the Nuggets would respond with a push to get their lead back to 80-74. Alan Anderson one of the 10 day contract guys with a nice three to cut the lead in half. Anderson would score another bucket later than the other 10 day contract guy Uzoh with a bucket to tie the game at 85 after 3.
Nuggets with more on the line came out strong in the 4th and took a lead which can be expected. Raptors would hang around though and finally made a move to do more than that just past the mid point of the 4th. Andrea Bargnani after a Gary Forbes three that cut the lead to one, it was Bargnani that would give the Raptors a 95-94 lead. Raptors would not only get Pizza thanks to Andrea Bargnani but pull away with his three after making the highly intense Pizza on the line free throws. Raptors lead 103-96 and this would be a horrible loss for the Nuggets. There was only 1:45 left and they honestly had not looked great for most of night. Raptors did something they rarely have done as they closed this game out well. Raptors close it out 105-96.
This was a good game for Andrea Bargnani. The fact he has scored over 6000 points honests means nothing. It is just a garbage T.V trick to make you care about something that doesn't matter. What does matter is does this continue or is it a blip on the Radar. Bargnani since his explosive start to the season since returning has been much more like the Bargnani we have seen in the 6 years prior. I get that people want to believe he has turned some corner but I am not convinced you can honestly say that. Aside from him you saw nice efforts from the two 10 day pick ups by the Raptors. You also saw a solid performance from the former Nuggets Forbes and to a lesser extent Kleiza. It was a good win for the Raptors and a terrible loss for the Nuggets. In a game like this you can learn some things. Denver needed this badly and the Raptors out competed them under those circumstances. That is a positive sign for the future. A small one but still a positive.
Naturally Andrea Bargnani starts like a house of fire. The Raptors mostly with Bargnani built a 9-2 lead. Bargnani had the first 7 points and than the other guy I mentioned who was struggling drains a three against his former team as Kleiza nails it to make it 12-4 Raptors. DeRozan nails a jumper as he returns to the line-up and the Raptors lead this thing 17-9. Raptors were continuing to keep control of this one lead by Andrea Bargnani with 10 points and they still had a 22-17 lead on pace for pizza with 5 to play in 1st. Nuggets cut it down to three point advantage and Jose Calderon made a jumper to push it to a 5 point lead. Ben Uzoh seeing his first minutes as a Raptor with score 25-20 Raptors. Not much changed while he was in there but he will fit right in with 2 quick fouls and Raptors lead 27-22 after 1.
Gary Forbes hits a three on his former team to get the 2nd quarter going. Forbes with another 2 and like Bargnani had in first it was Forbes starting quarter like a house of fire and Raptors lead 32-22. Some slippage but Forbes again stepped up with a big three. Still the Nuggets were starting to turn the corner. Yet another three this time form Calderon made it a 7 point lead briefly till Al Harrington answered with another three. Bargnani passed 6000 points which they made a huge deal of on the broadcast. Jack Armstrong with some clever wit asked after it occurred if he got a slice of pizza for that. Raptors were still on pace to get pizza and more importantly win a game leading 48-40. Denver was pushing hard this whole quarter and Raptors lead was shrinking fast down the stretch down to just one....then up one for Nuggets on back to back turnovers. Klezia buzzer beater 3 saves the lead at the the half for Raptors 55-53
Raptors came out and built on to their small advantage and got it up to 6 points. The Nuggets had only lead once briefly right before the half. Chandler who many Raptor fans drooled about were not drooling now as he tied the game up at 63. Lawson would give the Nuggets the lead and Dwane Casey frustrated gets called for a tech. The wheels were coming off in this game and honestly in this season to a large degree. Nuggets quickly extended that advantage to 6 points leading 69-63. A JaVale McGee dunk over Jose Calderon summed up how the momentum had changed nicely making it 73-67. DeRozan was doing his best to try to get Raptors back in it with lots of drives to the hoops and the lead was down to 2 with score 74-72 Nuggets. But the Nuggets would respond with a push to get their lead back to 80-74. Alan Anderson one of the 10 day contract guys with a nice three to cut the lead in half. Anderson would score another bucket later than the other 10 day contract guy Uzoh with a bucket to tie the game at 85 after 3.
Nuggets with more on the line came out strong in the 4th and took a lead which can be expected. Raptors would hang around though and finally made a move to do more than that just past the mid point of the 4th. Andrea Bargnani after a Gary Forbes three that cut the lead to one, it was Bargnani that would give the Raptors a 95-94 lead. Raptors would not only get Pizza thanks to Andrea Bargnani but pull away with his three after making the highly intense Pizza on the line free throws. Raptors lead 103-96 and this would be a horrible loss for the Nuggets. There was only 1:45 left and they honestly had not looked great for most of night. Raptors did something they rarely have done as they closed this game out well. Raptors close it out 105-96.
This was a good game for Andrea Bargnani. The fact he has scored over 6000 points honests means nothing. It is just a garbage T.V trick to make you care about something that doesn't matter. What does matter is does this continue or is it a blip on the Radar. Bargnani since his explosive start to the season since returning has been much more like the Bargnani we have seen in the 6 years prior. I get that people want to believe he has turned some corner but I am not convinced you can honestly say that. Aside from him you saw nice efforts from the two 10 day pick ups by the Raptors. You also saw a solid performance from the former Nuggets Forbes and to a lesser extent Kleiza. It was a good win for the Raptors and a terrible loss for the Nuggets. In a game like this you can learn some things. Denver needed this badly and the Raptors out competed them under those circumstances. That is a positive sign for the future. A small one but still a positive.
DeRozan Expected To Return Tonight
The Raptors got some bad news yesterday if you missed it with Jerryd Bayless being ruled out for the rest of the season. Today some good news as Demar DeRozan is expected to return to the line up and like he did 130 times before he got injured start. If anyone can related to the Raptors injury woes it is likely their opponent tonight in the Denver Nuggets. While the Raptors have went most of the season with out their Italian star in Bargnani same has been true in Denver with Gallinari.
Gallinari has only played in 33 games for the Nuggets, Bargnani has played in just 24 games for the Raptors. Danilo is not that far behind Bargnani in terms this year when they have played. While you can debate who is the better between the two there is no debating that Gallinari has the better cast around him. Unfortunately will not get a chance to see the two face off against each other tonight it looks like with Gallinari out yet again for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets made a surprising and most feel bad trade at the deadline parting ways with Nene who the Nuggets had fought hard to keep in the off-season. They do have Wilson Chandler who is likely the only Nugget visiting Toronto for the second time this season. The first was of course because he was considering signing with the Raptors after having played in China and returning as a RFA. That would not materialize and he would sign long term with the Nuggets. Which many say was his desire all along and he just used the Raptors as leverage. Which is something the Nuggets don't have in terms of the playoffs in the West. They are hanging on to the 8th spot with just a half game lead over Houston and a two game lead over Steve Nash and surging Suns.
The Nuggets did of course get something for Nene and that was Javale McGee who had one of the more embarrassing moments of the NBA season vs the Raptors with his old team the Wizards earlier in the season. I thought about posting the video of it but pretty sure you all remember. However, of late he has been alright for his new team with 11.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2 blocks in his last 3 games.
Any other things you need to know for this one? Keep an eye on Gary Forbes who now even has a bigger chance with both Barbosa and Bayless gone. He faces his former team tonight and that can motivate some people. Although this was Forbes deciding to come to Toronto and not the Nuggets sending him here. If he came for Toronto for opportunity he is now finding it.
Expect the Nuggets to be desperate for the win given the fact they are life and death to make playoffs and just 5-5 in their last 10 games. Raptors had a poor effort vs Magic but getting DeRozan back should help on offense. He won't solve the larger problem the Raptors had of defending the three point shot like they did vs the Magic.
Gallinari has only played in 33 games for the Nuggets, Bargnani has played in just 24 games for the Raptors. Danilo is not that far behind Bargnani in terms this year when they have played. While you can debate who is the better between the two there is no debating that Gallinari has the better cast around him. Unfortunately will not get a chance to see the two face off against each other tonight it looks like with Gallinari out yet again for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets made a surprising and most feel bad trade at the deadline parting ways with Nene who the Nuggets had fought hard to keep in the off-season. They do have Wilson Chandler who is likely the only Nugget visiting Toronto for the second time this season. The first was of course because he was considering signing with the Raptors after having played in China and returning as a RFA. That would not materialize and he would sign long term with the Nuggets. Which many say was his desire all along and he just used the Raptors as leverage. Which is something the Nuggets don't have in terms of the playoffs in the West. They are hanging on to the 8th spot with just a half game lead over Houston and a two game lead over Steve Nash and surging Suns.
The Nuggets did of course get something for Nene and that was Javale McGee who had one of the more embarrassing moments of the NBA season vs the Raptors with his old team the Wizards earlier in the season. I thought about posting the video of it but pretty sure you all remember. However, of late he has been alright for his new team with 11.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2 blocks in his last 3 games.
Any other things you need to know for this one? Keep an eye on Gary Forbes who now even has a bigger chance with both Barbosa and Bayless gone. He faces his former team tonight and that can motivate some people. Although this was Forbes deciding to come to Toronto and not the Nuggets sending him here. If he came for Toronto for opportunity he is now finding it.
Expect the Nuggets to be desperate for the win given the fact they are life and death to make playoffs and just 5-5 in their last 10 games. Raptors had a poor effort vs Magic but getting DeRozan back should help on offense. He won't solve the larger problem the Raptors had of defending the three point shot like they did vs the Magic.
3/27/12
SVG, Raptors Killers and 10 Days
First let's start with last night's game. It was a disappointment on a lot of levels. Let's getting rolling with the start of that game. Going down 24-8 to the Magic after you were able to battle blow for blow with the Bulls? Yes the Raptors had an immediate response only to fall back again. Ryan Anderson has for me earned the honour and distinction of being referred to as a "Raptor Killer". He is what they now like to call a stretch 4 in the NBA. The Raptors should know all about that as they have one they practice with on a regular basis. Andrea Bargnani remember him that guy that was heading to the All-Star Game earlier in the year. My question with him is are we suppose to believe that guy is the real Bargnani? Doesn't it make more logical sense to think that might have just been a flash of brilliance and Andrea is actually more closer to what we thought he was the last 6 years.
Stan Van Gundy makes total fun of Raptor fans with just cause. It was as a result of the stupid pizza promotion and a basket made by Ed Davis. The Raptors were getting destroyed for most of the night and the crowd was pretty dead for most of the night, then for a silly three dollar slice of pizza. Stan Van Gundy told it like it was in a funny and entertaining way. It is something that we have talked about to death in this blog. Fans that cheer for pizza make all of us as Raptor fans and supporter look like a joke to the rest of the world. I get why people still boo Hedo, T-Mac and Vince. I will support people in that regard no matter what outsiders might think. Still, in terms of cheering for a three dollar slice of pizza when your team is getting pasted I will never support. It was also on a basket made by a guy who until recently has basically sleep walked his way through his second season in the NBA. Be more concerned that team play horrible and lost 117-101.
In reality the Raptors season has come down to a guy coming right from the airport and ending up in a game. You want even find a listing for Alan Anderson when you click on his name in the boxscore. But he did in 7:22 seconds of floor time what it took Solomon Alabi till March 24th to do despite being on the roster all season. What was that? Score two points. The Solomon Alabi scoring streak continued again and now stands at two games with 2 points. That makes his career total up to 12. I wake up to the huge news(not really) that Ben Uzoh is a Raptor. He averaged 3.8 points in 42 games last season with the Nets and this season He averaged 14.8 points in the D-League this year with the Vipers. Truth is the chances any of these 10 day contract guys amount to anything is highly unlikely but it makes more sense than it did to have Anthony Carter or Rasaul Butler hanging around.
There is a month to go in season as of last night. Let's face facts we have reached that point in the season where folks are more interested in the draft lottery than they are in upcoming games. This along with 9 more chances to win a free slice of pizza. What is it going to take for someone to wake up and change this promotion?
Stan Van Gundy makes total fun of Raptor fans with just cause. It was as a result of the stupid pizza promotion and a basket made by Ed Davis. The Raptors were getting destroyed for most of the night and the crowd was pretty dead for most of the night, then for a silly three dollar slice of pizza. Stan Van Gundy told it like it was in a funny and entertaining way. It is something that we have talked about to death in this blog. Fans that cheer for pizza make all of us as Raptor fans and supporter look like a joke to the rest of the world. I get why people still boo Hedo, T-Mac and Vince. I will support people in that regard no matter what outsiders might think. Still, in terms of cheering for a three dollar slice of pizza when your team is getting pasted I will never support. It was also on a basket made by a guy who until recently has basically sleep walked his way through his second season in the NBA. Be more concerned that team play horrible and lost 117-101.
In reality the Raptors season has come down to a guy coming right from the airport and ending up in a game. You want even find a listing for Alan Anderson when you click on his name in the boxscore. But he did in 7:22 seconds of floor time what it took Solomon Alabi till March 24th to do despite being on the roster all season. What was that? Score two points. The Solomon Alabi scoring streak continued again and now stands at two games with 2 points. That makes his career total up to 12. I wake up to the huge news(not really) that Ben Uzoh is a Raptor. He averaged 3.8 points in 42 games last season with the Nets and this season He averaged 14.8 points in the D-League this year with the Vipers. Truth is the chances any of these 10 day contract guys amount to anything is highly unlikely but it makes more sense than it did to have Anthony Carter or Rasaul Butler hanging around.
There is a month to go in season as of last night. Let's face facts we have reached that point in the season where folks are more interested in the draft lottery than they are in upcoming games. This along with 9 more chances to win a free slice of pizza. What is it going to take for someone to wake up and change this promotion?
3/24/12
Bullseye On Two In A Row.
The Raptors get a surprising blowout win over the Knicks. That snapped a 5 game winning streak for the Knicks but to hit the daily double and beat the Bulls will not be easy. Raptors have only won back to back games twice this season. The first time started with a win over the Knicks followed by a win over the Cavs on January 2nd and 4th. The last time they did it was also in January with back to back wins over the Suns and Jazz on 24 and 25th. That is also the only time the Raptors swept a back to back this season. Add in the fact the Bulls have not played since beating the Raptors earlier in the week. They also have a spectacular 10-2 record in March and have won 6 of their last 7 games.
The good news is Demar DeRozan appears to be ok and likely will play tonight after leaving late with an injury to his left ankle. He called it a tweak and sounds like he will be fine. If he does in fact start he will tie a Raptor record with 131 consecutive starts with Alvin Williams. On a team that has been plagued with injury troubles Demar DeRozan has proven to be durable for his 3 season with the Raptors. His 30 point performance was fantastic and it re-opens a debate on if he can actually be the main guy on this team and not Andrea Bargnani. Andrea had a big night as well but to that point had been pretty average since returning from his calf injury.
Bulls are likely to go without their MVP in Derek Rose holding him out till Monday as the Bulls expect a long playoff run in their future and want Rose to be ready for that grind. It is not like the Bulls needed him as they beat the Raptors 94-82 and really only played one solid quarter that being the 4th. Safe to say you will see the Bulls play better for longer than 12 minutes tonight. If the Raptors can bring the defense they had last night this could be an ugly slug feast that the first team to 80 points wins.
The good news is Demar DeRozan appears to be ok and likely will play tonight after leaving late with an injury to his left ankle. He called it a tweak and sounds like he will be fine. If he does in fact start he will tie a Raptor record with 131 consecutive starts with Alvin Williams. On a team that has been plagued with injury troubles Demar DeRozan has proven to be durable for his 3 season with the Raptors. His 30 point performance was fantastic and it re-opens a debate on if he can actually be the main guy on this team and not Andrea Bargnani. Andrea had a big night as well but to that point had been pretty average since returning from his calf injury.
Bulls are likely to go without their MVP in Derek Rose holding him out till Monday as the Bulls expect a long playoff run in their future and want Rose to be ready for that grind. It is not like the Bulls needed him as they beat the Raptors 94-82 and really only played one solid quarter that being the 4th. Safe to say you will see the Bulls play better for longer than 12 minutes tonight. If the Raptors can bring the defense they had last night this could be an ugly slug feast that the first team to 80 points wins.
3/17/12
Tired Raps Look For Revenge In Charlotte
Maybe the Raptors are not tired, but it is a safe assumption after a long night in Memphis, where in one of the strangest basketball games I have ever witnessed the Raptors came away with a 114-110 OT win. They return to the Eastern Time zone and face the Charlotte Bobcats. One of the teams that I have personally guaranteed will finish below the Raptors. The Raptors have just 22 games left and are 9 wins ahead of the Raptors. The Raptors are just 5 wins shy of are pre-season prediction of 20 wins sitting at 15-29. The Bobcats are 6-36 and yes one of those 6 wins came at the hands of the Raptors back home in Toronto. That was without Andrea Bargnani though and after last night you wonder how much the Raptors will have him today. In addition how effective he can be. They will likely be without Jose Calderon as well. If Jerryd Bayless can play like he did last night that will be less of an issue. The Bobcats will return to the ACC for one more visit after today on April 3rd. Raptors have not won consecutive games since the last time Andrea Bargnani returned and he exited near the end of the 2nd win that was the wild OT win in Utah after a win over the Suns.
So let's just cut to the keys to the games.
1. Suck It Up Butter Cup- This is one of those games where it is unrealistic to expect the Raptors to be at 100%. What you would expect is for them to play solid defense and try and grind out a win. Add in the fact you had an embarrassing loss to that mix and that can provide you some motivation when your gas tank is reading E.
2. Bayless Balance- We need to see a balanced effort from Jerryd Bayless with the assists to go along with scoring. Near the end of last season we go to see a glimpse of what he could be. Again last night we saw some of that. It all gets mixed in with some crazy what were you thinking moments. But at the end of it all no one wants to win more than this guy. I firmly believe that.
3. Some X Factors Please- In a game where you expended so much to win you need someone unexpected to step up and provide a big performance. Maybe a big game from Ed Davis? One of those nice games that Amir Johnson can provide on occasion. An Aaron Gray double double? Something like what the Raptors got from Gary Forbes last night. Someone needs to step up.
So that is all we have for you today. Game goes at 7pm and seeing as my March Madness bracket is a mess I will be watching. Even if it wasn't I would be. You know your hardcore when your watching Raptors vs Bobcats. No more Bobkittens I learned from the last time....LOL.
So let's just cut to the keys to the games.
1. Suck It Up Butter Cup- This is one of those games where it is unrealistic to expect the Raptors to be at 100%. What you would expect is for them to play solid defense and try and grind out a win. Add in the fact you had an embarrassing loss to that mix and that can provide you some motivation when your gas tank is reading E.
2. Bayless Balance- We need to see a balanced effort from Jerryd Bayless with the assists to go along with scoring. Near the end of last season we go to see a glimpse of what he could be. Again last night we saw some of that. It all gets mixed in with some crazy what were you thinking moments. But at the end of it all no one wants to win more than this guy. I firmly believe that.
3. Some X Factors Please- In a game where you expended so much to win you need someone unexpected to step up and provide a big performance. Maybe a big game from Ed Davis? One of those nice games that Amir Johnson can provide on occasion. An Aaron Gray double double? Something like what the Raptors got from Gary Forbes last night. Someone needs to step up.
So that is all we have for you today. Game goes at 7pm and seeing as my March Madness bracket is a mess I will be watching. Even if it wasn't I would be. You know your hardcore when your watching Raptors vs Bobcats. No more Bobkittens I learned from the last time....LOL.
3/14/12
Captain Cupcake Leads Nets To Victory
So here we go, on the night before the trade deadline. All is quiet for the Raptors and it is likely to stay that way given the goals of this franchise at the moment. So, we can focus on if this team can actually win two games in a row. Deron Williams is out for the Nets and so is Calderon for the Raptors. I would consider that advantage Toronto. Is that enough to get them a win? Time to find out.
Sloppy start by both sides as the teams trade turnovers. Raptors got the first two baskets of this game to get the jump on the Nets. Kris Humphries was all over the place in both good and bad ways. He made a jumper and that was followed by a Raptor turnover leading to easy two in transition and this puppy was tied at 6. More Hump with the two handed jam and Nets had their first lead on the night at 12-10. Hump had a career high 31 point and 18 rebounds on Monday, so far in this one he has 8 points and 3 rebounds. Raptors went on a 8-3 run capped with a DeRozan slam in transition on the nice hook up from Bayless. Barbosa would make that 10-3 as he was playing and showing why he might be the most attractive trade piece in a Raptor uniform. In what was a very sloppy quarter for both the Raptors and Nets the Dinos had a 22-19 lead.
Anthony Morrow opens the scoring and makes it a one point lacking excitement contest. Nets get the lead back for first time since 12-10 with back to back hoops to open the 2nd. Barbosa audition continues with steal followed by a drive and behind the back pass to Linas for the easy 2. For a game tied at 25 this had all the excitement of watching paint dry for the most part. Gaines the Raptor for a couple 10 day contracts last year gave the Nets the lead 27-25. A quiet night for Bargnani so far as he makes his 2nd shot on the night to tie the game at 27. The Barbosa audition was the only true excitement as he adds a jumper made as he is fouled. Missed the and one but the Raptors had a 32-29 lead. Bragnani makes up for a turnover with a nice drive and finish and the Raptors lead was 5 with a time out on the floor. James Johnson kept the Raptors roll going on a 9-0 run now but the Nets finally had an answer and it was back to a 5 point game at 36-31. But the Raptors keep rolling make it a 13-2 run for Toronto and a 40-31 lead. Raptors get a bucket from Bayless he had 8 dimes doing his best Jose Calderon impression only he was playing defense too. Raptors had slippage near the end of the half and were trying to hang on to the lead. But they did manage to hold on with a 46-41 halftime lead.
Raptors continue to build your expectation levels for Jonas coming. I think it is pretty irresponsible to hype this kid to the moon all to serve as a distraction to the fact this season has been terrible. If he is not as good as advertised I urge you not to blame the kid and blame the people responsible for building your expectations to high. Anyway, back to the guys actually playing here that are up 5 on the Nets. New Jersey opens the half with a 3 pointer to cut the lead to just two. The one thing Bargnani has stuggled with since his return ironically is hit 3 point shot. he had a wide open transition three that he missed. Nets would tie the game up on the next possession at 46. Nets would eventually nose ahead with a 52-50 lead. Kris Humphries takes an ill advised jumper, gets his own rebound and kicks the ball out and possession ends with a Hump dunk. That sums up the good and bad of Kris Humphries in one possession. Bottom line it worked out and the Nets had a 4 point lead. Nets had a chance to make that an eight point lead but Hump threw the ball away. Demar Derozan took a knock to his face. He made the basket and the free throw than took a seat to get checked out. Nets were starting to pull away with this one. Jerryd Bayless after a solid first half with 8 assist had 0 in this 3rd quarter and was making some turnovers. Raptors limped to the end of the 3rd and the Nets had a 12 point turnaround in that quarter to lead 66-59 after 3.
Ed Davis angry he gets no halftime features makes a basket to start the 4th. Raptors were making just some awful and unforced turnovers and the Nets were happy to take the gifts being thrown their way. Nets had methodically built an eleven point lead. Bayless scored on a transition layup and Avery Johnson was quick to call a time out. There was roughly 7:40 left to play and out of time out Hump knocks down a jumper to restore the double digit lead. DeRozan than tries to put Hump on a poster but has to settle for two free throws. He missed both and the Raptors trialled 80-69. Nets would push that lead to as high as 14. Raptors would roll off 6 straight points and get it to an eight point advantage with 4:30ish left to go. Gerald Green who is most famous for blowing out a candle on a cupcake was blowing out the Raptors with 21 points. His latest two made the lead climb back to 10. After a dump tech by Anthony Morrow and the Raps hitting that Green again with an insane jumper to make the lead 10. Raptors needed a huge change in momentum as James Johnson scored to cut the lead to 8 points but their was just 2:20 left to play. Raptors go zone after the time out and Gaines makes them pay with a three point dagger giving the Nets an 11 point lead. Nets would take this one 98-84 and clobber the Raptors in the 2nd half.
Gerald Green had 26 points and former Raptor Kris Humphries had 16 points and 21 rebounds. It was yet another case of the Raptors not playing a full 48 minutes and paying for it in the end. They only shot 38.3% on the night. It was ugly even when the Raptors were winning. It got uglier when they started losing. Trade Deadline tomorrow if the Raptors do anything will be on top of it. That said if you plan on holding your breath for that...Don't.
Sloppy start by both sides as the teams trade turnovers. Raptors got the first two baskets of this game to get the jump on the Nets. Kris Humphries was all over the place in both good and bad ways. He made a jumper and that was followed by a Raptor turnover leading to easy two in transition and this puppy was tied at 6. More Hump with the two handed jam and Nets had their first lead on the night at 12-10. Hump had a career high 31 point and 18 rebounds on Monday, so far in this one he has 8 points and 3 rebounds. Raptors went on a 8-3 run capped with a DeRozan slam in transition on the nice hook up from Bayless. Barbosa would make that 10-3 as he was playing and showing why he might be the most attractive trade piece in a Raptor uniform. In what was a very sloppy quarter for both the Raptors and Nets the Dinos had a 22-19 lead.
Anthony Morrow opens the scoring and makes it a one point lacking excitement contest. Nets get the lead back for first time since 12-10 with back to back hoops to open the 2nd. Barbosa audition continues with steal followed by a drive and behind the back pass to Linas for the easy 2. For a game tied at 25 this had all the excitement of watching paint dry for the most part. Gaines the Raptor for a couple 10 day contracts last year gave the Nets the lead 27-25. A quiet night for Bargnani so far as he makes his 2nd shot on the night to tie the game at 27. The Barbosa audition was the only true excitement as he adds a jumper made as he is fouled. Missed the and one but the Raptors had a 32-29 lead. Bragnani makes up for a turnover with a nice drive and finish and the Raptors lead was 5 with a time out on the floor. James Johnson kept the Raptors roll going on a 9-0 run now but the Nets finally had an answer and it was back to a 5 point game at 36-31. But the Raptors keep rolling make it a 13-2 run for Toronto and a 40-31 lead. Raptors get a bucket from Bayless he had 8 dimes doing his best Jose Calderon impression only he was playing defense too. Raptors had slippage near the end of the half and were trying to hang on to the lead. But they did manage to hold on with a 46-41 halftime lead.
Raptors continue to build your expectation levels for Jonas coming. I think it is pretty irresponsible to hype this kid to the moon all to serve as a distraction to the fact this season has been terrible. If he is not as good as advertised I urge you not to blame the kid and blame the people responsible for building your expectations to high. Anyway, back to the guys actually playing here that are up 5 on the Nets. New Jersey opens the half with a 3 pointer to cut the lead to just two. The one thing Bargnani has stuggled with since his return ironically is hit 3 point shot. he had a wide open transition three that he missed. Nets would tie the game up on the next possession at 46. Nets would eventually nose ahead with a 52-50 lead. Kris Humphries takes an ill advised jumper, gets his own rebound and kicks the ball out and possession ends with a Hump dunk. That sums up the good and bad of Kris Humphries in one possession. Bottom line it worked out and the Nets had a 4 point lead. Nets had a chance to make that an eight point lead but Hump threw the ball away. Demar Derozan took a knock to his face. He made the basket and the free throw than took a seat to get checked out. Nets were starting to pull away with this one. Jerryd Bayless after a solid first half with 8 assist had 0 in this 3rd quarter and was making some turnovers. Raptors limped to the end of the 3rd and the Nets had a 12 point turnaround in that quarter to lead 66-59 after 3.
Ed Davis angry he gets no halftime features makes a basket to start the 4th. Raptors were making just some awful and unforced turnovers and the Nets were happy to take the gifts being thrown their way. Nets had methodically built an eleven point lead. Bayless scored on a transition layup and Avery Johnson was quick to call a time out. There was roughly 7:40 left to play and out of time out Hump knocks down a jumper to restore the double digit lead. DeRozan than tries to put Hump on a poster but has to settle for two free throws. He missed both and the Raptors trialled 80-69. Nets would push that lead to as high as 14. Raptors would roll off 6 straight points and get it to an eight point advantage with 4:30ish left to go. Gerald Green who is most famous for blowing out a candle on a cupcake was blowing out the Raptors with 21 points. His latest two made the lead climb back to 10. After a dump tech by Anthony Morrow and the Raps hitting that Green again with an insane jumper to make the lead 10. Raptors needed a huge change in momentum as James Johnson scored to cut the lead to 8 points but their was just 2:20 left to play. Raptors go zone after the time out and Gaines makes them pay with a three point dagger giving the Nets an 11 point lead. Nets would take this one 98-84 and clobber the Raptors in the 2nd half.
Gerald Green had 26 points and former Raptor Kris Humphries had 16 points and 21 rebounds. It was yet another case of the Raptors not playing a full 48 minutes and paying for it in the end. They only shot 38.3% on the night. It was ugly even when the Raptors were winning. It got uglier when they started losing. Trade Deadline tomorrow if the Raptors do anything will be on top of it. That said if you plan on holding your breath for that...Don't.
Eve Of Trade Deadline: Raps vs Nets
A lot of eyes will be on this game and it may have nothing to do with the Raptors and Nets playing a basketball game. It will have everything to do with the fact that speculation is that Dwight Howard will be the first free agent signing of the Brooklyn Nets if you believe the news. So that might force the Magic to make a move with the Nets or someone else to get something now for Dwight Howard. So people maybe watching this game to see who is not playing more than who is. Deron Williams and Jose Calderon both won't be but that is due to injuries. In terms of the Raptors and the trade deadline the key player to watch would be Barbosa. If he is not playing tonight you can almost guarantee he will be on the move.
In terms of the game itself the Raptors will have a decent shot at winning two in a row with no Deron Williams to deal with. If the Nets are truly looking to make the big splash for Howard who knows who else may not be playing. It could be a very easy win for the Raptors depending on who actually shows up for the Nets.
The Raptors with the win last night exceeded their win total on the road for an entire season last year with only 6 wins. It seems the Raptors are on pace to win the 20 games we predicted in the Dino Nation Blog if not a few more. Andrea Bargnani has looked better and better with each game in his return to the line up which is a positive sign both short and long term.
Raptors will be off tomorrow and in Memphis on Friday. If you expect to see them look much different I would suggest not to hold your breath. Colangelo has shown some out of character patience in sticking to the plan. So it is unlikely he loses his senses at this point.
In terms of the game itself the Raptors will have a decent shot at winning two in a row with no Deron Williams to deal with. If the Nets are truly looking to make the big splash for Howard who knows who else may not be playing. It could be a very easy win for the Raptors depending on who actually shows up for the Nets.
The Raptors with the win last night exceeded their win total on the road for an entire season last year with only 6 wins. It seems the Raptors are on pace to win the 20 games we predicted in the Dino Nation Blog if not a few more. Andrea Bargnani has looked better and better with each game in his return to the line up which is a positive sign both short and long term.
Raptors will be off tomorrow and in Memphis on Friday. If you expect to see them look much different I would suggest not to hold your breath. Colangelo has shown some out of character patience in sticking to the plan. So it is unlikely he loses his senses at this point.
3/13/12
Raptors Remain Perfect Against The Cavs
So the Raptors are the follow up act in town in Cleveland after the WWE like they were in Phoenix earlier in the season. I would put my money on the WWE being more entertaining, but who knows. The Cavs just a year plus removed from Lebron James being gone to South Beach are in a playoff race. It kind of depresses you as a Raptors fan. However unlike the Raptors Cleveland is getting to enjoy there goodies from the NBA draft in Tristan Thompson and Kyrie Irving. Things have really turned in a positive direction for Irving after a pretty mediocre start to his NBA Career vs the Raptors on December 26th. Now he looks like a contender for the Rookie of the year and with Ricky Rubio out for season that only adds to that case. Raptors have beat Cavs quite easily twice this season but I would put my money of Cavs in this one with no Calderon and an improved Irving.
Raps win the tip and some nice ball movement lead to fading jumper in the lane for DeRozan. Raptor then get a turn around jumper in the lane from Bargnani and an early 4-0 lead. The former Raptor for about 10 minutes Atwan Jamison gets the Cavs on the board with score 6-2. Cavs would start to battle back down just 10-9 as they were coming in riding high winners of three in a row. Anthony Parker with a steal on Bargnani and it lead to Alonzo Gee getting fouled and having a chance to give Cavs first leas of the night which he does making it 11-10 with 6:24 to play in first. Cavs would start to get some turnovers and that got them running and get points in transition they had a 17-12 lead on the strength of 13-2 run with 4 minutes to play in first. Dwane Casey had seen enough and called a time out. Gary Forbes checked in at point and Raptors responded with a couple baskets and cut Cavs advantage to 19-18. After Gray split a pair at the line Sessions drove scored and got the and one free throw to make it 22-19. A Gary Forbes jumper would make it a one point affair after this 1st quarter 22-21 Cavs.
Cavs get first two baskets of the quarter and just out to 26-21 lead. Barbosa hits a three to make this game a little tighter at 28-26. This was a close game but it really lacked any kind of excitement to it. Kinda of like living in Cleveland must be like. Barbosa was doing his thing in this one with two days to NBA trade deadline he was making some pro scouts drool no doubt. Cavs were trading buckets and flipping between a 5 point and 3 point advantage over the Raptors. Still the Raptors were hanging around and got on a bit of a roll and tied the game at 40 on a Bargnani jumper on the baseline. Later Bargnani on the drive scored to give the Raps a 44-42 lead and Bargnani 10 points in the half. Raptors were playing good defense and starting to pull away building a 9 point advantage 51-42. A Barbosa three pointer with under 30 seconds to play would make the lead 10. Cavs got a bucket and Amir Johnson looked gimpy but Raptors still had an eight point lead shooting 58%. and leading 54-46.
Raptors did a solid job hanging around than closing things out in the second and pulling away. James Johnson with a couple blocks to start the 3rd quarter. It took about 1:45 for anyone to score then Bayless nailed a three...Cavs counter with 2 and then another 3 from J.B. He is a true streaky player and shooter. Trending upwards at the moment as were the Raptors up 60-48. Kyrie Irving a three and that was first of night for Cavs and it seemed to spark them a little of a rally get them down a touchdown 62-55. Irving was trying to will his team back in this one but he was not getting a lot of help. Andrea Bargnani was starting to round into form in game number 3 in his return. Difficult leaner with contact and it goes and he draws the foul. Raptors were up 9 with the free throw to come. Raptors were hanging on up 69-63 with 2 to play in 3rd. Raptors close 3rd strong and lead 75-65 after 3.
Raptors were cruising along up 11 and Cavs seemed to have little fight. Casspi hit a three and got the game back to single digits with under 7 to play. But Bayless eventually answered that 3 he was 4-6 from behind the arc. Raptors seemed to have this one well under control. Cavs were making one final push and had game to 6 points with 2:40 to play and charge on Bayless. Cavs a sloppy turnover with a chance to cut it to a four point lead with about 1:30 to play. A Bargnani slam to give him 19 points would put this game to bed. Make the Final 96-88 for the men in red.
Raptors win their 14th of the season and 3 of those at the hands of the Cavs. A solid road win and it also is the 7th win on the road which is more than the Raptors had in a full season last year. A nice night for Bayless with 20 points and 7 assists and 19 for Bargnani in the best game of three he has played since returning. Raptors move on to face the Nets tomorrow night.
Raps win the tip and some nice ball movement lead to fading jumper in the lane for DeRozan. Raptor then get a turn around jumper in the lane from Bargnani and an early 4-0 lead. The former Raptor for about 10 minutes Atwan Jamison gets the Cavs on the board with score 6-2. Cavs would start to battle back down just 10-9 as they were coming in riding high winners of three in a row. Anthony Parker with a steal on Bargnani and it lead to Alonzo Gee getting fouled and having a chance to give Cavs first leas of the night which he does making it 11-10 with 6:24 to play in first. Cavs would start to get some turnovers and that got them running and get points in transition they had a 17-12 lead on the strength of 13-2 run with 4 minutes to play in first. Dwane Casey had seen enough and called a time out. Gary Forbes checked in at point and Raptors responded with a couple baskets and cut Cavs advantage to 19-18. After Gray split a pair at the line Sessions drove scored and got the and one free throw to make it 22-19. A Gary Forbes jumper would make it a one point affair after this 1st quarter 22-21 Cavs.
Cavs get first two baskets of the quarter and just out to 26-21 lead. Barbosa hits a three to make this game a little tighter at 28-26. This was a close game but it really lacked any kind of excitement to it. Kinda of like living in Cleveland must be like. Barbosa was doing his thing in this one with two days to NBA trade deadline he was making some pro scouts drool no doubt. Cavs were trading buckets and flipping between a 5 point and 3 point advantage over the Raptors. Still the Raptors were hanging around and got on a bit of a roll and tied the game at 40 on a Bargnani jumper on the baseline. Later Bargnani on the drive scored to give the Raps a 44-42 lead and Bargnani 10 points in the half. Raptors were playing good defense and starting to pull away building a 9 point advantage 51-42. A Barbosa three pointer with under 30 seconds to play would make the lead 10. Cavs got a bucket and Amir Johnson looked gimpy but Raptors still had an eight point lead shooting 58%. and leading 54-46.
Raptors did a solid job hanging around than closing things out in the second and pulling away. James Johnson with a couple blocks to start the 3rd quarter. It took about 1:45 for anyone to score then Bayless nailed a three...Cavs counter with 2 and then another 3 from J.B. He is a true streaky player and shooter. Trending upwards at the moment as were the Raptors up 60-48. Kyrie Irving a three and that was first of night for Cavs and it seemed to spark them a little of a rally get them down a touchdown 62-55. Irving was trying to will his team back in this one but he was not getting a lot of help. Andrea Bargnani was starting to round into form in game number 3 in his return. Difficult leaner with contact and it goes and he draws the foul. Raptors were up 9 with the free throw to come. Raptors were hanging on up 69-63 with 2 to play in 3rd. Raptors close 3rd strong and lead 75-65 after 3.
Raptors were cruising along up 11 and Cavs seemed to have little fight. Casspi hit a three and got the game back to single digits with under 7 to play. But Bayless eventually answered that 3 he was 4-6 from behind the arc. Raptors seemed to have this one well under control. Cavs were making one final push and had game to 6 points with 2:40 to play and charge on Bayless. Cavs a sloppy turnover with a chance to cut it to a four point lead with about 1:30 to play. A Bargnani slam to give him 19 points would put this game to bed. Make the Final 96-88 for the men in red.
Raptors win their 14th of the season and 3 of those at the hands of the Cavs. A solid road win and it also is the 7th win on the road which is more than the Raptors had in a full season last year. A nice night for Bayless with 20 points and 7 assists and 19 for Bargnani in the best game of three he has played since returning. Raptors move on to face the Nets tomorrow night.
3/11/12
Buck Off A Hour Early
The Raptors may appreciate the fact we have sprung ahead. It is one hour less they don't have to wait to put what happened in Detroit behind them. They will be attempting to do that without Jose Calderon in all likelihood. After Jose had been having one of his most durable seasons in years he stepped on Brandon Knight's foot and turned his ankle badly. X-Rays were negative but I am positive we don't see Calderon for quite awhile. Which makes you wonder if the Raptors will still release Anthony Carter as planned. There was no official announcement that they had done that. However, it was common knowledge that was the plan. Just four days prior to the trade deadline the Raptors are awfully thin at the point guard position. It makes any chance of dealing Calderon likely go out the window. Still that was a remote possibility at best. Andrea Bargnani is back and will be interesting to see how much he plays after just 19 minutes yesterday against Detroit. The Raptors planned to limit his minutes heading into the game. The game itself helped limit his minutes by it being a blowout.
The Bucks are a team that knows all about injuries they have had their fair share over the years with their top player Andrew Bogut. He is a lot like Bargnani in the sense of being a first overall pick that has always struggled to meet lofty expectations. The Bucks are trying to hunt down the struggling New York Knicks coming into the day just 2 games behind them for the final playoff spot in the East. While they try to hold off Cleveland and Detroit from passing them. The Cavs enter the day percentage points behind the Bucks with 2 games in hand. While the Pistons thanks to that win vs the Raptors are just a game and half behind those two teams. They all have thoughts of tracking down the Knicks for the final playoff spot.
Brandon Jennings gets to pay a visit to one of his favourite places according to his Twitter. He also gets to match-up with his childhood friend Demar DeRozan. These two grew up in L.A and have played together as kids in AAU programs and are very close friends. It leads to speculation of if the two players may ever hook up somewhere together on the same team in the NBA. Jennings has let it be known that he plans to investigate his options once he hits the open market in a few years. Could Toronto be in the mix to land him? Jose Calderon's contract would be ending at the same time. Jennings said he wants to play in a large market which for some Toronto would be and for others it would not be. The more wins the Raptors get the larger the market may become not just for Jennings but other free agents.
Winning is going to be a lot tougher without Jose Calderon. As much as the Raptors missed Bargnani given their lack of depth at point Calderon could be a greater loss for this team that even with him has been challenged to score at times. It is a huge opportunity for Jerryd Bayless who will see a ton of minutes now after he himself was sidelined for a large part of the beginning of the season from an ankle turn similar to that of the one Calderon suffered.
3 Keys Today:
1. Ball Movement- It is vital that Raptors keep the ball movement going. They did a tremendous job of that vs Houston and not so much vs Detroit. No Jose makes it a much harder task but Bayless needs to remember to be a distributor more than a scorer with Calderon out.
2. Pride- Quite simply yesterday should have been a complete embarrassment for this team. Dwane Casey should have to say very little for this team to respond after a mess like that. If they don't respond you can bet Casey will have a lot to say.
3. Contain the Lead Deer- Brandon Jennings was always going to be a problem in this game. Jose Calderon healthy or not was not going to be able to guard him. Bayless has shown flashes of great defense this season when matched against Deron Williams. We could use some of that effort today against Mr. Jennings.
The Bucks are a team that knows all about injuries they have had their fair share over the years with their top player Andrew Bogut. He is a lot like Bargnani in the sense of being a first overall pick that has always struggled to meet lofty expectations. The Bucks are trying to hunt down the struggling New York Knicks coming into the day just 2 games behind them for the final playoff spot in the East. While they try to hold off Cleveland and Detroit from passing them. The Cavs enter the day percentage points behind the Bucks with 2 games in hand. While the Pistons thanks to that win vs the Raptors are just a game and half behind those two teams. They all have thoughts of tracking down the Knicks for the final playoff spot.
Brandon Jennings gets to pay a visit to one of his favourite places according to his Twitter. He also gets to match-up with his childhood friend Demar DeRozan. These two grew up in L.A and have played together as kids in AAU programs and are very close friends. It leads to speculation of if the two players may ever hook up somewhere together on the same team in the NBA. Jennings has let it be known that he plans to investigate his options once he hits the open market in a few years. Could Toronto be in the mix to land him? Jose Calderon's contract would be ending at the same time. Jennings said he wants to play in a large market which for some Toronto would be and for others it would not be. The more wins the Raptors get the larger the market may become not just for Jennings but other free agents.
Winning is going to be a lot tougher without Jose Calderon. As much as the Raptors missed Bargnani given their lack of depth at point Calderon could be a greater loss for this team that even with him has been challenged to score at times. It is a huge opportunity for Jerryd Bayless who will see a ton of minutes now after he himself was sidelined for a large part of the beginning of the season from an ankle turn similar to that of the one Calderon suffered.
3 Keys Today:
1. Ball Movement- It is vital that Raptors keep the ball movement going. They did a tremendous job of that vs Houston and not so much vs Detroit. No Jose makes it a much harder task but Bayless needs to remember to be a distributor more than a scorer with Calderon out.
2. Pride- Quite simply yesterday should have been a complete embarrassment for this team. Dwane Casey should have to say very little for this team to respond after a mess like that. If they don't respond you can bet Casey will have a lot to say.
3. Contain the Lead Deer- Brandon Jennings was always going to be a problem in this game. Jose Calderon healthy or not was not going to be able to guard him. Bayless has shown flashes of great defense this season when matched against Deron Williams. We could use some of that effort today against Mr. Jennings.
3/10/12
Bargnani In, Jose Out , While Raptors get KOed Early
So Andrea Bargnani is back and will start but will be limited in his minutes. Still it is good to see Andrea Bargnani back after 20 games out with a calf injury. Some folks have lost their minds over his return and are talking playoffs. You folks are in need of some prospective. Even with Bargnani this was a below .500 team and in order to get in the playoff race you need to be better than that even in the Eastern Conference. It is vital this team keeps playing as hard as it has without him. If that doesn't happen don't expect the Raptors to be much better with him.
Bargnani lost the opening tip and Pistons get the first two points of this contest. Greg Monroe would school Aaron Gray for an easy two points. He would redeem himself with a put back on a Jose Calderon miss. Pistons didn't care much about the Raptors returning star and started this game with a 9-2 run. After a James Johnson basket, Brandon Knight would hit the second of back to back 3's for the Pistons. Bargnani has some trouble handling the ball it leads to a sloppy possession that results in no points and Pistons go the other way and score it was 15-4 and a time out was taken. Finally with 5:45 to go in first Bargnani with a nice move in post gets on board but it was 18-8 Pistons. Bargs took a seat with 4 points and his team down 20-10. Pistons were hot from 3 point land hitting 4 of their first 5 from beyond the arc and this was getting ugly 27-12 Pistons with still 3 minutes to play in 1st. Raptors were a mess shooting 5-20 and down 23 to the Pistons after one with score 37-14.
Lightning rarely strikes in same place twice. Rod Black pointed out that Raptors biggest comeback came here in Detroit from 25 points down. The fact it was 43-19 with 9:04 to go really gives me little hope it will happen again. This game was turning into an embarrassment at a rapid rate. Barbosa who is Raps most attractive trade piece was trying to breath some life into this dead offense with 5 quick points but Piston lead was still 22. When it rains it pours, Jose Calderon who had been having an unspectacular night and this is being kind, he went down with what looked like a very bad ankle turn. He was ruled out for the night and by looks of it out from awhile. Raptors could be ruled out of winning this game as well with score 61-37 at the half for the Pistons.
It was 89-58 after the 3rd quarter. Need we go into detail? No we do not need too. Instead I will remind you all to set your clocks ahead and will do the same with this recap. The Raptors were dead long ago in this one. They will face the Bucks tomorrow with no Jose Calderon and a lot to prove in terms of pride. Raptors did make it less awful in a full quarter of garbage time making the final 105-86.
I am heading down to cover the game tomorrow. I hope to see a team that shows up and fights. I sure didn't see that tonight. Set those clocks ahead at least the nightmares this game caused will be shorter.
Bargnani lost the opening tip and Pistons get the first two points of this contest. Greg Monroe would school Aaron Gray for an easy two points. He would redeem himself with a put back on a Jose Calderon miss. Pistons didn't care much about the Raptors returning star and started this game with a 9-2 run. After a James Johnson basket, Brandon Knight would hit the second of back to back 3's for the Pistons. Bargnani has some trouble handling the ball it leads to a sloppy possession that results in no points and Pistons go the other way and score it was 15-4 and a time out was taken. Finally with 5:45 to go in first Bargnani with a nice move in post gets on board but it was 18-8 Pistons. Bargs took a seat with 4 points and his team down 20-10. Pistons were hot from 3 point land hitting 4 of their first 5 from beyond the arc and this was getting ugly 27-12 Pistons with still 3 minutes to play in 1st. Raptors were a mess shooting 5-20 and down 23 to the Pistons after one with score 37-14.
Lightning rarely strikes in same place twice. Rod Black pointed out that Raptors biggest comeback came here in Detroit from 25 points down. The fact it was 43-19 with 9:04 to go really gives me little hope it will happen again. This game was turning into an embarrassment at a rapid rate. Barbosa who is Raps most attractive trade piece was trying to breath some life into this dead offense with 5 quick points but Piston lead was still 22. When it rains it pours, Jose Calderon who had been having an unspectacular night and this is being kind, he went down with what looked like a very bad ankle turn. He was ruled out for the night and by looks of it out from awhile. Raptors could be ruled out of winning this game as well with score 61-37 at the half for the Pistons.
It was 89-58 after the 3rd quarter. Need we go into detail? No we do not need too. Instead I will remind you all to set your clocks ahead and will do the same with this recap. The Raptors were dead long ago in this one. They will face the Bucks tomorrow with no Jose Calderon and a lot to prove in terms of pride. Raptors did make it less awful in a full quarter of garbage time making the final 105-86.
I am heading down to cover the game tomorrow. I hope to see a team that shows up and fights. I sure didn't see that tonight. Set those clocks ahead at least the nightmares this game caused will be shorter.
3/8/12
Things To Consider When Bargs Is Back
The Raptors are on the verge of welcoming back Andera Bargnani to the line-up fairly soon. Which on the surface seems like a major bonus for the Raptors. Which it very well could be. That being said, this will be an important moment for this season in a season that doesn't offer many of those given the Raptors 13-26 record. The Raptors in the 13 games that Bargnani did play, were 6-7 and with 27 games left, it is not like his return is getting them into the NBA Playoffs even as bad as the Eastern Conference is. However, this is still important for a lot of reasons.
First one is likely the most obvious one. After his miraculous transformation under Dwane Casey people were throwing all kinds of praise the way of Andrea Bargnani. He was a legit All-Star player according to some people and should garner consideration for a trip to Orlando. Bargnani was in Orlando but it wasn't as anything more than a spectator. When Bargnani returns we will get to see if people that thought that were right or just drunk on Raptor Kool Aid. While no one will deny the 13 game stretch from Bargnani has been perhaps the best of his career. Not just because of his offensive numbers but the fact he was more aggressive on the other end of the floor. He seemed to fit well in the new defensive scheme of Dwane Casey. Really what we saw was the effort that we had not in seasons past.
So, does Andrea Bargnani return and just continue on his redemption season, for a guy that this off-season some fans, would not have minded seeing him traded and moved along. If we do than that is great and Raptors can feel very happy to have a legit piece to build around. If we don't than many will be quick to question if that was just a mirage at the beginning of the season. Even if we get the same Andrea Bargnani back this season, it has at least for me, called into question his durability and ability to recover from injuries. This is basically a calf strain here it is not like Bargnani has had to have any kind of procedure and needs to recover from that. The fact he re-injured that same calf is troublesome too. While most will say the long lay-off has been based on the Raptors having not much to play for and are not upset at the fact they have lost a lot of games with out him. That might me the case. Still you saw Amir Johnson bang a knee and sat one game and was right back in their fighting hard. Alvin Williams back in the day was that type of guy. Vince Carter wasn't that type of guy and would miss large amounts of time for even what seemed as a pretty minor injury. It sure seems to me that Andrea trends more to the Vince side of this equation than the Williams or Johnson side. You can say so what? He is the star player and both he and the Raptors are being cautious. Still, the guys in the looker room might not see it that way. Demar DeRozan takes a beating on a nightly basis but always pops back up and never seems to miss anytime. So do they believe Andrea is injured or hurt? Wait isn't that the same thing? If you are injured, you can't play and would not help your team by being out there and could damage yourself more in the process. If your hurt, but can still contribute without any risk to your long term career, or even maybe a minor one, you owe it to the guys in that room to be out there. There were a lot of reasons Vince Carer fizzled in Toronto but one of the biggest was he lost the respect of the guys in his locker room.
Will assume that Andrea has been injured and not just hurt, but still we have more to consider. This team is just 7-19 without Bargnani this season. Early on this team might not have been able to beat some D-League teams without him. However, over time and after some embarrassing losses, this team has found a way to be competitive and even win a few games without him. Demar DeRozan after struggling out of the gate as emerged to be the second best option on this team on offense and shown some consistency of late. Many guys have stepped up their game and as team this group has played hard and fought. When the time comes that Andrea Bargnani comes back will this continue? That becomes a big question. The Raptors have got contributions from throughout the line-up from Barbosa, Kleiza, James Johnson, Calderon even Aaron Gray. Will this team continue doing those things or will they take a collective sigh of relief that Bargnani is back. As an example of what I am talking about let's take Jose Calderon, who has in the time Bargnani has been out shown some of the most aggressive nature in terms of looking for his shot that we have seen in his career. Will it continue or does he revert back to the Jose Calderon that rarely would take his own shot and was more happy to defer to others. How will other people that have seen more shots than they normally would react to getting less of them all of the sudden? There is lots of things to consider.
Will everyone be glad to see Bargnani back in the fold. Obviously the answer is yes. Still if you think that this will just magically turn into the Raptors winning games all of the sudden it might not be that simple. If they can maintain how they have played and add Bargnani's offense to that mix a lot of these close games could start falling the other way. The trick is can they still maintain that effort. It isn't as easy as it seems. That is the great thing about basketball it is a great example of a group dynamic in action. Dwane Casey we at least know will crack the whip should some folks revert backwards, for the Raptors to actually benefit from Bargnani returning need both him and them to keep playing at the same level that he did and they have.
First one is likely the most obvious one. After his miraculous transformation under Dwane Casey people were throwing all kinds of praise the way of Andrea Bargnani. He was a legit All-Star player according to some people and should garner consideration for a trip to Orlando. Bargnani was in Orlando but it wasn't as anything more than a spectator. When Bargnani returns we will get to see if people that thought that were right or just drunk on Raptor Kool Aid. While no one will deny the 13 game stretch from Bargnani has been perhaps the best of his career. Not just because of his offensive numbers but the fact he was more aggressive on the other end of the floor. He seemed to fit well in the new defensive scheme of Dwane Casey. Really what we saw was the effort that we had not in seasons past.
So, does Andrea Bargnani return and just continue on his redemption season, for a guy that this off-season some fans, would not have minded seeing him traded and moved along. If we do than that is great and Raptors can feel very happy to have a legit piece to build around. If we don't than many will be quick to question if that was just a mirage at the beginning of the season. Even if we get the same Andrea Bargnani back this season, it has at least for me, called into question his durability and ability to recover from injuries. This is basically a calf strain here it is not like Bargnani has had to have any kind of procedure and needs to recover from that. The fact he re-injured that same calf is troublesome too. While most will say the long lay-off has been based on the Raptors having not much to play for and are not upset at the fact they have lost a lot of games with out him. That might me the case. Still you saw Amir Johnson bang a knee and sat one game and was right back in their fighting hard. Alvin Williams back in the day was that type of guy. Vince Carter wasn't that type of guy and would miss large amounts of time for even what seemed as a pretty minor injury. It sure seems to me that Andrea trends more to the Vince side of this equation than the Williams or Johnson side. You can say so what? He is the star player and both he and the Raptors are being cautious. Still, the guys in the looker room might not see it that way. Demar DeRozan takes a beating on a nightly basis but always pops back up and never seems to miss anytime. So do they believe Andrea is injured or hurt? Wait isn't that the same thing? If you are injured, you can't play and would not help your team by being out there and could damage yourself more in the process. If your hurt, but can still contribute without any risk to your long term career, or even maybe a minor one, you owe it to the guys in that room to be out there. There were a lot of reasons Vince Carer fizzled in Toronto but one of the biggest was he lost the respect of the guys in his locker room.
Will assume that Andrea has been injured and not just hurt, but still we have more to consider. This team is just 7-19 without Bargnani this season. Early on this team might not have been able to beat some D-League teams without him. However, over time and after some embarrassing losses, this team has found a way to be competitive and even win a few games without him. Demar DeRozan after struggling out of the gate as emerged to be the second best option on this team on offense and shown some consistency of late. Many guys have stepped up their game and as team this group has played hard and fought. When the time comes that Andrea Bargnani comes back will this continue? That becomes a big question. The Raptors have got contributions from throughout the line-up from Barbosa, Kleiza, James Johnson, Calderon even Aaron Gray. Will this team continue doing those things or will they take a collective sigh of relief that Bargnani is back. As an example of what I am talking about let's take Jose Calderon, who has in the time Bargnani has been out shown some of the most aggressive nature in terms of looking for his shot that we have seen in his career. Will it continue or does he revert back to the Jose Calderon that rarely would take his own shot and was more happy to defer to others. How will other people that have seen more shots than they normally would react to getting less of them all of the sudden? There is lots of things to consider.
Will everyone be glad to see Bargnani back in the fold. Obviously the answer is yes. Still if you think that this will just magically turn into the Raptors winning games all of the sudden it might not be that simple. If they can maintain how they have played and add Bargnani's offense to that mix a lot of these close games could start falling the other way. The trick is can they still maintain that effort. It isn't as easy as it seems. That is the great thing about basketball it is a great example of a group dynamic in action. Dwane Casey we at least know will crack the whip should some folks revert backwards, for the Raptors to actually benefit from Bargnani returning need both him and them to keep playing at the same level that he did and they have.
3/7/12
Raptors Get A Redo Vs Rockets
So Raptors get ready to go back to wear this second half of the season began with Houston Rockets. It was another one of those close but no cigar scenarios in which they lost 88-85. Kyle Lowery torched the Raptors in that game with 26 points shooting 8-12 and having 5 assists to lead the way. The Raptors got 17 points from Demar DeRozan and 16 from James Johnson. It was another one of those games where the Raptors also got off to a slow start as they were down 27-15 after the first quarter. So seeing as not a lot has changed about the match up let's just cut to the keys to the game.
3 Keys:
Contain Lowery: This was one of those games where you got to see Jose Calderon at his defensive worst. Raptors need to figure out a way to make someone else beat them.
Better Start: Raptors the last time as mentioned dug a large hole early and could not fight all the way back. In recent games the Raptors have had better starts and they need one tonight to have a chance to win.
Keep At It On The Glass: Part of what kept the Raptors in that game with Houston was there work on the glass. They out rebounded Houston 47-37 and you put that together with a better start maybe you can find a way to win.
So that is all. There is news that an Andrea Bargnani return could be coming soon perhaps Saturday or Sunday. This info comes from an article by Eric Koreen in the National Post. Anthony Carter is gone as well according to everyone. Never was a press release about it. But maybe you didn't need one. After all that is how little Carter did.
3 Keys:
Contain Lowery: This was one of those games where you got to see Jose Calderon at his defensive worst. Raptors need to figure out a way to make someone else beat them.
Better Start: Raptors the last time as mentioned dug a large hole early and could not fight all the way back. In recent games the Raptors have had better starts and they need one tonight to have a chance to win.
Keep At It On The Glass: Part of what kept the Raptors in that game with Houston was there work on the glass. They out rebounded Houston 47-37 and you put that together with a better start maybe you can find a way to win.
So that is all. There is news that an Andrea Bargnani return could be coming soon perhaps Saturday or Sunday. This info comes from an article by Eric Koreen in the National Post. Anthony Carter is gone as well according to everyone. Never was a press release about it. But maybe you didn't need one. After all that is how little Carter did.
3/5/12
Superman Is Not Afraid Of Raptors.
Not surprisingly no Amir Johnson tonight. Andrea Bargnani ? You kidding right? Nope he isn't playing either. Solomon Alabi is active and if he plays tonight the Raptors or Magic, more likely the Magic, will be up by about 20 points or more. Dwight Howard is playing and still for Orlando with 10 days to the trade deadline. Hedo Turkoglu returns to the scene of the crime as well. But no one put a gun to Colangelo's head when he signed him that we are aware of. You often wonder how things might be different if Hedo had not screwed over Portland (Or So we thought) and signed there as he apparently had agreed to do and than changed his mind. That is water under the bridge of failure now. Magic should have little trouble dusting off the Raptors as they did on New Year's Day to start 2012.
Dwight Howard starts it off with a pretty move in the paint making Aaron Gray frozen or so it appeared. Ed Davis would score on a put back and Raps would get another basket, before a Nelson three pointer would make it 5-4. Raptors were doing a good job hanging around early and in fact nosed out to a 12-9 lead on an Ed Davis bucket taking it at Dwight Howard. Magic would tie it at 12 then the crowd would enjoy a pretty stupid pass by Hedo Turkoglu that would go out of bounds. Ball Control was a problem for the Magic and that is a good joke but it was also the truth with a lot of unforced turnovers. You got the feeling Dwight Howard could score as many as he wanted, but the Magic were more content to take shots. It was tied at 17 on James Johnson open 3. Big Baby with a nice big to bigger pass to Dwight Howard. Then we had a J.J three ball and the Magic were up 22-18. Magic would lead 23-20 after one and Superman had 10 points and 7 rebounds and I honestly think he could have had more than that if Magic wanted him too.
Magic got a basket from Ryan Anderson in the paint using some nice old school pump fakes. Raptors would respond with a break and a nice drop off from Calderon for DeRozan to get the easy lay-up. Magic were starting to assert themselves a little taking a 32-26 lead in the early going of the 2nd. Magic got it to an 8 point lead, but Demar DeRozan unafraid to take it to the paint made a couple nice baskets attacking the hoop making it 36-32. Howard got another easy score in the lane but Demar would get back in the paint too with a nice spin and score back to a 4 point point ball game. Raptors gave a good effort but were still as Jack Armstrong says, stuck five at halftime trailing 43-38.
Aaron Gray with a rare two for two effort at the line is what opens up the scoring in the 2nd half. Magic would get a couple baskets to answer that and it was 47-40 Magic. Raptors looked pretty disorganized on offense. Jose Calderon was 1-7 and you could add a turnover to that but the Magic would return the favour as they led 49-42. But the Raptors would get on a nice 6-0 run before a time out was called and it was a one point game. Raptors would take the lead on Barbosa three pointer to lead 51-49. Magic out a time out get an easy score and tie the game at 51. Dwight Howard soon after picks up his 3rd foul. It was a back and forth affair as Big Baby hits a jumper to give the Magic a 58-55 lead with just over 3 to play. Dwight Howard got the basket and made a free throw as he was fouled and the score grew to 61-55. A big dunk by Dwight Howard caused the crows to gasp and it was a sweet finish. Magic had been the dominant team all night when they wanted to be but still only had a 68-63 lead after 3.
Raptors were not going away and were in this game for one simple word and it is effort. They had it and the Magic only had it when they decided to have it. James Johnson swatted Big Baby and it lead to Jerryd Bayless being fouled in transition he made both and it was a one point game again. Ryan Anderson with a hugely needed three pointer for the Magic. Bayless with an ill advised chuck at three to answer. Anderson a basket and foul which he makes the and 1. Bayless decided to shoot another 3.....No what are you doing? I meant to say nice shot as he makes it. Raptors after falling behind seven get another basket and again were knocking on the door down just two.
Magic again decided to bring it and Dwight Howard made a great move that 3 years ago was not in his tool box in the paint. However Demar DeRozan who didn't have a 3 in his tool box does have one on occasion now and he used it to get the Raptors to within 2. Magic would push back to 5 up but a Bayless three would make it 80-78. But a silly foul by Jaamal Magloire and Magic got the lead back up to 83-78 with just over 4 to play. Magic started to pull away and had a 87-78 lead with 2:58 to play. But the Raptors would keep coming as they had all night long. DeRozan got a bucket to cut the lead to 4. Some questionable calls along the way were getting the fans and Jack Armstrong upset. But the foul on Calderon actually helped the Raptors as it turned out as Howard missed both at the line keeping the score at 87-83 Magic. Raptors had a chance at an easy hoop in the paint and could not make it and that would look to be costly with just a minute to play. Another foul on Calderon for getting run over by Dwight Howard and he again missed both but Magic got the rebound and still could not score. Bayless was fouled by Hedo and sent him to the line with 31.8 to play. He makes both and again it was a 2 point game. But a dagger 3 by J.J Redick would look to be the death blow giving the Magic a 5 point lead with 9.7 seconds to play. But Magic allow the Raptors to get an open Calderon three that he nail....Like Really? Magic now only up 2 again with 6.3 seconds left. J.J Redick gets fouled and that is last guy you want to foul with 95% on season but on the night was 2-4. Made both like he did back in the days at Duke and that would do it. Magic take it 92-88.
This is the part where you say the Raptors fought hard and deserved a better fate. But everyone else will do enough of that. I will say that it was a great effort but it was still a case of team that can not find a way to get over that hump in close games. I will also be the guy that will point out if you had Andrea Bargnani playing you might win some of these games. The fact he remains out with a calf injury seems odd even if it is the 2nd time he injured it. I hope it is because the Raptors are just trying to keep him out to play it safe in a season that doesn't mean much. If it is not that this really does not speak well to his ability to recover from injuries and is a concern as you go forward. But the Raptors are giving a tremendous amount of effort on defense and in general and you have to give credit to Dwane Casey for that. It is night and day from the efforts we saw under Jay Triano.
Dwight Howard starts it off with a pretty move in the paint making Aaron Gray frozen or so it appeared. Ed Davis would score on a put back and Raps would get another basket, before a Nelson three pointer would make it 5-4. Raptors were doing a good job hanging around early and in fact nosed out to a 12-9 lead on an Ed Davis bucket taking it at Dwight Howard. Magic would tie it at 12 then the crowd would enjoy a pretty stupid pass by Hedo Turkoglu that would go out of bounds. Ball Control was a problem for the Magic and that is a good joke but it was also the truth with a lot of unforced turnovers. You got the feeling Dwight Howard could score as many as he wanted, but the Magic were more content to take shots. It was tied at 17 on James Johnson open 3. Big Baby with a nice big to bigger pass to Dwight Howard. Then we had a J.J three ball and the Magic were up 22-18. Magic would lead 23-20 after one and Superman had 10 points and 7 rebounds and I honestly think he could have had more than that if Magic wanted him too.
Magic got a basket from Ryan Anderson in the paint using some nice old school pump fakes. Raptors would respond with a break and a nice drop off from Calderon for DeRozan to get the easy lay-up. Magic were starting to assert themselves a little taking a 32-26 lead in the early going of the 2nd. Magic got it to an 8 point lead, but Demar DeRozan unafraid to take it to the paint made a couple nice baskets attacking the hoop making it 36-32. Howard got another easy score in the lane but Demar would get back in the paint too with a nice spin and score back to a 4 point point ball game. Raptors gave a good effort but were still as Jack Armstrong says, stuck five at halftime trailing 43-38.
Aaron Gray with a rare two for two effort at the line is what opens up the scoring in the 2nd half. Magic would get a couple baskets to answer that and it was 47-40 Magic. Raptors looked pretty disorganized on offense. Jose Calderon was 1-7 and you could add a turnover to that but the Magic would return the favour as they led 49-42. But the Raptors would get on a nice 6-0 run before a time out was called and it was a one point game. Raptors would take the lead on Barbosa three pointer to lead 51-49. Magic out a time out get an easy score and tie the game at 51. Dwight Howard soon after picks up his 3rd foul. It was a back and forth affair as Big Baby hits a jumper to give the Magic a 58-55 lead with just over 3 to play. Dwight Howard got the basket and made a free throw as he was fouled and the score grew to 61-55. A big dunk by Dwight Howard caused the crows to gasp and it was a sweet finish. Magic had been the dominant team all night when they wanted to be but still only had a 68-63 lead after 3.
Raptors were not going away and were in this game for one simple word and it is effort. They had it and the Magic only had it when they decided to have it. James Johnson swatted Big Baby and it lead to Jerryd Bayless being fouled in transition he made both and it was a one point game again. Ryan Anderson with a hugely needed three pointer for the Magic. Bayless with an ill advised chuck at three to answer. Anderson a basket and foul which he makes the and 1. Bayless decided to shoot another 3.....No what are you doing? I meant to say nice shot as he makes it. Raptors after falling behind seven get another basket and again were knocking on the door down just two.
Magic again decided to bring it and Dwight Howard made a great move that 3 years ago was not in his tool box in the paint. However Demar DeRozan who didn't have a 3 in his tool box does have one on occasion now and he used it to get the Raptors to within 2. Magic would push back to 5 up but a Bayless three would make it 80-78. But a silly foul by Jaamal Magloire and Magic got the lead back up to 83-78 with just over 4 to play. Magic started to pull away and had a 87-78 lead with 2:58 to play. But the Raptors would keep coming as they had all night long. DeRozan got a bucket to cut the lead to 4. Some questionable calls along the way were getting the fans and Jack Armstrong upset. But the foul on Calderon actually helped the Raptors as it turned out as Howard missed both at the line keeping the score at 87-83 Magic. Raptors had a chance at an easy hoop in the paint and could not make it and that would look to be costly with just a minute to play. Another foul on Calderon for getting run over by Dwight Howard and he again missed both but Magic got the rebound and still could not score. Bayless was fouled by Hedo and sent him to the line with 31.8 to play. He makes both and again it was a 2 point game. But a dagger 3 by J.J Redick would look to be the death blow giving the Magic a 5 point lead with 9.7 seconds to play. But Magic allow the Raptors to get an open Calderon three that he nail....Like Really? Magic now only up 2 again with 6.3 seconds left. J.J Redick gets fouled and that is last guy you want to foul with 95% on season but on the night was 2-4. Made both like he did back in the days at Duke and that would do it. Magic take it 92-88.
This is the part where you say the Raptors fought hard and deserved a better fate. But everyone else will do enough of that. I will say that it was a great effort but it was still a case of team that can not find a way to get over that hump in close games. I will also be the guy that will point out if you had Andrea Bargnani playing you might win some of these games. The fact he remains out with a calf injury seems odd even if it is the 2nd time he injured it. I hope it is because the Raptors are just trying to keep him out to play it safe in a season that doesn't mean much. If it is not that this really does not speak well to his ability to recover from injuries and is a concern as you go forward. But the Raptors are giving a tremendous amount of effort on defense and in general and you have to give credit to Dwane Casey for that. It is night and day from the efforts we saw under Jay Triano.
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