Wiz And Raps Share Common Ground

When this season started both Wizard and Raptor fans expected much more. Eddie Jordan and Sam Mitchell were coaches that had earned some level of success. Jordan was a coach of an All Star Game for the Eastern Conference not all that long ago. Sam Mitchell of course was the Coach of the Year just a few seasons ago. The Wizards have been without Gilbert Arenas for the majority of last season and all of this season. The irony is the Wizards made the choice to re-sign Arenas for over a 100 million dollars worth of contract. You would think they would know his health better than anyone else. But still they made the choice to bring him back. The Raptors have had issues with health that some might say they should have known better about as well. Jose Calderon after an injury at the Olympics after he had resigned with the Raptors has continued to have some minor injuries that have plagued him through out the year, Jermaine O'Neal has had a long history of injuries and time missed. He has had some minor injuries as well. Both will be out for this game as they did not travel with the Raptors on this mini two game road trip. Two teams with playoff goals are not even in the playoffs as it stands now. While there is still hope Raptors could sneak back into the playoff race it would seem that the Wizards are done as far as that idea for this season. After all they sit in dead last in the conference and to be able to just pass all the teams in front of them would seem unlikely. After winning their first back to back games of the season the Wizards have lost 3 of 4 games since that time. The Raptors have not been able to string wins together as well. After winning the first 3 games of the year the Raptors have not been able to win more than 2 in a row since. They had a chance to change that against the Bucks but would fall short. So two teams desperate for a win it should be fun.

Trade Winds Continue To Blow

A day does not go by without another rumour about the Toronto Raptors. It has to be difficult for the players and their families. That is a fact that often is lost in all of this thirst for change. But unless you name is Chris Bosh you have heard your name in some rumour if you are a Toronto Raptor. Even Nathan Jawai who has yet to play a game I saw in a trade rumour. But the latest and most loudest of the rumour mill has been talk that Bryan Colangelo has been shopping around Jermaine O'Neal and his big contract with all that cap space in 2010. Colangelo has only confirmed that he has no interest in trading Chris Bosh. It is not like he has done much to stop all of the talk about his players. It makes sense to let the rumour mill run wild if you are Colangelo. If he can build interest in players on this roster it can only help his chances of making a move. I personally am starting to think Colangelo is looking to make a major move. If he wanted to just do some minor tweaks you have to think he could have made a move by now. What is clear is with each passing day the expectation level of fan base for what Colangelo will do increases. The chances of people feeling that he has not done enough will increase as well.

But the challenge that faces Colangelo is a difficult one indeed. If you accept that the plan is to keep Chris Bosh in 2010. Which Colangelo has given ever indication that it is. He faces the difficult task of trying to improve this team and keep or restore the confidence of Bosh in him. But in doing that he may have to give away some of that massive amount of cap space he has been able to acquire. The majority of which lies in the contract of Jermaine O'Neal. The performance recently of Andrea Bargnani has left some to think the Raptors need to leave him as the starting center. But for that to happen Jermaine O'Neal would have to be put on the bench. This is not a good thing on any level. You can only expect that O'Neal would be less than happy about that. A drop in his performance and production would likely follow. This would all impact on his value as a player for the next season and a half. Now if a team is making the move just to get the cap space his contract and is not concerned with anything else that is not as big an issue. But that would mean he would need to go to a team that is not it the playoff hunt but still could be a reasonable option to attract free agents in 2010. That would likely eliminate a lot of Eastern Conference teams as there are still a lot of teams thinking they can make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Still would you really want to bash your brains out to make the playoffs only to have to try and beat the Celtics, Cavs or Magic in a 7 game series. Sure the Hawks took Celtics to 7 games and they did drop an overtime loss to the Bobcats and have struggled in recent days. But a better draft choice and a way to sell your fans that help is on the way in 2010. It is a nice way for a G.M to buy some time. These are the type of thoughts that could be going on for G.M's that might be considering taking on Jermaine O'Neal.

Is Bosh A Lock For The All Star Game?

It seems farily clear at this point that Chris Bosh will not be getting voted into the All-Star Game as a starter. So that will leave it in the hands of coaches in the league. Bosh has been well respected around the league and the fact he played so well for Team U.S.A doesn't hurt as well. That should have nothing to do with this but hey the coaches making the choices are all Americans and proud ones I am thinking. But with the Raptors less than impressive record will that cost Chris Bosh? I am thinking that it will not and Bosh will make it to the roster for the Eastern Conference. He is still one of the best at his position in the conference. I will say it will not be the slam dunk guarantee that it has been in the past. I think it will be something that will be interesting to watch. If Bosh some how got left on the sidelines how would he re-act to that? Hopefully we will not need to find out. I would think it would be a personal disappointment. That being said it is not as huge an event to Bosh as it might have been to a guy like Vince Carter who missed the All-Star Game last year for first time in a long time. Bosh would also get a rest if he was not in the game and it may not be a totally awful thing if he was able to relax for a bit. Although the Raptors do get an entire week off based on the schedule around the all-star game. They face the Spurs on the 11th and do not play again till the 18th taking on the Cavs. They are both games that are at home at the ACC. This could be a chance for Triano to get some of that much wanted practice time he has needed.

Almost Forgot

So that is about it for today. Oh yeah one last thing. I have kind of been having some fun about this on facebook. Chuck Swirsky is returning to Toronto next week but he will be coming to the Dino Nation Blog in the Starting 5 before that. I have not figured out the exact day that I am going to have that interview in the blog. But it has already been done and is all ready to roll. I just wanted to let some folks know about it and try to get a few more people aware of the blog. I mean it is how things work. Cabbie interviewed Kobe Bryant and that is not going to hit the air till February. I am looking forward to that. Maybe I can convince Cabbie to visit here and talk about it. I will see if I can. But for now it is the Dino Blogger one on one with the Swirsk. I think I can post him up and score. Well no it is not that one on one it is an interview. I am not sure how I'd fair in b-ball against Cabbie. We both are of the same body type. It would not be a classic contest by any means.

Update- Joey Graham will Start Tonight In Place Of Moon- Noon

Jamario Moon is heading back to Alabama to be at the birth of his child. That has Joey Graham getting the call to start in tonight's game against the Wizard's. News comes from Eric Smith of the Fan 590. So all of the Joey G fans will get a chance to see a lot more Joey against the Wizards. This makes a even shorter roster for the Raptors who are already without Jose Calderon, Jermaine O'Neal and Nathan Jawai who has yet to make his NBA debut as he works back into shape after being sidelined with heart concerns. Calderon has the bad hamstring and J.O the bruised knee.

While I am writing should give this a mention the latest trade rumour that has been floating around. Andrea Bargnani and Anthony Parker to the Mavs for Josh Howard and two other players. Hoopsworld claims this deal is close to happening.

The Morning After A Bad Night In Denver

It is just not as easy to wake up and say it is a new day is it. The Toronto Raptors should have got a boost with the return of Jermaine O'Neal. But aside from the 6-0 run to start the game, in which J.O scored 4 of the 6 points, beyond that it was ugly. This team has serious flaws and it is causing people to ask some serious questions. So I think today we will look at what those questions should be and the answers if there are any that Raptors can respond to them.

Sam Mitchell as coach of the Raptors, is it time to make a move and change the coach?

The answer to this question is rapidly becoming yes. I have for those who read on a regular basis know not been against Mitchell. In fact quite the opposite. I really like Sam a lot and watching his post game press scrum last night was as painful for me to watch as it was for Sam. I mean he just looked like he had no really idea as to why his team had just come out flat and played one of the most uninspired games of his career with the Raptors. It was always a strength of Mitchell team's that regardless of talent they would fight hard win or lose. I saw no evidence of that fight and it was disturbing to me. You can debate the skill of Sam as an x and o strategist but I always said it was his skill as a motivator that outweighed that for me. But if Sam does not have that going for him he is not the guy that won the Coach of the Year just a few seasons ago. If he does not turn things around I have no confidence he can keep his job for very long. Bryan Colangelo has stood behind Mitchell since he came to the Raptors but I have a feeling that relationship is not going to last. There was a meeting between the two and what was said in the meeting has not been made public in any form that I have seen. But I think everyone can assume that if the boss is calling you in for a meeting given the state of things it can not be viewed as a good sign.

If Sam is doomed to be removed as head coach the question will be who steps in. There are a lot of names out their but those names are not likely to race to Toronto and get in line to talk to Bryan Colangelo. All the names we have heard for the most part are getting income from a T.V job or another team or both. Also Bryan Colangelo may want to find a coach in the off-season in which he would have more options to choose from. If that is the way he is going it would likely be Alex English or Jay Triano that could get the job on an interim basis. They would be given the chance to make the case they should be considered in the summer for the job. If Colangelo is truly confident he knows who he wants he could bring in a big name right away but they would want a long term deal. That will be a factor to consider as Bryan will have to decide if he wants to commit to that with not knowing who could be available if he waited till the off-season. So if he makes this move one can make the conclusion that he had been thinking about this for awhile and is very comfortable with his choice to make that move.

Is Jose Calderon part of the problem?

I understand many love Jose Calderon and I am a fan of him as well. But unlike most I was not sure about him stepping in and being able to take on the role as starter. The two concerns I had have been realized. The first was Jose Calderon as a defender. He is not a good on the ball defender and as a result the breakdowns that have been glaring at times usually start with him. Yes it is true Jose has been injured but that only makes this lack of defense a more glaring problem. But it always has been even at 100% healthy. He often gets beat by quicker point guards and that is the first break down in a chain reaction that cause people to help and it eventually leads in most cases to open looks as the help leads to other help and in the end a breakdown. Jack Armstrong has an expression and it is that help is the weakest word in the defensive vocabulary. Jose Calderon needs to make himself a better individual defender. As much as he values the ball on offense he must bring that same pride to the defensive end of the floor.

The second issue is pushing the ball and creating fast break chances. I have watched many times and seen Jose Calderon pass on a slightly more risky option to push the ball. Risk can equal reward in the sense the Raptors can get easier points based on those risks. I will gladly take the odd extra turnover if it leads to more easy points for the Raptor offense. The Raptors are dead last in fast break points and that falls on two things. The effort of your team to run the floor. But also your point guard rewarding the players when the do make that effort. If the effort is not made the people stop running. The Raptors can not get trapped into running it's pick and roll game in the half court all of the time. They are not the Utah Jazz in the sense that even though they run that offense on an above average level. It is not something that can work over the long haul of the 48 minutes of a game. That is why we see the slumps on the offensive end that we do. Even the Jazz are a team that also will look to score in transition if that is available. The easier the Raptors can get points the better it will be for them in the long run. On nights like last night when they are not shooting well it can become quite ugly. This is not to say that Jose Calderon is not able to be a starter in this league. I think he can indeed. But he does need a back-up that offers the skills that he lacks and I am not sure that he should be playing the number of minutes he has been. It is not to say that Raptors could not have made this work without T.J Ford. But they needed to offer more in a back-up than what they have provided in Ukic and Solomon with all due respect to them. Also the thing that should be said that both Jose Calderon and T.J Ford both had flaws. That is what made the Ford vs. Calderon that was so debated to length that it was by Raptor Fans.

The Lack Of A True Wing Option

The Raptors have decided to go with a Big 3 line-up of Bargnani, Bosh and O'Neal. But this move was made based out of lack of performance by the true wing players on this team. Andrea Bargnani has really stepped up his game this season. He deserved to get into the starting line-up with no real legit person who deserved it more. But it was pretty clear why this line-up can not be used for long periods of time last night. Carmelo Anthony is a true small forward and Bargnani is not. The defensive match-up is just unfair to Bargnani. He can play as good as he is capable of playing and still would not be able to be effective. The Raptors could try to hide him in a zone but that can only work for so long as well. The lack of defense from Moon, Graham, Kapono and even Parker has been glaring at times. The real answer is the Raptors need a wing. That seems clear to most who have watched this team with any amount of frequency. That would take going over the salary cap and luxury tax would need to be paid. But honestly it needs to be done.

Dino Bloggers Plan A

Here is just one example of something that might solve a few issues for the Raptors. Stephon Marbury is not a wing but is expected to be bought out by the Knicks. He is someone that both Bryan Colangelo and Sam Mitchell know well. That is assuming Mitchell is here. Which to this point he is. The Raptors should sign him and they should make a trade for a wing. The Dallas Mavericks have a player that fits the bill. Josh Howard has fallen out of favour for his actions in Dallas. So if I had my hand on the controls I would trade Jason Kapono and Joey Graham to Dallas for Howard. The Marbury signing would keep the Raptor roster legal at 13 players. This is just one example of what could be done if the Raptors truly mean that they will go over the tax threshold. It is one option that I think answers 3 major problems. A true back up point guard, A solid defender and scorer on the wing, more depth for the bench as Bargnani and Marbury would be added to what the Raptors would have coming off the bench.

Final Thoughts

What was made very clear is that this team as it stands is not good enough and it needs to be fixed sooner rather than later. The Raptor do not want to sink to a point that they can not recover from. The vision for this Raptor season was not to be a .500 team and just slip in the playoffs. In fact the way things have started in the East this year I am not convinced that .500 even gets you a playoff spot. Bryan Colangelo holds all the cards in his hand. He needs to throw some away and get a new hand to work with moving forward. Even if he has an Ace in Chris Bosh that is not going to win many hands without some other nice cards to go along with that. The one thing that I do know and have faith in, is that Bryan Colangelo is a good poker player in the sense of his job as G.M. He may not always draw the right cards for his hand but he is never afraid to shuffle the deck. This deck of cards that is the Raptors is in bad need of that. After a performance like last night the most shocking thing that could happen for most would be nothing.

Contest and Nation Speaks

Because I have been late today I am going to delay entry deadline till Noon tomorrow. I am also going to put of the Mail Bag featue the Nation Speaks till next Thursday. I have had a number of personal issues that have made this a bit of a challenging week to be taking on extra work. So this is you FINAL CHANCE to enter the Contest to come see T.J Ford with Me at the ACC. Just send your email or video to me and tell me why you are the best Raptor Fan and Fan of Dino Nation Blog. Simple as that. Send your entry to me @:

dinonationblog@sourcecable.net

Good Luck to all that enter the contest.