Raptor Rewind- Detroit Basketball Edition

So no Rasheed Wallace for Pistons along with No A.I which we knew coming into this one. Perhaps a chance for the Raptors? I am not going to hold my breath or anything. However Chris Bosh will be happy as Wallace as always been a problem for him throughout his career. Let's get this one going and get closer to March Madness, The Draft Lottery and putting this awful season behind us. Is that very positive, not really but hey who doesn't feel that way at this point.

1st Quarter

So off we go. Raps win the tip and score on first possession with a Bosh jumper. McDyess answers on the other end. A failed Raptors possession and a Rodney Stuckey score. Raptors after that first score have missed on next 5 attempts. But Detroit also a slow start and Shawn Marion would get a score and we were tied at 4. Rip Hamilton the nice feed inside to McDyess and the easy score. A.P with a blow by and a dunk and were tied at 6. Prince the quick release and score for 2. A miss turned into a quick two points for Jason Maxiell in transition. He would score again making it back to back baskets and a 12-6 Pistons lead. A Raptors score for two and Rip response for 2. Bargnani checks out and looks to still be under the weather. Not the weather CB4 did, but the suffering of flu like symptoms.

Calderon a pass for Jake Voskhul goes out of bounds turnover Raptors. Pistons can not take advantage. A broken play turns into 3 points for Calderon that has been a rare event of late. Uno Deux Trois? No that isn't it. Meanwhile Bosh gets a score and the lead is just one for Detroit. They would get back to back scores and push the lead back to 18-13. A.P gets some luck and gets a basket. Not sure how but 2 points is 2 points and the Raps will take it. Bargnani back in giving it a go would get a basket in response to a Pistons score. Jason Maxiell with a monster jam. Bargnani answers again. Marion the ugly looking runner but it falls. Rodney Stuckey answers the Marion score. Pistons lead 24-21. Stuckey called for offensive foul and I can't believe I am saying it but good defense by Jose Calderon. He earlier in the quarter tied Alvin Williams as the All Time assist leader in Raptor history. Quarter ended with Calderon looking to go in first all time hooking up Bargnani with a buzzer 3 ball but no dice.


2nd Quarter.

Pistons shooting 54% and still only up 3. Not sure if that is good or bad. Bosh hits on a mini fading jumper. A 3 second call on Kwame Brown and a Pistons turnover. However Jason Kapono would turn it over in response. Pops Mensah-Bonsu making an impact as he scores back to back buckets to give the Raptors a 27-26 lead. Can we make it 3 in a row? To use the Obama line YES WE CAN. Pops with the steal and Jam for 2. JYD for the Y2K. E Smith is calling him the British Bulldog but I am not feeling that. Pops is from London England if you didn't know. Pistons were not worried with any of that and worked there way back in front 30-29.

Jose Calderon who has been missing in action even when he has been on the floor this year on this night was good and on both ends. He would hook up Jason Kapono who also has struggled all year. But on this play the two would combine for Raptor history. The Kapono make would give Calderon the team's all time assist lead. Now if only he could have the toughness and defense of the guy he passed I would be happy. On this night though he was getting it done. Raptors were hanging with the Pistons tied at 33. A clear path foul on Calderon of a turnover created by Pops gave Raptors a big chance to take control a bit. Calderon for whatever I say about him is money at the line. He makes both but Raps fail to convert on extra possession. A good defensive play by Calderon would turnover the ball and give the Raptors another chance to extend the lead but can not. Instead the Pistons would tie it. Bosh would break the tie and put the Raptors back up by 2 points.

Hamilton took a hit from Pops and he was hurting and maybe that is an excuse for going 1 of 2 from the line. Bosh would make a jump shot and Raptors were up 3. Rip Hamilton was not happy with some of the abuse he was taking and he let the refs know it and got a tech for his troubles. Calderon buries the tech and Raptors lead 40-36. Shawn Marion off a Bosh feed would make the lead a half dozen. Rip Hamilton still was angry and this time perhaps at himself as he turned it over. Raptors were up 8. Defensive 3 second call against Shawn Marion and the Pistons would get a free throw that they would make. A mistake a the end of the quarter allowed the Pistons to get an open 3 from Walter Hermann. Raptors still had a 5 point halftime lead.

3rd Quarter.

Raps with a lead we have seen before but being able to finish teams off we have not. I have the same kind of confidence the Macho Man had in the Hulkster back in the day. Old fans of 80's wrestling will get that reference for everyone else it is not a good thing. Bargnani out for the rest of this one. When the crowd in the sushi section of the ACC would finally make it back for the second half they would wonder what the heck happened. Well actually seems a lot of them may not make it back. But when and if they do they would see that the Raptors were fading after a decent start. Rodney Stuckey made a jumper over Calderon and Pistons would lead 52-51.

Stuckey was not done with another basket he had a dozen in the game and Pistons a 3 point advantage. Calderon on the next possession would steal it from Stuckey and get tripped by him drawing the foul. It was a good battle between Stuckey and Calderon. Stuckey would get to the line and make a pair. Marion answered that with a basket and Pistons lead was 56-55. Bosh would drive and miss a runner. Jason Maxiell was making an impact again with a big jam. Maxiell had 14 off the bench for the Pistons at this point a perfect 7/7 from the field. A steal and a put back on a miss by Rip Hamilton that was cleaned up by McDyess. He would score again and Piston lead extended to seven. Bosh was on the bench with this going on. McDyess had 6 straight with another basket on a jumper. Calderon would finally offer a Raptor answer. However Rip Hamilton followed that up with a 3 ball and Pistons lead was suddenly 10 points at 67-57. Rodney Stuckey would be fouled by Joey Graham who was the invisible man in this game. Stuckey would split a pair at the line and the Pistons had a 16 point turn around and lead by 11 after 3 with the score 68-57.

4th Quarter

Ugh. So would the Raptors show some fight? I won't lie I have seen the previews of this one they would. On Friday the 13the the Raps were more like Dr Jeckell and Mr Hyde than Jason. Roko Ukic with a pretty spin move and score. Rodney Stuckey answered Ukic. Bosh would do his own little spin move leaving Kwame Brown in the dust. Pistons lead was 70-63. Raptors would close even closer cutting the Piston lead to just 5. As quick as the Pistons built an 11 point advantage they were losing it. Ukic with another score and the Raptors were on a 10-2 run to start the 4th quarter.

Rip Hamilton would get to the line and try to stop the bleeding as he made a pair at the line. A Bosh miss would lead to open look for 3 for Afflalo but he would miss it. Bosh would get a second chance to score on the possession off the miss and he would make it. Pops was getting run in the 4th with no Bargnani. Pistons were trying to get back on track and had the lead back to 6 points. McDyess would extend that to 8 points. Roko Ukic would answer for the Raptors and it was 77-71 Pistons. Jose would come in for Ukic who did a good job in his time on the floor. Bosh would score and he had 20 points very quietly.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu is starting to catch on in T.O. He would get tied up with Rip Hamilton get called for a foul and crowd hated the call but was loving Pops. McDyess was having a great night and took advantage of the foul call making a jumper. Rip Hamilton would follow that up with a 3. Pistons lead was 9. Calderon would score and lead was back down to 7. He would drive and score plus a foul. Pistons would respond. But a Parker miss and Bosh follow jam. Raptors were hanging around down 85-80. Bosh would drive to the basket and draw a foul with 2:16 left to go. He would miss both but got the rebound and Bosh would get fouled again and get a redo at the line with 2:03 left. He would take advantage and make both. Rip Hamilton would air ball a runner. Shawn Marion would force a shot but no dice. Rip Hamilton would give the Raptors another chance and Raptors would get an offensive board off a miss. Shawn Marion would use the glass and get 2 points. Raptors had erased 10 of the 11 points they trailed by heading into the corner. Rip Hamilton would find an open Afflalo in the corner and unlike earlier he would drain the 3 pointer and put the Pistons ahead by 4 with under a minute to play.

In fact it was only 39 seconds to play. Shawn Marion would get a much needed quick score. Offensive basket interference on the Pistons and that would turn it over to the Raptors and give them a chance to tie or win it with 13 seconds left. Time out for the Raptors to draw something up. Calderon would just get the ball and get a quick drive to the basket and get the easy lay-up. Only problem was still 9 seconds left on the clock and Pistons called for time with a chance ot win it. Rip Hamilton would have a good look at it but he could not make it and we were going to overtime.

Overtime

Case you were wondering the Raptors are 1-2 in extra time this year. I remember the one win but the two losses have blended in with all the others. An A.P miss and Rip Hamilton make. Matt Devlin reminded me of the two loses the V.C game with the reverse dunk and the meltdown in Boston. The win was against Golden State. Meanwhile in this one another Rip Hamilton basket and a Prince 3 ball and it was a 7-0 Pistons run to start the OT. Prince had been fairly quiet in this game normally he has been a guy that kills the Raps on a regular basis. Through 48 he had not but that 3 pointer was huge. Bosh had a jumper fall short and he would get called for a foul trying to follow his shot for a rebound. Prince had another 3 ball and the Raptors would need a Syracuse like comeback and I just don't think they have it in them. Calderon would make a 3 pointer and draw the Raptors to down 6 . Bosh would get fouled with 1:27 left in OT. Raptors down 97-91 with Bosh stepping to the line. Chris would make both and had 26 points despite a tough shooting night from the field. Rodney Stuckey had his shot partially blocked and it would go out of bounds. Marion got a piece of the shot. Rip Hamilton air balled a shot and it would fall in the hands of Pops Mensah-Bonsu who was playing in OT. That speaks to how much impact he has had and how little others have had. Bosh would spin an drive and have ball knocked out of bounds. McDyess would foul Marion and send him to the line. Marion would make the first and miss the second and Pops would get called for loose ball foul going for the rebound on the miss. Pistons would fail to take advantage. Bosh would get fouled and he was heading the the line with a chance to cut the lead to 1. The foul would end McDyess evening with his 6th. Bosh would make the first miss the second. Mensah-Bonsu got the rebound and decided to try to fire it back up and miss the Pistons go the other way and get a dunk in transition and that is about it with less than 7 seconds to play. Raptors would end up not being able to do anything more and loss it 99-95 in OT.

It was a game effort but in the end the same as the last 6 games as far as the result a loss. T.J Ford and the Pacers still battling to get into the playoffs come to town on Sunday. All the numbers below in the Boxscore.

Pistons/Raps Boxscore

One Less Game To Endure After Tonight

So Chris Bosh did the weather last night on CTV. Roll The You Tube Footage:




He did a pretty decent job unless you happen to live in Peterbrough. Chris was not sure how many people live there. Thankfully he did not say that about Hamilton where I am from. That may have been grounds to end our facebook friendship. I learned something I honestly didn't know. He started his charity foundation when he was 18. Bosh in his time here in Toronto has done a great deal of work to bring smiles to kids be it directly or through his foundation. Maybe that is part of why I get so angry about people attacking this guy. He is a solid human being and that fact is more important than any win or loss total at the end of the day. This season has been a bad one for everyone and Chris Bosh I am sure feels the worst about it. Just because he continues to be himself and do various things like moonlighting as a weatherman or making a video for You Tube does not change that. If you have a bad day at work at whatever you do, would you not try to have some fun in your off time as well? I mean at least the guy is doing constructive things. In my view he has been a guy trying to lead a collective group that has lost it's desire to follow.

I got thinking of something yesterday, there really are only a couple players that can lead a team all on their own. At the start of this year there seemed to be an idea that Bosh was going to have help in leading this team from J.O and Jose. That has not happened obviously. I think it needs to happen. The example I came up with of a great player that never could lead his team to anything of consequence was Paul Pierce. He was in a spot much like Bosh and people said he was on his way out of Boston. The Celtics would bring in another guy who could not lead his team on his own to any great success. That is of course Kevin Garnett. Together with Ray Allen they have all come together and lead the Celtics comeback to glory. None of those 3 players indivdually could lead a team to anything better than a conference finals. So is it totally unreasonable what people expect of Bosh? There are very few indivdual leaders that can carry a team without support to a title or greatness. Not just now but in the history of the game.

Few could argue that at the start of this season Bosh was playing at an elite level. However it did not produce the number of victories it should. That is not on Chris Bosh that is on the rest of this roster. If Chris Bosh scores 40 plus points and this team can't win a basketball game that is the problem. Eventually as an individual no matter what Bosh is saying it has to piss you off. I said it once before that this team dragged Bosh down to a degree. If he had that support in leadership maybe that doesn't happen. Maybe those guys get the rest of this team to pick up it's collective socks. That never happened though. So instead of going the easy route and blaming Bosh for all that is wrong with this team people maybe need to consider that. Who were the people to support him and challenge him on this basketball team.

Madness Comes Early To NYC

Normally I would not mention a college game here in the Dino Nation Blog for an entire section. However when you have a 6 overtime classic at MSG that would qualify as special. The Big East Tournament saw one of the greatest basketball games I have seen on any level period. The UConn Huskies and Syracuse Orange battled through 6 overtimes and in the end Syracuse out lasted UConn. Andy Rautins the son of Raptor broadcaster Leo Rautins made a key 3 pointer at the start of the sixth overtime period to lead the Syracuse charge to finish what was an amazing game. Ironically the longest game prior was in 1981 when his dad Leo scored the winning basket to lead Syracuse to a win over Villanova. March Madness is on the way and there is lots of great basketball memories that are made in that tournament. If you are a true fan of basketball you had to love last night's game and love March Madness. This seems like a good time to mention that I have set up a March Madness Pool for you folks here at the Dino Nation Blog on Facebook. Here is a link to sign up.

Dino Nation March Maddness Pool on Facebook

T.J Ford On Hoops

It was very interesting conversation with T.J Ford on Hoops last night. It seemed pretty clear that T.J Ford and Sam Mitchell did not end their coach and player relationship on the best of terms. Which leads me to wonder how much influence Sam had in the choice between Jose and T.J. Everyone pointed to how Jose and T.J could not work together. However after listening to this interview it would seem that is was Sam and T.J that was the issue. Bryan Colangelo always talks about building consensus in making decisions. It seems pretty obvious who Sam was behind in that regard. This all leads to a question for me. If Colangelo and Mitchell were on thin ice and the plan was always to move towards this running system would it not have made sense to fire Sam in the summer and try to make Forderon work. Seems clear that Calderon is not as good without T.J as he was with him. It was obvious the J.O trade didn't work. What was also obvious is that Sam was at the front of the line in support of that trade.

Ford was never the villian he was made to be. A lot more people are loving T.J Ford these days in Toronto and a lot less people loving Jose. A lot of good that does. Where were you all last year? If the plan was to go the way the Raptors have with this running system. T.J ford should have been on this roster. He likely would be the starter given the way Calderon has played. Ford and Claderon pushed each other to be better. Who pushes Jose now? Exactly.

Detroit Basketball come to T.O

If you are expecting the losing streak to end here you are far more optomistic than the Dino Blogger. Pistons without AI and with Rip Hamilton in the starting line-up are on fire. Well maybe not fire. But they are much better than where the Raptors are at. But no need to worry about seeing it because it is a TSN 2 affair and you can be spared the pain. It had been reported that Raptors T.V was going to Simulcast this game but Raps T.V has just been replaying the broadcast after it concludes. Well after what Raps TV has on concludes to be accurate. Regardless we will have some form of recap of what happen. These things need to be documented for the history books.

A Season Lost In Raptorland

It has been a tough a painful season and it just keeps getting worse if that is possibly at this point. While other teams are stepping on the gas to get ready for the playoffs the Raptors are just getting stepped on at this point. It is clear that some major changes need to be made to this basketball team. However the one thing that you have to be careful of is not over reacting. That is something that in Toronto is never an easy thing to accomplish. People would like to blow up this team and start all over. I am not sure if you need to break out the TNT. The one thing that I think beyond people being believers in the J.O trade that people took for granted was Jose Calderon. He was at the start of this year called upon to be one of the leaders of this team. He was expected to mentor young Roko Ukic. Take on the starting role and become an all star point guard. He has failed to deliver and he has not been the guy that people expected and hoped for. I was one of the few that was not convinced the transition for Jose Calderon would be an easy one. I said it all summer and most just dismissed me as a bitter T.J Ford fan. Injuries have been part of the mix for Jose but part of why he was kept was because he was suppose to be the more durable point guard. Even in that regard he has failed. Maybe the writing should have been on the wall in the summer time when Ricky Rubio was stealing minutes from Jose in the Olympics. When Rubio hits the league Calderon may not even be the best point guard in the league from Spain. Jose has been pulled and benched from 2 games now. I mean given what is behind him on this roster that speaks loudly. Calderon got paid this offseason and with all those new dollars comes a lot more responsibility and he has failed to live up to that.

Chris Bosh was a leader of a Raptor team that won a Division Title a few years ago. He is now the leader of this group that is as far from a Division Title as you can get. Chris Bosh has he changed all that much? I don't think so. The team around him has to a degree. You hear a lot about team's tuning out on coaches. Can the same thing happen with a leader of a team? Bosh said in his post game remarks that they have talked about the issues over and over. He seems frustrated and rightfully so. Here is one thing that has changed for Chris is that he does not have Sam Mitchell backing him up as the head coach. The relationship between the two was special. Chris Bosh was pushed by Mitchell to get to new levels and he challenged him daily. Jay Triano as the assistant in that dynamic would work with Bosh and help him do the work that Mitchell pushed Chris to put in. When you take Sam out of the mix what is the impact on Bosh. It is a good question and not one that likely draws an answer if asked. But honestly the answer would be interesting. The leadership of this team has been turned upside down on this team around Bosh. He is the main leader but the people in the supporting roles have all changed I guess is the point. I still say that Bosh is not the issue as much as it is the team around him. The easy answer is what most are taking in saying trade the leader because he is going to walk away anyway in 2010. The simple answer is seldom the right one. I refer you back to the whole Ford and Jose thing and Raptors made the simple choice there and it has been awful. There is really two ways you can go with this in my view.

You can bring in someone that will be able to just take over as the leader of this team that even Bosh would be willing to follow. That would be a short list of guys. Perhaps a Canadian two time M.V.P? Maybe. That is the safe route. The non safe route is you bring in someone that is not afraid of the leader and doesn't care. A guy that is not afraid to say whatever he thinks and will challenge everyone that puts on a jersey. Ron Artest is a guy like that. Maybe you bring in both. Really turn this thing upside down. The one thing that is for sure beyond how you try to reconstruct this team is they must get it right in the draft. A lottery pick can not fail. Raptors need to take the guy that is most ready to contribute to the NBA now. They can not draft a project. They have enough of those already.

The Boston Celtics were at one of the more lower points in that franchise history not that long ago. They would turn that around in a hurry and have the ultimate success instantly. Basketball can change fast is the point. It has turned in the opposite way for the Raptors but as bad as it looks now that not mean it is doomed. It is very hard to have perspective in the midst of this losing season. However if this team is going to improve quickly ever move has to be perfect and come together. Things in life are never as bad as they appear or never has good. Reality is always somewhere in between all of that. If you honestly don't think Bryan Colangelo has been hard at work preparing for next season already than you just have not been paying attention.

A lot have lost faith in Bryan Colangelo this season. However when you come into a franchise deemed to be the saviour of it there really was no room for advancement. So Colangelo has fallen to earth in the minds of fans. It was going to happen at some point. However I have faith that Bryan is the real deal and will make this work. He has a gambling nature and with this season he gambled and lost. But a new poker game gets started this off-season and Colangelo will be back at the table looking to gamble again. I like that the Colangelo way of thinking is go big or go home. In other words he is always thinking towards a Championship not just making the playoffs. If he was interested in just making the playoffs he could have kept his roster in together from last season.

Maybe I am crazy to still have faith for the future. However I am much more confident in Bryan Colangelo than I ever was in Rob Babcock. I can not explaining to you the utter fear I lived in during the Babcock era. I had no faith or belief that he would do anything but run this team into the ground. Colangelo inspires a confidence in me that I never felt with Babcock. If it turns out that Bosh does in fact end up leaving you will see the difference from a Babcock to a Colangelo in the trade that Bryan will make for Bosh. He is not going to just give away Chris Bosh. Hopefully it never gets to that point but if it did I sleep easy knowing it is Bryan making that trade.

Raptors Rewind- Can We Stop The Pain Edition?

So Andrea Bargnani will play this on not feeling at 100%. I think Raptor fans can relate. However Bargnani has flu like symptoms. I have a feeling we all might be sick by the end of this one. I actually know we will cause I am doing the Rewind of the Replay. So with that being said here we go with Raptors 6th lose in a row. I was told by a friend not to watch this but as I told her being the Dino Blogger it kind of is required for me to watch. After this season I may need some serious therapy to recover from it. I wonder if that is tax deductible? It is hard to remember but this is where this season of so much promise started with a win and a 3-0 start that seems like a century ago.

1st Quarter

So off we go. Raptors win the tip. Sam D with a quick foul for Sixers. Non shooting and Bosh miss and the Sixers go to Dalembert who has caught some heat for his work ethic of late. Turnover and a Thad Young jam. Bosh answers with a throw down of his own. Bosh would miss on his next attempt a jumper. Young is showing why he is consider much improved as he scores. Bargnani not at 100% but 3 point shot looks good as he takes and makes. Willie Green makes a 2 point effort for the Sixers. An early 8-5 lead for Philly.

A Marion Turnover as he stepped out. Bargnani a miss and the Thad Young show is in high gear early with another dunk. Calderon a rare drive and score. Injured or not injured who knows but he needs to be much better. Bargnani buries a 3 pointer and the score is tied at 10. Bargnani is able to score again this time for 2. Playing sick sometimes can have amazing results. I once bowled in a bowling league. I was not feeling well and decided to bowl out so I could help my team seeing as I was not going to be making it to bowling night. I had the highest 3 scores combined in my fabled bowling career. I was sick as a dog doing it. Meanwhile from bowling to basketball as the Sixers make a pair from line to tie the score. Marion a basket he is in the books.
Green is feeling good with another basket and they tie it again at 14.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu checks in for Andrea picked up a foul. Philly Split 2 at the line. Andre Miller is fouled and looks to extend the lead. Miller makes 2 and Calderon checks out for Parker who is back to playing back up point guard and you have to wonder why. FREE ROKO. The season is done why are you not letting this guy develop in favour of a gut that likely will not be here next season. Makes no sense. Mr Young with a miss. Bargnani with a buzzer beater 3 with shot clock expiring. Tied at 17. Young another score and put his Sixers back in front. He had a chance to score again but missed it. Pops Mensah-Bonsu with a huge throw down. We are tied at 19. Bargnani called for an offensive foul his second and he argued the call and I like it.Tied at 19 after one.

2nd Quarter.

Both teams shoot awful at under 40% for both. A spin and score in the lane for the Philly rookie. Young follows that and it is a 4 point Sixer lead. Roko is free now and leads the Raptors to a score. Put a kick out to Iggy for 3. Sixers lead it 28-21. CB4 gets a basket and dedicate that one to brother Joel who is having a birthday today. Exchange of baskets than another 3 ball by Iggy again. Roko Ukic drives and scores. But Philly was getting whatever they liked. Speights had a few nice scores and so did Lou Williams of the bench. Raps had 7 turnovers and almost all of them have ended with a Sixer dunk the other way. The Sixers has build a 9 point lead from a game that was tied after 1.

Marshall is a Sixer that was at one point my ex-girlfriends favourite Raptor. She was never much of a basketball fan till she met me and why she like Donyell I have not clue. But that was better than the Rogers did you know feature. Meanwhile the beat down is in full effect with a Sammy D Flush and Sixers lead was a dozen. Raptors answers with a 2. But a Thad Young 3 ball and an Evans dunk and Raptors were down 15 and Triano calls a time out hide the clipboards cause we don't need to see another clipboard lose it's life to early before it's time. 51-36 for the Sixers. This is ugly and really you have to feel for Jay Triano is a way. Bosh picked up his 3rd foul and the lead for Philly was 55-36. For the tri-fector of ugly the Raptors committed turnover number 10 opps make that 11. The Sixers Roll to a 56-39 halftime lead. Ugly but unfortunately not unexpected.

3rd Quarter.

I watched it. 92-74 Sixers after 3. I figure how many quarters have the Raptors taken off this season? So I took one to eat instead of type. Defense is still a foreign word in Raptors land and this quarter was proof of that. On to the 4th.

4th Quarter

I am not sure If I will say much about this one as well. However Andera Bargnani had a nice jam. Give this kid credit. In a game that really means little he is out there not feeling well and play great. Full marks for Bargnani the rest of the Raptors not so much. Raptors make a bit of a push back to cut the lead to 11. But forget about that we had some broadcast history. Jack Armstrong gave the first bilingual Hello in Raptor history. A little Bonjour. Raptors were fighting hard honestly but far to little and far to late. Also of Note Calderon glued to the bench and I am thinking that the Jose Calderon era as Raptor Point guard may be a heck of a lot shorter than advertised. Is it a conscience Raptors push was with out Jose. I think not. If you want something to cheer for down this stretch run, cheer for the Suns not to make the playoffs. If that happens Steve Nash becomes a more viable possibility for the Raptors in the off season. I honestly believe he is only answer to getting this fixed in the short term. Not just him alone but the other things a Nash trade could mean.

Calderon finally returns with Raptors down 8 and about just under 6 to play. Calderon has it stolen away and a dunk. Triano furious and why not calls a time out. After the time out no more Jose. Ukic takes his spot. Seems that Calderon and Triano are to say the least not on the same page.

The Boxscore As Required By Sports Law - Raptors and Sixers

The feeling and mood after this one sucked and it just is ugly times in Raptorland and no one can honestly say anything else. Chalk up another player with his career high against the Raptors as Thaddeus Young with 29.

Back From Toronto With A Message From ATL

I am back from another visit down to Toronto. I was hanging out at The Score, was hanging in the crowd they have on Court Surfing and taped something that will be ending up on the web for sure and maybe cross your fingers on next week's Court Surfing show. Regardless it was fun and I taped the segment with D.J and Randy and member of the crew from Real G.M named Peter. I think things went well and it was fun to do. I even Twittered from The Score yesterday. It was all a lot of fun and The Court Surfing show was simulcast on NBA T.V in the U.S. that is where I am going to start today.

Sam Mitchell Has Some Advice For Raptor Fans

Sam Mitchell talked about Chris Bosh and his future in Toronto. Mitchell is still cashing pay checks from MLSE so he was not going to saying anything bad about Chris or the Raptors. However he did say one thing that I was referring to in the blog a couple of days ago. He said if you truly want Chris Bosh to remain don't boo him or the team. He said that he understands the frustration of fans with the way the season has gone but it was not that team is not trying hard to win.

The part about booing Bosh I agree with. It has been a disturbing trend to me that this fan base in part has driven talented players away from this franchise only to later learn in some cases it may have not been the best idea. If you expect loyalty from a player to the city and the franchise should he not expect the same from you? It makes a lot of sense really doesn't it? Chris Bosh is here and he is the best player we have and an element of respect has been earned by him in my view. This season has not worked out and I am confident the person most upset about that fact is Bosh. I just worry that this franchise is heading in a direction where the fans are going to be a negative influence and not a positive one. Often in today's society of big money contracts and big prices to go to games their can be a dis-connect between the pro athlete and the fan. I am not saying that fans have a huge impact on ultimately where a player will go. However whatever that % is should we as fans not do what it takes to make that % a positive one and not a negative one. This is not about supporting MLSE or being caring about them at all. It is about caring for us as fans and playing the role we do no matter how small in making players want to be in Toronto.

I always liked Sam and am happy to seem him doing well and getting some work in broadcasting. I am confident he will be back in the league and at some point return to Toronto. I would hope that Raptor fans do the right thing when that day comes and cheer him. He clearly gave all he had in his time here and enjoyed Toronto and I think Toronto enjoyed him. Regardless of coaching just in the sense of press conferences and talking with the media Jay Triano is not nearly as entertaining and I miss the almost daily laughs I would get from a Sam Mitchell presser. It was an event in Toronto.

The Season Marches On In Philly

Andrea Bargnani a question mark for this game. He was a no show at shoot around with the flu. They said Flu like symptoms for the record. I can here someone saying that T-word. Tanking is not something the Raptors are going to engage in as if you look at the standings it is awful hard to think the Raptors will get worse than the bottom feeders in the West. This game is suppose to be simulcast on Raps-TV as well as this is a TSN 2 affair. But to the point of tanking the Raptors are not going to even try to do that. Will they look at what they have and give some people chances like a Pops Mensah Bonsu. Yes and they should do that. But remember that turn in the schedule that you have been told about all year well it is basically here. In more optimistic times I suggested that based on who was on the schedule the Raptors had a potential 12-3 to finish the season. However even when I threw out that number I said that I had no confidence they could deliver based on this team and it's lack of ability to string wins together. But to suggest that the Raptors can't win some of these last 15 and have something close to a .500 record would still be reasonable.

The Sixers after a slow start to the season have rebounded and at least found their way into the playoffs in the East. If it was the West they like the Raptors would be long dead. But they are not in the East and they are in the heart of battling for position in the pathetic bottom of the Eastern Conference Playoff race. So in theory the Sixers should be motivated enough to get a win over the Raptors. But they have lost 2 of their last 3. But clearly this is a game that if Raptors are at full strength is a winnable game for them.

Thoughts and Thanks

So that is about all for now. I just want to give special thanks to Anas Ahmed for the invite down to The Score. I have been down to The Score a couple times now and everyone has been very cool and nice to me. I appreciate that. Part of bringing the blog under The Score banner so to speak as part of The Sports Federation was because I truly am a fan of the work of a lot of folks on the network. They are the best of the networks when it comes to basketball on all levels in this country. They cover NBA, NCAA and CIS basketball. In fact I was chatting with Adnan Virk who is the one person I do know well at The Score. He is going to be hosting The Score's coverage of the CIS final 8 this weekend. I admit that the CIS is never high on my radar but maybe in time that will change. Basketball is basketball regardless of level. If you love the sport you can love it on all levels. I also am pleased to say the Adnan will be back in the block hopefully in the not to distant future. There was also the ground work laid to bring another guest into the fold for the Dino Nation Blog and I will be excited when this one comes together. Basically stay tuned. I hope by having the variety of people I attempt to bring into the Dino Nation Blog it helps give you a variety of opinions on basketball that is the mission of it. I like to hear what others have to say and talk with other people. I think on a daily basis in between all of the interviews people get a clear view of my thoughts and opinions. A lot of the guests we have offer different takes and come from a variety of places. I take pride in all the guests we have been able to have. I take has much pride in that as I do in all of you out there that read. I am still some what shocked when I mention the blog to people how many times people have said they have heard of it or read it. The Dino Nation Blog is hopefully always growing and will continue to do so. I am extremely grateful for what an idea that I had at 2am has brought into my life. Chances to talk with tons of good people from Interview guests to readers. It has been a lot of fun, in a season that has not offered much of that. I still have been able to keep hard at work and doing the best I can to make this something worth reading on a daily basis. I hope, I am successful in that mission more days than I am not.

10 Things I Never Expected This Raptors Season

I just thought today I would do a list for today. I have a lot of things to get done as I will be off to Toronto tomorrow and going to be doing some stuff at The Score. You may even end up seeing me on Court Surfing will see. That is 7:30 tomorrow and no Raptors game to get in the way. Speaking of which before we get to our list. Raptors T.V is going to simulcast the 2 games on Raptors NBA TV. Gee Wiz what a great idea I wish i could have thought of that. Oh wait I did when all this mess started in the summer. Thanks for nothing. I mean I will be honest if not for the blog and work I am not sure if I would be a Raptors TV subscriber. That being said on with our list I am pretty sure the TSN 2 mess will make it on the list.

10 things that I did not expect to happen this Raptor Season.

10- Jose Calderon Gets Benched- I mean given all that was expected if you had told me in March that Jose Calderon would be benched down the stretch of a game I would have laughed. I know that I am not a Jose fan but this is the main guy and I never would have thought he would be benched for Anthony Parker to play the point.

9- J.O being Traded- I give Colangelo credit for correcting his error when it comes to O'Neal but to actually have traded you big off-season pick up is truly shocking.

8- Talking Draft and Not Playoffs in March- I really am shocked that the Raptors are totally out of it. March Madness is always something I love and watch. But to be watching wondering who would make a good lottery pick for the Raptors. Unreal.

7- Jay Triano as Coach of Raptors- I think Sam Mitchell getting fired was not a total shock. The timing of it likely was. I really was hopefully this day would come for Jay Triano. However the spot he has been put in has been awful. It all is a shame.

6- Joey Graham Being A Key Rotation Player- I know that I have always been the voice of anti-Joey things. But I give him credit for taking advantage of what has been an awful season for most. He has done enough to get himself another contract in the NBA. I just hope it is not here. That being said I am happy that Joey will likely get to remain in the league. Something heading into this season I think would have been questioned by a lot of folks.

5- Awful Defense- We made the trade in the summer to get better on defense. Bosh had a summer of playing great defense for team USA. The Raptor defense has never been great. But this season has been truly brutal. Be it Mitchell or Triano this team has failed to stop anybody for most of the season and it continues on.

4- Wing Woes- I knew that the Raptors were not going to be strong at the wing spots. But this has been awful. Part of how Joey has had the chances I mentioned in #6 was because Jason Kapono, Jamario Moon (Now in Miami) and Anthony Parker. Just a total meltdown failure. Jamario Moon went from Cinderella to an Ugly Step Sister in terms of his story. A.P looks older and slower and is more inconsistent than ever. Jason Kapono has just been awful. It all adds up to bad things for the Raptors and it has.

3- Andrea Bargnani- The one bright spot is a sea of woe. Andrea Bargnani has had a great 3rd season and has been a happy surprise. I was convinced he was mentally gone and not coming back. However through all the losing and all the problems the most consistent thing about this team may be Andrea Bargnani. If that does not shock a lot of people I am not sure what will.

2- In Honour of Total Disrespect Of Fans We Give You The TSN 2 Mess- O.K it is MARCH AND THIS IS STILL NOT SOLVED. GIVE ME A BREAK. I am stunned and saddened that this is still something we are talking about. I have said it all in the past and I am not going to bother repeating myself. The latest move by MLSE that I mentioned off the top does not erase this issue by a long shot. THIS IS WRONG WRONG WRONG and should be a total embarrassment for all involved.

1- CB4 and You The People- If someone had told me people would be demanding for Bosh to be traded in March back in November I think everyone would laugh. But that is where we are with a lot of fans wanting to get rid of Chris Bosh. I am not among them. But the fact that people are trying to make comparisons to Vince Carter and Chris Bosh although they are not true in my view still is amazing. It will be an interesting summer and I am hopeful that when all the smoke clears I will still see Chris Bosh in a number 4 jersey.

So that is my list what is yours? Feel free to share it in the comments. The great thing about lists is there really are no wrong answers.

Same Old Tune For Raptors?

I was busy working on The Score doing the Magic and Celtics which was a pretty crazy basketball game. Imagine this if you can. Fans cheering their team down 20 with 2 of their best players out of the line up. It made me think about all the booing and negative things that go on around the Raptors at times. Chris Bosh always talks about how fans can make a difference. Well today I saw it with my own eyes. The Celtics fought almost all the way back with no Rondo or K.G, they even lost Glen Davis with an ankle injury. However that did not cause the Celtics or their fans from giving up. Sure the Magic did end up winning that game but it gave me a moment of pause. Now it is a lot easier to have faith and believe in the Celtics. They are the defending champions and if they pretty much lost every game they have left they would be in the playoffs. The Raptors if they did the opposite would likely be on the outside looking in. I just found it interesting and thought maybe booing is not going to accomplish anything but a release of ones personal frustration. This has been a season of that for the Raptors and today would be no different.

I decided just to watch the game and not make game notes or anything like a Raptor Rewind. I figure if the Raptors are going to experiment and try new things why not me. So this is just some overall impressions I walked away with after watching this game.

Hustle is a 48 minute thing- In the last game Pops Mensah-Bonsu blew me away with his energy and effort. It was just something I really had forgot what that looks like. A guy that is hungry and will bust his tail just to stay on the floor. He reminded me a lot of a JYD type guy. Not saying there games are anything a like. Just the same feeling of energy and hustle and they do bring some of the same skills. In today's game the Raptors were pretty much in the basketball game for 48 minutes. The Jazz had won 10 in a row and were the hottest team in the NBA. I didn't see any level of excitement or energy in the Raptors. They were flashes of hustle and effort that is not what I am talking about. There was just no fire in peoples eyes. I looked down the stretch of that game and I looked at Williams and saw that fire. Raptors never seemed that excited or energetic about anything. The had the one moment where Bosh hit the deck and the crowd went crazy in the 4th. However for me, it seems this team is lacking some serious chemistry. That cloud has hung over this team from when T.J Ford returned from injury last season. T.J is no longer here and that cloud remains despite many changes along the way. I am not sure what the reason is and I am sure many will say it is Bosh's fault cause that is the cool thing to do these days. I am not sure if it is about Chris or what exactly it is. Just seems this team has never got on the same page. A lot of folks may have though it was Sam Mitchell but he is gone too. This team needs someone that can walk in the room and change things. That was not J.O and I don't think it is Marion. Something major has to happen to shake this team to the core. Jay Triano is trying to do that by benching Calderon the last game and making Pops Mensah-Bonsu the first sub off the bench. However with that interim title wrapped around his neck does any off it really matter? How many of you out there think Jay is going to be back next year? Players are just as smart as us, so really what can Jay really do.

Jose Calderon Is What I Thought He Was- I have stood firm in what I have said about Jose Calderon and now a lot more folks agree with me. However a year ago at this same time I was deemed as crazy and just another T.J fan hating on Jose. I always said that if Jose would be made the starter of this basketball team it would not be as easy as everyone seemed to expect it would be. Well this season has more than proven what I was saying. Really at the core of all this how much different was what Jose was saying and what T.J was saying. T.J said he wanted to start. Oh and he had the guts to say it here in North America. Calderon would pretty much duck the issue until he returned to Spain and than said the basic same thing. T.J was a greedy self-centered guy that only was thinking of himself. Basically that is how he was pegged. But not Jose he just wanted what was best for the team. Guess what Jose wanted what was best for Jose. He got a pretty nice contract out of it and he got the starting job and his main competition for that job was shipped out of town. That is a pretty nice deal where do I sign. That would be like me getting a huge pay raise and trading Raptors Republic and Raptorblog to other NBA Cities to cover other teams. But here is the thing. If there was no Raptors Republic or Raptorblog,Cuzzy, Hoopshead North, Raptors HQ and on and on. If all of those blogs did not exist would we all work as hard? You as a person with pride would like to think so but human nature suggests not. I like to use wrestling examples sometimes in the blog. I rarely watch wrestling anymore to be honest. WWE use to have WCW as it's rival but they crushed them and the product suffered. Well the Jose vs T.J war had a clear winner and the product has suffered. When you factor in this new running style it seem very clear to me that Jose Calderon no longer is what people thought he would be or could be. You can hit me with your numbers and all you stats you like. 10 points and 11 assists today. But I will respond with a letter and the is L. I don't care where Jose ranks in stats for assists or assist to turnover ratio. I care about W's and L's. Calderon in that respect has not got it done. He maybe a very nice guy and I don't doubt that but he is not the style of point guard that is designed for this new way of playing for the Raptors. Which honestly I am a fan of. So that being said he needs to go. I heard Eric and Paul talking about people changing there opinions based on expectations but I have always said these things go look it up. Go on the old Dino Nation Blog site on word press and you will find many of the things you read on posting boards and blogs in modern times. I have thought long and hard about this all year and looked deep inside myself and asked if it is about T.J to me or not. Ultimately it isn't. I just do not like the style of player Calderon is. I could live with it if he could play any kind of defense but when you add that fact in it is a land slide case against Jose.

Andrea is Good? I Think?- Ok I am starting to have some faith in Andrea Bargnani. I still have concerns and honestly Andrea can't do much about them. In my rants about Joey Graham (which we will get to later) I always go back to when it means nothing Joey G is your guy. Now I am not so cold that I am going to tag that on Andrea it is not his fault that is natural progression happens to come at the same time the Raptors have a terrible season. In the case of Joey there is a lot more evidence to judge from. So Andrea has become a decent defender not great but acceptable for sure. He is becoming a better rebounder. Still nothing like what you would expect from a traditional big. However a traditional big can not camp out behind the arc and drain 3 pointers. He is becoming a consistent driver of the basketball. It still look weird and strange and out of control but it is effective. A base of a post game to build on and expand. Lastly a consistent scorer. The issues? He fades away at times and late in games. Fouls are still an issue for this guy in year 3. However I can live with those and I think you can eventually fix them. I am not ready to hand the guy the keys to the franchise and tell Bosh to take a hike. Not a chance of that. However that brings up a good point, the chemistry that never seemed there with J.O and Bosh seems to be there with Bosh and Bargnani. I like what I see though and for now I give an I am sorry that is conditional and can be revoked should things change. However for now I am sorry Andrea keep doing what your doing. Not so much that he will ready that but it is a public acknowledgement on my behalf. Andrea was good today minus the things I said about fouls and down the stretch.

Thanks for Coming Out- So long A.P and Joey G best of luck to you in future endeavors. I refuse to be fooled by these guys and get stuck with a contract that I will hate. Not that I am the one handing them out. However I hope that Colangelo is not thinking that AP or Joey G belong on this team going forward. Both today were pretty good and I think that is why I make the point. What happens as this team plays down the stretch is not a true reflection. Joey G and A.P like any guys in there position would be. They want to get paid. So effort and energy regardless of record should be there for them. It is fool's gold and do not buy it.

Lastly Bosh Is Still Who I Think He Is Too- CB4 is a guy that is part of making this work. 30 and 10 today and honestly he did it pretty easily. I mean that is was not an obvious type thing. If anything Bargnani seemed to catch all the attention at least for me. But 30 and 10. You tell me the guy that gets 30 and 10 that is going to come here. I just do not have a name that I can think of. I believe in Chris Bosh and think he takes far to much blame for all that has gone wrong. Back at the start of the year there was talk about him getting help leading this team this season from J.O and Jose. Well guess what Bosh got 0 help and that speaks to why J.O is gone and maybe Jose should be as well. Bosh has had to grow into being a leader and it has not seemed to be something that comes to him naturally. He leads by an example and it takes people following that example for it to work. It takes a second guy to say hey look it how Chris is busting his butt why aren't you. Sadly this season the team has dragged Bosh down rather than him lifting them up. There are all different kinds of style of management and many ways to be successful. So Bosh is not a Kobe or Lebron type of leader. That does not mean he can't be an effective leader with help and support. Bosh is more a Tim Ducan kind of leader than he is a Lebron Kobe or Wade.

That really ended up being not much about the game which like the title suggested it was a same song with a terrible ending. It was a clear difference of need and want. The Raptors wanted to win and the Jazz needed to win. Simple as that.

Boxscore- Jazz/Raps
Recap