Raptors vs Heat- DNB Game Notes

I had to work and am watching the Raptors and the Heat via a replay so instead of the standard recap just thought we would do it in game notes. I am writing this intro prior to the game. What I am expecting to see is a big performance from Bosh. For a couple reasons. First from Bosh's prospective this is the organization that he gave seven years to that called him a quitter.Second I think that his fellow super friends will want to help Bosh have a big night. If Bosh has all the pride he talks a lot about this is a game that it has to appear on the floor. Will see what happens Amir Johnson and Reggie Evans are likely going to be very physical with him to try to prevent that.

1st Quarter

• Heat get a 7-0 run to start and Bargnani can't beat Big Z twice. Raps 0-4 to start. This could be a long night. Early Triano Time-out.
• Demar gets to the line... that is good out coming out of the time out. Weems a score. I have been saying it since pre-season play Sonny and Demar together.
• Terrible spacing from the Raps but Weems right up the gut for easy score that has been one of knocks on Miami lack of paint presence.
• Wade and Lebron off to good starts and it is 15-6 all Heat early.
• Amir takes it at Bosh and draws the foul.
• Raptors Butter James Knife = Easy Lebron score down the lane.
• Bosh gets an early exit less than 6 minutes in he subs out for Haslem.
• Heat 9/15 Raptors 2/10 <
• Jones getting open looks from 3.
• Speaking of 3's Money Weems makes another 3 after the big one last night. Johnson a quick 2 fouls and with Reggie Evans out with the flu not good.
• Back to back possessions ending in steals.
• Raptors shooting is just awful. That being said they are only down 26-19. make it 5 Weems starting and has 10.
• Jame Jones a big 3 to close the Quarter. Heat lead 34-25
• Weems played the full 12 minutes or close to it.

2nd Quarter

• 59.1 % Heat and Raptors 38.1% ---Not Good
• Julian Wright a nice spin move made Bosh look silly but couldn't finish.
• 1 think Raps are doing is rebound offensive board leads to a 3. Heat 0 offensive rebounds.
• Note to Raptors James Jones can make 3's might want to guard him shooting 48% on the season 39-28 Heat.
• Nice shot by Bosh...not confirmed by Grandma liked that 1. Next possession Bosh misses on a jumper.
• Uno Dose etc as Miami went under a screen showing Jose no respect and he made them pay with the 3.
• More love for Jose as he pushes the ball hitting Weems leading to the foul. Raps trail 41-34.
• Bargnani a turnover and he is 0-7 with 6 rebounds...More then Bosh but he has been brutal rebounds aside.
• Amir in foul trouble..yeah we have become use to that.
• Bosh schools Andersen scores and 1.
• Bargs final hits and it is a 3.
• Bargs hit the side of the backboard it come back to him and he scores.. Kevin Love look out Bargnani has 7 rebounds...LOL...Kidding.
• Bargs heating up 3 of his last 4 but Raps still down 50-41.
• Sonny is Money again hits the jumper but the other way Wade take DeRozan to school 56-45.
• Wade again take Double D to the hole and he has 17....time out Triano.
• Bargnani gets his lunch money taken by James but he missed the lay-up in transition.
• Bosh a rebound REALLY and gets it to James no miss this time Miami on 12-4 run and Heat lead 63-47.
• Alabi sighting with 18.2 seconds to play in half.
• Julian Wright denies Lebron but Raps still in trouble.
• 63-50 at the Half for the MWO

3rd Quarter

• DeRozan gets stripped and Jack forced to make smart foul on James avoiding the easy score.
• Andrea with Bosh on him and his jumper falls short. Heat score off the miss and lead by 16.
• Tough night for Double D on defensive end as Wade blows by him and scores.
• Amir with 3 fouls draws the charge on Bosh and he now has 3.
• Bosh the one handed jam and one take that Toronto he threw that down. Converts and 1.
• Amir has a couple baskets back to back and has 6 in Quarter.
• Jarret Jack not a great night finally makes his first FG.
• Bosh picks up his 4th and has to have a seat.
• Bargnani get rebounds off his own misses that is how he can get rebounds we found the secret.
• Wright to Dorsey for the SLAM Raptors down 10 ....Another score make it 8. Raps making it a little closer.
• Wade draws the foul on Jose trying to stop this 12-2 Raptors Run.
• Anthony has it stripped and the Raptors cut the lead to 5.
• Raptors on a 16-3 run in the last 5:45.
• Julian Wright Fearless takes it right at Anthony and draws a foul.
• Joey Dorsey throws someone (James Jones) to the floor a silly foul his 5th.
• DeRozan goes right at James in transition and scores.
• Haslem on the James assist nails the jumper.
• After 3 Heat 83 Raptors 73 <>

4th Quarter

• Bosh back in offensive board then gets to line on a Bargnani foul (Bosh 12/5 on night)
• DeRozan and James Jones trade hoops. Then DeRozan again. 87-77
• MORE DOUBLE D WITH THE JAM OFF THE BREAK!!!
• Calderon his a runner has 13 and is 5 of 6 on the night. Raps only down 6..time out Miami.
• Out of time Amir scores of a Heat miss lead down to 4.
• Heat Score and DeRozan looks for a call the on other end doesn't get one.
• Big Z and Bargnani trade baskets and C.B is chilling on the bench.
• Amir picks up his 5th foul. Dorsey in for him.
• Demar a miss but Dorsey the board he has 11 boards. Raps killing Heat on the glass.
• James Alley Opp Haslem Heat by 6.
• Wade the big dunk and Miami up 10
• Bargnani hits a foul line jumper.
• James walks past Andrea and slams it home the Heat up a dozen.
• Heat were gonna take this but not really blowing you a way.
• Bosh had 5 fouls and was glued to the bench with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
• Amir with throw down but this is done.
• Heat dribble it out for an underwhelming 109-100 Win

Raptors gave a good effort but Heat were just to talented despite not exactly bringing there A game. Chris Bosh's first game vs his former team he sits on the bench during crunch time watching with just 12 points 6 rebounds and 5 fouls. Most Raptor fans will take glee in that. I am not sure what to think about it. Chris really looks nothing like himself at all and it is not just the haircut and new jersey. Raps leave Florida with a split and 2 good efforts. On to Washington and then Philly for a much easier back to back. Two games the Raptors based on their play of late should believe they can win. I really thought we would see a big night from Bosh but it never happened. Was interesting to see James go over and talk to him late in the game. What if Bosh never makes it to Feb 16th with Miami? It seems hard to think the Heat will bail on him that fast. He still has a month to figure it out. He better start doing it. On the flip side....Demar is getting better. His D is not there yet but I get more excited each time I see him this year with a few exceptions.

It's Over

It is now official Chris Bosh will join the Miami Heat. In a interview on ESPN with Michael Wilbon both Wade and Bosh said they will play together in Miami. They also both made reference several times to this not being about money. This is all bad news for the Raptors and it sure seems like Chris Bosh has walked and left Bryan Colangelo holding the bag. No specific contract details were discussed for Wade or Bosh.

Chris said that this was a tough choice to leave Toronto and claims to have been in constant contact with Jarrett Jack through this process. Both said they made the best choice for their families. Which makes sense if this was about money, but both said it wasn't and both are not from Miami. Wade is from Chicago and Bosh Dallas. So what family has do with being in South Beach is unclear.

Wade supported Eric Spoelstra saying that he was the coach of the Heat 100%. Pat Riley had made waves saying he would consider returning to the bench if it helped land free agents. The door seems wide open for Lebron James to join Bosh and Wade in Miami if that is what he wants to do.

The responses from Raptors fans on the feed of ESPN that i was watching were harsh to say the least. If this turns out that Bosh has left outright even if he hasn't Bosh has replaced Vince Carter as the Raptor fans super villain. I have been disappointed in Chris actions in this process but I do not hate him for 2 months and for me it does not erase 7 years. However, I am also clear that I am in the minority. While not many will wish Chris Bosh well.....I will. That being said when he is booed out of the building at the ACC next season he will only need to look in the mirror for the reason why.

Raptors Get Heat Stroked In Miami

It was important for the Raptors to get off to a good start. Miami you had to expect would be fired up and looking to bounce back from an embarrassing lose, something the Raptors can relate to for sure. Raptors would win the opening tip and get a score in the post from Bargnani. Next would be a sign of things to come on 2 fronts. Demar DeRozan would miss a lay-up and the Heat would run in transition for the easy score from Wade. This would be a long night for Demar and the Raptors transition D would be burned many more times before the night was done. The Raptors would hang in this one early though. Jay Triano would be frustrated early on getting a early technical foul and the Heat after converting the tech would have a 4 point lead with score 16-12. Miami was sloppy in it's execution with 5 early turnover but the Raptors did not make them pay with just 2 points off them. Andrea Bargnani had a solid opening quarter with 10 points. He would give the Raptors a 22-20 lead. They would lead 26-22 and would give up an open jumper in the corner to Haslem and lead 26-24 after 1 quarter.

Haslem would score to open the second as well and even the score at 26. Bosh would pick up a foul early in the Quarter his second and he would be forced to have a seat..Raptors along with looking bad in the transition on D also were getting beat on the glass on the defensive end. The Heat would be getting second chances and Micheal Beasley on one of those would score to give the Heat a 35-30 lead. The Raptors would fight back to 39-36 as Bosh would return to the floor. This would be the point that this game would go south in a major way for the Raptors. Hedo Turkoglu would hit a 3 getting the lead down to 2 and from there it was over. Raptors would have 3 chances to score to tie it and could not and the Heat would get the easy score in transition plus a foul. It was a 5 point swing anf it would be a key moment in the game in retrospect. The Heat would but together a run fueled by Raptor mistakes the most glaring a blown alley oop play where Demar tried to hook up Pops for a slam. The Heat would build an 11 point lead. The Heat would score 36 in the quarter and have a 60-50 lead at the half. Some glaring halftime stats included Bosh with 0 rebounds, Raptors being outscored 17-2 in fast break points, bench points all Heat as well 30-12.

The Raptors would come out in the second half and get the lead trimmed to 6 points and that would be the closest they would get.Wade and Micheal Beasley were looking as good as Shaq and D-Wade ever did. It would be 81-66 before you knew it as the Raps were looking sloppy on offense and invisible on defense. This would continue for the entire quarter and the Raptors would trail 91-74. Really no point to talk much about the 4th quarter as the Raptors would basically throw out the reserves with no chance to win and a game vs Orlando tomorrow. It is worth mentioning yet another NBA player has his career high against the Raptors. Well to be fair he tied his career high as Michael Beasley had 28 points and 11 rebounds on the night. Wade has just 19 points on the night but ever point he made seemed to come at a backbreaking moment in the game. Bosh had 28 points as well but just 2 rebounds. While Bargnani who had 10 points in the first quarter would finish with just 14. Hedo after his best game as a Raptors was back to being sleep walking Hedo with just 12 points. Jack also after 4 strong games came crashing down to earth on this night.

Raptors just had little fight once they got behind and like on many other nights this season they gave up on both ends of the floor. They were having to fight to score and when they couldn't there defense that was far from good became non-existent. Jack Armstrong was there to watch it all on TSN and he is going to be my guest tomorrow in the late afternoon. Safe to say we will have a lot to talk about and sadly not much of it good. Raptors lose in uninspiring fashion 115-95. The questions are many when it comes to this team. I really start to wonder if Jay Triano and this group fit together. It seems clear he does not get the effort from the required on a consistent basis. Sam Mitchell would always demand fight from his teams and when he stopped getting that fight from his team he was shown the door. He would demand more from this team and get in people's faces be it privately or in public through the media. It just does not seem to me that Jay Triano can be the task master that this team needs to produce. It is not a question of if he is an intelligent basketball mind or not. It is just about if he can get the effort and execution that is required. Sadly his overall record both this year and last tell you that he is falling far short in that regard. It may not be right and the players are a big part of the problem. However at the end of the day you can't fire a team but you can fire a coach. That being said Triano needs to take responsibility for the team's performance or lack of it. It is his job to get these guys to perform.

If this team every does turn the corner tonight is one of the nights they will deeply regret come April when they are in the heat (no pun intended ) of a playoff race. However with every lose you start to wonder if there will be playoffs to worry about if things do not change rather quickly.