Net Loss Or Net Gain?

Well here we go ready or not. The Raptors face the prospect of total meltdown should they not find a way to hand Nets loss number 25 of the season for them. If they don't the heat around this Raptor team will reach the boiling point. I listened to the show Hoops last night on the Fan 590. They took a ton of calls and you could hear the anger and frustration in the various calls. I can only imagine the posts on twitter should the Raptors drop this one. The Raptors have made some offensive units that were struggling look great. It is pretty sad when you lose count how many times teams have scored 60 points or more in a half against the Raptors. It is hard to recall a Raptors team that had this rough a time on the defensive end. There was lots of blame being handed out by the various callers. A lot of folks are on board with me in terms of having major concerns about Jay Triano. Some others went straight to the top and took aim at Bryan Colangelo. Credit to Paul Jones and Eric Smith for allowing fans to basically vent for 2 hours.

What was lost in all of the frustration was a pretty interesting interview with Chris Bosh earlier on Prime Time Sports. He was there in part to promote his recently released DVD "First Ink". Although that was interesting and in general people that have seen the DVD have had positive reviews of it. It would be the conversation after that would be interesting. The most of which, how Bosh expressed a feeling that Toronto has started to feel truly like home for him. It was very genuine and it seems to support something that I have felt. In the past I had suggested that I felt Chris Bosh was looking for an excuse to stay and not go from Toronto. I just got that feeling and impression. If you were hoping Bosh would declare his desire to stay in Toronto and with the Raptors it did not go that far. However it did offer some hope that if this basketball team could turn things around that Chris may be willing to stick around.

In terms of the team itself he did seem pretty calm about things. He said that it is taking time for this team to come together. He also said that you have to remain positive because regardless there is 50 or so games left in the season and they are going to be played regardless of what happens. The truth is though what happens will likely greatly define if Bosh is going to continue to enjoy Toronto as his home.

While this individual game in the grand scheme is not life and death for the Raptors. The fact the Nets have been so horrible and the fans are on the brink, it could be much like that game vs the Thunder last year that I referenced yesterday. If the Raptors can get past this one they have a schedule that should offer some opportunity to bounce back a bit. The Hornets, Pistons twice and Bobcats are all games that Raptors should feel they can win. It is not something to take pride in, but thanks to the fact the East is brutal the Raptors are really not in terrible shape in terms of playoffs. You can likely write off the idea of home court advantage in the playoffs but to finish 5th is still a goal with in range.

The Raptors have some things to sort out before we even attempt to consider playoff positioning.This game tonight can be the slow start to the slow road back or it could end up being the car going off the cliff. It will also mark the first time the Nets have rolled into town without Vince Carter. Let's hope there is no booing tonight because if there is it will be directed at the Raptors and not Vince. The Nets and Raptors Rivalry appears to be pretty much dead now. The Raptors did of course play their first ever game against the Nets and they won it at the Skydome. The Raptors will hope to do the same tonight at the ACC because it is badly needed not just for the players and organization but for the loyal fans of this team. They feel like they have been lied to again. They got their hopes up and have once again had them come crashing down. This would be the final insult to that. Raptors face a must win tonight for their fans personal sanity.

Starting 5 Welcomes Back Zack

It is my pleasure to welcome back Zack Cooper to the Dino Nation Blog's Starting 5. Since the last time Zack joined us he has added to his basketball resume. He now is the host of Hoops when Eric and Paul are on the road with the Raps which is Thursday @7pm on the Fan 590. We talk about last night's loss to the Nuggets. Also look ahead to tonight in Utah. We also talk about Chris Bosh, Amir Johnson, Sonny Weems, Demar DeRozan and others. We talk about the Raptors Defense and it's lack of consistency. We also give some love to the Raptors offense. Zack is also huge into the video games and we talk a little basketball video games. Zack is the host of Got Game and is one of many people that told me I should have got 2k10 first. Well I now own both and real enjoy my 2k10 when every I get a chance to play it. Zack has been great in bringing some more basketball from the internet to the airwaves Fan 590 when he is hosting shows and has had Holly Mackenzie from (The Score and Slam) on several times, J.E Skeets from Yahoo and The Basketball Jones, Nat from Heels on Hardwood and even had me on as well. Hope you enjoy the conversation about the Raptors and am happy to have Zack as one of the growing number of regular guests we have as part of the starting 5.

Starting 5 with Zack Cooper From The Fan 590

DNB's Starting 5

You can keep up with Zack on Twitter @Zcooperstown on Twitter. If you are a fan of basketball or video games he is a must have on your Twitter follow list. Look forward to talking with Zack down the line as the season moves along. He is also leading his division in a Fantasy League we both are taking part in. Where am I? Don't ask...injuries have crushed my fantasy team from the jump. Day after I drafted Jamison he is out till tonight. He is expected to be back in the line-up tonight for the Wizards and I need him. More important for Raptors is Deron Williams is also expected to be back for the Jazz as we mentioned in the interview.

4 Wins? 4 Time All Star? Here In 4 Years?

Well I have always said it, no one asks how you win games at end of year just if you did. That being said, give Devin Harris that shot I think he makes it 9 out of 10 times. The Raptors were due some good karma in a season where they have had a lot of things not go their way. Thanks to the struggles of others like the Nets the Raptors at 9 games below .500 they still are very much alive for the playoffs. I had kind of written off their chances. But it seems they remain alive. That is the advantage of playing in the East. I heard a stat on Toronto radio last night that surprised me but likely should not have. In 7 of the last 8 years the 8th seed in the East has had a sub .500 record. One year the Celtics got in with just 36 wins. That was prior to the Big 3 obviously. I am highly conflicted if this is a good or bad thing. If the Raptors get in at an 8th seed what does it really do for the franchise long term? I can't come up with to many things. It would be different if this team had not been in the playoffs the 2 year prior to this. There is no question getting in as the 8th helped the Atlanta Hawks last year to this year. They also performed well once they got there. Some will say that well maybe the Raptors could do the same. But I have been watching the Celtics this year and if they finish on top I think the Hawks taught them a lesson last year that whoever they play this year will pay for. Kevin Garnett did say anything is possible and it is. But for the 8th seed in the East be it the Raptors or not, I am not liking their chances. Just as a pure fan you always want your team to get into the playoffs. It sucks to watch 16 teams play after April 15th with out your team. But when you look long term I can not find a benefit of the Raptors making it in as an 8th seed. Even if they were able to sneak up to 7th seed the challenge is almost as great. However despite all my thinking about all this I do agree with Chris Bosh in saying he is glad people thinking like me our not on his team. Players and coaches should always be focused on winning basketball games. It is for management to figure out the long term stuff. People that are covering the team tend to fall somewhere in the middle leaning to the long term and not the short.

So Will He Be An All Star?

I was pleased to hear the comments of Chris Bosh last night when the topic of the All Star Game came up. There has been a wide variety of opinion on if he will make it when the reserves are announced tonight. However the majority feel that Bosh will make the game including Paul Jones who visited us the other day. I have been quite concerned that he might not. It is not that I don't think he is worthy. I think he is more than worthy. I just was concerned that the Raptors record may hold him back. Danny Granger is in the same kind of spot as Bosh. The difference is that Bosh has made it 3 times already. I often wonder how seriously coaches who do the voting for the reserves take this task. There is no doubt it gets huge conversation with fans and in the media. I think and would hope that coaches take it just as seriously. Tonight we will find out who is in ans who is out and the debate will rage on who did not make it in the game. This process becomes almost more important in comparison to the game itself. It is a status thing as much as anything. When you can say you were an all star it is something you can take with you the rest of your life. Not unlike being a former champion in boxing. When you are old and people introduce you they can say this is Chris Bosh he was an All Star this many times. However having a ring that says you were a champion means just a bit more. That is something Vince Carter never seemed to understand. I was pleased to see that Chris did not take for granted that he would hear his name called tomorrow. It gives me some hope that I have not been wrong in my thinking about other things.

Here in 4 years?

Sounds like something for politics. A term in office of a president is four years. But this is about if Chris Bosh will be in Toronto in 4 years. If you listen to Jalen Rose he is done in 2 years. Eric Smith laid out a challenge to Paul Jones to try and get Jalen as a guest on Hoops tonight. Paul said he would try to make it happen. I would be very interested to hear from Jalen if he does get him. Rose has wanted a career in broadcasting for a long time and to boldly put his reputation on the line saying that Chris Bosh will be in New York in 2 years is a highly risky move if you are not certain. That is why Jalen sounding so confident concerns me. However at the end of the day Chris Bosh will be the one that makes that call. If you listen to Rose he already has. But I just can't see that being the case. If I was advising Bosh as an agent. Yeah I know fat chance. However the best advice would be to re-sign in Toronto. Because what happens after 2010 may be more important. The season after that the collective bargaining agreement ends. Given the state of the economy I think it is safe to say that will not benefit the players. So he should sign a contract with Toronto and get all that he can. If Toronto is not on a path to winning once the new CBA is set up or even before you can ask to be moved and walk away with a better contract. That is what Vince Carter did. It is really the best thing to do. I have mentioned all this 2010 talk could end up being much like the doomsday talk around Y2K. In the end it is still a year and a half away. You have people already saying trade Bosh based on this minor amount of speculation. What is it going to be like next year? A zoo and not one that I am looking forward too.

I will tell you this though. If I am wrong and Bosh bolts and leaves for New York or somewhere else. I am done getting behind players on this team. I am going to approach it like I would supporting a college team. I only will see the name on the front and screw the name on the back. I just can't be bothered getting emotionally invested in any of these guys if the end result will be they leave. Bosh is a lot of ways is my last hope in that not all athletes are like Vince Carter. I really have felt Chris is far different from Carter. However if he leaves and does the same thing as Vince it will be hard to make that argument and I would not bother wasting the time trying too. So I hope that Chris Bosh is here for far longer than 4 more years. I want Chris Bosh to be here for life. Well for the life of his NBA career. It maybe be unrealistic and not in the whole this is a business way of thinking. I don't care and you know what for fans it is not about a business for us. It is about emotionally investing in people and far to often having that investment get stomped on as athletes walk out the door. It is hard to be a fan in the modern sports world.

What Does #4 Have To Say?

Eric Smith tracked down Chris to find out what he had to say about Jalen Rose and his comments.

E.Smith Exclusive With CB4

Raptors Turning The Corner?

Chris Bosh felt on top of the World last night. At least that is what he was telling the folks on Twitter and Face book. In fact here is what was posted exactly.

Bosh From Twitter

"I'm on top of the world right now. I've seen the new light!"

That sure sounds encouraging doesn't it. I mean he has reason to think that way as well. The Raptors have won 3 out of 4 games and are starting to figure out how to hold leads and get wins. Sure the Wizards are a bad team but they did the same against the Magic and Rockets. At this point it really isn't as much about who the Raptors are playing as much as it is about if they are winning or losing. A brilliant football coach once said " You Play To Win The Game" now Herm Edwards may not have been able to get his Chiefs to do that very often but he is right. It is what it is all about when you cut through all the stuff that is written and said. It is about getting wins. When the season is over they don't ask you who you beat or how you beat them. They just ask how many times did you win. But it does seem clear the Raptors are starting to see the path back to the playoffs.

Andrea Has Figured It Out?

One of the biggest changes has been with Andrea Bargnani. I really was in the camp of the folks that wanted to trade him and move on. But he has shown some things that we have not scene from him in his two plus years in the NBA. The guy we have seen in the last 5 games is much more the one Bryan Colangelo had in mind when he drafted Bargnani with the first overall pick. A confident shooter that has ice water in his veins and makes and takes big shots at key points in games. When Andrea displays these kind of skills it makes the Raptors a much different team. The Wizards last night did all they could to make sure that Chris Bosh did not beat them last night. They succeed for the most part. What they did not count on was that Andrea Bargnani would.

The fear and concern is what happens when Jermaine O'Neal becomes healthy? Jay Triano when asked about if O'Neal would start when he returned ducked the question altogether. He said he had not even thought about it. I am not sure if that is true but eventually he will have to think about it. Bargnani when asked about if it matters if he started or not claims it does not. He seemed to suggest that it was more about the amount of time he gets on the floor and not if his name got called in the starting line-up. The biggest test of Triano as a coach will be when all three (Bosh, Bargnani and O'Neal) are healthy and able to play. The Raptors tried unsuccessfully for the most part to play all three together. Bargnani as an over sized small forward was a failure. So can Triano come up with a rotation that allows Andrea to get his floor time that he thinks he needs and based on his play of late as earned. It may be possible to make it work as you can try to keep O'Neal healthy by reducing his minutes and same for Bosh. You can use Andrea to fill the bulk of those minutes. It will take Triano to be able to convince all 3 players that it will be the best thing for the group as a whole. Based on the recent developments he can make a strong argument for it. The one problem will be when it comes to those last 6 minutes of games. I think it is clear that all 3 players want to be on the floor for those. Bosh as the franchise player is going to be 99.9% of the time. So it becomes a choice between O'Neal and Bargnani for those minutes. O'Neal is the better defender but not by as great a gap as you would have thought heading into the season. Bargnani is the better offensive weapon when he is on his game and going well. Just with the range he has he becomes a match-up problem for any team. I have no doubt Jay Triano wants to be the coach of this team going forward. No one likes to be interim anything. How he handles this issue will define him as a coaching candidate and will impact on what Bryan Colangelo might do in terms of moves for this roster. If Triano can show a way that Bosh, O'Neal and Bargnani can all play together and be productive it may allow Colangelo to feel he must hang on to all 3 players. Despite all of that this team still badly needs a slashing and scoring wing player. I am not convinced that player on a night to night basis is on this roster. So it will be interesting to see what happens. But some new questions have started to become part of figuring this all out.

Jose When He Returns Will That Help Or Hurt

Seems a bit silly of a question on the surface. But if you have been playing close attention some things have improved with no Jose. Those improvements are mostly on the defensive end of the floor. Jose Calderon when he returns must answer the challenge and work as hard on defense as he does on offense. It has to happen or this house of cards of improvement will all come crashing down. I am not saying he needs to be an all world defender. He needs to take a man blowing by him as personally as he takes it when he makes a rare turnover.

That will be what Jose will help with and improve on what has been happening of late. He is very good at protecting the ball and getting his team to play with less mistakes on the offensive end. He will need to take the odd chance as well to not break the momentum that has been built in his time away that was being established. But he was starting to show signs of starting to make those king of plays and choices. Jay Triano is slowly getting Jose to understand the benefits of taking chances and making it work at times in a game. I will give you an example from last night's game made by Will Solomon. He looked way up the floor and hit Anthony Parker( I think ) with a long pass and it lead to an easy score as Parker was ahead of the play. In the past if Jose was in the game he likely sees that same pass to make but views it as to much of a risk and just sets the team up in the half court. Transition points and easier chances can make life much more easy for any basketball team.

I have always said that Jose Calderon was a very good point guard. But he is not a great point guard. However if Jay Triano get work with Jose and tweak his game in some ways along with a true commitment to defensive improvement by Jose he could grow into being a great point guard. Jay Triano worked with Steve Nash on team Canada and Nash credits Triano with helping him a lot. It is not that Jose will become a Steve Nash like point guard. They are very different in a lot of ways. But can Triano give Jose the direction to make improvements in his game as he did for Steve Nash with his game. I was hopeful that he could and was starting to see signs that he was. Calderon is a great guy and people rush to his defense at times based on that. I like Jose but I just expect and want more from him. That is what signing that contract in the summer meant. To be the starting point guard in the city has always been a focus from day one with Damon Stoudamire and it continues to be to this day with Jose.

Matt Devlin last night suggested we may see a Jose return as soon as tomorrow against the Grizzlies. So it will be really interesting to see what the impact will be on the Raptors on both ends of the floor when he does. No one is saying Will Solomon and or Roko Ukic is going to steal his job. But maybe they could see more minutes if Calderon is not as effective in some aspects. Ultimately maybe it should happen any way as Calderon is really showing signs of wear this season. Sam Mitchell had no confidence it Solomon or Ukic and really over played Jose through the early part of the season much like he did with Chris Bosh.

Live Blogging on Monday

Just a note for all of you and an invitation. I am going to be working doing live blogs for The Score from time to time. Most of the time it will be for Raptor games. On these nights I will not being doing Raptor Rewinds as you have become use too. But I will provide you links and access to the live blog instead. The first of these is going to be on Monday for the Raptors and Celtics and as soon as I have the details of how you can take part I will provide you a link. These live blogs are great for those of you who are on the go and have the tech toys like Iphones or Blackberrys. If you want to keep up with what is going on with the game. If you are out on a date or visiting family and have to miss a game. Now you won't have to on these nights. Even if your watching the game it is a cool way to have interaction with your fellow fans. I will when I live blog try to show up a bit early and have a bit or an open pre game chat like portion and same for halftime and post game. You are all welcome to be a part.

So that is about it for today unless we have any breaking news to pass a long. I will be doing my usual Thursday thing in taking in the "Hoops" show on Fan 590 and Raps TV. Show has been gone last bit for holidays. I am not sure if Eric, Paul and Jack will be hosting but I will tune in regardless and likely call and have my view. So have a great day and take care. Tomorrow the O.J Mayo show hits Canada that should be fun.