@S. – typical and insanely ridiculous.

@Arse – “I mean, I’m a pessimistic by nature, especially when it comes to the Raptors” C’mon man! :) I am not buying that for one second, I am not saying you are the opposite, but definitively not that. RE: JO – please tell my why I shouldn’t expect 20/10 from him? Especially, after the way he’s been advertised. Only 30 years old, no major mileage, etc etc. Please tell me why I am supposed to be satisfied with him only taking up space and acting like KG when he gets a meaningless block in the 2 or 3 q.

@RapsFan – this wasn’t negative as some are making it out to be. It is what it is. Nothing to get excited about, and still (for some) some things left desired. I appreciate the non-bukake writing like some of comments on here.

So, what I want to see are the bench players that are reasonable subs – Humphries, Ukic, Solomon at SG maybe and Bargnani all getting serious minutes when we are getting blown out. If we are down by 18 going into the 4th against teams like Boston or LA, sit the starters out – they’re tired and fatigue will just make it easier for those kinds of teams. The bench will get good experience against much more talented players and hopefully learn something for the future. Sure, there’s a slim chance of winning if we run Bosh’s knees into the ground (again), but I think it would be far more beneficial to just take the loss and the experience for the bench.

How is this for an idea? What a perfect time to let your starters know what could be the demands on them for the season. Game three and a back to back. Perfect time to let your starters discover what type of shape they are in. I would prefer the starters get mentally ready for play-offs now. The season is a marathon and the start of the race is a good time to figure out how it will have to end. Come play-offs the rotation will be very tight and long nights for five people.

I agree with Sam playing the three as long as he did. That is their job. Game three against a weaker team is the best time to test your endurance.

Fatigue did play a factor in turnovers. The fatigue level did make things a little wobbly at times. But Game Three is the time to do that. After the Bucks game they know what they will be called on to do.

But hey let’s face it, this is the best starting five Toronto has had in a while. I watched some older games over the summer and also some games from last season. This current roster is the first time this team has been a cohesive unit in probably four or five years. There seems to be a respect and care for each other that will translate into a trust and performance on the floor. They like each other.

BOSH IS A BEAST. I think this is the year we see his name mentioned more and more along side all the best playing the game today. Having had a chance to chat with him in person a couple of years ago there is a calmness and maturity beyond his years. Also his Olympic experience matured him beyond what I thought possible at this time. I guess a gold medal and getting bigtime props from Kobe and one of the best college coachers ever can do that sort of thing. His numbers will be bigger this year on both ends of the floor.

Calderon is a floor general in a way that Steve Nash is though he does not have Nashes speed or flare. But he does have Nashes selflessness and will have Nashes BB IQ over the next few seasons. And he is learning when he has to be selfish for the benefit of the team.

O’Neal? Brian has basketball moxy. The Raptors would not have taken a gamble if it did not have the potential to be a very big payoff. O’Neal has already proven he adds swagger, confidence, and defensive agression to the Raptors. I think how many times he puts the ball in the hoop is irrelevant. If we get great defense and balls and 10 points a game we should consider it money well spent. Yeah I know, the health thing. We will see. And O’Neal seems to be rubbing his agression and swagger off on his mates. Something we always thought there was a lack of.

Moon is a a free safty. He roams the floor adding a little bit where it is needed. The guy has got a lot of talent. How Sam is able to get him to focus it will be the tale of the tape. His shot has improved and if he goes one for two all season that is not a bad thing. And then take it to the hole when the lane is there. We have to see Moon in a new role not the one he had last year. I think he is also trying to figure out what his role is as well.

Parker? EVERY article I have read does not mention Anthony Parker very often. Though there are tons of complaints about the team no one seems to mention AP as a strength or weakness. Parker is glue. He has great genetics, good basketball IQ. Battle tested. Maturity. Every team needs an AP. I expect at least at 20% improvement in his contributions this year.

The Bench? Hmmmmm? A lot of nurturing needed. But potential is there.

HEALTH!? Yeah that will be the decider in the end for this team.

And of course the Eatern Conference is tougher than it has been in years.

This season has the potential to be a very competitive one for the East. Sit back and enjoy. AND HEY!!! We should be a little over optimistic. That is why they are called home team fans. Leave the pessimism to the pundits.

The first conclusion is that I don’t have a bench. They are neither athletic, nor basketball-wise(I love that term) nor deserving of playing in the NBA based on what I may have seen of them in practice and pre-season.

This forces me to conclude that I must establish my starting 5 with only 2-3 subs used sparingly. There is no depth to the bench, and throwing them in is very risky, and only justified during junk time.

If the Pistons are blowing out the Raptors this Wednesday, I would like to see the bench players on the floor. If the game is close, run with the rotation because the tribal honking fans will not tolerate submission to the visiting enemy even though the cause is lost.

Sooner or later, Mitchell will have to show us what his players at the end of the bench can do … or just hope that BC can pull off some kind of super-trade soon. Maybe I’m wrong and Mitchell is keeping his bench strength camouflaged to spring it on to some unsuspecting top-tier team to crush them mercilessly …LOL

Johnn19: i agree totally with your two points. i’d like to add a third: a whole team commitment to rebounding, not just from the front court.

That’s how you win NBA games. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

I do agree with you saying that

“Raptors reverted themseleves back to last season tean where Bosh was forced to carry the team on his back, forcing jump shots and having almost a fourth quarter collapse.”

As I already said, Jose’s three bailed us out just like Bosh’s jumper against Philly bailed us out at 90-84 and just how his one-on-one dunk bailed us out against GSW. Our offense has been stagnant late in games and we’re basically clearing out for Bosh every time. This is an issue that needs to be fixed for the Detroit game because sooner or later Bosh will start missing and we’ll have nothing to fall back on. Sam, I’m looking at you on this one.

I do agree with you that JO played well. There are some things you don’t see on the stat sheet that JO brings to the table ( team confidence, interior block defence, opening things up for Bosh and the guards on the offensive end). When JO left the game because of fouling out, the Raptors reverted themseleves back to last season tean where Bosh was forced to carry the team on his back, forcing jump shots and having almost a fourth quarter collapse.

sure bryco knows what we know, they probably know more (or should), but what the hell have they done in the last three games that is any sort of indication to what they plan to do against the elite teams? the answer is nothing.

as far as o’neal, 20/10 wasn’t expected. what was expected is for him to be in the games at crunch time, and contribute a solid 16pts/9rebs/2blks a game. he hasn’t done that yet, but he hasn’t played regular minutes in over a year. i’m sure that will come.

One point I do want to restate though. Sam realizes he rode his starters hard. He realizes this is unsustainable. Attempts will be made to correct it. Give the coaching and management some credit.

Issues, sure. Every team has them. Ours might come back to bite us in the ass, but so far we’re thriving despite our shortcomings, not failing because of them. We might have lost all three of these games last year. That was a different team. This team looks more confident, more assertive, and more energized.

Yes, I realize we’re three games in. But this is all we have to go on, so let’s take the evidence presented to us and use that to pass judgement.

Now, you do have a point that this might not be a sustainable way of winning games but do you honestly think if we internet junkies can figure that out, BC can’t? C’mon. Sam will give everybody a shot if not because of his own thinking then through BC’s command. Then if it becomes evident that the bench really sucks then we’ll make a move at the trading deadline. Give the GM some credit.

I said this in that hilarious Roll Call thread but JO had a great game. A fucking great game. I don’t know if you’re expecting 20/10 from him but that’s not going to happen, so far he’s provided a CONSISTENT defensive presence making AP and Calderon look like great defensive players. Scoring against the Raptors is no longer as simple as turning the corner on high screen ‘n roll.s

Over the summer on arsenalist.com I made a post about Moon’s jumpers:

http://arsenalist.com/2008/08/30/jamario-moon-needs-to-make-a-jumper/

Here’s what I thought then and that’s exactly what I think now:

I’ve accepted that he’s not going to be a player that consistently takes it to the rim even when the opportunity is there so I’ve switched expectation gears. If he just drains the 15-18 footer with dead-eye consistency, it’ll open up things for us. Last year we got angry when he started taking those jumpers, this year I’m hoping he takes them and makes them. If Bargnani’s off-season regiment involved working on footwork, getting stronger and developing post-moves, Moon’s should simply involve launching 1000 jumpers a day.

I have no problem with him shooting IF HE’S GOING TO MAKE THEM. That does not preclude me for shitting on him when he doesn’t but I sure am not going to complain even when he’s making them. Plus, did anyone notice that the kink in his jumper isn’t there anymore? Looks smoother, no?

I mean, I’m a pessimistic by nature, especially when it comes to the Raptors but you gotta admire when we pull out a road win on a back to back

If you want to shit on something, shit on the fact that the Calderon three came off of random freestyling and didn’t look like anything that was drawn up.

hotshot: agreed, he needs to play the bench more. hump, joey, got way more burn last season on a ‘deeper’ team. now that they should be playing more, they aren’t. i don’t get it.

darien: try justin.tv and go to the sports section, or channelsurfing.net. they usually have it available.

It was also suprising to see JO foul out, it is a rare thing to see a Raptor fouling out because Smitch tend to be the worrying type and he always sat guys out with quick fouls so he can save them to the end. This time around he just kept JO out there which was not the smartest thing to do because we needed JO during crunch time.

His second mistake was putting Moon at the four for a brief period in the fourth. It’s those kind of moves (Bargnani at the playoffs at 3) that makes you wonder about Smitch decision making. If you never done something in an actual ball game why would you try it now in crucial crunch time?!

Smitch has been very good in the first 2 Raptor games but in this one, he almost handed the Bucks the win. Against top tier teams, you wouldn’t been able to get away with it.