98-97 Blazers Final: Chris Bosh becomes the new PG for the Toronto Raptors and goes one on one against Aldridge at the three point line, drives left and throws up a prayer. Sorry, but I’d rather have TJ Ford taking that shot. Goats of the Game: Jose Calderon and Chris Bosh. Heartbreaking loss, bad play call to end the game. We couldn’t get a rebound to save our lives – 48-31 overall.
AltRaps follows with a Roll Call soon and I’ll come back with a post-game report (as if this post isn’t enough) late in the PM or early AM.
98-97 Blazers 8 sec 4Q: Parker checks Roy and forces a tough shot but we can’t get the rebound for the 33544th time. Steve Blake then kills Calderon on a step-back that reminded me of MJ on Byron Russell. Three pointer! Gives the Blazers a one-point lead. Calderon’s defense comes back to bite us again. Let’s see what Triano draws up coming out of timeout with the game on the line.
97-95 Raps 27 sec 4Q: Bosh blocked by Adridge on a drive, manages to get his own rebound and kicks out to Jose who had a three but chooses not to take it. Gives it to Bosh who nails an 18 footer. I’ll take it.
95-95 48.3 4Q: Portland come out of the timeout with an iso for Roy against Parker. Roy elevates and nails the 15 foot jumper. No double from the Raptors, they’re letting Parker handle him.
95-93 Blazers 1:04 4Q: We go to the block to JO who draws the double but Jose misses the wide open jumper. That would’ve been sweet. Oden gets deep post position but uses his arm to waive off O’Neal, potential three point play ends up being a turnover for them. Good D by JO. Jose drives turns the corner on the screen against Blake but loses it out of bounds. Roy beats Parker (flopped) but Bosh steps in for the block, Raps fail to get the rebound and Oden’s at the FT line. Oden misses the second FT but we can’t get the rebound. Again! Blake sets up Oden who gets blocked by JO but we still can’t get the rebound!! WTF man! Steve Blake misses a short baseline J and we fail to get the rebound again!! Jeeeeesus!! Timeout Portland.
98-95 2:15 4Q: O’Neal’s providing good defensive presence and JK finally takes a shot when he’s actually covered, drains the three to give the Raps a lead. Oden scores off an offensive rebound but we do the same after the ball falls in JK’s lap who finds JO for a short baseline jumper. JO draws the charge on Outlaw to bail out Bargnani who got beat on the perimeter. Jose with the play of the game IMHO. Drives the ball, fakes the shit out of Aldridge and lays the ball in. We have to help out JO on the boards, he’s basically boxing two people out. Bosh comes into the game and takes a horrible fadeaway jumper against Steve Blake. yeah, against Steve Blake That was sad and could’ve given us a five point lead. Rudy beats JK on the drive but Aldridge misses the open three. With the Raptors nursing a three point lead, Triano takes a good timeout
88-86 Blazers 6:54 4Q: Joey Graham with a nice drive, misses the shot but forces help and JO cleans it up for a three point play. JO comes back and nails a FT line jumper to make it a five point game. Rudy finally misses and Calderon gets an open look for three after Portland is forced to help on JO – JC drains it. 8-3 run.
87-78 8:56 4Q: Will Solomon’s in the game and that’s not good: a bad turnover to start the quarter, leaves Sergio Rodriguez for an open three and then misses his own three. Calderon’s coming in the game after the timeout. Just when Bargnani did something good by getting a three point play against Aldridge, he gives up a fade to Aldridge and then fails to box out Pryzbilla and picks up his fourth foul on a three-point play. Chris Bosh takes a very bad three with tons of time on the shot clock, on the next possession, Bargnani takes an equally bad three. The offense is non-existent and Bosh is not asserting himself like Aldridge is. This is not looking good. Raptors are getting killed 36-21 on the boards, Portland’s getting offensive rebounds and its one and done for the Raptors.
78-75 Blazers End 3Q: Highlight of this stretch is Joey Graham faking a pass and driving baseline to provide Pryzbilla with an ice-cold facial. But there are things to be concerned with: Steve Blake is getting past Calderon a little too easily and has shown that he can get the open 16 footer anytime he wants. I don’t know how Roy gets matched up with O’Neal on the wing but he did and its two easy points. Portland running some plays now and get Outlaw open after Joey Graham gets caught on a basket-facing screen. Rotation is late. We’re -5 in the 3Q. Momentum is shifting continuously in this game, the good news it that the Raptors have it heading into the fourth. Need to start off hot here, can’t let Portland build a lead here.
71-69 Blazers 3:02 3Q: Coming out of the timeout is another Bosh missed jumper. Roy beats Parker on a backdoor cut and Aldridge fades beautifully on Bosh for a score and Bosh responds with a made baseline fade. Brandon Roy’s heating up against Parker. Aldridge rejects Bosh’s drive, runs the break and finishes. Portland’s active on D and doing what they want on offense now. Raptors struggling to keep up, its back to the post to JO for a score and he follows up with a couple jumpers. He struggled early but has become our best offensive option this afternoon. Joey Graham’s guarding Aldridge who is smooth on the post-up fade. Portland’s looking to exploit Aldridge on Graham and we’re forced to double which results in fouls. We’re also letting them get offensive rebounds now which is not a good sign. We get some good ball movement to the this stretch and Calderon makes Portland pay for leaving him open by hitting a couple threes. Gone is the 16 point lead, we were staring at a 9 point hole but this recent surge has cut the lead to 2.
58-52 Blazers 9:00 3Q: Blazers on a 10-2 run. We start the quarter with Bargnani missing in the post, he soon picks up a third foul on a clumsy screen and is now officially a non-factor in the game. Bosh drives on Aldridge to pick up two FTs but Aldridge responds by with a J and Bosh instead of driving again, misses another jumper. Aldridge comes back and nails a three setup by dribble-penetration. Jose Calderon loses Steve Blake who makes his fourth jumper from the exact same spot. This is getting ridiculous. We end the stretch with a Bosh turnover where he’s trying to create space for a jumper instead of driving, Portland runs a picture-perfect break finished off by Aldridge. Portland’s 9-16 from 3.
48-46 Halftime: It’s a 2 point game, lots of defensive breakdowns in that second quarter. Kapono left Blake open again for another three from the exact same spot. Why is he helping off of him? Bargnani with a lot of one-on-one moves which go nowhere. Kapono’s getting exploited big time by whoever he’s guarding, Brandon Roy got him with a lane-jumper too easily. O’Neal with a very forced shot against Oden, his offensive moves have the feel of fingernails being scratched on blackboards. Our offense is all one-on-one moves in this quarter and Portland is deservedly back in the game. We need to go back to moving the ball and sealing the dribble-penetration. They interviewed JO at the half, I have no idea what he said. He talks at the speed of light.
The Raptors have to manufacture defensive intensity, it doesn’t come natural to them.
Halftime Entertainment and some more.
48-43 2:42 2Q: Bosh gets inadvertently elbowed by Oden and is off to the locker room. Bargnani takes a bad three coming out of timeout, not a good shot at all. Jose then jacks it up TJ-style, another bad shot. Blake nails his third jumper form the left corner setup by dribble penetration, Kapono’s the culprit this time. Oden draws a double by Parker after posting up O’Neal and Jose’s late on the rotation – Rudy with another three. Raptors respond with a bad turnover. Lead getting sliced as the Raptors revert to some bad habits.
48-36 4:50 2Q: Bosh is stricly jumpers against Aldrige who is not a great defender. Both are face-up type guys and both are playing face-up basketball, no drives. But as soon as he gets Pryzbilla on him, its a drive to the rim for a foul. That dumb fuck Moon tried to drive and throw a behind the back pass to Jose – turnover. Rudy Fernandez heating up against Calderon who’s got to pick up the D and that means more than just sweating bullets. Moon gets to check Rudy and leaves him open for his second three. A late rotation by Bargnani gives Outlaw a clean three. We end this stretch with Moon taking advantage of a limping Rudy Fernandez by getting a couple hoops on some nice cuts. Portland’s definitely getting more dribble penetration now and our defense has let off a bit but luckily our offense is clicking and we’re able to maintain the lead.
Greg Oden’s dog is named Charles Barkley McLovin. I’m guessing the McLovin is from Superbad.
40-27 8:07 2Q: Graham did a good job of keeping Outlaw on the perimeter. JO made a couple fadeaway jumpers and then gets a generous continuation for a three-point play. JO iso on Pryzbilla seems like something the Raptors are trying to look for, it ’s paying off in this stretch. Raptors doing well with Chris Bosh on the bench. Rudy Fernandez gets the first dribble-penetration for the Blazers and it ends up in a three-point play. Soon after Brandon Roy does the same. Portland’s picking up their offense but so far our defense hasn’t let up – hell, I even saw Jason Kapono successfully close-out Rudy on the wing.
31-20 End 1Q: O’Neal’s back for Act II and it’s Will Solomon off the bench, not Roko. Makes sense, Roko’s been glacier cold from the field and Will has actually played himself into the rotation by not playing. Willie gets a turnover and an assist within 30 seconds of checking in. Joey Graham had a breakaway dunk earlier and got two low-post scores by fighting for great position and finishing strong, shades of Corey Maggette. Graham is playing through his mistakes and doing well, even Leo’s ripping on Smitch for having a short leash with him. O’Neal with another airball. Yikes. Moon and his gum-chewing welfare-collecting ass just left Rudy Fernandez wide open for a three who nailed it. Willie with anothing made 21 footer and the Raptors end the quarter fittingly with a JK steal.
23-11 Raps 2:40: Bargnani picks up his second foul, a dumb reach on Outlaw. Bargnani then draws a travel on Oden by backing out. He’s being aggressive with his offense and defense, too bad he’s got to sit now. In comes Joey Graham and draws a foul on the break because Calderon actually looked to push. The defensive pressure continues and we’re getting our fair share of deflections but Steve Blake has managed to lose Calderon for two straight threes. Jose did get hsi second drive to the rim doubling his tally for the season. O’Neal had to sit because everything he’s doing looks very forced, nothing fluid.
Side note: NY is killing Detroit by 20 as we speak. The little clip of the Jose interview says they’re rehauling their defense, so far so good.
11-3 Raps 6:30 1Q: Good defense so far, Parker’s checking Roy and Calderon’s not being exploited by Steve Blake because…well…he’s Steve Blake. Nice crisp rotations, JO’s still off with his shots but the defense is sparking the offense here. So far so good. The only bad defensive sequence was Bargnani being matched up with Roy through some weird circumstance.
33 Raps
Typical “6 minutes to go” meltdown. Some things never change.
Chris Bosh is extremely overrated. Anyone notice that he cant create his own shot? All his points come from jumpshots 18 feet from the basket. And when he does drive he gets stripped atleast90% of the time as other PF’s easily overpower him. So in the last 2 weeks he has faced 4 good teams and has underachieved in those 4 games. It’s a scary thought.
Is he worth $133 million in 2010? No. I rather get a great sf and sg in return
Jack and Matt taking a shot at Colangelo saying Roy is a born leader and one of the best players in 30 years or something
lmao
NOO raps sooo close
Good to see our remarkable ability to get the worst possible shot out of late game timeouts remains.
I’m glad to see all our rebounding issues have been solved by trading for JO.
11-3 Raps 6:30 1Q: “Calderon’s not being exploited by Steve Blake because…well…he’s Steve Blake” :)
Another Choke Job. Haha MVP?
How is he 3rd in the L in scoring? Were in the East and have faced alot of shit teams in the beginning and he is a stat padder against bad teams.
Look at Cleveland with Varajao and Wallace. Fuck they’re destroying teams and are physically tough yet they dont get any credit from anyone
Still waiting for BC to trade one or a combo of Bargs/Parker/Kapono for help on the wing. C’mon BC you over-rated silverspoon fake, earn your GD rep.
Ha Money Carlo! Shows you what I know…Seriously though, I thought if there’s one guy in the league JC could check it would be him.
@ Joey:
You’re not allowed to say that Bosh is any less than a “Superstar MVP”, don’t you know that?? If the Crpator fans don’t believe that he can carry a team, what do they have??
Of course he will be overpaid if he stays…because the morons who run the Raptors have convinced the morons who watch the Raptors that he is a superstar, they have dug their own grave by committing to him or risk the idiots upset if they lose their “superstar”.
People are too stupid to actually WATCH games critically, the announcers are careful to never mention Bosh’s name when he fucks up on defence (it’s just “the Raptors” or “they”) but always say the name of anyone else who fucks up (all of them) so the dumbasses actually think he’s GOOD on defense….He also does NOT run on offense. Bosh fucking saunters….STILL.
It’s understandable, the idiots who WORK for the Craptors needing some positive PR for at least ONE of their fucking players, but the blindness on the part of the media that covers them or the fucking rabid “fans” (Bosh is equivalent to LeBron kind of delusion).
Why people would be encouraged by 10 minutes of solid play is beyond me….the Craptors have always been able to come up with at least 10 minutes of solid play even in an extremely important “must win” game.
Of course, that is ALL they are capable of….but that STILL doesn’t clue the dimwitted into getting that they are putting ALL THEIR FUCKING EGGS IN THE WRONG BASKET.
You have a player who CANNOT CARRY A FUCKING TEAM. There is one player who could carry a team this weak and that is LeBron James…..
The shit, absolute shit media that cover the Craptors have always been clueless about players like Devin Harris, Steve Blake, Jameer Nelson etc….players that are under-rated ALWAYS because the dumbasses only read about the “stars” anyone who watches fucking NBA basketball instead of getting their information from the internet, would know that there are countless players that are far more capable of anything in the starting 5 of this shit team.
When these fuckers stop making excuses for Bosh and he stops making excuses for himself, MAYBE they will get back to being mediocre instead of flat out BAD team they are now.
When Colangelo cleans up just one of his myriad mistakes and gets a STAR wing (and no Joey playing better doesn’t do it) MAYBE this team can win as many games as they lose….best case scenario.
Stop worrying about Bosh leaving…if it led to a more balanced, talented team, that wouldn’t be the end of the world.
If Bosh goes to a team with LeBron, he’s going to win big games because of THAT, not because HE’S going to carry this team or any team.
The fucking O’Neal trade remains a fucking disaster….
Regardless of the score, the Ratpors are not a fundamentally sound team. They have no offensive or defensive systems, and each player is virtually on his own. Perhaps this is the consequence of Mitchell having so many inadequate players over the years and being held back by attempting to develop each player on their own.
In this season, Mitchell was forced to play Bosh and Calderon extended minutes in a futile attempt to make this team competitive, because the bench players were … inadequate. Now Triano is faced with the same problems and he certainly will not be able to rescue the Ratpors in the remainer of the season. Opposing teams recognize the faults and weaknesses of this team, and exploit them over 48 minutes.
The Ratpors are descending into a deep deep funk .. and there is no other solution but to trade .. and trade big. Bosh is the only viable trading chip BC has, and I think it’s time for Bosh to find greener pastures in the NBA. It’s over baby … bye bye …!!!!
nunya, I agree with a lot of what you’re saying except maybe not to the degree in which you’re ripping Bosh. But why rip on O’Neal for today’s game?
To #11: Would you have said all of this if bosh had made that shot?
Lets not overreact. I think this game was a step in the right direction. Baby Steps.
I read a pretty interesting article on the website the wagess of wins and I am positive khandor would like. It essentially argues that we should have expected this type of record from the team as we shipped out three productive players (rasho, delfino, ford) basically for one player who used to be consistently productive (o’neal). In addition, moon and parker have declined this year. http://dberri.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/sam-mitchell-learns-that-bad-shopping-can-get-you-fired/
I agree with most of what has been said, but i think it understates the importance o’neal’s presence had on bargs. It allowed him to start from the bench, and develop slowly with a bit less pressure. Also, I thinking (especially judging from today) that O’neal is pretty crucial for rebounds. The reason portland got so many rebounds was becasue of the continual help-defense from our bigs. Everytime that happens, either the opposing big man is left alone or is being guarded by a much smaller player. Thus, I don’t think you could blame oneal for this loss. He played very well altering shots and playing good help defense. What I found is that bosh is not very good fundamentally on defense. I distinctly remember a play when portland ran a high pick and roll, calderon did well to fight under the screen and altridge rolled to the corner. Bosh for no apparent reason decided to jump out and was covering nobody. Blake passed it to altridge for an easy baseline jumper. Thats no good.
lol
I don’t mean to be a prick but the praise that Bosh gets from the L is incredible. Do they even watch the games or do they simply watch highlights on Sports center and just draw there own conclusions about him? Its not even the coaching here this is common thing as of late. This guy CANNOT produce a win against a quality team with quality players unless there are multiple injuries on there side. The 47 season we went on those 5 game winning streaks because of TJ Ford/Calderon and Nesterovich/Parker. It’s a Fact.
Every God Damn Road Trip we encountered we either go 0-5 or 1-4 and Bosh becomes a liability to the team rather then an asset. Ive seen it for myself as have all of you.
So unless your Miami, Charlotte, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Memphis, you wont see him score 40 points in a game. And under Bosh’s watch, we haven’t won a game in LA, Utah,Denver, Detroit, Houstan, Dallas, in 3 years+ Something to remember
Gunner, I read that when it came out a few days ago. I love for anyone who blames Sam, who says Bosh is an MVP etc. to argue those points.
About JO, the point is simply that regardless of his stats, the man does not produce wins. Period. I mean who really cares about who to blame the loss on, right? THEY lost.
Remember when Kevin Garnett played in Minny? How bad were they after that one playoff run?
Did those losing teams make KG any less of a basketball player? No.
Bosh is deserving of his praise, but look at who he’s surrounded by. No, he can’t create his shot like Kobe or LeBron, but few power forwards can. Look at the defense whenever he gets the ball. The other team stacks five guys into the paint to prevent Bosh from beating them, so what do you expect him to do exactly?
I was at the game today and the biggest thing I got from it is how lame Toronto fans are. It was completely dead and this was a pretty exciting game. People just clap when they’re told to clap, as a team honestly the crowd provides no kind of energy or advantage whatsover. They have no basketball saavy.
Raps fans are nuts. Seriously. No, they didn’t play perfectly but it took a fluke three from Steve Blake on a broken play for Portland (a better team, frankly) to beat them on the first game back from a West Coast roadtrip.
They played hard. The world is not ending. Bosh is not a scrub. Chill.
Colangelo if your reading this: Stop fucking drafting European players. This is not World Cup Soccer. This North American League and you need American talent if you want to be successful.
Bargnani over Rudy, Roy, Rondo, Millsap. Oh Boy
When you think back and analyze what could have been for the Raptors.
Calderon
Brandon Roy/Pietris
Rudy Gay/John Salmons
Bosh
Nene/Varajao
Rajon Rondo/Calderon
John Salmons/Peterson
Rudy Gay
Bosh
Pau Gasol
Look at this years draft. Mario Chalmers, Mc Gee, Westbrook, Brook Lopez, OJ Mayo, Our GM couldn’t have swung a deal for one of them? Give me a break. When your general manager and scouts are incompetents, you scout Australia looking for heartless players. Brilliant
Instead of signing all these Euros who have added 0 to our success we could have used that 30 million combined and more on NBA players.
i had to step away for a couple hours after that game, it was really too much to handle for me. i broke my surround sound system. the raps take a comfortabl lead, and portland slowly chips away at it. they were poised, calculating and systematic in the dismantling of the raptors. disgusted is too weak a word to describe what i am feeling right now :(
arse: what happened with the swearing? to hell with it huh? lol
So Simon, the fact the had a complete meltdown with 6 minutes to go in the half, that they let a 10plus point lead disappear, that they choked in the clutch, does not bother you at all? You call that playing hard? Does it even matter if they played 47.5 minutes hard or had a perfect game when they, in the end, lost the game? We should blame the fans right?
The eternal optimists never seize to amaze me.
Did Sam call that last play?
What happened? A broken play, missed pick, cut.
That pissed me off more than anything all season. Bosh is not a guard, quit it. I’m cool with an iso play if he gets near the bucket but as pointed out hear he can’t get it at the 3 point line and be successful.
If Bargs shows up I wouldn’t worry about the boards. If Jay can get the old Moon back that will help too. But they may be traded next week for a wing so who knows.
Parker showed some pride today.
I hope Jack gets more air time next season. He’s great.
nunya, 11, you are stupid. Bosh, if he gets back to the 2-man game he used to have, where he remembers how to kick-out, the whole team will be more effective. I cannot remember how many times Bosh used to pass out of the doubleteam last year, leading to easy scores by parker or delfino. AND PLEASE, BOSH, JOSE, STOP THIS CRAP WITH BOSH GETTING THE BALL AT THE 3 PT LINE. PLEASE!!!
Do not compare Bosh to LeBron – don’t compare anyone to LeBron except Kobe.
Lol, RapsFan.. I guess it does bother some.
Yeah, Simon..Portland won on a fluke play. Not because they never gave up, not because they kept their composure, not because they kept their cool in the clutch when down by 4, nah man… that’s all luck. Fluke! Boy, I wish you would call the Raps wins flukes.
And the clown act commenting on the game, Leo JackRod Devlin, handing out the Championship after the 1q made me more mad then anything else. WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE GAME YA FREAKING RETARDS!! I am going back old school with the Ipod during games..I can’t take Devlin anymore with his blowing out of proportion a simple layup by someone. Cretin.
Paps,
As a person, I like Jack a lot.
As a NBA analyst, however, he is nowhere near specific enough to be considered “good” at what he does on these Raptors broadcasts.
e.g. When he speaks of allegedly “poor habits” that the Raptors are displaying, at any given moment in a game, he needs to identify what he’s referring to specifically, what the situation is, and which Raptor he is focusing on as the offending culpret. Without doing these things, what he’s doing here is only muddying the waters further for the Raptors fanbase.
Matt Devlin needs to stop his efforts to “analyze” the game for the viewer. He is the play-by-play man. When you listen to someone like Dan Shulman, it’s like night and day. Shulman does a great job by allowing his “NBA Expert” partner to handle the basketball analysis end of things [i.e. Hubie Brown].
Portland 48 rebounds, 18 offensive, Raptors 31 rebounds, only FOUR (4) offensive from the fast break Raptors. Triano needs to slow them down and teach rebounding 101 first.
That was a great last play designed by Triano, much better than Mitchell. What a joke ??? Bosh with a dribble drive from the arc, and then almost throwing the ball over the backboard.
On Blake’s 3pt shot he was outside the line, and pushed off on Calderon before he shot. No way to foul him first, and the Ref’s should have called an offensive foul.
Johnn19,
Though it might be difficult to believe, the FACT IS … Sam Mitchell was correct when he said that NBA teams do not spend their time teaching their players how to Rebound better during their regular season practices. What the best NBA teams do, instead … is [i] ensure that they acquire players who are good rebounders to begin with [i.e. the GM's job], and then [ii] play those players a lot of minutes in favourable match-up situations in their games [i.e. the coach's job].
For the most … Rebounding effectively, in the NBA, is a personnel issue.
The loss is tough, no doubt, but I’m merely pointing out that it doesn’t mean Bosh is useless, which seems to be a common reaction whenever we lose, or that Calderon is worse than Steve Blake.
If you consider that being “eternally optimistic”, that’s fine.
I consider it being realistic.
Calderon should’ve taken that 3 when the ball bounced to him at the end, he had an open shot and hes been lighting it up from 3point line when alone..
As for Joey the brat: instead of europeans why dont you tell colangelo to draft canadian players :) its north america aint it?
why not draft you? your so smart and ball savy.. there is a reason for everything kid… if you took off your rose glasses maybe you’d noticed that europeans or argentinians are beating americans in every ball competition for 8 years now.
Last time I checked raptors succes with all american team there was none and you had Damon, Vince Mcgrady, Oakley etc.
That year they won the conference, Parker Jose and Bargnani from Europe were big part of it. And btw I dont get why do you have only canadian team in the league with no canadians on it, thats pure BS… its an imported american team, something like NFL with Bills in TO.
Wow we won a conference.. that’s news to me.
Every competition? last time I checked the USA won the gold in the Olympics.
Sure, other countries have had some success lately, but that’s not because they are better, only because the US was in disarray for a bit and Spain and Argentina has managed to have multiple players come out at the same time. Tell me who they got now.. as Manu and gang and Jose and gang will not be playing much loneger? The US will dominate again.. so the foreign success is what’s a fluke.
Oh and Parker is European now?