Jake Voshkul will be signed by the Raptors. Tyson Chandler is out with a stiff neck. There’s a pretty crazy rumour floating out there, it looks like BS but still…
99-91 NO Final: Too much Chris Paul setting up three point shooters: Rasual Butler with 16, James Posey with 20/10. David West outplays Chris Bosh yet again. Calderon had a nice 22/7 but not enough support from Kapono, Parker, Bargnani (eww) and Graham did us in. I thought we should’ve looked for JO much more than we did, he was 7-10 for 19 points and was getting good shots, unlike Bosh. The post-game report will be up late tonight or in the early morning. Box Score.
97-89 0:56 4Q: Kapono missed a clean look and a semi-contested look. Would’ve made it a four point game, Moon flies in for the rebound on the second miss, gets a foul to make it a 5 point game. Paul comes back and takes Jose to the rim to get it back upto 7 and then we see the worst thing ever: BOSH TAKING A THREE. WTF? Posey misses a three to give us a lifeline and Jose sets up Bosh nicely for two FTs. Triano takes out Kapono for Graham (he’s playing offense/defense) but it doesn’t help the defense as Chris Paul AGAIN sets up Butler for three who is lost by Parker and Bosh on the rotations, Butler with 16.
92-85 NO 2:55 4Q: Moon’s three off of a nice swing sequence rattles out, would’ve made it a three point game. On the next possession, Jose looks for Moon on the alley-oop but the pass isn’t right. Kapono leaves Butler AGAIN and he AGAIN drains a three. Bad, bad paint-to-perimeter close-outs. JO got a couple scores to keep us somewhat in it but we’re going to need to get some coontinuous stops and scores down the stretch, hasn’t happened yet in this game.
89-81 NO 5:58 4Q: Butler with a three as the shot-clock expires. That hurt. Peja loses Parker on a curl to drain a J and then Bosh gets blocked by ex-Raptor and Seth Rogen’s brother, Sean Marks. At least he went inside, on the next couple possessions he gets two FTs on Marks and a three point play on James Posey. Calderon hits a big three but Peja and Butler are getting their scores against Kapono and Parker. The stretch ends with Parker taking the same fadeaway Jordan took in his last All-Star game over Sean Marion. Difference is that he missed it. Badly. Bad shot.
80-72 Hornets 9:02 4Q: Roko starts the fourth with a bad three and another European carry. Funny play: Devin Brown misses a drive against Jose and falls down but still managed to get the rebound while sitting on his ass while JO and Bosh are standing around him. Raptors can’t score on the first five possessions of the fourth quarter. Neither can they but if there was ever an opportunity to make a run, this was it.
80-72 Hornets End 3Q: Four point swing to end the quarter. James Posey takes a charge on AP and then Posey sets up West for 2. David West – 27 points on 10-15 FG. Our defense is getting broken too easily and our offense is in a rut, the Hornets are laying off Joey Graham and forcing him to shoot. They’re sagging on Bosh and negating our screen action. This does not look good, Calderon’s doing his part against CP but the All-Star is causing too much secondary chaos with his dribble drives. We got to start playing inside-out again like we did in stretches of that first half. Go into Bosh and have him produce! We need to do with JO what they’re doing with West.
72-70 2:20 3Q: We’re not doing a good defensive job in transition or in the half-court. Dribble penetration is coming a little too easy for NO and they’re starting to find their rhythm through that. Chris Bosh made his most aggressive move of the afternoon with a drive against West which he made AS SOON AS HE CAUGHT IT. He needs to do that more often and not allow the defense to set properly, just like he did here. As soon as Bosh makes the FTs, CP3 beats everybody down the court and gets fouled. Yeeesh. Joey Graham finally got a move in and scores in the post after getting good position. The stretch ends with a bad call against the Raptors on a West drive. Bosh’s FT shooting is keeping us in the game, he’s 9-10. Elliote Freedman reports that Jake Voshkul will be signed by the Raptors.
68-62 4:30 3Q: New Orleans came out with more intensity to start off the half and had the lead up to 9 on a Rasual Butler jumper set up by CP3. Helter-skelter of a stretch, Posey with yet another three set up by CP3. Kapono was missing early but hit one late to snap out of it, Jose bailed out a stagnant offense with a three at one point. David West is producing for NO and Bosh isn’t for us, that’s basically the jist of it. We need to NOT leave Posey or Peja open, quite simple.
51-46 Hornets HT Did I say the Raptors weren’t settling for jumpers? All they did was take jumpers in this stretch, Bosh gets the ball and is a bit confused as to what to do with it. The Hornets are showing double and Bosh is responding by either taking the jumper (after wasting 5 seconds) or kicking out without attracting the double any further. The result is a semi-contested shot since the doubler wasn’t committed to Bosh. He’s 2-10 FG so far. CP3 is getting more and more drive ‘n kick opportunities and the shooters are making the Raptors pay, they hit 8 threes in the half. Jamario Moon is late on basically every rotation in the second half and isn’t helping the offense by taking too many jumpers without looking for other options. Swing the ball champ! 13 pts, 2 assists for JC. 6pts and 4 asts for CP.
44-44 3:11 2Q: This stretch is all about Posey. Parker trips and doesn’t rotate to Posey who drains his third three of the game. JO turns the ball over on a travel (suspect call), starts complaining as his man beats JO down the floor and draws the foul. Jose with a beautiful drive ‘n kick against CP3 which sets up Parker for three. On the next possession, CP3 falls down on the PNR and Calderon drains another jumper. NO go back to their surefire thing, David West, who gets two. Raptors go back to Bosh in the post who draws the foul, Raptors aren’t settling for jumpers in the game, they’re looking for Bosh and JO instead. Working the rock inside-out. Our defense is all about switch and recover and so far whoever’s switching on Posey sin’t realizing his shooting, he drains his fourth three of the game. CP3 blows by Jose for a layin on a super-crossover. Posey with yet another three as Parker/Bargnani fail to cover him on the break. Next update at halftime.
37-30 Raps 6:26 2Q: Bosh attracts double, JC drains three. We’re looking for the Bosh/Sean Marks matchup and its giving us good things so far. NO’s looking for the Marks/Parker “mismatch” and its not working out for them. CP3 goes to bench and Raptors go on an 11-3 run, a great baseline seals by Parker causes a turnover which we convert into FB points. Bosh dunks on a post-up as the defender flops. JC tweaked something, is limping around a little but he stays in the game.
30-28 NO 8:36 2Q: Ukic turns the ball over (European carry). AP is back and gets burned for a 3pt play on a drive by Devin Brown. Moon chooses not to pass in the post and jacks up a jumper which is missed. JO’s not getting many touches in this game. Moon was late on a rotation again but luckily Brown missed. Joey Graham gets caught doubling and doesn’t get back to Posey, gets burned by him for another three. We get a score off an offensive rebound from Parker’s miss. Offense is definitely in a funk, Parker looks very shaky and CP3’s drive ‘n kicks are starting to cause some rotation confusion, especially on the weak side where the ball usually ends up when he drives.
24-22 Raps End 1Q Bargnani with a nice drive on Peja but then fails to check Posey on the perimeter who drains a three. Gotta read the scouting reports. The Raptors are in this game because of their rebounding. New Orleans hasn’t gotten a single offensive rebound and we’re winning the boards battle 14-9. David West is a problem with 9 points but O’Neal’s playing him as well as one can. Good offensive balance for us as all five starters have scored. CB4 with some nice hustle plays but is 0-5 so far. Hornets end the quarter on a 9-3 run.
21-18 Raps 1:50 1Q: Bosh with a couple hustle plays, one of them led to a JK three. Crowd responded. Moon’s missed his last couple rotations and got burned by Peja for a three. Bargnani checks in and takes a quick threee shots: 1-3. Gets stripped and NO scores on the break. Hornets upping their defense and missing some open shots. Raps offense not looking the smoothest right now but there is movement which is always good. Ukic looking to drive ‘n kick, didn’t lead to any points but the idea is good. We’re doing a good job of cleaning the glass.
14-11 Raps 5:18: Raptors start off playing some good defense and cutting off CP’s options after the screen is set. David West got a couple hoops by we’ve been able to make him shoot from the perimeter – 3 missed jumpers. Hornets conceding the mid-range jumper to Moon who makes one and misses one. So far I count only two uncontested shots, a three made by Butler and a three missed by Peja. Slow Sunday start to this game, crowd seems dead. Bargnani and Roko Ukic are about to come in, Ukic because JC has picked up two early fouls, one because he was trying to stop the play after Bosh stumbled.
In the pre-game warmups Leo Rautins is doing out of his way to compare Jose Calderon and Chris Paul.
19 Raps
Since 2007 I have said West is better player then Bosh and I stand by it. Bosh proves once again that he is not a winner, he’s a stat padder. Have yet to beat an elite team this season and last season.
No Tyson Chandler and we still cant get a W?
Hornets didn’t even have Chandler yet Bosh, the superstar, STILL couldn’t outplay West….
Its a great concern when your franchise player cannot stop or outplay the following players at this stage of the season – West, Gasol, Aldridge, Kenyon martin, Nene, Paul Millsap, Bynum, Garnette, Rasheed Wallace, Duncan (he will), Ben Wallace, Varajao.
Players who Bosh can match up well with and get a W.
Yi Julian
Nesterovich
Beasley
Okafor
What history suggests and what I see this season is that he cannot match up too and over power a team if there frontcourt is equal too or better then he is. If the opposing PF is a bad player then Bosh will get his 40 points. But too see the guy get shut down by Utah with no Boozer, and today no Tyson Chandler, do you pay him $100 Million in 2010? Will he leads us to a championship?
i thought it was a pretty good game.bosh aint superman and david west is probably the most underrated baller in the l….I LOVE WHAT IM SEEING FROM TRIANO.im so much more at ease with him at the helm,i feel like we have a chance to win every game….even though we lost we lost with dignity and didnt look like idiotic chumps running around clueless like we did with sam….the turning point in the game was posey and his 5 3’s in a row and the inability for our gunslinger jk to counter…a couple i’ll advised shots,but other than that i was never hyperventilating or pulling my hair out.triano coaches very well,calls great timeouts,runs smart sets,has implemented a great d scheme,subs for d, he gives us a chance to win,the players sense this,the confidence will continue to rise and we will start to beat upper echelon teams.
Bosh is a great # 2 guy to have on your team, he’s no franchise. BC should do the GS deal, AB ain’t getting any better. JK is still a one trick pony and he couldn’t even turn a trick today. JK fans take your blinders off he is overpaid, plays no d. AP should start, he doesn’t need to take shots, just play some average d and use his basketball IQ.
Meh, Instead of drafting of signing tough minded athletes who can play D, attack the rim, shoot, we sign players who can shoot and nothing else. We have players who are mentally weak with no killer instinct. Brandon Roy on this team and we sign Posey instead of Kapono and were going to the second round atleast.
Why isn’t Jake Voshkul on a team now? He’s a 6′11 scrub that sucks! And coming from UConn, Coach Calhoun would not be pleased. UConn made Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Donyell Marshall (when he didn’t suck), Rudy Gay, Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong (not that good but can do something), etc. All good to great players, but Voshkul sucks and he is coming to our team to fill in the roster and he was accidentally drafted by Colangelo. Well that rumour does sound BS, but ridding Moon and a struggling Bargnani for Maggette in the process sounds awesome, while Maggette will spell a losing season (his injuries or bad habits on defense).
panac?
unrelated to today’s game, but given that the spectre of the C eltics is never far away from this Raps fans, this is a good link about Garnett’s antics:
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-37-45/Kevin-Garnett-s-Big-Mouth.html
I happen to think there is a line, and Garnett crossed it. He gets away with it as much as he does because otherwise it would mean a world class player (in ability and passion, not in behaviour) would be T’d every game, and fined all the time.
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That said:
Raps played hard. Would have liked to see more bench production.
Sorry, can’t get over Jake Voskuhl when Bonzi Wells is signing for $40,000 to play in China. Jake averaged 8.8 minutes in 44 games last year for the Bucs, I’m sure Leo can suit up and give you that much.
Really what is Colangelo thinking?
…and yes, Bosh isn’t around when the big games roll around.
I wonder if Joe Dumars or Danny Ainge would sign Jake.Obviously not because both GM’s are winners
I wonder if that trade speculation might be the real deal?! I hope not… all i see with Maggette on the Raps is ONE SELFISH BLACKHOLE!!! Besides, how is losing Moon (much better than before… yeah not great offensively against Hornets, but was a pest all game), ONLY JOEY (Good Joey all the time now… well not so much against hornets, but he’s allowed a fuk-up game once and awhile right?!), J-Killa (as Matt Devlin likes to call him… not so much today, but…) and Il Mago (again, invisible today… on a side note, I think Triano’s new systems are screwing him up pretty bad… but what to do???) making the Raps a better team? I mean, Brandon who? I’ve heard of him, but really c’mon… Bellinelli???? Dude can’t even get burn with Nelly and Warriors free flowing offense where sharpshooters should be thriving, no?! And Richard Hendrix from the “D-LEAGUE????” Don’t we already have a player of our own that SHOULD be in the D-League (i’m looking at u Will)?
There’s no denying Maggette can create and make shots… but at who’s expense? Less touches for Bosh? JO? Numero Ocho? Guy needs the ball almost every trip down… doesn’t pass and if he’s off… HE SHOOTS EVEN MORE!!!! Recipe for disaster I’m thinking…
With the way Graham, Moon and Kapono are playing lately, today’s game notwithstanding, the only guy I would be willing to give up is Bargnani… it pains me to say that b/c I have always tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but i think it’s time… Anybody feel differently?
I’m not digging that trade either. Get something better.
I’m not digging Colangelo’s shirt as a gift either. Give me Sam’s game glasses.
Am not too disappointed in our performance today. We are headed in right direction.
What happened to Mo Pete? Was he actually injured or was that a legitimate DNP-CD?
Mo Pete got off injury less than a week ago…not in sync yet, Byron Scott is trying to readjust the Hornet’s bench when they can get Ty.Chandler back….Hornets are RE-LOADED now!
Starters: CP3, WEST, CHANDLER, R. Butler, and Stojakovic
Bench: Antonio Daniels, MoPete, Posey, DevinBrown, Julian Wright, So-so or crappy Centers.
I smell a 10 game winning streak for the Hornets now.
Why even start speculation by posting that stupid rumor? It’s pretty badly made up. According to that page, all of these trades are going down on December 15th:
1st Trade:
To Toronto – Corey Maggette, Brandan Wright, Marco Belinelli, Richard Hendrix
To Golden State – Andrea Bargnani, Jason Kaponono, Jamario Moon, Joey Graham, 2nd Round Pick
2nd Trade:
To Utah – Brandan Wright
To Golden State – Andrei Kirilenko
3rd Trade:
To Orlando – Corey Maggette
To Golden State – Hedo Turkoglu and a 1st round pick
4th Trade:
Marco Belinelli and Marcus Williams for late round picks
So of course, Wright, Maggette, Belinelli are somehow being traded two times each. And also fun to note, that this “blogger” heard about the 3rd trade from a friend that takes a dump with Don Nelson at a gym together, as if prying Turkoglu and a 1st round pick for Maggette isn’t unbelievable enough by itself.
So yeah completely stupid rumour and it’s a waste of time to even post it here. I can make a blog and say that LeBron is going to sign with the Raptors, but it doesn’t mean its worth the time of day to post anywhere else.
Oh yes, and this same blogger claims that Don Nelson held Dirk out of a game in the 2004 playoffs so that they wouldn’t win the championship and he could trade for Dirk in 2008 when he was working for Golden State. Oh and make this the 4th trade happening on December 15th:
To Dallas – Al Harrington, Corey Maggette, Brandan Wright, Anthony Randolph, and a future #1
To Golden State – Dirk Nowitzki and Jerry Stackhouse
re: David West vs Chris Bosh
David West is a “smallish” PF in the NBA.
When Chris Bosh has to check a “smaller” Big on a regular basis it means that he is playing the PF spot at that time and the FACT IS … he is going to struggle.
How come?
Because Chris Bosh’s best position, in the NBA, is CENTER.
When he gets a chance to play the C/#5 spot he is match-up nightmare for opponents. When he has to play the PF/#4 spot he is not a match-up nightmare at all.