Bucks 107 – Raptors 97
These Raptor losses almost write themselves:
- 1st Quarter – Raptors get out to an early lead by sharing the ball, moving it around, nice defense rotations and quality shooting from the floor.
- 2nd Quarter – The fire that drove the 1st quarter starts to fade. It’s a slow creeping fade, but enough that the 1st quarter double-digit lead has become a 2-3 possession game.
- 3rd Quarter – Due to some interesting line changes, the wrong people are on the court, and that 2-3 possession lead is now a 2 possession deficit. The things the Raptors were doing in the 1st have been long forgotten for no reason other then the Raptors stopped doing them.
- 4th Quarter – The wheels come off the wagon with a double-digit deficit. The Raptors make a run towards the end of the game, but that gets quickly thwarted, and the Raptors head back to the dressing room with their tails between theirs legs.
On the second night of the back-to-back, on the road, the effort wasn’t as bad as could be expected; much better then what we have become accustomed too from the start of the year. Bargnani continued his solid play since the curse of O’Neal was temporarily lifted being moved to the starting lineup, with his fourth solid game in a row. Getting the Raptors to an early lead by hitting a couple treys off of some ball movement and dribble penetration, grabbed a few boards (1 big offensive board that translated into two free throws made) and finding open shooters and cutters in the paint. He kept Mbah a Moute off the boards, dominating the match-up early. I would have liked to see him post-up a bit more in the 1st quarter, try to be all things on the the offensive end, but I was happy with the performance, especially considering it was the second night of a back-to-back.
I’m not drinking the kool-aid yet, but the way Bargnani has been playing lately, you can see what BC had in mind for this team. VL is a great compliment for Bosh. At the 5:26 mark, Bosh, backed his man down in the post, drew the double-team and kicked it out to Bargnani for the deep/open three. If these two guys can develop a solid chemistry…look out because they are both long, fast and athletic, and will be a match-up nightmare. For the first time in a couple years I am optimistic about this tandem, and hope for the sake of this franchise, and my sanity, that Bargnani lives up to the # 1 billing. Anyways, back to the game…
Voshkul continues to play ahead of Hump, and is quickly becoming my least favourite on this team. In a span of a couple minutes, he commits a couple fouls, travels, and goes 1 of 2 from the line. Does grab a rebound, or come close to grabbing one…and it’s not like he can keep up with Charlie V off the bounce either…confuse me?
Then the usual suspects started to rear their ugly heads in the second quarter:
- Dribble penetration
- Open-looks
- Offensive rebounds
- Weak defensive rotations
- Complacency
Ramon Sessions was the spark in the 2nd quarter, he penetrated and kicked to open Buck shooters, hit his own open shots, got to the line, and I swear, I think I saw him blow some steam off his finger tips…frustrating. The Raptors committed 7 turnovers in the half, that translated into 12 points for the Bucks. Can’t do that on the road…the Bucks all of a sudden decided they were gonna push, and ran the ball back at the Raptors every chance they got. This opened up a lot of space for long jumpers, or when they were inspired, they threw the ball around a few times until Redd was done running around picks and screens for an easy J. A key to beating to the Raptors is attacking their transition defense. Far to often Bosh comes out to help, and no one rotates behind him leaving everyone to scramble like chickens until the team decides which open shot they want to take. The highlight of the second for me was an inbounds play at the 8:40 mark where Kapono inbounds the ball, curls around a low and high screen, takes the pass from Hump and sticks the jumper.
Milwaukee takes the lead in the 3rd off of some incredible shooting by Redd, who stuck DEEP treys, giving them a 1 point lead. Then all of a sudden, Lil Willie goes off, penetrating and kicking out to open shooters. The Raptors go on a 12-0 run to take the lead, Bucks timeout. Enter Charlie V, who along with Sessions and Redd, break down the defense, crash the boards, swing the ball around and engineer a 21-7 run to finish the quarter. Kapono got WAY too much burn in the 3rd. Not making any shots, turning the ball over, no rebounds…no real contribution. Guy sucks…trade him for some medical staff, maybe that way JO could join the team on the bench during game time.
Again, the Raptors fight back and take a 4 point lead…how? Simple, the ball was going through Bosh on offense. He took it when he had it, and when he didn’t, ball was moved around until someone did. Then this is what kills me…with the Raptors up 97-94 with two minutes to go, they stop getting the ball to Bosh. I’ll concede that they tried to get him the ball, but lets face it the Bucks aren’t a defensive juggernaut. If you can’t get the ball to Bosh, your worth to this team needs to be re-evaluated:
- With the score tied at 97, who gets the nod to take the go ahead shot? -> Will Solomon who misses an 18 footer, Bosh didn’t touch the ball on the play.
- With the Raptors down99-97, who gets the nod to take the tieing shot? -> Will Solomon who misses a 26 footer, Bosh didn’t touch the ball on the play
In fact, the only time he touched the ball in the last two minutes was when he inbounded the ball. With all that said, it was defense that cost them this one. The Raptors gave up too many open looks, transition defense was non-existent for long stretches of the game, defensive rotations were laughable after the 1st quarter, no one helped Parker when Redd came off screens, Charlie V went off un-checked, nothing. I’ll be honest, I am disappointed.
75 Raps
Was it me or was the high PNR the predominant play call last night. Seems Mitchell’s ways have not been forgotten and coincidentally enough, CB4 is posting better numbers. Thoughts?
high PnR can work.
high PnR initiated 40-feet from the hoop…kinda pointless.
The high Pick & Roll/Pop Series can work at any time, in a NBA game, and at any distance from the basket.
It depends on who the players are, involved in the action, who their teammates are, where they’re positioned, and what it is they are trying to accomplish … offensively, defensively and in terms of rebounding.
Useless players run useless players; useful players do not. : )
Weapons are only as good as the individuals using them.
agreed!
sorry … should read as, “Useless players run useless plays … “.
arguably, the Raptors don’t even run a proper Pick & Roll/Pop.. has anyone noticed that opposing team defenders have absolutely no problem getting around Raptor screens on the Pick & Roll/Pop? without a proper screen, the Pick & Roll rarely develops and the Pick & Pop is sloppy at best.
I cannot believe they wasted superb performances by Bosh and Bargnani by not getting them the ball when it mattered. Also Jay keeping Bargs on the bench almost the entire second quarter and putting him in cold with a couple of minutes left after he was on fire in the first is beyond me. Then Jay makes the inexcusable mistake of going with Solomon who was hitting nothing instead of Ukic who has more brains in his left sock than Solomon was the blunder of the game. Also Moon is about as awful a starting three as the league has. His defense is crap as he always let’s his man blow by hoping for a block from behind. His offence is a disaster. This game was ours with good coaching decisions but Jay failed the test tonight for sure. Another strong game by Bargnani showing why Colangelo picked him to play with Bosh as he compliments Bosh’s game better than any other big man. This team needs to stop jerking him around and let him play through slumps same as Bosh or anyone else for him to mature and get even better. I will be pissed if O’neal comes back and Bargs goes back to 20 minutes one game and 11 the next. If that’s what they do they should trade Bargs for his own sake to some team that knows how to fit him in.
Thanks for the post Raps Fan; although I wouldn’t call Bargnani athletic. There’s a reason he’s been tagged with the VL moniker. Agreed that if he and Bosh can work out some chemistry, we can be dangerous. But then, haven’t they had 3 years to do that? What’s changed suddenly? Bargs learned Ebonics?
With the Raps missing 2 out of 3 of their most talented players, we can’t expect too much out of this team. Anything can happen on any given night (see the Orlando game) but over any meaningful stretch, you can’t expect much with Ukic/Solomon at the helm.
Thanks Birdman. being athletic doesn’t mean you are a physical specimen like moon, carter, lebron. For someone who is 7 foot, bargnani is quick, can put the ball on the floor, grab boards, block shots, play decent post defense and run the break. that qualifies as athletic in my book as it relates to bargnani. i agree that that this team can’t can’t expect much with rokoman over the long haul however.
With regards to Bargnagni’s athleticism, he also runs the floor rather well for a big and the Raptors run much better as a team overall with him in the game. When they actually play active defence and contest passing lanes as they did in the first half, they can be a good running team. I watched the game on the Justin TV stream as I don’t have Raps TV (by the way, you should all consider doing this when you can as it is GREAT to get an unbiased perspective on the game) and the Bucks commentators were saying how dangerous the Raps can be in transition when they are active on D.
I have to agree that Will Solomon is not the right guard to have in the game during crunch time. But he was brought in at the 4 minute mark precisely because Roko made a couple of mistakes. I think Triano intended to have him finish the game as he did in the Orlando game, but it looked like he called an audible and put Willie in. (The Bucks commentators kept calling him Willie Solomon! LOL)
Birdman,did we not just beat the Rockets and the Magic without JO and Jose….I dont buy it.
Yup,some bad coaching moves,bad ref.call…but at the end of the day play the game.
Give VL some props,Bosh again a great game against who?
d279 – yes, you’re right… as I said, anything can happen game to game, but over any stretch (I’m talking 5+ games) the law of averages comes back to bite ya!
Disappointed about the loss, but impressed with the effort.
My take: Bucks dodged a bullet – they got the bounces, the last second contested 3 in the corner(from Bell that was the dagger), the 2 jumpballs that became Milwaukee timeouts, the last second foul on Kapono with the clock stopped in the first half that should have been a non-call, etc etc.
Sometimes an injury is a blessing in disguise. With JO and JC out, this has only made AB and RO better. If the team continues get better defensively, with the starters returning, I can see the Raps competing for the 6th spot this season.
sorry guys, i thought i mentioned it, but i don’t see it anywhere:
the raptors shot 54.2% from the field last night and still lost. so they got every shot they wanted, just couldn’t prevent any.
Solomon passed to Bargnani a step too late on both his missed shots, forcing Bargnani to pass back to Solomon to try to reset the play. Instead of re-feeding it to Bargnani, passing to Bosh or driving and dishing, Solomon jacked partially contested J’s. This is not a good decision. In fact it might have been okay if he could shoot, but let us face it, neither of our backups can shoot. But what I have to ask myself, is whether this stupidity is the reason we lost, or whether it was poor perimiter defense. And I am forced to concede that as much as I hate Will Solomon, I am even more pissed at Parker/Kapono/Graham/Moon for constantly collapsing too quickly – this is a jump shooting team we played. 90% of the time the play is to shoot the ball. Is it Triano’s poor scouting? I dunno, because they should have realized it about 20 minutes into the game what the plan was.
It was also glaringly obvious that Bargnani was tired yesterday, after his battles with Yao and Howard, I don’t blame him. He was a step slow on his drive, and that is why I think he relied on his three ball, which was money. Against better defenders though, I don’t think he would have lit up the floor. He was tired man. Not to mention he sat out a quarter, then it seemed like he was never taken out – it seemed he played a lot of straight time with no breaks.
If we are to play Bosh and Bargnani consistently at the 4 and 5, then we NEED a tough #3 to help out. They might be the quickest duo in the NBA, but they are also the softest. If Gerald Wallace’s contract didn’t extend so long, I think Colangelo would have made his move by now.
verbatim: i think one of the thngs that killed the wallace to toronto trade was that he didn’t want to come. if he did, his contract wouldn’t be a deterent by any means since it wouldn’t affect the cap space after jo comes off the books, i think, could be wrong…
Solomon is going to give me my first heart attack.
The Raps played very well, offensively shooting 54.2%, and did great defensively as well … The bucks just made some really amazing shots (Redd unbelievable, Ridnour 3 over Bosh to ice it was a beaut), and the Raps bobbled it at the end.
“lets face it the Bucks aren’t a defensive juggernaut”
This is where I call BS on the article. The foundation of every Scott Skiles team is defense, and downplaying the Bucks’ defensive ability just so you can shit on the team is not a fair way of writing a post-game report. The Bucks rank 5th in Defensive Efficiency … behind only Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, and LA. Yeah that’s right, ahead of Houston and San Antonio. Also they’re 5th in Hollinger’s Power Ranking on ESPN behind the same teams I mentioned above. Hollinger even wrote an article on it for his Per Diem yesterday to explain the phenomenon of a 16-19 team (prior to yesterday’s game) being 5th in the Power Rankings:
http://tinyurl.com/6whbkq
That being said, with the game at 97-all at the 2:00 mark, the Bucks decided to clamp down on Bosh, and the game ultimately was lost by Solomon’s desire to shoot the ball in the dying moments of the game.
Arsenalist had it in the Twitter feed: Why did we have him in the game? In a critical situation like that, Solomon would have been best served to penetrate and disrupt the Bucks defense to possibly free someone else up, like Bosh or Andrea, but instead he decided to chuck it from deep, taking what the Bucks so obviously wanted to give him. Roko on the other hand, understanding that he has no shot, fully aware that he wouldn’t get any PT if he decided to jack up long two’s, has been penetrating almost at will, and it has created excellent results. If we were to replay those final 2 minutes with Roko in place of Will you can bet that when the ball swung around to Roko, he would have found some way to get into the paint, and either hit one of his beautiful floaters, or created an opportunity for a teammate to do their thing.
So, as much as this article wants to write this off as another typical loss for the Raps, it wasn’t. The Raps played extremely well against a tough Bucks team, on the road, on the second game of a back to back.
What this loss boils down to was some rookie coaching mistakes by Jay Triano. Not keeping Roko in the game, or not even inserting him into the lineup at any point during their final timeouts, cost the Raps the game. It’s games like this that teach nice guys like Triano, who want to give everyone some burn, that putting more experienced guys like Kapono and Will into a tight game when they’re playing like garbage is sacrificing the team. Maybe coach learns something from this game.
Just some thoughts:
- This has to be about as bad a 3-game stretch for Kapono as he’s ever played. I’ve been calling for him to get traded since early in the season, but even this low point is surprising to me. He looks like a deer lost in the headlights right now, and I think it’s time Jay keeps his butt planted to the bench until he demonstrates that he understands the defense, and he’s able to regain his confidence by playing some low pressure minutes when the Raps are up big against their next opponents.
- I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy take as many jumpers with their foot on the 3pt line as Will Solomon. WTF! Either you move your toe back a few inches and hit the three, or take a few steps in and hit a shorter 2, the defenses will gladly give it to you! You’re not in Europe anymore!
olm: giving up 54.2% shooting from the floor isn’t good defense. maybe i just didn’t see it, but there was nothing that the bucks did that prevented the raptors from getting the ball to bosh or bargnani, solomon just didn’t do his job. you summed it up nicely:
“the game ultimately was lost by Solomon’s desire to shoot the ball in the dying moments of the game”
i know he said he tried to get them the ball, but i didn’t see it.
i wouldn’t say the raptors played extremely well, but they played well. 3 games in 4 nights, 2nd game of a back-to-back, on the road, lots of stuff there to spell a blow out.
but at the end of the game, they gave up 3 double digit leads, which is why i classified this as another typical loss.
is kapono still injured?
RapsFan: The fact that the Raps shot 54.2% from the field is more a testament to Toronto’s offense, not a slight on Milwaukee’s defense. Sure they could’ve played better defensively throughout the game, but when the game was on the line, the Bucks shut down our main guys by making it difficult for them to get the ball or making it tough for them to get any positioning, and giving up open looks to the guy they want taking the shot: Will Solomon. That’s a sign of good defense in my books.
I guess I don’t see it as a typical loss because they gave up 3 10-point leads, not the typical 1 that they built up in the first quarter and just let dwindle away. The Raps are showing signs of being coached well, and actually getting it.
you make good points, there is no doubt. if it infact was the bucks defense that prevented bosh/bargnani from getting ball, then it was a defensive effort on their part (i still contend that it was solomon’s inability to make the right decision)
i agree they are showing signs of improvement. not sure how long this improvement curve will take, and where the raptors will be in terms of standings once things get ironed out.
You both make good points.
But when it is all said and done, the Bucks finished the game on a 13-0 run. The Raps displayed their inefficient offence by Solomon taking what the Bucks defence wanted him to take.
A 13-0 run!
I actually saw some very nice things too…I was surprised.
I still maintain that there is too great a personnel problem. Solomon was in that position because of the lack of wing/guard that can create/drive score. You just can’t have that black hole at the wing and expect to win.
Kapono is unbelievable right now….I’ve never seen a player so destructive to a team the way he was last night.
He was so much worse than Solomon it’s sad….FIVE turnovers, 2 points and 3 fouls….he was the reason more than anyone that they lost.
You are correct Nun. I watch all the Raptor games and Kapono commits a Travel in every game! I wish somebody was keeping official stats on this. I’m not talking about tracking the guys turnovers, of which he commits plenty. I would actually like to know how many travelling violations he commits. It’s always at the top of the arc, from beyond the 3 point line, with nobody pressuring him!
There are attempts to quantify the value of players (PER/Winshares/adjusted +/-) but those are all season based. The best place to go I think (which has some advanced stats) is the basketball-reference.com game logs. I don’t know if they keep travelling records, but they do keep some game-by-game stuff.
I generally like to look at PER. I did read that it has it’s flaws, but I still think that in general, it’s a good indicator. I do remember that it had Kris Humphries in the top ten at the beginning of the year, but that was more a sample size issue coupled with the fact that Humphries was playing really well in the beginning of the season in limited minutes. The rest of the top ten made a lot more sense.
There is NO doubt Kapono was the worst player out there last nice. If they do game-by-game PER’s, then Kapono’s would have been absolute shit on an historic scale last night. TRADE THAT TURD, SOMEWAY, SOMEHOW
Ukic is looking special. Jason Kapono is horrid. Get him outta here!
Not having young talent at the SG and SF was my biggest concern heading into the summer. I could live with the Raps not signing anyone, but I was hoping they’d draft somebody at #17 or move up in the draft to grab someone. Instead it was a weakness that went unaddressed as BC made the mistake of expecting Parker to somehow rebound and get back to 06-07 form. He’s been OK the last couple games but overall he’s been terrible this season. IMHO, you’re at the mercy of athletic wing players in this league and we neither have any nor can we defend any.
Minus the fact that JO has a huge salary and that we gave up the #17 pick, I didn’t mind the trade provided he stayed healthy. According to Triano in the summer, the plan was to split JO/Bosh/Bargs time at the PF/C and have them all play big minutes but then Smitch started the “Bargs at SF” experiment which threw things off. Bargnani played well for the first couple games against Miami but that was really it. I think even with a healthy JO, Hump and Bargs can still be productive members of this team.
“minus the fact that JO has a huge salary” and “providing he stayed healthy” ???!!!…..for god’s sake…those are the only two salient facts and why I don’t get how anyone with a fucking brain couldn’t see the inevitable disaster!!!
Jesus fucking christ….and those that invested with Bernie Madoff are saying “except for the fact it was a Ponzi scheme, it would have been a really good investment”!!!
Anybody read Khandor’s Blog? He wrote an article saying the BC should stand pat. I have to agree with Khandor in this one. Even though the Rap’s obviously need help on the wing, if they make a deal now when the whole league knows they are desperate, they will get fleeced!!!
i think he meant we shouldn’t be looking to sell, but rather buy…subtle distinction, but the point is good. for now, the only move i would make is keep bargnani as a starter, move jo to the bench, and maybe re-sign delfino. unless of course some team is in the midst of a firesale and we can get value for what we are giving up.
I see your point. And it IS a fair distinction. They definitely have to play Barg’s more and let him develop. It’s funny, because I was saying to my friends privately (at the start of the season) that JO needs to come off the bench. This is because he would be more effective against other teams’ second units, and it would help to anchor the offence on OUR second unit.
seriously though, is kapono still injured? he was always a liability on D, but we have seen him much better on O.
id like to thank arse and the rap republic.im thoroughly honoured and thrilled to be rap of the day…cheers.
I was reading this morning that Boston might be interested in Jason Kapono. This was probably purely speculation from the “hoops roundtable” (chris mannix) at si.com
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/basketball/nba/01/06/writers.roundtable/1.html
It still gave me a pretty reasonable idea for a trade
How about kaps and solomon for walker, pruitt, allen and Scalabrine. I trade checkered it and it works.
we also waive voshkul
For Boston: they manage to trade assets which are not helpful this year for one which could be. Allen is their only asset which is consistently used at 634 minutes a rate of 19.8 minutes per game
http://nbaroundtable.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/celtics-rotation/
Scal has played less than 250 and the other two have barely played. Kapono has championship experience and his three-point shooting would be a welcome addition. His sub-par defense could be covered by kg and the strong help and interior defense they have.
For toronto: we trade an expensive player who didn’t into our system for several athletic players with good potential. All of their deals are 2 years or less giving us cap flexibility. Finally, this opens our MLE which we could use to really solidify our wing spots in the off season.
I’d do that trade in a heartbeat, if for nothing else than to get that psychopath Bill Walker on the team. Tony Allen’s a nice little player but I wonder how much of his effectiveness is because he’s playing with three other HOFs. He does have a propensity to take it to the rim, gotta like that. Plus he defends. I think Scala would be dead weight in our system of which we have enough of.
Scal’s 3 million dead weight for two more years is better than Kap’s 5.7 million for three in my opinion. Also this trade greatly balances our team. We would have a solid backup at pg/sg (allen) two prospects one at pg (pruitt) and one at sf (walker). MLE opens up so we can get a quality wing. If we also manage to trade o’neal for a starting quality wing, and draft well this spring, this team would be in a very good position.
A question for RR, is it possible to highlight comments not seen yet. For those using the threaded comments, i often might miss stuff because it was replied to earlier. I don’t want to constantly go up and down the list to see which comments I have missed.
Just a suggestion, no problem if it cant be done.
Sorry man, that’s a little too much. That’s why we have the threaded/regular button. Sorry.
“OtotheLtotheM” very nice! Very nice indeed. Bottom line is though:we are loosing games because:Graham is a psycho, Humphrey is stupid, Solomon is an idiot, Capono is the best shooter in the “Cirque Du Nbay” and Moon is just ACC’s jester.
Do not be angry with them. It’s not their fault. That is the max you can get here. These are the Raptors, this is Toronto, Canada. Nobody wants to play here. Rebuild with what? Our only chance is to loose as many games as we can and become a lottery team. Even then the chance is slim: as soon a player becomes a star he does everything to get the fuck out of here. People, be realistic.
Grammar police says……
loose = opposite of tight
lose = opposite of win
No more posts where I read this mistake, please!
Maybe because Steve B is a ‘loose’ excuse for a fan with his unfounded negativity.
This team has plenty of options to make moves in the next year, with lots of expiring contracts. This gives BC so many options to work with.
Plus:
Bargs
Calderon
Roko
All are just beginning to tap their potential in this league. If BC can make a substantial move by trading O’Neals (very attractive) expiring contract this may be enough to keep Bosh here, as the Raps would be a young team on the rise. There is NO WAY Bosh has made any type of decision yet.
Well it seems like most of us are in agreement that Kapono needs to go. Arsenalist mentioned earlier that BC did the JO trade with expectations of Parker improving, but I think the thinking behind that deal was all based on the playoff play of the Raps. That being, that Kapono would step up the way he did against Orlando with a renewed effort by Sam to make him an integral part of the offense, and in some way that would fill out our wing needs; that’s in addition to the glaring need for a tough defensive center that could rebound. Hence, we had the trade for JO, and the talk of JK getting a larger role in the new season.
I think BC has to be looking at trade partners for JK. I’m not sure of the specifics on how trades have to be made as far as dumping players for draft picks, but if the Raps could just find someone willing to give up a couple of crumbier picks for JK to unload some salary from our books, with the intention of using the savings on bringing back Delfino. Talk about a guy who would be a huge piece to the team this year … Delfino should’ve been re-upped, and the Raps would be looking like a different team at this point.
John Hollinger at ESPN on his Insider Gems today:
“3. Toronto has fallen out of the limelight, buy quietly Andrea Bargnani has played pretty well lately. Il Mago scored 26, 19, 18 and 21 during his past four games, made 12 of his 21 3-point attempts, and even started rebounding like a non-corpse (25 boards in four games).
This brings up an interesting consideration for the Raptors heading into the trade deadline. The Bargnani-Chris Bosh pairing up front is working reasonably well while Jermaine O’Neal is out, and O’Neal has a massive contract that has a coveted 2010 expiration date, and he’s still a useful, productive player … all of which means that Bargnani’s performance might strongly encourage the struggling Raps to explore what O’Neal might net for them come February.
On the other hand, perhaps we shouldn’t get too carried away yet. Bargnani scored 54 points in consecutive games in November, only to go right back in the tank. He’s shot .427, .386 and .424 the past three seasons, so it’s fair to wonder if his low-arcing shot will ever get over the front rim consistently enough to allow him to produce reliably. Additionally, even as he’s scoring he’s still getting lit up on D — Monday it was former teammate Charlie Villanueva’s turn.
So keep an eye on Bargnani this week against lightweights Washington and Memphis. With every double-digit scoring effort, the possibility of an O’Neal deal becomes a little more likely.”
You ever get the feeling like these guys talk out of their ass sometimes? He cites Charlie V lighting up Andrea, although I hardly saw Andrea guarding Charlie … he did most of his scoring up against Joey G. Not the first time with John though … it’s easy to write this stuff up when you just look at the box score.
OLM, Hollinger lost a bit of credibility with me when he referred to Jamario Moon as a “defensive ace.” I think there are some teams that he watches with regularity and he’s worth hearing on them, but on ours, not so much.
Give JK a break. he’s in a slump atm and i know judging by his recent performance(s) my gramdma could score 30 on him. But, being a shooter sometimes you go through stretches where your cold as canadian winter. Maybe it’s Canada, who knows why? it just isn’t falling for him ATM.
I don’t mind trading JK because we have 3 point shooters Calderon, Bargs, Parker(when he’s hot), and some low percentage ones Moon, & Will the kill soloman.
BUT! if we BBD (Bring back Delfino) we have a slasher who can draw the D in and dish out for 3’s. bUT we don’t :(
But……..
We will soon………
BBD!
Great work as always, but just for future reference Arse:
when you’re writing that a player “complements” another player it is to be spelled with an ‘e’ as I did above. you have it as the “compliment” type. just an FYI.
Oops – make that directed at Raps Fan – not Arsenalist.
everytime you use the shortform “VL” i have a fright and think Voshon Leonard got re-signed.
Forgive my ‘noob’ness, but what’s VL?
Veggie Lasagna, aka Bargnani.
LOL … ok, I gets it.
for tsn2 lovers:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/3272/279/
Rogers certainly knows how to run a business. Surely it helps when you’re competitors look at customer service like it’s the plague.
i don’t get it.
Anyone have any idea what’s going over at RaptorsTalk.com? The site’s been untouched for a little while.
OLM, we’re in the process of moving it over here :)
He meant he gets VL.
Also, the Roko/Will debacle. Is it possible BC is shopping him around as well and someone wanted to see him in crunch time? Just a thought.
Btw, isn’t Kapono and his idiotic contract pretty much untradable?
I think you just got to find a team that’s desperate for three point shooting. As the trade deadline approaches there’s always someone who’s willing to buy at a high price. BC just needs to stop aggressively telemarketing Kapono because that’s driving his price down, I’m sure somebody will be calling him.
kapono shouldn’t be untradeable to a top tier team that is looking to add a shooter to its second line. Think about how dangerous Boston or Cleveland might be with Kapono. Their collective defence would negate his deficiency on D.
It is for teams looking for NOW. I think it is safe to say that the Raps are looking to the future right about now. I am not sure, therefore, that JO is worth trading at this point. His contract comes off the books just when I hope we can attract another bona fide star to convince Bosh to stay…any thoughts?
unless, of course, we trade O’Neal for someone that will be part of the rebuilding process…nice young players willing to play here, and maybe some draft picks.
I am also curious: how far does this fear of playing in Toronto extend in the NBA? I know there was the Mourning debacle, but our fan base is a lot better than in some places around the NBA, and Toronto is a much nicer city than many others that have franchises. What does Toronto need to do to make itself attractive? Join the U.S.? Or is this Torontophobia more a figment of our collective imagination than real fact in the league?
It is a figment of your imagination.
I think we are, like BC, hoping another teams sees Kapono as some 3 point sharpshooter, and that he is not.
Honestly, I don’t even know what he is or what he bring to the table. He can barely shoot (like once every 10 games) he can’t rebound, he can’t play D. Why is this guy on a roster anywhere? All he does is foul and commits turnovers. 3 three point attempts in the last 3 games?
And at that price.. I don’t see who would want him.
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As far as playing here, it’s been beaten to death already. At the very least it’s safe to say it is not a desirable location. For the most part I don’t think it has to do with the city itself, maybe its location. If that makes sense.
Man, I dunno.. I’m looking at his stat. He doesn’t even shoot FTs often. Perhaps, we (I) are asking too much from him. If he were strictly a 3 point shooter and that’s all we asked of him, it may be different. I just don’t think anyone wants to pay that money for an occasional 3 point threat, things being the way they are now.
BC should just try and dump JO, we are better off without him.
Overall, we have nothing anyone wants, or at least anything BC is willing to part with. That we know of. It’s simply amazing how the JO trade set us back a million years, as some had predicted it would.
And anyone who says Bosh hasn’t checked out already, is kidding themselves. Unless serious talent is brought in, and brought in NOW, he is not sticking around to watch guys develop and get bounced in the 1st round. Enjoy Bosh while you can, cuz I don’t think anyone is coming.
Does the fact BC has a policy of not trading for players that do not want to play in Canada not tell you anything? Ask yourself how many players THIS YEAR ALONE have stated they will not report to Toronto if traded here. IT IS FACT, not part of anyone’s imagination.
Charlotte beats the Celtics….oh ya thats supposed to be another W !!!
Philly also beat Houston which kinda dilutes our win over them a little further. Watching Lakers/Hornets right now. CP’s on fire early.
This is getting worse and worse. I wish they would just bust up the luxury tax for one year to give us a decent playoff run.
Mathieu – what is doing on with your website there? You actually run a Matt Bonner fan site? Respect.
http://theredrocket.net/
The Toronto thing can be solved if he gets guys that are from areas near Toronto.
Just cause Wallace or some other dude says he doesn’t want to come hear does not mean he represents the leagues opinion on Toronto. Mourning wanted a ring and Toronto would not be able to provide that for him.
Toronto has an all star from Texas and had an all star from Florida who resigned. I’ve never heard any complaints from them. Sure the math is different and the cold winters are a factor but if they are informed (and I’m sure Bosh talks to other players about Toronto) they will learn that it’s a great city. It’s cold in a lot of other places too.
And as far as marketing and being known in the NBA down south. Well if you are a baller (Vince (huge Nike deals) + Bosh (new shoe deal)) than do not worry cause people will recognize your skills.
Again I believe a solid wing player who can provide some defense, assists and boards (5 + 5) and 16 – 20 ppg and attitude will take this team to another level. It’s a shame Parker, Moon, Kap. etc.. can not average 16 a game. That is 8 baskets! Come on. 8 Baskets a game will get you a 100 million dollar contract. Brutal.
The level of basketball has dropped in this decade. The Raptors get worshiped if they run a back door play or score on a fast break. We’re suppose to cheer that?
Anyways.
Night.
As soon as Brand went down, Philly starts winning and Iguodala starts scoring. Coincidence? I think not. I also notice the new coach over there has a chain on their poorer shooters–Dalembert had one shot today. One.
Willie Green, everybody’s favorite whipping boy on Realgm, scored like 22 by taking like 12 shots. Someone is coaching that team a lot better.
Houston has trouble with teams with any athleticism and who push. McGrady is done because of his back and Yao can’t move his feet either. Scola is good positionally but he ain’t quick either. When Artest sits like he did today they have little chance to defend anyone of any quality all the way up and down the floor.
This was a gimme for Philly due to their style of play and Houston’s lack of athelticism. Let them play the hornets on the other hand and its a different story.
Hey Flux, do you mind just listing the players besides G.Wallace who have stated unwillingness in playing here? I haven’t paid attention to this stuff so I was surprised when you mentioned multiple players saying that. Thanks.
flux is hell bent on making idiotic statements,negative statements, like, “ballers dont wanna play ball here in canaduh”.is he projecting his own ignorance or is he a product of his environment where the people around him have brainwashed his sorry ass?…hey flux,did devean george report to jersey when he got traded?No..he didnt want to play in jersey.u hear that?lots of players wont play in houston.or a west coast born player wants to stay on the west and feels odd on the east coast….pls stfu.pls.its really no big deal.it happens all the time and isnt exclusive to canaduh.
just to clarify, george vetoing that trade was about him protecting his bird rights, not about the team/city/state.