Grab the Tip-Off: Young Buck Edition.
Home sweet home. After splitting a pair of games on the road, the Raptors host the Grizzlies at the ACC. I have a vested interest in this game as my countrymen Hamed Haddadi, the first Iranian born player, is sitting on Memphis’ bench. The kid had a serious Olympics, averaging something like 15pts and 12rebs for the tournament. There was some controversy over NBA teams singing nationals, but that has seemingly gone away. The kid is 7′2, 256lbs, and Persian, what more could you want?
I know what I want…Bargnani to continue his solid play. Over the last 7 games, with a defined role and not having to look over his shoulders, VL has produced:
| Opp | Result/Score | Min | FG | eFG | 3P | FT | ORB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Average | 4-4 | 36 | 55% | 66% | 60% | 87% | 1.0 | 4.6 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 17.9 |
#1 overall worthy? With a consistent showing, BC may not look so much the fool. If three weeks ago, that Howard rumour was on the table, that idiot doubt in all of us wouldn’t have kicked in. 7 games, and that idiot doubt is rampant. Maybe justifiably, but if his minutes drop when HO comes back, or he gets moved back to 3, what a waste. Hopefully the powers that be have a bit more sense, bite the bullet and do the right thing. Bargnani is saying the right things when asked about his role once HO returns:
“J.O. is a great player, for sure he’s going to start,” he said. “The second thing is it’s not my job to worry about these things.”
The Grizz fell to New Jersey 100-89 on the backs of Mayo and Gay who put up 26pts and 23pts respectively. They are 1-4 in the last 5 games, and 2-14 on the road. They have some nice young talent on that squad, but that is the problem, they are young. Capable of winning (4 game stretch in December), but dropping two games to the Timberwolves. Wont be easy without Calderon, who is expected to be a game-time decision, so it falls to Bosh/Bargnani to run things from the get-go.
Is it bad that I am glad HO wont be playing? I have two reasons:
- The Raptors are winning without him – I’m sick of all the losing.
- Bargnani is hitting his stride.
Hopefully when he comes back, he will be gracious enough to come off the bench in hopes of not messing up Bargnani’s rotation, and for the best result for the team, I wont hold my breath though:
Match-Ups
Solomon vs Mayo
The Edge: Memphis – Contender for the ROY, Mayo is sick. McHale made another bone headed move when he moved Mayo for Love (Love is a nice player, but Mayo is sick). Solomon has really been well since Jose went down, averaging 9.7pts and 6.7ast. The best part is that he is limiting his turnovers and ot playing so reckless. He has the speed to keep up with Mayo, but Mayo is sick.
Parker vs Lowry
The Edge: Toronto – Parker has some size on the kid, and should be able to close out and defend the jumpers. Off the hop, Lowry might have an advantage in speed, but the Raptors defensive rotations have improved recently. On the offensive end, Parker will be able to shoot over Lowry or post him up for one of a turn around jumper.
Moon vs Ross
The Edge: Toronto – Moon is expected to be back, and congratulations to him for the newborn. Hopefully he hasn’t been snacking on the baby-food and has his head in this game. Ross…I don’t know anything about the guy, so by default Moon gets the nod.
Bosh vs Gay
The Edge: Toronto – Gay is a nice player, and would have been a nice running mate to Bosh, but that ship has sailed and I’m drunk on the Bargnani-aid (I admit it…I’m ashamed, don’t judge me). Bosh is playing like an all-star/Olympian, and at this point, I am glad to say that the questions surrounding whether he has checked-out are done and over with…just misunderstood my man was.
Bargnani vs Gasol
The Edge: Toronto – What a beast Gasol is, who was the key piece in the Pau Gasol trade last year. His playing time has been gradually increasing, and so has his production. He will be a handful for VL on the glass and in the blocks…but fortunately, VL will be a bigger handful for him out on the perimeter. VL will need to steal a couple boards from Gasol, force him to miss a couple shots and keep him out on the perimeter where his effectiveness diminishes drastically.
The Prediction
Can you guess? Raptors by 9.
Grab the Feed and catch us Twitter where Arse has been experimenting with Raptors themed Haiku’s.
76 Raps
I never stopped backing bargs, so I will admonish you for getting drunk on the koolaid at this late hour. Whatever happens I’m going to stick with the big lug.
I know a few peeps will be getting drunk tonight at Raptor Fan Fridays drinking massive 126oz. jugs of beer watching Bargs shake-n-bake Gasol!
(Actually, I think they’ll be getting drunk regardless!!) ;D
If Bargnani ever gets his footwork sorted out, he might make a leap beyond the good fans have seen recently. He makes a lot of (very awkward looking) plays despite the fact that he looks like he is about to trip over himself any second. I have actually come to enjoy watching the sheer awkward glory of it all since he never seems to actually trip himself.
Can the team send him to dance classes? If he gets consistent footwork, there might even be a touch (but only a touch) of the Dream in him.
How about BC buys Dance Dance Revolution for VL
ROFL
LMAO x2!! HAhAhAha
Can you make the Email option optional? its annoying
Quinton Ross has been labeled a “defensive stopper”, which is code for “can’t hit a jumper”.
yeah, isn’t moon a ‘defensive stopper’ as well?
“Defensive ace” according to Hollinger a few weeks back.
I had called the Raptors to go 1-1 against Magic and Rockets and then win three straight against Bucks, Wiz and Memphis. Ridnour killed that prediction but Memphis is a poor opponent and they’ll win here. Can’t wait till Sunday.
Remember, these are the Raps, they beat the bad teams consistently.
remember, these are the raps, they disappoint consistently too! lol
Hey, these are the Grizzlies… not the OKC Thunder!! ;)
just have to slow down the Gay-O duo and they should be fine.
Over/Under on Matt talking about the Naismith Cup?
4.5
Memphis is a young team that’s struggling plus they’re BRUTAL on the road. That said the Raps have to play 4 solid quarters cause if we can lose to OKC anything’s possible. With the back to back with the Celtics coming up the Raps HAVE to win tonight.
PS I think Paul Allen’s idea of winning it all means being the only team left in the league.
ANYTHING’S POSsSIIBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
What’s VL stand for? I know who it is, but, where’d it come from?
vegetable lasagna. it was from a seinfeld episode when elaine was on a plane and sitting beside some dude she kept calling vl.
too bad Memphis traded Love for Mayo during the draft..
seeing the Gay-Love combo would’ve been something =)
i’d rather have mayo, kid is sick.
But in Toronto a lot of people are into Gay Love
Not that there’s anything wrong with that
LOL!
GAY-LOVE COMBO. Commentators might have a tough time.
Is Q Richardson from the knicks a good playeR?
Are the knicks willing to trade him?
no
i don’t want q-rich, another one-dimensional wing player. they are willing to trade almost anyone right now to get under the cap for next year.
mayo is sick
Raps Fan – what’s your problem with JO? (i.e calling him ‘HO’).
i can’t take credit for calling him ho, and i don’t really have a problem with him personally (i actually like him), just don’t think he is a great fit for this team in his current capacity. that and we gave up too much to get him, and as it turns out, didn’t need him to be 6 games under .500.
what does ‘HO’ stand for?
ho = highly overrated
I thought it was Hurt Often? both work though.
AltRaps uses HO in the “you a ho” context i.e. he plays for the money.
But is Mayo sick though??
raps by 13!! what whaaaat.. shabbat shalom bitches!!!!!!
This thread is pretty lame today, that’s what you get when you play the Grizz and we talk about people who Love Gay Mayo…I know, pretty bad.
Let’s get the intensity of the Naismith cup going again. BTW, anybody find it sadly ironic that after all these years Francis got shipped back to the Grizz.
If we win this game:
– Nothing will happen
If we lose this game
– Effort, intensity will be questioned.
– Bosh will be called a choker
– The “blow this up” chants will reignite
– Nunya will tear everybody a new one
JO will miss his 6th-straight game and nobody knows what his status is for the Celtics back-to-back. Didn’t he just barely graze knees against GSW, I mean, what is the deal maaaaaan?!?
arse…re. JO, yeah, what’s the deal? maybe a deal?
a deal would be great, but who would be willing to take on that contract. he has proved that he can contribute at a fairly high level. i think he might be a bit more banged up then was reported. he might have sulked some in indiana, but not after 30 games on a new team when his reputation is on the line…
i’m sure hes getting shopped around tho. especially with bargnani’s play of late.
My pipe dream deal for JO is:
We send:
JO
Draft Pick
Chicago sends:
Luol Deng
Larry Hughes
Chicago gets the best big man they’ve had in a LONG time, and gets rid of that terrible Hughes contract. We get our best wing since we shipped Wince’s sorry arse out of here.
gotta agree, both with the notion he’s being shopped, and that it may be hard to move him.
i’m pipe-dreaming here, but JO to portland with moon for lafrentz, pryzbilla & outlaw. please don’t tell me it can’t possibly happen…i need to believe in miracles.
zero chance that happens for one reason:
if miles gets picked up by some other team this year, and he plays 2 games, then that’s about 9mill that gets added to portlands cap, and their salary flexibility goes into the shitter. at least lafrentz comes off the books at the end of the year. o’neal’s would be there for another year and a half.
also, with o’neal on the floor would limit oden’s development same as it did bargnani’s (although he apparently helped bargnani out in the summer a lot).
i can see a big trade for o’neal next year where we could land some quality pieces.
O’Neal:
i think it is fairly safe to assume that his knee is not responding well. He is way more banged up than we thought.
I cannot imagine that JO wants to be sidelined at this point in time. If he wants to be traded he should try to up his trade value so the Raps can unload his hefty contract. Unless, of course, he really is banged up plus he wants a trade and so doesn’t want to spoil his chances. But if so, then he is banged up, and he shouldn’t really play anyway.
Calderon:
Funny, though, that JO is behaving how I want Calderon to behave, meanwhile Calderon is trying to play through injuries. I honestly believe that a great deal (not all, certainly) of his downside this year is because of this exact behaviour. Smitch really overworked him, and I didn’t see too much of a difference under Triano. Hamstring injuries are nagging injuries – I think his made him step off balance. I do not want him to play today. Next game, at the earliest so he can get in game shape for Boston, of he comes back before then at all.
What injury did JC have in the Olympics? Was it the hammy?
Jose pulled a groin muscle and didn’t play in the finals against USA.
That report that said JO’s been shopped around to 6 teams was surprising to me. If you look at his play, it’s been pretty good: 14/7 and 2 blocks in 29 minutes.
He’s doing exactly what we expected him to do, it’s not like he’s been a disappointment (unless you were expecting 20/15). Aside from the time he’s missed, this is exactly what I was expecting of O’Neal when we signed him. Coming into the season I was expecting more from Parker, Moon, Kapono, Calderon and Bargnani and those are the guys that have let us down, not JO.
I’m not against the “trade JO” chants but my question to BC is, what else did you expect from him?
better two man game between him and Bosh, for one. He was never a great passer, but I hoped that they could both attract double teams and then dish out to the other. Never saw them really click on that level.
Funny you say that because that was one of my expectations too except I envisioned Bosh driving to the paint, getting sealed off and finding JO for a layup or a mismatch. You know, the drive ‘n drop-off scenario. Since Bosh becomes very single-minded when he does drive the ball, I haven’t seen any of this, in fact the only assist Bosh gets is when he’s doubled early and kicks it out.
I find that when either of them is posting up, the other is on the weak side thus keeping two opposition players between them (JO and Bosh’s man). Neither of those two ever cuts to the rim or flashes across the paint, they almost need to have the ball at the start of the possession to be effective.
Ideally, they’d pass to each other until the defense is blue in the face but that’s not happening and I first have to point to the coach before the players in this case.
When JO was brought in it’s because Bargnani was the biggest piece of shit last year (Dave Berri had him as the WORST PLAYER IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE)
Given that, JO was needed to fill the big man hole vacated by Bargs at the time.
The thing is, now that Bargs is starting to produce, you don’t need JO. You didn’t know that Bargs would be anything other than shit, so you gamble on somebody that has produced in his career to give you what you need. The problem is that JO’s game might not complement Bosh’s (simply because he plays an interior game and Bosh needs room to make shit work)
The whole problem has been Bargs shit play in his career. That spurned the whole need for JO. This year when he was playing the 5, he has been good (check out games before he was SF, he was aiight). So now that Bargs is alright (though he still needs to work on rebounding) you have to shop O’neal, that’s all.
i’m not as surprised at all. sure he has been playing well, and 14/7 was about what i expected, but it comes at the expense at bargnani’s development and bosh’s touches. rasho is doing 9.2pts and 4.4rebs in 22.1mins, if he was getting 29 minutes, the offensive numbers would be close…just a thought.
hey hey HEY!!! i said i need to believe in miracles.
how ’bout BC agrees to sign miles for the rest of the season, but not play him/dress him, as a sweetener? wait, that can’t be legal…
i dunno, JO can either start in limited minutes, allowing oden to develop against 2nd units, or he could backup both oden & LA, as need be.
haha yes, colangeleo blackmails pritchard into a deal by signing miles and threatening to playing. I like the sound of that.
addition by subtraction. or some other such shite…
I think people over-rated JO just like they do Kevin Durant. This is in terms of efficiency,
It’s one thing to have 30 points, it’s another to have 30 points off 50 shots (or shats). JO has never been an extremely offensively efficient player, especially for his position (given that centres take the highest percentage shots). I can’t say that he isn’t a difference maker cause I don’t know, all I think is that the Raps have too little talent, JO aside, to do anything anyways. So the conclusion is, let’s trade JO (probably next year) for some desperately needed wing help.
Raps Fan, is it not a little early to call Love a “bust”? Andrea should be proof that bigs need more time. Down low is a MANs game. Now, don’t get me wrong, I said he was a bust when drafted as well, but I’m willing to give him more time. 15 boards multiple times.. and he does everything else pretty well. And I love OJ, but he does disappear in the 4th sometimes and he jacks em up. Either way sick and he gave Kobe the business a few weeks ago.
and WTF.. we are forgiving Bosh already. He’s mailed it in.. don’t be fooled by his “get my stats” game. He doesn’t care near as much as he did the last 5 years.
Arse… BC was expecting 20/10 for JO. He said so himself. I love how the I’ve been off for 2 years, played 60 games my whole career, I’m a 30 years old playing in a 22 year old body talk has died. Dude is done.. came to TO to get that retirement money. Can’t play with the trees if you can’t jump.. or need rest like Shaq.
i wouldn’t call him a bust, but i would prefer mayo. love has had a few solid games in a row, and is definitely improving.
as for bosh mailing it in…it seemed as though he was, recently not so much, i will give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
I think in drafts, size, position, athleticism all are paramount. I think Love only has one of those (He’s an undersized 4), he’ll be a bench player for his career.
The T’wolves are a mess their 2 best players are out of position (foye @1, and Jefferson @ 5)
Mayo is a combo guard that I think will eventually become a Big Full Time Point Guard similar to Billups (Took him a few teams before he figured everything out). But right now, he’s playing well.
I Think in the end, Rose, Mayo, Westbrook and George Hill will all be starting pg’s.
When did BC say he expected 20/10 out of JO? Do you have a link? I never heard him say that.
Just used bust for description, but I wouldn’t call it a boneheaded move. Not yet, anyway. Again, I was tearing that pick and figured he would get eaten.. so far so good.
HA! Trust.. I’ve been tempted to put up Rasho numbers a 1000 times approximately. Didn’t want to read about defensive presence and swagger and Finals.
Soo… how’s that crow tasting? Mine tastes pretty good. Where is that guy anyway?
he’s getting about 0.7 blocks right now, if he was doing 29min, that would climb up to about 1blk/game. about .9 less then oneal. he isn’t as intimidating in the lane as o’neal granted, but a third the cost…
no crow for me ;)
Oh yeah, there’s a game. Call me a hater, but this won’t be easy. Not sure how accurate your matchups are, but if Gay is on Moon and Arthur is on Bosh, again, it won’t be easy. Then you can go Will and Kyle with OJ on Parker, where Antonia gets worked.
They are more talented and athletic.. we’ll see I guess. Raps are due for a meltdown game. Which really the Wiz game was, except the Wiz couldn’t finish them off.
Badass.. gonna be tied up for a few hours, but I will get it for ya. Pretty sure it was an NBA.com interview and the wording was.. “Anytime you get a 20/10 guy…” Of course, I expect you to play semantics and say he never said “expect”.. but if you make the trade that’s a given, IMO.
RapsFan.. the other things you mentioned with JO play a part too. Plus when is JO coming up with end of the game/changing blocks?
Haha. Please send the link. That is far different from saying he is expecting 20/10 out of JO. Hey, how is your boy TJ doing these days? Still tearing it up for the Pacers?
Not sure if this has been discussed already, but I was wondering what people’s thoughts were on Grange’s blog post where he proposes the Raps try to deal JO and AP for Marbury and Rose:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/wbbasketball
After the recent re-emergence of Bargs, you gotta believe BC is working the phones frantically trying to trade JO.
i would do that in a second. both come off the books at the end of the year…get a starting calibre pg and a bench forward. buy out marbury as soon as he lands, so he can go to boston (avoid him poisoning this team).
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=497~3455~2433~2010~2006&teams=6~6~9~9~28&te=&cash=
GS has more use for JK since they want to win with offense.
Hump + Biedrins = +100 REbounds per game
we get howard..
Mavs get corey maggot
Nice eh?
i’d do that too in a second. our junk for josh howard, lol.
take a look at this one…
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=2006~2010~635&teams=28~6~6&te=&cash=
AP has been on fire lately…
kapono best 3 point shooter
Why would dallas want this..
according to this…
http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/11010486
how about this for kicks?
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=2172~796~831~2010~615&teams=28~28~28~5~5&te=&cash=
Understand that this makes Cleveland lethal for this year, especially Big Z is down. Takes on an extra year of JO, but in the short term both JK and JO will help the Cavs win home field advantage in the playoffs which they will need against Boston. So they take on an extra year.
Raps get out of the cap at the end of the year, Sasha can help and Wally picks up where JK left off.
And here’s my final one cause it’s time to go home!!!!
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=3005~3450~2010&teams=28~28~29&te=&cash=
Mephis can set 2 man screens with Darko and mini Gasol for kapono
we of course turn into instant champions…
win win
OMG , JO GOT TRADED!!!
CHECK
THIS
OUT!
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=2010~615~3006~1966~2172~2422&teams=5~5~28~28~28~28&te=&cash=
victor you’re getting out of hand, lol.
yeah sorry,
going home now forreal. have a good weekend guys talk GO RAPTORS GO!
I just got a sweet pair of corporate seats for tonights game, so, I’m pumped.
On the HO front, I think we will be very lucky if BC is able to trade him. I can only think of 4 teams that might want to take on his contract to get rid of some of their long-term deals-the bulls, the jazz, the wiz, and the bobcats. The bulls could send us Nocioni and we’d have to swallow Hughes’ deal, The jazz could send AK47 and we’d have to swallow Kyle Kovers’ deal, the Wiz could send us ‘Twan and Butler as they get their tank warmed up for next season, and eventually, the bobcats could send us boris diaw and someone else. I don’t realistically think that any of these trades will happen, but which one does everyone like best?
Take the Wiz deal in a second and flip Twan for something useful. Can’t see why the Wiz would do that though. Surely they could get more for those 2.
The Bulls seem like a realistic target for a trade if we were willing to take back Hughes. I’m not sure about Nocioni given the length of his deal. Maybe if the Bulls expanded things a bit and took Kapono & O’Neal for Hughes, Nocioni, Sefalosha and some filler. I could actually see JO helping the Bulls from what I read. I haven’t really seen them play this year though.
Hope the Raps blow Memphis out so I can watch the Celtics and Cavs without much flipping.
Enjoy the game man, report back! I’ll make it part of the post-game report.
lol looks like all the moderator guys here are indian and iranian?
Heard about Haddadi, nice post player, I think Iran beat serbia in a friendly be4 olympics…surprised the world. Still Its very unlikely he gets some decent minutes tonite
As for the game, go Solomon go ! (I bet he’s happy, only team in the league that will play him for 30 + minutes..)
Enough with the “trade J.O.” chatter. There’s no way you trade him this year, without having to take someone else’s gar-bage. JO ain’t the issue, it’s the guys manning the 2 and 3 spot. The Raps need to do all they can to move Andrea (a real man’s name BTW)…. his skills are good enough to get you excited every now and then (I’d say we’re on a “now” cycle), but what’s he gonna do in two weeks from today?
Give me a Paul Millsap 9 out of 10 times before you hand me an Andrea!
Move that slug, and get someone in here who’s actually gonna impact a season, not a few games over Christmas!