The “start printing those playoff invoices” edition
Bargnani – he had as much rhythm tonight as an elephant trying to dance to drum and bass. Completely taken out of his element and piling up on the fouls like AB V1.0.
Bosh – I might start calling him Lobsterboy. If I didn’t see the odd close up every now and then, I’d swear his hands were lobster claws trying to catch a beach ball. Some games I think the amount of stuff slipping through his hands is on par with a teenage boy finally discovering what momma’s hand lotion could be used for.
Calderon – a good game that could very well have been demolished had those two successive shots in the last minute of play came back to haunt us. No need for either one. Swing the ball and get a better look. He proved my point again tonight in that he did a tremendous job in transition and a piss poor job on most halfcourt sets. I’m starting to really wonder if he overthinks and takes a play or two off mentally.
Graham – 15pts 5boards in about a quiet a fashion as Joey can do it. If this could be average Joey, I think we would accept it. By the end of the season, it would be interesting to see who has the most bandwagon jumpers: Joey or Andrea.
Humphries – still broken.
Jawai – no burn for Nate tonight. Probably as disappointed as the average 6 year old when they are told they are moving….to Jersey. You ever been there? It’s like God was happy as he created the west coast, was content as he started moving east, started to get cramps around Ohio, and then lost his lunch and called the result New Jersey.
Kapono – The Heisman. That’s what his little baseline runner should be called. Either that or the “aw, screw it, I’m just gonna granny it” shot.
Moon – I wondered what got into him until I saw that clip at the end of the game and he was talking to some (presumed) friends that were sitting courtside. Always nice to impress the homies. I truly do enjoy it when I can watch a whole game and not see that grin, knowing it means he is actually locking in and trying his damndest to do something. Great block, nice alley oop, and you could tell he was in Carter’s head a bit by the end of the game. Solid.
O’Neal – stat sheet doesn’t reflect it, but a good game. He was a presence and Lopez was a load for both HO and CB. He was active enough to keep the Nets guessing and also forcing them to be aware of where he was. Still fouling as quickly as a rabbit eats a carrot, but what do you expect for a washed up has been allstar? (I tried so hard, too)
Parker – his defense to start the game was as embarrassing as having a booger hanging out of your nose on your first date. Then he said to himself “Sweet Lord, I’m turning into Jose”, snapped out of it, locked down and then, for added fun, decided to shoot the lights out. Sure, our guards did well shooting the ball tonight, but some of them probably have cricks in their necks as well after watching the moon shots being lobbed over their heads. AP is better than that and I expect he is as frustrated with himself as anybody.
Solomon – you know how you sometimes hear about this cool kid who starts sleeping around with some hot chicks, then a rumour circulates about him being closer to being hung like a snail as opposed to, say, me? His coolness factor drops from 10 to 2 or 3 almost overnight? Yeah, well, that kid has been Solomoned.
Ukic – you know it’s bad when you are brought aboard and touted as being a NBA worthy backup PG only to see the visiting teams dance crew get more floor time than you….and, even worse, more meaningful time.
Voskuhl – keeping up his 1 foul in 1 minute routine. Consistency is good. Make us proud, son…make us proud.
Driving The Bus: Jose Calderon
Under The Bus: Andrea Bargnani
Game Theme: Dream Girl
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26 Raps
bargs under the bus is a lil harsh considering he played 3 second half minutes and had 4 of the pussiest fouls ever called on him….maybe im fucked in the head but every game joey crawford officiates bargs is on the bench and in foul trouble….under the bus = new jersey nets.we didnt win this game,they lost it.the last 4 minutes of the game were more classic chris botch…..even still.this win was huge because we havent one one of these all season,and our first close win….feels good.
Bargnani looked good when he was on the floor for consistent minutes, drew a nice foul, made a three, had a nice back down in the post that he couldn’t finish, but he was taking all good shots. Triano needs to be under the bus because of the way he mismanaged him.
I agree. Triano got really lucky that the Nets did not complete their comeback with a win. Pure luck that Harris missed a clean look. What was Triano thinking leaving Moon in to finish instead of Bargnani who’s been on fire and clutch. Oh yeah I forgot we had Botch in the game as our one big who could not hold the ball if it was glued to his hands. Triano got lucky and should not have done the small ball shit…Why was he letting Frank call the shots versus making New Jersey match up to us? Pussy?
And yes every time that skinhead joke of a ref officiates Bargnani gets in foul trouble on the cheapest calls ever…Maybe just hates Paesan’s. Either way that ref should be thrown out of the leauge as the all time worst.
I know I hate Crawford. Remember what he did to Duncan last year?
Bargs shouldn’t be under the bus. He was a victim of Joey Crawford and Triano. I was honestly shocked when I saw the boxscore tonight – he looked better than the numbers, took good shots.
Would the bus please drive over Kapono and then pick up his contract and take it to a contender in the west. But that would mean the GM picking up JK’s contract would have to get hit by bus first.
lol the barg haters have become his defenders now!
I think BC would be fleeced to give up Moon with JO for Marion. We would only have Marion for a few months while an asset like Moon, packaged with another Sf/SG could net us a 1st round draft pick.
In many ways Moon could be as valuable as JO if not more to the Heat. Having Wade at 2, and Moon at 3 would give the Heat the best 2/3 shotblocking duo in the entire NBA.
Saying all of this our most valuable trade asset at the moment is probably Anthony Parker who is playing lights out basketball in the last 2 weeks, and is averaging all round stats that hasnt been seen by any raptor all season.
I think we should look at MIA, MIL, OKA, MIN and possibly a few others as trade possibilites. I think Parker to Mil for draft pick would’nt be too shabby. We would get an extra draft pick which will make a hige impact once Bosh leaves, MIL would get the repalcement for Redd
ap should not be traded for anyone, he’s very valuable to this team on and off the court. But if he’s traded we should get a lot more than mid first round draft pick that the bucks can give in exchange of him
Bargs definitely doesn’t deserve to be under the bus even though he looks like he had a subpar game compared to his recent stride. We took so many threes tonight I was holding my breath on each one, especially Moon’s. What a close ass game, and to think we were leading by 12 with about 4:50 to go.
bargs under the bus!!!!! WTF!!! haha i feel like im defending my child. but honestly a little harsh the guy was hardly getting the ball and 2 of those fouls were bs. i think it was stupid not putting him back i the game i hope it doesnt fuck with his confidence..
big win tonight. mil lost and so did philly i think.
leave bargs alone go raps
I’m with everyone else. How could bargs be under the bus if he was never let off of it?
2 terrible foul calls that only the nets announcers could believe (that should tell you something) and then he doesn’t get to see the light of day.
What a terrible game. I don’t even remember it. I just remember eating too many slices of pizza.
I think putting bargs under the bus just shows how much more is expected of him now and how much he’s improved.
how about putting that uber douchebag matt devlin under the bus…lmfao,i heard he screamed “OVERTIME” after the harris miss,then dead silence and then,”oh wait we win”……he sucks so fucking bad.for shits n giggles i gotta hear that playcall….somebody youtube that shit.
Yup, forward to 6:03
http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.php?content=video&url=http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/teams/raptors/rweb-090128-rgi6.asx
lmfao…what an idiot!how do you not know what the score is in such a crucial/pivotal moment in the game?isnt that your job?isnt that grounds for dismissal?….lol…anybody who ever said he was better than chuck needs their heads and hate checked.
wow…”OVERTIME!…………………………….no….raptors win it”
whoever was keeping track of the score for TSN was on something…i got confused a few times, they were really late updating scores. for a long time, i thought the raps had actually been given an extra point. they were at 98, and joey drove the lane & got fouled (missed the shot), and hit 1 of 2 FTs…but the score stayed at 98 (should have been 99) until the raps’ next possession, when joey again gets fouled, but makes the shot (btw – great play by AP to set him up); when the shot goes in, the score jumps from 98 to 101, then to 102 w/ the made FT. from that point on in the game, i thought the score was wrong, that the raps had been given an extra point, so at the end, i wasn’t 100% sure what the right score was either. so i rewound it to the the spot mentioned above.
still, devlin’s a douche, i’m thinking he probably should have known the score. kind of important. but, he does have the ‘what are you doing, will solomon’ thing. that. is. awesome.
Absolutely right. The scorekeeping on TSN last night was brutal. I too thought there was an error right up until the end because I noticed the score jump to 102 when it should have been 101. Same thing happened at the end of the first quarter with the disallowed 3-ball. The score on screen credited the basket to the Nets and it stayed that way for about the first five minutes of the second quarter. It even messed with Jack/Matt (I can’t remember which) who noted that the Raps, despite shooting well, were trailing by 9 points, when it was actually 6. Nonetheless, shouldn’t these guys be keeping better track of the score instead of looking at the TV monitor? If fans at home figured out it was wrong, shouldn’t the broadcasters? I’d prefer more attention paid to the game and less obnoxious chit-chat.
What the hell is wrong with this team? The way they close out 4th quarters I’d expect the laundry staff is pulling all-nighters getting skid-marks out of them shorts….
*rap of the day*
RAP OF THE DAY, FO SHO!
Bunch of diaper wearing b****s.
I was not looking forward to this mornings blog,because what you said alt was exactly what I thought you were going to say,bitch,bitch,bitch.
I guess my point is that its difficult at times to keep everybody happy.
I for one ,would of thrown Devlin under the bus,as well as vc….why vc,because in normal fashion he scored a shit load against us,and when Harris missed that last second shot,vc was seen hugging him and laughing…and we worry about MR. Backwaters grin !!
Here’s the thing, though…you all say he shouldn’t be tossed under the bus, but outside of picking a coach, an opposing player, and a commentator, you don’t suggest someone from the team that SHOULD be there…which is a great place to be. It was the toughest call of the year for me.
So, that said, who would you have put under there? Kap? Maybe, but did he play subpar compared to his games lately? Not really. Everybody else was pretty good. If anybody played off his games of late, to me it was Bargs.
Alt…under the bus? should of been all our three bigs.
Bosh 18/6 (36 minutes)
Bargs 8/1 (22 minutes)
HO 8/4 (21 minutes)
LOPEZ …14/4…SCHOOLED THE THREE OF THEM !!!
nothing new there with a rookie big schooling our own. It’s an easy call it seems.
Triano under the bus…
His substitution patterns, especially in the 4th quarter are seriously random. What was the idea of giving Jose 2 1/2 minutes off in the middle of the 4th?
Bosh looked terrible in the 4th – holding the ball way too long before making any move. I watched him hold the ball vs. Lopez for at least 10 seconds and then passing to Jose for the 25 footer with shot clock running out. At least JO makes his moves quickly – and he actually passed the ball at least twice – raps were so shocked, they were unable to catch them.
I think we need to seriously consider trading Bosh and keeping JO and Bargs – like SLAM said in last years playoff predictions – softest team in the post-season (TO) and softest “star” in the league. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bosh but he’s not tough enough to get you to the top of the East.
Along with that we need a coach with a plan …someone to kick asses after stupid plays (I’m looking at you Jamario – but not just). Somebody already mentioned how bad this team is at setting (and using) screens. That should be unforgivable at the NBA level.
Anyhoo – my $0.02.