Kobe’s fadeaway is the most unstoppable shot in basketball.Let’s examine the checklist: Played hard. Check. Attacked the rim. Check. Get the W. Not so check but 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. In a season mired with disappointments and letdowns a hard fought loss to the Lakers seems like a highlight. This one was circled as a L when the schedule came out so to see the Raptors hang tooth and nail with the Lakers down to the final possessions was something that bordered on enjoyment. In the end though, it’s another loss, but if the team plays like the way they did today they just might be able to make something of the easier March and April schedule. Chances are however that the form, enthusiasm and aggressiveness we say today will entirely disappear by the weekend when we play the Hornets and Grizzlies. That’s life as a Raptors fan, you just don’t know what you have in this team and the only thing you can count on is a great deal of inconsistency.
Let’s sum this game up in a short paragraph for those of you pressed for time. The Raptors played hard on defense and defended the Lakers to the best of their ability. Our offense was running inside-out for the most part and we got great offensive and defensive games from Jermaine O’Neal and Joey Graham to keep us in it till late in the fourth. Unfortunately, clutch scoring is a big issue with this team and the 20 points we scored in the fourth was the lowest total of any quarter. We lost it 30-20 as Kobe Bryant scored six crucial points off of jumpers to ice the game. Chris Bosh left the game in the fourth with a strained knee and didn’t have much of a say in this one. On to the recap.
Jermaine O’Neal got the start for the second game in a row and the frontline of Bosh, Bargnani and O’Neal was deployed against Odom, Walton and Gasol. This evened out the size advantage the Lakers usually have in the frontcourt. Jose Calderon didn’t play because of that damned hamstring which refuses to come back to 100%, this switched Parker to the point and gave Joey the Kobe assignment. I thought the matchups were set nicely for us, Graham’s physical presence will always do more to bother Kobe than Moon’s nervy defense or Parker’s straight-up containment techniques. Last time we faced them we were -18 on the boards so O’Neal’s inclusion made sense and paid off, we finished the game -5.
The Raptors came out of the gates as crisp as you’ll ever see them. Bargnani flashed to the paint on the very first possession and caught a pass from Bosh to drain the mid-range jumper. Joey Graham was looking to go baseline every time and got two scores beating the help which was late and not expecting this kind of behavior from a player they just heard of. Jermaine O’Neal (22 pts, 9 reb, 9 blk) started off on the perimeter by clicking his outside jumper for two scores. The movement without the ball was purposeful and Parker ran the point in an unspectacular but smart fashion, passing the ball early in the clock and letting Joey and JO make decisions in the half-court set. This was very much unlike Calderon who has a tendency to hang on the ball a little too long. He pushed the ball after made and missed baskets to set our possession up, whether it be running a high screen, posting up O’Neal or Bargnani or even swinging it to the wing. Parker’s size and ability to cover ground against the aging Fisher was key in preventing dribble penetration as he held him to only 2 assists.
The zone we saw against Clevleland was thankfully ditched in favor of man-coverage and we came out with tangible energy that the crowd could appreciate. It also helped that O’Neal and Bosh were hitting the glass and keeping the Lakers to one shot. Graham’s man-defense on Kobe was tight as can be, he forced him into four misses by giving him enough space thus tempting him to shoot while recovering in time to contest his jumper. He stayed with him on his drives and was very smart in not falling for the head-fakes while not fouling. Kobe got his points through three deep threes which I’d concede to him any day, they were 26-footers for **** sakes! Funny thing to note: Jamario Moon switched on Kobe for one possession and Kobe made a poster out of him by head-faking him at the three-point line to drive and finish on a reverse. Moon = FAIL, I don’t care what his seasonal +/- says.
The second quarter belonged to O’Neal who was feeling it. He had 11 second quarter points and worked in tandem with Joey Graham and Jamario Moon for two beautiful scores off hard cuts. Later in the game he also found a cutting Bargnani who couldn’t finish, proving once again that if you move without the ball he can make the pass. He was giving Gasol nightmares in the lane by backing him up and hitting that 8-foot fadeaway that usually always rims out. Kobe was quiet after his first quarter explosion from downtown but that was mostly because he wasn’t looking for his shot. Instead, the Lakers were running the triangle with Odom, Farmar and Vujacic and challenging the Raptors to keep up with the continuous movement on the strong side.
After winning the first quarter 31-26, we held even at 32 in this one. It was our worst defensive quarter and a lot had to do with us conceding 9 offensive rebounds. The Lakers triangle was giving them the switches they desired and they drove and kick with some success, Vujacic and Fisher nailing big jumpers. Odom gives Bosh a more refined taste of his own medicine and had 7 points in a quarter where he finished in traffic, drove baseline for a score and extended on a drive against Bosh. The Lakers got some run-out opportunities off turnovers but all their scoring was negated by O’Neal, Graham and Bosh’s play. They finished with a 19-11 edge in fastbreak points.
So here we are up 5 against the Lakers. Bosh and Bargnani have been relatively quiet and we’ve basically ridden O’Neal and Graham intensity and aggressiveness to this lead. At halftime Joey was asked what the key to the second was, he said:
We have to keep up the intensity.
True dat. Playing hard, attacking the basket and committing themselves on the defensive end had gotten them this far and if we could replicate that effort and match it with intelligent offensive play we’d be right in this one. And we were.
Although we extended the lead to 9 early in the third quarter I didn’t like the fact that we started the quarter with a no-movement Bosh 21-foot miss and were taking way too many jumpers (shot chart) than the recommended dosage. The Lakers on the other hand had decided to test our post-defense and decided to use Gasol as the weapon of choice. They used the triangle as an intermediary set to allow Gasol to get into the post and execute tin-canned moves against O’Neal, Bargnani and Bosh. Gasol scored 12 straight Laker points and made the Raptor bigs look very ordinary. We have serious trouble getting O’Neal and Bosh the rock in a good position, I’m not saying either one will do wonders with it but it’s disappointing to see passive fronting by someone like Odom being successful against Bosh. In this little stretch we saw just how easily the Lakers manage to provide Gasol with good position whereas Bosh is denied the same. The difference – simply enough – is that the Lakers set solid hard screens to free up their big men while we innocently try to time the entry-pass which inevitably get picked off at least a couple times a game.
Bosh was giving us nothing on offense and had been a liability on the boards after that first quarter so it was left to others to step up. Parker became our primary offensive threat as he used high screens to get into the elbow areas and knock down his patented jumpers. His nine third quarter points along with Bargnani’s six prevented the Raptors from going into the offensive funk that they usually get into when they take this many jumpers. Bargnani didn’t have a great shooting night (8-19) but did manage to claw his way to 9 rebounds and they weren’t the “fell into his lap” variety, he actually went there and got them. His January numbers are better but I’ll settle for his February ones too.
Going into the fourth we were up two and had reason to feel confident except for one thing: Aside from that first quarter stretch when the rest of the Lakers were getting D’d up by the Raps and Kobe went off from three-point land, he hadn’t really looked for his shot. When he had done so, Joey Graham had been up to the task but you would have to think that eventually his effectiveness would wear off given the greatness of Kobe.
Bosh had tweaked his knee in the third quarter and never looked to exert himself 100% after that, early in the fourth we went to him again but he settled for a 17 footer and was then brought back to the bench and then to the locker room. His night was over and it wasn’t soon enough, he was a total non-factor in the second half and watching him play defense was aggravating. With him out we went to offensive-by-committee and it worked out quite well. The Lakers who had obviously never read a scouting report on Ukic went under the screens set for him and Roko drove it to the rim for two layups (should’ve had a third but he blew a wide open layup).
We continued to feed O’Neal in the post who got us two scores but should’ve had at least two more – he blew a dunk and a layup which proved to be costly. He did however end up with 9 blocks on the night, I counted at least 4 in that fourth quarter, most of them against Josh Powell who rued getting out of bed today. The best part of this game was when he blocked Powell for the second time in 30 seconds and then talked some smack as the poor bastard lay on the floor. Haven’t seen nearly enough of that this year from any of the Raptors. Say what you will about O’Neal but he remains the only Raptor to play with true emotion and that counts for something in my book.
Want to hear a crazy Bargnani story? He hit a three pointer at the 10:38 mark of the fourth quarter and never took a shot after that. I can’t explain this, maybe you can. I’ll just say that I’m very curious to know how he performs in clutch situations but am not sure if we’ll ever see designated play calls for him. We basically turn him into a pure three-point shooter in the fourth quarter instead of running our offense through him. The quick post-ups that Parker was initiating for him earlier weren’t happening anymore and he was resigned to catching the ball at the arc and passing it up in the face of congested spacing and tight-checking.
So back to the game, it’s a late game in the fourth quarter when one of the key plays of the game happened. Jordan Farmar was harmlessly bringing the ball up the court against Anthony Parker only to spot Jamario Moon cheating on Sasha Vujacic for whatever reason. What followed was a simple pass to the left-corner for a wide open three – 4 point Laker lead with 5:56 left. Kobe, who had come in at the 7:01 mark was relatively quiet until he drained two long jumpers over contested Graham defense. No complaints about the defense, those are the shots you want Kobe to take.
Kobe’s points stretched the lead to six and after that the Raptors came up empty on 5 straight possessions. We didn’t give O’Neal enough touches and had very poor spacing which resulted in low shot-clock situations with the ball in Parker’s hands. He earned us a lifeline by hitting a late one-on-one Billups-type three which cut the lead to 4, Joey Graham followed with a stop on Kobe and a driving score in transition which had the lead down to 1. Now we needed a stop against Kobe but he’s not going to miss in the clutch twice – Black Mamba pulled back on Joey from 20 feet and nailed on with 23 seconds left to make it a two possession game. That’s all she wrote.
One-Liners:
- Jose Calderon not being there helped us on the defensive end in terms of dribble-penetration but hurt us late in the game when we couldn’t get our offense set and forced bad shots due to poor spacing and confusion.
- Jason Kapono is a fraud.
- The Lakers were throwing very different look at JO who was their primary concern. He was played straight-up at first, doubled in the third and then straight-up again in the fourth.
- I always talk about Graham flashing in the paint, catching the ball and making an immediate move. We saw a ton of that tonight and it worked out well, hopefully Triano can continue with that play call a little more.
- What is up with Anthony Parker slapping Jermaine O’Neal’s ass every time? I’m pretty sure I saw some incidental penetration at one point.
- Phil Jackson was sitting in some sort of an executive chair which gave him an air of significance. An explanation here.
- Best Lineup: Graham, Parker, Bargnani, Moon and O’Neal going +4 to finish off the first half. Worst Lineup: The same five going -5 in that fourth quarter stretch where we couldn’t score. Source.
- The Lakers had 20 second chance points, that second quarter was brutal.
- Joey Graham had a career-high 24 points. The Raptors are 5-21 all-time against the Lakers.
- We went -10 in the fourth quarter after going +5, 0 and -3 in the first three.
- We are now 19-32, a season-worst 13 games under .500 and have lost 4 straight. The Lakers have won 4 straight.
Thanks for reading and check back later for our interview with Jack Armstrong where we’ll try to ask him as many of your questions.
52 Raps
Graham may never be an all-star, but he is doing his best to prove the nay-sayers wrong. Go get em Robo-Joe.
Good effort last night. No one can bitch and whine about this game. This is what I like to see when I watch a professional sports team. I feel that they turned a corner; maybe playing Kobe Bryant on their home court was a factor but lets hope they can build towards something. It’s all in the player’s minds. The game is mental as much as it is having talent.
Hard work beats talent when talent won’t work hard.
In the case of Moon and Kapono – Pure idiots and contradict the quote :)
Great writeup; thanks.
Kobe shit on the Toronto franchise and there is still circle jerker’s still routing for him in Toronto.
Didn’t think Toronto was so weak and so lame. Come to think I was going to move there ha! Never! You people don’t have any sense of pride. The only fan I saw who has some sort of ball’s was that same Indian man routing like he was routing when Vince Carter was there. I live in L.A. more like Burbank 5 min. away but watching the game made me realize why move to a place that pretends to be New York and the people there soft as a homosexual transexual hermaphrodite on hormone’s. No thank you.
I have so much respect for Jermaine Oneal now. I know you freaks seen when anger came over him and the whole time the LA Fakers where shitting in there pant’s. When Chris Mihm slapped him I swear it looked like a scene in a movie and you could actually feel his anger. I think someone should draw J.O. pimp slapping this whole organization and even these soft so called Toronto “fans”.
When is Vancouver going to start there franchise again it seemed they had more heart then this organization. There more I see you fan’s on TV make’s me sick. No pride No dignity NOTHING!!!
Toronto fan’s aka pussy fan’s!!!
KOBE KOBE KOBE.. lol!!
Vancouver come back because Toronto is over rated.. !!!
once again, an awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping analysis from albert. so clever.
hopefully that big earthquake that everyone keeps waiting for will come soon, slicing the west coast off into the pacific, but only albert will die. ok, albert and carrot top.
Your post’s are so amazing I read them many time’s.
Somehow you know something about Vancouvers’s potential for succes’s as an NBA franchise that the entire planet doesn’t. You should send your plan to Stern right away because you’re clearly a geniu’s.
Thank’s for your valuable insight and Shakespearian manner in which you express it. Its incredible. We’re all routing for you and your Black and Decker router.
Dude, you’re chirping from Burbank. BURBANK! It’s not 5 minutes away from LA, is a crappy hole in the valley for people who can’t afford to live in LA but go on vacation and tell people they’re from Los Angeles.
And unless this “Indian man” you’re talking of is a big rig dispatcher, then he was “rooting”, not “routing”.
Kids, this is why you should stay in school.
Hey Jerkoff albert wtf do you know about basketball? If you knew anything about bball and lived anywhere near LA you would not be checking out Raptor sites. Why don’t you go get your welfare check, and mosey on down the street for a chili dog while you ponder who to mug today, or then again that might be too much effort for you. By the way you used the homosexual in inuendos so much are you sure it’s not something you constantly have on your mind and need outlets to let it out.
p.s. don’t ever even think of moving to TO because we don’t need pansy ass draft dodgers, or guys like you who want to move here so you can marry your pal. Stay in LA with the rest of the freaks!
Ya Albert, we’ve got our own intolerant a**holes. We don’t need to import.
And just so we’re all clear: F U P’man you intolerant f***
HEY WTF did I do to you Sam you intolerant SOB!!! Ah what the hell, no problem man you can tell me that but Albert should go find himself something that fits nicely up his you know what.
Hey Albert, you must be related to Stephen A Smith right?
arse – have been thinking about VL’s lack of touches late in games as well, so i watched for signs/reasons in the 4th. what i found, aside from the lack of play-calling for him, was that he doesn’t really seem to fight for position…the 4th, against a good oppenent, in a tight game, they aren’t just gonna let you set up in your comfort zone & give you 4 feet of space. late in games, defenses focus on taking away your strength…for bargs, that means he’s not going to be free to roam around the perimeter, and his man isn’t going to be slagging off him. he’s gotta learn how to fight for space/position on the floor. his movement w/o the ball gets to be non-existent at times, which simply makes his defender’s job easy.
as for the game…well, not much you can say; reminded me of the orlando game (that they won, a few weeks ago) in which some of the ‘lesser knowns’ stepped up & had (uncharacteristically) big games, keeping them in it untiil late. kapono is killing this team, he simply takes up space…if he can’t get his shot off (and it’s not like he’s not working to get open, he just doesn’t have the quicks to create separation, regardless of how many screens he uses), then he’s just taking the place of a guy who could do an average job defensively. of course, put him on a team with a legit wing (a slasher/creator off the dribble), and i’m guessing that the space he needs might become available. as it stands, he’s completely useless on a team like this.
big ups to JG & AP.
& i don’t know how, but i’m pretty sure this loss is JO’s fault.
He doesn’t exactly demand the ball which is his fault to a large degree but I think the greater problem is the team as a whole going away from what’s been working for them earlier. In the first three quarters I saw Parker pushing the ball and trying to get Bargnani on the block early in the clock, in the fourth quarter that never happened. I’d say it’s 30% Bargnani, 70% team.
Fighting for post position is a problem but what inflame’s is the inability to make entry passes. Sounds almost stupid when you talk about it but we can’t make entry passes, Parker, Calderon and Ukic all suck at it.
it’s not necessarily just about fighting for post position…he just seems to take himself out of fighting for an advantageous offensive position anyway (i.e. just simply moving w/o the ball). i agree, much of it falls on the coaching staff & teammates who are responsible for setting up the offense, but still. i did like the fact that he was really going after loose balls/offensive rebounds, etc. i’m starting to think he may actually not turn out to be a horrific rebounder after all. won’t be great, but i can see 8-ish per game from him, with constant minutes at the 5. enough with playing him at the 3, it may not have been disastrous last night, but it can’t be helping his development.
incidental penetration… lol
Albert,I cant believe how mouthy people are on the internet,we should set you up with Andiamo, so he could bitch slap your sorry pussy ass !!!!
Fans chanting KOBE…. if I remember correctly weren’t they chanting the same way at MSG,two days before you dumb fuck!!!!
Thanks again Arse.
If the Heat wanted to see JO they got their chance last night.
Some of the boys played well last night ,nobody expected a W ,but play hard and leave it on the floor…if the fans see the effort,the booing will relax,we are not stupid fans as some media people seem to think.
We can only play with what we have.
I wonder how dif the make up of this team would of been,had Bargs shown up last year….a nice 2/3 dream on!!! got wood.
Arsenalist,
———————————–
if the team plays like the way they did today they just might be able to make something of the easier March and April schedule. Chances are however that the form, enthusiasm and aggressiveness we say today will entirely disappear by the weekend when we play the Hornets and Grizzlies. That’s life as a Raptors fan, you just don’t know what you have in this team and the only thing you can count on is a great deal of inconsistency. – by Arsenalist
———————————–
IMO, what you saw on display last night was strictly Fool’s Gold. To wit:
* The roster which Mr. Colangelo has constructed is operating at a 19-32/.373 clip, good enough for last place in the Atlantic Division and 14th place overall in the Eastern Conference.
* Jose Calderon is injured and the only credible Back-up PG on the squad is Anthony Parker … which others can now see plainly for themselves.
* Chris Bosh is injured and the acquisition of a player like Jermaine O’Neal has failed to address the Raptors’ Rebounding Differential.
* This team is OVER the Salary Cap and just barely UNDER the Luxury Tax Threshold … yet, still has only 14 players under contract for this season, including a considerable amount of dead weight, e.g. Jason Kapono, Will Solomon, Jake Voskuhl and Nathan Jawai … incredibly, just one season after fielding a competitive roster in the NBA which looked like this:
Ford, Parker, Delfino, Moon & Bosh
—————————-
Calderon, Kapono, Graham, Bargnani & Nesterovic
—————————-
Martin, Garbajosa, Humphries, Baston & Brezic
* The “disconnect” which existed between the former Head Coach and the current President/GM is no more [8-9, this season] … and has been replaced instead by a harmonious relationship with an Interim Head Coach [11-23, this season], who has actually been on this coaching staff since the days of Lenny Wilkens.
* The easiest thing to do in the NBA is to give a “good effort” against a High End Team … a good effort which is good enough to lose a relatively close ball game on your home court.
The cold, harsh truth is that this organization is slipping fast into TREADMILL STATUS … where it will be full-blown, if Chris Bosh decides NOT to re-sign with the Raptors in the summer of 2010 … and it doesn’t seem as though the men in-charge know what to do about it, or how to stop it from happening in the first place.
Unfortunately, I have to disagree with your take on this current team … as, IMO, its rabid fanbase should now know exactly what to expect from a pro sports franchise operated by MLSE.
Please Khandor. Treadmill? We are going to the lottery for sure. Waste that pick! Giddyap!
I’m pretty sure, as I suspected would be the case when Sam got canned, that it’s BC calling all the shots on the floor. That is the only thing that makes sense, with some of the things that have been happening as of late.
Could that Joey G trade rumour have something to do with him starting last night? I don’t know but I do agree that BC definitely has more say in what’s happening on the court.
You’re right, it’s easier to show up for the big games than say against Milwaukee at home and that speaks to the true nature of this team. That’s why I ended my opening paragraph by saying that chances are by the weekend we’ll see the team against Milwaukee and not the one we say last night.
Effort, discipline and IQ are an issue with this team and those are the worst kinds of problems to have.
I am so glad I stumbled onto this site, just great analysis by Arsenalist. I also was wondering about Andrea dissapearing in the 4th in many games, although by accident he has made some clutch shots when given the chance. Anyways a great follow up by yertu damkule about VL’s lack of touches late in games as well. Yertu’s analysis is very insighful. I would just say however, that as a young player starting to come into his own, who does not seem to fight for possession late in the game (is it not amazing how the D night in night out picks up in the 4th by the good teams), that the coaching staff should realize that and call a play for Andrea that forces him to cut to the basket that he does well or get the ball in the blocks, in effect forcing him to fight for possession, which would hopefully teach him to do this on his own.
Some other comments
Kobe is a jerk, but he is the best player in b-ball. Unbelievable how consistently he just takes over the game and hits very tough 12-18 foot shots, I just sit there swearing to myself that he never seems to miss
The Raptors puzzle is well”puzzling”
Bosh, franchise player who is fairly soft and not really a franchise player
Oneal only onery player, a quality that is sorrowly missing from Raptors, yet his contract and age means he will be gone and the Raps will now have no toughtness other then Joey
Joey, who the hell knows, maybe he has turned the corner, but then again maybe not. Can you count on him, only way is to let him start the rest of the year
Andrea, cant jump, cant defend, switches badly and usually only gets rebounds that fall to him, but now that he is occassionaly driving and setting up down low, is a load for most teams to cover because of his shot. Still not convinced really a center and still would only be a nice piece to a puzzle, not the key piece
Parker, seems to play best at point. Clealy not the classic shooting guard the team needs.
Calderon, is he overated? Is he D so bad that it counteracts his O? Raps have played very well with Parker running the team making you wonder.
Bench, what crap. Huge mistake by BC destroying large strength last year and making it weakness. Please Kapono win 3 point contest so some sucker team will take you.
Conclusion, so many square pegs in this puzzle, that I really cant see how it comes together and I am glad BC has that job not me, because obvious building blocks of Bosh, Andrea, Jose and maybe Joey all have warts.
How low have our expectations sunk when we get joy out of effort being displayed by people who get paid millions to play the game? Sad. Take what you can get, ha? At least there is a franchise here, right?
Another “big” game by JO results in a loss. And he should have been T’d up for that barking.
Pipe down Laker fan. Joey gets 24 hours of unrestrained love for his effort, JO gets 12 and then we can all go back to whining.
Lol… of course, now we can expect JO to be out for 9 games, as it takes that many to recover from his Herculean effort. He’s s a stud, really.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=2010~656&teams=3~28&te=&cash=
i like this trade better:
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=984~2779~813~2177~3241~2759~2433~3441~2010~3249~615~635~1023~2790&teams=28~28~28~28~28~3~3~3~3~3~3~3~3~3&te=&cash=
do you think NO would go for it?
I was digging the internets to find Raptor stories and came across this from Hoopsworld:
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=11449
According to that Colangelo is trying hard to move Joey Graham. Is it just me or is this simply crazy?
crazy that he’d try to trade him, or crazy that anyone would be interested?
This better not be true but it wouldn’t surprise me. Joey’s the only Rap who looks to drive first and cut towards the rim begging for somebody to find him. That doesn’t sit well with Colangelo, he prefers Joey shoot more threes.
How about this one??
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=2779~671~813~2010~615~2790&teams=28~28~28~3~3~3&te=&cash=
NO would be crazy not to do that deal.
Good one
While were at it, this is the deal that will make us a little better then we are now.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=2433~3441~2010~3249~615~635~1023~2790~3204~3027~1966~110&teams=5~5~5~5~13~22~5~5~28~28~28~28&te=&cash=
Why Cleveland would do it. Well if you combine everyone together it pans out to be another lebron.
Why Lakers would do it. JO and phil get a long really well and bynums out
Why Portland would do it. AP can play two positions.Period.
I don’t know. That does seem like a lot to give up, especially young players with lots of upside for some old guys on the downside of their careers.
i dunno if i’d do that, it’d be tough to give up on joey, he’s played so well lately. and don’t forget, moon can dunk like crazy! and how can you give up AP now, he’s the backup PG????
dude we keep graham! he would be good backup to LBJ.
heres the rotation
Jose/Roy/Rudy
Kobe/Roy/Rudy
LBJ/Joey G/
Bosh/Joey G
Bargs/Voshkul
solid nine man rotation i think. LOL, no depth in the front court but hey…..we can’t all be perfect.
You’re not giving Joey credit! I saw with that line up we start Good Joey and bring LBJ off the bench for energy. Although I can’t stand the guy and he’s a dick, I wouldn’t mind having him on this team.
I still want BC to get a tiger (a real, live tiger) for this team. The Wizards are getting a lion (see the Jan. 29th entry here: http://www.wizznutzz.com/?gcid=C12289×022>kw=NBA:+WizzNutzz ). We need a tiger!
Is this what Toronto needs someone like me to wake them up? I guess I will keep doing what I am doing till this sorry ass franchise wakes up and starts winning some games. See before you guys would admit your losses now look at you trying to come up with ways in getting things going. Damn I am good..
I still think you guys are pussy boy’s lol!!!
bargs doesnt get the ball in the fourth ever and its trianos fault. AP must have looked him off while in his fav position last night 5 times. joey does it to, but hes on 24 hour grace. i think triano is a terrible coach and you see it every fourth quarter. granted they were playing the lakers last night ,but im one of those optimists that untill last night thought we might have had a chance down the stretch but after last night my glass is officially half empty. triano sucks i dont care what anyone says..
btw as far as prince albert goes i actually live in la and burbank is about as nice as living in nathan jawais choda after practice. its the ghetto wackness and im gonna come give you that JO pimpslap myself you little homo pirate hooker
arse you’re dead on again go raps
Wes- I always thought you were from San Diego, or a ‘whale’s vagina’.
for those who bitch about bargs being called ‘VL,’ just think, it could be worse.
WV.
Wes, if you take into account that (maybe) BC is calling the shots on the floor, it is conceivable that he doesn’t want his golden boy taking any blame for the losses, if he were to fail down the stretch.
I think BC is in charge of the starting lineup and who he wants on the floor in the 4th. I would not be surprised if he chatted with Triano at halftime, either.
(Think Kerr-D’Antoni here)
Jay is just a pawn, BC is the control freak. So, I think this is a case of Jay’s hands being tied. And I’m also going to speculate BC let Jay do his thing for a bit, but now is pulling the string from behind the scenes.
we must not trade JO. The beast has awaken. And since Bosh is hurt, he has the opportunity to step up his game and so far he’s on a roll playing great at cleveland and a monstrous performance against the lakers last night. too bad our team does not have a consistent finisher who can put a game away late in the game. we could have won it. we did a great job of exploiting their no bynum post defense. and if joey graham continues his terrific play, he can be a really great player for the raptors. he has the body and strength of the likes of wade, lebron, kobe. if he continues to develop that jumpshot, watchout.
as for our point guard situation, we need steve nash. jose has shown that he is not worthy of being a starting point guard. his body cant handle the minutes, and when hurt he is a complete liability on both ends of the floor for this team. yes steve nash is old, but he still has the skills to play. he may even help develop roko ukic, who has shown great potential and only needs guidance. nash and roko play similarly minus the outside shot.
as for albert saying that jay triano is a bad coach, do you think our record would be better with mitchell on the bench??? yes we were 8-9, but our losses were 20-30 pts. plus he did a terrible job on developing our young players. he wants bargnani to be a wingman rather than a big man, wasting the effort that bargs did in the off-season. he would rather play will salomon than roko. he wouldn’t play joey, our energy guy.
Believing that Jermaine O’Neal is anything but an injury-just-waiting-to-happen for the duration of his NBA career is simple folly.
exactly. you certainly don’t want to pin your hopes on injury-prone guys…
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nash and roko play similarly minus the outside shot.
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Like saying …
i. Nicole Kidman is similar to Pamela Sue Anderson except for the up-front hardware.
or,
ii. Jamaal Wilkes was similar to Michael Jordan except for the vertical ups.
When the FACT IS that … although each is eminently likeable in their own unique way, there are also MAJOR differences between their respective games. : )
i get what you mean khandor. what I’m trying to say is that nash and roko both drive to the lane and make passes, which jose does not do. I know that there are major differences in their own games. my point is, if nash is on our team, he can mentor roko ukic, help him grow and make him into a better player and maybe even teach him how to shoot.
Question:
Is it possible that you double kobe to take away the fade away?
Anyone listen to Bryan’s interview on the Fan this morning? If there was an award for salesman of the century this man would be the prime candidate. The guy has the gift of the gab is what I’ll say. His philosophy on constructing a team is so faulty and bad it’s incredible.
- Garbajosa the reason why we are in the Eastern basement?
- New Coach a factor in why we have regressed?(Well then why did you fire Sam in the first place?)
Mr Executive: Your drafting and signings/trades have been atrocious. You have no basketball acumen what so ever and you are nothing without your father. Enjoy it while it lasts though.