The “best game of the year” edition
Banks – somebody call a toe truck.
Bargnani – pretty much a non-factor in the second half due to foul trouble (and eventually fouling out in the early fourth), he played a hell of a game on Dwight and had him stumbling around as much as I’ve seen Howard do that all year. He had a hot shooting hand, one we could have used in the dying minutes, but his efforts on Dwight may have won us this game.
Bosh – he is the basketball version of a snake in a box full of mice. Stone. Cold. Killer. Took way too many jumpers, but when he attacked he wasn’t getting the calls anyway. I was surprised to see him staying away from being the double on Dwight, but it kept him in the game. That jumper over Dwight late in the fourth may be in the top 5 shots of this (dismal) Raptors season.
Calderon – ridiculously on fiah shooting the ball, but not a great job getting the ball to his teammates in great spots. In a game full of offsets, I guess we need to take this one, but not a smart passing game in the slightest.
Douby – you know when you are packing for a weekend trip and you throw in that extra pair of underwear “just in case”. Those are known as the doubies.
Graham – he was playing harder than RapsFan in the shower at an all girls catholic school. Some of the balls he went after were beyond the realm of all-things-Joey a year ago. Kudos on a workman like effort.
Jawai – just happy he is back in the big show so he can order “Slutdog Jizzanaire” and not have to pay for it upon checkout.
Humphries – 
Kapono – back to being underused in our offensive sets, even so much that Triano had him pass up a nice shot to feed VOSKUHL IN THE CORNER FOR A 3. Triano actually called that play! Incredible. Anyway, get Kapono the ball in a situation he can make things happen. This guy shouldn’t be looking to Bosh to set a screen for him.
Marion – welcome back. If he is using these final few games as an audition like he did tonight, I’ll take it. That was some killer game out there tonight, taking it to the Magic like an elephant at a peanut warehouse. The only thing better than Bosh’s shot over Howard was Marion’s postgame interview with Jack. Classic interview, classic game.
Mensah-Bonsu – listen…hear that? Kind of silent? That’s the sound of his agents phone at the end of the season.
O’Bryant – hot tip: the Irish are good at rugby. Look into it, Patrick.
Parker – his defensive effort was a catalyst tonight. Active feet and hands, jumping into passing lanes, directing teammates. He put on a clinic on how to beat his man to any spot on the floor and how to get into a guys head.
Ukic – why aren’t we contending? Our back up PG has a night like this in one of our best overall games of the year: 9min, 0 pts, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 3 fouls. Pathetic.
Voskuhl – came in and did what he had to do: put Dwight on the line. For once, his fouls were needed. Thank God we have a specialist in that category on our bench. Wonder if there is a 9th man of the year award?
Driving The Bus: Shawn Marion
Under The Bus: Roko Ukic
Game Theme:
60 Raps
One crazy game to make it Five in a row. Talk about swagger.
This thought just crossed my mind – Where does Triano fit into this streak? Mastermind? Coincidental? Motivator? I dont know…
to add to Alt Raps’s post
Driving The Bus: Shawn Marion
Under The Bus: Roko Ukic
Riding The Bus: Jay Triano :P
Wondering What Took The Bus So Damn Long To Get Here: The Fans
Bosh played solid…12 rebouds and 3 blocks. Wow
Everyone in Toronto needs to stop hating on our talent, their young its takes time….”Trade Bargnani, Trade Bosh, Joses shit….blah blah blah…” we have one of the best rosters on paper. Put your faith in them though the good AND the bad and they’ll play better.
WE JUST GOTTA FUCKING BELIEVE MAN!!
Maybe we should wait more than 5 meaningless games to judge this team.
Yes you’re right its only 5 games but theres 8 more left
These 8 games arn’t meaningless:
#1 they can be the difference for Bosh to want to resign(if he starts to believe)
#2 Marion might want to stay
#3 A winning treak could attract a coach with a plan
But the negatives are
1. Brian gets the impression that this streak is because of triano’s coaching and chooses to bring him back.
2. Also the Raptors might think this team with some tweeking (like bringing back delfino) in the offseason is ready for next year.
agree 100% babyface…
my hope in this streak is that maybe the core 4 is the right group of guys and they can make it work…but i dont want false hope in the form of triano and some minor tweaks to what might be the worst bench in nba history.
It’d be interesting to see a roster of players the Raps let go, who they could have kept, who went on to have great careers.
Chauncey Billips and Roger Mason would top that list.
How bout some love for the Red Rocket?
I can’t get over that he’s got a ring already.
The amazing things is that the Raptors still haven’t been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. They sure are great, when the there’s absolutely no pressure.
very valid point.
This is how we would have played all year if we weren’t expected to contend in the East.
how bummed were the refs that the magic couldnt even win a game they were handing them?
im tired of these crappy calls…on the defensive end there were AT LEAST 3 phantom foul calls on bargnani (howard was elbowing everything while walking everywhere) 2 on chris bosh and on offense bosh got almost NOTHING…
we would have won by a lot more points had the refs not tried rigging this game because
a. dwight howard would have been the one to have fouled out
b. sicky icky ill mago would have continued to help bosh and marion run up the scoreboard
fucking matt goukass didnt have the balls to say anything during his terrible calling of the game.
im trying to get past the terrible officiating just so i can instead see what was a great win.
our bench really is a joke…but great job by joey g not taking any of the refs shit.
i hate orlando…i hate the stupid strip mall city full of florida trash and fat sweaty tourists…and i hate that douchebag dwight howard…someone needs to tell him he’s not funny.
(i sound like nunya)
don’t hate on D-12.
Nobody here gives a fuck about D-12
Wow this team plays well when there is absolutely no pressure. Please fire Jay triano.
This might seem like nitpicking but he end of the 3rd quarter play was horrible (Kapono to Voskuhl for 3)
My system is working. We will make the playoffs. Stop listening to Khandor.
Most people don’t. Most either argue with him or ignore him. Mind you, that vast majority consists of people who are not astute, who lack “acumen”, and who are, like you, Mr Colangelo, not top notch.
Actually Mr. Colangelo, your name is Brian
lol!!!
reminds me of the Simpsons…
Homer: Hello. My name is Mr.Burns. I believe you have a package for me
Post Office Guy: Sure Mr.Burns. What’s your first name?
Homer: ….I don’t know
try bryan
Ok winning now is kinda nice but albeit kinda late and pointless. I have already accepted this year as a write-off but this winning streak has me worried!
1) Could we really retain Marion and if so for cheap? after all if he just walks and we won’t find an adequate replacement then we are moving backwards instead of forward. We will need to find a similar player to Marion just so this team can barley make it to another 35 win season….
2) Does Triano get a second chance because of the late surge? I am tired of this talk of “oh it wasn’t fair for Triano to come in after Smitch firing” well tough! This is the NBA so you best get the most of your oppertuinty or take a hike! I don’t see NBA teams fighting for Triano employment after this season if the Raptors actually decide to fire him. He would probably even accept a demotion back to an assistent coach just so he can stay with this team.
3) A draft position of 7-8 spot looked promising about a week ago. Now it looks as if the Raptors will jump up in the standing a couple of spots and may end up drafting as high as 12. Who are the Raptors going to be passing on the draft due to this late surge? only time would tell.
This team can’t do anything right.
Everything you said is right.
But losing all the time made the players have BAD body language, they starting doubting themselves and their teamates & guys like Marion were probably starting to doubt this city and its potential. Not to memtion the media was killing team chemistry talking about getting rid of Bosh….
I think losing a high draft pick is a good trade off for players starting to gell and believe in this team. Not to mention attracting free agents.
Exactly. Why not get a top 5 pick? I don’t get this winning games towards the end of the season
“If you play to lose, you’ll never win anything.” -JBR-
I honestly hope we package our pick (1st or 9th) with Kapono and trade for a player like Kevin Martin or Monta Ellis.
PG: Calderon
SG: Martin/Ellis
SF: Marion
PF: Bosh
C: Bargnani
1. I think he will look for a deal over the MLS and maybe 2 plus years.
I don’t really pay that price tag unless we play an up-tempo game.
2. NOOOOOO. IMO fire Triano ASAP so we don’t give him or the fans the wrong impression and sign a coach who preaches at the hill tops DEFENSE, BALL MOVEMENT, AND TOUGHNESS.
3. Remember the nba lottery system could benefit us and put us maybe in the 5-9 spot. Still all this winning isn’t helping.
Didn’t we win the #1 pick (where we picked Bargs) even though statistically we weren’t supposed to? Memory = fuzzy!
I think we were slotted 5 and won the lottery in 2006. We also can’t move up to 5 (as stated above) because only the top 3 spots are done by lottery and the rest of the 1st round goes in reverse order of teams’ records.
actually i’m almost certain we were pitted for 7th pick – thats what made it so crazy lucky.
just went to http://www.nba.com/history/lottery_probabilities.html
Our chance to get #1 pick was 8.80%
yes…that is crazy luck!!
“taking it to the Magic like an elephant at a peanut warehouse.” – LMAO!!!
1. I think he will look for a deal over the MLS and maybe 2 plus years.
I don’t really pay that price tag unless we play an up-tempo game.
2. NOOOOOO. IMO fire Triano ASAP so we don’t give him or the fans the wrong impression and sign a coach who preaches at the hill tops DEFENSE, BALL MOVEMENT, AND TOUGHNESS.
3. Remember the nba lottery system could benefit us and put us maybe in the 5-9 spot. Still all this winning isn’t helping.
this altraps guy…should take it easy with the crap…too many negative comments…geez
That’s his shtick. Nothing personal
“Best Win of the Year (So F*ucking What!)” Edition
Your getting all excited because we beat 4 bad teams and the Magic? We always beat Orlando. It’s when Bosh decides to show up because he wants to take it to his best friend Dwight.
And this team is not playing to win games or go make the playoffs. They are playing well because Marion, Bosh, Parker, Graham, Calderon are playing not to get traded/and or bolster there trade value or to get a good money contract this off season.
This is why we are winning games now
“We always beat Orlando”, may in fact be the dumbest thing I’ve heard anyone ever say.
Also, we’re not winning because people are playing for jobs. We’re winning because people are getting comfortable and confident.
Step up the comments son.
Your Wrong.
reread my post again
Stop drinking all that Hateraide J. Its making you delusional.
2008 Playoffs – 1st Round: Magic 4 – Raptors 1
“best game of the year” can only be a game that actually MATTERS in a season.
so true
I’ll take this win, and the next one, and the next one… and every game we win next season.
can’t anyone just relax and have fun watching the Raps play some entertaining ball? The draft will be what the draft will be. We aren’t tanking to pick a LeBron type player in the draft guys.
just chill and watch some fun basketball.
Best comment of them all.
+1
“just chill and watch some fun basketball.”
tell that to TSN2
I stream these games, but I’d much rather see the raps on a bigger screen :P
agreed. i hate tsn2
Just finished watching it on the replay on RapsTV. I don’t understand how the refs can get away with games like this one. They did EVERYTHING they could to hand this to the Magic but the Raptors were just that much better, plus what they had to be to offset the bad calls against the Raps and the non-calls against the Magic. Un-fucking-believable. How is it that after the Donaghy nightmare, refs can still get away with crap like that? I just don’t get it.
And for whatever reason, I found Mutt and Jeff … I mean Matt and Jack to actually be ok tonight. Maybe I was too pissed at the refs to notice …
Sometimes, it takes a bit of heartbreak for a team to know how sweet it is to win. So I’m glad to read about Jose and CB talking about ‘it’s not over yet’ and all that stuff. When the day comes that they’re mathematically eliminated, it’ll hurt bad, after playing as well as they have, lately. It’ll be the kind of burn that lasts into next year, easy. And they’ll remember. That’s why it’s a good thing for them to win all the games in this fading season that they can. They’ll remember. And we’ll see a tougher, more mature team next year, one that knows what it takes to win, a lot more than if they just ‘tanked’ the rest of this year.
Agreed
a win is a win. especially a gritty one.
marion should stay? at the end of the day, he is a veteran, has been on a great successful team, does his job well. it’s really hard to have a better player in his role.
bosh should stay? to me this is the moment to trade: maximum value(he won’t be any better than this)
Don’t know if this has been mentioned but I’m 99.9999999999% sure that Kapono was supposed to take the shot, saw he couldn’t hoist it up and then kicked it to the first open guy he saw who happened to be Jake Voshkul. There is no way he was meant to take a three pointer when he was never even included on any offensive sets throughout the entire game – the dude only took one other shot. Don’t put that on Triano like that’s how he drew it up.
Just skimmed the box score: it wasn’t even a three pointer.
Some combo of either Kapono, Parker, Bargs or Jose, should do an attract D and pass back the inbounder play, when there’s only time left for a long shot. Or put it over the rim and tell Marion or Joey or Bosh to go get it. There’s a reason Jake was open, and it wasn’t offensive execution.
UNDER THE BUS: TSN2