They started it…
Bosh: 7 Sometimes you don’t need to dominate, just don’t get dominated. Was overpowered early and started 0-3 but regained his confidence when Shaq went to the bench and grabbed some rebounds, 16 in total. Add a couple J’s against the slower bigs and you got a pretty good game from Bargnani’s second fiddle.
Bargnani: 9 Throw it down big man, throw it down! Knocking trailer threes, coming off screens like a guard and knocking mid-range J’s, presenting himself to his PG, running the floor harder than a race horse. Is there anything he didn’t do? The refs tried to hold him back by calling BS fouls (two in the third that made me miss the replacements) but it didn’t matter, his conditioning let him play both ends and he didn’t lose sight of his offense. Now let’s do 11-15 FG 81 more times.
Calderon: 6 Nothing spectacular, not much burst in his step but kept his guy in front of him save a couple Boobie threes. Passed early off the high screen which was good since our advantage lay in the immobility of the Cleveland bigs, not his one-on-one ability. Solid floor-general game, maintained good spacing, didn’t hang on the rock for too long. His offense wasn’t called upon tonight but it will be. Clanked his first two FTs. What?
DeRozan: 6 The rook knows his role. A couple off-the-ball slash moves, a sweet spot-up jumper and constantly active on defense. Got caught ball-watching and lost track of the sneaky Parker a couple times but he’s a rookie. It’ll happen a 100 times again this year.
Turkoglu: 6 Mr. Sleepyhead didn’t have the stamp on the game offensively but the job on Lebron was more than adequate. By the looks of the two you’d think Lebron would eat him up but somehow the Grand Turk manages to get it done, don’t ask me how. Save a couple “crafty” decisions using screens, he was quiet but what does that say of this team? We don’t need Turkoglu to play big for us to win.
Da Bench
Jack: 5 Good fourth quarter energy and a key drive with a 1:24 left but not enough to let me look past the first three quarters. Got burned by Mo Williams and Boobie too many times for a guy we’re counting on defensively. Question is can he knock down a 20 footer with average consistency, his shot’s been brutal of late.
Belinelli: 7 Where did that come from? Step-back jumpers, drives for dunks and athleticism to rival Usain Bolt. Even made Don Nelson take notice. That’s life with him though, feast of famine, today was feast. He’s a pure no-conscience shooter.
Johnson: 3 Six minutes of nothingness. I’m telling you, there’s a reason he’s been let go by two NBA teams and we saw it tonight. Too light to stay with centers and too slow to defend the three. He’s a tweener, and not in a good way.
Nesterovic: 6 Came in and got a put-back over Shaq, threw his booty around and will sleep soundly tonight.
Wright: 6 Three charges, great positional defense, only jacked up one bad shot. Was hoping this game to come down the wire at the end so I could see him and Lebron battle it out.
Banks: 1 What the hell was he doing playing in the first quarter? Triano must’ve confused him for Jack, they do kinda look alike from far.
Collecting da cheque
Evans, Douby, O’Bryant, Weems
The Payout
Pimp: Andrea Bargnani.
Ho: Amir Johnson.
What we learned: Shaq/Big Z can’t defend the pick ‘n roll. Daniel Gibson’s tattoo is ridiculously stupid.
The Verdict: Cavs looked like they were playing a back-to-back, still a great W. Called it yesterday.
199 Raps
Very impressive win. Cavs looked lost at times. Nice to see Bosh humble in his post-game on-court interview. He’s learned from encouraging MVP chants. Great season opener.
Congrats Raptor fans. I’m really sorry, I was hard on the team. My excuse was the bad pre-season record. It looks like this guys are ready to ball. Jose with the shout of passion on the last 2 of the game, Bargnani owning Shaq(I’m even saying this lol), Belinelli having 10 points and Derozan getting his own for a solid debut(8 points and 5 rebounds). I don’t know what Triano, Bosh and Colangelo told these guys but the bad defense I saw even on the last game of the preseason has disappeared all of a sudden.Lol. Where is Faq now? I’m sure he must be sulking. And Shaq did not have the stats he had the last time, just 12 pts and 7 rebounds now. Bosh showed up, he has shed the RuPaul reference in my opinion(The added weight seems to be working). Even LeBron looked at the guy and was wondering how Bosh could be playing that crazy. Even Turkoglu was smiling in LeBrons face, when he saw how the Raptors picked the Cavs apart. Good job tonight. Now to Memphis, which is an easy win(as long as they don’t under-rate their opponents). With this win, we should be able to beat the :-
1.Phoenix Suns
2. New Orleans Hornets
3.San Antonio Spurs
4.A split with Orlando
5.A sweep of the Atlanta Hawks.
#5 s really important, because if they keep up the defense(by the way, they were only out-rebounded by 1, an achievement), I see this team as a 4th or 5th seed. Sweeping Atlanta Hawks will be motivation to beat them in the playoffs(besides they got a ball-hog and stats-padder in Jamaal Crawford).If we meet Cavs in the semi-finals, we might actually be in the finals. Rap fans pray that Delonte West does not play a lot of games. He is a better wing than Parker and will always have 12-15 points per game. Congrats Rap fans once again.
Ooh… I’m not sure about the Spurs. Then again, I’m not really used to this whole optimism thing. I expect the Raps to lose to Memphis, because life is a bitch that hates me and wants me to be unhappy.
lol come on mannnn .. life cant be that bad … i think everyone has memphis as a W already. .. im only thinkin ORLANDO …
I REALLY hope the team is not looking ahead like you (but that IS the tendency after winning a big game).
I think these games against lower ranked team will be VERY important for us; we still have a lot of learning and gelling to do as a team (and by “we” I mean “they”, of course :P ). The Raps need to take those opportunities to get not only much needed wins, but to improve and polish up their game.
Either way, Sunday is likely to be a reality check for us (because Orlando is deeper than the Cavs, and not playing the Celtics the night before).
BOSH HAS NOT SHAKEN THE RU PAUL
still a bitch who hasn’t proved he can take it in the paint like a true elite big man that is worth max cash. got swallowed by shaq in the first half……
well see if he can take advantage of al jefferson or not
i called this one too…but if i knew we were playing against the refs i might not have done the same.
but alas…we should be 2-0!
love how much better we are last year when attacking…lets just do it more.
go raps!
errr…much better we are than last year.
Arse…..Khandor just blew a brain vessel….second fiddle !!!!! lol
If they had blown that one it would have been all Colangelo’s and Bargnani’s fault according to Khandor, that seems to be his logic for anything that goes wrong with the raps.
We lack the basketball acumen to discuss this :)
Hilarious, couldnt have put it better myself.
He’d have to run it through Hollinger’s computer first, just to be “safe”
Funny, ‘cause I actually thought about Khandor during the game, saying, “Khandor must be losing his mind”. Quizzical looks all around me. Didn’t bother to explain.
Khandor was still spewing about Bargs being a bench guy, and suggesting Amir start over Bargnani as a regular, then also saying again that nobody would be happier than him if Bargnani really did becaome a star but it will never happen…he’s a moron thick and through
I was at the game and it was a great game and pretty much what Arse described. The fans were wild, no one on the Cavs could guard Bargs, and Bosh played real solid especially on the boards and was not a RuPaul.
Only comment that I want to say is what is Triano thinking playing Jose and Jack together? It didn’t work all night and cost us our leads. Jack drives to the hoop and passes when playing point guard, and shoots poor quality shots when playing the 2. Otherwise a fine game indeed.
bring on the Grizz.
I’ve been saying Khandor doesn’t know one thing about basketball for years…Dumb as nails, and the worst kind of Dumb, the kind that thinks he’s smart….
According to Khandor Stats, Jamario Moon should have been a starter in this league…. Are YOU KIDDING ME….
JAMARIO MOON IS WHY THE CAVS ARE LOSING LEBRON….. YOU HEARD IT HEAR FIRST!!!!
Best Regards,
Impressed that the Raps beat 2 teams this game…. the Cavaliers and the Refs. God they were pathetic.
Great game by the Raps though
A double lane violation on the second free throw leading to a jump ball? W. T. F. was that? Never seen that before in my life. That is such a shitty call because the Raps have the rebounding advantage on a 2nd free throw. I’m amazed Triano kept his composure. I would have been livid.
So many bad calls…
Completely forgot about handchecking. Lebron posting and backing down at the 3 point line and Wright is called for putting a arm on him. That is wack.
It may be wack, but it’s the rule. Below the free throw line you’re allowed forearm + 1 hand, above the free throw line forearm only. It’s a very clearly stated rule, and it was an easy and correct call from the refs. I call it a brain fart from Wright…must’ve forgot the rules over the offseason. Hopefully we won’t see too much more of that.
Oops, my bad…no forearm, period, above the FT line extended.
“A defender may not have an extended forearm in contact with an opponent who has the ball above the free throw line extended. This contact at this point on the floor is an automatic foul, whether or not the contact disrupts the offensive player’s speed, quickness, balance or rhythm.”
I am amazed the refs let us win a game vs a team with a “super”-star in King(of foos) James. Stern must have been livid after!
I’m surprised Jose didn’t get called for stopping too fast when LBJ ran into him.
Haha, so true.
Arsenalist you called it, the Raps were awesome. Bargnani totally dominated on offense, they literally ahd no answer, as even when the put James on him he took it to him in the post. I think he would have had at least 35 points and 8-10 rebounds if the refs didnt screw him with 2 bogus offensive fouls. Bosh and Jack really struggled on offense, but Jack’s D made up for it and Bosh’s rebounding was outstanding. Turkoglu was the total package tonight as he did a great job of running the offense, driving to the hoop, and playing solid D to contain LeBron. Belinelli was also fantastic at both ends of the floor, totally shutting down Parker and scoring easily. DeRozan looked pretty steady for a rookie and was very active. Antoine Wright was a wall ond Defence and hit a big 3. That trade BC made brought us Turkoglu, Wright and essentially Belinelli and Jack (freed up mid level exception) who were all effective tonight.
Only 81 more games to go….. 81 more games but what the raptors showed tonight was very exciting. Also called the big W. Can’t wait for the next 81 games.
that is what we said last year, lets just hope it works out this season!
Pretty bad third quarter, but we responded in the fourth. I actually thought Jack did pretty well offensively, because he was one of the few that was aggressive. I thought Wright was the best perimeter defender out there, which confirmed all the talk about him.
I love how Parker and Moon are on the other team now. Whenever both of them make stupid mistakes, I don’t have to cringe and be upset at those two any more.
Looks like the Raps just answered a lot of Frequently Asked Questions…
Too frequently, if you ask me
What a feel good win! I was kind of expecting the cavs to come out and dominate us after what happened against boston last night, but this definitely gives you some hope. Would have liked to see Weems get some minutes to reward his pre-season play, but whatever. I’m not about to plan a parade, but all of a sudden, November’s schedule seems like it could be manageable.
Weems was in a suit, injured.
Ah yeah I forgot. In other news, DeJuan Blair is disgusting. The idea of him learning from Tim Duncan is just… wow…
Why couldn’t BC buy him??? We would not have needed Reggie… I like reggie, but who’d you rather have next year, blair or reggie’s expired contract.
Do we really need to disect every possible “what if” scenario? Could this arguement not be presented to every other GM? Who would you rather have, Kapono taking wild shots or Reggie who hustles and has a expiring contract?
reggie, but that wasn’t my question.
BC did try very hard to buy a late 1st rd draft pick for 3M (as seen in “Behind the Draft”) but I don’t think he was targeting Blair.
bosh was no slouch. he kept driving when his shot wasn’t working and he worked for almost everyone of his rebounds. bargs made up for bosh’s poor shooting, and bosh made up for bargs’ poor rebounding. perfect.
bargnani’s miss on the dunk was funny. even funnier was matt devlin’s “DON”T DO THAT!!!!!!!!!” he’s growing on me.
I wouldnt say Bargs had a poor rebounding night. He had 5 rebounds in 29 minutes. I’m not saying thats great, but if he was on the floor for 10 more minutes, which he would have been if not for the brutal officiating, he would have likely gotten 3 more rebounds, which would have been respectable.
true. i guess my point was that bosh’s rebounds were just as important as bargnani’s points. not to diminish bargnani’s points. i was impressed how he hit his shots even while being screwed by the refs….he’s got composure . And it’s funny (in a good way) how, because of andrea and bosh, hedo can just be on the court, and it creates mismatches. it’s like, andrea and bosh were already creating mismatches for other teams, and now with hedo, it’s mismatch overload.
Yeah no kidding, Hedo is crafty and is a nightmare to guard. Whenever he wanted to take Moon off the dribble, he just abused him. This can definitely be a scary triple threat, and if they can maintain that kind of intensity on both ends of the floor the Raps will certainly challenge for a top 4 spot.
I like offence being initiated by ppl other than bosh and limiting his shots early b/c the ball moves more, bargs is a rythem player and bosh is a force as an offensive rebounder in our starting 5. Other ppl taking shots facilitates his rebounding, his rebounding improves our energy and flow.
Agreed, when the offence goes through Bosh, they are much more stargnate.
What? Bargs rebounding was still bad, he had at least 2 fall into his lap, another he bobbled but one of our guards picked up luckily and DeRozan, a 6″ shorter wing playing rookie, had as many rebounds in 6 minutes less.
How many true rebounding opportunites did he miss or allow his cover to grab?…not many if any. He was average like just about every other player on both teams not named Bosh.
no, he’s a 7 foot centre who actually spent more time in the post last night than at the arc.
Like I said, if you’d bother to have read it: “DeRozan, a 6″ shorter wing playing rookie, had as many rebounds in 6 minutes less.”
Keep in mind, on top of being a 7 foot centre, Ab is also a 4 year pro and DeRozan was playing his first game. Bargs is a crap rebounder, it’s his biggest weakness but the rest of his game looked great.
The number of rebounds Derozan (which he did very well) has nothing to do with how well or poorly Bargs was rebounding…rebounding is Bargs biggest weakness but if you think after watching that game that he rebounded poorly then, well, no need to watch the games and just check the boxscore.
Great game by the Raps! And great call Arsenalist – Bosh is, and should be, Bargnani’s second fiddle. And I don’t mean that as an insult. I just think Bargnani is a better offensive threat and Bosh can thrive more in a secondary, yet important role on offense, and as our number one rebounder. I must admit his little 17 foot jumper drives me insane. Doesn’t have a lot of variety in his offensive game. At least not as much as Bargnani.
Wright impressed me in a Mo Pete but a little tougher kind of way.
Belinelli – I’ll take him over Kapono any day. Kapono made me cringe.
Cleveland fans – get used to Jamario “Shawn Marion Lite” playing exactly like he did tonight – stunned.
Right on the ball. Bosh as our primary rebounder(the garbage man) and Turkoglu,Bargnani the offensive threats. Life is good in Rapsland, if they keep playing this type of stifling defense.
I’d like to point out that Bosh gets his points on a consistent basis, year in and year out, demands doubles etc. Bargs plays off those doubles and his cover (like Shaq last night) have to be able to recover back to Chris.
Bargs looked great, but he’s still #2. At least until he does this consistently.
Bosh is not a garbage man! Just because he was “off” tonight does not mean he should be relegated to the David Lee role. He has some serious offensive skills and if you refer back to the beginning of last season there were times when he too looked unstoppable. Athletes have to go through up and downs throughout the season, this was Bosh’s “down” and he still put up 21 and 16. Imagine what he’ll do when he’s up!
Tonight Bosh was GREAT. He was the Team USA Bosh we all gawked at a summer ago and energized his team and led by example with intensity. I would much rather have Bosh average 18/13 than his usual 21/10. When paired up with Bargs he doesnt need to worry about carrying the team, just cleaning the glass like a champ to make up for Bargs poor rebounding. Turk also did his part with 12p/7reb and Derozan had a very respectable 5 rebounds – most of which were stolen/highly contested clutch types.
Solid game. You know the Cavs are too good to be blown out, and you knew they were going ot make a run. Impressive to see the Raptors withstand it, and go on a run of their own to go ahead for good.
I am looking forward to sunday against the magic.
Dont sleep on Memphis haha – but seriously – we havent yet proven we are above an embarrassing loss (OKC last year), so gotta take care of business there first!
The Raptors have an above average bench. The difference from last year is unbelievably noticeable.
Last year when Jake or O’Bryant would come on the floor (for important minutes) everyone would cringe.
But now, I feel safe and secure with every player Jay Triano puts on the floor. And kudos to him for his tremendous coaching. Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to play the “Keep em’ out of our House” defense that the Raptors played tonight.
Hope to see more good things this upcoming season. Let’s hope this is just the beginning.
Go Raps Go!
holy shit ,
who saw that blocking foul call on bosh?
bruttttttttalllll
Seriously that call and the two “offensive fouls” on Bargs had me steamed. Varejao is such a flop, and basketball needs to make a special rule just for him, whereby if a player flops they get a technical fould because he is an embarrassment to the sport.
On the same topic, anyone see Spreights’ flop when Howard backed him down? Brutal
That, the calls on Bargnani and the shooting file on Jack, ugh… really felt like the refs were trying to keep the Cavs in the game, and I’m not one to believe in conspiracy theories.
Google Portland vs LA.
Stern likes his superstars to shine.
The Raps lose a lot of games due to bad refereeing.
That MoWilliams dive was embarrassing for a soccer player much less an American Baller. Who’s Euro soft now?
Honestly, it was was hard not to feel that way all night. It felt like the replacements. Or, at least, someone try to make up for something.
Great game tonight.
Stand outs:
Bosh – Rebounding. No one else was getting in there. He sent the tone on the defensive end and then in the second half had a vicious offensive rebound that led to a foul. He took on a role tonight which was exactly what this team needed. We will score. But without some Reggie truculence, we cannot rebound with the rest of the league. Bosh fixed that. Great positioning and effort.
Bargnani – Was an offensive force all night. Inside or outside. No one of the Cavs could guard him. That’s what we want. He rebounding was what it always has been but he defense was outstanding. Caused Shaq to miss. Got a nice block. Even some decent help defense. Active and attentive. Perfect.
Derozan – Hit the open jumpers, played with energy, hit the boards, drove to the hoop with the ball and made a smart steal. What more can you ask for?
Belinelli – If he showed up every game and did this we become a different team. Nice drives. Nails a three. Creates. Solid defense on Lebron at the buzzer.
Calderon – Didn’t get beat by Mo Williams and played a very intelligent game offensively. Wanted to see him hit more shots but he played within the offense. Solid decision making as always. Love the intensity.
Fallout:
Turkoglu – Created some space, played some decent defense but overall did not have an overwhelming impact on the game. His shot looks flat.
Amir Johnson – Completely lost out there. No amount of athleticism can rescue you from that kind of positioning.
Nice start. Lets see if they can keep it up.
I was having flashbacks of that game in Boston last season when we blew a 20-or-so point lead and ended up getting beat handily. Way to weather the storm though. For the thousands of games I’ve watched in my life, I still haven’t comprehended the fact that basketball is a game of runs…
against dallas too…
dallas and cleaveland are the two teams. We always have like a 20 point, but we somehow manage to lose it. I see us winning against the cavs tonight until the last 25 seconds. Sick win! Lets hope it continues!
and Orlando….
Honk, Honk! *** Does tribal honking fan dance ***
@raptorzzz: Don’t get too carried away. If our bigs at least match (or outplay) Howard, we have a chance. Otherwise, they are way too deep and way too dangerous for us to beat them right now. We really need to be gelling and rolling for us to stand a chance against them.
Either way, this was SUPER exciting, and a huge confidence booster (hopefully).
The nicest thing to see, for me, was that the Raps completely gave up their lead in the third (sound familiar?), but came back to grind out a victory in the last 14-16 minutes of the game. VERY refreshing to see!
Honk! Honk! Honk!
Lol, it was funny. I was watching the game online, it was like 67 58, my computer shuts off. I restart, and it is 69 68, I am like HERRE WE GO AGAIN… This time was different… I really hope this year will be different.
nice win tonight…what we need to work on now is a good online stream
I just watched my stream from nba.com, crystal clear. They have the first week of the season free, so you can try that till then.
were they not blacked out? how did you get around that?
1st Quarter- Jose on the break to Bargs, Bargs shovels it in from his chest. Made me yell “Il Mago” in the middle of a French Canadian sports bar
4th Quarter- Shaq and Big Z on the floor together. Bargs hits a left elbow jumper to make the lead maybe 7? Wooooooooooooooo!
The Cavs have a very poorly constructed roster. You can’t have Shaq and Biq Z out there together. No one on their second unit is an aggressor. They need Jack more than we do. Brown is a worse coach than Sam Mitchel and he will be fired this year.
Also it is great to have Turk on this team. He had a great game. He makes everyone better. It is almost as if he is the Turkish Michael Jordan.
yea, I really feel sorry for LBJ. He is wasting his talent on this team. I mean THEY REALLY DONT HAVE ANYONE. The guy gets a triple double, and their gets blown out.. If this continues, it should be almost certain that he leaves.
I don’t. I really dislike LBJ. Did anyone notice that he was the 1st Cleveland player to quit when they were down to Orlando in the final game of their play-off series? Delonte carried them.
I don’t like him either. He is so egotistical and while he is a great player and an amazing athlete he is not and will not be Michael Jordan. He is who he is because he’s a very good basketball player who has the athletic ability of a guard in the body of a power forward. He’s strong as na ox and he also gets every stinkin call ever which diminishes his stature with me at least. If this league would demand all players be treated the same from their officials and not tolerate abuse he would be a star but still rank behind Kobe and Wade as pure basketball stars, and still way behind Jordan. I really loved watching Bargnani take it to him last night and couldn’t believe the assinine calls LBJ got especially the clear charge on Bosh that was called on Bosh instead. The refs ruin this league.
cloako: And here I thought I was the only Raps fan in Quebec…but where the hell did you find a sports bar that didn’t have all their TVs reserved for the habs game?
Champs,
On St. Laurent. Best sports bar I’ve ever been to
Nice tip! Thanks.
Did anyone saw LeBron dunk?… Nope
never thought about that, good point.
I meant to say ’see’…I’m too excited…You know when you have a good feeling about the team. I didn’t have the same feeling last year, but this year I feel this team’s confidence. Great defensive game and I’ll admit I had last year flashbacks in 3rd quarter. But this team overcame the slump and was able to finish the game. I also noticed that whenever Bargnani leaves the court, we hit an offensive slump. Bosh reminded me of what Dwight Howard does for Magic. Hedo was great at pick-n-rolls. Jose didn’t score but he had great assists and was in control of the offence. DeMar, I thought, played great on D. Five rebounds is solid from him. I was wondering if Wright would be able to handle LeBron and he did a great job. Jack was big in 4th, and I’m ready to forget the other 3. Belli “Are you kidding me?” Contested some key shots, passing was excellent, 2ND BEST DUNK (AFTER BARGS BASLINE), Nice shooting rythm. Nesterovic is the most reliable guy on the team. He did a great job of keeping SHAQ out of the paint.
I wish they had Reggie to bully Shaq around more and reduce Bargs fouls (Refs had horrible calls today)
Add the last second defense by Belinelli at the end of the 3rd quarter. Where did Belinelli get that from? Pow! Pow!
+1. I missed that! Wow.
Great observation. What’s up with that? You think he’s enjoying playing with Shaq? How about in March when Shaq misses a few games to prepare to appear at Wrestlemania? Moon, Old bitter Shaq, Delonte West … does this sound like a championship team?
This just in. Post-game presser, Lebron James tells Cleveland fans that he will never dunk again, as it is over-rated.
Jeez, the ESPN highlights just had shots of Lebron… Other people play the game too!
Great way to kick it off, Raps! What stood out for me in a big way was that the Raptors looked like a team that was much better COACHED.
And how’s that for defense?
Go Raps!
looked like the team …
Impressed with lbj as always. . . The two guys who played awsome were demar and Bargs in the first half . . . And Bosh also held it down by grabing crucial rebounds. . . Your wrong on one thing. . . Calderon wasn’t spectacular because he didn’t score? He didn’t need to score the man put up ten assists. . . He can score but had enough offence around him. . . Everyone played a good game and don’t hate on Amir . . . He’s suppose to provide energy but in this game we couldn’t risk him on the floor for two long . . . We needed finishers and playmakers to secure this important win. . . You guys see how fast cavs came back in the third? thats cuz the raps started jacking up dumb three pointers where in my head I was like here we go again. . .
I agree, they were settling for outside J’s, when the should have fed Bargs in the post and had him take it to LBJ. They let LBJ relax on defence and focus only on offence. Bargs showed in the first half that he can handle LBJ in the post and they should have punished them for using a smaller lineup.
Amir did clear out 2 Cavs players to create a wide open lane for Turk. It’s the little things…
Great game by Don Corleone (no more VL). I think not having Hedo play great today showed us that we are much deeper team and could compete with most teams.
How about Don Bargnani? Or just The Don…? Fat Tony…? Something Italian. Veggie Lasagna isn’t right.
The Super Mario Brothers(Bargs and Belinelli) or the Italian Invasion(as The Score called them)played well.Kudos to these guys. Dave Hopla’s shooting clinic with the Raps is really working. How about hiring him full-time for the season, Colangelo? The shots were falling tonight and our free-throw percentage has gone back to the normal one(80%). We can win games with that free-throw percentage even if our shots are not falling. Thanks to the Raps, Triano, Colangelo, Bosh, Bargs and Dave Hopla for this win.
I’LL SAY IT!!!!
“Make em Quit Bosh….Make em QUIT”
It wasn’t a great game offensively for CB4 but his rebounding and free throws made up for it. Still I was dying for him to throw those words out in the post game interview.
Can someone find me a pic of Reggie Evans on the sideline looking like he was late getting ready to his inner city high school semi-formal?
Every time they showed him I thought the prophecy had come true and ODB finally came back to us, only to spend the entire night chilling on the Raps bench.
“I thought the prophecy had come true and ODB finally came back to us, only to spend the entire night chilling on the Raps bench. ”
Lol, He kinda looked like ODB (R.I.P)
I have only one thing to say to all those Barganani haters….suck it! He continued right where he left off last year and then some. Not only did he post up LBJ but he also blew by him on a pump fake from the perimeter. He’s only 24 and still has so much potential…and I really don’t care if he averages 5 boards/game. He can score so many different ways…I wonder who is going to be able to defend him on nights like this.
Bargs and Bosh are “THE MOST DOMINANT BIGS” (KG & Wallace and Nene & Kenyon Martin might be in the mix too) right now, and then you add 6′10 SF. This team will give nighmares to other teams on defence and offence.
Howard and Bass
Ah… NOBODY. As far as offensive versatility, that is getting very near Nowitzki territory for him.
You know, on a couple of plays on defence, I saw Bargnani doing something that got me thinking: he seems to be okay at boxing out at times (he seems to have a nice wingspan), even if his team-mates end up securing the rebounds.
I wonder if he helps raise the team’s rebounding (at times), without being a great rebounder at times. Something to keep an eye on.
Bargs is just generally bad at rebounding. SOMETIMES he boxes out his man, but it’s generally when he already has good defensive positioning and boxing out is just a matter of turning around and getting wide. Anybody can box out in that situation.
He often gets caught out of position, though, in a place where he can’t properly box out. This happens pretty often to big men in a lot of teams’ defensive schemes, like when they’re fronting or when the ball gets skipped or quickly swung, but the really good rebounders manage to push their man far enough under the basket that the offensive player’s inside position is actually rendered a disadvantage, or at least a draw. Watch Rodman play a few games, and keep your eye on him in the half second before a shot goes up, and you’ll see what I mean.
Bargnani’s other rebounding problem is that when he does box out and get good position, he often fails to get the board. This is partially because of timing, and partially a lack of explosiveness. Boxing out is important, but to actually grab the board against a quality big man, you need to explode up out of your low, box-out position at the right time and grab the ball. The guy you boxed out is forced to stay flat-footed for fear of fouling you in the air. Bargs stays too low too long and lets people grab boards over his head.
He didnt have a poor rebounding game, he only played 29 minutes, so assuming he played 10 more minutes he likely would have gotten 3 more rebounds. Also, he did lead the team in rebounding during the preseason, which may not mean much, but that could be a positive step heading into the season.
5 boards in 29 minutes is 8.3 per 48. Last year, he had 8.1 per 48. Either number would put him 33rd out of 34 centers who played serious minutes last year. Call him a PF and either number would put him at 36th out of 41.
I definitely call 5 boards in 29 minutes a poor rebounding game. Hell, “poor” might be overrating it…it’s awful.
BUT, once again, he’s got other qualities that help to make up for his boarding deficiencies, and he played a great game tonight.
Bargs was without a rebound for at least 6 minutes of court time in the 2nd half so I don’t see how you can just tack on an extra 3r’s in 10 extra minutes. 5 in 30 is a rate of 1 every 6min, meaning an extra 10 minutes in the game would get him roughly extra 1.6 boards. He’s a great offensive player, is showing loads of improvement on D but simply is not a rebounder.
Please pay more attention to Bargs, at least last game. He was the one boxing out on the defensive end allowing DeRozan and Hedo to fly in for the rebound. I’d give a lot of credit to Bargs for the 12 boards that Hedo and DeRozan managed to muster, because if it wasn’t for him they would have collided with one of the bigs.
Bargs did an EXCELLENT job of boxing out last night, and saying otherwise means your referring to last season’s deficiencies and not what just happened.
(that said, he had an absolute monster of an offensive game, and played adequate to good post defense for the most part…don’t mean to take any of that away from him)
As long as Bosh averages 12 rebounds this season and Turkogu and Derozan average 5 rebounds, Bargs rebounding deficiency should be covered.
What was up with Turkoglu’s 3 blocks? I never knew, he had such repertoire of defense.
Perhaps you missed his block on Kobe in the finals?
Did not see it. Would check youtube for the block. The results of the finals last year was already cast in stone – the Lakers were destined to win. It would have been close in the final last year if Courtney Lee did not lose that last second shot near the rim.Sigh.
I have seen the block on Kobe in the finals. A clutch block needed to disrupt Kobe.
I posted the scouting report on Hedo’s defense here a dozen times or more over the summer, which states that he’s a very good defender, with surprising length, who is crafty and can get steals and block shots due to the length he has. Nobody that reads this site should be surprised except for the people that just look at skin color and say, “Bad defender”.
I was a Bargs hater for a long time until the end of last season, and I am happy to see that he did well the 1st game.
More games like this, and even the American media will stop hating on his contract and we can gloat!
Bargs is making an average of 10m/year x 5 and has loads of upside, Sideshow Bob is making 8.4m/y x5 and is what he is: a garbage, floppy loser who isn’t significantly above average in anything other than bad hair. He’s like an older Noah or a homeless mans Ben Wallace.
AB is gonna be feeling fleeced by BC in a couple of years.
I think you are right, and that is why I think the organization feels good about this contract right now. It is very long-term, and quite decent in cost per year.
We will have him going into his prime, when he has the potential to be a $16+ million player (per year). If he continues to develop and improve for a few more years, that contract will be looking nearly as good as those of young stars on rookie contracts.
I thought the Raps would get blown out tonight but they proved me wrong.
The one thing that struck me was that they actually looked like they knew what they were doing on defense. Hope they can keep this up.
What’s with the BS calls tonight against the Raps? The replacement refs would of done a better job! The blocking foul called on Bosh was ridiculous!
HAHA i was working at the game tonight, and the chant was priceless, stupid call, but the refs made up for it on the next possession
Working at the game? Nice!
Wtf was with the dance pack on the first break? right, let’s just kneel down for 5 minutes and not dance.
fire em all. noobs.
wrong song.
When Bargs is aggressive on offence and his shot is dropping he is a pleasure to watch.
The interior rotations looked soooooo much better than last year. I think replacing Moon, Parker and Calderon with Hedo, Wright and Jack is just fucking huge… does not force our bigs to play recovery defence as often.
I like out matchups with the Cavs better than against many other teams because having the ball in Lebron’s hands means that Calderon is not defending the point of attack.
I like Wright. Tough player.
Belinelli is fun to watch when he’s on. This season will be so much more entertaining.
“I think replacing Moon, Parker and Calderon with Hedo, Wright and Jack”
1) Calderon is STILL on the team.
2) There was absolutely nothing wrong with how Calderon played on defense tonight. +1 for the game.
3) Jack was -9 tonight. Even at that he is a huge improvement over any backup the Raps had last year – and I’m sure he won’t be in the minus most nights.
4) Wright is backing up Hedo (Moon & Parker were starters)
And yes, getting Hedo, Wright and Jack is huge.
having better options on defence at the pg position is huge.
Oh yeah – Arse, nice post. We will win 65 games if the other team has to play Boston the night before and we get to rest…
Hahahahaha… too true!
So THAT is the true key to our season: playing the Celtics’ leftovers.
Can’t believe it. We were all blinded by pre-season.
I’m happy to be wrong and blinded by the pre-season! Maybe other teams will be blinded as well!
It was a little tense when Cleveland tied it up – but I was impressed with the way the Raps pulled away.
I’ve been reading how Turk will not help in the rebounding department, so it was nice to see him pull down 7. Not worried about AB either – 5 in 29 minutes will suffice. 28 points was nice … should’ve been 30 – that break-away (and missed dunk) was unique. I think he was surprised, and couldn’t recover.
BS fouls on Bargs too. We might have something with “Second fiddle” Bosh concentrating on the Rebound part, and less on scoring — AB can pick up his slack. Turk & Jose were below their averages, so the firepower we have was not quite there – there’s additional points as the season progresses.
To all those who predicted the win — great fortune telling.
To all those (hey Kandor), who say AB will not produce wins… Great – Go cheer for someone else.
I believe Marco introduced himself to a reader called Mark who said “Marco…Well I won’t go there. He is a talented player and would be a top pick if it was street ball. No IQ for the game at all.”
Beli had the best +/- on the team and showed (both defensively and offensively) that he will not need to be a ringer on a street ball game as his new contract worth many millions is being drawn up by the accountants right now.
not sure about the street ball comment, but he played some good D tonight, that’s for sure!
Bosh was Bargnani’s second fiddle? I am not a Bosh fan, but you do not know basketball if you don’t think 16 rebounds is a big deal. If Bosh can give that kind of production on the glass on a regular basis, he’ll get a max contract this summer without any problem. Great game Chris!
No, people are just excited from bargs performance. That kind of performance it expected of Bosh, but not from bargs. It’s like when LBJ has a 20 point night, so say “yea, he didnt have a very good night…”. Bosh’s performance was awesome, but from the offensive perspective, he could have been much better.
I agree , Bosh was a major factor in the win today.
lets not forget the trips to the charity stripe….
bosh stepped up when he needed to and when bargnani was out.
i agree that the offense is stale when it goes through bosh (i.e. the third quarter), but we would have been nowhere if it wasnt for his hustle and (dare i say?) leadership.
I haven’t seen Bosh showed this much grit in a game since…that time he did that around the back layup and blocked the shot right after that thing in 2007.
Speaking of Khandor, here’s his take:
If the Raptors fail to reach the playoffs this year it will be due, instead:
1. To the wool that’s been pulled over the eyes of much of the team’s collective fanbase … blah blah blah
2. The decision to use Andrea Bargnani as the team’s Starting Center, as opposed to being Chris Bosh’s [C] back-up at this position;
3. blah blah blah
4. blah blah blah
RapthoseblahblahblahLeafs
If Andrea got 21 and 16 I think it would be considered 10 out of 10
Bosh 16 rebounds were massive and he was a major factor atleast 8.5
Derozan was awesome tonight the team with him on the court was much better then without. One bad turnover but a very nice first NBA game.
GO RAPS….
The reason he didnt get 10 out of 10 is because his shooting was brutal. If they lost this game, people would have pointed to Bosh and his FG percentages. I agree his rebounding was huge, but 28 points on 15 shots in 29 minutes is even more huge. If Bosh wasnt 6-17, then his rating would have been higher. In the end who cares what there rating was, the team won and thats all that really matters.
Team game – team win!
If we count 2 free-throws as a play (I don’t remember if Bosh or Bargs had any And 1s), then here are some stats:
- Bosh took 23 plays to get to 21 points (in 40 minutes).
- Bargs took 17 plays to get to 28 points (in 29 minutes).
- That is akin to Bosh shooting 45.7%, and Bargs shooting 82.4%.
If Bosh’s percentage was at least in the mid 50s, he would have probably received a 9 or 10 rating. Either way, he did a solid job and stayed aggressive most of the night.
haha, it is just so funny that all these people who comment ” I always knew that the raptors will be good this season”, would have such a different comment if we we blown out tonight as expected. 1 win can throw people’s opinion to the other side of the fence, including me… If we play like this the whole season, a 50 win season would not sooo out of reach. But then again, the chances are sooo low…
I think they are capable of playing like to-night on a regular basis . the chemistry seems to be there , so a fifty win season is not unthinkable.
Except that now the Raptors have been scouted. People know how they’re going to play this season. We had the advantage against Cleveland not only because of the back-to-back but also because we knew how they would play. When Cleveland threw small ball at us we gave up a lot of points because we weren’t prepared.
Cleveland wasn’t prepared for us the entire game. We won’t have that luxury against other teams now. Let’s wait 10 games before we start talking about a 50-win season. Remember we started 3-0 last season and ended up with only 30 more wins after that.
Yeah, it is incredible how high and low Toronto sports fans can get, but let’s think of it this way.. Is it more likely that Toronto overachieves just this once and then sucks for the rest of the season? Or does this show that the raptors truly could be good and will have their off days? The fact that they won this game in a fairly convincing manner against an enormously hyped Cavs team really speaks to a lot of people, Boston last night or not.
I was very impressed by Bosh. He took it upon himself to go to offensive board and battle it out. He is basically the only guy we have who is capable of doing that.
Jose was good but in many occasions I felt that he is too late or too conservative to pass the ball. In few places, Bosh did roll into the post and had a good position but Jose was too slow to make the pass and went with less of a risk pass. But overall, He played a good game.
The question boils down to this, 50 million dollar.. Ben Gordon or Turkoglu.. Turkoglu has made the team better but he isn’t worth 50 million.. Lets be real.. He’s slow, yes he can create plays and he is cluth.. but he’s slow,,,not athletic whats so ever.. he can offer you decent defense and a jump shot. . I dunno I think if we lost the game people would be more critical on Turk,, but good game Raps
Turk looked good out there. If the Raps lost that game and turk still did what he did last night, people wouldn’t deserve to be critical of him.
True about Jose, but it is a trade-off with him. You get SOME easy points here and there, but you get SOME more turnovers if you go for the risky passes.
I actually think that he is doing a good job of pressing a bit more than last year.
Also, remember what Triano said in an interview: he wants to push the tempo, NOT rush shots (i.e., not run-and-gun). If they can get into a great position because they ran up the court, they can sometimes take their time exploiting that advantage (rather than forcing the issue early in the shot clock).
Actually, I don’t remember seeing a single shot-clock violation by us last night, which means our offense never stumbled to that point.
i loved bosh as the glorified garbage man! only a couple of his shots really bothered me which is fine because he earned them with his hard work so i couldnt complain. i feel like he flows better in the offence this way he was very KG tonight. i think bargs as our first option is the way to go this year..
coach brown shouldn’t have a job, he gave us the game playing shaq and z in the fourth – cavs would have won if they stayed small with varejao at the 5. but all in all, great start for the raps.
True dat, but the better teams take notice and take advantage of the weaknesses presented to them, that is called ADJUSTMENT. We did not have that with Smitch at all due to his inexperience and lacking assertiveness also our lack of basketball IQ and athletics from previous role players.
Avery Johnson on the score just said raptors played great defence on the Cavs… nice to hear that for a change.
Belinelli was good on D as well!
Wright – key 3 pointer, out of nowhere withe the ball from him knees…
good game overall!
“Second fiddle” Bosh & Bargnani
I think some people misinterpret this whole Bosh/Bargnani duet. From my perspective, I’d prefer a 18 Pt 14 Rb Bosh average, where his strength is in cleaning up the boards — ala Howard. And where Andrea is the 20 point + man.
I prefer not to see the jumper set that Bosh tries on, which became somewhat contagious during the 3rd quarter. I cringe during those post-ups, and that 7 second dribble routine.
Somewhat like the US Olympic team experience, a powerful rebounding Bosh would be more valuable to this team — we have plenty of scoring options in other places.
As for the second fiddle tag, I think it`s more reflective of the MVP chant we heard last year. 16 rebounds – that is a great game. And no one would say anything different.
We`re not going to the finals – but can we at least enjoy the moment. I`m sure we`ll get our asses kicked sometime down the road.
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12 rebounds and 15 points from Bosh(6-8 points at the charity stripe) is okay for Bosh as long as Bargnani is averaging 20+ points and Hedo is averaging 15+ points.
I enjoyed the win against the Cavs and the pace that the Raptors played. While watching the game I wonder why did we sign Hedo Turkoglu. I liked Turkoglu when he played in Orlando but I do not think he fits in. Really ask your self the question; what did he do last game? I still believe we should have signed Ben Gordon for that price. Ben Gordon would have brought so much more to the team than Turkoglu IMO. If we wanted a guy who can just make the occasional three pointer we should of kept Kapono who was faster and a better shooter.
Are you kidding me? On offence he created for others and got his shot off the dribble whenever he wanted to. On defence he nuetralized LeBron and collected 7 rebounds. When Bargs was off for foul trouble he was the calming influence that steered this team to victory when Cleveland was making their run. I’m not sure what else you want? Just because he may have deffered to others doesnt mean he played a bad game.
Don’t forget 3 blocks by Hedo.
you wonder what did Turkoglu do and why did we sign him? if you’re serious, all I can say is, watch closer, bro. watch a bit closer.
+1. Hedo’s influence can’t be seen with stats alone.
Hedo did not have the most fluid game, it is true. But, he managed to contain LeBron, no mean feat. His exertions on defence should be enough to justify his role in this win. I also think he will be valuable in the future during spells like in the 3rd quarter when we needed someone to try to create his own shot a little bit. I think he will get better and better as the season goes on.
I am just high on this win. Good effort. Bargnani was on the money tonight! Bosh and his boards were money, Calderon and his floor marshalling was money, and Turk’s defence was money, and DeRozan’s energy in the first half was money! Wow.
Seriously, Canada1990, stop harshing our buzz.
wow, Ben Gordon? There’s a reason Chitown never wanted to pay him: he’s a combo guard with a sick shot but is also a black hole on Offense. Like Zbo without the off court BS. And no one is slower than Kapono, who can’t defend a chair, can’t handle the rock and tries to do other things than shoot 3’s. Do you even watch live ball or do you just play 2k10 and watch highlight reels on youtube?
One note on Belinelli: his first two shots were contested fadeaway jumpers from just inside the 3pt line on the wing. That is literally the worst shot in basketball. Sure, he made one of them, and had some nice drives and cuts later, but if he continues to take those long fading 2s he’ll hurt us more than help in the long run.
Talk about over analyzing and being overly critical. He also completely shut down Parker and was hustling on both ends of the floor. If he continues this he will help us more then hurt us.
good point
He is our microwave. If his shot is off, you take him out. If it is on, you leave him in. You can’t give him a chance to hurt us by taking bad shots unless he is on fire. And tonight, man, he was scorching.
Filthy, dirty anti-fan.
Great to see energy and passion from the team and most importantly Bosh. Hope he buys into the role of primary rebounder and secondary score after Bargs.
Hope that happens cause then a frequently asked question on RR would be “Where the hell is FAQ now?”
Did Canada1990 say we should have kept kapono?!?!?!?!? For shame!!!! May Reggie Evans yank your balls out and bite your head!
Raptors Win! Raptors Win! Raptors Win!
Boy it feels good to say it after a whole offseason, especially when beating the LeBrons.
Cleveland LeBrons. Hahaha, love it!
Put one in the unexpected win column for the Raptors.
I guess the Cavs were just tired? Not looking much like a 60 win team off the start.
Has anyone noticed just how badly the Cavs need a “real” point guard?
And how fast Shaq goes from being effective to invisible during his first 2 games?
O’Neal was -25 tonight!
I don’t think the Cavs need a “real pg”. Lebron is truelly a PG in a big mans body. The problem with the cavs is the lack athleticism. Nobody moves when Lebron has the ball.. they all stand around.
Lebron is just too good of a passer to stand still. He could rack up 15+ assists if somebody actually did something when he has the ball.
Shaq wasnt invisible tonight…i noticed his large frame all night…he was making bad shots, and causing turnovers and slowing the play down…
Where are all of FAQ’s “smart” responses and criticisms of how this “disparate bunch of ballers” will go 0-30 to start the season?? Please tell me he hasn’t been kicked off of the site just yet. I really want to see what he can possibly say about this game that will back-up his frequent criticisms and “so obvious’”.
This was truly a testament to what Triano and staff’s principles may provide us this year. It is such a relief seeing our subs come on and not having to roll my eyes and think, “oh crap, here comes _______”.
Go Raps!
Actually … FAQ said we might see a 3-30 start. So don`t be dissing him … we still gotta win those other 2 games.
.
Don’t let FAQ fool ya. He was seen after last night’s game, wearing his ‘King of the Tribal Honkers’ t-shirt, dabbing his eyes, saying ‘I’m so happy … I’m so happy’.
Actually, let’s give credit where credit is due: his attitude has really improved through the last 3 or so days.
He even said yesterday that he was feeling like we had a good chance to win this game (before the game started, I mean).
And I dully poked fun at him for being a tribal honking fan!
I kind of enjoy reading his take on things and sometimes even his outright diatribes. When he makes sense, he makes a lot of sense. When he doesn’t, he’s probably just hammered. And even some of those times (hammered or not), he makes me laugh. Just hope he doesn’t wait ‘til the first loss before showing up again. (where are ya, FAQ? I know you enjoyed last night’s game as much as anyone else did. It’s ok to say so. Lol.)
love the pimp and ho. better than the bus driver and under the bus from last season.
good game by the raptors! you are right, bargs is the raps number 1 offensive guy. he did show that last season, when JO got hurt. bosh is better as an offensive sidekick to bargs. i’m rooting for bargs to win the MIP this season. great game. this boosts our morale as raptor fans. we started 1-0 and beat one of the best of the east, a team that destroyed us last season. we didnt have to wait for 8-9 games to have our first win. i hope this continues, and we might sneak into the playoffs, i’m hoping 4th seed. but too early to tell.
now, this just shows how crappy the cleveland management is. they lost last season to a “better” orlando team, yet they only add an old shaq, who spent his summer on his own reality show, and our raptor hand-me-downs. boston upgraded their frontline by adding sheed. orlando got the type of player they desperately need, an all-around scoring guard in vince carter. the defending champs replaced ariza with artest. the spurs add jefferson. we smuggled hedo from portland.
yes, lebron is still the best performer in the league, based on stats, and he could bring a team to the playoffs by himself. but, he would not win a championship by himself. the cavs can still win many games, but with their current roster, i dont think they will make it that deep into the playoffs. they might get booted out early in the 2nd round. just imagine how many games the cavs will win if you remove lebron from the team. AP is ok, but i dont think he could matchup with the likes of carter, ray allen. they must have thought of jamario moon as a mini-shawn marion and a pippen lookalike for lebron. Good riddance he’s out of here.
Orlando added Ryan Anderson and Matt Barnes for NBA equivalent pocket change and they can actually start for NBA teams, and they are on the bench for Orlando.
true. i remember, anderson killed us too along with carter when both were still wit the nets, during our third encounter with the nets. saw that game at the acc.
I think the Cavs become a different team when they have Delonte West and Leon Powe waiting in the wings. Their depth right now is pitiful but those guys are solid players and definitely help. A bad start doesn’t mean much to Cleveland. They’ll do fine.
Nice recap good win.
I wonder if the lack of a scouting report on the Raptor’s sets had any influence on tonight’s game? Hope this game isn’t just a flash in the pan, of course it does not really matter as tonight’s game was outstanding and woth enjoying the afterglow and worry about future games in the future – go Raps Go.
No. The problem was that they could not defend Bargs and Lebron could only check one of Hedo or Bosh.
the win was awesome despite the fact that i found out from espn’s recap of the Boston-Charlotte game that it gave joy to C***s fans that the the Cavs lost to us.
NO ONE DENIES THIS.
Who ever was happy to see Jamario Moon to take those really stupid shots and fumble a rebound (that gave us a transitional bucket) please raise your hands… (two hands are up from me)
hand up. hand up.
28 postcards to some donkey named smitch…
to all worried about hedo’s contract: he is a smart player,he really understands the game, can shoot 3es, has played in a final and is clutch.
those things doesn’t age
The Raptors did good things with Bargs-Bosh-Garbajosa> a forward that has size,experience,shot and passing skill.
Hedo is a better garbo. we are in a good spot.
p.s.
I like Derozan. guy is smart and humble. more smart player > more wins.
more Jamarioooos> bad times
Smitch who? I wonder if Bargs misses him on nights like this.
Just an outstanding showing from the boys tonight. The home-opener crowd has a lot to do with it. I was in the lower bowl tonight and the enthusiasm was unreal. Hope it stays for the rest of the season.
Great defence and a great start. Kudos to Triano and the coaching staff – there was a definite commitment tonight to contesting shots.
That was a better performance than any game the raps played last season!
Shaq in Cleveland could be like Hakeem in Toronto.
Really great win though let’s not start sucking each other’s dicks – last year’s team start out 3-0 and looked like a legit team as well.
But I do have to say the Raptors looked smarter. The rotations were tighter on defense (the fact that Wright draws three charges speaks as much to the team positional defense) and the decision making on fast breaks and in the half court was excellent: people going to the hoop! in the last two minutes! putting a team away! amazing!
Second, Shaq is going to be about -250 for the year…he looked really bad against Boston the night before and even worse last night. He’s significantly slower, doesn’t react well on offense or defense and is a black hole in the post. The Cavs best line-up was that small ball with LeBron at the 4 distributing. I knew once the they made their run with that team, then brought back in the two centers that the Raptors would have a great chance at a win.
Lastly, start calling him arrett ack because the man has no J. Ho ho hee hee. Seriously, though, if he hits a three once this year everyone on the team should get a free go at the Crab Pack.
Marcus banks played great defense for that 30’s he played.
for that one play he was a part of, forced his man to take a bad shot, he should get a 10 for that play not a 1 cause he played 30 seconds.
How often are the Raps on the NBA.com front page? Nuff Said.
only when lebron gets a triple double….. or kobe drops 81.
nice to see them off to a solid start on defense. if they play down to memphis tomorrow, last night’s win will have been in vain. i hope they do not play down to lesser opponents this year. triano said that the players got together before the game and set the tone for how they will come out and play the entire season. i hope we see a sense of urgency night in and night out.
Marcus Banks actually played pretty good D on Mo during that 1 minute span. Hes a decent defender, however still not worth his contract.