Ben Gordon? Ok, granted he’s got some game and is a machine on offense… but D? you’re bitchin’ about Turk’s D? I don’t think Gordon even plays on that side of the ball… he’s usually floating and waiting for outlets! As well on offense, BLACKHOLE! Give him the ball, you’ll never get it back.

Kapono? Are you for real?! again, when he is stationary and has nobody checking him, yeah, he’ll hit the three… but have you seen him create? have you EVER seen a player step out of bounds more than this chump? let’s not even start with the D… HE HAS NONE!!!

Canada1990… before you make all these bold statements, i’d watch a few more games of basketball first, ‘cuz honestly, going on what you say, doesn’t seem like you watch many.

Lets see the hate responses,,,

I think our team is still “learning” and same with Triano as well because he should of made timeouts much more sooner to address defensive issues with our team.

But people are sitting here giving it to Jose, who did have a sub par game mind you, and yet so few words of Bargs. He stunk it up on offense for 3 quarters and was non-existent on D. But I find it hard to lay it on his shoulders when he really looked like he was putting in an effort out there on the glass and battling for position (losing unforunately). Down low was were Memphis won this game not on the perimeter.

And Hedo’s ridiculous turnover couldn’t have come at a worse time.

“The truth of the Raptors lies somewhere in the middle of what transpired here Friday night and the euphoria of Wednesday at home.

They won’t be as consistently excellent as they were against the Cavaliers; they won’t be as terribly bad as they were here for stretches against the Grizzlies.”

I agree with you when you say ALL of Memphis brought an extra effort and showed up to play.

But, can’t we say the same thing about CB4?

Or about Rasho Nesterovic?

Or about Marco Belinelli and Wright (on D) or even DeMar (not forcing the issue, but doing the little things).

Most of the Raptors did their jobs, Jose Calderon (my favourite player, so perhaps some biased here) simply did not.

I honestly hope he’s working on his shot next practice, because he needs to start being an outside threat.

To be fair and not lay all the blame on Jose (and even Jack’s poor outside shooting), Turkoglu’s second half was somewhat unimpressive as well, I’ve seen him be more dominant.

And I also agree with Arse, bad coaching move to take out Rasho. He was playing really well, and gave our team a boost in the limited minutes he was out there.

Let’s hope Rashard & Carter being out + this demoralizing loss gives us enough to get over the hump and beat the Magic on Sunday.

The officials screwed the Griz in the first game with 4 of their starters in foul trouble after about 8 minutes of the first quarter.

Not a lot of teams can overcome that unless they are playing against really inferior competition.

Last night they got a better break on the calls and played up to snuff.

No surprise here.

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I think that the Raptors should buy out Johnson unless they can find a sucker team to take him in a trade. Paying $3.4 million to a guy who will wind up sitting on the bench and accumulating DNP/CDs is not a very wise decision.

From what I have seen and know it is my opinion that Johnson has lost all interest in playing professional basketball. Most likely he has managed to save a good chuck of the $10 million he has made over the last 3 years.

Two years ago he wanted to become a writer of computer games
This year he wants to become an actor.

No where have I heard from him that he wants to become a NBA starter.

Raps should dump any way they can and fill the roster spot with someone who wants to play.

Bargs shot poorly… but he was putting in some extra effort on the glass (although it may not have shown on the stat sheet). Unfortunately his defense was rather weak. Didn’t try to contest shots, was out of position, and Gasol (in his limited minutes) had Bargs deep in the paint every time down the floor.

Jose, Jack, Hedo, Wright, Marco and DD all had their moments (both good and bad). Was real disappointed in Jay not leaving DD in once he started to get things going in the second half. Damn that kid chases every rebound and puts the effort in on D. He really looked like he wanted to prove something in the second half. He looked pissed. I wasn’t worried about the PG defense as this game was lost in the paint and on the offensive boards. Hedo made a couple real bad choices on offense late.

Bosh was a pimp… don’t want to criticize because he was fantastic… but in the forth he seemed to settle for some jumpers a little more than early in the game.

Rasho… thats the Rasho I remember. Always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Got some key rebounds and put backs.

Jay.. he’s pulling the Smitch when it comes to timeouts. Trying to save them for late game. They are nice to have but I would rather stop a run earlier. He should have used one before Memphis tied the game at 88. He’s not at home… stop the momentum. (and what was with the attempt to go extra small… Hedo, Wright, Belli, Jack and Jose. Thank goodness the refs wouldn’t allow the Marco sub)

All in all.. a game we should have won… yet can’t be too upset about with how well Memphis played. They just seemed to want it more.