The ‘yeah, well, evidently they are still better than us’ edition.
Banks – more chance of this game taking place at the Alamo Dome than Banks seeing the floor.
Bargnani – saw a little bit of all of his game tonight. Indifference, a rare block on a meaningful shot, his usual silky touch. His D on Bonner was brutal at times and it made you pray for switches or subs. Something that hasn’t been said very often this year.
Belinelli – evidently he has big balls if you are to believe Devlin. For a stretch he and Bargs were playing as advertised and it made you wistfully think of what might be in a few months. Not a huge fan, but he did enough tonight to make you notice he was on the floor. For once.
Bosh – hell of a job getting to the line and a nice job shooting from the floor. That said, he should have been a beast on the boards. Instead it took him a while to get past 5. Far and away the best on the floor tonight, but his inability to command the paint should be looked at as one of the factors in the loss.
Calderon – the only thing missing from his game tonight was a purse. Hands over his mouth, arms stretched wide, running to the ref like a 4 year old who just had his GI Joe stolen by the neighbours kid. Sure, his game continues to improve from pre-season, but floor leadership is something this squad needs.
DeRozan – son, hope you like that chair you sat on for most of the game tonight because, soon enough, you’ll start the game there. Flashes of athleticism? The only flashes he has shown would be from the flipbooks the coaches give him to show him what he should be like. 9 minutes of nothing and he couldn’t keep up with any of his assignments.
Douby – DNP – EHIB
Evans - faker.
Jack – this guy should get a sponsorship deal with a menopause product. Hot, cold, aggressive, passive. I’m beginning to think he plays up or down to the level of his own teammates.
Johnson – good game full of something this squad has issues with: hustle. He seemed to be all over the court and zeroed in on the ball whenever he was on the court. Still overly aggressive and a foul magnet, but we’ll take what we can get.
Nesterovic – here’s a thought: a big, playing against a former team, possible ability to surprise. Pregame he was rumoured to be the guy to be on Duncan for stretches. No Duncan and therefore no Rasho? Makes no sense.
O’Bryant – he may have followers, but he don’t have minutes.
Turkoglu- better game from him. He seemed much more loose and active. Still, is it just me or does his ability to coast overshadow his game? He reminds you of a hippy that just took a nice bong hit and is more fascinated with all the pretty colours than the task at hand.
Weems – I want to say that I see him as being in the 8 man rotation come February, but I shudder to think what that means as to where we will be as a team. I like his game but, unfortunately, there isn’t room for him right now.
Wright – bizarre shot selection, but he was playing D like a fat man guarding the desserts at the Mandarin. He needs to bring his guys in a bit more often to set stuff up on the defensive end. Would love to see him be the floor leader in that respect when he is out there with Jose.
Driving The Bus: Chris Bosh
Under The Bus: DeMar DeRozan
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81 Raps
DeMar’s defense and effort on “D” reeked of Jamario Moon tonight. Get exposed, blown by and try and use your athleticism to block the shot from behind. Ugh
Antoine Wrights offense reeked of Moon too
True, but I’ll take Wright’s defensive abilities any day over DeMar’s offense ones. ;)
Play at the end of the game. Bargnani posted up yelling for the ball. Wright looks right at him, decides to drive past into TWO San Antonio players (Bargs’ player left him), and turns the ball over.
I like Wright on Defense, but sometimes I don’t think he knows what the meaning of the word ‘pass’ is.
The Raps are gone for this year. Stick a fork in em, they are done. This is a .500 tam and a first round exit. The Spurs game was a winnable game and they still lost.Looks like another team dismantling after this season by Bryan Colangelo and Bosh likely leaving for Free Agency next year. Long season, Rap folks.
Does your train of thought have a caboose?
Its 7 games for heaven sakes …. sure things are looking bleak right now, but come’on. God, some of you guys are drama queens.
You still see some hope in this team of players who never live up to the expectations we gave them salaries for(Jarrett Jack, Belinelli, Derozan, Jose, Bargs and Turk; only Bosh deserves the salary he is getting now). Stop day-dreaming guy! This team is at best a .500 team. Count the loss to Utah(even though Utah is struggling) and likely to the Bulls(even at home!)(games that are winnable), if we continue to play this awful defense.
Guy, its not my fault some of you Raptors fans had unrealistic expectations for this newly revamped team. Myself, I thought at best this team was a 40 to 42 win team with the slimmest of chances creeping into the playoffs. I guess its how you interpreted this roster prior to the season starting. My guess is that you “had” much higher expectations than myself.
Hey dude, why don’t you go cry in you’re beer. While their defense was non-existent, their offense remains on of the most potent in the league. Calderon is steadily improving after taking the summer off, Bellinelli showed signs of his offensive potential and Weems looks like he could soon crack the second unit. I doubt any single person would have thought the Raps would have gelled this well (offensively) after only 7 games. Drama queens like you should stick to watching Desperate Housewives.
I think its time to ship Derozen to the bench.. the kid might account to something 2-3 years down the road but he is just flippn clueless/useless out there each and every night!!!!! too manny 0’s across his stat sheet
time to put Rocky in the starting lineup
Agree. DeRozan can’t play.
Gee, it’s strange for Raps ‘fans’ to give up on a 19 year old rookie with 7 games under his belt … he really should be schooling kobe by now, shouldn’t he?
Move the squad to the US and get it over with already … my last view of this pathetic blog.
Too bad you are giving up on the blog.
You are right about DeRozan though. He is a kid. He is a project. Raps fans may not want to hear it, but we drafted based on potential. Blame Colangelo, not DeRozan.
This is the NBA – we should be able to get him some good coaches to help him out IF he has the work ethic to get better. He doesn’t have the handles to create his own shot, and his jumper while in traffic is nowhere near smooth. But he can run, jump and board. Steve Nash dribbled with tennis balls to get as good at dribbling as he is now. It doesn’t happen overnight.
He is a kid. His starting has not cost us a single game this far. His starting has everything to do with having him gain some court IQ, so that when he gets better in the offseason (we can hope he does) after practicing and working out everyday, he can have a good sophomore season. He is a kid. I don’t think anyone was under any delusions that he would be rookie of the year. But, he could become anything from Vince Carter to Joey Graham at this point.
If he puts in the work, I think (in my extremely professional opinion, well, not really professional, so much as it is out of a complete ignorance of what it really takes to ball at the NBA level besides hearing about how hard the good players really work) he has the tools. He has the hops, the beginnings of a decent shot (needs a good shooting coach), and the boarding ability to become a special player in the league. Let’s see if that happens – it is certainly too early to tell.
Really? As a coach or even Bryan Colangelo(even though he wants minute for his draft picks), who do you want to impress – a rookie or a 6-year All-Star veteran? Anybody in their right mind would choose the latter. Bosh has said he can only resign with this team if they have higher wins(which Derozan starting is going against that, way to go Bryan!) and a deep post-season run. With lower wins, we are playing against contenders which we can not beat(which is a first round loss once again). Triano and Bryan do the right thing!(if you don’t want Bosh to leave for FA which will be a terrible loss – might even be worse than Carter’s as Bosh is still improving(he is showing us his full offensive arsenal this season so he has not peaked according to critics)), start Wright! and stop the Jack-Jose combo!.
Calderon-Jack combo is really retarded. I don’t even get it. We spent about $20 million on this guy who is showing signs of decline and age. I don’t even like this guy when he played in Portland and Indiana. We could’ve had picked Brandon Jennings.
If Brandon Jennings was the guy picked by the Raptors, I don’t think anybody would questions the team’s toughness. This guy possess the skills that we need, can score more than 20 points per night if he likes to, and got some decent experience overseas. Too bad, Colangelo picked Jack inorder Bosh to stay and picked DeRozan because he got blinded on the hype by the US Medias.
Was Tracy McGrady A Star When He First Got In The League?? I Can’t Remember… But I Don’t Think So. When Did He Get Drafted? Oh Yea, It Was 9th Overall… Amare Was #9 As Well… I’m Ashamed To Have You On Our Side (If You Are A Raptors Fan That Is).
Why are you guys so hard on Belinelli after each game. I’ll admitt he hasnt been fantastic, but he had 5 shots and produced 11 points off the bench, whats the problem with that? Perhaps your expectations of a guys who plays 15 minutes and takes 5 shots are unrealistic, because I’m not sure what else he could have contributed tonight?
Marco has been great tonight. He is a major upgrade over Kapono IMHO. Much quicker, can dribble, good passer (besides being solid shooter).
He’s also cheaper and a better defender.
its the rookie’s 7th game, give him a break. We need a none scorer with our starting 4 offensive players. Just give him some time, for a rookie he is doing very well.
Guy, if Derozan can’t score, at lest he should show an effort to defend(funny thing is that he is as clueless on the defensive end as the offensive one and he is a 6-7, a legitimate defender for his position if he can only show some effort). Derozan being a starter is really killing this team. Triano should stop trying to please Colangelo by giving minutes to his draft picks. Do the right thing, Triano! – start Antoine Wright!.
I agree with smushmush re DD
the kid has a lot of developing to do..I just don’t know why this CAN NOT be done with him getting 10-15 mins coming off the bench!!!
What’s the difference between him doing it off the bench and in the starting lineup? The Raptors actually played well when he was in the lineup and I’d rather he play with the best players and not feel pressure to score, than with the bench unit, and need to. What is this obsession that some of you have with starting? It’s as if by benching him and starting Wright would make such a difference. Toronto actually outscored San Antonio in the first and third quarter, when DeRozan was playing, so obviously he didn’t hurt them too badly.
“and not feel pressure to score”…WTF…he’s our first round pick and you don’t think he needs to score. Don’t you think he would gain more experience on the second unit when he can at least attempt to make plays.
DeRozan doesn’t need to make plays. What he needs to do is learn how to play with great players where he’ll be able to focus on defense, rebounding, moving without the ball and passing. Much easier on the first unit, where they don’t need him to score. It’s not that difficult a concept.
Except when he’s on the first unit, his level of play has to be at that of the others. We’re talking experienced veterans here, with the youngest one being 4 year veteran Andrea Bargnanni. Why are we expecting DeRozan to play at that level this early in his career? It’s clear he’s not yet capable.
But the real reason you want DeRozan coming off the bench is so that we can put Wright in the starting lineup and tell him not to shoot. When Wright comes off the bench he’s the 3rd option on offense (after Jack and whatever starter was left over). If he’s starting, he’s the 5th option. It’s not that difficult of a concept.
I guess all of the players in the league including this years crop of rookies that are not on the starting unit are not learning how to play defense, rebound, pass and move without the ball because they are not playing with great players…how enlightening Tim.
“difference between starting and bench”
SO can you name one other starting SG in the NBA who averaging 4 ppg in 20 mpg?!?!?
Again, who cares. Starting is incredibly overrated in the NBA. It’s not the starting that’s the problem.
Besides, DeRozan is the best option to play along side the starters. Wright plays great defense (most of the time) but his shooting percentage is atrocious (.318). You want to actually have an offensive threat on the court, otherwise it’s 4 against 5. Belinelli is certainly an offensive threat, but do you really need ANOTHER scorer on the court with Bosh, Bargnani and Turkoglu? He’s most valuable when he’s allowed to score and handle the ball. In other words, he’s most valuable as a bench scorer who can come in firing.
DeRozan doesn’t demand the ball, rarely takes bad shots, is the best rebounder on the wings and plays pretty good defense. Over 36 minutes, he would average nearly 10 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.5 apg and 1.6 bpg, all while shooting close to 50% from the field. That’s pretty damn good for the fifth scoring option on the team.
You guys are too focused on his per game stats, apparently not realizing that he’s actually being pretty productive while he’s out there. And the reason he’s not out there very long is because Triano is trying to teach him how to stay productive. By the end of the season, my guess is that he’ll be averaging close to 25 mpg, which is what Courtney Lee ended up averaging in Orlando as a starter.
At this point, I would like to see what Sonny Weems can do. He was very aggressive and played well during pre-season…I though he played with more confidence than DD. And after getting a few minutes last night, I still feel at this moment he is a better player than DD…and if we want to win this year we have to maximize every player’s potential on our team. DD will have plenty of time to continue to improve over the next 3 years.
The problem is we already know what Weems can do. Read the scouting reports. He’s not some amazing prospect who slipped to the 2nd round. He’s an athletic player with many, many flaws. Why throw DeMar under the truck just because he’s playing like a kid one season removed from high school, when that’s exactly what he is?
Agreed that starting is overrated.
The difference when DeRozan off the bench is that the Raptors can produce more points and better defense. DeRozan is soft to be a starter, and lost all the time while on the floor. A rookie who averaged 5.2 ppg and can’t play defense is not a good decision for any coach to put him on starting position.
DeRozan needs to be sent to Erie Bayhawks.
This is @ least a lot more constructive than saying he sucks.
Demar Derozan sucks!
Well, at least we didn’t pass up on a surefire talent like a Brandon Jenningswho can do well from Day One… oh wait.
Yes, because what is most important is how a player does from day 1, and if DeRozan was an a less talented team, like say the Bucks, he would be getting the exact same stats, wouldn’t he?
Turkoglu was supposed to be and do for the Raptors everything that Manu Ginobili did for San Antonio tonight. Where is Turk???
AND, I know we can’t blame the refs when the Raps play like that on the defensive end, but there were some key plays were San Antonio got the benefit of the call, and on the opposite end, the jostling for rebounds and some suspect defence and fronting garnered no calls against San Antonio.
Disappointing loss. No way we can get up to 45 unless we prey on better teams that have their starters out. First the Magic, now this. Manu is everything we brought Turk in for. So, when can we see that kind of performance from Turk?
As dumb as it sounds, when he gets more comfortable with the team. He looks like he is still trying to fit in and not step on anyones toes. With BnB being the foundation and go to “stars”, he’s still not sure when he should take over.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda.
This basically explains this game, from the lack of hustle to the defense.
We should have won this hands down without Parker AND Duncan!
After 7 games the opponent 3pt FG is 67 – 148 for a total of 45% that says a lot about the piss poor perimeter D, I love Turk but it looks like we should have gone with a good defender as his scoring is not really needed, same could be said with Bargs and Calderon I guess.
I didn’t watch the Dallas game, but what I saw tonight was the most frustrating game to watch on the season. Was it our awful defenders that allowed them to get inside over and over? Or was it Popovich’s ability to break down our defensive scheme? I have no idea.
This is really sad. No Parker , No duncan !!! and Spures scored 131 point on us and our rebiund this team !!! Where is the D ?? what a heck is going on ? Is it me or this team’s defence is the worst in recent years !!!
the raps just made matt bonner look like the greatest player on earth…horrible d
I find your cynicism, weak analysis and lame attempts at humour very annoying.
You know, sometimes in certain moods, so do I, but at least he’s doing something. Who’s more valuable, the guy trying to build the house or the guy in the hammock telling him he’s doing it wrong?
Johnson is now playing about 22 mpg. Once Evans comes back look for that to drop to 5 minutes max. The Raptors are paying Bargnani too much money not to give him 35 mpg especially since he can shoot and score.
Johnson is not relevanat in the Raptors equation except when there is an injury to either Bargnani, Bosh or Evans.
If five of the Spurs sixteen offensive rebounds which resulted in extra two point baskets were taken away and given to the Raptors as defensive rebounds, and offensive possessions, at the Raptors’ field goal percentage tonight — 59.2% — that’s 10 fewer points for the Spurs and 6 extra points for the Raptors. That results in a Raptors victory at 130-121 — assuming the Raptors only get two point baskets.
And the Spurs would still have shot the same percentage and grabbed 11 offensive boards.
That is one of the reasons that Evans will replace Johnson in the linuep once Evans can play. Johnson is an okay rebounder but the Raptors need Evans rebounding and toughness.
If feel like the general raptors’ fans(myself included) are expecting Evans to be the difference, but we can’t use that as an excuse anymore. We had L’s dropped on us twice by teams missing at least two of their starters. Evans can’t change that much. We need to figure out how to play harder with the guys we have. Please?
Clearly it is not working defensively. Dallas dropped 125 points on us, Orland had 125 without Vince and Lewis. SA score 136!! without Parker and Duncan. We should try the George Costanza trick. Whatever Marc Iavaroni said, do the opposite, please, do the opposite.
One interesting thing to note about Johnson is that so far he hasn’t taken too many bad shots this year.
FG 9 – 13 = 69%
FT 11 – 14 = 79%
Blocked Shots 1 – 4 = 25%
Not very likey that he will have those percentage come next April.
I would dispute the idea that he can’t finish at the rim as all of those 9 FGs have been at the rim.
Now Carlos Delfino, there is a guy that can’t finish at the rim.
This is what I envisioned of DeRozan when he was walking across the stage to shake hands with David Stern: sitting on the bench. Earning that 9th overall pick was something that he didn’t deserved at all. I mean, there’s players on this year’s draft who are picked after 9th are firing all the cylinders every game. I don’t wanna mention names anymore.
I hope those ‘DeRozan Honking Fans’ realize that the person they idolize can’t play basketball professionally as of right now. He might be in 2-3 years or maybe not in an intense NBA level but he’s going to be amazing somewhere. For sure, he’ll be amazing playing in Philippine Basketball Association’s Fiesta Conference — a tournament where PBA teams can sign non-Filipino players.
I’m not surprised why DeRozan sat on the bench most of game because, duh, he can’t play. His performance since the start of the season was very disappointing. Nailing only 2 points tonight was something Bryan Colangelo nor the coaches doesn’t wanna see from a ‘potential’ player. Man, is that how a potential player performs on the floor just standing there thinking about how sick is the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? Focus!
Anyways, Triano should probably start either Wright or Weems for the shooting guard position in the next game or so. Yeah, tonight wasn’t their night, but for me, watching them playing tonight was enough to convinced me that either of them are capable to start at the shooting guard than that rookie. Let DeRozan read “Basketball Basics” while on DNP cuz’ he really needs to re-learn the fundamentals of basketball — if he wanna be “amazing” in this league.
Nothing in the NBA or any career can be taking for granted. Everything has to be earned. Like getting a job in a corporate office — you need a Bachelor’s degree or even Masters from any Top 10 Canadian Universities to get that job. I don’t think DeRozan earned that 9th overall or even the starting job. If DeRozan wants to play in the NBA for a long time, he needs to practice a lot more harder. He needs to hire a private coach in the summer who can make him a better player. Even figure skaters, dancers, and actors has their own private coach inorder to make them more better. It’s not too late for him to learn to play like an NBA calibre player.
To DeRozan Honking Fans, just accept the fact that your idol is not that good enough to play in the NBA. At least, for the time being. He needs to quit going on twitter, womanizing, and playing video games. Focus on basketball!
DeRozan is playing with 4 guys all of whom can shoot and score. There is only one basketball to go around and rookies get to bring the donuts not take the shots when you got other shooters on the court.
However, I think Weems should be given a chance to play some serious minutes as he has a really positive aggressive on the court.
DeRozan plays NBA defense like a kid with less than 50 games post high school. On the Raptors that only gets magnified because he isn’t getting the ball to shoot, so he can’t command minutes on the court like Bargnani and Calderon can.
DeRozan wasn’t drafted for what he can or will do this year, so chill on the hate.
Also, he hasn’t been on the floor when the Raptors have been playing their worst defense.
“DeRozan wasn’t drafted for what he can or will do this year”
What he’s been drafted for? Chillin’ with the team and depositing his paycheck every other Friday?
DeRozan was drafted to contribute with the team and so far he’s unable to do that simple job. This #9th overall pick rookie is not portraying like what he is supposed to be. He is supposed to be the threat for everybody because he’s young, athletic, and the “next vince carter” as what has been described according to DeRozan Honking Fans.
A What? Next Vince Carter? What? You guys comparing him to Vince Carter? DeRozan can’t even score more than 8 points and you all comparing him to that 8th time all-star? Be serious.
No, you’re the one comparing him to Vince Carter. You do it every time you expect him to score 25 points. The rest of us expect him to be a star a la Jason Richardson down the road, with or without Bosh.
Why don’t you just switch allegiance to the Bucks? They seem to be doing well and your man-crush is there. Oh, and don’t try to imitate FAQ (DeRozan honking blah blah blah). You fail at that too.
Y’all said before the pre-season that DeRozan play like Vince Carter. It is very shocking that a rookie who is still has to prove himself in the league and already got compared by Vince Carter? What the hell is wrong with these people?! It’s not me who’s comparing him to the former Raptor, y’all did it. Don’t deny it J. I read it on every forums, websites, and blogs and it’s makes me go crazy everytime I encounter those comparisons.
Yeah, I have to admit, Brandon Jennings is better than DeMar DeRozan. The stats says it all. Someday, y’all gonna hate DeRozan as much y’all hated Joey Graham.
1. Please stop going y’all every other sentence…
2. Stats aren’t everything. But if you want to go that way, Jennings has gotten about 13 more MPG than DeRozan, who we can all admit has been taken out of the game a few times even when he was doing well. Also, Jennins has taken nearly three times as many shots as DeRozan, so obviously his PPG would be much higher. Keep in mind Jennings is only shooting 34% compared to DeRozan’s 48.
And then there’s the fact that the other starters are contributing maybe 70+ points on their own, so why on earth does DeRozan need to put up Jennings’ 18 PPG?
3. I never hated Joey Graham.
DeRozan < Jennings
Philippine Basketball Association’s Fiesta Conference???
Yeah. Man, I think that the only league that he can be the #1 player! Without a doubt, he’ll be a superstar there. There’s a lot of former NBA players played there and became a superstar like Jerald Honeycutt. Too bad, the tournament only run for 4 months then they have to find another job somewhere!
Is it coincidence that Jerald Honeycutt only averaged 5.2 ppg while playing the NBA? lol
At 6′7″ Derozan would be a center in the Philippine Basketball Association.
He’s 6′7″? There’s a height limitations for non-Filipino players. Players above 6′6″ are not eligible to play. I’m serious. lol
I have a horrible memory so i can’t be sure, but this may have been the most painful raps game i’ve ever watched. Forget, manu, how do we let matt bonner and the 5th highest all-time scorer of IUPUI go off on us for a combined 40 pts??? If george hill wouldn’t have cranked that pass off the backboard in the last two minutes we would have lost by 15. And we shot 60% from the field and 65% from 3. Eff my Life!
AHHH!
i’m really worried about derozan. his play this season has never been impressive. so far he is a carbon copy of a joey graham, jamario moon. i hope he is not a bust. is this drafting joey graham over danny granger part 2: derozan over brandon jennings.?? or is he just another andrea bargnani, a not so late bloomer?
i would prefer the latter but he really has not been impressive. even jay triano is now giving him just 10 mins/game.
for now, antoine wright deserves to start. otherwise, this is just like jamario moon starting.
That’s a bad analogy. For one, Joey Graham and Danny Granger play the same position and fill the same need. DeRozan and Jennings do not. Also, what does this remind you of:
Game 1: 2-3 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 0 1 0 0 4
Game 2: 2-5 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 5
Game 3: 1-2 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 4
Game 4: 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 0 0 0 0
Game 5: 1-5 0-1 2-2 2 1 3 1 1 0 0 4
Game 6: DNP
Game 7: 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Game 8: DNP
Game 9: DNP
Game 10: 3-6 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 3 0 1 0 6
Game 11: 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
Game 12: 0-2 0-1 2-2 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 2
Game 13: 1-4 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 0 3 1 0 2
Game 14: 1-4 0-1 0-2 0 2 2 1 1 1 1 2
Over his first 11 games, that’s an average of 2.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 0.9 AST, 0.7 TO, 0.4 STL, 0.3 BLK in just under 13 minutes per game. Definitely a bust that deserves to be dumped, right? Well, that’s Danny Granger. He didn’t score more than 9 points until mid-December, and averaged only 7.5 PPG over 22.5 minutes played per game. Hardly Jennings-esque.
Wow J I’m impressed, the first commenter on this argument who has used some actual evidence . BTW I just love that people are giving up on an incredibly talented and athletic prospect (WHO’S 19), after 5 games, just a little soon I think,
“incredilbly talented”…I don’t think so…”athletically gifted”…big difference._
wright is the WORST!!! i hate all this talk about how good he is. hes a ball hog, takes rediculous shots and is so over rated defensively!!
derozan is like moon???? what?? wright is way more like moon!!! this guy is fooling everybody and is out to prove something offensively, which is the worst type of guy to have on your team. bellineli should be getting alot of his minutes. everybody including our coaching staff just wants to believe hes shane batier but hes the furthest thing from that. HE CANT EVEN DRIBBLE!!!
and is it just me or do other people get mad when the camera pans over to that shmuck on wheels defensive guru ivaroni!!!?? our D has never been worse!!! what a joke!!! this was embarrasing tonight!! there is absolutely no excuse to lose like that. i got the spurs feed tonight and they were laughing at our defense. the raptors should be ashamed period.
AltRaps,
I just want to let you know I read this blog 50% for the game recaps (when I can’t catch the game and sometimes even when I do) and 50% for the comedy, and tonight you delivered beautifully on both.
You speak the absolute truth and I love it. I think it’s what makes this Raptors blog different from all the others.
Keep up the good work, and keep the humor (I loved the lines on Marco, JOSE) coming PLEASE.
The humor is really the only thing that’s going to make stomaching yet another painful season of inconsistent mediocrity (at best) tolerable.
Two questions for you (and everyone else):
1. What does the “EHIB” stand for next to Douby’s name. I feel like this could be funny but I don’t get it or I’m stupid (or both).
2. How long until it’s evident to everyone that Chris Bosh won’t be here this time next season and Jay Triano is used as a scape goat?
agreed…EHIB???
I was about to make a similar post.
I love Alt’s writing. Arse has always has a few lines in his pieces, but Alt delivers the Yuk Yuk stuff. And I love the occaisional 80s and 90s pop culture references. Realizer brings that too.
Keep up the good work, Alt and RR Crew. All I ask is that you stop using the Pepto every once in a while.
While Johnson had nice stats, I thought the negative exceeded the positive – he was on the floor when they got pounded on the boards in the second quarter. I don’t have stats however anecdotaly this happens often when he is playing – Reggie Evans can’t come back quick enough.
Also wish Wright would stick to playing defense
Things this game taught me:
- Triano has horrible substitution patterns.
- Wright can’t play D.
- Bellinelli is a chucker that we’ll praise one game and condemn the next.
- Protect the paint doesn’t work. It seems more like ‘Protect our ankles’
- George Hill is extremely underrated.
- Turkoglu is the NBA’s Kovalev.
- Bosh gets too many calls that weren’t fouls. If I was an opposing fan, this would infuriate me.
Agree on everything except for the Turk = Kovalev (which I dont understand since I dont follow hockey) :)
Bosh gets some serious star treatment these days which is a big reason why he is shooting so much free throws. I hate it when that goes the other way with Wade or Howard or the others. On the other hand our team all in all seems to get pretty rough treatment from refs.
And yes Bellinelli will be like that. Great in one game and frustrating in the next. I dont think it would be that bad if it was just about the shots falling, but he sometimes just takes very bad shots and that can drive you crazy. Although I think during regular season he hasnt taken that many. All around he has been more quiet than I expected (outside this game of course). But he is definately improvement over Kapono and I think there will be some games where he will be a key factor if he just gets more minutes.
The Raptors energy level on D is embarassing. I commented after the Memphis game that with Bosh, Bargs, Hedo and Calderon on the floor with him Antoine Wright took 3 straight shots. Well, HE DID IT AGAIN!!!!!! I can’t believe…
1. He would do that (He’s a veteran that should know his role)
2. Bosh or Calderon wouldn’t say anything! Or stop feeding him!!!!
3. Triano just lets it slide.
They are a joke. The lack of heart they show makes it tough to cheer for them. I am getting close to jumping ship before this thing sinks. Reggie Evans will help but he still only has 1 heart. The rest of those selfish, lazy bums are too passive to do anything about it. NO ACCOUNTABILITY!!!!!!!!!!!!! That starts with the coach and then the stars and so on. We have no leadership.
This may be why Antoine Wright is on his third team – Delfino did the same thing when he was here – it drove me crazy.
Hey AltRaps – welcome back.
You must hate Jose and Bellinelli quite a lot. Jose had a decent offensive game (13p, 9ass, 5-7 shooting, 2 turnovers) and Bellinelli was our best guy of the bench (12p, 3ass, 4-4 3pt, 4-5FG, 0 turnovers, 17mins).
In comparison our “pointforward” miracle had a good game in your opinion. He had 2 assist and 3 turnovers. 3 rebounds. Yes he had 20 points, but atleast 4 of them came from layins they didnt try to stop because we needed treys in the end. Yes, lets put the ball in his hands all the time.
And it wasnt Jose’s defense that got us killed (and Im not saying he can defend, just wondering why he gets the tough treatment while others dont). I remember it being mr. Ginobli and mr. Jefferson along with a superathletic forward Bonner that killed us in the end. I dont think it was Jose covering any one of them.
Speaking of defending those guys, I think one of the guys playing against that trio the most was Wright. So Im not sure if his defense really was so brilliant this time. His offense certainly wasnt. He should never be allowed to dribble. Open jumpers are ok, but when he tries to create for himself, nothing good ever happens. And the most frustrating offensive play of the night also goes to him, for looking of Bargani posting on a smaller guy and then driving to the same spot against two defenders to create a turnover.
Well anyway. I think the overall team effort was totally missing. It was a team loss. No D, no rebounding, no effort. Everyone on the team should be judged as harsly.
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