I have a feeling Amir will come to Jose’s aid if KG starts yapping again.On a scale of one to Chris Brown, how upset/mad/depressed/pissed-off/violent were you feeling after the Charlotte game? Terrible. Just terrible. There was one positive that came out of it though: timing. We got that game out of our system before we rolled into Boston. Imagine if we posted a performance like that against the C**tics? What would we be talking about…179-65? I may have jumped ship if I had to endure a game like that.
The C**tics are -10.5 favourites in this game (over/under of 204), which means we need to buckle down and expect a Bobcats level whooping. Never thought I would utter that – Bobcats level whooping, fml.
Blogger’s Take
We checked in with Zach Lowe of CelticsHub.com, and asked him a few questions about his team:
Q. You guys had two close ones against the Knicks and Philly. What did those teams do to keep the game close?
The Knicks hung in because the Celtics missed a ton of open shots and Al Harrington hit some threes that ranged from mildly difficult to ridiculously difficult. It happens. That game didn’t worry me–the Knicks have played the Celtics fairly tough since KG arrived.
As for the Sixers, the Celtics appeared to take them lightly with Brand, Williams and Speights all out (and the C’s basically admitted to taking them lightly after the game). They also had a difficult time adjusting to the Sixers small line-up; slow rotations for the first three quarters allowed Philly (and your old pal Jason Kapono) to go off from three.
Bottom line: The C’s just aren’t attacking teams with the fury they showed last year. And I think that’s a good thing. They are experimenting with line-ups and strategy instead of going for the kill in November games.
Q. Are the Big 3 showing any signs of slowing down?
Two of them are. Pierce remains as solid as ever. He’s shooting 51 percent from the floor and playing lock down defense, particularly down the stretch of close games. His D against Andre Iguodala on Wednesday was a sight to behold.
As for Allen and KG, their stats are down across the board. Ray is shooting 29 percent from three and his PER has actually dipped below 15 for the first time since his rookie year. KG’s jumper has been off (41 percent so far) and his mobility is not what it was in 2008.
The shooting doesn’t worry me. Both guys will come around. They are vets. The team remains optimistic about KG working himself back into prime health. The jury’s out.
Q. Would you trade Kendrick Perkins for Andrea Bargnani?
No, but the “no” isn’t as emphatic as it would have been last year. In general, I think this Celtics nucleus functions best with a center who focuses mostly on protecting the rim and working his ass off on screen/roll defense. That obviously doesn’t describe Bargs. That said, as the C’s core players age, it would be nice to have someone take
more of the scoring load off of the Big Three. That was the idea with Sheed. Fifteen games in, Sheed’s shooting has been a disaster.At this point, Bargs has convinced me he’s a legit offensive player. But the C’s defense would tumble if you replaced Perk with Bargs. So: No.
Q. Why is Garnett such a douche-bag?
No comment, though I’m on record (to the chagrin of some readers) as saying KG’s sideline antics during the ‘09 playoffs were (at times) embarrassing. But he’s like Jordan in a way (and that is NOT a basketball ability comparison, so settle down, MJ’s the best, etc.): He’s a maniacal competitor, for better or worse. It serves his team well when he’s on the floor but may not serve him well in, you know, normal social situations.
The Raptors need to rebound from the Charlotte game, and I don’t mean they have to win, because they wont. What they have to do is give a full 48 minute effort. Rebounding and defensive rotations are going to be crucial, because the Raptors play the type of game where struggling opponents get good looks and can shoot themselves out of a funk.
The Match-ups
The Point: Calderon/Jack had problems with Felton/Augustin on Wednesday, but Rondo poses a problem for everyone in the league. If Rondo is blowing by, or hitting half-assed contested jumpers, he is going to be trash talking our guys into crying. Me-thinks Rondo posts a triple-double tonight. IF Calderon is shooting the ball well and protecting the ball, and IF Jack attacks the paint and kicks out to an open shooter (or finds a forward rolling to the rim), the Raptors won’t fare too badly in this match-up, otherwise, it’s going to be bad.
The Edge: Boston
The Wings: The Raptors forwards surrendered 63pts and 18rebs against the Bobcats forwards on Wednesday. Jesus and The Truth (and a couple other guys) vs Turkoglu/DeRozan/Wright/Belinelli…not going to be good. I suspect Ray Allen will be getting some premium looks at the rim and shoot his way out of his early funk. Pierce will be Pierce, he has been a God-send for me in one of my fantasy leagues so far. This is going to be bad as well.
The Edge: Boston
The Forwards: This might be our best match-up considering how Bosh has bulked up and isn’t as easily bullied in the paint. Garnett has owned us the last couple of seasons, but Bosh will give him a surprise tonight, I believe. Bargnani has had a couple lackluster games in a row, but Perkins represents someone who he can abuse on the perimeter. I look forward to watching Amir (#FreeAmir) battle in the paint tonight, he is the kind of guy we need battling Garnett/Perkins in the paint on both ends of the floor.
The Edge: Even
Simulation
Visser’s sims are 12-4 this year and this time the crystal ball is predicting a 115-107 Raptor loss:
The Raptors fought back from a 28-point halftime deficit but fell short, losing to the Celtics 115-107 in Boston. Chris Bosh did everything possible to make it respectable, finishing with a season-high 39 points and grabbing 16 boards.
Aside from Bosh, Toronto got 17 from Hedo Turkoglu and 11 off the bench from Jarrett Jack. The Raptors were out-rebounded 44-35, with Amir Johnson the only player other than Bosh to grab at least five boards.
Paul Pierce led Boston with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting and Rajon Rondo had eight points, five boards and 12 assists. The Celtics had a big bench effort, with Eddie House (18), Marquis Daniels (12) and Sheldon Williams (11) all scoring in double digits.
I have to go with the SIM, the Raptors don’t match-up well, they aren’t playing with any sort of purpose, the game wont even be close. Hopefully we don’t wear ourselves out tonight and leave something in the tank for Sunday at home to the Suns. Happy Thanksgiving to the folks down south.
124 Raps
Ok something is wrong with that crystal ball because there is no way Bosh goes off for 39. With his performances against KG, most Raps fans will take 20 at this point and hope that KG takes it easy on him.
I couldn’t give a single f*ck less what “Zach” from CelticsHub thinks about anything.
F*ck the C**tics, and most important of all – f*ck Boston!
I would give my first born for a win tonight.
love it. not offering my own first born, but maybe my chuck swirsky bobblehead.
Fukin hate the celtics with passsion. I literally hate every single player on this including their coach. I fukin hate peirce more than I hate KG. FUKIN HATE THE CELTICS! God please give us this win!
Man I still remember the moment we beat the celtics last! THE CALDERON drive for the win! My friend and I were just going crazy!
Keep your fingers crossed, I am sensing a close game. But after all, we are the raptors we are meant to lose right?
Let me be first to predict… Raps WILL win tonight. :)
I am on this FTW bandwagon!!!
The Boston KG’s KNOW they OWN the Toronto limp noodles.
KG KNOWS he OWNS and can dominate CB every single time–CB has NEVER fought back against KG, and KG smells blood.
The C#*Ts know they can abuse Jose on every single offensive play.
PLUS the C#*Ts know that no matter what, Stern’s enforcers will guarantee that they will ALWAYS have the call in their favor vs Raps.
Equals the C#*Ts will take us very lightly and will look ahead in the schedule for a TO win (and will blame the loss to taking us lightly)!!!
“why is KG such a douche-bag?” Gotta love it!
yep.. ballsy, but honest, question
No one in the NBA is more douche-baggy :)
Ever hear Tommy Heinsohn do colour commentary on the Cs telecasts? Makes one wanna retchp bile.
If its the same guy I’m thinking of… Paul Pierce has never done anything wrong and is always fouled… so I hear…
heinson is objective compared to Johnny Most who was the celtics radio announcer tor about 50 years
Best question ever asked to another team’s blogger.
This game for Johnson is like all the others.
To foul or not to foul especially in the first half.
Johnson played some minutes against Garnott when Johnson was with the Pistons.
Garnott pretty much lit him up inside outside and all around the court. Of course having said that, Garnott has lit up many guys since he came into the NBA, some of them pretty darn good.
I thought this was a Raps fan site. What’s with the asshole from Boston bashing the shit of the Raps. Why the fuck would anyone want to read this shit?
Get some better content!
Actually, we are aiming for more intelligent readers. So, if you don’t mind, don’t come back….it will help in the positive side of the bell curve.
Thanks.
CLASSIC!!!!
LOL, i love this site <3
I’m sorry but there is nothing intelligent about what was written. Any scribe could have shit a more interesting article than the one you came up with.
If you are looking for intelligent readers, than what does that say about the rest of the people who post on this site?
uh, perhaps an ‘outsider’ perspective? holy fuck, leave your bubble once in a while.
i’m not liking the sims, they’re totally biased against andrea. he doesn’t ‘get any touches’ in the sim-world either! does jose ‘look him off’ in the sim too? and fouling out in 24 minutes seems more along the lines of AJ than VL…
I don’t see how the person was bashing the shit of the Raps? I am pretty sure a lot or Raptor fans actually bash the Raps worse.
oh, but before you go…please buy a tshirt.
http://raptorsrepublic.com/t-shirt-lower-bowl-sucks/
HAHAHAAHAHAHA…even more classic (Classicer???)
ROTD!
what are you guys reading that is bashing the raps? there was one question that had anything to do with the raps and it was specifically about the bargs for perkins deal….why WOULD boston do it? they have a great defensive team and plenty of offensive weapons…they dont need to shoot the lights out and sacrifice their defense…and you know what…I wouldnt want the raps to do that trade either…Bargs has too much on offense to make that deal worth it for us…its a stupid trade that wouldnt benefit either team a great deal…so good for him for saying he wouldnt do it…relax folks….ohh and I am so glad even his hometown scribes think kg is a douche…
oh and as for my prediction…I am gonna be the second to go out there and say the raps rebound in a big way and steal one from the c**ts
just to clarify, not saying they are gonna blow out the c’s…i just think its gonna be close and the raps steal one…and i would absolutely say the raps beat the spread (at the very least)
Agreed. They will look past us and we steal a win!
why would they trade perk for bargs? ’cause bargs doesn’t look like he’s about to cry after every play. perk is a sucky wittle baby.
Every time someone says “I am gonna go out there and say the RAPS steal one” against a legitimate team, I find myself wishing I was betting against them…
i know, i know…was feeling pretty good about this game before the charlotte traveshamockery (which was weird, ’cause i thought they’d lose to the bobbies – just not as lethargically). now…yikes, the raps seem to be good for what ails struggling teams, and the c**ts, at least in terms of expectations, have ’struggled’ somewhat. at least we know the raps will get up for this one. right? RIGHT?
you know whats funny, i was feeling the raps were gonna get throttled tonight, BUT, since they got embarrassed by Charlotte, I think they suck it up, shows some balls, and play the c’s tight. Every player on the raps has some level of self-respect…whether they showed that on Wednesday or not…
Totally. Considering the game was over when they were down 20 in the 4th, I’m glad the final spread ended up being as large as it was. If they ended up losing by 12 or something, they might not take the loss as personally and not come out as hard against the C’s. A 35 point loss should wake them up.
you mean, the 35-pt loss against the bobbies should wake them up for tonight’s game, or tonight’s pending 35-pt loss (give or take) should wake them for sunday?
the former
Celtics got out of their slump last year by beating us. I think they were losing 7-8 in a row prior to that game, as far as I can remember. It was about the same time of the year, too. It is a Groundhog Day, folks.
If Bargs doesn’t snap out of his haze, this could be a scary game. Assuming he does, I’m with B-Rad and Photoman. We get the W or, at the very least, push them right to the final minute.
I know I’m a ‘hater,’ but what if it isn’t a ‘haze’ he’s in, but rather, this is what he is…an average-decent baller who has periods of excellence? And by ‘excellence,’ I mean in terms of what we consider excellent for him.
If you look at his game like Superman/Clark Kent er, Spiderman/Peter Parker …hmm. Ok, let’s say Bargs’ is like the Human Torch/Johnny Storm- we’d hope to see the Torch for, oh, 80% of the games, with Johnny showing up every once in a while for the obligatory shitty game. But what if Bargs’ is more often Johnny, with the Torch showing up at infrequent (& unknown) intervals? Like, can anyone accurately predict when Bargs will be ‘on?’
Actually, you’re a lot more predictable in everything you write than any other event of Mother Nature, on or off court.
yes, i definitely should adjust my opinion following each game.
I’m hoping the reverse is true in that how he played for the majority of games this season is his new “normal” and the taking-off-halves-at-a-time type games are the ones you will see less frequently.
I am beginning to believe he is a streaky game-to-game player, though. Run off 4-6 good/great games and have 2-3 off nights, lather, rinse, repeat.
In his defense, his shot attempts aren’t consistent from game to game. Triano needs to do a better of job of getting him involved in the offense more. His game is based on that, if he isn’t scoring, he’s pretty useless.
During the Charlotte game, didn’t our Franchise player attempt jumper after jumper. He even attempted another three at a crucial point in the game. What happened to his inside game. Too physical for him to handle.
Will our franchise deliver tonight or as usual not handle the physical play of wallace and garnett.
shoudln’t a team’s centre help with the physical play on the blocks as well?
I agree the centre should help. I agree Barg has to improve his defense. I don’t support one player over another. I don’t suffer from what they call in psychology a defensive mechanism. Every time anyone criticizes Chris Bosh, a raptor fan points out a fault with another player on the team. Why can’t we just discuss how bad Chris Bosh is defensively (rebounding is the only plus point)without referring to anyone else. He is suppose to be the franchise player and his standards should not be compared to someone we are paying 6-7 million a year.
Answer this question without criticizing other players (I know it is hard for many on this board). Is Bosh repeating his last year’s performance. Start out strong and well you know what happened. Will he choke in the playoffs like he did against the Nets and Magic.
For today’s game. Will Garnett and Wallace abuse him. Can’t wait to see our “franchise player” against these two players. LOL…..LOL
that’s the new excuse du jour…not getting bargs involved. look, that might be true, but there’s at least some onus on him to get himself involved. if he’s not getting the ball, i find he’s far too passive. if you’re feeling it, demand it…but for chrissakes, work to earn it.
I really don’t care if barg gets touches or not. Let’s stop being fixated on barg and focus on Bosh’s performance. He is a terrible defender. If you look at when Charlotte made a run, Bosh and Amir were on the floor.
When will our franchise player deliver. He chokes in the 4th, can’t play against physical players, chokes in the playoffs (Nets, Magic), takes ill-advised three pointers and lacks leadership skills. This board and the Toronto media should be asking—what has our franchise player delivered in the last few years. Nothing
There were 3 other players on the floor when Charlotte went on that run, plenty of blame to go around man
Barg was not one of the other three players. Yet he get most of the abuse on the board. Try to make it fair and balanced.
I wasn’t making an excuse, but he’s a passive player, he needs the ball to get to him to make plays/moves. bosh falls into that trap too, but he works much harder to get position then bargnani does.
Bosh against a physical player has problems getting into good position. An excellent example is when he was pitted against dudley of the phoenix suns.
Ya, but we also think that Bosh needs to get the ball more, Turk’s usage is down to his rookie season, DeRozan never sees the ball past 5 mins. There is only 1 ball, and we have 5 scorers out there. I think Wright needs to get out there in the starting Unit – I dunno if it will get Bargnani more touches, but certainly I think it gives us a more balanced line.
Shouldn’t you be more worried about our franchise player. His play in the last three games have been well…cough…terrible. Is our franchise player writing the same script he did last year. Start of strong (first 10 games) and go downhill.
I can’t wait to see our Franchise player against Garnett and Wallace. Let’s see if that extra muscle is going to help. LOL…LOL
yeah, he’s a fucking bum, we get it.
Afraid to answer the question.
Will Bosh, the so called franchise player deliver in Boston against Garnett and Wallace.
Bosh will have a big night tonight. Wallace has been a disaster and Garnett is still finding his touch.
I sure hope so. I don’t think there is a player in the league that neutralize Bosh quite like Garnett and Wallace – and now they’re on the same team.
My x factors are Turk and Calderon. Hopefully Turk can repeat what he did in the playoffs and hoepfully Calderon plays with a chip on his shoulder. Both have a history with Celts and both should be embarrassed about last game.
Didn’t dudley of the phoenix suns neutralize him. During the playoffs less fouls are given and there is more physical play. Can our franchise player handle it. From past experiences (Nets and Magic), I think one has to wonder.
Is that the only reason why bosh will have a big night because both Garnett and Wallace are not playing well. If both Garnett and Wallace were playing well, then bosh would not have a good game.
Wow!! You must not have a lot of faith in your franchise player.
Comparing Dwight Howard’s stats to Bargnani this year:
DH-.626FG,.567FT,O.O 3PT,17.3PT,11.8RB,1.4AST,0.9ST,1.8BLK,3.0TO
AB-.488FG,.882FT,1.8 3PT,17.4PT, 6.5RB,1.1AST,0.4ST,1.1BLK,1.8TO
Considering that DH is the most dominant center in the league since Shaq and also considering his physical attributes, I’m amazed at the bashing AB takes on this site even though he has continued to improve each year. I don’t think Bargnani is in a haze…more like the Raptor fans…and sure AB has defensive and rebounding deficiencies that Howard makes up for, but you know what, DH doesn’t play for the Raps, so get over it already!
Those are extremely banal stats. They’re not adjusted for playing time or anything.
It also doesn’t take into account that as a frontcourt player, Bargnani is responsible for a certain amount of interior defense and rebounding that he is not providing.
If you subtract Bargnani’s Defensive rating (points produced by the opponent while Bargnani is on the floor per 100 possessions) from his Offensive rating (points produced in the same situation by the Raps) you get (currently) -2. Do the same for Howard and you get +18.
Bargnani, in his entire career, has 8 win shares. Howard last year alone had 14.
Howard plays center the way his team needs it to be played. Bargnani does not. He plays it like a shooting guard.
This means the Raptors need to deal with the issue of having such an unconventional — in a bad way — player at that spot. To my way of thinking, this can be dealt with in one of two ways.
They can either somehow hope that he changes his ways (and as David Berri points out, hope is not a plan), or they can construct a team that somehow accounts for the weaknesses in other ways. One of the ways to do the latter is to reduce Bargnani’s playing time to such a degree that he can’t hurt the team as much. Another way is to somehow scheme a system that makes up for his weaknesses. Another way is to add another unconventional player that grabs more rebounds and guards the rim better than his position demands — a shooting guard that plays like a center, or something like that.
In the end, I just can’t see how they keep Bargnani at all given his weaknesses. I think they’ll have to trade him for a more conventional center.
bargs was likely our best player during the Bobcats game (not that that is saying much). Whether that ended his “haze” or not I’m not sure. But I can’t imagine Triano (semi-)benching him could help much.
You think?
Was he our best player in that game rebounding wise or defensively?
I like Bargniani but basketball is more than shooting 50% from the field and even then you want to get to the line as well.
Because anyone’s defense was good that game? Bosh rebounded well… but what else did he do? Got owned on offense and on defense? Jose… Marco… Turk?
Like I said, he was our best player and that isn’t saying much.
that’s right it ain’t saying much, if it’s true at all (how does one define ‘best’ when the loss is by 35 points?). the best of the worst, i guess.
got ‘owned’ by who?
I agree. He was not the best rebounder.
Defensively, well that is another story. Why did Charlotte go on a run when our franchise player, Chris Bosh and Amir were on the floor. They played terrible defense.
As a Colts fan and watching the Pats trolls on those boards, this guy is the most reasonable Boston sports fan I’ve encountered in a while. Believe me when I say it could get much, much worse.
I wouldn’t do the trade of Perkins for Bargs, but mind you the Raptors need someone like either Perkins or Garnett on the team. And I’m not talking about the talent (sure it would help); I’m talking about attitude and swagger. The Raps need a bully, a guy to push people around in practice and games. I wrote about it in my Top 10 Raptors of All Time article, the Raps haven’t been the same since Oak left town. I was hoping that Reggie Evans might help out in that department but that hasn’t panned out so far. That little factor there is why I hope the Raps beat the Celtics as opposed to me knowing for sure they beat the Celts. Feel me? Nonetheless, GO RAPS!
shit, throw in eddie house, and maybe you have something…
Perkins is a role player whose skills compliment their skilled players. Without those highly skilled players he is just another big slug. The Celtics the worst team in the league with perkins before Garnett and Allen were acquired.
The funny thing about Garnett is while he may be a douche bag on the basketball court (which I dispise, you should be able to win with some dignity) everything I have read says he is very polite and thoughtful off the court.
Weird. I read the opposite about Garnett, and that he is horrible off-court as well, even showing spire and disrespect to those who work @ the facilities in Boston vs Rashee who is said to actually be kind.
Can you post any links please?
http://raptorsrepublic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138
Oh yeah, real polite.
Garnett has no respect at all for anyone who’s A) not a ball player or B) Not a great ball player who’s bled and left body parts on the court.
He’s certainly a big a-hole, but the Raps could use some of that attitude on the court.
i’m prolly gonna get myself in trouble here, but…it’s not exactly a secret that KG gets a little amped playing against white guys (so did bird, so did russell, and i’m sure many others do as well, for various reasons). he’s had issues with marco & jose & rasho in the past…he’s always up for a duel with bosh. i’m thinking he’s gonna be a handful tonight.
“The Raps need a bully, a guy to push people around in practice and games.”
REGGIE EVANS! hello… but at this point, you have to wonder about the foot “injury.” Not such a tough guy?
Anybody else just love that pic to death?
Hell yeah. I’m telling you, Jose’s the toughest Raptor in terms of standing up for one’s self, take that as you will.
true
any criticism of jose has to be only basketball-wise (ie. ability to defend)…as a person, teammate, and competitor he is the MAN
Do we have a pic of Bonner and KG mixing it up?
Between Bosh consistently getting abused by KG and Wallace throughout his career; Rondo carving up Jose at will; Pierce doing pretty much what he pleases, and Allen shooting our lights out… this game could be a bad beat-down!
How do I think we can beat the C**tics? Will have to reverse everything I said above.
GO RAPS!!!
I’ll call it here first: DeRozan is a bust. With a small “b” as he was drafted 9th. He has nothing to build upon: no shot, no handles, no defense, only average athleticism. I have no clue what is everyone seeing in him that offers hope.
Every night we are getting killed at SG position. Tonight will be no different: Ray Ray will have a field day against him.
DeRozan, pls. prove me wrong.
Before you label him a bust… remember that he’s only played a year of College Ball and 16 NBA games. IMHO a little early to throw in the towel on DeMar just yet.
Demar is still learning how to play basketball, albeit at the NBA level … sort of like what Bargs went through in his rookie season. Let’s understand that BC and Triano consider this Raptor team a “development” team that will not be fully functional until after the New Year, if that.
Why is it that Moronto tribal honking fans demand a “winner” regardless of the circumstances .. is it because they want to be instant winners and nothing less to satisfy their fantasies, their delusions, their masturbation ??!!!
The level of critique of all the GMs on the board leaves no room for a player to learn. They have to all be contributing and executing at championship, almost mistake-free, levels for people to relax. Not sure why some on the board view everything so myopically: Bosh is already repeating last year’s Nov/Dec meltdown. Calderon can’t play defense. Turkoglu is asleep and can’t carry a team. THey are what they are: A work-in-progress with room to improve.
Too early to say DeRozan is a bust yet. But, I am going to go on the record, again, for drafting based on proven results in actual basketball games versus “athleticism, ridiculous hops and upside.” Right now all of the following are better NBA basketball players without the benefit of “jump out of the gym athleticism” – Jrue Holiday; Ty Lawson; Tyler Hansborough; Eric Maynor; James Johnson; second rounder DeJuan Blair; and of course, Brandon Jennings. Of course, I was soundly defecated on by the commenters when I suggested we draft Blair instead of DeRozan. Yet San Antonio wouldn’t trade him straight up for DD at this point – even if we threw in a tricked out Escalade.
I would be willing to bet that SA WOULD make that deal…largely because of the upside that DD has. I think Blair is a beast and will be a decent player….but nothing more then aldridge light…dd has the potential to be so much more….down the road…i just think asking him to start this year was the wrong move…
This is exactly what I’m talking about. Define upside. Seriously, in your mind what does “upside” mean. To me it’s one of those nebulous terms invented by sports writers to define something that is not definable – potential. Again, DeRozan might develop into a good player. But, his results to date (pre-NBA) would suggest that he will not develop into a superstar. Decent NBA starter would be nice.
I dont think “NBA superstar” is the expectation for Derozan at this time – Most would agree his ceiling is and Iguadala/J-rich type of 2nd or 3rd option
Put DeRozen with Steve Nash in PHX…you can probably fantasize right now, it all depends on team court system and the creative talents of your point guard.
First of all, you are not the first to say he is a bust. There’s been others who have said it here before today and have been rightly ridiculed for it.
DD was not drafted for what he can contribute this year. He was drafted for what he can contribute in 2-4 years from now. Is he guaranteed to provide the play that many think is in him? No, and that’s part of the reason he slipped down to #9. The other reason he slipped down is that he will provide minimal contribution this year.
It is absolutely stupid to call a 20 year old rookie a bust. He may well turn out to be one, but he also could “get it” and become an all star.
FWIW, I don’t see him becoming a Vince Carter-type player. I see him more as a Richard Jefferson-type.
probably the same people who called tracy mcgrady a bust when he was a rookie
You know, i think he could become a superstar just like Macgrady. I don’t know why , but when he brings the ball up, I see a start in him, that he is a rookie but he is really confident. I still don’t see that confidence in Bosh or Bargs. Its really hard to explain. I am talking about the confidence that wade and Kobe have when they are playing. As much as I have faith in Bargs, if I were to compare the level of confidence of him and DD, I would say DD has higher level of confidence. And you know confidence, is a critical thing in basketball.
Agree. Demar was being labelled a bust the entire first half of his year at USC because of the media’s expectation that he was an elite, high major prospect and McDonald’s All-American. Took him a bunch of games before he was able to “get it.” Now, he just has to make the same adjustment in the pros. Anyone who expects him to “get it” within 20 games playing against Pro level talent is delusional.
Well as mediocre as his performances have been to date – he has quietly surprized in the one category that was most questionable when drafting him – his 3pt shooting has been 37.5% sofar this year. And he’s well above average athletically – even when comparing him to the elite NBA athletes at his position…
If KG pulls the same shit as he did in that picture, I think Reggie Evans will limp himself over to Garnett, pull of his cast/boot and beat the life out of him. This is the type of team we need Reggie against, he’d deliver some hard fouls and show the meaning of ‘protect the house’.
Rap of the day!
I want them to beat those C**ts very badly, but I am very skeptical about this… a lot. I will predict 30 point rape with Ray Allen going off for 35 pts and Eddie House go off for 20 pts due to the severely flawed defensive “house system” and Euro-sleepers on D. The winning grace is if Bosh goes off for 25 pts, Pops get 10 rebounds in garbage time, or Bargs and Belinelli start a court scuffle with Garnett and Rondo. I don’t wanna watch this game, it might be too painful for me, but I might peek at it.
I’m posting these everywhere… just because they are unreal…
Opponent Assist Rate (% of opponent possessions ending in an assist): 21.8% (27th of 30)
Opponent Assisted FGM Rate (% of opponent FGM that are assisted): 60.8% (28th of 30)
Opponent Turnover Rate (% of opponent possessions ending in an turnover): 11.1% (29th of 30)
Defensive Plays Rate (% of defensive plays per 100 opponent possessions): 12.7 (28th of 30)
Opponent Free Throw Rate (% of opponent attempts ending in free throw attempts): 37% (28th of 30)
Opponent 3-pt Rate (% of opponent attempts ending in 3-pt attempts): 25% (28th of 30)
FGA at the rim (% of opponent attempts that are dunks or layups): 29.3% (28th of 30)
Fantastic, 1 in 3 FG attempts against the Raptors is a dunk or layup, fml.
A lot of those are probably second change opportunities. We clean up our own glass, we clean up that stat.
Excellent…this means we are no longer the worst defensive team in the league…God I love offdays!!!! :)
there is no way in hell we beat the Celtics tonight come on if cant defend dahanty jones, jj Reddick, danny granger , gerald wallace and stephen jackson what makes you think that we are going to able to defend Allen and Pierce. Allen is going to broke out of his shooting slump and drop 35pt on us and Pierce will add 29 points. Is the Craptors we talking about they give career high to guys like JJ reddick, Nazr mohammed and francisco Elson and etc
The biggest difference between this game and the last game is that against the Celtics, the Raptors are not in the second day of a back-to-back set.
Yes, the Raptor’s collectively dumped one into their shorts against the Bobcats. I think they will play much better against the C**tics tonight. I’m not so sure it will result in a win though.
Just two totally different teams with two totally different philosophies:
Boston – defense
Raptors – offense
Defense wins championships but you can always steal a game in November shooting the lights out, which is a best case scenario for the Raps tonight (and every other night of the season).
Why would the Celtics trade Perkins for Bargs? It makes absolutely zero sense for Boston, and Raps fans are too in love with Bargs to evaluate the trade for what it is. Boston wouldn’t do the trade but I”m telling you Colangelo would think long and hard about it.
Perkins is the most underrated center in the league. D-Howard himself says Perkins gives him the most problems.
Perk would also be an amazing complimentary player alongside Bosh as Perk is MORE THAN HAPPY to take opportunistic FGA (as opposed to Bargs who needs the ball/to score in order to be effective).
Question: When Bosh settles for an 18-foot jumper and Bargs is beyond the perimeter who has a prayer in grabbing an offensive rebound? The answer is nobody and that’s why the Raps have been amongst the basement dwellers in rebounding.
The worst part about tonight is that it’s lose-lose for Toronto.
If they lose – they’re obviously digging themselves deeper and deeper below .500
If they win – the fans (and possibly even the team) will make it like a championship has just been won in November. Kind of like when Brad Miller went wild jumping around after he hit what he thought was the game winner. Expectations will once again soar through the roof and the team with 9 new faces and an all-star nearing the end of his tenure with the Raps will once again go back to their old ways (see: Raps vs. Bobcats boxscore).
ROTD
So is that the same as saying Bosh and Bargs can’t be on the floor together. Why would he consider trading Bargs at this particular juncture. Does that meen that now he realizes he better complement Bosh better or it’s over.
Celtics by 10 sounds right. In the end it will be fairly even except Rondo nd Posey are going to eat our 1 spot for Dinner. Rondo with fast breaks, Posey is going to make Jack cough it up 2-3 time and make some timely baskets. Hoping Raps prove me wrong with some devine intervention.
James Posey?
Posey plays for the Hornets…since last season.
Watch Rasheed wallace is going to have his break out game….
Is it me or does it seem like every time a player is in a slump, he comes in and torches the raptors for at least 20
I am really, really afraid of this happening.
Our rebounding or lack of !!!!
The entire building knows that 90% of the time when Bosh gets the ball it aint coming back out,so why isn’t every available raptor except Jose/Jack not crashing the boards…am I missing something ?
Raps cover the spread tonight. We usually play hard after an asskicking/
I’m going in with blind optimism and will declare a Raptors victory – Patrick O’Bryant explodes for 10 points to show his former team what they’re missing! hahaha
arsenalist, you have to review the 5:27 mark of the second quarter when belinelli gave up the ball and the Celtics went on transition and just how LAZY jack was getting back. They missed the shot, but the mentality of jack was more important on the play. Man, jack is SO annoying sometimes.
BTW guys, for those that aren’t fans of the live chat here, your always welcome to join me over at the game thread at the Raptors Republic Forums: http://raptorsrepublic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222
I’m just wondering
does Jack know that they could get suspended if the players leave the bench?
or is that even a rule now?
I’m just wondering since if that rule’s still in effect
I personally don’t care. Having someone leave the bench would actually show they care. Not one player came to Bosh’s defense. Just Jay, Iavaroni and English. The rest just hid and didn’t say a peep. Pathetic. :(
“Raptors” and the “claw” are misnomers for this bunch. Never mind anyone else…did Bosh show any indignation himself after the kick? Was there even a hard foul soon after….by anyone? (Jack had one much later). What a piss off…I dont mind them losing…but to this team and the way, is really depressing.
Very true. I was so disapointed that no one stood up for Bosh !! What a bunch of …..I was very impressed by Jay and his assistance.
i agree, but what are you gonna do, fuck the celtics, fuck paul pierce…
I can’t understand all the hatred for Paul Pierce simply as a result of him dunking/posterizing Bosh?
All Pierce did was raise his knee, a very natural thing to do when you jump off of one foot, and finish the dunk. Seriously, go look up ANY dunk on youtube where a player jumps from a few feet away from the basket and fine one where said player doesn’t raise his knee.
The question is what was Bosh thinking? He was already well inside the restrited area so he couldn’t take a charge. Even by going straight up to attempt a block, as long as Pierce draws ANY contact it’s going to be a foul on Bosh EVERY time.
you can’t lead with an appendage at any time. By your logic, as long as you are in the restricted zone you should be able to lead with your off hand on a dunk. You can’t. Its no different with your legs, knees, elbow etc.
Lead with an appendage?
He lead with the ball and chose to make it a one-handed dunk, which had his left arm come off the ball. You’re INSANE if you think it was an offensive foul.