The “to reply to this meeting request, click here” edition.
Banks – he may be unfairly ridiculed, given that he never complains about his role and comes ready to play. Problem is, his level of play isn’t at the NBA standard. If you are a PG on a team with only one other healthy PG and you STILL have guys the likes of Belinelli playing ahead of you in your spot, you must be a D-Leaguer.
Bargnani – it’s the story of the disappearing halves again. Plays like a house on fire in the first, somewhat disappears in the second. While his shot was off, he persisted on the boards and didn’t turtle like the rest of his teammates. Best all around player tonight with some commendable defense.
Belinelli – well, thank the heavens for the invention of the free throw because Marco couldn’t hit a thing from the field tonight. I love how he is still confident enough to take his shots, because I have zero confidence they will ever go in.
Bosh – sure, you kept your PPG up, but your rebounding was atrocious and you let HO and Mr. Chuckles abuse you like you were the new nerd at an inner-city school. Is that skit on your DVD too? We should never see a sub 5 rebound effort from you and yet lately it’s the norm. Pick it up.
Calderon – now that he has hit old age and his hip is acting up, he’s decided to look into buying one of these.
DeRozan – yes, he covered DeRozan. Yes, he’s a Lighthouse. Yes, he had little chance to come out of this looking good, but still, you have to be concerned with his body language and (to be frank) what appears to be an inability to think for himself. Enough with the “well, Triano must be telling him where to stand” bullocks. If your team is sinking, start creating!
Evans – had Jose over for the game tonight. Jose entertained Reggie with tales of Spain. Reggie nodded and smiled, completely lost after the first 4 words. Jose made Turron. Reggie ate it. Jose went to the washroom. Reggie hightailed it out of there. If you see a large man limping down Yonge Street, speaking in tongues, please call 222-TIPS. While waiting for the police to arrive, keep him talking…ask if he really is faking it.
Jack – just like breakfast at McDonald’s, nothing good lasts forever. An off night for our little warrior. He looked about as amused at himself as your brother when your mom dressed him up as Stephen Harper for Hallowe’en. You somewhat expected a night like this to happen for Jarrett, but it still hurt to look at it.
Johnson – continuing in the off-night department, Amir gave away as many points as he helped produce, and then some. Just a brutal start to the night for him but I guess if Bosh is being abused, you can only assume Amir is going to be eaten alive.
Mensah-Bonsu – well, at least his headband matched his jersey.
Nesterovic – Rasho did more in 4 minutes than RapsFan would be able to do with Sofia Vergara in 20. Yes, garbage minutes, but still nice to see a player go out and bust his butt as opposed to resigning to the fact that the game is over.
O’Bryant – asked the front desk for a wake up call. They printed his career stats as a Raptor and gave them to him.
Turkoglu- he was tonight’s flavour of the day for Jay. Yanked after 4 minutes and re-inserted before the end of the quarter. Not sure you can do that with a guy that seems to need time to warm up. Certainly not a game to write home about, but I’m sure his mind was on tomorrow nights game. When you are trying to figure out how to spend $55million, it’s tough to focus on two things at once.
Weems – and here is the guy Jay threw in early off the bench. Good move considering how well he has played lately. While not up to those standards, he did play “okay”. A few careless turnovers, but over the past few games with the extended minutes he has been a bit more under control. Earlier in the season I think he was overdoing stuff to try and impress. Now he has the opportunity to slow it down.
Wright – evidently when it comes to Wright, the house Jay keeps referring to is of the dog variety. Maybe all that time Alvin Williams has spent cutting letters out of magazines to spell “Dear Jay, Number 21 sucks at everything he does. Please sit him. Sincerely, Boogie”, pasting them on a clipboard and leaving it under coach’s pillow has finally paid off.
Driving The Bus: Andrea Bargnani
Under The Bus: Marco Belinelli
Game Theme:
68 Raps
Raptors Basketball: Great one game, terrible the next. :(
Great one game, terrible the next…hmmm…that would bring us to 500 record. It looks like we play one decent game and then lose 2-3 badly. Our biggest winning streak is 3 games – which looks like the last season at this time of the year, unfortunately.
It’s hard to come down hard on CB4 given the year he has had so far. He got his points but the 2 rebounds and laughing on the bench were not impressive
Was he laughing yet again?
He didn’t get his 1st rebound…. until the 3rd. THAT’s max money output.
Satay up, Apollo13!
Hey FLUX … rebounding is hard and dirty work … and a guy can get injured jumping up and down all the time … ya hear ..??!!!
Not Good at all …. Why did Jay put Turk on the bench so quickly
my best guess is he put him on the bench because he has no clue what he is doing
He-he about Evans and Jose – too funny… :)
Johnson has loosened up his defense and reduced his overall aggressiveness in order to keep his fouls down.
One foul in the first minute and then 15 minutes without a foul. In the last game he also had about a 15 minute stretch without committing a foul.
If he can continue to play this way it will benefit him in the long run because it will keep him on the floor and he slowly build his aggressiveness back up as he get more experience and bulk.
The fact is that the only way he will be able to stay in the NBA is too get and keep his foul trouble under control.
The last 3 games have been encouraging in that regard.
pistons fans here..
waiting for amir to get those fouls down and bulk up?
do not hold your breath
ps: that csi video made me puke
Rasho skipped the bike the last couple of days and he was trying to burn off the few extra calories he has added. LOL
The Heat were fired up for this one….I knew the raps were gonna lose man….and dont count on a W tommorow either fellas
under the bus should have said, rest of the team, hold for Nesterovic and Weems.
i can’t say I didn’t see this coming. to be completely honest, im surprised wade didn’t go off for more….
Pathetic effort, pathetic team, wtf is wrong with these guys?
Time for another “meeting” yet? That was terrible, but everyone is getting so used to the bad play that it didn’t seem like a big deal. Nice to see you let up on poor Marcus (you must have been reading Doug Smith’s blog today). Got me thinking if there are any 13-15th men on NBA rosters who are solid rotation players? People keep busting on POB & Banks, but if we traded them for another inactive/end of the bench player would we suddenly win the title?
people rip on marcus because he not only makes 4 million, but he also thinks hes good
Yeah, in those hundreds of Marcus Banks interviews I keep seeing he’s always talking about how good he is… WTF are you talking about???
POB and Banks are not the problem.
Have you guys noticed almost all our loses are blow outs ?
Raps maintained a perfect 0-10 record when giving up 115 or points!
All they need now is 2 wins holding teams under 100 to match (currently 8-0 when holding teams under 100)
Did the Raps visit Dr Jekyll’s office at the start of the season for a boost? But can’t afford to buy the stuff that turns them into beasts more than 1 in 3 games?
It’s getting so you can’t tell which games to watch.
Now that’s insightful, shahinc … the Raps are either hot or cold … and the only question is will Anthropogenic Global Warming help or hinder our beloved Raptors … ya think ..????!!!!
in terms of antoine… the only thing triano has done right, is sit wright.
And Iam getting the feeling it maybe somewhat personal. He ripped on JT a week ago (before that infamous meeting).
Once again your on Banks back, he was in fact the 4th leading scorer and did more than Bellini and Derozan did. 9 points in 14 minutes. Wait a minute!!!! that is not good that that was true……. is it??????
thats a good point, but it does feel good to rip on them…
wow! i now understand some of the hate for the raps that gets spewed on this sight. i was at the game tonight and was a witness live for the first time all season of the most atrocious display of basketball ever. omg! im sorry you guys have to witness that more then once a year! disgusting! its so much worse live! i really do get the hate now.
Faq, i would be crazier than you if i still lived in t.o! sorry man, im right there with you! they’re the worst.
I spent some time in Miami and what I remember most is that the insects are as big as household cats.
its a good thing i dont live in miami!
Smart move
I would prefer to think of the Raptors as a “Team Under Construction” … not “Destruction” … although the later may be closer to reality.
Btw … I don’t live in Moronto … but I prefer to suffer through most of the winter in Canada because I enjoy skiing .. downhill, back-country and even some telemark .. but not snowboarding .. that’s for the younger set … although I do miss the golf … oh well ..
If they are a “Team Under Construction” WTF did they sign a slow 30yr old FA from Turkey ????? They should have saved the money and just gone with Weems, Belinelli, Jack & Derozan. If they were under construction I could handle that, but they obviously tried to buy talent win a few more games and convince Bosh to stay.
If you look at the team on paper they do have the individual talent they just don’t play well as a team together, and for that I blame the coaching staff.
No no … BC was stacking the team with whatever he could buy on the FA market in 2009 .. the assumption being that Bosh was leaving. If they didn’t get Hedo can you imagine what the Bosh-less Raptors would look like .. {{{{shudder}}}}
Miami is a team whose number we’ve had for that last little while. I guess we just got too comfortable. Pathetic.
Maybe it’s the sudden change of seasons .. but if the Raptors stayed in Florida a little longer they could acclimatize better and then beat those pesky Heaters … ya think ???!!!!
its not that hot here.
The Raptors looked like a nicely gelled team in the first quarter … and then they became ungelled … fugly …!!!!
Nevertheless …. Triano (with the approval of BC no doubt) .. is continuing with the development of the rest of the team .. and safely assuming that Bosh will not be a Raptor .. as soon as the February 19th trade deadline.
Now we read on hoopshype that Amare is not looking to leave PHX .. which would mean that Bosh would have to get hooked up with LeBron most likely in NY … sooooo obvious now …!!!!!
There are lots of possible scenarios for stars to leave teams at the end of this season – But LeBron & Bosh in NY is about as far fetched as any idea that I have ever heard.
Nobody leaves $30 million on the table for any team.
Now now, brothersteve … you don’t know what Bosh personally values … money or quality of life and work satisfaction.
What I’m hearing is that Wade and LeBron might not demand max money and thus cripple a team financially and player-wise. They can more than make up any salary loss with endorsement fees on a winning team in a big market. e.g. If LeBron decided to stay in Cleveland for sentimental reasons, his Nike contract would be downgraded substantially … compared to if he played for the NYK’s.
Perhaps Wade and LeBron might relent on their contracts if they knew they were playing with Bosh, who would demand a max money contract … and as for the $30 Million loss over 6 years, that could be more than made up with sponsorships … believe it.
The Clippers are a better bet.
Does anyone else not get how we decide who shoots with this team? First quarter Bargs is hot, gets 10 point. Then they didn’t go to him almost at all in the second. Then they try and go back and he’s gone cold. Then third quarter, Bosh gets the first 8 points for the team. Then he just sort of dissapears. The problem tonight was not D (the D was not good by any stretch though) but the offence and with this teambuilt the way it is that should never happen.
Also Bosh getting two rebounds is atrocious. He is far and away the best rebounder on the team and when he doesn’t go hard on the glass we’re pretty thin. After all, who really thinks Bargs will pick up the slack on rebounds?
Bosh on bothering to snag 2 easy rebounds may be the start of his doing a partial ‘vince’ on the Raptors … now that he has demonstrated to the league that he is quite capable of getting a double-double when motivated.
If Bosh is gonezo by the Feb. 19th deadline, there is no use for him to fight for rebounds and risk injury … or even driving to the hoop and getting hammered …. because Bosh has made his point that he is a deserving max money player … believe it.
No one player “picks up the slack” when the slack is 12 boards!
Bargs got 7 to lead the team. Amir, Hedo, & CB got 2 each. Ouch!
Bosh seemed rooted to the floor tonight. But why?
Would young guys (with lots of change), two nights, Miami Beach and assorted distractions (in no particular order) be valid reasons?
Oh I forgot…no leader.
J.O was stuck to his back like a nap sack.
Every player should be able to contribute to the rebounding cause however.
Did J.O. play all his minutes against Bosh during the game. I think even when J.O. was on the bench, Bosh was not active on the offensive or defensive boards. I think people should stop blaming other players (you know who I mean) when they get a few rebounds. Next I am going to use the same excuse for some of the other players not named Chris Bosh.
Thanks.
No one’s blaming other players. Watch the game. J.O boxed him out on many possessions.
Bosh didn’t get many rebounds last night, no question. How often has that happened this season?
No one’s blaming anyone but if we’re using your same argument who helped Bosh score points last night? In the 3rd quarter I was starting to wonder if he was going to score the only pts for the team.
Your user name already indicates that your opinions will lack objectivity.
I don’t hide behind names. I rather be open and direct. I was also starting to wonder when Bosh was going to help in getting an offensive or defensive rebound. Well, we had to wait until the 3rd quarter.
Did Bosh get any rebounds in the second half in the last game? I wonder if you have the information, I know he only got 6 rebounds against a smaller size Houston team.
I never said you hide behind names.
I said your name indicates that objectivity is probably not your forte or you have issues with Bosh’s leadership, I would assume.
Either way it’s a one dimensional moniker.
You should go for something more like ‘raps suck’ or ‘euro’s or bust’
I agree that his rebounding numbers were not good in either game but he contributed in other ways (scoring most specifically) which is more than I can say about the other players on this team that are paid handsomely for jogging.
Dear Raptors,
We’re well past the 20-game gelling mark and we can now see what we got here. I’d like to thank you for curing me of my addiction to basketball. I now get plenty of work done to the soothing sounds of Matt Devlin warbling in the background.
Please contact me when you decide to play 48 minutes more than one game in a row and hahaha good luck against the Magic hahaha on your back-to-back hahaha.
Mr. Sucker
i cannot stand devlin, maybe its the team, who knows?
Does anyone know why after winning a jumpball (Anthony and Banks)….when I thought Banks made a terrific play to steal the ball…the ball comes back for a Miami possession and a throwin. Both Devlin and Jack had no effing idea why this happened (neither do I) and glossed over the whole play.
either he jumped to early (violation)… or a bad toss by the ref
according to the heat broadcast it is illegal to get the ball without jumping for it or something like this.
I think that Banks might have grabbed it with two hands in the circle, which isn’t legal. That’s all I could think of.
I’m pretty sure that when there is a jump ball… neither of the two ‘jumpers’ can be the first to have possession of the ball
After the Magic, Raps play 4 of 5 at home against:
NJ
NO
@Det
Det
Cha
This is a 5 game set they need to sweep!
Should provide a little Raptor Hope.
I think the best they will do is 3-1
LOOL, 3-2
Well .. if we on RR cheer them up, the sky is the limit … GO RAPTORS ..!!!
Hey, AlpRats… would you please consider changing the order of your player commentary… from alphabetic to starters at the top .. go down the bench .. and then hit the DNP and the Injured through no fault of their own … it would make for easier reading and we could skip your comments about Banks, Evans and P’OB … have pity on us dyslexics and myopics …!!!
nope.
I have learn’t not to get too high on this team, they have a talent to disappoint. My issue really after watching almost all the Raptors games this season is the coaching staff. Yes the players have a lot to blame for their performances too but if you have been watching the Raptors throughout the preseason and into the season you probably have asked yourself at some “points” what is Triano doing…he looks overmatched as the headcoach. He is the headcoach who was asked preseason about his team’s performs (mainly the losing and the really bad defence) and his answer to that was that the games don’t matter like we were going to magically turn it on when the season started. Coaches make schemes and plays and dictate the general tempo and ball distribution on the team. Ok fine we weren’t put together as a defensive minded team, but our offence really doesn’t look good. Like in previous posts, it seems like we seem to go away from the hot and quicky and if you ask me we really lack creative offensive plays and we really relay on our 3 ball problem is on the lineup we fielded today we only had Bargnani, Turk and Marco have the ability to knock down the 3 at a high % and none of the had a particularly good night from the outside. Personally I’m not advocating to fire Triano…demote him to top assistant and promote Iavaroni to headcoach he has a bit more NBA expercience as a headcoach and I liked what he tried to instill in Memphis. Demote Triano!!!!!
@cakeman.
blech. JT and MI are basically deck chairs. as the ostracized yet astute Shea Hillenbrand once said of another moribund toronto franchise: “the ship is sinking”
There was a huge leap of faith going into this season that Bellinelli and Johnson would become consistent contributors in a new environment. It hasn’t happened and it is killing us.
Also why was Andrea guarding Beasley rather than CB, CB’s supposed to be the quick one? Strange decision by Triano.
Also the defense is generally poor no matter what combination of players is on the floor ….. what does that say about the schemes?
I think alot of people expected a lot more out of Belli than he’s provided for this team (like being able to put the ball inside the hoop rather than off the side)… but with Johnson I was expecting alot more Evans. With his injury Johnson has become a necessity.
The only good thing about this game is getting the Horatio Caine One-liners!
I enjoy watching the game theme clips more than the games. I’m pathetic as a Raptor.