What else do you want me to do? Do you want me to score 30, 40 points a game? Twenty blocks a game? That’s not my game. That’s not what I do. I try to get these guys going, and that’s pretty much it. I’m not weak-minded by any means. I know that we’re going to be good this year. I think we have time to turn it around. That’s the plain fact. You can’t put the emphasis on one person … it’s a team sport.
While it was a bit self-righteous and dramatic, Chris Bosh drives home the point that he can’t do it himself. Not many in the NBA can; maybe 5 or 6. Even then, he’s not a Wade or LeBron who has the ball in his hands all the time and can take control of the game at any moment. He’s a power forward, meaning that someone has to get him the rock, in good position, and the rest of the team needs to make themselves useful so he has space to operate.
For the most part this season, Bosh has taken good shots. The 15 lbs of muscle he added over the summer has made it harder for defenses to push him off the block and keep him off the boards. He still likes to shoot that jumper, but he does have a great shot for a forward in a jump shooting league; the only guys who don’t shoot are the ones who can’t. So why is he getting so much flack for the Raptors recent woes? The team is 3-10 since the All-Star break (3-4 without him in the lineup).
You take a look at his stats since the break, and he’s averaging 22pts 8.7rebs 3.2ast and 2to. His assists are up, but the rest of his game is down. Coming back from an ankle injury is not an easy task, you will always favour it and wont’ be able to go 100%. What kills me is that the last two games he has gotten back up to where he was pre-injury, and is getting ripped for not doing enough by the media. During this losing stretch, he’s putting up similar numbers and shooting a similar percentage as when the team was winning, but all of a sudden, he’s to blame. I call shenanigans.
So I take a look at what’s been going on with the other two big guns for the Raptors: Turkoglu and Bargnani:
Turkoglu is playing so bad, it pains me to even mention his name. The guy is rebounding a bit better, but is worse at everything else: 10.5pts 4.8rebs 3.5ast since the All-Star break, and 7.5pts 5.8rebs 4.2ast in the last 4. You know how much money he made in those 4 games? $439,024.39. So reason #1 why Bosh snapped and the Raptors sucks is Turkoglu not performing at even his decreased levels as a Raptor. Even he realizes it and has been ducking out of the locker room before the media can rip into him. Way to run off and leave the rest of your team holding their balls while the media grills them Hedo, that’s real stand-up.
Bargnani is another major reason why the Raptors are in a funk. 15pts, 5.2rebs since the All-Star break is not far off from his season numbers, but no one else is picking up the slack. More troubling is that 7 of those games were without Bosh, which meant that he should have been the #1 option on offense leading to increased production; quite the opposite was the case though. To his credit, he did have a few good games, but each one of those came in a losing effort (Memphis, Cleveland, LA and Sacramento).
I’m not worried about his offense, though, never was (at least not this season); for me, this team lives and dies with his play on the defensive end. His rebounding has been absolutely brutal. On Saturday, against guys who were serving him fries a couple months ago (Anthony Tolliver and Chris Hunter), he gave up 11 offensive rebounds. Now, Bosh did have a hand in that, but Bosh grabbed 10 defensive rebounds; Bargnani grabbed 3. Gets worse for him against Portland where Aldridge grabbed 8 offensive rebounds to his single defensive board. Even Colangelo called it “disappointing.”
Both Golden State and Portland had significantly more shot attempts than the Raptors, 19 and 12 respectively. In Golden States’ case, that’s almost a whole quarter’s (for a normal team) worth of shots, totally negating the Raptors solid shooting from the floor. The more shots a team gets, the more chance they have to score – simple math.
Things have regressed to before that team-meeting that sent the Raptors on their winning ways, and this time it’s on Triano to make it right. Even though Bosh doesn’t think yelling is the way to go, demanding respect is; and Triano seemingly doesn’t have the players respect from where I sit. He’s clearly telling these guys to box out, keep their man in front of them, rotate and such, but they aren’t. So what does he do? Nothing, he slaps lipstick on a pig by taking Jack out of the starting lineup and replacing him with Calderon.
Over the last 13 games, Jack’s production has been spectacular; he is averaging 14.6pts 2.8rebs 5.2ast. Granted, the last two games he’s been off (which has coincided with Calderon’s mini two-game resurgence), but he is a better fit in a starting five led by his Georgia Tech teammate. If Triano had any balls he would move Turkoglu to the bench and start Wright for his defense. If he really wanted to impress me, he would start Johnson and bring Bargnani off the bench as well.
These types of moves address the teams inability to play perimeter defense and protect the defensive boards, but it would take a real coach to make that stand and not leave Bosh standing alone when taking the heat.
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77 Raps
When Colangelo calls a Barg’s performance dissapointing you know the big guy needs to step it up.
In Barg’s defence I have more confidence in him playing better than I do Turk.
Turk is the vet and should be providing stability instead of telling us how it’s been so hard to fit into the system or that he needs the ball like he did in Orlando.
You’re not playing in Orlando anymore. New team, new system. You need a new attitude Turk.
Yeah Bargs is close to his average but thats not good enough, i dont care about the 15 ppts he will get those every game. He needs to step up defensively and rebound the ball or at least box out.
Ok..
Turk has been bad, so has Bargs.
You guys keep shitting on Calderon, but he’s not that bad defensively from Jack. CALDERON SHOULD START, plain and simple.
Our lineup should be,
Calderon Wright Turk Amir and Bosh. Or put Turk in the 2nd unit so he can create for those guys, and also, Turk needs to take more shots, he doesn’t average 10 shots a game, how many points do you guys expect him to get 18? yeah right!
Bargnani half the time looks like he’s asleep on the court, so does Turk. Someone give them a fucking smack, wake up!
That should be our lineup until someone performs.
Triano needs some backbone and needs to shake things up.
Sorry, speaking in fragments. LOL
“So what does he do? Nothing, he slaps lipstick on a pig by taking Jack out of the starting lineup and replacing him with Calderon”
love that line because its true. I only think Calderon should start just to mix it up a little, but honestly JJ should be the one there.
Wright is a #9 player on a .500 team in the NBA. He shouldn’t be in the rotation, never mind starting!!!!!!!!!!!!
Agree. Raps are offensive team and Wright is a black hole on offense.
Then how come he was good enough to start for the mavs last year? come on, we said we need defence, i’ll compromise jack’s D for jose’s if we switch derozan with wright.
Adrian,
“Ball” can take more shots, nobody prevents him. He should take more shots, no problem, provided he can make them. The problem is – he cannot. And, he knows that. As a matter of fact, he even has troubles making layups. Can he at least play some sort of defense? He truly, has been total waste (so far).
As for Bargnani, I agree with Arsenalist – his inconsistent offense does not kill us as much as his defensive “game”. I mean, he looks beyond ridiculous out there. I give him some credit for couple of blocks he did in oh-so-distant-past. Our “centre” is really not centre, he is 7-foot jump shooter. If he is not traded any time soon, I hope that he is at least moved from the centre position.
These 2 overpaid underachievers are IMO the biggest problem on this team right now. Hedo in particular.
“Going It Alone”? What does that mean? Shouldn’t it read “Doing It Alone”?
They both work, but I prefer my way :)
Great read!
This week’s running Raps joke is that if Bosh were actually signed to this team long-term he’d be demanding a trade this summer.
I totally see why Bosh is getting frustrated. The guy gives it his all every night and its barely enough to keep this team afloat. Wade has the same problem in Miami. I truly believe the two of them would make one hell of a combo together, unfortunately if it did happen it would be in Miami or NY.
Who wrote this article, Hadi?
You neglect to mention Bosh’s 6 turnovers in games vs sub 500 teams.
Or his poor shot making (jumpers instead of drives)in clutch situations where he is perpetually given the green light by the coach.
OR his paper thin defense. What happened to the shot blocker we used to know?
This team will only reach the promised land once Bosh is off the team. He is a great ‘piece’ to an already winning team, but after this many years it is 100% obvious he is not a cornerstone. You can try and blame management, coaching, etc., but you would be fooling yourself. Basketball is a team sport. If Amir Johnson gets 6 turnovers in a game, his ass is on the bench for a LONG time. Think about it.
Completely dissagree!
Bosh had 6 turnovers in one game last week (while still scoring a double-double) because he was trying to do too much on offence due to the fact that his teammates weren’t doing enough to help carry the offensive load. If Amir ever scored 20-10 in any given game while commiting 6 turnovers it would be accepted in terms of keeping him on the court.
Bosh is indeed a cornerstone franchise player, but he’s only one “cornerstone” of a four corner core foundation. Two of the other three “cornerstones” (Bargs and Hedo) aren’t holding their weight to carry this team. You have to lay the blame directly on Bargs’ and Hedo’s grossly underperforming “footings”.
Bosh is having the best season of any PF in the league. Unfortunatley, Hedo is having a career-worst season and Bargs hasn’t stepped up and performed up to eveyone’s expectations – especially when was out for 6 games.
As for Bosh’s defence, if any one player’s is “paper thin” it’s Hedo’s, Jose’s and Bargs’.
Think about all of that.
+ 1
Thought about it and disagree. You have a sum total of 0% evidence that Bosh can be a cornerstone player.
Hedo sucks this year, no doubt about that.
Bargs was crap on the road trip, however when he WAS successful this year is when he gets fed the ball when flashing to the basket or is in the low post. I think some other readers will agree that Jack and Jose look him off ALL THE TIME. Really the only guys that feed him are Belli and Banks..and when are they on the floor?
By the way, franchise players never “try to do too much” on offense. They play team ball and run set plays which involve PASSING, not ball sticking iso’s that result in low % jumpers.
PS- Wayne Winston has posted the exact same thing in his analysis today:
http://nspyouth.org/winston.html
If Amir ever scored 20-10 in any given game while commiting 6 turnovers it would be accepted in terms of keeping him on the court>>
I seem to recall a 20 – 10 game that Johnson had one time with 6 turnovers.
He also had 6 blocks, 6 assists and 6 fouls. Though he did not have 6 steals
He wound up getting the game ball with four of a kind. LOL
LOL
Free Amir
“but he’s only one “cornerstone” of a four corner core foundation.”
Colangelo should then raise all their salaries to 20 million each and from this day forward be called franchise players.That was a really stupid comment.
Bosh was not trying to shoulder too much of the load. The guy simply can’t pass out of a double team:it’s his biggest offensive flaw and until it’s corrected teams that double hard will kill us. Barg’s gets hit a lot for his defense, but as has been said before he is our best post defender and works hard to deny his man in the post. He’s an awful rebounder though and sucks in help situations. Bosh’s D is average in that he is average in every way on defense: average help defender, average post defender, and average pick and roll defender. I know it’s great too point out Bargs or Hedo and say: “They are the problem because they don’t try hard enough” but the reality is we are the worst Defensive team in the league and that takes a team effort. And that team includes chris Bosh. The day Chris comes out and shuts down his man, KG style, on defense is the day I’ll say he is the man we need.
Here here, well said.
For more on Bosh vs KG, check this ol’ gem:
http://foodcourtlunch.com/?p=1614
LOL That’s classic.
More Jose/CB oriented, but this one is gold too:
http://foodcourtlunch.com/?p=1817
passing out of the double team is definitely not Bosh’s number one weakness. He generally performs well at this task, the problem is, in this current losing streak the ball movement is very slow comapred to when we were winning. This makes the opposing team’s defence all the more successful becuase they have sssooooo much time to recover after Bosh passes out of the double. As evidence of this look at all the open corner 3s that the raps got during their winning streak when the ball movevment (out of the Bosh double) was crisply swung around the weak side.
The biggest weakness of Bosh’s offensive game is his love affair with the jump shot. (This actually applies to the whole team). obviously this is going to be masked when he hits a game winning J, but there are far too many stretches where the Raps go minutes without an FG and keep taking J. (See any and all 3rd quarters)
Bosh only committed 12 turnovers in his last 5 games, for an average of 2.1. What about when he played the Lakers and had zero turnovers? Or the next game against Sac when he had 1?
You measure Chris Bosh on one game? What are you basing the fact that he’s not a cornerstone player on? Championships? Winning in the playoffs? There are a lot of guys who fall in that boat man. Chris has exactly zero real talent around him during his tenure as a Raptor.
Look at what Wade is doing in Miami this season, they are only a game or two ahead of the Raptors…oh, but he had the luxury of playing on a very talented veteran team headlined by Shaq, so he must be great…I call BS man.
This statement is BS: “Chris has exactly zero real talent around him during his tenure as a Raptor”
R U serious?
Please bear in mind that since VC ‘left’, CB has been our #1 offensive option night in and night out. He would never get that on any other team.
If you wanna be the man, you gotta play like the man. Quite frankly, look at the Cavs the year they made it to the finals. Sure, they got swept, but they also had zero talent and a real cornerstone guy that took over games.
When does CB ever take over a game?
Furthermore, I love how you hate on AB and Turk, and speak little of our rookie or of Jose.
CB is a great player, there is no doubt. He will win a championship during his career, probably for the Lakers or Knicks or Heat. I’m just saying that if he is option #1 for our team, than that option will not get us any further than a 1st round playoff sweep.
There are like 3 guys in the league who can take over a game like you describe.
I didn’t talk about those guys because they are second bit players, and take their queue from Bosh, Turkoglu and Bargnani. But if you insist….
DeMar is a rookie, he’s playing about 20min a game, and giving us what a raw rookie is capable of: up and down. Weems or Belinelli would not be a dramatic improvement over him. The Raptors are not deep at the wing position.
Same with Jose, he is a solid offensive point guard, but a very poor defensive one who’s weaknesses were masked by coming off the bench and playing against other bench players.
Who do you propose we swap him out for? And how do you propose we do that?
I think we should only contemplate moving CB, and the parts/picks we could back in the summer once the whole playoff mix is sorted and the season is over.
I agree only Kobe, Lebron, possibly Joe Johnson and Dirk, can take over games. I will drop the name too, VC, as someone who can take over (when he wants..which is rare).
This statement is puzzling: “DeMar is a rookie, he’s playing about 20min a game, and giving us what a raw rookie is capable of: up and down. ”
1. There are some raw rookies this year, and every year, that can do ALOT more than Demar, but that is just the reality of the league.
2. If he is a raw rookie, why is he starting. We might as try out our “raw” 2nd year player in Weems who is much better on D and has a smoother jumper, or we ‘should’ have tried Wright, who was at least impressive last season on D.
Jose is a freakin open window on defense so there is no reason to talk about him. Beno Udrih treated him like his spitoon the other night.
Agreed that DeRozan is being used too much and incorrectly, but the other guys wont put th Raptors over the top. That’s the only thing I’m saying.
lol @ Udrih treating jose like his spittoon.
I personally think Belli deserves more time..there must be something going on internally which is sidetracking him…maybe the smoking thing, lol.
By the way, good article man.
I don’t Belinelli getting more time, if he minimizes the number of off balance three’s he takes.
Bosh wouldn’t get 6 turnovers a game if he had a swing that was even average in the NBA!
Well, if Bosh passed to the swing man, then we would really know the answer to that wouldnt we?
Just a theory that I don’t know if I buy:
Not that i can knock Bosh for this, but Bosh was putting up monster defensive rebounding numbers before the all-star break. This more than made up for Bargnani’s 5-6 rebounds per game.
After the All-Star break, with Bosh in the lineup, Bosh has not had 12-15 rebound performances like he used to, and Bargnani is grabbing 1 or 2 less on average. Not to mention the real bad nights where he has between 2 and 4.
So, Bargnani, I don’t think has been significantly worse, just Bosh on his ankle hasn’t been as dominant. As a consequence you get guys with confidence crashing the glass every time, whereas before the break they might give up on those same plays because of Bosh’s dominance on the glass. I mean, he was putting up Dwight like numbers…
There is a solid argument in there, and it makes a lot of sense…to me anyways, lol.
I really think that the NBA needs to add a new stat.
Controlled tips resulting in a teammate getting a rebound.
I like the article, it’s a different spin than a lot of the junk — basically, he saying he need’s a team around him, i’ve heard kobe say it, the king and wade, and they weren’t getting hung out to dry like bosh is (recently)…
This has to be at least the 6th or 7th time we’ve used that picture in an article featuring Chris Bosh. Is that the only pic of him looking focused?
Overall, I’m agreeing with Sam that before we start blaming Bosh for anything, we need to look at Hedo, Bargnani and others because they are far and away more guilty than Bosh. Bosh does deserve to be criticized for his lack of leadership on the team, but that depends on what your expectations of him are. For me, that’s been his biggest problem this year – he’s not a leader. Damn good player, but not a leader.
Here’s the current reality: Chris is our ONLY legitimate starter. Andrea, Hedo, DeMar & José will all start, but all need to improve to have any success at all in the playoffs this year! Too bad Jay is so stuck in his ways … Amir, Sonny and Jarrett are all good enough to take away some of those starters’ minutes!! That’s what I’m watching for now!!!
Once again…great read from Sam!
Okay here’s what I was thinking..I’m not an expert but if I was Triano..this is how I’d run my Starters and second unit.
Rebounding & Toughness addressed.
Starters:
PG: Calderon
SG: Turkoglu
SF: Johnson
PF: Bosh
C: Bargnani
2nd Unit:
PG: Jack
SG: Wright / DeRozan
SF: Weems
PF: Evans
C: Nesterovic
okay you can laugh..lol but I did this in my NBA Live lineup and was able to kick Atlanta’s ass. lol
You’re the second person I’ve heard say that in the last week about Johnson starting at SF. My only problem with your lineup is Turkoglu starting at shooting guard. He can’t chase the Wades, Ray Allens, Monta Ellis’ around the court, would get crucified.
Rudy F used and abused him…it was sad. But I really like watching Rudy Fernandez play. Poor man’s Ginobili, rich man’s Belinelli?
yeah I think that would make our front court really solid. Bargs can pull centers out of the paint so Bosh can operate and hand off to Johnson to finish.
Turkoglu just gonna have to get on the bicycle then..run laps… drink red bull..etc. loll
Could you change Amir and Bargs? Bargs has a faster drive and would fit better at the three. Or maybe we could have a bizarre triple post up attack! Bosh posts high, Bargs posts low and Amir sets on the weak side and we just pound it inside until they break against our awesome might. We can then play zone defense too try and hide our lack of speed at the three. I think I’d rather have some more athletic guys at the 1 and 2 though…Maybe DD and Jack or Weems and Jack.
Uhm….Bargs at the 3 was a disaster, don’t you remember the Orlando series?
I thought of that, but that was a while ago and he is a better player now. I said that more because Amir has no jump shot and no drive and would be essentially useless at the three whereas Bargs at least has some of the more traditional elements of a three man.
That said, I think the three headed power forward idea makes more sense then having either Amir or Bargs play at small forward. Just pound the ball into the post and abuse whoever gets the mismatch.
To me Demar has to come off the starting lineup and be replaced with someonelse. We’re being scorched in his position and need time to integrate someonelse into the team. Wright could be the starter if he remembers to focus on defence and defer on offence. Or we could put Sonny who’s not as bad as DD.
THe SG position is our glaring hole but we continue to use DD!! I’d start Jack, Weems, Turk, Bosh & AB. IF AB doesn’t improve on the D, then I’d pull him and put Amir.
Since Bargnani plays mostly on the perimeter on offense playing Johnson alongside Bosh and Bargnani might work. I have always felt that it should be worth a try.
Johnson can guard most SF’s though the still has problems with bigger small forwards like Pierce, Lebron, Maggette etc.
I feel like Amir should bulk up a bit, work on his jumper (especially the corner 3), and become the new age Shawn Marion (athletic 3/4).
That would be awesome…or maybe stupid.
He is working with AE on his offense. There has been a noticeable improvement in his offense since the season started.
Where it goes from here is anyone’s guess, but my guess is the turn around post up jumper 5-10 feet is next up. We shall see.
Other than maybe an inconsistent Wright it seems to me that the only two Raptors playing below expectations are Turk and Bargnani.
The Raptors would be a very good team if those two guys could play some solid defense and score more.
DeRozan has his weaknesses at this point, especially on defense and the inability to make three point shots. However, I don’t think that he has really played below expectations. Expectations may have been a bit too high for him given where he was drafted. However, based upon what I saw him do at USC last season his game this year is about what I figured it would be.
I doubt any talk or any changes to the lineup would matter much tonight against the Hawks.
The “we aren’t good enough to compete with these guys” should be the blame for tonight.
Most fans here think Jack is good defensive player….psshh please..
There is a “slight” difference between Jose and Jack in defense perspective….remember when Jose is injured Jack the so called “defensive player” win so many games…ITS BECAUSE WE ARE FACING WEAK TEAMS!!
I bet you a million dollars that if Jose play really well against the hawks…. all the jack lovers/supporters will be in Jose’s bandwagon!
oh i just noticed that black stripe over the RR banner. What was that for?
One of the RR members (Altraps) had a death in the family. Seeing how wearing black arm bands aren’t feasible for obvious reasons, the black band across the RR banner is signifying the loss that he and his family have gone through right now. He’s our “brother” and we want to support him and his family during this trying time.
Sorry for his/her loss. Hope it all goes well.
Love,
Tj
My condolences, AltRaps.
Are you guys on some crack?
I should of not been traded..
Fact is, what you guys did to me..was NOT nice, All I wanted to do was help the fucking team win, and I didnt want to say that Jose’s defense sucks because I did not want to distrupt chemistry. So in return I was labled as a trouble maker.
I miss chris bosh, I miss Smitch..We had something amazing going on, All I needed was good premiter D and good self shot creating Wing Players. Joey didn’t fullfil our needs, and neither did Jamario.
Now you all must suffer the typical case of KARMA.
You all deserve this mess, and Chris deserves to LEAVE & win a championship..
Love you guys(K)(L)
Bye now
Next year, I`ll be in the playoffs with Danny Granger at that 7th and 8th spot.
Did someone say “crack”?
I hear that you might find yourself in Minnesota next year. They want to stock up further on point guards.
Sam: I think you stat cursed CB.
Yeah, what an embarrassment he’s been tonight
fucking terrible
if you guys don’t put him under the bus i don’t know what to say
Just for good measure, bosh is killing us. absolutely killing us.
watching this game i seriously wonder whether he’s better than al horford or not. i’m not sure.
following that shot i’ll say, HUGE, CLUTCH shot.
but he still sucked tonight. got some love back
He was brutal during the game, but stepped up and hit the game winner….I take it man.
He probably should still be under the bus…and if he’d either missed the shot or we lost the game he would be for sure. Good way to close it out, tho.
More generally, why does he keep shooting jumpers when his shot is not falling??!?!?!!!?!
I wanted to punch him in the face.
Also: It cracks me up when people use single game +/- numbers. Bosh was +21 for the night in a 1 point loss, Bargs -8, DeMar -10, yet there is no question in my mind that Bosh mostly had a terrible game, and Bargs and DeMar outstanding ones.
I’ll take W like this any time. This is what happens when other 2 highest paid players on the team, actually put some effort.
Bosh does not have to score 25 for us every time to win the game. That’s why I see this win tonight as very valuable. Raptors can and should win with CB having bad game. They have no choice any more, they have to keep playing hard trying to beat every team.
OMFG i’m watching the game right now, annother horrible 3rd quarter, and theres 7:32 left in the 4th and they’re settling for jumpers again especially Bosh….grrr.
what a pathetic excuse for a team.
wow, i guess you could say Luck of the Irish…
ONIONS ONIONS ONIONS SALAMI & CHEESE
rude article sam pootki
toners!
Hey Sam – great article. you’ve hit the nail on the head. It’s about time someone stick up for Bosh and call out the overpayed, soft, underachieving, mediocre guys like Bargs and Turk. Though I do think that Turk is still not being put in a position to succeed but he should still be producing better than he has been. Bargs on the hand is way overrated who’s game shows up when the Knicks, Nets and T’wolves of the NBA comes to town and is then suddenly considered as a player who is much more important than Bosh. I mean come on people!!! Bargs needs to develop a spine or a mean streak but he wont becasue he’s not that kind of player. he’s happy jacking up 3′s and avoiding contact by any means possible.
I think that for the Raps to be better some people needs to be shipped out. I proposed that everyone is fair play other than Bosh, Johnson, Derozan/Weems and Jack.
I’m not sure how the salaries match or how many years the contracts are but what about Bargs, Jose, Beli for Baron Davis and Kaman? Jack can move back to the back-up spot and Bosh has someone to help out with the rebounding. Too bad Dumbleavy is no longer running the Clips. or Lopez and Harris of the Nets for Bargs/Jose/draft picks – I think they owe us one since we gave them VC for a bag full of basketball. Bargs for Al Jefferson – a little undersized but he’s a beast down low. Heck, I’ll even take Troy Murphy for Bargs straight up. At least you know the guy will rebound and show up every game.
What about CP3 for whoever they want and draft picks (except for the 4 that were mention) well – throw derozan in there too.. NO – has Collison as their PG in waiting and then cant play both these guys together.
Is there anyway we can get Marion for Hedo? hmmmm
I know these are far fetch but If any one of these happens i’d be a happy man but if not – i would settle for getting rid of triano and iavaronni – and trying to hire a Jeff Van Gundy and Charles Oakley or what about a Byron Scott – there are some impressive resume’s out there. It’s one thing to be outplayed by the other team because that sucks too but its another thing to not only be outplayed but to also be outcoached now that sucks even more. Man I would love to hear what Bosh or Jack have to say about this team/ the coach and teammates – unedited of course.
Bosh has had as much to do with this team losing as anyone else. His defense has been absolute trash and his shot selection has been poor (nothing but jumpers). No one else on the team was much better… but he is as much to blame as anyone else. You want to criticize anyone feel free… but don’t go out and say its everyone or anyone’s fault other than Bosh… speaking of which.
“What else do you want me to do”
umm how about step up. How about take some blame. How about don’t blame teammates. There has been lengthy discussions around here about whether Bosh is or isn’t a leader, and whether he should be. Well he pretty much summed up he is not, he won’t be and doesn’t want to be. I guess thats settled.
RE: Going It Alone
Dear Editor,
I must say your column regarding Chris Bosh’s inability to carry the team alone was quite a moving piece of writing. I strongly agree with your opinion, it isn’t fair to send all the blame to Chris Bosh. He is still outputting All-Star statistics coming off of an ankle injury, while the other so called “main weapons” for the Raptors have been doing absolutely nothing. It is true that Jay Triano needs to grow a back-bone, he currently starts players that are considered the best and paid the highest. Rather than the hardest working and proven more effective at the moment, even if not for the effort of bench players then for the message it will send to the Raptors current starting line.
I personally believe that there are too many politics in the NBA. The fact that Turkoglu still starts is based merely on the fact that we signed him for a 50 Million dollar contract over 5 years. One of the the highest paid raptors and he is putting out numbers that you would expect from a second string player. Bargnani a former first round pick that was one of the biggest flops in the history of NBA, we could have had rookie of the year, and All-Star, Brandon Roy but to protect the reputation of our scouts and decision to draft Bargnani we continue to play him on the starting line. If politics were removed from sports and it all came back to effort and talent the game of basketball would be ever so much better.
Based on your closing statement in your article I could be led to believe that you would like Triano to either make changes or possibly be replaced? If this is true who would you replace him with? If not, then what exact changes would you expect him to make, apart from not playing certain players on the starting lineup what could you recommend possibly for off the court, practice?
Sincerly,
Ethan Rosehart
Were you aware that Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge both play for the Trailblazers….and Aldridge was picked at least 3 picks ahead of Roy in that same draft (Bargnani going first). Brandon Roy was NOT considered a #1 by the 4-5 teams picking ahead of when he was. I maybe slightly off on his actual drafting position (he was in fact traded draft day for Randy Foye).