The “how do you remove a boot from ones ass” edition:
Barbosa: well he pulled a Davis and missed a butter layup that I could have made after drinking 12 Creemore and having RapsFan spin me in a wheelbarrow, but the rest of his game was pretty solid on a night were almost every Raptor sucked eggs.
Bayless: a welcome sight to see him back but it appeared he may have re-aggravated his high ankle sprain in the second half. His shot was off and an elephant would have had a better lift on a jumper, but he did a passable job of moving the ball and defending as best he could on a semi-blown wheel.
Butler: I love Sundays. Family time, nice and relaxing, good food, blood pressure takes a tumble. Using the day of the week analogy, Rasual to me is a Monday morning crammed with meetings, paperwork, and a buttered bagel that ends up landing on your newly pressed purple shirt.
Calderon: face it, Jose must have been having cold sweats about this game right from day one. The possibility of going up with Paul being backed up by Billups is like you challenging your wife to lingerie shopping without knowing her bra size. Luckily (you might think) Paul was sitting in a houndstooth jacket making googly eyes at Billy Crystal, yet Jose was still shown up so badly by Billups that rumour has it Spain are flying their flags at half mast.
Davis: Alabi has been recalled from the D, so it’s time to send this uncaring bitch down to where buses rule the world. I truly see this kid as part of our future, but if he is mentally intimidated by NBA talent, lets ship him to, hell, I don’t care….Oshawa to play ball against guys he should be able to take 1 on 5. It’s incredible to me the difference in his play compared to last year and the whole “new system” thing is wearing thin 2 months in.
DeRozan: was hoping the Compton air would energize him and it did look like he was picking things up today. We saw an alley oop, a drive, some ill-advised shots from deep….in other words DeMar from last year. 8 trips to the line again which is solid and something he needs to keep up.
Forbes: nailed firmly to the bench (or Jamaal was sitting on his tearaways and he couldn’t get up) and only saw action in garbage time. In other words, the raccoon was released back in his natural environment.
Gray: can’t tell you how much I enjoy seeing a Raptors player get put in and immediately get in the ear of an opponent. It’s fantastic. Add to that the fact that Aaron seemed to be taking on 1/2 the Clippers team at some points and it should make those of you that miss Chiclets a little less lonely.
A. Johnson: brutal game filled with quick yanks by Casey that must have been pretty loud in the empty head of Amir. No doubt he sat there and watched Gray absolutely tap dance on his ego and further force Casey to question if Amir is worthy of a starting spot when Andrea comes back.
J. Johnson: this guy just keeps reminding me of flying Air Canada to LaGuardia. On a good day everything is smooth and you get what you want out of your plans. On most days, though, you are dealt a hand of frustration, delayed performance, and perceived indifference from the pilot. Another guy that felt the cane around his neck today he just didn’t have it.
Kleiza: kiss your kids on the forehead when they go to bed tonight because the apocalypse is coming early and she is due tonight. Linas was having fun and actually being effective, showing what we saw flashes of before his horrible injury. He was a big part of the bench crew that brought us back into this game when it was threatening to be a major catastrophe.
Magloire: doesn’t show in the statline, but he had a pretty good game. He certainly filled up the gap down low when Amir and Ed gave us next to nothing and it seemed Jamaal felt challenged for one of the rare times this season, stepping his game up to answer. More please.
Driving the bus: Linas Kleiza
Under the bus: Jose Calderon
Theme of the Game:
