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It’s Philly looking for revenge tonight at the ACC but its hard to focus on this game with what happened on Monday. That loss hurt enough to bother me for another couple weeks, just long enough until we play Boston again. So circle Sunday November 23rd on the calendar and move on, because until then we’ve got business to take care of. We got 5 games till then and going 4-1 or 5-0 in this stretch against PHI, MIA, @ORL, @MIA and NJN will help erase that Boston memory. You’d think Miami and the Nets would be routine assignments so the two ‘message’ games are Philly and Orlando. Philly’s a miserable 2-5 and is in the cellar of the Atlantic. Things just haven’t worked out the way they were supposed to but that doesn’t mean they’re not capable of stunning us if we show any sort of complacency or ill-effects from the Boston affair.
I refuse to give the Bargnani trade talk any value. He’s not going anywhere because there is no way Bryan Colangelo trades him after insisting that the kid needs at least 3-5 years to peak. It would also be admitting that he screwed up the #1 pick which I don’t see him doing anytime soon. We’ve heavily invested in Bargnani and have seen him go through a summer regiment that has yielded some success. It doesn’t make sense that Colangelo would give up on Bargnani after one bad year under a coach that has trouble using what he’s got. I’m not saying Bargnani won’t be eventually traded, he might but it won’t be until Colangelo’s damn sure that he’ll amount to nothing and before he makes that decision he’ll have to see Bargnani play for a real coach. The proposed trade is a package involving Bargnani for Al Harrington and Gerald Wallace. We’d have to match Wallace’s 10M salary by throwing in someone like Graham and fillers. What do you think? Personally, I think this entire article by Hoopsworld is just to get some cheap hits out of the billion Raptor fans that are online. Lame c*nts.
Four Raptors were named to the All-Star ballot: Bosh, O’Neal, Calderon and Parker. The complete list is right here. There’s also word that Chris Bosh will once again be shooting little videos to promote himself for the All-Star team but this time he’ll be shooting along with O’Neal, Calderon and Parker. I know, its not what you want to hear coming off the heels of the Boston game where he hardly looked like an All-Star but that’s just his personality. Anybody seen the KG promo ads? No? You haven’t? Oh, that’s right, that’s because they don’t exist!
I was reading Mike Ulmer’s blog (I know, I know) and I came across yet another aggravating quote from Sam Mitchell about the Boston loss:
“It’s still hard to get too upset about our defence. Our defence has been solid. We just didn’t hit some shots that we needed to hit and they hit some good shots. Those things happen…Jason did a pretty good job guarding [Pierce]. Great players make tough shots sometimes.”
Honest to God, I really think this guys’ understanding of basketball is as simple as taking, making or missing shots. Mitchell arrogance continues as he refused to admit that he might’ve done anything wrong in the Boston game-plan:
“Write what you want to write, but I’m not going to get into why I do what I do all the time because I have my reasons for doing it. And I saw what I saw and those are the plays that we ran….If two guys are guarding Chris, he’s done his job. So if he did good enough for two guys to guard him in the first half, and we had a 16-point lead, and the same two guys are committed to guarding him in the second half, and he’s done his job, what’s the difference?”
Don’t you just hate KG?Hmm. That’s like saying Michael Jordan’s job with the Bulls was done once he drew the initial double team. According to Mitchell at that point all MJ’s remaining responsibility was to pass out of the double and hope Bill Cartwright or John Paxson do the scoring. Such bullshit! I could even settle for him saying that we made some mistakes and will correct them the next time we play them but you can’t even get that out of this guy. Instead it looks like he’ll do the exact same thing over again the next time we play them. I think the first half is clouding his perception of how this game actually went - remember we got blown out by 19 in the second half, 58-39, so nothing went right past the second quarter. I’m all for learning from the positives of a game but he’s acting like Boston’s intensity level was the same in either half and that we played well the entire game and got narrowly beat. That’s the farthest thing from the truth. Feschuk’s basically saying the same thing here.
Jose Calderon’s giving his two cents on what he thinks about Kevin Garnett howling in his ear like the lone wolf and wagging his finger. Jose takes it in stride as he should, he’s not moaning about how Garnett should’ve got a technical, deep down he’s probably dying to play with a guy who plays with that kind of emotion, regardless of the twat of a personality he might be.
Chris Bosh is saying that the Raptors need to bury the opponent when they’re on the ropes:
“When you have a team on the ropes, you have to go ahead and bury them. When you let them hang around they’ll make you pay, especially on the road. We have to take that as a learning experience.”
I don’t think Boston was ever “on the ropes”. Being down big at home against the Raptors in the first half isn’t exactly anything to be scared of. The Raptor teams of the last few years have blown 16-24 point leads fairly consistently so opponents know that the Raptors are capable of going into an offensive funk while letting their defensive guard down. It’s a cliche but no game is over for us until its actually over. The problems with the Raptors is that they get nervous in the big games and quotes like these are confirmation of that. Approach every game the same way - with a killer instinct and a serious attitude that does not accept losing and excuses. There’s no need to voice out what the team needs to do over and over again, just do it. We’re tried of these sort of quotes which hint at the team still finding themselves and figuring out how to play. At this point in your career, knowing when to bury a team shouldn’t be a learning experience, it should be routine.
Well, we’re 1-3 in our last four which can only mean a 9 point drop in The Dirty 30. Our opponent tonight is 6 spots below us and looking like a failed experiment. They’re having serious issues trying to figure out how to use Elton Brand’s post strengths while not marginalizing Andrea Iguodala. This has resulted in their offense being almost as bad as ours (22nd, 23rd), so look for tonight to be much like the first encounter - a battle of attrition that’s won by the team that finds their offensive groove. Of course we can’t afford to be out-rebounded by a 56-33 margin again and have to once again force Philly into those perimeter jumpers they can’t make.
Philly tonight. We’ll do a live blog, I’ll be at the game but we’ll open the chat and I’ll see how fast I can type from an iPhone. There’s also a new poll up. Results for the old poll are here. Let’s go you Raps!!
FAQ
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75 Raps
is there a khandor ignore function?
lesterbrain: calderon is by no means an upgrade on defense over tj. the two are equally crap/good/shit/great…whatever their level is, they are equal. it shouldn’t surprise anyone the numbers tj was putting up. the kid is a solid top 12 pg in the league, along with calderon. they are different types of pg’s, but really good ones none-the-less.
flux: lol…you are man after my own heart. i personally leaned towards tj because i like his ability to break down defense off the bounce, but either way, i didn’t care who got shipped out.
me-thinks mitchell was a tj fan…
Happy B’day James. BTW, you all should check out Dino’s blog, one of the better ones out there:
http://www.dinonationblog.com/
Sam, holy shit man. How can you criticize TJ for not making past the 1st round when our franchise player hasn’t done that either??? That is ultimate hypocrisy. Also, I’d rather lose in 7 than 6 any day. I know the end result doesn’t matter but still…
Can’t criticize Khandor today. His first two posts were crisp and two the point and you’ all encourage’d him for what followed.
I agree with his point that most of the blame doesn’t fall on Mitchell. Players just didn’t produce, they turned the ball over and frankly were facing a stifling defence.
At no time during the Celtics game did I think we had the game in the bag. We outplayed them the first 30 or so minutes - they murdered us the last 18. We are all aware its a 48 minute contest.
Arsenalist, quality post. The 23rd is on every supporters calendar. Bargnani trade talk exists only in cyberspace and a few links that I probably would of missed.
Once again my attempt at humour/sarcasm fails. “ultimate hypocrisy”? That’s a bit strong, even by the hystrionic standards of the blogosphere. My point was TJ is as much (but not more of) a money-time choker as the rest of the Raptors. I wish the guy well. He’s good.
I’m starting to think every supporter, fan, misguided tribal honker . . . needs to take a long, deep breath. I think I’ll start.
Sho, “What type of sh*t do you want the Raps to run?” How about a simple 1-3-1 with somebody setting screens, and picks, and running around getting open. The pick and roll doesn’t always have to be JC & CB. JM, AP, & JO can add some variety. The key is, are they capable of taking advantage of the things that do open up? With 2 inside forces & 3 outside shooters, smart passing should always get us a good shot. Even the subs can make it work, if they’re put in the right roles. Use each players strengths. Make the opposition wonder where the ball is going next. No team can cover all the options. There’s always a way to make an advantage. SM just doesn’t seem to be innovative enough. We need a new coach in order to win a playoff series, period.
Sam, as opposed to Jose leading us to the Finals? (started 57 games last year). TJ is clutch, IMO, more so then Jose.
I think we miss some aspects of his game this year. Getting to the rim and the fast break.
Again, I realize (reluctantly because I think Jose is to blame) that the chemistry issue forced BC to get rid of him. But it bothers me to no end that we had a fantastic PG duo, with CB4, here. Where are we at now? Was (thus far) JO’s contribution (comparable to Rasho - look at the numbers) worth the hole left at the PG position. I don’t think so, but hey whatever.
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“You neglect to point out that TJ is a huge liability on the defensive end (one of the reasons we allowed so much dribble penetration last season)”
For his size, I’ll take him. And he does gamble, but is Jose DPOY? I don’t think so, and I wouldn’t call him a vast improvement. Again, it’s a size issue. (that I am willing to take in order to have the getting to the rim and fast break aspects) More importantly, dude has more heart, is more tough and more clutch then Jose. IMO.
Sam, apologize. Didn’t catch the humour but I see you’re picking up FAQ’s vocabulary.
I don’t think TJ was clutch for us, he did win a couple games at the buzzer but he also missed his fair share of iso’s on the last possession. A lot of those had to do with Sam coming out with an unimaginative play out of timeout, basically a 1-on-1 move. I remember making this post:
http://raptorsrepublic.com/blog/2007/04/04/game-on-the-line-have-tj-ford-drive-right-and-throw-up-a-prayer/
RapsFan… TJ, Wallace, Mateen…lol. We are on the same wavelength, at the very least. Could not agree more on TJ being Sam’s guy - and Bosh for that matter. It’s taken Bosh a while to like Jose (admitted it himself).
——
And regarding TJ going down. That’s not much of a concern as that’s a worry with any player. Last year, things worked out great when Jose stepped in. Tell me what happens if/when (hopefully not) Jose goes down. Do we just call it a season and look forward to the lottery?
Word to Arse.. I would have taken that game 7 and bet we would have won. ACC rocking it for a game 7? Unbeatable.
Arse, your money is on the line, who do you take for the last shot? Jose or TJ?
I’m not saying dude is MJ, but for my money, TJ gets the nod. Plus, he would have been fighting KG the other night - not yapping from 50 feet away while walking to the bench. Although I was glad to see Jose do that, as opposed to completely ignoring dudes and putting his head down like in previous years and then then saying “I don’t understand what they are saying”
Can’t argue with you there Flux. TJ had some balls, no doubt. He wasn’t scared of anybody and wanted the ball in his hands at crunch time. If a one-on-one move is to be made to win the game, I’d go with TJ. If a play is to be run, I want to say I’d go with Calderon but he did screw up his most clutch possession yet…
Tinman, God I hope Bargs trade talk exists in Colangelo’s office. Once he made the JO move we’re in let’s try to win now mode. Bargs, IF he turns out well, will give us TJ vs. Jose Part II. At most he gives us a good player at a position where we already have at least one great and hopefully one decent (AltRaps & Flux objections noted) player. And Hump can be a #3 big; I feel it in my bones. Trade Bargs for a wing, unless that wing is of the Rodney Carney ilk (Khandor objection noted). Trade him for Harrington and then send Harrington’s soon-to-expire contract to the Charlotte Firesales for Wallace.
Unless . . . shit, maybe BC has a devilish master plan to blow up the team in 2010 and build around Bargs, Jose and Kapono. But even I couldn’t defend that.
I just wanna say to the RaptorsRepublic crew, keep up the great work running this MF. Great stuff all around, pat yourself on the back, fellas. (I did kind of miss AltRap’s Roll Call vs Boston, I thought it was going to be a superb edition, but family fist Rapbrother, no worries.)
All the people commenting, as well, keep bringing it - this is the place to be. I love everyone’s opinions.
Tonight, I hope the Raptors use and abuse the Sixers, as they should be mad at themselves for chocking vs Boston, and bring the same energy as that last game.
LET’S GO RAPTORS! *thunderstix* LET’S GO RAPTORS! *thunderstix*
And i don’t mean to pile on about Ford and whatnot, but for once I would like to read this about Jose:
“… the Pacers were clinging to a one point lead in the fourth, up 96-95 before point guard TJ Ford made the decision to take over and ensure the game was theirs. Ford rang off 11-points in the period, making a three and a layup in the final minute to stave off Oklahoma City and the push Durant was trying to make.”
(Yes, I realize it’s the Thunder but still)
In case anyone is wondering why CB4 played Casper vs. Boston, you need to understand he has more important competitions on his mind:
http://www.ibeatyou.com/index.php
Playoffs? Finals? Rings? F that KG!.. whatyougot on my ibeatyou comp?
Some may not find this as irritating as me, but elite players (winners) in the L, do not spend their time on this. IMO.
In case anyone is wondering why CB4 played Casper vs. Boston, you need to understand he has more important competitions on his mind:
http://www.ibeatyou.com/index.php
Playoffs? Finals? Rings? F that KG!.. whatyougot on my ibeatyou comp? Yeah! What, son?
Some may not find this as irritating as me, but elite players (winners) in the L, do not spend their time on this. IMO.
Flux, Last game against Boston, in Boston last year. I think KG remembered it.
John Hollinger’s taken on the Raptors using Bosh as a decoy. This is an ESPN insider story:
Sam, hmmmm… touche?
I do recall the and 1 play and then surviving the last shot by the Celtics, but I think his stats for the q were something like 3A and 3points. I don’t think that carries the same weight as taking your team on your back or taking over or 5 points in the last minute/11 in the Q . Splitting hairs maybe? Does my bias shine thru or what? : )
Tonight, I want to:
BEAT! THE SIXERS!!
BEAT, BEAT!! THE SIXERS!!
(WHAT!!)
BEAT! THE SIXERS!!
BEAT, BEAT!! THE SIXERS!!
(YEAH!!)
(a la “Fuck Martinez” by 2LiveCrew)
Catch me during the game on TheScore… and the post-game RapsTV!!
“RAPS FANS KNOW TheScore”
&
“RAPS FANS LOVE RAPTORSTV”
(HOLLA IF YA HEAR MEH!!!)
Flux,
TJ Ford type Point Guards do not lead their teams to important W’s in the Playoffs in the NBA. Jose Calderon type PG’s do, consistently.
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Arsenalist,
Coming the down the stretch [i.e. in the final 3:14 of the 4th] …
O’Neal [TO] - Raps ran JK Down Screened for CB [R-Block]; CB Angle Pick for JC [R-Top Of The Key (TOTK)]; Garnett did not ’show’ & stayed with CB; Rondo went ‘over’ the Pick; JC turned the corner, drove for a layup; Pierce sagged off JK [R-Corner] to stop dribble penetration; JC kick to JK; Rondo rotated over from trailing JC to contest the open J3 by JK; JK shot fake, 1 dribble middle; Pierce recovered out; JK pass to JC [R-Short Corner]; Rondo & Perkins rotated to JC; JC middle pass to JO [in the lane]; Allen-R rotated in to check JO; Perkins recovered back to challenge JO’s shot attempt; JO should have shot the ball; JO passes back to JC, ball goes out of bounds; TO/O’Neal.
O’Neal [Missed J2/BS] - Raps ran JK Down Screened for CB [R-Block]; CB Angle Pick for JC [R-TOTK]; Garnett ’showed’ vs JC; Rondo went ‘under’ the Pick; Rondo recovered out to JC; Garnett recovered back to CB; CB [TOTK] tried to back-cut vs Garnett, denied; JC passed to JK [R-Corner]; JO posted up [R-Block]; Perkins muscled JO off the block; JO forced out to 15 ft; JK post entry pass to JO; JK cleared through on the baseline; JO 1-V-1 on Perkins; Rondo sagged to the ballside elbow, into the lane, to deter JO from turning middle; JO should have passed out to JC [TOTK] for the open J3, the same one he hit late vs Milwaukee for the win; instead, JO turned to outside for his own turn-around jumpshot, which was blocked by Perkins; Loose ball recovered by Pierce.
O’Neal [TO] - Sideline Out of Bounds. Raps inbound to JC [R-TOTK]; AP Down screened for CB [R-Block]; CB Angle Pick for JC; CB ’slips’ early to the TOTK; Garnett ’showed & recovered back to CB; Rondo went ‘over’; Pierce sagged off JK [L-FTL Extended (FTLX)] to deter the throwback pass to CB, while Garnett was still recovering; JC picked up his dribble, at the FTLX, in order to pass back to CB, who the play was originally called for; Garnett hard denied [full front] CB; JO posted up [off R-Elbow]; JC passed to JO; AP cleared out along the baseline; JO should have faced up and attacked Perkins off the bounce, 17 ft from the basket; JO passed out to JC; JO set Angle Pick for JC [R-TOTK]; Rondo got picked off by JO; JC turned the corner; Perkins ’switched’ to defend JC, and did so perfectly, without fouling, forcing JC to drive baseline under the basket; Allen-R sagged into the lane, then recovered out to defend AP; Pierce sunk into the lane, then recovered out to defend JK; Garnett had the discipline to never leave CB; Rondo had the discipline to never leave JO; JC read the play correctly and found JO with a high pass out, since he was covered by the smaller Rondo; JO caught the pass, then dribbled in the lane [which he should not have done; he should have gone straight-up for the shot attempt]; Rondo & Garnett attacked the dribble and stripped JO; TO/O’Neal.
Calderon [Missed J2] - CB set Down Screen for JK [L-Elbow]; JK cleared out along the baseline; CB set Angle Pick for JC [L-Elbow]; Rondo was picked off; JC turned the corner; Perkins sagged off JO [R-Elbow] and rotated hard & fast to challenge JC; Garnett had the discipline to stay with CB and NOT help onto JC; JC made the correct read and took a pull-up Jumpshot, which was open; Perkins challenged the pull-up J; Missed J2/Calderon.
Parker [Missed J3] - Sideline Out of Bounds. Inbound pass to AP [R-TOTK]. CB went to set a High Middle Pick for AP; AP rejected the Pick and, instead, attacked Pierce 1-V-1 off the bounce; AP took a J3; Pierce kept AP in front of him & contested the shot; Missed J3/Parker.
Kapono [Missed J3] - JC [in transition] Dribble handoff Pick for JK [L-Corner]; Allen-R went ‘under’; JK [L-FTLX] took a J3, uncontested. Missed J3/Kapono.
Parker [Made J3] - Baseline Out of Bounds. CB & JO set Elbow Screens for AP [L-Elbow]; AP curled around the 2 screens into the Right Corner; Perkins rotated to defend AP; JK cut to the Right FTLX; JO set a Down Screen for JC [inbounds passer]; AP passed out to KP; Allen-R jumped at JK to deter the open ‘catch & shoot’ J; JK shot faked and took 1 sribble to avoid Allen; Perkins & Pierce rotated to JK to prevent the open J; CB spaced out at the TOTK; JK passed to AP [R-Corner]; Perkins rotated out to contest the open J. AP took a J3. Made J3/Parker.
… in every instance Jose Calderon and Chris Bosh read the Celtics’ Defense correctly, and made the correct play, accordingly.
While it’s accurate to say that Calderon missed 1 contested pull-up jumpshot … the other execution errors were made by Jermaine O’Neal [3], Anthony Parker [1] and Jason Kapono [1].
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Enjoy tonight’s game against the 76ers … it should be another hum-dinger!
Khandor, my memory still working at a high rate, I know where you stand on this.. no worries : )
It’s a toss up between these two, if you are asking me. Jose’s playoff performances have not led me to believe in any way shape or form he is the type that brings playoff wins.
In both series (NJ and ORL) he has been hot night cold the next. Is that what playoff game winning PGs do? ; ) I dunnnoo….
An old issue between us, awaiting the test of time.
Mitchell has to go and sorry…PARKER has to go. He is not going to get any better than he has been in the last 2 years..he is too old…he has an expiring contract and he would be a guy any team would love to have (as a back up)…but he is NOT GOOD ENOUGH if the Craptors still insist that they are going to make it to the playoffs let alone get past the first round (which of course, they are NOT).
Moon doesn’t have a big enough contract…Kapono’s is too big…Bargnani has more potential than any of them.
It is PARKER who has to go for a REAL WING.
Parker just had tired legs in the 1st, that’s all. Why the F he was brought back to the NBA is beyond me.
Thanks Man, For the Birthday wishes in advance and the praise. I am gonna try and make it done for one of your Friday things eventually. Living here in Hamilton making the trip to Toronto takes some planning and $$$. But I hope I get down at least once this year.
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