Sexta Feira

     Contando cum uma fraca atuação de Wade (18 pts, 6 reb), um surpreendente contribuição do reserva Nick Young (22 pts) e a sempre sólida participação de Jamison (24 pts, 13 reb), os Wizards conseguiram uma importante vitória fora de casa contra o Heat, que havia se dado bem, contra o Magic fora de casa.

     Young foi a surpresa do jogo, após ter atuado pouquíssimo tempo durante a temporada, fazendo pontos, e mais importante, mantendo Wade abaixo de sua média normal.

      Para completar, com essa atuação, Jamison agora se junta à Garnett, Nowitzki, Shaq e Tim Duncan como os únicos jogadores em atividade a ter mais de 16.000 pontos e 6.000 rebotes

      Os Hawks continuam sua forte caminhada no Leste, conseguindo mais uma vitória fora de casa. Já os 76ers estão muito mal, rendendo muito abaixo do potencial de seus jogadores. O sistema de jogo do técnico Eddie Jorda funcionou bem em Washington, mas não parece correto com o estilo dos jogadores que Philadelphia tem.

      Crawford e Bibby (21 pts.) foram os destaques de Atlanta, enquanto Iguodala (16 pts, 9 reb, 8 ast, 2 stl e 2 blk) namorou com um triple-double, mas não teve nenhuma contribuição de seus parceiros.

      Os Cavs continuam sua campanha derrapante (se comparada ao ano passado) dessa vez perdendo para o Bobcats. A estrela do jogo desta vez, não foi LeBron, mas sim Gerald Wallace (31 pts, 14 reb) que está jogando muito nas últimas rodadas. Ele lidera a liga em rebotes por jogo, mas ele atua na posição 3, o que torna mais impressionante sua presença no garrafão defensivo.

      Já os Cavs ficaram na mesma história de sempre. LeBron contra o time adversário. Honestamente, já não tenho mais tanta fé nesse time quanto tinha no começo da temporada…

103	116
2 empatados – 20 pts	R. Allen – 20 pts
Chris Bosh – 13 reb	K Garnett – 7 reb
J. Jack – 6 ast.	R. Rondo – 11 ast

       É impressionante a capacidade do Raptors de não defender. O time está cheio de talentos ofensivos (Bosh, Bargnani, Bellinelli), mas não importa o time, eles tomam mais de 110 pontos por jogo.

      Contra um time experiente e habilidoso como o Celtics, o resultado não poderia ser outro. No começo do segundo tempo os Celtics abriram 13 pontos e não olharam para trás. Vitória fácil.

OBS: Se alguém fundar um fã clube para o Rajon Rondo, me convidem que eu entro. Se demorar demais eu mesmo monto um.

104	96
C. Kaman – 26 pts	J. Jerekbo – 22 pts
M. Camby – 9 reb	B. Wallace – 16 reb
B. Davis – 10 ast.	Will Bynum – 9 ast

      Olhe bem para os números acima. Jerekbo (22 pts) foi o cestinha do esfacelado Pistons, que jogou sem R. Hamilton, T. Prince e B. Gordon. Assim, até os Clippers conseguem vencer.

      E foi o que aconteceu. Parece que o time de Mike Dunleavy finalmente achou um pouco de equilíbrio com a habilidade ofensiva de Kaman (26 pts, jogando muito) com Camby fechando o garrafão, e B. Davis parando de mandar tijolos em direção ao aro e focando na armação (10 ast.)

      Mas por enquanto, não acredito em nenhuma dessas duas equipes no futuro, a não ser que Blake Griffin estréie jogando muito e seja um diferencial.

113	92
D. Nowitzki – 31 pts	D. Granger – 20 pts
K. Humpries – 11 reb	J. Foster – 14 reb
2 empatados – 4 ast.	T.J. Ford – 5 ast

      Senhoras e senhores, os Mavs estão vindo com tudo e por incrível que pareça, ninguém esta dando muita bola. Dirk e companhia estão com uma campanha muito interessante até o momento, principalmente se lembrarmos que 4 dos 5 titulares estão do lado errado dos 30 (Nowitzki, Gooden, Marion e Kidd), e seus principais reservas também (Terry, Dampier). Além do mais, por conta de contusões, Beabouis está começando como titular e está sendo uma agradável surpresa.

      Já os Pacers não ofereceram nenhuma resistência ao time de Dallas, encabeçados por Danny Granger, que é um dos melhores jogadores da liga, mas da dó vê-lo jogar sem ninguém para ajudá-lo.

92	84
T. Duncan – 21 pts	L. Scola – 18 pts
A. McDyess– 14 reb	L. Scola – 12 reb
T. Parker – 7 ast.	T. Ariza – 5 ast

      San Antonio finalmente conseguiu sua primeira vitória fora de casa nessa temporada, e a vítima foi o Houston Rockets. Após um primeiro tempo equilibrado, os Spurs apertaram a defesa e abriram uma vantagem de 12 pontos no terceiro período.

     Na volta do intervalo, os Rockets ficaram 7 minutos e meio sem converter um arremesso de quadra em 16 tentados. Apesar de equilibrado, Houston precisa de alguém que pegue a bola nesses momentos difíceis, pois T. Ariza não pode ser a principal arma ofensiva (5 de 21 arremessos).

      No fim do jogo, o placar chegou a ficar próximo, mas nada que os Spurs não conseguissem controlar e levar a vitória para casa.

125	128
A. Harrington – 41 pts	C. Anthony – 50 pts
2 empatados – 10 reb	2 empatados – 11 reb
L. Hughes – 9 ast.	C. Billups – 8 ast

      Se eu fosse jogador da NBA, ainda mais o cestinha do meu time, eu circularia com uma caneta bem vermelha os jogos que eu tivesse contra o Knicks, por alguns motivos

- mais uma vitória garantida

- hoje é dia de marcar 50 pontos

      Todo mundo deita e rola na defesa dos Knicks, que não tem jogadores para implementar o sistema de D’antoni. Dessa vez foi Carmelo, com 50 pontos (primeira vez na carreira) que fez o que quis. Uma curiosidade é que, no último quarto, quando as defesas tendem a ficarem mais focadas, nesse jogo foi ataque pra todo lado, sendo que os Knicks ganharam de 38×36!

      O jogo só ficou equilibrado graças ao esforço de Harrington (41 pts) que mantinha NY atrás do placar. Mas no final, o melhor time venceu.

      No encontro entre o melhor time da liga (na minha opinião) contra o segundo pior (acho que esse é consenso), não podia dar outra, senão uma paulada do Phoenix em cima do pobre Minessota.

      Phoenix assumiu a liderança cedo e não teve nenhuma dificuldade em manter o ritmo, dando a 15a derrota consecutiva aos T’wolves. Nenhum  dos titulares jogou mais do que 27 minutos, e isso é importante para manter as baterias energizadas de Nash, Hill e companhia.

      Pelo lado de Minnesota, Flynn continua se perdendo no triangulo ofensivo que Rambis tenta implementar (18 pts, 6 ast, 4 TO), Corey Brewer teve uma noite horrível (1-11 FG) e Al Jefferson merecia estar em um time melhor.

      Dois dos times mais empolgantes nessa temporada se encontraram na noite de sexta, e Kevin Durant (33 pts, 12 reb, 5 ast) e sua turma se sairam melhor do que os parceiros de Brendon Jennings (12 pts, 3-11 FG). O Thunder ganhou esse jogo porque entrou mais decidido no segundo tempo, enterrando de vez qualquer chance de reação de Milwaukee.

      Com Jennings errando muito, a vitória foi tranquila. Mas algumas coisas me chamaram a atenção nesse jogo. Kevin Durant não recebe a atenção que merece da mídia, pois ele joga demais. Junto com Westbrook e James Harden, estamos falando de um possível “Big Three” no futuro. Olho neles.

      Já por parte de Milwaukee, Jennings terá de se acostumar a ser melhor marcado, agora que todos sabem de seu potencial de atacar a cesta. Com ele fora de ritmo, a produção dos Bucks caem demais. Ilyasova é uma grata surpresa nesse time, com um basquete bastante eficiente.

      Memphis é um time engraçado. Com jogadores talentosos em todas as posições, mas as vezes parece que falta bola pra ser arremessada, de tanto que cada um tenta resolver sozinho o jogo.

      Mas quando os jogadores aceitam o seu papel, e jogam coletivamente, eis o que acontece, uma boa vitória contra um bom time fora de casa. O ataque balanceado dos Grizzlies passou por cima da atuação de Roy (26 pts, 9 ast). Memphis nunca ficou atrás no placar.

      Podem falar o que quiser, mas o melhor jogador desse time é Marc Gasol, que está jogando um basquetebol exuberante nesses últimos tempos. Mais um que não recebe a atenção que merece no mundo da NBA.

      Presenciar a história passando em frente dos seus olhos é uma raridade. Poucas as vezes temos a chance de ver algo incomparável, algo tão único que se torna especial. Os Nets são tudo isso. Eles já podem entrar na discussão de pior time da história da liga, pois ostentam 16 derrotas em 16 jogos, e só por um milagre ganharão do Lakers se livrando do pior início de todos os tempos do basquete norte americano.

      Mas não tem muito o que falar. O time roda pouco a bola, só tem dois jogadores que podem criar seu próprio arremesso e um outro jogador médio. Na ordem – Devin Harris, Brook Lopez e Courtney Lee. O resto teria dificuldade em garantir um lugarzinho que algum outro time da liga (menos Wolves, claro)

      Sacramento, que não tinha nada ver com isso, contou com (mais) uma boa atuação de Tyreke Evans (21 pts) e seu banco de reservas, Beno Udrih (21 pts, 8-10 FG) e Omri Casspi (18 pts, 6-11) para enterrar de vez os Nets, que nunca ameaçaram encostar. Sacramento tem algumas peças interessantes, mas ainda falta para o time poder almejar alguma coisa essa temporada.

The Magician

It’s taken me some time to check in with a recap of this one, because to be honest, Raptors basketball is making me pretty, pretty sad these days. The boys extended their losing streak to three and dropped to 7-11 on the season yesterday, falling 113-94 to Steve Nash and the Suns at the ACC.

The Raptors never led in this one and let it get away in — you guessed it — the third quarter. After trailing by just one at the half, Toronto quickly let the Suns extend their lead to 19 before coming within eight on a Hedo Turkoglu three-point play at the end of the quarter. After starting the fourth with another and-one, Turkoglu proceeded to finish the way he’s finished every game this season — by doing nothing in crunch time. Our prized free agent finished 4-of-14 for 10 points in yet another uninspired effort.

It’s too bad, because strong games from Turkoglu and Jose Calderon (two points, seven assists) would’ve given the Raptors a shot at handling one of the league’s top teams. Chris Bosh was terrific, finishing with 30 points and 17 boards, and Andrea Bargnani kept Toronto afloat with a strong start en route to 24 points and seven boards. The Raps’ main downfall was the long ball — they finished a dreadful 1-of-20 from three-point land, compared to the 13 long range bombs the Suns dropped. If you’re a team that relies on shooting, you’re never gonna win with outings like that.

Of course, I can’t leave without mentioning the masterpiece of an effort by that young Canadian kid, Steve Nash. Nash finished with 20 points and 16 dimes, nailing that patented little fadeaway in the paint a couple times in the fourth to help put it away. The man is incredible.

Anyway, it gets a bit easier with Gilbert Arenas and the washout Wizards in town Tuesday to help the Raptors get back on track. It better be a win, because afterward it’s road time for three games.

Early in the 4th quarter of Friday’s Celtics/Raptors game Boston captain Paul Pierce drove to the hole and powered a dunk down over All Star Chris Bosh. While going up for the dunk Pierce’s knee was at a weird angle and drove directly into Chris Bosh’s man-parts; score that 2 points for Pierce, 2 pained areas on Bosh’s body.

You live by the 3 and you die by the 3.

The Raptors outscored the Suns in the paint, went to the free throw line a lot more, but the Suns outscored the Raptors 39-3 from the 3 point line. And that’s the game.

The Raps had an atrocious shooting night, ending up shooting 1-20 from downtown, they ain’t winning if they shoot like that.

Of course, the defense still sucks. The Suns are able to carve them up like a Thanksgiving Turkey. Watching Nash in action brings so much joy in me as a basketball fan. He did everything this afternoon, making tough shots, and stringing beautiful passes, it’s one of the best game he played in Toronto.

Bosh was great and Bargnani did good on offense, but it’s his usual self on defense (not good). The rest of the team just didn’t have it on offense.

I want to comment on the Suns and their defense. They constantly adjust, and they know their weakness. They let DeRozan have open looks because he is not going to hurt them. The Raptors couldn’t hit a 3 point shot all day? So they leave shooters open and pack the paint. At one point, they weren’t even running towards the shooters. It’s just smart basketball. They know they will have to give up something, so they give up the three pointers. (Also, I would like to take this oppurtunity to rip on Leo Rautins. I hate his commentary, always have. The problem I have with Leo is that he has a huge ego and it shows in the broadcast. For example: He said the Raptors have not attack the paint this afternoon, and when Matt Devlin told him that the Raptors scored 50+ points in the paint, Leo didn’t admit his mistake; his ego wouldn’t allow him to do that. He then just said, what’s wrong with the Raptors scoring 70 points in the paint. Which game is he watching? The Suns were leaving shooters wide open on purpose, what were they suppose to do? Not shoot and drive to the lane and get call for an offensive fouls?)

Keys to the loss:

- The Suns controlled the tempo. They dictate the pace of the game. To beat the Suns (or any team for that matter), the Raptors have to play at their own pace and make Phoenix play that tempo. They did that i Phoenix but not here. The Suns were running at every oppurtunity. The San Antonio Spurs had the perfect recipe of beating the Suns in the playoffs. Slowing the game down, play halfcourt, allow no one to leak out and make Nash a scorer. Basically, the Spurs were able to take the Suns out of the comfort zone.

- Allow Nash to be a scorer and playmaker. Nash had a huge game. He was making crazy shots, which I could live with, but he’s also getting his teammates involved. The Raptors weak cheese defense didn’t force Nash to work at all.

- 3 pointers. Nuff said.

7-11. I will have a monthly review tomorrow and look ahead to December.

Another loss for the Raptors against the Suns on Sunday afternoon as the Raptors again looked outmatched by a far superior team. The results aren’t entirely surprising, seeing as the Suns have the best record in the league and the Raptors are struggling something awful in the past three games.

Demar glides in for the layup

Zan for three (plus the foul)

Patience friends

Look at it this way; the Suns are where the Raptors want to be in three years. Coming into this season the team had 9 new players, we all knew it was going to take a while for them to gel and that’s what were seeing. Raps fans need to be patient. This is a process and it’s not going to happen overnight.

Come together guys

After all the talk of the Paul Pierce foul after Friday’s game, it was nice to see the team come together when Stoudamire fouled Bosh hard. Friday’s game was a bit of a tipping point for the team. How they respond to that from here on out may very well define the year.

Don’t let the schedule kill ya

We talked about it at length earlier in the season; the Raptors have a very tough schedule. And it just doesn’t seem to let up. Friday against Boston,the team with the best road record in the league, and Sunday against the team with the best record period. When will it stop? What’s important is that this team needs to keep their heads up and stay positive. They’re better then their record suggests and they need to be mindful of that. A schedule like this can break the confidence of a team. Here’s hoping they don’t let it happen.

CBC’s coverage

What’s up with CBC’s camera angles during the game? Let’s just stick to what works.

Zan of the Night

Steve Nash.

No question. I even added a period after his name. Full stop. He’s operating on a different level. If he doesn’t get the MVP playing like this it’ll just be politics.

Not Zan of the Night

Jose Calderon

Not a great game by the Spaniard.  Couldn’t  throw a beach ball into an ocean. Infact, poor shooting night by most of the Raptors this afternoon. If they’re going to win, the shots have to drop.

Jose Calderon could learn from other point guards that don't play D. Teach him, Steve.

Ah yes, home court. After a disaster of a two-game road trip, the Raps are home this afternoon to face Kid Slovenia (that’s Goran Dragic, for the record) and the Suns at the friendly confines of Air Canada Centre. I’m on my way out to see this one and don’t have much time, so I’ll refer you to the greats at Raptors Republic for your full gameday preview.

As for me, this will be my first time checking out Steve Nash live, which I’m hoping will be as exciting as the first time I saw John Stockton and Karl Malone in the flesh in ‘97. I’m hoping for a wild one and a Raptor win.

Μπορεί να γερνάει αλλά η γλώσσα του Rasheed Wallace παραμένει δραστήρια όσο ποτέ. Το μοναδικό στατιστικό που δε πέφτει στα 35 του, είναι φυσικά οι τεχνικές ποινές. Μετράει ήδη 5 φέτος, με τελευταία αυτή εναντίον των Raptors όταν και αποκάλεσε τον Turkoglu “flopper”. Αν και γενικότερα δεν έχει άδικο, αυτή τη φορά ο Τούρκος δε φλόπαρε…

Το πιο αστείο στην υπόθεση είναι τα σχόλιά του μετά τον αγώνα όπου ο Sheed δήλωσε πως αν έλεγε κάτι αντίστοιχο το Χρυσό Παιδί (LeBron) ή κάποιος από τους αθλητές που ανήκουν στο “Basketball Without Borders“, όλα θα ήταν καλά.

Για τη γενικότερη γκρίνια των Celtics, φταίει και η τεχνική ποινή στον Paul Pierce μετά από βρώμικο κάρφωμα που έκανε πάνω στον Chris Bosh. Δείτε πως ανοίγει τα πόδια του για να χτυπήσει με το γόνατο τον Bosh σε ευαίσθητο σημείο, για να αποφύγει τη τάπα. Τη τεχνική ποινή όμως, δε τη χρεώθηκε για τη γονατιά αλλά για το προκλητικό κοίταγμα μετά (η ειρωνεία των κανόνων).

O Rasheed είναι ο μόνος παίχτης που έχει καταφέρει να πάρει τεχνική ποινή απλά γιατί κοίταξε τον διαιτητή με ύφος…

Just two short weeks ago the Toronto Raptors fell to the Phoenix Suns 101-100 in one of the Raptors best road games of the season.

Jay Triano constructed a great defensive game plan that held the high scoring Suns in check and the Raptors in the lead for nearly the entire game.

The entire game that is until Triano suffered a massive brain cramp in the fourth quarter and ran out his infamous duo point guard line up.  That coaching decision cost the Raptors the game!

In a mere two minutes and 16 seconds, the Suns, who had not led since the first quarter, outscored the Raptors 7-2 to take a 91-86 lead.

Asking Calderon to cover Nash while asking Jack to cover Richardson puts both guards on the floor in need of help and the previously high functioning Raptors defense collapsed under the strain.

But when Turkoglu returned to the game in place of Jack, the Raptors fought back to take the lead 100-98 with 51 seconds left.  Arguably losing the game to some suspicious calls from the referees.

Jay Triano’s switches that left Calderon often facing Stoudemire in the post may have looked strange, but Stoudimere turned the ball over four times and nearly every single Suns player had at least one turnover.

The game plan this time should be the same.  The Raptors controlling the pace, switching on all screens, and limiting the Suns three-point opportunities.

The game will also provide some more insight into whether Bargnani still has a future with the Raptors.

If Bargnani isn’t played after the mid-point of the third quarter for the third game in a row and the Raptors continue to lose, the message has to be that Bargnani will soon be moving on.

Either that or Jay Triano has cracked under the pressure of coaching an NBA team.

Lately I’ve had chemistry on the mind. Not in a lab, but on the court. Toronto’s to be specific.

When the Raptors blew up their roster for the umpteenth time this decade over the summer, it was expected that it would take some time for all the new names to gel. After all, it would make sense for the Raptors to not really click until a few games in, when everybody starts to get a feeling of how everybody else works.

But I don’t think anybody could have predicted how the team is starting to settle.

The Raptors have kicked off the season by scoring in bunches. Almost all of their starters have shown ample ability to score and average at least 12 points-per-game (DeMar DeRozan is the exception, averaging just over six ppg). In fact, as a team, the Raptors are averaging 105 points a game, their highest-ever average. According to Basketball-Reference, they have an offensive rating of 113, which roughly means they score 113 points per 100 possessions. That’s a pretty good clip.

Equally impressive – in an altogether different way – is their defence, which may be the worst in the league. They’re allowing 109 points a game and posting a defensive rating of  116. It’s complete ineptitude while defending – they allow more points then 3-13 New York, 1-15 Minnesota and 0-16 New Jersey – is nothing short of stunning. Even Charlotte had a field day playing the Raptors, lighting up for 116 points – and setting a largest margin of victory record in the process.

Their defensive struggles go beyond allowing a ton of points. The Raptors have only 89 steals (28th in the Association). Their opponents have had only turned the ball over 206 times (27th), have attempted 1403 shots (4th), made .477 per cent of them (7th) and grabbed 698 rebounds (6th)*. In other words – the Raptors are having a hard time getting stops and getting the ball back.

What exactly is causing this staggering difference in numbers? Is it the absence of Reggie Evans, who can’t score but can defend as well as anybody? Is it the result of their coaching (it’s worth noting that assistant coach Alex English was the leading scorer of the 1982 Nuggets, one of the highest scoring and scored-against NBA teams ever)? Or is it something else?

One stat that really stands out to me in the number of assists on the Raptors. For a team that’s scoring so much, wouldn’t it be reasonable to expect that they’d lead the league in assists – or at least be close?

But they’re ranked 7th with 352 assists. Other, lower-scoring teams (like the LA Clippers, who average 10 fewer points a game) are out-assisting them. Maybe it’s me, but that number seems low. Why would a team that scores so often not rack up assists? Phoenix, which scores more points a game then anybody, is right near the top of the league in helpers with nearly 400 dimes.

Look at how many assists a game Toronto has. Denver, which is just behind Toronto in scoring, has 368 assists, or 23 per game. Phoenix and Boston have nearly 25 per game. The Raptors are averaging just under 21 per game.

But it’s not just assists or points allowed. Against Boston on the 27th, Chris Bosh took a hard blow from Paul Pierce, a knee right in his cookie jar. What happened? Bosh crumples under the basket. Pierce walks away. Nobody immediately goes to Bosh’s side. Nobody gets right in Pierce’s face.

Now ask yourself: does that happen anywhere else? If Pierce knees Kobe, does Ron Artest stand by? If Steve Nash takes a blow, does Amare Stoudemire hang around waiting for him to get up?

If the roles were reversed – if Bosh knees Pierce – does anybody believe the Celtics stand there like the Raptors do? That Kevin Garnett doesn’t immediately get in Bosh’s face and scream at him and get held back by refs and teammates, lest he start a brawl?

Fights on the court have been started by much less. But nobody, except Jay Triano, appeared willing to go to the line and start something. Calderon barely appeared to care, it seemed, preferring to stand around and look defeated.

It’s disheartening. And it eximplifies exactly what’s wrong with this Raptors team – why they can’t defend, why the assists are so low and why nobody appeared willing to defend their teammate.

The chemistry in Toronto is bad. They haven’t began to mesh yet – and they’re already 17 games into the season. If the Raptors want to hang in the Eastern Conference, they’re going to have to start working together. I don’t care Triano gets them to do this – he can make them watch tapes of Valvano’s NC State teams or do those falling into somebody behind you exercise for all I care – but it’s a glaring problem for the Raptors right now.

Sure, they can outscore teams when the setting is right. But as the game against Boston proved, when their shots don’t drop, they have to work together. So they can get stops. So they can pass the ball around for the best look.

So they’re willing to show they aren’t going to be intimidated.

* – All of this paragraph’s stats from Basketball Reference, accurate to November 28.

*****

NFL Picks for week 12 (Home team in CAPS):

• Miami over BUFFALO – Ricky’s back folks. Did you see him tear Carolina apart last week?
• Seattle over ST. LOUIS – Did you know the Hawks are 0-5 on the road? And the Rams are 0-5 at home? This should be a fun game.
• PHILADELPHIA over Washington – I wonder what’s going to happen to Vick. Kolb is a better backup and McNabb is a better starter. You can’t use him in the wildcat for two reasons: The Eagles O-line isn’t mobile enough and once he goes in, the defence knows what’s going to happen. Can you bench him? You just signed the guy to a big contract.
• ATLANTA over Tampa Bay – The Bucs led at one point last week. I remember wondering what was going on, but by time I found it online, they were behind again.
• Indianapolis over HOUSTON – I want to say the Texans have an upset in them, since they can score in bunches… but I’m not betting against a QB who’s getting the breaks to roll his way.
• CINCINNATI over Cleveland – Another could-be trap game. The Bengals have gotten some breaks and I don’t think they’re as good as their record shows. But then again, the Browns suck.
• Carolina over NY Jets – I think Jets’ QB Mark Sanchez has really regressed since eating that hot dog. My mom always told me to cut them down the middle, otherwise you could choke. COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT.
• SAN DIEGO over Kansas City – Ugh, I’m still mad about last week. WWE tactics to knock out Big Ben. A dropped interception, followed by a huge pass that Troy would have broken up. I don’t want to deal with them again.
• SAN FRANCISCO over Jacksonville – Okay sure the Niners are 4 and 6. Whatever. I can feel this one. My Pick-I-Can’t-Explain of the week.
• Arizona over TENNESSEE – Did you realize the Cards are unbeaten on the road? I didn’t, though I didn’t realize that they were 7-3 either. Didn’t Warner get hurt, too? I feel iffy taking them over a team that’s made a fast turnaround, but whatever.
• MINNESOTA over Chicago – The Bears are finished. They’re washed up. Their defence – what got them to that super bowl against Indy – is a wreck.
• BALTIMORE over Pittsburgh – I’m feeling really iffy about the Steelers. Their secondary is banged up and full of holes. Big Ben has a concussion. Their running game feels spotty. On the other hand, I dislike Baltimore a lot. Reminds me, I just watched that doc on the Baltimore Colts marching band. It was just kind of okay, especially when they mocked the CFL and ignored the USFL completely. And um didn’t Baltimore kind of steal a team from Cleveland? I feel like that should have been addressed more.
• Oh man, I don’t know. New England is good, but had a few unlucky breaks (that 4th and 2 against Indy). I don’t know if the dice are rolling in their direction. But the Saints are good. Too good, man. They’re going to fall soon and it won’t be against some cupcake team. Could it be New England? Yeah, I’m going to go with the Popular Pick. New England in a thriller.

Once upon a time on a Sunday afternoon, a little-known NBA franchise called the Toronto Raptors took on the Phoenix Suns on NBC — the first time in the team’s history it had been a part of a nationally televised game. That day — February 27, 2000 — also marked the day that team finally got on the NBA’s map. Some hotshot sophomore named Vince Carter went off for a franchise-record 51 points (a mark that still stands) and the Raptors went on to win 103-102 — the first of seven straight wins and 10 of 11.

I remember this one pretty vividly. I was actually there — the first time I’d ever sat in platinum seats (and of the few times I’ve actually sat there with those being my rightful seats, too) — and got a first-hand look at the spectacle. I remember late in the first half Butch Carter had a sub at the scorer’s table ready to replace Vince, then he went and nailed back-to-back triples and Butch called his replacement back. The man was hot, in the end hitting 17-of-32 from the field and 13-of-13 from the line and finishing with a layup in the final minute to give Toronto a lead it wouldn’t surrender.

Of course, a lot has changed since then. Still, as much as I hope Carter succumbs to a career-ending injury his next time out, I’ll never forget what he did that Sunday afternoon. I’ll be there again tomorrow for the Raptors and Suns, but I’m not expecting nearly as much in the way of dramatics. I’ll take a win, though.

For more Random Raptors Moments, check the archive here.

Above is Paul Pierce’s poster of Chris Bosh from last night, knee to the groin included. After the game and with his nuts the size of grapefruits, CB called out his teammates for not standing up for him as lay on the ground wondering if he’ll ever have kids again (and perhaps regretting letting the last one get away?):

“Yeah, I’d like to see the team more passionate. I look at their bench and they’re all up standing at half-court, and nobody from their team was down on the floor. I think we would react better to just be out there for one another and just stay together.”

Also of note, Raptor tough guy Antoine Wright had some harsh words for his teammates, saying they got “punked” and that “we’re going to have to come together or teams are just going to continue to run us over like this”. Wright also said the following before the game in reference to Wednesday’s embarrassment in Charlotte, according to Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star:

“You’ve got guys in here eating popcorn, joking around before the game. And we go out there and lose by 40. It’s a direct result of what’s going on before the game. Guys not coming in with the right mind frame.”

Nice to see Wright making a stand, but it’s a bit disappointing when the biggest motivator on your team is a backup small forward that couldn’t make a difference to the on-court product if he tried. You gonna get that field goal percentage over .300 next game, Antoine? You worry about that while the guys that are actually on the floor take care of the toughness.

Anyway, a day removed and there’s still not much good to say about these kids. It doesn’t get much easier with Phoenix in town tomorrow with sights set on dropping 250.

On Friday night in Beantown during the Raptors TV pregame show, Raptors TV analyst and color commentator Jack Armstrong asks Andrea Bargnani what can only be described as a telling question.

Jack asks, “Andrea, What are you going to do to help Chris Bosh?”

Jack Armstrong is a Raptors employee. He never, ever says anything that could possibility get himself into trouble.  It would not be unfair to ascribe Armstrong as a Raptors spokesperson.  So just what is Jack saying to Andrea?

Andrea is now responsible for making sure CB4 gets his stats?  Is Andrea responsible for the fact Bosh can’t cover anybody in the post?  Andrea is supposed to be helping Chris Bosh get that cap killing $130 million contract this summer?

Just what is Jack really asking Andrea Bargnani?

No Raptors media personnel would ever ask Chris Bosh, “How are you going to help Andrea get his game off tonight?”  He never has helped anyone with their game!

Since Andrea Bargnani joined the Raptors as the first overall pick of the 2006 draft, the question has been asked, “How will Bargnani and Bosh work together?”  And for the most part, the Raptors’ analysts have taken the positive spin at every turn.

When Sam Mitchell wasn’t playing Bargnani in his rookie season, the word came down from Bryan Colangelo that his rookie was going to get minutes and it happened.

Last season, with the team at 8-9 and Bargnani not getting any love from Mitchell, Mitchell got fired.  Jay Triano immediately started featuring Bargnani again.

This season, Bargnani started out with plays being run for him, lots of minutes, and lots of points!  As the season has progressed, the minutes have declined and almost zero plays are being run for him.

In the last two road games, Jay Triano benched Bargnani from the half way point of the third quarter of close games and sat him while the opposition rolled up a huge leads to blow-out the Raptors.

With less minutes and fewer shots, Bargnani’s stats have been plummeting.

Now for the first time we are beginning to see a change in direction.

And somehow the Raptors have created a perception that these losses were Bargnani’s fault.  Now who is zooming who?

Bosh is supposed to be this team’s leader!  And there does seem to be “chemistry” issues between Bosh and Bargnani.

Chemistry issues that appear to revolve around Bosh never kicking the ball out of double teams to Bargnani.  Chemistry issues that look to be the creation of someone trying to create statistics to justify a $130 million deal this summer.

Bryan Colangelo has stated on numerous occasions that he intends to re-sign his all-star to a max deal this summer or assist Bosh with a sign and trade deal.  The NBA CBA forces players to make deals with their current teams when they are free agents or leave tens of millions of dollars on the table.

If Chris Bosh is staying and Bargnani is no longer going to be a featured player on the Raptors, something is in the works.

Bryan Colangelo cannot afford to waste another season without some serious repercussions from fans and management.

Lots of NBA teams would covet a high scoring center with Dirk type potential.  The low scoring Chicago Bulls being an obvious and desperate candidate.  And they have talent that could help the Raptors.

Thomas and Noah for Bargnani could address both teams issues.  But Chicago would be the huge winner in this deal.

And, Bryan Colangelo would be making a huge mistake.  Andrea Bargnani is under a five-year contract for a reasonable amount.  There will be no offensive players available for Bargnani type money to replace him.

Moving Bargnani to try and hold onto a cap killing player like Bosh is a financial risk that could set back the Raptors for years.

Don’t trade Bargnani, find a Coach who can make this work instead!

Paul Pierce Bangs It On Chris Bosh

Trencitas Wallace se acerca a un micro

Sheed Wallace es otro de los que se pasa la podadora por la lengua para que no brote ni un pelillo rebelde. Etiqueta Negra se mosqueó ayer de lo lindo porque a Turkoglu le dio por tirarse a la madera (‘flopping’) y el piscinazo le costó al ex Bad Boy y Jail Blazer, ahora enverdecido, su quinta técnica de la temporada y la 296 de toda, toda, toda su carrera, toda (récord en la historia de la Liga). “Solo he dicho que se había tirado”, se defendía el elegante ala-pívot Wallace tras protestar a los árbitros la acción que se desarrolló en el segundo cuarto. Wallace fue culpable de que los Celtics noquearan a los Raptors (106-115) y al acabar el partido se despachó con las argucias del turco y la falta de criterio de los árbitros y la NBA para sancionar estas malas tretas. “Ellos (los árbitros) tendrían que saber que el se tira. Eso es todo lo que Tukododo hace (do en inglés). Esto no es baloncesto, hombre, No es defensa. Esto es una basura”. Pero la rajada de Wallace se dirigió directamente al corazón de la NBA, que está buscando alguna forma de sancionar este tipo de acciones engañosas, pero es complicado.

No fue el único jugador de los Orgullosos Verdes que vio como una T se marcaba en su cara. Paul Pierce fue sancionado con otra falta técnica tras mirar de forma desafiante a Chris Bosh tras un brutal mate ‘in your face’. El video lo teneis abajo. Ya sabeis que la NBA tiene mucho cuidado con estas acciones que dan mala imagen a la Liga. Para Wallace esto depende de quién protagonice la foto, cuestiones del marketing. “Esperemos que el Chico de Oro (Lebron James) o algún chaval del NBA sin fronteras (programa solidario de la NBA) lo haga. Entonces todo estará bien y será elegante”. Pues eso. Clarito.

Rondo and the Celtics took it to us tonight

Hey Jose and Andrea, next time you don’t feel like showing up for a game against a good team, do you mind informing the rest of the team in advance so they can try about 200% harder? Behind a pair of no-shows in their starting five and another patented third quarter collapse, the Raptors fell to the Celtics 116-103 in Boston tonight. Excuse the negativity, but there’s just nothing good to say about this team right now.

Calderon had nine points, four assists and three turnovers and Bargnani had seven points and four boards, negating strong efforts from Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu, who each had 20 in the loss. After starting hot, Turkoglu didn’t help his cause by picking up his fourth foul of the night early in the third quarter, in which Toronto was outscored 33-17 and officially put to bed. In the past three games, the Raptors have been manhandled 105-64 in the third.

This one actually looked pretty good at halftime — despite committing 14 turnovers and allowing Boston to shoot 68% in the first half, Toronto held a one-point advantage and stretched it to four in the early minutes of the third before the wheels fell off. Paul Pierce capped it off by making a poster of Bosh early in the fourth, causing Jay Triano to raise some hell to which his team, not surprisingly, didn’t respond.

In the end, a loss that was likely to happen one way or another. Still, pretty disappointing when two guys that’ll be counted on if this team hopes to be any sort of a contender don’t bother making their presence felt.

Now 7-10, the Raps are home to face the Suns on Sunday in the first of two straight at the ACC.

"Why are you so mean, KG?"

I usually love watching the Celtics play, but that mood changes considerably when they’re facing the Raptors. Fresh off a 116-81 pounding at the hands of the Bobcats, Toronto will look to bounce back tonight against Jose Calderon’s best friend (Mr. KG, in case you forget) in Boston. As always, check in at Raptors Republic for the best preview in the business.

As easily as the Celtics have handled us in Toronto the past couple years, the Raps have actually put up some decent battles on the parquet floor in Boston. Calderon took over a game in January ‘08 (the Celts’ championship year) before his famous encounter with Garnett early last season, and Andrea Bargnani forced overtime with a late three in an eventual 115-109 loss in the second meeting. The Celtics come into this one looking a little susceptible too, following a tight win over a Sixers team they usually pound and a near-disastrous loss to the Knicks over the weekend. Still, at 11-4 and with the Fantastic Four still in tact, they’re as good a bet as any to win the East this season.

Toronto comes in desperately in need of a bounce-back following Wednesday’s embarrassment in Charlotte. I called out Chris Bosh yesterday and stand by it — now’s the time to step up, big man. This is as tough a game as you’ll play all year, so let’s go make a statement.

The Raptors and Celtics get going from TD Banknorth Garden at 7:30.

12 games tonight – if you don’t have the league pass your options are limited to a few games, but if you are lucky enough to call the league pass your own, you have to choose which games to watch (tough situation, isn’t it? Nearly as tough as ‘Sophie’s Choice’…but not quiet there yet). We’ll try to help you a bit with that.

Southeast Showdown

Washington Wizards @ Miami Heat

The Wizards aren’t as good as people thought they would be before the season. Their chemistry on the court and in the locker room isn’t quiet what it used to be a few years ago when they made their little run in the playoffs (LeBron put a quick end to that). With the return of Antawn Jamison, still one of the most underrated players in the game, you have to watch out for them.

Miami on the other hand is the exact opposite. Nobody believed in them, they started the season on a pretty nice winning streak, but now they are falling apart midway through. They still won 6 of their last 10, so don’t let the hype get to you.

Going against a division rival usually results in a way more intense game, so keep an eye on this one (it’s on ESPN – shouldn’t be too hard). Not the best game tonight, but it has a lot of what we like to call ‘buzzerbeater-potential’.

Atlantic Showdown

Toronto Raptors @ Boston Celtics

#1 and #2 from the Atlantic divison will meet tonight at 07:30 pm. How awesome is this game going to be? Playing a division rival and both teams feel to need to prove themselves to the audience…

Toronto isn’t looking as good as you would expect by taking a look at their roster. Chris Bosh is playing out of his mind, but his supporting cast isn’t quiet there yet. Turkoglu (pretty overrated in my humble opinion, but a good player nonetheless) needs to step his game up and I’m pretty sure he wants to repeat his awesome performance from the last playoffs. Do you think the Celtics still remember this one?

I’m sure they do. A little extra motivation can’t hurt. The Celtics, who won 11 games so far by the way, are getting it from the media lately – Sheed can’t shoot, the don’t defend like they used to, Garnett isn’t as good as he was before his injury…bla bla bla…this guys will go for the kill tonight, no taking prisoners approach.

If you can only watch one game tonight and you aren’t a fan of a particular team, I’d go with this one.

Honorable mentions

San Antonio Spurs @ Houston Rockets

Okay, yeah, putting a game like this in as a honorable mention is a shame, I know. This is one of the better match-ups tonight, but not as good as watching KG go against Bosh. It is better as Miami vs. Wizards, tho. I’m too lazy to edit it…anyway, watch this game if you are into team basketball and want to know how the game is supposed to be played instead of how most teams play it. The Rockets are always a joy to watch and the Spurs…well, if it wasn’t for injuries, they would have a better record, but they will come through when it matters – like every year.

Atlanta Hawks @ Philly 76ers

The team that is and the team that could be – for me, they were pretty much the same team for a long time: athletic, got a decent go-to guy, lacked a few shooters to put them over the top…one team got Bibby, Crawford and improved a lot while the other…well, still has Andre Igoudala and Williams was coming into his own before he got injured for the next 8 weeks.

Expect a fast, fun-to-watch game, but it won’t be close, I guess.

Los Angeles Clippers @ Detroit Pistons

Yeah, I know, nobody but a fan would watch this game, but well…this is a Pistons blog and I’ll take this game over all the other games any day. Crazy, I know, but I guess I’ll have to live with it.

On the road, losing with the Raptors. The Raptors road record is now 2-7.

To be fair to the Toronto Raptors, the NBA handed them a very tough opening road schedule against 8 western conference clubs to start the season.

And to be fair, the Raptors have been very good at the ACC. Plus, no one could realistically be disappointed ahead of time if they knew the Raptors would lose games to western conference playoff teams on the road.

But losing to the Memphis Grizzlies isn’t the mark of a team hoping to make the playoffs.  And losing badly to the 5-9 Charlotte Bobcats can only be described as a major disappointment, even on the back-end of a back-to-back.

Wednesday nights blow loss, 81-116 to the Charlotte Bobcats was a Bobcats record.  Not something the Raptors should be proud of.

And the game wasn’t typical of any of Toronto’s games so far this season.

The 81 points scored by Toronto is 25 points below their season average and 10 points lower than any game they have played to-date.  And this comes the day after the Raptors scored 74 points in a half against Indiana.

A scoring drought of this magnitude warrants some investigation.

Against the Bobcats, the hot shooting Raptors, averaging 47 percent on the season, hit on just 34.5 percent of their shots.  The main causes were:

Target Number 1, Chris Bosh.

For the second game in as many nights, Chris Bosh’s shot only found the bottom of the basket five times.  A 5-14 night on the heels of Tuesday’s 5-19 performance.  Bosh has still been grabbing rebounds at a career best rate, but the Raptors rely on Bosh’s scoring and when he isn’t going, a lot of other things have to go right to get a win.

Target Number 2, Jarrett Jack.

Chris Bosh’s college buddy bailed out his teammate on Tuesday with a 7-7 shooting performance.  But on Wednesday, Jack was 1-9 with two turnovers early in the second quarter while the game was still under control.

Unfortunately these early turnovers helped to fuel Charlotte’s fast break game that just kept getting stronger as the night wore on.

Target Number 3, Marco Belinelli.

Belinelli was cold from the floor for his second game in a row.  But unlike Tuesday when he made up for his 1-4 shooting by going 8-10 from the line, on Wednesday Belinelli was 2-9 from the floor and 2-2 from the stripe.

Target Number 4, DeMar DeRozan.

Normally it isn’t fair to point out a poor shooting performance by a rookie.  And the loss to Charlotte had little to do with DeRozan.  But DeRozan usually takes five or six shots per game.  On Wednesday, he was 4-12.

Of course getting blown out usually requires more than just poor shooting.  And lots went wrong for the Raptors besides just poor shooting.

The Raptors gave up twice their season average in steals to the Bobcats.  Charlotte took 13 balls away from the Raptors and boosted their steals average to 8.1 per game.  And it seemed every steal led to a Bobcats fast break lay-up.

Uncharacteristically leading the Raptors with poor decision-making was Jose Calderon with six turnovers. The Bobcats pressured the Raptors ball-handlers and the Raptors coughed it up!

Unfortunately Jose was also one a few Raptors doing anything right.  His 3-6 shooting and eight assists did help keep the Raptors in this game early. Maybe he should have shot more?

And Jay Triano seemed lost, frustrated, and confused by Charlotte’s refusal to give this game to the Raptors.

After watching Jarrett Jack start the second quarter 0-3 with two turnovers and Jose Calderon get two more turnovers after replacing Jack.  Triano thought the best move was to finish the quarter off with both his point guards on the floor together.  No surprise, this didn’t help.

Perhaps more surprisingly was that Triano’s only reliable scorer in the first half barely saw the floor in the second half.

In the first half, Bargnani shot 6-10 for 15 points, leading the Raptors in scoring.  Playing only eight minutes in the second half and getting just two shots, Triano benched his only effective offensive threat.  And he did it while the game was still well within reach at 68-59 Bobcats in the third quarter.

With an explanation that smacks of desperation, Triano had a line-up of Amir Johnson, Antoine Wright, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Jarrett Jack, and Sonny Weems to close out the third quarter.

Triano says he was looking for energy?  Maybe there is energy in that line-up.  But who exactly is going to be putting the ball in the hole?

Is it any real surprise that the Bobcats went on a scoring spree in the second half of the third to go up 85-67.

The fourth quarter began with Jose Calderon, Jarrett Jack, Marco Belinelli, Chris Bosh, and Pops Mensah-Bonsu on the floor.

As anyone who follows these posts or has read Hollinger’s analysis of the Jack-Calderon line-ups knows, everybody scores more against the Raptors when Jose and Jarrett play together.

Plus down by 18 points, where was the Raptors’ leading scorer in this game? With Bosh unable to hit a shot, why was the hot shooting Bargnani nailed to the bench?

The Bobcats cruised to 35 point victory in the fourth, the Raptors who got to play barely putting up a fight.

To put the game in context, this is just a road loss on a back-to-back.  But it is still a bad loss.

Maybe the Raptors’ players were suffering from the effects of playing back-to-back games, but one doesn’t expect the coaching staff to be out-of-it!

However, all will be forgotten with a good outing against the Celtics on Friday and a win Sunday at home against the Suns.

The story of the night

Yeah, so the Raptors were pounded last night in Charlotte. How does that happen, even on the road and in the second of a back-to-back? Well, here’s how: The team just ain’t that good. And what’s this breakout year everyone is talking about Chris Bosh having? The team is 7-9! Not sure if you recall, but last November Bosh had even better numbers than these, then got tired at the end of the month and limped the rest of the way home. If you’re a superstar, CB, then let’s see it. Win some games.

Anyway, that’s my opening rant. I’m probably overreacting, because realistically this is a slightly-better-than .500 team and that’s probably where it’ll end up at the end of the year. Still, last night’s effort in Charlotte was embarrassing. After making an apparent first quarter defensive stand, the Raps let their guard down, allowing the Bobcats — a team that had scored 100-plus three times in 14 games and never more than 104 this season — to score 116 and set franchise-record with a 35-point win. Toronto shot a season-low 34.5% from the field and was out-boarded 49-42.

There isn’t much use going around pointing fingers, since this was just an all-around ugly effort. Jose Calderon had six turnovers, Bosh was held without a field goal until right before halftime, big-time free agent signing Hedo Turkoglu had five points and no rebounds and the bench, aside from Amir Johnson, combined to shoot 4-of-27. Johnson was the only real bright spot, finishing with 13 points, eight boards and three blocks in 23 minutes.

As bad as that was, it may get worse — the Raps are off today but are in Boston to face the Celtics tomorrow. How about this is where you prove you’re a star in this league, CB4?

Primeira Rodada: DeMar DeRozan (9)

Segunda Rodada: Ninguém

Os Raptors apostaram grande nessa escolha, pois DeRozan tem muito potencial, mas junto com Brandon Jennings, muitas as questões sobre sua capacidade de atingir novos patamares. A diferença é que Jennings ninguém viu durante sua temporada na Itália, já DeRozan, todos viram e ficaram esperando que ele desenvolvesse um arremesso mais confiável, melhor controle de bola…

Por outro lado, o jogador é muito atlético e corre bem a quadra. Será interessante vê-lo jogar com um armador como Calderon ao seu lado, que pode otimizar suas qualidades, principalmente nos contra-ataque.

Nota – 7

And one

The Toronto Raptors? Never heard of ‘em. There are embarrassing performances, and then there are outright horrible ones that make me make me wanna deny my team’s existence. It happens far too often in Raptorland. I’m on my way to bed, but I’ll check in with more on the Raps’ ugly effort in Charlotte tomorrow.

On the positive, the Leafs came out with a 4-3 win in Tampa Bay, catapulting them to sole possession of 29th place in the league at 5-11-7 (or 5-18, if you don’t speak hockey). I might have more on them tomorrow too, or maybe I won’t. You’ll have to wait and see!

After a nice win over former teammate TJ Ford and the Pacers, the Raps got absolutely drilled in Charlotte tonight.  Maybe it was the fact we were on the second night of a back to back, maybe it was because the Raps were depressed over Iversons retirement, or maybe the Bobcats just ran circles around the Raps all night long.  There is something about Charlotte losses that sting.  Last year the Raps were trying to put something together in the second half of the season, went into Charlotte and lost a big one, ending their playoff dreams…this one might be significant too.  The Raps were looking like they might emerge from a tough opening 20 games with their spirits intact…but this one sets them back a bit.

The Zan for Three

Chris Bosh fights Stephen Jackson for a loose ball on route to an ugly loss

Gerald Wallace

Every year someone, somewhere, puts out a Gerald Wallace to the Raptors trade rumour.  The guy has been rumoured to be a Raptor so many times it’s not even funny.  Doesn’t sound so crazy after a game like this does it? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he beats the hell out of us every time we play him, but he certainly makes himself look good playing against the Raps.  He made shots, got rebounds, drove the lane and took advantage of the defense.  Definitely a game changer.

Sending a Message

Down 19pts in the thrid quarter, with loads of time on the clock, Jay Triano pulled his starters and put in Pops Mensah Bonsu and Sonny Weems.  This was not a matchup issue, nor do I believe it was throwing in the white towel, but rather a message to his starters.  Jose, Bosh and Hedo had terrible games, and Bargs wasn’t great either.  Jay isn’t going to stroke his starters and make them feel at ease if they’re playing terrible. And although some of his rotation was questionable tonight at times, I liked this decision.  Kick these guys in the ass!  They have to bring it in games like this and fight through the fatigue. If the Raptors are going to get to the playoffs (and the thinking is they should) they need to show some physical and mental toughness. Tyson Chandler abused them on the boards and Wallace scored at will. Get tough, or don’t play!

Allen Iverson

There really isn’t much else to say about this game…it blows to lose like that to anyone let alone the Bobcats.  We should take some time here to give a big shout out to one of the Raptors all-time nemeses.  Iverson has been kind of a train wreck the last couple of years, but he put up some amazing clinics in scoring over the years. Who can forget his dual with Vince in the second round of the playoffs in 2001? Just incredible.  Or his message to young athletes everywhere about the merits of practice? The guy was a player you loved to hate.  I have a feeling we have not seen the last of him, but if this is the end, then we wish him nothing but the best.

Zan of the Game

There wasn’t a single Raptor worthy of the award tonight so Gerald Wallace gets it for having another huge game against a team he must lick his chops before facing everytime he plays them.

Not Zan of the Game

The Raptors Starting Five

Tonight they were tired. They did just have a crazy stretch of road games and it was the second night of a back to back…but we needed this one. We really did.  Fight through it and man up!  Hopefully they got the message loud and clear and will bring it next game. It’s either that or Jay is going to lose it on awhole lot more clipboards.

And Another Thing…

Nice to see Dell Curry in the crowd.  I miss that guy and his clutch shooting.  Just good to see him, that’s all.

Disgusting, embarrassing, listless, humiliating…

Losing 35 points to Denver Nuggets is one thing but losing 35 points to the Bobcats? Look, I am not disrespecting the Cats here, but they are the Charlotte Bobcats. They shouldn’t be scoring 116 points. There is little to no effort here tonight; I don’t care it’s a back to back game, they just didn’t show up.

Every player should be blamed for this, the coaching staff as well, for whatever reason, they can’t get the players to go out and play with effort in the 2nd half. Just disgusting.

I have to confess that I turned this thing off after the Raptors were down 17 points, why should I watch if they are not even trying?

Keys to the loss:

- Turnovers. The Bobcats played good defense, and the Raptors are extremely careless with the ball. These turnovers turns into fast break points.

- Effort. It just comes down to this. The Cats have it, the Raptors don’t. It’s simple. They Raptors packed it in when goings get tough.

This is the kind of loss that each player should take a good look at themselves in the mirror. Shameful.

7-9

Pacers over Clippers, Bobcats over Raptors, Magic over Heat, Celtics over Sixers, Hornets over Bucks, Mavs over Rockets, Nuggets over Wolves, Blazers over Nets, Kings over Knicks

NIGHTLY LEADERS

Scoring: D. Granger, D. Wade, L. James, R. Gay

Rebounds: E. Okafor, D. Howard, G. Wallace

Assists: R. Rondo, J. Calderon, S. Nash

DARKHORSE PLAYERS: E. Okafor, Stephen Jackson,