Earned Some R E S P E C T

The Toronto Raptors had a team meeting today and whatever was said had the desired effect. A huge 108-83 win that snapped a 3 game slide. Andrea Bargnani was having a good night and than took a hard foul early in the 3rd quarter. He eventually would pick himself up off the floor and after spitting out blood walked to the foul line and drained to free throws. The news is good going forward as it looks like he will just have a mouse under his eye and a loose tooth. It could have been much worse. So just like Rocky Balboa he will live to fight another day. I personally gained a respect for Andrea that he can be a tough player in this league. Before tonight I was not certain of that fact at all. But everyone showed up tonight and played well. Which is what you need when you are down your best player.

I think this is a first since being in Toronto for him but regardless Rasho Nesterovic was the leader in scoring on this night with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Five Raptors scored in double figures including Jamario Moon who was even more impressive on the defensive end. He shutdown Shawn Marion holding him to just 5 points and shooting just 2-7 on the night. Moon on the offense had 14 points and 9 rebounds and 3 blocks on Marion. Oh and 4 steals too. A solid effort by the often criticized Raptor rookie. 

Jose Calderon did not reach double digits in scoring but he did in assists 9 points and 13 dimes. He looked more like the guy that was close to an all star appearance on this night. T.J Ford was a bot more under control as well still scoring 13 points but also moving the ball and not forcing his shot nearly as much going 5-9 and having 5 dimes of his own. So your Fordron totals 22 points and 18 assists that is a quality 48 minutes out of the point guard position. 

Active defense lead to 11 steals and a slight advantage on the boards of 38-36. A good overall team performance over a very bad Miami Heat Team. Pat Riley said in his post game press conference that he should write a check to payback fans there money for the lack of effort from his team. The mood in Miami is getting ugly fast and Riley promised changes and you can bank on that for sure. Dwayne Wade could be starting to look at his options when his contract runs out should things not change in Miami fast.

So were the Raptors that good or Miami that bad? The proof will come when the Raptors face the team chasing them in the standing the Washington Wizards. No word on if Chris Bosh will be back for that contest. If he is not it would make sense that he would not return till the team heads west to take on the Lakers. No disrespect to the Sonics but if they can save Bosh till L.A they likely will. But if he is healthy the Washington game is important being a Eastern Conference game. So if he misses that than it would seem unlikely and unwise to see him play vs Seattle.

Andrea Bargnani earned some fans on this night but more important the Raptors earned a key win to get back on track.

Too Much T.J!!!

To Much T.J Ford at the start of the 4th quarter. Ford tried to take the team on his shoulders much like he would when he was a Texas Longhorn. But he is a Raptor now and he is in a much different role from the one he had at Texas. Ford was counted on the score at Texas and he tends to turn back into that player when Bosh is not in the line-up. But both he and Sam Mitchell needed to realize that he was pushing it to much. This game was the fault of T.J and indirectly Sam's for giving T.J to much rope to bury himself. He took the first 8 shots in the 4th quarter and on the night had 7 turnovers with takes away from his team high 20 points. I will admit when people don't get it done from Chris Bosh To Joey Graham I will say it. No secret I like Sam and T.J but on this night they both came up short. The Good news for Sam was that his team did get thew message about rebounding. With no CB4 the Raps actually out rebounded the Magic. Go Figure. 

They also Held Diwght Howard to 1 point in the first half. But he would make up for that in the Fourth Quarter. Superman would end up with 19 points and 14 rebounds and his team as a whole out scored the Raptor 31-19 in the final Quarter to power there way to a 102-87 victory to take the season series 2 games to 1. Howard had help as well from his helpers. Hedo Turkoglu an ALL STAR SNUB had an ALL STAR NIGHT leading all scorers with 24 points. He and the many with the pockets full of cash from his free agent contract that brought him to the Magic. On this night he earned his big dollars with a 22 point effort with 2 steals and a block. If only the Magic had a legit point guard they would be truly a force in the East. Jameer Nelson is not good enough to cut it. But they said the same about Rajon Rondo at start of season. He has managed to get it done. But Nelson is not the answer for this team long term.

Flipping back to the Raptors. Anthony parker despite the team's 3 losses has been just great. He needs to score like this when Bosh returns. He is able to score and need to get his. He needs a that little extra that T.J has as far as looking for his shot. Parker was a scorer in his time in Europe and is able to score more than he has done on most nights.

As far as Andrea Bargnani goes I am out of answers. I would have thought a move to his natural position at the 4 would help Andrea but a 2-11 shooting night with only 6 points would suggest I am wrong. I admit I am to the point that in the off-season I would just find out what you are able to get for him trade wise in the off season. He just is like that box of chocolates you never know what your gonna get, Or like this blog I meant a Forrest Quote in a b-ball blog who could have seen that coming. I am sorry to say it but I am just totally at a loss as far as Andrea is concerned. I do think despite his lousy play in the last 2 games he is a 4 in this league and can not really work as a 5 or as a 3. To me that says make a trade and package him with Rasho and go find your beast on the boards.

Raps need to right the ship in Miami with a win and catch their breaths. Hopefully with a returning Chris Bosh in the game after Miami. I am conflicted as to what is worse right now the weather outside or the Raptors at the moment. I will call it a tie and get my tired but to bed. Dreaming up a topic for Tomorrow.

Lost: One Team Defense....

If found please contact the Toronto Raptors or Sam Mitchell A.S.A.P. The fact that Chris Bosh was not in the line-up was really not the issue at all in the Raps 110-98 defeat. The lack of overall defense and specifically Defensive Rebounding was. The Bobcats had 18 offensive rebounds and turned most of them into easy second chance points. Jason Richardson looked like the ALL STAR type player he was in Golden State night in and night out. He lead all scorers  with 30 points and had 7 rebounds. Also they got a big effort from former Boston College star Jared Dudley had a big night with a double double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. 

Sam Mitchell was clearly frustrated after the game and blamed rebounding for his team's lack of ability to stop the Bobcats. He pointed to the fact that the Bobcats only shot 43% from the field as proof that the defense was not as bad as it seemed. However the lack of rebounding cost them. No debating that point at all. But how to fix the problem becomes the real question at this point. At time this season this team has been able to hold there own on the glass. In fact against this same Bobcat team with No Bosh, Ford or Bargnani they managed to out rebound the Bobcats and get a win. 

Andrea Bargnani did not take advantage of the move to the 4 spot in the line-up. He only had 6 points and 5 rebounds and was 0-3 from 3 point range. As a result he only saw 18 minutes of floor time. Rasho Nesterovic had a fast start with 13 points early on but only ended up with 16 on the night in 27 minutes. The drop off might be based on the extended minutes. The Raptors were lead in scoring by Anthony Parker who despite the bad effort in the last few games has been personally playing very well.  He filled the stat sheet with 24 points 6 rebounds 2 steals and a block.

Both Ford and Caldron were not playing at a high level. The assists were there with 10 from Jose and 5 from T.J but only 10 points combined and T.J shot 2-9 and Jose had 4 turnovers and had 9 in the last 2 games. Calderon has really come down in his play since the return of Ford. Even the 2 playing together has not been able to spark Jose or T.J. This is a great concern as well as this team is highly dependent on the play of it's point guards even more so without Chris Bosh. The coverage on the ball of BOTH T.J and Jose must improve as well. Far to many times both have allowed the other team's point guard to get into the paint. Good defense begins with solid play by the point guard to deny his man access to the paint. 

In all honesty the things that have gone wrong for the Raptors have been BASIC BASKETBALL FUNDAMENTALS.  A huge match-up with Orlando will challenge this team to find the answers quickly. Mainly it just comes down to effort and dedication to the small things like boxing out and taking pride in stopping your individual man. 

As frustrated as Sam Mitchell was I can only assume Chris Bosh was equal in his frustration. He is on this trip and he may need to voice his frustration and challenge his team to pick up it's level of play. Which in the last few games has been totally unacceptable. Bosh did say he could be 2 days from returning or a week from returning. I don't expect him to play on this trip but the timing of 2 days would mean playing in Orlando. It may just be wishful thinking on Bosh's part. Even with him on this night to many bad things were happening that he alone could not have changed.

Early Exit For Toronto's Star

The Toronto Raptors lost much more that a basketball game tonight at the ACC.The score for the record was 122-111 for the Pacers but that was secondary to what happened. Chris Bosh left the game with what is being called knee soreness. It would be learned later that Bosh had originally injured the knee in the first game at Indiana. Bosh signaled to the bench and left the game in the ladder stages of the first quarter. But Indiana had started of shooting hot and already had a 10 point lead. The Pacers were playing with only 9 health players and no Danny Granger. He had been suspended for an incident in the Pacers last contest vs. Chicago. Raptors defense was pathetic all night long and early loss of Bosh did not help matters.

On a night with so Much disappointment there was a bright spot. Andrea Bargnani took advantage of the loss of Bosh to score 27 points before fouling out late in the 4th quarter. Anthony Parker also picked up his offense as he scored 25 points and made many tough shots. But the lack of defense on the perimeter especially was the demise of the Raptors. Pacers had 12 three pointers lead by Mike Dunlevey had 36 points leading the Pacers and many of those point came via uncontested 3 point shots. This was an ugly loss for the Raptors that begin a 3 game road trip in Charlotte on Sunday.

The status of Bosh is anyone's guess as he is expected to be evaluated tomorrow. A huge Match-Up with Orlando looms on Tuesday. The Raptors will not only need Chris Bosh to be able to play but they really need to show some defensive intensity in which they showed none on this night. The Raptors were constantly beaten of the bounce and eventual the defense would break down allowing open shots far too often on this night.

Bosh along is not the reason for this breakdown of basic fundamentals. This was another wake up call like the game in New York and you can only get so many of those in a season. Eventually you have to receive the message. Slow starts lack of defensive intensity will not cut it come playoff time.

Caldron and Ford seem both to be pressing a bit to make up for the loss of Bosh. We even saw the two on the floor together a lot as a way to combat the loss of Bosh. Also it is becoming a growing concern at the amount of shots that are being taken by Jamario Moon. He is starting to remind me of Vince Carter and in the bad ways. We all have seen the nights where Vince has decided he is going to be a shooter and not a slasher. But the Difference in the case of Jamario is he unlike Vince is far from the number one option on offense. That being said if he took more balls to the basket and was drawing fouls no one would complain. But taking 3 point shots and shooting the ball far to much is not going to gain him any love from Sam Mitchell or Raptor Fans.

This game was a serious embarrassment and Bosh or not on Sunday they must show a much better effort from the opening whistle.

I'm Taking That Ball!!!

 At times it was down right ugly effort overall but in the end it is a 102-98 win on the road. Bosh was the only starter that was on his game he had 24 points going 10 of 10 from free throw line and had 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. But despite the lack of help from his fellow starters two guys made big contributions off the bench. Carlos Delfino had a career high 23 including 6 of 7 from the 3 point line. T.J Ford was also big as Jose Calderon was just not on his game with 0 assists and only 4 points. But T.J would have the back of his fellow point guard as he 16 points 7 assists and 5 rebounds. The one positive beyond those 3 players was the teams rebounding effort.

Parker may have had only 8 points but he had 11 rebounds and anytime you can have your shooting guard lead the team in rebounding you have to say he is making an effort. Raptors won the battle on the glass 46 to 39. The concern was throughout this game was the perimeter defense. Indiana was apply to get many clean looks from 3 point range. Also the Raptors normally do a great job of taking care of the ball but in this game turned over the ball 17 times which lead to 27 Pacer points. Andrea Bargnani and Jamario Moon both struggled in this game. Bargnani after a 25 point night Sunday followed it up with just 2 points on this night. While Moon was frustrating Sam Mitchell with his play on the defensive end and his shot selection on the offensive end. Both need to be more consistent if they want to maintain there positions in the starting line-up. But as they say a win is a win. Concern late is this game as Chris Bosh twisted his knee late and at first looked like it may be serious but after being checked out on the bench he was back in the game to close it out.

 Raptors move to new uncharted ground at 7 games over .500. They now head home to take on the T-Wolves and these same Pacers. Sam Mitchell will still have much to say to his team despite the win and that maybe a good thing considering the type opposition.

The Raptors must get off to better starts. Raptors can not always depend on big second quarters like tonight's 35-16 second quarter. In the end the was some good and some bad but the most important thing was the Raptors found a way to get a W in the standings and in the end that is all that matters.

That's More Like It!

But than the second half the Raptors showed they are indeed capable of defense and rebounding. The also brought the offense as well outscoring the Knicks 30-15. That was basically the ball game. T.J Ford made strides to getting back to the level he was at before all his injury woes.He had 15 points all in the second half along with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Jose had just 9 points and 7 assists but was excellent after a rare bad performance on Friday with 4 turnovers. 

The newest Raptor Primoz Brezec had 11 points off the bench. Could he be another Bryan Colangelo find? Time will tell but the debut was good. He shows a bit of different approach than many on this team. He has a bit of an aggressive nature. He looked good and no doubt earned some fans at the ACC in his debut.

Too Easy

It sure seemed that way on this night. Raptors had reason to celebrate and they did from the opening tip. T.J Ford was back and as he sat and watched the first quarter he as everyone watching had to be impressed with his team. The Raptors would beat the Heat into submission by the end of the first quarter. The would have a 33-12 lead by the end of it and never look back. Going on to a 114-82 thumping of the Heat.

Chris Bosh as on many nights was a huge reason why. 24 points on 8 of 11 shooting in basically 3 quarters of work. But he was helped by the other Raptor big man Andrea Bargnani who has slowly started to round back into the lethal scorer of his rookie year.  He would have 22 on this night with some coming down in the post rather than from outside. A 9 of 14 shooting night and 5 rebounds too. Jose Caldron remains the starter and had a typical Jose night since Ford has been away with 11 points 10 assists and a steal. Anthony Parker had 18 and Moon 6 to round out the starting unit.

The Heat were under staffed without Shaq and Undonis Hasslem no to mention the now retired Alonzo Mourning. Raptor fans already gave him his gift in a 10 million dollar buy out that lead to Zoe winning a title with the Heat. Miami has lost 19 of their last 20. They are as far a way from that banner that hangs in the arena as you can get. Wade only had 12 and in his post game comments sounded like a defeated man. Not a smile to be found in Miami these days. It is a really ugly situation that shows no signs of getting better anytime soon.

But the story for Raptor fans on this night was the surprise return of T.J Ford. The team had planned to have him debut back home against the Clippers on Friday. But Sam Mitchell saw enough in yesterday's practice to give T.J the green light to return. He looked great at times as if he had never been gone. His first offensive play was a brilliant dump done to the post and a dunk for a team mate. In fact Ford was a focused distributor of the ball all night, He would not score till very late. But both scores were significant for T.J's return:

• The first came on a play that was very much like the play that sidelined him. He would steal the ball and have a open lane to the hop. But this time instead of going up to dunk he would stay on the floor, pump fake and watch the defender fly by and drain an easy lay up
• Than late in the game he drove along the baseline and threw down a incredible monster jam. If you watched closely you could see the care he took in his take off and landing but it was a vintage T.J Ford Slam.

Jason Kapono the former Miami player would lead the bench with 13 points. You have to think looking to the other bench he is very happy with his off-season choice of coming to Toronto. Raps shot like crazy on this night for a season high 59.5% from the field. They had 31 assists and 11 steals not to mention 10-19 from 3 point range. They in short were on fire. They were the hot team not the Heat. As good as the Raptors were that's how bad the Heat looked in this game. But Raps will make no apologies and look forward to 3 more match-ups with this team. But up next a night in Miami that a trip home to prepare for the Clippers on Friday. Some much needed practice time as the process of reintegrating T.J Ford into the team will continue. But so far so good.

Not You Again!!!

Not Tonight!!!