3 In the Key – Raptors Game-Day Preview vs. Warriors

Wonder if Sam has a bit of sentimentality and starts Bargnani today. Might just be right thing to do. Will be watching our rebounding today - have not liked what I 've seen lately from Raps in that category

I would argue that we should all be on the look out for the TJ who thinks he is offensice option #1 today. Assuming he is guarding Davis, he will likely be out-physicalled a few times inside and possibly even be dangled by Baron a time or two. If he reacts the way he did to Deron the other night, we are in trouble. I pray Sam displays the wisdom to sit him like he did in the 4th against Indy if this is the case.

With the Warriors being so terrible on D, this could be a great game for Bargs to get going again.

Some of your guys thinks playing basketball is a joke, do you think the coaches start a player because fans like them, Tinman it is not in the best interest of the Raptors to start Bargnani, he is still a softmore player he still needs to learn the NBA style game in order for his team to win against certain teams, teams are over powering him at the center spot right now, I think it is a good idea for him to come off the bench from now and then slowly he will learn how to guard those players at center.

Softmore?

HA HA HA HA HA HA.

Marcia...always glad to have you comment on this site. Between your spelling and misguided philosophies, it's always a bit of a trip on the crazy train...

PS - Watching "Raptors Rewing" right now...weird to see Mo Pete and Garbs DESTROYING G State last year...

Marcia - I take my Raptors pretty seriously. I brought up starting him for several reasons. He's in a funk and has been totally ineffective the past 3 or 4 games. His best two performances were games 1 and 2 where he did start. And most importantly, today is Italy appreciation day at the ACC !!
The kid will be allrite!

Baston starting again...hopefully he gets more than two rebounds this time...

ya marcia you talk about bargnani getting overpowered at the center spot, well baston didnt look that much better there, oneal took it too him in the first half and like franchise said..he only pulled down 2 rebounds in 18 minutes....but lets hope we get a nice showing from baston today, with one game under his belt.

Bargnani really hasn't been working that hard and going after it. It's worse since the demotion. I like him a lot, but he needs to watch some rocky movies or something.

Rotation? What rotation?
If I was garbo, i'd ask to be traded.

TJ FORD: One-on-Five player and undisputable LOSER!!!

I agree with Marcia. Bargs is not ready to start just yet. You don't reward his futile play as of late with a starting nod. Tonight he showed signs that he's coming around. He'll start for this team eventually.

TJ Ford infuriates me. If basketball IQ was a beautiful woman, TJames would be Rosie O'Donell. The guy is NOT a winner. I know he played a great game for the first 3 quarters, but when it matters most TJames does not play with his head. I have serious concerns about going forward with him as our guy.

I was impressed with the Warriors ability to drive and kick. The Raps could learn a lot by adding the penetrate and dish to their game. Especially with the Raps great perimeter shooters.

Well that is how you give a game away. Three quarters of fairly flowing offence, and then we see complete stagnance and lack of movement on offence. Going away from Bargs in this game was a mistake, he was establishing a strong inside presence. We certainly did see TJ's potential today, excluding the 4th. However, even in the first 3, he was jacking up more shots than the flow of the offence dictated. Just because he hit more of them today, does not make it right. I feel that in terms of probability, we are better off when he is pass first (Did anyone notice he claimes that he is a pass first PG during the half-time interview?) He will not hit those fades he seems to be so fond of more than he will when you look at it from a whole season perspective. This is not at all to suggest Jose had a good game today, he was certainly not at his best. But, TJ showed me glimpses of what I wish he did consistantly today. Cutting in to the paint and then dishing to Jamario for that big dunk. He is practically built to do that. Please TJ, be the pass first guard you claim to be on an every game basis.
Other random thoughts...
I think that somebody within the Raptors organization should be given the new job of smacking Bosh up the back side of the head everytime he waits for the double team to come. Delfino had great intensity, but way too may 3 attempts. Jamario still doesnt look completely comfortable taking shots when he is open.

ya wow i coudlnt agree with you more adam...TJ ford again showed both sides of himself today...glimpses of a great point guard and glimpses of mike james all over again...but he will no doubt get praise for his performance just because he happened to hit some of those stupid quick fading shots...i have no problem if he takes it in and gets a layup...which he did do at times today, but when he goes 1 on 5 and shoots without anyone else touching the ball in that possession..i have a problem

not only that, when u establish ur point guard as the go to scorer in the first 3 quarters, when he cant get the job done in the 4th...no one else has had enough looks to get in any rythmn.

another problem i have is the offensive play of bosh this season...the first few games he had the excuse of him trying to get his legs back, but its 10 games in...and we still havent seen good numbers from him at all except for maybe from the free throw line (where he missed 2 big ones today)I am concerned that our franchise player has yet to pick up his play and carry this team, we have only seen glimpses...how many times did andries biedrens out work him on the glass on both sides..too many times.

Lovin moon still by the way..his effort and his defensive ability to alter and block shots is something we havent had in many years...its a nice addition, but with him and baston in our starting lineup i think we're sacrificing a lot in terms of scoring options and outside shooting, imo it explains the slow starts.

On a side note..with every game that boston wins, it makes me want that game we lost to them more and more...just think if we had actually played well in the first 3 quarters, that was ours....we could of been the only team to have beaten the might boston celtics so far....would of been nice.

ANd i still beleive there not getting kapono enough easy looks, the guy is a gunner from long range and we're just not making it easy for him...tj in particular....tj only passes it to him on the wing with the full intention of wanting it and getting it right back so he can do his little mano a mano on his defender.

Sam's inability to reel in TJ is starting to worry me. I think he has done a decent job at distributing minutes based on play and effort with avery deep roster, but TJ seems to get a free reign. Even against Indy, although Calderon finished the game, Sam inserted TJ in for the last few plays when all was going in our favour. Not gonna argue that there have been games when TJ has been our best player on the court but seeing performances like this 4th quarter are becoming too common. Do not like how Sam has handled this situation. The TJ/ Jose debate rolls on.
Our starters fell behind again. Thought we gave up too many uncontested rebounds. Although I am pleased with what I saw from Baston, he's not a starting centre. We have fallen behind quickly in last two games. Rasho - get well soon!
Disappointed with this weekend homestand. Even with the victory on Friday our starters have been letting the opponents have the early lead.
Lets hope we can re-establish our home dominance of last year.

I heard sometime during the game Rasho will be out more or less 2 weeks. Wish we could have seen more of humphries to counter biedrens' presence. I didn't see him enough in today's game he only played 1 minute. It's not the scoring we needed tonight as much as preventing the warriors rebound. True we weren't outrebounded by much (-1)but those offensive putbacks were killing us!

And yea Branden, TJ did say "that's what I do best" when asked about giving assists. I chuckled. It could be what he does best if he lessen the Mike James impersonation. 29 Points and 9 assists sure do look good on paper for Tj (I like it cuz he'sin my pool =P ) but for the way this team is built, or point guard shouldn't be taking 22 shots.

22 shazams? Are you kidding me!? There may be an inverse correlation between the number of points that TJ Ford scores and the likelihood that the Raps win. Can someone look into this, please? Everytime TJ is our "best player" we seem to lose bad. Seeing him at the top of the circle dribbling it out as the clock runs down gives me palpitations.

Anyhow, lets not deflect responsibility away from Chris Bosh- our franchise player. He looks a little bit like a discombobulated child out there. This team needs a leader right now.

been watching the orlando-boston game...and heres a thought:

the raps should trade chris bosh and tj ford for dwight howard and someone like turkalu or nelson, or bogans, ariza..someone like that..it would address our rebounding problem...and we'd u could put bargnani at the 4 spot in the starting spot

i know im dreaming in technicolour...but i would still like to see it happen

Orlando wouldn't take Bosh, Ford and Bargnani for Howard.

Keep dreaking bigd, keep dreaming.

All this hate on TJ is ridiculas. Even Steve Nash pulls up in transition and shoots a 3...TJ doesn't even do that.It is hard for TJ to do anything when the other 4 players just stand around and wait for the ball to jack a 3. If you don't think TJ is a great basketball player, then obviously you have never played much ball. Don Nelson about TJ "He's a handful. He's as close to (Steve) Nash as anyone I've seen." So while you guys complain about his play, one of the best coaches ever compares him as the closest to Nash in the game. TJ is the future of the franchise and all you TJ haters will have to deal with it.

baston is no more a starting nba centre than was hoffa. hump should be starting in rasho's absense - he's a great rebounder and that's what this team needs.

Ddog you are correct. Nellie could be right as well about comparing him to Nash......that is whenever TJ decides dribbling around then settling for a fadeaway jumper is not an option. In today's game I've seen him do a couple of times a handoff to a team mate when when he stops dribbling only to ask for the ball back so he can take another shot. What I would have expected him to do is call a play, get the offense reorganized. Maybe the shotclock was winding down so he took the shot, but for all those other times, he could have gotten the offense reorganized.

I don't disagree that TJ is the real deal but come on, 22 shots? That's a bit too much for a "pass first" point guard.

Oh and I just wanna point out again, Humphries played 1 minute today =T

Those blocks from Moon are RIDICULOUS!!!! And that one handed dunk from a TJ pass! Yea, I like moon lol

TJ this and TJ that the game was lost in Bosh hands 30 percent shooting 50 percent foul shooting and 6 turnovers. There seems to be something wrong with Bosh not playing inside like He should

Heck I feel JC bailed Bosh out with the 3 near the end of the Indy game

ME not WE...pass first guard give me a break...and ya I'm all over him ,I wish Smitch would of been.

If i'm not mistaken even at texas TJ was scorer. He has the talent to make easy shots for the rest of the team. I just wish he'd do that as consistently as JC. Because of that i really hope they find a way to keep JC.