Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post-Game: YMCA Ball

Maybe not a breakout game for bargnani, but a breakthrough in terms of learning how to stay on the floor.

Dissing d-mart? Ice cold, hasn't played this year, is like 100 years old. We were damn lucky to have him last night to spell caldy for a whopping seven minutes. Not to mention his second possession he drove into the paint, something the rest of the team, saving bosh can't seem to do.

I've always thought the guys in the truck should be lined up and shot.

YMCA Ball = great title.

As much as I've been on Bosh this year, he's still my favourite athlete in this town. Unfortunately I've only been able to watch the second half of the last several games, and watching Chris fight thru fatigue and come down with 19 boards was just awesome. I'm wondering if not having a wide body like Rasho on "D" to help relieve some boarding pressures doesn't hurt him.

Again, I didn't see the whole game, but I think my biggest concern about Calderon is his untimely turnovers. I can't help but think back to the final play of last years playoffs, and the couple of toss aways last night when the team was about to retake the lead or extend it by a posession. Albeit hard for me to critque only watching half a game.

Sloppy game but we won! Bosh was awesome but we were lucky to come away with a W. Rasho's injury may prove to be good for Bargnani's development. Liked Delfino and Kapono's contribution.

As its Thanksgiving in US, I’m thankful for the positive posts contributed to this site because generally I’m been feeling blah towards the Raps to date. After the summer anticipation I was expecting more but hey, season is still young.

On a positive note you got to love Jamario Moon. What a find by Colangelo. I don’t know if I read it here or else where but it was suggested that fans who attend games howl whenever Moon scores a basket. It would be such a hoot! Pass it along.

In reference to ddogg...I'm one of those fans that is just happy to have 2 great point guards .At the end of the day its the W that really matters.Enough already with the T.J. this and Jose squabbles.Keep in mind,we were playing last night without 3 of last years starters not on the floor,Garbo,T.J. and Rasho,not to mention Joey...All things being equal we did ok...Unlike he Dallas game,I was pretty confident that this one was in the bag,even though it was close...Bring on the King

Before yesterday’s game, after hearing that TJ was out, I nearly became physically ill with the thought that D-Mart might get extended minutes. I threw up in my mouth a little when the first thing he did as soon as he hit the court was look for his own jumper. I don’t get it. Why does he think he deserves to shoot? This goes for Hump too! Every time that black hole gets the ball he tries to get his own shot. The funny thing is they both end up embarrassing themselves? Hump get’s so much praise when he attacks the boards and brings some energy and Derrick needs to just run the offence. Why can’t they just stick with that? Kudos to Sam for giving both limited minutes as it was evident they were both out for their own last night. Oh yeah and they were a combined 0 – 7 from the field.

I agree...bring on the king. Watching the game last night I missed TJ. Jose was solid, not spectacular, but I could see last night how valuable TJ is at times when the offence goes to pure jump shots. TJ is really one of our only guys who can get to the rim and I felt his presence was missed last night. I think that helps explain the lack of free-throw attempts and hopefully he'll be ok to go in the Cavs game.

Moon has been such a great addition, love the howling everytime he scores idea ha ha.

Finally, wanted to see if anyone else noticed this post-game last night. During Sam Mitchell's usual chat with media, a Spanish reporter asked Sam about the Jorge health situation. Sam at first didn't understand the question due to the reporter's accent but by the time he got around to answering the sound had been cut. It looked like Mitchell gave a long response too and I'd love to know exactly what he said. I'm not sure if Raps TV cut the feed on purpose, but it was very suspicious. They kept the cameras rolling and finally went back to the studio where Paul Johnson-rod and co. sort of looked at each other like "cricket cricket..." before Sherman states: "I don't know what Sam said, but it looked like something juicy!"

Thanks for coming out guys...

There must be something going on behing the scenes with Jorge that we all don't know.

Franchise,
I did catch that on Raptor’s Post Up and it seemed HIGHLY suspicious! The fact that the feed was cut at that precise moment, where Sam looked like he was giving some unabridged truth - as only Sam can – in regards to the Garbo situation was strange indeed. Usually Sam would answer with his "I’m not a Dr." or "You guys see Garbo in there, why don’t you ask him", but not this time, looked like he talked about it for at least 20 – 30 seconds. Too bad we didn’t get to hear it… This thing is getting way to "cloak and dagger".

Franchise...the only other guy who can get to the rim beside Bosh and Ford is Juan Dixon and for the life of me I can't understand why he doesn't get more playing time. Every team we play the Raps get killed in the paint because if Bosh doesn't go in there on the regular no one else will. JD is a scorer, he is quick and he can shoot. Hopefully he will get some minutes down the stretch. Kudos go out to Bosh, monster game last night, he was determined not to lose that game. Kudos to Andrea as well, I think he finally realizes that if the shots are not dropping defence and assists can easily make up for it..Nice dish to Bosh last night. Seems the Raps are becoming a Road warrior this year, that's great because I know the home wins will come. Raps4life.

One more comment...The Raps need to toughen up..I can't believe that Swift put such a hard foul on my man Moon and no one and I mean no one went up to Swift and said anything if that was the days of Chris Childs and Charles Oakley somebody would be getting a technical. And in this case it would be justified if someone went and let Swift know that they didn't appreciate him taking out Moon like that...I know he went for the ball and I like Swift I think he is a good kid but you can't let players flagrant foul your teamates and just let it slide. That's why the Raps have a Rep for being a soft team. Too bad Hump was not on the court because I think he is the only one that would stand up for Moon. Bosh being the leader of the team should have rush Swift and started something. I bet that would get the Raps going and probably put some distance between them and the Griz...Glad Moon is OK..And Moon said Rudy Gay was the only one that ask if he was OK..Swift was like, you are not going to posterize me in my house so take that...I am so mad, someone should have said something to him and if he lipped off pop him one in the mouth...oh sorry its not hockey...what do you gus think?

Why Dixon doesn't play more?

Last night: 6:40 minutes PT, 5 shots (1 made).

Thoughts and random musings.

- Haven’t posted for a couple of games, first I would just like to say that I know I’ve been hard on Bosh for a bit, but the last couple of games he has really come through and I was thrilled to see his performance. Let’s hope he’s back and continues to grow from here.

- I was happier with the Dallas game than I was Memphis game. In the Dallas game, although we lost, we played relatively well and did a better job on defense. We still had many lapses in judgment, but at least we tried. Everyone talks about Dirk being solid with the 3 or 4 3s at the end of the 3rd quarter (I think that’s when it was). Not taking anything away from Dirk, he is a great player, but to be fair, he was open for all but the last one he drained. This comes back to defensive maturity. If the Raps learn how to close out shooters, this game is ours. The turning point was mid way through 2nd when we chilaxed.

- Last night’s game I put in the Indiana game category. Great to have a win, but both these efforts are a blow out L against any of the average teams or above. There were many wide open looks that the Griz could just not hit. We really need to tighten our D.

- This was already mentioned, but I just want to reiterate, there is never an excuse to show us a close up or a reply instead of live action. I don’t want to see Bosh’s mug instead of the last play of the game. Same for Dirk.

- Free throws are another reason we lose games. We need to get to the line consistently! On the current roster, we only have Bosh how gets there and only when he decides to be aggressive. This has to be a major area for improvement for us in the offseason. Is it too early to talk about the draft? We need to get a solid centre who can go inside on a consistent basis, who can bang and hit the free throw line. Either that or a cutter who will get fouled on a consistent basis ala Maggette.

- The losing wouldn’t bother me so much if we lost to a team that we just couldn’t beat. A game where we gut it out and they do as well and they just get more points than us. I can live with that. When we lose because of careless turnovers, that’s just frustrating. As a franchise, we have a habit of losing because of careless turnovers. Just look at our history. Everyone remembers us losing to Philadelphia in the 2001 playoffs because of a Vince trip to his graduation party and his subsequent miss from long distance. We really lost the game because AD dribbled the ball off his leg on the second to last play which would have given us the lead. In last year’s playoffs, we lost to NJ because of an errant pass by JC. In the Dallas game, we could have pulled it out but we had some careless turnovers in the last few possessions. This all comes to maturity and making the right decisions.

- Note to The Score: if we are watching the Raptors, we are probably basketball fans and therefore basketball highlights may make us stay tuned more than hockey highlights.

- I picked up Moon on my fantasy team

- The Spanish question looked good, Sam was just about to tear into the guy for not doing his homework. There were at least half a dozen microphones there, someone must have picked up the audio. Hopefully someone can track that down.

- Martin. Martin should never ever ever ever ever (I could go on forever with my ever’s) be on the court. Not sure what the confusion was and why Sam accidentally put him out there. It’s bad enough Martin wouldn’t step aside for a good kid like Jackson, he should not see the court outside of practice time, and even then in limited spurts. He should focus on the colour of his outfit as he stands up off the bench to confuse our guys. Dixon is our 3rd PG. I’d rather even have Marcia run the offence. He sounds like he knows about running an offence.

- Did anyone hear the trivia on last night’s game? I think it was something like who was the only player in uniform tonight that played for the Toronto Huskies in the Basketball Association of America, the answer was Martin.

- Last thought (for now). With Washington’s PG issues, do you think they would want Dixon back? Maybe we can get something good for him. With the current lack of playing time, we aren’t really using him that much anyway.

ustation...u talk about untimley turnovers by calderon...the guy is the league leader in assist to turnover ratio so hes the best basically at getting his team buckets while not letting the other team get theres....and in my opinion any turnover is costly...the points add up...so im still gonna go with the numbers on this one and say that calderon is solid with the rock...on top of that when TJ is in the game at the end he doesnt necesarrily turn it over...he just shoots a stupid shot himself ie. the the utah game....nuff said

In regards to standing up for Moon...I can remember last year Rasho took exception to one play...do you guys remember who & what game ?

"I'd rather have Marcia run the offense"

LOL

Franchise and Howland - that should be the comment of the week...

d279: I know the incident you are talking about and it was Rasho hammering Reggie Evans for sticking his foot under Bosh on a jump shot. I think it was against Denver and I clearly remember Evans spitting blood and checking for chicklets. I’ve always thought Rasho has been underrated in the "enforcer" role. He has laid some heavy wood on opponents when a hard foul is justified on a few occasions. The only other guy to stand up for their teammates on the Raptors in that regard in the last 3 years is… TJ Ford. That’s right all 145 lbs of TJ ford. When Bosh was pushed from behind in a total hissy fit by Bogut in Milwaukee last year. TJ went right at Bogut (who is 7 feet and 260 lbs) and tried to pick a fight! TJ earned a lot of respect from me that night.

Lots of good points Zona - killing me with the "AD dribbling the ball off his leg" comment - painful flashbacks.

Totally agree about the defensive rotations. Last night up until crunch time it was painful. Early in the year the team looked more honed in on switches but the Grizz had a ton of open looks. That's why it was annoying to hear Leo say that Toronto "did a good job on the Grizz's 3 point shooters" when in reality, it was the Sam excuse - they just didn't hit open shots.

Never too early to talk draft, Howland and I were yesterday. My Blue Devils had a huge win last night over Marquette in a close-fought game down to the wire and college ball season is definitely in full swing. I can't wait to see some of these fab freshman in action, scouts are already saying six or seven of the top 10 players in D1 are freshman. If they all come out, we should have another really deep draft this year. And yep, first on my list if I were B.C. would be a slashing guard/forward who can create his own shot followed by a shot blocker. Watching Mike Miller of all people drive right past Anthony Parker and Jason Kapono in the second quarter last night for an uncontested lay-up made me want to scream. Keon Clark would have sent Miller's shot back to Gainsville...

One final thing. I was really happy with Mitchell's rotations last night. He gave Baston and Hump a chance but also gave them the quick hook when it was obvious that they were a liability. He didn't even play Chuck(er) Martin that much. And more importantly, I think we've now seen the closing line-up (without maybe Ford.) Bosh, Bargs, Kapono and Delfino. This gives them some inside/outside presence, defence, size, athleticism and of course long-range shooting. Delfino and Moon in crunch don't work because they're too similar and aren't consistent enough scorers at this point in their careers. But having either one out there to get rebounds, take charges and move the ball helps.

As for the Jorge question, I'm hoping Grange had it mic-ed up and it will be on his blog later today or tomorrow.

Mas, D279...let us not forget the hack job that Bonner did on Garnett back in Minnesota. That pretty much made Bonner the legend that he is. That's the kind of fire this team needs. I think a guy like Delfino could be that guy. I think he's got an edge to him.

I'm still a tj fan, but my favourite line up:
bosh, bargs, moon, parker, calderon

first off the bench, delfino, kapono, ford. I'd say rasho, but if he can't come off the bench and produce, he's on the wrong team.

Moon, I'm waiting for to put the ball on the floor and drive into traffic before I start thinking ROY but I think it's coming.

By the way, always great blog. Long-time reader from Florida. Nice to see civil and informative comments. As with most fans we do a lot of micro-managing from game to game, so here is a couple of Great 12-game stats. Raptors leading the whole league in both 3Pt percentage and Free-throw pct. And 7th in Assists per game. They're doing a lot right.

Speaking of Delfino, I noticed how he kept trying to draw the charge. He fell on the ground several times with no call (wich is unusual because it would always be either charge or blocking foul). He succeeded in one occasion I think but more often than not last night, they were no calls.

-Once again, Kapono is money when he's open. Sam needs to have 1 or two rip hamilton type of plays for kapono to change up the offence once in a while from the two man game and the one on one game the raps have in their playbook..

-Ever since Calderon improved his jumpshot I see less of him driving in now just like he did a year ago..

-This was the first time raps faced Ivaroni as a coach..any thoughts regarding his style? Should we have jumped in to get him?

-Marcia, would come in and play a solid "American style", hard nosed game. She (I assume Marcia is a she) would rebound and play very tough D.

-Never mind Iavroni, Stan looks like the man. I loved his team in Miami before the Shaq trade. Mind you I was a big fan of bringing Iavroni in.

-Dying to find out about Sam's comments. Bad enough no one ever says anything real to the media. Then when someone does, the cut it!

-Saw my first live televised Raps game here in Scotland the other night. Stayed up until 4:30am to watch the Mavs kick our ass. Hell, I didn't even tune in until well into the second quarter, so i didn't even see the raps play well! Also it was a Dallas feed, and all game they were talking about the last time Dallas came back, and that the Raps would surely choke again... oh well, it was still nice to catch a game (still looking for a friend with a sling box).

-I still can't get over our depth. We have some pretty decent players that have been virtually non-factors so far this season. Imagine playing with Rasho, Garbs, Graham, Dixon and Marcia - solid if not spectacular

Very happy for a road win on a night we wern't shooting well. Memphis(healthy) is not that bad a team so you have to give some credit to our defence. Bosh was a monster on the boards and good for Bargnani. His shots haven't been falling as much lately, but gotta love it when you see the rebounds.
Dixon can bring instant scoring to the team,and has! The fact that we are even discussing his usefullness to the team shoes how deep we are. Much prefer him as 3rd PG than Chucker Martin.

So incredibly happy to see people would much prefer Dixon as the 3rd PG. When Martin steps out on the floor, my girlfriend, not even me, screams at the TV in frustration. We are talking about a fairly girly girl here too. I think that is the ultimate sign that his playing days should be numbered, if not done. Agree with whomever suggested that was another Indiana game, where we got the W, but not a wealth of things to feel great about (other than Bosh did look like the big-Bosh-man again, and Bargs played some great defence). Wow, did Hump and Baston look like pilons. I really was rooting for Baston to get at least a bit of PT during the street clothes days, but now want him to put back on the jeans and dress shirt. I am also seeing some differing opinions on Dixon in the comments. I just want to chime in and say I think he may take a few ill advised shots, but I really like his aggresiveness and willingness to make some cuts inside. I feel like he may be one of our most under-used weapons, but his history of bouncing around hints otherwise. I am not sure of his contract status but suspect he may attract some attention in trade discussions later in the year (which could mean job security for Mr. Martin, and it all comes full circle).

I don't like the negativity surrounding Dixon's play. Let's give him credit. He was one of our better players in the first 5 games then suddenly got no burn. The 1 for 5 comment is a cheap shot. It is very difficult to get into a rhythm playing sporadically. He really seemed new and improved this year and ready to contribute.

Re: Garbo. I just read the Star article today, and it concerned me. It seemed as if Garbo was hiding something; his speech was very cryptic (mind you, English is his second language). I really hope that what they found on the MRI is not serious. Somehow, I'm not so sure...

In reference to D279, I love TJ and Calderon, I just feel I need to stick up for Ford once in a while.
Also, Dixon is not a PG, he is the complete opposite of a PG (except he is short). He is a great offensive player but is way too much of a black hole.

Look for a big win against the Cavs, they usually match up well with the team but they will miss Rasho matching up against Big Z. Hopefully, the Raps can go on a little win streak here.

Dixon has played the point.

Ok jamez you go on with your bad self, you and me baby gonna run the offence, but I am starting you come off the bench. Ye baby

Robert Archibald right on, and yes baby I am a she who just love the Raptors game and yes baby I would definately play some hard nose D, you got to put the hammer and the screw to the other team let them know we mean business even if it is in their house,

What you said about Derek Martin...thank you, good to see I'm not the only one.

ddog, I don't think you can evaluate Dixon's PG skills based on his play at another position. Like I said, he can go into a little bit of 1-on-5 mode and take some ill-advised shots, but as you have likely noticed, our real starting PG has a slight tendency to do this as well. I think Dixon has the creativity and aggresiveness to be a quality NBA distributor, with a slight tweak in playing mentality, and if nothing else, is not a chubby 40 year old guarding the quickest player on the opposing team. As Erezona pointed out, for Martin to not step aside and take a coaching position to allow the team to keep Jackson is out-right ridiculous.

Y'all have forgotten D-Mart's most valuable asset: He speaks Spanish. El Senor de Los Anillos!

"chubby 40 year old "

Hilarious!

Yeah, I would rather Sam suite up than Martin... At least Sam looks like he has kept himself in reasonable shape!

I'd rather have Chuck Swirsky suit up. Always a pleasure.

Moon in the running for ROY? Unless Kevin Durant-ula gets injured this year, Moon wiining rookie of the year is a pipe dream.

...crackpipe dream!

I posted this before the season began and got roundly ripped for being someone not in touch with the importance of D-Mart to the Raps...

Robert Archibald says:
October 2nd, 2007
Damn, people sure get sticky when you talk about taking Darrick Martin away. How can anyone really think this guy is THAT important? Assistant coaches are a dime a dozen, and there is a lot better available out there. Why waste a roster spot on a coach?

People know WHY D-Mart is on the team, we understand the concept of the savvy veteran, some people just disagree with it. To be honest, I'm not even sure where I stand, but I certainly don't think D-Mart's role is of any critical importance.

As I said earlier, to keep him means that one of Moon or Jackson are gone, and both those players intrigue me a little - and they still know their role. They may not be able to yap about the days when they were on the end of the bench, but they will definitely be tougher to practice against than a middle aged fat guy (little harsh, but couldn't resist).

Heck, if we were absolutely determined to add a vet PG to work with Forderon, Darrel Armstrong would be a better choice, for the veteran's minimum.

So please, stop saying that people that don't dig D-Mart don't follow the raps. They just have a different opinion.

**Isiah Thomas has been able to turn one of the proudest teams in the league into a laughing stock. Remember how long it took us to get out from under the rubble after he left? I am sure NY should recover faster, with more $$$ and more prestige, but I don't know if Isiah will ever get hired to do anything again? I guess he drafts well, maybe he could get a scouting job.**

Not hearing many D-Mart backers today. You know I HATE to say I told you so...

I think people are making way too much of the 7 minutes this guy plays. He fills in fine. He's come in and immediately hit shot in the past. Other teams leave him open. he's not afraid go into the paint. 7 minutes!!