Tip-In, Toronto Raptors Post-Game: Muy Importante

good call on the number 13. The raps play like this against almost any one else and they get blown out of the gym. Bosh looked seriously gassed to me. He might have been playing the bait today as the scoring was spread evenly.

Jose was just awesome, I love how he plays. And moon, omg wake me up, I must be dreaming. He is so exactly what the raps need and we may not have even seen the tip of the iceberg on the offensive end.

Moon's best game as a Raptor. His energy on defence is really welcome on this squad.
Wanna just say that even on a night where the offense wasn't there, Carlos Delfino still manages 13 points and 8 boards. No question about his effort now.
Not sure if Chicago will ever snap out of their funk. Think Leo made a great point when comparing their youth to Boston's and how Boston traded away their youth for a chance to compete. Not sure if Kobe wants to go there anymore.

another thought - did it bother anyone else that cbc was anouncing exactly what the raptors were going to run out of a couple timeouts?

wouldn't take much for someone to text an assistant with the play.

great little win for the raps. as expected, jose has proven he is of starting calibre.

last year i was out of the country the whole season. the only raps ball i saw was mopete's crazy 3, which i watched from ghana. the whole time i was away everyone kept emailing me, telling me 'you gotta see this kid bargnani.' i've seen him some now, and i'm still waiting to see whatever everyone saw last year. right now he looks like anything but a starting nba centre. looks more like jamario's backup at best. i hope this is just a sophomore slump he shakes halfway through the season if not earlier.

Axl - Good point. I remember thinking "um...I know you're trying to educate people on the game there CBC, but how about you refrain from discussing Sam's next play..."

Benjibopper - Ghana? Crazy stuff. I had to laugh at your comment because it's true, Bargs looks like a back-up at best right now. It's weird because even at this point last season he showed more promise. Hopefully he'll get things straightened out as the season goes on.

Just saw the highlights, very busy as of late. Loved Moon's scoop shot Franchise mentioned and just wanted to say that I really agree with axl on this possibly just being the tip of the iceberg in his offensive game. Moon just does things very smoothly, looks very natural. Also, just wondering if anybody can offer a little more insight on how well Dixon played the point? I read Franchise's comments, just looking for some other perspectives as I am really disappointed I didn't get to see this. Thanks.

Was it really necessary for the Swirsk to give us minute-by-minute updates on Jose's turnover-less streak? With all the multiple jynx's, Jose's 1 turnover was inevitable.

As for Bargs, it looks to me like he's decided what he's going to do before he even gets the ball. Sometimes he pump fakes when there's nobody around him. He's too herky-jerky out there. There's no flow to his game. He's got to calm down and stop thinking so much.

Calderon and Moon were terrific today. I'm so much more comfortable with Calderon running the show.

in ghana they show a game-condensed-to-highlights for an hour every friday afternoon, which is precluded by a couple of the week's highlights. one week one highlight happened to be that insane mopete shot for the W. i think it's a feed from nbatv.

benji - I think barg is progressing pretty good. I do wonder what his coaches were teaching him before he got to the nba. It's like they did an experiment taking a big and making him a three point specialist who uses that threat to get open lanes. Period. No regular fundamentals like boxing out, rebounding, following shots, etc.

I see him making a concerted effort to learn though. If he's got any pride, which I think he does, mitchell will teach him and he'll at least be dirk lite.

What would you guys do if we did not have 2 Point Guards who can start, then you would be screeming a couple years ago everyone was saying JC could not play in the NBA system and the previous GM signed a bust, now you are complaing again about our point guard that is why they have GMs who makes their own decisions and not the fan's decisions, when TJ comes back he will continue to be our starting Point Guard, JC is a very good Guard who can start for any team in the NBA, BUT TJ is the starting point for the Raptors, get it and accept it the few fans who is not happy about it.

It needs to be said that Bargs is becoming a Hoffa that shoots 3's.

He's just too slow to play in this league.

Get the man some growth hormone, a stopwatch and some speed training.

Marcia: you can't use what happened years ago to argue against the current situation. Both players and the team could change. Fans of course could revise their opinions. The bottom line is that we feel much more comfortable with JC on the court in the late game situation. With TJ, it is predictable in the sense that we (and the opponent) know he is looking for his own shoot, while it is also unpreditable because we don't know how that is going to turn out. So as fans or his teammates, we are all at his mercy at clutch time.

I also like the idea that the Rap's have two starter-quality point guards. But why is it a given that TJ always starts, and Calderon is back-up? I think that TJ has a lot of potential, and may in fact develop into a premier PG.

According to Sam Mitchell everyone on the Raptor's is going to be judged on their own merit and achievements (ie. given a fair chance), and playing time will be awarded accordingly. Everyone except TJ Ford, however- who gets treated like bone china, and is the divinely annointed starter of the Toronto Raptors. All hail TJ! Long may you dribble around in circles, and toss up unbalanced 3-pointers after passing the ball back and forth to Kris Humphries at least 2 times.

That was Moon’s best game for my fantasy team, I mean, the Raps!

That was a great game by Calderon and I look forward to see how he improves his game in the 20 minutes he’ll get backing up Ford. I think we all saw in two of the past three games why Ford is so important to this team. Getting no production or penetration from the 1 spot almost cost us the game against Memphis and did against Cleveland. None the less, I think Jose has a lot to offer and I’m glad he’s our backup.

Glad to see Sam reads these boards and got the idea to remove Martin from all future games.

From ESPN (Marc Stein):

"Roger (Austin, Texas): What is your favorite city to visit?

You mean NBA city, right? Otherwise you'd better brace yourself for a detailed breakdown of Manchester and Tel-Aviv.

I've lived in three general areas in my lifetime: First an hour-plus outside Buffalo from ages 3 through 8, followed by Southern California for the next 20 years and then Dallas for the last decade. I consider all three to be home turf, so I'm going to exclude those locales from my list. Trips to see the Lakers or Clippers, for example, feel more like homecomings than visits.

My faves, then, are as follows:

1. Toronto: A greater lover of Canada you could not wish to meet. It hooked me at a young age and cemented my devotion in adulthood by combining the best of the United States and my beloved England. Nowhere else on the NBA map can you find a European feel like the Canadians give you. I'll never get over the demise of the NBA in Vancouver -- never! -- but I'll be the first guy in line if ESPN ever opens a Toronto bureau."

We need both point guards, it's just a matter of Sam realising who is playing better for the team and adjusting minutes accordingly, regardless if TJ starts or not.
I wish they had more set plays for Kapono and Parker, because both of them don't seem to be in the flow of the offense like they should be.

Just a suggestion to Mitchell... why not start Calderon every after 2 games?

I don't think there will be a consistency or familiarity problems with the starters because both plays a fast pace game.

This will also create confusion to the opposing team specially on their scouting report.

Just a quick note,has anyone checked out Jose Calderon"s webb site ? its worth taking a peak (all Spanish,mind you)You get to take a look inside this guys life...& we think the Euro & World championships arent all that important.Franchise,you should consider a link? bye for now.......howling at the moon...its funny Doug still doesnt give the kidd any props...ya he will come down soon enough,I guess he just can't be happy for the rook..

Interesting news out of New Jersey. Kidd is probably going to push to be traded to a contender by the deadline. I am not sure that is NJ answer as it would make more sense to trade VC and get something back (like kobe?).
My thoughts on Raptors win/lose on the weekend. This team just kills me sometimes. The lose on Saturday was just mind blowing. Yes Lebron hit a fade away (that the Raps want him taking) but if I remember correctly the Raps blew the play coming out of the timeout (I thought it was Parker who jacked up the contested 3 with plenty of time left but it could of been calderon) once again a player not named TJ gets a walk in the postings for making a dumb play with the game on the line. If it had been TJ who jacked up a contested 3 he would be torn apart. People need to be consistent when they rip people for doing dumb things. If you are going to rip TJ for his idiotic hot potato with Hump then you have to rip Parker/Calderon for the unnecessary contested 3 in the Cleveland game.

As crazy an idea as it may be (with all the politics involved in this scenario), I wonder if Toronto should make a move to get Kidd from NJ? True Toronto would have to give up some players to do it (at the very least they would have to give up TJ or Calderon and another body) but wouldn't it make Toronto a better overall team? Just a thought as a trade like that would never happen.

I agree with McGatewayh that TJ gets more than his fair share of blame. However, I think a trade to get some inside presence and toughness is what we need. I'm tired of seeing everyone standing around the corners waiting for their chance to jack up a 3.

Ok here is an interesting question at least it is to me and looking for some comments::

Put ability aside and who You like the best as PG

My question is this is the 2nd time in last year TJ has had this stinger. Is He going to be injury prone would it be more wise to keep JC instead of TJ if Toronto had to let one go?

I just live it when my Raps win..Great game all around from Jose, Bosh, Moon, Delfino, Parker and Kap-one..everyone put out a great effort yesterday. Sometimes its great to sit and watch to see what makes the team click. And Jose have them clicking right now. This will make TJ plays so much better when he returns to the starting line up...Remember we beat Chicago by over 30 points when Ford started against them..so all of you who is saying what a great Game Jose had...just remeber We beat them by over 30 when Ford started against them...Everyone should be on the TJ and Jose bandwagon and quit comparing them.. The last thing the Raps need is for Jose to sign with another team and the way you guys sound, its if Jose cant start he should go to another team where he will start..The one thing I am glad for is if a team makes Jose an offer at the end of the year, BC has the option of matching it...so Jose is not going anywhere even if we have to go over the salary cap...And if you listen to Jose he loves playing with TJ he believe with the two of them running the point they can win a championship and I for one echo the same sentiments. If Boston can pay 3 players top dollar, then so can the Raptors...I see a 5 game winning streak in the making....RAP4LIFE

The shot against Cleveland was Parker and not Calderon. It was totally bone-headed, and deserved the criticism (I still think it was not as brutal as the hot potato) it didn't really receive. This is why you need better plays out of timeouts. It eliminates all of the confusion and uncertainty (I hate the ad-libs).

I agree with Erezona, Sam must be reading this blog (okay maybe not), because I commented last week on needing to create more space for Kapono to do his damage, and to my surprise, I noticed Bosh on numerous occasions in the Cleveland game trying to pick Kapono's player just above the 3 point line. He had a pretty good game as well I might add....just my two cents.

McGateway, not sure why you would ever want to trade for an ageing injury prone PG when you have 2 right now, one of which is almost as good (TJ may not get as many assists but shoots a much better percentage) and one that will be better within 18 months as Kidd’s skills starts to decline. Also, I don’t think the baggage he has fits into what BC is trying to build here. This would not be a good trade for the Raps.

raps4life, I think that this blog has many Raptor fans, but also has frequent posts from people who are Spanish basketball fans first and Raptor fans second. Therefore, you should take some posts with a grain of salt. What’s good for the Spanish players may or may not be good for the Raptors.

Just to clarify, I mean 2 good PGs, not 2 ageing injury prone PGs.

Found this from Pooh Jeter's blog on draft express...

"When the D-league season was over, I went to Miami Heat mini-camp and I did real well against other D-League players. Coach Pat Riley invited me back to work out and get ready for summer league. I was in Miami for about three weeks until I had to go Toronto’s mini-camp.

I was killing at the Toronto mini-camp. You can ask Coach Mitchell how I was playing, because he saying out loud "don't do them like that Big Fella". Jamario Moon was also at the mini-camp and he was ballin too. Aye Jamario, if you read this, I just want to say congrats on making the team and keep striving for excellence."

think boston can make a move to pick up kidd?

how's this for a kicker, NJ's going to have VC coming off the bench. Good on Frank.

Jorge Garbajosa: "There's something unusual in my left leg, where I had that bad injury back in March. It's not in my left ankle, but it's close. I'm worried because I don't feel pain at all." El Pais

Jorge Garbajosa: "Every month the doctors perform an X-ray scan on my ankle. The last one was last Tuesday before going to Dallas. At the end of the morning shootaround, the Raptors trainer told me the doctors had seen something unusual so I had to rest indefinitely." El Pais

Jorge Garbajosa: "I've talked with Bryan Colangelo and Maurizio Gherardini and they tried to cheer me up. Obviously, issues like my limited playing time weren't brought up at all because it was not the right time to do so." El Pais

Too bad about Jorge. Really would have loved for him to sit like Bosh elected to this summer. I recently got checked up by the same surgeon (Dr. Paul Marks)who did his op, for my ACL tear, and of course had to ask him his thoughts about Garbo playing. Obviously, he didn't think it was the smartest choice, but said Garbos a very patriotic guy.

Interesting insight UStation...sorry to hear about the ACL. Howland had to go through the same thing a few years ago, not fun. Especially because we had to keep bringing him down beers every weekend ha ha.

Mazel - Love the draftexpress series of blogs, toomuchrodbenson kills me. Too bad Pooh didn't make a team...still think he might though at some point with his pass-first style and speed. He and Moon were two of my favourite interviews at that camp along with Joey's brother. Just genuinely nice guys that you really want to make it.

Kidd to Boston...that would be disgusting. Problem is, not sure what Boston could ever give up that would attract New Jersey or make the numbers match up. And can't see Rod Thorn trading within the division unless he was getting someone of immediate value...like say Vince Carter...

cricket cricket cricket

Moon is the real deal!! He's exactly what the Raptors need, defense and rebounding.

Moon is the real deal!! He's exactly what the Raptors need, defense and rebounding.

Can't you guys ever just stop critising now you are talking about Jason and Parker, if they GM was to do as the fans want he would be in big trouble, when Tj comes back he will start and jose will come off the bench, like it or lump it, get use to it, there was a couple of fans that wanted Bosh trade, you guys must be freezing, that is why you all don't have a brain it is frozen.

Marcia

what u are talking about?

Garbs is out for the season.

More surgeries for his ankle/leg.

Can we finally trade Joey Graham for a banging PF now?

If TJ still can't play due to injury, the most ideal back-up PG should be Delfino. Delfino has the experience and skill to play point guard (PG). Use Dixon as the shooting guard and also to guard the smaller opposing guards. This would be the most efficient use of personnel.

Jose Calderon is the best point guard in the history of the Toronto Raptors!!!

No one's even close and I like TJ.

yes unfortunately I tore my ACL playing rec softball of all things. At least it was in our championships. (tip: always make sure the bags are tied down properly) - uh oh, that should reveal my identity to a few folks here.

Dr. Marks also hinted that there were possible major trades in the past that could have happend if it weren't for injuries that he discovered, but he wouldn't name names. Would have loved to have gotten that insight. I do recall the original MoPete trade that got recinded, wasn't that to the hornets as well?

I do agree about trying Delfino as a 2nd PG. I'm starting to wonder if it's time now to think about trading some of our high value pieces to continue building for the future? Parker, Rasho, one of the Guards? Man, I'd love to see an Andrew Bynum here.

Bynum is untouchable I believe.

yeah.. I know.. :(

Ok I've been quite vocal on the Garbajosa situation, so after hearing today's news that he needs further surgery and is out indefenitely (some spanish press reports say for 3 months) I wanted to comment on my feelings now:

In my first reaction to the news, a small part of me wanted to believe some spanish press reports which insist that this setback is not directly related to the fast recovery for the Eurobasket and that these things sometimes just happen in severe injuries, even with players who have patiently recovered (Gilbert Arenas just days ago, Amare in 2006), however....

...however my real opinion now is that, seeing how things have turned out, I must admit that I was wrong all the way and you guys were right: Jorge shouldn't have played the Eurobasket. I was misled by some spanish press reports and by the fact that Jorge could seemingly play fine with no pain at all, but you really can't argue with the current facts pointing to his fast-paced recovery as a clear factor in his current problems.

I am sorry for Jorge, and i am specially sorry as a spanish fan that the Eurobasket (it really meant a lot to us spaniards) has resulted in such a disgraceful ending for the Raps (which are a much appreciated club here). If I was a canadian Raptor fan, I would be totally infuriated with the whole thing, and rightfully so, I understand how you guys must feel.

To try finish on a positive note, let's hope Moon's emergence can offset most of Garbo's loss, and let's hope Jorge can get completely healthy this time and be playing again before the playoffs.

Sergi P

as disappointed that I am I admire Garbo's love of His country to risk a career in the NBA. Hope all works out well for Garbo and the Raptors

Great post Sergi - tough situation as without being the doctors involved with Garbs leg, it's hard to know what REALLY happened. I don't think the Eurobasket can shoulder all the blame either otherwise the T.O. docs wouldn't have let him play AT ALL. Instead, he was getting sporadic minutes so who knows...

I appreciate your mea culpa, Sergi, but it appears that the Spanish press are not, as Toronto Star columnist Feschuk writes:

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/NBA/article/280151

From what I can recall, Garbo was only able to receive an insurance policy because ***the insurance company was one of the Eurobasket sponsers***.

Anyway, I'd like to hope that that Spanish people are a bit less hypocritical, if, say, Van Nistelrooy or Cannavaro leave Real Madrid to play for their home countries for Euro 2008, get injured, and miss their pro club's season. There really is no difference, except for the fact that Garbo DIDN'T HAVE to play for Eurobasket as Spain already had an Olympic berth.

My personal concern is that this whole crappy Garbo situation will ultimately influence Jose's decision to stay with the Raps. At least there are enough quality PGs on the Grizz.

jjdynomite: well the spanish sports media is absolutely awful, but that i knew already in advance (i read it everyday). I was still misled anyway because the "facts" they were reporting (that Garbo was recovered and healthy) seemed consistent with what i was seeing on the court when he was playing. But it's not like I would ever trust them at face value, they can be really awful and obnoxious (specially soccer press).

Your soccer analogy is good but when I read it, it actually ends up having quite the opposite meaning for me. National teams always take away the best players from the soccer clubs absolutely for free (they don't even pay an insurance!) so when a player gets badly injured it still sucks but it is accepted as normal, because in Europe we have been educated that national teams are first (ie: Madrid's Robben recently got injured for a few weeks while playing for Netherlands and the spanish press didn't complain). I'm not saying at all that this is the correct or good way to look at it (it probably is not), i'm just explaining to help you understand that it is kind of a cultural thing, it is perceived as a natural thing here.

As for Jose's decision, i don't think Garbo's situation will have that much influence. I would venture that his decision will be more about weighting the personal (i doubt he could be happier in any other team/city) vs. the professional (he would likely play more in any other team). I don't really know the guy enough to guess, but if i have to bet i'd say he stays.

Can the Raps make a play at Verajeo? It would be a great fit. I think he's a BIG upgrade over Humphries, but at what salary, and what would we have to give up to get him. It seems he's pretty intent on not signing with the cavs:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/basketball/nba/11/26/cavs.varejao.ap/index.html

sergi, unless you're a doctor, I don't know why you'd change your opinion now. What they're seeing now (insufficient blood supply)is not what they were worried about originally (unhealed bone) and even the experts only have an opinion.

My concern was/is for garbo himself. One bad fall and he could have ended his career playing on broken bone.

As for him playing - he's a person, an employee, not a slave. Ain't nobody telling me I can't do something when I'm off work for the summer. He's a player let him play.

Besides - and I'm a huge garbo fan - the raps were fine without him (with the exception of the playoffs arguably).

Thanks for your feedback, Sergi. I am a big Garbo fan myself, I own his #15 jersey (okay, I had "CARTER" stripped off the back and replaced with "GARBAJOSA").

But I must say that his priorities were very screwed up, not only to the $8 million remaining on his contract to his club team, but the fact that he could've just sat in street clothes on the bench in a tournament that Spain had nothing riding on. Who knows if he'll be ready now for Beijing 2008?

I guess the same European patriotism for soccer -- sorry, football -- and basketball, would hold true for hockey in Canada, but I'm pretty sure our NHL teams would be more adamant holding back a player from their national team if he's recovering from a major injury. The Raps did a HUGE favour letting Garbo play and for the Spanish media to call the Raptors out on anything is ludicrous.

Oh, and Axl, that's nice that "ain't nobody telling [you that you] can't do something when [you're] off work for the summer", but I highly doubt that if you incur a summer injury you'd be GUARANTEED a "roster spot" at your job and be GUARANTEED $8 million dollars for the next 2 years, as opposed to some piddly long-term disability insurance at a fraction of your salary. Unless you are secretely posting as Anthony Parker. Employee contracts and riders are a slightly bit different for the pros, son.

jj - your reasoning sounds appropriate... for communist china.

Seriously why do people act like they own people when the team they're a fan of contracts them?

Garbo want to play basketball, his contract ALLOWS him to do that. So you're saying because he signed the same guaranteed contract half the league has, that's a knock on him? It's his risk to take. The money he makes is irrelevant so long as he abides by his contract.

This probably sounds like rant, but it just my opinion.

damn, this garbo thing is bad any which way you toss it. he was a fan favorite last year - the 'glue guy'.

now I doubt we'll ever see him play for the raps again. not significant minutes, anyway.

as for pride and all that other stuff, all I have to say is that for me, bobbyjoe, and any other pip it's fine and dandy to play in a qualifying tourny that you've already qualified for (say, a college player who has no career in the nba to speak of) but when you sign a pay cheque worth MILLIONS - millions that me, bobbyjoe, and all the pips out there are putting up - a conscience would at least be appreciated.

that's going to sound harsh, but business is business. and this is coming from a guy that really likes (read: present tense) jorge garbajosa.

Sergi much too hard on yourself. I think Jorge now knows it was a mistake, and lets just hope he recovers. And who's to say he ain't coming back? He's played a lot of basketball since he was young, take a year off, rehabilitate that ankle, study the game. He's still signed for next year right? Comeback Player of the Year 2009 !

hey d279,

I have checked out Jose's site. There is now a link to English translations of almost everything. There is some interesting stuff on his background and reading it really gives you some insight on how at age 26 he seems so mature a player on and off the court. Worth a look.

agree with axl on this one. he exerted his right and his own free will, he took the risk. it was a personal decision.

I think because our National mens team has been snubbed so much, maybe we have a different perspective of club vs national, at least when it comes to basketball. Would we (Canadians) be upset if Pittsburg decided to not let Sydney Crosby play in the Olympics because they thought he was hurt, and Syd said he felt fine? [hypothetical not meant to reflect Garbos situation - Garbo is not of Syd's caliber, and Olympics is not Eurobasket]. We'd be up in rage thinking it's an American conspiracy.

They didn't just think he was hurt though, they knew he was hurt and made it public back in the summer. They made it very clear that he needed more surgery. Very different scenario...