Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post-Game - Eight Too Many

Yeah, the beginning of the 4th quarter definitely was the turning point. Also note that by the time the starters came back in, Portland was already in the bonus making it more difficult for them to defend down the stretch.

What can you say... the Raps are just lacking. One game they play great D, the next their offense is clicking, but they just can't bring it all together. The same two problems have been hurting them all year. They don't attack the basket and they can defend the perimeter. These things have to change.

I just don't see the Raps being any more than a pretty good team. They just don't have the edge to push them into the ranks of the contenders.

I don't even know if there's anyone you can blame. aside from Calderon, every Raptor has been fairly inconsistent. It's probably time to face the fact that they are a less a year or two and some fairly significant personnel moves away from being legit.

Outrageous. I'm still livid about this one. Fatigue or no fatigue, right now the raps have no heart. You could just feel that Roy was not going to let his team lose the game, while the raps were just trying not to blow it. Last night's game is the logical consequence of the raps failing to put someone on their ass after the hard foul on TJ. Not just b/c we miss his skills, but b/c the team lacks guts. End of story. They can't respond to a hard foul on one of their key guys and they cannot respond to situations like a run by the home team on the road. I don't think TJ, for all his faults, lets either of those things happen. If bosh gets knocked down like that, TJ is in someones face. And if Roy is orchestrating, you know TJ is as well (for better or for worse). Jose is a clinician, but I don't trust him and he continues to turn the ball over in crunch time. After suffering for the last few years with this team, I can honestly say that I'm finding this season the most frustrating to watch of all. I’m actually looking forward to my holiday break when I will be miles from a TV.

yeah, woke up this morning and it still burns. the raps were playing so well - both teams were, actually - and it was just turning out to be a really nice game. but I totally thought the raps had the game. I wasn't worried. until the 4th came along and bargs and martin started sucking it up harder than a mcdonalds milk shake and ruined the nice game.

still really, really pissed. mitchell screwed up big time last night.

It wasn't until well after the new year last season that the Raps started to play their best basket ball. Playing their best basket ball means becoming consistant both as a team and individually and it looks like it takes time for this group. As far as Sam goes, it would be helpful if he would leave the "hot hand" on the floor. So many times, a player has been hot yet sent to the bench in a seemingly automatic substitution. So I agree with Franchise that substitution decisions have been a weakness with Sam for sometime. A player who is in the "zone" doesn't need much rest and to interupt that good feeling as happened to Calderon is a negative for the team.
There are some good signs for the Raps - Moon and Kapono are starting to feel more comfortable and certainly Delfino has shown great things on the floor.

2006 Draft (aka Bryan's folly):

#47-Paul Millsap 7.9ppg, 5.8rpg
#42-Daniel Gibson 12.5ppg, 2.7rpg, 3.2 apg
#36-Craig Smith-11.4ppg, 4.7rpg

(all three could have been had instead of PJ Tucker, a total waste)

#17-Shawne Williams 8.8ppg, 3.5rpg
#14-Ronnie Brewer 13.6ppg, 2.9rpg, 2.4apg
#8-Rudy Gay 19.7ppg, 5.7rpg (!!!!!)
#6-Brandon Roy 19.2ppg, 4.5rpg, 5.6apg (!!!!!!!)
#4-Tyrus Thomas-7.2ppg, 5.2rpg
#2-LaMarcus Aldridge-18.5ppg, 7.7rpg (!!!!!!)
#1-Garbage Bargs-9.5ppg, 3.7rpg

Wow. Something seem wrong there? I would rather have Millsap than Bargnani!

Now, I understand that drafting is hard and these kinds of busts happen, but they should NEVER happen at the #1 pick. I always wanted Gay, but for some reason we went with an Italian so that he would sell tickets or something.

Yes, he is playing the worst ball of his career right now, which is fueling my anger, but the big problem is that he has no (ZERO) star-power. He will never average 20ppg+ nor 8rpg+.

Joey #2?

I said it last night, and I'll say it again: I hope he's hurt and they shut him down for a few months so that we don't have to see his awkward body on the court for a bit.

This was on Smitch, plain and simple. Best part was that even Chuck and Leo realized it - they were calling for Bosh and Calderon way earlier than the bloody coach was.

Here's something that occured to me last night - if Kapono and Parker are on the floor, they should be the only two allowed to take shots outside the paint. The PG either gets an open lay up, throws it in to a big or kicks to Parker and Kapono. Seems simple enough to me...

Why do the PGs keep jacking up shots and getting caught up in their own screen and rolls when they have (at least) two A+ shooters on the floor at all times?

Wow, the raps lose to a hot team and suddenly everyone is hitting the eject button. I think everyone needs to calm down as this game shouldn't have suprised anyone. With TJ out and Bosh still rounding back into form (remember everyone he just came back from injury a few weeks ago) suddenly the Raps suck and BC is an idiot?
Aaron, you need to lighten up on Bargnani. Calling him a bust and garbage is idiotic. He is what, all of 20 years old and barely a year and half of NBA experience (and the same amount of North American experience). He may end up being a bust but it is way too early to tell based on what we have seen so far. There is no doubt that we have seen he has the tools to be a good player in the NBA and everyone should try and be patient with him. It is somewhat ironic that he is getting smacked around considering that everyone expects the Raps to be better than they have shown but there has never been any indication that they would be. If the Raps were crap there probably would't be as much pressure on him to be a stud. Roy and Gay are both good because they get ridiculous minutes on crappy teams and they both play positions that a player either has it or doesn't. Bigs take longer to develop remember. Dirk sucked the first few years in the league and no one should expect Bargnani to be any different.
Mitchell may be to blame for leaving Calderon and Bosh on the bench too long but if he over plays them (the way Doc is with Pierce, Garnett and Allen) and they go down to injury, he gets crucified for that. This isn't a life death situation here. The Raps are in a good spot right now in the conference and why risk injury to the stars if you are suppose to be as deep as everyone says the Raps are? Martin may not be the solution at PG but he has to play minutes while TJ is out or Calderon will get hurt. And like I said earlier, Bosh just came back from injury and now we are going to make him play 40 mintues a game? Hmmmmm.

You could just feel that Roy was not going to let his team lose the game, while the raps were just trying not to blow it.

Totally agree with your assessment NYFan.

It felt like Toronto was hanging on for dear life and not having Jose and Bosh during the start of that fourth quarter run did them in.

McGateway - Agree that it's too early to judge Bargnani - we're not even going to start talking bust till we see how he looks next season. I didn't even think he was terrible last night, my main problem was with Martin during that stretch. No ball movement and looking too much for his own shot. Yes Sam is under pressure to keep Jose and Bosh's minutes down a bit, but I really think that if either had played even three or four more each (which still would have had them under 40) during that key stretch, we might be looking at a close win instead of the loss.

PS - I had a dream this morning that Memphis traded Rudy Gay for Tyrus Thomas...guess that's why it's called a dream ha ha. Although Thomas did have maybe the block of the year so far last night against Washington...

Wow, is this Portland team going to be fun to watch in 2-3 years time eh? Especially if they fluke out and pick up another high draft pick this year? IMHO- the team to beat in 2010-2011.

Man it's easy to be a hindsight GM eh? Though I'm glad my mild darkhorse pick Ronnie Brewer is making noise. I so wanted the raps to have traded down.

Wonder what this team would have been live with Salmons as well?

With the amount of whinning about Adrea, I thought I was in Dallas circa 1999.

Franchise - totally agree with you. Sam played a big roll in this loss with keeping D-Mart on the floor. But here's a question, and excuse me if you guys have gone through this previously but I haven't seen any mention of it: What has happened with Juan? How come he is not getting any burn? Are they covering up an injury by giving him DNPCD's every game? I seem to remember at the start of the year he was a much needed contributor and is probably a better choice to run the offense when TJ and Jose are on the bench. Against guys like Jarret Jack and Steve Blake he would've been a better option and I think he would've made better decisions than D-Mart. I know Sam's philosophies of whomever is playing best at that time gets the minutes, but this one is just hard to figure out. Juan has been a good pro throughout his career so has he suddenly lost it?

I was hollering at the TV throughout the 4th Qtr...it was so frustrating to see this team let another one slip away. The funny thing is, I think this team is better than last year, but last year they were closing these types of games out.

Off the top of my head - the first Boston game at the ACC, Utah (home), Cleveland (away), Dallas (away) and last night...5 games the Raps should have won. I know its pointless to play the "what if" game and "shoulda, woulda, coulda" but we could easily be 20-7 right now.

I know the injuries and getting used to a few new faces will play into the equation as well, but these are games we need to put away to take that next step to the level of Boston, Detroit etc.

Anyways, I still don't think its panic mode, but the level of intensity has to be taken to the next level when the 4th qtr starts and CB4 should be getting to the line at least 10 times in the 4th. There were a few phantom calls last night particularly the offensive charge that CB4 got in the 4th qtr when he got back in the game and the Hump foul for over-the-back in the 4th qtr as well, but they can't let the zebras deter them from getting to the hoop. Their potent ball movement will be there if they make that concerted effort to get to the hole in the 4th qtr.

C'MAAAAAAAAAAAN RAPS!!

It was a fantastic game to watch, up until 4th quarter started, that is. There is no doubt that Bargs and Martin were in there for way too long; that was obvious to everyone watching. Its a shame, because Raptors outplayed Portland for most of this game.

But I found myself thinking about something last night that I remember thinking during last years playoff series vs New Jersey.

Raptors don't really have a go-to guy when the game gets really tight, like last night. Bosh, who should be #1 option in that case, tends to force bad shots in clutch situation. His jerky moves in the post, and drives to the basked always look out of control. Who else? Calderon, Parker, T.J? Well, Calderon and Parker naturally don't fit that role. Both of them prefer to get their shots in the flow of offense, and they lack that mentality of "I'll put the team on my shoulders." T.J. definitely has that mentality, but unfortunately for us, he misses more than he makes in the clutch, and he also tends to force shots.

So, in my opinion Raptors don't have a clutch player and that bodes bad for Raptors come playoffs. Look at last nights game. We needed someone to step up the way Roy did for Portland. But no one did, because there isn't anybody on Raptors you can call clutch!

Just my opinion.

P.S. I'm so fed up of hearing assist to turnover ratio of Jose Calderon from the Swirsk. We get it, he's an awesome P.G. Just let he man play, and don't show me his stats every quarter. Chuck jinxed Jose last night, on a very crucial play too!!! Stop it Chuck!!

PS - Knew Roy had the flu but the Portland media is trying to make an MJ story out of this:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/sportsupdates/2007/12/hey_nba_can_you_top_this.html

And some updates on TJ Ford for those who haven't already heard. TJ was in New York yesterday to see a specialist about his neck and has spent some time this week seeing doctors for their thoughts.

Doesn't sound like there's been any official report yet though on when he'll return or what the next steps in his rehab are.

Wow, Brandon Roy… He reminds me of a young healthy Grant Hill (less athletic, but a better shooter). Now, he may be older and his knee issues may have scared some GMs away, but how can we look at last night’s game and not want a do-over on the Bargnani draft? How good would he look on this team with TJ and Bosh! Bargs may (and I emphasise MAY) become a good NBA player, but umm, Roy already is a good NBA player, with the possibility to be great. This team has won 9 (NINE) games in a row! I was watching them play, looking at there roster, and thinking there is no way in hell this team should go on a nine game winning streak! But they have two things going for them: solid coaching (all these young players know their roles), and a legitimate leader and "go-to-guy" in Roy. I really think Colangelo had tunnel vision on this draft, because Aldridge and Gay look like the real deal as well.

As for the decision to leave Bosh and Calderone on the bench in the fourth… I agree they may have been on the bench too long, but really only for abut 30 seconds to a minute to long. I think they both entered the game with over 7 minutes left in the game. It may not seem like much, but to Bosh and Jose to go much longer than a full seven minute stretch, in the 4th, after a back to back, on a west coast trip is asking a lot. The real problem is TJ is out, and Derick Martin is absolutely done as an NBA player. Also, you would hope your #1 draft choice could provide at least 5 freaking minutes in the 4th quarter to give Bosh a break… obviously not.

Ustation, this is not hindsight with Andrea, he was a questionable pick at the #1 spot. I'm not even talking about the fans... Almost every analyst from ESPN to Draft.Net questionned if Bargnani was worthy of the #1 pick.

Amazing how that works out, yesterday I criticized Mitchell for his inability to actually "coach" a team and got so much backlash it wasn’t funny. Some of you supported my suggestion that I see someone (my fault, I put that out there). Another person even suggested that I was picking on him because he was Black. Obviously without knowing that I myself am black, and that I might be picking on him because…..oh….. I don’t, he’s a bad coach. Anyhoo, thanks Mitchell for highlighting for doing what you seem to do every night, make inept decisions. And thank you Franchise, for putting my thoughts into words.

Question, why do you think it is that the raptors loose so many close games? Might it be because anytime the game is close, and the coaching skills that would get any other team over the hump, just aren’t there? Just a thought!!!

We need stops why was Rasho not in the game? He shuts down everybody who goes to the paint.Boston lost 3 games this year Detroit,(powerhouse) Cleveland (finals last year) Orlando (Howard) the Celtics are not as good as they look imho

I also have to question Mitchell's defensive strategy. He played a soft zone that made it ridiculously easy for Portland to get open looks. When you see a team shooting the ball that well, why wouldn't you make an adjustment? And, the whole idea of playing zone to stop the points in the paint really didn't make much sense coming off an excellent defensive effort against the Clippers. The Raps shut them down in the second half playing man defense, so I don't know if that risk was really necessary.

Do we miss TJ or what?
Take it easy on Bargs. Sophmore slump. Don't be so quick to forget his play towards the end of last season. It is too early to make a call on him.
I certainly don't understand DMart playing ahead of Dixon, especially in Portland.

What the hell is up with Bargs? How does one regress so much, so fast? It's so frustrating because he should be the difference between the Raps being a .550 team, and a .650 team!

I don't get it.

Last year his confidence was unflappable, his progress up the learning curve was astounding, his low post D was solid and constantly improving ... he was Dirk v 2.0.

Now he's got zero confidence. His body language is awful. He constantly has that deer-caught-in-headlights look on his face. HE HAS THE WORST PUMP FAKE I HAVE EVER SEEN.

When I watch games, all I do is focus on Bargs and root for him. Praying for a positive sign indicating that he's waking up from this nightmare.
I think to myself "Yes! He drew a charge!", or "Alright! Nice block!", or "WOO HOO! He did not commit a charge! Maybe this will get him going!". But nada. He is crap right now. When is he going to break out of this!?!?!

I refuse to call him a bust because I have seen what he can do. Not too long ago I thought his upside was higher than Bosh's. But right now he is a pylon on D and black hole on O. A total freakin' liability. SNAP OUT OF BARGS! I AM BEHIND YOU!

Franchise, maybe you can answer this for me. You appear slightly wiser than the masses, or atleast the many that refuse to see the tragedy which is Sam Mitchell. Why is it that other really good coaches in this league are smart enough to surround themselves with other decent assistant coaches? Surely if Flip can set aside his long list of accomplishments to hire a Terry Porter and Avery Johnson, having also won "coach of the year" (what a crock that was for Mitchell to win it) to hire a Paul Westphal; why then doesn't Mitchell just realize that maybe he just isn't good at "everything" (though some might argue the only thing he's good at is putting together a suit) and hire himself someone who is slightly better at the x’s and o’s than Mitchell is. Mitchell can continue to do what equates to waving pom pom’s and someone else can make the calls down the stretch. I don’t care if he’s on the bench, so long as the team wins, even if its in spite of his ignorance.

Franchise, what say you????

Yeh I have to blame this loss on Sam...He kept Bosh, Jose, Parker and Moon on the bench way too long in the 4th quarter..Dmart and Hump was clearly jacking up too many shots and gave the blazers a chance to cut the lead. Sam should have brought his starters back when they cut the seven point lead to 5. He waited until it was tied with Portland with the ball and the momentum had already switch to the Blazers. Oh well got to remember that our coach is still young.

Up 7, 9 minutes to go, roy and aldridge are inserted for the final push. Time to put in calderon and bosh to put a ribbon on this one right, sam? Sam? SAM!!!!!!!!!

He had a look on his face when the lead was cut to two, I think he realized his mistake.

Article on the growing concern re: TJ's health

http://www.tsn.ca/nba/news_story/?ID=225596&hubname=

Damn the other Aaron beat me again, lol.

But yes, I read an article on yahoo yesterday about TJ consulting different specialists. The article quoted BC saying he had talks about TJ to consider changing his style of play concerning his health.

Personally, I think his injuries have nothing to do with his style of paly, anyone could have been whacked in the head by Horford with that breakaway. He is quick but he doesn't force contact the way Wayde and AI does.

He was just a victim of unfortunate events a la Stevenson from the Clips.

ps. Franchise pls don't take my previous comments seriously. You're a great writer one of the only stand up writer's I read with regularity who calls it like it is. Mycall

I cannot believe the pieces of CRAP that Martin was tossing up in the 4th quarter. D-Mart shakes and bakes and puts up a three 5 seconds into the clock? Isn't this the guy that is supposed to have basketball IQ? The "coach on the floor"? The man that walks behind the man, and whispers in his ear?

In an article published in the Toronto Sun a few days ago Martin was talking about how he credits a certain coach for turning him from a "C-Level" to an "A-Level" NBA player. What a joke! Not only is Martin of no benefit, but he's clearly harmful. My questions, which others have raised previously, are: (1) Why was this person signed over another promising young player (aka L-Jackson), and (2) Why aren't Dixon/Delfino playing behind Calderon?

Sam Mitchell is responsible for having him on the floor, and Martin is responsible for his horrendous shot selection. I don't think that the wheels are off, but he should not be playing!

Wipe your nose, mycall, you've got something brown on it.
Lets not lose perspective. This team is 15-12, 4th in East. We lost Bosh, Bargnani, Ford, Rasho and Jorge for stretches this year. We have integrated Delfino, Moon, Kapono and Humphries into what appears to be key roles.
OK Sam made a bad call last night - doesn't make him a horrible coach. I, for one, like what I see.

Ok, I have to breath in first before I start in about last night's game. One person caused that loss.

Sam Mitchell

Coach what were you thinking??????????

Darrick Martin was useless against the speed and athleticism of Portland, Jose was on fire and eating the d up....What Sam was left with was Martin, Bargs (who didn't touch the ball once on offence) Humpty, Kapono, and Delfino. We tried to use Humpty as our #1 option??? I mean he has played well as of late but I don't believe that he has improved enough to warrant going to him that exclusively....Bad coaching, bad coaching, bad coaching! I wass literally swearing at the TV as he waited until there was 6:32 left in the quarter to put Bosh and Jose back in. By that time Roy and Outlaw had run havok over the Raps and we were done!

I can't remember the last time Sammy screwed the team with such a bad decision. Had to turn it off in the last minute cuz i was pissed beyond belief.

Am i alone in this??? I think NOT!

Sammy give us a gift for Christmas and don't let yourself get in your own way for the rest of the west coast swing!

I'm out, got a Christmas Party to go to....Cheers everyone!

Fresh 1

Was travelling from Nova Scotia to PEI so just getting caught up here.

Mycall - no worries and thanks for the props.

Mitchell is a lighting rod for conversation for sure. Like Davl and BD, I did have some general issues with Sam last night. Portland is one of the top field goal shooting teams in the league and the fifth best from long range - so I didn't quite understand why a zone defense was a good plan. To break a zone, you encourage your opponents to take 3's...that's great but when the other team has Steve Blake, Martell Webster, James Jones and an unconscious Brandon Roy, perhaps you try a man-to-man style and yes, a little more Rasho to clear people out.

However, for the record I still think Mitchell is one of the better coaches in the league. And like Axl, I saw that look too on Mitchell's face that said "damn, I blew that one." I still think he's growing as a coach, and there will be some nights where I want to throw the tv and others where he'll look brilliant. However the "throw the tv" incidents for me have been few and far between compared to early last season and especially the season before.

And I'm not even so concerned about the assistant coaches because I think BC would be quick to step in if he thought Sam wasn't getting enough help.

As much as Sam perhaps blew things by not putting Jose and Bosh back in earlier, his players made some inexcusable mistakes as well. They let Portland grab offensive rebounds, turned the ball over, took bad shots, and did a very poor job recognizing the in-game situations. For instance Moon's foul with TWO on the shot clock with Outlaw taking a tough turn-around J, and no one on the Raptors fouling Portland immediately when there was less than 24 seconds left in the game. Those type of things you can't blame on Mitchell, that's the guys on the court who just aren't getting it done. I think if we can learn something from the Doc Rivers situation, it's that sometimes a coach is only as good as the players he has at his disposal. And even last night, it was Rivers decision to put Tony Allen in for defensive purposes and Allen got sucked into the foul that cost his team the game. Is that Rivers fault for putting Allen in, or Allen's fault for not listening to the scouting reports that were repeated over and over. At some point the players need to take responsibility for their actions.

Right now certain key guys are struggling (Bargnani) or inconsistent (Parker, Bosh) and let's not forget that we're starting a player who was not even in the NBDL at our 3 spot.

Mitchell needs some help, but I think right now it's on the court, not beside him on the bench.

I'd like to add parker to the list of wrongly benched players in the 4th quarter.

Parker was shooting 5/6 and making great passes. Yeah Delfino, who brought nothing last night, got huge minutes in the 4th! Why? I don't know. Seeing Parker, Bosh, and Calderon on the bench was downright scary.

You could just feel it - the raps where playing a solid road game and maintaining a small lead. However, a little run and suddenly it changes from being a solid road game to a road deficit against a stellar home team on an 8 game winning streak. Mitchell let that change occur, and the raptors never recovered.

The unfortunate thing here is that we (myself included) are focusing on the issue of not putting Bosh and Calderon in. However, when we look at the big picture, the thing that should be most concerning is that nothing was done at all during the Blazers 4th quarter run. Sam could have at least called timeout. I mean, that's the most obvious and cliched thing in sports - the timeout to reverse momentum. For some reason, Mitchell wouldn't even go that route. I don't think they were out of timeouts at that point. I don't know, I always get the impression that he's trying to teach the team a lesson, without really considering the consequences.

Anyway, keep up the great analysis. I enjoy reading the articles.

I have had time to calm down and I too agree that maybe it wasn't ALL Sammy's fault last night. (Moon's foul, Wide open 3's, lack of rebounding....) It was very frustrating to watch. I agree Sam is still learning and i bet he got a HUGE lesson last night! Bet we won't see that again. Oh yeah his Ass. coaches are "nails" Alex and the boys do a great job of keeping Sam informned, it's just sometimes you can talk but it falls on deaf ears....

I'm out

Fresh 1

Sam totally lost this one for us. This is exactly what happened to Indiana when we played them. Their players were doing very well and then out due to foul trouble. By the time they returned, the momentum had swung so much in our favour, it was too late. Same thing happened to us last night but we didn’t have foul trouble to blame, just Sam.

Did anyone also catch the replay of AP asking Mitchell if he should foul? It looked like he kept asking with no response. But really, this was a lesson in how to lose a game. Many turnovers, missed rebounds, not realizing how much time was left in the game and not fouling, leaving wrong personnel in the game way too long, etc. Perhaps the most discouraging thing is that Sam is not showing the ability to learn from his mistakes. Many times in the past (especially in the playoffs last year), he would make substitutions too late. He would bring in Ford with 3 minutes left to play and watch him cold on the floor and ultimately Ford would take the blame for a loss.

I think regular readers know my position on Martin, there should be none on our team. Dixon does as good a job and is a much better shooter.

Zone 101. Why do you go to a zone? Zone is used to close the lane so when you have a team that’s owning you in the paint and cutting at will, you shut it off by clogging the lane with zone defense. Others use zone to mask individual player’s defensive weaknesses. In our case, Portland was making wide open perimeter shot after shot. That would normally dictate man to man coverage. What the hell were we doing out there? All the switching also confused our guys and resulted in many blown defensive assignments.

Moon is shooting 22.5% from 3pt range. 1 for 10 in the month of December. Here’s a thought, maybe Moon isn’t a three point shooter? Maybe he should be distributing the ball when he’s on the perimeter like Rasho does. Or maybe he should take a couple of steps in and if the defenders backs off fearing the drive, pull up for the shot, if they don’t, drive to the bucket. I’m really tired of seeing him hoist up a 3 when that’s clearly not his shot. You can see that he doesn’t really want to take that shot as well.

Why does everyone think Detroit winning is a good thing? Based on what we’ve seen to date, do people honestly think we will make up 10 games on Boston by the end of the season? Just to put that in perspective, even if Boston plays 500 (29W and 30L) ball the rest of the season (which would be a stretch to suggest they couldn’t do), the Raps would need to go 35 and 20 the rest of the season. If they win 30, we have to go 36 and 19, etc. See where I’m going with this? I think supporting Detroit over Boston is misguided. Our best option at this point is to try to catch Detroit and finish 2nd or at least no worse than 3rd so that we don’t have to face Boston in the second round. We want to avoid that 4-5 slot.

Why is it that Leo sugarcoats everything? If it’s a bad foul, call it like it is. It’s not a "tough foul", it’s a "bad call". If you had the displeasure of watching other local broadcasts, you know this happens all the time. I’m not suggesting going to the level of the Celtics crew gutter, but you can certainly say it was a bad call!

Maybe unpopular, but why not send Bargnani to the D-League for some playing time? Hopefully he gains his confidence back.

I know this isn't a "regular" message board, but I figured I'd respond to one comment made about Disco Dirk, namely: "Dirk sucked the first few years in the league."

Okay, in his second year, he averaged 17.5ppg and 6.5rpg, not to mention 2.5apg. Bargs is nowhere close to this. (and Dirk averaged 21.8 in his third year.)

Where is the "sucking"? Where was his "sophomore slump"? If Bargs gets up to 15ppg+ by the end of the year, then I will apologize . . . but it ain't gonna happen.

I always take my Blazers-loving co-worker to the one Raptors game in PDX every year and so had lower bowl seats for last night's game. A couple of his observations were informative:

- he has Calderon in his fantasy pool and, in reference to last year's Raps-Blazers game, exclaimed "what a difference a year makes!"
- Chris Bosh scares the hell out of fans of opposing teams.
- The Bosh-Aldridge matchup was very interesting. Lamarcus had been out with plantar fasciitis for most of this nine-game streak, and no one who watches him denies that he's a bonafide 20-10 guy. It was therefore wierd to see how Lamarcus actually seemed a little intimidated by Bosh. He did a pretty good job staying in front of Chris, but CB4 is so much more mature and understanding of the refs that he knew exactly which moves to use to get a foul call.
- lastly, blame Smitch all you want (both my co-worker and I were asking the same "where's Bosh" question in the 4th) but he was not the reason Portland won last night. The first Blazers game I went to was the last playoff game they were ever in, game 6 against the Mavericks about four or so years ago. I've been to tons of Blazers games since, but last night's crowd was the most crazy I've seen since that fist game. I mean, I was at the end of the court the Raptors were shooting on and the entire lower bowl crowd at that end was standing and screaming basically the entire fourth quarter. Right now teams are being caught off guard by the Blazers because every game has a total playoff intensity. This streak is making the entire city insane with long-repressed Blazers Mania, a term which I'm only now coming to understand since I've only been here for the Zach Randolph era. That's why the Raptors lost the game: they weren't ready for a playoff game in the middle of December.

Couple points to add to this excellent discussion -

1. Fans were LIVE as Rappy pointed out. I've read a few places today that Mitchell was screaming for a foul but neither Kapono nor Parker heard him.

2. The Raptors coaching staff hates when Moon catches the ball beyond the arc. They don't want him shooting 3's either and want him a step or two inside so he can either drive or get within his shooting range.

3. Not worried about Bargs. Dirk still takes some of the ugliest and most off-balance/badfootwork shots in the world (you probably saw some last night if you watched them play Phnx) so as long as the kid stays aggressive and keeps working at it, I think it's too early.

You people need to chill - Raps played on a back-to-back and kept pace in 3 quarters of a gunfight with a team that averages 24 years. Simply, THEY RAN OUT OF STEAM. Jose looked exhausted - in the last qtr, he missed 2 short jumpers which hit front rim and had the uncharacteristic turnover.

Did I want Calderon instead of Martin, YES..however this is why we need TJF back or Ukic brought in. Tough loss, sure, but not the end of the world.

Agree the buck has to stop with the players and they didn't quite come through. Jose dribbling off his foot was just one of those things - I thought he was about to score.

The other knock was the indecision about fouling. I personally think, don't foul because an nba player is just not going to miss both free throws, and raps have a ton of three point shooters. The would have had about 3 seconds to get a shot off. Anyways, my point is, nobody knew which to do. These things should be figured out by now.

BTW - I still like mitchell... for now.

Axl, I think there were 24.6 seconds left. There was no time to play it out.

Could be wrong but I thought there was a 2.something shot clock/game clock differential so figured they could have had 3 secs to shoot. Either way a foul is handing them the game, not that they would have had much hope.

I am so confused before everyone wanted TJ trade now it is we want TJ back, I have been telling you guys TJ is a better player with certain team than Jose, TJ could take over a game and make the team win.

Worst loss of the season.

Totally agree with your post 100% Franchise....Blown opportunity!

But I guess everyone should give the coach of the year the benefit of the doubt right?
Right.
He didn't win "strategic coach of the year", but I don't wanna come down too hard on him.....even though 99% of us could have guided us to victory from the end of the third.

D-Mart = thanks for the memories dipshit; when the Raps are contending two years from now, we'll say wow how great it was to have him here instead of Luke Jackson, Slokar etc....thanks for your supreme ability to get on the court somehow and lose games......

Someone tell me for the love of god why Martin is ahead of Dixon??? And don't tell me because Dixon is Matin Jr., I've watched a few of the games, Dixon is 5 million times better. Thanks.

I was watching the raptors channel today and Bosh made some reference to some bickering on the team. Players not getting enough shots etc. Any body else catch this and what do U make of it??

Trade Bargnani... waste of effort really... I sense from him laziness and he doesnt have the will to return back to his old ways... him not being healthy isn't helping the raps

Bill Nye The Basketball Guy says

Trade Bargnani... waste of effort really... I sense from him laziness and he doesnt have the will to return back to his old ways... him not being healthy isn't helping the raps

curious if U think this abt Bargs what does the nba gm's think of him and what would the give up to get him? What do You hope the Raptors will get for Him?

My only concern right now is the health of TJ Ford. I’m sure not going to get exercised over the loss to Portland. It was a tough loss but…
If Raps can hold it together over the rest of December they should be in fine shape.

I think we have performed quite remarkably considering:
The loss of Garbajosa for the season
The slow start of Bosh
Bargarni offensive disappearance
The inconsistency of AP
The loss of second leading scorer and leader in TJ Ford

Sheesh, and they are still in the top half of the east conference. Let’s cool it and re-examine in the January so until then happy holidays to all of you.