Tip-In: Close But No Cigar

Yes, Joey Graham crushed Carlos Delfino's soul.

I think the raptors really gave a solid effort. The pistons really made the raptors work, and compounded the problem of fatigue for the raptors. I really thought Chris Bosh struggled against Rasheed Wallace. Rasheed did an outstanding job on CB4, but Chris did not help himself either. With Bosh struggling, I looked for T.J. Ford to turn it up, and lead the raps to victory. Ford really made some poor decisions down the stretch. T.J. constantly looked for his shot before setting his teammates up. Overall, it was a tough loss, but knowing it was the second game of a back-to-back the raptors really gave a good effort and nearly pulled it out. I'm proud of the raptors.

One man did make a difference and that man is of course RASHEED WALLACE. SHEED bitchslapped Bosh to prove to the powers that be that he should have been selected to the allstar game. And he showed he probably should have.

I watched the Detroit coverage of the game and it's definitely in a league above what we get. all around it's much more professional. No tacky catchphrases, No uncalled for melodrama... No Chuck Swirsky.

AND Detroit fans still don't think much of Toronto -- definitely not enough to have a rivalry. their commentators kept assuring the viewers to not expect a blowout. maybe in the future... but for it to happen, Toronto has to knock them out of the playoffs or finish higher in the league. otherwise it's just jealousy, not a rivalry

We hung with them but couldn't pull it out in last five minutes. Take it as a lesson and move on. Detroit has solid big man defenders, might of been the hardest 15 points CB ever worked for. Keep heads up, we can still be a force in the east.

No respect from the refs. They changed the game with a number of calls and non-calls. Granted, I'm biased, but I still think it was there. I hope the comissioner doesn't levy a fine against me...

no love from the refs, but we deserved that after bavetta's help against the lakers. Unfortunately now we must face another team with a bonafide bosh stopper in luol deng. In my mind, I thought bosh could handle wallace but wallace was amazing even on single coverage. I thought we should have played them single coverage as well. They scored pretty much every time we went to help.

Given the diference in experience and defensive ability between Rap's & Pistons a pretty good effort on a back to back. The games vs Suns, Mav's, Utah and Pistons illustrate that all though Toronto has made great strides so far this year, there is still some distance to go to beat the top teams.
There is still a need for a swing man who can consistently score, shoot 3's, & drive to the basket to draw fouls when Chris is doubled and taken out of the game. No one currently seems able or willing to fill that role.

Raptors have a back to back with the Pistons Apr 13th & 17th home & away that will go a long way in providing a glimpse of play-off potential.

I think we have what it takes to beat teams like the pistons, bulls, or the even the defending champion heat. We clearly showed we can beat the pistons. I think against teams like detroit, everyone needs to have a mindset of rebounding the basketball. We have all the tools to become a rebounding team. I think P.J. Tucker or Pape Sow can really help the raptors as far as bring toughness and a nastiness on the boards. I don't think we need to make a trade. We have all the tools to be a contender in the East.

People forget how good Rasheed W. is. While Big Ben was coming from the weakside to swat away all those shots, it was the other Wallace who turned them in that direction and handled all of the toughest defensive match ups. Haven't seen a lot of Big Ben highlights this year!

Anyway, it was a good loss. The Raps needed to lose against a better team to know that they have to continue to keep working on the team concept - as a unit, they are not there yet. As for Bosh, he'll learn from this, if history proves itself to be a map of the future. He needed it after all the recent MVP crap got to his head. I don't know if the refs favoured anyone, but I know that they took the game out of the game when the game is supposed to be the best. They were all over the place.
All in all, it was a game, people. Unlike the years past, Detroit had to play their best to beat us when we were not playing ours. That tells you that things are pretty good around here.

Here is the answer to your question of too many jump shots: starting point guard .
T.J Ford simply can not fathom the concept of a team play. He is either too young or does not have it in him. His ball distribution is very limited (Bosh, Nesterovic, and himself)and his defensive play is just lazy.
By my standards the point guard should not be the best scorer in the game (reaks of selfishness).
There are a lot knowledgable people who think that Calderone brings other players game to their potential.
It will be very sad to see him (Jose) go but I would predict that will happen when his talent is wasted on Toronto' bench.
Furthermore I would like to point out that Raptors in their history had not had a point guard of this caliber.
Frustrated Fun

Well, I think you may have a point with T.J. Ford. But, remember T.J. is only 23 years of age. He is still maturing and trying to find himself as the point guard of this team. Jose Calderon might be best for this team right now as the starting point guard, but down the road I would want the much more talented Ford running the point. And I think BC might agree with me.