Tip In, Raptors' Post Game: Tweaking

The good things I saw in last nights game were JO and AB. I was extremely impressed with JO's rebounding and interior toughness. This game would have been alot uglier without him. As for AB, his confidence seems to be growing every game. It's frustrating that when the biggest "question marks" of the season start to find their game, everyone else goes cold.

We have an above average group of players. They all have their strengths. We aren't utilizing them optimally. That's on the coach. Period.

Although I was only able to catch the last 8-9 minutes of the game, I was impressed with JO and AB also. I agree with Leo that we should give Bargs the ball on many ocassions when he was working hard in the post. A better loss, IMHO, than Monday night, nevertheless.

It will be posted sometime today so I will be first.

Raptors can do with a lot less Moon!

Can't, and won't finish at the rim unless it's a clear path so not much use! Jump shooters a dime a dozen

Thanks for getting up a little earlier to post your column. I was a little annoyed morning after Boston’s game how late it was posted. I was a tad anxious that morning.

For some reason this game was much easier to accept than the Boston game. I’m starting to get the warm-and-fuzzy feeling when I see how Bargnani is developing as more complete player. I just wish his point guards would include him in the offense more however I’m sure it will come. O’Neal is starting to find his offence and is looking more comfortable. And I don’t think the backup point guards are the disaster I thought they were at the beginning of season.

All and all, things are looking positive.

I am sure a lot of people this AM are wondering where this team would be without Calderon for a long stretch. I for one side with Jack Armstrong in that given the offense this team runs (getting the ball into the post) the biggest issue is the poor wing play, not the lack of PG depth.

There have been a number of times when Coach Mitchell has said that guys who make the most of their minutes will get more minutes. Well this apparently isn't true as Joey Graham had a great performance against Boston and last night barely saw the floor. This would not be so odd if Moon hadn't been looking totally lost out there.

The question on a nightly basis is whether the big man play is good enough to shadow the below par play at the 2 and 3 position. Right now it is about 50/50. This lack of solid play from the 2 and the 3 is going to plague this team all season long unless someone steps up (aka Graham) or BC finds a way to bring in real help.

Neither Ukic and Solomon have a particularly difficult job to do as it is the bigs that will create opportunities for others and I am pretty sure they are up to the task.

More upset about this loss than beantown - philly just isnt that good although they did hit their jumpers all night. I want to see more bargs too, just not sure how mitchell is going to be able to do it without playing him at the 3 with bosh and oneal a lot...

Bargnani not getting the ball in the post is nothing new though. We saw our share of that last year. I always wanted to know what the Raptors were telling the guards, because they obviously want him to exploit matchups, but they don't dump the ball enough to him down there, so he instead goes out to the 3 point line and everyone complained that he was taking too many shots from the outside.

Oh, one other thing... Has anyone noticed that the Raptors are just slow as heck getting the ball into the post? A lot of times, Bosh, O'Neal and Bargs are calling for the ball, and it takes a good two second for the ball handler to get the ball into them, and by then, the defender pushes them out a good two steps further. Yesterday, it was cleaned up a bit, but I don't know if the Raptors have figured it out yet.

If we play Bargs at the 3 he wouldn't be much worse than Moon. At least we'd get more offense.

last year giving AB the ball in the post was like putting a deer in front of a Mac Truck at night. He just did not have the foot work and took way too many offensive charges. He clearly did alot of work over the summer.

All I can say is 5/24 and 1/10 from 3 pt range, 14 pts 6 rebounds. These are the numbers for our starting wings! Willie Green 6/10, 3/4 from 3 pt range , 17 pts, 2 rebounds, 9 assists! I know these are only stats but come on the numbers don't lie! At some point we will need to address this issue.

Davl - I think we'll still see a little of that this year though. He just doesn't get enough touches down there to get used to his role. But here's hoping that he'll get a few more touches in the next upcoming games and takes advantage of it.

This site, in addition to Grange and Smith (notice the Feschuk omission), are all the updates I'm getting from Raptors games now that I am in Taiwan. This is a good and bad thing... good in that I have yet to watch a Raptors loss this season (I left last Wednesday morning when we lost our first one to the Pistons), but bad in that I don't get to watch any games!!

Keep up the good job, you guys! As long as you don't get into the narcissistic bullcrap (HELLO, SCOTT CAREFOOT!), I will always come back to this site!

D - Couldn't agree more on the slowness in getting the ball inside. I find it extremely frustrating that the commentators notice those mismatches way sooner than our PGs do (if the PGs ever see it at all).

Couple of things I noticed last night: AP seemed pretty good as a PG. At last he seems to understand the angles & timing needed to get the ball inside (something Solomon can't seem to figure out).

I've heard a lot of comments about a) how we now get our points inside and b) mostly from in game commentators - how the Raptors won't have any difficulty scoring. I've watched every game and it seems to me that nearly every point scored by a Toronto big is an absolute struggle. They are taking forever and making multiple moves, just to get looks at the basket. I think it all stems from the fact that this team doesn't know how to play that type of game. They wait so long to get the ball inside and the bigs are so bunched up that they're facing triple and quadruple teams in there.

Oh, and is anyone really thinking this team can score easily? The 4th quarter offence I've seen has been an absolute mess this season. Honestly, if they really do only run one play (pick & roll), then this team needs to explain why they're getting so confused out there.

Not surprised at all by this loss - the raps were ripe for the picking after boston and philly was desperate for a win and some payback.

It didn't seem like we had a chance all night, even with calderon in the game.

I have to say I think Bargnani is officially the third best player on this team and I love our big rotation.

It really is too bad our wings can't sustain the intensity they need to compete.

Plus now they're back to their bad habits - moon shooting too much and kapono not enough. Of course joey is not the answer though I agree with those who think he deserves more minutes.

PGs - Calderon is not as good as he was last year when TJ went out - he's just not. He can't get to the rim, his shooting is down and this team is not running and moving enough to utilize his excellent passing. And I don't understand what gives anyone any hope for these backups, they are terrible and can't score.

VD and dsl, I would seriously rather have AP running the point because at least he can get the ball into the post without forcing the big out to the 3 point line.

Also great read, VD!

Start Graham. Bench Moon, he's a waste of atheletic ability. Bargs and Kapono have good role definition right now. I think Solomon will be the 2nd pg for the rest of the year because he's a contrast to jose, he's a chucker, he plays "better defense" Ukic is good, but his lack of defence and strength will keep him glued to the bench. I think a positive, is Mitchell is figuring out everything pretty quickly. He has Kapono and Bargs the first off the bench, he has a end of the 4th quarter line up of Calderon Parker Kapono Bosh O'neal. Things are lookin up. I think the Raps just need to form a Defensive Identity and things will be fine. Oh yeah the need a Wing Player (Jason Richardson!)

I still don't understand how Moon can take so many threes (and how Mitchell is letting him)!! He is 2/10 in the last three games, while Kapono is 3/5. Tell me why Moon is taking more threes than the NBA ALL-TIME LEADER IN 3P%!

1. Jason Kapono .466
2. Steve Kerr .454
3. Hubert Davis .441
4. Drazen Petrovic .437
5. Steve Nash .432

Bryan C did a bang up job picking up two point guards with no basketball knowledge and NBA experience. They were absolutely horrible. I would've liked to see Roko spend some more time in Europe. Why couldn't Bryan have gone after Tyronne Lue or Brevin Knight (for that matter, they could've even gone after Hot Sauce or AO)? Why do we keep settling for European players, while the NCAA is being disregarded?

The Raptors are going to suffer if they don't address the backup positions soon. I won't totally blame Bryan C because Smitchell did have a hand in acquiring these two pg's.

Don't be surprised if Sam is fired in the next couple of weeks. In my world, that decision would've come 3 years too late.

Here are my predictions between now and mid-January. 1.) The team floats around .500 2.) We trade any combination of Kapono/Moon/Parker for a decent 2/3 and BC forces Smitch to utilize Graham as a primary backup or even as a starter. 3.) Smitch gets fired by the end of the year or even by mid-season, depending on how soon JO approaches him and expresses a motion of non-confidence in the coach.

Kapono gets no mention at all?!
i'm starting to worry you guys might be kapono apologists.
Let's compare his play to someone like bargnani

Kapono - 30min
3 pts 1-3 shooting
2 rebs
1 ast
5 fouls
0 Blk

Bargs - 27 min
15 pts 6-11 shooting
5 rebs
1 ast
0 fouls
2 blk

please Smitch, explain to me why we leave our hottest player out for the entire 3rd quarter, and play kapono?

It's becoming all to clear that we rely on kapono and parker to have good games in order for the raps to win. Our 3 bigs were great last night, and it was our wing men that lost it for us. Especially Kapono, i'm really surprised the HQ let Kap off the hook here...

Well, I'm certainly glad your recap took the calming approach. Even though I called the loss the other day, I'm still pretty upset they lost. I, like Ted C, am overseas, and you guys are my link to the raps. After the loss, I was ready to start overreacting...good job with the calming recap.

Oh, if you're looking for a trade, I think it will be a smaller one...maybe for someone like C.J Miles....young, not getting lots of playing time, but has potential.

Lots of great points here this morning and glad we can help out with your Raps' coverage Ted C!

First off, the back-up point guard situation blows my mind. Yes, we need a legit starting swingman more than a back-up, but what I NEVER understood was the idea of having TWO UNPROVEN back-ups behind Jose to start the year! You're telling me that a veteran like Armstrong or even Mighty Mouse couldn't have been had at Solomon's salary to come in and run the offense for 10 minutes a night? It's not even so much about Jose's injury, as I think he'll be fine, but when your coach says quotes like "we got two guys trying to learn how to play point guard in the NBA" after games, and has your shooting guard playing the 1, it speaks volumes about the situation.

However let's not ignore the real issue here as I agree with Vicious D - without anyone who can get to the rim, this team of jump shooters is going to have shooting nights like last night. And the fact that we are all pining for Joey Graham to start now just shows how bad things have gotten.

To me right now, this is a 42 win team; when their jump shots are on, they can play with anyone in the league but without someone to get to the rim consistantly they're going to have nights like last year, losing to teams like the Bucks and Bobcats.

The Legomaster has his work cut out for him early on...

I'd trade Soloman for a vet that knows how to play PG in the NBA in a heartbeat.

Don't know if anyone here watched the game live, but the dejected look of Bosh throughout the game and especially in time-outs was just... wow. Before the beginning of the second half, the entire team (sans JO and Calderon) is shooting, while Bosh is sitting on the bench alone. Mitchell avoided talking to him, it seems and just the entire game looked out-of-sync from the gate. It felt as if the game was lost in the locker room prior to the game... Again, it is just my feeling watching the game in the arena. Anyone else noticed it?

Let me be the first to say that since Jose became the starter things have been a lot tougher for him with opposing starting point guards. Coaches are now designing defence against Jose and last night he had some costly turnovers before he got injured and on the play that he got injured...Whenever there is pressure on Jose he picks up his dribble, thus giving the defence a chance to set against him and the other players. The only player that the Raptors had that could consistently create his own shots and go to the basket was TJ Ford and I say it again TJ Ford and because of Fan Bias we lost a much better point guard than Jose. The deal with JO would still happen if BC would have kept TJ and send jose to Indy...but we would never hear the end of it with the fans....TJ is in top form right now with INdy that is currently ahead of the Raps in the standings 4-3. Nothing against Jose but I was always a TJ fan and some might find my comments bias but deep down you know its the truth...but no use crying over spilt milk. The next point I want to make is our SF and Guard play. Last night at the start of the game the Raps have an opportunity to go up 10 points on the Sixers but because of lack of shooting from Parker, Philly was able to settle down and get back in the flow of the game. BC needs to pull the trigger on Moon and Parker and try and get a 3 that can create his own shots. Moon is clearly afraid of contact and when he does go to the basket he is reckless and does not go strong...I can't believe after everyone is saying the samething that he continues to shy away from the basket and takes those ridiculous jumpers....he needs to be bench and start Joey....Next its Sam, the team has talent and if he continues to under utilize his assets then its time BC consider bringing in Flip Saunders someone with a playbook......Raps4Life

Double M - I noticed it. At one point I had the volume off during commercials and was doing some dishes. When the game came back on, the lack of sound made me really notice the body language of the players on the court. Toronto was down by double digits and Bosh just had this "here we go again" look.

And it's hard not to blame him. Every year he's promised more help and a better club and that hasnt' been the case. I was hoping I was just misinterpreting his expressions but if others noticed...

Raps4life
Stats:
TJ...34.8 minutes per game
.....6.4 ass.per game
.....3.0 turnover ratio
....17.1 pts per game(pass 1st guard !!!)
Pacers...4 and 3
Jose...36.3 minutes per game
.......9.0 ass.per game(#2)
.......5.14 turnover ratio (#1)
.......13.5 points per game
Raptors 4 and 4
Raps4 life ...are the numbers black and white enough for you !!!!
Mellow out on the hate...
If you have to be pissed at someone...Jose is not the guy.
Our continued conversation about picking up someone who can drive to the basket...As long as BC has that "we are not going into the Luxury Tax Bracket"we will continue to be a (have not nba team) why is it,that whenever a player becomes available,all the free spending teams are right in there like a dirty shirt,who cares about luxury taxes,its all part of doing business.Pro sports is big bus....I dont see too many empty seats at the Leafs and or Raptor games...

"I dont see too many empty seats at the Leafs and or Raptor games..."

and We all know that is the reason they won't go over the cap

Still don't want TJ sooner or later He will injure this season for an extended period of time imo

Jose....This too can be a lingering injury that will nag Him for the season. If He needs rest It will hurt the team alot. It should be interesting to see how this injury rest thing plays itself out

Ahhh…couldn’t think of one reason why Colangelo would exceed the luxury tax to bring a shooting guard but if Bosh is voicing his impatience well maybe…

You know what this team could use? A TJ Ford type of player, a guy that averaged nearly a triple-double in his last three games (When did TJ become a rebounder and started packing in J.Kidd type numbers?)

Now i'm only half kidding here as I know it was time for TJ to go. But would this team have been better if we kept it mostly the same as last year? What if we still had Rasho and TJ? Of course hindsight is great, and its still too early to determine what Bargs will become, but what if we were all a little more patient?

And for those who critque BC for brining in Solomon (whom admittedly I'm not a fan of based on what I saw in the preseason), did you think the same for signing Anthony Parker, Garbo and Moon instead of picking up namely vets? There's a reason these vets aren't playing in the league right now! I know its hard to imagine, but there are other teams who are in more desperate situation than the Raps, and they've all passed on whats on the FA market.

d279 I am not piss at Jose..Just the situation that led to us losing our best off the dribble player in TJ..That's not Jose's fault. You can't win in this league if you don't have a guy that can pick up the ball at the top of the key and dribble, drive and create his own shots, this team the Raps have now is good for 42 wins with everyone healthy...add a decent wing player and they will pick up 8 monre wins...unfortunately Moon is not that guy and neither is Joey...So we have 2 huge problems, no backup pg and no starting wing player. Solutions...well that's BC's job.....just have to wait and see..........Raps4Life...ps anyone offended by my TJ comments if the playoff starts today...guess who is in and who is out.

Calderon was hurt very late in the first, like 30 second left. Usually he sits at the 2 minute mark or sooner... I'm not the one to be calling for Mitchell's head because I don't think there's anyone better available, but... just saying he probably knew he was pushing jose a bit too much. Again, can't blame him too much, seeing where the game was at.

Before last night's game Jose's stats looked more like 14.7 PPG and 9.4 APG.

Oh, and a sore hamstring doesn't compare to Spinal Stenosis.

I was watching the Portland/ Miami game last night and damn would Outlaw or even a young Batum look good in a Raps uni. The commentators even talked about the numerous game winning shots Travis had last season. This is the type of player we need.

last night game made me miss t.j ford , it look like no one on the raptors can create their own shot or they were scared of the ball.when t.j was there he doesnt care who it was he would have drive to the rim and get contact , moon wont dirve and graham is on the bench and calderon cant not penetrate .poor raptors colangelo has to do something.

AGM, I couldn't agree more about Portland's wings. I'd take Batum in a flash given the 2 games I've seen him in. But what do the Raptors have that Portland would want? I think Portland trades Outlaw but I think they get an offer better than anything Toronto can offer.

Colangelo should be begging for permission to go into the tax - there's enough salary coming off the books next year that the team would not be trapped in the tax like the Knicks or Mavs. He should also be seriously contemplating trading Bargs. We have 2 good bigs and Hump. Bargs is the only legitimate chip the team has. Portland doesn't need him though.

was anybody else extremely frustrated with smitch's big rotation? bargs was the raps best player in the first half but since both JO and bosh were doing some good things het sits the entire third quarter? none of the three deserved to be benched and smitch needs to figure out a better rotation to keep all three involved when they're on their games. IMO theres no excuse for having your best player (for the night) sit an entire quarter, especially when they were struggling and getting into a deeper hole

Ted C - As a guy who worked in Japan for a year, I feel your pain.

Regarding TJ, I don't really agree with that assessment. Lots of people bring up the point that teams are now keying in on Jose, but the fact of the matter is, Jose started a ton of games last year, sometimes twice against the same team. Jose's numbers are not all that out of line from last year considering the small sample, and yesterday, he ran a few plays that he normally makes better decisions on such as a pick and roll where Bosh's man came to double him, but he didn't find Bosh. All the success to TJ, but I don't think he was run out of town by the fans, and certainly Bryan Colangelo did not make his decision based on our reactions.

Besides, we have a TJ-esque/-lite player already... Just no one is willing to play him at this moment to get him the experience he needs.

Fact of the matter is, this team's been preaching defense all pre-season and now, but they haven't nearly worked enough on the offensive side to take advantage of their two players that eat up $35M in salary. It's always been a concern that O'Neal's contract would prohibit us from filling that slashing-3 spot, so we'll just have to make due with what we have for now.

"Raps4Life...ps anyone offended by my TJ comments if the playoff starts today...guess who is in and who is out."

Raps4Life - I love your eternal optimism regarding the Raps and I have never in the past felt the need to comment on one of your posts, but this quote alone takes away any credibility that you may have. If the playoffs started today...are you kidding me? Let's see where these two teams are after an 82 game season and not 7-8 games into a season. I wonder if Indy fans will become annoyed if TJ keeps averaging these numbers, but they lose games and Granger's stats go down? As we all learned from TJ last season, stats definitely do not tell the whole story. Again, Raps4Life, I am not trying to in any way offend you with my post.

I think when contemplating trades we should really be looking for currently under performing players who might excel as starters for the Raptors. It will be difficult to acquire talents that are showing themselves as being really good without being forced to give up something really good in return. On the surface any trade will have to appear to be a mutually beneficial transaction for another team to even consider it. I would target a player like Corey Brewer out of Minnesota, an attainable asset that could blossom into a player as good as he was in college, in the right environment. What is Minnesota currently lacking? Are any of the unused Raptors pieces potentially attractive to them? Looking at what other teams need may prove more useful at figuring out what the team can get in a trade.

Lindsey Hunter was signed by Chicago I don't know anything about His game but could He of helped the Raptors and anybody know what He signed for?

...Its ok AGM I am not offended..but this might be the only chance I get to vent a little about the TJ trade..I really don't expect Indy to finish ahead of the Raps after 82 games...I see the Raps going 5 and 2 in there next 7 before they go on the West coast...probably losing to Boston again and Orlando...6-1 is also a possibility....can I have my credibility back now...lol...Its all fun...raps4life

Slap me if I sound too optimistic but now that O’Neal is getting more comfortable with his offensive game and Bargnani is reaching new heights in his, the prospect of Raps dominating games by feeding ball in the post may be a tactic that most opponents will have trouble countering excites me. When that game develops would it not take pressure off the backup point guards to orchestrate the offensive?

Sorry raps4life. I really was not trying to offend...and yes you can have your credibility back. I'm such a pushover!

We all need to vent sometimes...really we do.

Interloper - sssshhhh - you're giving away a big piece of tomorrow's blog post ha ha.

Saw the Lindsey Hunter signing and had the same thoughts - I always thought that someone like him or Armstrong would be a great third pg on the team. They could tutor Roko, still spell Jose, give leadership overall...basically act like...well...Darrick Martin!

Haven't seen his name mentioned on message boards in a while but it's ironic that I think most people would take him back over Solomon right now...

I was at the game last night, and here are some other observations:

1) The Raptor mascot busted his ankle by hitting all-coil on his attempted trampoline dunk... Did that show on TV?

2) Roko Ukic has the UGLIEST jumper I've ever seen. The dude can't even hit shots in warmup! He releases the ball very low, and has a bizarre side-spin rotation on the ball.

So - I'm not sure how you play him for real minutes with such a huge hole in his game???

3) Will Solomon looks like he's used to being the best player in a crappy league and getting by on his athletic advantage... he clearly has problems adapting his style to being a backup in the NBA world (and has mental breakdowns as a result). I do think that Solomon is probably a better option than Ukic to take on the backup PG minutes right now, but how do you get him to understand that he's the equivalent of Milt Palacio v2.0 in this league and not Michael Jordan?

4) The Sixers had 2 plays that killed us: Miller+Brand two-man game, and Iguodola driving the lane. These both show the holes that everyone talks about -- Jose couldn't guard a bigger PG in the post, JO wouldn't step out on Brand's jumpers, and no one could stop penetration.

So, it's pretty clear that any team with a big PG, athletic SF, or C/PF with a jumper will have a big advantage on the starters for this Raptors team...

This is where Mitchell needs to either change the starters or be ready to get the bench in early.

Oh - any for the TJ lovers out there -- he would have been slaughtered by Andre Miller in the post even worse than Jose.

5) If Jose is injured, and AP happens to be the starting PG for a few games -- I'm worried about options for starting SG... Graham is ok on D but a disaster in every other area, Kapono is a bit too slow to guard starting SGs and we need him off the bench... does this mean that Hassan Adams ends up starting!!!

If you’re a Raptor fan and are unhappy with the current state of affairs, simply wear a blue shirt or blouse to demonstrate you displeasure. They’re always looking at all the red in the stands. What if what they saw was solid blue?

BC - Dude, the mascot did that on purpose. Since you fell for that prank, I must confess I couldn't bring myself to read the rest of your points.

Is that the real BC that just posted? Good post. I think Graham might surprise us if called upon to start!

SonicSuper - that Raptor miss/ankle injury was no joke... every press person covering the game was reporting it as a legit injury. For example:

http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/

Anyway -- I was checking out TJ Ford's career stats, and almost every category is above his career average. FG%, 3FG%, FT%, etc. are all up (and turnovers per 48 minutes are down).

So -- unless TJ spent his summer learning to shoot like Kapono, his stats should taper off a bit.

BC - you're right; Adams is one solid practice from pulling a Jamario.

The guy that needs to be given a little more rope, in my opinion, is floppy eared Graham. Sam and Joey need to kiss and make up. Mitchell sees the body he always wanted wilting away in a weak minded half-interested puppy mentality. Joey see's a Dad he will never please, no matter how well he plays, and will never blossom till he's out from under his watch. Joey Graham has all the answers but he needs to stop asking himself so many damn questions and just do it!

Franchise:
Just some food for thought to all who are concerned about the Raptors:

They are 4-4 with 74 games to go, losing to Detroit, Boston, Atlanta, & Philly, who they were down by 5pts, when Jose left, and they turned the ball over 8 times in the 4th, whith Philly scoring on just about every one.

They could/should have beaten Philly, they had lots of chances but the defense was unable to get stops.

The biggest current problem is the inconsistent team defensive play, not the offense, they did score 96Pts when their wing players could'nt make a shot and they had 14 turnovers, and back-up PG's.

They can play lockdown defense at times, and then play like the 4th qtr vs Philly. Why is that? I say it is the players are not committed to playing defense as yet as a way of winning, & offense as a secondary objective, coming from the defensive effort,the way Boston plays defense. I'm hopefull that Bosh & O'Neal will be able to eventually achieve that commitment from their teamates. The coaching staff is preaching it every day, but they have to play 5 players at a time whether they committ or not, can't sit them all.

They will continue to win when everyone is playing well, and lose when some are struggling, until this happens.

For you Moon haters, he is in for defense not scoring, but before his horrid 1/8 on the last shot of the game he was .556FG% & .471FG3% for the 1st 7 gms & 8PPG. Much improved shooting than last year, not bad numbers. Evey body has a bad day, especially young (NBA) players.

If you are Mitchell who do you play at SF when your choice is between Moon & Joey Good/Bad Graham?

Vicious D, as in Dreaming!

Ukic is to Sam what Graham is to Sam - learning on the bench.

I agree with your assessment of Ukic. I like his recognition and ability to get into the paint. He needs to get some points there to really open the wings. He's pretty tall and can probably avoid getting blocked more than anyone else. He needs to play, but Sam will let the bench teach him instead.

Hey Double M, my brother was saying the same thing about the game. Bosh appeared totally dejected when he was on the bench. If you noticed near the end when Bosh was pulled he let out a verbal barrage on Smitchell.

The Toronto media seems to sugar coat a lot of the information the fans are not exposed to. We need Don Cherry commentating a couple games.