Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game – Closing it Out

Rough time for Raptors and their fans. But we are going to have them until we get a bit better at rebounding the ball. As long as teams can outboard us, they always have a chance to come back. If we match them board for board in the second half, the comeback falls short - even with Denver hitting so many threes.

Wouldn't it be so nice to walk away from a game like that and feel like your coach had manufactured a win through effective strategy to close out the fourth quarter (ahem, like Cleveland game, ahem, like Sacramento game, ahem, like Golden State game). This team is as mentally tough as a fat, pimply 14 year old going through a growth spurt. I want to see a coach demanding accountability after a game, not talking about missing shats for the 35th time this season. Well I guess we're going to see what our playoff experience this year is going to be like this week. You all ready for a beat down? I hope everyone caught the Wizards tilt with the Pistons last night. I don't think anyone can argue that the Wiz are a lesser team than us after that display. Rebounding, clutch scoring, closing out a game: all on display by the Wiz and Arenas coming back. Agree with the Delfino comment. This guy was my favorite player at the start of the year, so its fairly hard to say this, but I say let him go at season's end. If this is his absolute best (would assume so in a contract year), I'd take a pass.

Of all the playoff matchups, I think TO's best shot is against Orlando as the 6th seed, so I am not exactly overwhelmed after a tight closely contested loss. This game and the last had playoff type intensity and the teams needs to get this under the belt for the real deal. While not a Bargnani apologist, I have a feeling he is going to positively surprise a lot of people in the playoffs.

So the CBC reporter guy comes on late in the game and says he was just listening to the huddle and the plan is to get the ball to bosh.

a) Bosh gets stripped, gets the ball stolen. Passing lanes cut off. It seemed like it was so obvious it was bosh time, the nuggets only guarded him. The rest of the guys were playing well, why limit their options and be so obvious? Sometimes I think sam should just shut up and let calderon run the offence.

b) how easy would it be for a nuggets staffer to watch that and let the bench know? I know this wasn't some groundbreaking plan or anything but if you know for sure the ball is going to one player, you can take some chances and overplay that guy. If CBC gives away some huddle info in the playoffs I'm going to be pissed.

Top 4 teams in the East could be in a real dog fight playing Washington. They beat the best teams in the league with regularity.

Denver was just the grittier team. Guys like Iverson and Carmelo force contact and manufacture points, while the raptors either shoot j's or drive weakly to the hoop.
This team looks out of synch and the players seem confused at their roles. The nuggets 3 pt shooting didn't help but the raptors were shooting the lights out in the 1st and squandered the lead...thankfully there is still time to right this sinking ship.

I was there and was bummed out by the lack of toughness (both mental and physical). It looks like being 7th or even 8th seed is not out of the question now. If its going to be a quick first round exit, we might as well finish 9th (go Hawks) and get into the lottery. It would really be sad if the Leafs make it and the Raps donn't. At least the Teachers Pension funs will be happy.

What happened to bargs in the second half..i had to go out and missed the second half. but after the first I was expecting a 30pt night from Bargs.

P.S. Time for some bragging....who's in first in the hooplife NCAA pool?

I tuned in around the last 2 minutes of the game (what can I say? Too many other options and Easter commitments). At that point, I believe the Raps were up 2. From that point on, my brother in law and I watched in shock as Moon took over the show (2 missed 3s, a foul after leaving his feet on Anthony, a breakaway dunk that should have been wistled as a foul because he jumped at the player again on the 'steal'...). I guess he must have earned that 'hot' award in the first 48 minutes. For the last 2, I'd have rated him as 'goat'.

woops, need to pay more attention to how long NBA games are..

I felt Parker should've stepped up a bit. I know he is playing well as of late, but he shy's away at times when the opportunity presents itself...in the last 2 mins of the game, he could've easily shot the ball, Martin was far from him and he was open. But he didn't shoot and passed in the air and after that the play broke down and he turned it over....I like Parker alot, just wished he had a bit more of a killer instinct, then I think he can be unstoppable...

Moon sure got Melo's attention...he looked very surprised with Moon's dee...

peace

Bosh is saying team needs to be more aggressive in crunch time. He should practice what he preaches as 6/16 & 17 pts is not enough input(although he is still not back in shape/sync with his post moves) from our All Star when playing Superstars AI & Melo who avg 53 ppg.
Moon had a great defensive game with 15 rbs, but there is no way a 30% 3pt shooter should be 1/5 when AP & Jose are on the floor.
Delfino, Kapono were usless & Delfino has disapeared the last 4 games (costing him $$ I bet in summer). Bargnani is unpredictable with 16 pts 1st qtr, then disapearing too for the balance.
Although TJ played well in his back-up role this game the bench players lost ground vs Nuggs in the 2nd and 4th qtrs, after coming in with the lead.
Jose played well, but he needs to be more aggresive to score in crunch time, as our best % shooter.
In the last 2 mins Moon 1/4 3pt shots, Bosh/AP no shots 2 TO's JC/JK/RN no shots, very strange, as Bosh double teamed & no one else stepped up.
Really need that 2/3 who can drive and score or draw fouls, a major deficiency when Bosh unable.
Team in big trouble till Bosh back to normal, and without input from Delfino, Kapono, and Bargnani.
BC has his work cut out this summer, with I expect 4/5 changes for next year, with an experienced scoring 2/3 a priority.

Ahh it's tough to feel too bad during this March Madness Run. Hopefully y'all profited from the West Kentucky "shoe in of the week" upset special, as it was a really big shoe!

My 6 team parlay in round one sure helps ease the Raps lost yesterday. I had to tune out after 3rd q, but even with the lead you had the sense that they were going to let this slip.

Oh well... go Xavier!

Bosh attempts ONE field goal in the fourth quarter (that coming with 5:13 to go)?

I'm not sure I would call that an "effective fourth quarter weapon"...

It's damn near inexcusable...

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7939780/College-basketball?-I-couldn't-care-less

Charley compares Jose and TJ. Also bashes the college game a bit and some other stuff...

wtf

article on Jose and Ford nothing new there except maybe SM will read it and wake up

Interesting statistical analysis of Raptor point guard effectiveness however its nothing we didn’t know. The question is, where to go from here?
Will TJ Ford ever accept a backup role?
Can Sam Mitchell really accept the TJ Ford as a backup point guard?
Could Calderon accept playing second string to TJ next season for team harmony?
How will Colangelo fix this if the answer is no any above questions?

Let's not even talk about the Hooplife pool...getting DESTROYED - nice work Rahulan.

BC does have his work cut out for him this off-season with perhaps limited options unfortunately. He's built a solid base, but it's obvious that Bargs isn't ready to be option number two, and TJ...well who knows what's going to happen with that situation...

Bottom line is that Toronto needs to dig down and start winning some games that on paper, maybe they shouldn't win. And Sam Mitchell needs to lead the charge here...

PS - Not even going to bother with that link WTF - Rosen is one step removed from Marty York in my books...

Nice article on T.J. and Calderon.

If you don't want to read the article, the gist of it is that we should trade Ford and keep Calderon.

Also, he called Chris Bosh "quasi-reliable scorer." I agree with that 100%

People always talk about Toronto needing to get a reliable 2nd scoring option, to help Bosh out. I disagree completely. I think its wrong to build this team around Chris Bosh. I know that's a loaded statement, but he just doesn't have that "heart of the champion" quality that Jordan had, and Kobe, AI, Ginobly and Billups, to mention a few, currently have.

Too many times Bosh just forces bad shots in fourth quarter, and generally speaking you can NEVER count on Bosh to take over the game. When he does, as he did few times this season, its the exception and not the rule. And too many times he struggles against good teams, because that by crowding him and being physical, he'll settle for jumpers and forced drives to the basket.

16 first quarter points on nearly perfect shooting, bargs misses two shots in the second and sits the rest of the game. How can you blame the guy? In his interview at half time you could tell he was reciting what sam had told him, not thinking about the question asked, which shows he's listening, but how's he to think when his good play is rewarded with riding the pine?

We seem to be so far away, right now, don't we? Bargs is not to Bosh what a Butler is to Jamaison. Ford could be an unstoppable offensive performer, but that is 3 years and some growth away. Sam keeps saying that he is only 24, but we have to remember that that is about 30 in normal human years.
We need a second star. A guy who makes doubling Bosh a painful option. Or, we need a coach who can bring the guys we have to step up offensively and maybe get a defensive stop once in a while. If Delfino can't stop doing a Joey on again off again routine, I am all for calling him back end and dumping the entire back end of the bench. BC has wasted some good money on his too deep bench. Baston is a waste. Graham a waste. Kapono, whom I like, so far worth about half of what he gets, and we are about to be paying too much for our point guard production if we keep Calderon at 8 million. Bargnani will hopefully become a Okur clone and that would be a good role for him. But the bottom line is that we need some better players. and with the dollars floating around the ACC, I don't see why we can't do that.

tfan: Why does everyone take shots at the Teacher's Pension Plan for being money-grubbing? These were the people who finally opened the vault for the Leetch's, Nolan's, Robert's, etc. They have not been cheap - just incompetent. They think they are brilliant businessmen/sportsman, but the Leafs and Raps are like owning oil - you can't manage them badly enough to lose money. As long as we keep waiting in line for Leaf tickets and rewarding 8th place, the suits will continue to toast their own brilliance. The fault is with the fans.

I just watched one of the best games played this year

Pistons and Suns.....too bad refs had to wreck it in ot.

Adam - yep, still dont understand SMitchs decisions re: playing time.

Easemypain - some great points. Bottom line is that all this depth hasnt done a damn thing in the long run. And you cant argue this depth was for the playoffs when youre losing to teams like Char and Ind.

TJ is maddening. Besides all the stats (like TJ being -14 in this one to Calderone's +5), you can just see the team deflate when our new backup comes on. At this point I don't even like him as a backup. I think I'd prefer Delfino at the 1.

Philly just beat the Celts on Iggy's back. Can someone please find Rob Babcock and throw him off a cliff? Dreaming about Bosh and Iggy together hurts so much. I would not want to play Philly or the Wiz going into the playoffs. If in the top 4, however, I would be praying for a date with TO.

I wouldn't be so fast to throw Babcock of of anything. History will be the ultimate judge. Calderon may be a star in this league. And we all thought that Brian GQ Colangelo had turned iron into gold, when its more like a very nice silver.

I also don't really like Bosh calling his teamates out, given that he hasn't exactly been "the answer" down the stretch. On the other hand, I like what he said- how he trusts his mates to make the shots, just be aggressive.

Just took a look at Atlanta's schedule Raptors are in deep trouble for the 8th spot.

Meh, bosh is right. As RapsHQ and people have been talking about all year, this team has been skating along on hot shooting (Plan A) that has masked some sub-par defense, poor team play and lack of aggression. It was fine in the first half of the season, but I keep expecting them to "want it" a lot more.

Bosh may make mistakes, but he had every right to call out his team because he's the only one sticking his chin in there and playing tough every night.

Bosh has not earned the right to call his teammates out.As I said before, he is a mouse in big games and a tiger in small games. One FGA in the 4th quarter? Give me a break. Iverson is playing with a ton of injuries to get his team to play-offs whereas Bosh is protecting himself until he's 100% ready to play. We are really soft and the softest of all is Bosh himself.
The problem is obviously not Bosh though but the way this team is constructed (see Colangelo) and the coaching. However I'm still optimist even for the rest of this season.

AB....

he's fallen short of expectations this season and his off-season will be closely monitored, with a priority on addressing his NBA weaknesses rather than whatever national team commitments he might have.

That was a problem last summer playing with national team doing what he always did there instead of working on the things the raptors need and expect.

Will He do it again this year? Probably.

Some have said He looked bigger last fall I never seen it. I still don't! What I see is a guy who is going to pack it in and go home with a few million to show for His effort.

Daniel: Thats a bit extreme, but its a valid point. Bosh does seem to disappear in bigger games, and a lot of players are able to defend him. Unlike other franchise players, he is not unstoppable. Unfortunately the Toronto broadcasters and analysts seem to gloss over this, and everytime Bosh dominates Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph, he's our Messiah.

One the plus side, he's a great player, and seems to be improving.

daniel, observer - you're confusing talent with toughness and leadership. Bosh easily deserves the leadership role on this team. He doesn't have a track record of going public with criticism, but this team has been riding him for a few years now and the rest of the team (this year) has been content to let him do it all himself at the late stages of games. Obviously he's no lebron or kobe, so it's got to be a team effort. Even MJ had a kerr, cartwright, pippen, to make teams pays for focusing too much on him. Bosh doesn't have that this year. We have five scorers on the court at all times, yet down the stretch nobody wants the ball.

No, Bosh can't take over games like Lebron or Kobe but how many players in the league can? Does that mean they need to be traded.

To hear some posters (i.e. benjo) Bosh has no heart. Please. Yes, he's a semi reliable scorer who get double teamed often and settles for too many jumpers. In his defense he has no help to make people pay for double teaming him and the coaching is suspect.

How many titles did Jordan win before he got teamed up with Pippen, Grant/Rodman? How many titles does AI have? Ginobli has won but he has a guy named Tim Duncan, have you heard of him?

The point is no one all star is gonna get you a title. You need options and a coach who can adjust. Teams know if they take CB out of the game the Raps have no 2nd scoring option and Sam just ain't getting it done with his adjustments. End of story.

Larry had McHale and the "Chief" Robert Parish, Magic had Kareem and Worthy. Shaq had Kobe then D Wade. CB4 has TJ Ford and Andrea Bargnani. 'Nuff said. I like both TJ and AB but they ain't getting' it done this year.

PS Daniel, AI has finger issues. That's a lot different then a knee injury. You should know the difference.