Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post-Game: Ripping Isiah

Agree Raps kinda like back to their old, plan A offense, on/off defense ways.
But man, new york alot of mileage out of relentess chucking. They should fire isaih and let this team coach itself, these players deserve better.

I couldn't be happier that TJ put a nice display with the Knicks. Luckily he will have no other stinger for the remainder of the season and increases his value. Keeping in mind that Marbury is his idol I think it's only fitting for him to be with the Knicks and an interesting rivalry would be re-born between us and them.

Maybe we are better suited with Jose coming off the bench. It just fits the team better.Gives us that lift we used to get with TMac coming off the bench. I want to give TJ credit because his play of late has been better.Lets hope he stays on track.
At the beginning of the year our point guard situation was the envoy of most of the teams in the league, why mess with it? I do not see any negative energy coming from Jose, lets get back to appreciating our teams greatest strength, the PG position.
Hate to say it, but kinda makes Marcia right.

Lets hope the better play continues, when we move the ball we can score with any team. Like to see us going in to the playoffs on a roll.

I know stats don't tell the whole story and I didn't watch the game so could somebody explain this stat to me:

TJ -3
Jose +9

Was it actually Jose who played the better game? The rest of the stats indicate otherwise.

Also some thoughts about TJ:

An inspiration to many people and an overachiever.

However he is pretty selfish and arrogant (not cocky)

Lets examine:

Jose is asked/volunteers or whatever to come off the bench for the good of the team. What does he do? He says sure even though for 2 years now a lot of fans have said he should start.

What does TJ say about coming off the bench "In the NBA, I think I'm a starter. I don't think I'm a guy that comes off the bench and plays limited minutes. I don't think that's my style."

If Jose can come off the bench and be a pro about it why can't TJ.

And when TJ was coming off the bench we all know he wasn't being what the raptors needed him to be. His basic attitude was:

you don't want start me? Fine i'm not going to pass the ball and I'm going to take all the shots.

Oh I'm back in the starting lineup? Ok now i'll pass and play to my potential and do what the gm, coaches and my teammates want.

Is that the type of guy you want on your team? Guys like Rasho, Jose, Kopono have all made sacrifices for the team why can't TJ do the same. Most of the fault if TJ's some is Sams. If I can see this why hasn't Sam yelled at TJ about this? God knows he doesn't hesistate to yell at Bosh, Kris, Jamario...why does TJ get to be dumber and get away with it?

I agree with Micheal Grange, Feschuck (who can be over critical sometimes) and a lot of fans....TJ needs to go..

Some great topics touched on in this post:

• Jack Armstrong just plain makes my Raptors experience better. The knowledge, personality, opinions, perspective and sense of humour he brings to the table is irreplaceable. The Raptor’s TV personality talent pool is WEEK to begin with, imagine it without Jack!?!
• New York is a freaking disgrace… ‘nuff said.
• How is Chris Paul not the MVP?!? This isn’t a Most Outstanding Player MOP award, then Kobe and LeBron would be legit candidates. But seriously, who else is on that team?!?! Well sometimes Peja Stojakovic exhumes his corpse and shows up to play, OK David West is pretty good and Chandler plays some defence but come on, where would these guys be without Paul?

Someone please slap Tinman.
Agreeing with Marcia?????

Hell just got a wee bit chilly.

Anyways, great article today.

I have always liked Jack's unbiased opinions.

I don't particularly like Leo's Monday morning quarterbacking after a made or missed shot. Not every miss from the outside should have been driven. Nor should every made shot be a "you have to take that open look."

Someone should sign Jack and Chuck as the everyday team.

Good win. Not great. Good win.

wtf's article was a good read as well.

Still I did have to smile when TJ blew out Jeffries ankles in the 4th.

PS: If anyone knows the blond from the Raps dance pack that presented the check at half-time.
Can you throw my wedding ring at her for me? Much appreciated.

Good game, lets be easy with the tj gots to go talk for now. Please, he's playing well, and that plus minus stat is somewhat misleading, since tj was on the floor when new york went on that crazy 14-0 run and the end of the half when smitch refused to call a timeout for some reason.

They both played ok, tj and jose.

Jack armstrong is the man in toronto. Best analyst we have by far. I wouldn't mind more of him on RapsTV

to wtf, TJ can't except coming off the bench for one main reason. first being, hes an american born basketball player. all they care about down there is the stat line and not the win, on the other hand for jose all he cares about is winning. in euro ball the team comes first and stats come last. my old coach in high school put it best. 2 pts for you is 2 pts for the team. the team matters more and cause of that i dont want you guys to focus on stats. we followed that philosophy and we won a lot. if tj could swallow is pride and put the team ahead of his own success the raps could be unstoppable with having 2 die hard PG's.

also, great piece about jack. i really hope he stays on as an announcer. hopefully they could chuck out and maybe team him with leo rautins.

i really hope the raptors can resign rasho to a contract extension. maybe an additional 2 or 3 years wouldnt hurt until bargnani is fully capable of taking over.

also, if dealing TJ, hopefully they could land a solid draft pick instead of just another player. charlotte and boston both did it last year so maybe the raps could do the same. wouldnt derrick rose or maybe jerryd bayless look great in a raptor jersey? just my thoughts.

When Jack was speaking the truth last night, my respect for him went up even further. Loved the shot at Magic "Fake Smile" Johnson.

But I couldn't help worrying this might be a swan song for him? I didn't read those articles last week, just caught the summarization from you guys.

Great post and comments, good people respect other good people, hence the Jack love around here.

Perfect contrast to the Swirsk (who I also respect).

Surprise, TJ playing well...good to see though.

TJ perceived arrogance or not, the bottom line is winning basketball games. I am not saying TJ is the better of the two, just maybe that the Raptors are a better team with Jose coming off the bench.
I say Marcia was right because she stated that by season's end the Raptors would put TJ back as the starter, something I did not agree with at the time - it now appears she was right(at least for last two games).

i just saw the highlights on Roko Ukic, can someone tell me why we can have him backing up Jose next year and trde TJ ......after all we do have rights to Roko Ukic.

Tinman,

Marcia doesn't post that Jose come off the bench and TJ start because it makes the team better overall. She posts that TJ is better and therefore should be the starter and that Jose should break an ankle...enough said!

Even though TJ was on the floor for that 14 point run, Sam should have called a timeout after about 6 points.

I just can't see how Lebron is not even getting a sniff of mvp voting when he is averaging 31- -8-8! He's a distant 3rd or fourth after kobe, paul and kg. 31-8-8! I guess everyone has decided he will win one eventually... guess that's why kobe is gonna win it, cause he got screwed a couple of years ago.

RE last nights game, I thought Bosh was having a terrible game then I looked up and saw he had like 30 points. Those were the quietest points ever!

There's something remarkable about that, but at the same time it shows he really needs a dominant game changing compliment if this team will ultimately be successful.

I don't want to sound like a TJ apologist, but with all this tj hate, I think I may have to.

Look at it from his perspective. TJ is drafted with the 9th pick and plays well in his rookie season. In his second year (I think) he has a crazy injury and in the mean time, mo Williams becomes an intriguing player for the bucks. TJ comes back and returns to old form. But in the offseason the Bucks either think MO>TJ or they really liked Charlie and thought mo could do an adequate job (Maybe both). Then he's traded to Toronto where he's made a "Franchise cornerstone" with good friend Chris Bosh. Last year went ok, but again a back up point guard gives him some competition. So in the offseason he works his a$$ off, and comes into this season playing at his best. But again, another untimely injury happens, and when he comes back he isn't given the starting job, HE EARNED in the off season. I mean maybe he is a spoiled immature brat; maybe he's not as great guy like caldy. But I hope everybody can see why he might not have taken his second undeserved demotion so well. I don't know TJ, but I don't believe in the whole Body Language theory, cuz we have no frame of reference. Look at Carlos, Mitchell said he has a laid back temperament, but if you didn't know that, you might believe he's not intense, he's lazy etc. TJ might just have crappy body language, some people do. And now with all this tj hate, everybody is seeing what they want to see (Pointing AB to the bench for example). I mean, Camman Guys this is getting a tad ridiculous. He's a good pg, just different from our beloved Calderon. Let’s cut him some slack, and not focus on every play/minute/practice/interview.

Sorry Tinman. I posted after your explanation!!!

Simply because TJ's contract and questionable health status would make him a risk for any team to take on.

Am capable of knocking his selfish play of late but also see his potential. Lets not give up on him too soon. Lets put the past behind and appreciate that Calderon appears to accept coming off the bench. Its up to Sam to ensure that Jose, my choice for team MVP this season, gets his minutes.

The last two games, when we've gone with two PG's, we've played well. The cohesion has been much better.

The way I see it we are playing either the Cavs or the Magic first round. Neither of our playoff matchups are strong defensively. An upset against either team mentioned is not out of the question.When we are on, we are a tough matchup..

Lets hope we finally get on that roll we've been waiting for. We are just about 100% healthy. Maybe we can be an X factor going into the playoffs. Time to get rolling guys.

Jack is flat out awesome. I hope he doesn't pull a Dan Shulman and get lured away to greener pastures. It would be a crying shame to lose someone with his personality and analysis. I've met Jack a few times and he's been as great in person as he is on the air.

Jack's a stand up guy and the Raptor broadcast crew CANNOT afford to lose him (Paul Graham on the other hand ....).

And of course the Raptors are a better team with TJ starting. But that's only because TJ refused to play to his capabilities coming off the bench. I hate it when a player forces the hand of an organization in this manner. It's part of a larger problem with modern day sports that will never go away. Just have to accept it, i guess.

Go Tar Heels!

By the way, does anybody else find it completely assanine when Paul Johnson says "The Raptors bring the ball up the floor, moving left to right on your radio"???

(^^^ I meant Paul Jones)

Short term wins aside, I think that it is dangerous to let players dictate playing time and the starting line-up by trying or not trying, pouting/not pouting.

Vince Carter may win a round or two, but he will never win a championship because of his antics. I think that champions need to give 100% effort all of the time to get into the rhythm of winning, and to have the momentum to win 4 playoff rounds.

Love all the positive comments about Jack, he is a huge plus to the team and I hope they take note of fan sites like this, which I believe are one of the best barometers for judging fan sentiment. And judging by what I read, there is overwhelming support to keep him in the Raps organization.

I went to my first Raps game live on March 14th against the Wizards. When we walked in, they were on commercial during the pre-game show, I walked-up beside the cameras, half-cut, and proceeded to give my loudest and best "Hellllo!!". Jack instantly cracked a smile and looked over at me and my buddies, before a guard came over and scolded me for being lould. A part of the trip I"ll never forget.

you can say all you want about how well tj has played since hes been back in the starting lineup, and if jose is content to come off the bench, then maybe we shouldnt give up on ford yet and we might still have that deadly one-two punch at the pg position....but the bottom line here is that calderon is a restricted free agent, and BC has gone on record numerous times saying that he will still be in a raptors uniform next year...then on the other hand you have TJ ford who has gone on the record recently sayin that he is a starter and will always be a starter...and that he will also not be content with splitting minutes...cause he thinks hes one of the best point guards in the east..and that this year was an exception.

so anyone else see the problem here?

im pretty sure we can all agree that jose has proven to be a solid starter, even all star calibre, so hes either gonna be the most expensive backup pg that plays 10 minutes a game or TJ is gonna be moved this offseason.

cause if tj wants to be the starter and not split minutes...hes gonna have to do it somewhere else

WTF - Plus/minus is sort of a tricky stat and las night was a perfect example. As Howland mentioned, in the late second quarter TJ was doing a great job getting into the paint and creating looks for his team-mates. But they just kept settling for jump shots that were bricks (Andrea especially) and so while Toronto stopped scoring, New York cut into the lead...hence the +/- difference. Wasn't necessarily that Ford was doing anything wrong.

On the MVP topic, Kobe's game last night is the perfect reason he's a top candidate for Most Unstoppable Player, but not MVP. He puts up over 50, yet his club still loses to Memphis.

Sharpy - Glad you touched on the "halftime" events.

The girl who won the $11,000 actually did an amazing job. Even the 3 pointer and half court shot were on line, just a little short!

Too bad Rogers was sponsoring the whole thing, they could have taken that $11,000 and improved their customer service.

So hands up...who would have tried to trade the cheque for the Dance Pack member holding it? I don't ever remember seeing her before either...or maybe it was just those boots that threw me off...

Jack Jack Jack. I've emailed RaptorsTV about him. Have you?

Sooo.....if TJ was to leave, how would it affect Chris Bosh, who was an influential factor in bringing him here in the first place. I like to think that our star player is mature enough to deal with such a transition, but he is still young and breaking up the Texas duo could be dangerous in terms of keeping our most asset in good spirits.