Raptors Rapid Recap: Grizzlies 109 Toronto 102

by RaptorsHQ - Howland on Feb 17, 2010 10:09 PM EST in Game Day

- The Raps lost their first game back since the All-Star break and wasted some inspired play of CB4. Bosh was a terror on both ends of the court dominating the fourth quarter with key blocks and clutch baskets. Bill Simmons has him outside of the top 10 in terms of his annual trade value piece. I think Bill Simmons is mental. Tonight's line tells you why: 32 points (on .500 fg%, 1.000 ft%), 10 rebounds and 4 assists). If it wasn't for some bad rotations on the part of others in the dying moments of the fourth quarter this game would have been over with Bosh's jumper.

- So why did the Raps lose? Jay Triano and Hedo Turkoglu. Coach Triano's decisions last night completely baffled me. Early on he seemed to be sending a big message to his starters. That message? Play better, because if you don't we have guys who will gladly fill in. It was a strategy that seemed to work as the Raptors bench was stellar tonight, in particular Amir Johnson, Jose Calderon and Sonny Weems. The problem was Triano didn't stick to his guns. When the game was in the balance he re-inserted Andrea Bargnani and Hedo Turkoglu who played his worst game as a Raptor. The result? A bad loss.

- Hedo Turkoglu is a complete free agent bust at this moment in time. For a guy who is supposed to bring offense, a killer mentailty and some crunch time scoring he has done none of the above. He had one point last night in 27 minutes of action. He had more personal fouls than assist, rebounds and points. He was a huge liability on the defensive end. Frankly, BC has less than 24 hours to fix this mistake because this team plays better without Mr. Fourth Quarter. Triano simply has to play the guys who are getting it done regardless of their pay checks. Turkoglu should be finding a seat beside Patrick O'Bryant and Marcus Banks.

- The Grizz are just a solid team despite the recent losing skid. Much like Portland, they are finally seeing some of their young guys develop into solid NBA players. Tonight was the perfect example as Rudy Gay, Mike Conley and OJ Mayo were all clutch down the stretch. If they could add some depth to their bench before the deadline they could really be a factor for the rest of the year.

- Look for an in-depth recap from Franchise who was at the game last night and will hopefully have an opportunity to ask some tough questions to Triano.

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Comments

colangelo should pay hedo not to play thts how much i hate him and i think the rest of the fans dont hate him if colangelo cant trade him which is most likley i think we need to give hedo some DNP’s like we did to antoine to set him straight

by raptors_run_the_show on Feb 17, 2010 10:23 PM EST reply actions

Hedo must go…. He should just leave…..

I noticed that he was the first guy to escape through the tunnel – it’s a pity that he can’t keep on walking out of the stadium and off a very short pier…..

by Jenge on Feb 17, 2010 10:31 PM EST reply actions

Hedo, Bargnani and Johnson

Hedo sucked period.
Bargnani unfortunately had what was him a terrible shooting night. HIs defense was not as good as it needs to be. However, if he had a few more shots during regulations, actually just one more, the Raptors would have won.

Johnson played his best game as a Raptor. When he came in with about 3 minutes left in the 1st quarter the Raptors were down 28 – 16. In the first half during his 7 or so minutes on the court the Griz did not get one field goal.

Johnson finished with 10 points on 5 – 5 shooting including an 20 foot jumper from the top of key, had 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in less than 18 minutes. He was a plus 27 on the night. Definitely his best game as a Raptors player.

by Buddahfan on Feb 17, 2010 10:39 PM EST reply actions

Hedo's numbers

Minutes Played 29:16
3 Turnovers
3 Fouls
2 Assists
1 Rebound
-29 on the Floor
1 Point Scored (and that was from the freethrow line)

Jeezus./

by Jenge on Feb 17, 2010 10:47 PM EST up reply actions

LOL thats a -1 on the floor for every minute he stepped on the court….thats TERRIBLE

by HDave on Feb 17, 2010 10:49 PM EST up reply actions

Hedo has a confidence issue

And his teammates need to pick him up. They need this guy and he can perform for them. I think his fat paycheck and expectations are weighing him down. In Orlando, the guy was a mid level exception player who over achieved, and now he is over paid and under achieving and its killing his confidence which a player of his nature depends on. Pick and rolls with Bargs should work to perfection. The coach needs to play to Hedo’s strengths and get him some confidence before its too late and he becomes a high priced cheerleader…

by Eric9321 on Feb 18, 2010 3:53 PM EST up reply actions

Hedo’s man Gay went on a scoring spree at the end of the game while Hedo himself decided to chuck some terrible 3ptrs while both GASOL AND RANDOLPH HAD 5 FOULS!!??!!?!

5 FOULS!!!!!

Simplest strategy in basketball!!!! two big men with 5 fouls means some pretty weak defense or one of them fouling out…

i’m so mad right now

by Andre D on Feb 17, 2010 10:46 PM EST reply actions

There was one occasion in OT (i believe) where hedo had the ball and had basically no one between him and basket and instead he decided to stop the ball and pass it off. Seriously? if you have basically an open lane to drive YOU DRIVE.

by dchoubak on Feb 17, 2010 11:18 PM EST up reply actions

Turk

I was at the game and it was extremely painful to watch at times. For the life of me, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY TURKOGLU PLAYED THE ENTIRE OT PERIOD. I mean, Jay Triano’s not that stupid so the only reason would be that turk got the PT because colangelo wanted him to. I actually have no reason why he was in. When a guy has a line of 1-1-2 and is 0-5 shooting, there is NO REASON why he should be playing over someone like Amir Johnson who was an absolute beast at both ends of the floor.

I want my money back for tonight’s game as i feel like the only reason we lost was a horrible rotation.

by dchoubak on Feb 17, 2010 11:14 PM EST reply actions

Last part of my rant...

How is that Randolph and Gasol both played the entire OT with 5 fouls each and not a single raptor drove on them to try to have them foul out? I have no explanation for how badly the raptors screwed up tonight. Very bad game planning.

by dchoubak on Feb 17, 2010 11:19 PM EST up reply actions