I believe you can be a supporter of both, for one, I believe I am. As a matter of facts they both play for the Raptors, don’t they? However I am sure you can see Andrea, on this board, is constantly over scrutinized by some, where Chris for the the same shortcomings, by the same people, gets a free pass. Like it or not, Andrea is an integral part of this team success which happened more because of him than in spite of him.

So I do not think there are people here believing you cannot be supporting both of our young bigs, most (like me) are just, really, shooting the (biased) messenger.

Great article, I agree that this let’s trade bosh and build around AB or vice versa is just retarded. I don’t see what the problem is having both here to build around there’s not too many teams that have a 5 time allstar PF and a rising and improving center, with a good PG situation and a young and improving rookie in derozan the skys the limit for this. So let’s enjoy what we have instead of thinking let’s trade this guy or that..oh and congrads to bosh for being named eastern conference player of the week

Great Article…I always wonder why Raps fans always have to have some kind of contraverse to whine about. Its your team and you can like as many players as you want on the squad. Its ok to like Bosh and Bargs, Jack and Jose, DD and Weems, Hedo and Amir, there is no law that says if you like one you can’t like the other. The last time a check its always 5 players on the floor at a time. Every good team has at least 3 really good contributors if they want to advance. Bosh and Bargs are great together they know each other. I remember a couple years back it was Bosh who lit the fire under Bargs and got him going, when Sam was on his case. I love the way the Raps are built right now. The bench is good, the starting line up has one allstar and a potential 2 other allstar with Bargs and Hedo. Raps are in a position right now to make a move and I remember a few games ago the fans was booing Hedo because he miss his first shot of the game with about a minute into the game. Thats’ just showing ignorance when it comes to bb in Canada. So lets show the league that the Raps is our team through thick and thin not just through the thick……raps4life

Perhaps Raptors fans are just assuming Bosh will leave (they’re the most pessimistic fans in the league, in my opinion), and perhaps not liking him is their way of making his parting easier.

Personally, I don’t think he’s going anywhere, and if he re-signs, I can’t wait to read the comments from not only pessimistic fans, but also the American media, wondering how on earth they could have been wrong.

Speaking of Bosh, if he does go, the Raptors are going to be in huge trouble. He’s become the only indispensable player on the team.

Great piece
http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/tim_chisholm/?id=308279

does anyone have a good stream that I can watch the game on, online. I will be out of town tonight and I want to watch it on my laptop

Well written. Although I can’t see that the ‘lack of love’ for CB4 from fans is due to a greater belief in Bargs.

I would say this: The true Raps fans, meaning anyone who watches and follows them day-in, day-out, loves Bosh, and truly appreciates his big talent. These types of knowledgeable basketball fans see him put up a ‘quiet’ 24 and 12 in a game, and realize he was the reason we won said game, even if Jack’s key lay-ups or Andrea’s 3’s were more noticeable.

But there are those who follow the Maple Leafs day-in and day-out and watch every couple Raps games, and if they are winning will follow them more. Notice I didn’t say bandwagon jumper, because that’s not what they are, they are Raps fans too. It’s just the kind of person if there’s a Leafs game and a Raps game on at the same time, they’ll watch Leafs. I think this is the type of fan that will make noise about Bosh not being THAT great. This is the type of fan who doesn’t truly believe in the organization, and therefore does not believe in the Raptor’s ability to retain CB4 in the FA market at season’s end. Therefore, since they believe if they do fall head over heels for Bosh they will inevitably be crushed by his decision to sign with another team next year (ala Vince). So they convince themselves that Bosh isn’t that good anyways.

I wish I could do that. Please don’t leave Mr. Bosh.

LosBillesdeBuffalo …I couldn’t have said it better myself. I read through a lot of these post and i can clearly defrenciate between the real raps fans from the other raps fans and LosBillesdeBuffalo you put it best when you say…if there is raps game and a leaf game…the fans that watch the leafs would be the ones morely likely to make those off the wall comments about Bosh. I have been saying it all along Bosh is not going anywhere and neither is Lebron or DWade.

This game seems like one of those trap games Franchise writes about. It’s not back-to-back, but it’s home & home, which is maybe even harder to sweep – and this is the away part of it for the Raps. They have to bring 48 minutes tonight to win, no quarters off.

Up until the last 20 games or so, lets be honest, it sure didn’t look like they could ever play together.

Lets not re-write history.

I am the first to admit that I was critical of Bosh up until this year. Part of my critizism, was spurred by the fact that since the very begining, most fans seemed so quick to forgive his weakneses while being equally quick to jump on someone else for the same thing. It was also this pedistal that many had him up on. The fact was that the team ,up until this year, was designed to run the offence thru him everytime especially in crunch time and he was a failure more often than not. Most frustrating was his inability to pass out of the post. This year has seen a whole new attutude and energy with Bosh and I am the first to ackowledge the better play. Within the fan group there seems to be a “negative” group who look for something to pick at – Jose’s D or Bargs rebounding.
I still see things I don’t like about Bosh’s play but in the context of his whole game , they are minor. The guy is a star overall.

I don’t honestly think that any reasonable Raptors fan would say that Chris Bosh is not a good to great player. I do understand how sometimes seeing him play so well so consistently can cause some to take him for granted.

Fine, this is a winning team now and Bosh’s play has a lot to do with it, but the question that deserves asking is this, is this a championship contending team if left alone to marinate in its own juices or are additional ingredients needed?

How do we get those additional ingredients?

Here’s another analogy:

You have a very expensive T-bone steak, a few nice vegetables, and a potato. The T-bone is fantastic, the meal is decent but you realize you can’t afford dessert given how much was spent on the T-bone. You’re okay with that. But imagine if this was the case for the next five years? Eventually you wonder what dessert might taste like to the point of yearning for it, but alas, you have a great T-bone, some vegetables and a potato and just live with the now limited enjoyment it provides.

Question

Would we be satisfied if our team turns out to be the Utah Jazz of the east, perennial playoff participant but never serious championship contender? I don’t know how I’d feel about that. I guess we have to wait and see.