Tip-In - Toronto Raptors' Post Game - Just Enough

Not sure I understand why there is so much negativity.
We are not a championship team at this point…BUT we are playing significantly better, are one of the hottest teams right now (yes the schedule has been easier but it all evens out) and are on pace to win in the high 40’s games this year….did anyone expect more after the last horrible season.
We are not a great defensive team…BUT are vastly improved from earlier in the year. How is the fact that the Wiz took 18 more shots a sign of bad defense? We outrebounded them and committed the same number of turnovers. The reasons for the shot discrepency are: 1. We were getting to the free throw line (a good thing) and 2. They were throwing up useless last second shot attempts every quarter (great clock management).
Why the hate on Turk. Yes we overpaid him but the contract is what it is. We can’t take it back so lets not complain when he plays well. Yes the ball was in his hands but he only committed two turnovers all game, made two of his last three shots down the stretch and had 4 rebounds in the fourth quarter…nothing to complain about.

That was a tremendously exciting, character-showing win, against a very athletic team, without our franchise player. The last six minutes (winning time) might have been the best of the season.

One of the best things about it for me was how pumped CB4 looked on the bench. When we talk about things that might contribute to him wanting to stay or go in the offseason, my guess is that every game like this one gives us a better chance to re-sign him.

I know some of the HQ has taken a very public position that the Jack-Calderon-Turkoglu lineup is a mistake. But last night it worked great and turned a loss into a win. Maybe it depends on whether CB4 is in the lineup?

In any event, I would have written this post very differently. You really can’t say enough about Jarrett Jack. The team had no offense, so he took it upon himself with a 7-0 run when down 100-91. Hitting all four FTs was huge. Then, Hedo made several huge plays down the stretch — the hip-check on the inbounds pass that turned into a three point play that gave the Raptors the lead was a great example of his high BBIQ. His cuts and drives had good authority and he finished around the rim with both hands. He also showed that drive-across-the-lane-ten-footer a few times.

Horrible, horrible start to the game at least on D. Plus ca change…

Have we now beaten the “back to back” curse with victories over the Nets and Wiz(albeit a re-energized Wiz team)?

Offence seemed to move away from Bargnani in the second half. His blocks were huge down the stretch. Turned the game around.

Cut Hedo some slack. Team is winning. Ugly? Sure, but team is winning. He is our “ace in the hole” waiting to be played.

Jack looked out of control making them buckets at the end. Tunnel visioned. Was very close to being the goat.

I agree with everyone here, the negativity of this post is confusing.hell what would had happened if they lost cause by the way you wrote this it seems that they did.and complaining about hedo when I think he played a good game overall makes no sense..ya he had the ball and looking for his shot a lot umm hello that’s what we brought him in for was for that reason and he still dished out assists.if we would have lost it would have hurt but teams lose look at the cavs..they got smoked by the bobcats,they were at full strength and the cats are in like 7th place in the east.I don’t think their panaking yet.idk maybe posting more positive things on a great game and a great team win would have been better than acting like we lost by 30 like the 76ers last nite..damn I’d hate to be a philly fan right now lol

I thought Amir, Sonny and Reggie all showed their limitations last night. This isn’t to say they haven’t performed way above expectations this year — they have (well, Amir and Sonny have; let’s give Reggie an ‘incomplete’). But playing well against backups is not the same as performing well against the opponent’s starters. This is one reason the “why isn’t Weems starting instead of Hedo” talk is a little crazy.

Anyways, what am I going to do for the next three days? I guess it’s Olympics until the Portland game. Oh, I guess there’s my job and family as well.

Man, you guys are stubborn.

You made up your mind you hate Hedo and you won’t let, you know, facts get in the way of your arguments. Take away his first game back from worrying about his mom, he’s been on a major role. Last night, it was he along with Jack and AB that were the reason we won.

We also need to move away from the money discussions. It’s getting annoying. There is a place and time for salary discussions, such as trade time or cap space considerations. But on a game to game basis, I could give a rats ass what a player makes. What I care about is what he brings to the floor. The fact he is overpaid (which i don’t necessarily agree with) has no bearing on how many shots he made, how many opportunities he created. You need to give it a rest.

I was glad when I read the comments to see that most agree with me. It’s time to move beyond the summer of 2009 and deal with how he Hedo is currently performing.

Congratulations to Washington. I think they did a great job remaking their team. They are better than their record. They got a steal in Al Thornton and will be a very touch match up down the stretch. I’m glad we don’t have to play them again.

Great character win.

Great win, great win.
- Jack is special. He posesses that competitive fire and inate leadership skills. You can tell others on the team look to him and follow his lead and enthusiasm. Absolute steal by BC at $5 mil per year.

- My issue with Turk (er I mean Bol) is that he has been shifting blame for his sub-par play all season, claiming he doesn’t get the ball enough. However, he touches the rock and initiates the offense almost 80% of the time when he’s on the court… I just don’t get his rationale… What concerns me is Hedo can rarely beat his man off the dribble and expects to get bailed out by the refs on every drive. I seriously think he needs to loose about 20 pounds to be at his best. He’s playing too heavy right now and his quickness is limited.

- Bargani, Bargani, Bargani! I must say his play down the stretch defensively was boarderline spectacular! Though, even with CB4 out he has still only managed 6 rebounds in each of the two games… need more than that from your starting centre. But again, those blocks changed the game and were (in my opinion) key to the win.

and develop him as a legit go to guy. He does not need development from a technical stand point but he needs “pushing”. Yesterday was an example. He has shown he could torch WAS at will and he was ( and let himself to be) mostly ignored in the second half. he is as much to blame as the coaching staff. Actually the coaching staff is even more to blame as they can indeed just establish the game plan.

Interesting topic. I think, for some reason, Toronto fans are more likely to judge an athlete based on his salary. Obviously it’s great to get production from a young inexpensive player — it greatly increases your chances of being a good team, especially in a cap situation (NBA/NFL). That said, I look at a player’s salary as primarily a concern of the owners and the players. Hedo’s paycheque doesn’t affect (except extremely indirectly) what I have to pay to watch the Raps. Now if a contract is so bad as to threaten to destroy the team’s ability to compete in future years, you better be getting a major upgrade in the short term. But I don’t put that contract into that category. $11M is not such a huge portion of the cap as to really kill us down the road.

It’s kind of like people rating how good a movie is based on what it cost to make. When I was a kid, there was a Kevin Costner movie about a world made up almost entirely of water. Because it cost the huge sum of $50 million, everyone decided that for the money, it sucked. (see also, Ishtar). I think the more relevant factor is how much I had to pay for the ticket (or the DVD, or PPV, etc.).

Where I come down on Hedo is that he’s a huge upgrade over our starting 3 in the first half of last season (Moon, Jamario), and over what we would have been putting out on the floor if we hadn’t signed him (??? Marion? Wright?). So although I get frustrated by some of his games, it’s not because of his contract. He’s a major part of this extraordinarily enjoyable team to follow, so go Hedo.

Everybody is being so mean to Hedo! He is a great player, he’s just been having bad luck with everything going on in his life. He’s just a person. Emotions do affect him. These past two games, he’s been playing better because he’s got peace of mind about his personal situation.