Tip-In: Toronto Raptors' Post-Game Report - Bloody and Broken
by Raptors HQ - Vicious D on Apr 7, 2010 8:30 AM EDT
in Tip-In (Post Game Reports)
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PrintBy now, everyone knows that Chris Bosh was accidentally knocked in the face by an errant Antawn Jameson elbow. The final score of 113-101 is almost inconsequential as Chris Bosh may have played his final game as a Raptor, leaving in a heap.
First, some good news.
How about those Chicago Bulls?
With the Bulls losing to the Bucks, it means that the Raptors have not lost any ground and ---
I can't say it.
This is it, folks. In my opinion, Chris Bosh will not come back from this injury this year and it may very well be the final time we see the top Raptor in just about every statistical category. With a broken nose and fracture on his maxilla, CB4 left in the first few minutes just pouring out blood before being taken to a CAT scan. The errant elbow was thanks to Antawn Jameson in the middle of traffic, and Jameson, of course, did not encounter any reprecussions for his actions.
No, it wasn't a dirty play, but no one on the Raptors even bothered to even put him on his butt.
Meanwhile, Chris Bosh will not be able to return without getting a mask put into place to protect his nose and his upper jaw. If he were to come back in the playoffs, (if the Raptors even make it there) it would have to be with the utmost protection and with the time to get used to his new situation.
Which is why this may very well have been Mr. Bosh's final game as a Raptor.
And if this is all she wrote, I can't say I blame him. Heck, this guy lost his nose and upper jaw to being a Raptor, on top of all those times he's had to carry this team on his back.
I'm still in disbelief about this injury, but there was still a game that we have to talk about.
The Raptors, thankfully, at least made a game of it up until the half way point. Jarrett Jack and Amir Johnson were largely responsible for making sure the Raptors were not down by more than the two points they were at halftime. And if you were wondering about how your 2010-2011 Raptors would look like, for at least the the first half, the Raptors played with some purpose.
That would all come for naught by the time the second half rolled around. Taking a huge gamble, Jay Triano inserted Hedo Turkoglu to start at the power forward position; a configuration that we have not seen all year. While Turkoglu completed a few good moves on the offensive side, the Cavaliers completely scored with indifference to the Raptors defense. It didn't matter if it was LeBron James, Mo Williams, Antawn Jameson, or J.J. Hickson, the Raptors had no interior presence to counter the Cavs. By the time Triano inserted Amir Johnson, it was too late. The Raptors were down by double figures and could never close the gap again.
It didn't end there though. One of our best defenders also went down with a sore ankle. With Antoine Wright doing his best Mo Pete/Anthony Parker imitation, Wright simultaneously provided some spark of offense with his three-pointers and defended LeBron James adequately. When Wright went down with his sore ankle, there was no way the Raptors were going to come out with a victory.
Now the Raptors will go on to play the Boston Celtics tonight. Without Bosh, the Raptors will need a near perfect performance to take out the Celtics and continue to pressure the Bulls. However, it almost makes it academic at this point. Can the Raptors possibly hope to take on the Cavaliers without Bosh? I don't think so. If the Raptors get a proper indication of how long Bosh will be out for and if this will spell the end of his 2009-2010 campaign.
It may be sacrilegious to say so, but I'd almost rather want the Raptors to tank it in their final games in order to secure a lottery position if Bosh will not make a return. Without their star player, there is no benefit to making the playoffs other than to pad the pockets of MLSE.
So in lieu of my 3 keys, I'm just going to say this:
Just Lose.
It'll be better for all of us in the long run, even though it's a bitter pill to swallow.
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No, don't lose
If the Raptors make the playoffs, their pick goes to Miami this year. If they don’t make the playoffs, they keep their (10th-ish) pick this year, and next year when they’ll really suck without Bosh*, Miami gets their (much higher) pick.
So, it’s better that the Raptors win and get in, even if they don’t do anything. Our rebuild will be delayed a year but at least we’ll have a decent lottery pick to work with after the horror show of next season.
- My assumption is now switched over to believing that he will leave.
No. The pick is lottery protected. LOTTERY PROTECTED. Meaning that if the Raptors are in the lottery, Miami has no ability to take the pick.
Kinnon "Vicious D" Yee
Author - RaptorsHQ.com Twitter @RapHQVicious
by Raptors HQ - Vicious D on Apr 7, 2010 10:00 AM EDT up reply actions
Lottery Protected
For a limited time…
Eventually (after 4 years?) they get the pick even if its 1st overall.
by dhackett1565 on Apr 7, 2010 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions
Exactly
The next four years could be lean ones so I’d prefer they miss this year and retain that lottery protection for as long as possible…because if Bosh leaves it could take another three or four seasons to climb out of the “hole that Bryan dug.”
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
Swingin the elbows
I did not see how Bosh went down with the injury, but I don’t think that Jamison had any bad intention. I remember last week, Doug Smith said that he despises players that commit hard fouls. The Tie Domi’s of the basketball world are almost non-existent now. In the 80’s and 90’s, I will argue that basketball was at its pinnacle, with your typical “thug” teams (Knicks, Pistons, Heat). The new rules that enable NBA divas to go to the net with little or no contact is hurting the game. Don’t get me wrong, I am not for injuring players. I am more for sending a clear message, that it will be a challenge to drive to the bucket.
I watched some of the college tornament and the refs allow so much more contact than the NBA. You have to be literally on you butt to get a call. David Stern needs to seriously consider review petty calls that only run up the score.
Less athletic players also take worse falls. See every Hedo Turkoglu highlight where he drives to the basket.
Dr. Lebron
He’s a friend of mine and an Olympic teammate," James said. "You hate to see that happen to anybody, especially this late in the season when they’re trying to make a push for the playoffs. He may have to wear a mask or something."
Hopefully Bosh can get back for the Chicago game.
re: Bosh, playoffs, draft pick
Bosh
Don’t think the injury or a last minute run to the eighth seed in the playoffs will have an impact in his decision making. Paraphrasing Brian Burke, you evaluate the whole movie not just the last few minutes.
Playoffs
I’ve always been a card-carrying member of tank nation, when a chance exists to better the long term lot of a franchise. Not saying you bench a healthy all-star, but giving lesser lights on the bench a bigger role can often accomplish the same goal while also giving the team more information on how players handle larger roles. However, I think the events of this past season have already given most of the players on the roster a chance at rotation minutes. Belli had a chance in the rotation, DeRo started a chunk of the season, Weems has carved a spot in the rotation, and Amir has picked up minutes in Evans absence. The other non-starters on the bench are either veterans (Evans, Rasho, Banks) or players that don’t factor into the big picture (POB). Joey Dorsey was such a late addition, that I doubt he can be brought up to speed to the point where he fits in with everyone else on the court.
I’m not sure how big of a range there is between the Raptors actively tanking, and the Raptors fielding a lineup sans their best player. And with an injury to Wright, this ensures increased doses of DeRozan and Weems anyway.
Siggian,
The pick is lottery protected until 2015. There is also merit in having young players with the team when there is an abundance of minutes to be had. Gives you a chance to see what you have the same way we did with DeRozan. I have a feeling that our rebuild was started in a small way this year. Giving a freshman as raw as DeRozan rotation minutes was a move made to give him a head start on next season. BC, like any GM, has plans A,B,C,D, etc. And its entirely possible that he has been running a few concurrently since the 2009 offseason, due to the uncertainty of Bosh’s return.
True enough
I’d agree a lot with the point you make about the range between now and the Raptors actually tanking because I’d also say that Triano has lucked into his “good lineups” thanks to injuries or other incidents happening (ie suspensions).
Kinnon "Vicious D" Yee
Author - RaptorsHQ.com Twitter @RapHQVicious
by Raptors HQ - Vicious D on Apr 7, 2010 10:03 AM EDT up reply actions
What are they going to do now??
All the Bosh critics that post comments on this site won’t have anything to complain about. I think it’s good actually… I mean we all knew that even if the Raps made the playoffs, they would lose to Cleveland and Bosh would probably sign elsewhere or request a sign and trade. Maybe this last stretch of games will show them how bad this team actually is without him, and they will remember him for the class act he was in Toronto, rather than put unfair expectations on a star PF in a league where guards and SFs are dominant. Let’s start Amir at PF and see how much better he does at putting the ball in the bucket. Lord knows our guards (other than Jack) and small forwards won’t do it.
BOSH
I feel for CB4, I feel for the Raps and I feel for us the fans. I hope Bosh is OK health wise and the damage to his face does not force him to wear a mask for the rest of his career like Rip in Detriot. But the way Bosh was bleeding does not look good. Everyone is saying that it was an accident its was not intentional but you know what it very well could be, you have to be careful with your elbows on how you through them, if bringing down your elbow can cause contact you keep them up until the player is out of the way, that accident should have been called by the refs but Toronto gets no respect from these stinking nba refs.
My take is this, if the Cavs decide to rest Lebron or some of their starters against Chicago then that would be reason to believe that they would rather play chicago instead of the Raptors which would lead me to believe that the accident was intentionally trying to get Bosh out should in case the Raps ended up being the 8th seed. Cleveland does not want to take any chances in the first round and getting rid of Bosh gaurantees a first round victory, with Bosh it could be a little harder or even an upset. Nobody dreamt that GSW would beat Dallas if you catch my drift…..I’m just saying……..Raps4life
Question -
What does TSN have against basketball?
http://www.thestevenetwork.ca/2010/04/07/stevecentre-wed-what-does-tsn-have-against-basketball/
the answer
get direct tv and get some real sport channel……tsn only hire hockey reporters
Or...
Get NBA league pass through Rogers. I can watch every single basketball game every night of the week. It’s amazing. I don’t even bother with TSN or Sportsnet anymore. Can’t even remember the last time I watched either. I also tune into the Score every once in a while though.
Rogers’ version of NBA League Pass is a sick joke. They don’t even carry all the games. And most of the ones they do are broadcast in STANDARD definition! (when you know the HD version of the game is readily available)
The Score has really nailed it with their Court Surfing program though… even if it means putting up with Sherm on occasion.
by RaptorsHQ - Defensive Stance on Apr 7, 2010 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions
I haven’t even read this yet and totally agree. I’ve always said it should be THN – The Hockey Network. So ridiculous. Yes, actual games played on the channel are far more frequent now than years ago – but if they TRULY cared, there would be a lot more coverage in terms of highlights…and…um…someone other than Rod Black hosting.
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
Rod Black is terrible. They couldn’t hire someone that actually KNOWS the sport? You have to hand it to The Score though, they do a great job with basketball coverage. We’ve come a long way from watching the occasional game on the New VR!
The New VR
What a reference!
by RaptorsHQ - Defensive Stance on Apr 7, 2010 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions
i hope bosh requests a sign and trade so atleast we can get back some youn talnet for him and a good pick
by raptors_run_the_show on Apr 7, 2010 4:41 PM EDT reply actions
If bosh doesn’t want to leave 30 million on the table he has only 2 choices either sign back with the raps or get a sign and trade done.and with all the knocks on BC he does know talent if we do have a sign and trade I’m sure we’ll get good pieces back for bosh for sure
by sherwin316 on Apr 7, 2010 5:07 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
It's not 30
The 30 difference the media keeps referencing includes an addition year. This assumes that Bosh can not get a contract at the end of the one he is about to sign. In reality, he will likely be able to get some decent coin on a 2 or 3 year deal at that point and the $30M disappears.
If they actually want to win tonight...
they have to go small. Sure this failed in epic fashion against Cleveland last night, but Boston is alot older and alot slower; playing on a back-to-back and just lost to a team that’s conventional lineup is small.
Go small. Try to run them. It’s our only shot.
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