A current theme on the website this year has been analyzing trends within and around the Toronto Raptors. Adam wrote a great piece the other day about the definition of insanity and why fans should stop expecting this year's team to surprise them. Last night was another case of déjà vu as the Raptors played well enough for parts of the game but ultimately came undone.
The wheels have been falling off late in the fourth quarter as of late. The car began to skid a bit earlier this time around. The Raptors found themselves in foul trouble early in the third and the Grizzlies quickly built a lead that would prove insurmountable.
Memphis played like a team deserving of their upper echelon status. They won the rebounding battle by 13 and scored 14 more points in the paint. They were chasing every lose ball and attacking the offensive glass at every opportunity. Their heartbreaking loss to the Clippers in the playoffs last year seems to have given them a renewed sense of focus and the Grizzlies were playing like a veteran team. They knew when to exploit certain mismatches and went about the game like it was a training exercise.
Their individual players are either good or very good. It’s hard to pick out a particularly elite player on their squad. Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph are all very good players who are capable of playing like elite studs on any given night.
There really isn't much to say regarding this loss. It was a "typical" 2012-13 Raptors game. Twitter seemed to be heating up during that third quarter and fans were making their feelings known to various team-related accounts. Some of the tweets that I saw were ridiculously comical. If seeing a top 5 list at the end of certain recaps that highlights some ridiculous things that observers are saying is something that you would want to see than please let it be known in the comments below!
Noteworthy Occurrences
- Leo Rautins ate fast food for lunch yesterday and washed it all down with a Mountain Dew.He is also a fan of the old red, white and blue basketballs that they currently use as the 5th ball in the 3 Point Competition. This is now common knowledge
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Jerryd Bayless' new haircut makes him look like a skinnier version of the rapper Common.
- The best thing Linas Kleiza brought to the table was that awesome peacoat he wore to the stadium.
- It could be worse. You could be an Argos fan... wait a minute.