I didn’t see yesterday’s game. I didn’t listen to it on the radio, nor did I catch the game in an hour. I checked the score once during the game on my iPhone, (29-28 Detroit at the time) and at about 11:00 to see the final score. I didn’t read the box score, didn’t watch Raptors Post-up or even Sportscentre.

All I did was skim Doug Smith’s blog coverage and his game story this morning. It seems pretty clear: I didn’t miss much, did I?

Looks like the Raps hung tough in the first half before completely imploding in the third, then leading to extended garbage time in the fourth. So, they couldn’t even make it exciting for those that did watch… that’s disappointing. Overall it sounds like a dud of a game.

All thoughts of the two teams’ respective records and success (or lack thereof) aside, you know you’re gonna see games like this around this time of year - boring, no flow, missed shots, bad defense… the league always bogs down a bit in the month or so before the all-star break. Unfortunately, if you’re the Raptors and desperate for a win, that sort of game is the opposite of what you need right now… but it’s true what they say, that losing breeds losing. Sigh.

The Raptors desperately need a win right now, just in terms of their psyche. They won’t continue to play hard if things keep going south like this; it’s just human nature, no matter how much money you get paid or how “professional” you are: in a poisonous work atmosphere, success becomes that much more difficult.

Basically, the Raptors need to catch a break or two to help them snap this skid. Will it come Friday in Chicago, or will we have to wait until Sunday… or even longer?

Again, it doesn’t “matter” in the long-term scheme of things - the season is essentially over - it only matters in the short term, in terms of keeping the games fun and the fans entertained.

On the injury front, Jermaine O’Neal played last night. Looks like he finished with 11 points and one mere rebound… I guess he’s still getting his legs back. Jose missed ANOTHER game with The Hamstring That Won’t Heal (that’s nine of the last 10 now; what is he, the Rocco Baldelli of the NBA?), and now more bad news: Hump’s got a fracture fibula. That’ll be a good six weeks of recovery, I’d imagine. Sigh.

As for the trade front, still nothing happening, although supposedly, the Raps and Heat exchanged medical records yesterday. Yay for Internet rumours. Sigh. Wake me up when the deal goes down, eh? This has been the longest transaction in the history of sports.

Honestly, there doesn’t really seem to be much point anymore, anyway, except for the bottom line. MLSE gets to save a few bucks next season because Marion’s deal comes off the books and surely the team won’t sign any big money players this summer. Even with Marcus Banks on the roster, Will Solomon, Jamario Moon, Joey Graham and Anthony Parker will be gone, so replace them with Delfino and add a couple more minimum salary scrubs and the team payroll is about $10 million cheaper next year. MLSE executives rejoice! We’ll miss the playoffs but save a few bucks - two years in a row!! Sigh.

From a basketball standpoint, it doesn’t mean squat, not for this year (not for the Raps - if JO can stay on the court, he’ll be a huge help for the Heat). Marion makes the Raptors better, I don’t doubt that… but at this point, it’s just too late. Unless he helps the team go 28-10 the rest of the way the season is a failure, and there’s no way Marion makes that much difference, especially with Calderon on the shelf.

Then next year, well, Marion’s gone, and assuming all goes according to plan, your roster next year is Bosh, Bargnani, Kapono, Delfino, Calderon, Humphries, Banks, Jawai, and Ukic, as well as some more of those euro-scrubs that BC likes so much. Yeah, that’s probably good for 33-35 wins, right? Sigh.

OK, so maybe even MLSE can see you need at least one more decent player there, and with a payroll of ~$55 million, that’s possible, but it’s certainly not someone who’s gonna help them make any noise in the playoffs. Matt Barnes? Ben Gordon? Marvin Williams? Ron Artest!? (shudder). Williams would seem to be the best fit as he’s a natural SF but will he ever reach his potential?

Anyway, it’s all just speculation. But I will say this: The trust that the Raptors fan community has in BC is starting to erode, big-time. For me personally, I hope he stays in the job for many years to come, because regardless of what goes on between now and summer 2010, I still believe he’s the right guy for the job. But I know others are already seriously starting to doubt him. He doesn’t need to hit a home run right now, but he needs to do something between now and the start of the 09/10 season to start rebuilding that trust.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 10:57 am and is filed under Game Wrap-ups, Toronto Raptors.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.