As I’ve said before, if I’m going to watch my team lose, I at least hope the game is entertaining.

Last night’s game was nothing if not entertaining.

Really, it was a very enjoyable game, and obviously, I’d have enjoyed it more had the Raptors won, but at least I didn’t walk away saying “there’s three hours of my life I’ll never get back.” And it was so much better than the Raps-Nets OT game because the Celtics are good, and we know we’re supposed to lose to them. And, you know, Vince Carter wasn’t involved….

The Raptors played fairly well, I’ll give them credit. They hung tough for 50 minutes against the defending NBA champs, a team that’s beaten them three straight times. But in the end, talent wins out and the Celtics just have more, especially at the wing spots. The Raptors simply have no answer for Paul Pierce and Ray Allen and they hit the big buckets in overtime that put it away. Pierce got two easy, open looks that just killed the Raps. I don’t know what happened to the Raptors D in OT, I guess they just ran out of steam, because the Celtics scored 22 - after only scoring 19 in the fourth.

KG once again bitch-slapped Chris Bosh, but obviously I expected nothing less. I don’t understand why Bosh was allowing KG to get all up on him like that. Jack Armstrong said he should swing an elbow through KG’s grill, and as much as I’d love to see that, Chris doesn’t have it in him. But he could at least lower the shoulder, keep the center of gravity low, and get into some semblance of a triple threat position. Bosh could barely keep his balance with KG bodying him.

And yeah, he should have simply attacked. I know that’s not easy, but come on, if you drive when someone is that tight on you, you should be able to beat them or at least get a foul. Then again this is KG, the man every ref is scared of, so Bosh probably wouldn’t have gotten the calls…

According to Doug Smith, people are questioning the jump-ball call after KG blocked Joey Graham’s layup attempt with a minute left. KG made a sensational (and clean) block, no doubt about that. The thing was, I don’t think they were both locked on to the ball - not enough to justify the jump ball. And most importantly, the whistle blew well after the ball came loose! Anyway, tough call, but there were a lot of tough calls in that game, some that went our way, some that went theirs. I don’t have any real complaints about the officiating.

Andrea Bargnani had a pretty solid game. The Celtics did a good job switching and giving him different looks; Scalabrine, Powe, Davis and KG all guarded him. He missed a couple of chip shots that he might have rushed a bit, but he finished 9-20 for 23 points with 8 boards. Unfortunately, his usual solid D wasn’t quite up to snuff, or maybe he just doesn’t like guarding bigs on the outside, because he lost Scalabrine at the three-point line a number of times and Scalabrine burned us for three triples (and missed at least two more wide open looks).

Still, give the big man credit for nailing the clutch three. Credit to Kapono also, the best three-point shooter in the biz, for dishing it off the guy who’s been lights-out as of late (19 of his last 29 heading into last night’s game). Hopefully a solid game against the champs, and that huge shot, will help keep his confidence high going forward. What is that, now, 8 straight solid games for Bargnani? I’m not declaring him ready for primetime,

Parker did a better job on Allen last night, and he hit some shots of his own, including the three in OT that cut the lead to four - and he followed that up with a steal and dish to Kapono that would have cut the lead to one. I thought for sure that ball was dropping! Alas, it bounced out, and the game was over (although not before the Celtics pulled off some not-at-all-surprising-from-this-bunch-of-assholes bush league antics, alley-oop dunking the basketball with a second left. Wow. Talk about disrespect. Shame on them; Red Auerbach must be rolling in his grave. Big, big kudos to Jay Triano for calling that timeout following that incredibly juvenile play.)

You know, if there’s one thing this coaching staff should be preaching over and over in every practice and team meeting… it has to be “stop jumping at pump fakes!” I mean, seriously. How many times did Pierce get Moon and Parker in the air? Five? Eight?? Ridiculous. I just can’t understand why our players don’t get this. Sigh. Pierce finished with 39 but if Jamario could stay on his damn feet it would have been less.

Graham played hard again, but didn’t quite have the same energy as Sunday. Hump got a few minutes and played well, finally.

And then we come to the point guards. I will give Will Solomon credit, he was adequate tonight. I thought he and Roko both played OK, not great; both of them made key drives, and both took three-pointers that made every Raps fan cringe in agony… until they went in. Neither made bad turnovers and both played Rondo fairly well (he finished with 9 and 8). I give Jay Triano some credit for managing their subs, too; Roko played the start of the fourth and I assumed he’d finish, but he started to look a little tired, and missed a couple shots. Will came in and nailed a couple, and he stayed on until the halfway mark of OT when he got tired - a bad pass and carrying the ball on consecutive plays. So in came Roko, which turned out to be a great move - like Will, Rondo had been on since halfway through the fourth and was looking tired, so rested Roko’s energy was just what the Raps needed to stay alive as he blew by Rondo for consecutive layups (he ended up scoring nine of his 16 in OT). Unfortunately, it was too little too late, and the Raps ran out of time.

So, the Celtics complete the four-game sweep and we don’t have to worry about them again this season. The real question is: How do the Raptors respond? Do they get down on themselves for losing two tough ones in a row? Or do they feel good and confident, knowing they hung with the champs? In other words, do they let the losses get to them or do they build off the good things they did?

I’ve said before that this Raptors team appears mentally weak. They haven’t bounced back from tough losses well at all this year. But the fact that they played the Celtics so well on the second night of a back-to-back after clawing their way back into the first game… well, maybe they’ve turned that mental corner?

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Boston Celtics, Chris Bosh, Kevin Garnett, Toronto Raptors

Well, let’s just say I’m not looking forward to tonight’s game in Boston. Through three head-to-head matchups this season, it’s pretty clear - the Raptors just can’t hang with the Celtics.

The way the Raptors are intimidated by the Celtics is, frankly, a little embarrassing. I know they’re good and they’re the champs. But that’s no reason for our team to shrink like frightened turtles when the Celtics take the court! It’s been proven, particularly over the past two weeks, that they can be beaten. So why did the Raptors play scared?

I know Kevin Garnett is a great player and a good defender. But it’s shocking how easily he takes Chris Bosh completely out of the game. A little nudge here, a little grab there, scream in his ear… and Bosh is done. Is it any wonder the Raps made up 12 of the 20-point lead with Bosh on the bench in the fourth quarter?

Look, I love Bosh. He’s got all kinds of talent, he can do a ton of different things from all over the floor. But he can’t let himself be intimidated that way. And I know you can point to the stats and say he still averages 18 and 10 against them the past two years and that’s pretty good against the league’s best defensive team. Maybe so. But we all know there is more to the game than stats and anybody who’s watched a decent amount of basketball in their life can clearly see when a player is taken out of a game, mentally. And Bosh has that look every time he plays Garnett.

He hesitates. He holds the ball in a vulnerable spot, and his handle gets shaky when he puts it on the floor. The jump shots come up short. He drifts instead of getting deep position.

What’s most disappointing is that Garnett had a bad offensive night - and yes, I will give Bosh some credit for that - so if Bosh had simply taken it a little harder at Garnett the other way, we may have completely neutralized him. But we didn’t. Leo said it about 14 times during the broadcast, Garnett may be laying bricks, but he still has a huge impact on the game. Well that’s because the Raptors let him.

As for the rest of the team, well, Bargnani got jobbed by an early crap foul call, no surprise playing against the Celtics (who intimidate the refs the same way they intimidate other teams). That took him out of his rhythm, and maybe he was a little intimidated by the Celtics barking and hollering as well as he finished 5-14. But, he did turn it on in the fourth as he nailed a couple of threes, and he grabbed 9 boards. All in all, I’m disappointed he didn’t play better, but at least his shots looked good and he appeared to be playing with the same confidence he’s had the past couple weeks (as opposed to his play in December, when his shots were clanking all over the place and he looked lost out there).

Jose Calderon gave his hamstring a go and that was obviously a mistake as Rajon Rondo repeatedly burned him in the first quarter. Honestly, I don’t know what the hell Jose was doing out there. Bad hamstring and all, Jose was playing up on Rondo - when the scouting report clearly says lay off him. I must have yelled “back up, Jose!” at the TV about a half-dozen times. Obviously, someone read the scouting report - check out the way Roko played Rondo in the fourth. He was a good five feet off of the Celtics speedster, and that neutralized his penetration (he finished the quarter 0-3, with two assists and a turnover. He had 14 points and nine dimes up till then).

So, much like the Orlando game, Roko got the fourth-quarter minutes and played quite well down the stretch. I wish he hadn’t taken that three he took, but if you’re telling me you’d rather have Will Solomon and his .227 3-point shooting mark taking that shot, you’re crazy. Big Willie went 0-2 is now 13-36 over his past four. I think it’s time to retire this whole “Solomon gets more minutes than Roko because he’s a better shooter” argument, because better is relative. Yeah, 22 per cent is better than 18 per cent, but do you really want to count on either one? Clearly, neither of them can shoot the ball into a swimming pool at this point; they oughtta be taking Dave Hopla shooting classes together. Sigh. But as I’ve said all along, if you’ve got to choose between two struggling guys, choose the younger guy who can learn from his mistakes and is more likely to be part of your team’s future. This is a no-brainer as far as I’m concerned.

Anyway, outside of that bricked triple, Roko played well yesterday; he pushed the ball at the right times, penetrated at the right times, and as I say, played Rondo the right way. He also did his job on what would turn out to be the key play of the fourth quarter. Taking the ball on a kickout from the right side, with the Celtics’ defense scrambling, he swung it to the top to Moon. We know what happened next - Moon hesitated, then took the three. He missed and the game was over, but if he had done what he was supposed to - swung it to Bargnani on his right, who could have shot it or passed it to Kapono on his right - you’re looking a 2-point game with a minute to go. Instead Moon missed, Paul Pierce nailed a jumper the other way and the comeback was dead.

Overall, I can’t fault Moon too much. He had a decent game, even though the stats won’t necessarily bear it out. I thought he played with a good amount of hustle and energy. Heck, even the shot itself wasn’t terrible, the big mistake he made was hesitating on it!

Speaking of hustle, how about Joey Graham? Apparently Joey heard the Celtics are bullies and the best way to deal with bullies was hit back. Eight boards, a steal and two blocks in 24 minutes? Plus a technical foul? I’ll take that any day.

Overall, a frustrating game. Not one Celtic other than Ray Allen had a good game, yet we still let Boston run up a 20-point lead. Yeah, the fourth-quarter comeback was nice, but too little too late, yeah? I mean if Bosh had shown up, if Kapono or Parker could’ve hit a shot in the first half, if Rondo was kept out of the paint one or two times, maybe the lead is only 10 or 12 heading into the fourth and the comeback isn’t so unlikely. I’ll give the team credit for not quitting - which they would have done (and did do) a month ago - and I’m glad they at least made it exciting to watch. But making up 20 points in 12 minutes is hard against any team, especially Boston. You can’t let yourself get into a hole like that if you want to give your team a chance to win.

For tonight’s game, well, there’s not a whole lot you can say. If I may channel my inner Sam Mitchell, if the Raps are to win, they’re just gonna have to make more shots. Remember the game the Raptors won in Boston last year? They shot the lights out. 58% from the floor and an utterly ridiculous 15-21 from downtown, not to mention 19-19 from the line, on the way to 114 points. And yet they still only won by two! The Raptors are gonna need that type of game again to beat the Celts.

Can they do it? Sure. Will they? No way. Celtics by 13.

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Boston Celtics, Chris Bosh, Kevin Garnett, Toronto Raptors

Raps host the Memphis Grizzlies tonight, who are one of the select few teams with a worse record than Toronto and have lost 8 of 10. Easy win for the Raps? I’d like to think so, but nothing is ever easy with this team, is it.

I’m actually looking forward to seeing Memphis play. They’re loaded with young, athletic guys, most of whom I’m not too familiar with, so it should be interesting to see them. Obviously, the most notable right now is rookie OJ Mayo, who’s lighting it up in his first season in the league - from the point guard spot, no less. He may not be a true PG, but he’s one of those versatile, athletic, score-from-anywhere guys the Raps often have trouble with so I hope we can keep him in check.

Rudy Gay has turned into a solid pro and I’m sure he’ll get everyone thinking about how foolish Colangelo was taking Andrea Bargnani ahead of him in the draft. But then again, there were questions about his work ethic and drive, and considering that Memphis has won a total of 55 games in the two-and-a-half seasons he’s played, well, maybe the jury’s still out on him.

Meanwhile, they’ve got the Other Gasol, Marc, replacing Pau in the middle. Marc’s having a solid rookie season as well, and he’s a big bruiser down there who can likely muscle Bargnani and Chris Bosh out of their spots. Still, he’s foul-prone so if CB and AB can use their quickness to put him on his heels, they’ll get him out of the game.

The Grizz play small - Gay starts at PF, Gasol at C - so as long as Chris, Andrea and Moon to hit the glass all night, the Raps should have a sizeable advantage there. Memphis starts Quentin Ross and Kyle Lowry at the wing spots; I don’t know too much about them, except they’re young and athletic. Parker and Moon should match up fairly well with them, the key will be just staying in front of them and forcing them to shoot from range - Memphis is the fourth lowest scoring team in the league at 94, and the fourth-worst three-point shooting team at 32.5%.

If you’re a Raptors fan and you remember the 2002-2003 season, those numbers may not surprise you - because the architect of the worst scoring Raptors team ever, Kevin O’Niell, is an assistant with the Grizzlies. Apparently KO is still allergic to scoring, although it’s funny when you consider all the young talent and the supposedly offensive minded head coach, Marc Iavaroni.

Big question mark for the Raptors remains the point guard play. No word yet if Jose Calderon will play, although to be honest I think he should probably take the night off and come back strong for the Boston games.

That leaves our friend Will Solomon to handle Mayo. Yikes. Much as I loathe him, I have to admit that he’s much more suited to guarding OJ Mayo than Roko is. Roko’s quick, but he’s just too thin at this point to body up a strong guard like Mayo. So I think (if Jose is out) it’ll be a heavy dose of Big Willie tonight. Oh, joy. Well, hopefully he’s starting to clue in that all they need him to do is bring up the ball and give it to Bosh, that he doesn’t have to score. Of course, that would be easier if he had any idea how to make an entry pass… sigh.

Ultimately I believe this one will come down to Bosh and Bargnani - which is the way it should be, no? As good as Marc Gasol has been as a rookie, and as good as Rudy Gay is, they can’t stop Bosh. And the only one who can stop Bargnani is himself, so as long as he shows up the way he’s done the past couple weeks, this should be a Raptors victory. I think the home team takes it by 8.

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors

Well well, another Raptors victory. I really didn’t think I had it in them, though as always, glad to be wrong in these cases. Of course, I’m not getting too worked up over a win against the worst team in the East. I’m happy they won, of course, but would have been much happier if these disturbing things didn’t happen:

- the Raptors allowed the Wizards to cut a 21-point lead down to five with a minute to go
- In conjunction with that, the Raptors gave up a whopping 33 fourth quarter points.
- Chris Bosh missed 11 shots (5-16) and allowed Jamison to score 32
- Will Solomon took more shots than everybody except Bosh
- The Raptors got outscored 42-24 in the paint
- The Raptors committed 20 (!) turnovers and only forced 10.

Honestly, if the Wizards were even a little bit better - heck, if they just hit their free throws (10-18), there’s no way the Raps win this game… and that’s pretty disturbing. Yes, the Raptors won the rebounding battle 39-28 and led throughout… but it shouldn’t have been that close. When you get a struggling team like Washington down 20, you need to step on their throats! Instead, the Raps let them back in and almost blew it again.

And this win just makes the Milwaukee game that much more bitter - they could be on a four-game winning streak now!

Sigh. I will admit there are some good signs. For the third game in a row, the Raptors shot better than 53%, and are averaging 51% over the last five. Considering the stretches they went through last month when they couldn’t buy a shot, that’s a definite positive. Perhaps they really are getting into a comfort level with Triano’s system, and with each other?

Parker and Kapono both played well. They kept Caron Butler from going off. Bosh looked exhausted but still scored a couple big buckets in the fourth. Andrea Bargnani was great (and we’ll get to him more later).

It looks like Will Fucking Solomon wasn’t completely terrible. I only caught the second half on Game in an Hour (which they do in HD now - well done, Raps TV!) but I only saw him make one awful turnover and take one bad shot in the final minute. Yes, that counts as an improvement. Although! I think we can all agree he got bailed out by Mike James; after Solomon fouled James on a three with 30 second left - Raptors up 7 - James missed 2 of 3. Lucky break for the Raps, and for Big Willie - you know if James hit all three and the Wizards somehow stole the win, that would be considered the turning point.

I didn’t see much from Roko; he played OK in the minutes I saw and finished 2-5 with a board, an assist and a turnover in 13 minutes. Frankly, I think he deserves more, but maybe they felt Mike James’ bulk would give him too much of an advantage over skinny Roko. I don’t know, but I will continue to stand by the argument that if you’re gonna have a point guard out there making mistakes, I’d rather it be the rookie, who can learn and grow from them, rather than the journeyman scrub who has proven without a doubt that he does not belong in the NBA. For example, fouling a three-point shooter in a close game in the final minute is a rookie mistake… only it wasn’t the rookie that made it. What’s Solomon’s excuse?

I know, the jury’s still out on Roko, and whether or not he’ll ever turn into a legit PG. But the jury has come back from deliberation on Solomon - the verdict is in, and you are guilty of sucking.

I actually find the irony kind of funny. Raps fans spent all of last year debating which of our two point guards was better - TJ Ford or Jose Calderon, and who made the team better when they were on the floor. Right now, we’re debating which of our two PGs is worse, and who makes the Raptors better when they’re NOT playing. How lucky for us.

Finally, I have to admit that Andrea Bargnani has been great in the past five games. Just when I finally gave up on him (see my Raptors vs. Clippers recap, when I said “He stinks. Like, bad. Really bad. He’s terrible.”)

Well, shows what I know. Here’s what he’s done in 2009 so far: 22 PPG on 57% shooting, 61% 3FG, almost six boards and two blocks. Yeah, that’ll do.

Still, five games does not a career turnaround make, and Bargnani has teased me too many times now to believe he’ll keep it up. I hope he does, obviously - heck, I’d be happy with 14/5 on 50% shooting - but I won’t be holding my breath. Give me consistency over a month, not just a week, and maybe you’ll regain my trust.

Of course, as Raps fans have noted, this has happened with Jermaine O’Neal on the bench. That does leave the big question: Do you continue to start Bargnani, and have JO come off the bench? Or does JO automatically get his spot back? Does Bargnani try and play the 3-spot again?

I will admit I believe the Raptors are somewhat complicit in Bargnani’s struggles, for shuffling him around so much the past three years. He has a fairly typical rookie season, where he gets hardly any minutes at the start. Then he shows something in a game or two and gets in the regular rotation. Goes on to have a rock-solid three months from December though February.

But then, he needs his appendix taken out and misses the end of the year. Comes back in the playoffs, struggles the first couple games, starts the last two, goes into the offseason probably disappointed that he missed so much time.

In the offseason the team declares him the center of the future - even though he’s really a PF - and he starts the season at the five spot. Has a fantastic opening night where Sam Dalembert has no idea what to do with him, but then he hurts his knee, misses a few games, and basically starts a season-long funk. He’s moved back to the bench, then back to the starting lineup when Rasho gets hurt, then back to the bench. Then in the playoffs he has some of his worst outings as a pro, and gets rewarded with start - at the SF spot. Huh?

In the offseason he has surgery (on his adenoids? Can’t remember, but supposedly it’ll help him breath). He bulks up and attends big man camp, hoping to work on his post moves and footwork to be a center.

Then Bryan Colangelo trades for Jermaine O’Neal and it’s Bargnani to the bench time. Until Bryan crazily suggests AB could play the three spot. Well, good thing he bulked up then! Sheesh.

After an up and down first couple weeks as a sixth man, it happens… Bargnani starts at the three. He’s not terrible, but then O’Neal gets hurt and Bargnani’s a starting five again.

Then O’Neal comes back and Bargnani’s a three. Then he’s moved back to the bench and is a sixth man again.

Then O’Neal is hurt again and he’s a five again.

I mean… can you blame the guy for not having a clue what his role is? I sure don’t. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s all basketball and he just needs to go out there and play but really, giving the guy a defined role could only help, couldn’t it?

And now he’s going to have to go back to the bench because I believe it’ll cause too much of a chemistry issue to ask O’Neal, the former six-time all-star to become a sixth man.

So we all just have to hope and pray that moving back to the bench doesn’t Andrea to go back into that shell of his. And you know what? Maybe it does work out for the best. Maybe O’Neal starts but it’s Bargnani that plays the bulk of the minutes? Maybe even finishing games? That’ll preserve O’Neal’s wonky knees and give Bargnani the confidence that he’s the man and it’s just O’Neal veteran status that makes him a starter? I don’t know.

It’s times like this that I hope we all step back and appreciate how difficult it is to be a professional coach. Managing players with huge egos and massive contracts, including things like the whole “aging veteran” vs. “young up and comer” debate - and then worrying how it will impact not just the two players, but also the chemistry of the entire team - are not easy. It’s easy for us to sit back and say “they should do this or that,” but at the end of the day, the coach has to work with those guys everyday. It’s easier said than done obviously, and these are tough decisions, that we should all be glad we don’t have to make.

Anyway, to sum up, a win is a win, ugly or not. Raps have won three of four for the first time in a long, long time, and they got some solid offensive performances to do it. If they can tighten up the turnovers (hopefully that’ll solve itself when Calderon returns) and defense a bit, they might actually be on the right track… finally. Beating Memphis, another terrible team, at home on Friday will continue to restore some of my faith!

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, Will Fucking Solomon

So, the Raptors make their first trip ever to The Place That Isn’t Seattle tonight. Thankfully, it’s their only trip there this season. Unfortunately, they have to go back next year, and every other year from now on. Sigh.

There’s only one good thing about this team’s move from Seattle to The Place That Isn’t Seattle; the time zone. That means instead of watching a Raptors game at 10:00, we get to watch it at 8:00.

Or rather, we could… IF THE GAME WAS TELEVISED IN TORONTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dammit.

You may have noticed my question in Doug Smith’s blog mailbag today, about the playoffs and TSN2; if the Raps make it, the games could very well be aired on TSN2. Is that a joke or what?

At this point I have obvious doubts about the Raptors making the playoffs, but if they do, I’d really like to be able to see them. If only those greedy bastards at TSN and Rogers would kiss and make up or those fucking morons at MLSE would step in and fix this… but the fact that it hasn’t happened by now leads me to believe it won’t be fixed, ever. I can’t even believe we’re still talking about this… how could MLSE have allowed this to happen? It blows my mind.

As for the game, well, The “Thunder” isn’t (aren’t? What a ridiculous name) very good. They’re 2-24 and have lost 8 in a row. Yikes.

But, you may recall, this team is basically the same one that beat us - and scored 123 points on us - last season. And their strong points - Sophomores Kevin Durant and Jeff Green - play the swingman spots that we can’t defend to save our lives. And we’re not exactly coming on strong, having lost 8 of 10 ourselves!

Still, you gotta believe that if the Raps can beat anyone, it’s the “Thunder.” Right? I mean, we can beat them, right? Hoo boy.

What I’d most like to see is a good game from Chris Bosh. He needs it, and we need to see it from him. I don’t necessarily need to see a 39 point, 16 rebound night. Just a solid 24 on 8-13 shooting - no three-pointers - and 8-10 from the free throw line, with 11 boards would be nice. Something to remind us that he’s an all-star level player. Because he hasn’t been playing like it lately. Come on, Chris, we know you have it in you. Bring it tonight, my friend.

I’d also like to see Kapono get back on track. He was rock solid his first two games as a starter, and disappointing the past three. He didn’t even take a triple last game, and I thought we’d worked through that phase where he thought he was allergic to the three-point line. I’d like to see him get back on track.

As for the other struggling Raptor… well, I don’t really know what to say about Andrea Bargnani. Hey, I remember he had a four-point play against the Sonics two seasons ago. Maybe he can get something like that today and that’ll be the slump buster. He’s missing three-quarters of his shots these days, and most aren’t even close… he really needs to get something going on offense. I still like his defense and shot-blocking, but his rebounding isn’t good enough for us to play 4 on 5 with him on offense.

Well, I believe that, even with their struggles, the Raptors can take this one. I’d like it to be a blowout like last Friday’s game in Jersey, but I suspect it won’t be. Raptors by 8.

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh, Jason Kapono, Toronto Raptors

The Raptors head down the road to Cleveland tonight to face the Cavs in what is sure to be another road drubbing.

Now, we all know how horrendous that west coast trip was, but let’s look at some stats here. In the Raps’ past three road games, they were outscored by an average of 26 points, giving up 119 a game; they shot only 39.5%, and allowed their opponents to shoot 53.9%; they were outrebounded 50.6/37.6, a minus-13 differential.

So that’s how the Raps have been doing on the road lately. Cleveland, meanwhile, is 11-0 at home, where they shoot 50.6 per cent and score 107.5 points per game. They also happen to have the best rebounding differential in the league, and hold opponents to the lowest shooting percentage in the league. Given that we don’t rebound and we take mostly jump shots, well…

Oh, and in case you forgot, they also have that LeBron James guy. He’s, um, pretty good.

He’s no doubt salivating at the prospect of taking on Andrea Bargnani and our motley cast of small forwards. Andrea obviously can’t guard James (no one can, but LeBron will embarrass Andrea I expect) but he can’t even do anything to offset James on the other end. James is strong enough and quick enough to take away any advantage Andrea might have. The thought of the Andrea/LeBron matchup turns my stomach… expect James to have 30 by halftime.

Regardless of the matchup, Andrea, to say the least, is struggling right now. I’m really not sure what to make of him, or his role on this team. His defensive improvements are significant, and gives me hope that maybe some of his less-defensively-minded teammates might also be able to improve. I love the 1.68 blocks per game.

But I wonder about his offensive role as the starting SF. He doesn’t get many touches when he starts, since Bosh and O’Neal are - rightfully - the focal points. Even when he has a significant matchup advantage - like the other night against 6′6″ CJ Miles - the Raptors never go to him in the post. It’s hard to find enough touches with all those guys out there, and besides, the refs seem to call him for a lot of really cheap fouls in the post.

When he plays at the other forward spot or center, he’s generally quicker than most bigs but still a little awkward on his feet; he gets a lot of travel calls or offensive fouls, and doesn’t draw many fouls (he’s shooting 92% from the line but gets there less than twice a game.) He’s still got the advantage that most opposing bigs won’t come out to guard him, but his shot, sadly, isn’t falling consistently.

Here’s some stats. First 8 games of the season, off the bench:

9.4 ppg, on 54% shooting (50% from three), with 4 boards a game.

Next 5, as the starting small forward:

17 ppg, on 47% shooting (46% from three), with 5.6 boards a game.

Then after O’Neal went down he switched to starting C for three games, then moved back to starting SF the past three:

8.8 points, on 32% shooting (23% from three) with 6 boards a game.

As you can see, a sharp decline in the shooting percentages. He’s reached double-figures just once in the past five games. If he’s not scoring he’s not taking advantage of his abilities on offense, and since most of the time opposing SFs have an offensive advantage (in quickness) on him, he’s really not helping the team by starting. For all his defensive improvements, there isn’t anyone of his size and foot speed that can D up one on one against an athletic SF. His defensive abilities are much better suited to a center or PF role, where he can match speed with opposing players and be in position to help out on defense with the shot blocking.

So what’s the answer? I hate to take him out of the starting lineup because I think part of the problem last year was he was jerked around so much… but I really think he might be more effective off the bench, playing PF or C. There’s just not enough room on the floor or enough touches for him, JO and Bosh, and with his shooting slump, you wouldn’t wanna give it to him anyway. Perhaps playing against second-string centers and forwards he might get it back?

Of course, that leaves the question of who you start in his place. Moon can’t start, because, well, he’s been awful all year. He won’t drive and his defense has regressed about a million-fold. Remember that game last year where he locked down Shawn Marion and wouldn’t even let him get the ball? Now his “defense” consists of jumping at every head fake he sees.

Then there’s Kapono… at the start of the year, I thought he’d be the best starter, but that assumed he’d find his role on offense - in other words, launching jumpers. The way he’s playing, with that “dribble-off-my leg” drive and the “I don’t want to shoot unless I’ve got 10 feet” mindset, he wouldn’t provide enough on offense to make up for what he’d give up on D.

There’s only one guy who’s played his way into an increased role, and that’s Joey Graham. He’s played great as of late, being aggressive on both ends of the floor and not making too many mistakes. Problem with Joey is that there’s a 99.99 per cent chance he’ll regress back to his usual boneheaded ways and then what do you do? Make yet another lineup change? Is that really what we want?

I really don’t know the answer here… well, the real answer is “make a trade for a real wing player” but since that’s not going to happen… I guess you throw your best five guys out there and hope for the best! And that’s JO, Bosh, Parker, Jose… and Bargnani.

Tonight, that best won’t be anywhere near enough. It’s not gonna be a pretty one, folks. I almost don’t want to watch because I just know it’s gonna be ugly. Like “I want to stick a fork in my eye” ugly.

I’m sure a lot of you are thinking that the Raps might have turned things around Sunday, that they played a lot better and it might be the start of some good things. But I just can’t put much stock into a loss where they blew a 16-point lead to a West-coast team playing their final game of a five-game East-coast road trip. They did some good things, for sure, but doing them at home against a tired Blazers team is not the same as doing them on the road against the best home team in the league.

I didn’t think the Cavs would be any better this year than they were last year - all they really added was Mo Williams and I didn’t think he’d make much of an impact. But I guess he has, and perhaps a training camp with all the pieces from last year’s trade - Wally S, Delonte West and Ben Wallace - has made the chemistry better. Or maybe LeBron is just that good.

Regardless, this team has the right pieces at the right positions, they’ve got a deep bench, and they’ve put together an amazing start to this season. Since the Raptors’ roster is full of holes, they’ve got no bench and they’ve proven that they simply can’t compete with good teams, especially on the road, this will be a joke of a game and an easy Cleveland win.

Cavs by 37.

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh, Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, Toronto Raptors

Well, by all account’s Toronto’s 107-96 win over Miami yesterday was a very enjoyable game - and a very important one, considering there was a change at the starting small forward position and the starting point guard was out with a hamstring injury.

Obviously, all that really matters is the Raptors won; still, it’s hard not to be disappointed with the fact that, as a fan in the team’s hometown, you don’t even get to watch them play. Sigh.

I did manage to see some of the second half on Raps TV - thank goodness for that - enough to see Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon force Dwyane Wade into some very tough shots, and to see Jermaine O’Neal with two huge blocks, one of which set up a terrific transition play where Jason Kapono flashed to the right arc and Roko Ukic hit him - and Kapono let fly with that beautiful quick release and nailed the triple. Fantastic play.

As for the lineup change, well, I for one was doubting it, but it seemed to work out OK against Miami. The big lineup helped the Raptors outrebound the Heat and although Andrea Bargnani’s numbers weren’t great - 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 fouls - according to published reports he played better than the numbers indicated (and according to said reports, one of those fouls was an awful offensive call), including his continued solid play on D. I watched one play in the third where he used his feet to stay in front of a driving Michael Beasley, forcing Beasley to try and clear space with his forearm and shoulder - offensive foul, Beasley. Excellent defensive play by Bargnani.

Jermaine O’Neal struggled once again on offense, but somehow managed to snag 18 rebounds. 18! I can’t recall the last time a Raptor had that many. Of course he may have taken some away from Bosh who only ended up with 7, but Bosh did his work on offense, scoring 27 (13 from the free throw line).

All told, it was another solid performance from the “Big 3″ - 50 points, 29 boards. This lineup also enabled Kris Humphries to get some minutes, and he contributed with 14 (5-6 shooting) and 9 boards. I thought it odd that he was in the doghouse since reports from camp were that he looked good, so I’m happy to see him getting minutes and contributing. Size, right now, is the Raptors’ strength. It’s time to show it!

As for the point guards, Solomon appears to have played well; 15 points on nine shots, with 11 assists. Four turnovers seems a bit high, but you take the bad with the good. Ukic didn’t look all that comfortable in the minutes I saw, and didn’t score, but he picked up 4 assists and a couple boards in his 14 minutes, with only 1 turnover.

Certainly I don’t expect this team to have much success with Calderon on the shelf - and most competition is going to be better than Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn - but for one night, Solomon and Ukic appeared capable.

Defensively, it’s hard to say, not having seen 70% of the game, what worked or if it was just bad shooting from the Heat, but when the Heat’s two best scorers - Wade and Beasley - are a combined 17-47 from the field and gave away 8 turnovers, well, something must have worked right. Looks like Moon had a couple of blocks and Kapono had three steals, so maybe the message is getting through?

Now the question is, will the new big lineup stay? To be honest, my main concern with this lineup was that Sam Mitchell wouldn’t allow it to be effective. Sam is notoriously reactionary - one mistake and you’re done - and with a lineup like that, you need patience and commitment to allow it to work. If one athletic small forward blows by Andrea and Sam pulls the plug, you will never realize any advantage from it. You have to have patience with it, and believe that, although you might give something up, the benefits you get back will eventually outweigh that. They did yesterday, with the big 3 getting 29 boards - 3 less than the entire Miami team. That’s the advantage you get when you give up speed for size, and, if Andrea’s shooting touch is on, you get the advantage of him scoring, too. If Sam had yanked Andrea early, it wouldn’t have made any difference.

As long as Sam is committed to it, it has a chance to work.

Couple other thoughts:

• I don’t think there can be any doubt left that Shawn Marion regrets forcing a trade from Phoenix, do you? The guy went from double-double every night, on a perennial contender with one of the best point guards of this generation, to 10-8 on a playoff-maybe team with no point guard. Even last year, when Dwayne Wade wasn’t playing, he only averaged 14 with Miami - his lowest scoring output since his rookie year! His shooting is down to 45%, this after being above 52% the past three years in Phoenix. Think Nash had something to do with that? He’s also costing himself a lot of money; if he keeps up that output, he’s not going to make anywhere close to the $20 million or so he wants. Never shoulda left Phoenix, Shawn.
• Joey Graham got the DNP-CD. I’d imagine that comes more because Andrea got time at the 3 and the other wings played pretty well; Had Moon stunk it up, I bet Joey woulda got in there.
• Kapono shot 4 threes! Moon shot 5 free throws! Praise and hallelujah. Message sent?
• Dwyane Wade is really something. Even though it wasn’t his best game, that guy scares the crap out of me every time he touches the ball; I feel like he could score just by looking at the net. If he stays in Miami (and stays healthy) long enough for Chalmers and Beasley to develop, and for the Heat to maybe add another piece or two (perhaps through a Marion trade) I have no doubt in his ability - again, assuming his health - to lead them deep into the playoffs every year.

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors

I love the NBA, and here’s one of the main reasons why: I think the NBA, more than any other sport, allows a singular player to impose his will on the game and impact its outcome.

Yes, in baseball, football and hockey, one player can dominate a game; but they usually need help, from the pitcher, from the wide receiver, from the goalie, whatever. In basketball one player can dominate both sides of the ball.

And that’s exactly what Chris Bosh did yesterday in the fourth quarter.

Great players do it regularly. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett are the ones who do it best right now; Lebron is getting there, Chris Paul is getting there, and I think it’s possible Chris Bosh is getting there too.

The Raptors were dead yesterday, a lackluster performance much like Friday’s; no movement on offense, slow feet on defense. And then it looked like Chris Bosh said “I am not losing this game.” He put the Raptors on his back, and they rode him to a 17-0 run and eventual 10-point win.

You really can’t state the impact enough. What the stats don’t show is the intensity Bosh showed, calling for the ball, hustling down the floor, moving to help on defense. It seemed like the man was everywhere. They were down by 11 points, and they won by 10.

Yes, it’s Charlotte, they’re not very good, and the Raptors should never have been down by that much in the first place. I buy that argument. But, it happens - to every team. That’s why they play the games. The good teams have guys that can bring them out of such funks.

It was 58-47, Charlotte, with 7 minutes to go in the third. This was just after Leo Rautins noted that “the Raptors are having no trouble scoring.” I thought “Really, 47 points? No problems on offense? We watching the same game?”

Naturally, the Raptors outscored them 42-21 the rest of way - so maybe he knows what he’s talking about.

In particular, let’s take a look at that 17-0 run in detail. Toronto finally regained the lead early in the fourth, 68-67, after being down since the second. The teams traded buckets for a couple of minutes, and it was 74-72, Charlotte, with 8 minutes to go when the run started.

Bosh scored on a layup, then Bargnani blocked a Jason Richardson shot on the other end. The teams traded misses, Bosh grabbed a rebound, and on the ensuing Raptors set, Bargnani launched a three that popped out.

But Bosh grabbed the offensive board, kicked it back out, and after the ball swung around, Bargnani tried another - and nailed it. 77-74, Toronto.

Bargnani then rebounded a Charlotte miss and Bosh got a dunk; CB4 then rebounded a Ray Felton miss, then made a jumper over Okafor (after a nice shake-and-bake) from 15 feet on the left side.

After Jamario Moon made a sensational athletic play, blocking a DJ Augustin floater, tapping it to himself, then tapping it to Anthony Parker as he fell out of bounds (this is the reason he starts, only wish we’d see more of it) Bosh hit another jumper, this from the right side. 83-74 Toronto.

After Jason Richardson missed an awkward 3-pointer, Jose Calderon found Bosh all alone under the hoop, for the layup-and-one. Augustin then missed a three, and on the next possession, Andrea Bargnani grabbed an offensive board patiently waited for the rock to come back to him, and hit the run-capping three pointer. 89-74, 1:30 to go, and it’s over - the benches clear for garbage time.

For those of you keeping score, Bosh had 11 points (on 5-5) with three boards during the run; that is big-time production from the franchise player.

Bargnani complemented it with 6 points (2-3 from downtown) with 2 boards and a block. He finished with 18 on 6-10 shooting, with five blocks and another 3 blocks. We all like to bash Bargnani, I’ve done my share of it, but I’m impressed with what he’s done this year. He just needs to start doing it consistently! No more of these zero-point games, please. But give him credit - look at the stats: 23.6 minutes a game, 9.6 points on .561 shooting, 4.5 boards and 1.8 blocks. I think those are pretty good. As indicated, they don’t reflect the two goose eggs, but as I noted at the time, he still contributed in both of those games, with 5 boards and 2 blocks in each.

What I love is the field goal percentage. That will go down, of course, that’s an unrealistic early-season percentage. But it notes the reversal of that annoying trend last year, where he forced so many bad shots, and where even his open looks didn’t seem in rhythm. This year, he’s taking smaller guys down low, working his mid-range pull-up, and his three-point stroke is a thing of beauty.

Furthermore, when he’s on, you can’t overstate the impact his mismatch makes. Emeka Okafor simply didn’t want to come out and guard him at the three-point line; he hit 3-5. When Okafor did wander out, it opened things up for Bosh down below.

That, my friends, is why Bryan Colangelo won’t give up on Bargnani (yet) - if that shot is back on track (after the awful performance last year), and if the post game develops (which it looks like it is), and if he’s passable on defense (which he is so far), Bargnani creates huge mismatch problems for the opposition, which only serve to make things easier on Bosh, and O’Neal for that matter. Yep, that’s a lot of ifs. And it’s way too early to say if he’s on track. But at least the signs of development are there.

As for the rest:

Jose Calderon continues to be solid. Yeah, he was only 2-10 in Atlanta and Mike Bibby absolutely abused him. But he had 12 assists and bounced back with a quiet 13 (on 6-10) with another 7 assists last night. And although he did let up a couple of blow-bys by Felton and Augustin, both finished below 50% shooting.

Will Solomon had arguably his best game of the year, notching 6 assists and only one turnover. Maybe he will be a capable backup after all. No knock on Ukic, who I thought played well in the first two, but Solomon’s experience and size make him a better option now. I hope though, that the Raptors can get a few big leads and let Roko get some serious court time in - I think the kid has a ton of potential.

Jamario Moon doubled his rebounding stats again, grabbing 9 boards in his best performance yesterday. Keep hitting that glass, Jamario, we need you.

Jermaine O’Neal had a zero-impact game, on offense, but still grabbed 9 boards and a block. Besides, I don’t mind that he comes into tonight’s showdown with the Celtics having only played 20 minutes. The rest should do him good against Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins.

That offensive foul call on Bosh? Quite possibly the worst call I’ve ever seen in a Raptors game. Well, maybe MoPete getting tossed for the friendly slap of Vince Carter was worse. But man, that was an unbelievably awful call. Just awful. Okafor had not established position; Bosh clearly had established his drive. And even then, Bosh barely brushed him. How is that a foul? Furthermore, why didn’t the refs huddle up and overrule it? Surely the other two saw it was the wrong call. We see it all the time on the block charge - the refs get together and one says to the other, “nope, his feet were in the circle” or whatever. Why not this time? Brutal.

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Charlotte Bobcats, Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors

So it seems the early word is that a number of Raps games (possibly as many as 23, though no confirmations yet) will be on the new “TSN2″ sports channel.

This channel can is currently only available on about half the cable providers in Canada, and only if you have a digital box.

I’m not going to go into a rant here - because I already ranted about this with the Raps games on Raptors TV two years ago. The same points stand - when you are building a market, you need to make your product available to as many people as possible and anything less is unacceptable. Actually this may be worse since I think most, if not all, cable networks could potentially get Raptors TV - although again you needed a digital box - and while it didn’t help in building the brand, it didn’t hurt the existing fans, most of whom would shell out for Raptors TV.

In this case, it doesn’t matter whether or not you are willing to shell out the extra dough for TSN2, if your cable provider doesn’t carry it, you’re outta luck.

And the worst thing of all - is that the station isn’t available on Rogers, the ONLY cable provider (unless you want satellite) in Toronto. Meaning the TORONTO Raptors have made the brilliant decision to suddenly remove games from the TV schedule in their own home town.

No, I’m not kidding. You’d think it was a joke, it’s such a boneheaded thing to do… but it’s not.

Just who the heck is making these decisions over there? Yikes.

Word is they’re working on getting it on Rogers, but why would Rogers care? The relatively small number of Raptors fans isn’t a blip to them. And even if they do, I doubt they’ll carry the HD version of the channel.

It’s an absolute disgrace that A) Rogers would not carry this channel; B) TSN would relegate the only NBA team in the entire country to some second-tier channel; and C) that MLSE would allow this to actually happen. I’m sorry, you don’t have some sort of power or words in the contract stating that the games can’t be relegated like this? You DEMAND that the games be shown nationally, ignoring whether or not most of the nation actually GETS the channel the games are on? Shame on all of you. You all suck, and I extend not one, but two, middle fingers at you all. And a nasty look. So there.

On TJ Ford
This originally started as a much longer piece but then it went on too long when a writer is getting bored writing something, you know it’s probably not very good. The point was I hope the crowd doesn’t boo TJ Ford when the Pacers come to town (Dec. 11 for those who want to know).

No, I didn’t like the way Ford handled things last year, and yes, I agree that Calderon is the better PG For this team.

But the thing is, Ford lost his job due to injury, when the unwritten sports rule is that you don’t lose your job to injury. He handled it poorly, sulking until he got his job back, although he never quit and always played hard (he just didn’t play the right way).

And then he was traded and it looks like both the Pacers and Raptors are (or at least should be) better for it.

So what is there to boo about? That he sulked for a half-dozen games? Come on. I don’t know about you, but I try not to lose sight of the fact that these guys are human beings too, and like all human beings, their emotions sometimes get the better of them. I don’t honestly think it would have made an ounce of difference either way in the final results of last season. Maybe they’d have won that game in March - was it against Orlando? - where he forced something like 8 shots in 11 possessions… but they still would have lost in round one. The problems with last year’s team ran much deeper than the Calderon/Ford debate.

Anyway, my point is, I think Ford is a good guy and a good player, and he’s worked his way back through a couple of serious injuries, was a major part of the second-most successful Raptors season ever (2006-2007) and he deservers better than boos. Not a standing O or anything, but at least the polite applause you give any respected opponent. So please don’t boo him.

PS Please still boo Vince Carter. And don’t ever stop.

On the election, or, “How to Waste $300 million in 60 days”
So, nothing changes except Stephane Dion is probably going to lose the Liberal leadership. Did we really need this election to tell us that? Heck, all we needed were the debates - where he could barely hold his own - to tell us he’d be a terrible leader. What was the point?

We have got to change the willy-nilly way we call elections here in Canada. Why can’t we stick to a regular schedule? At a time when the economy is struggling we just threw $300 million dollars away.

What a colossal waste.

On BC and Andrea Bargnani
I love how some people are ripping Bryan Colangelo for defending Andrea Bargnani, as if he’s got some blind devotion to him because he was Colangelo’s #1 pick, “Bryan’s guy.”

Because, apparently, it’s acceptable for a GM to rip his players in public.

Seriously. Do you ever, in a million years, think Colangelo is going to say “Yep, made a mistake with that Bargnani pick!” Of course not! He’s not an idiot - it’s clear, in hindsight, to anyone with eyes that Brandon Roy would have been perfect for this team and that LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay will likely have better careers than Bargnani. But BC isn’t going to admit that - he’d never throw one of his own players under the bus.

And it’s not because Bargnani is “Bryan’s guy.” It’s just because that’s the way a good GM operates.

It also doesn’t mean “Bryan won’t trade him because he’s Bryan’s guy.” Really, you think BC slagging Bargnani is going to make Bargnani valuable trade bait? All that does is decrease his value!

And hey, you know what, TJ Ford was a “Bryan’s guy” too - remember, he brought Ford in with the idea that this would be a Bosh-Ford-Bargnani triumvirate. Well that didn’t work so he swapped Ford for O’Neal and it’s now clearly a Bosh-Calderon-O’Neal triumvirate. If he was willing to trade Ford, he’ll be willing to trade Bargnani if the right deal comes along.

Colangelo has a brilliant basketball mind, and he knows more about basketball than me and every single Raptors fan out there. He’s smarter than all of us and if the opportunity arises, he’s pretty adept at turning negatives into positives.

On Stephon Marbury
He has a tattoo of his sneaker logo on his head. ‘Nuff said.

On the Wizards
Man, the Wiz caught a break that Antawn Jamison’s knee is OK. Imagine if they lost Gilbert Arenas, Brendon Haywood and Jamison? As it is, I think they’re in trouble - they could be in a big hole by January, when Arenas comes back, and even then, Haywood isn’t expected back for six months.

But let’s not forget that they were missing Arenas most of last year and still leapfrogged the Raps in the standings at the end - because Jamison is always solid and Caron Butler is really freakin’ good. You can never completely count a team out, no matter how many injuries they’ve got.

On the Tampa Bay Rays

Kudos to this good young team for making it to the big show. They’ve got a solid line-up that’s played well all season; they deserve it. But kudos also to the Sox for at least making it interesting! I checked the score Thursday night and it was 7-0. Turned off the TV and started reading.

Little while later I checked Sportacular on my iPhone. 7-4 now. Hmm.

Few minutes later, I check again. 7-6 in the bottom of eight! And since Sportacular is awesome enough to give me up-to-the minute details including count, I can see Coco Crisp is batting, with a runner on second, with a 3-2 count and two outs.

I could not turn the TV on fast enough! What a finish. It’s rare that I actually care about baseball but that finish, as well as game 6, were great. Game seven was a little less exciting - not enough scoring, too many runners stranded - but nevertheless, it was a good series.

I think Tampa’s got enough to win it - in six games.

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, MLSE, TJ Ford, Toronto Raptors, TSN2

Well, it looks like the Raptors are reverting back to the good old days! Except it wasn’t that long ago - a mere two seasons - and there was nothing good about them.

Those halcyon days saw the Raptors regularly play a great half or even three quarters, and routinely squander games late by settling for jump shots and not getting back on defense. In fact, I remember one game in which they blew a 24-point lead in Dallas, watched Jason Terry stroll down the lane for a game-tying jumper, then sat idly by as Dirk Nowitzki destroyed them in overtime.

Yesterday’s game was a little different… the Raps didn’t bother waiting until the fourth to give Dallas the game. They decided in the third that they didn’t need to play defense anymore, and let The Diggler score 12 points in what seemed like 12 seconds to close out the quarter (it was actually more like 2 minutes, but still). The Raptors yielded 38 points in the frame - 38!! - and were down 7 going into the fourth, after leading by 14 at the half. Rather than fight back, they rolled over and didn’t show a single ounce of fight the entire rest of the game. I could barely watch.

The sad thing is that Dallas didn’t play a great defensive game and - much like the Warriors game - it seemed right there for the taking in the fourth. With just a little more determination, one or two more hustle plays or trips to the line, the Raptors could have won this game! But it seems any time a team makes a run on them, the Raptors don’t know how to respond.

Meanwhile Sam Mitchell continues to tinker with his lineup and rotation, a move that frustrates both fans and players alike! Fantastic. Why can’t he just stick to a rotation, like every other good NBA team? Why is Bargnani suddenly starting… I mean, I thought he should have been starting since Rasho has been out, but Mitchell went with Baston. Baston played OK in those two games… but didn’t play at all last night. Jamario Moon, who’s been playing OK, nothing special, played 35. 35!? He’s 6-19 from the floor the last three games! Carlos Delfino, meanwhile, the Raps best bench player all season (I don’t really consider Jose Calderon a bench player since I consider he and Ford interchangeable) played a mere 13 minutes. Dixon didn’t play at all. And Bargnani started out on fire, then sat for WAY too long… yet was left in when struggling in the second half. Why isn’t there a consistent rotation? No one was in foul trouble last night, no one played poorly on offense and everyone was equally inept on defense in the third. I don’t get it. NBA players need to know their roles. They need to know when their minutes are coming.

Anyway, I don’t know what else there is to say. It was a blown opportunity, just like Sunday against Golden State. You just can’t squander late leads like that.

The Raps need a win tonight in Memphis. The Grizz are off to an even slower start than the Raps, but it’s not like the Raps ever play well against them, having lost 8 of the last nine and not having won in Memphis since 2002. Good times.

At least it looked - for a little while - last night like the Raptors might be breaking out of their offensive slump. If they can keep that up for 48 minutes (heck, even 36 might do it) and if they play good transition defense against Memphis’ young athletes, they should be OK. Raps by 10.

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh, Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors