Allow me to be the 617th person to use that headline. I’m also far from the first person on the Internet to wonder about this, but… what’s the story with Jermaine O’Neal’s injury?? The guy has now missed six games, two full weeks, because of a “bruised knee.” What’s more disturbing is that it was his “good knee,” the right one.

What is most disturbing is that he hasn’t been seen since! He’s never been on the bench with the team. I don’t understand this. On the road I understand. Obviously there’s no point making the road trip if you’re not gonna play and flying can have an adverse effect on joints. I get that.

But why isn’t he with the team at the home games? Doug Smith and others maintain it’s because he’s in the locker room getting “treatment” on the knee because that’s when the trainers have the most free time. Now, I’m no doctor and I’ve obviously never been connected with a pro sports team. But this strikes me as pure BS.

First of all, it’s a bruised knee. What possible treatment could there be other than ice and/or heat, and some stretching? He’s not undergoing surgery every game, is he?

Second, how many members of the training staff could it possibly take to administer this treatment? Is he the bionic man, does he need a team of experts examining it and giving him a tune-up every day? You’re telling me that our crack staff are so busy the other 21 hours of the day that they can’t help him stretch?

Third, other injured players on other teams don’t make this excuse (not unless it’s a serious thing like a surgery). I’d never heard it before, except with the Raptors (I remember it happened last year with Bosh). Why do the Raptors consider this an acceptable practice, for team members to not be with the team?

Finally, even if it does take 10 guys and the only time these trainers are available is game-time… how long can it take? Can he not come on the bench after halftime? Not only that, but after six games, shouldn’t it just be a “rest” thing?

This defies explanation to me. Other players sit on the bench when they’re hurt. Jose tried to play the other night against Memphis; he even warmed up pre-game. He decided he couldn’t play, so he went back in, showered, and sat with the team after the first quarter.

Not only that, but shouldn’t the guy WANT to be with his teammates? Shouldn’t the team go out of the way to give him treatment another time so the team can stay together?

I’m done with the “he’s getting treatment” excuse. It’s one of these choices:

• The injury is worse than a simple bruise: This is the most likely one, and it’s some sort of strain or sprain that requires actual treatment. Which is fine, but why are they hiding it?
• The injury isn’t what’s described at all: In other words, it’s not a right knee bruise, and it’s actually a problem with the surgically repaired left knee, or perhaps even the ankle he injured earlier. Is it possible he’s in a walking boot and they’re hiding it? It seems unlikely, but more possible every day we don’t see him.
• There is no injury, and they’re aggressively trying to trade him and they’re holding him out because they don’t want him to aggravate anything. At first, I thought this must be the case, but the more time that goes on the more unlikely it is. If there was gonna be a trade it would have happened by now, no?
• O’Neal can’t be bothered to come to the gym, or, in the most unlikely scenario, JO simply quit on the team. And he’s either requested a trade or just won’t come back to the team. I don’t believe this is the case, JO strikes me as having too much pride to do this sort of stunt, and that would mean all his rhetoric about being a team and sticking together earlier this year as PR crap. And I don’t believe that Jermaine is like that.

I’m sure in the end it’ll amount to nothing and he’ll be back - rusty - and we’ll forget about it. But I for one find his absence very strange, and stranger every day he’s out. Why doesn’t the team just admit it, “the injury was a little worse than we thought and we’re letting him hang at home to rest.”

You know, I’m beginning to wonder if this entire Raptors medical staff doesn’t deserve some investigation. Let’s take a look at O’Neal, first of all. He came in relatively healthy, was just getting going when he suffered a nearly-horrendous fall against the Nets. It apparently wasn’t as bad as it looked since he walked off under his own power, but I think we can all agree - it was still bad.

Yet he played two days later. No one would have faulted him for sitting that one out, in fact most everyone was shocked he played. But apparently he got cleared, so he came out - and after limping around for a quarter favouring the knee, he sprained his ankle.

So the question is: Why was he allowed to play when any sane person could clearly see he needed a couple days off?

Next, Jose Calderon goes down with a hamstring injury a couple of days later. Hamstrings are funny; they hurt like a mofo when you first pull it, and after that it doesn’t feel bad at all - just a general tightness. But try running on it, and you feel it something fierce. It generally takes about 10-12 days to bounce back from, in my experience (both having pulled my hamstring a couple times and watching a lot of sports).

Yet Jose came back after about a week. Clearly he should have been kept out longer, because he was awful for about three full weeks!

And it was the same thing yesterday. It had been nine days. They said he was ready to go, but two minutes into the game anyone watching could see he wasn’t ready; he played about 20 and now he’s out tonight too.

Why is this continuing to happen? How is it possible O’Neal was allowed to come back one game after his knee nearly collapsed, but has now missed two weeks because of a bruise? Why did Jose’s hamstring take more than a month to heal the first time, and he was then allowed to come back too soon the next time?

And why we’re on the topic… why the hell did it take Jawai two months to be cleared to play??

Do we really have the worst medical staff in the league or does it just seem like it?

All I know is, two weeks is a long time to miss for a bruise.

How’s this for a good laugh: According to the National Post, Jose Calderon has joined the legion of fans frustrated by the TSN2 Fiasco. He had to trek down to the ACC to catch the game on TV there. You know the situation is getting out of hand when the team’s own players can’t even watch the team play!!

You know, you might think a story like this would force MLSE to step up and solve this, but that seems doubtful. Still, I wonder… suppose there was a blizzard and Jose slipped and fell or somehow otherwise hurt himself (knock on wood, heaven forbid) going down to the ACC to watch? Do you think THAT might get someone’s attention?? Absolutely ridiculous.

TJ Ford, Jermaine O’Neal, big trade, first game, Ford-Jose, blah blah blah. We know all about that and I blogged about the reception I expect TJ will get before (a likely mixture of boos and cheers, when it should be, in my opinion, all cheers) and while it makes for nice drama, it doesn’t matter one damn bit tonight.

If both teams were playing well and in the thick of it, I’d love the added drama. But both teams need a win in a big way so I really don’t give a crap about the rest. Winning is all that matters.

And besides, we all know the real matchup we want to see is Stephen Graham vs. Joey Graham!!

Seriously, looking at these two teams, you have to think that realistically the Pacers are actually better on paper than the Raptors. They’ve got a good point guard (obviously), but also a solid back-up in Jarrett Jack. There’s Danny Granger, who’s blossoming into an all-star. They’ve got Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster, who are pests around the glass (and Murphy can shoot, too). They’ve got our old friend Rasho Nesterovic, still solid in the middle, with 10 points and 5.4 boards in 25 minutes. Somehow, Marquis Daniels has resurrected his career, to the tune of 16 points and 6 boards a game as the starting 2-guard. And, they’re still missing Mike Dunleavy with some kind of knee trouble.

In other words, they’ve surrounding their budding star, Granger - who is capable of creating his own shot - with actual NBA talent. Actual NBA talent that has beaten both the Lakers and Celtics, and took the Celts to overtime last game before losing on Sunday.

Meanwhile we’ve got three quality NBA players in Bosh, O’Neal, and Calderon, and they’re all struggling. None of them can create their own shot. And the rest of our roster is a mess. We’re on a five-game losing streak with a point differential of minus-20.

All right, all right, I’ll stop taking shots at the roster, it’s getting tired. It’s not good. We all know it.

No word yet on whether or not Jay Triano switches Bargnani out of the starting lineup; I wasn’t sure yesterday if this was the right move, but today - after watching Bargnani struggle to do anything productive even in garbage time - I’m pretty damn close to calling Joey Graham’s number. In fact I may have down so this morning but I was still kinda fuming from the game and not really in my right mind. Look at the numbers it seems clear that Joey’s earned it… But I still hesitate because we’ve all seen enough “bad Joey” to know this might be a huge mistake.

Still, anyone can see that Bargnani can’t guard threes. At least it’s Graham’s natural position. No one knows what the hell Bargnani is, but it’s becoming clear, it’s not a three.

And with Humphries still sidelined, doesn’t it make sense to keep Bargnani on the bench to back up JO and Bosh? I dunno… I fully understand the “play your best five guys” mindset… but it doesn’t appear to be working right now. How long do you stick with it?

Now, I know Triano is installing his new offense, and I like a lot of the movement that we see out of guys like Parker and Kapono. But you can’t forget the pick and roll. It shouldn’t be used every play, obviously, as it was earlier this year, but you can’t deny that Chris and Jose are effective out of it. So even though we need new things on offense, I’d still like to see those two in the pick and roll a few times a game. We need to get Chris going and the pick and roll is a way to do that. The play itself was never bad, but the amount we were using it was. So don’t throw the play away “just because.”

And when you consider that Murphy isn’t a great defender, Bosh should have an advantage there.

Rebounding continues to be an issue for the Raptors. I just don’t understand why they don’t box out. I know it’s “easy to say, harder to do” but come on… this is basic basketball, and you know, basic common sense - as Jack pointed out yesterday, a long shot from the left corner is likely going to bounce long right. So be prepared on that side! (Joey wasn’t in this case yesterday). And it’s not like we’re running a small lineup out there! Box out, for fuck’s sake.

I spoke earlier of “The Turnaround.” I’m capitalizing it now because it’s that important. We need something to swing our way, and we need it to last for a decent stretch, and we need it soon. Even a four wins/two losses stretch over the next six games would do, just to give the team - and its fans - some confidence.

If The Turnaround started against TJ and the Pacers, well, that would be just a little sweeter, wouldn’t it?

You know what, fuck the negativity. We may be down, but we’re not out, right? I still have faith in my team. Not much - I’m digging down low to get it - but it’s there. I believe in the Raptors. I believe they’ll come out fired up, because it’s the Pacers, and because they need a win and they know it. I believe they’re tired of losing. I believe they’re getting Triano’s system down and that it’s gonna start coming together.

I believe! The Turnaround starts tonight!

Raptors by 10.

What is it that comes after panic mode? Acceptance? I guess that’s it. I’ve kind of accepted that this Raptors team, regardless of who’s coaching it, just doesn’t have it this year. The roster is simply missing too many ingredients and there’s no way to add them to the mix. The playoffs seem like a pipe dream and I’m just hoping for some entertainment the rest of the way.

At least I got that yesterday; it was a very enjoyable game to watch. Both teams made runs, both teams had double digit leads, both teams hit big shots. There were blocked shots, hustling for loose balls, even a bloodied Chris Bosh. It was a hard-fought game all the way.

Naturally, the Raptors’ Achilles heels were exposed at the end of the game, and Portland fired their arrows right in there. Rebounding and point guard defense killed the Raps’ on Portland’s final possession, and then on the final play, not having a wing player who can create offense proved to be the final nail in the coffin.

Amazingly enough, Achilles Heel #4 - wing defense - wasn’t apparent in yesterday’s loss. Yes, Brandon Roy hit a big jumper late, but he was really a non-factor all game, scoring 15 on 6-16 and not really being a factor. Kudos to Anthony Parker for the job he did on Roy.

I still can’t get over that final play. Why would Bosh get the ball 30 feet from the rim? And if that was a busted play, as Triano hinted, you’d think Jose Calderon would sprint to Bosh and take over. But if you watched the play, you saw that Calderon did not move an inch from his spot in the far corner. Seriously, watch it. His feet never move.

Calderon is the only guy who even has a hint of ability to take a guy off the dribble (well, maybe Joey Graham does, but we’re not putting the ball in his hands, obviously). The pick and roll, amazingly enough, had been working all game - Calderon went to the rim for the first time in about three weeks, and he did it more than once. Why not go back to that? Was having Chris Bosh create off the bounce from beyond the three-point-line the best idea? I think not.

(Also not impressed with Triano’s “explanation” - “I’m not gonna tell you what was supposed to happen as we want to use it again sometime.” First of all, you wanna use that AGAIN? Yikes. And second, that sounds an awful lot like an excuse. I mean all he had to say was “we wanted to do this,” you didn’t have to explain the intricacies of it. So it makes me wonder just what it was they wanted to do, if he couldn’t even put it into words? Fishy.)

Of course, it should never have come to that; the Raps should have corralled the rebound on the previous play, or on Oden’s missed foul shot, or about a dozen other times. Say what you will about Oden - that he looks slow, that he travels every time he catches the ball (Seriously, watch his feet. He picks up his dribble, THEN hop-steps, then shoots. But since he looks like a 12-year vet, he gets 12-year vet calls. That’s the only way I can explain it), that he had about 14 three-second violations that weren’t called… but, the man knows how to box out. Even when he didn’t get boards, our guys simply couldn’t get around him.

A -17 on the rebounds, and outrebounded 18-4 on the offensive end. Ugh. Combined 17 boards from Bosh, O’Neal and Bargnani in 96 minutes. Woeful.

So, it’s a four-game skid, with a trip to red-hot Cleveland tomorrow night. It’s not good folks. They’re last in their division, and on the outside looking in at the playoff picture.

But, if you wanna look at the bright side, here’s some thoughts…

They were 7-12 two years ago, and would go to 7-14, before going 40-21 the rest of the way.

They’re only a half-game out of a playoff spot

As the TV crew pointed out yesterday about 1,173 times, the Raptors had the second-toughest early-season schedule in the NBA.

We appear to be healthy (yep, I’m reaching here).

Joey Graham is opening some eyes (really reaching).

We almost won without our star Kris Humphries! (OK, I’m done).

I gather people think yesterday was something to build on but to me, it was more of the same. Outrebounded again. Another blown lead. Another opposing PG comes up big against us. The usual roster holes exposed. Unable to execute down the stretch.

Just another day in Raptorland.

If you wanted an entertaining game, you got that, and that’s an improvement over the last week. But at this point, I wouldn’t expect much else from these Raptors.

Well, it’s back to .500 for the Raptors. Fantastic. Oh, and the other good news? Jose Calderon is hurt.

Look out folks, things could get ugly. They sure were ugly last night, especially in the first quarter; the Raptors couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean, and when the first 12 minutes were over, Jose was limping off, the score was 26-13 for Philly, and the Raptors would never recover.

Now, I’m not panicking just yet; it’s still only eight games and Jose’s hamstring injury didn’t appear to be serious. Though we all know it takes some players a long time to return from a bad hammy, the fact that he came back after some initial treatment - even if he did have to eventually sit down for good - is a good sign.

What’s far more troubling, and no surprise here, is the play of the swingmen. I don’t have the words to describe how poorly they played last night. Atrociously awful? Brutally bad? Collectively crappy? Despicably deplorable? I could go on all day. But here’s all you need to know. The four wing players - that’s Graham, Moon, Kapono and Parker - shot a combined 6-28, for 17 points. (Throw in the point guards and it becomes 12-41 for 32.)

I seriously cannot stress what an absolute trainwreck Jamario Moon and Jason Kapono are. They can’t guard anybody; Kapono tries his best, but doesn’t have the athleticism, and Moon has the athleticism but is constantly out of position and biting on pump fakes. On offense, Moon sits back and hoists three-pointers when he should be driving; Kapono tries to dribble into the lane when he should be shooting.

Twice last night this was evident. Moon went into the lane on one play and got his shot blocked; next time he touched the ball, even though there was no one in between him and the basket, he shot a three (and missed, badly). Kapono, earlier, found himself in the exact same spot - wide open on the near side - and instead of shooting the three, decided to drive, got in trouble, and the Raps turned it over. What the fuck, guys? Why can’t you do what you’re supposed to do? Kapono’s only make was a three; the only time Moon did drive, Bosh got a tip-in. Why don’t they learn from this? I don’t get it. I can’t believe I had such a debate over who should start going into the season - at this point, it’s clear neither one can even play, let alone start.

Parker also had a horrendous shooting night, but I can live with that because he at least brings something on the defensive end. When Kapono and Moon aren’t scoring, what the heck are they bringing to the table? And Graham gets his minutes jerked around so much, he doesn’t even have a chance to be “good Joey.” I admit he made a bonehead turnover - took his eye off the ball as a pass came his way and lost it out of bounds - but come on. Moon gets a free pass for every terrible shot and missed defensive rotation, why doesn’t Graham?

It all boils down to a complete waste of a fantastic all-around game played by the Raptors frontcourt (or “the bigs” as Matt Devlin collectively called them approximately 3,642 times last night). No kidding, Bosh, O’Neal, and Bargnani played an absolute classic. O’Neal was mixing it up inside, grabbing offensive boards, keeping possessions alive. Bosh was driving constantly and getting to the line (10-13). Bargnani used the mid-range, the paint and the three-point line. Add it all up - 22 of 39, 64 points, 28 boards, 5 blocks. They held the line on the boards, dropping the -23 boards from last time to only -3 last night. Basically, they gave us exactly what Bryan Colangelo - and we the fans - envisioned when he signed O’Neal and put this team together.

Those guys did all they could - they played great. But they can’t do it all themselves - as you can see, they got absolutely zero support from the perimeter players on offense, and on defense… well, not much new there, the Raptors were destroyed on the perimeter yet again.

The Sixer wings were 17-33 (and went to the line 11 times) and put in 49 points. Andre Miller dropped 18 on 8-14. This is a team that came in shooting 36% from downtown, and was the worst in the league at shooting threes the past two years… and we let them shoot 6-11.

Meanwhile, even though he got no help at all from Sam Dalembert, Reggie Evans and Mareese Speights, who were all dominated by whoever they tried to guard, Elton Brand finally had a breakout game. In fact, I may have jinxed everything because I said yesterday I couldn’t see why the Sixers couldn’t integrate the running game with the half-court game; they sure did last night, as they broke out running whenever they could (I believe four of Igoudala’s five makes were fast-break dunks) and when the game slowed, they let Brand do his thing. He ended up with 25 and 13, and this is despite some solid defense from Bargnani and O’Neal. The man came to play, that’s for sure.

Now, obviously, some of the blame for the loss has to go to Calderon missing the entire fourth. Surely the Raptors would not have had eight fourth-quarter turnovers had Calderon been running the show. Despite his otherwise great game, two of Bosh’s three TOs came in the frame, including one he bounced off his own leg out of bounds. Gotta take care of the ball in the fourth, guys.

All in all, this was a bad loss. As a team, you can’t hang your “bigs” (ugh) out to dry like that. The Raptors won’t win a damn thing this year if they can’t get any production from the guards and small forwards.

Oh, and one other thing… Did you see Paul Pierce drop 34 and hit the game-winner for the Celtics last night? Folks, get this through your heads. When Paul Pierce is rolling, you aren’t going to stop him. I don’t care if you’re Jason Kapono, Jamario Moon or Kobe Bryant, when he’s got it going, there’s nothing you can do except hope he misses. Sure, he’s coasted through plenty of games in his career, and I’ve never been a huge fan. But when he wants it, well, like the Diesel said, “that guy is the motherfuckin’ Truth.”

Hoo boy. Well, that was a tough one, wasn’t it? Last night’s fourth quarter was not a pretty scene… not at all.

Hey, the Raptors played great for three quarters. Give them some credit; these are the defending NBA champs, the best defense in the league. Yeah, it was tough to take. Blowing a 16-point lead? Not good, no matter who the opponent is.

But considering I expected a blowout loss, the exciting game we got was more than I could have asked for.

Well, I guess I could have asked for a win… but whatever.

To be honest, I knew from the start the Raptors were doomed in this one; as odd as it sounds, they came out with too much energy. They were keyed up, big-time, in the first half. Yeah, it was great to see, and it gave them the lead over the sluggish Celtics. But I just knew they would crash in the second half. A team with a short bench on the second day of a back-to-back can’t sustain that energy level for a full game.

Add in the fact that you knew the champs were going to make a run in the second half - great teams always have one last run in them, that would get the team and crowd fired up - and you could see the collision course: tired Raptors, meet fired up Celtics. Or as I like to say, Disaster, meet Catastrophe.

And thus, a 35-22 fourth quarter for the Celtics, who rode Paul Pierce exactly the same way Toronto rode Chris Bosh on Sunday.

Now, I can imagine the consternation present when looking at the matchup of Paul Pierce and Jason Kapono in the final minutes. Kapono, of course, was completely overmatched, and Pierce dominated the quarter. But I ask, would anyone else have done better? This is the Finals MVP! The guy scored 41 on LeBron James in game seven of the conference semi-finals! You think Jamario Moon or Joey Graham is gonna stop him? Besides, Kapono played great defense on that impossible turnaround Pierce hit, and steered him into Bosh on the following layup; Pierce had to twist his body in mid-air to avoid the block. You can blame Kapono or you can blame Mitchell for leaving Kapono in there, but I’m telling you, it wouldn’t have made a difference. And there’s no way either Moon or Graham would have matched Kapono’s offense.

As for the Raptors not featuring Bosh on offense down the stretch, well, that one’s harder to explain. First of all, he was left on the bench waaay too long to start the quarter. And when he did get in, he didn’t take a single shot. Not one! That’s hard to believe.

Now, when you’ve got Kevin Garnett guarding him, sure, that makes it tough. He’s not the reigning defensive player of the year for nothing; he stuck to Bosh like glue on every screen and roll. But, as Bosh himself said in the post-game, there are other ways to get him the ball - some off the ball screens, for one. Bosh is very adept at getting to the line in tough situations; he drives hard and he gets calls. To not even give him a single opportunity, well, that’s really hard to defend.

Some blame has to go to Jose Calderon for not taking advantage of KG sticking to Bosh. If Bosh sets a decent screen (which admittedly, he doesn’t always do, a problem I’ve long had with his game) and KG stays with Bosh, then Jose is open. He either needs to take and drain the shot, or drive the hoop. But far too often, he picked up his dribble thinking Bosh would be open. He wasn’t, and by the time Jose realized it, the defense recovered. Calderon should have known better; he should have made the Celtics pay for sticking to Bosh, and maybe then, they wouldn’t - giving Bosh more opportunities.

As I’ve said, Calderon is our second best offensive player, but he’s gotta starting being more aggressive.

Meanwhile, you had Jermaine O’Neal dominate the first half and then disappear in the second. The Celtics obviously made adjustments, and forced O’Neal to set up farther away from the hoop than he wanted to be. And when Bosh was face-masked by KG in the fourth, the Raptors decided O’Neal was their best option… and he turned it over three times. Not pretty.

But, as I say, you knew the Celtics defense was going to wake up and be the swarming group of gnats they were last year; O’Neal was not going to get the looks he was getting the first half.

The Raps played great for three, but as I said yesterday, you gotta play a pretty perfect game to beat the Celtics. The fourth quarter was far from great for Toronto.

In the end, the superior team played better down the stretch, and came away with the victory.

Thoughts:

I’ve always been a Kevin Garnett fan. But that taunting, trash-talking and finger-wagging last night? Towards Jose Calderon, no less? Absolutely bush-league, immature, disrespectful. I lost virtually all of the respect I had for Kevin Garnett in that single moment.

Speaking of Kevin Garnett, why, exactly, did the refs overturn two calls after KG complained? Since when does complaining to the ref get the call changed? And why didn’t Parker get a four-point play when he was clearly fouled shooting a three right in front of the Celtics bench?

Andrea Bargnani: four fouls really hampered his play. Such a shame because they were guarding Bosh so tight, chances are Bargnani would have gotten some shots if he could have stayed on the floor.

Joey Graham: With the exception of ANOTHER rebound he lost out of bounds (is that three now this season? Sheesh!) Joey played really, really well in his 18 minutes. 3-5, five boards? Lots of hustle? You can’t ask for more. Well, except maybe that he do that every night.

Will Solomon: Looked good Sunday, looked awful last night. Three turnovers in nine minutes? Unacceptable. Really, isn’t “taking care of the basketball” the most important part of the backup PG’s role? Calderon only has three turnovers in the last four games combined! We knew the backup PGs were gonna have rough nights, just wish they didn’t come against the champs.

Sherman Hamilton: Was it just me, or was he really, really good as a game analyst? I was completely impressed. Nice job, Sherm. Smart commentary, pointed out lots of little things, didn’t talk down to the audience, not too excitable… A real nice change from Leo and Jack. I’m starting the call right now, more Sherman Hamilton!

Well, the three-game road trip is outta the way. Now, with 6 of the next 8 at home, it’s time for the Raps to tighten up, solve their problems and get ready for the tough parts of the schedule: The three-game west coast trip at the beginning of December, and the mammoth 6-game west coast trip at the end of December. So, come on, boys, shake off the rust excuse and kick it into gear. It’s go time.

Unfortunately, the Raptors couldn’t capture the best start in franchise history. They fell 100-93 after a pretty good fourth quarter effort to get back in the game; they just couldn’t quite get over the hump.

Allen Iverson didn’t play, but I have to say, watching how well Detroit moved the ball and how smoothly they worked on offense… I’d be more concerned than ever about how he’s going to fit in there. Leo Rautins said it best, after a play in which the Pistons swung the ball from one side to the other then back, getting an open look with the Raptors scrambling: that ball would have stopped at Allen Iverson. They’re a well-oiled machine now, Iverson may just be the gunk that slows the cogs.

As for the Raptors, well, let’s be honest - they’re just not in Detroit’s class yet. I think what’s disappointing about this loss is that Toronto’s defense really let them down. They played solid defense in the first three games, but for stretches of the second and third last night… well, they looked like last year’s Raptors: slow rotations, turning their backs on cuts (leading to easy buckets for the Pistons), giving up open threes (that score could have been a lot worse if the Pistons hadn’t been 3-12 from downtown), and missing key rebounds.

That bad D led to a couple of key Detroit runs, and then it was “climb out of the hole we just dug ourselves” time for Toronto. They almost did it, too, closing it to within one several times in the fourth after being down 16 in the third. But, the defense just couldn’t get those one or two more stops they needed to put them over the top. A good effort in the fourth, but you gotta play that way the whole game to beat Detroit.

They do play the game well, don’t they? They remind me a lot of the Spurs, in the way that they always pick the right moments to run and the right moments to slow the tempo. And they slow it waaay down at times. It’s frustrating to watch, but sometimes, they cross the half-court line and then it’s like they just stand around for a second and catch their breath - and lull the defense to sleep - before getting the offense going. Not much fun to watch, but man, they work it well. Credit to them for being this good for this long.

Unfortunately, Jermaine O’Neal is going to get a lot of blame for this loss, because he struggled on offense and was in foul trouble. But also keep in mind, O’Neal held Rasheed Wallace to 4-12 shooting. Meanwhile, Chris Bosh - who finished with a nice-looking 26 and 13 - won’t get any blame, but who was settling for long jumpers and awful-looking fadeaways whenever Wallace was near him? Honestly, Bosh seems like he’s genuinely afraid of Wallace. He won’t go anywhere near the hoop when Wallace is on him. He finished 11-24 and a couple of those misses were unbelievably awful shots. He also let Jason Maxiell manhandle him on a couple of loose balls. So please, spread the blame for the bigs equally, won’t you?

Bargnani also deserves some disappointed glances. He was fine on offense, going 5-6 and hitting both his three-point attempts (and that smooth stroke I loved in his first year - that was absent last year - is back!), but he blew a couple of rotations on defense and got lazy on a couple of rebounds. He did have one nice block, however - like the O’Neal block of Maggette against Golden State - the ball went straight to Rasheed, who nailed an open three. Sigh.

Jose Calderon was magnificent on offense again, but Rodney Stuckey showed how vulnerable Jose is when a strong guard goes right at him. Calderon backpedals too quickly sometimes, and a player like Stuckey - who can score, no doubt about that - will take advantage.

Anthony Parker didn’t do much on offense, but I’ll never complain about that, as it’s his defense we need. He did the best he could last night, but chasing Rip Hamilton is never easy - especially when, and this bothers me because it’s so cheap, Rip pushes him into the screener when running through the off-the ball screens. I’m serious. You think Rip is so great at getting open, but I wonder how great he’d be if he ran off screens without pushing off?

The biggest Raptor killer last night was Tayshaun Prince. 27 points on 10-13 shooting. And most of those 13 shots were wide open looks. You know, it’s a good thing we have Jamario Moon in our starting lineup for his defense! Sigh. At least he got four rebounds, more than doubling his season total.

The rest of bench, outside of Bargnani, was invisible. Will Solomon played some decent backup minutes for Jose - and I assume his strength made him the better option than the rail-thin Roko Ukic, who hasn’t seen the floor since the first half in Milwaukee - but Sam may have left him in a couple minutes too long in the fourth. Kapono was 0-6 from the field; not exactly his best night. Kapono does a little too much with the ball; he needs to take a lesson from Rip, if you’re open of a screen, just shoot. Don’t try and dribble to create more space, just shoot.

Couple of other thoughts:

• What was all the hype for Amir Johnson a year or so ago? Man, did he ever look awful, and not just on D (where you knew Bosh would be too much for him). His jump shot looked awful and he boxes out about as well as Bargnani. You know it’s bad when you’re giving minutes to Kwame Brown.
• O’Neal got his second tech of the year. He spends a lot of time arguing with the refs I’ve noticed; I don’t mind that per se, some edge is good - and I grant the Pistons get away with a lot, and that’s frustrating - but Jermaine should know to wait until a stoppage to voice his concerns. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by the refs while the play is still going on!
• Outrebounded once again! This time by five. Sigh.
• Jose Calderon’s numbers through four games: 19.5 points, on 52% shooting (54% from downtown), 9.25 assists, 2.25 turnovers, 4 rebounds. Those are some “wow” numbers. Of course, he’s averaging 38.5 minutes a night and ideally, it should be about 36, but clearly, they need him out there - not just as the floor leader, but because he’s the second best offensive option behind Bosh. I’d like to see Sam recognize that he can’t have Bosh and Jose on the bench at the same time. Yes, they play well together and have great chemistry. No doubt. But you need at least one of your primetime scorers in the game at all times, and Bosh and Jose are the only two you’ve got: O’Neal is not there anymore, and Bargnani is not there yet (if ever).

Toronto Raptors

Well, my prediction was way off (as usual), but this is one of those cases I’m glad to be wrong. The Raptors pulled out of an awful start to score an impressive victory and start the 2008-2009 season 1-0.

During that brutal first five minutes - when the Raptors were 0-7 from the field and gave up 142 offensive rebounds - it looked like what I expected, sloppy, almost-pre-season play, with the chemistry still missing. But then the Raptors started to gel on offense - much more cohesively than I thought they would. They moved the ball well and worked the inside-outside game well, which are the two main keys to the Raptors offense in my eyes.

Defensively, well, it’s hard to say really. The Sixers shot an astonishingly awful 34% for the game; but was that simply because they can’t shoot, or because the Raptors D was really good? The Sixers missed a lot of open shots - a LOT.

And then there’s the rebounding… a 56-33 advantage for the Sixers. Now, we know that the Sixers are more athletic, and Dalembert looked completely healthy, so a Sixers advantage isn’t surprising. But a +23 advantage? Yikes. Now, I will grant, a lot of those boards were on chip-misses and putbacks, and when you miss 55 shots as the Sixers did, you’ve got more chances to get rebounds. But still… only 33 board for the Raps? I though we brought in O’Neal to shore this up! Not that I blame O’Neal, he had 8 which is about what I expect him to average this year. But where was everyone else? Honestly, how did Jamario Moon get only one rebound in 24 minutes?

Ah well, you can’t have everything, right? Clearly they still have to work on boxing out, which is hopefully what they’ll be doing in practice the rest of this week.

As for individual performances, Bosh, obviously, was stellar, which was great to see from a guy who’s started slowly the past couple seasons. Seriously, the way he was mixing up the shot and the drive, and the way he got to the line (8-9!), was mid-season form. Great to see.

O’Neal gave me exactly what I expected - 17/8, a block (and at least two more shot alterations), a charge taken, and one injury scare. Hey, four assists were nice too.

Calderon was also spot on, with 13/7 and 3-5 from downtown. The best thing was, he only had to play 33 minutes! How about Roko Ukic? Sure, he didn’t set the world on fire, but he was absolutely solid in his 15 minutes - 4 points, 2 assists, no turnovers. One thing he needs to work on is quickness in finishing; he beat his man a couple times, but he didn’t seem to get the ball to the rim fast enough, and the defense recovered in time to swat his shot away. Other than that - two thumbs up for his debut performance.

Kapono showed why I think he should be starting (6 of 8, 3 of 4 from downtown, 0 assists - that’s what I want from the best shooter in the game), and Moon showed why everyone’s been slagging him; he was pretty much invisible, although I give him credit for only taking one bad shot (which he actually hit). But the one rebound, and 1-4 from the line, are both unacceptable. Come on, Jamario, time to step it up.

Good Joey Graham showed up for his 8 minutes, with a couple buckets, a couple hard drives, and a couple of hustle plays. I liked what he showed.

Anthony Parker was a little underwhelming; 3-11, only one rebound. But, gotta keep in mind, he expends a lot of energy guarding the other team’s best scorers, and tonight he was chasing around Andre Igoudala and Louis Williams and Willie Green. These three guys, who have all killed the Raps in the past, were a combined 11-37, and you have to credit Parker for at least some of that. I have no doubts his shots will fall when we need him.

Finally, we come to the big enigma, Andrea Bargnani. He didn’t score a point, and was 0-4 from the field. But that doesn’t tell the whole store. In 20 minutes, he grabbed 5 boards - not bad - dished out a couple of assists, and blocked two shots. He also didn’t turn the ball over, and most important of all, of those four shots, only one was questionable (a leaning drive that had zero chance). He made two other good drives (one led to a miss, the other an assist) and his other shots were 15-footers that just bounced off the back iron. Furthermore, he looked engaged and into the game, not lost like he often did last year. While it would have been nice for him to score, the Raps had enough other scorers on this night, and Bargnani found other ways to contribute. That’s the kind of development we all have wanted to see.

As for the Sixers, well, they still look out of sync. Igoudala didn’t look comfortable all night, and Elton Brand jacked up a lot of shots. He did pull in 13 boards, and Sam Dalembert had 17, so you know rebounding won’t be an issue. But they need to learn how to score in the half-court; their athleticism is definitely there, but that is only going to carry them so far.

All in all, a quality first win. Always nice to get the season started off on the right foot!

If I had any regular readers, they’d probably be saying, “quit the video game and book BS, talk Raptors!” But there isn’t much to say right now. Our Olympians are getting their much-needed rest, and hopefully the rest of the team is starting to get back into shape, as training camp opens at the end of the month.

Here’s my quick-hit thoughts on each player at the end of summer:

Chris Bosh
Had a great Olympics, showed much-needed aggression on defence that hopefully stays in place, now that he’s got Jermaine O’Neal backing him up. I expect his usual solid offensive play, and I hope that, with O’Neal in there, it’ll ease the load on Bosh a bit and he’ll stay healthy for 80 games.

Jose Calderon
Had a mediocre Olympics, first with the Spanish coach yanking his minutes around and then with the groin injury. He should be fine by the start of the season. So the question will be if he can be the full-time QB of this team. I think he can, he’s a competitive player, he loves to win, and I think he’s the type to step up to a challenge - not the type to take it easy now that he’s got the fat coin.

Jermaine O’Neal
Apparently healthy and motivated, which is exactly what we need, O’Neal should be a major contributor this season. I expect he’ll miss some games, he’ll probably acquire a couple of minor injuries, but as long as he can stay away from the big ones, I think he’ll play 70 games. I’m most looking forward to his efforts on the glass and on defense, but also, I think he’ll be a big bonus on offense - there were too many times over the past couple of years where, if Bosh wasn’t in the game, the Raps had no where to turn to. O’Neal should change that.

Anthony Parker
I expect the vet to have another solid season. We need to get him more open looks - he’s money when he’s got an open shot, not so much when he has to create. He seemed to lose a step on D last year; hopefully with O’Neal and Bosh behind him, he won’t be hung out to dry so much on the perimeter this year.

Jason Kapono
Kapono’s a huge question mark, and it has more to do with Sam Mitchell than anything else. Kapono was disappointing last year, but I pin 99% of that on Mitchell. Can the coach devise any sort of scheme to regularly get Kapono shots? Can he have the patience to leave him in there even when he’s a defensive liability? Does he have the intelligence to recognize when he’s NOT a liability and get him back in there? Kapono can play, there’s no doubt of that. Will Mitchell let him?

Jamario Moon
Nice story last year, no doubt. But athleticism only gets you so far. Again, Mitchell is to blame for this; he left Jamario in through too many awful shooting nights, instead of getting him out of the game and trying to teach him when not to shoot. (He yanks Humphries as soon as Hump takes a bad shot. Why not Moon?). This year, Moon needs to stick to his abilities - slashing and playing D - and he needs to simply move that rock on offense. Unless he’s driving, the ball should NEVER stop with him.

Andrea Bargnani
A colossal disappointment last year, we’ve heard how he’s supposedly working hard this summer (including working out with O’Neal in Vegas). I hope those rumours are true because he needs it. In his first year, his lack of rebounding intensity and his poor footwork were hidden by his wicked shooting touch; he had no shooting touch last year and didn’t improve the other areas. He better have either gotten the touch back or improved his fundamentals, or better yet, both, otherwise he’s officially going to become a bust. I also hope he can accept his official designation as a bench player after starting much of last season.

Joey Graham
Well, what can you say about our man Joey. Possessed of one of the best NBA bodies you’ll ever see, topped off with a brain that is seemingly incapable of grasping the NBA game. I’ve rooted for him all along - he was the guy I wanted them to draft in that spot and I thought he’d be good. Will he finally get it this year? Who knows? I’ve just about given up on him. C’mon, Joey, prove us all wrong… please.

Kris Humphries
He’s got the energy and hustle, but like Graham, loses his had far too often. Unlike Graham, though, I think Hump has actually shown some improvements over the last couple of years. As long as he stays within himself - in other words, don’t force any shots, Hump - he can be a solid contributor to this team.

Roko Ukic
The great unknown. No one’s really seen him play although everyone says he’s a great young talent. He could be the next Jose Calderon or the next Vincenzo Esposito. Let’s hope it’s the former. Either way I’m looking forward to finally seeing him play!

Will Solomon
Transitioning back from Europe, essentially playing the part of the 06-07 Anthony Parker. Solomon’s put up some decent stats in Europe and college and seems possessed of the good all-around game the Raptors need backing up the one and two spots. Can he adjust back to the NBA, especially in a back-up role? It probably won’t be easy for him but I hope he can. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the table.

Hassan Adams
Played some decent minutes with the Nets a couple of years ago, hopefully he can bring something to the table in limited minutes. I don’t expect Adams to play too much, though obviously, I hope he does well when he’s in there. Like Solomon I think he’s a solid pick-up by Bryan Colangelo, a good all-around player who can help in more than just one way in the minutes he gets.

Nathan Jawai
OK, he’s probably even more unknown that Ukic. I don’t even think I have any analysis to give you. He’s a project, but hopefully, coming in and practicing against Bosh and O’Neal will help speed his development.

Sam Mitchell
I think if the Raps get off to another slow start Mitchell may be on the hot seat. Look, I like Sam - he can be very entertaining and he’s a good motivator, and as I’ve said many times, I value the continuity of having the same coach in place over the regular hire-fire-hire pattern of the NBA. But he was outcoached far too often last year. It is simply inconceivable to me that we had the best three-point shooter in the NBA barely attempt any threes between Christmas and the playoffs. The substitution patterns at the 2-3 spots were all over the place. Dwight Howard barely went to the foul line in the 4th quarter in the playoffs. Mitchell needs to settle on a rotation and make minute adjustments during games. Not the wholesale “well I think Jason’s got it tonight” or “we need Moon’s defense.” No. Find a rotation and stick with it. These are NBA players, not 12 year olds. Hopefully having a shortened roster does that for him…

Anyway, training camp is less than a month away! Can’t wait.

I managed to see most of the game yesterday afternoon (even though I had seen the final score in the morning). I’m glad that Spain challenged the US and even though I always like to cheer for the underdog, I’m happy for the US.

If this team had played like the US teams played in 2002 and 2004 - miserable, sulking, like 12 individuals playing because they had to, not because they were proud to represent their country - I wouldn’t have wanted them to win.

But because this group played like a team, respected their opponents and the tournament itself, because (it at least looked like) they enjoyed the games and each other’s company - in other words, they earned their victory, not just with a hard-fought win but by playing and representing the sport the right way. I’m glad they won.

In fact it’s a delicious irony that Larry Brown often uses that exact same phrase (that he coaches his teams to “play the game the right way”), since it was his 2004 team that dropped a load in Athens.

As for Spain, they hung tough, and kept it closer than I thought it would be. Man, they move the ball well, don’t they? Their big men also have great hands - they corralled a lot of those little pick-and-roll slip passes in traffic that would bounce off the hands of most NBA big men.

It’s a shame Calderon couldn’t play because even though they were three-deep at point guard, obviously a guy with his experience could have helped in a big game like this. Surely he never would have fouled Kobe on that 3-point shot like Fernandez did! Alas, that was the turning point. But a great game overall.

I’m also glad that by all accounts Calderon’s injury is not severe and that he should be fine with a couple of weeks rest. Only a month until training camp!