Well, those were a couple of disappointing losses. I know it’s early and I’m not panicking or anything. But, as others have said all around the web, there are always going to be losses, sometimes in games you should win, and you accept that. But poor effort is much, much harder to accept.

We all knew coming in that this team was not going to be a defensive juggernaut. We knew they’d struggle on the glass. But man… I don’t think anyone expected the Raptors to make THAT many mistakes on the defensive end. Why are we sending double-teams from the strong side? Why aren’t helpers rotating? Why can’t we box out? Why are going under screens on shooters? Why didn’t we adjust the “protect the house” strategy against Orlando, a team with only one inside threat (Howard) and four 3-point shooters? Anyone with a wit of basketball sense knew that wasn’t going to work, yet there we are, four Raptors collapsing into the paint when such offensive juggernauts as Marcin Gortat and Brandon Bass get the ball on the block.

Offensively, you can see this team is still gelling. We all expected that, and despite that, they’re still scoring in bunches. But defensively, what is the excuse? There is absolutely none. ESPECIALLY for the rebounding. When Zach Randolph took a 15-footer, beat FOUR Raptors to the offensive rebound and laid it in, I nearly turned off the TV I was so disgusted.

The effort was better in the second half against Orlando (other than Calderon’s retarded insistence at going under screens) and we just have to hope and pray that that was a sign things are moving in the right direction.

Individual thoughts…

Bosh – hey, he’s been fantastic. No complaints. But if his teammates don’t start backing him up, he’s not gonna wanna wait till summer to leave.

Bargnani – not sure what happened in the Memphis game or the first half against Orlando; also not sure why the rest of the team seemed to go away from him in the fourth Q of the Orlando game when he was burning up the nets. Defensively, well, he’s been OK in man-to-man down low, but he didn’t step out fast enough on several three-point rotations against Orlando, and as usual, his rebounding his been atrocious. It’s not that he doesn’t get enough (which he doesn’t), it’s just that he never bodies anyone on the other team up to prevent them from getting the board. Turn around, stick out your ass and spread your arms wide, man.

Calderon – needs to find his shooting stroke. I can overlook his defensive deficiencies when he’s playing well on the other end, but he’s stinking it up two ways so far.

Turkoglu – much like Bargnani, he was on fire in the second half against Orlando but didn’t get enough looks. As alluded to above, the offense is still getting in sync, but it shouldn’t be hard to recognize a hot hand.

DeRozan – exactly what I expected from the rookie so far. Occasional good shots/drives, occasional mistakes on defense, occasional spectacular play. Happy with what I’ve seen.

Jack – has been fine defensively, but hasn’t found his groove offensively. I wouldn’t be too worried about him if Calderon were playing better, but when both of them are bricklayers on offense, it hurts. Especially when Triano plays them both at the same time, which I don’t understand. Why not get Bellinelli in there some more? Why not let Turk run the offense more? There are too many ballhandling options to keep going with the two PGs, when it very clearly is not working.

Rasho – he’s been solid, and I love the guy, but I do look forward to Reggie Evans taking some of his minutes. I believe Evans is faster, more aggressive, will get to a couple more balls that Rasho just can’t. not a knock on Rasho – he’s done everything expected – but we need the different look Evans can provide.

Wright – has been great on defense, and has hit a couple big shots, but has occasionally forced his offense a little more than I’d like. I don’t mind rewarding guys who give great efforts on D with some shots, I just wish they were slightly better shots.

Bellinelli – Why so few minutes? He was great against Cleveland, solid in limited minutes against Memphis, and pine-riding against the Magic. Even though he matched up well with their guard-heavy rotation, is (supposedly) a decent defender and even though Calderon and Jack were having a shared bowel movement on the floor. He should be playing more.

Triano – needs to call more timely timeouts when teams make runs. Don’t wait for the TV timeout – especially in the first half. Jay, you don’t get to carry those timeouts over to the second half, man. Also, put the ball in Turkoglu’s hands more in the fourth. That’s what we brought him here for, after all.

Well. I’m disappointed but not upset. If, after 10 games, we’re still seeing the same mistakes, then I’ll be upset. I just want to see a little more effort on D and the boards, especially early in games. Let’s go, Raptors.

I didn’t think that was true, since I’d seen every game the guy had played against the Raps and almost every game he played with the Raps, and noticed no difference whatsoever. But I decided to check the stats, and thankfully, the stats backed me up. Check it:

So you see, the stats are virtually identical. His numbers were incredibly similar overall, vs. Toronto, and at home and away. In Toronto, where he hears the boos, his shooting percentages are down slightly, but his scoring and rebounding are up slightly, so it’s a wash. His free throw shooting is down across the board which is odd, considering he’s normally a great free throw shooter, but it’s likely just an aberration.

The only thing I really notice is the free throw attempts vs. field goal attempts in Toronto and Jersey. He seemed to take some more contact in Jersey, with 23 more FTs attempted in the same amount of games – and settled for more jump shots in Toronto, with 38 more FGs attempted.

Relevant? Probably not. The Nets won 13 of the 24 games during Carter’s time there, which is the most important thing, including 4 of the six playoff games of course, and that’s not a surprising thing considering they had the better team and coach most years.

In Orlando, I expect Vince’s stats to be down across the board as that team is pretty stacked and doesn’t need him to be the focal point of the offense; plus he’s not as young as he used to be. In the flip side, because they are a good team, he should probably experience his greatest team success there. I look at that roster and, assuming they fill out the bench with a couple decent guys, I have to believe they’re the Eastern Conference favourites – at least as long as Cleveland plans to head into 2009-2010 with the same undersized backcourt and under-athletic frontcourt (I fail to see how adding Shaq addresses the flaws exposed in the Orlando series).

So the question remains – will Vince be booed here in Toronto? Yeah… probably. Maybe not quite as much – New Jersey was a fun team to hate. But I’m sure they’ll still be plenty audible. And I’m OK with that. Most people seem to think it needs to stop… but really, who cares? Everyone loves a villain, and Vince brought it all on himself by quitting on the Raptors five years ago. As you can see above, it has zero impact on his play, so if people enjoy booing… I think they should go ahead and do so.

Quick Free Agency Update: Looks like Ariza’s going to Houston. That means, as far as I can tell, it’s all but a lock Shawn Marion will be back next year, and the Raptors will go into the 09-10 season with at least four of the five starters the same. Hardly a great recipe for improving on a 33-win team…

“All that matters to me is that the Raptors play hard every game; if they do that, if they give a good effort and the games are close, I can still enjoy watching the team on a game-to-game basis, even if the season as a whole is a colossal disappointment.”

– Me, January 19

So, I said that. And I meant it. All I ask for, as a fan, is effort. Judging by the crowds in the last two games, that’s all most fans ask for - yes, we want a win, but if we can’t get a win, we at least want effort. And frankly, I don’t think it’s too much to ask.

Apparently, the Raptors think it is; they seem to think it’s OK to go out and give 40 or 50% effort, to go through the motions and hopefully beat the traffic home.

Well, the fans called you out on out, fellas. That level of effort is not acceptable.

I mean, no one really expected the Raptors to take this one - Orlando is every bit as good as their gaudy record - but the poor effort is what hurts, especially coming off the poor effort in the game against the Bucks. We expected more.

And then, trying to turn it around on us, the fans, and say “the energy in the building is not good?”

Wow.

I cannot even believe Chris Bosh said this: “If you have a bad fiscal year, how about I boo you?”

Double Wow.

Um, Chris? These are paying customers you’re talking about, and booing, much as it sucks, is the only way - repeat, THE ONLY WAY - we get to voice our displeasure.

Think about it this way. You’re at a restaurant. You’re paying for a meal. But let’s say your steak isn’t cooked right, the service is slow, and the waiter is rude. You can send the steak back to the kitchen. You can complain to the server about the wait and to management about the poor service. If all that does nothing, you can leave a lower tip. If the service is that bad, you can leave no tip it all! That is your right as a paying customer. You’re not obligated to be happy about a poor meal and crappy service, you have a right to complain.

But an attendee at a sporting event? They can’t complain to you or Bryan Colangelo that the team is playing like crap, that they came to see you play hard and you didn’t. They can’t express their displeasure by not leaving you a tip. All they can do is boo.

Again: They’re not obligated to be happy about watching a team of professionals play like they’d rather be at home watching 187 hours of Super Bowl pre-game shows. They’re paying customers: They have a right to complain.

And frankly, it is shocking to me - absolutely shocking - that an intelligent young man such as yourself does not realize that.

Look, Chris, I don’t like booing either, and I’ve never booed the home team myself (and I sat through some AWFUL games as a Raps fan). And earlier this year - the time Bargnani got booed after missing a free throw - it was not justified. But yesterday? 100% justified and I don’t see how you can argue that. The Raptors were missing simple defensive rotations, were not hustling after loose balls, and were settling for long jump shot after long jump shot.  Add in the turnovers and offensive rebounds, and the most upsetting thing in my mind, the terrible transition defense (some no-name scrub with a girl’s name went coast to coast for a dunk and not one Raptor even ATTEMPTED to stop the ball) and it’s clear that you were not giving your best effort out there. It’s not acceptable; and although you can say you were playing hard, actions speak louder than words, my friend.

Chris, you’re a great ball player and you seem like a good person, but it’s time to rise above that garbage, OK? You’re better than that. At least I think you are - please don’t let me down. I know there’s a lot of negativity out there, but try and rise above. Thank you.
PS As for Stephen A Smith and his ludicrous report? Not worth getting worked up over. The man is a fraud and a hack. I can just as easily declare “sources say Chris Bosh told BC he’s re-signing in 2010!” because I have as much insider information as he does (read: none) and guess what, one of is going to be right. Only difference is, I won’t crow about it, because I know and fully admit I’m making it up - but I can all but guarantee that if Chris signs elsewhere, Mr. Smith will be on air declaring how he broke this story in February of ‘09 and saying “I told you so” to anyone who will listen.

Imagine that - two quality wins in a row! First time that’s happened all year. I’m serious, that’s the first time they’ve won two in a row against +.500 teams. Hard to believe, isn’t it?

Yesterday was an interesting game. The Raps didn’t play great defense - the Magic shot 46 percent, had 36 in the paint and Dwight Howard scored 39. They were 15-34 from downtown, even better than their 2nd-best in the east 38 per cent. Yet the Raps won. How?

The Raptors on offense were much better than what we’ve seen recently (outside of first quarters anyway). What’s key here is that they shot only 12 threes - and hit only three of them - meaning on their two-point field goals they were 38-64. They had 42 points in the paint themselves! And they went to the line 24 times. For a team that almost always settles for jumpers (a lot of them fadeaways), there was a lot more movement towards the basket last night, including several back-door cuts and point guard penetration. All this against the league’s leading shot blocker, who despite two early fouls, still played 37 minutes.

Meanwhile, in addition to the PiP win, the Raps won the rebounding battle (39-31), the turnover battle (12-9) and the fast-break battle (8-4).

Finally, the Raps were 23-24 from the line while the Magic were 17-24.

Add it all up, and what does it tell you - that for once, the Raptors actually executed in a close basketball game against a quality opponent. They rebounded. They didn’t make boneheaded turnovers. They scored going to the hoop. They made their free throws.

That’s a recipe for a win.

Think this’ll help the Raps realize that good things happen when you go the rack? That penetration, that defenders playing off to prevent cutters, leads to more open looks on the perimeter? God, I hope so.

Even more impressive is that the Raptors did all this without Jermaine O’Neal and Jose Calderon. Missing two starters is tough against any team, especially a team that’s 12-4 on the road. But Bargnani played well against Howard - especially on offense, taking him away from the hoop - and Bosh, Voskuhl and even Joey “The Incredible Hulk” Graham did their best on the big man. Yes, he scored 39, but what was more important to me was that he wasn’t allowed to dominate the glass - “only” 8 boards. Considering he averaged 18 against us in the playoffs, I’ll take that any day.

Story of the day was clearly Anthony Parker - 13-16 for 26 points, including some easy ones off the aforementioned backdoor cuts. Unfortunately, this only makes the Raptors one glaring weakness that much more obvious - if they could get 20+ points consistently from the wing, they’d be winning a lot more games. Much as I love Parker, he’s just been too inconsistent this year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 2-9 game from him tonight.

Second biggest story, Mr. Roko Ukic. Played the entire fourth quarter, with only one turnover in the frame. That is HUGE for a rookie point guard. Had five assists in the frame, and most impressive of all, the TSN Turning Point - the runner to give the Raps the three-point lead with a minute to go.

He mentioned after the game that he’s been working on that shot because so many of his drives were getting blocked. I would LOVE to see him develop that shot - so many point guards use it to such great effect, it’s a great shot for smaller players. Tony Parker is the master currently, though the all-time great has to be one-time Raptor Mark Jackson. But Chris Paul and Deron Williams use it, Jason Kidd uses it, Steve Blake nailed it against us earlier this year… it’s a really effective way for smaller players to score, to get the ball up before they hit the tall trees in the paint.

Moon had a decent day, including a key block on a Hedo Turkoglu three after Roko’s Runner. Of course, if Hedo had simply up-faked he’d be shooting three free throws and I’d have thrown a temper tantrum, but hey. The guy jumps at everything, law of averages says he’ll eventually block a jump shot, right?

Most observers are calling this the biggest win of the season, and while at first I thought “That’s more than a little hyperbole,” after I thought about it… I have to agree. The Magic are a great team that had won eight of nine and were only two games behind Boston going in to this one. And you also have to factor in that they haven’t had very many wins, and even fewer against good opponents (and I don’t think the Houston game even counts, they rolled over so easily). So yeah… that was the biggest win of the year.

Of course, the real question is, is it the start of something good, or just an aberration? Let’s hope it’s the former!

Well, another disappointing loss. Orlando’s clearly a step ahead of the Raptors right now. They start real NBA starters at every spot, whereas the Raps have three starters and two bench players starting - and since Calderon is still out, it’s really just two starters and three bench players. You’re not gonna win against good teams with that lineup.

Look, I love Anthony Parker; he’s done so much for this team the past two years and he gives everything he has on defense. But offensively, he’s not an option. And Andrea Bargnani’s been an improvement over last year, and I love the defensive effort, but he’s still a year behind his curve. Neither would be starting on any playoff-calibre team, nor would anyone else on Toronto’s bench.

Clearly the biggest problem last night was Will Solomon. In a ghastly performance he turned the ball over 7 times, caused at least two more turnovers with bad decisions, shot 5-13 (0-5 from 3-point range) and had a mere 4 assists. You think he made up for it defensively? Jameer Nelson went for 22 on 10-15. So, I’d say it was an all-around awful showing.

In a final indignity, Solomon made one of the worst plays ever in a Raptors uniform. He peeled off a screen and went up to take a 15-footer, and Dwight Howard came out to challenge. Dwight Howard is a big guy, but Will Solomon is still a man, right? Well he didn’t act like it here, as he did everything but cry out for mommy at the sight of Howard. He decided that rather than get his shot blocked, it was better to bail out - in mid-air - twist his body around, and flip the ball straight up. Naturally an Orlando defender caught it and they scored on the ensuing fast break. Nice job, Will. We’ll make sure to get you some diapers the next time you face Howard.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I thought Orlando was the better team coming in and they deserved to win. But I didn’t think Orlando played anything close to its best game - the Raptors just made it awfully easy on them. 21 turnovers? And once again, Toronto got nothing - absolutely nothing - from the perimeter players. How does 14-44 shooting for 32 points from Bargnani, Parker, Kapono, Moon, Graham, Ukic and Solomon sound? Not good eh? What about a total of three trips to the foul line? How about a lousy 6 assists! What about 15 freaking turnovers? What’s that, a 2:5 assist to turnover ratio? I don’t have to mention that Jose Calderon’s is 5:1, do I?

Jermaine O’Neal was solid once again, with 16 points and 10 boards. More importantly, he held Howard in check as best he could, holding the big fella to 18 and 9 and giving him nothing easy (give credit to Howard for hitting 8-11 free throws). O’Neal did pick up fouls a little too quickly, and with Bargnani on Howard, it was dunk time - if O’Neal had stayed in the game, I bet Howard’s numbers would be even worse. Amazingly, Solomon is partly to blame for this - as Leo Rautins correctly pointed out - since O’Neal’s second foul (a moving screen offensive foul) was caused by Solomon not using O’Neal’s initial screen. So, foul #2, O’Neal sits, and Howard has a chance to get going.

Of course, the real story was once again #4. Check out the stat line on Mr. Chris Bosh: 40 points. 14-19 from the field. 12-16 from the line. 18 rebounds. 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. That deserves an “are you kidding me!?” from Chuck Swirsky. And once again, he mixed it up beautifully, using slashing drives, the jump shot, the head fake… he even led a fast break and turned it into a 3-point play! An amazing performance from an amazing young man. It’s shameful that the Raptors wasted it - every one of his teammates owes him an apology after that one.

Quick look at the season stats for Bosh after last night: 10 games, 26.6 points, 56% FG, 80% FT (10 trips to the line per game), 11 rebounds, 2 assists and just under one block per game. Incredible. So far, he’s exceeded every possible expectation that I had for him this season. I’m sure he’ll have his off days (like the Boston game) but you can’t say he didn’t come into this year ready to play. The field goal percentage is amazing, given how many of his shots are jump shots; he has an amazing touch for a big man. Of course, he’s also playing an astounding 42 minutes a night, but the Raptors wouldn’t even be 5-5 if he weren’t. I just hope he’s still on his feet come February.

All told, last night Bosh and O’Neal poured in 56 of the Raptors 90 points and hit 20-31 FG, 16-20 FT, and snared 28 boards. And once again, everyone else hung them out to dry. Even Bargnani, the “other big” who started at SF again, dropped a load in this one, with a 2-9, 5-point, 3-rebound night. These guys need help.

And yes, it may have been a different game had Calderon started. But you also gotta consider that Orlando was missing its starting 2-guard, Michael Pietrus, with an ankle sprain; he’s not the focal point of their team the way Calderon is ours, but he’s still averaging 14.5 points on 49.5% shooting (45% from three). JJ Redick filled in for him better than Solomon filled in for Jose, but the point is, every team has to deal with injuries; you can’t say “we woulda won if Jose wasn’t hurt!” The difference here is one team dealt with it better than the other.

Well, it’s 10 games into the season and that means it’s time to give up the “it’s early” and “the team is still jelling” arguments. Any good team has rounded into shape by now but the Raptors continue to be inconsistent, so it’s clear to me that that is exactly what this team is - an average, inconsistent, .500 ball club. At this point - unless we see a drastic turnaround from the wings or a trade of some kind - I see no reason to think they’ll do anything except wander into the playoffs in the 6-8 seed range with 40-42 wins and be knocked out in the first round. Again.

Back to the scene of the crime! The crime, of course, being how awful the Raptors played in Orlando in last year’s first-round playoff exit. They were terrible, let’s not mince any words.

Orlando returns pretty much the same; they’ve added Michael Peitrus on the wing, replacing Maurice Evans in the starting lineup. Toronto, of course, had added Jermaine O’Neal and he should help defend against Dwight Howard.

Howard is a beast. He obliterated the Raptors last spring, averaging 19-18. Yes, that’s 18 boards per game. He’s putting up his usual gaudy numbers this year, 22 and 14, and actually, what’s amazing is that he doesn’t score more. No one can stop the guy! Of course, it doesn’t help that he’s shooting only 50% on free throws. He shoots almost 12 a game! And makes just over 6! Think about that. If he shot 75%, that’s almost three more points per game! He’s basically throwing these stats away by not becoming a better free throw shooter. It’s actually a little sad that he’s not willing to put the work into it.

Of course, they don’t seem to be suffering for it. They’re 7-3 and have won 3 straight. Raps are 5-4 and have lost 4 of 6, and haven’t beaten a playoff-caliber team yet.

It’ll be interesting to see how the new starting lineup fares against the Magic. If you’ll recall, Bargnani started a couple games at the SF position in the playoffs and well, it wasn’t pretty. He was overmatched by Hedo Turkoglu. Of course, this year’s Bargnani appears to be a much more capable defender. I’ve been suitably impressed with Andrea’s game on the defensive end; his offense is still a little inconsistent but he’s contributing on D every possession, which he didn’t do last year. Plus, he’s got a capable help defender and shot blocker behind him in O’Neal, which he didn’t have last year. So I don’t think it’ll be as much of a mismatch as it was last year.

On the other end, Bosh can’t allow himself to get complacent against Rashard Lewis. Lewis is long and athletic, but I don’t believe he has the foot speed to keep up with Bosh. Bosh needs to be driving on him every time - making Dwight Howard come over to help, and that should either get Howard in foul trouble, leave Jermaine open for dunks and putbacks. But, if Bosh plays like he did in the playoffs last year - settling for long jumpers, not getting to the line - it’s going to be a long night.

My personal strategy, although it’s one I hate, has to be to foul Dwight Howard

No word yet on if Calderon plays, but if he does, he’s got to play some defense on Jameer Nelson. We made him look like Isiah Thomas in last year’s playoffs; as good as Turkoglu was, I’d say Nelson was their second best player (behind Howard) because he did so many things - he really forced the defense to react to him (and naturally, the Raptors’ defense reacted poorly).

I have to be honest, I don’t have high hopes for this one. I think Orlando simply has too many offensive weapons, and even if the Raps play a great defensive game - which we know they won’t - they’ll still put up a lot of points. The Raptors, meanwhile, have struggled to score all year long, and I can’t imagine the size and length of Orlando is going to lead to easy buckets on Toronto’s behalf. Truth be told, I expect an Orlando blowout, by about 17.

So at what point do we officially push the panic button? Is it now?

No, I don’t think so. (Though I am dusting off said button and getting it ready.)

Yes, three straight losses is bad. Yes, the play of Bosh and Bargnani has been a concern. Yes, the lack of offense is disconcerting.

But… it’s still early in the season. Let’s not forget that - this is only game #5.

Granted, before the season, it looked like the Raps had an easy early schedule - I expected a 5-1 start heading into the Chicago game. That makes this stretch hard to stomach.

At least last night wasn’t one of the “bad” losses.

After an awful start in which the Raptors - like Tuesday - repeatedly failed to get back in transition, Sam Mitchell called a timeout and the Raptors finally seemed to get it - they finally started to actually run back down the floor. For the rest of the game, the Raptors played pretty solid defense; they were a little slow to rotate a couple of times on Keith Bogans and Hedo Turkoglu, but for the most part, they packed it inside well, doubled quickly and rotated well.

In fact I’d say they handled Dwight Howard pretty well, “limiting” him to 17 - but he never got in a rhythm. Lewis and Turkoglu hit some very impressive, very difficult shots, and Bogans, well… You kind of expect Lewis and even Turkoglu to get theirs, but Bogans? I didn’t think Keith Bogans was still in the league! And he killed us. Sigh.

When the Raps finally caught up, it was Jameer Nelson - the worst shooter on the floor and the one guy I don’t usually mind the Raps leaving open - who buried us with a three followed by a driving layup. Another Bogans three didn’t help either, and the Raps couldn’t hit a shot, and that was that.

That was pretty much the story of the night really - other than the sloppy D in the opening five minutes - the Raps’ inability to hit the shots they normally hit. In fact overall on offense, they didn’t look good; they weren’t moving the ball, weren’t getting the penetration they need to kick-start things… if it wasn’t for Dixon and Bosh simply deciding the go to the hole, they never would have gotten back into it.

For most of game, I felt like the Magic - who were moving the ball around the perimeter, working the drive and dish, passing out of double-teams to open shooters - were playing “Raptors basketball.” That kind of play is what the Raptors need - it’s what made them successful last season and in the first two games. For some reason they’ve gone away from it. As I said, Bosh and Dixon kept them in it last night, but at some point, you gotta hit some shots. This is a team built on shooting - they have got to work the offense to get good shots. And it’s not like it’s a complicated offense - it isn’t even really an offense, it’s just fundamental basketball. Swing the ball, hit the open man. The Raptors simoly have to start doing that.

The most upsetting thing last night - really, the last three games - has been the play of Jason Kapono and Anthony Parker: combined, 4-17, 11 points, 4 rebounds, 0 assists. And they each played 28+ minutes. Completely unacceptable contributions from the swingman positions, especially when you consider their opponents - Bogans and Lewis - went a combined 15-27 for 41 points, 13 boards, and 7 assists.

• As for bright Raptors spots…
• TJ and Jose continue to take care of the ball - only one turnover for TJ, zero for Jose last night.
• Bosh going 14-14 from the line.
• Bargnani driving the lane when the shot wasn’t dropping. (Though what was with the ticky-tack fouls he kept picking up in the post? Terrible calls. Let ‘em play, ref!)
• And how about Bargnani, getting back in transition after a turnover, altering a Keyon Dooling layup (forcing a miss), then running back down, and nailing an open three on the delayed break. That’s transition basketball! More, please
• Humphries’ energy. So, he got himself taken out by trying to take Howard on the baseline. Dumb play But other than that, he was hustling and crashing the boards… we need more of that, too.

So, tomorrow night in Philly. The Raps really, really need this one. Good teams simply don’t lose four in a row. They have some positives to take forward from this one - let’s hope they continue to get back on defense, and take the ball to the hole, especially when the shot’s not dropping.

Before I talk about tonight’s game, a follow-up to this morning’s post…As disappointed as I am with the loss, I am by no means pushing the panic button! It’s one game. It happens. You never want to see it happen to your team, but bad losses happen to every team, except perhaps the very elite.

You hope it’s an aberration. You only need to worry when it becomes a habit. If they bounce back tonight, it’ll be all but forgotten.

So - can they bounce back? For sure. Orlando’s an improved team over last year, and Dwight Howard is getting better and better, but the Raps match up relatively well with them, at least offensively. They better play some better defense than last night, though.

Last year, Rasho Nesterovic did a great job keeping Howard in check. I expect he’ll get some extra minutes tonight in the same role, since Chris Bosh has a tough time with him even when he’s playing well, which he clearly isn’t.

The biggest test will be how the Raptors handle Rashard Lewis. In the past two games, the Raptors have been absolutely abused by athletic swingmen - Ray Allen and Desmond Mason - and Lewis obviously falls into the same category. I wonder if Mitchell will consider moving Carlos Delfino into the starting lineup to check him?

Lewis signed that huge, $130 million contract in the offseason, that everyone universally agrees was way too much money for a career second banana. But even though he’s overpaid, the guy can still play. He’s burned the Raps a number of times over the years already.

Last night, both Jameer Nelson and JJ Redick missed the game for Orlando; no word yet on whether or not they’ll play tonight. But they only went eight players deep last night, and Howard, Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, and Carlos Arroyo played heavy minutes, while our starters were benched for most of the game. So hopefully, tired starters and a thin Orlando bench, as well as the trip to chilly Toronto, will make them as sluggish as the Raps were last night.

I really hope the Raps pull this one out. I want them to get that third win on the books. Last year it took them 10 games; the year before, 18. I wanted them to go 3-0 to start the year, but I’ll be happy with it taking 5 games to get there.

Raps by seven.