… and it wasn’t even that close.

Sigh. Another disappointing, yet not at all surprising effort. Sigh again.

I guess getting solid effort from everyone involved would be too much to ask. How is it that Bargnani, who had the flu, was the team’s best player? He started out strong and slowed down (11 in the first, 10 the rest of the way), but I think you could expect that from a guy who’s sick. What you’d also expect is for everyone else to pick it up for him. But no one did, the Raps were outscored by 15 in the second and it was over.

Man, our defense stinks. How do you shoot 53%, have all five starters in double figures, and still lose - and not even be close?  Raps were outscored 92-74 through three quarters, and were still down 17 with 2:30 to go, which is when garbage time started. And how does Sam Dalembert - who, from published reports, Philly was about to throw in the doghouse, then padlock the doghouse shut for eternity - go for 19 and 13, with 3 blocks? The guy is a human foul machine with terrible footwork, yet he only had two PFs against us. Way to take it to him, guys! Argh.

Bright spots for the Raps, other than Bargnani’s hot start? Well, there were some transition opportunities, and Marion took advantage, scoring 18 on 7-12. Also questioned the team’s effort after the game, which is becoming a regular post-game staple. He’s definitely not wrong, but is anyone listening?

Hey, does anyone else think Marion is having a positive effect on Bargnani? I haven’t actually seen enough of the games (thanks, TSNFU!) but in the 10 since the trade, Bargnani’s averaging 21/6 on 51% shooting. Of course, they’re 2-8 in those games, but those are good numbers; he was averaging 16/6 on 38% shooting in the 10 pre-Marion games.

Of course, it’s just as likely that it’s plain old inconsistency that’s caused the spike. On the season, Bargnani’s still only averaging 16/5.4/44%. I guess I’ll take that, though I’ll note this: his per-36 stats are only marginally better than his rookie season - when the team was winning. Improvement? It’s a start, but I need more, especially in the W department.

Anyway, back to last night; it’s official, I am becoming a fan of Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Guy’s averaging 8 boards a night in 14 minutes! Of course, that’s in three losses, but still, I like the hustle. He pulled a post-game Marion himself, wondering about effort; not sure he’s in any place to do that, as the new guy who’s bounced around the league (and world) in the past year…

Still, the fact that the two newest guys are questioning other guys’ effort is pretty telling.

It’s not hard to guess who they’re talking about. I don’t know what is up with Chris Bosh this year. Only 4 rebounds, in 34 minutes? Really? Even last year when things weren’t going well I always thought he played hard. This year, he doesn’t seem to be into the games at all. And he’s clearly not stepping into the leadership role, otherwise guys wouldn’t be saying stuff like that.

It’s disappointing because I know Bosh is better than that. I know he’s got talent, and I know he’s got fire. Where is it? I want the Bosh from the past two years back! Where’s the guy that started the season out averaging 30 and 12, with 10 trips to the line a night? Bring him back!

Calderon is also bearing the brunt of a lot of frustration, and if I hear about that hamstring one more time, I’m sending him to Rocco Baldelli’s doctor. Seriously. I mean, we all knew he was a bad defender, but he’s been unbelievably awful this year; is that hamstring really to blame? And hey, what happened to the guy who would turn the corner off a screen every few times, to keep the D honest? I know he still shoots it well and I know he takes care of the ball - I love those traits about him. But we need more than that. We need a little fire, a little scrap, a little aggressiveness!

Still, I think the biggest disappointment has to be Jason Kapono. (Is that ’cause I said aloud, often, in the pre-season that he should be the starting 3, and he’s made me look like an ass? Absolutely. Nobody makes a fool of me!!)

Seriously, though, I always knew he was overpaid, but I had to assume a great pure shooter like that had a place on a team - especially a team of shooters like the Raps. And he seemed like he knew what he was doing out there, despite his physical limitations. Last year, I thought maybe Mitchell just didn’t know how to use him, and that with the tighter rotation (i.e., more minutes) and new big man (O’Neal), he’d find his niche.

That didn’t happen. Then Mitchell got axed and I thought, maybe Triano knows how to get him involved. Well, he had a couple good shooting nights in December, but has since regressed even more! Not only can’t Triano find a way to get him into the offense, the guy’s shooting is worse in all three categories than last year, despite averaging 6 more minutes!

If he was overpaid as a shooter - and now he can’t even do that - then he is utterly worthless. I mean, he does nothing else well. Nothing. I can’t believe we’re paying him $6 a year for the next two. How did BC not see that his success in 06-07 was purely due to Shaq and Wade drawing the defense all game long? I know that’s easy for me to say, and hindsight is 20/20, but as GM, isn’t it BC’s job to see these things?

Well, it’s officially the Raptors’ first sub-.500 season of BC’s Raptors career. I hope it hurts. It should. I hope it motivates him to clean house, to try extra hard this summer to turn it around.

Sorry for the lack of recent updates; a vacation (to Vegas, where I did not bet on the Raptors) combined with the usual lackluster results from the Raptors haven’t left me the time or motivation to write. (It’s especially hard to analyze when 2 out of every 3 is on TSNFU. I’d love to know how that’s working out for them; I’m guessing they’re really pleased they backloaded the schedule. I assume they did that because they were expecting a playoff run, not the most disappointing season in Raptors history. No one’s pressuring Rogers now ‘cause no one gives a shit! So the joke’s on you, fuckers!)

Anyway, at least the past two losses, both of which I did not see a second of, appear to have been entertaining, close affairs, and that’s good - it’s a shame I missed them. The fact that they played a couple good teams fairly closely, combined with having a little break from following the team, was good for me - I am looking forward to watching the game tonight, even though I can’t imagine the Raps winning, simply because I haven’t seen a game in over a week and am jonesing a bit. Oh wait, I forgot… it’s on TSNFU. Sigh.

Philly is having a disappointing season of their own, though certainly nothing like Toronto’s - they’re at least in playoff contention and have been stayed around .500 all year. Still, they were expected to do better after signing Elton Brand last summer. Instead, they started slowly, fired the coach, and only picked up a little momentum when Brand got hurt. But they couldn’t even sustain that, and are 3-7 in their last 10.

Of course, as bad as that all sounds, I’m a Raptors fan, and can only wish the Raptors were having a similar season. Instead what we’ve got is so much worse.

As for the Raps, well, it’s clear that it’s time to give the young guys some serious burn. I’m talking specifically about Roko Ukic and Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Heck, maybe even Patrick O’Bryant. Now, I’m not advocating “shutting anyone down” or giving guys days off like Don Nelson. And honestly, that doesn’t even make sense because, for example, Roko’s never going to be a starter, so why would you start him? But, you do want him to be your primary backup in the future, so why not give these him a consistent 15-20 minutes a night now, let him play through his mistakes and see how he responds? Same with PMB and O’Bryant. You need to determine if these guys have the tools to be contributors, and now is the time to do it. Are these guys good enough to be the 6-8th men on the bench, or are they forever destined to be 9-12 material? And you don’t want another Roger Mason situation, where you never give the guy a chance (even though you had nothing else to play for) and you end up losing a prospect who goes on to become a quality starter.

Not only that, but, let’s see, we’re 23-41 playing Bosh, Bargnani, Jose and AP big minutes… putting some new player combos out there can’t possibly produce any worse results, can it?

I like what PMB has brought. 8.5 boards in 13 minutes? I’ll take that any day. Roko has proven he’s the only Raptor other than Joey that will consistently get to the rim; he needs to learn to finish there, but at least he’s not settling. And O’Bryant, well, he’s big, and he’s got enough potential to have been a #10 overall pick; he hasn’t shown anything in the pros yet, but this is the perfect opportunity for him to do so.

And, if these guys can, in fact, play, maybe that gives fans some optimism for the remaining month of play? Maybe it gives us a reason to care, or even be hopeful about the future?

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.”

Philadelphia 76ers (2-5) at Toronto Raptors (4-3)

You know, looking at all the venom spewed at the Raptors, at Sam Mitchell, at Jose Calderon, at NBA officiating, at, well, everything in the last couple days, one has to think… how much worse would it be if we were the Sixers?

I mean, you can’t always look at the negative - it could be worse, and it is for the Sixers. As discussed in the season opener, both teams added new big men and came into the season with high expectations. Currently, the Raptors are at 4-3, having lost to the two best teams in the east from last season and this year’s surprise 6-0 Atlanta Hawks.

The Sixers are 2-5 and have lost three straight! Hopefully folks in Philly are still high on World Series euphoria and haven’t really noticed; I mean, if Sixers fans are anything like Raptors fans I can’t imagine what the outrage must be like. Raptors fans would be jumping off of buildings right now if the Raps were 2-5.

While Jermaine O’Neal has been inconsistent, the rest of the Raptors have been their usual selves, for the most part. For the Sixers, Elton Brand has been fine, but inconsistent play from Andre Miller and Andre Igoudala has led to them looking a little lost, especially on the offensive end.

But, you had to expect that there would be an adjustment period. For the Raps, O’Neal was considered a complementary piece to Bosh and Calderon - in other words, a little easier to integrate. In Philly, Brand was considered a major piece, maybe even the focal point of the team, and that’s harder to adjust to.

So far, it seems the toughest part for Igoudala and crew to adjust to is the half-court game. Philly is a team that features a lot of athletic young players who like to run; but Brand is best utilized in half-court situations. I personally didn’t think they’d have any difficulty mixing the two; I figured they’d be running as much as possible, and dumping it in to Brand when the game slowed down.

But the running just hasn’t been there, and Brand can’t do all the scoring. Igoudala and Louis Williams are each shooting below 39%, and Miller - never a great shooter - is at 41%. They need some transition scores to get into rhythm, but they’re not getting them.

Still, it hasn’t been all bad. Sam Dalembert is causing his usual wreckage, with 7 points, 10 boards, 2 blocks and 4 fouls a game. Thaddeus Young, meanwhile, has been impressive, averaging 15 points on 47% shooting (44% from three). There’s another young small forward the Raptors could use! He was quiet in the first meeting between these two teams, but he’s clearly found his groove; look for him to go off against Moon and Kapono tonight, as all small forwards do.

You have to believe that a talented team like this will gel eventually, or at the very least, have one or two nights where the shots start falling and/or the guards find a way to generate easy baskets. And given the Raptors inability to defend on the perimeter, that night could very well be tonight!

I’ve tried to avoid the doom and gloom panic that the majority of Raptors fans seem to experience following every loss, but even an optimist like me has to see that the small forward position is killing us. Kapono is doing OK on offense - he should be better, but we don’t run plays for him and he isn’t that great at creating his own shots - but obviously he can’t guard a tree. And Moon, well, I’m not entirely sure what he brings to the table. The occasional athletic play like the block/recovery on Sunday isn’t enough. He’s supposedly in there for defense, but he just isn’t a great one on one defender.

Compounding the problem is that most other teams have a small forward that plays both offense and defense. Even if they’re not great defenders, the Raptors don’t make small forwards pay for poor defense, and they score so easily that they outproduce the Raptors wings by a wide margin. Hence, I’m worried about Young tonight; I’m not sure what he’s like on defense, but he can score.

Much talk is being made about a trade for Gerald Wallace or Al Harrington. I don’t think it’s going to happen; the Raptors simply don’t have enough to give, especially if they’re intent on keeping Bargnani, as Bryan Colangelo says he is, and any trade would likely nudge them up past the luxury tax (even if its just a little bit) which MLSE doesn’t want to pay.

I don’t really know if either one works for the Raptors though. Wallace is the better fit, personnel-wise - his size and speed is suited to guarding the threes that kill the Raptors nightly. But the injury history (four concussions and separated shoulder) and contract 4 years, $50 million left) are hard to handle. Harrington has a manageable contract (done after next year) and has stayed healthy, but he’s bigger - more of a four - so I don’t know if he solves that perimeter defense need.

Besides, you’d have to give up some combo of Kapono, Bargnani, Parker, Graham and Humphries… not the most enticing of options for either team, and Raptors would be awfully short-handed (they’ll need to do a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 to make the salaries match).

So, let’s just say I’m not holding my breath for something to happen.

Back to tonight, well, I hope the Raptors are sufficiently motivated by their fourth quarter meltdown on Monday to come out aggressive and take things to the Sixers tonight. Philly played last night in a tough loss to Utah, so hopefully the day off will serve the Raptors well; plus, the Raps don’t play again until Sunday, so Bosh and Calderon can go extra minutes. But, I can’t stress this enough… the Raptors MUST rebound tonight. Remember game 1, when the Sixers outrebounded the Raptors by 23? If you cut that number even in half, that game would have been a Raptors blowout. The Raptors have to tighten that up tonight. If they do, and if Bosh and O’Neal hold down the fort when the Sixers blow by our guards, then I see no reason why the Raptors shouldn’t win by 10.

Toronto Raptors

It’s here. It’s time. Are you ready?

I am… mostly. I don’t know that I’m fully prepared, mentally, for another Raptors season. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been looking forward to this moment for weeks, but you know how exhausting it can be, following the ups and downs of a team over 82 games. I don’t know that my head is in that space just yet.

Watching game 1 should help, though! (Note the 6pm start time, thanks to the rain-delayed World Series.)

It’s a good early season test for both teams; both made improvements after first-round exits last year, in the form of Jermaine O’Neal and Elton Brand. I expect that, even with the pre-season action, both teams will take a week or two to gel, and that tonight will probably be a bit of a sloppy game.

That said, I think Philly, unfortunately, has the advantage tonight. When your chemistry isn’t there, athleticism is the thing that usually sustains you - and Philly is much more athletic than Toronto. Andre Igoudala and Louis Williams have torched the Raps over the past two seasons; I don’t expect that to change tonight. I expect solid play from Anthony Parker, and maybe Kapono gets into a groove (I don’t know that Philly is a great defensive team) but I don’t see Moon stopping Igoudala. Heck, even Kareem Rush had success against the Raps porous D last season.

However, if Sam Dalembert can’t play for the Sixers (he has a knee injury, apparently) that could make a big difference. No disrespect for Thaddeus Young, whose game I like, there’s no way he can handle Chris Bosh or even a rusty O’Neal. Dalembert, as odd as it sounds, has really given the Raps trouble at times - his length and size have really prevented the Raps from rebounding and getting to the hoop. And I have to believe that O’Neal’s presence will help keep Reggie Evans off the glass, where he’s been a holy terror against the Raps.

And if Bargnani is on form, he’ll cause a matchup nightmare for Philly’s bigs. (Yes, it is a big IF.)

Since the point guards are pretty even (Miller and Calderon), the question will be (again assuming Dalembert’s absence) which advantage - Philly’s athleticism, Toronto’s big men - will affect the final outcome more?

I have to believe it’ll be the athleticism. Philly simply scores too much, too fast, for the slower Raptors. In a month when the Raps have settled their defense down, it should be different, but for now…

Philly by 8.

Well, you can trust the Raptors to make Sam Dalembert look like Bill Russel… sigh.Still, it’s always good to get that first win out of the way, especially a home game before a big road test (Friday in Jersey).

The Raps’ starters all played excellent ball last night. Admittedly, Chris Bosh had his troubles, looking a step slow, and repeatedly getting swatted by Dalembert. But he had success stepping away from the basket, and hit his free throws. The other four were stellar. TJ Ford played under control, and made all the right decisions in terms of when to pass and when to shoot, and played what I felt was one of his best games as a Raptor. One turnover? Brilliant. Jason Kapono was 4-5 and hit the dagger shot that sealed the victory on a broken play. Anthony Parker was, well, Anthony Parker, rock solid, hitting his corner threes, playing defence, and getting to the boards (a team high six). He’s the ultimate glue guy, I don’t know where we’d be without him.

And then there’s Bargnani, who put in a fantastic all-around performance in a mere 22 minutes. 20 points on 6-11 shooting (3-4 from downtown, plus 5-5 from the line), 5 boards, 2 blocks and only one turnover. However, I hated - HATED - the quick hook Bargnani got. I wish coaches would stop doing this. OK, he picked up foul #2 about 4.5 minutes in, and sat for the next, like, 12 minutes. But he only picked up one more foul the whole game! He played 22 minutes and scored 20 on 6-11, and the Sixers had no clue what to do with him. If he’d played 30 minutes, maybe he’d pick up another foul or two, but he might have scored 30. Sam did the same thing with Bosh in game one of the Nets series; sometimes, you gotta just let them play and trust that A) they won’t pick up another one and B) the refs will realize they made a chintzy call and give them a good no-call to make up for it. Anyway, he looked good, didn’t he? He’s definitely fun to watch.

The bench didn’t offer up too much, outside of Jose Calderon, who chipped in with his usual steady play, 14 points, 4 assists and one turnover. Delfino was active (and made the key pass on the aforementioned broken play) but looked a little out of sync on offense. He also let Andre Igoudala blow by him on more than one occasion, although Igoudala is probably capable of blowing by just about anybody.

Not sure what’s up with Jorge Garbajosa, who only logged six uneventful minutes. Is he healthy? Is it an attitude problem? Who knows? No one’s talking about it, which is even stranger.

But, even though the mediocre bench play let the Sixers back in the game after the starters racked up a 21-point lead, Bargnani and the rest of the starters came back and sealed the victory, which is what any good starting unit should do.

Still, the rebounding and transition defense remain the biggest problems the Raptors. The Sixers held a 47-31 rebounding advantage and a 17-2 fast break point advantage. Those are not the numbers of a contending team - they simply must improve of the Raps want to repeat as Atlantic Champs. Everyone needs to make a commitment to crashing the boards and getting back on defense.

Anyway, at the end of the day, a win is a win, even if it was harder than it should have been. The real test is tomorrow night in Jersey.