Solid game last night against the T-Wolves. If they were any decent - and if they weren’t missing their best player - I’d be more impressed. As it is, an 8-point win against one of the few teams worse than the Raptors isn’t much to be impressed by.

Nor was Sunday’s win against the Knicks. Had they not been blown out by the 22-31 Knicks two days before - or had they taken it to the Knicks the same way - again, I’d feel better. As it is, they’re now 2-2 since the all-star break and batting .500 is not going to get this team into the playoffs.

But… at least the last two were entertaining. I mean, you knew they were going to lose to the Cavs last week. And I expected the Knicks to win on Friday night. But to lose by 30? And be down by 38? In the so-called mecca of basketball? Wow. That pretty much turned my stomach and made me not want to think about the Raptors for a while. I was pretty embarrassed to call myself a Raptors fan. I mean, I’ve said it a dozen times now, I don’t mind losing, I just want to be entertained. That was anything but.

Thankfully, as I said, the last two were different, and not just because the Raptors won. Both games had a good pace, and both games were close throughout. That’s enough on its own, but even better, the Raps got the win.

Last night it didn’t look good early though. I almost turned it off in disgust but stuck with it, I’m glad I did. I’m more than a little tired of all the incessant “this team is gonna run!” talk that’s been hovering around the Raps the last two weeks, because if anyone thinks this team is gonna run like the Suns or even the Warriors, they’re delusional. But what I saw from the second quarter on last night, I liked. The Raps didn’t fly up the court every possession, even when they got stops - they picked their spots and ran when it was available. Not only that, they didn’t force the issue on the break - quite a few baskets were scored on what might be called the “secondary break,” where the ball comes into the front court, slows, waits for the rest of the offensive players to catch up, then the ball goes to those players before the corresponding defensive players are set.

All in all, I felt like it was a good balance and I was very impressed at Calderon, Marion and Parker for generally making the right decision on the break opportunities. A lot of people have questioned whether Calderon is the right PG for a running team, if he plays like he did last night, then clearly he can handle it.

I was very impressed by Marion, despite his 5-15 shooting. He pulled in 8 boards handed out 3 assists and had 2 blocks. Not great numbers, but I feel like he did a lot more out there. He sure does know how to move the ball on offense, and not just in terms of swinging it; unlike every other Raptor, he didn’t wait til the defense pushed Bosh out to 15 feet to give him the ball, he actually dished to CB4 while CB4 was getting position 5 feet from the hoop. I really liked seeing that. He also moves well without the rock, and while that didn’t necessarily lead to scoring chances for him last night, it keeps the defense honest and I’m sure helped Bosh and Bargnani get to the hoop as often as they did. He also doesn’t give up on plays; he’s averaging over 3 offensive boards a game as a Raptor, and again, while that number isn’t sky-high, it’s more than we’re used to seeing around here. That can only be a good thing.

Now, it’s time for a tough stretch of games, as I alluded to last week. A three-game trip through Dallas, Phoenix, and Houston? Yikes.

Hey, beating the Suns isn’t impossible. They play the Lakers the night before, and Amare is out for the year. I’ll tell you this, if the Raptor offense runs as well as it did last night - and let’s be honest, the Suns aren’t a defensive juggernaut - that could be a high-scoring game, like in the 250-combined points range. I don’t know if the Raps have enough to come out on the high end of that one. Still, I hope it’s at least as entertaining as the last time these two teams met (when they combined for 230 in the Suns 4-point win).

Anyway, back to last night, one final concern for the Raps is that Joey Graham left the game with a bad hamstring. Now, I know it’s hard to imagine, but Joey has been a pretty key guy for the Raps the last few weeks! And since they’re essentially playing 8 guys and going “small” on a regular basis - with Joey at the 4 - this could put a cramp in their style. Will we see Marion at the four, with Kapono and Parker on the floor? We may have to if Joey is out for a long stretch. Voskuhl and O’Bryant are not going to contribute and Bosh and Bargnani can’t play 48. (Not that I, personally, have a problem with guys logging serious minutes now - after all, you gotta do what you gotta do to win, and if you don’t, you got a long, play-off-less offseason to rest. But sadly, Bosh and Jose in particular haven’t shown this year that they have the conditioning to play those kinds of minutes.)

Well, again, I’m glad the Raps gave us two entertaining games this week and I hope to see a couple more this weekend. I still feel like the playoffs are a virtual impossibility, but at the same time, I wouldn’t mind seeing them finish with 37 wins or so, which at least would be a little less embarrassing than say, 33.

Well, it’s official, the summer of 2008 has gone down as one of the worst in Raptors history. Every player BC acquired (Adams, Solomon, O’Neal) is now gone. Didn’t even last a season. Unlike Ukic, a Babcock draftee signed this year, remains). As I was saying the other day, when BC makes a mistake, he cuts the cord, damn quick. Well, as long as that mistake’s name isn’t Andrea Bargnani.

When you consider that Jason Kapono has also been a complete bust, is it now fair to say that every move Toronto has made since the end of the ‘06-07 season has made the team worse? Obviously, the summer of 2006 was a winner - our step up - but the last two? Duds, our two steps back.

Let’s take a look at the moves, and also note, this is just a list of transactions, and doesn’t include the most ridiculous thing the Raps did in the summer of 2007: Allowing Jorge Garbajosa to play on a broken leg for the Spanish national team in an Olympic qualifying tournament (even though Spain had already qualified for the Olympics). Argh.

• Bad: Re-signed Sam Mitchell. Should have brought in his own guy when he had the chance.
• Bad: Let MoPete walk away
• Good: Traded for Delfino, but bad because he couldn’t be re-signed
• Bad: Signed Kapono
• Good: Signed Jamario, good, only because of the size of the contract - they absolutely got their money’s worth. It’s not Jamario’s fault that a CBA cast-off was the best option the team had at SF and he was forced to play 35 minutes a night.
• Meh: Picked up option on AB
• Meh: Picked up option at Joey, although we could have used that $2.5 million last summer
• Meh: Signed Hump. Not a bad deal for an 8th man
• Meh: Dixon-for-Brezec
• Bad: Bought out and released Garbo and his expiring contract. Bad. Awful. Terrible. Worst move he’s made.
• Bad: Traded Rasho, TJ, Baston and pick for O’Neal; not a bad deal at the time, but this grade is based on final results, and the results are a 21-34 record during O’Neal’s tenure. Very bad.
• Meh: Drafted Jawai; don’t expect much from second-rounders.
• Good: Signed Jose, although if he can’t stay healthy, this’ll change.
• Bad: Signed Adams; as a result of O’Neal’s fat deal, this is what they were limited to. But Adams couldn’t even play.
• Bad: Signed Solomon; but he was terrible and cost them at least two games single-handedly.
• Good: Signed Roko Ukic. Couple mil for a promising young PG, can’t go wrong.
• Bad: Fired Sam Mitchell. About a year and half too late, and this just made it obvious Sam was never his guy, so… why re-sign him?
• Meh: Signed Jake Voskuhl
• Meh: Dumped Adams
• TBD: Traded O’Neal, Moon and a pick for Marion and Banks.
• Meh: Dumped Solomon for O’Bryant.

So in the final analysis, he’s made about 21 moves; I think it’s safe to count about 8 of them as the “non-impact” type moves that teams make all the time (like signing Hump to an extension): the “Meh” moves, that neither hurt nor help the team.

As for the others? Some may have seemed good at the time, but in the end, there’s only four that I count as good moves - and two of those are no longer with the team. (Not only that, but Delfino and Jamario both got bad raps - Delfino never got consistent PT and had his minutes jerked around, and Moon had to play so far over his head, he ended up hurting the team as much as helping it.)

Four moves, out of 21, that made the team better. Eight that had no impact. And eight that made them worse. Oh, and one TBD (the Marion trade).

Now, obviously, no GM has a perfect record and I don’t expect BC to have one either - not every move is going to work out. Some will fail, that’s the nature of this thing. And of course his record in his first year was pretty good. But still… you wanna be batting at least .500, don’t you? This is not good, folks.

Again, I’m not calling for Colangelo to be fired or Bosh to be traded or any of that crazy crap. I just consider it a slump, albeit an extended one; I have confidence that he will break out of it and start making some solid moves. And enough with the “we don’t have anything to make moves with!” Look at the Knicks, one year after Isiah left - a completely different team and who the hell wanted anyone from that crap pile? It can be done. It will be done. That’s what this summer is all about. In the meantime…

Well, in the meantime, we’ve got 26 games remaining in this here season. Each loss puts the playoffs further and further out of reach, and even though, technically, the Raps are still only five-and-a-half games back, realistically… there’s no chance. Look at the next 10 games:

@New York
New York
Minnesota
@Phoenix
@ Dallas
@ Houston
Miami
Utah
@ Philly
Detroit

Sure, the Knicks are struggling and the T-Wolves are not very good, so three straight wins isn’t impossible - although I think a split with New York is more likely.

But then it’s seven straight against +.500 teams. Yikes. Sure, the final 16 are a little easier - only 3 against +.500 teams - but still… that’s tough. I’d say the Raptors need to beat NY twice, Minny, Houston, Miami, Philly and Detroit to have a chance. That’s right, they need to go 7-3.

Yeah, that’s not happening. Throw in the fact that the Bulls and Knicks - both currently ahead of the Raps - improved their teams on deadline day, and Milwaukee and New Jersey are chugging along at slow-but-still-better-than-the-Raptors paces…

I can see Charlotte and Indiana falling back behind us, but the rest? That is one tough, uphill climb.

Anyway, enough about all that. Back to the action! It will be nice to finally see Marion play, and to see the Raps with their full lineup, and to see, well, the game - it’s on regular TSN! Hallelujah!

First meeting between these teams this year, and the Knicks, although they only have one more win than the Raptors, are a feel good story because no one expected them to win much at all (whereas the Raps are a huge disappointment). Donny Walsh has done a good job of acquiring players that fit D’Antoni’s system, much the same way that Colangelo did in Phoenix (conversely, since we have no system here, it’s harder to find the right kinds of players!). They run, they score, they’re aggressive in transition, and well, those are things that the Raptors are weak at. Could be a long night!

I just have to hope that the injection of Marion, and the Knicks’ lack of defense, can keep the Raptors in this one. But in the end, it’ll be the Knicks. By 9.

… you won’t be missed. Scrub.

Welcome, Patrick Fitzgerald O’Bryant! I’m sure you’ll join in the fine tradition of virtually useless Toronto big men, like Uros Slokar, Pape Sow, Mamadou N’Dyai, Nathan Jawai, Eric Montross, Rafael Araujo, Alex Radejovic, Jake Voskuhl, Acie Earl, Primosz Brezec, Robert Archibald, Mengke Bateer, Nate Huffman, Sean Marks, Jelani McCoy, Loren Woods, and of course, the immortal Yogi Stewart…

Good God, that is one depressing list, and I didn’t even mention The Corpse of Hakeem Olajuwon.

It’s gotta be depressing for the guy with the most Irish name in the history of the NBA to be traded away from the Celtics. And this guy went 9th in 2006! More proof that the 2006 NBA draft was the worst of all time…

Well, all in all, another disappointing deadline day. Not that I expected the Raps to do anything, but it would have been nice to see some big names get moved (like Vince Carter). Ah well.

Finally, it’s official (well, almost, pending league approval): Jermaine O’Neal is off to Miami, Shawn Marion is headed to the T-Dot. We’re also getting Marcus Banks and losing Jamario Moon.

This was surely the most anti-climactic trade in recent memory. I can’t remember a trade ever taking this long to happen. Unfortunately, too much time has passed - when this was first reported in mid-January, the Raptors still had a shot at climbing back into the race. Now? Way, way too late. 27 games left, and how many will it take the new team to gel? And how badly is Bosh hurt, and will Jose ever get healthy? Nah, it’s too late. You’d need to add Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan to this team to help it make the playoffs.

As for next year, well… it remains to be seen what Colangelo will do in the summer, but he now has a lot more options. Instead being ~$10 over the salary cap, the team will now be about ~$10 under the cap (even with Marcus Banks). That not only means they have more cap space for free agent signings (welcome back, Mr. Delfino) but also, and perhaps more importantly, they are free to make trades that don’t require the “salaries must match between 20%” rule. Again, we’ll have to wait and see what’s out there, what’s available, etc., but I have regained some trust in Colangelo. Yes, this season was a waste, but he’s realized his mistake and no goes from weak bargaining position to a strong one next summer.

Will he get enough talent to make a deep playoff run, the only thing that will keep Bosh around past next summer? That is the question. Here’s the list of free agents for next year but as I said, keep in mind the key may be the trades BC is now able to pull off.

As for Miami, well, good thing Pat Riley isn’t actually coaching or he might have Jamario whacked after the 19th time he shoots a three with 18 seconds on the shot clock, which should be sometime next week. But O’Neal, well, he’s a Riley type player through and through. If he can stay healthy, he might help vault Miami into fourth place in the east and make them a tough out in the playoffs - but as Toronto fans now know, that if is a big one.

Overall, the O’Neal era in Toronto can only be classified as a disappointment. He played well - not great, but OK - when he was in there and in the groove. The problem, obviously, was that he missed too many games, and with each block of games (including the very start of the season) he needed to work his way back into shape. If he was making 8 million a year, that kind of production would be OK, but, unfortunately, you need to get a little more from the guy taking up a third of your salary obligations. The Raptors will miss his intensity, but again, for a guy that only played in a third of your games, that’s not enough.

And I still don’t understand why he couldn’t sit on the damn bench for games! I’m sorry, I know this shouldn’t bother me, but it does. I see Bosh out there every game, even on the road, why the hell wasn’t O’Neal there? Now that he’s gone, will the real story finally come out?

In any event, it’s onward and upward. The Raptors have a much improved (on paper) starting lineup for the next 27 games and a much improved salary cap situation for the summer. I won’t call the trade a blockbuster win or anything, but I’d say the Raptors are in a better place today than they were yesterday.

No. No, they didn’t. The Raptors didn’t just beat the Spurs did they? The TORONTO Raptors?

No Chris Bosh. No Jose Calderon. No Kris Humphries. No Joey Graham after 10 minutes.

That didn’t just happen…

… did it?

There is only one thing I have to ask. If - IF - the undermanned Toronto Raptors beat the healthy San Antonio Spurs, and no one sees it because it’s on TSN2, did it really happen?!

Well, major sports sites are reporting that it did, so even though nobody saw it, I am fairly confident in reporting… that yes, the Raptors won.

I just have no idea how it happened.

I’m looking at the box score right now. The Raptors played, essentially, six guys - Bargnani, JO, Kapono, Parker, Moon and Ukic (Graham played nine minutes, had one assist and one TO before leaving for good). They shot 40%, had a total of 13 assists and were outrebounded by 7.

And they were playing one of the best teams in the league! Parker, Ginobili and Duncan combined for 74 points, 15 assists and 24 rebounds!

I just don’t understand how this happened.

And I’m incredibly pissed off that I missed it. Fuck you, TSN2, MLSE and Rogers. Fuck… you… all.

So, it’s all-star time. I said two weeks ago, I needed the Raptors to go 5-3 before the break to give me any confidence that they could make a playoff run. Well, they went 2-6. They’re now a god-awful 21-34, are five games out of 8th with five teams in between them and the Bucks. I know we’re all happy and ecstatic that they beat the Spurs and go into the break on a high, and we can try and convince ourselves that the schedule gets easier, but really… there’s no chance. Well, OK, a slim chance. But it’s so slim. I want to believe it, I really do… but I just can’t. I really can’t see this happening, at all.

But hey, if they can win a few more and keep it interesting, I’m all for that. Believe me, as far as future success goes, that’s a much, much better concept than tanking. Please lord, help make the remaining 27 games interesting!

Raps win! Unbelievable.

No posts for the last few days, because frankly, those were some unbelievable awful basketball games. And not just because the Raps lost. 70 points against Memphis? Ugh.

But, they managed to “gut out” a win against the Jefferson-less T-Wolves last night in what was actually a pretty entertaining game. Both teams made runs, the Raps just made the final one and that’s the key. Gotta say, I really liked they way they went inside down the stretch. Yeah, it helps that JO was being guarded by a rook (Kevin Love) so he could take advantage, but hey. At least they recognized and took advantage, something this team rarely does.

You know what else I saw there which I never see and it drives me crazy? A re-post! Seriously. This is a basic basketball play that I never, ever see the Raptors do. They throw the ball into the post, a soft double comes, JO/AB kicks the ball out, the defense relaxes. That’s the best time to get the ball right back to the post-player, because the defense is moving away. But the Raptors just don’t do that. Ever. I’m not saying it should be done every time, but you HAVE to do it sometimes to keep the defense honest. The Raps don’t. And it exposes them, because opposing teams know they’re not serious about getting the ball into the paint.

Anyway, I saw this happen twice in the fourth quarter and I was stunned. Finally! JO ended up with 22, and 10 of them came in the final four minutes.

As for the rest, well, the Raps got contributions from the 3-spot, and that’s the key. Another solid outing from Joey Graham, being his aggressive self; so nice to see him create opportunities for himself like that. Jamario had a solid game; even though he took a couple questionable Js, they dropped, and he was active on the boards. And Kapono had good shooting night, even threw in a four-point play, and you know what? I don’t think he traveled once. Amazingly enough.

Bargnani has started to cool off a bit of late, his shooting isn’t quite as hot and he’s making a few too many TOs. But still, if this is the production we can expect - 18 points, 6 boards, and a block - I can live with that. Heck, I’d be happy with 15/6 but I would like him to get that FG percentage back up a little (only 35% in the past six).

So, one more game tonight, against the Spurs, before the break. It really is a shame Chris Bosh is out, because if the Raptors were ever gonna beat the Spurs, tonight would be the night. They played last night and this is their fifth straight road game. They’ve got to be feeling tired. But without CB4? Forget about it. I actually think Andrea and JO will keep Duncan in check, but look for Manu and Tony Parker to completely shred our perimeter “defense.” I expect them each to drop 30. Actually this might be a total Spurs blowout so they may not play long enough to score that many. Sigh. Spurs by 19. Gonna be ugly to watch… oh, wait. It’s on TSN2 so no one will be watching. Nice job there, MLSE.

Sigh.

So, last game before the break. Raps clearly need the time off, as they’ve clearly been frustrated with each other lately. And maybe CB will heal up, maybe Jose can finally get to 100 per cent, and maybe they’ll actually start winning a few games! Gotta wonder though if JO and CB will be able to keep their hearts in it, now that the playoffs are out of the picture. You’d hope they both have enough pride to, you’d hope they continue to go out there and earn their big paycheques. To me, this is where Chris can really show some of those leadership abilities. Yes, the cause is hopeless and everyone knows it. But if you can inspire your teammates to keep playing hard - and it starts with leading by example - then maybe you will finally start to silence some of those “not a franchise player” critics.

No update yesterday as I was sick, but not much to say. The Raps gave a good effort in Cleveland through quarters 2-4, but a 22-point hole after one? Yeah, good luck coming back from that when the Cavs are 23-0 at home.

I didn’t figure they’d have much chance against the Lakers either; the only hope the Raptors had was that the Lakers were A) unprepared for the frigid temperatures and B) looking ahead to Boston.

And hey, maybe they were, because the Raps played them tough for three-and-a-half quarters! (At least that’s what I’ve heard, since the game wasn’t on TV. I’m really glad Leafs fans got to see their team get blown out while Raptors fans missed one of the best games of the year. Fuck you, TSN.)

So, in the final minutes, you expected Kobe to take over and he did, draining a couple tough jumpers over Joey Graham. Without Jose Calderon (who didn’t play, and I’m officially renaming “The Hamstring that Won’t Heal” the “Weakest Hamstring in the History of Hamstrings”) and Chris Bosh (who left halfway through the fourth with a sprained knee), when the Lakers buckled down on D, the Raps couldn’t respond. Raps always have a tough time scoring in key situations, but it’s even tougher without your two best players.

Gotta give a lot of credit, though, to Parker, for running the show; to Graham, for perhaps his best game as a Raptor (24 points and from all accounts, tough D on Kobe - most of Bryant’s 36 were hard fought points); Bargnani, for 21 and 9; and Jermaine O’Neal, for 22 and 9 - and 9 blocks!! Some of them VERY impressive, from what I saw on the highlights. OK, maybe trash talking a scrub like Josh Powell comes across as bullying, but whatever. JO protected the paint against the Lakers like Oliver Miller protected his Big Mac lunch against team nutritionists. And this team desperately needs all the passion it can get.

I’m a little concerned about Bosh. Obviously, any injury to him greatly impacts our team, but also, given all that’s happened recently - the rumours, the booing and complaining, the team struggling - I have to wonder if his heart’s really in it. I mean, I don’t like to question anyone’s effort when they’re hurt because you never know how bad it really is, but to see him moving all right - and walking off under his own - it’s not a stretch to wonder why he couldn’t gut it out and help his team in what would have been the biggest win of the year. (Although “big” only counts for pride now, as the Raps are all but officially cooked.)

Oh well, at least it wasn’t a blowout. After those two non-efforts against the Bucks and Magic, the Raps have responded fairly well against two of the best teams in the league. You have to wonder why they’re so inconsistent in terms of effort - it really does concern me. I mean obviously even the best teams have a few “letdown” games a year, and some nights the breaks just don’t go your way. But the number of times the Raptors have seemingly not shown up at all is very, very disappointing. Imagine if they played as hard as they played last night against the Bucks? They would have blown Milwaukee out easily.

There have simply been way too many letdown games this year. I mean, think about this: If the Raps had taken care of business against Milwaukee (twice), the “Thunder,” and the Warriors - three teams they should have beaten - they’d be what, 23-28? With the soft part of the schedule coming, 42 wins would be a definite possibility.

As it is, even if they go 19-12 to finish up as Doug Smith still believes they can, they’ll still only be 38-42, and I don’t believe that’s good enough for the final playoff spot. I mean, if 38 wins is all it takes, all Milwaukee has to do is go 14-16 to hang on to that playoff spot! New Jersey, 15-17. And I’m willing to bet both of those teams can manage that.

Nope, in my mind, Toronto needs to go 23-8. Um, yeah. That’s not happening. Even with the lowered competition in the final few weeks, this team has delivered below expectations all year, so how can you give them a high expectation and expect results. I even said I’d be willing to change my mind about this team if they went a modest 5-3 before the All-star break… and they’re 0-4 since I said that.

I would really like to believe this team can make the playoffs in the crappy east. I really want to. Even Bryan Colangelo said on the radio this morning :(I paraphrase) they’re only a couple games back and this team is better than their record.

But unfortunately, reality has to set in at some point; eventually you have to admit: You are what your record says you are.

Bryan, it’s time to admit it. No matter what our roster looks like on paper, our record says it: We are not a playoff team. Case (unfortunately) closed.

Well, another loss upcoming for the Raps tonight. They’ve lost 10 in a row in Cleveland or something insane like that.

Still, it’s another chance to watch LeBron James; whether you like the guy or not, he is amazing to watch. That SI story on him came out last week, and what’s amazing is how big he’s gotten. Word is - Bron, the Cavs and the NBA won’t officially confirm it - that he’s up to 275 lbs. 275! He’s 6′8″!!

It’s amazing to me that anyone can think there is a better athlete in the world than James. People say Dwight Howard is the best athlete in the NBA because of what he does with his size. But I say James does even more with his size. Given his strength and the length of his stride, I’m willing to bet he’s faster than anyone right now except maybe Devin Harris. He’s probably physically stronger than anyone except Howard and Shaq. I bet he can jump higher than anyone.

His footwork is markedly improved, and here’s why I think he’s the better athlete than Howard - Howard can jump out of the gym but still isn’t smooth or graceful. I used to think LeBron looked sort of mechanical at times, but over the past couple of years he’s become real smooth with the ball. I’ve never seen a combination of grace and power like that. Remember that commercial where he jokes about joining the Browns? I’m sure he could! There’s probably five positions he could play - and be dominant. Wide receiver? He’d haul in anything and be impossible to bring down. Safety? He’d be killing guys if they went over the middle. Corner? How could you throw the ball past him? Linebacker? He’d cover more field than Ray Lewis and if he came on the blitz, who would be able to block him? And as long as he could learn to throw a football, he’d be the most athletic QB of all time.

The scary thing for the rest of the NBA is, he’s still rounding into form as a basketball player. He’s only going to get better! And to think, now that he’s got a decent team around him, he doesn’t even have to do as much. I’m willing to wager if he was on a “worse” team he could average 40 points and 12 rebounds a game - as long as his desire was there (I sometimes wonder how engaged he is in the game). Who could stop him, besides himself?

Certainly not anyone on the Raptors. Here’s a scary thought. Kobe scored 61 points last night; James and Kobe are considered the MVP front-runners. I think it’s possible James tries to out-score Kobe tonight, and James is no dummy - he knows just how weak the Raptors D is, and if there’s a good time to score 75, tonight is it.

With Zydrunas Ilgauskas out, you’d think the Raps would have an advantage up front, but if you’ve ever watched these two teams play then you’d know that Sideshow Bob simply owns Chris Bosh whenever they meet. And given Bargnani’s struggles the past couple, well, I’m not counting on him to do much. I think he’s reverting to his December form. Great. Well, maybe JO will have a big game.

As for the rest, well, you’re got Jose Calderon, still apparently dealing with The Hamstring that Won’t Heal (I mean, seriously!?); look for a big night by Mo Williams. Mo’s got the strength advantage and his and LeBron’s dribble penetration will wreak havoc on the Raptors’ D. I admit I was wrong about Williams, I didn’t think he’d have much impact in Cleveland, but he’s been very impressive. If Jameer Nelson is hurt and has to miss the all-star game, I expect Mo to get the nod.

As for the two-guards, Pavlovic and Parker, well, I’d take Parker over Sasha on my team anyday, but that dribble penetration is gonna force Parker to help and give Sasha plenty of open looks from downtown. Of course, AP will get time on James too, as will Moon, Joey and probably even Kapono. Joey might have the best chance at slowing LeBron down; he’s the only Raptor who comes close to being physically strong enough for James to even notice when he runs them over.

Sigh. It’s not going to be a pretty game, I can guarantee you that. In fact, the only reason I foresee the Raptors “holding” James under 40 is that the Cavs are gonna be winning by such a huge margin, he’ll sit most of the second half. Cavs by 30.

PS For what I hope are the final words on the ridiculous Stephen A Smith story, I direct you to Scott Carefoot’s Raptorblog and Michael Grange’s From Deep Blog, both of whom said it better than I. And let us not speak of it again.

“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.

DIsgusting effort + Disgusting officiating = Disgusting loss. Booed at home again, for what, the fourth time this season?

I’m sure that’ll upset Chris Bosh but maybe this team needs to start looking in the mirror. Yo Chris - there’s a reason you’re being booed. We don’t expect the team to win every game, but we expect effort, 82 nights for 48 minutes - and I don’t think that’s too much to ask. I just can’t understand how a professional sports team - one that’s on a roll and supposedly playing with extreme confidence, AT HOME - can play so passively. Jump shot after jump shot, against a team without a big interior presence. Unacceptable.

Don’t even get me started on the refs. They’re certainly not why the Raptors lost - plenty of awful calls went Milwaukee’s way too. But my God. What the hell were they doing out there? I tell you, if these two teams actually had any balls, it would have degenerated into a cage match. As it is you’ve got two crappy teams without much heart lucky for the NBA, all you had was a little shoving and some harsh words.

Just a joke of a game, a complete waste of everyone’s time that bothered to watch.

Welcome to another five game losing streak!