I must admit, I wrote the Raptors off in the first quarter, with Bosh going 1 for 8 from the field (missed jumpers). The shots didn’t start falling, but the defense picked up the slack for the team in the second half, and the Raptors came away with an important win on their first game of a 7 game road swing.
Bosh, despite a horrible shooting night, collected 24 and got to the line 16 times. Why he insists on shooting the ball, when driving to the rim is what he should be doing - and has success at, is beyond me. Rasho played solid defense on Kaman in the second half, limiting him to two points (seemed like it anyways). Claderon had a solid game, quietly, and made a wicked layup. Not sure what is going on with Parker. He was far more consistent last season, and his contribution last night was suspect. He needs to pick it up, and soon.
Delfino…Delfino….my man, I can live with your poor shot selection because you do a lot of other things that are necessary. I just wish you would take it to the rack more often. The shot, when it is on, is popping. But you and Bosh are the only guys on this team who can attack the rim with any real sustained level of success. Hook us up already.
I need to harp on this: Moon had 4 times more shots than Kapono. Am I the only one bothered by this? Moon had a great game, and played Maggette very well, but should he be the second option offensively on this team? Also, Krispy Kreme is starting to get on my nerves, I think developing Dixon, and giving him minutes is far more important than Martins production (if you call shooting too much production).
Stat of the game: Joey Graham 6 seconds of playing time! lol
Tonight against the Blazers will be interesting, the Raptors will not come away with a victory unless they score - 80 points on 39% shooting wont cut it against teams not called the Clippers.
Technorati Tags: Chris Bosh, Rasho Nesterovic, Jose Calderon, Carlos Delfino, Jason Kapono, Sam Mitchell, Joey Graham, Darrick Martin, Juan Dixon, Los Angeles Clippers
December 19th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Your wish for Delfino to “take it to the rack more often” is a sentiment that can be applied to every Raptor not named Jose Calderon….okay, and maybe D-Mart, but I don’t want him touching the ball period.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:29 am
100% agreed on martin (i refuse to call him d-mart, he does not deserve a nickname other than krispy kreme). everyone should be taking it to the rack, but what are you going to do? i plan to bitch and complain about it regularly.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:37 am
I wasn’t impressed at all by the Raptors last night. We did play some decent defense in the second half, but overall, we had poor shot selection and bad ball rotation. I agree about Moon being the second option; its definitely a point of concern: ditto Parker. I really believe the prescence of Jamario Moon in the starting lineup has had a negative impact on Parker. Anyways, the Raps were garbage last night and they need to do better than this shit to beat Portland.
December 19th, 2007 at 11:08 am
You wrote the Raptors off in the first quarter? We were playing the paper clips who had three of their top players missing. Give them credit for keeping this close but this game was ours from the beginning. It’s been said over and over again and will continue to be said but Bosh needs to stop taking those jumpers, they hurt the team so much. If we would’ve lost I would’ve pointed to that as the reason. And AP needs to play better, his performance can be covered up with a win but if this was a loss he’d hear about it.
December 19th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
yea, i did write them off. i agree the game was ours to lose, but i was tired, and really annoyed that there didn’t seem to be any progress in the plan of attack. came out shooting and hoping for the best, that isn’t coaching, thats what we do when we play pick up ball.