The skinny on Game 2:
- The Magic come out gunning on all cylinders and get out to a 17 point 1st quarter lead, no surprises there.
- Turkoglu knocks Bosh on his ass, gets a flagrant foul, no one steps up to defend the franchise (but Smitch gives him an earful on the sidelines), no surprises yet again.
- The Raptors answer, and cut the lead to 2 by the half, again, no surprise.
- Bosh and the Raptors bench (Kapono, Delfino and Calderon) keep it close in the 2nd half.
- With 9 seconds left, and the Magic up 1, Smitch calls a timeout, supposedly to draw up a play.
- Raptors inbound to Calderon, who comes up a weak pick-and-roll with Bosh, Bosh jacks up a shot, misses, game over.
Lots of questions for me for this game:
- Why call a timeout with 9 seconds left only to draw up a play like that for the game?
- Why give Bargnani a 2nd start in a row at 3?
- How many times will a Raptor player get knocked to the ground without an answer from someone on the team?
- Is Smitch really trying to lose his job?
Positives:
- The Raptor players actually do have some pride. They fell behind again, but battled back and put themselves in a position to win the game.
- Kapono has emerged from the shadows and is earning his massive salary.
- In my eyes, Calderon is the man at point and is biding his time until Ford gets shipped off. I don’t even want to think about what will happen if Ford is here for next season.
- Bosh is giving his all.
Negatives:
- Bosh needs to shut up and play, enough with everything, seriously.
- Smitch isn’t doing his job. He’s working hard, but nothing he is doing is right. Kind of like getting a lap dance, lots of things going on, but you’re in worse shape then when you started.
- Small ball has reared its ugly head again. Yes they were in position to win it with small ball, but one has to think if Rasho was defending Howard, how many rebounds, or short jumpers would have went in the Raptors favour? I’m certain he wouldn’t have done 29 points and 20 rebounds.
Prognosis:
Expect more of the same. The Raptors will win game 3, but this teams resolve will be tested in game 4. Hopefully they can step up and make a series out of this.
Technorati Tags: Carlos Delfino, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Hedu Turkoglu, Jason Kapono, Jose Calderon, Orlando Magic, Rasho Nesterovic, Sam Mitchell, TJ Ford
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April 23rd, 2008 at 8:55 pm
“How many times will a Raptor player get knocked to the ground without an answer from someone on the team?” Exactly. This is what bugs the hell out of me…how do they not stand up for anyone else..as much as I hate to say it, TJ Ford has been the one guy that’s gotten in the face of opponents when a Raptor is down..but Ford needs to be moved asap without a doubt.
TimeIntact’s last blog post..How to not follow the game plan: Magic 114-100 over Raps
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 pm
“Turkoglu knocks Bosh on his ass, gets a flagrant foul, no one steps up to defend the franchise (but Smitch gives him an earful on the sidelines), no surprises yet again.”
That bugged me too but I’m used to it now.
Arsenalist’s last blog post..Game 2 Heartbreak: Mitchell draws up middle-school play with :09 left
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:19 pm
i can’t get over that arse, because it translates to toughness on the court, in rebounding, defense, taking it to the rack. again, only smitch gave hedu an earful, and hedu was laughing the whole time…these guys are giving me ulcers…pansies
April 24th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Not to worry … the Raptors will probably win Game 3.
khandor’s last blog post..Raptors @ Magic … post mortem
April 24th, 2008 at 10:24 am
they better…