Anyways, the Raptors kept it close in the 2nd, quietly took the lead in the 3rd, and extended the lead in the 4th. Great, good job guys. The highlight of the game for me was when the game was over, the Raptors all came to center court to salute the crowd, and Bosh slapped the Raptor in the balls (dude was on stilts, but still).

Thank G*d for Jack Armstrong today. He was the lone saving grace in the disgusting display put on tonight at the ACC, for me anyways. Every time Chuck started to hit a homer, Jack would step in and add a lot of levity to the situation. He has really salvaged a lot of the games over the last few years for me. It is crucial MLSE keep him on after the Sportsnet contract expires, I think we all deserve as much…

Jack had some gems tonight that sort of took the wind out of Swirky’s sails, and I’m paraphrasing all the quotes here:

• The Raptors are inconsistent because they don’t guard well.
• The Raptors had the opportunity these last few games to be fighting for an identity and mind set heading into the playoffs.
• Raptors not matching Miami’s intensity…inexcusable.
• It’s not a switch, it’s habitual…you can’t just turn it on in the playoffs.

I have a question, and it is plaguing me: does Swirsky, in his heart-of-hearts, actually believe the Raptors can beat Orlando in the playoffs, or is it the PR machine in full effect? I just want to break that series down quickly:

1. The Magic have great two guys called Rashard Lewis and Hedu Turkoglu. These guys play the 2 and 3 spots, positions the Raptors have no way of stopping.
2. The Magic have a guy called Stan Van Gundy. If you thought the masterful job Lawrence Frank did last year in the playoffs was something, wait till you see what SVG does with the Magic.
3. Moon will get 15-17 looks a game, and miss 11-13 of them.
4. Forderon will get outplayed by Arroyo/Nelson at the point.

Yea, that about sums it up for the Raptors/Orlando series.

IBM Winning Strategies:

1. No nonsense
2. 48 minutes - defensive intensity
3. Perimeter guys - produce

Luckily for the Raptors, who didn’t achieve any of the 3 winning strategies, just showing up against the Heat guarantees a win. Not the kind of showing you want to see with a the playoffs around the corner.

This was a tough game to do the play-by-play, I tried to stick with it, and almost got through it, but my dad stopped in for a visit…cut me some slack though, it’s the Heat man:

1st Quarter:

• Bosh wins the tip…game over, lol.
• Bosh takes it to the paint, and drops a dime to Rasho for the hoop.
• Quinn penetrates and lays it up…
• Quinn comes back and drops a J.
• Davis penetrates and kicks to Cook for the trey…o man…
• Bosh finds Rasho for a turn around hook.
• Mark Blount hits a trey…
• Moon blocks Quinn on the drive.
• Bosh draws the foul in the low block, hits both from the line.
• Parker gets in the paint, and gets the tear drop to stick (offensive goal tending).
• Rasho forces Blount to shoot an air-ball as the shot clock expires.
• Bosh hits a jumper in rhythm from Fords swing.
• Parker goes baseline and hits the layup in traffic, Heat timeout.
• Blount turns it over with Rasho on him.
• Quinn hits a trey in Ford’s eye.
• Rasho lobs an alley-oop to Moon for the baseline dunk.
• Blount draws the double and kicks to Cook for a trey.
• Quinn finds Cook in transition for an open trey…
• Ford swings to an open Moon for a jumper in the corner.
• Moon steals the ball and Ford finishes the layup on the break.
• Blount gets free, and hits the deep jumper.
• Bosh grabs his own missed shot, and draws the foul, hits 1 of 2 from the line.
• Calderon checks in to a nice ovation.
• Bosh gets the ball out of the timeout, and attacks the defense drawing a foul…hits 1 of 2 from the line.
• Raptors force Cook to shoot a contested trey, he misses.
• Bargnani grabs Delfino’s missed shot, and draws a foul taking it back up, hits both from the line.
• Parker throws the ball away off the double-team.
• Bargnani blocks Barron in the post.
• Delfino pops a trey from the elbow extended.
• Williams gets free of Calderon, the J-Will blows by Andrea and Rasho, lays it up +1…I’m actually disgusted.

2nd Quarter:

• Quinn penetrates and finds an open Barron in the corner for a jumper.
• Bargnani answers with a trey.
• Delfino turns the ball over, then Bargnani blocks Quinn on the break!
• Rasho forces Powell to turn the ball over on the layup attempt.
• Powell gets to the baseline and lays it up over Rasho.
• Rasho comes off the pick-and-roll with JC and puts down a two-hander.
• Powell draws a foul on Kapono on the drive, someone need to stop this guy.
• Powell penetrates again, but Rasho blocks him at the rim.
• Kapono hits a jumper inside the arc.
• Bargnani blocks Cook at the foul line.
• Barron is left all alone under the rim, and puts back the missed shot.
• Barron is open again, and hits a deep jumper.
• Calderon finds an open Kapono for a J from the corner.
• Bargnani drives and gets called for the charge.
• Rasho bats the offensive board out to Parker.
• Ford finds Rasho under the basket for a short hook.
• Quinn finds Powell for an easy layup in transition.
• Parker gets raped by Blount, twice, at least he gets the foul.
• Rasho hits a turn around hook from Parkers feed off the curl.
• Quinn nails an open trey…
• Bosh draws a foul from Parker’s lead pass, hits both from the line.
• Ford commits an offensive and defensive fouls on Quinn in back-to-back plays…
• Rasho misses a wide open jumper from the corner.
• Cook gets Parker off his feet, takes a step in and nails the jumper as the shot clock expires.
• Moon swings the ball to Parker for a trey from the corner as the shot clock expires.
• Moon fucking bricks a trey with Bosh open posting up.
• Bosh gets triple team, holds on to it for too long, skips it to Parker who loses the ball inside the arc.

3rd Quarter:

• Cook pulls up at the foul line, loses Parker, and nails the jumper.
• Parker turns it over, and Lasme dunks on the break…Raptors timeout.
• Ford hits Parker with a skip pass and Parker nails the trey.
• Moon fucking misses another jumper.
• Jack: “If you’re not sure, don’t shoot it.”
• Blount bricks another jumper.
• TJ gets inside the arc, pulls up, and sticks the jumper.
• Cook abuses Ford with the running bank shot.
• Ford nails a trey with 3 seconds left on the clock over Quinn.
• Raptors turn the ball over in transition…
• Rasho finishes an ugly break after Bosh bobbles the ball from a bad pass from Moon.
• Quinn takes it to Ford and nails a jumper from the foul line.
• Bosh runs down an offensive board.
• Ford gets in the lane and hits a leaner.
• Davis hits a deep jumper.
• Bosh bricks a jumper from the elbow.
• Bosh strokes a jumper inside the arc, Heat timeout.
• Cook loses Parker and sticks the jumper, wow.
• Parker answers with a trey in Cook’s eye.
• Ford blows by Quinn, and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• Moon blocks Cook’s jumper, but the ball gets to Davis who nails a trey as the shot clock expires.
• Rasho hits a running tear drop in the paint.
• Barron hands off to Cook who nails a deep jumper.
• Calderon finds Bosh on the baseline, who pump fakes and takes it to the rack, draws the foul and hits both from the stripe.
• Calderon finds Bargnani with a wicked pass, Bargnani hits the short hook +1.
• Delfino steals the ball, and sends Bosh on the break who draws the foul and hits 1 of 2 from the line.

4th Quarter:

• Calderon finds a slashing Rasho for a layup.
• Bargnani steals the ball from Davis, and Kapono hits a jumper on the other end.
• Rasho follows up Bargnani’s missed dunk attempt.
• Calderon finds Kapono in the corner for a trey.
• Kapono hits a deep jumper in transition.
• Delfino steals the ball, and sends Calderon on the break for a layup.
• Sorry guys, I had full intentions on finishing the game, but my dad came by, and he likes to tell long stories that go somewhere, but take a long time to get there.

Technorati Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Parker, Carlos Delfino, Chris Bosh, Chris Quinn, Chuck Swirsky, Daequan Cook, Earl Barron, Jack Armstrong, Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono, Jason Williams, Jose Calderon, Kasib Powell, Rasho Nesterovic, Ricky Davis, Stephane Lasme

It says a lot about a guy who would put himself out there like he has over the last year or so, although I must say putting Google AdWords on his site is pretty damn ghetto, you’re a big star man, get some real sponsorships going…I’ll hook you up with the deals, and I wont even take a piece!

His latest video got me to thinking, cause it really pissed me off when he made the “funeral” comment last game. I understood where he was coming from, but I don’t think he appreciated the fans perspective. Jack Armstrong broke it down in the pre-game, it’s a 50-50 thing. They have to give the fans something to cheer for, and the fans have to cheer…a symbiotic relationship.

I’m glad he made the video though, I think he understood he didn’t communicate with us clearly enough. He manned up and made amends without saying sorry…Chuck Norris style. He needs that quality heading into the playoffs. Time to be an animal. Just like how he fouled Jefferson hard, not to hurt, but to send a message, and didn’t apologize. I like that shit…old school eastern conference badass styles.

Anyways, the game…there was a game…

The Nets make me nervous, doesn’t matter how good or bad they are, they match up well, and punish the Raptors at the 2/3 spot. Tonight started on that same note. VC looked prime to repeat his performance from last week; Devin Harris was penetrating, dishing dimes and scoring at will; Krstic was hitting ridiculous turn around jumpers. This all translated into a 30-18 1st quarter lead. I wont lie, I thought “here we go again.”

The old Raptors would have wilted, only to make their run a little to late…but these guys, they came out of the 1st intermission on a mission. Penetration by VC and Harris was taken away for the most part, they grabbed some boards, they collapsed on defense and rotated like they weren’t strangers to playing D, they moved the ball around and got good shots, Delfino actually hit his shots…thing of beauty.

Essentially the rest of the game was the same. The Raptors buckled down, and won the game. I’m just happy the Nets are officially eliminated from the playoffs. This doesn’t make up for last years playoff’s, but it’s a start, a small one…but I’ll take it.

IBM Winning Strategies:

1. Perimeter Defense
2. Shoot it
3. Passion

3 for 3. Uhm…yea…I don’t have very much to say, just glad to see the Raptors actually take advantage of the schedule, and win a game that was a foregone conclusion; only wish they started a bit earlier. Now down to business:

1st Quarter (Stats):

• Raptors lose the tip.
• Krstic turns and shoots over Bosh in the low block, tough shot-good D.
• Parker curls to the top of the key, gets the pass and hits the open jumper.
• VC takes Parker to the rack, and lays it up off the glass.
• Carter takes the hand-off on the cut, and lays it up over Bosh.
• Ford penetrates and kicks to Bosh for the open jumper at the top of the key.
• Bosh shoots another three…bricks it…I hate that shot, he is taking too many in the playoff stretch.
• Jefferson gets baseline and kicks to Krstic for the open jumper.
• Bosh gets in the paint, and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• Jefferson penetrates and kicks to VC, who shakes off Parker with a pump fake, and hits the J.
• Ford takes the hand-off from from Rasho, and lays it up on the baseline.
• VC blocks Parker on the 2-on-1 break.
• Rasho tips in Bosh’s missed hook.
• Ford out-hustles Krstic for an offensive board.
• Krstic hits a turn-around jumper over Rasho.
• Rasho gets his running hook blocked.
• Chuck: “the Nets have come to play tonight.”
• VC sticks a trey from the elbow extended.
• Harris penetrates on TJ, pulls up, and hits the J.
• Bosh takes it to Diop, and draws the foul, he hits both from the line.
• The Nets swing it around the perimeter to Nochbar, who knocks down the trey.
• Bosh jab steps and hits the jumper. +1 as Bargnani gets the foul (he misses the FT).
• Harris penetrates and finishes a contested layup over Bosh.
• Harris gets the ball to Nochbar, and he lays it up, 24-14 Nets.
• Bosh draws the foul in the pain, hits 1 of 2 from line.
• Harris rips through the Raptor defense and lays it up.
• Delfino hits Bargnani with a behind-the-back pass, and Bargnani hits it.
• Harris penetrates and dishes to a slashing Jeferson who hits the pull-up J.
• Swift fakes the shot, gets Rasho off his feet, puts it on the floor and puts down a two-hander.
• Calderon penetrates and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• 30-18 Net lead at the end of the 1st.

2nd Quarter (Stats):

• Bargnani jacks a trey quick, no one there to grab the board.
• A put-back dunk from Swift on Jefferson’s missed jumper.
• Bargnani hits a layup on the drive over Swift.
• Swift hits a turn-around jumper over Rasho.
• Calderon swings to Delfino for a trey.
• Calderon draws the double, and kicks to Rasho for the jumper.
• Jefferson draws the foul taking it to the rack, hits both from the line.
• BC looks pissed, as always.
• VC hits a step back fade over Delfino, sweet shot.
• Calderon sticks a J inside the arc.
• Calderon penetrates and kicks out to Delfino for an open trey.
• Williams nails a deep jumper.
• Calderon answers with a jumper in transition.
• Calderon hits another jumper running around Bosh’s screen.
• Kapono draws a charge on VC.
• Delfino grabs an offensive rebound, then hits a deep trey.
• Bosh puts down a wide-open dunk off the give-and-go with Calderon.
• Nochbar pulls up on the drive, and hits the J.
• Delfino steals the ball from Jefferson.
• Jefferson draws the foul on the drive, hits both from the line.
• VC lays in the ball off the missed layup on the break, Raptors timeout.
• Bosh sticks a deep jumper.
• Jefferson penetrates and kicks to an open Krstic who nails the open jumper.
• Bosh runs down the offensive board, then Delfino takes the swing pass and sticks the trey.
• Delfino penetrates and lays it up in traffic.
• Parker blocks Harris as he takes it coast-to-coast.
• 48-46 Nets lead at the half.

3rd Quarter (Stats):

• Parker catches the Nets sleeping in transition: penetrates, draws the foul, and hits both from the line.
• VC blows by Parker and almost crowns Bosh (lays it in instead).
• Chuck: “I’d like to see VC get a hard foul.” LOL
• Parker uses Rasho’s screen to create some space and sticks the jumper.
• Bosh forces Krstic to travel in the post.
• Ford takes it to the rack to give the Raps the lead.
• VC takes it into the paint, and goes glass.
• Ford penetrates and kicks to Bosh for the open jumper.
• Ford goes under the screen, giving Harris the open shot - he sticks it.
• TJ goes baseline and hits the fade-away-j.
• Moon blocks Jefferson.
• TJ lobs a pass to Rasho for the layup in transition.
• VC turns the ball over in the paint with the Raptors collapsing.
• VC lobs a pass to Jefferson for a reverse layup.
• TJ gets doubled in the corner, and nails a jumper from the corner.
• Harris nails a tough trey with Ford up on him.
• Rasho hits a turn around hook from Bosh’s high screen pass.
• Jefferson draws the foul and hits both from the line.
• Parker creates space and nails a jumper from the corner.
• Ford hits Moon with a sick lead pass on the break, Moon draws the foul and hits both from the line.
• VC draws the foul going to the rack, hits both from the line.
• Diop blocks Rasho to center court, but Moon gets the swing pass and nails the trey.
• Ford gets fouled on the drive, hits both.
• Ford pulls up at the foul line and gives the Raptors a 10 point lead, Nets timeout.
• Harris penetrates, pulls up, and nails a jumper.
• Rasho finds an open Bosh in the paint for a two hander.
• Ford penetrates, hits the layup +1.
• Parker lobs an alley-oop to Ford, who misses the dunk, almost!!!!
• Bosh grabs the defensive board, then draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• Bosh hits Jefferson with a hard foul, probably the last time we will see that RJ hits both from the line)
• Bargnani grabs the offensive board, and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• 83-67 Raptors lead at the end of the 3rd.

4th Quarter (Stats):

• Swift swats Delfino on the baseline.
• Bargnani steals the ball under the rim, and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• VC finds a slashing Jefferson for the layup.
• Bargnani hits an ugly layup over Swift.
• Bosh hits a turn around hook and draws the foul on Swift, misses the FT.
• Jefferson gets the friendly roll on the pull-up.
• Bargnani penetrates and draws the foul, hits both.
• Calderon loses Harris who nails the open J.
• Calderon makes up for it by finding an open Delfino in the corner for a trey.
• Delfino almost crowns Diop on the break, gets fouled, and hits both from the line.
• Bargnani takes it to the rack and gets fouled, hits both from the line.
• Parker nails a serious shot over Diop in the corner.
• Calderon goes baseline, and kicks to Delfino for a trey in the corner.
• 25 point Raptor lead, this game is over a.k.a I am done taking notes, peace y’all.

Technorati Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Parker, Bostjan Nochbar, Bryan Colangelo, Carlos Delfino, Chris Bosh, DeSagana Diop, Devin Harris, Jason Kapono, Jose Calderon, Marcus Williams, Nenad Krstic, Rasho Nesterovic, Richard Jefferson, Stromile Swift, TJ Ford, Vince Carter

IBM Winning Strategies:

1. Battle Inside
2. Redd Alert
3. Better 1st, easier 4th.

Yea…they did all of that. The third strategy not so much, but they only surrendered 46 in those frames, and didn’t hae to exert themselves very much (other than Bosh who logged 40 minutes).

The game started out pretty damn ugly. The Raptors and Bucks traded brick after brick, and built a new practice facility for Cabbie to practice his half-court hailmary’s. Then things started to pick up, incredibly actually.

Bosh’s rant wasn’t a hollow one this time (this game anyways). Bosh was a man possessed, running around like a mad man on offense and defense. He was contesting shots, rotating on defense, grabbing boards, taking it to the rack, hitting free throws, and lunging at loose balls on the floor. Wow, I must say he really impressed me tonight. Haven’t seen this from the man in a while.

Villanueva was the only Buck to show up in the 1st quarter, keeping them in the game with 14pts and 4 rebs (to put this in perspective, the Bucks had 18 points in the quarter). He stepped it up even more in the 2nd, , raining three after three after jumper after running floater down on the Raptors, the man was in the zone. Smitch called a timeout two possessions too late, but was able to cool CV off for the rest of the half.

It was a scrappy back and forth game in the 2nd, and he Raptors took a 2 point lead into the half. I was worried, I wont lie. The Raptors were showing grit, there is no questions, but how long was this going to last? It last, they won this game in the third with some great ball movement, some timely stops, and they hit their shots. Let’s be honest, the Raptors haven’t shot this well in a month. I Take it.

They matched the Bucks intensity in the 4th, and didn’t let the lead drop below 10 until running away with a couple minutes left. Primoz even put down a dunk. In fact, the only Raptor not to score was Joey Graham, but at least he contributed with an assist.

I really don’t have too much to say about this game. The Raptors shot the lights out, kept the battle of the boards even, shared the ball and only had 6 turnovers. Pretty much a perfect team. At this point though, against a lesser team (much less), it still holds some value for me. They have been playing like the special olympics team recently, and in all honesty, you can’t sleep on the Bucks. They have solid talent (and the best names in the NBA), and have already blow the Raptors out this season.

A couple final thoughts:

Bosh’s Half Time Chat with Leo:
And I quote Bosh: “you come in here and feel like it’s a funeral, the crowd needs to pick it up, we need to pick it up.” I have been thinking about this. The Raptors haven’t given any of us anything to cheer for in over a month, I thought it a bit too much to say that given the Raptors only had a 2 point lead over a garbage team at the half. Am I alone in this?

Leo Rautins:
I can’t stand him. Seriously, he shouldn’t be given a mic to speak into. The crap that comes out of his mouth….

So he went off on CV because CV was happy and laughing and prancing when he was hot in the 1st half, but didn’t have the same attitude when he wasn’t doing the same in the second half. Seriously Leo, you want the guy to smile and dance around when his team is down 12? What the f*ck kind of consistency is that? If the guy was prancing and smiling with his team town, he would have got tea bagged by Ruffin.

Also, as soon as Leo said that, CV started to go off, creating his own shots, and knocking him down. I just wish he would get a real coaching gig somewhere, and get off TV. That is the only Hope…

Anyways, down to business:

1st Quarter (Stats):

• Bosh loses the tip.
• Sessions jacks a bad jumper.
• Parker misses a good look off the curl out of the inbounds play.
• Some ugly ball is broken up with Parker penetrating and drawing the foul, hits both from the line.
• Moon misses another open jumper, everyone is missing their jumpers.
• Bogut grabs an offensive board, and kicks to a wide open Villanueva for a trey.
• Rasho sticks a jumper from the foul-line.
• Villanueva penetrates and hits a half hook in the paint.
• Bosh commits a charge on CV, throwing up his elbow on the penetration.
• Bosh curls off a highish screen, and lays up the ball on the inbounds pass.
• Smitch has a wicked tie on, he rarely disappoints with clothing.
• Parker penetrates from the wing, and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• Bosh steals the ball and sends TJ in for a layup on the break.
• Bosh blocks CV’s shot attempt in the paint.
• Bosh steals the ball, and draws a foul in the paint, hits both from the line.
• Bosh lunges to the floor for a loose ball, man had his wheaties.
• Moon forces Mason to shoot a really bad spin hook.
• Calderon penetrates and kicks to Rasho who sticks a J from the elbow.
• Villanueva nails another trey.
• CV penetrates and hits a baseline jumper over Bargnani +1.
• Simmons fakes Moon out of the stadium, goes up and under, and hits the layup.
• Rasho fakes the dish to Moon on the baseline, turns into the key and hits a layup.
• Bargnani steals the ball, and Bosh hits a hook in the paint on the other end.
• JC and Bosh pick and roll, Bosh fakes the J and drives to the rack, laying it up.
• Bargnani penetrates and shovels the pass to an open Bosh for a dunk.
• Redd pulls up at the foul line and strokes a nice J.
• Bosh gets open under the rim, takes the pass from JC and lays it up.
• Villanueva nails a trey as the shot clock expires.
• 23-18 Raptor lead at the end of the 1st.

2nd Quarter (Stats):

• Kapono comes off the screen, takes a dribble and sticks a jumper in the paint.
• CV hits a deep jumper over Bosh.
• Bosh leaves CV open, and he nails a trey.
• CV comes off a screen, and nails another trey, timeout is needed.
• Delfino hits a deep jumper.
• CV hits another trey, and blows on his finger, please call a timeout.
• Calderon misses a jumper, out on Bucks, referee timeout…at least it’s a timeout.
• CV penetrates and hits a running hook in the paint.
• Bosh takes it to CV, draws the foul, and hits the fade, misses the free throw.
• Ivey penetrates easily and lays it up.
• JC answers with a layup of his own.
• Bosh gets the ball in the post, spins into the paint, pump fakes, gets CV off the ground, ducks under and sticks the layup.
• Redd kicks to an open Ivey for a trey.
• JC lobs an alley-oop to Bosh for a dunk.
• Delfino penetrates, kicks to Bargnani who takes a step in and hits his jumper.
• Delfino penetrates and kicks out to Bosh who forces a trey.
• Redd penetrates and kicks to Ivey in the corner for an open trey.
• Bargnani takes it baseline and draws a foul on CV, hits both from the line.
• Bosh forces Simmons to take a bad fade, Parker grabs the rebound.
• Bosh gets Simmons off the ground and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• Redd penetrates and draws the foul in the paint, hits both from the line.
• TJ uses Rasho’s screen and nails a jumper.
• Redd answers.
• Bosh grabs an offensive board, and lays it back up.
• Redd takes it baseline and draws a foul on Parker.
• Parker attacks the zone and hits a left-handed layup over Bogut.
• Parker penetrates in transition and kicks to Moon for a trey in the corner, Bucks timeout.
• 50-48 Raptors lead at the half.

3rd Quarter:

• Parker strokes a J inside the arc.
• Redd gets the ball from the inbounds, wide open under the rim, and lays it up.
• TJ sinks a jumper in the paint in transition.
• Parker goes under the screen, Redd wide open = nailing the trey.
• Parker curls off Bosh’s high screen, and hits the jumper.
• CV penetrates, pulls up, and hits a jumper in the paint.
• Rasho posts up CV, and hits a hook in the paint.
• Redd hits a deep jumper with Parker in his grill.
• Ford answers with a J of his own.
• Ford uses Bosh’s screen and sticks another jumper from the elbow.
• Mason lobs the inbounds play over Rasho to Bogut for the layup.
• TJ takes it baseline and kicks it to Moon for the jumper.
• Parker blocks Redd under the basket, Raptors ball.
• TJ sticks another J.
• Parker forces Redd to take a bad three pointer.
• Parker draws a charge on Redd.
• Parker steals the ball, and puts down a leaner on the break.
• Bosh fronts CV and nails a jumper in his eye.
• Parker throws a skip pass to Bosh, who is trailing on the play, for the trey, Bucks timeout.
• Simmons hits a contested jumper.
• Ford finds Bosh in the paint, Bosh draws the foul, and hits both from the line.
• Ford takes Bogut off the dribble, steps back, and hits the jumper.
• TJ penetrates and hits kicks to Rasho for a foul-line jumper.
• Redd takes it to Rasho, hits the layup, and misses the FT.
• Rasho fakes the jumper, takes it baseline, and hits the reverse layup.

4th Quarter (Stats):

• CV blows by Bargnani and hits a running hook over Rasho in the paint.
• Bargnani pulls up at the top of the key, and answer with a J of his own.
• Simmons penetrates and kicks out to CV for a trey.
• CV penetrates and Draws a foul on Bosh, hits 1 of 2 from the line.
• Calderon swings to Kapono for an open jumper inside the arc.
• Sessions takes Kapono off the dribble and hits the floater.
• Bargnani gets the offensive board and dunks it baseline.
• CV gets out in transition and puts down a nasty dunk right back.
• Bargnani takes Ruffin baseline and hits a reverse layup.
• Simmons hits a jumper from the pocket.
• Calderon grabs the offensive board, and draws the foul.
• Bosh turns the ball over in the low post, then blocks Ruffin on the break on the other end.
• Delfino takes it baseline, and draws a foul on the layup attempt, hits both from the line.
• Sessions takes to JC, spins into the paint, and hits the layup.
• JC finds Kapono in the corner on the break for the jumper.
• Bogut puts back a layup off a couple offensive boards.
• Bargnani battles Bogut, and draws a foul on the defensive boards.
• Parker finds a cutting Bosh, who draws a foul and hits 1 of 2 from the line.
• Kapono steals the ball from Sessions, and Parker gets fouled taking it to the rack on the break, hits both from the line.
• Parker takes it to the rack, and finishes with his left.
• He follows it up with a trey…game over.
• Bosh draws a foul taking it to the rack, hits both from the line.
• Sessions blows by Calderon, and lays it up.
• Calderon uses Bosh’s screen and throws a skip pass to Kapono for the open J….and I’m done!

Technorati Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Andrw Bogut, Anthony Parker, Bobby Simmons, Carlos Delfino, Charlie Villanueva, Chris Bosh, Desmond Mason, Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono, Jose Calderon, Michael Redd, Michael Ruffin, Ramon Sessions, Rasho Nesterovic, Royal Ivey, Sam Mitchell, TJ Ford

Just one thing before I leave, my thoughts on the IBM Winning Strategies:

1. Bounce back - Raptors won 1 of 4 quarters., enough said.
2. Gritty defense - The words ‘gritty’ and ‘Raptors’ should not be used int he same sentence.
3. Physical Rebounding - The words ‘physical’ and ‘Raptors’ should not be used in the same sentence, but they did grab 2 more (3 more offensive) rebounds then the Cats.

To even suggest the Raptors need to play gritty defense is frankly absurd. They haven’t displayed that all season. It’s not something you can turn on, it is part of your makeup. The only gritty guy we have is Smitch, and he’s wearing a suit on the sideline.

*sigh*

I made $250 bucks tonight betting against the spread (Raptors by 9.5) because I knew the Raptors wouldn’t cover. The Bobcats are a tough match-up for the Raptors, I am absolutely not surprised the Bobcats won.

UPDATE:

I really didn’t want to add more to this post, but I promised, and really only have a couple things to say:

Jamario Moon
I have been pretty tough on him, so with his good play over the last few games, I have to give him some props. He has played in control, isn’t forcing as many shots, the shots he does take are in rhythm. Khandor made a good point earlier, that Moon should take some of those shots, and hast to hit them. That really stuck with me, and te only image of the Raptors in the playoffs that stays in my head is Moon being given 15 shots from the perimeter, and the hopes of the Raptors resting on his ability to hit at least 8 or 9 of them.

Inability to stop a run
The last two games, the Raptors have been the victims of a run, that they were unable to anticipate, stop or counter/answer. Like last night, the Hawks started the 4th on an 11-2 run before the Raptors called a timeout. That was ultimately the game.

Do we really want to back into the playoffs?
My thought is no, I sure as hell don’t want to back in. There is no established rhythm, no confidence, no culture of winning, all necessary ingredients for playoff success (not the only playoff ingredients). What everyone expects to do to/against the Magic is beyond me…

Stay tuned for Jersey tonight, I hate Saturday night games:

1st Quarter (Stats):

• Raptors lose the tip-off.
• Felton hits a trey.
• Moon flashes through the key, gets the pass from Bosh, turns and hits a hook in the paint.
• Ford penetrates and kicks to Rasho for the jumper from the elbow.
• Okafor posts up Rasho, spins into the paint and hits a left handed hook.
• Bosh jacks a jumper…misses.
• Richardson is left wide open, and hits a trey.
• Ford penetrates and kicks to Bosh for a jumper from 19.
• Richardson crosses Ford over and crowns Rasho with a nasty dunk, Raptors timeout.
• Bosh takes it baseline and puts down a two-hander.
• Moon blocks Richardson on the layup attempt.
• Ford gets a layup under the basket.
• Bobcats move the ball around the arc, getting Wallace an open three, he hits it.
• Parker comes off Bosh’s high screen, catches and shoots, money!
• Moon dishes to Bosh in transition for a layup.
• Richardson hits Davidson with an entry pass for an open layup.
• Richardson pulls up in transition, and nails a trey.
• Ford lobs an alley-oop to Bosh for a dunk.
• Ford steals the ball, then Richardson steals it back, and Wallace finishes the layup on the break.
• Rasho draws a foul on Davidson, hits both from the line.
• TJ doubles Okafor in the paint, and forces a travel on Emeka.
• Ford finds Parker with an alley-oop in transition.
• Bosh checks ou at the 3 minute mark?
• Moon blocks Dudley, then tips in Parkers missed floater in transition.
• Richardson runs the baseline, takes the swing pass, and hits a tough trey from the corner.
• Bosh checks back in at the minute mark…weird substitutions.
• Felton blows by Bargnani, and lays it up past Bosh, no help D.
• 27-22 Bobcat lead at the end of the 1st.

2nd Quarter (Stats):

• Richardson breaks down the Raptors defense drives the lane, hits a layup on Bosh +1!
• Delfino draws a charge on Richardson.
• Bosh misses a jumper on the iso.
• Bargnani fouls Dudley on the drive, Dudley hits both from the line.
• Bargnani flashes through the paint, Calderon finds him, and Bargs lays it up.
• Bosh takes the dish pass from Calderon, and hits a layup on the baseline, should have been +1.
• Dudley blows by Bosh and finishes the layup.
• Dudley picks up the trash under the rim, and lays it up.
• Calderon blows by everyone, and lays it up.
• Dudley loses Bosh on the screen, steps back, takes the pass from Boykins and nails the jumper.
• Bargnani draws a foul on the drive, and hits both from the line.
• Boykins shakes Bargnani off, and hits a jumper.
• Calderon finds Bargnani in the paint, and Bargnani puts down a dunk.
• Bosh draws a foul on Okafor on the drive, hits both from the stripe.
• Kapono misses a wide open jumper after losing his defender.
• Bargnani blows by Dudley on the baseline, and finishes the layup.
• Calderon steals the ball, and dishes to Moon for a layup in transition.
• Richardson hits a contested jumper inside the arc.
• Parker forces the Bobcats into a 24 second shot clock violation.
• Bosh turns the ball over in the paint, then Moon steals the leads pass to Richardson.
• Bosh finds Rasho in the paint for a layup.
• Bosh jab steps, loses Okafor, steps back, and hits he jumper.
• Felton answers with a layup in Bosh’s grill.
• Davidson left wide open, and hits a jumper…I can live with him shooting that.
• Parker penetrates, finds Rasho in the paint, and Rasho lays it up.
• Parker runs down his rebound then forces a layup…Richardson hits a crazy/reverse layup in transition.
• Parker bricks a three point attempt.
• Ford finds Moon for a jumper at the buzzer.
• 51-46 Bobcat lead at the half.

3rd Quarter (Stats):

• Parker airballs the finger-roll in the lane, lol.
• Bosh turns the ball over in the paint.
• Davidson hits a jumper over Bosh.
• Moon hits a step back jumper on the baseline.
• Ford hits a jumper in the paint.
• Richardson gets another open look, and sticks the trey.
• Bosh sticks a jumper.
• Ford finds Rasho in the paint, Rasho turns and hits a fade +1.
• Parker goes baseline on the inbounds pass, and draws the foul, hits both from the strip, Bobcats timeout.
• Ford forces Felton into a bad shot out of the timeout!
• Ford finds a wide open Rasho under the basket for a layup.
• Richardson hits a circus shot over Moon +1, wow.
• Moon takes the pass from Ford, and nails a trey.
• Ford hits Rasho with a wicked pass under the rim for a layup.
• Richardson goes baseline, spins into the paint and hits a layup in traffic.
• Bosh misses Ford on the give and go, swings to Parker who misses the jumper.
• Ford finds Parker slashing to the rim for a layup +1.
• Ford finds a trailing Bosh who sticks a trey.
• Bosh draws a foul on the defensive boards, hits 1 of 2 from the line.
• Ford steals the ball, and gets a layup on the break.
• Okafor answers with a layup in traffic, +1 (he misses the FT).
• Bosh misses an open jumper from 14.
• Felton finds Okafor under the basket on the break.
• Mohammad pump fakes and lays up the ball.
• Bosh penetrates and kicks to Moon for a trey.
• Ford forces Boykins to take a bad shot as the shot clock expires.
• Mohammad forces an ugly hook, and hits it.
• Ford gets sloppy, and turns the ball over in the paint.
• 76-74 Raptors lead at the end of the 3rd.

4th Quarter (Stats):

• Richardson penetrates and lobs a pass to Okafor who hits a layup in the paint and draws the foul, he hits the FT.
• Rasho misses a hook in the paint, grabs his rebound, and sticks it back.
• Mohammad puts back Richardson’s missed jumper.
• Moon misses a trey, wasn’t a good shot.
• Boykins penetrates and kicks to Felton for an open trey, Raptors need a timeout.
• Felton hits an open trey in transition.
• Calderon hits a jumper out of the timeout.
• Chuck: “Raptors are trying to avoid an embarrassing home loss to the Bobcats.”
• Calderon finds Rasho with a nice entry pass for a layup.
• Parker steals the ball from Mohammad.
• Richardson finds a WIDE OPEN Mohammad for an easy-ass layup.
• Bargnani flashes to the high post, Delfino finds him, and he hits the jumper.
• Calderon finds a rolling Rasho with a pass for an easy layup.
• Rasho forces Felton into a bad shot from the corner.
• Parker crosses Richardson over, and hits the jumper inside the arc.
• Felton gets by Calderon and lays it up over Bosh, Bosh didn’t rotate fast enough.
• Dudley sticks a jumper inside the arc.
• Calderon goes baseline, creates some space, and hits the layup.
• Felton lays it up in traffic, easily.
• Calderon/Delfino force Felton to turn the ball over.
• Bosh elects to shoot a jumper over Mohammad, misses…
• Boykins penetrates and kicks to Mohammad who sticks a jumper from the elbow.
• Rasho grabs Bosh’s missed layup, and draws the foul…hits both from the line.
• Felton gets to the rim, again, and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• Calderon uses Rasho’s screen, and sticks a deep jumper.
• Bosh takes Dudley off the dribble on the baseline, and lays it up.
• Raptors luck out as the Bobcats miss a couple shots, and grab an offensive board
• Parker misses another trey in crunch time.
• Felton gets to the rim again, misses the layup, but Mohammad grabs the rebound and draws a foul, hits 1 of 2 from the line.
• Bosh drives the lane and draws a foul, hits 1 of 2 from the line.
• Raptors luck out again as Felton misses an open layup on the baseline
• Boykins strips the ball from TJ and hits a layup on the break +1, could be the game.
• Parker hits a trey from the corner on the inbounds play from Calderon.
• Felton gets fouled, and hits both from the line, 4 point game.
• Parker airballs a trey from the corner, bad shot…that’s the game.

Technorati Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Parker, Carlos Delfino, Chris Bosh, Earl Boykins, Emeka Okafor, Gerald Wallace, Jamario Moon, Jared Dudley, Jason Kapono, Jason Richardson, Jermareo Davidson, Jose Calderon, Nazr Mohammad, Rasho Nesterovic, Raymond Felton, TJ Ford

However, it should not have got to that point. The Raptors took an 11 point lead into the 4th, and true to form, Smitch didn’t have the write people out on the floor when all 37 people in the stadium knew the Hawks were going to make a push for the game.

To compound this, he went small ball. He went small ball against a long-athletic team. I mean Rasho, who was having his way in the paint, didn’t get into the 4th until about 5 minutes left in the game. The Raptors haven’t enjoyed any success playing small ball all year. I don’t get it.

Why not make the Hawks adjust to us? Rasho had 19 points in only 24 minutes heading into the 4th, so why sit him when the Hawks clearly couldn’t deal with him? Grrr….figures Smitch makes a stupid decision like that, but then draws up a great out of bounds play.

The Raptors really need to step up, and make teams play their brand of basketball, I don’t know what that is exactly, but when you have your bigs playing so well, why not give your big some more minutes? Makes sense to me, no?

Defensively, the Raptors need to stop doing a couple things asap:

1. Switching off a screen: The have been burned the last couple games switching off the screen instead of fighting through them. This has led to bad mismatches that have exploited every time at the Raptors expense.
2. Double teaming: The Raptors weak side defensive rotations are garbage. In fact, they are non-existent. Every time they send the double team, the ball gets kicked out, and no one rotates. By the time the defender (in today’s case Parker) got back with a hand up, the ball was already halfway to the rim. The Hawks got great looks, and hit %54.5 from three.
3. Mix up defensive sets with some zone: that is pretty self-explanatory. They have used zone with varying degrees of success, but have moved away from it.

The Raptors moved the ball around and got great looks, but so did the Hawks, the only difference being the Hawks hit big shot after big shot, and the Raptors fell apart in the 4th. I was pretty happy with the game, but as AltRaps said to me, and I totally agree:

“you know what, I didn’t mind the game. I thought they played pretty well….but I also think they played pretty much to their max…which is frightening….if you look at their past 4 games, games that they should have played as well as they can to try and secure their position, they have barely gotten by and blown out. I can’t see them stepping up more than this.”

So yea, the Raptors got robbed with a bad call, but they did let a 17 point lead slip from their hands. This game was the Raptors to lose, and they lost it. It should not have come to a backdoor alley-oop layup with 0.5 seconds left on the clock when you have such a huge lead.

On a positive not; Chris Bosh is starting to get some All-Star type calls on the offensive end. He got bailed out by the refs with some sketchy calls in big situations. Finally we have a player who will be getting some premium calls when the going gets tough!

One last thought before the PBP, I don’t want Orlando in the first round for one reason: Chuck Swirsky thinks they can beat the Magic in a 7 game series. He seriously jinxed the Raptors last year, begging for Jersey, and what happened? VC tea bagged the city with some great play. Now Chuck wants Orlando? Give me anyone else, the Raptors need to do exactly the opposite of what Chuck is suggesting.

1st Quarter (Stats):

• Turned the TV in time to watch Bibby hit an open jumper.
• Bibby loses TJ on the inbounds play, and hits a wide open jumper from the corner, Raptors timeout.
• Clearly the Raptors haven’t come out with any energy…
• Bosh gets stripped taking it to the rack, and Joe Johnson hits a trey in transition.
• Ford answers with a jumper.
• Ford brings it up the floor, stops and pops.
• Bosh forces Smith to airball a 6 footer in the paint.
• Ford takes it to the rack, and gets continuation + 1 baby!
• not having the score on the screen is pissing me off.
• Johnson hits another open jumper.
• Smith cuts to the paint, and lays it up over Bosh.
• Ford gets in the paint and kicks to Rasho for a short hook.
• Ford penetrates, draws the double and kicks to Rasho for a jumper.
• Moon draws the foul getting to the rack, hits both.
• Johnson hits a tough trey from the corner.
• Bosh gets his shot blocked in the paint, then Bibby hits a trey in transition.
• Moon grabs an offensive board, kicks out to Ford who swings to Parker for a trey in the corner.
• Bosh gets blocked again, but Rasho cleans up the loose ball for a hook in the paint.
• Ford lobs an alley-oop to Moon in transition.
• Childress answers quickly in transition.
• Bibby freezes Calderon and hits a jumper in his eye.
• Bargnani tips in Rasho’s missed jumper.
• Bargnani misses an open trey.
• Childress penetrates, and kicks to an open Williams for a jumper (Bargnani was nowhere to be found).
• Rasho hits a trey as the 1st quarter finishes.
• 31-27 Hawks lead at the end of the 1st.

2nd Quarter (Stats):

• Bargnani gets deep in the post, and hits a tough hook over Smith!
• Delfino draws a charge on Childress in the lane.
• Parker gets the pass on the curl and kicks to Bosh for a jumper in the corner.
• Hawks commit a 3 second defense violation, Calderon hits the foul shot.
• Bosh takes the pass from Calderon and hits another jumper from the foul line extended.
• Pachulia gets back to back layups.
• Calderon hits a layup in traffic.
• Marvin Williams rips the offensive board away from Bargnani, and dunks it.
• Delfino penetrates and kicks to Bargnani for a long jumper.
• Pachulia answers with a layup + 1 drawing the foul from Bargnani.
• Delfino puts the ball on the floor and hits a jumper over Childress.
• Bibby penetrates and kicks to Childress for a trey, its ugly, but deadly!
• Calderon throws a back-door alley-oop to Bosh + 1!
• Bibby left wide open, and sticks the trey.
• Kapono draws a foul taking it to the rack, hits both from the stripe.
• Bosh makes a lazy pass, and turns it over which leads to a J-Smith dunk in transition.
• Kapono catches the pass, takes a dribble and sticks a jumper.
• Bargnani takes it baseline and puts down a one-hander over Horford.
• Delfino takes the pass from Kapono and hits a reverse layup…pretty.
• Chuck: “Leo, if you want to be like that, I can come back to you about your brief Hawk career.” lol
• Bargnani knocks down a trey from Calderon’s swing pass.
• Bargnani knocks down another trey from Kapono’s swing pass (Kapono had an open shot, and passed up on it to get it to Bargs).
• Johnson answers with a layup in traffic.
• Delfino steals the ball from Bibby, and gets fouled in transition.
• Josh Smith left wide open and hits a trey… *sigh*
• 59-55 Raptors lead at the half.

3rd Quarter (Stats):

• Parker hits a fade-away in the paint.
• Smith penetrates and kicks to Johnson for an open trey (Parker was drifting too much).
• Parker answers with a jumper.
• Johnson hits a tough step-back jumper over Rasho.
• Parker answers with a J off the screen.
• TJ goes coast-to-coast and finishes a wide open layup.
• Marvin answers with a wide open layup of his own.
• Ford dishes to Rasho for an alley-oop-layup. It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective.
• Johnson penetrates and dishes to Smith for a short hook.
• Parker gets the ball to Rasho on the pick-and-roll who hits the layup.
• Johnson splits defense in the low blocks and hits a hook in the paint.
• Bosh hits a jumper from the top of the key.
• Bosh steals the ball and sends TJ on the break for a layup.
• Ford finds Bosh under the rim for an easy layup.
• Parker forces Joe Johson to shoot a tough jumper, he misses.
• Horford finishes an alley-oop with a dunk in transition.
• Parker gets it to Rasho in the corner for a jumper.
• Bibby penetrates and kicks to a cutting Horford in the paint for a layup.
• Parker hits a trey as the shot clock expires.
• Childress answers with a dunk off Johnson’s penetration.
• Fags are at it again…
  • Chuck: “Leo, what was your shoe size?”
  • Leo: “Why, do you want to know my shoe size?
• Raps up 10, Hawks timeout.
• Chuck: “I’m on the record, the Raptors can beat the Magic in a 7 game series.”
• Rasho finds a cutting Ford in the paint and lays it up.
• Bargnani pops a trey with Williams in his face off Rasho’s kick pass.
• Childress puts up a BRICK as the shot clock expires…man that’s ugly.
• Ford penetrates and dishes to a cutting Rasho in the key for a short hook + 1 (he misses the FT).
• The Hawks grab 3 offensive boards in one possession, and get the basket.
• Childress hits a layup in transition off the Raptor turnover.
• Smitch is sweating like a savage, lol…working hard on the sidelines.
• Kapono fouls Johnson who gets continuation and hits both from the line.
• 91-80 Raptor lead at the end of the 3rd.

4th Quarter (Stats):

• Johnson penetrates on Delfino and hits a jumper, Raptor timeout.
• Bosh turns the ball over after the timeout, leads to Johnson drawing the foul on Delfino, and hitting 1 of 2 from the stripe.
• Bibby finds Smith under the rim, Smith draws the foul from Bosh and hits both from the line, 6 point Raptor lead.
• Bargnani misses a short jumper in the paint.
• Raptors need another timeout…dont take it.
• Bosh draws the foul taking it to the rack, hits both from the line.
• Bibby takes the handoff, and hits a trey.
• Bosh takes it to the rack and draws the foul, hits both.
• Bosh gets fouled again, sketchy call, but hits both from the line.
• Smith finds Bibby with a back-door pass, and Bibby lays it up +1 drawing the foul on Delfino.
• Johnson curls off the low screen and dunks the ball from Smith’s entry pass.
• Delfino runs down the offensive board.
• Bosh puts down a nasty dunk over Smith.
• Moon takes the swing pass and sticks a jumper from the corner.
• Rasho finally gets in at the 5 minute mark.
• Smith crosses Parker over and puts down a two-handed dunk.
• Bosh misses a short hook in the paint.
• Parker steals the ball from Smith.
• Bibby finds an open Smith who draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• Ford penetrates and dishes to Rasho who misses a short hook in the paint…
• Delfino misses a trey from the corner…
• Johnson penetrates and kicks to Horford who hits a J from the line.
• Ford penetrates and hits a tear drop in the paint.
• Parker doubles Johnson and JJ throws it away.
• Bosh jacks a trey as the shot clock expires, brick…
• Ford misses a foul line jumper, Hawks grab the rebound and call a timeout. Delfino almost grabbed that offensive board…
• Hawks inbound to Bibby who is wide open, misses the trey, Hawks grab the offensive board, kick to Johnson for an open three, misses…out of bounds to Raptors!
• Hawks inbound to Bibby in the corner, and Bibby hits a trey with Ford in his face. Raptors timeout.
• Raptors inbound backdoor to Ford for an alley-oop layup at the buzzer. Didn’t count, should have - officials missed the clock starting late, but damn that was the best play Smitch has diagrammed in this career.

1st Overtime (Stats):

• Parker finds Rasho under the rim, Rasho draws the foul and hits both from the line.
• Bosh finds Ford outside the arc, Ford takes a dribble in and hits the jumper.
• Ford takes it to the rack and hits a layup in traffic.
• Johnson splits the D and hits a floater.
• Rasho grabs the offensive board off Parkers missed shot.
• Smith gives the Hawk the lead with a trey.
• Ford hits a fade in the paint over Childress.
• Horford catches the ball in traffic, and hits a layup.
• Bosh gets the ball in the high post, takes it to the rack, hits it + 1!
• Bibby is wide open again, and hits the trey.
• Bibby penetrates and kicks to an open Smith for a trey…
• Bosh misses an open layup off of Fords lob pass, Hawks rebound the ball, and draw a foul.
• Ford takes it coast-to-coast for a layup.
• Marvin ices the game with a free throw from the line.
• Tough loss…

Technorati Tags: Al Horford, Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Parker, Atlanta Hawks, Carlos Delfino, Chris Bosh, Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono, Joe Johnson, Jose Calderon, Josh Childress, Josh Smith. Rasho Nesterovic, Marvin Williams, Mike Bibby, TJ Ford, Sam Mitchell

The question we should all be asking is why wasn’t it really close. I mean, the bench outplayed their bench in the 4th, and made a run of it, but the Hornets starters got back in, and Bosh rode pine, no chance, a rebellion loss, the south lost.

What really pissed me off about the game was the lack of effort. Sure the Raptors scored 111 points, but that was because the Hornets decided to chide the Raptors into an up-and-down game, where they could out-gun them, no chance as the Raptors fell for it, hook-line-and-sinker. They always fall for that. They are athletic enough to run a bit, they have skills enough to finesse a bit, but they don’t have enough to put it all together and become a top team in the east, for now…hopefully this is temporary.

So the Raptors played the Bobcats tonight, and I bet you are wondering why I’m not talking about that game. I figure f*ck them, that’s why. If the Raptors will decide to turn their game on and off, I will decide to blog about them, or maybe I will choose to link to a site on The Economist about the harmony between science and religion (I have actually read a couple of those books that are found behind my big head in my video podcasts :P).

Sorry for the lame post, I had another rough day…I hate working in IT, it pays the bills, and affords me a pretty good life, but it also sucks the life out of me.

Technorati Tags: Arsenalist.com, New Orleans Hornets, Charlotte Bobcats, The Economist, Harmony between Science and Religion

The Bobcats are returning home from their four game Western road trip. They lost to the Jazz in their first game, but managed to win three straight over the Lakers, Supersonics and Trailblazers.

The Raptors are coming off a loss to the Western Conference leading New Orleans Hornets. The combination of Chris Paul and David West was too much for the Raptors to handle. Paul finished with 20 points and 16 assists, while West finished with a game high 32 points. The game was seemingly out of reach after the third quarter, but the Raptors reserves, led by Kris Humphries and Linton Johnson, made the game interesting late.

Starting 5:
TJ Ford/Raymond Felton
Anthony Parker/Jason Richardson
Jamario Moon/Gerald Wallace
Chris Bosh/Emeka Okafor
Rasho Nesterovic/Nazr Mohammed

Key Match-ups:
The last time these teams played, Jason Richardson lit up the Raptors for 30 points and 7 rebounds. The Raptors will need to play tougher against him this time if they want to put together a win streak going into the playoffs.

Emeka Okafor is a monster on the glass. So far this season he averages 10.6 rpg, including 3.6 on the offensive end. It will be up to Chris Bosh and Rasho Nesterovic to put a body on him and keep him off the offensive boards.

Game Notes:
Raptors forward Linton Johnson 6 points in his debut on Sunday; the Raptors had 7 players finish in double digits against the Hornets; even though they lost, the Raptors still hold the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference. Both the 76ers and Wizards lost; the Raptors are 15-21 on the road this season.

The Bobcats gave up 23 offensive rebounds against the Trailblazers, but still managed to win the game; the Bobcats are 5.0 games behind the 8th place Atlanta Hawks for the final playoff spot; the Bobcats are 19-17 at home this season.

Technorati Tags: Charlotte Bobcats, Chris Bosh, Emeka Okafor, Gerald Wallace, Jason Richardson, Jose Calderon, Rasho Nesterovic, Raymond Felton, TJ Ford

What do you think happened then? Raptors cut the lead to 6, then the Hornets starters took over; West hit a hook in the paint, and Paul lobbed an alley-oop to Chandler for a dunk, and that was that, another Raptors loss.

I honestly thought the Raptors would give a better showing then this, my expectations are clearly too high. The Hornets were on the tail end of 4 games in 6 nights on the road, and the Raptors were playing with some assemblage of normalcy. The stage was set for an upset, but that’s all, it was an opportunity that the Raptors couldn’t didn’t take advantage of.

IBM Winning Strategies:

1. Get to Paul early
2. Quick to the shooters
3. Rebounds

The Raptors did a good job on the boards, but the rest was out of control. The Hornets won because the Raptors can’t play defense. They got every shot/look they wanted, and hit every/shot they got. Hard to blame the Raptors for this showing, the Hornets outplayed the Raptors at every position.

Couple of thoughts:

Kapono Starts:
I honestly didn’t see this coming. At this point of the season, why the f*ck is Smitch starting Kapono against an offensive team? Starting Rasho and TJ was obvious. That change needed to be made earlier in the season. But Kapono, are you kidding me? I got indigestion when I saw that. If he wanted to mix up the substitutions, start Delfino, at least the guy plays defense…ridiculous.

Defense:
I’ll say it for the third time: the Hornets got every shot/look they wanted, and hit them. Clearly man defense wasn’t working. West worked Rasho in the 1st quarter. Smitch didn’t put Bosh on West until West hit the 2:37 mark of the 1st, 6.5 minutes too late. Then, the Hornets hit trey after trey, the double-team’s weren’t working, the defensive rotations were non-existent….zone defense maybe? Anything else, bring in Mop Girl and and The Raptor, and have them run amok on the defensive end. Nothing, status quo = 118 points

Morris Peterson:
MoPete kissing the floor during his introduction actually gave me goosebumps. What a bad calling BC made letting him walk, and bringing in Kapono and Delfino for double the cost. MoPete plays defense as good as Delfino, and much better than Kapono. He is as streaky as shooter as Delfino, but Kapono isn’t being played well enough to have his better shooting stand out from MoPete’s. A step back if you ask me in the sense that we could have kept MoPete for about $4-5 mill/year, saved $3-4 mill in salary and have another roster spot for a weak euro to run around avoiding contact and jacking shots at will.

Anyways, I really want to know what you guys think about this game, as I have decided to minimize my emotional detachment (or attempt too) until the offseasons where big changes are expected, at least this blogger expects big changes. On to the PBP:

1st Quarter:

• Bosh didn’t even jump for the tip-ball, wtf?
• Bosh gets the ball, and takes it to the rack without holding it, and draws a foul - hits both!
• TJ takes the hand-off from Bosh and pops from the corner.
• Leo: “how comfortable has TJ been as a starter Chuck?”
• Kapono swings to Rasho in the corner for a jumper.
• Rasho tips in his own brick-layup.
• West answers with a turnaround J.
• Chandler fights 3 Raps on the offensive boards.
• West is left alone at the top of key for a J.
• Bosh hits a deep jumper with Chandler in his grill.
• Bosh beats everyone down the court for a dunk, from TJ’s lead pass.
• Peja left open for a trey.
• Chandler tips the ball over Bosh for a put-back.
• Ford sticks a J as the clock expires over Paul.
• West hits another jumper at the top of the key.
• West hits a layup (Bosh should have got that charge call), Raptors timeout.
• Kapono bricks a jumper out of the timeout.
• West takes the hand off from Paul for a jumper from the foul line.
• Paul penetrates and kicks to MoPete for a trey.
• Ford recovers the bad inbound pass from Kapono to Nesterovic for a jumper in the corner.
• Paul hits a jumper over Ford.
• Bosh gets the ball and takes it to the rack and lays it up with the right hand.
• Leo: “Chuck, we both might have made a big mistake there.” when talking about MoPete and Moon as their x-factors, lol.
• West hits a baseline jumper over Bosh. 6 minutes too late to put Bosh on West.
• West blocks Bosh on the baseline to start to break; Paul dishes to West for a dunk in transition.
• Parker gets the ball for the first time in the game, takes it baseline for a reverse layup.
• Bargnani takes to it West on drive, and draws the foul - hits both from the line.
• Bonzi Wells schools Moon in the paint.
• The Hornets are on fire, the Raptors need to try something else, maybe a zone.
• Bargnani hits two from the line.
• Peja pump fakes, takes a step and nails a trey.
• Bosh takes Andersen to the rack, and dunks on him like I hit my boston cream donuts from Timmies.
• Bargnani fakes the trey, penetrates and dishes to Bosh for a dunk.
• 37-28 Hornets lead at the end of the 1st.

2nd Quarter:

• Bonzi takes Moon to school with a drive from the post.
• Bosh fronts West, the lob pass gets through, West lays it up + 1.
• Bosh forces a bad J over West, he misses.
• Moon steals the ball.
• Delfino takes it to he rack, lays it up in traffic with a sick reverse.
• Bosh takes it to West and draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• West returns the favour on Bosh, hitting both from the stripe.
• West pops a J over Bargnani.
• Calderon comes around the high pick for a jumper inside the arc.
• Delfino draws a foul on Pargo.
• Pargo finds Chandler in transition for a layup on the break.
• Moon shoots a contested trey.
• Peja returns the favour.
• Calderon swings to Delfino who whips it to Rasho for an open layup.
• Calderon penetrates and kicks to Delfino for a trey in the corner.
• Bosh hits a turnaround J in the block.
• Paul takes it back the other way quickly.
• Rasho tips in TJ’s missed layup.
• West takes it to the rack and gets fouled, hits both from the line.
• Calderon lobs a back door to Rasho for a weak dunk/layup.
• Paul finds Chandler for a layup under the rim.
• TJ takes it baseline, and hits a layup over MoPete.
• Rasho hits a jumper from the foul line.
• Peja hits a turnaround J over TJ as the shot clock expired.
• Bosh holds on to the ball too long, and jacks a contested J.
• Calderon drives the paint and hits a layup.
• Calderon penetrates and kicks to Bosh for a trey.
• West draws the double and kicks to Paul for an open trey.
• 69-58 Hornets lead at the half.

3rd Quarter:

• Parker hits a trey from the corner from TJ’s swing pass.
• Kapono bails out Paul with a foul as the shot clock was expiring.
• Paul penetrates and kicks it to a WIDE OPEN Peja for a trey in the corner….
• I can’t take notes anymore, sorry guys.

Technorati Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Parker, Bonzi Wells, Bryan Colangelo, Carlos Delfino, Chris Andersen, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Chuck Swirsky, David West, Jamario Moon, Janero Pargo, Jason Kapono, Jose Calderon, Leo Rautins, Morris Peterson, New Orleans Hornets, Peja Stojakovic, Rasho Nesterovic, TJ Ford, Tyson Chandler

Just when you think it can’t get any worse for the Knicks, they are without Randolph, Curry and Robinson. I’m not saying that with them, the Raptors would have lost, they wouldn’t have, but it gives them some more options. Regardless, won a game they should have, and have climbed 2 games over 500 before they take on New Orleans on Sunday.

11 offensive boards, and 13 Raptor turnovers kept this game much closer than it should have been. Can’t get too excited about this win, but there are a couple things I want to touch on:

Parker’s entry passes to the post:
This is a great addition to the offense. A quick swing to Parker, and he gets the ball into the post, and on most occasions creates great opportunities for Rasho/Bosh with lead passes to the rim. Nice to have some variety on the offensive end, especially with everyone in the league limiting the effectiveness of the pick-and-roll. Parker and Rasho have great chemistry together, with Parker making things really easy for Rasho on the blocks. Nice to see.

Forderon:
TJ’s line: 9pts and 10ast, solid showing. We all knew he had game, just sad to see that tantrum he has been throwing for a few a while. Smitch/BC really handled him badly. They should have started him earlier after he got back. Jose, to his credit, has been stand up about this situation, to the detriment of his playing time and position on this team in respect to him starting. The Chuck/Leo/Jack love fest is in full court press, and it is deserved, but at the end of the day, I am sure there was tension that needed to addressed, and Calderon stepped up. Kudos.

Jamaal Crawford:
He dropped 26, but I thought that TJ and Calderon did a really good job of keeping him in check. The guy is a Raptor killer, and his 26 were reasonably quiet. He was never given much of an opportunity to heat up. Only took a couple seasons, but they kept him under control for once.

Knicks grab 11 offensive boards without Randolph and Curry in the line-up:
That pretty much sums it up, lol. I just thought it should be noted that without their beasts up front, they handled the Raptors. Not surprising the Raptors give up offensive boards, just wasn’t expected the Knicks to do what they did without those two guys.

In the pre-game, Isiah Thomas was asked what he thought of the Raptors, to which he said (and I’m paraphrasing):

“…when the Raptors shoot well, they are a tough team to beat - as they score a lot, and are tough to defend; but if those shots aren’t falling, you can get out on them and score some easy baskets.”

I hope more of the delusional fans heard that. No secret, a lot of us having been harping about this for a while now. You have to figure if Isiah knows, Van Gundy and Brown also know, and have already planned to give Moon 20 open looks a game. Anyways, that’s for a later discussion, down to business:

1st Quarter (Click for Stats):

• Bosh wins another tip…
• Bosh drops a dime to Rasho in the low post for an easy layup.
• Crawford hits a turn-around J to start what will probably be a 30+ point night for him.
• Moon swings to Parker for a trey.
• Bosh kicks out to TJ who swings it to Moon for a jumper inside the arc.
• Richardson penetrates and kicks to Crawford for a trey in the corner.
• Bosh goes baseline and finishes a tough layup + 1.
• Lee sends Chandler on the break for an open dunk.
• Crawford gets the ball up the court to Richardson for a long jumper, off Moon’s missed jumper on the baseline.
• Ford sticks a jumper off the Bosh screen in the high-post.
• Jeffries puts up an open layup in the paint.
• Parker comes off a screen for an open jumper.
• Ford brings the ball up court, and pops a J at the foul line - timeout Knicks.
• Moon doesn’t get the pass to Rasho, gets the deflection back, and sticks a long jumper.
• Rasho finesses a half-hook in the paint.
• Lee grabs an offensive board, and lays it back in.
• Bosh holds on to the ball too long when he got doubled, and turns it over to Lee.
• Lee hits a jumper on the other end.
• Bosh travels under the rim.
• Richardson kicks out to a wide open Jeffries for a jumper.
• Moon takes it to the rack, and crowns Jeffries.
• Jeffries returns the favour with a layup in traffic.
• Rasho answers with a jumper form the foul line.
• Richardson hits a layup in traffic + 1.
• Chuck: “Sam Mitchell, when he rolled his eyes, that was his second of the night” lol.
• Parker hits Rasho with a great pass for an easy layup.
• Richardson penetrates and drops it off to Lee for a dunk.
• Rasho finds a slashing Parker, who draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• BC doesn’t look as pissed as usual.
• Calderon swings to Bargnani for a trey.
• 32-23 Raptors lead after the 1st.

2nd Quarter (Click for Stats):

• Delfino penetrates and draws a foul, hits 1 of 2.
• Calderon finds Bosh with a sweet pass off the pick and roll for an easy layup.
• Crawford nails a serious trey with Calderon up in his grill.
• Malik Rose bricks his 4th shot in the last 3 minutes. I can’t believe Isiah traded for him.
• Calderon draws a charge on Jones.
• Bargnani takes it to the rack, and lays it up over Rose. I thought he was going to crown him.
• Bosh forces it baseline and lays it up over Lee.
• Calderon pesters Rose into taking a horrible three point attempt from the corner…lol
• Bosh grabs an offensive board in traffic, and puts it back.
• Malik Rose needs to be taken out of this game, he sucks.
• Lee puts it up over Bosh under the basket.
• Bargnani puts back a dunk off Calderon’s missed trey, jebus, I didn’t see that coming.
• Delfino sticks a deep trey.
• Bosh blocks Jeffries to start the break (nothing happens on the break).
• The Knicks are just jacking shots without blinking.
• Jeffries hits a couple shots in back-to-back possessions.
• TJ lets Crawford get open for a trey.
• Bosh finds a cutting Delfino twice, nothing comes out of it, but the Raptors need to do more of that.
• Crawford hits another trey, 5 point game.
• Jones penetrates and drops it off to an open Lee for a dunk. Raptors timeout, 3 possession too late, way to let them back in the game Smitch.
• Chuck: “normally, the ball goes through Ford late in the shot clock, in sequences you are about to watch.”
• Bosh hits a jumper from TJ’s penetration with 1.2 left in the quarter.
• 49-44 Raptors at the half.

3rd Quarter (Click for Stats):

• Rasho hits a half-hook in the paint.
• Moon tips the ball away from Jeffries.
• Bosh faces up Jeffries, and sticks a jumper, Knicks timeout.
• Parker drops a sweet dime to Rasho in the post for an easy layup.
• Rasho using Rashos screen pops a jumper from the foul line.
• Richardson calls glass and hits a jumper over Moon.
• Moon shoots, instead of swinging, and misses a jumper.
• Bosh pump fakes, up-and-under, and lays it in.
• Parker feeds Rasho, again, and Rasho draws the foul, hits both from the line.
• Richardson sticks an open trey.
• Ford finds Moon on the baseline, and draws the foul, hits 1 of 2.
• Moon steals the ball, sending Parker out on the break for a layup.
• Jones answers with a layup + 1.
• Parker comes off a screen, and pops a jumper.
• Ford penetrates and kicks out to Bosh for a trey.
• Moon runs down an offensive board, then grabs another one, then finds Bargnani in the paint who draws a foul, and hits both from the line.
• Lee kicks to Richardson for an open trey.
• Bosh gets fouled in the post, hits both from the line.
• Bargnani takes it to the rack, and draws the foul - hits 1 of 2.
• 76-68 Raptors lead at the end of the 3rd.

4th Quarter (Click for Stats):

• The Raptors need to put these guys away quick, I need to walk my dog.
• Calderon pops a trey.
• Parker drops a dime to Bosh for a turn around hook.
• Crawford answers with a quick jumper.
• Fred Jones’ goatee doesn’t fall from his chin, it sticks out parallel to the ground, creepy.
• Calderon goes under the screen and gives Crawford an open look for a jumper.
• Jeffries posts up Parker and lays it in.
• Raptors swing the ball around the perimeter to Parker for an open trey in the corner.
• Delfino hits a trey from the elbow extended.
• *yawn*
• …yea…I’m done taking notes, this game is over, I need to walk my dog, he’s giving me that look.

Technorati Tags: Anthony Parker, Bryan Colangelo, Carlos Delfino, Chris Bosh, Chuck Swirsky, David Lee, Fred Jones, Isiah Thomas, Jamaal Crawford, Jamario Moon, Jared Jeffries, Jose Calderon, Malik Rose, New York Knicks, Quentin Richardson, Rasho Nesterovic, Sam Mitchell, TJ Ford

I wont be spitting my normal PBP, as I was at the game, and didn’t want to be ‘that guy taking notes in the crowd’, and frankly…daddy needed a night off. If you are interested in what went down, check out:

AltRaps - Raptors Roll Call March 26 vs Pistons
Arsenalist - High quality Raptors beat Pistons for feel-good win
Cuzoogle - Change is good, wins are better

I am more concerned with what went down in and around the game. The flow for the last week or so:

• B.C. cuts his Euro Trip short because he was worried the team he built was in jeopardy of falling from grace. Not sure what he was going to do back in T.O., but we can all hope that he didn’t fall in love with another Euro who could shoot, but wasn’t good at playing ball while he was on the other side of the pond.
• Bosh calls out his team for doing things he himself is guilty of. I don’t have anything smart to say about that, just that he is an idiot, and shot the ball more than he took it to the rim last night…hypocrite…
• Jose approaches B.C. and Smitch to plead with them to start TJ, and stop the madness.
• Smitch thought Jose was on to something, and made an adjustment everyone who is familiar with the situation has been calling for-for a couple weeks.
• Raptors win a game against a better team, while holding it together down the stretch.

That about sums up the last little while for our Raps. Now, what concerns me:

• Why the F*CK didn’t Smitch make this adjustment earlier? I mean, it payed dividends right away, against the Pistons no less. Not only did TJ get the call to start, so did Rasho, and they both had solid games. You think Bargnani would have done 15pts/9rebs given those minutes against the Pistons front court? The answer is no. If this doesn’t expose Smitch as a glorified assistant coach, then I don’t know…
• TJ is a spoiled brat. Is he happy he got the start? Was he happy when Jose got that incredible welcome when he checked in, but TJ didn’t? He got the same playing time, but all that changed was that he started the game, as apposed to coming off the bench. BUT, he played under control, scored when he should have, passed when he should have…in fact, he passed a couple times when I thought he should have passed/shot.

So am I happy things are back to normal, for now? Yes. Is Jose my favourite Raptor for doing what was neccessary for this team to get back to normal, for now? Yes. Can this arrangement continue past this season? Probably not. Hopefully BC does something to correct this in the summer.

Technorati Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Boston Celtics, Bryan Colangelo, Chuck Swirsky, Detroit Pistons, Jose Calderon, Leo Rautins, Orlando Magic, Rasho Nesterovic, Sam Mitchell, TJ Ford