Raptors Recap - The "we only play 3 Quarters" edition

There isn't much to say about this game. The lakers are the better team and as such they took it to the Raptors.

From what I saw ( we listened to the first half on our drive back from Buffalo) this game was much closer than I had expected it would be. This was thanks to the Raptors hot outside shooting. There were a couple of really nice plays on the Lakers side. The two handed dunk by Andrew Bynum as he steamrolled over Joey was particulary nasty!

The Raptors went completely cold from the field in the 4th Q and the Lakers made them pay. Bosh had an off night which proved costly as well. There was no way they were going to win this one without a monster game from Bosh. Smitch realized this and also figured game was out of reach early in the fourth and made a smart move by resting Bosh and Calderon with about 7 min to play.

Anyway a loss in LA is expected and so long as #24 doesn't score 81 points I think I'm ok with this loss. The Lakers could have as good a shot to win 70+ games as any team has in a long time, they're that good.

Moving on to tomorrow night. I think the Raps might have a decent chance for a victory in Denver as I see that Carmelo anthony had to leave last nights game with an arm contusion. If Anthony doesn't play tomorrow and the Raps can get JO back I think they might be able to steal a win.

Raptors recap - Point form edition

- Bosh took and missed a 3 pointer with a 7 point lead and 6 minutes to go, the Hawks went back down the floor and made a jumper to make it a 5 point lead.Bosh will not win MVP doing things like that. But 30 pts 10 reb 7 assists and 3 blocks is going to get him MVP consideration. Of course he'll never win unless Kobe and Lebron both get hurt and somebody cuts Chris Pauls fingers off. But he was AWESOME again tonight.

- Chris Bosh's Acne seems to have cleared up nicely. He must be using Pro Active.

- The hawks looked disinterested tonight, no energy all jumpshots and they still had a chance to win.

- AP was very active tonight he defended Joe Johnson by moving his feet and keeping him out of the lane....this is a good sign cause he'll have his hands full with Kobe on Sunday.

- Jose is STILL not 100% his jumper is still off. He looks ok taking them but you can tell by the way they're rimming out that his mechanics are off just a touch.
that HAS to be due to the Hamstring problem.

- Jose can't catch a break. On one play he was HAMMERED to the ground on a screen by Pachulia and then later he rolled his ankle jumping for the ball and then landed on the ball and hit his mouth on the floor poor guy.


- If devlin mentions the elevator story during any other games this season Jack Armstrong should be allowed to slap him.

- "Showey" Graham had some nice dunks tonight.
- The crowd chanting "Joey Joey" was a little unnecessary but also kind of funny.
- in a strange way you do have to respect Joey a little for being ready to play though, it can't be easy warming the bench all season and then being thrown in there and asked to do the things he's been doing. I can't believe I'm saying this but he needs more playing time to see if he can keep it up.

- Bargs was great early in the first quarter and then picked up 2 fouls and disappeared. He needs to learn how to play smart when he's in early foul trouble but he needs to stay aggressive. He has looked every bit the player the raptors thought they drafted this season and I look forward to seeing it more consistentaly.

- Kapono hit some nice shots tonight (6 of 10 shooting). On one outside jumper he took a pass and did his patented vollyball shot where his hand barely touch the ball. I don't know how the guy does it. Imagine just how many shots you have to take in practice to be comfortable taking a shot like that in an NBA game.

- The Goatee on Hawks coach Mike Woodson looks glued on. I love it.

- The raptors suck at home this season and cannot protect a lead. EVER.

- Want to know how bad the raptors bench really is? Ask yourself this question...
How many of the current 12 man raptors roster will not get a new NBA contract and will likely be playing in Europe in 2 years? I'm going to guess 4...I got Will Solomon, Jamario Moon, Joey Graham and Hassan Adams. Obviously I could be wrong but i bet I'm more right than wrong.

MLSE Showdown: Battle of the Brian's- Who ya Got?

So if sources are to be believed the Maple Leafs have finally gotten their man. Brian Burke is set to become the new President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

What does this mean for NHL fans in Toronto? I believe it means about the same as it did when MLSE signed the other Brian to a contract for the Raptors.

It means stability at the management level as well as a winning culture and respectability to an office that has been a joke for the past few seasons. Past that I think Leaf fans are going to have to be patient. Anyone that knows me knows that I am anything but a big hockey fan and to that point I really don't know much about the players available and the moves that Burke is going to need to make (although I'm hearing an enforcer is tops on his list). What I do know however is that the turnaround of this team is not going to happen as quickly as it did for the Raptors.

Why? Well the reasons to me are twofold.

1. The Raptors had an All-star player to build around in Chris Bosh. The leafs do not have this yet and that's a big deal. You could make a case that as of right now Toskola is their best player and he's not really in the future plans for this team provided the Justin Pogge situation pans out.

2. The roster sizes are totally different. The Raptors were able to take a guy like Bosh and get 4 guys (Ford, Nesterovic, Parker and Garbajosa) in to turn the team around. This gave them a core of guys to pair with Bosh and Calderon and ultimately make the playoffs in Colangelo's first full year as President and GM.
Burke has a tonne of young upstart players who play hard but aren't going to beat quality opponents night in and night out. It will take time for Burke to Shuffle around the assets and build a winning chemistry for this team. And in hockey when you have a roster of up to 23 players with 3 or 4 lines its much more difficult. Compare that to Basketball where you really only have 8-10 guys playing every night The bottom line is that its going to take longer.

All that said, I like this move for the team and even more for the city. Leafs fans have taken a beating in recent years. They've been somewhat of a laughing stock in the biggest hockey market in the world. Much like the New York Knicks were/are in the NBA world.

I'm happy MLSE has the Brians both Burke and Colangelo. They need them both to win and make more money (said with tongue firmly planted in cheek).

Sens 3rd Jersey

I dig it...what y'all think?