Raptors Recap - The "How long before a change is made" Edition

The raptors lost another last night. Yes the Trailblazers are a better team but the Raptors also had and lost another double digit lead.

You have to wonder just how long its going to be before Colangelo gets a Bona Fide Swing man in here. Bosh and O'Neil had huge games again last night but that obviously isn't enough for this team to win. We have seen that far too often.

The Raptors shot the ball well in the first half but tighter defensive rotations in the second half and an offensive explosion from Brandon Roy did them in.

A quick look at the stats from the perimeter guys from the Raptors last night and you can see why they lost.

Kapono 0-5 fg zero points 32 min
Parker 2-6 fg six points 22 min
Graham 0-0 fg zero points 12 min
Moon 4-8 fg eight points 29 min

Add all of that up you a grand total of 14 points on 6-19 FG (32%) in a total of 95 min played. If that is the production you're getting from the Swing position then you are not going to win a game. Combine that with the fact that defensively they let Roy go off for 32 points on 14-19 FG (74%) 9 assists in 38 min.

That is truly awful "production".

Changes need to be made and soon or this season will be over.

Raptors Recap - The "we needed that/trade O'neil" Edition

Not much to say after last nights game. The raptors needed a win and they got one. They played well enough to win shooting just under 50% from the field. Jason Kapono had a very nice game starting in place of the injured Anthony Parker. Jamario Moon had one of those games where you remember just how much he can help this team. His put back dunk on JO's missed jumper in the second half was almost unbelieveable.

All that said what does this win really mean?

I say nothing. They beat a very bad Pacer team that has had very few bright moments this season. They held the pacers to 35% shooting but most of the missed shots were open looks. Danny Granger who has had a very nice season thus far was a putrid 9 for 25 from the field YUCK. Most of his misses were open looks but the raptors who boast 3 big men were STILL out rebounded 52 to 47. Had this been a team that could make shots the raptors would have been blown out again. Calderon won his first battle against TJ. Jose had a fantastic game (11 pts, 14 assists, 5 boards, 3 steals). Ford was pretty much a non factor all night. Toronto now shifts its focus to getting some revenge against VC and the Nets in Jersey on Friday.


Trades:

I was a little bit surprised to see the Suns trade Diaw and Bell for Jason Richardson. I was hoping that the Raptors could somehow make a deal with Phoenix for Bell or Barbosa but that's clearly not going to happen now.

All that got me thinking of what the Raptors could do to improve. A trade is obviously required to do this. Everyone I talk to and everything I've read suggests the Raptors have very little that other teams would want. But then I got to thinking why not shop O'Neil?

My reasoning is this.

For the most part he has lived up to the expectations of what Colangelo brought him in to do. He's rebounding the ball and playing tough D in the paint. His scoring is down but he's also not the first option on offense. So he's doing all of this and the team still isn't winning. There are other major gaps that this team needs to fill and so why not try to package him for a couple of players. There has to be some teams out there looking for cap space in 2010. I highly doubt the raptors will be in the running for any big name free agents that summer and if they can make a deal now that improves the wing position and maybe gets them a backup PG or even an ok big man at the same time. Would you not make that deal? I know I would.

I'm not suggesting this will be easy. Colangelo basically has to find a team that wants to be a player in 2010 and needs a big man. I know Tyrus Thomas and Ben gordon are unhappy in Chicago. Maybe you make a deal for them and spare parts (Larry Hughes contract makes it work). Or to Charlotte for Gerald Wallace, Nazr Mohammad and spare parts. This is not an easy task and isn't likely to ever happen but all I'm saying is its worth a call.

Raptors Recap - The "They STINK" Edition

This post is going up with 9 min to play in the fourth quarter.

There is nothing good to say about the play of the Raptors of late. This team hasn't looked this bad since the season they only won 27 games. Nothing they did was good, nothing. Not even the short lived comeback in the second quarter.

Again tonight they looked totally over matched by their opponent and anyone that thinks this team is making the playoffs without any personnel changes is kidding themselves.

Bargnani has disappeared into the same vortex that sucked him in last season. Chris bosh looks totally disinterested in attacking the basket. Jermaine O'neil gets paid 21 million dollars a year to complain about every call. The only player that was aggressive at all tonight was Joey Graham.

On the bright side the starters will be rested for the back to back tomorrow night against the Pacers, a game I do not expect the Raptors to win. I think that after tomorrow Colangelo is going to have to take a good hard look in the mirror and make a decision on this roster. He can't leave it the same. He just can't.

Oh and by the way Lebron James is....pretty good.

Raptors recap - The time to Panic edition?

I feel bad for Jay Triano. He's been thrown into this situation which is about as lousy as it can be. He had to finish a terrible road trip which was already in the crapper when he took over. Then he had to come home and play the Blazers who have a million weapons at their disposal. Now he has to go on the road to play Lebron and the Cavs.

Is this the time to panic? I don't thinks its to that point yet. It is still incredibly early in the season and although the past few games have been bad I think there are better things on the horizon for these guys. I guess I should say I HOPE there are better things anyway.

A few thoughts on the game...which we were at by the way.

- Anthony Parker did a great job on Roy in the first half, he had a couple of steals, forced him into the help and basically shut him down. Which was nice to see especially after reading Roy's remarks following the Blazers loss to the Celtics when he said "Half of those moves I did tonight,'' Roy said after the game in Boston. "They are going to work against Toronto. Roy was 5 of 16 from the field. Good job AP.

-Unfortunately for Parker playing solid D on the other teams best player usually means his offensive game suffers which it did on Sunday.

- Bosh has not played well lately. He was ok against the Jazz and then ok again yesterday. That play at the end of the game was awful. I'm wondering if his hectic summer combined with the west coast trip have caught up to him a bit or whether he's just had a couple off nights. He was outplayed by Aldridge and his 4 free throw attempts yesterday is not enough for these guys to win.


- The final play. Bosh has to be quicker with his decision making. Triano said that he didn't catch the ball where they wanted him to, which was obvious as I'm sure he didn't draw up a play for bosh to create a shot starting at the three point line...but even so he can't wait until 1 second on the clock to get a shot up. He has to try to draw the double and kick it out or get fouled not force up an off balance shot with 1 to go.

- Oden looks 50 years old in person as well its not just a rumour.

- Rudy Fernandez is Awesome. I love his game. I wish he was a raptor.

- Joey Graham has played very well lately. Everything he's done the past 2 games has been going to the rim STRONG. He's been playing the 4 which I think suits him. He can use his strength and quickness to his advantage. His 2nd half dunk was RIDICULES!

- Jose finally looks like he's almost 100%, He finished at the rim a couple times yesterday and his jumper seems to be back on track. Not to mention the 2 handed dunk he showed in the pregame warm up.

- So I think we can all expect another loss tomorrow in Cleveland and then what? well TJ and the pacers are here Wednesday and then the hated Nets again friday. Wed and Friday are as close to MUST win games as you can get. If they lose 2 or even all 3 of these next games THEN I think you can press the panic button.

P.S Portand's sideline reporter Rebecca Haarlow is quite hot (see below)

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.

The Raptors Win BUT......

But it took 15-19 from the floor and 9-10 from the line from Chris Bosh to get it done. Will this happen every night against quality opponents…probably not. The scary thing about it is if he shoots 13 of 19 they probably lose the game.

This guy cannot continue to play 45 minutes against teams like the Bobcats. If this team truly wants to get to the next level they have to have that killer instinct and put teams away so they can let CB4 and Jose rest late in games. This one wasn’t Salami and Cheese’d until less than a minute to go. To prove my point look at the Cavs game, Lebron only had to play 17 minutes against the Thunder before the game was iced. Lebron only played 30 minutes Tuesday in the Cav's Drubbing of the Knicks.

Bosh can't play 45 min a night he just can’t.

Joey “Moonlight” Graham showed up last night. It must be so frustrating to watch him and Jamario Moon if you’re Raptors management. The skills are all there but the execution is hardly ever there….and JUST when you’re ready to give up on them they give you that one good game when you think; maybe we shouldn’t give up on this guy.I say, lets take Graham’s performance last night with a grain of salt…they were playing the Bobcats, NOT the Celtics. Show me something against a good team and maybe I’ll believe.

One other observation from last nights game is that Jose is clearly not 100%. We knew that but I have to ask: why is he playing? I counted 3 times when he had a clear path to the basket for a patented Jose lay up but choose not to turn the corner and just dumped the ball off. This is obviously due to his lack of burst from the Hamstring injury. Jose’s shot was off as well and it looked to me like he wasn’t getting the same lift on his jumpers, also likely due to the Hamstring. Jose was 4 of 10 from the floor and by my count 4 of his misses were WIDE open shots off the curl. Jose would normally stick those.

I appreciate Jose’s dedication and understand that he wants to win and is willing to give it a go at less than 100%. My only point is why…..when they could have rested him the last 3 games along with the few games he did miss. Wouldn’t he be much closer to 100% with the rest and treatment? If he injures this hamstring again and is out for a prolonged period of time this team is finished.

The raptors have Atlanta Friday and then hit the road for a tough stretch of games against the Lakers, Nuggets, Jazz and Trailblazers. They need to protect home court on Friday. Hopefully they can get JO back in the lineup. I hope all you Raptors fans are full from the Salami and Cheese from the Bobcats win because starting Friday you might be starving for a while.

On a separate note This scares the hell out of me. It reminds me why I don't read forums on the Raptors and even though there is likely VERY little validity to it I'm still scared.

(From a RealGm fourm post)

"(many fans wont like to hear this, including myself) BC may have some interest in Marbury if he is waived, possibly puttin him alongside Calderon playing the 2. "