Built Ford Tough

I could be wrong and that they weren't specifically made for him, but when watching a game earlier in the season I remember the Golden State commentators mentioning that he was wearing new shoes and I am about 95% sure that they mentioned that he went to Nike (he does have a deal with Nike, right?) and they made a special shoe for him with more ankle support. I know for a fact that he switched up his shoes to ones with more ankle support after the 1st or 2nd sprain this season and they didn't do anything for him and he sprained it again a few games later.

Absolutely dirty move by LeBron. Reverse spin to split the double and then finishes with a double clutch layup? Yeah, that was nice. Paul has completely taken over this game, though. His game management has been spectacular, and you need to look no further than that last Clipper possession.

I'm not saying he deserved a call, but how many times do you see a player like Griffin, Howard, LeBron etc... go up for a dunk like that, have that much contact and not get a call go their way? You can make the argument that it was an offensive foul or a defensive foul because Anthony definitely got him and Griffin, as you said, cleared out a bit. I was just shocked that there wasn't a call there considering the play and who was going up to dunk it. I actually thought it was a good no call because, like I said, you could argue that both players committed fouls. Now that I saw how I worded that, I can understand why it looks like I was saying he should've got a call. I should've said I'm surprised he didn't get a call, not how did he not get a call. My bad on that.

Paul's mid range game is absolutely lethal. And Griffin almost destroyed Joel Anthony. That would've been nearly identical to that poster he had against the Knicks last season. I don't know how he didn't get a call go his way there, though. Damn, that would've been nasty.

How serious do you think his reoccuring ankle problems are? He has had ankle issues for basically the entire season this year (sprained it 3 times in a 16 day period and has sprained it 7 times in the past 15 months), he missed time last season and he has visited specialists in regard to his troublesome ankle. He has already had surgery on the ankle and based on how this season started, that doesn't seem to have helped very much either. He has had specialized shoes made for him and, again, no help. The latest reports say that there is no structural damage, which is good news, but given his long track record of ankle problems, you can't help but wonder when the next problem will flare up. So again, how bad do you really think his ankles are? Is this a matter of him simply not giving it time to heal properly and, because of that, it was more susceptible to re-aggrivating? Or is this something that could have the potential to plauge him his entire career?

On Bargnani's injury: For those of you who are wondering, his calf injury that he had last season occured March 26th. He sat out a game or two, came back played like crap and sat out the rest of the season. Now, I don't know if he sat out because he couldn't play or if it was a decision on managements part to sit him out for the "tank".

You can really tell that Paul has lost a step on these two possessions where Bosh was switched onto him. Pre-knee injury Paul would've blown by him on both occasions with relative ease but neither time he was able to get by him. Part of that is because he played around with the ball a bit too much, but the biggest reason is because he just doesn't have the same explosive first step that he used to.

http://tracking.si.com/2012/01/12/spurs-guard-t-j-ford-will-miss-4-6-weeks-with-torn-hamstring/ Spurs are really going to have to fight to stay afloat over the next month or so. In a normal season you probably wouldn't be too concerned with Manu and Ford's injuries but when you consider how much more impactful a month/month and a half long injury is, you have to wonder if the Spurs may find themselves a bit too far behind in a tight Western Conference when they finally get healthy. Ford isn't putting up huge numbers or anything like that, but he has had a pretty solid impact for the Spurs and losing him now, with Manu out, really hurts their backcourt depth.

It sounds like there may have been a reason for that and it wasn't just an off night. Bargnani left the game near the end of the 3rd with a strained calf and will not return. I'm liking how Kleiza has played in this game. Making good decisions, not forcing things, running the break and playing physicaly on the glass and on defense.

Bargnani's shot is off to start. He doesn't appear to have his legs underneath him as basically every shto has been short so far. Lol, Magloire gets beat off the dribble by Cousins and then bear hugs him and throws him to the ground. I thought for sure that DMC would've went right at Magloire and tried to start something and it looked like Magloire thought he would too.

With the Kings trying to hide Jimmer defensively, the Raptors should really bring James Johnson into the game and force the Kings to have Jimmer guard somebody. If they put him on Calderon, pick and roll him to death. If they put him on DeRozan or Johnson, post him to death. Then again, it would probably best best for the tank if they continue to allow the Kings to hide Jimmer on Butler since he doesn't have the skillset to take advantage of him anywhere. PS: This is the emptiest I have seen the ACC for a long, long time.

^^^ Forgot to mention in that post that Kleiza is in the lineup for tonight. He won't be starting, or likely won't even play much, but it will be nice to see him return since Rasual Butler is as scrubby as they come. He plays competent defense, but his bread and butter is his shooting, an area where he is below 30%.

It expires after this year and the term is is $11.7M (give or take).

The question isn't should they, because we all know that they should trade him, but will they trade Nash? Nash has said that he won't request a trade this season, but considering the Suns have little to no chance of making the playoffs, and, even if they do sneak in, would be first round fodder for the Thunder or some other top seeded Western Conference team, will they come to the realization that they need to kick start the rebuilding process and deal Nash? His contract expiring at the end of the season makes him even more appealing to a team looking to add a piece for a championship run. If they do in fact trade him, which teams could you see him being dealt to?

I found this on RealGM. Apparently he broke an NBA record last night:

If you actually look at the stats, it really isn't a ludicrous statement to make. They have been the best defensive team in the league this season, the best offensive team in the league, have the largest winning margin (by a whopping 6 more points than the 2nd place Miami) and their only two losses both came with less than 5 seconds left, one of which came to a Portland team who is deadly at home and the other a surprising Utah team where they hand the game in hand but made a few mental mistakes at the end that cost them the game. They started the season on a 5 game west coast road trip where they went 3-2. They then came home and won 4 games by an average of 24 points a game (although the Sacramento game from last night wouldn't have been included in this at the time of Hollinger releasing his rankings). I really don't see why it is so ridiculous that he has them at number 1. You can make the argument that the Bulls should be there, but its not like this is some ludicrous, out of left field ranking. The Sixers, at the very least, have been a top 3 team in the league and have just as much of an argument for the #1 ranking as another other team. For those of you who are saying the Heat, why exactly should they be above the Sixers? They haven't been as good offensively, defensively, haven't won by as much, have had an easier schedule (in terms of opponents winning percentage) and have basically the same record. Don't get me wrong, the Heat are likely going to finish the season as the best team in the league and will be the favourites to win it all, but through the first 9 or 10 games of the season, the Sixers have played better.

This is a huge game for the Raptors tanking plans (or, at least, Raptor fans tanking plans). If the Raps find a way to lose this game, which isn't far fetched considering this is the 3rd game of their back-to-back-to-back and they seem to completely lay eggs against the worst of the worst (see NJ and Washington games), they will be 4-7 on the season. That doesn't seem too terrible, but when you look at their schedule to finish the month of: vs. Pacers @ Bulls (back to back) @ Hawks @ Celtics vs. Blazers @ Clippers @ Suns @ Jazz @ Nuggets @ Nets vs. Hawks it isn't unfathomable to think that the Raptors could go something abysmal like 3-8 during this stretch. Even that could be considered optimistic. We could be looking at a Raptors record of 7-15 or something similar by the end of the month. If that is the case, we might see Colangelo start to ship out veterans (looking at you Barbosa) and start to push a few of Casey's buttons to ensure that the Raptors blow a close game here and there. Or, at least, that is what I hope happens.

From Hollinger's list of surprise players:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7450625/rafe-bartholomew-suffers-fate-worse-death-#8212-watching-wizards-raptors There are some more pretty funny comments in the article, but these were my favourites.

I'd say it was about 60-65% Washington's play and 40-35% Toronto's. Would you agree that is a fair assessment?

I don't think it changes things at all. Despite what I or other fans say, the Raptors aren't actually out there tanking, nor were they last year (at least, for 95% of the season). They go out there and try desperately to win the game but they simply don't have the talent or depth to actually come away with victories or close games out. The games against the Magic and the Mavs earlier this season were classic examples of that. They got a big lead by completely riding their best players, Bargnani in particular, but when the 4th quarter came and they had already played basically the entire game, they didn't have as much jump and it allowed the opposition to go on a run and, eventually, win the game. The same thing almost happened in the Knicks game but they simply couldn't come all the way back because they don't have much depth either, and didn't have Amar'e in the lineup. They may not end up getting a top 3 pick like I had expected/hoped, but by the end of the season I am fairly confident that the Raptors will, at the very least, end up with a top 7 pick in the draft. They can only ride Bargnani for 40+ minutes a night for so long before he inevitably starts to slow down. If they end up sneaking into the playoffs it wouldn't be terrible. Although I'd rather have a top draft pick, if they do sneak into the postseason it is likely because Bargnani was able to maintain this level of play for the entire season and at least 2 or 3 of DeRozan, Davis, Johnson, Johnson and Bayless exceeded expectations and the Raptors have better players than what they originally thought. What would be a bad situation is if the Raptors are in the playoff hunt and make a move to acquire veterans to sneak into the playoffs, but I have faith that Colangelo won't do that. At the end of the day I still believe that the Raptors will fall back to earth and by seasons end they will be closer to the bottom of the league than the middle of the pack. Depends on the types of offers. If you get an offer you can't refuse (ie a star wing or PG) you probably take it since you do have Johnson and Davis as well as Valanciunas coming over next season. However, I would not be opposed to keeping him if he plays like this. If he plays like this consistently and Valanciunas is able to become a Tyson Chandler or Joakim Noah like player, which many people are projecting him to be, you are suddenly looking at one of the most potent front courts in the league who compliment each other perfectly. Personally, I'd probably keep him unless somebody drastically overpays for him. I think you can easily contend for a championship with him as your starting power forward, assuming Valanciunas becomes the player he is expected to be and you make smart decisions with the rest of the lineup.

Gus with his 2nd shutout in his last 3 ges and played yet another fantastic game. This is the Gustavsson that I envisioned when he came over from Sweden and this is the Gustavsson that I had in mind when defending him over the past 3 seasons. I really hope he can keep this up.

Sort of like how Eric Gordon was never going to be included in a Paul trade and was assured of that by ownership multiple times? I'm not saying that he is or isn't safe, but in any professional league it really doesn't matter too much what somebody says. There have been way too many occassions where a player, coach, GM or whatever have been reassured that they were not going anywhere only to be traded or fired not long after.

Am I a complete homer in thinking that Toronto lost this game as much as Washington won it? I'm not trying to take credit away from Washington as they completely deserved the win, but the Raptors really made a lot of stupid mistakes on offense, committed a whole bunch of stupid turnovers with little defensive pressure and missed some good looks (looking at DeRozan mainly). On defense they basically let Washington get whatever they wanted inside the paint, which was an area that they have controlled all season long (coming into the game they gave up the least amount of points in the paint). I really am not trying to take away credit from the Wizards but they really didn't look much better than some other games of theirs that I have watched where they lost by double digit points. Toronto just played terribly.

Dwight was also anchoring one of the best defenses in the league, grabbing 12-14 boards a game (like Love), blocking 3 shots a game and getting opposing frontcourts in foul trouble on a nightly basis. Love doesn't have any positive impact on his team defensive, aside from grabbing defensive rebounds. He is one of the weaker big man defenders in the league, doesn't block shots and rarely picks up charges. There is a huge difference between Dwight, at the time, not being able to create his own offense all that well and Love not being able to create his own offense. Dwight was still able to impact the game numerous different ways while Love, when he isn't scoring, really only does in one other way.