Built Ford Tough

Lets be realistic here, though, Washington tanked about half the season. The middle stretch of the year was absolutely painful to watch, at least in all the games that I saw. The Wizards are bad, but they weren't that bad. For some unfathomable reason, they decided to randomly stop tanking to end the season, though. That was about the time the Raptors actually started to legitimately tank and shut down guys like Bargnani, Calderon, Barbosa and Johnson (although to be fair, Johnson was legitimately injured and I think Barbosa's wrist was acting up again, but I'm not 100% sure on that).

Raptors locked up the third worst record with their loss to the Heat, which gives them a 15.6% chance to win the lottery. Worst case scenario, they fall to 6th. Hopefully Barnes proves all the "experts" wrong and declares because at least that way the Raptors would likely walk away with one of Irving, Barnes, Williams, Kanter or Valanciunas, assuming that they at least stay in the top 5 which I think is a reasonable assumption. Either way, May 17th can't come any sooner.

Well, I guess it is a good thing that the Raptors played like complete shit tonight, considering it is looking like the Wizards are going to be blowing their game against the Cavs in the 4th. Would've been nice to end the season on a high note with a win, but finishing 3rd last is a hell of a lot more important than getting a meaningless win during the final game of the season. One thing, though. How the hell do you let Eddie House drop like 40 points on you? That is just disguisting.

Raptor fans chanting "We Want Bosh!" just so that they can boo him and have something to entertain themselves for the 4th.

at LeBron trying to be all stealthy by eating popcorn in a Gatorade cup, but almost missing his mouth when trying to pour the popcorn in his mouth. Probably still hungover from last night. JJ with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. If he can develop a semi-reliable jump shot over the summer, he might be a solid starter at the small forward spot next season. I definitely like his ball handling, defensive ability and playmaking ability from the 3 spot considering DeRozan at the 2, but he definitely needs to develop that jumper if he is to be more than an energy guy off of the bench.

What. A Boss.

Best part of the 5 minutes of this game that I have watched (can only stomach Leo Rautins for about 5 minute intervals) was seeing Sonny Weems and Amir Johnson in their suits at the end of the bench laughing and joking with the players, while Jose Calderon is sitting at the front of the bench with the assistaint coaches looking absolutely pissed that the Raptors are losing. Wizards are up 12 against the Cavs, but it seems like the Raptors aren't tanking any chances as they look completely disinterested in playing tonight. Can't say that I blame them, though. They probably just want this disguisting season to finish already.

Fleury is going to have to stand on his head in this Tampa series if the Pens are going to have any chance. The Pens just have absolutely no fire power with Crosby and Malkin out of the lineup and going up against a team offensively gifted as Tampa, he is going to have to be on top of his game because he can't expect much more than 2 goals a game in support. He has been great during the first half of the 1st period, though. Game could easily be two or three nothing right now if it wasn't for him.

It is official now. http://www.arizonawildcats.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/041311aad.html So at least there is a legitimate top 2 in this draft. It would be amazing if Barnes decided to declare to give the draft some more depth (and because the Raptors are picking in the top 3 ), but at least the consensous top 2 have officially declared, especially after Perry Jones going back to Baylor come out of absolutely nowhere.

^^^ A little optimistic, don't you think? I'd be shocked if DeRozan ever even came close to averaging 24 a game, let alone 26. He will probably peak at around 20-22 points a game, but even that may be a bit high as it depends on the type of players around him during the Raptors rebuild. A nice article on DeRozan's mechanics changing when he steps beyond the arc and why this is something he needs to work on this offseason. http://blogs.thescore.com/raptorblog/2011/04/12/demar-and-the-mechanics-breaking-down-his-three-point-shooting-form/ Because I feel like my job is to simplify this stuff as much as possible, let me put it this way: DeMar’s three-point shooting mechanics are all messed up. Pruiti, who writes for his own invaluable NBAPlaybook.com blog while also contributing to The Basketball Jones, Basketball Prospectus, SB Nation and probably a bunch of other places, saw similar mechanical issues with DeRozan’s form but seems to be optimistic that he can improve: Since he’s shooting from a longer distance, it might be acceptable for DeRozan to have slightly different form on shots beyond the arc compared to mid-range shots — but he clearly needs to have his three-point shooting mechanics fine tuned so he can develop a consistent form and stroke. Like many disciplines in sports — whether it’s hitting a curveball, throwing a deep pass in football or hitting jump shots and free throws — one of the keys to success is concentrating on controlling your body so that your arms, legs and head move in-game the way you learned in practice. When you consider his impressive ability to control his body on drives to the basket and his reportedly strong work ethic and desire to improve, there’s no reason to believe that DeRozan won’t make significant improvements in his long-range shooting — with the right coaching, of course.

I doubt that any of Wade James or Bosh play as they will all still probably be drunk from LeBron's party he threw last night: http://www.clubcrawlers.com/toronto/event/iamlebron Anyways, bottom line for the Raptors is that their magic number is 1. A Raptors loss or a Wizards win over the Cavs and they will have 3rd last place on lockdown. They win this game and the Wizards lose to the Cavs and the two teams finish the season tied for 3rd last and will split the ping pong balls, not to mention having a coin flip for determining who will pick 3rd and who will pick 4th, assuming nither one of them wins the lottery.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6344031&campaign=rss&source=twitter&ex_cid=Twitter_espn_6344031 Not surprising at all, but it still sucks to find this out. This is going to be a longgggggggggg summer.

Pretty bad. I think he was better defensively last year as a rookie in comparision to this season. Even though there were times when he got absolutely torched last season, at least he looked like he was giving it his all every time. This season there have been times when he has clearly been coasting on the defensive end. He has the length and athleticism to be a solid defender, but he has been pretty lazy defensively this season. His biggest problem on the defensive end is that he is absolutely terrible at fighting through screens. Almost every time a pick is set on him, his man will get open and DeRozan will be too slow to recover. In terms of straight one on one defense has has shown flashes of being average to above average at times this season, but he really needs to work on the ability to get through screens as he is probably one of the worst players in the league at this regard. Of course, a large part of his defensive struggles can be attributed to the Raptors defense as a whole. Guys like Amir Johnson, Reggie Evans, Andrea Bargnani and Ed Davis don't exactly strike fear into opponents when driving into the paint (although Davis has the potential to be that type of guy) and defense starts from the inside out. That still doesn't excuse some of the lackluster efforts he has given on that end of the floor.

Found this on RealGM. http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1628 http://www.sonicscentral.com/images/110405_derozan_1.jpg He has only attempted around 70 threes combined over his first two seasons, so at least he knows he isn't a good shooter and still chucks up shots, but this is definitely the area of his game that needs the most work and will determine whether he will ever be more than just a solid complimentary player in this league. You can't be a shooting guard in this league without the ability to at least keep the defense honest from downtown, let alone be a complete liability from beyond the arc. He is a known gym rat and made tremendous improvements on his mid range jumper from his rookie to sophomore season so there is definitely hope for him to add a respectable 3 point shot. I'm not saying that he is going to become Ray Allen or anything like that, but I can see him shooting around 30-35% from deep during his prime, assuming he works on his three point shooting. It is pretty remarkable how he has averaged around 20 points for the 2nd half of the season despite the fact that he has no three point shooting ability and a relatively weak handle. He could really become a dangerous scorer if his mid range game continues to develop and he improves these three areas of his game to be at least average. He definitely has some flaws and he will likely never develop into a franchise guy, but I do like what I see in terms of the future for him, assuming that he puts in the work required to improve on his weakness, which I have no doubt that he will.

So during the game against the Bucks tonight, Matt and Jack started talking about trading Bargnani this offseason. Although neither one came out and directly said that he needs to be traded, both of them did make comments about how they at least need to entertain offers for him this offseason. That is a lot coming from a guy like Matt Devlin considering how much of a yes man he is. I actually think that Bargnani has a chance of being moved this summer, which I've never believed before. It seems like everybody related to the Raptors in some capacity have been throwing subtle hints for the entire 2nd half of the season about how Bargnani and the Raptors need to move on and sever ties.

I loved seeing Hollins' arrogrant smirk turn into a forced smile full of fear after Villanueva really went nuts and started running after him/towards the Cavs locker room. Props to Charlie V for putting the Pallace on lockdown, though. Epic.

Kind of fitting as a Raptors fan with their draft history. Watch them get the 1st overall pick next season and miss out on very impressive freshman class with guys like Davis, Gilchrist, Rivers, Beal, Kabongo etc... On a more serious note, this is ridiculous. Even though I disagree with forcing players to go to college for one season, I can at least understand the rational behind that, but forcing them to stay two years is just pushing it. These guys aren't allowed to play in the NBA until they are 20 years old now? Seriously?

This is getting ridiculous. I knew the potential of a lockout would have an impact on the draft, but I didn't think it would have this kind of impact. I thought it would scare away some of the fringe first rounds or, worst case scenario, some of the mid first/late lottery guys. I did not think it would ever make legitimate top 5-7 picks like PJ3, Sullinger and Barnes (supposedly is going to be officially announcing that he will return within the next few days, according to Ford) go back to school. Out of all of the freshman players, I honestly thought that Jones was the biggest lock to enter the draft. I never expected to see him go back to Baylor for his sophomore season. At least the Raptors are likely to end up with a top 5 pick because at the rate things are going, there might not even be 30 prospects in the entire draft.

If Montreal plays their game and doesn't get sucked into playing Boston's style of hockey, they can definitely win the series against the Bruins, especially if Price plays like he is capable of. Montreal gets into trouble against the Bruins when they stop skating and using their speed advantage, and instead try to match them physically, which they simply can't do. We have seen how effective the Habs have been when they just stuck to their game and didn't get drawn into any of the extra shit that Boston tries to suck you into. I haven't see a lot of Boston this season outside of Montreal and Leaf games, but they do seem like they can be vulnerable to teams who have good speed and use it effectively. Guys on the Leafs like Grabovski, Kessel and Kulemin all played well against the Bruins this year and it was because of their ability to blow by the bigger Boston team and create open ice and opportunities for themselves and their teammates. Montreal definitely has players that can do this as well and we have seen them do it in 4 out of the 6 games that they played. Unforunately, in the other 2 games we saw how badly outmatched the Habs are against the Bruins when they get away from that style and Boston is definitely good at sucking you into playing their style of hockey. Either way, should be a fun series to watch.

To be fair, the Raptors were missing 3 starters (Calderon, Bargnani and Johnson) as well as their 6th man in Barbosa. You could even make the argument that they were missing 4 out of five starters if you include Kleiza in that mix, but that is stretching it. Still, it doesn't change the fact that they were missing 4 of their top 6 or 7 players. Kind of sucks that Williams was out, though. I don't see the Raptors winning this game with a healthy Deron (or even a 75% Deron) in the Nets lineup, and this game was absolutely one that they needed to lose. With Washington getting that surprise win over the Hawks the other night, it opened up the window for the Raptors to get sole possession of the 3rd worst record in the league, but that is looking very unlikely now after this victory, especially considering they play the Bucks without Bogut tonight. On the bright side, I believe the Wizards still play the Cavs once more this season, so hopefully the pull out another win so that, at the very least, them and the Raptors will split the ping pong balls.

http://blogs.courant.com/uconn_mens_basketball/2011/04/kemba-walker-to-announce-his-d.html I put this in the draft forum instead of the college forum because it is more likely that he announces he is entering the draft than staying for his senior season. Like I've said before, he would be crazy not to enter the draft as his stock has nowhere to go but down. Even if he has a great season next year, he likely wouldn't be picked in the top 5, maybe even top 10, but this year he may find himself as high as the top 3 depending on who else declares, how the lottery plays out and how pre draft workouts go. Worst case scenario, he is a top 10 pick.

Blah, completely forgot that Kanter pulled out of this a couple of weeks ago. He was pretty much the reason I've been watching this, since Valanciunas isn't playing either (which I already knew). Bismack Biyombo is freakishly athletic, though. I've heard his name is moving up the charts in terms of the draft, and I can see why. He is the type of athletic big man that teams usually will take a chance on with a mid-late 1st rounder, maybe even late lottery depending on the strength of the draft.

Raptors are now all alone in 3rd last after Washington beat the Hawks by 22 tonight. Very nice as this probably at least guarantees the Raptors a share of the third worst record by the end of the season as I can't see them finishing the season 2-1.

Wasn't exactly sure where to put this, but since it features some of the European prospects for the upcoming draft, I figured I would post it here. 1st quarter just ended with the US up 20-12 over the World team. If anybody is interested in watching it, Fibatv.com is streaming it live at this link: http://www.fibatv.com/page/fibaLive/0,,12805~633075,00.html Michael Gilcrhist looks like an absolute beast so far. I don't even think he has too many points or whatever, but he has been amazing so far.

No UNC? With Barnes, Henson and Zeller returning (assuming all three return), a full season of Marshall at the point, a healthy Reggie Bullock (they desperately needed his perimeter shooting) and two highly touted incoming freshman in McAdoo and Hairston. They will have a ridiculous front court and assuming Bullock plays like he can, their backcourt isn't going to be too shabby either. I'd put them ahead of UConn, even if Walker returns, which I don't think will happen. I know it is way too early to say, but my top 3 would probably be: 1. Kentucky 2. UNC 3. Duke If Knight declares for the draft, I'd probably put UNC at 1 and move Kentucky down to 2 or 3.