Built Ford Tough

http://www.flagrantfouls.com/2011/02/3-canadians-selected-to-play-in-2011-mcdonalds-all-american-game/ It is pretty awesome how prior to Corey Joseph and Tristian Thompson making the team last year there had only been 3 Canadians to ever be named a McDonalds All-American and now in the past 2 years there have been a total of 5 players make the roster (although Witljer isn't technically a Canadian, just has citizenship).

Didn't see the game, but looks like it was pretty much a repeat of the last meeting between these two teams. Raptors play them tough for the first 3 quarters and then the Spurs turn it up in the 4th and prove to be too much for the Raptors and wind up winning by 10 (or whatever it was). After looking at the box score, it was almost exactly the same. Blair puts up 24 points and the Spurs have a real balanced attack while the Raptors get 25 or something from DeRozan and Bargnani. Pretty weird how similar this meeting was to the first, at least from a box score perspective.

I agree with that, I just don't really like the move of putting out the tough guys at the end of the game when you see that the Habs have guys like Plekanec, Pac, etc... out there. If the Habs throw out guys like Moen, Wisniewski or some of the other "tougher" players on the ice I wouldn't have a problem with it (I think Moen might've been on the ice now that I think about it), but with guys like Pleks, Spacek, Hamerlik and Pyatt, I don't really see the need to throw out your tough guys. As for Krejci "having to fight", he was the one who went after Pouliot in the first place. He was the one who went and grabbed him and dragged him away from the scrum. Both shoved each other and were both willing to drop the gloves. Its not like Pouliot is a tough guy either. He had, what, 1 fight in his career before this one? They squared off and went at it and its not like Pouliot tried to jump him from behind like McQuiad did to Pac.

Well what do you expect would happen when Boston has guys like Thorntonand McQuaid going after guys like Plekanec, Hamerlik, Spacek, Pyatt and Pacioretty? Not that I didn't absolutely love watching that, nor do the Habs really have any tough guys, but I wouldn't really brag about having the Bruins 4th line plugs beating up on Hab skill players. Ference throwing all of those punches to Moen when he was on the ground was absolute bush league, though. That is the only thing that I really had a problem with. I could understand him doing that if somebody like Pouliot continued to throw at Krejci after KOing him or whatever, but that was just classless. Most entertaining game I've seen in a long, long time, though. Hopefully the next meeting between these two is even half as good. EDIT: Looks like we pretty much agree with each other after seeing your last post. That was really the only thing that I had a problem with and you seem to share the same opinion.

Reggie Evans for a 1st at the deadline. Problem solved.

Nobody can score period. Bargnani is a huge chucker who needs to take 20+ shots and 5+ free throws to get his 21-24 points a night and DeRozan still disappears for large portions. Other than that very impressive January stretch, he hasn't really shown the ability to score consistently at this level. To put it simply, nobody on the team can score. Nobody on the team can do much of anything, really.

I hope you don't mean nobody is going to offer him more than the $7.5M that the Celtics were offering in this contract. If so, I find that highly unlikely. A team like OKC, New York (depending on much they have after signing Melo) and even a team like Toronto would definitely throw him a contract of $8M+ if he is to hit the open market. Obviously the new CBA will be the biggest factor in how much money he gets, but assuming there aren't any drastic changes, he can easily get more than what the Celtics are offering him here.

What a terrible game. Raptors went from 3rd worst in the league to 5th worst because of this win.

So after Silva beat Belfort last night, Dana White said at the post fight press conference that if GSP gets by Shields in April (which is basically a 99% guarantee), he will set up the fight that everybody has been longing for. He didn't specify a date or anything, although he did say that if they have a card in the new Texas Stadium, then that would be the main event. I personally am not as stoked as others to see this fight (don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to it) because I think it is going to be a mismatch. Talent wise the two are equal in their own respective ways, but Silva is just too big for GSP if you ask me. Silva is a legit 220 pound guy who can get up to 230 pounds between fights. He is also a legit 6'2. Compare that to GSP who weighs about 190 pounds and is a generous 5'11. Regardless of all of that, I'm still looking forward to this, should it happen.

Colangelo has been out scouting quite a bit lately. He went to a Baylor/Kansas game to scout Perry Jones and Josh Selby, he went to see Jimmer Fredette when he put up 43 points and now him and a few other Raptors employees were scouting Kemba Walker: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/155322267 I would've been fine with Kemba earlier in the season when it looked like the Raptors would be picking in the 8-10 range, but with them looking like a lock for a top 5 pick, I would hate if they drafted Walker, at least with their own pick. Not that I am saying that they will be drafting him due to one scouting trip or anything like that.

Bummer. Looks like the Raptors will be without their tank commander for the rest of the year. Luckily, Andrea Bargnani has filled in admirably in Kleiza's absence.

And how do you know this exactly? Bosh isn't the type to just randomly start talking smack to a player. If what was reported is true and Durant did tell Harden to "dunk on him next time" what is wrong with Bosh saying something in return to Durant? He may not have said anything to Bosh, but it was about Bosh all the same.

So now you can't do the "Big Balls" celebration? This league is getting worse by the day.

It was against the Raptors. That is the equivalent of scoring 10 points and grabbing 5 rebounds against an actual NBA caliber team. I'm starting to get fed up with Triano, though. I have defended him plenty of times before, but there is absolutely no [expletive]ing reason why Ed Davis should only play 24 minutes when he is putting up 13/7/3 and play Andrea Bargnani 33 minutes when he is shooting 3-15. When Bargnani's shot isn't falling and Davis is playing this well (at least by the numbers) Bargnani should not be playing 30 minutes a game. Simple as that.

You can't just blame Bargnani. Sure, he is the biggest problem, but some blame needs to be placed on Johnson for allowing Hibbert to get position so easily (I know he is giving up size, but he can fight harder than he is) as well as the Raptors wing players for allowing penetration as easily as they do. As poor as Bargnani is defensively, you can't blame him for everything right now because the rest of the team are making things way too easy for the Pacers.

Raptors interior defense is such a joke. Johnson is a solid defender, but teams aren't afraid to attack him and he is pretty small at the 4 spot and Bargnani, well, it is Bargnani. Hibbert is going to drop 40 if the Raptors continue to let him get this kind of position down low and provide no resistance inside.

Don't really see the big deal here. From my understanding, Bosh fouled Harden, Durant helped him up and told him "Next time, dunk on him" or something like that and then Bosh said something back to Durant. So Bosh is a fake tough for for responding to Durant telling a teammate to dunk on him? Right.... I like Durant and all, but come on, when has Bosh ever acted like a tough guy in his career? He shies away from confrontation, is almost always the one mediating conflicts whenever a group of players get into it on the court and very rarely ever talks crap after the game (or even during, for that matter). Durant just seems sour that his team lost the game because they couldn't grab a defensive rebound to save their life and Bosh just so happened to be the one who got the game winning tip in (I think, at least).

He doesn't really need to. The minute that the Raptors started shipping out veterans like Jarrett Jack for younger players like Jerryd Bayless (as well as buying somebody like Peja out), it was clear that he wasn't going anywhere and would have his contract renewed. If his job was in any sort of danger, he wouldn't have done this tear apart and rebuild. He would've been actively pursuing deals with the TPE where he would acquire an overpriced veteran who would potentially get this team into the playoffs. He wouldn't have been acquiring players like Bayless, Alexi Ajinca and guys like that. He may not have discussed his future with the team, but he is 100% confident that he has one with them or else he wouldn't be so patient with this team. We all know that he has the ability to throw together a quick fix and get a team into, or near, the playoffs. He has been doing that his entire time with the Raptors.

It isn't the fact that they are losing that bothers me, I just seem to have no interest in the team right now. Like I said, I watched every single game (might've missed a couple, but you get the point) in 02/03 when the Raptors won 24 games and that team was arguably worse than this current roster. Carter was hurt and played half the season only and you had guys like Jelani McCoy playing 20 minutes. The team sucked, the future looked incredibly bleak (and I didn't even know at the time that the 03 draft was supposed to be that good, so I didn't look forward to that either) and yet I was still excited to watch every game. Also, I don't think that the Raptors are tanking. They genuinely suck. I think you can legitimately say that the Raptors have the worst team in the NBA and these losses are, for the most part, legitimate. I agree with your point about the Nets last season as well. They were clearly tanking if you ask me.

Not really. It isn't terrible like it could've been if Colangelo wasn't able to move Turkoglu and create financial flexibility, but I definitely wouldn't call it bright. Best case scenario they have an average 2nd option, good 3rd option shooting guard in DeRozan and a good defensive power forward to look forward to. I like DeRozan and Davis, but I don't see either one of them ever becoming stars or more than good role players. I hope I am wrong, though. What else do the Raptors have to look forward to? Bargnani is what he is at this point, and that is an offensive specialist 6th man. Bayless is going to be a Jason Terry type player unless he develops point guard skills, which is anything but a sure thing. They have cap space this summer, and there are some nice free agents at the Raptors two weakest spots (center and small forward), but it is anything but a sure thing that they will land a difference making free agent. Colangelo has done a nice job so far in creating space and buying low on decent prospects, but basically every move he has made in the free agent market has been less than impressive. Best case scenario for the Raptors is that they are in the playoffs in 3 years, but unless they get really lucky in the draft and land a generational talent like LeBron James, it is looking more like 5 years before the Raptors are talking about playoffs again.

I was just wondering if it was me or if other Raptor fans feel the same way, but I honestly can't even bring myself to watch a full game anymore. Tonight's game against the Wolves was the first time that I wasn't at work or class during a Raptor game for about a month and yet I watched the first half of the game and completely lost interest after that (didn't watch the 4th until the last few minutes). I watched the Hawks/Mavs game instead. I don't know what it is because I can handle being a fan of a crappy team (as evident from my 10+ years as a Raptor fan), but there is something about this team that makes me not care at all. I could probably go the rest of the season without watching a Raptor game and I wouldn't even care. Anybody elsee feel like this or is it just me?

Dear Jay Triano, I am averaging nearly 20 ppg in the month of Janurary on nearly 48% shooting. I am the 2nd best offensive player on the team and have only taken 1 shot tonight. RUN SOME [expletive]ING PLAYS FOR ME!!!!!! signed, DeMar DeRozan

So Jerryd Bayless just airballed a fast break finger roll with nobody around him. To be fair, I think he went up to dunk it and lost control, which made him decide to finger roll, but still, that pretty much sums up the Raptors play so far in the month of Janurary.

I don't know if DeRozan will surpass Bargnani by the end of the season because he is pretty much the same as Bargnani right now, which is a scorer and nothing else. DeRozan sucks defensively, doesn't rebound nearly as well as he should and isn't a playmaker at all. He has played really well this past month, but I am curious to see how he performs when there is more of a book on him. When teams start keying in on him defensively, send a double his way, force him to be a facilitator and things like that (which Bargnani has had to adjust to this season as well), it will be interesting to see if he can maintain this kind of play. As for Bargnani, I still think that he has a place on this team, but it is becoming more and more clear with each passing game that his ultimate role should be that of a 6th man scorer. He can be really effective off of the bench for 25-30 minutes a game split between the 4 and the 5 as long as he isn't forced to do anything other than score the ball.

Really looking forward to the marquee matchup of Michael Beasley vs. the TPE.