Built Ford Tough

House is basically a scrub. People call Jason Kapono a scrub all of the time, and really, what is the difference between him and House? Outside of shooting, neither of them can do anything. House is a complete liability on the defensive end of the floor, can't pass, can't dribble and is a questionable decision maker. He is a ridiculously streaky shooter as well, so I don't even know if he is on the same level as a Jason Kapono because at least Kapono consistently knocks down his open looks as he has a career 3PT% of 44% compared to House's 39. House is basically Damon Jones with a quicker release. I'd say that counts as a scrub. Big Z isn't a scrub, but he is hardly a worthwhile player at this point in his career. All he can do is knock down open jumpers grab rebounds and block the occasional shot. He is too slow to do anything when it comes to help defense, is a liability when forced to move more than 5 feet away from the basket and, if it wasn't for his length, would be a complete liability on defense in general. He is a solid 5th big man at this point in his career, but hardly a key cog on a championship team. Haslem and Miller are both great role players, but considering they are both out of the lineup, and will continue to be out of the lineup for another couple of months at least, they are pretty irrelevant right now. As for the Lakers bench, are you serious with that comparison? Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, Shannon Brown and Lamar Odom (when Bynum returns) is undoubtedly superior to James Jones, Eddie House, Joel Anthony, Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller. I'm not saying that the Heat is a completely awful team outside of the big three, Haslem and Miller, but their depth was grossly overstated during the summer due to the overrating of guys like Eddie House, Joel Anthony etc...

I was watching this game, but turned it off when the Bucks went up by 12 with around 3 or 4 minutes left and turn it back on to find it a 2 point game with 7 seconds left. Luckily for Milwuakee, Kwame Brown missed one of two free throws and Jennings knocked down both of his to make it a three point game. Augustine missed a 3 at the buzzer, but it wouldn't have counted anyways as he didn't get it off in time. I question the decision by the Bucks to not foul at the end, though. The Bobcats didn't have any timeouts so it made sense to turn this into a free throw shooting game. They were pretty lucky that Augustine didn't knock the shot down (or get it off in time) as he had a very good look at it. Questionable decision down the stretch, but it worked out in the end.

Tyson Chanlder looke absolutely great tonight. This is the first time I've watched a Mavs game this season, so I can't comment on his play this year, but this was by far the best game that I've seen him play in at least 2 years. He was a huge factor defensively, on the glass and his length was a factor on the offensive end of the floor as well. He was the best player on the floor tonight for the Mavs as far as I'm concerned. Huge impact on the game. Kidd had a nice game as well. Controlled the flow really well and made some very nice passes to get guys like Butler quality looks. His floor game was awesome tonight, especially in the 4th when Miami was making their run.

Pretty unlucky break for the Wizards to end the game. Force Nelson into a tough shot, but because of a switch, they have Hinrich on Howard. Obviously there is no way that Hinrich is going to be able to keep Howard from getting the offensive board and put back. Credit Howard for not bringing the ball down and immediately going up with it so that he wouldn't be fouled, although I don't think Hinrich would be able to have wrapped him up enough to prevent him from getting a shot off. Arenas had a great look on the final possession, but just missed it. I think he would've been better off shooting a pull up jumper than that running floater, but you can't fault him for that as it was a great look and he just missed it. Tough loss for Washington.

It really is amazing what happens when you actually drive into the paint. The Heat are shooting 8/11 in the quarter and have cut the Mavs lead from 19 to 6 and it is all because they stopped chucking jumpers and started to try and get into the paint. I don't understand why the feel the need to chuck jumpers all of the time. They have looked better with Chalmers on the floor instead of Arroyo. I don't understand why he doesn't get minutes over Arroyo as he is clearly a better fit wwith the big three than Carlos is. I know he was injured early in the year, but he should still be getting more minutes now that he is healthy, and has been for a while. Lol at the Heat color guy basically calling the Mav fans hypocrites for booing LeBron for hitting Butler in the face and not for booing Terry for his earlier foul on Chalmers. What did he expect?

You're a terrible Raptor fan. You want the Raptors to win every game, thus screwing up their chances at a great draft pick and you want the Heat to miss the playoffs, thus making it so that the Raptors don't even get their pick? -_-

I don't understand what the Heat are thinking to start the 2nd half. They have been launching jumper after jumper. It is one thing if you are on fire or a shooter like a Ray Allen or Kyle Korver, but it is pitiful seeing this offense constantly chucking up jumpers. There is no reason at all for this team to go something like 10 possessions in a row without even attempting a shot in the paint. Simply awful offensive execution to start the half, and their lack of success offensively has carried over to the defensive end as they aren't getting back in transition, which Kidd has done a great job of exploiting. And even though he made the jumper, Bosh takes yet another jumper after the timeout. At least this one was in the flor of the offense, but still, attack the damn hoop. You have two of the best slashers in the league along with one of the best slashing big men.

It is way too early to say whether it was a mistake to sign him. Even if it wasn't the best idea to bring him in, he is hardly on a horrible contract (a front loaded 4 yr/$18M deal for a guy like Kleiza is fair value) so I wouldn't worry too much about that. The problem with Kleiza is the one that plauges most of the Raptor players. Because of the clear lack of talent and shot creators on this roster, he is forced to manufacture his own offense, which he isn't capable of doing. He is a spot up shooter who can post up on occasion. Those are what he does well, but when he is forced to put the ball on the floor for more than two or three dribbles, he gets into trouble. He simply doesn't have the quickness or creativity to create his own offense at this level, which isn't a knock against him. I think that when (if) the Raptors become a playoff team and a threat in the East, he will show his true value as a tough, physical 3/4 hybrid off of the bench. I like his game, but he simply is being asked to do too much this year and is playing outside of his skill set. One thing that I do especially hate about his game is that he is an absolute black hole. He simply does not pass the ball and kills the ball movement. I can live with the reckless drives, post ups and things like that because he is just trying to create offense, and as one of the better offensive players on the team he should be doing that, but he really needs to pass the ball more.

I honestly don't even think the Raptors really need to showcase Peja. He has been in the league for 10+ years and everybody knows what he is capable of doing. The rest of the league knows that he is still a knock down shooter and a valuable asset as a floor spacer. Showcasing him isn't going to make them think any more highly of him. I understand the thought process, but I'm under the assumption that the rest of the league is still completely aware of what Peja can do and him playing 20-30 minutes a night won't hurt or help his value. I could be wrong, though. It depends on where teams like Houston, Utah and other tax teams are at when the deadline rolls around. If they are out of the playoff hunt and don't want to pay the tax, I could see them making a trade to get them blow the tax. Take Utah for example. They would trade Kirilenko for Stojakovic, which gets them under the tax and, because of their desperatin to get under the tax, they will send a first or something like that to Toronto (protections will obviously be on it). Those are really the situations that I see unfolding. I don't really see any other possible scenarios because, like you said, his contract is too big.

Tonight's numbers: 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks on 3/7 shooting in 15:13 I'm curious as to why he only played 15 minutes tonight. He didn't seem to be in foul trouble at all (only had 2), so that wasn't the issue. The 3 blocks in 15 minutes is pretty nice to see, though. Also, Ed Davis made his debut tonight and his numbers were: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks on 3/7 shooting and 4/4 from the line in 18:18 Davis seemed to have a huge impact on the game, though. He had a plus/minus of +21 which was far and away the highest on the team. For not playing competitive basketball since last Feburary, I'm pretty impressed by his numbers. Hopefully he can have a better game tomorrow and we will see him up with the Raptors next week.

Good news and bad news. Good news is that Ed Davis is set to return within the next week or so and this opens up a lot of minutes for him. Bad news is that if Evans continued to play like he has been so far this season, he could net a decent return at the deadline. This may hurt his value a bit. PS: I knew I shouldn't have come on here yet. I worked tonight and was going to watch a replay of the game in a minute or so and even though I was basically sure that the Raptors were going to lose, I at least didn't want to know the outcome before hand.

At least Rondo is back, so I think it is safe to say that Toronto won't extend their winning streak to 5 games. Anybody watching the game on TSN right now? How baked does Jack Armstrong look?

The Raptors could be in 15th place in the East or 7th place in the East in February and I would hate to see them flip Stojakovic's deal for an overpriced veteran. Even if they do manage to get into the playoffs, is somebody like Andre Iguodala really worth destroying all of the cap flexibility that you have created over the past year? I sure as hell don't think so as it is pretty clear that he wouldn't be enough to get the Raptors a series win and I am a huge fan of Iguodala's game. Regardless of where the Raptors are in the standings, they need to stand firm with their rebuilding plan. Colangelo has been going for quick fixes ever since he got to Toronto (O'Neal, Marion, Turkoglu, Parker, Garbajosa etc...) and it has clearly not worked out for him. All it has done is created a fringe playoff team who has consistently been capped out and consistently been picking at the bottom of the lottery/mid first round (if he hadn't already traded their pick). Having this team become another Atlanta or Houston, teams who are good enough to never get a good pick, but never good enough to contend for a title, doesn't do anybody any good.

They already have Amir Johnson, Ed Davis, Reggie Evans and Joey Dorsey at the 4. You can also add in Andrea Bargnani as they have made it well known that they want to acquire a legit center so that he can move the 4. Why would they want another power forward, especially one that doesn't really have a high ceiling like McRoberts? I'd be shocked if the Raptors traded for somebody like McRoberts or Hansbrough unless they were the secondary asset in a return and the Raptors were getting a pick or something out of it, which nobody is going to give up for Peja, unless some team is absolutely desperate to get out of a long term deal. Honestly, the only position I can see them making a trade for is a center or maybe a point guard, depending on how Bayless looks from now until the deadline (or if Calderon is moved). It doesn't make sense to trade Stojakovic for a 2, 3 or 4 because they are already loaded at those positions as it is. They would probably just be better off letting his contract expire (or buying him out) and just using the extra cap space.

None at all. They already have DeRozan, Weems, Kleiza, Barbosa, Wright and even Bayless who can play either the 2 or the 3 spot. All of these guys are going to be in Toronto for at least another year as well, other than Julian Wright (I'd imagine Weems will re-sign with the team). The Raptors would have no use for him. Really, I don't see anything on the Pacers that the Raptors would like outside of players who are clearly not leaving form somebody like Stojakovic (Granger, Hibbert and Collison).

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-101126-28/latest-trade-chatter No big surprise here as you could tell from interviews after the trade that Peja wasn't in the Raptors plans. Whether it was Colangelo, Triano or Stojakovic talking, you could tell that he isn't in Toronto for the long haul. Hopefully they can get some kind of decent young asset in return for him. I'd hate to see them flip his expiring for an overpriced veteran.

He is allowing himself to disappear in games, though. I do agree that he isn't really put into the best positions, doesn't get plays ran for him and things like that, but even when he does have the ball he doesn't look to drive. He takes a couple of dribbles and then swings the ball. He has been completely content with just blending in as of late. I would definitely like to see more plays ran for him, though. I agree with you there.

Not saying that it is silly, but there is absolutely now way in hell that he has outperformed Walker this season, or really even been close for that matter. It isn't just the stats that Walker is putting up, but he has led UConn to an upset win over two top 10 teams already while UConn is unranked. I guess that might not have played a factor in Ford's decision as I believe he wrote that comment before the Michigan State game, but still, Walker has been playing at a ridiculously high level all seasong long. Besides, it's not like Walker hasn't seen a ridiculous increase in his numbers either. He is averaging 15.4 more ppg, 0.9 less turnovers per game, shooting 12.7% better from the field, 11.9% better from the stripe and 6.7% better from three. All his other numbers are nearly the same as well except for his assists which are down 1.5 a game, but that is understandable considering he has doubled his ppg average from last year. He is also doing this in less minutes per game, although not nearly to the same extent as Singleton (1.3 less for Walker).

I want to win games and get a top pick. Yes, I'm greedy. ^_^ But seriously, I've said time and time again on here what I want from this team this season. A bunch of hard fought, close games that they wind up losing. The beginning of the season was the ideal situation for me. The Raptors would fight hard all game long, hang around but eventually lose in the final minutes. It is basically like this: Check my Stats/myself: Tank! Tank! Tank! Swish/headliner: Win every game BasX/Doc: Not sure what the hell they want, haha. I do admit, though, I get a little excited after they win, but then about 30 minutes after the game I think to myself, "[expletive], they just won. God dammit! ".

Anybody else notice Calderon's stat line tonight? He put up vintage Jose Calderon numbers tonight and looked remarkably like the Jose who stole Ford's starting spot and earned that contract extension (well, maybe not all of it, but played well enough that it wasn't considered an albatross contract at the time). He had 16 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists on 7-10 shooting (2-3 from three) and only turned the ball over one time. He has played really well as of late, and it is definitely encouraging to see. If he can play well enough with his new starting role to get some team desperate for a point guard to bite on him, I'll be completely stoked. As much as I like his heart and the fact that he genuinely wants to be in Toronto, his contract is just awful on this team.

Yeah, they would be in the lottery, but they would not be "just as expected". You can't honestly tell me that the Raptors were expected to be picking around 12th and would have the third best record out of all lottery teams. They were projected as locks for a top 5 pick with a great chance at a top 3 pick, not to pick at the end of the lottery. Well, considering they were predicted to win around 18-20 games and have already amassed a third of that total, I think that is pretty suprising, especially considering their schedule has been fairly difficult. Not that I'm saying they are a bigger surprise than the Heat because I don't think they are, but I definitely think it is a huge surprise that the Raptors have 6 wins already (could easily have 7 or 8 if they didn't blow games against Sacramento and Charlotte) considering there was talk about how this is the least talented team ever assembled, will be historically bad defensively and all the other crap that was said. Also, like Brandon said, they have dealt with injuries to start the year off as well. Barbosa, probably their second best player, has missed 5 games and is playing with an injured wrist, Kleiza missed two or three and Davis has yet to play at all this season (but I don't think he is going to contribute all that much anyways). They are definitely one of the biggest surprises of the season so far. I don't see how that is disputable.

I know it is early, but I don't think anybody expected either of these two things happening after the first 15 games of the year. Worst case scenario for the Heat was basically expected to be around 10-5 while the Raptors were predicted to be the worst team in the East, maybe even the entire league, this season. I'm sure that both of these scenarios will change eventually and the Heat will move up the conference while the Raptors stumble down, but after 15 games, which is the bigger surprise to you?

Didn't see the first half, but looks like he has been dominant tonight as well. 21 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals on 57% shooting with only one turnover while holding Brandon Knight to 2 points, 2 assists on 2-11 shooting and 3 turnovers. Guy is really having some start to his season.

This games are so bittersweet. I love seeing guys like Bargnani flourishing, a strong debut from Bayless, Evans hauling down 22 boards and the team playing very well defensively, but I know that a top draft pick would go such a long way towards this team becoming a contender. I know that I should just sit back and enjoy the fact that my favourite team is on a 4 game winning streak, are only 2 games under .500 and a half game out of a playoff spot, but I want Kyrie Irving on this team so bad.

Bargnani doing his usual second half disappearing act. Can he ever put together a full 48 minutes of basketball? It is actually kind of scary to think of the kind of offensive numbers he could put up if he ever put together a full 48 minutes considering he almost always has 16+ points after the first half.