Built Ford Tough

Bargnani is useless in the 2nd half of games. He always seems to play very well in the 1st half, at least offensively, but once the first 24 minutes are over, he turns into a complete scrub who can't hit anything. Very nice pass from DeRozan. He almost got himself into trouble by over dribbling and leaving his feet, but he found Johnson under the hoop for an easy layup. Sonny and Amir have been great tonight. This is probably the best game I've seen from Weems all season, including the career high point game against Utah and Amir seems to be all over the place on both offense and defense. He can be such an effective player when he isn't in foul trouble. EDIT: Very nice dunk from DeRozan in transition. I thought for sure he was going to commit an offensive foul but he did a nice job of avoiding Augustin and going up strong knowing that Wallace was going to come from behind for the block.

That was a nasty dunk by Weems over Diaw (at least I think it was Diaw) on the break. I really like Julian Wright, at least from what I've seen from im so far. He is a very good defender who makes great rotations and has the athleticism to matchup with most small forwards in the league. He did a nice job forcing a turnover on Wallace. Offensively he isn't anything special but he has done a great job with his decision making so far. When the defense gives him an open jumper, he takes it, when they close out on him out of control he exploits it, he knows when to leak out and when to stay and crash the glass and he has made some very nice passes so far. He could easily have 3 or 4 assists to go along with his 4 points if Bargnani knocked down a couple of jumpers and Evans converted that one layup. He definitely isn't a skilled player and will never be more than an energy defensive specialist off of the bench, but I like him so far. Bargs has done a nice job of exploiting Diaw on offense. Diaw can't guard him and Bargnani has taken advantage of him with a lot of post play. He still shys away from contact and always takes fadeaway jumpers when he does post a player up, which is kidn of annoying considering his size advantage, but at least he is mixing up his game. One thing I don't like so far is the score, though. I want to see Alabi!

I don't mean to double post like this, but I forgot to mention this in my last post. I think that this will be the first game all season long that I hope the Raptors get blown out (or they could blow Charlotte out, but I'd prefer the former as it helps the Raptors draft standing) and it is a 20+ game with 5 minutes left. The reason why is that this is the first game that Solomon Alabi has dressed and is in the linup. I know that he is very raw, isn't ready to contribute anything now and is a huge project, but I would still like to see him see some time tonight. It can't be much worse than seeing David Andersen chuck up jumper after jumper.

It sounds like Kleiza will play tonight. I guess he hurt his achillies in the Golden State game and was supposed to be a game time decision tonight. This game will come down to one thing. Which will be worse, the Raptors defense or the Bobcats offense? Whichever is worse will probably be the deciding factor in this game. Hopefully DeRozan bounces back tonight. He has been very disapointing the past few games and has been a complete non factor. With Davis out of the lineup for another month or so, this team is really hard to watch when DeRozan is struggling as they are really the only two that I genuinely look forward to watching. It is nice to see guys like Weems, Johnson, Jack and Calderon play well, but at the end of the day it is those two that matter most.

Fixed. Lets be real here, nobody cares about the Bulls. It is all about Toronto Tank Nation!

From Holly MacKenzie's Twitter account: With this new shoulder injury and his ongoing problems with his wrist, do you think it is time for Barbosa to undergo the wrist surgery that has been getting put off? The Raptors are clearly not going anywhere with or without Barbosa in the lineup so now seems like the right time for him to go under the knife. No point in playing with a wrist that needs surgery on a team destined to finish in the bottom 5 of the league. Get the surgery now and come back healthy in a few months. Plus, this would give more minutes to DeRozan and Weems, while also potentially opening up a spot for Julian Wright in the rotation. It just makes perfect sense for both sides if you ask me.

Probably Johnson because Davis isn't ready to contribute much. I think he will get around 15 minutes a night just to get his feet wet, sort of like DeRozan last season. Johnson is a solid backup who has proven to be effective when he is able to stay on the court and out of foul trouble. As the season goes on and the Raptors fall further and further out of the playoff picture I could see Davis getting an increase in minutes but those may come at the expense of Reggie Evans or David Andersen. He could also see a bump if they do end up trading away Evans towards the deadline. Here is an update from Doug Smith. says at least another 2-3 weeks: http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/2010/11/working-hard-and-keep-the-streak-alive-no-not-that-one.html

That is what makes Phil Jackson the coach that he is. He can get the most out of any player no matter what their playing style is, how big of an ego they have or how much of a nut job they are. His best attribute as a coach is getting the most out of his players. He is behind a guy like Jerry Sloan when it comes to X's and O's but he is arguably the bes coach in NBA history because nobody is able to get more out of his players than Jackson.

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/70007/20101109/bosh_i_get_a_little_lost_out_there/#ixzz14pdkSJRi I was wondering how long before something like this would come up. I'm not saying it is a bad thing for Bosh to say this, because it certainly isn't, but it was only a matter of time before he spoke up about trying to get more involved. Can't say I blame him either because the Heat certainly aren't getting the most out of his talents. He has been solid defensively, but other than that he has definitely gotten off to a shaky start. Maybe if he feels more involved in the offense he will put more effort into rebounding because he has certainly disapointed in that area. It is only a matter of time before things get figured out between the three of them, but I wonder if Bosh will every truly be happy with his role on the team because he is always going to be an afterthought and I don't know if that sits well with him, regardless of what he says to the media. He is making me look like a fool for saying in the summer that it is debatable as to who is the better rebounder between him and Gasol.

I like it. The NHL All-Star game as been really boring over the past few years and I honestly can't remember the last time that I sat down and watched one from start to finish. Hockey just isn't as fun to watch if players aren't going full tilt, not that many sports are but especially hockey. This could definitely put some life into the game.

Look at the bright side, you literally don't have to listen to Leo Rautins at all. The only reason why I don't watch the games on Sportsnet/Sportsnet One on mute is because you never know when Devlin will make one of his classic screw ups. I don't want to miss another "Punjabi" moment so I suffer through Leo's commentary.

How come Steph Curry always lights the Raptors up? Last year in the two games he flirted with a triple double both times, tonight he drops 34/5/5 on 50%+ shooting. I like the guy and all, but can't he just go easy on Toronto once? He basically grew up in the ACC, so the least he could do is not set the nets on fire every time he plays the Raptors. Missed the 2nd half, which kind of sucks as it seemed like the much better half of the game (I almost fell asleep during the first half it was so boring). Kleiza and Jack look like they had solid games, at least statistically. I'm kind of disapointed that DeRozan only had 8 shot attempts. Was that due to him being a bit gun shy after his worst game of the season on Saturday or did he just not get anything ran for him and sort of just blended in like he tends to do at times? Also kind of disapointed that Wright didn't get any burn. I thought he earned at least some time based on his last two games, particularly the Portland one as I thought he was the best Raptor on the floor, but it seems like Triano thought otherwise. Oh well, this is basically the kind of games that I want to see from Toronto this season. I don't cheer for them to lose when they are playing, but I definitely don't get upset when they do lose close games because I know that in the long run it will be worth it. These are the kinds of games that I love to see from the Raptors. A close, hard fought game that they just can't pull out.

The streak is still alive, I don't care what happens anymore... Also, at Reggie Evans trying to do a crossover in the lane. That was awesome.

That doesn't free up a roster spot. When you send a player to the D-League he still takes up a roster spot on your NBA team. As for Dampier, honestly, I'd like to see no team sign him. He sounds like a complete drama queen right now. He played this waiting game for so long to avoid the preseason or training camp, doesn't want to settle for a minimum contract and wants to go to a team where he is guaranteed minutes, if not being the starter. He isn't nearly good enough to play all of these games that he has been playing. I hope nobody signs him this season.

Toronto can lose by 50 points tonight, Curry can drop a 30/10/10 game like he usualy does, Ellis can drop 50, Lee can grab 25 rebounds and DeRozan can go 0-15 from the floor with 10 turnovers and I'd still be happy. Wanna know why? Kyrie Irving's stats in Duke's first two exhibition games: Game 1: 17 points, 7 assists, 1 turnover on 6/9 shooting Game 2: 13 points, 5 assists and 0 turnovers According to everything I've read, he has been even better than his stats indicate. As for this game, I'll be able to watch the first half or so before going to work. I won't be able to catch a replay as they are airing it at 7, which is kind of stupid considering the live game will finish basically half an hour prior to the replay.

Not the exact words, but it is basically the jist of what this is about. http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/article/887242--feschuk-bucket-happy-raptor-shooting-himself-in-the-foot Weems to Triano: "What the [expletive] you gonna do, coach?"

He will be coming out unless he has an absolutely awful year at UNC, which frankly isn't going to happen. I don't care how much you value education, you don't pass up the guarantee of being picked first overall. You can always go and finish your degree during the summer like Carter did, Durant is doing etc... He'll be entering the draft. As for him as a prospect, he doesn't have the ceiling of a guy like Wall or Griffin, but I think he is basically a guaranteed All-Star player in the NBA. He is just so fluid and oozes talent. He doesn't have world class athleticism but he definitely has elite skills. I haven't seen a lot of him so I can't really give much of a breakdown, but from what I have seen of him, you can tell that he is going to be a great player. I don't know if Joseph or Thompson will enter the draft this year, though. I can maybe see Joseph if he has a great year, but I'd be shocked if Thompson left early. I'm not going to lie, though. I'd be estatic if the Raptors got the 1st pick, drafted Barnes and then managed to get Joseph with a later pick too. That would be awesome.

I'd be fine with Irving, too. I'd also be fine with Perry Jones. As long as the Raptors finish dead last in the league and are guaranteed a top 4 pick and one of Barnes/Irving/Jones/Knight I'll be happy, although obviously I want the 1st pick so that they can get Barnes as he is the best prospect in this years draft. To add to that, in college he lived off of mid range jumpers. That was basically how he scored all of his points during his lone season at USC but so far in his NBA career he has been completely off with his jumper, with the exception of a couple of games. Julian Wright has been impressive tonight, though. I like what he has done over the past two games.

JACK!!! I LOVE YOU!!! Even though you've been absolutely brutal this season, that one shot made up for it completely.

The Blazers are just toying with the Raptors now. That was a sick move by Miller. They should just start launching threes for the rest of the game to try and keep their streak alive. They put in Andersen, so that is a good start. We all know there isn't a shot he doesn't like.

I'm getting worried now. I think that the three point streak might come to an end tonight as nobody has their shot going from deep. They are something like 0-15 so far. DeRozan has absolutely no confidence in his jump shot right now. You can tell that the last thing he wants to do is to take those open jumpers. The next step in his development will be to get that jumper down beacuse he is going to have no driving lanes if he can't consistently knock down an open 15 foot jumper. You can already see teams keying in on his spin move in the paint as well, which is his go to move. Definite growing pains for him tonight. The assists are nice, but what I like the most is that he is being so much more aggressive on offense and isn't just living off of his jumper. He has had more layups in the last two games than he did in the entire preseason. That has opened up his jumper which he has been sticking with nice consistency so far this road trip.

So, umm, how the hell is this an 8 point game?

Yeah, after they showed a replay it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. It just looked bad because he sort of grabbed onto him which resulted in a hard landing and the foul was near the head area. After seeing the replay, I wouldn't call it a flagrant, though. I like how Wright plays defensively as he is very sharp on his rotations, but man, he is dumb on offense. I don't understand what he was thinking on that last two on one. He made a great read that resulted in a steal, but then completely forces a layup, which he airballed, when he had a wide open Barbosa with him. Poor decision by him there. The only thing I care about now is that the Raptors make a three. Keep that streak alive please. I don't like the guy all that much, but Bargnani is clearly the best player on this team. Kleiza and Barbosa have both sucked something fierce this season for the most part. They were very good in the preseason but have been awful when the games have counted.

So this is the Raptors that I was expecting to see this season. This is some awful ball. On the bright side, at least we got to watch 5 pretty entertaining basketball games before the Raptors came back down to earth. It's not like they aren't trying or anything either because the effort has definitely been there, they just don't have any talent at all. And, umm, no flagrant foul there? Camby nearly took Wright's head off. I know he went up with the intention to get the ball, but he nearly [expletive]ing killed Wright there. EDIT: Nevermind, they called one. Also, after looking at the replay it wasn't as bad as it originally seemed.

Pretty bad game for Toronto, but luckily for them, the Blazers have been pretty awful as well, at least everybody outside of Roy. The only players who seem to be doing anything for Toronto are Bargnani, Calderon and Johnson (at least for that stretch in the 1st). The Blazers turned it on towards the end of the half there and it was clear just how outmatched the Raptors are as Portland's lead grew from 3 points to 11 in about 2 minutes of play. DeRozan has been especially bad tonight, but at this point in his carrer it is a lot to ask of him to defend Kobe Bryant and be a focal point offensively one night and then immediately turn around and defend Brandon Roy the next night. Still, if you are going to be a starting shooting guard in the NBA you are going to have to get used to matchups like these on a regular basis. The most telling stat of the night so far is the Raptors assists. I thinkt hey have a grand total of 2 assists in the first half. That is not the kind of play that will get the Raptors wins. They need to share the ball and play as a team as they don't have nearly enough talent to play iso ball.