Built Ford Tough

The effort all around has been pathetic. I know that they are winning but I attribute that more to the inept play of the Bucks than the play of the Raptors. If they played like this last night against the Cavs they would've been absolutely blown out. The play has picked up in the nd quarter though, especially when Jose started to play aggressively.

With the way that the Raptors have played on back-to-backs this season, I don't care how they win the game, as long as they win it. Have the Raps even won a game on the tail end of a back-to-back this season? I don't recall one. To be perfectly honest, I am expecting a loss tonight. There is the back-to-back factor that I already mentioned, but another reason is because of the loss lost night. I have a feeling that the Raptors are going to come out really flat and have a let down after what was a very tough loss last night against the Cavs. Hopefully I am wrong.

Gordon has a distinct advantage on the offensive end of the floor. Hinrich has a distinct advantage on the defensive end of the floor. It really comes down to what you need as each bring something different to the table. On most occasions I would pick Gordon simply because of the potential that he possess, but if you are a Championship calibre team looking to add a great perimeter defender, I would take Hinirch. One thing that turns me off about Hinrich, though, is his contract. Gordon is still on his rookie contract while Hinrich is making $9M or so this season, so if we are factoring money into the equation I would most definitely take Gordon over Kirk. Strictly in terms of who is better at the moment, like you are actually asking (just read your post now haha), I would probably go with Hinrich as he is the better all around player. As early as next year I can see Gordon surpassing him though. I love his potential.

When did Jim Brown become part of the Cavs organization?

People exagerate this quite a bit though. I live in British Columbia and I guarntee you that there are way more fans of the Cavs, Lakers, Celtics and Suns (because of Nash) than there are fans of the Raptors. I actually don't even know one person that is a fan of the Raptors but I know plenty of fans of the aforementioned teams. Teams with superstars and winning teams are more popular where I live than the Raptors just because they are Canada's only NBA team. I'm not saying that it isn't true though, just not to the extent that others make it out to be. Besides, when talking about this particular blog, all of this is irrelevant because its not like people from Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary and the rest of Canada are the ones that are filling the Air Canada Center night in and night out. It is people that live in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) who are the ones going to the games, which is what this blog was all about. This is completely false when talking about loyal fans. A loyal fan is going to stick with the team regardless of what their record is. The Bulls went through one of the worst two year stretches in NBA history during the early parts of this decade, yet that didn't stop them from having a high attendance. The Raptors have really yet to have anything more than what would be considered to be an above average season, yet they sell out every night. The Jazz had that one year where they struggled, but the arena was rocking night in and night out. This statement of yours just proves that the Cavs have a lot of bandwagon or fairweather fans, which a lot of people already now. The Lakers have missed the postseason one time this entire decade. They never sucked. Meanwhile you have teams like Toronto who have missed the postseason more than they have made it and their worst seasons are way worse than anything the Lakers have had to endure, yet the Raptor fans still pack the ACC regardless. Another example is the Bulls who have had the highest attendance in the NBA over the last 5 years or so. Your last line is just complete BS. There is no bias in that statement at all. I'm not saying that the Laker fan base isn't loyal but they aren't on this pedastool that you are putting them on. There is a very legit argument that they aren't even the most loyal fan base in the NBA. I'm not going to get into that though, because it would be pointless.

Did anybody else notice on that "foul" call against Bargnani when he blocked LeBron that the whistle had gone before Bargs even touched James? Bargs did have some body contact down low, but its funny how the whistle went before there was any contact at all. It was a definite makeup call from the previous possession where Wright tried to foul James (grabbed his jersey on the spin and everything) but the refs didn't call anything and ended up calling a foul on James off of the flop from Calderon. Game over. Terrible 2nd half from Bosh combined with poor free throw shooting has been the difference for the Raptors. That turnover hurt them badly.

So why wasn't Bargnani in the game for the last 2 minutes? I know Rasho is the GOAT and all, but come on.

Belinelli has a wide open lane to the hoop, sees Shaq starting to move under the hoop, [expletive]s his paints and pulls up for a jumper instead of taking it at Shaq. And then Turkoglu takes a horrible shot and which leads to an easy basket in transition. Atta boy Mr. 4th Quarter.

Turkoglu is garbage. What kind of shot was that? I never thought that I would say this, but put Antoine Wright into the game. Yes, that is how bad Turkoglu has been playing. Great foul Turk. Way to really wrap him up. God damn, how useless is Turkoglu right now? He is even worse than Calderon was at the beginning of the season. At least Calderon didn't [expletive] about his role or anything either. I am really starting to dislike Turkoglu. On the bright side, at least that 4th foul will have his [expletive] on the bench for the rest of this quarter at least. This is quickly nulified by the fact that Antoine Wright is his replacement. [expletive] me.

DeRozan, Bellineli and Wright have a combined 29 points tonight. What the [expletive]?

Funny, Hedo = Raptor fans worst nightmare as well. At least his contract. And how exactly are the Raptors going to make LeBron a jump shooter? Hedo Turkoglu sure as hell won't be keeping him on the perimeter. LeBron is going to run right through the Raptors perimeter defense and will be able to get to the rim whenever he wants. Also, the difference between this game and those other games agaisnt contenders is that the Raptors were playing at home and this one is on the road. I don't need to explain because you are well aware of how much better the Raptors are at home compared to on the road. Honestly, the way I see it, the Raptors are going to be lucky to lose by single digits.

Seeing as home team fans get to see there players/teams play night in and night out, what are some common misconceptions about either your team as a whole, or a specific player on the team that you always here? For example, Chris Bosh is still labelled as a soft jump shooter because of how he played for the first 3 years of his NBA career. People who actually watch Bosh on a consistent know that these statements are both simply false, yet we still constantly hear about how soft he is and what not.

There are write-ups detailing why each player received the grade that they did in the link that follows the quote. Grange's: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/from-deep/raptors-grades-from-grange/article1435426/ Koreen's: http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=2443553&p=2#ixzz0cgst1vj4 I haven't actually read any of the explainations so far, so I will comment later on, when I feel like reading through them. Anyways, thougths on this? Who do you feel are graded to easily and who is graded to harshly?

At this point I would rather see him than Robinson. No joke.

When you take into consideration the amount of money each player makes in regards to what they give you on the court, I would definitely go with Bargnani. Aldridge is the slightly better rebounder and defender while Bargnani is the more talented offensive player with a higher upside. Right now, Aldridge is the better player, but I would take Bargnani at $8M over Aldridge at $10.7M without even thinking about it.

If Nate wins this contest I will officially boycott the Dunk Contest for the rest of my basketball watching life. I cannot stand the guy and he is the most overrated dunker I have ever seen in my life. Might as well throw Chris Andersen into the contest again too.

There have been rumors circulating around both of these two for a while now as the Wizards are simply a mess right now and seem like they have finally decided to blow up the roster. The Kings are looking to unload his contract and hand the reigns over to Tyreke Evans. So it begs the question, hypothetically, who would you rather have on the Raptors, Kevin Martin or Caron Butler? For arguments sake, lets say that the Raptors package for each is the exact same (Calderon + Johnson or something, who cares though as that isn't the point of this thread). So who ya got?

In Dirk's 4th season he averaged 22.2 ppg/9.4 rpg/2.3 apg/1 bpg In Barg's 4th season he is averaging 17.2 ppg/6.5 rpg/1 apg/1.4 bpg Outside of their rookie seasons, Dirk and Bargnani are nothing alike. Dirk was arguably a better player in his 2nd season than Bargs is right now in his 4th season. Dirk was putting up 28.4/13.1/2.3 on 57% from deep in the playoffs during his 4th season. He has been much more than just a spot up shooter ever since his 2nd or 3rd season. Don't get me wrong, Bargnani has been playing great over the last two weeks and has took the next step in his development this season, but the Dirk comparisions are even more ludicrous now than they were when he was drafted. Bargnani will never even come close to being the player that Dirk is, which isn't a knock against Bargs because Dirk is the best PF in the NBA, a future Hall of Famer and arguably the best European player to ever play in the NBA. EDIT: Also, keep in mind that Dirk was younger than Bargnani when he first came into the league, and he had less experience as well. Both of those factors should play into this as well.

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/64085/20100117/grizzlies_eye_dorell_wright/ How do you think Wright would fit in with the Grizzlies? Would you trade something like the Lakers first for him?

http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStories.asp?lc=NBA&c=1&TEAM_ID=&PLAYER_ID=&hd=20100117#STORY_23689 I know that Hoopsword isn't the most reliable site, but I figured I would post it anyways. What would you think if this trade went down? David West's shooting ability would be a very good fit next to LeBron.

I don't think that he will either, but if you really think about it, who in the East is clearly more deserving of that backup center spot? Dwight is obviously going to be the startng center, but outside of him there isn't really a player that has clearly earned the reserve role. Its not like Bogut, Noah, Shaq, Horford, Lopez etc... are clearly more deserving than Bargnani is. I think that David Lee would probably get the nod though, as he is the best player on a Knicks team who was expected to be near the bottom of the standings, not in the hunt for a final playoff spot. Even if he [Lee] doesn't, it would probably go to Horford or Bogut before Bargnani. Possibly even Shaq based on name alone. I agree that he won't be an All-Star, but its not like the East is oozing with talented centers or anything. Epidemik, I have a question for you. I haven't watched the Mavs much since the first 10 games or so of the season, but what is up with the Mavs defense right now? In the handful of games I have watched of theirs, they really got after it defensively and won games off of their defense and elite offensive play of Nowitzki. In this game though, they just looked like they didn't care much about playing defense. Has that been a recurring theme for them lately, or was is some sort of combination of travel, early start time or something? Oh yeah, one more thing about Calderon in this game. This kind of performance from him is a win-win situation for the Raptors. When Calderon plays like this the Raptors are a much better team, which will result in more wins, but even if he gets traded, games like these are going to have a positive impact on his trade value. Keep it up Jose!

Best game the Raptors have played all season long bar none. That first game against Cleveland was impressive, but Cleveland was still adjusting to new players and what not, and that Bulls game was great as well, but I thinkt hat blowing out the Mavs by 20 is a lot more impressive than beating the Bulls by 30. On top of the blowout victory, they are doing it against a team that has had their number for basically the entire decade, which makes it even more impressive. Must feel good for Bosh to finally beat the Mavs for the first time in his career. I've been waiting for a game like this for a long time though. This is how they needed to play against the Pacers and the Knicks in the 2nd half. I really think that blowing out a couple of teams, whether they are good teams, average teams or terrible teams, can do wonders for this teams confidence. Als, Triano, what the [expletive]? We need some RASHO!!!!!

Jack with a very impressive drive right there, finished off with a circus shot. Raptors point guards have been the difference makers so far in this game. Bosh has been great with 22/11 which has pretty much canceled out Dirk's production, but it has been the play of Jack and Calderon that has been the difference. Both of done a good job of attacking Kidd and whoever else is guarding them. Combined for like 20/12 so far (not sure of the exact numbers). DeRozan's jumper as looked great so far as well. I remember saying in the summer that he will struggle out of the gate but after about the first 30-40 games he will start playing better, just like he did last season in college. Over the last 3 games or so, DeRozan looks to be proving me right. Raptors have done a very good job of holding this lead as well. Its good to see them keep up the double digit lead heading into the 4th, especially against a team that they haven't beaten in like 8 years or something, lol. This game is actually looking like it was worth me getting up for, haha.

Well, they are a jump shooting team. They live and die by the jumper so we can't really expect anything else. That is why they are so inconsistent night in and night out, hell that is why they are inconsistent from quarter to quarter. Calderon has been the difference so far in this game. I love having him come off of the bench. He is so much more effective coming off of the bench. I'm glad, after a year and a half, that the Raptors have realized this. Now watch them [expletive] it up and put him back into the starting lineup as a "reward" for his good play. I love watching Dirk play. He is just so damn smooth. He really does not get the credit that he deserves and it is a shame. I don't even see how you can dispute the fact that he is the best power forward in the NBA right now. Just an outstanding player. PS: How quickly do the Raps blow this 2nd half lead.

Thats better. :glasses: PS: I agree with what you wrote as well, lol. The difference in this game though was LeBron James. LeBron made plays in pressure situations while the Clippers simply didn't have a player that was capable of making plays in pressure situations.