Built Ford Tough

Clippers should give the ball to Gordon here and let him create something. He has done a really good job all game at being able to get a good look when Williams or West have been guarding him. Space the floor with a bunch of shooters and let him go to work. Another option is to try and get Butler open for a look. Run him off of some screens as he has been lights out tonight. Dunleavy is an idiot though, so he doesn't draw any play up and the Clippers end up with Baron Davis taking a fadeaway 20 footer over Anderson Varejao. Great coaching, Dumbleavy.

Eric Gordon has been great in this game. He has done an excellent job at utilizing his quickness to create seperation for him to get his jumper off. He is also doing a very good job at mixing up his offense and keeping the Cavs defense off guard. He isn't just settling for jumpers which is keeping the defense on their toes when he has the ball. I haven't watched him yet this season as all of the Clipper games that I have seen this season were when he was injured, but he looks really good. I have always liked his game and thought that he could've easily been a top 5 pick in last years draft and if this game is any indication, he looks like he is making progress on what was a very good rookie season last year. He has 26 points so far and I would be willing to bet he is doing it very efficiently as I haven't seen him miss a shot yet. Rasual Butler has been great tonight as well. I think he has like 27 points or something. His jumper has looked fantastic tonight. The Clippers have done a good job of not allowing the Cavs to get on a run so far. Whenever it seems like they are about to make a run Gordon or Butler have hit a big jumper to put an end to the Cavs momentum. And just as I type that, Butler hits a deep 3 to halt a Cavs run. Fun Fact: With Butler scoring 30 points in this game, he becomes only the 2nd Clipper player to score 30 in a game this season. The other? Al Thonrton. I would've figured that Kaman, Davis or Gordon would've dropped 30 this season.

Meh, it will only last a day lol. They will be two games under .500 by Tuesday night. I highly doubt that they beat the Mavs on Sunday and they sure as well aren't going to beat Cleveland in Cleveland on Tuesday. They were actually over .500 two games ago, but they decided that they didn't want to win against the Pacers.

Anybody else think that this was by far the best game that DeRozan has played so far in his NBA career? I absolutely loved the way that he played tonight.

I don't get it. Is this supposed to convince us that Rose is the clear cut better player or something? Evans, as a rookie, is putting up 20.6 ppg/5.1 rpg/4.9 apg on 45.7% while taking 16.6 shots a game (comapred to Rose taking 17.6). Evan's is also playing in the Western Conference where he is playing stiffer competition night in and night out. His rookie numbers for the season are comparable to Rose's best month (well, half a month) numbers during his sophomore season. Yeah Rose was injured for the beginning of the season which hurt his play and all, I get that. Tell me though, what point is it that you are trying to make here? Is it that Tyreke Evans is very comparable to Derrick Rose? Because that is what I have gathered from these numbers that you have posted. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Evans is the better player than Rose because as of right now I don't believe that. But these numbers you have posted do little to help whatever agenda it is that you are promoting.

I can understand this. I wouldn't say that I was satisfied with the way that the game went, but I can understand where you are coming from. I wasn't really worried about them blowing the lead either, but it still annoyed me to see them allow yet another 20+ point lead dwindle to single digits in the 2nd half. Other than the Chicago game this year, the Raptors have been absolutely pathetic at holding leads. This really needs to be addressed during the 2nd half of the season.

Are you serious? You are actually happy with the way that they played tonight? I mean, yeah, they were outstanding in the 1st half but they came out in the 2nd half and played like they already had this game in the bag and didn't need to work. They weren't closing out on shooters like Harrington and Gallinari which resulted in them getting confidence in their shooting. By the time that they started to pick it up a bit on these two, it didn't matter because they had already allowed them to get in a rythym. Offensively they started to get jump shot happy and stopped playing aggressively. They did a better job tonight than they did against Indy at withstanding the Knicks runs, but I definitely am not happy with the way that they played in the 2nd half of the game. Blowing the lead isn't on Jay, part of it is sure, but the majority of the blame should be placed on the players because of the simple fact that they stopped playing basketball in the 2nd half. They came out after the 1st and played like they had already won the game. Some of that can be attributed to Jay not motivating them enough or something, but I blame the players more than I would Gill. If they played with the same kind of intensity that they did for the majority of the 2nd half against a legit team, they would've lost the game fairly easily if you ask me.

28 at one point, I believe. Bargnani has been oustanding tonight. He is in the zone offensively, rebounding the ball (even getting some traffic boards) and playing good post defense (although he has been losing his man without the ball which has given the Knicks some open 3's). Him and DeRozan have been the Raptors best players. Bosh has been solid, but hasn't really stood out tonight. He has put up 18 on 7/10 though, so no complaints. EDIT: Calderon has had arguably his best game of the season as well. Playing like the Calderon of old offensively and has made some nice plays defensively as well. His lack of defense hasn't been an issue at all tonight.

And whatta know, the Raptors lead has fallen to 11. Who didn't see this coming?

And here we go again... After what happened on Monday against Indiana, do you really think that the Raptors wouldn't let the Knicks back into the game? They always do this. They are quite possibly the worst team in the NBA at holding leads. EDIT: I meant to say "won't let the Knicks back into the game".

I... I... I don't believe it. Jose Calderon, yup thats right, Jose Calderon, just made a nice defensive play to draw a charge. Yes, you read that right, JOSE CALDERON made a nice defensive play. We have officially entered the twilight zone.

Somebody should tell David Lee that when you taunt somebody you should at least do something cool. His "jumping jack" taunt there was quite possibly the gayest taunt I have ever seen done by an NBA player.

You don't say... Honestly, I'm not even sure who the Raptors would take if they had the number 2 pick. I like Evan Turner the most out of everybody not named John Wall, but with DeRozan on the team already and Turkoglu not going anywhere for 5 years, I don't know if it would make sense to pick him. Would there be enough minutes? I don't think that Aldrich is worth the number 2 pick, don't ask me why, there is just something about his game that I don't like. Don't get me wrong, he is going to be a good player inthe NBA, I just don't know if I would take him 2nd. However, with that said, he probably makes the most sense for Toronto. I'd go BPA though, so I probably would end up drafting Turner. With that said though, we all know that Colangelo would be drafting Motiejunas. No way does he turn down a Bargnani and Motiejunas front court.

What a chess match right here. Jerry Sloan is arguably the best in the NBA (perhaps all-time) at drawing up plays out of timeouts, going up against arguably the best defense in the NBA. EDIT: What a shot by Sundiata Gaines. Talk about ice running through your veins. Practices once with the team, comes in in the 4th quarter and sparks a huge run. Then he hits a buzzer beating 3 pointer to win the game against the best team in the Eastern Conference. You couldn't write anything better than that. Just an awesome performance by Gaines. Plays 9 minutes, scores 9 points on 3/3 shooting including the buzzer beating 3 to win the game. Amazing.

Games far from over. 1 point lead for the Cavs with 5 seconds left. That was a hell of a shot by Korver though. Shot that over the backboard and got the kind roll to cut the Cavs lead to only a single point.

It is such a pleasure watching players like LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Melo etc... simply take over in the 4th quarter and carry their team to victory. Watching elite players when they are in the zone is just a thing of beauty, regardless of what team you are a fan of. This performance from LeBron in the last 5 minutes or so is just something special. He has put the Cavs on his back and absoltuely carried them. After the Jazz went on a 18-2 run or whatever it was, something just clicked for LeBron. He has scored 16 of the last 18 Cavs points, including back to back clutch 3's, to spark an 18-2 run for the Cavs and has gotten them a 4 point lead. Whether you love or hate LeBron James, you simply can't help but be in awe of performances like this. There is something about watching elite players take over games down the stretch that you can't help but love to watch. Awesome clutch basketball from LeBron.

Players vote in 5 players, GM's/coaches vote in 5 and fans vote in the final 2. Thats how I would do it at least. Honestly though, the All-Star game is nothing more than a money maker and is a game for the fans, so I don't really care about the voting. PS: McGrady has already said he won't play in the All-Star game if he gets voted in, and I remember hearing that Iverson wouldn't play if he was voted in either.

I know that a lot of Raptor fans would probably be against this idea, but I would actually probably pull the trigger on a deal like that. Carter's contract is not appealing to say the least, but he only has one more year left on the deal (a team option for the 3rd). He is still the better player than Turkoglu is as well. If it was offered, I would definitely be all for the trade.

With Pops Mensah-Bonsu signing with CSKA Moscow pending a physical (Click Here), would you take a look at signing the recently released Sean Williams to the 10-Day contract, that the Raptors probably would've used on Pops? I know that Williams has had some character issues in college and what not, but I haven't really heard of anything of the sort in the NBA. He has coasted so far in his career and has seemed to be a lazy player, but maybe getting released by the Nets will give him a wake up call? The guy definitely has some talent. So, would you take a shot on him? Why or why not?

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/basketball/2010/01/13/12443171-sun.html Real Madrid can [expletive] right off. Rasho is mine! EDIT: I got a kick out of seeing Darko being their second choice. Its funny how the 24 year old, former 2nd overall pick is the 2nd choice to the 34 year old former 17th overall pick. Everybody is piling on Darko.

http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/2010/01/is-bosh-the-best-and-call-the-folks-on-the-tv-awards-panels.html I know that all of the Raptors fans on here are going to disagree with Smith (myself included), but I figured that I would post this anyways. I'm sure that everybody who visits the Raptors board knows my thoughts on this, so I won't bore you with a long response. I think that Jose's offense is more needed with the 2nd unit, and Jack's superior defense (although he is pretty bad himself) is more needed with the starters. If the Raps go on a losing streak or something, sure, switch it up. But I would leave it as is for now. One thing that I wouldn't be completely opposed to, however, is starting Calderon in an attempt to showcase him for a possible trade. This could have a negative effect on his trade value though, if his defense gets exploited all night long and teams view him as a complete liability on the defensive end.

I'm still most comfortable with giving the ball to Bosh about 15 feet away (like they did against Philly and San Antonio) and having Bargnani on the opposite wing for an easy kick out if the team decides to double Bosh. I know that Bosh hasn't always been the most reliable player in late clock scenarios, but I also don't think that he is as bad as some Raptor fans make him out to be. This year he has been easily the best Raptor in the clutch and has made some great decisions in short clock scenarios. Bargs has proven that he is capable of knocking down a clutch shot off of a kick out, but I wouldn't trust him at all to do anything other than that, at this stage in his career. He is a great option to have on the floor because of his shooting ability, which makes teams hesitant to double and also brings spacing to the floor, which allows Bosh more room to operate, but I wouldn't trust him to do more than that, as of right now.

I may catch some flak for saying this, but he had to work very little to get most of those rebounds. A lot of long rebounds off of missed Pacer 3's that just kind of fell right into his hands. Another factor was Bosh being out on the perimeter for the majority of the game covering Troy Murphy, and the Pacers had a pretty small lineup for most of the game as they were focusing on spreading the floor. This left Bargs as the lone big man down low. That said though, a 17 rebound game is impressive regardless. Anytime a player pulls down 17 boards in a game it is impressive, easy boards or not. The next step in Bargs development as a rebounder is for him to learn how to rebound in traffic. He has made noticable improvements at figuring out how to come away with boards in one-on-one scenarios with little traffic around him, but he still seems to be lost when he is rebounding in traffic. This is the one area that he needs to develop if he ever wants to actually average 10 boards a game. Grabbing boards in traffic is the sign that a player is finally "getting it" when it comes to rebounding, and I am still waiting for Bargs to show that he can traffic rebound.

Well, its not like Hedo has actually done anything in the 4th quarter, even when he is given the ball and is able to create. I honestly don't even think that there has been a game this season when Hedo actually took over in the 4th, like he wants to be given the opportunity to do. He hit that one shot in Washington during OT that gave the Raptors the win, but if I remember correctly, he did nothing in the 4th quarter which was a big reason why the game actually went into OT in the first place. Its one thing to complain when you have actually done something worth a damn, its another thing when you have been given opportunities and done nothing with them. Don't get me wrong, the Raptors should give Turk the ball more frequently but he really hasn't done much when he has been given the ball. You need to earn your touches, and Hedo hasn't done that, at least in my opinion.

Fixed. There is no reason why he can't average 10 boards a game. Rebounding is about 90% effort and 10% technique. All he has to do is consistently get after it every single time a shot is taken. Get inside the paint, find a body, and just work your [expletive] off. If you do things like this, the rebounds are going to come. That said, I don't ever expect him to actually average 10 a game, and like you said, I would be happy with him pulling down 8 a game. He just needs to give more effort on the glass and he will pull down more boards. You can't be lazy when talking about rebounding, and Bargnani is a lazy rebounder. Its really that simple.