Toronto at Dallas

[Real Deal]

TIME: 8:30 PM ET

TV: n/a

[Sħãlïq™]

Is Dirk back?????

[Built Ford Tough]

No Dirk for Dallas tonight, not that it really matters.

 

Also, from my understanding, Calderon and Barbosa are game time decisions tonight as well. That means the Raptors could be dressing around 9 players tonight with Weems, Evans and Bargs out. Johnson's back is still bothering him as well.

 

So, in conclusion, this game is going to be U-G-L-Y!

 

(not that it wouldn't be even if the Raptors were healthy )

Edited December 29, 2010 by Built Ford Tough

[Check my Stats]

All I care is that Demar has another solid game.

[Guest STL10]

I wouldn't be shocked if we lost.

 

We may be tired from all of the fastbreak yesterday...

[MainEv3nt]

this is verrrrry brutal start for us so far lol.

[Built Ford Tough]

I wouldn't be shocked if we lost.

 

We may be tired from all of the fastbreak yesterday...

 

You can't use fatigue as an excuse when:

 

1) You are playing a clearly inferior team

 

2) The team you are playing played the previous night

 

3) The team you are playing has about 8 healthy players

 

If by some miracle the Raptors do win this game, the Mavs have no excuse.

 

 

I'm watching the end of the Leafs game, so I missed most of the 1st quarter, but it looks like DeRozan has gotten off to a nice start with 7 points. He is pretty much the only reason to watch Raptor games at this point, considering Davis hardly even plays for some unfathomable reason.

[MainEv3nt]

JASON TERRY WITH A SICK DUNK.

[Check my Stats]

Davis is putting up monster numbers, just looking at the box score I am absolutely baffled why he is on the bench.

[Built Ford Tough]

Did I see Davis' statline right?

 

12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals on 5/6 shooting already?

 

Nice!

 

Maybe he will actually get minutes now.

[Built Ford Tough]

Kleiza is so much better when he is decisive with the ball and doesn't screw around with the ball. When he immeidately shoots the ball after the catch or puts the ball on the floor only a couple of times, he can be a really effective player. Same with DeRozan, too.

 

When these two guys don't hesitate they are so much better.

[Built Ford Tough]

And now Bayless is hurt with what looks to be a sprained ankle.

 

So the Raptors healthy body count is down to about 5 (and one of those healthy players in Kleiza got ejected earlier) .

[MainEv3nt]

we gon lose this lol.

[Guest STL10]

You can't use fatigue as an excuse when:

 

1) You are playing a clearly inferior team

 

2) The team you are playing played the previous night

 

3) The team you are playing has about 8 healthy players

 

If by some miracle the Raptors do win this game, the Mavs have no excuse.

 

 

I'm watching the end of the Leafs game, so I missed most of the 1st quarter, but it looks like DeRozan has gotten off to a nice start with 7 points. He is pretty much the only reason to watch Raptor games at this point, considering Davis hardly even plays for some unfathomable reason.

 

So...Wanna tell me the Mavs aren't fatigued and aren't losing because of it?

[Built Ford Tough]

So...Wanna tell me the Mavs aren't fatigued and aren't losing because of it?

 

No they got outworked and outhustled. It really is as simple as that.

 

Toronto worked twice as hard as the Mavs did tonight and they won the game because of that. You can't use fatigue as an excuse when Toronto has Bargnani, Evans, Peja, Weems and Calderon not in the lineup, lose Bayless and Kleiza half way through the game and have Barbosa and Johnson playing through injuries.

 

The Mavs have no excuse. They came into this game thinking it was going to be an easy victory and because of that they lost the game. That is what you get when you give a half assed effort and take a team lightly.

 

Hell, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Mavs beat the Heat and Magic on back to backs nights (on the road no less), so there is no way in hell that you can use fatigue as an excuse for a home loss to a team like the Raptors.

Edited December 29, 2010 by Built Ford Tough

[MainEv3nt]

So...Wanna tell me the Mavs aren't fatigued and aren't losing because of it?

 

the raptors just out played us tonight fatigued or not lol.

 

we beat the heat an then magic on back to back after being fatigued so that excuse shouldnt work lol.

 

and to be honest theres no way we shoulda lost this game at all. (no offense raptor fans)

[Built Ford Tough]

the raptors just out played us tonight fatigued or not lol.

 

we beat the heat an then magic on back to back after being fatigued so that excuse shouldnt work lol.

 

and to be honest theres no way we shoulda lost this game at all. (no offense raptor fans)

 

Exactly.

 

This game can be summed up in one play about half way through the 4th quarter. There was a missed shot by a Raptor player and there was a battle for the rebound between Ed Davis and Brian Cardnial (who had inside position) and through sheer effort Davis was able to keep the ball alive and tap it out. The tap went all the way into the Raptors zone and Julian Wright sprinted towards it and dove on the ground to try and keep it in play, even though there was basically a 99% guarantee that the ball was going out of bounds. He wasn't able to keep the ball in play, but that one possession showcased exactly why the Raptors won this game. They showed more energy, emotion and life in that one 5-10 second stretch than the entire Mavs team did for the duration of the game (at least the 3 quarters that I saw).

 

And believe me, MainEv3nt, thre is no offense taken to your statement. I agree with you 100% that there is no way in hell that the Mavs should've lost this game. There really is no reason why they shouldn't have come away with an easy victory tonight. All the credit in the world should be given to the Raptors for their heart and hustle tonight, but that doesn't change the fact that the Mavs should've won this game easily.

[AboveLegit]

Wow, Ed Davis with 17 and 12, this kid needs to start. Any reason why Amir Johnson is still starting over him?

[Built Ford Tough]

Wow, Ed Davis with 17 and 12, this kid needs to start. Any reason why Amir Johnson is still starting over him?

 

Because this is probably only the first or second game that Davis has actually outplayed Johnson (and even then, Johnson has been playing injured for the past 3 or 4 games). They are about equal defensively (Davis a better shot blocker while Johnson has better rotations), but Johnson gives the team more offensively due to his ability to stick mid range jumpers relatively consistently as well as him being a better finisher around the rim.

 

I'm all for giving him more minutes, but I still like bringng him off of the bench as long as Johnson continues to play like he has been lately. He doesn't deserve to have his minutes cut or be sent to the bench because he has played well since being inserted into the starting lineup. The increase in Davis' minutes should come at the expense of Joey Dorsey and Linas Kleiza (who plays the 4 way too much).

[Nestle Snipes]

I saw Dirk doing some announcing in this game haha.