Raps beat the Heat in Toronto

The Toronto Raptors prevailed 111-103 over the Miami Heat and took over sole position of 5th place in the east tonight after stumbling out of the gates early. The Raps were without the services of rookie SG Demar Derozan who was replaced in the starting line up by his non-fraternal twin, Sonny Weems. Weems filled in admirably, keeping the team in the game in the first quarter despite the rest of his team turning the ball over 7 times in the first quarter and giving up and atrocious 34 points in that quarter. Weems gave us 10 points, which is a very good impression of his twin. Several things to take in that were of note:

• Jarret Jack who played well throughout the game and was unfairly kept on the bench in the final minutes again in favor of Jose who turned the ball over on a few key possessions and clanked up some bricks on some partially-selfish-looking jumpers. Luckily he managed to redeem himself a bit later on. I just don't understand why you would keep Jack on the bench.
  

• Jermaine O'Neal looked good. He seems to be a bit trimmer and more mobile. His knees looked good and I am glad for him. Even though things didn't work out in Toronto, I always thought he gave maximum effort for the team which is admirable. He just didn't fit well with a stagnant Smitch offense, and battled predictable injuries throughout the season. Good to see him healthy.
  

• Dwyane Wade,(yes i know... that IS how you spell it. Were his parents drunk when they filled out his forms at birth? Kind of like Brett Fav-re) hammered the Raps with 35 points but got shut down a bit in the fourth when the Raps decided it was a good idea to finally double team him.
  

• Turkoglu played like crap again but was able to get fouled on 2 key positions and was able to make all 4 free throws. Maybe we should call that cut to the basket, where he doesn't look like he'd ever get close to actually scoring a bucket but manages to somehow draw 3 defenders in to foul him, the real "Turkish Delight". Seems to be the only thing he can do. I wonder how long it's going to take for other teams to scout that and just let him drive into the cheerleaders with his head down like that. Our $53 million free throw man.

• The Killer B's were on a rampage tonight. I just wanna point out that I thought of that nickname before the Raps even drafted him but didn't think he deserved it till last season when he started to play at a pro level and not like he was from the D-League.

AB7 scored 27 points, 3 Rebs, 1 big emphatic block on Rafer. Let's talk about that block for a second. He was coming over from behind the play and caught Rafer while he was slashing towards the rim. This block is of signifance. Why? Because it was the type of block that Bargnani didn't have a chance in hell of making a year ago. He seems to have a heightened awareness on defense, an awareness that was simply not there before. So his defense was on but his offense was on full display tonight. Bargnani looked like an all-pro NBA player for the first time that I can remember. At least to this level and I am not talking about how much he scored but the manner in which he went about scoring. His jump shot was locked in, he hit open jumpers that pros are supposed to hit, he drove with his head up and scored in traffic, he shot the ball outside, then went inside and used a variety of hooks, baby hooks, turn around jumpers, a very smooth looking fade, and a rarely seen drop-step spin where he laid the ball off the backboard and in. Whatever the assistant coaches are teaching him during practice is working. His man on man defense on the other end was good like usual and he managed to look good while cutting some wings off the driving lanes when the Raps' guards got blown-by. That being said, former Raptor Jermaine looked possessed and was tough to stop, particularly in the third quarter. Bargs only grabbed 3 rebounds even though the last one was a key defensive stop in the last moments of the game. What rebounds could he have grabbed? His teammates, particularly the Big Boshman, were taking care of that.

Bosh was fairly effective throughout the game, scoring 24 pts, and grabbing 18 rebs. 18REBOUNDS!! What an animal on the boards tonight. Despite suffering early on from the butterfingers disease that he's seems to have contracted in the past month, he was his usual self on most possessions in the offensive end. Hitting some nice hooks down low, finding his teammates under the basket like on that nice looking feed to Amir down low, and using that jab-step-fade to the side shot he often does on the right baseline. He loves that shot and big guys find it hard to keep up with him when he does it. He even hit a jumper with O'Neal's hand right in his face for a key basket in the fourth.

This game was pretty fun to watch. Especially seeing the looks on Jermaine and Rafer's faces on that one shot on tv where they looked soooooo dejected, LOL!!! I thought Eric Spolstra's head was going to explode on a few occasions. I am glad to see they finally made an Asian a headcoach. Although I wasn't sure he was asian at first. It's always fun to watch when Bargs goes off for a poop-load of points and Bosh is rolling at the high level that he usually does.

Finally, some props have to be given to the bench. Amir was highly energetic and effective under the glass this game and changed some shots on the defensive end. He also scored some nice baskets down low for some And-1's. Any points from Amir are always a welcome bonus. Marco was also effective and kept the number of circus shots to a minimal. He made some key slashes and drives to the basket and stared down Wade after an obvious foul was not called on him by the bone-headed officials. He also had a nice cut where he side-stepped the defender and laid it in, and side-stepped another time and fed it to Amir who was right under the bucket. Antoine Wright got into early foul trouble but did a good enough job on defense in the second half and hit some jumpers along including a nail-in-coffin three pointer from a nice swing pass courtesy of Jose. Jose didn't play his greatest game but managed to hit a nice pass to Antoine and a reversed off the glass lay-in. I thought he was erratic. Trying too much and forcing the play a few times. Also, has anyone seen what's happened to his free throw skills? Cause it's been M.I.A. this season.

One last note: Doug Christie was the Raptors guest for their 15 year celebration tonight. It was nice to see #13 tonight. Especially since I didn't see his master, errrr.... I mean his wife. Doug Christie is one of my all-time favourite Raptors. I really wish they had retained him back then. He was such a complete player and a solid defender. It's a shame his game blossomed a bit later in his career than most players and a shame that he left Toronto. He found his niche in the league with the Raptors and the Raptors were the team that gave him his chance. He was just a pine warmer before he got to Toronto. He's often forgotten when people talk about the most memorable, and best Raptors of the past but in my opinion he is one of the best. Other past players like McGrady and Camby found their successes after they left but Doug was good while he was here. So cheers to Doug and I hope he has a good retirement getting his wife drinks from the fridge and giving her pedicures. Poor bastard.