Raptors win 6th straight and further solidify their position in the East... NOT!!

Yesterday Chris Bosh was announced as the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. The Raptors were on a 5 game winning streak and the world was their oyster. I hope these aren't the high points of the season. Chris Bosh was asked if he thought the Raptors were at the same level as the top 4 teams in the East. Bosh wisely answered, no but we have the tools to get there if we work hard and work together. Tonight, the Raptors demonstrate what not to do and proved that Bosh was right on with his analysis unfortunately. Maybe this is a good loss as it brings the team back down to earth and shows them that they shouldn't get over confident and that they still have a long ways to go in terms of team improvement.

This game was really two games played at the same time for the Raptors. They obviously played decent enough to score 115 points but was an absent tenant on the other end of the floor. When you get the Killer B's combing for 69 points and adding another B in Belinelli for a total of 90 points and still lose... the question obviously is: Where did the other Raptors go? They made it to the game physically but mentally, they were still back in Toronto on Sunday when things were all roses. It was like they were a football team that left their offense out there to play defense. This defensive effort was reminiscent of the swiss cheese defense from the first 2 months of the season. They need to forget this game very quickly and refocus their efforts on the next task. NOT letting NJ, the laughing stock of the NBA beat you or risk tearing down all the respect and progress gained in January.

Why they lost:

• The defense obviously. The team looked like they were floating around out there on the other end and they were just going through the motions. No intensity, no focus, and no mental toughness. Hibbert was allowed to do whatever he wanted down low and that can not be. Indiana is not a 130 point team, at least not till now.

• Everyone else fell asleep. The most telling stat is that nobody outside of Bosh, Bargnani, and Belinelli scored more than 6 points. That is a pathetic stat. Weems who was on fire the last few games was held scoreless and looked disinterested. Antoine Wright who had 15 points last game went O-Fer!!!! 0-8 FG, 0-5 from the 3 point line. Only 4 free throws saved him.

• Clearly out-coached. These teams just played 2 days ago and in that amount of time the result was completely reversed. How is this possible? Indiana clearly dissected the game on Sunday and found various weaknesses that they took advantage of and Toronto clearly walked onto this floor over-confident and took Indiana for granted. I think the coaching staff might have took the day off and drank beers around the fireplace.

• The refs were drunk on power. I dunno if it was just me but I thought the refs' whistle would not stop and went off like every 2 seconds. Lots of bogus calls, especially those calls on Bosh and Bargs where they were not allowed their space and were called for the offensive foul. Clearly, these refs did not understand that rule at all and need to review this tape and correct this. Unfortunately, the refs had a huge effect to the outcome on this game and that simply shouldn't be the case.

• Demar is injured, Jose got injured, Hedo injured himself on Dunleavy's elbow. Jose wasn't playing well anyways but he rolled his ankle in a very disgusting looking way after stepping on Double J's foot. Down the stretch we had to rely on Banks cause Jack who was also awful was in foul trouble. This was a game Hedo could have easily had a beneficial impact on but he was too big a baby to play this one cause of his orbital bone. Suck it up man. You're not gonna die from playing with that type of injury.Missing 2 starters and your main backup PG is not a formula for winning.

A complete waste of a brilliant offensive performance by the 3 B's and a career high for Bargs who scored 34. He exploded in the 3rd for 19 in the quarter but scored throughout the game. Woulda liked a few more boards from him though but he was getting pushing all over the place by Hibbert and getting drawn to the perimeter on other occasions. I was worried that Bargs would do what he did last year and just go off in January and fade off in February.  He squashed that notion immediately scoring a ton in the first game of the month. Truth be told, he shoulda been yanked earlier in the fourth when it shoulda been garbage time but personally, i don't think anyone else deserved to be on the floor at all tonight cause they were atrocious. Belinelli deserves a lot of praise for exploding in the first half for 17 but was held to just a 3pointer in the 2nd half. Still, it's way more than is expected from him so kudos to him. His shot was on and he succeeded in a flurry of slashes into the lane and through the Indiana "defense". Bosh was a beast as usual and seemed visibly upset through the game. Was he upset at his teammates? Yup. At the refs? Yup. At himself? I don't think he should be because he has nothing to be ashamed of. Unfortunately tonight, he is one of the only Raps that could say that.

The most important thing now is to look forward. Yes it's disappointing and yes they should have won this game but like I said, forget this one quick and focus on the Nets or you're gonna end up being on the wrong end of another embarrassing L. The good news is that NJ is also on the back end of a back-to-back. Jump on them early and they will do what the Nets do best: go away.

Junk:

That has got to be the emptiest arena I have ever seen a professional sports team assemble. How is this team making it in the NBA and the Seattle Supersonics and Vancouver Uglies ousted?

Anyone else notice how much better Bargs plays with that beard of his? He rubs it before free-throws for better grip but I think he's really rubbing the beard for luck.

Pierce is apparently injured with a broken foot. Garnett has a bummed knee. What's the term for when someone takes joy in the suffering of another? Well I don't feel bad about it.

3 Bs... I should trademark it!

Lines of the night:

Sonny Weems, 0 points, 3 T.O., 3, PF, 24 mins

Antoine Wright, 4 points, 0-8 FG, 33mins


Studs: Bargs, Bosh, Belli

Duds: Rest of the team