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.

Sweet Revenge

So the Raptors finally beat the Mavs and I don't just mean the first half of the game and then blow a huge lead and eventually lose. You see, that's what they did against the mavs twice last season. Earlier this season, they just flat out got their asses kicked. Tonight they did the opposite and beat the Mavs in convincing fashion and satisfied their fan's blood thirst for revenge. Too long have the Mavs embarassed Toronto, too long has Dirk Nowitzki strutted his stuff on the court at the expense of the Raps. Now only if they could do it against the Craptics then the world would be right.

Everyone seemed to play well tonight. Not only from an offense standpoint but on defense as well. Well duh, you can't win without having to play hard defense you must be thinking. But that's the thing that was their Achilles heel all this time and somehow they have suddenly managed to look like they're a good defensive team. They all seem to be playing very hard, getting into opponent's space and forcing them to pass or put up a bad shot. This has been the biggest change lately in their successes. A key part of this is Andrea Bargnani's improved defense. Since he is not leaving his man wide open anymore during switches, hedges and help defense, he's not allowing the opponent the chance to swing the ball around to the open man or just drive right into the lane. This in turn allows the Raptors to not look like total jackasses. But their defense wasn't entirely AB7's fault earlier this season. Every Raptor fan out their knew they had a problem with the other team's guards and wings just blowing by their defender and helping themselves to an endless buffet of jam, slams, layups and whatever they their hearts desired. They seemed to have developed this ingenious trick where they slide over and deny a slashing opponent a clear path. Groundbreaking strategy, I know. Nonetheless, these tweaks to the defense seemed to have stabilized them and allowed them to build confidence which as well all know is super duper important to success.

So to sing the praises of my favourite player even though I like to be fair and point out his shortcomings, Bargnani has been the difference to the team with their recent success. No matter how much defense you play you still have to score to win and the extra points we're getting from our new Madman AB7 is the difference. He's not only scoring, he's doing it efficiently, playing defense, rebounding, and showing some real fire and emotion. This seems to pump up his teammates and becomes contagious. Well to everyone except Hidayet Turkoglu. Yes that's his real name. Hidayet, (Rhymes with idiot) seems to be in a real slump. Bargnani on the other hand is on fire and here's hoping he stays this way and doesn't relapse back into the shadow of the player he's become.

When the Raptors signed him to a 5 year $50million deal I knew it was a great deal even though everyone else cried foul. Even without his recent improvements, at the time Bargnani was still one of the best centers in the league. I mean look at some of the other bums that play center in the NBA that make more money. Samuel Dalembert makes about $12 million a year. He is not half the player Bargnani is. Bargnani may not be as good a defender but Bargnani's ceiling for improvement is unlimited in comparison. Brad Miller is making over $12 million, Andrew Bogut is making 10, Tyson Chandler making about 12, Eric Dampier, 10, and he's making $13 million next season. Now... can you tell me how much you'd pay Bargnani in comparison? Not only that, he's very very happy with the deal telling me he's not a greedy bastard. I mean giving a person $10 million a year to play 82, two and a half hour games, a few practices a week, then get the summer off? Who wouldn't be content? Other NBA players, that's who! Bargnani is a quality player and Colangelo is a friggin genius. Darko is making $7.5 million and he's an absolute useless 7 foot tall pile of garbage. $2.5 million more and it upgrades you to Bargnani? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Let's face it, besides a few exceptional players, most centers are just tall guys that wave their arms around. Very few of them can shoot jumpers, even fewer of them can drive the ball, handle the ball, and the ones that can shoot threes? Well you can count them all on one hand. Bargnani, Troy Murphy(might be considered a PF), Brad Miller, Mehmet Ohkur, Rasheed Wallace(also might me considered a PF). Now that Bargnani has added shot blocking and rebound on a more consistent basis we now have one of the premier centers in the game. Dwight Howard might be a zillion times better but the man is naturally a PF and so is the boringest player in the NBA, Tim Duncan.

Now if only they can parlay Turkoglu into a decent wing we'd be a legit contender. No offense to Demar but since he's a rookie and for no other reason, i think we need another wing in order to go deep into the playoffs. Nobody wins a championship without a solid slashing, scoring, wing who possibly could be able to post their opponent up. Who does that sound like? Kobe and Lebron are extreme versions of this but someone a bit less skilled(and cheaper) would do the trick too. Kind of the way Carter used to be before he turned into a giant buffoon. Or at least until we realized he was one.

Trading Calderon was an option too when he was injured, but since he's come back he's played his way back into the lineup, back into respectability and back into my heart. LOL. But in all seriousness he's run the second unit so well and has executed the offense so well that he's untradeable in my books. He's showing that he's back to form. The type of form he had so long ago, most of us forgot how it used to look like. He's driving the ball and using that sweet lay-in. He's making great crisp passes to teammates that put them in good position, he's confusing the opponent's defense with quick swing passes, and he's hitting his shot off screens like he used to instead of clanking them really badly. Making shots instead of missing them? Great insight I know. There's no longer a huge drop off in PG play and offensive direction once the starting PG sits down for a rest. Other teams are finding that their secondary PGs are no match for us. Unlike Slowmo Ukic, who was garbage, human garbage. He's also finding Bargs more. Bargnani doesn't seem to get the ball enough in key moments of the game before. Bargnani would score 12 points in a first quarter, then the team stops giving him the ball. It's happened on many many occasions. Know how people always wonder why he does well in first and third quarters and disappears? Well it's cause he's not getting any passes!!! The only passes he gets is to move the ball in position for a play to feed Bosh or someone else. So when he does get the ball he forces up an ill advised 3 cause it's the only chance he gets to score.

So kudos to Bargnani and Calderon. Boo to Hedont Turkoglu.