Jerryd Bayless left the game for the Raptors @ the 9:08 of the second quarter when the Mavs were leading 31-25 and did not return in the game and the Mavs scored the next 4 points and it was 35-25. The Mavs got it as high as 12 @ 44-32 and that is when the Raptors went on a 12-0 in 3 minutes and tied the game @ 44 but the Mavs went on a 2 minute 6-0 run to make it 50-44 and they lead @ half 50-46.
The Mavs were helped out by their bench play that outscored the Raptors 56-26 with big games from Ian Mahinmi who had 19 points and Jason Terry had 17 points while the Raptors got 20 from Leandro Barbosa off the bench as the Mavs won their first game of the season 99-86 @ home. The point that it was at home was a huge thing because they still shot 44 % from the floor and were shooting just over 41% from the floor and they took advantage a very nice whistle as the Raptors were charged with 23 fouls and a number of them were simply bail out calls and yes I know that it does happen that home teams especially the more popular teams and the Raptors were hurt by a very slow whistle so they got pushed around and lost the ball and it was a turnover instead of a foul.
Andrea Bargnani played a very big game and went to the hoop more often then he usually does and was the reason the Raptors got to the line more than in the first two games this season as he went 6 for 8 from the line while the rest of the team went 8 for 10 from the line while he also lead the team with 7 of the teams 38 boards and finally put up 30 points as he went 11 for 18 but missed the last 5 shots he took. Jose Calderon had 11 points and 7 assists but I really feel that Jamaal Magloire because he was victim of two of the phantom calls as he was given a foul when Lamar Odeom went down on his with no contact and got the foul called because he just laid on the court until it was called and did not even leave the court after the call and then Ian Mahinmi went for a walk with the ball and instead of been called for traveling the play went on and Magloire was called for another phantom call played only 6 minutes and two boards.
For Dallas the team still does not look right but the Big Dirk was the one of two starters in double figures with with 18 points as Shawn Marion also had 12 points but big Dirk was not done as he had 4 assists, 4 blocks, and a steal. While Brendan Haywood had 9 boards in the game and 7 of them in the first half (all 5 of his offensive boards).
Now the Raptors head to Walt Disney World for New Years' Eve as they will be playing New Years' Day in Orlando and lets hope they have the same effort as tonight
Friday, December 30, 2011
Raptors start a long weekend road trip in Dallas to face an angry bear in the mavs
Raptors are in for a hard long night and after the miracle in Dallas when on December 28,2010 the Raptors went into Dallas little to nobody and the Dallas Mavericks were without the Big Dirk. Tonight when the Raptors lace up their shoes and set on the floor with the Maverick they will be facing a very angry Big Dirk especially after Keven Durant with the Mavs winning with 1.4 seconds and took the inbound pass and was open for a three to win the game at the buzzer.
The 0 and 3 Mavs have been given up 108 points a game which means that they are missing their defensive coach Dwayne Casey who is now the head coach of the Toronto Raptors and Mavs will be getting a massive game from Big Dirk who is get with the fad away jumper which is untouchable and Andrea Bargnani could only wish to have a jump like Big Dirk.
If the Raptors have a chance to win the game then Boo Carter will be the one tossing up the rock and because he still has not figured out that he is not the man and that he needs to be a team player as he has shot 8 for 22 in the 58 minutes he has played in the Mavs three losses and he has 3 for 8 from the free throw lines and 5 for 9 from three and has a total of 6 boards in the season. Jason Terry is the second leading scorer for the Mavs with 15 boards and the team has been shooting just over 40% and are averaging 26 boards a game and the Raptors will need a 30 minute performance from DeMar DeRozan who has played well in the fourth quarter of both the Raptors first two games.
The Raptors will need to bring four hard hats each (one for each of the quarters) and will need Ed Davis and Amir Johnson (who is averaging 11.5) just crushing the boards because if the Raptors play tough on the boards then I do not know if the Mavs supporting cast like Shawn Marion and that Kardashian Lamar Odom.
Then they head to Orlando and New York Sunday and Monday which is the first three in four night this season
Tom Mehegan
The 0 and 3 Mavs have been given up 108 points a game which means that they are missing their defensive coach Dwayne Casey who is now the head coach of the Toronto Raptors and Mavs will be getting a massive game from Big Dirk who is get with the fad away jumper which is untouchable and Andrea Bargnani could only wish to have a jump like Big Dirk.
If the Raptors have a chance to win the game then Boo Carter will be the one tossing up the rock and because he still has not figured out that he is not the man and that he needs to be a team player as he has shot 8 for 22 in the 58 minutes he has played in the Mavs three losses and he has 3 for 8 from the free throw lines and 5 for 9 from three and has a total of 6 boards in the season. Jason Terry is the second leading scorer for the Mavs with 15 boards and the team has been shooting just over 40% and are averaging 26 boards a game and the Raptors will need a 30 minute performance from DeMar DeRozan who has played well in the fourth quarter of both the Raptors first two games.
The Raptors will need to bring four hard hats each (one for each of the quarters) and will need Ed Davis and Amir Johnson (who is averaging 11.5) just crushing the boards because if the Raptors play tough on the boards then I do not know if the Mavs supporting cast like Shawn Marion and that Kardashian Lamar Odom.
Then they head to Orlando and New York Sunday and Monday which is the first three in four night this season
Tom Mehegan
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Toronto Raptors Game 2 - 1-1 - Raptors had too many turnovers against the Pacers in sluggish match
The Crowd was loud but the team themselves struggled throughout the first half of the game with the Pacers leading 38-34 at half with the Pacers shooting under 40% in the first half while the Raptors shoot 40% from the floor and the Pacers' Paul George had 13 points in the first half with 8 points in the second quarter and the Raptors' Andrea Bargnani had 13 points with 9 of them in the second quarter.
In the second half of the game the Pacers and the Raptors both scored over 50 points in the half with the Pacers outscored Raptors 52-51 and won the game 90-85 which came down to the Raptors being down by 11 points with 6 minutes to go in the game and then the Raptors started to chip away at the lead with them getting it down to 5 points with 3 minutes left and the Raptors got it down to two points with a three point play. Then the Pacers got lucky with their offense as George lost the ball and it went right to Danny Granger who hit a three pointer to give the Pacers a 86-81 lead and with the Pacers up 3 points with 30.9 seconds the Raptors decided to play straight up defense and David West made a tough shot to finish the Raptors who are now 1 and 1.
The Raptors were lead by DeMar DeRozan who had 22 points with 16 of the Raptors 30 fourth quarter points and Andrea Bargnani had 21 points with 13 in the first half and Amir Johnson had 10 boards. The Pacers were lead by Danny Granger had 21 points and Paul George had 18 points and both Roy Hibbert (12 points and 10 boards) and Darren Collison (10 points and 12 boards) both had double-double.
The Pacers made 19 (of 22) free throws which was almost three time more than the Raptors 7 (of 13) free throws while the Raptors had three more turnovers (19-16) with 7 turnovers in the first quarter and 6 in the third quarter which is why the Raptors lost the game because the Raptors shot 45.6% and held the Pacers to 39.5% while the had 21 assists on the 36 made shoots from the floor.
Raps are 1 and 1
Tom Mehegan
In the second half of the game the Pacers and the Raptors both scored over 50 points in the half with the Pacers outscored Raptors 52-51 and won the game 90-85 which came down to the Raptors being down by 11 points with 6 minutes to go in the game and then the Raptors started to chip away at the lead with them getting it down to 5 points with 3 minutes left and the Raptors got it down to two points with a three point play. Then the Pacers got lucky with their offense as George lost the ball and it went right to Danny Granger who hit a three pointer to give the Pacers a 86-81 lead and with the Pacers up 3 points with 30.9 seconds the Raptors decided to play straight up defense and David West made a tough shot to finish the Raptors who are now 1 and 1.
The Raptors were lead by DeMar DeRozan who had 22 points with 16 of the Raptors 30 fourth quarter points and Andrea Bargnani had 21 points with 13 in the first half and Amir Johnson had 10 boards. The Pacers were lead by Danny Granger had 21 points and Paul George had 18 points and both Roy Hibbert (12 points and 10 boards) and Darren Collison (10 points and 12 boards) both had double-double.
The Pacers made 19 (of 22) free throws which was almost three time more than the Raptors 7 (of 13) free throws while the Raptors had three more turnovers (19-16) with 7 turnovers in the first quarter and 6 in the third quarter which is why the Raptors lost the game because the Raptors shot 45.6% and held the Pacers to 39.5% while the had 21 assists on the 36 made shoots from the floor.
Raps are 1 and 1
Tom Mehegan
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Pacers and Raptors preview for tomorrow home opener
Raptors will have a chance to win two wins in a row as the Indiana Pacers come to town for the Raptors home opener and they are coming into town off a victory against the Detroit Pistons 91-79 in their home opener. So tomorrow night @ the ACC @ 6:00 the Raptors who won only 16 games @ the ACC last season and the Pacers who made the playoffs last season and only won 12 road games last season and the Raptors need to dominate opponents at home and should win 25 games @ home with opposite leaving the ACC without being battered and bruised.
The Pacers are much better at home than on the road and they have two board crashers of the board in both Roy Hibbert who had 14 and David West who had 12 in the game against the Pistons and it will be a challenge for Ed Davis to use his mass away from the basket and be tougher going up for boards and Amir Johnson will have to play as hard as he did against the Cavs on Monday when he took down 13 rebounds and 13 points in the game.
Also Danny Granger is the guy who puts put the most shots up with 18 shots and if a guy like Bagnani or Johnson can keep Granger away from the hoop because the further away from the hoop as Granger his shooting% goes way down and the Raptors need to not give up easy points and continue the strong defense that they played against the Cavs as they played tough defense for two thirds of the game.
The Raptors played well with the ball because they shared the ball as 83.3% of the shoots that were made had an assist which is a great formula for easy baskets and the better defense will give Amir and DeMar easy baskets which could build to stronger season than expected.
See U later
Tom Mehegan
The Pacers are much better at home than on the road and they have two board crashers of the board in both Roy Hibbert who had 14 and David West who had 12 in the game against the Pistons and it will be a challenge for Ed Davis to use his mass away from the basket and be tougher going up for boards and Amir Johnson will have to play as hard as he did against the Cavs on Monday when he took down 13 rebounds and 13 points in the game.
Also Danny Granger is the guy who puts put the most shots up with 18 shots and if a guy like Bagnani or Johnson can keep Granger away from the hoop because the further away from the hoop as Granger his shooting% goes way down and the Raptors need to not give up easy points and continue the strong defense that they played against the Cavs as they played tough defense for two thirds of the game.
The Raptors played well with the ball because they shared the ball as 83.3% of the shoots that were made had an assist which is a great formula for easy baskets and the better defense will give Amir and DeMar easy baskets which could build to stronger season than expected.
See U later
Tom Mehegan
Monday, December 26, 2011
The Raptors defense in the fourth quarter allowed them to beat the young Cavs
The game with 9 minutes left in the game the Raptors were up 2 points 82-80 after they had been up 15 points in the third quarter but then the Raptors put up a defensive stand against the Cavs which was some of the best defensive has seen the Raptors played in a long time as over the span of 8 and a half minutes the Raptors only allowed 11 Cavs points while they built up lead back up to 10 @ 101-91.
The Raptors in their 104-96 victory the Raps had four of their five starters were in double figures lead by DeMar DeRozen and Jose Calderon who both had 15 points in the game and Calderon had a double double with his 11 assists. Amir Johnson as a starter as he had a double double with 13 points and 13 boards in the game and off the bench the Raptors had double figures from Leandro Barbosa and Ed Davis who both had 14 points and also Jerryd Bayless had 10 points.
The Raptors had 35 assists on 42 made shots which means they had an assist on 83.3% their made shots and they out rebounded the Cavs 45-37 and they had 9 blocks in the first half which was a franchise high for a game. The Raptors had a 10 point lead @ halftime 52-42 and the Raptors shoot 53.7% and their defense held the Cavs to 34.1% shooting but in the first 15 minutes of the second half the Cavs outscored the Raps 38-30 and they shot over 50% in that time.
The Cavs really showed how inexperienced they are as the three veterans on team that took most of their shots Antawn Jamison (6 of 20), Anderson Varejao (6 of 12), and Ramon Sessions (6 of 12) went 18 of 44 from the floor and the No. 1 draft pick in this past draft Kyrie Irving went 2 of 12 from the floor. Varejao controlled the boards with 10 and especially the offensive boards with 7 and Sessions had 18 points to lead the team and Irving lead them with 7 assists and they outscored the Raps from the free throw line as they made 20 of 28 lead by Canadian Tristan Thompson who went 6 of 8 (14 points in total) from the line while the Raps 11 of 13 and it took the Raps more than 40 minutes for the Raps to take their 9 shot from the line.
The Raptors were very lucky to get a lot of open shots and they made them and in the end the Raptors held the Cavs to 41.2 shooting from the floor while the Raptors shot 53.2 from the floor so they put together a great effort against the Cavs and if they tightened up their defensive even more than Dwayne Casey's plans will turn into wins because there are more winnable middle of the pack teams that the Raptors can beat with defensive effort.
Raptors win their season opener
Tom Mehegan
The Raptors in their 104-96 victory the Raps had four of their five starters were in double figures lead by DeMar DeRozen and Jose Calderon who both had 15 points in the game and Calderon had a double double with his 11 assists. Amir Johnson as a starter as he had a double double with 13 points and 13 boards in the game and off the bench the Raptors had double figures from Leandro Barbosa and Ed Davis who both had 14 points and also Jerryd Bayless had 10 points.
The Raptors had 35 assists on 42 made shots which means they had an assist on 83.3% their made shots and they out rebounded the Cavs 45-37 and they had 9 blocks in the first half which was a franchise high for a game. The Raptors had a 10 point lead @ halftime 52-42 and the Raptors shoot 53.7% and their defense held the Cavs to 34.1% shooting but in the first 15 minutes of the second half the Cavs outscored the Raps 38-30 and they shot over 50% in that time.
The Cavs really showed how inexperienced they are as the three veterans on team that took most of their shots Antawn Jamison (6 of 20), Anderson Varejao (6 of 12), and Ramon Sessions (6 of 12) went 18 of 44 from the floor and the No. 1 draft pick in this past draft Kyrie Irving went 2 of 12 from the floor. Varejao controlled the boards with 10 and especially the offensive boards with 7 and Sessions had 18 points to lead the team and Irving lead them with 7 assists and they outscored the Raps from the free throw line as they made 20 of 28 lead by Canadian Tristan Thompson who went 6 of 8 (14 points in total) from the line while the Raps 11 of 13 and it took the Raps more than 40 minutes for the Raps to take their 9 shot from the line.
The Raptors were very lucky to get a lot of open shots and they made them and in the end the Raptors held the Cavs to 41.2 shooting from the floor while the Raptors shot 53.2 from the floor so they put together a great effort against the Cavs and if they tightened up their defensive even more than Dwayne Casey's plans will turn into wins because there are more winnable middle of the pack teams that the Raptors can beat with defensive effort.
Raptors win their season opener
Tom Mehegan
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Tristan Thompson makes his NBA debut against hometown Raptors
Tristan Thompson who was born in the Greater Toronto Area and went down to Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey as a teenager to go to school and play basketball as a High School sophomore and then headed to the University of Texas where he played a year with the longhorns and put up 13 points with 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks a game in his 36 regular season games. So Tristan Thompson will be hitting the boards hard against Ed Davis and Reggie Evans which will be a huge test for the 20-year-old Thompson but if he gets one-on-one with Andrea Bargnani he will take apart him and put up huge numbers.
Also Kyrie Irving the No.1 pick in the 2012 draft will be coming off the bench and putting up points and to think that Demar DeRozan is the one who will likely be the one that needs to contest most of those shoots is scary as hell as DeRozan on the Raptors a team who has not shown a quince of defense is probably one of the weaker defenders and would like to just go shot for shot with Irving which would not be a great formula for a win for the raptors.
For the Raptors to be able to go into Cleveland and take game one of 66 it will take a good defensive effort because if the Raptors play hard defensively against Cleveland than the offense will come in easy baskets going the other way so Reggie and Ed can set the tone for the Raptors effort but the big question in the game will be if the rest of the team will follow their lead. Going into the game the Raptors with opponents shooting .482 from the floor and putting up 105.4 points a game which is embarrassing and if the Raptors want to win games they will need to hold as many opponents under 100 points and most likely under 95 points in a game along with opponents shooting% under 42% and closer to 40%. So it will come down to can Bargnani guard anyone and can DeRozan make life tougher for opposing shooting guards and will Jose Calderon be able to stay health one and two stay infront of opposing points and get his hands in the air to make the passes more difficult to complete or if Jerryd Bayless can come off the bench and show Calderon how its done.
The bench will be very important going forward with ANTHONY CARTER, JAMAAL MAGLIORE, RASUL BUTLER, AARON GRAY, and GARY FORBES having a lot of opportunities to show what they are made of in the 66 game season where the Raptors will be playing 3 in four nights and 4 in five nights and thats going to be the norm this season so when they are given an opportunity to eat up minutes they will need to work hard on the defense and create plays offensively to allow the starters the chance to take a breather.
First game on Boxing day Go Raps Go
Tom Mehegan
Also Kyrie Irving the No.1 pick in the 2012 draft will be coming off the bench and putting up points and to think that Demar DeRozan is the one who will likely be the one that needs to contest most of those shoots is scary as hell as DeRozan on the Raptors a team who has not shown a quince of defense is probably one of the weaker defenders and would like to just go shot for shot with Irving which would not be a great formula for a win for the raptors.
For the Raptors to be able to go into Cleveland and take game one of 66 it will take a good defensive effort because if the Raptors play hard defensively against Cleveland than the offense will come in easy baskets going the other way so Reggie and Ed can set the tone for the Raptors effort but the big question in the game will be if the rest of the team will follow their lead. Going into the game the Raptors with opponents shooting .482 from the floor and putting up 105.4 points a game which is embarrassing and if the Raptors want to win games they will need to hold as many opponents under 100 points and most likely under 95 points in a game along with opponents shooting% under 42% and closer to 40%. So it will come down to can Bargnani guard anyone and can DeRozan make life tougher for opposing shooting guards and will Jose Calderon be able to stay health one and two stay infront of opposing points and get his hands in the air to make the passes more difficult to complete or if Jerryd Bayless can come off the bench and show Calderon how its done.
The bench will be very important going forward with ANTHONY CARTER, JAMAAL MAGLIORE, RASUL BUTLER, AARON GRAY, and GARY FORBES having a lot of opportunities to show what they are made of in the 66 game season where the Raptors will be playing 3 in four nights and 4 in five nights and thats going to be the norm this season so when they are given an opportunity to eat up minutes they will need to work hard on the defense and create plays offensively to allow the starters the chance to take a breather.
First game on Boxing day Go Raps Go
Tom Mehegan
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Jamaal Magloire is finally playing for Canada but is it simply a tactic sell more tickets by the Raptors
So the guy who went to school down the street from me and was the reason that Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute was mentioned inside my high school Danforth Tech and how good the basketball team and it turned out to be Jamaal Magloire. Now it turns out that Magloire finally heading back to Toronto after years of people asking what if Magloire was a Raptor and has spent his first 11 seasons playing for teams down south with his first and most productive spot was with the Charlotte Hornets and his career peaked in 2004 when he was named to the Eastern Conference for the all-star game as he averaged 13.6 points and 10.3 rebounds a game. Then he moved around a lot by going from Charlotte to Milwaukee, Portland, New Jersey, and Dallas before landing in Miami for the last three seasons which included only playing 18 games off the bench last season.
Magloire who has had given team Canada a chance over his NBA career by not even coming out for a single training camp and shooting down requests for years to come and play for Canada at an Olympic trails and now after he has tried every where else he is coming back to Canada to give himself one last kick at the can to play Basketball in the NBA. Maybe 5 or 6 seasons ago I would maybe give Magloire a chance with the Raptors but the 6'11 center is a shell of the kind of player he was in Charlotte and will most likely be a very deep bench player as he has to get in line behind the likes of Ed Davis, Reggie Evans, Andrea Bargnani, and the Johnson boys to just name a few.
So Magloire is saying all the right things but the words are so hollow as he is saying “I’m not going to let my country, and this team down” as he has already let down the country by not representing it in Olympic qualifying and along with his “I want to leave some kind of legacy behind” and “I am the one that is gritty, will work hard and do whatever it takes to get wins at the end of the day” quotes it comes down to little to nothing left in the task to contribute anything.
It diffidently would be nice if he could push the likes of Bargnani and the Johnsons to work harder for their minutes on the court but the reality is that it is simply a marketing tactic just like bring in Master P at the turn of the century and on this club that will be hard pressed to play tough defense night in, night out to win games I do nor know how many extra tickets a 2011-12 Magloire will bring in for the Raptors.
I really wished he had taken time out of his off seasons to try and better Team Canada and he just has to look at how Steve Nash made himself a more well rounded player during his time on Team Canada
Tom Mehegan
Magloire who has had given team Canada a chance over his NBA career by not even coming out for a single training camp and shooting down requests for years to come and play for Canada at an Olympic trails and now after he has tried every where else he is coming back to Canada to give himself one last kick at the can to play Basketball in the NBA. Maybe 5 or 6 seasons ago I would maybe give Magloire a chance with the Raptors but the 6'11 center is a shell of the kind of player he was in Charlotte and will most likely be a very deep bench player as he has to get in line behind the likes of Ed Davis, Reggie Evans, Andrea Bargnani, and the Johnson boys to just name a few.
So Magloire is saying all the right things but the words are so hollow as he is saying “I’m not going to let my country, and this team down” as he has already let down the country by not representing it in Olympic qualifying and along with his “I want to leave some kind of legacy behind” and “I am the one that is gritty, will work hard and do whatever it takes to get wins at the end of the day” quotes it comes down to little to nothing left in the task to contribute anything.
It diffidently would be nice if he could push the likes of Bargnani and the Johnsons to work harder for their minutes on the court but the reality is that it is simply a marketing tactic just like bring in Master P at the turn of the century and on this club that will be hard pressed to play tough defense night in, night out to win games I do nor know how many extra tickets a 2011-12 Magloire will bring in for the Raptors.
I really wished he had taken time out of his off seasons to try and better Team Canada and he just has to look at how Steve Nash made himself a more well rounded player during his time on Team Canada
Tom Mehegan
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Raptors have a new head coach
The Raptors have picked their next head coach and it will be Dwane Casey who is the hot shot head coaching prospect as he has been credited with putting in the most effective zone defense in the NBA and helped the Dallas Mavericks win the NBA championship as his zone defense took apart the Miami Heat offense. Dwane Casey has been a head coach before with the Minnesota Timberwolves with a record of 53 - 69 and was 20 - 20 when he was fired in 2007 after 40 games into the 2006 - 07 season and he has been an assistant under some good coaches with George Karl and Nate McMillan with Seattle Super Sonics and most recently with Rick Carlisle in Dallas. He would of been the five Raptors head coach at the beginning of the 2003-04 season as he was a finalist for the job that Kevin O'Neil got and now he is going to be the eighth Raptors Head coach. He will need to get some defense out of some bad defensive players like Andrei Bargnani, Sonny Weems, Amir Johnson and DeMar DeRozan but players like Ed Davis will fit in nicely in a defensive system and should become a better player for it and even James Johnson could fit in well with the system and become a better player. If Reggie Evans gets the right deal to stay in Toronto he will feel right at home and would be a great leader for the defensive ballgame and besides that I do not know what kind of defensive player Bryan Colangelo can get through trades or free agency but he will need to do something to better the defensive qualities of this team. As only the Detroit had a worse defensive field goal shooting and nobody can win very many games allowing your opponents to shoot 48 % from the floor as your average and yes 60 point first halves and even 70 point halves came common place with the Raptors and teams shooting 60-70 % in a first half did happen a lot as well.
Brian Colangelo has to hope he made the right choice as he is on a very short leash right now but for the first time in franchise history the Raptors are putting their foot down and saying defense first as when Jay Triano talked about it that was what it was just talk and I know we had guys like Charles Oakley and Doug Christie who were able to shut the other teams top players down but the offense was very good at that point as well with Vince Carter before his franchise contract and he was still a beast on the offense.
The next thing to do is put it in the minds of the fans by instead of given away pizza every time the Raptors score a hundred do it when the Raptors hold their opponents under a hundred
Tom Mehegan
Brian Colangelo has to hope he made the right choice as he is on a very short leash right now but for the first time in franchise history the Raptors are putting their foot down and saying defense first as when Jay Triano talked about it that was what it was just talk and I know we had guys like Charles Oakley and Doug Christie who were able to shut the other teams top players down but the offense was very good at that point as well with Vince Carter before his franchise contract and he was still a beast on the offense.
The next thing to do is put it in the minds of the fans by instead of given away pizza every time the Raptors score a hundred do it when the Raptors hold their opponents under a hundred
Tom Mehegan
Sunday, June 19, 2011
5 former Raptors players that disrespected the Raptors franchise and did not want to be here
The Raptors players that disrespected the franchise
1. Alonzo Morning - Signed a 4 year contract in 2003 with the New Jersey Nets but then had his Kidney transplant and then played the next year in limited time with the Nets and complained to the media that he did not want to be with the Nets and was traded to Toronto. He did not want to play for Toronto even more and refused to play and was bought out to be able to return to the Heat and finished the season and then 3 more seasons with the Heat including the NBA championship in 2006.
2. Hedo Türkoğlu signed a 5 year / 53 million dollar deal with the Raptors heading into the 2009/10 season after have a great season with the Orlando Magic where they lost to the lakers in the NBA finals and he came in to Toronto and looked out of place from the very start but it was a game where he did not play because of a stomach flu and was spotted by fans partying late into the night after the game.
3. Hakeem Olajuwon signed a 3 years / 17 million and he netted only 9.8 points and 6 boards in 61 games in the 2001 - 2002 season and ended up retiring before the end the season to take a one day contract with the Houston Rockets who retired his jersey before the end of the season.
4. Vince Carter and I am only looking at after he went on the plane to North Carolina to have the Tar heels retire his jersey just before game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi-final and then signed a 6 year and 94 million with the Raptors and demanded that the Raptors sign Olajuwon, Alvin Williams who destroyed his leg and could not play again, and Antonio Davis. Then Carter was not the same again as he would fall on the floor and roll around for the next 3 + seasons where people were looking in the 300 level for the sniper.
5. Antonio Davis after a season and a bit after signing a huge contract he decided that his kids could not be in the Toronto school board and sent the kids and his wife back to the states and demanded to be traded back to the states and was traded for Jalen Rose but was traded back to Toronto in 2006 and he played 8 games before being injured and missing 12 games before being put on waivers and retired.
These are not the only reason that the Raptors have only won one playoff series in 16 years but they did not help
Tom Mehegan
1. Alonzo Morning - Signed a 4 year contract in 2003 with the New Jersey Nets but then had his Kidney transplant and then played the next year in limited time with the Nets and complained to the media that he did not want to be with the Nets and was traded to Toronto. He did not want to play for Toronto even more and refused to play and was bought out to be able to return to the Heat and finished the season and then 3 more seasons with the Heat including the NBA championship in 2006.
2. Hedo Türkoğlu signed a 5 year / 53 million dollar deal with the Raptors heading into the 2009/10 season after have a great season with the Orlando Magic where they lost to the lakers in the NBA finals and he came in to Toronto and looked out of place from the very start but it was a game where he did not play because of a stomach flu and was spotted by fans partying late into the night after the game.
3. Hakeem Olajuwon signed a 3 years / 17 million and he netted only 9.8 points and 6 boards in 61 games in the 2001 - 2002 season and ended up retiring before the end the season to take a one day contract with the Houston Rockets who retired his jersey before the end of the season.
4. Vince Carter and I am only looking at after he went on the plane to North Carolina to have the Tar heels retire his jersey just before game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi-final and then signed a 6 year and 94 million with the Raptors and demanded that the Raptors sign Olajuwon, Alvin Williams who destroyed his leg and could not play again, and Antonio Davis. Then Carter was not the same again as he would fall on the floor and roll around for the next 3 + seasons where people were looking in the 300 level for the sniper.
5. Antonio Davis after a season and a bit after signing a huge contract he decided that his kids could not be in the Toronto school board and sent the kids and his wife back to the states and demanded to be traded back to the states and was traded for Jalen Rose but was traded back to Toronto in 2006 and he played 8 games before being injured and missing 12 games before being put on waivers and retired.
These are not the only reason that the Raptors have only won one playoff series in 16 years but they did not help
Tom Mehegan
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Raptors move Triano upstairs while Colangelo gets ready to make a decision that will make or break his time in T O
Toronto Raptors GM Brian Colangelo decided to not pick up the opions on Jay Triano's contract and is now looking for a head coach that can be successful as it is Brian's last kick at the can as the Raptors GM because he has a 3 year deal with third year being an organization option which means if Brian has a bad season next season he will be fired. Jay Traino had a 87 - 142 (.380) and now Brian needs to take a step back and make the right choice as the next Raptors head coach with the background of defense first and being able to motivate the players to go beyond their ability on the court to make them into better players which hopefully makes the team into a more successful team on the court and in the stands. It is very important to not just choice a friend U get along with like Mike D'Antoni who is a run and gun coach who could not spot defense even if it was a 18-wheeler because he would be run over by it first and with the parts the Raptors have it would be like putting a square pag into a round hole and on the court it would be like being a garbage dump because it would stink so badly that U throw up. So Brian has probably one of his most important and toughest decisions that he has had to make in his long career in the NBA and it will be a life or death kind of decision and for starts he has Jay for the time being as his personal assistant at least for 2 weeks when Jay's contract runs out.
Go Raptors
Tom Mehegan
Go Raptors
Tom Mehegan
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Toronto Raptors come out on the short end of the stick when it comes to the lottery balls
The Raptors were the unluckiest team at the NBA lottery as they came in with the third best chance to win the lottery (15.5%) and get the first overall draft pick and instead they dropped down to the 5 pick in the draft. This means the Raptors will need to do a lot of research on the second teer of the prospect as Derrick Williams and Kyrie Irving will be off the board by the time the Raptors will be picking and maybe even Kamba Walker will be off the board so they will have to find a gem with a little less sparkle that will be an outstanding player like a go to guy in crunch time and also be able to be a great one-two punch with DeMar DeRozan to help this team grow into a playoff contender sooner than later. I feel this way because if the Raptors find the right guy for the NBA he can make a bigger impact than other sports as their are only 5 players on the court at one time and playing something like 2/3 of a game instead of just being one of the guys in other sports. So realistically the Raptors have to go after the best available player on the board according to the people in charge of decision making for the Raptors instead of going after a certain position to be filled.
So who will be the decision maker for the Raptors at that time on June 23Rd will be Bryan Colangelo who has reportedly been resigned by the Raptors on a two-year-deal with an option likely on the end to make it a 3 year deal. He is going to be trying to rebuild the Raptors Organization into a playoff team which the Raptors have not been in since the 2007-08 season with the team he has put together has a 183-227 record over his 5 season in control with the Raptors having 47 win season in year one which makes the 4 seasons look much worst as they have a 146-192 during that time.
So the return of Bryan Colangelo brings lots of question with it like will he be willing to pull the plug on Jay Triano and if so would be Mike D'Antoni next in line. Will Colangelo be able to pull the cord on his first draft pick as a Raptors GM meaning Andrei Bargnani and shipping him out and really starting something new. What kind of free agents will he be able to attracted to Toronto to make this team better short and long term because if he fails to get the job done this season he will mostly walking the plank so it might be a smart move to get some fresh ideas in the head coach position.
Take your time and think because U need to make the right choice
Tom Mehegan
So who will be the decision maker for the Raptors at that time on June 23Rd will be Bryan Colangelo who has reportedly been resigned by the Raptors on a two-year-deal with an option likely on the end to make it a 3 year deal. He is going to be trying to rebuild the Raptors Organization into a playoff team which the Raptors have not been in since the 2007-08 season with the team he has put together has a 183-227 record over his 5 season in control with the Raptors having 47 win season in year one which makes the 4 seasons look much worst as they have a 146-192 during that time.
So the return of Bryan Colangelo brings lots of question with it like will he be willing to pull the plug on Jay Triano and if so would be Mike D'Antoni next in line. Will Colangelo be able to pull the cord on his first draft pick as a Raptors GM meaning Andrei Bargnani and shipping him out and really starting something new. What kind of free agents will he be able to attracted to Toronto to make this team better short and long term because if he fails to get the job done this season he will mostly walking the plank so it might be a smart move to get some fresh ideas in the head coach position.
Take your time and think because U need to make the right choice
Tom Mehegan
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The Raptors season is finally over and local boy Jamaal Magloire gets 11 fourth quarter rebounds
The standing room only crowd were disappointed as they could boo Bosh and LBJ when Herbie Kuhn announced the Miami Heat players don't dressed for the game as as all 3 kings were not dressed for the game as they had locked up No. 2 seed in the East and will play the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs.
So you had the guy who plays with the Canadian basketball team Joel Anthony and the guy who for whatever reason feels he is too good to play the Canadian basketball team Jamaal Magloire had lead roles in this game along with the first ever 100 million dollar player Juwan Howard who did not get 100 mil because a Pat Riley blunder as he had Alonzo Morning signing his deal before Howard did and if Howard signed before Alonzo it would of been good but the NBA stepped and nixed the deal.
So to begin the game they had DeMar DeRozan take the mic and basically say " thank you for supporting the team this season and we will be better next season" and then there is Joey Dorsey who let his 20 (rebound) and 10 (points) game go to his head as he got a hair cut since the last game and it looks like there is an arrow in the back of his head.
Eddie House in the first quarter almost outscored the Raptors by himself as the Raptors scored 20 points and House scored 18 as the Heat led after 1 quarter 29-20 and the Raptors went 10 for 14 from the free throw line. The Miami Heat started the quarter 2 of 7 and ended the quarter 9 for 11 from the floor while the Raptors also started 2 of 7 but did not do as well the rest of the quarter and Jamaal Magloire had 5 boards in the quarter.
So the Heat started the second quarter on a 14-9 run but then the Raptors outscored the Heat 22-7 with help from Jerryd Bayless who had 10 points and 3 assists and James Johnson had 4 points and 2 assists and 2 boards while Ed Davis had 5 boards as the Raptors were only up a point 51-50 at halftime.
Third quarter the Heat outscored the Raptors 20-18 and took a 70-69 lead into the fourth quarter and the final quarter in the Raptors 2010-2011 season and Eddie House had 8 points in the quarter and Mike Bibby scored 5 points and DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 6 points.
The Fourth quarter the Raptors had already cleaned out their lockers and headed in their separate direction (not really that happens between 9 and 12 tomorrow yes that is what they are talking about on the radio broadcast tonight) as the Heat started on a 17-2 run to open the quarter and the Heat lead 87-71 led by Eddie House who had 9 points and the original 100 million dollar man Juwan Howard had 6 points of the Heat points during the run. Eastern Collegiate alumni Jamaal Magloire had 11 boards in the fourth quarter and the Raptors scored 10 points in the quarter and Juwan Howard scored 8 points in the quarter.
The Raptors have another 60 lose season and Jamaal Magloire had amazing fourth quarter with 5 points and 11 boards while Eddie House went off like he was a superstar with 35 points in the game and Mario Chalmers had 13 assists in the game and for the Raptors they had 28 second half points while Jerryd Bayless scored 19 points and DeMar DeRozan scored 16 points.
Thankfully the season is over and now lets hope for something positive in the off-season like a new coach, a great player in the draft or through free agency, and maybe a new GM to boot
Tom Mehegan
So you had the guy who plays with the Canadian basketball team Joel Anthony and the guy who for whatever reason feels he is too good to play the Canadian basketball team Jamaal Magloire had lead roles in this game along with the first ever 100 million dollar player Juwan Howard who did not get 100 mil because a Pat Riley blunder as he had Alonzo Morning signing his deal before Howard did and if Howard signed before Alonzo it would of been good but the NBA stepped and nixed the deal.
So to begin the game they had DeMar DeRozan take the mic and basically say " thank you for supporting the team this season and we will be better next season" and then there is Joey Dorsey who let his 20 (rebound) and 10 (points) game go to his head as he got a hair cut since the last game and it looks like there is an arrow in the back of his head.
Eddie House in the first quarter almost outscored the Raptors by himself as the Raptors scored 20 points and House scored 18 as the Heat led after 1 quarter 29-20 and the Raptors went 10 for 14 from the free throw line. The Miami Heat started the quarter 2 of 7 and ended the quarter 9 for 11 from the floor while the Raptors also started 2 of 7 but did not do as well the rest of the quarter and Jamaal Magloire had 5 boards in the quarter.
So the Heat started the second quarter on a 14-9 run but then the Raptors outscored the Heat 22-7 with help from Jerryd Bayless who had 10 points and 3 assists and James Johnson had 4 points and 2 assists and 2 boards while Ed Davis had 5 boards as the Raptors were only up a point 51-50 at halftime.
Third quarter the Heat outscored the Raptors 20-18 and took a 70-69 lead into the fourth quarter and the final quarter in the Raptors 2010-2011 season and Eddie House had 8 points in the quarter and Mike Bibby scored 5 points and DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 6 points.
The Fourth quarter the Raptors had already cleaned out their lockers and headed in their separate direction (not really that happens between 9 and 12 tomorrow yes that is what they are talking about on the radio broadcast tonight) as the Heat started on a 17-2 run to open the quarter and the Heat lead 87-71 led by Eddie House who had 9 points and the original 100 million dollar man Juwan Howard had 6 points of the Heat points during the run. Eastern Collegiate alumni Jamaal Magloire had 11 boards in the fourth quarter and the Raptors scored 10 points in the quarter and Juwan Howard scored 8 points in the quarter.
The Raptors have another 60 lose season and Jamaal Magloire had amazing fourth quarter with 5 points and 11 boards while Eddie House went off like he was a superstar with 35 points in the game and Mario Chalmers had 13 assists in the game and for the Raptors they had 28 second half points while Jerryd Bayless scored 19 points and DeMar DeRozan scored 16 points.
Thankfully the season is over and now lets hope for something positive in the off-season like a new coach, a great player in the draft or through free agency, and maybe a new GM to boot
Tom Mehegan
The standing room only crowd were disappointed as they could boo Bosh and LBJ when Herbie Kuhn announced the Miami Heat players don't dressed for the game as as all 3 kings were not dressed for the game as they had locked up No. 2 seed in the East and will play the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs.
So you had the guy who plays with the Canadian basketball team Joel Anthony and the guy who for whatever reason feels he is too good to play the Canadian basketball team Jamaal Magloire had lead roles in this game along with the first ever 100 million dollar player Juwan Howard who did not get 100 mil because a Pat Riley blunder as he had Alonzo Morning signing his deal before Howard did and if Howard signed before Alonzo it would of been good but the NBA stepped and nixed the deal.
Eddie House in the first quarter almost outscored the Raptors by himself as the Raptors scored 20 points and House scored 18 as the Heat led after 1 quarter 29-20 and the Raptors went 10 for 14 from the free throw line. The Miami Heat started the quarter 2 of 7 and ended the quarter 9 for 11 from the floor while the Raptors also started 2 of 7 but did not do as well the rest of the quarter and Jamaal Magloire had 5 boards in the quarter.
So the Heat started the second quarter on a 14-9 run but then the Raptors outscored the Heat 22-7 with help from Jerryd Bayless who had 10 points and 3 assists and James Johnson had 4 points and 2 assists and 2 boards while Ed Davis had 5 boards as the Raptors were only down a point 51-50 at halftime.
Third quarter
So you had the guy who plays with the Canadian basketball team Joel Anthony and the guy who for whatever reason feels he is too good to play the Canadian basketball team Jamaal Magloire had lead roles in this game along with the first ever 100 million dollar player Juwan Howard who did not get 100 mil because a Pat Riley blunder as he had Alonzo Morning signing his deal before Howard did and if Howard signed before Alonzo it would of been good but the NBA stepped and nixed the deal.
Eddie House in the first quarter almost outscored the Raptors by himself as the Raptors scored 20 points and House scored 18 as the Heat led after 1 quarter 29-20 and the Raptors went 10 for 14 from the free throw line. The Miami Heat started the quarter 2 of 7 and ended the quarter 9 for 11 from the floor while the Raptors also started 2 of 7 but did not do as well the rest of the quarter and Jamaal Magloire had 5 boards in the quarter.
So the Heat started the second quarter on a 14-9 run but then the Raptors outscored the Heat 22-7 with help from Jerryd Bayless who had 10 points and 3 assists and James Johnson had 4 points and 2 assists and 2 boards while Ed Davis had 5 boards as the Raptors were only down a point 51-50 at halftime.
Third quarter
Monday, April 11, 2011
Joey Dorsey starts a game and 20 rebound game
The Raptors did not get off to a very good start as the Bucks led 9-4 and then went on a 29-16 run to lead 33-25 after the first half and Joey Dorsey placed Reggie Evans in the starting lineup and did his best Reggie Evans impression as he had 7 boards in the first quarter and went 3 of 4 from free throw line and 0 for 5 from the floor. Ed Davis shoot 4 of 5 from the floor and had 9 points along with 2 boards while Jerryd Bayless had 8 points and 4 assists and DeMar DeRozan had 6 points along with 2 boards and an assist. The Bucks got all 25 points in the quarter from their starters which was led by John Salmons had 9 points while Carlos Delfino had 3 boards to go with his 5 points and Drew Gooden had 2 assists to go with his 6 points and a board along with a block.
The Raptors got a 5-2 run to begin the second quarter to open up a 38-27 11 point lead but ended up leading 51-46 @ halftime and DeMar DeRozan had 7 of his 13 first half points in this quarter and James Johnson had 6 points in the quarter and Joey Dorsey has 5 boards in the quarter and 12 in the half but was 0 for 2 from the floor in the quarter and 0 for 7 in the half. For the Bucks were led by John Salmons had 4 points which was the same from Earl Boykins and Corey Maggette had 3 points while the Raptors led in boards (26-16) and the Bucks led in assists (10-8).
The Raptors played the lead like a yo-yo as the Bucks got the first 5 points of the quarter to make it 52-51 Raptors and the Raptors built the lead again but the Bucks tied the game @ 61 and then the Raptors went on a 7-2 run to give themselves a 5 points and the Raptors led going into the fourth quarter 71-69. The Raptors were led by Jerryd Bayless who had 8 points and an assist while Joey Dorsey had 4 boards along with Ed Davis had 4 boards and the Bucks were led by John Salmons had 6 points and Brandon Jennings had 8 points.
The Bucks begun the fourth quarter by scoring the first 2 points to tie the game and then the Raptors scored 6 straight points to make it 77-71 Raptors but then the Raptors were shutout for 5:44 as the Bucks scored 15 straight points 86-77 and then Ed Davis had a 3-point play he made good and DeMar DeRozan did not and Bayless scored 2 free throws as they had a 7-2 run to make it 88-84 but did not get it anu closer.
Joey Dorsey had an incredible game and I do not know why guys like this have to sit on the bench and just watch asleep players on the court as he had a 20 (boards) and 10 (points) game and he should not be sitting on the bench as even with a few big minute games he has 4 double-doubles. When the Raptors look at 15 point fourth the question has to asked where was DeMar DeRozan in the second half who had only 4 second half points while John Salmons 24 points (7 boards), Brandon Jennings (6 boards, 4 steals, and 3 assists) had 21 points, and Drew Gooden 19 points (11 boards, 5 assists, and 2 blocks). Ed Davis had a great 3 quarters with 15 points and 11 boards in the game while Jerryd Bayless had 20 points with 4 boards, 5 assists, and 4 steals while Davis and Dorsey helped the Raptors bring down 50 boards in the game compared to the Bucks 45 boards but the Bucks led with a 29-24 advantage in the second half.
Bosh finishes off the season Wednesday
Tom Mehegan
The Raptors got a 5-2 run to begin the second quarter to open up a 38-27 11 point lead but ended up leading 51-46 @ halftime and DeMar DeRozan had 7 of his 13 first half points in this quarter and James Johnson had 6 points in the quarter and Joey Dorsey has 5 boards in the quarter and 12 in the half but was 0 for 2 from the floor in the quarter and 0 for 7 in the half. For the Bucks were led by John Salmons had 4 points which was the same from Earl Boykins and Corey Maggette had 3 points while the Raptors led in boards (26-16) and the Bucks led in assists (10-8).
The Raptors played the lead like a yo-yo as the Bucks got the first 5 points of the quarter to make it 52-51 Raptors and the Raptors built the lead again but the Bucks tied the game @ 61 and then the Raptors went on a 7-2 run to give themselves a 5 points and the Raptors led going into the fourth quarter 71-69. The Raptors were led by Jerryd Bayless who had 8 points and an assist while Joey Dorsey had 4 boards along with Ed Davis had 4 boards and the Bucks were led by John Salmons had 6 points and Brandon Jennings had 8 points.
The Bucks begun the fourth quarter by scoring the first 2 points to tie the game and then the Raptors scored 6 straight points to make it 77-71 Raptors but then the Raptors were shutout for 5:44 as the Bucks scored 15 straight points 86-77 and then Ed Davis had a 3-point play he made good and DeMar DeRozan did not and Bayless scored 2 free throws as they had a 7-2 run to make it 88-84 but did not get it anu closer.
Joey Dorsey had an incredible game and I do not know why guys like this have to sit on the bench and just watch asleep players on the court as he had a 20 (boards) and 10 (points) game and he should not be sitting on the bench as even with a few big minute games he has 4 double-doubles. When the Raptors look at 15 point fourth the question has to asked where was DeMar DeRozan in the second half who had only 4 second half points while John Salmons 24 points (7 boards), Brandon Jennings (6 boards, 4 steals, and 3 assists) had 21 points, and Drew Gooden 19 points (11 boards, 5 assists, and 2 blocks). Ed Davis had a great 3 quarters with 15 points and 11 boards in the game while Jerryd Bayless had 20 points with 4 boards, 5 assists, and 4 steals while Davis and Dorsey helped the Raptors bring down 50 boards in the game compared to the Bucks 45 boards but the Bucks led with a 29-24 advantage in the second half.
Bosh finishes off the season Wednesday
Tom Mehegan
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Raptors played the kind of game that they should have been play most of the season
The Raptors played a game that they should of played more often than not as they schooled the New Jersey Nets 61 - 42 at halftime and the thing is that there are way more New Jersey Nets in the NBA than Boston Celtics and should be able to play like they did tonight in more of games against teams like the nets and it diffidently has to do more with heart and determination than pure talent. So the Raptors really did a number on the Nets as DeMar DeRozan had 16 points, James Johnson had 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists, Ed Davis had 12 points and 6 boards, and Reggie Evans had 8 boards in the first half. In the second half the Raptors were lead by Jerryd Bayless who had 14 of his team leading 19 points in the second half but no assists while Reggie Evans had another 7 boards and the Raptors had all their starters had at least 18 points except Reggie Evans as Ed Davis had 18 points, 8 boards, 3 blocks, and 2 assists while James Johnson had 18 points, 6 assists, 6 boards, and 3 steals and finally DeMar DeRozan had 18 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Going into the fourth quarter the Raptors were up 82-62 but then they slacked off just enough to make the game interesting as the Raptors gave up like 12 points off the Raptors turnovers in the quarter and almost 30 points in the game the Raptors gave the Nets on their 18 turnovers and the Nets outscored the Raptors 30-17 in the quarter and squeaked to the end of the game and still won 99-92. Also Julian Wright was given the solid minutes in the game with 25 and he performed well with 10 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists in the game while for the Nets brook Lopez was the only Net to show up the whole game as he had 35 points with 11 of 14 from the line and 11 boards and then Sacha Vujacic had 8 fourth quarter points to be the only other Net with double figure points with 19.
The Raptors have to be the only team that gets booed off the floor when they win a home game as Ed Davis held the ball at the end of the game and the fans fell a point short of their free pizza slice which is not needed. If they wanted to continue this promotion they should do something like if the Raptors hold their opponents under 100 points than the fans get their pizza and this would bring a different environment to the basketball game as the fans would be looking more for the good defensive plays to keep the opponent under a 100 would be cheered.
2 games left in this horrible season
Tom Mehegan
The Raptors have to be the only team that gets booed off the floor when they win a home game as Ed Davis held the ball at the end of the game and the fans fell a point short of their free pizza slice which is not needed. If they wanted to continue this promotion they should do something like if the Raptors hold their opponents under 100 points than the fans get their pizza and this would bring a different environment to the basketball game as the fans would be looking more for the good defensive plays to keep the opponent under a 100 would be cheered.
2 games left in this horrible season
Tom Mehegan
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Jay Triano ejected from the game for arguing
Jay Triano was ejected from last night's game when Andre Iguodala blocked a Reggie Evan's lay-up and Evans was chirping about it not being a goaltending call and was given a tech going into a timeout and Triano was given 2 techs and thrown from the game.
The most surprising thing about this is that he has not been tossed from more games as he is continently chirping at the refs and because the team lacks any real effort especially on defense and like when they get an offensive foul when they finally go to the basket or on defense a Raptor player for once playing tight defense and getting a questionable defensive blocking foul. This is like showing the Refs up because no Raptor player deserve a respect call so when Jay Triano complains about a call or a non-call it is really disrespectful and if Triano ever payed attention to what was happening on the court he would learn that when he complains about something the refs in return the Raptors usually get another foul against them.
So if Triano wants to give him a call or be basically more favorable to the Raptors he first if he wants to try to get the opponent in foul trouble he needs to have his players getting the ball closer to the basket and backing down their opponent and getting a layup basket and if a player like DeMar DeRozan going to the basket continently every game then he would get the calls. When they continue to throw up 20-25 foot jumpers all game long then they will not get the call because they would not deserve it.
Bye Bye Jay Triano
Tom Mehegan
The most surprising thing about this is that he has not been tossed from more games as he is continently chirping at the refs and because the team lacks any real effort especially on defense and like when they get an offensive foul when they finally go to the basket or on defense a Raptor player for once playing tight defense and getting a questionable defensive blocking foul. This is like showing the Refs up because no Raptor player deserve a respect call so when Jay Triano complains about a call or a non-call it is really disrespectful and if Triano ever payed attention to what was happening on the court he would learn that when he complains about something the refs in return the Raptors usually get another foul against them.
So if Triano wants to give him a call or be basically more favorable to the Raptors he first if he wants to try to get the opponent in foul trouble he needs to have his players getting the ball closer to the basket and backing down their opponent and getting a layup basket and if a player like DeMar DeRozan going to the basket continently every game then he would get the calls. When they continue to throw up 20-25 foot jumpers all game long then they will not get the call because they would not deserve it.
Bye Bye Jay Triano
Tom Mehegan
Friday, April 8, 2011
Julian Wright gets real playing time but in the end Bayless misses a game tying 3 as the Sixers win
Julian Wright got some real playing time as he played 26 minutes and contributed with a pair of boards along with 4 assists and a steal and a block in the game and left it all on the floor and maybe will get some more playing time before he becomes a free agent as the Raptors will not give him a contract. Reggie (15 boards) and Ed (10 boards) dominated the glass for the Raptors as they out rebounded the Sixers (41-30) while Jerryd Bayless did actually performed his Point Guard duties with 8 assists while both James Johnson and Julian Wright had 4 each as the Raptors out assisted the Sixers (22-20) and it was a chance to show how a number of players can move the ball.
The Sixers took a 54-42 lead to half and then the Raptors out and outscored the Sixers 30-19 in the third quarter which meant that the Raptors were down a point (73-72) going into the fourth quarter where Andre Iguodala had 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the Sixers build up a 96-87 lead as they kept the Raptors at bay when Jerryd Bayless missed a tying 3-ball with 2 seconds left and then the Sixers hit to free throws and walked off with a 98-93 win.
For the Sixers Elton Brand put up 22 points (6 fourth quarter points) with 8 boards and Thaddeus Young had 20 points with 3 steals and Jrue Holiday had 13 points ans 11 assists. The Raptors were lead by DeMar DeRozan who had 27 points (8-19 from the floor and 11 of 12 from the line) as he also had 2 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals while Jerryd Bayless had 24 points (9 of 17 from the floor and 3 for 6 from 3 but a big miss at the end of the game) along with 4 boards and 8 assists compared to 4 turnovers which is a 2- to -1 ratio that should be still much better and Ed Davis had 14 points to add to his 10 boards.
Almost over
Tom Mehegan
The Sixers took a 54-42 lead to half and then the Raptors out and outscored the Sixers 30-19 in the third quarter which meant that the Raptors were down a point (73-72) going into the fourth quarter where Andre Iguodala had 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the Sixers build up a 96-87 lead as they kept the Raptors at bay when Jerryd Bayless missed a tying 3-ball with 2 seconds left and then the Sixers hit to free throws and walked off with a 98-93 win.
For the Sixers Elton Brand put up 22 points (6 fourth quarter points) with 8 boards and Thaddeus Young had 20 points with 3 steals and Jrue Holiday had 13 points ans 11 assists. The Raptors were lead by DeMar DeRozan who had 27 points (8-19 from the floor and 11 of 12 from the line) as he also had 2 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals while Jerryd Bayless had 24 points (9 of 17 from the floor and 3 for 6 from 3 but a big miss at the end of the game) along with 4 boards and 8 assists compared to 4 turnovers which is a 2- to -1 ratio that should be still much better and Ed Davis had 14 points to add to his 10 boards.
Almost over
Tom Mehegan
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Cavilers beat the Raptors and I now owe someone a donut
So just to give you an idea of how bad the Raptors were in the first half as Reggie Evans led the Raptors in scoring with 11 and had 7 of the Raptors 19 in the half. While the Cavilers were led by J.J. Hickson who had 21 points in the half along with 4 boards and in the first quarter the fattest point guard in the league had 8 assists which is huge for him and had 8 points and 9 assists in the half as the Raptors shot just over 30 % in the first quarter and one of the worest scoring team in the NBA Cleveland Cavilers shoot 60 % in the first quarter. The Cavilers shoot just less than 60% and the Raptors shoot just less than 37% and the Cavilers had 19 boards and the Raptors had 17 boards as the Cavilers lead 60-40 at half time and it looked like I was buying someone a donut.
The third quarter ended nicely for the Raptors as the Cavilers missed 14 of their last 15 shoots in the quarter and the Raptors went on a 15-8 run to end the quarter as the Cavilers lead going into the fourth quarter 77-64 and then James Johnson comes from behind to try and block a Joey Graham lay-up and is a split second to late and gets Joey's arm on his follow through. Then Joey Graham gets up like a bat out of hell and charges the black belt known as James Johnson and DeRozan and Bayless corner Graham until his teammates can get him to the bench and I was feeling good going into the fourth quarter as it is the woeful Cavilers as they only have 17 wins this season. The is if the Raptors win I win a donut and I think they can win foolish me so I watch the fourth quarter as they get it down to 5 @ 81-76 with over 8 minutes left and I'm chant "I want donut, I want donut" but the Raptors can not close any closer as the Cavilers find their shot and just keep hitting big shots as the Raptors can not defend well enough to challenge shots as Baron Davis has 11 points and 3 assists in the second half and J.J. Hickson gets 6 more boards and 7 more points. While Jerryd Bayless came to life offensively in the second half with 23 of his 28 points but had only 3 assists in the game while DeRozan most of his 19 points in the second half but it came down to bad untimely shoots from people like Alexis Ajinca late in the game but his 23 minutes of playing time most of felt like 4 or 5 games and his 7 boards were nice but like Andrea you wonder why is a 7-footer out at the 3-point line.
In the end ...
Reggie Evans left it all on the floor and was really the only Raptor working in the first half and ended up with 15 points and 13 boards in the game but too many passes to him it is not a smart idea to pass to him as it will be turnover more often then not. Then there is this thing that I seen this before and I did in Cleveland I believe earlier this season and then a guy named Julian Wright came off the bench and turned the game on its ear and the Raptors came back and won the game but Julian Wright is not the same player that he was then he looks disinterested and feels that there is nothing he can do to get himself more playing time. It is nice having Jerryd Bayless scoring 28 points but then I think if I wanted A.I. than we would of had the first pick in the 1995 draft (it was are pick the balls landed in are favor but for some reason the decided that the Canadian teams could not have the first overall pick for like the first 2 or 3 seasons and it was just after year one) but I had no interest in a ball hogging point guard then and still don't now. So Cavilers did us a favor by shooting 69 % from the line but the Raptors only shoot 65 % from the line which is bad because usually the Raptors are a lot better than that as Reggie Evans is are worse shooter by far and then everybody else is pretty good or OK from the line.
3 more games left then maybe we can see where this off course ship is headed
Tom Mehegan
The third quarter ended nicely for the Raptors as the Cavilers missed 14 of their last 15 shoots in the quarter and the Raptors went on a 15-8 run to end the quarter as the Cavilers lead going into the fourth quarter 77-64 and then James Johnson comes from behind to try and block a Joey Graham lay-up and is a split second to late and gets Joey's arm on his follow through. Then Joey Graham gets up like a bat out of hell and charges the black belt known as James Johnson and DeRozan and Bayless corner Graham until his teammates can get him to the bench and I was feeling good going into the fourth quarter as it is the woeful Cavilers as they only have 17 wins this season. The is if the Raptors win I win a donut and I think they can win foolish me so I watch the fourth quarter as they get it down to 5 @ 81-76 with over 8 minutes left and I'm chant "I want donut, I want donut" but the Raptors can not close any closer as the Cavilers find their shot and just keep hitting big shots as the Raptors can not defend well enough to challenge shots as Baron Davis has 11 points and 3 assists in the second half and J.J. Hickson gets 6 more boards and 7 more points. While Jerryd Bayless came to life offensively in the second half with 23 of his 28 points but had only 3 assists in the game while DeRozan most of his 19 points in the second half but it came down to bad untimely shoots from people like Alexis Ajinca late in the game but his 23 minutes of playing time most of felt like 4 or 5 games and his 7 boards were nice but like Andrea you wonder why is a 7-footer out at the 3-point line.
In the end ...
Reggie Evans left it all on the floor and was really the only Raptor working in the first half and ended up with 15 points and 13 boards in the game but too many passes to him it is not a smart idea to pass to him as it will be turnover more often then not. Then there is this thing that I seen this before and I did in Cleveland I believe earlier this season and then a guy named Julian Wright came off the bench and turned the game on its ear and the Raptors came back and won the game but Julian Wright is not the same player that he was then he looks disinterested and feels that there is nothing he can do to get himself more playing time. It is nice having Jerryd Bayless scoring 28 points but then I think if I wanted A.I. than we would of had the first pick in the 1995 draft (it was are pick the balls landed in are favor but for some reason the decided that the Canadian teams could not have the first overall pick for like the first 2 or 3 seasons and it was just after year one) but I had no interest in a ball hogging point guard then and still don't now. So Cavilers did us a favor by shooting 69 % from the line but the Raptors only shoot 65 % from the line which is bad because usually the Raptors are a lot better than that as Reggie Evans is are worse shooter by far and then everybody else is pretty good or OK from the line.
3 more games left then maybe we can see where this off course ship is headed
Tom Mehegan
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Toney Douglas puts 28 on the Raptors its true, its true, its dam true
The Raptors are in the bright lights of the Big Apple and they looked stunned by the celebrities at court side as they went 0 for 9 from the floor and the Knicks got 2 3-balls from Carmelo Anthony and 3 points from Amar'e Stoudemire and both had a steal as the Knicks took a 13-0 start to the game. Carmelo Anthony had a 11 points and 4 boards and Toney Douglas had 8 points with 2 assists in only 4 minutes and Chauncey Billups had 6 points and 4 boards and the Knicks went 6 for 7 from 3 in the first quarter. While the Raptors were led by Jerryd Bayless had 7 points and Ed Davis had 5 points and the Knicks took control early and led 39-26 into the second quarter which iss just horrible and lets hope that the Raptors can turn it around.
18-4 run to open the second quarter basically told us the game was over and the Raptors got catch in the moment and more likely catch out of position as the Knicks just rained 3's and they only hit 75 % from 3 as they went 12 of 16 from beyond the arch led by Toney Douglas who usually gets 10 in 24 minutes but tonight he is living the high life with 4 of 5 from downtown and with 14 points while the Knicks are only shooting 66 % from the floor in the half and are leading 78-54 which is only 6 points less than the Raptors record what that was only a couple of weeks ago. So the Knicks have 5 times the assists as the Raptors (20-4) and Chauncey Billups has 7 in the half while Anthony Carter has 5 himself that is simply whacked while the Raptors are getting more rebounds 23-19 but Carmelo Anthony also has 19 (points) and 6 rebounds in the half. DeMar has 13 points and 4 boards and Ed Davis has 11 points and 4 boards while Bayless was settled with his 3 foul early in the second quarter and has 10 points in the half while Andrea only played 8 minutes in the game and was 0 for 4 after putting 41 on the Knicks last time but at least Wright found 7 minutes and 2 boards in the half.
The second half started with a good punch back by the Raptors as they were down 91-67 and outscored the Knicks to end the third quarter 15-8 to be down 99-82 and it was led by 11 points and 3 boards in the quarter while Davis had 5 points and 4 boards while Bayless has 5 points, 2 assists, and 2 boards in the quarter. James Johnson 3 of the Raptors 7 turnovers through 3 quarter and Carmelo had 4 points and 3 boards while Billups has more assists than the Raptors (9-7).
In the fourth quarter the Raptors still tried to claw back and it looked like this insane group of kids who were down 13 after not hitting a shot in the first 4 minutes in the game and the same ones that saw the Knicks start the second on a 18-4 run so the Raptors are down 10 @ 110-100 and Bayless misses a lay-up with 6:26 left and Bill Walker gabs the rebound and the star of the game Toney Douglas lays it home to put them up 12 and then Jerryd Bayless goes to the basket and AMar'e blocks it out of there so Wright dives on the floor and fumbles the ball and Knicks get it and then Derrick Brown slams it down and the Raptors crawl with their thumb in their mouth to the finish line as the Knicks win 131-118.
In the end...
I could talk about how in the last 44 minutes of the game the score was tied 118-all or how the Raptors gave up 78 points in the first half and were almost in striking distance nearing the late stages of the fourth quarter but instead I would like just like to say that the coach on the other bench whose team gave up 113 points in the last 44 minutes most likely be the other guy other than Triano to coach the Raptors next season. Also a guy named Toney Douglas came off the bench the same bench he usually comes off of and scores 10 points in 24 minutes but tonight he went 6 for 9 from downtown and had 28 points in 26 minutes with 5 assists and Amar'e was the only Knick to play over 30 minutes tonight as he had 23 points (6 boards and 5 assists) just like Carmelo (9 boards) did and the Knicks cooled off from deep in the second half 3 for 11 but still hit 15 in the game as Carmelo had 5 of them. The story of the game was Ed Davis who had 13 boards and more impressively 7 offensive boards to go with 22 points and the DeMar DeRozan going to the line 12 times and makes 9 as he has a game high 36 points and 23 in the second half. Jerryd Bayless was the starting point guard and he went 6 for 15 (6 of 7 from the line) to have 19 points but only 5 assists in the game which hard to swallow when the Knicks had 31 assists in the game which was almost triple the Raptors 11 which is disgusting to say the lest.
Cavilers at home tomorrow
Tom Mehegan
18-4 run to open the second quarter basically told us the game was over and the Raptors got catch in the moment and more likely catch out of position as the Knicks just rained 3's and they only hit 75 % from 3 as they went 12 of 16 from beyond the arch led by Toney Douglas who usually gets 10 in 24 minutes but tonight he is living the high life with 4 of 5 from downtown and with 14 points while the Knicks are only shooting 66 % from the floor in the half and are leading 78-54 which is only 6 points less than the Raptors record what that was only a couple of weeks ago. So the Knicks have 5 times the assists as the Raptors (20-4) and Chauncey Billups has 7 in the half while Anthony Carter has 5 himself that is simply whacked while the Raptors are getting more rebounds 23-19 but Carmelo Anthony also has 19 (points) and 6 rebounds in the half. DeMar has 13 points and 4 boards and Ed Davis has 11 points and 4 boards while Bayless was settled with his 3 foul early in the second quarter and has 10 points in the half while Andrea only played 8 minutes in the game and was 0 for 4 after putting 41 on the Knicks last time but at least Wright found 7 minutes and 2 boards in the half.
The second half started with a good punch back by the Raptors as they were down 91-67 and outscored the Knicks to end the third quarter 15-8 to be down 99-82 and it was led by 11 points and 3 boards in the quarter while Davis had 5 points and 4 boards while Bayless has 5 points, 2 assists, and 2 boards in the quarter. James Johnson 3 of the Raptors 7 turnovers through 3 quarter and Carmelo had 4 points and 3 boards while Billups has more assists than the Raptors (9-7).
In the fourth quarter the Raptors still tried to claw back and it looked like this insane group of kids who were down 13 after not hitting a shot in the first 4 minutes in the game and the same ones that saw the Knicks start the second on a 18-4 run so the Raptors are down 10 @ 110-100 and Bayless misses a lay-up with 6:26 left and Bill Walker gabs the rebound and the star of the game Toney Douglas lays it home to put them up 12 and then Jerryd Bayless goes to the basket and AMar'e blocks it out of there so Wright dives on the floor and fumbles the ball and Knicks get it and then Derrick Brown slams it down and the Raptors crawl with their thumb in their mouth to the finish line as the Knicks win 131-118.
In the end...
I could talk about how in the last 44 minutes of the game the score was tied 118-all or how the Raptors gave up 78 points in the first half and were almost in striking distance nearing the late stages of the fourth quarter but instead I would like just like to say that the coach on the other bench whose team gave up 113 points in the last 44 minutes most likely be the other guy other than Triano to coach the Raptors next season. Also a guy named Toney Douglas came off the bench the same bench he usually comes off of and scores 10 points in 24 minutes but tonight he went 6 for 9 from downtown and had 28 points in 26 minutes with 5 assists and Amar'e was the only Knick to play over 30 minutes tonight as he had 23 points (6 boards and 5 assists) just like Carmelo (9 boards) did and the Knicks cooled off from deep in the second half 3 for 11 but still hit 15 in the game as Carmelo had 5 of them. The story of the game was Ed Davis who had 13 boards and more impressively 7 offensive boards to go with 22 points and the DeMar DeRozan going to the line 12 times and makes 9 as he has a game high 36 points and 23 in the second half. Jerryd Bayless was the starting point guard and he went 6 for 15 (6 of 7 from the line) to have 19 points but only 5 assists in the game which hard to swallow when the Knicks had 31 assists in the game which was almost triple the Raptors 11 which is disgusting to say the lest.
Cavilers at home tomorrow
Tom Mehegan
Monday, April 4, 2011
potential Raptors rotation for the 2011-2012
With a week left in the Raptors 2010-2011 and it has U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you ugly, eh eh, you ugly so lets turn the page and look forward to next season with players the Raptors have right.
PG 1 - Jose Calderon should be the starting PG to set the tone passing the ball early in the game
PG 2 - Jerryd Bayless would be a good player off the bench and hopefully keep moving the ball
PG - I think that both should play 20-28 minutes a game so you keep the energy up and more minutes Bayless plays the more likely Calderon stays health. The ideal situation is that PG pass the ball first to create offensive first and get their own second. I do not know how much these two can keep the opposing PG in front of them and not get completely lite up.
SG 1 - DeMar DeRozan is the shooting guard of the future and will be a big part of the offense and hopefully when he does not have a open shot keep moving the ball and also attacking the basket
SG 2 - Sonny Weems is a free agent with a small tag so he can be back and put up shots like DeMar or look for a veteran back-up.
SG - DeMar should get the bulk of the work with over 30 minutes a game and Sonny would do the same kind of job as DeMar and a veteran back-up can help DeMar get better and fill in 10-15 minutes again and I would hope they can some defense as DeMar has not got the point yet.
the 3 (1) - Andrea Bargnani if he is still with the team this is his position where he can take his jumper and occasionally a 3-ball attempt but a liability on defense too.
the 3 (2) - Barbosa has a big player's option so he will probably be back and if not Kleiza can back-up Bargnani who will probably play 30 + minutes.
The 3 - When we are looking for defense for offense one of the 4s or the centers should take the place of the 3.
the 4 (1) - this position is the Johnson position and I think James with his energy would be able to set the tune with a big early defensive stop in a block or a steal and quietly pick up 6-9 boards a game and help move the ball around the court.
the 4 (2) - Amir should come off the bench and get some boards and be able to put up a few points a game and maybe get a steal like James.
the 4 - James should be the 4 at the end of the game as he is a more defensive force then Amir has been and James should play 26-28 minutes a game and Amir should play 20-22 minutes a game as the bigs should be fresh and ready to bang the opponents out of the building.
Center 1 - Ed Davis should be the starter as he brings the energy right out of the gate and as he is the future he should be in the position to start and get the boards and put them back on offensive end and he can work the other team down under the basket and take them out of the play.
Center 2 - Reggie Davis is a free agent as he is often injured and does not play a full season if he does not have problem with the city he should get like 7 million for next season which is better than the 5 he got this season and he should come of the bench and clean the glass and not have the ball passed to him at all and he is very good on the boards and can change the defense too.
Center - Ed should play 26-30 minutes and Reggie should play 22-24 minutes and in crunch time they should be both on the floor for the defense as defense win games late and wins brings fans and fans bring excitement and excitement brings happiness.
GM - Brain in my oppinion has messed this thing up more than helped it and does not deserve a new contract but it looks like it is coming.
Head Coach - Jay Triano should not be head coach and in his place should be a coach that can institute a defense first system and maybe thats Oakley or someone else but not D'Antoni because has not taught a very good defensive system in his head coaching career.
Free Agency - we will have money but if we resign Reggie I do not know how much is left probably a good bit left for a good player or two to change up the team once again but in reality nothing is certain with the labor agreement being up and could get messy by the end and the NBA landscape maybe completely different going forward with maybe a franchise tag put in place.
Lets hope next year is much much better
Tom Mehegan
PG 1 - Jose Calderon should be the starting PG to set the tone passing the ball early in the game
PG 2 - Jerryd Bayless would be a good player off the bench and hopefully keep moving the ball
PG - I think that both should play 20-28 minutes a game so you keep the energy up and more minutes Bayless plays the more likely Calderon stays health. The ideal situation is that PG pass the ball first to create offensive first and get their own second. I do not know how much these two can keep the opposing PG in front of them and not get completely lite up.
SG 1 - DeMar DeRozan is the shooting guard of the future and will be a big part of the offense and hopefully when he does not have a open shot keep moving the ball and also attacking the basket
SG 2 - Sonny Weems is a free agent with a small tag so he can be back and put up shots like DeMar or look for a veteran back-up.
SG - DeMar should get the bulk of the work with over 30 minutes a game and Sonny would do the same kind of job as DeMar and a veteran back-up can help DeMar get better and fill in 10-15 minutes again and I would hope they can some defense as DeMar has not got the point yet.
the 3 (1) - Andrea Bargnani if he is still with the team this is his position where he can take his jumper and occasionally a 3-ball attempt but a liability on defense too.
the 3 (2) - Barbosa has a big player's option so he will probably be back and if not Kleiza can back-up Bargnani who will probably play 30 + minutes.
The 3 - When we are looking for defense for offense one of the 4s or the centers should take the place of the 3.
the 4 (1) - this position is the Johnson position and I think James with his energy would be able to set the tune with a big early defensive stop in a block or a steal and quietly pick up 6-9 boards a game and help move the ball around the court.
the 4 (2) - Amir should come off the bench and get some boards and be able to put up a few points a game and maybe get a steal like James.
the 4 - James should be the 4 at the end of the game as he is a more defensive force then Amir has been and James should play 26-28 minutes a game and Amir should play 20-22 minutes a game as the bigs should be fresh and ready to bang the opponents out of the building.
Center 1 - Ed Davis should be the starter as he brings the energy right out of the gate and as he is the future he should be in the position to start and get the boards and put them back on offensive end and he can work the other team down under the basket and take them out of the play.
Center 2 - Reggie Davis is a free agent as he is often injured and does not play a full season if he does not have problem with the city he should get like 7 million for next season which is better than the 5 he got this season and he should come of the bench and clean the glass and not have the ball passed to him at all and he is very good on the boards and can change the defense too.
Center - Ed should play 26-30 minutes and Reggie should play 22-24 minutes and in crunch time they should be both on the floor for the defense as defense win games late and wins brings fans and fans bring excitement and excitement brings happiness.
GM - Brain in my oppinion has messed this thing up more than helped it and does not deserve a new contract but it looks like it is coming.
Head Coach - Jay Triano should not be head coach and in his place should be a coach that can institute a defense first system and maybe thats Oakley or someone else but not D'Antoni because has not taught a very good defensive system in his head coaching career.
Free Agency - we will have money but if we resign Reggie I do not know how much is left probably a good bit left for a good player or two to change up the team once again but in reality nothing is certain with the labor agreement being up and could get messy by the end and the NBA landscape maybe completely different going forward with maybe a franchise tag put in place.
Lets hope next year is much much better
Tom Mehegan
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Raptors took control Howard and the Magic in the fourth quarter
The Raptors once again won the first quarter with a 23-19 lead into the second quarter and where outscored 30-23 and then got outscored 30-27 but then the Raptors actually came back in the fourth quarter and outscored the Magic 29-19 and won the game 102-98.
The first quarter Jerryd Bayless had 6 points, DeMar DeRozan got 4 points, Ed Davis had 4 points along with 3 boards, and Reggie Evans got 4 points and 3 boards for the Raptors and the Magic were lead by Dwight Howard with 8 points and 5 boards.
In the second quarter the Magic were led by Howard who had 11 points in the quarter and Richards had back-to-back 3-balls and had 6 second quarter along with 6 points and Bass had 4 points and 4 boards. While the Raptors were led by Sonny Weems who had 9 points and Reggie Evans had 6 boards in the quarter and DeMar DeRozan had 4 points too.
The third quarter the Magic were led by Nelson and Howard both had 9 points in the quarter and the Raptors were lead by Jerryd Bayless had 10 points and DeMar DeRozan had 8 points and Reggie Evans had 8 rebounds in the quarter.
The Fourth quarter the Raptors were led by DeMar DeRozan with 8 points and Barbosa had 6 points too and Bayless had 5 points and the Magic got 5 points from Nelson and Howard had 3 points and Hido had 4 of his 9 points in the fourth quarter.
After a number of subpar rebounding games Evans went off during the second and third quarter were he had 14 boards of his 17 boards in the game and unlike last night when they need a tough defense effort in the fourth quarter and they only gave up 19 fourth quarter points tonight after given up 30 points in both the second and third quarters. DeMar really showed he wanted the ball in his hand in the fourth quarter and was able to get to the line as he was 8 for 8 from the line and Jerryd Bayless need to pass more often than his 8 assists compared to his 14 shot attempts and he did have 23 points which was 1 point less than DeMar DeRozan 24 points. The Stats of the night are Reggie Evans with 17 boards which helped the Raptors beat down the Magic on the boards (48-30) and the Raptors also out assisted the Magic (24-15) and that the Raptors are much better on the second night of a back-to-back than the first game.
Another back-to-back Tuesday & Wednesday
Tom Mehegan
The first quarter Jerryd Bayless had 6 points, DeMar DeRozan got 4 points, Ed Davis had 4 points along with 3 boards, and Reggie Evans got 4 points and 3 boards for the Raptors and the Magic were lead by Dwight Howard with 8 points and 5 boards.
In the second quarter the Magic were led by Howard who had 11 points in the quarter and Richards had back-to-back 3-balls and had 6 second quarter along with 6 points and Bass had 4 points and 4 boards. While the Raptors were led by Sonny Weems who had 9 points and Reggie Evans had 6 boards in the quarter and DeMar DeRozan had 4 points too.
The third quarter the Magic were led by Nelson and Howard both had 9 points in the quarter and the Raptors were lead by Jerryd Bayless had 10 points and DeMar DeRozan had 8 points and Reggie Evans had 8 rebounds in the quarter.
The Fourth quarter the Raptors were led by DeMar DeRozan with 8 points and Barbosa had 6 points too and Bayless had 5 points and the Magic got 5 points from Nelson and Howard had 3 points and Hido had 4 of his 9 points in the fourth quarter.
After a number of subpar rebounding games Evans went off during the second and third quarter were he had 14 boards of his 17 boards in the game and unlike last night when they need a tough defense effort in the fourth quarter and they only gave up 19 fourth quarter points tonight after given up 30 points in both the second and third quarters. DeMar really showed he wanted the ball in his hand in the fourth quarter and was able to get to the line as he was 8 for 8 from the line and Jerryd Bayless need to pass more often than his 8 assists compared to his 14 shot attempts and he did have 23 points which was 1 point less than DeMar DeRozan 24 points. The Stats of the night are Reggie Evans with 17 boards which helped the Raptors beat down the Magic on the boards (48-30) and the Raptors also out assisted the Magic (24-15) and that the Raptors are much better on the second night of a back-to-back than the first game.
Another back-to-back Tuesday & Wednesday
Tom Mehegan
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Derrick Rose puts up another MVP performance in the third quarter against the Raptors
The Raptors and their starting line-up which is averaging 22 years and 309 days and the young Raptors got off to a great start with a 13-7 and 17-11 first quarter leads but then the Bulls like the 55 win team they are showed at the end of the quarter as they ended the quarter on a 14-2 run to give the Bulls 29-21. The Raptors were led by DeMar DeRozan with 8 points and Ed Davis had 5 points and 5 boards, and Amir Johnson had 6 points in the first quarter and they shot just south of 29 % from the floor and missed at least 6 shots in a row but did go 9 of 10 from the line and the Bulls were Luol Deng had 10 points, Derrick Rose had 8, and Taj Gibson had 6 points and 4 boards.
In the second quarter the Bulls start the way they ended the first by building in their lead with a lot of help from Carlos Boozer who had 10 in the quarter and Derrick Rose had 5 points and took a 53-43 lead into the third quarter while the Raptors were led by Barbosa with 10 points and Ed Davis had 6 points in the quarter.
The third quarter the Raptors made a run to get back into the game and with a DeMar free throw with just over 3 minutes left tied it at 74-all and then the Bulls scored 9 of the last 10 points of the quarter to take a 83-75 lead into the fourth quarter. The Raptors were led by Jerryd Bayless, the starting point guard, with 14 points in the quarter and Derrick Rose had 14 points in the quarter for the Bulls and was a big part of their late run to build the lead once again.
The Raprtors made another run in the fourth quarter and with 2 minutes with the Bulls up 102-98 left Carlos Boozer misses a shot from 9 feet out at the end of the shot clock and he gets the rebound and Kyle Korver hits a 3-ball to give them a 105-98 lead and basically the nail in the coffin for the Raptors. DeMar got 9 points in the quarter and Barbosa got another 6 while the Bulls were lead by Taj Gibson with 8 points, Derrick Rose with 8 points, and Kyle Korver proves its not how many you get but when you get them with 5 in the last 2 minutes as the Bulls edge out a win 113-106.
In the end ...
The Bulls scored 60 points in the second half and really I do not care that they stuck around with the Bulls but if you are going to give up that many points in a have you simply can not and will not win games and with a ouch of defense you can actually have a chance at winning the game and to think a rebound with 2 minutes left changed the game. This means the Raptor players don't need to go to the summer league but instead lock them in a dungeon until they learn to play strong keep your man in front of you and contest ever shot and then if they get out and don;t do it just send them back. I understand that Derrick Rose is the MVP conscience choice but letting go off for 14 in the third is big reason the Bulls won and 36 and 10 assists in the game while Ed Davis was the only one grabbing rebounds as he picked up 1/3 of all Raptors 33 boards with 11 while the next closest Raptor had 5 and with Reggie having only 3 he must be hurt someone like Amir or James needs to step it up or give some rub to Julian Wright (was on the floor for 3 minutes) or Joey Dorsey (must of been coach's decision). The Raptors did get a big 9 points from DeMar in the fourth and he did have 26 in the game which is OK along with Jerryd Bayless 26 with 8 assists as he put up almost double shots (14) to assists (8) and Ed Davis had 17 to go with the 11 boards with 3 blocks while James Johnson had 7 points, 5 boards, and 6 assists but the 2 fouls in 2 minutes to start the game really hurt him in his return to Chicago. The stat of the night has to be the Raptors only turning the ball over 8 in the game while most games they do that in a quarter along with going 21 of 24 from the line.
four games in 5 nights thank you lord of basketball the season that much closer to being over
Tom Mehegan
In the second quarter the Bulls start the way they ended the first by building in their lead with a lot of help from Carlos Boozer who had 10 in the quarter and Derrick Rose had 5 points and took a 53-43 lead into the third quarter while the Raptors were led by Barbosa with 10 points and Ed Davis had 6 points in the quarter.
The third quarter the Raptors made a run to get back into the game and with a DeMar free throw with just over 3 minutes left tied it at 74-all and then the Bulls scored 9 of the last 10 points of the quarter to take a 83-75 lead into the fourth quarter. The Raptors were led by Jerryd Bayless, the starting point guard, with 14 points in the quarter and Derrick Rose had 14 points in the quarter for the Bulls and was a big part of their late run to build the lead once again.
The Raprtors made another run in the fourth quarter and with 2 minutes with the Bulls up 102-98 left Carlos Boozer misses a shot from 9 feet out at the end of the shot clock and he gets the rebound and Kyle Korver hits a 3-ball to give them a 105-98 lead and basically the nail in the coffin for the Raptors. DeMar got 9 points in the quarter and Barbosa got another 6 while the Bulls were lead by Taj Gibson with 8 points, Derrick Rose with 8 points, and Kyle Korver proves its not how many you get but when you get them with 5 in the last 2 minutes as the Bulls edge out a win 113-106.
In the end ...
The Bulls scored 60 points in the second half and really I do not care that they stuck around with the Bulls but if you are going to give up that many points in a have you simply can not and will not win games and with a ouch of defense you can actually have a chance at winning the game and to think a rebound with 2 minutes left changed the game. This means the Raptor players don't need to go to the summer league but instead lock them in a dungeon until they learn to play strong keep your man in front of you and contest ever shot and then if they get out and don;t do it just send them back. I understand that Derrick Rose is the MVP conscience choice but letting go off for 14 in the third is big reason the Bulls won and 36 and 10 assists in the game while Ed Davis was the only one grabbing rebounds as he picked up 1/3 of all Raptors 33 boards with 11 while the next closest Raptor had 5 and with Reggie having only 3 he must be hurt someone like Amir or James needs to step it up or give some rub to Julian Wright (was on the floor for 3 minutes) or Joey Dorsey (must of been coach's decision). The Raptors did get a big 9 points from DeMar in the fourth and he did have 26 in the game which is OK along with Jerryd Bayless 26 with 8 assists as he put up almost double shots (14) to assists (8) and Ed Davis had 17 to go with the 11 boards with 3 blocks while James Johnson had 7 points, 5 boards, and 6 assists but the 2 fouls in 2 minutes to start the game really hurt him in his return to Chicago. The stat of the night has to be the Raptors only turning the ball over 8 in the game while most games they do that in a quarter along with going 21 of 24 from the line.
four games in 5 nights thank you lord of basketball the season that much closer to being over
Tom Mehegan
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Carlos Defino sticks the knife in the raptors back again, Brandon Jennings had fun against the weak Raptors defense, and in other news John Wall throw a punch at Zydrunas Ilgauskas
The Raptors started the game well as they had only 2 turnovers in the first quarter and got a big 8 points of the Bucks 5 first quarter turnovers and it gave the Raptors a 28-22 lead after 1 quarter while shooting over 60 % from the floor and the Bucks shoot 52 % from the floor. Johnson, Andrea Bargnani, and DeMar DeRozan all had 6 points while Jose Calderon started well with 6 points and 3 assists. For the Bucks they got 6 points from Andrew Bogut and 5 points and 4 assists from Jennings and it was a good start for the Raptors sharing the scoring and taken advantage of their extra opportunities.
In the second quarter if the 2 turnovers in the first quarter was great then the 8 turnovers in the second quarter was a complete slap in the face and giving up 30 points in the quarter is just like being kicked when your down. The Bucks had 7 points and 5 assists in a short rest for Brandon Jennings and Jennings came back in and scored 8 points in the quarter as well to give him 13 @ halftime while Gooden had a quick 6 points in the quarter while the Raptors were led by Jose Calderon with 6 points and 2 assists but the scariest thing of the second quarter was the fagilant foul on Brockman as he hit his head hard on the court and immediately after missing both free throws he was taken out to evaluated by the team doctor. The Bucks outscored the Raptors 30-21 in the quarter and took a 52-49 lead into halftime with the most damaging fact of the first half was the Bucks had 7-3 offensive rebound advantage and took advantage of this by scoring second chance points.
In the Third quarter the Raptors had better defense as they outscored the Bucks 27-24 and with 12 minutes left it was tied at 76 as the big dogs at least the dogs that needed to score scored in this quarter as Bargnani had 12 points and DeMar had 8 points which means they had 20 of the 27 third quarter but it was about it for the night for Calderon as his haimy flare up again and Barbosa was supposedly the back-up point guard yicks. Brandon continued his one-on-one domination of the Raptors point guards as he had another 8 points while Bogut had 8 points as well.
Qith the Bucks up 80-78 with 9:23 left in the game Carlos Delfino (yes another former Raptor who wanted out of Toronto because we are different) entered the game and almost right away stole the ball from Jose Calderon and if Delfino was not completely focused he was after James Johnson blocked his lay-up attempt. As Carlos Delfino hit a 3-ball than hit a ball off Barbosa's leg and as they dive for the ball and then while he is on his back he passes the ball to Brandon Jennings for a dunk and then also hit another 3-ball and this all happened in 5 minutes and helped the Bucks stretched the lead to 85-80 and then after a Raptors 8-2 run but his second 3-ball gave the Bucks a 90-88 lead. The Raptors took to many long shots especially early in fourth quarter and once again when they needed a defensive stop it was once again it was like praying for the whole world as it is likely never happening and did not happen again tonight as the Bucks won 104-98.
The Stars of the game for the Bucks
1. Brandon Jennings who had 25 points and 7 assists
2. Drew Gooden who had 22 points and 11 boards
3. Andrew Bogut who had 17 points and 10 boards
special mention to Carlos Delfino with 4 steals to go with his 14 points
The Stars of the game for the Raptors
1. Andrea Bargnani who had 22 points
2. DeMar DeRozan who had 20 points
3. James Johnson who had 10 boards
3 non-Raptors stories
1. John Wall punched Zydrunas Ilgauskas as they jostled for position and then the refs and coaches had to step in and keep every thing come.
2. The Cavilers did everything to mess with Lebron James as him and his entourage were not allowed to park in the under ground parking at the Q and then he got supposedly in the washroom when they did the intros.
3. can who thinks the Bucks are anywhere close to 10 games better than the Raptors and how was there over 15,000 fans at the game.
One more closer to the end of the season
Tom Mehegan
In the second quarter if the 2 turnovers in the first quarter was great then the 8 turnovers in the second quarter was a complete slap in the face and giving up 30 points in the quarter is just like being kicked when your down. The Bucks had 7 points and 5 assists in a short rest for Brandon Jennings and Jennings came back in and scored 8 points in the quarter as well to give him 13 @ halftime while Gooden had a quick 6 points in the quarter while the Raptors were led by Jose Calderon with 6 points and 2 assists but the scariest thing of the second quarter was the fagilant foul on Brockman as he hit his head hard on the court and immediately after missing both free throws he was taken out to evaluated by the team doctor. The Bucks outscored the Raptors 30-21 in the quarter and took a 52-49 lead into halftime with the most damaging fact of the first half was the Bucks had 7-3 offensive rebound advantage and took advantage of this by scoring second chance points.
In the Third quarter the Raptors had better defense as they outscored the Bucks 27-24 and with 12 minutes left it was tied at 76 as the big dogs at least the dogs that needed to score scored in this quarter as Bargnani had 12 points and DeMar had 8 points which means they had 20 of the 27 third quarter but it was about it for the night for Calderon as his haimy flare up again and Barbosa was supposedly the back-up point guard yicks. Brandon continued his one-on-one domination of the Raptors point guards as he had another 8 points while Bogut had 8 points as well.
Qith the Bucks up 80-78 with 9:23 left in the game Carlos Delfino (yes another former Raptor who wanted out of Toronto because we are different) entered the game and almost right away stole the ball from Jose Calderon and if Delfino was not completely focused he was after James Johnson blocked his lay-up attempt. As Carlos Delfino hit a 3-ball than hit a ball off Barbosa's leg and as they dive for the ball and then while he is on his back he passes the ball to Brandon Jennings for a dunk and then also hit another 3-ball and this all happened in 5 minutes and helped the Bucks stretched the lead to 85-80 and then after a Raptors 8-2 run but his second 3-ball gave the Bucks a 90-88 lead. The Raptors took to many long shots especially early in fourth quarter and once again when they needed a defensive stop it was once again it was like praying for the whole world as it is likely never happening and did not happen again tonight as the Bucks won 104-98.
The Stars of the game for the Bucks
1. Brandon Jennings who had 25 points and 7 assists
2. Drew Gooden who had 22 points and 11 boards
3. Andrew Bogut who had 17 points and 10 boards
special mention to Carlos Delfino with 4 steals to go with his 14 points
The Stars of the game for the Raptors
1. Andrea Bargnani who had 22 points
2. DeMar DeRozan who had 20 points
3. James Johnson who had 10 boards
3 non-Raptors stories
1. John Wall punched Zydrunas Ilgauskas as they jostled for position and then the refs and coaches had to step in and keep every thing come.
2. The Cavilers did everything to mess with Lebron James as him and his entourage were not allowed to park in the under ground parking at the Q and then he got supposedly in the washroom when they did the intros.
3. can who thinks the Bucks are anywhere close to 10 games better than the Raptors and how was there over 15,000 fans at the game.
One more closer to the end of the season
Tom Mehegan
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
D'Antoni is likely joining the Raptors if let go by the Knicks and Andrea Bargnani future in T.O. is up in the air
Mike D'Antoni was the head coach of the Phoenix Suns when Bryan Colangelo was an executive with the Suns and it has been rumored that Mike D'Antoni would be brought in to coach Colangelo's team almost since day one and it was expected that after Jay Traino finished the last 65 games of 2008-09 season Mike D'Antoni would take over the team. Now Mike D'Antoni is the head coach of the New York Knicks but it looks like Donnie Walsh is on his way out of New York especially after Jim Dolan and Isiah Thomas were responsible for the trade for Carmelo Anthony and Walsh had nothing to do with it and actually did not want to gut the team for Carmelo. Mike D'Antoni is having trouble with fitting Carmelo Anthony into the offense and the Knicks have just won one game in the last 10 games.
If this happens once again it looks like Mike D'Antoni will be replacing Jay Triano as head coach in the off-season and this is a scary idea because as any Raptor fan knows the biggest problem with the Team has always been the defensive side of the game and D'Antoni is not exactly a defensive mind as during his time in Phoenix it was a run and gun style and it was always about the offensive end of the game and no defense which usually turned into a Suns win 120-116. The style with the Knicks is the same kind of game and the biggest thing about this is that both the Knicks and Suns are very talented offensive teams which the Raptors right now do not have anywhere near the talent and neither of the teams have gotten into NBA final.
The other option looks like Jay Triano will be staying as the head coach which is also not a good idea as there is no way Triano has not lost the room and in the end it is almost a given that Bryan Colangelo is getting his extension and staying as the Raptors GM.
Also it looks like the Raptors are looking into releaving themselves of Andrea Bargnani as they may have figured out that Andrea may not be the go to guy they expected as a 7-footer putting up points much closer to the basket when they drafted him first overall in the 2007 entry draft. It is not likely to get much for Andrea because he is a streaky scorer who is not likely to benefit the team when he does not have his shot for a game as he plays too far away from the basket to collect a large amount of rebounds in a game.
Finally it looks like the Raptors are now focused on building around DeMar DeRozan, who has been getting better shots and scoring the basket at a better %, and Ed Davis, who has been scoring the basket at a close range to basket and getting better at putting back offensive rebounds for points and heading to the line where he is shooting a much better free throw shooting %. I have higher expectation for Ed Davis than DeMar DeRozan as he has more untapped upside and maybe a future all-star as rebounding monster.
The Season is almost over
Tom Mehegan
If this happens once again it looks like Mike D'Antoni will be replacing Jay Triano as head coach in the off-season and this is a scary idea because as any Raptor fan knows the biggest problem with the Team has always been the defensive side of the game and D'Antoni is not exactly a defensive mind as during his time in Phoenix it was a run and gun style and it was always about the offensive end of the game and no defense which usually turned into a Suns win 120-116. The style with the Knicks is the same kind of game and the biggest thing about this is that both the Knicks and Suns are very talented offensive teams which the Raptors right now do not have anywhere near the talent and neither of the teams have gotten into NBA final.
The other option looks like Jay Triano will be staying as the head coach which is also not a good idea as there is no way Triano has not lost the room and in the end it is almost a given that Bryan Colangelo is getting his extension and staying as the Raptors GM.
Also it looks like the Raptors are looking into releaving themselves of Andrea Bargnani as they may have figured out that Andrea may not be the go to guy they expected as a 7-footer putting up points much closer to the basket when they drafted him first overall in the 2007 entry draft. It is not likely to get much for Andrea because he is a streaky scorer who is not likely to benefit the team when he does not have his shot for a game as he plays too far away from the basket to collect a large amount of rebounds in a game.
Finally it looks like the Raptors are now focused on building around DeMar DeRozan, who has been getting better shots and scoring the basket at a better %, and Ed Davis, who has been scoring the basket at a close range to basket and getting better at putting back offensive rebounds for points and heading to the line where he is shooting a much better free throw shooting %. I have higher expectation for Ed Davis than DeMar DeRozan as he has more untapped upside and maybe a future all-star as rebounding monster.
The Season is almost over
Tom Mehegan
Monday, March 28, 2011
Julian Wright sits himself during the horrific game against the Golden State Warriors on Friday Night with Comments from Bryan Colangelo
Julian Wright was asked by Jay Triano to get into the game and he decided he was not want to be embarrassed during the 138-100 loss to the Golden State Warriors which was after he was put into the Denver Nuggets 123-90 loss and played 10 minutes but did not collect any stats and the only other game he played in the last 15 Raptor games was a 3 minute stint during a 96-94 loss with 2 free throw makes and a board. He has not played more than 10 minutes in the last 20 games and then before that he had 12 of 13 games of more than 10 minutes where he filled the score sheet especially with steals as he had a # of 2 steal games including 2 (4 steal games) and also had 6 games of at least 4 boards and 6 games of 2 assists at least with a game of 4 assists and 3 assists. He also was the 13Th overall in the 2007 which means he was drafted 12 spots after Andrea Bargnani and I believe he should be having given a bigger rub on the court to see what he can do and maybe even changed the lack of defensive effort and set the tone for the Raptors and he has been able to do it more often than not.
So I believe that he was simply frustrated that he does not get a lot of minutes on the floor especially when he got only 10 minutes during the Nuggets game where they were destroyed early and often and was one of the fresh legs going into the game as he had not played during the win against the Thunder the night before. He was not ready to just get in for a few minutes and then to be forgotten once again as it looks like Jay Triano has something against Julian Wright. This is because Julian Wright would have a good game and then forgotten for a couple of games and then recently he is only getting a small amount of minutes to prove himself and it is tough to go from 0 to 120 immediately or he is put back on the bench. It is obvious that Jay Triano has lost the room for month and nobody listening to him and nobody wants to play solid defense so I believe Julian Wright is not at fault for this situation as I have not heard of why Jay has so much trouble finding him minutes during the games where the Raptors are not usually in a winning position and Julian strangely enough is the Raptors union rep.
Bryan Colangelo phoned into the Jeff Blair show on the Fan 590 this morning as like a caller just to set the record straight and he said that it was done internally it means it was taken care of and that one of the things that Julian Wright needed to do is to apologized to his teammates and that it was out of character for Julian. He also talked about how it was a single AP writer hearing Julian refusing to enter the game and then told one person, they told one person, and they told one person and that if they had suspended Julian for the rest of the season they my have had the players union getting involved and it becoming messy along with hurting Julian chances in upcoming free agency period. He also talked about Robert Horry thrown a towel in the face of then Sun head coach Danny Angle while Brain was with the Suns and he traded Horry within 24 hours because there had been a lead up to the towel throwing incident.
Also why is Julian Wright getting so ripped in this situation after a couple of weeks ago Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani got into Jay Triano face when they were taken out of a close game on defense to try to get a defense stop. Then obviously would be put into the game on offense as they are more offensive minded players and set up a basket to get the win but that situation has just been pushed under the rug.
Jay please let Julian have a chance to prove to everyone that he is a good defensive players
Tom Mehegan
So I believe that he was simply frustrated that he does not get a lot of minutes on the floor especially when he got only 10 minutes during the Nuggets game where they were destroyed early and often and was one of the fresh legs going into the game as he had not played during the win against the Thunder the night before. He was not ready to just get in for a few minutes and then to be forgotten once again as it looks like Jay Triano has something against Julian Wright. This is because Julian Wright would have a good game and then forgotten for a couple of games and then recently he is only getting a small amount of minutes to prove himself and it is tough to go from 0 to 120 immediately or he is put back on the bench. It is obvious that Jay Triano has lost the room for month and nobody listening to him and nobody wants to play solid defense so I believe Julian Wright is not at fault for this situation as I have not heard of why Jay has so much trouble finding him minutes during the games where the Raptors are not usually in a winning position and Julian strangely enough is the Raptors union rep.
Bryan Colangelo phoned into the Jeff Blair show on the Fan 590 this morning as like a caller just to set the record straight and he said that it was done internally it means it was taken care of and that one of the things that Julian Wright needed to do is to apologized to his teammates and that it was out of character for Julian. He also talked about how it was a single AP writer hearing Julian refusing to enter the game and then told one person, they told one person, and they told one person and that if they had suspended Julian for the rest of the season they my have had the players union getting involved and it becoming messy along with hurting Julian chances in upcoming free agency period. He also talked about Robert Horry thrown a towel in the face of then Sun head coach Danny Angle while Brain was with the Suns and he traded Horry within 24 hours because there had been a lead up to the towel throwing incident.
Also why is Julian Wright getting so ripped in this situation after a couple of weeks ago Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani got into Jay Triano face when they were taken out of a close game on defense to try to get a defense stop. Then obviously would be put into the game on offense as they are more offensive minded players and set up a basket to get the win but that situation has just been pushed under the rug.
Jay please let Julian have a chance to prove to everyone that he is a good defensive players
Tom Mehegan
Julian Wright sits himself during the horrific game against the Golden State Warriors on Friday Night with Comments from Bryan Colangelo
Julian Wright was asked by Jay Triano to get into the game and he decided he was not want to be embarrassed during the 138-100 loss to the Golden State Warriors which was after he was put into the Denver Nuggets 123-90 loss and played 10 minutes but did not collect any stats and the only other game he played in the last 15 Raptor games was a 3 minute stint during a 96-94 loss with 2 free throw makes and a board. He has not played more than 10 minutes in the last 20 games and then before that he had 12 of 13 games of more than 10 minutes where he filled the score sheet especially with steals as he had a # of 2 steal games including 2 (4 steal games) and also had 6 games of at least 4 boards and 6 games of 2 assists at least with a game of 4 assists and 3 assists. He also was the 13Th overall in the 2007 which means he was drafted 12 spots after Andrea Bargnani and I believe he should be having given a bigger rub on the court to see what he can do and maybe even changed the lack of defensive effort and set the tone for the Raptors and he has been able to do it more often than not.
So I believe that he was simply frustrated that he does not get a lot of minutes on the floor especially when he got only 10 minutes during the Nuggets game where they were destroyed early and often and was one of the fresh legs going into the game as he had not played during the win against the Thunder the night before. He was not ready to just get in for a few minutes and then to be forgotten once again as it looks like Jay Triano has something against Julian Wright. This is because Julian Wright would have a good game and then forgotten for a couple of games and then recently he is only getting a small amount of minutes to prove himself and it is tough to go from 0 to 120 immediately or he is put back on the bench. It is obvious that Jay Triano has lost the room for month and nobody listening to him and nobody wants to play solid defense so I believe Julian Wright is not at fault for this situation as I have not heard of why Jay has so much trouble finding him minutes during the games where the Raptors are not usually in a winning position and Julian strangely enough is the Raptors union rep.
Bryan Colangelo phoned into the Jeff Blair show on the Fan 590 this morning as like a caller just to set the record straight and he said that it was done internally it means it was taken care of and that one of the things that Julian Wright needed to do is to apologized to his teammates and that it was out of character for Julian. He also talked about how it was a single AP writer hearing Julian refusing to enter the game and then told one person, they told one person, and they told one person and that if they had suspended Julian for the rest of the season they my have had the players union getting involved and it becoming messy along with hurting Julian chances in upcoming free agency period. He also talked about Robert Horry thrown a towel in the face of then Sun head coach Danny Angle while Brain was with the Suns and he traded Horry within 24 hours because there had been a lead up to the towel throwing incident.
Also why is Julian Wright getting so ripped in this situation after a couple of weeks ago Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani got into Jay Triano face when they were taken out of a close game on defense to try to get a defense stop. Then obviously would be put into the game on offense as they are more offensive minded players and set up a basket to get the win but that situation has just been pushed under the rug.
Jay please let Julian have a chance to prove to everyone that he is a good defensive players
Tom Mehegan
So I believe that he was simply frustrated that he does not get a lot of minutes on the floor especially when he got only 10 minutes during the Nuggets game where they were destroyed early and often and was one of the fresh legs going into the game as he had not played during the win against the Thunder the night before. He was not ready to just get in for a few minutes and then to be forgotten once again as it looks like Jay Triano has something against Julian Wright. This is because Julian Wright would have a good game and then forgotten for a couple of games and then recently he is only getting a small amount of minutes to prove himself and it is tough to go from 0 to 120 immediately or he is put back on the bench. It is obvious that Jay Triano has lost the room for month and nobody listening to him and nobody wants to play solid defense so I believe Julian Wright is not at fault for this situation as I have not heard of why Jay has so much trouble finding him minutes during the games where the Raptors are not usually in a winning position and Julian strangely enough is the Raptors union rep.
Bryan Colangelo phoned into the Jeff Blair show on the Fan 590 this morning as like a caller just to set the record straight and he said that it was done internally it means it was taken care of and that one of the things that Julian Wright needed to do is to apologized to his teammates and that it was out of character for Julian. He also talked about how it was a single AP writer hearing Julian refusing to enter the game and then told one person, they told one person, and they told one person and that if they had suspended Julian for the rest of the season they my have had the players union getting involved and it becoming messy along with hurting Julian chances in upcoming free agency period. He also talked about Robert Horry thrown a towel in the face of then Sun head coach Danny Angle while Brain was with the Suns and he traded Horry within 24 hours because there had been a lead up to the towel throwing incident.
Also why is Julian Wright getting so ripped in this situation after a couple of weeks ago Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani got into Jay Triano face when they were taken out of a close game on defense to try to get a defense stop. Then obviously would be put into the game on offense as they are more offensive minded players and set up a basket to get the win but that situation has just been pushed under the rug.
Jay please let Julian have a chance to prove to everyone that he is a good defensive players
Tom Mehegan
Julian Wright sits himself during the horrific game against the Golden State Warriors on Friday Night with Comments from Bryan Colangelo
Julian Wright was asked by Jay Triano to get into the game and he decided he was not want to be embarrassed during the 138-100 loss to the Golden State Warriors which was after he was put into the Denver Nuggets 123-90 loss and played 10 minutes but did not collect any stats and the only other game he played in the last 15 Raptor games was a 3 minute stint during a 96-94 loss with 2 free throw makes and a board. He has not played more than 10 minutes in the last 20 games and then before that he had 12 of 13 games of more than 10 minutes where he filled the score sheet especially with steals as he had a # of 2 steal games including 2 (4 steal games) and also had 6 games of at least 4 boards and 6 games of 2 assists at least with a game of 4 assists and 3 assists. He also was the 13Th overall in the 2007 which means he was drafted 12 spots after Andrea Bargnani and I believe he should be having given a bigger rub on the court to see what he can do and maybe even changed the lack of defensive effort and set the tone for the Raptors and he has been able to do it more often than not.
So I believe that he was simply frustrated that he does not get a lot of minutes on the floor especially when he got only 10 minutes during the Nuggets game where they were destroyed early and often and was one of the fresh legs going into the game as he had not played during the win against the Thunder the night before. He was not ready to just get in for a few minutes and then to be forgotten once again as it looks like Jay Triano has something against Julian Wright. This is because Julian Wright would have a good game and then forgotten for a couple of games and then recently he is only getting a small amount of minutes to prove himself and it is tough to go from 0 to 120 immediately or he is put back on the bench. It is obvious that Jay Triano has lost the room for month and nobody listening to him and nobody wants to play solid defense so I believe Julian Wright is not at fault for this situation as I have not heard of why Jay has so much trouble finding him minutes during the games where the Raptors are not usually in a winning position and Julian strangely enough is the Raptors union rep.
Bryan Colangelo phoned into the Jeff Blair show on the Fan 590 this morning as like a caller just to set the record straight and he said that it was done internally it means it was taken care of and that one of the things that Julian Wright needed to do is to apologized to his teammates and that it was out of character for Julian. He also talked about how it was a single AP writer hearing Julian refusing to enter the game and then told one person, they told one person, and they told one person and that if they had suspended Julian for the rest of the season they my have had the players union getting involved and it becoming messy along with hurting Julian chances in upcoming free agency period. He also talked about Robert Horry thrown a towel in the face of then Sun head coach Danny Angle while Brain was with the Suns and he traded Horry within 24 hours because there had been a lead up to the towel throwing incident.
Also why is Julian Wright getting so ripped in this situation after a couple of weeks ago Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani got into Jay Triano face when they were taken out of a close game on defense to try to get a defense stop. Then obviously would be put into the game on offense as they are more offensive minded players and set up a basket to get the win but that situation has just been pushed under the rug.
Jay please let Julian have a chance to prove to everyone that he is a good defensive players
Tom Mehegan
So I believe that he was simply frustrated that he does not get a lot of minutes on the floor especially when he got only 10 minutes during the Nuggets game where they were destroyed early and often and was one of the fresh legs going into the game as he had not played during the win against the Thunder the night before. He was not ready to just get in for a few minutes and then to be forgotten once again as it looks like Jay Triano has something against Julian Wright. This is because Julian Wright would have a good game and then forgotten for a couple of games and then recently he is only getting a small amount of minutes to prove himself and it is tough to go from 0 to 120 immediately or he is put back on the bench. It is obvious that Jay Triano has lost the room for month and nobody listening to him and nobody wants to play solid defense so I believe Julian Wright is not at fault for this situation as I have not heard of why Jay has so much trouble finding him minutes during the games where the Raptors are not usually in a winning position and Julian strangely enough is the Raptors union rep.
Bryan Colangelo phoned into the Jeff Blair show on the Fan 590 this morning as like a caller just to set the record straight and he said that it was done internally it means it was taken care of and that one of the things that Julian Wright needed to do is to apologized to his teammates and that it was out of character for Julian. He also talked about how it was a single AP writer hearing Julian refusing to enter the game and then told one person, they told one person, and they told one person and that if they had suspended Julian for the rest of the season they my have had the players union getting involved and it becoming messy along with hurting Julian chances in upcoming free agency period. He also talked about Robert Horry thrown a towel in the face of then Sun head coach Danny Angle while Brain was with the Suns and he traded Horry within 24 hours because there had been a lead up to the towel throwing incident.
Also why is Julian Wright getting so ripped in this situation after a couple of weeks ago Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani got into Jay Triano face when they were taken out of a close game on defense to try to get a defense stop. Then obviously would be put into the game on offense as they are more offensive minded players and set up a basket to get the win but that situation has just been pushed under the rug.
Jay please let Julian have a chance to prove to everyone that he is a good defensive players
Tom Mehegan
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Blake show act I - IV - The Blake Show dominates the final act
Blake show act I - Defensive battle
Blake Griffen started by setting up Eric Gorden for a reverse jam and then a flying dunk going right down the baseline and dunking a rebound over a Raptor and finished with an one-hand slam but did miss a two handed jam in the quarter too. The defenses came out to play the first act and held the Clippers to 18 points and led by 3 points going into the second act as Amir Johnson is back on the court and back in LA and had 6 points and 4 boards while Ed Davis also had 4 boards too and Barbosa had 5 points. The Clippers got 5 from Chris Kaman along with 4 from Blake Griffen and Randy Foye and both teams are shooting 34% and going to the basket and dunking the ball.
Blake Show act II - Ed Davis steals the act
Blake Griffen had a two handed power slam but in the second act he will be remembered for the dunk that he missed it was spectacular it was a flying tommahawk jam which went off the rim and out because Amir Johnson fouled Griffen enough to miss it. The Raptors are 3 points ahead of the Warriors 46 point first quarter and lead the Clippers by 1 @ 44-43 going into act III and the Raptors were quite impressive to start act II as they started on 9-4 run to open a 8 point lead @ 30-22 and then the defense let down a bit which is OK especially if they can get it back on track for the final 2 acts. The Raptors got a huge act II from Ed Davis with 9 points and 2 boards along with 5 more points and an unnecessary from Barbosa while DeMar is 0 for 6 going into act III while Blake Griffen had 8 points and 2 boards and 3 assists while Chris Kaman had 6 more points and Craig Smith had 5 points for the Clippers who are shooting 40.9 % from the floor while the Raptors are shooting 39 % from the floor.
Blake Show act III - Calderon doing it himself
Blake Giffen was more a shooter with a long jumpers in the act but did bring down 4 boards and it was Barbosa and James Johnson with the reverse one hand jams but it was Barbosa going up for a jam and being rejected that will be the most memorable moment in this act. Jose Calderon hasd not been setting up this game but did have 8 points in act III while Barbosa is the one passing he has 6 assists in the game with the Raptors shooting 39 % from the floor and the Clippers have gone from 34 in the first act to 45 % in the third act which is scary.
Blake Show act IV - Blake Show is on all act
Blske Griffen was slamming the ball left, right, and center in this act IV and back-to-back slams lead the Clippers who were down by their biggest deficit of 10 @ 80-70 and go on a 17-3 run to take control of the game. The thing is with a half of the final act left and the Raptors up 8 Mo Williams was fouled and is allowed to take like 4 or 5 more steps to the basket for a slam and an one which was just silly and then a ref calls DeMar DeRozan who is going under the basket for stepping out of bounds when he was a foot and a half away from the baseline and the Ref was right there so it was not judgement call it simply was a bad call. While the Raptors still throw the game away as they did not move the ball towards the basket and instead stalled for long jumpers and 3-balls late in the clock that were not hitting at all but DeMar did finally make it to the game as he did hit all 3 field goals in the final act (maybe he was out having dinner with his parents or something). Back to Blake Griffen who had 8 points in this act and 8 boards so he doubled his boards each act while Eric Gordon had 5 points while Ed Davis had 6 of the Raptors 17 act IV points which was the Raptors lowest scoring act of the game.
In the end ...
The Raptors got a great game from Ed Davis who played 40 minutes and had 21 points, 11 boards, and 3 assists while we had Jose Calderon and Barbosa trading places with Calderon being the one with a 4 for 10 night with 16 points (7 for 7 from the line) with 4 boards, a steal, and 2 assists and Barbosa was 5 of 13 for 14 points (3 of 4 from the line) but 6 assisrs and 2 steals. Amir toughed it out and struggled after the first act while James Johnson filled up the box score with 14 points (5 of 13 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the line), 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block while the Blake Show was finishing strong with 22 points and 16 of the Clippers 51 boards which was 11 better than the Raptors 40 in the game. The Raptors had great active defense and were rewarded with 13 steals but were unable to stay away from the 11 Clippers blocks and they also out assisted the Raptors 22-19 and it just was the poor Raptor shooting that did them in during the final act as the Raptors went 4 for 15 from 3 in the game and a lot more came in the final act than any other act.
Could we have the final 8 games in the next two weeks so MLSE can on vacation together
Tom Mehegan
Blake Griffen started by setting up Eric Gorden for a reverse jam and then a flying dunk going right down the baseline and dunking a rebound over a Raptor and finished with an one-hand slam but did miss a two handed jam in the quarter too. The defenses came out to play the first act and held the Clippers to 18 points and led by 3 points going into the second act as Amir Johnson is back on the court and back in LA and had 6 points and 4 boards while Ed Davis also had 4 boards too and Barbosa had 5 points. The Clippers got 5 from Chris Kaman along with 4 from Blake Griffen and Randy Foye and both teams are shooting 34% and going to the basket and dunking the ball.
Blake Show act II - Ed Davis steals the act
Blake Griffen had a two handed power slam but in the second act he will be remembered for the dunk that he missed it was spectacular it was a flying tommahawk jam which went off the rim and out because Amir Johnson fouled Griffen enough to miss it. The Raptors are 3 points ahead of the Warriors 46 point first quarter and lead the Clippers by 1 @ 44-43 going into act III and the Raptors were quite impressive to start act II as they started on 9-4 run to open a 8 point lead @ 30-22 and then the defense let down a bit which is OK especially if they can get it back on track for the final 2 acts. The Raptors got a huge act II from Ed Davis with 9 points and 2 boards along with 5 more points and an unnecessary from Barbosa while DeMar is 0 for 6 going into act III while Blake Griffen had 8 points and 2 boards and 3 assists while Chris Kaman had 6 more points and Craig Smith had 5 points for the Clippers who are shooting 40.9 % from the floor while the Raptors are shooting 39 % from the floor.
Blake Show act III - Calderon doing it himself
Blake Giffen was more a shooter with a long jumpers in the act but did bring down 4 boards and it was Barbosa and James Johnson with the reverse one hand jams but it was Barbosa going up for a jam and being rejected that will be the most memorable moment in this act. Jose Calderon hasd not been setting up this game but did have 8 points in act III while Barbosa is the one passing he has 6 assists in the game with the Raptors shooting 39 % from the floor and the Clippers have gone from 34 in the first act to 45 % in the third act which is scary.
Blake Show act IV - Blake Show is on all act
Blske Griffen was slamming the ball left, right, and center in this act IV and back-to-back slams lead the Clippers who were down by their biggest deficit of 10 @ 80-70 and go on a 17-3 run to take control of the game. The thing is with a half of the final act left and the Raptors up 8 Mo Williams was fouled and is allowed to take like 4 or 5 more steps to the basket for a slam and an one which was just silly and then a ref calls DeMar DeRozan who is going under the basket for stepping out of bounds when he was a foot and a half away from the baseline and the Ref was right there so it was not judgement call it simply was a bad call. While the Raptors still throw the game away as they did not move the ball towards the basket and instead stalled for long jumpers and 3-balls late in the clock that were not hitting at all but DeMar did finally make it to the game as he did hit all 3 field goals in the final act (maybe he was out having dinner with his parents or something). Back to Blake Griffen who had 8 points in this act and 8 boards so he doubled his boards each act while Eric Gordon had 5 points while Ed Davis had 6 of the Raptors 17 act IV points which was the Raptors lowest scoring act of the game.
In the end ...
The Raptors got a great game from Ed Davis who played 40 minutes and had 21 points, 11 boards, and 3 assists while we had Jose Calderon and Barbosa trading places with Calderon being the one with a 4 for 10 night with 16 points (7 for 7 from the line) with 4 boards, a steal, and 2 assists and Barbosa was 5 of 13 for 14 points (3 of 4 from the line) but 6 assisrs and 2 steals. Amir toughed it out and struggled after the first act while James Johnson filled up the box score with 14 points (5 of 13 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the line), 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block while the Blake Show was finishing strong with 22 points and 16 of the Clippers 51 boards which was 11 better than the Raptors 40 in the game. The Raptors had great active defense and were rewarded with 13 steals but were unable to stay away from the 11 Clippers blocks and they also out assisted the Raptors 22-19 and it just was the poor Raptor shooting that did them in during the final act as the Raptors went 4 for 15 from 3 in the game and a lot more came in the final act than any other act.
Could we have the final 8 games in the next two weeks so MLSE can on vacation together
Tom Mehegan
Ed Davis - Player profile
Ed Davis of the Toronto Raptors
Ht 6'9 weight 225 Place Of Birth: Richmond, VA College: North Carolina Blue Devils
Drafted: 13th overall pick in the 2010 by the Toronto Raptors
In his first season in the NBA he started with 2 games in the D-league as he had been recovering from a broken wrist that had his stock dropping at the draft he came in to spell a rest for an Amir Johnson or Andrea Bargnani and he was a spark plug picking up a number of rebounds right of the bat and will be dominate force for the Raptors going forward when he gets used to the minutes and length of the NBA schedule. He has 10 career starts for the Raptors in which he has picked up average of 2.4 offensive boards and 4.3 defensive boards in his first 54 games as a Raptor and has scored 6.6 points a game and is just above 51% from the line and 57% from the floor but with practice he will get to the line more as he will use his body to collect offensive boards and also will become a better free throw shooter.
He is better than the 13 best player coming out of the 2010 draft class and when he becomes the every game starting forward he will be putting up consent double-double and will be a valuable player in the NBA for years to come making the players around him better.
The one thing he will still need to work hard on game in and game out will be playing defense especially with the Raptors who have a number of their players only concerned about the offensive side of the game. In the end with the floor time he will be getting over the next few years with the Raptors every aspect of his game will get much better as he is not as bad as Reggie Evans or a Shaq attack at the line while not being afraid of getting dirty like a Chris Bosh or Andrea Bargnani.
Maybe the first Raptors own glass cleaner
Tom Mehegan
Ht 6'9 weight 225 Place Of Birth: Richmond, VA College: North Carolina Blue Devils
Drafted: 13th overall pick in the 2010 by the Toronto Raptors
In his first season in the NBA he started with 2 games in the D-league as he had been recovering from a broken wrist that had his stock dropping at the draft he came in to spell a rest for an Amir Johnson or Andrea Bargnani and he was a spark plug picking up a number of rebounds right of the bat and will be dominate force for the Raptors going forward when he gets used to the minutes and length of the NBA schedule. He has 10 career starts for the Raptors in which he has picked up average of 2.4 offensive boards and 4.3 defensive boards in his first 54 games as a Raptor and has scored 6.6 points a game and is just above 51% from the line and 57% from the floor but with practice he will get to the line more as he will use his body to collect offensive boards and also will become a better free throw shooter.
He is better than the 13 best player coming out of the 2010 draft class and when he becomes the every game starting forward he will be putting up consent double-double and will be a valuable player in the NBA for years to come making the players around him better.
The one thing he will still need to work hard on game in and game out will be playing defense especially with the Raptors who have a number of their players only concerned about the offensive side of the game. In the end with the floor time he will be getting over the next few years with the Raptors every aspect of his game will get much better as he is not as bad as Reggie Evans or a Shaq attack at the line while not being afraid of getting dirty like a Chris Bosh or Andrea Bargnani.
Maybe the first Raptors own glass cleaner
Tom Mehegan
Friday, March 25, 2011
Raptors set another team record in a horrible showing (i.e. not showing up at all)
So the most points by a Raptor team in a half was December 2Nd, 2008 which was Sam Mitchell's last game as they gave up 79 points in a half but that all changed tonight as the Raptors gave up a disgusting 86 first half points as the Raptors made a great game plan which was to not play an ouch of defense and they kept it up in the second half as the Raptors gave up 101 points in 29 game minutes and only gave up 30 points in the third quarter to be down 116-74. So the Raptors got out to a quick 7-4 lead but with Ellis having 15 first quarter points and Wright having 13 points in the quarter the Warriors took a 45-36 first quarter lead into the second quarter while the Warriors did not miss a shot from the 10:54 mark until 39 seconds left in the quarter. Where Stefan Curry had 12 of the warriors 41 second quarter and he had 19 points @ half while Ellis had 20 points in the half and the Warriors were hitting everything so they had a great inside game and because the Raptors could not get out on shooters they nailed a number of 3-balls and had 20 rebounds and assists all in the first half shooting just under 69% from the floor and 15 of 18 from the line in the half. The Raptors were lead by James Johnson who had 10 of the Raptors 36 first quarter points and DeMar had 7 of the Raptors 22 second quarter points and 15 in the half while Ed Davis had 5 first half boards and Calderon had 5 assists and would not play in the second half.
The Warriors kept it going in the third quarter with Wright having 9 points and Lee having 7 points as they led by 42 points @ 116-74 while in the fourth quarter the Warriors were led by Williams who had 10 points in the quarter as it was the only quarter the Raptors won 26-22 as the Warriors won 138-100 and this would be the perfect time to fire Triano but it sadly will not happen until the off-season.
So lets see the Warriors had 4 of their 5 starters with at least 20 points with Monta Ellis with 27 points with 10 assists to go with 4 boards and steals, Stephen Curry with 23 points and 8 assists, Dorell Wright had 26 points and 9 of 11 from the floor, David Lee had 21 points with 8 of 9 from the floor and 7 boards. They shoot 61.4 from the floor while going 10 of 17 from 3 and picking up 40 rebounds, 33 assists, and 12 steals what a way to stop a 5 game losing streak.
The had Ed Davis who had 18 points and 11 boards (Amir and Reggie both out) but he also went to the line 12 of the Raptors 26 trips and made 8 of them while DeMar (8 of 12) and Barbosa (7 of 11) both had 19 points to lead the Raptors but the surprising stat tonight is that Andrea had no rebounds and 5 assists. He was also one of the Raptors who could not hit a shot in this game of non-defensive basketball as he was 2 of 10 from the floor and only went to the line 4 times (hitting 3 of them) and Sonny Weems was 2 of 9 from the floor and in the end James Johnson was 6 for 11 from the floor with 14 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks but if he so scary why did he not give his teammates a rude awakening
Blake show tomorrow
Tom Mehegan
The Warriors kept it going in the third quarter with Wright having 9 points and Lee having 7 points as they led by 42 points @ 116-74 while in the fourth quarter the Warriors were led by Williams who had 10 points in the quarter as it was the only quarter the Raptors won 26-22 as the Warriors won 138-100 and this would be the perfect time to fire Triano but it sadly will not happen until the off-season.
So lets see the Warriors had 4 of their 5 starters with at least 20 points with Monta Ellis with 27 points with 10 assists to go with 4 boards and steals, Stephen Curry with 23 points and 8 assists, Dorell Wright had 26 points and 9 of 11 from the floor, David Lee had 21 points with 8 of 9 from the floor and 7 boards. They shoot 61.4 from the floor while going 10 of 17 from 3 and picking up 40 rebounds, 33 assists, and 12 steals what a way to stop a 5 game losing streak.
The had Ed Davis who had 18 points and 11 boards (Amir and Reggie both out) but he also went to the line 12 of the Raptors 26 trips and made 8 of them while DeMar (8 of 12) and Barbosa (7 of 11) both had 19 points to lead the Raptors but the surprising stat tonight is that Andrea had no rebounds and 5 assists. He was also one of the Raptors who could not hit a shot in this game of non-defensive basketball as he was 2 of 10 from the floor and only went to the line 4 times (hitting 3 of them) and Sonny Weems was 2 of 9 from the floor and in the end James Johnson was 6 for 11 from the floor with 14 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks but if he so scary why did he not give his teammates a rude awakening
Blake show tomorrow
Tom Mehegan
Charles Oakley to be the next head coach for the Raptors
Charles Oakley is a very good choice to be the next head coach of the Toronto Raptors especially as the Raptors have never had a solid defensive team in their 16 years in the NBA and Charles Oakley has been brought in to be an assistant with Charlotte Bobcats and helped them from being a horrible team to a playoff stretch being 3 game back of Indiana Pacers and the 8Th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Charles Oakley could get a team playing hard defense as he is the most awesome defensive player when he was an all-star NBA player and would have 2 amazing players that would be his model players and they are Reggie Evans and James Johnson and just like with Charles Oakley nobody would mess with either Reggie Evans and James Johnson as they are scary and intimidating figures. They would be able to show the other Raptor players how to play the tough defense from minute one to minute 48 and the Raptors promotional team should change the free pizza from the Raptors scoring a hundred points to the Raptors keeping the opponents under a hundred and with the tough defense they would hopefully average opponent under 95 points a game and be like the top teams in the NBA who keep opponents under 95 points a game and have 50 win season instead of what it usually is for the Raptors 50 loss seasons. The best part about Charles Oakley becoming head coach of the Toronto Raptors would be the fans chanting "defense" throughout the game will have a point in the chant as the Raptors will actually play defense throughout the game as the chant is stupid because the Raptors usually play about 5 minutes of tough defense a game.
It would be a good idea for MLSE to bring in Charles Oakley as the head coach as great defense brings wins and wins bring fans to the game and it would take the 14,000 fans to most likely 18,000 to 19,000 fans a game because the people of Toronto want to be contenders instead of wannabes. The fans would make the Air Canada Centre one of the loudest arenas in the NBA and would help the Raptors to win at least 30 home wins in a season which would be a solid start for the Raptors while the Raptors with their solid defense under Oakley would help the Raptors be a 500 road team of 20 or 21 road wins. This would be a complete change from the Raptors record right now with their 14 and 22 home record and their 6 and 27 road record which is mostly a defensive problem as they are given up too many points a game.
MLSE please do the right thing and get us Charles Oakley pretty please
Tom Mehegan
Charles Oakley could get a team playing hard defense as he is the most awesome defensive player when he was an all-star NBA player and would have 2 amazing players that would be his model players and they are Reggie Evans and James Johnson and just like with Charles Oakley nobody would mess with either Reggie Evans and James Johnson as they are scary and intimidating figures. They would be able to show the other Raptor players how to play the tough defense from minute one to minute 48 and the Raptors promotional team should change the free pizza from the Raptors scoring a hundred points to the Raptors keeping the opponents under a hundred and with the tough defense they would hopefully average opponent under 95 points a game and be like the top teams in the NBA who keep opponents under 95 points a game and have 50 win season instead of what it usually is for the Raptors 50 loss seasons. The best part about Charles Oakley becoming head coach of the Toronto Raptors would be the fans chanting "defense" throughout the game will have a point in the chant as the Raptors will actually play defense throughout the game as the chant is stupid because the Raptors usually play about 5 minutes of tough defense a game.
It would be a good idea for MLSE to bring in Charles Oakley as the head coach as great defense brings wins and wins bring fans to the game and it would take the 14,000 fans to most likely 18,000 to 19,000 fans a game because the people of Toronto want to be contenders instead of wannabes. The fans would make the Air Canada Centre one of the loudest arenas in the NBA and would help the Raptors to win at least 30 home wins in a season which would be a solid start for the Raptors while the Raptors with their solid defense under Oakley would help the Raptors be a 500 road team of 20 or 21 road wins. This would be a complete change from the Raptors record right now with their 14 and 22 home record and their 6 and 27 road record which is mostly a defensive problem as they are given up too many points a game.
MLSE please do the right thing and get us Charles Oakley pretty please
Tom Mehegan
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Raptors VS Suns - good first half for Andrea but the Suns rest in the first half and destroyed the Raptors down the stretch
The first half of the game was good offensively for the Raptors with 61 points with 16 points from Andrea Bargnani with DeMar and Barbosa both with 9 and Weems with 8 points in the half. The Suns are staying in the game with long distance as they are 6 for 15 from 3 with Boo Carter was 3 for 6 from 3 and had 11 points while Aaron Brooks was 2 for 3 from 3 as he has 11 points too but the Suns are really hurting as Grant Hill is injured and is likely done for the game while Mickael Pietrus is questionable with an injury and Robin Lopez is sick and is done for the game while Captain Canada sat most of the first half with only 6 minutes on the court but he is likely to play more in the second half. The Raptors had a run of 15-5 to take a 19-11 8 point lead while a 11-3 run gave the Raptors their biggest lead at 10 in the first half but then held strong with a 6 point halftime lead @ 61-55 but will need to get up on 3-balls and play tougher in the second half even though they led in boards 26-23 and assists they are tied at 13.
The Raptors came out and scored the first 6 points in the second half and took a 12 point lead @ 67-55 and then they went back and forth with the Suns and the top of the mountain for the Raptors tonight was 84-71 with 3:21 left in the third quarter and the Suns went on a 15-2 run with Steve Nash on the bench for the last 2 minutes of the quarter and the game was the same as it was @ tipoff tonight tied and this time it was 86-86. So the fourth quarter begins and just like to open the half the Raptors scored the first 6 points of the quartero and then the Suns come back with 9 straight points as Channing Frye had 7 of these 9 points and after Barbosa hits a 3-ball to tie it up @ 95 with 6 minutes left it was anyone's ball game. With the Raptors getting 6 more points while the Suns got only 2 to have a 9-2 run to open up a 6 point lead again and they were feeling really good about themselves but then the Suns turn over the Raptors bus and the Raptors were not heard from again as the Suns close the game with a 17-3 run to win the game 114-106 and these are the guys who played not 1, not 2, but 3 overtimes against Kobe and the Lakers last night.
The Raptors got on them early and often in the game as they tried to end the 14 game losing streak the Raptors are on against the Suns where the last time the Raptors beat them Mo Pete and Vince Carter were lead the charge for the Raptors and now Vince was on the other sidelines as a Sun and Mo Pete may not be in the league if he is he is out the end of someone's bench not seeing the court as a high price stiff. The Suns did a very good job of using their bench because Channing Frye was the only starter playing huge minutes in the game as Boo Carter played 20 and Nash played 22 and Robin Lopez played 15 and the 3 ball was huge for them as they hit 12 of 28 of them and like usually the Raptors were a step slow in recovering so they had very good looks most of the night. Aaron Brooks had 25 points and Steve Nash had 16 points in his 22 minutes on the court as he only played the second half as they had 8 assists in the game while Marcin Gortat had 8 boards to led the Suns to go with his 15 points. The Raptors were led by Andrea Bargnani with 27 points (10 of 22 from the floor with 6 free throws made) to go with 4 boards and 3 assists and DeMar DeRozan had 19 (9 of 20 from the floor and 1 free throw) to go along 8 boards (very good) and 4 assists but these 2 put up 42 of the Raptors 97 shots and hit 19 of the Raptors 47 buckets so the rest of the team had a lot higher shooting % than these 2. Ed Davis had 9 boards to led the team as the Raptors out rebounded the Suns 49-42 and Jose Calderon had 13 assists but the Suns got an extra assist while the Suns also had 10 more free throws 22-12 which is extremely low on the Raptors part. The surprising stat of the night is that Barbosa took 11 shots in 22 minutes which is 1 every 2 minutes on the court and it is usually 1 every minute and Reggie played 15 minutes and had 6 boards as he had foul trouble in the first half.
Warriors Friday lets see what happens
Tom Mehegan
The Raptors came out and scored the first 6 points in the second half and took a 12 point lead @ 67-55 and then they went back and forth with the Suns and the top of the mountain for the Raptors tonight was 84-71 with 3:21 left in the third quarter and the Suns went on a 15-2 run with Steve Nash on the bench for the last 2 minutes of the quarter and the game was the same as it was @ tipoff tonight tied and this time it was 86-86. So the fourth quarter begins and just like to open the half the Raptors scored the first 6 points of the quartero and then the Suns come back with 9 straight points as Channing Frye had 7 of these 9 points and after Barbosa hits a 3-ball to tie it up @ 95 with 6 minutes left it was anyone's ball game. With the Raptors getting 6 more points while the Suns got only 2 to have a 9-2 run to open up a 6 point lead again and they were feeling really good about themselves but then the Suns turn over the Raptors bus and the Raptors were not heard from again as the Suns close the game with a 17-3 run to win the game 114-106 and these are the guys who played not 1, not 2, but 3 overtimes against Kobe and the Lakers last night.
The Raptors got on them early and often in the game as they tried to end the 14 game losing streak the Raptors are on against the Suns where the last time the Raptors beat them Mo Pete and Vince Carter were lead the charge for the Raptors and now Vince was on the other sidelines as a Sun and Mo Pete may not be in the league if he is he is out the end of someone's bench not seeing the court as a high price stiff. The Suns did a very good job of using their bench because Channing Frye was the only starter playing huge minutes in the game as Boo Carter played 20 and Nash played 22 and Robin Lopez played 15 and the 3 ball was huge for them as they hit 12 of 28 of them and like usually the Raptors were a step slow in recovering so they had very good looks most of the night. Aaron Brooks had 25 points and Steve Nash had 16 points in his 22 minutes on the court as he only played the second half as they had 8 assists in the game while Marcin Gortat had 8 boards to led the Suns to go with his 15 points. The Raptors were led by Andrea Bargnani with 27 points (10 of 22 from the floor with 6 free throws made) to go with 4 boards and 3 assists and DeMar DeRozan had 19 (9 of 20 from the floor and 1 free throw) to go along 8 boards (very good) and 4 assists but these 2 put up 42 of the Raptors 97 shots and hit 19 of the Raptors 47 buckets so the rest of the team had a lot higher shooting % than these 2. Ed Davis had 9 boards to led the team as the Raptors out rebounded the Suns 49-42 and Jose Calderon had 13 assists but the Suns got an extra assist while the Suns also had 10 more free throws 22-12 which is extremely low on the Raptors part. The surprising stat of the night is that Barbosa took 11 shots in 22 minutes which is 1 every 2 minutes on the court and it is usually 1 every minute and Reggie played 15 minutes and had 6 boards as he had foul trouble in the first half.
Warriors Friday lets see what happens
Tom Mehegan
Monday, March 21, 2011
Raptors are all punched out after they beat the Thunder and then could not catch their breath
So the Raptors are in Denver, Colorado where your a mile above sea level at least that is what the sigh outside the Pepsi Center says so before I get into the game I am going to look back at what happened @ the Pepsi Center on December 2Nd, 2008 when the Raptors lost 132-93 to the Denver Nuggets and it was the certain falling down on Sam Mitchell's coaching career as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors.
So the game begins and the Raptors could not give a dam about playing up on the Nugget's players in the first half where the Nuggets scored 36 points in the first quarter and 46 points in the second quarter and had 11 turnovers in the half which is the same as they had in all of last night's game and the Raptors only gave up 66 points through the first three quarter last night. So it is a completely different team and with the nuggets hitting 53% of their shoots from the floor and going to the line 16 times and making 13 of them but they are wide open for 3-balls and they are draining them at will hitting 7 of the 15 3 ball attempts in the first half. Ty Lawson was unconscious shooting the ball in the half as he was 5 of 6 from the floor as he also went 2 for 2 from 3 along with hitting all 5 of his free throw attempts and had 17 points in the half. The Nuggets also got 30 rebounds in the first half which is just outstanding as 30 rebounds could be a team's total for a game not a half while the Raptors had 17 rebounds in the half which is close to the average for a half while the Nuggets also have 16 assists compared to the Raptors 9 which means they are sharing the ball big time. The scariest rebound was the one where Danilo Gallinari got an offensive rebound with 3 raptors just standing there and he just powered up and slammed it down with no contest from any of the 3 Raptors standing under the basket as the clock went triple zero to thankfully end the first half.
The Raptors was able to keep it close in the second half but still lost all 4 quarters and the Raptors played all their players solid minutes while the Nuggets played their starters a little bit more and 7 Nuggets were in double digits led by Ty Lawson was 7 for 10 from the floor and ended up with 23 points along with 8 assists and Nene Hilario went 7 for 9 from the floor with 18 points. J.R. Smith was 2 assists away from a triple double as he had 13 points and 10 boards while the Raptors were led by Andrea Bargnani who had 20 points and DeMar DeRozan who had 14 points but the most interesting stat was Jerryd Bayless had 9 assists which 3 more than the shoots he took which is good for a point even though he did not make a basket along with Alexis Ajinca had 9 boards in his most rub on the court which equaled Reggie's rebounds.
The thing that the Raptors struggled on the defensive end again and they questioned about 2 maybe goaltending non-calls against the Nuggets and like always the Raptors questioned any close foul and like away the Raptors just got more fouls which is because it looks like the Raptors are showing up the refs as they do not play hard enough to earn the close calls.
Thanks for reading
Tom Mehegan
So the game begins and the Raptors could not give a dam about playing up on the Nugget's players in the first half where the Nuggets scored 36 points in the first quarter and 46 points in the second quarter and had 11 turnovers in the half which is the same as they had in all of last night's game and the Raptors only gave up 66 points through the first three quarter last night. So it is a completely different team and with the nuggets hitting 53% of their shoots from the floor and going to the line 16 times and making 13 of them but they are wide open for 3-balls and they are draining them at will hitting 7 of the 15 3 ball attempts in the first half. Ty Lawson was unconscious shooting the ball in the half as he was 5 of 6 from the floor as he also went 2 for 2 from 3 along with hitting all 5 of his free throw attempts and had 17 points in the half. The Nuggets also got 30 rebounds in the first half which is just outstanding as 30 rebounds could be a team's total for a game not a half while the Raptors had 17 rebounds in the half which is close to the average for a half while the Nuggets also have 16 assists compared to the Raptors 9 which means they are sharing the ball big time. The scariest rebound was the one where Danilo Gallinari got an offensive rebound with 3 raptors just standing there and he just powered up and slammed it down with no contest from any of the 3 Raptors standing under the basket as the clock went triple zero to thankfully end the first half.
The Raptors was able to keep it close in the second half but still lost all 4 quarters and the Raptors played all their players solid minutes while the Nuggets played their starters a little bit more and 7 Nuggets were in double digits led by Ty Lawson was 7 for 10 from the floor and ended up with 23 points along with 8 assists and Nene Hilario went 7 for 9 from the floor with 18 points. J.R. Smith was 2 assists away from a triple double as he had 13 points and 10 boards while the Raptors were led by Andrea Bargnani who had 20 points and DeMar DeRozan who had 14 points but the most interesting stat was Jerryd Bayless had 9 assists which 3 more than the shoots he took which is good for a point even though he did not make a basket along with Alexis Ajinca had 9 boards in his most rub on the court which equaled Reggie's rebounds.
The thing that the Raptors struggled on the defensive end again and they questioned about 2 maybe goaltending non-calls against the Nuggets and like always the Raptors questioned any close foul and like away the Raptors just got more fouls which is because it looks like the Raptors are showing up the refs as they do not play hard enough to earn the close calls.
Thanks for reading
Tom Mehegan
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Raptors played role of Rocky Balboa as they faced the thunder who had 19 fourth quarter free throw
Raptors played role of Rocky Balboa as they faced the thunder who had 19 fourth quarter free throw
The Thunder started out leading 18-10 but then the Raptors went on a 15-4 run to end the quarter and basically showed us that they will be serious about the game as they lead 25-22 and then went back and forth with the Raptors leading at half time 48-44. The Raptors started the second half on a 10-4 run to take a 10 point lead @ 58-48 and went back and forth the rest of the quarter and the Raptors still have a 10 point lead 76-66 and the Raptors had a solid defense of performance especially Kevin Durant who was 4 for 6 in the first quarter but then went 2 for 15 from the floor the rest of the game. So in the fourth quarter the Raptors bent but did not break as the Thunder would chip into the lead with mostly free throws as they had 19 free throws in the quarter and they made 15 of them but instead of letting the refs get into their head and lose control of the game they would come back with a basket of their own to stretch the lead again. With 5 minutes left in the game the Raptors were up 2 points and they went back and forth until the 91 second mark of the fourth quarter when Kevin Durant hit 2 free throws to make it 93-90 Thunder and then when Barbosa hit a 3-ball to tie it up with 38 seconds left and it is like the Raptors only need a single defensive stop and they would get a chance to win the game so Russell Westbrook misses a short jumper and DeMar gets the rebound. The Raptors set-up for last shot with 23 seconds left with Barbosa setting up to go one-on-one towards the basket but wait the screen happens and Barbosa pass the ball (it true, it true Barbosa actually passed) to Amir Johnson who hit a short jumper for the lead and then it came down to Kevin Durant who missed the mid-range jumper and a Raptor had to be pulled of the court floor at the end of the game like at the end of prize fight.
It is quite silly to have players acting up at the end of the game but they did show tonight that they can play through their issues for the first time in quite a while. O' wait a second talking waiting a long while it was the first win on the road in 15 games and it is the first time since December 1St and December 3Rd when they last won back-to-back games.
The Stars of the game for the Raptors were was Reggie Evens with his shooting 4 for 6 from the floor (if Raptors ever decide to try to set him up for a bucket that is way silly) and more impressive stat was 5 for 6 from the line (someone must of hypnotized him) which gave him 13 points and 9 boards in 23 minutes while Leandro Barbosa did take 10 shoots and made 7 in his 14 minutes on the court but it is that one assist that was awesome. Andrea Bargnani lived at the line with 10 free throws and making 7 and his shooting from the floor was a little off as he was 7 for 18 but he still had 23 points with 5 boards while DeMar DeRozan was second behind Reggie with 8 boards and probably the most important one of the game to go with his 16 points. While the thunder were led by Russell Westbrook who had 22 points with 6 boards and 4 assists along with Kevin Durant had 20 points (7 for 8 from the line) and 5 boards but these two went 13 for 40 from the floor and the rest of the team was 17 for 35 from the floor but Kendrick Perkins was really solid with 12 boards.
Two in a row and heading for Denver and it is all about the air
Tom Mehegan
The Thunder started out leading 18-10 but then the Raptors went on a 15-4 run to end the quarter and basically showed us that they will be serious about the game as they lead 25-22 and then went back and forth with the Raptors leading at half time 48-44. The Raptors started the second half on a 10-4 run to take a 10 point lead @ 58-48 and went back and forth the rest of the quarter and the Raptors still have a 10 point lead 76-66 and the Raptors had a solid defense of performance especially Kevin Durant who was 4 for 6 in the first quarter but then went 2 for 15 from the floor the rest of the game. So in the fourth quarter the Raptors bent but did not break as the Thunder would chip into the lead with mostly free throws as they had 19 free throws in the quarter and they made 15 of them but instead of letting the refs get into their head and lose control of the game they would come back with a basket of their own to stretch the lead again. With 5 minutes left in the game the Raptors were up 2 points and they went back and forth until the 91 second mark of the fourth quarter when Kevin Durant hit 2 free throws to make it 93-90 Thunder and then when Barbosa hit a 3-ball to tie it up with 38 seconds left and it is like the Raptors only need a single defensive stop and they would get a chance to win the game so Russell Westbrook misses a short jumper and DeMar gets the rebound. The Raptors set-up for last shot with 23 seconds left with Barbosa setting up to go one-on-one towards the basket but wait the screen happens and Barbosa pass the ball (it true, it true Barbosa actually passed) to Amir Johnson who hit a short jumper for the lead and then it came down to Kevin Durant who missed the mid-range jumper and a Raptor had to be pulled of the court floor at the end of the game like at the end of prize fight.
It is quite silly to have players acting up at the end of the game but they did show tonight that they can play through their issues for the first time in quite a while. O' wait a second talking waiting a long while it was the first win on the road in 15 games and it is the first time since December 1St and December 3Rd when they last won back-to-back games.
The Stars of the game for the Raptors were was Reggie Evens with his shooting 4 for 6 from the floor (if Raptors ever decide to try to set him up for a bucket that is way silly) and more impressive stat was 5 for 6 from the line (someone must of hypnotized him) which gave him 13 points and 9 boards in 23 minutes while Leandro Barbosa did take 10 shoots and made 7 in his 14 minutes on the court but it is that one assist that was awesome. Andrea Bargnani lived at the line with 10 free throws and making 7 and his shooting from the floor was a little off as he was 7 for 18 but he still had 23 points with 5 boards while DeMar DeRozan was second behind Reggie with 8 boards and probably the most important one of the game to go with his 16 points. While the thunder were led by Russell Westbrook who had 22 points with 6 boards and 4 assists along with Kevin Durant had 20 points (7 for 8 from the line) and 5 boards but these two went 13 for 40 from the floor and the rest of the team was 17 for 35 from the floor but Kendrick Perkins was really solid with 12 boards.
Two in a row and heading for Denver and it is all about the air
Tom Mehegan
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