# Raptors @ Wizards, Mar. 6th



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

*Game #61, 6 March 2007
Toronto Raptors [32-28] @ Washington Wizards [33-25]
7:00 PM EST, The Score, Fan590.com
Verizon Center, Washington, DC*

<img border="2" height="35" width="522" src="http://images.tsn.ca/images/e/headers/nba-raptors-775x50.gif">

<img border="1" src="http://pics.forecaster.ca/nba-player/0945.gif"> <img border="1" src="http://pics.forecaster.ca/nba-player/0297.gif"> <img border="1" src="http://pics.forecaster.ca/nba-player/1719.gif"> <img border="1" src="http://pics.forecaster.ca/nba-player/0924.gif"> <img border="1" src="http://pics.forecaster.ca/nba-player/0268.gif">
<img border="1" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/headtohead.jpg"> <img border="1" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/headtohead.jpg"> <img border="1" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/headtohead.jpg"> <img border="1" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/headtohead.jpg"> <img border="1" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/headtohead.jpg">
<img border="1" src="http://pics.forecaster.ca/nba-player/0440.gif"> <img border="1" src="http://pics.forecaster.ca/nba-player/0350.gif"> <img border="1" src="http://pics.forecaster.ca/nba-player/0645.gif"> <img border="1" src="http://pics.forecaster.ca/nba-player/0182.gif"> <img border="1" src="http://pics.forecaster.ca/nba-player/0367.gif">

<img border="2" height="35" width="522" src="http://images.tsn.ca/images/e/headers/nba-wizards-775x50.gif">

*
Not since their 1-8 start to the 2006/2007 campaign have the Raptors looked as
vulnerable, or been as criticized as they have been this past week. After losing
to the San Antonio Spurs last Monday the Raptors dispatched with Houston Rockets
on the road. Upon returning home the Raps allowed themselves to be trounced by 
the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday and Saturday, closing-out 
what was the first losing week for Toronto since December 24-30th. At four games 
over .500, and four games ahead of the second-place New Jersey Nets, the Raptors
can not afford to lose any ground in the last month and a half of the season. On
Tuesday the Raptors will visit the Washington Wizards, a team that the Raps have 
steamrolled this season. The Raptors scored 119 and 116 points respectively in 
their two games versus the Wizards in January, both winning home games. Toronto
team captain Chris Bosh is averaging 29/12 against the Wiz, which is good news 
considering his recent 4-game slump. Like Toronto, Washington is 5-5 in their 
last ten games. All-Star Gilbert Arenas has helped the Wizards to back-to-back 
wins over the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors, putting up an average of
26 points in those two contests. It is no coincidence that the Wizards snapped 
a four-game losing skid against the Hawks, as veteran big man Antawn Jamison, 
who was sidelined for over a month due to injury, returned and dropped 22 points
in 39 minutes on Atlanta's flightless birds. Jamison scored 18 points and had 11
rebounds against the Warriors and has played an incredible 81-minutes in his 
first two games back. This game tips-off at 7:00 PM on The Score and Fan590.com.*​</td></tr>​


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Nice, another loss coming up!


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## madman (Oct 20, 2003)

not looking forward to this one, I hope they can surprise me with a win


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## Pain5155 (May 28, 2006)

if anthony parker doesnt play, this game is over before it even started.


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## TJ Ford (Dec 16, 2006)

Three losses in a row, here we come.


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Budweiser_Boy said:


> Nice, another loss coming up!





madman said:


> not looking forward to this one, I hope they can surprise me with a win





Pain5155 said:


> if anthony parker doesnt play, this game is over before it even started.





TJ Ford said:


> Three losses in a row, here we come.


Sheesh, you guys are a lot of fun.

The Raps have played well against the Wizards this year. I can see us winning this one.


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## Timbaland (Nov 18, 2005)

Wow, morale around this place has dropped pretty fast. Cheer up fellas, we are still in first place. Hopefully the Raps can get out of their shooting slump and get a much needed win. Bosh needs to bounce back with a big game.


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## madman (Oct 20, 2003)

like i said in my other posts i am never comfortable with games like this, no AP, no Bargs vs a hot wiz team in washington, odds not in our favor


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## ballocks (May 15, 2003)

i think bargnani and/or parker will play in this one. if not, it still doesn't matter: it's up to chris bosh and tj ford to pick-up their own games (imo) and stop waiting for 'the other guy' to do it for them.

3 of the team's last 4 games have been bitterly incomplete. it is up to the leadership of this team to restore pride in their games and perform accordingly. if they lose, they lose- but they have to mature considerably (imo) and embrace the fact that they're professionals expected to compete consistently, win or not.

if i see chris bosh dragging his feet up and down the floor again and/or tj ford apparently falling asleep from boredom again, i'll have no choice but to call into question the leadership and _manhood_ of this team. i don't usually say this but the most recent losses have been totally unproductive, fruitless affairs. in my world, these have not just been the 'dog days of winter', they might've symbolized more than that. with another one tonight, i'd be concerned.

peace


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## billfindlay10 (Jan 24, 2003)

Jose needs to have a bounce back game.....Dixon and Humphries should be feeling good about themselves....Parker would be a boost.

All is not lost I say Raps by 5!


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Mago will play if he can get to DC in time. His mind will be elsewhere, probably, but he should still be a boost.

I doubt AP plays. Seems too soon.

Tonight could be a nice bounce-back game, especially with the Memphis Sucks coming up.


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## Who-C (Nov 21, 2005)

I think we match up well against the Wiz, the main factor i think for tonight is if Andrea plays. If he plays i think we can take this one. I also look for Juan to have a big game again as its a home coming for him. Btw Speedy, Memphis has owned us the past couple of years hopefully we can change that tomorrow


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

^ Memphis is 4-26 on the road. They aren't beating us at home. Not happening. The Raps care too much about the Naismith Cup to let that happen.


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## Junkyard Dog13 (Aug 9, 2003)

put the game in Biosh's hands, TJ needs to cut back on his shot attempts.


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## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

They need to stop losing sometime and this game is as good as any.

Let's see Bosh step up and be the leader all the fancy American sports writers are saying he is.

Go Raps!


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## Junkyard Dog13 (Aug 9, 2003)

lossing?


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## Victor Page (Nov 1, 2006)

Why all the mystery about whether Bargnani or AP will play? Raptors TV is on 24 hours a day, with at least 15 "experts" taking turns saying how each game is a "must win" and that a key to the game is Bosh playing well, and they can't bring us up to date information on who is playing?


Don't they know that people gamble on these games? 

I think AP would play if this were a playoff game - their lead on New Jersey gives them the luxury of waiting until he's absolutely 100%.


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## Pain5155 (May 28, 2006)

we need to win as many games and finish 2 or 3 to avoid the pistons in the first 2 rounds. If we can do that we have the ability to make it to the ECF.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

God I miss Parker. It'll be hard to contain Gilbert tonight. Bosh and Ford need to step up and start playing ball. If TJ keeps struggling, Jose needs to get more playing time.


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## Mr_B (Mar 6, 2004)

Bargnani playing and Dixon starting tonight says the fan


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Mr_B said:


> Bargnani playing and Dixon starting tonight says the fan


I guess if he was ever going to start it would be against the Wizards or Blazers.


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## Mr_B (Mar 6, 2004)

speedythief said:


> I guess if he was ever going to start it would be against the Wizards or Blazers.


the reason behind it is because Sam feels mo has better chemistry with the 2nd unit hmm make sense to me


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Not a quick start but we look decent.

Wizards playing pretty good defense early, that is new.


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Need to get Mago going. Raps look okay, not great but okay.

Haywood is a load.


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## narrator (Feb 11, 2006)

It amuses me how announcers butcher Bargnani's name. "And Barney-awny shoots the ball." Come on, guys! It's not that hard! :biggrin: 

Raps look okay so far.


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## narrator (Feb 11, 2006)

speedythief said:


> I guess if he was ever going to start it would be against the Wizards or Blazers.


He also played at UMD so maybe it's like starting a guy in his hometown.


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Bosh looks a little better. He let a few defensive rebounds get past him and they turned into points for the Wizards. Really no excuse for him to play the whole quarter and have no rebounds to show for it. Raps down 14-5 on the boards.

But Chris's offense, even the drive that was blocked by Haywood, looks good.

And five blocks between Chris and Rasho in the first quarter? Wow.


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

In that second quarter it seemed like the Wizards either turned the ball over or got points, there were no missed shots that led to possession changes. When they threw up a brick they either got one or two offensive rebounds and put it back, or they got to the line.

I'd say it was extraordinary but when you have two or three guys hitting jump shots and nobody getting up on them, what can you do?

All year we have had soft doubles on players that drive, which is pretty standard in the NBA overall, but leaving guys like Jamison and Daniels open for the kick-out makes no sense right now.

Still, the Raps are scoring without much effort. The game isn't out of reach.


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## Smockgirl (Apr 20, 2005)

We are getting KILLED on the glass. Wizards have 12 _offensive_ while the Raps have 10 _total_.


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

71 pts @ the half, wiz on fire or "D" is lacking? 

Good luck 2nd half


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Smockgirl said:


> We are getting KILLED on the glass. Wizards have 12 _offensive_ while the Raps have 10 _total_.


Yes, this is major. The rebounding differential is gross. Caron Butler has as many rebounds as the Raptors.


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Major test of character this quarter. Hope to see the Raps come out focused.


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## RC06 (Jan 30, 2007)

Big emphatic *SIGH*...

I'm just tuning in right now and the Raps are down 82-62. Come on, where are the Raptors from January/February? This is just horrible...


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Gilbert Arenas is on fire, and that is an understatement. He is like nuclear hot right now.

Another embarrassing game for the Raps.


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Come on guys, only down 20! LET'S DO THIS!

Yes, now only down 18!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Nice, hard foul! Show Gil who's boss!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

De-fense!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Nice layup Jose!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Nice job battling for the rebound Juanny! Raptors ball!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Bargnani missed, it's okay he'll be back!!!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Yes, Graham with the rebound!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Hayes can't handle the BARGS!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

What a ****ty game by Garbajosa.

BOOO MISSED FREE THROW!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Juanny missed the triple, the team is collectively ice cold.


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

If the Raptors can keep this within 20 by the end of the 3rd, we have a chance!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Nice, CALDERON WITH THE layup!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Budweiser_Boy said:


> Nice, CALDERON WITH THE layup!


Make that an AND-ONE!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Budweiser_Boy said:


> If the Raptors can keep this within 20 by the end of the 3rd, we have a chance!


By my calculations, we are currently down 101-83 before the 4th, GIVING US A CHANCE...


.... ****ING JOEY!!!! AGH!


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## Smockgirl (Apr 20, 2005)

Haha, kudos for keeping the optimism up as long as you have 

For the record, I am SO glad that the ACC doesn't have that annoying synth organ music that all the other arenas seem to be obsessed with. What is this, hockey?!


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Budweiser_Boy said:


> By my calculations, we are currently down 101-83 before the 4th, GIVING US A CHANCE...
> 
> 
> .... ****ING JOEY!!!! AGH!


AND HE MISSES BOTH! YES, WE HAVE A CHANCE!!!!

:banana:


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Can we start this game over again? Please?


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Smockgirl said:


> Haha, kudos for keeping the optimism up as long as you have
> 
> For the record, I am SO glad that the ACC doesn't have that annoying synth organ music that all the other arenas seem to be obsessed with. What is this, hockey?!


If by hockey you mean baseball, than YEAH WHAT IS THIS BULL****?


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## NeoSamurai (Jan 16, 2003)

wow, already given up 100 pts and were only heading into the 4th...

this team needs to find another defensive wingman to add depth to the position...outside of AP, we're mediocre defensively at best...if we lose to Memphis tomorrow night, we're in real trouble because the confidence of this team will be shot...

in terms of the game, we didnt do much right...shot well, but didnt play defense, we need to cut down on the offensive rebounds....


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Please take Chris Bosh out of this game.


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

speedythief said:


> Please take Chris Bosh out of this game.


I agree. Bosh needs to come out.


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## streetballa (Dec 5, 2006)

Sigh, we are down by 25 and about to lose 3 straight. Tommorow we are likely to lose against Memphis because they play well against us. We will probably lose our lead of the Atlantic to NJ by the end of the season. I knew this was to good to be true. We played well for half a season but now we suck again, oh well.


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

speedythief said:


> I agree. Bosh needs to come out.


Take everybody out. Put uniforms on some fans. Get our boys on the bus and to the airport. Its like watching a litter of kittens get swallowed up in quicksand.


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## RC06 (Jan 30, 2007)

Oh my lord, what an embarrassing night for the Raps. We seriously need AP back, NOW! Without him, this team just flat out sucks.


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## NeoSamurai (Jan 16, 2003)

speedythief said:


> Take everybody out. Put uniforms on some fans. Get our boys on the bus and to the airport. Its like watching a litter of kittens get swallowed up in quicksand.


hehe, give Gilbert a Raps jersey, he may be crazy enough to put it on and help us get back into the game...


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## Smockgirl (Apr 20, 2005)

Budweiser_Boy said:


> If by hockey you mean baseball, than YEAH WHAT IS THIS BULL****?


Eh, sure. One of those crappy sports


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

See what happens when I go to wax my board... UGH!


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## streetballa (Dec 5, 2006)

Sigh, things are not going well right now.


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## Who-C (Nov 21, 2005)

This is the 3rd Raptors game pretty much in my life lol i stopped watchin at the 4th quarter. San Antonio was first, Cleveland 2nd and now this game. Raps need to pick it up man. Cant wait for Anthony Parker to come back.


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## Roland Garros (Dec 6, 2006)

I think there are some rebounding problems ...

TOR 27 REBS. Vs WAS 49 REBS. There is a considerable difference between the two teams.

CB4 only 1 rebound??


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## Crossword (Jun 7, 2002)

Roland Garros said:


> I think there are some rebounding problems ...
> 
> TOR 27 REBS. Vs WAS 49 REBS. There is a considerable difference between the two teams.
> 
> CB4 only 1 rebound??


Yeah, that's a reasonable belief to hold.


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## TJ Ford (Dec 16, 2006)

No one making an effort to box out and rebound??? Doesn't that sound familiar for Toronto? 
No defence??? That sounds like Toronto as well. 
These things are starting to come back again. We are supposed to get better, not worse.


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## narrator (Feb 11, 2006)

Well. That was horrifying.


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## madman (Oct 20, 2003)

ugly ugly game


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## Chan Ho Nam (Jan 9, 2007)

that was pathetic, lack of effort on defence, Bosh just let antawn go any way he wanted

Raptors should have slowed the game down, there was no way they could have won with that kind of tempo


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## ChristopherJ (Aug 10, 2004)

For the billionth time, Calderon has to start over TJ Ford. Him playing 19minutes tonight is just ridiculous, and someone has to be held accountable.

And when you think about it, this whole situation reeks of politics. It's blatantly obvious that Calderon runs the offense better than Ford, yet his minutes are deteorating. What the hell? I'm going to give Sam Mitchell the benefit of the doubt and assume that he's a fairly clever man and is aware that Calderon is more effective. Here's the reason he's playing him less(and it's just my opinion): Mitchell is scared of alienating Colangelo by playing Ford less and therefore failing to justify Bryan trading Charlie Villanueva for TJ Ford. Furthermore, the Raps franchise player is Chris Bosh, who jus happens to be good buddies with TJ and vouched for the acquisiton of TJ in the offseason. Mitchell already knows he's pretty much a lameduck coach and is scared to alienate his superior, and his star player. That's really is the only logical explanation I can come up with.

Don't get me wrong, TJ Ford is *not* a bad player, but Calderon runs the offense far more effectively. Too bad Mitchell is putting appeasing everyone around him, rather then doing what's best for the team. I guess he feels he's really in a no win situation, but at the end of the day I still think it's come down to winning ball games, and for that he should be held accountable.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

The Wiz have been underachieving most of the year and handed the Raps a couple of wins earlier this year. The truth is that the Wiz have a pretty stacked team and should be well ahead of us. Same with the Cavs.

The -22 on the boards could easily have been cut to a -6 if Bosh had just grabbed a more typical 9 in total. 

Starting Dixon makes us that much smaller when he is next to TJ. Hurts our D and rebounding, especially when we need a small to rotate and try to box a big.

By far the worst part of this game was watching the Wiz get layup after layup on our pathetic D. But even during our winning stretch we were giving up a ridiculous opponent FG% and you knew that couldn't last forever.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

Jesus Christ, where is Chris Bosh? His defense was horrible last night, left a bunch of players wide open all game, didn't rebound at all even though we were getting killed on the glass, yes he did have 25 points, but he did not have a good game at all. Chuck and Leo need to stop being completely bias and actually point out the fact that Bosh played a terrible, absolutely terrible game on the defensive end.


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## ballocks (May 15, 2003)

Turkish Delight said:


> Jesus Christ, where is Chris Bosh? His defense was horrible last night, left a bunch of players wide open all game, didn't rebound at all even though we were getting killed on the glass, yes he did have 25 points, but he did not have a good game at all. Chuck and Leo need to stop being completely bias[/i] and actually point out the fact that Bosh played a terrible, absolutely terrible game on the defensive end.




i'm starting to notice the same bias in some people's opinions and that's where i have problems with it. if the broadcast team is going to say something, they shouldn't only say it because it's what they want to believe- they need to understand the effect of spreading mistruths. i don't know if they care, but it frustrates me. 

last night was full of them. leo rautins, for example, must be the only man on the face of the planet who believes that juan dixon's one-on-one defense is an asset. i mean, i don't have any feelings for juan dixon either way, but his defense is not a perceived asset according to very many people i know. meanwhile, swirsky's point that "every coach" he's spoken to has raved about the raps' acquisition of juan dixon cannot be anything short of a lie- can it? to rave about juan dixon? who? it just sounds like the company line making its way out of their mouths and i'm not cool with that. 

this morning, you'd think that anthony parker was the crown jewel of the league if you listened to the majority of raps coverage in the city. that's not a coincidence; you simply couldn't get away from the broadcast team harping on it incessantly last night. i'm not saying parker isn't important but, my god, if his absence creates _that_ kind of a void on the team, where they can't walk and chew gum at the same time, maybe it'd be a good idea to lock parker up in raptors red for the next 100 years. these excuses are not valid, in my opinion, there's virtually nothing that could excuse the team's play in 4 of their past 5 games, and to suggest that it's as simple as one player missing from the lineup card is almost a crime.

now, some might be surprised but i don't question the team's effort last night. as ridiculous as it may sound, it felt like a bit of a relief considering cleveland and milwaukee on the weekend- they were focused, at least in the first half, but they couldn't get a stop to save their lives. the second half was a nightmare in that the effort seemed to wane, but at least they gave it a shot in the first quarter and a half (notwithstanding washington's dominance throughout). i thought tj and chris came to play, at least early, but you wouldn't notice from their stats- in fact, i think they padded their stats after it was all said and done and they were no longer playing well, but thought they played acceptably well- _hard_- early on even though their numbers wouldn't reflect it.

that's where my biggest issue with these leaders comes in: they do give up. it was easy to 'give up' last night, given the team's current slump, but they've shown the same in several other games imo. i don't think it's healthy when tj looks ready to pout in the corner or chris takes himself out of the flow because he's frustrated. these guys may eventually learn, i don't know, but it looks like they may be headed in the wrong direction on that point- i don't remember tj being that way last season, and certainly don't remember it from chris bosh. regardless, today's not the day to talk about it. it'd be too easy to put targets on their backs after another blowout.

i think andrea looked like he had been out of the loop for months, at least as it pertained to his game on the glass. in my world, he's the most 'aware' rebounder we have- which is crucial considering the tunnel vision the rest of the raptors have on the glass- and yet last night he was as shortsighted as anyone else. in situations where he usually lets his teammates snag the ball, he fought them for it, leading to at least two turnovers at critical points in the game. i don't want him to learn to rebound like his teammates, with no peripheral vision and/or understanding of spacing on the floor, but he did just that last night. he must've been in italy over the past few days or something. 

jorge had, imo, another atrocious game. people can talk about mop coming off the bench ("that's where he's most comfortable!"), but if you're going to play juan dixon and jorge garbajosa on the wings at tip off, you're going to _pay_ for it more times than not. i don't know what the idea was but for our bigs to be stranded play after play after play after the team's perimeter defense collapsed on them is unacceptable. deshawn stevenson, shannon brown and charlie bell are superstars today. you wonder... how is this team going to compete at the highest level as long as their 'scrubs' can't guard their opposing 'scrubs'? i don't know.

a lot of stats from the game are misrepresented, i think, one of which was jose's 6/6 shooting line coming out of the gate. i don't know how he finished, but he didn't have a calderon-like game. you can cry that we went 6/6 and should be starting but let's look away from the numbers for a second. i don't think they do justice to the way he played. he may have hit the few shots he took but, imo, he created some of the most crucial turnovers last night, at points where i thought we'd be hard-pressed to recover from them. and we didn't. likewise, tj scored 6 of his 14 after darrick martin had showed up at the scorer's table to take him out- it's just that tj was at the line and the sequence that followed gave him another basket and pair of free throws. so i won't remember 14 pts from tj ford last night- i'll remember the 8. the final 6 were absolutely meaningless- who knows what the first 8 were- and we need to (imo) again look beyond the boxscore for information. last night's game cannot be judged in the newspaper.

i thought joey would do well on the court last night, to be hoenst with you. certainly in the third q and beyond. i've always seen his ability to play better in spite of his team playing worse around him as one of his most important traits, but he didn't get much opportunity to show it against the wiz(imo). this team could really use him. if we'd acquired him by trade instead of juan, i think joey would have been the one to start last night. as it stands, juan's enjoying his honeymoon period while joey continues to pay for his coaching staff's tendency to forget about him. if joey falls into the same confidence trap set for fred earlier in the year, i will be mighty disappointed. we need to make use of the players we have. 

peace


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Wow, Ballocks is giving me a run for most long-winded poster of the year.

I don't know that I would say the Raps 'gave up'. They were soundly throttled by the Wiz and nothing was changing that after the third Q. We would have had to go on a 40-14 run or something to have a realistic shot at winning that game 112-111. That wasn't going to happen.

Two of our starters, Garbo and Rasho, play less than 20 minutes. Bargs just over 20. While Juan Dixon plays 36. That is not smart. Our best success came when FJones never saw the court and we stuck to a tight 8 man rotation with Joey or Hump used a little as 9th man when needed. Now the rotation is all out of whack.

Wiz have a nice team on paper. I really like Blatche. Kid is super talented and could be special if he has the desire. 2nd round pick they might not be able to keep him with their salary. Could turn into a Rashard Lewis type of SF. Hopefully not a TimThomas.


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## SickGame (Jan 23, 2006)

I'm still not seeing the value in trading for Juan Dixon.
The guy is kinda of a black hole on defense and he's a chucker.


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

Sam's approach of totally forgetting the previous two blow out losses might have been the wrong strategy. They probably should of had those two losses in the thier minds all night.

I know nobody would ever confuse Bosh with a defensive stopper, but there is no excuse for him getting 1 rebound.....total lack of effort. I'm seeing a worn down Bosh and starting to wonder if the long summer with team USA is starting to take effect now. He just doesn't seem as active and a step slower than normal.

With the success the Raptors experienced this year, it was expected that teams would come at us harder. It will be interesting to see how Sam tries to counteract this swing in momentum.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

Yeah, I'm not liking Juan Dixon too much either. His size compromises his defensive abilities, and he takes a lot of shots. Although he has been shooting well, he is taking the ball out of Bosh's hands. 

And wow, will Mo Pete please stand up? Whenever this team is in the slightest bit of trouble, he seems to dissapear. You are more likely to find Osama bin Laden than a decent performance by Mo Pete these days.


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## TJ Ford (Dec 16, 2006)

Turkish Delight said:


> Yeah, I'm not liking Juan Dixon too much either. His size compromises his defensive abilities, and he takes a lot of shots. Although he has been shooting well, he is taking the ball out of Bosh's hands.
> 
> And wow, will Mo Pete please stand up? Whenever this team is in the slightest bit of trouble, he seems to dissapear. You are more likely to find Osama bin Laden than a decent performance by Mo Pete these days.


Haha, that last comment is pretty funny. I think MoP thrives when the team thrives. 

Juan takes too many shots. Yes, I agree. Even if he makes them, I am not impressed.


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## TJ Ford (Dec 16, 2006)

KidCanada said:


> For the billionth time, Calderon has to start over TJ Ford. Him playing 19minutes tonight is just ridiculous, and someone has to be held accountable.
> 
> And when you think about it, this whole situation reeks of politics. It's blatantly obvious that Calderon runs the offense better than Ford, yet his minutes are deteorating. What the hell? I'm going to give Sam Mitchell the benefit of the doubt and assume that he's a fairly clever man and is aware that Calderon is more effective. Here's the reason he's playing him less(and it's just my opinion): Mitchell is scared of alienating Colangelo by playing Ford less and therefore failing to justify Bryan trading Charlie Villanueva for TJ Ford. Furthermore, the Raps franchise player is Chris Bosh, who jus happens to be good buddies with TJ and vouched for the acquisiton of TJ in the offseason. Mitchell already knows he's pretty much a lameduck coach and is scared to alienate his superior, and his star player. That's really is the only logical explanation I can come up with.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, TJ Ford is *not* a bad player, but Calderon runs the offense far more effectively. Too bad Mitchell is putting appeasing everyone around him, rather then doing what's best for the team. I guess he feels he's really in a no win situation, but at the end of the day I still think it's come down to winning ball games, and for that he should be held accountable.


I know. If Mitchell KNOWS that Calderon plays better offensively (and he better know that, cuz if he doesn't, he doesn't deserve to be a coach), and he doesn't let him play because of above reasons, then he is just not coaching in the best interest of the team. :rant: It's pretty obvious which PG is better at this point.


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