# A Raptors February



## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

After finishing January with a 13-36 record with a losing streak of 12. On we roll to February...

We've done a splendid job of truly becoming a horrible team. However, I'm sure most of us secretly pray for the losses to keep piling up. 

Andrea isn't changing this franchise. DeMar is developing into a nice sidekick to a real superstar. A superstar named Kyrie Irving. 

This franchise has so much on the line when it comes to the draft lottery. A solid offseason could see us really turn into competitors in the East once again.

Will Triano last till the end of February? Place your bets Ladies and Gents... All I know is, he needs to give Ed Davis more minutes, the bright spot of January has only played more than 30 minutes in one game all year (and that was 30.03) ... 

Develop Ed. Develop DeMar. Develop Amir. Develop Bayless. 

Trade all others. (Andrea, Jose, Sonny, Kleiza, I'm looking at you guys to go)

Last month we had 48 posts over the 31 day period. We can be more active than that so let's atleast aim to get over 50 replies in the 28 day zone. 

Oh and long live the losses. We don't need the W we need the Irving.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Oh and has anyone noticed Amir Johnson is 3rd in the NBA for FG% at .586%? I think he's really proved that BC was right to go after him initially and then give him the lucrative contract. It says something positive about his character that the year after he signs the big money deal, he works harder than ever to improve. His fouling is down despite the fact he's playing next to Bargnani. His jumpshot is much more consistent out to 18ft.

He's 23 years old.


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## ballocks (May 15, 2003)

honestly, i feel sick watching this team. just... ugh. everything about the raps has turned me off. i'm like you, i guess i'm hoping for a star in the draft, but what a crapshoot. and i mean, it's more unlikely than likely that we get one that way- as it always is. and i'll tell you this much: i don't know if this team can endure another season like this without becoming completely irrelevant. it's a gong show.

then call up the recent forbes report- $25 million in profit? holy jeepers. bad teams + great profits = a devastating combo in any league. _any_ league. are we supposed to have faith that this organization will pony up now and start spending aggressively simply out of the goodness of their hearts? why? ugh. if you're a bad team doing well financially, you face the pressure to do just one thing: keep it status quo. change nothing until you have to. your shareholders _demand_ that you live by that credo. hence what we're seeing today. if you can remain profitable by spitting in your customers' faces, that's what you have to do. 

and why would it ever change? in this town, is it just a wild coincidence that all of the pro sports teams are frighteningly poor? i'm starting to think that this city, what with corporate sponsorships through the roof and no direct competition within close proximity, the fans have little to no clout when it comes to organizational decisions. this business will make boatloads of cash with or without them- hence, all the recent complaints through the media: "if you don't like it, walk;" or even more unbelievable, "accept it." 

no understanding, no compassion, much less apology. just leave, fans! this business is alive and well without you. this is not your team, this is ours. if you don't like it, gtfo. and ptooie. 

UGH.

just seeing these politicians at work on a regular basis has made me soooo cynical. i feel heartbroken for the fanbase, i feel bad for the players who are expected to compete in the face of this disaster and i feel total disgust towards pretty much everyone else... counting bills in their wallets and devastating the morale of an entire city. ugh.

33 games left is 33 games too many. speed up the clock for ****'s sakes.

peace


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Lost another. 100-87 to the Hawks. Unsurprising considering the match-ups. 

Sonny Weems was spectacularly bad, after his early season progress, he's regressed back into a stupid ball player. His D on JJ was shocking. His forcing up of shot after shot was brutal. 

Bargnani still looks lacklustre to me. His confidence is shot and he looks like a kid who doesn't want to be playing anymore. He must be shooting somewhere around 25% for the past 6 games. 

Amir Johnson with 20/14. DeRozan continuing to make those layups and floaters he has no business making.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

ballocks said:


> 33 games left is 33 games too many. speed up the clock for ****'s sakes


Amen to the offseason. 

Draft Irving. Sign Gasol. Trade Bargnani. 

@ The rest of your somber spiel. It's bang on and we're all in the struggle together, the Raptors fanbase is so wide and vocal I hope that we don't allow the franchise to turn into the Cavs (forget LeBron era) .... 

The only saving grace is BC. I don't like some of what he's doing but he's never struck me as a guy that will sit on his hands and count the cash. He wants to be considered the best GM in the business and I'm expecting plenty of activity this off-season as he strives to improve this ball club. I just hope he can get off the Bargnani hypewagon and realise he isn't conducive to winning basketball games.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Sonny took his shots in the flow of the O except for maybe 1 forced shot. A couple he had to take at the end of the clock. He just missed some easy looks after a hot start. If he made 2 he would have been at 50%.

JJ was just too big and strong for both DD and Weems in the low post. And neither of our young wings can get around a screen at all, which is a mental challenge as much as a physical one when you constantly have to chase and fight. It was my least fave part of the game as a player but if you really want to shut a guy down you just find a way to do it.

DD, Calderon, and Weems all missed 9 shots. Bargs missed 8. DD had 4 TOs to Weems 1. Weems had 6 boards to DD 4. Weems even got to the FT line more tonight. I don't see how he hurt the team more than anyone else. 

We don't have a star player that puts all the supporting pieces in their place. Hawks have JJ.

Bargnani may be injured, either that or he has mentally checked out on the season.

Amir has been great. Limiting Ed's minutes, still big minutes for a rook, may be good for his long term health and development. It could also limit the impact of all this losing because he hasn't been responsible for it. A bigger role for Ed next year, and more wins, could really motivate him to continue improving.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

I just posted this in the January thread by mistake.

Things just got worse for the Raps.

Apparently Kleiza just had knee surgery that will shelve him for 9-12 months. That came outta nowhere.

That contract just became very ugly.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Holy ****. 

Doesn't the league have an injured player exception rule?


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Kleiza stuff aside just for a second.



> “I thought Amir had an unbelievable game and we wanted to try to keep him on the floor as much as we could and Ed (Davis), I thought, had a better second half and I didn’t think we were getting much from Andrea at either end,” said Triano.


Looks like Bargnani's lack of effort has been noticed.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Supposedly the Kleiza stuff is all over twitter. No official report as of yet (well, none I can find)

EDIT - Here is something about that injury exception I mentioned, gives us about 2.5M more flexibility (I think?!)



> DISABLED PLAYER EXCEPTION -- This exception allows a team which is over the cap to acquire a replacement for a disabled player who will be out for the remainder of that season (if the player is disabled between July 1 and November 30) or the following season (if the player is disabled after November 30). This exception can also be granted in the event of a player's death. This exception can only be used to acquire one player. The maximum salary for the replacement player is 50% of the injured player's salary, or the average salary, whichever is less (see question number 25 for the definition of "average salary"). Approval from the league (based on a determination by an NBA-designated physician) is required for this exception to be used. This exception can be used to sign a free agent, or to create room to accept a salary in trade. When used for trade, the team may acquire a player whose salary (including any trade bonus) is up to 100% of this exception plus $100,000 (not 125%). Also see question number 20 for more information on the availability and use of this exception.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Solid source


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

My thoughts. 

You gotta presume this was something that has got progressively worse. If that's the case and he comes back better next year, he gets a clean slate from me. We can just hope he comes back better than ever. I wish him well and hope the rehab isn't as tough as others (ala Greg Oden) ... 

Didn't Amar'e have this surgery? So there is hope.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Amare and JKidd are the big success stories for the surgery. Then you have guys like CWeb, AlanHouston, Penny Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn, KenyonMartin, Oden who have never been the same and had long recovery times. I think TMac had it too.

Right now it looks like the 4 year signing will be a complete bust for the first 2 years. After that who knows.


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

even if kleiza weren't injured i would have thought it was a bad signing. kleiza brings nothing to the team at all. we're not winning more games with him(not that we should be looking to win in the first place), he's not really a player we're looking to keep long term... that's why i hate it when rebuilding teams spend money on mediocre guys.. just play the guys who are already here. weems and wright. there was never a need to sign him and now he's just another immovable contract...


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Kleiza was, in theory, a player that could have been here as the team improved and still been part of a nice playoff team in year 4. And he is the type that would likely re-sign if we were doing well and wanted him back. He could be a very nice rotation player, off the bench, for a good team. Like he was for Denver.

The Barbosa trade made LK less important to this year as did the play of Amir and Ed, and even the semi-emergence of JWright as a decent bench wing. The LK signing is one BC move I didn't completely hate, although I thought it was about 2-3 years too late to go after a Barnes/Kleiza type and didn't make a ton of sense for this year. And unlike some fans I did not expect LK to be any better for us than he was for DEN.

Unfortunately the injury makes his contract unmovable now until at least midway through the 3rd season, and maybe not until it is an expiring deal. LK will be dead money, like Banks was.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

WE WON! ...

Dropped the TWolves 111-100. Bargnani finally got back in the groove for 30 points. DeMar DeRozan is looking like a bonafide star, 10-13 FG, he didn't draw any fouls but when you're shooting the lights out, no need to attack the rim. 

Jose Calderon with a career high 19 assists. Tied a franchise record.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

You have to feel good for the guys even though its a meaningless win in terms of this years success/failure.

They needed a win to keep spirits up and keep playing hard. But nothing has changed. The defence is not improving one bit and we had to shoot the lights out with multiple players having big games to barely beat the lowly Twolves. We did win every quarter though, and that never happens.

Bargs took 26 shots to get his 30 points so it was hardly a breakout game. Plus he was taking a bunch of 3s again.

DD, Weems, Amir, Ed, Jose all played extremely well.

Nice to see Trey hit a few shots too, but to me he has shown that he is not an nba caliber player. He should go make some money for himself in Europe.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

lucky777s said:


> Bargs took 26 shots to get his 30 points so it was hardly a breakout game. Plus he was taking a bunch of 3s again.
> 
> DD, Weems, Amir, Ed, Jose all played extremely well.


He doesn't need a 'breakout' game. We all know what he was capable of, he's shown it on numerous occasions. He broke out a long time ago. This was just him getting a big bunch of points and will give him plenty of confidence and he may get back into his stride. Talking of his stride, when he drops his shoulder and puts the ball on the floor and charges, he dribbles so freaking high, I laugh almost everytime. 

I just want him to be putting up numbers to improve his trade stock. Same with Jose.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Bargs absolutely needs a breakout game. He has been in a horrible slump. Not sure this type of game is enough to get him out of that. The 3 ball was back but he was 7/19 inside the arc.

I get the feeling the Raps are laying some groundwork for possibly moving Bargs. We have never heard such direct criticism of him before from Raps broadcasters. MLSE has a pattern of devaluing guys publicly before moving them out, which is odd since it lowers their trade value. Its like they tell the press to 'release the hounds'.


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

lucky777s said:


> Bargs absolutely needs a breakout game. He has been in a horrible slump. Not sure this type of game is enough to get him out of that. The 3 ball was back but he was 7/19 inside the arc.
> 
> I get the feeling the Raps are laying some groundwork for possibly moving Bargs. We have never heard such direct criticism of him before from Raps broadcasters. MLSE has a pattern of devaluing guys publicly before moving them out, which is odd since it lowers their trade value. Its like they tell the press to 'release the hounds'.


i think the criticism is so they don't piss off the season ticket holders who bought tickets to watch bargnani. yeah it kills his stock a bit but i think most nba office knows what bargnani is already, so it's not like raptors are losing too much there. keeping loyalty of the season ticket holders is always most important; just the way business works.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Getting 30 points will be enough for him to get out of the slump. 

I guess the proof will come down to Tuesdays game.


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## ballocks (May 15, 2003)

i've never understood the unabashed bargnani defenders. it's been driving me crazy for years. i can't believe we're five years into this 'experiment'. like, wow. what other player gets (or has ever received) such unyielding devil's advocacy & representation?

it's part of the reason the game broadcasts have grown so tiresome for me. i mean, don't get me wrong, the losing has played a major role too, but to hear these guys talk about bargnani has always been so hypocritical, as if we're in another universe. like they're walking on broken glass whenever his name comes up and then, once in a blue moon, they just can't take it anymore,

"ALLLLRRIGGHT!!! i'll just- SAY - it!!! he's a great talent, leo... but he needs to rebound! he needs to stand in there! c'mon!" and the response is even more telling- with either leo's nervous giggle ("you said it, not me!") or jack's silent smh approval. to this day, they sound like they're fearing for their jobs whenever they hold bargnani to the same standard as everyone else, past or present. i noticed this way back in his rookie campaign when swirsky was doing the games and it began to irritate me right away. "this sounds like... no... but it sort of does... propoganda? and if it is... ummm... r u kidding me?!?!"

i tried forever to give them the benefit of the doubt but to no avail. all the evidence points to the fact that this 'memo' has been encased on the broadcast table since 2006. there's no other way to explain it and it drives me up the wall. what is the priority here? what has it always been? why? say what you will about babcock or grunwald, i don't think they would have ever been as stupid and selfish as this. 

this is and has always been a centre who plays like a wing. there's no denying that. he might be 7 ft tall but he plays much smaller. he's 7 ft on paper; in 'real life' he's 6'3". kapono used to rip the ball out of his hands. he's the first one to leak out (why are you leaking out at all? you're not a guard! and you're not going anywhere anyway!), last one up the floor in transition d. his instincts on defense are, imo, counterintuitive to say the least- in a "this guy looks like he doesn't understand the object of the game" sort of way. on offense, there are no strengths that relate to his size. even when he's matched up on a small he can't take advantage because he's always partial to squaring up. this is not new. this has always been. for it to finally come to the attention of the broadcast team and local media (even to the limited extent that it has), to me, is unacceptable and a gruesome sign for the future under this management regime. 

peace


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

When looking at that draft, we made out okay I think. I'd probably take Rudy Gay over him and maybe Roy but his injuries would definitely be a concern. Overall though Bargnani is just too soft. His defense is pathetic. He lets guys just blow by him, no hard foul, nothing. And for god sakes when your starting 7 foot center can't even get 6 rebounds a game you know something is wrong. Ship this guy out of here. 

How can our defense continually be THIS bad though? For the last 8 or 9 years we must have been in the bottom 5 in both rebounding and defense every single season - and we have a completely new set of players now.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Bargnani and Colangelo. The hope. The future. How did it become...this.

BC the visionary has become, or been exposed as, BC the reactionist. No plan, no vision, and seemingly no idea how to assemble a team. Expecting bench talent to make up for serious flaws in the starting lineup.

And Bargnani. I find it hard to blame Bargs for not being a C. He was a SF when he first visited the ACC and probably never thought of himself as a C. Drafting any player with the intention of totally re-making his game seems like a bad move. To do it with the first overall pick is that much worse.

That's no excuse for his embarrassing rebounding numbers of course, or his inability to learn the most basic aspects of team defense. And it doesn't help that most fans just don't get him. They can't relate. He doesn't seem to play with passion or balls and TOR fans have just had enough.

Could Bargs accept being put back onto the bench as a 6th man scorer? Would the fans accept him in that role or hate him for not being what a number 1 pick should be? Would BC allow it? Could he ever admit that Bargs as a starting C in the nba is a failed experiment?

It seems that whatever else happens in TOR it will be how we handle Bargnani that determines our future. And that may depend on what we do with BC.

I dread the day BC gets his extension. I know its coming. That won't make it any less painful. It just reinforces the dysfunctional ownership situation we have here.


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## seifer0406 (Jun 8, 2003)

well, at least we're not Cleveland.


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## ballocks (May 15, 2003)

praying for losses. that's all i do now; whenever the game's on, i barely even watch- i just pray for the loss.

i still don't know how we'll get through the next 29 without winning some and finishing with #5 or 6 in the lotto. we're already jostling with four teams (SAC, MIN, WAS, NJ)- that's insane. with the exception of _maybe_ NJ, i don't see them pulling off any miracles. these teams are poised to lose right now. SAC & MIN may seem somewhat more competitive talent-wise but their conference will enjoy them for breakfast. unless amazing happens, i still expect them to finish #2, 3 right behind cleveland, leaving us at 4, 5 or even 6. 

but will amazing happen?

i only see three players hurting the (losing) cause right now- johnson, barbosa and derozan... the rest of the players are soiling the team proper and i'm thankful for that. without amir, tho, these guys have absolutely no chance imo. none. he's doing some serious heavy lifting (at times inspiring) that renders them more competitive than they should be. i hope triano and/or colangelo will take a hint. maybe he can take a few games off (roughly 29) to rest his wonky back... er, ankle ... and help bargnani, calderon and co. take this baby down to the next level.

i'm encouraged by reggie's imminent return. his blue-collar intangibles are not useful at this point in the schedule and will go a long way nowhere. we could use him to brick some free throws, tho, and sap all the energy out of the building.

so if we can replace amir with reggie in the lineup, basically, perhaps all hope is not lost. and if we can somehow put derozan in an incubator to protect him from the madness, that'd be swell too. (i wonder if his grandmother's sick and he needs to go home to take care of some family business?) 

peace


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

My concern with Amir is that we are doing to him this season what Lenny did to Alvin Williams during that horrible losing year. If letting Amir play through pain, like Alvin did, is going to hurt him over the next several seasons then that has been an inexcusable decision based only on saving the jobs of JT and BC.

Ballocks list of amir, dd, and barbosa being the only positives this year does leave out Ed Davis who has surpassed my expectations for this season. And I would say Jose has had a good year. If we had some 3pt shooters Jose would likely be even more effective.

Thats the troubling thing with TOR, you can't say our players suck but the team sucks. We have nba talent, its just bench talent. 6-8 man type talent.

I can't find a truly bad player out of Jose, Bayless, Barbosa, DD, Weems, Kleiza, Amir, Ed, Bargs, Reggie. That's 10 guys who could easily be rotation players on very good nba teams. But that would likely be a 32 win team next year with good health.


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## ballocks (May 15, 2003)

i feel the same way. even without jack and turkoglu, all that remains is still a world without an axis. it's such an uncomfortable watch for me. we were role player-loaded to start the season. we might have sold off a couple in the interim but it hasn't changed much: our current predicament continues to shine light on how ill-prepared we were to lose our top player for basically nothing. we're still caught in the middle. 

[scrap what i wrote here.]

as for ed davis, i don't mind him moving forward (i guess) but i don't think he's helping the team win games right now. he's just too inexperienced and his contributions are not all that meaningful yet imo. but by all means, if he wants to spend some time bowling with amir, demar and leandro in fort lauderdale, i'm all for it. it's not like he's helping them lose.

peace


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Pretty decent game from our boys, nearly turned it around to sneak a win against the Blazers. 

Bargnani playing defense is something to behold. It's almost like he isn't even there sometimes. Aldridge looked like he was just working on his post moves in practice on a dummy, it was that easy. H

DeMar DeRozan continues to impress, the kid has really come along. 

Sonny Weems really struggles getting through picks, he either tries to go hard and ends up flopping or tries to go all the way around and is left for dead because the shot is already off. I know its a tough to criticise after Rudy Fernandez shot the way he did, but I thought that was in part due to Weems and his lack of getting through screens. 

Ed Davis started and had 13 boards. 7 offensive. The kid really has a nose for those boards. 

Bayless went nuts to get all his 18 in one quarter, the kid has talent, he just needs to piece it all together. 

If we can get Irving and add Perkins/Gasol type centre through free agency, we could be a really good team. We have the pieces, we just don't have the star pieces yet.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

I'm tempted to say that was the most exciting game of the season. 

We got it by 98-93. 

Griffin and DeRozan were exchanging dunks, stares and handshakes all game. That dunk off is going to be special and will definitely come down to these two guys. 

Ed Davis with a career game, 13 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks in 35 minutes. Stoked to see the kid producing. Aside from Landry Fields, I think we could have got the real steal of the draft with Ed at 13. 

Bargnani hit a pretty incredible shot when he was fouled late on to ice the game. Looks like his caliper testing finally came through correct


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Heat got us. It's surprising a team with 3 top tier guys doesn't dominate more, we held with them for most of the game.

I'm not used to saying this, however, credit where credit is due, Bargnani was excellent. DeRozan was too. Ed Davis had another nice game. Amir Johnson got 5 blocks. We lost. So yeah, lots of positives from the game.

Bosh was given a so-so reaction. Definitely not on the same tier of hatred Wince gets, that's for sure.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Oh and if BC cashed in while people are hot on Bargnani, I could be the happiest man alive. Flipping him to a team that already has great interior defence would unleash Bargnani and it would also give us a chance to move forward.


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## mo76 (Jun 13, 2003)

Porn Player said:


> Oh and if BC cashed in while people are hot on Bargnani, I could be the happiest man alive. Flipping him to a team that already has great interior defence would unleash Bargnani and it would also give us a chance to move forward.


Did i miss something? I thought BC loved Bargnaini like a son. 

I do think Kyrie Irving would help us, but i cringe when you suggest he is worth tanking a season for. I mean, I support the raptors tanking but its not like Irving is a Derrick Rose type of prospect.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

mo76 said:


> Did i miss something? I thought BC loved Bargnaini like a son.
> 
> I do think Kyrie Irving would help us, but i cringe when you suggest he is worth tanking a season for. I mean, I support the raptors tanking but its not like Irving is a Derrick Rose type of prospect.


Oh he does, I just hope he ships him out of here. I'm an optimist, it's probably why I choose to support this franchise over any other.

The season has already been a tank job. I don't need to make any suggestions, the players went out and did it. Irving will be the best player out of this draft and will change the fortunes of a franchise. I don't care for player comparisons right now, especially 'cos Irving missed so much of this year, but he's going to get it done in the NBA, I have no doubt about that.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

http://twitter.com/DeMar_DeRozan



DeMar on Twitter said:


> # Overall it felt going being apart of All Star weekend once again. Thankful for the opportunity... 10:25 PM Feb 19th via Echofon
> 
> # No more dunk contests for me unless it's in Toronto! 9:27 PM Feb 19th via Echofon
> 
> # Much love to everybody who supported me in the dunk contest. It is what it is....I'm going HAM the second half of the season Believe that!


Kid says all the right stuff.


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## Mr_B (Mar 6, 2004)

Porn Player said:


> Bosh was given a so-so reaction. Definitely not on the same tier of hatred Wince gets, that's for sure.


I honestly thought Chris would get a far worse reaction I was surprised by that and that the fact the raps were in the game as long as they were imo this team one PG and a inside defender away from being respectable again there not that far off


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

Bargnani doesn't necessarily need to go, Toronto just needs to stop pretending he's a center and go out and find an interior presence to protect him. In all seriousness, it may be worthwhile to take a flier on Greg Oden in hopes that he turns into a Kendrick Perkins-like presence. I'd try to dump Calderon for cap flexibility, save Barbosa as a trade chip for next year, and refrain from giving out relatively large contracts for role players until the Raptors have a star in place. It'd be nice if they were able to trim more payroll, but Kleiza isn't movable now and the length of Amir's deal seriously reduces his trade value, it makes more sense to hold onto him rather than give him away, because he's a pretty decent backup.


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

Irving would be a nice pg on this team for sure. We are in the golden era of pg's but with jennings, curry, evans, flynn all kind of plateau'ing after their stellar rookie season I think Irving has a chance to be a top 5 pg in his prime.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

I'd be willing to take the risk on Oden. 

Tonight we're @ the Bobcats. Tyrus is out for them. I think we get the W, DeMar going HAM and getting 40+  ... Bargnani leads the EC in scoring so far in February and I expect him to continue with filling up the buckets.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Bosh got the most out of his abilities with the Raps and left as a FA after 7 good years. A few careless tweets were not enough to get most fans to really hate him.

Bargs should be a featured bench scorer. Give him 20-30 minutes off the bench depending on how he is shooting and he will average 15+ ppg for you. You can't hide him on D as a starter because bigs anchor your help D and he just isn't improving in that area. If Raps won't use him in that 6th man role then they have to trade him.

Oden will never be a healthy player. He has what appears to be genetic conditions that are not compatible with being a professional basketball player. BUT I can guarantee that several teams will line up to overpay him, and that it won't be enough to stop POR from matching the offer. He will not be playing for TOR.

DeMar not winning the dunk contest was GREAT news to me. I don't want another diva who gets fame from something other than winning. Blake Griffin already plays Hard As MothaF----- so why is DeMar only motivated to so after a stupid dunk contest that means nothing to his team?

As for the Raps only being a PG and a C away from contending, I did not know Magic Johnson and Bill Russel had been successfully cloned.


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## ballocks (May 15, 2003)

i don't want to jinx it but... did we just witness a crack in the armour of andrea bargnani's industrial apathy? watching the bulls game last night and he looked... sort of... comfortable? he was vocal, pestering the refs and looked like he actually cared about what was going on around him. he wasn't putting his head down (much) or refraining from eye contact, he was somewhat engaged emotionally, he was passionate like a normal human being and seemed like a... dare i say it... good teammate? he was actually talking and communicating, not just playing "get away from me, dad" conversation killer, there might have even been some dialogue in there- it was a sight to see.

next thing you know we'll catch him chasing a loose ball around the floor at which time we'll be able to say, without much doubt, that he's finally arrived.

i don't want to jinx it but i liked what i saw. hopefully it's a sign for the future and not just a good day.

peace


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Raptors are shopping Reggie Evans. Watch this space


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

ballocks said:


> i don't want to jinx it but... did we just witness a crack in the armour of andrea bargnani's industrial apathy? watching the bulls game last night and he looked... sort of... comfortable? he was vocal, pestering the refs and looked like he actually cared about what was going on around him. he wasn't putting his head down (much) or refraining from eye contact, he was somewhat engaged emotionally, he was passionate like a normal human being and seemed like a... dare i say it... good teammate?
> 
> next thing you know we'll catch him chasing a loose ball around the floor at which time we'll be able to say, without much doubt, that he's finally arrived.
> 
> ...



Bargs has had these type of games before, just few and far between. Maybe he heard a trade rumour about himself, who knows. It won't last. He is too far along in his career to think a major change is possible. His mind works a certain way and that is it.

These type of wins (CHI) shows just how hard it is for the Raps to win a game. They shoot around 58% and barely squeak it out. They shoot 32/34 from the FT line and barely squeak it out. Those numbers should mean a blowout win.
Bayless is really struggling at PG. Jay can hardly rest Jose at all without the bad turnovers starting immediately.


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## ballocks (May 15, 2003)

ahh yes, he's back. like he never left.

peace


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Did not take long did it? 4 reb, 1 ast, 3 TOs. But he shot the ball incredibly well. BC just has to admit the guy is strictly a scorer who brings little else to the table. Perfect for a 6th man. Nothing wrong with that. Those guys are valuable to winning teams. Just can't be your main guy. Bayless must be pissed after getting slammed by that pick while Bargs says nothing.

Suns just dominated on the boards and that is not a strength of their team. Made Gortat look like Shaq.


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Did Jose just go CP3 on CP3? That was epic. Somewhat reminded me of Space Jam, Jose obviously stole CP3s powers pre game and used them to abuse him throghout. 


On to London and back to backs with the NJN. I'll be at the Saturday game so stay tuned for pictures of everybodies favourite Moderator high up in the rafters (only seats I could affords  ) .... Nearly 8 years since I joined BBF, I finally get to see the team I've ranted out about for the best part of a decade live. Stoked.


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## kirk_2003 (Jun 23, 2003)

porn wheres them pics?


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Once I figure out how to get them off this blackberry I'll have them in this thread. Game was terrific. Triple overtime that ended in a loss. (Irving anybody?!)

Bargnani should have put the ball on the floor with the final play and just blown by Brook into the open lane. I knew he wouldn't though.


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