# Raptors @ Blazers, Jan. 18th



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

<center>
















*Toronto Raptors* (13-25) @ *Portland Trailblazers* (13-24)
January 18th, 2006, 10:00 PM EST
Rogers SportsNet Ontario








<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/mpeterson0.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">







<IMG WIDTH=100 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=0 ALT="BOSH, CHRIS" TITLE="BOSH, CHRIS" SRC="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/cbosh0.jpg"> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/raraujo0.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"> 
*Mike James, Morris Peterson, Joey Graham, Chris Bosh, Rafael Araujo*





































*Steve Blake, Juan Dixon, Viktor Khryapa, Zach Randolph, Joel Pryzbilla*</center>


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## madman (Oct 20, 2003)

it is a very winnable game, but we struggle on back to backs


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Had we played Portland first on this trip, Utah second, I think we would've fared better against the Jazz. We were flat as piss on a plate last night. Hopefully a game against another poor team, albiet one that has been playing better lately, will get us up. Hate to head back to Toronto with a losing record for this swing.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

madman said:


> it is a very winnable game, but we struggle on back to backs


Do we? We're 4-6 on the second game of a back to back, which is pretty respectable considering what our overall record is.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

I'm afraid of what Zach Randolph is going to do to our defense. He always dominates us inside, and makes it look too easy. I really think Bosh needs to make him work on the defensive end tonight. Unlike early in yesterday's ball game, Bosh cannot hesitate, he needs to be aggressive and make his move quick. He did that a couple of times late in the 2nd quarter in last night's game and he was very effective.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

The best defense for Bosh is to get the starting PF/C on the other team into foul trouble. That's about the only way he stops his man.


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## ballocks (May 15, 2003)

looking forward to this one, always been a jj fan, and i hope he gets some pt tonight. 

actually haven't seen a single blazers game this year so i hardly know what to expect. telfair's not starting? martell was sent down, i heard that, but i didn't know telfair was riding the pine... might be hurt. 

don't know anything about portland this year. sort of surprised that patterson's still hanging around- he probably ain't the leader they're seeking for their young nucleus. and khryapa? never seen him play. i wonder if he justifies his moderate hype.

peace


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## lakers9104 (Nov 11, 2005)

i hope they win


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## open mike (Jan 3, 2003)

10 pm start.... damn...


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## adhir1 (Dec 28, 2004)

i love the 10 PM starts, but my parents dont, i ussualy wake them up once durign the course of the game, also because i have a marketing class starting at 7 so i get to actually watch the games...


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## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

i hope we dont lose. lol


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## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

^ Same.

We came out flat last night, hope we can play better ball tonight. The Blazers are riding a 3-game winning streak, and hopefully the Raps can snap it tonight 

*Lets Go Raptors.*


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## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

aizn said:


> i hope we dont lose. lol


same. :yes:


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## bigbabyjesus (Mar 1, 2003)

Late games are cool. I just can't yell and throw things at the TV, unfortunately.


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## ansoncarter (Dec 22, 2004)

Hoffa did a terrific job on Randolph in sl two years in a row. Just a handfull of plays but it was actually pretty impressive

hope Sam remembers


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

I thought Pape Sow would be in uniform, but he is in a suit. Damn i can't wai tto see him play


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## ansoncarter (Dec 22, 2004)

looking up Zachs stats, he actually takes jumpers more often than Bosh does (61% of the time, to 58%)


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

Not looking good for the Raps 19-11 4:45 to go in the first. The raps have given away alot of turnovers.


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

a minute and a half to go in the 1st 25-19 blazers....J. Jack called for the charge


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

Calderon with the last second shot.....missed! End of 1st Blazers up 27-24.


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## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

khryapa is killing us on the boards. jeez


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

Charlie V with the steal passes to Dirty Sanchez..i mean Calderon, fast break passes it back to CV and gets fouled. Wow CV31 looked lazy going up with that lay up, timeout. Sam and Jay talking to CV about last play. Cv misses both frees 29-30 blazers


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

Charlie V with the baby hook its good! First lead 33-32 7:15 to go in the 2nd


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## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

38-37 raps 5:35 left in the 2nd


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## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

did anyone check out the score for the celts game? i cant believe they beat the timberwolves! wat a comeback in the fourth by them.


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

Blazers up 52-49 halftime


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## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

MjM2xtreMe said:


> Blazers up 52-49 halftime


lol. this page has updates faster than the "live"stats on nba.com


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

I can't believe we're letting the Blazers beat us without Miles and Patterson. Way too many careless turnovers, 11 already. They need to start making those simple passes, and not rush their offense. The Raptors are shooting a sizzling 68% at the half. Yes, you heard me, they are shooting 68%. But they've only had 28 field goal attempts, to Portland's 39. 
I'm definately hoping for a better performance in the 2nd half.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

I'm going to come out and say that the Raptors will win this game. The Blazers have a very thin bench right now, and the Raptors should be able to take advantage. I like what I'm seeing for Charlie tonight, he's taking the ball inside a lot which is always a positive. The Raptors just need to continue to feed Bosh and Rose because the Blazers have had no answer for them. I think the Raptors will really break away from the Blazers in the 3rd quarter, and win this game quite comfortably.
If I'm wrong, no more predictions from me.


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## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

hopefully you're right...


Raps are usually *** in 3rd qrt though




They need this win.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Dee-Zy said:


> hopefully you're right...
> 
> 
> Raps are usually *** in 3rd qrt though
> ...


Boy did u call it or what....


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## vi3t_boi11 (Aug 14, 2004)

Travis Outlaw is killin us, not lookin too good for the Raps


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## vi3t_boi11 (Aug 14, 2004)

Raptors cut the deficit to 4 with Bonner shootin 2 free throws


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## MonkeyBallZJr (May 7, 2004)

Mopete big block on Juan Dixon for 24 shot clock violation


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

Man i must've dozed off but woke up just in time...Raps up by one 92-91 50 seconds to go in the game


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

Randolph answers back 93-92...mike james dribbles passes to Bosh and CB4 with lay up...Raps up by 1 again 30.8 seconds left


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

whoa a questionable call by the ref...JUan dixon got away with a walk and mo pete gets called for the foul...Dixon gets both free throws in and they are up by 1 with 21.6 left!


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## Rhubarb (Mar 19, 2005)

Khryapa gives us a break, finally.


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## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

MIke james with the floater...fouls blake...blake makes one of two frees....2 secoxnd to go Bosh for three misses! 96-94 Blazers...booooooooo


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

Game over, Bosh misses a three at the buzzer. What a horrible call by the ref to call Mo Pete with a foul with 20 seconds left in the game. Horrible call.


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## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

nooo!!!!


by 2 points



aaaaargh


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## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

darn. the raps have the WORST luck when it comes to dealing with referees. bah.


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## vi3t_boi11 (Aug 14, 2004)

----!, free throws cost us this game, though gotta give the raps some credit for comin back from a 16 pt deficit


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

I remember this Raptors team. I thought we'd left it behind a month ago. You know, the team that doesn't play hard until the fourth quarter, gives up easy loads of easy looks, makes mediocre players look like stars, and comes up short in the end due to a pattern of poor play throughout the game.

Happy to see Sam give Charlie a shot late in the fourth. The pass he shouldn't have been given in transit was his undoing. I think Mike maybe wanted to give it to Mo/Jalen who was to the other side of Charlie. But if you're gonna get out on the primary break you've got to be able to do something with the ball if you get it.


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## MonkeyBallZJr (May 7, 2004)

ah the enemy of all sports-------------->referees....


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

Raptors were very lucky to be in this game considering how badly they played in the 3rd quarter. I honestly don't think Rafael Araujo should be starting any more games. I mean, watching the 3rd quarter when the Raptors were trying to get back on track, he first gets called for offensive three seconds. Blazers score on their next trip down the floor. Then on the next posession before the play even starts he just pushes Randolph for no apparent reason, more out of frustration than anything, and gets called for another foul, and the Raptors lose posession yet again. From there the Blazers made a huge run, and although the Raptors played hard down the stretch, they didn't get the win. I'm not saying that Araujo is solely to blame for that horrendous third quarter, but those two plays really disrupted our momentum and got the Blazers going. 

Let's be honest here, we don't have a serviceable center. I personally think this team needs to play with what they have. Charlie Villanueva or even Matt Bonner would do very well in the starting 5 I think. Why give up a lead, take Hoffa out and try to get back in the game with either Villanueva or Bonner? It's happend time and time again this year, and it just doesn't make sense to me. Matt Bonner started a couple of weeks ago, and played very well. Charlie Villanueva is the only rookie ranked in the top 10 that hasn't started a game yet. Give one of these guys a chance, because Hoffa has had more than his fair share of chances thus far.


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## Rhubarb (Mar 19, 2005)

vi3t_boi11 said:


> Fcuk!, free throws cost us this game, though gotta give the raps some credit for comin back from a 16 pt deficit


In all honesty, we shouldn't have gotten ourselves in that position in the first place. Not to knock Portland, but winning streaks and all mean nothing if you can't get past teams like this.

We're better than that, but we didn't prove it.


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## kirk_2003 (Jun 23, 2003)

huge loss. this game actually hurts.


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## vi3t_boi11 (Aug 14, 2004)

That was a stupid call, Bonner may have hit Dixon but he stumbled by himself after puttin the ball on the floor, and Peterson barely touched him, I had a feeling that miss free throw by Bonner was gonna come back and cost them, it happens alot, I remember the raps losin so many close games cuz of a missed free throw late in the game


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## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

Turkish Delight said:


> Raptors were very lucky to be in this game considering how badly they played in the 3rd quarter. I honestly don't think Rafael Araujo should be starting any more games. I mean, watching the 3rd quarter when the Raptors are trying to get back on track, he first gets called for offensive three seconds. Blazers score on their next trip down the floor. Then on the next posession before the play even starts he just pushes Randolph for no apparent reason, more out of frustration than anything, and gets called for another foul, and the Raptors lose posession yet again. From there the Blazers made a huge run, and although the Raptors played hard down the stretch, they didn't get the win.
> 
> Let's get honest here, we don't have a serviceable center. I personally think this team needs to play with what they have. Charlie Villanueva or even Matt Bonner would do very well in the starting 5 I think. Why give up a lead, take Hoffa out and try to get back in the game with either Villanueva or Bonner? It just doesn't make sense to me. Matt Bonner started a couple of weeks ago, and played very well. Charlie Villanueva is the rookie ranked in the top 10 that hasn't started a game yet. Give one of these guys a chance, because Hoffa has had more than his fair share of chances thus far.


Yeah. I agree. Plus, i think giving Hoffa the starting job puts even MORE pressure on him because he knows that as soon as he does ONE thing wrong, Mitchell's gonna pull him out of the game.


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## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

I didn't get to watch the game, can somebody tell me why bosh took the last shot ... a 3????????????????????????


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## kirk_2003 (Jun 23, 2003)

Dee-Zy said:


> I didn't get to watch the game, can somebody tell me why bosh took the last shot ... a 3????????????????????????


He thinks he is a superstar, like Vince Carter.


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## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

vi3t_boi11 said:


> That was a stupid call, Bonner may have hit Dixon but he stumbled by himself after puttin the ball on the floor, and Peterson barely touched him, I had a feeling that miss free throw by Bonner was gonna come back and cost them, it happens alot, I remember the raps losin so many close games cuz of a missed free throw late in the game


True, but pretty much everything done wrong in a game will come back and haunt you if you lose really closely.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

kirk_2003 said:


> He thinks he is a superstar, like Vince Carter.


Or and let me go way out there for a second, maybe the Raptors didn't get anything going and that was all the defense gave him. 2.5 seconds isn't a lot of time when the defense is all over you.


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Dee-Zy said:


> I didn't get to watch the game, can somebody tell me why bosh took the last shot ... a 3????????????????????????


We couldn't get the ball to our guards, and were risking an inbounding delay violation, so we threw it to the only open man (Bosh) with two seconds left and it's the closest he could get. He played very well down the stretch, this was just a tough position on a broken play.


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## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

speedythief said:


> We couldn't get the ball to our guards, and were risking an inbounding delay violation, so we threw it to the only open man (Bosh) with two seconds left and it's the closest he could get. He played very well down the stretch, this was just a tough position on a broken play.


Yeah, it was a bad break. =(

Bosh's missed shot shouldn't be blamed for the loss. There were A LOT of factors that caused the raps to loose. The Raps effort, or well, lack of effort, until the fourth quarter cost them big time. Simply put, they got beat by Portland.

On a side note, this has nothing to do with this game, but Antonio Davis was ejected after he climbed into the stands to "protect his wife".


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## kirk_2003 (Jun 23, 2003)

I was hoping Mike James get the ball. Heck even Mo-pete out at 40feet out wouldve had better chance hitting it in. Bosh fading away beyond the arc is not whar we're looking for.


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## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

kirk_2003 said:


> I was hoping Mike James get the ball. Heck even Mo-pete out at 40feet out wouldve had better chance hitting it in. Bosh fading away beyond the arc is not whar we're looking for.


ergh, i didn't get a chance to watch the game on tv so i couldn't see. but since you put it that way, and since mo pete has a knack for crazy circus shots, i would pick mo pete out at 40 feet compared to bosh.


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## vi3t_boi11 (Aug 14, 2004)

I noticed last yr Raps would always start off slow and when Donyell came in they would make a run. He can at least make the hustle plays which made Matt Bonner successful and his shootin, like a lot of raps fan, I'd really like to see Pape Sow play the center position since he is much more athletic and quicker than Hoffa, he should be able to grab rebounds and finish in traffic which Hoffa cannot do, playin Sow can't hurt the Raps as much as playin Araujo


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

vi3t_boi11 said:


> I noticed last yr Raps would always start off slow and when Donyell came in they would make a run. He can at least make the hustle plays which made Matt Bonner successful and his shootin, like a lot of raps fan, I'd really like to see Pape Sow play the center position since he is much more athletic and quicker than Hoffa, he should be able to grab rebounds and finish in traffic which Hoffa cannot do, playin Sow can't hurt the Raps as much as playin Araujo


Exactly. Not to mention the fact that Pape Sow is younger and has much more upside.


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## vi3t_boi11 (Aug 14, 2004)

kirk_2003 said:


> I was hoping Mike James get the ball. Heck even Mo-pete out at 40feet out wouldve had better chance hitting it in. Bosh fading away beyond the arc is not whar we're looking for.


I was hopin Rose would get the last shot, disappointin when i saw him inboundin the ball, I thought that the Raps would finally get some luck on their side and that three would go in but no it didn't


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

anniebananerz said:


> On a side note, this has nothing to do with this game, but Antonio Davis was ejected after he climbed into the stands to "protect his wife".


What?!

Edit: here it is. Wow.



> Knicks' Davis Ejected for Entering Stands
> "New York Knicks forward Antonio Davis was ejected Wednesday night after he went up into the stands at the United Center during overtime in a game against the Chicago Bulls," according to an ASSOCIATED PRESS report. "There was no physical confrontation, but several people could be seen pointing and shouting for several moments before security finally arrived and Davis was ejected."


http://www.nba.com/news/255170.html


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

speedythief said:


> What?!
> 
> Edit: here it is. Wow.
> 
> ...


Yeah I heard about that in the NBA General forum. Supposadely it was taking way too long for Security to get over there, so Davis went there himself. Suspension pending?


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## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

Turkish Delight said:


> Yeah I heard about that in the NBA General forum. Supposadely it was taking way too long for Security to get over there, so Davis went there himself. Suspension pending?


I personally don't feel that he should be suspended for that. maybe fined, but not suspended. no punches were thrown, no violent actions were made. it was just a case of a husband protecting his wife. you can't deny that this brought back some memories of what happened last year but this is a completely different incident compared to the one last year. that one was a physical confrontation between two teams. AD was just trying to protect his wife. if david stern suspends him for that, what kind of message would he be sending out?


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

anniebananerz said:


> I personally don't feel that he should be suspended for that. maybe fined, but not suspended. no punches were thrown, no violent actions were made. it was just a case of a husband protecting his wife. you can't deny that this brought back some memories of what happened last year but this is a completely different incident compared to the one last year. that one was a physical confrontation between two teams. AD was just trying to protect his wife. if david stern suspends him for that, what kind of message would he be sending out?


Especially considering AD is the Head of the Players Association.


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## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

Turkish Delight said:


> Especially considering AD is the Head of the Players Association.


But then again, Stern tends to overreact to everything.


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## madman (Oct 20, 2003)

i am happy they lost, i am sick and tired of these games where they decide in the 4th quarter to try, you cant do that and expect to win a lot of games


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## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

I thought this was one of the most aggressive games I've seen Bosh play this year, which is odd because he seems to be playing with pain, some in his hand, some in his legs/knees.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Raps are in serious jeopardy of blowing their whole January on this road trip. 0-5 is a real possibility now.

We've been lucky to beat bad teams like ATL and CHA in the 4th Q after being outplayed most of games. Portland didn't let that happen. Raps deserved to lose.

For the second night in a row it was a combo of SF/PF that buried that Raps. 
Khryapa and Randolph combined for 15/26 shooting, 40 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists. Similar to the AK47/Okur combo the previous night.

Surprisingly their Çs didn't do much against us.

MJames looked a lot better with his movement tonight but he was still not his old self. Raps have lost the magic they had going with MJ and Jose. Injuries and time off have killed that rhythm.

Turnovers were just horrible with Bosh leading the way with sloppy, sloppy passes. And 11 missed FT's could have made the difference in the end.

Charlie had a couple of nice jumphooks early but then late in the game he decides to shoot the 3ball again. Another 4thQ airball from 3? what is up with that? He has done that all year. 3 turnovers as well. 

Rose has got his flow back. Trade deadline must be scaring him straight.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

I liked what I saw from Charlie last night. He was being more aggressive, going inside for once. Yes, he got an air ball on that three pointer in the 4th quarter, but it was within the flow of the game and he was wide open so I wouldn't mind seeing him take that at times when he's open.


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## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

He's wide open because he is 23/75 on the year from 3pt land. I don't care if it's 'in the flow' or not. A lousy 3pt shooter has no business taking that shot. Hoff would probably have a better percentage from out there, and yes I am serious.

There should be a 'Charlie rule'. No 3's until you get 2 dunks or 6 rebounds in the game.

Wouldn't you rather have Bonner taking those 3's? Much higher percentage shooter.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

lucky777s said:


> He's wide open because he is 23/75 on the year from 3pt land. I don't care if it's 'in the flow' or not. A lousy 3pt shooter has no business taking that shot. Hoff would probably have a better percentage from out there, and yes I am serious.
> 
> There should be a 'Charlie rule'. No 3's until you get 2 dunks or 6 rebounds in the game.
> 
> Wouldn't you rather have Bonner taking those 3's? Much higher percentage shooter.


Yes I definately would, and early on they were giving him that shot which surprised me. On that posession though our offense was pretty stagnant, I would have preferred Jalen or Bosh getting in the post, and taking the ball inside.


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## CrookedJ (May 8, 2003)

****ty game. I could tell in the first 5 minutes we weren't gonna win - looked lost and unfocused.

Saw this on the Blazers board, made me laugh:



> The crazy canuck announcers on NBA season ticket are a total hoot, its like listening to Bob and Doug Mckenzie announce a game. I'll give em this though: Their announcers call it as straight as I've seen it called. They definitly aren't homers.


Chuck is now passing for Canadian, and Jack is from where, New York? My buddy and I were trying to place his accent - I was pretty sure hes from Brooklin, but my buddy thought it sounds like a Chicago accent, I think it sounds more like a Boston one.


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## ballocks (May 15, 2003)

that was a dreadful game to watch. if it had ended without our "run" down the stretch, as a ~ 15 pt loss, i would've been really frustrated. after games like this, our defense looks like utter garbage. sloppy turnovers made things worse. i don't get caught up in stats too often but shooting 68% at the half and somehow trailing by 3 is a contradiction. i still can't get my head around that. if i were in the locker room i'd be embarrassed. that's gotta be some kind of record.

and the third quarter? we took as many field goals as the blazers _made_. and it felt like that, full on. this is the blazers, man, not the '93 bulls. i guess getting bad results is one thing, but playing the way we did just didn't cut it for me. and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, in the fourth, we decide to get our gamefaces on? like, a _complete_ turn-around? i don't care how old you are, i don't care how (in-)experienced you are, i don't care if you're a coach or player or mascot, that's unacceptable. these players collectively go through ups and downs like i've never seen at any level, and the blame is fitted for everyone. such an embarrassment, such a shame. that's not easy for me to say.

i thought jalen played well- relatively. otherwise, i think we had some real stinkers out there in portland. chris is currently going through a period that makes me nervous- i don't care that he made two important baskets in crunch time, his face is in another universe for the majority of the game. this is, imo, an inflection point in his career. how he handles this stage is critical to determining his future as a man. if he keeps up this... apathy, i'd be surprised if he ever became a legit megastar. 

still, the look on his face after he missed the buzzer beater was new. it's something i hadn't seen from him before, and it kind of put my mind at ease. he was obviously angry, how could he not have been? but the look wasn't _just_ anger, of the chaotic and uncontrolled variety, it was more *disapproval*. i'm glad he showed that because the rest of his game didn't show me anything worth writing home about. 

mike? i think his mind was in the right place, though i could never say for sure, but his back is probably still a concern. we didn't do much to help shoulder his load as a team, and that's nothing new. but as a flaw in his game, i think it's worth mentioning now: he has trouble leading the break. it's not chemistry, or at least i don't think it is. it's more a basic weakness. spreading the floor on a 3 on 2 should be instinct for a point man in the nba, and his is lacking severely- it has been all season in that department, i think.

hoffa? i feel sorry for him. he can't develop. he isn't allowing himself to. he can't even get shots to the rim anymore since his release is barely above his shoulders and he rarely leaves the ground. games like last night broke my heart since his only value was as a "big man"- in the sense that the size of his body was his only asset. the rest of his game did far more harm than good (i don't think it did any good, really) and i'm starting to believe that that's just how it's gonna be from here on. we've failed in the hoffa experiment, and it might be too late to start over. he's not free from 'blame' himself, no, but there are a lot of parties involved and that causes me to shudder.

our '05 rookies? could they have looked any worse? well, i guess they certainly could have. but they look more uncomfortable than i've ever seen them- and i doubt it has to do with the length of the season since they just played game #39. for one thing, joey's defense is awful, imo, and he hasn't seemed to improve that important facet- on nights like last night, it actually appears like it's regressed. hard to believe.

the excitement of jose's game has taken a back seat, imo, and it's almost been forgotten. this guy looks sort of confused out there now, he sometimes looks like i've never seen him before, and that's not a comforting sight. charlie? v looked defeated against the blazers, that 3 point opportunity made me cringe, and his rebounding is looking more mediocre every day. 

which leads me to that point: rebounding. honestly, i think mo peterson and mike james might be our "best" rebounders, in the sense that they're not "scared" to get the ball. they want the ball. the rest of our team is clearly (imo) intimidated on the glass, and seems to be thinking too much about positioning and exploding on the break, not enough about first grabbing the ball itself. the blazers have accomplished frontline players, don't get me wrong, it's just that they didn't even have to fight for the important boards last night. we conceded all the ones they needed, imo. 

really, i think this is as tough a stage in sam's career as it is in chris's. i'm sure they'll rebound soon but that's not the point. we place too much importance on our emotional state to determine how we play in our games, and i find that unsettling. if we're to become a great team, we have to have a foundation that comes to play every night, in every area, then uses its emotion at key points to compete down the stretch. 

instead, we happen to rely on emotion way too often, almost exclusively- we have little 'foundation' to build on, and i think it results in games like tuesday in salt lake and last night in portland. if sam can't handle building the foundation for us (which i think he's done poorly to date), if he's "stumped", he needs to probably step aside. i don't want to be headed in that direction again; i don't want to settle for mediocrity.

the utah game was awful. the portland game was a disgrace. imo.

peace


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## trick (Aug 23, 2002)

For the second straight game the team lost due to turnovers and free throws, which is weird considering those two things have been their strengths this season.

As for rebounding, it really relies on the basis of what this team has been lacking, defense. Allowing the opposition to shoot over 50% all the time will often result on less defensive rebounding opportunities which makes our rebounding problems worse than it already is. Offensive rebounding on the other hand is just inexcusable when a guy like Steve Blake gets it over Bonner and Charlie.


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## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

The Loss to Utah could be expected, but going down 17 at one point to Portland should never happen

Everyone looked tired for the most part, but I'd atleast give them credit for a strong late game run. They could have easily given up and lost by 10, but fought back partially due to the equally inept play of Portland.

poor Defense and lack of rebounding also did in the Raps, they only managed a miniscule 28 boards on a night where they shot 53% from the field and still lost.(Portland shot 50.7%)

Lack of size up front really seemed to kill us, even though Portlands Bigs are considered far from dominant. If you cancel out Bosh and Randolph who had identical number , check out the numbers.....

-*The Portland combo (J. Przybilla, T. Ratliff & V. Khryapa) = 30 points 19 rebounds
-The Toronto combo (C. Villanueva, M. Bonner, R. Araujo)= 16 points 7 rebounds *


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## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

Craap looks like i missed a close game.


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## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

AirJordan™ said:


> Craap looks like i missed a close game.


lol. with the lack of energy from the raps, the only 'real' game you missed was the fourth quarter.


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