3/11/09

Raptors Rewind- Can We Stop The Pain Edition?

So Andrea Bargnani will play this on not feeling at 100%. I think Raptor fans can relate. However Bargnani has flu like symptoms. I have a feeling we all might be sick by the end of this one. I actually know we will cause I am doing the Rewind of the Replay. So with that being said here we go with Raptors 6th lose in a row. I was told by a friend not to watch this but as I told her being the Dino Blogger it kind of is required for me to watch. After this season I may need some serious therapy to recover from it. I wonder if that is tax deductible? It is hard to remember but this is where this season of so much promise started with a win and a 3-0 start that seems like a century ago.

1st Quarter

So off we go. Raptors win the tip. Sam D with a quick foul for Sixers. Non shooting and Bosh miss and the Sixers go to Dalembert who has caught some heat for his work ethic of late. Turnover and a Thad Young jam. Bosh answers with a throw down of his own. Bosh would miss on his next attempt a jumper. Young is showing why he is consider much improved as he scores. Bargnani not at 100% but 3 point shot looks good as he takes and makes. Willie Green makes a 2 point effort for the Sixers. An early 8-5 lead for Philly.

A Marion Turnover as he stepped out. Bargnani a miss and the Thad Young show is in high gear early with another dunk. Calderon a rare drive and score. Injured or not injured who knows but he needs to be much better. Bargnani buries a 3 pointer and the score is tied at 10. Bargnani is able to score again this time for 2. Playing sick sometimes can have amazing results. I once bowled in a bowling league. I was not feeling well and decided to bowl out so I could help my team seeing as I was not going to be making it to bowling night. I had the highest 3 scores combined in my fabled bowling career. I was sick as a dog doing it. Meanwhile from bowling to basketball as the Sixers make a pair from line to tie the score. Marion a basket he is in the books.
Green is feeling good with another basket and they tie it again at 14.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu checks in for Andrea picked up a foul. Philly Split 2 at the line. Andre Miller is fouled and looks to extend the lead. Miller makes 2 and Calderon checks out for Parker who is back to playing back up point guard and you have to wonder why. FREE ROKO. The season is done why are you not letting this guy develop in favour of a gut that likely will not be here next season. Makes no sense. Mr Young with a miss. Bargnani with a buzzer beater 3 with shot clock expiring. Tied at 17. Young another score and put his Sixers back in front. He had a chance to score again but missed it. Pops Mensah-Bonsu with a huge throw down. We are tied at 19. Bargnani called for an offensive foul his second and he argued the call and I like it.Tied at 19 after one.

2nd Quarter.

Both teams shoot awful at under 40% for both. A spin and score in the lane for the Philly rookie. Young follows that and it is a 4 point Sixer lead. Roko is free now and leads the Raptors to a score. Put a kick out to Iggy for 3. Sixers lead it 28-21. CB4 gets a basket and dedicate that one to brother Joel who is having a birthday today. Exchange of baskets than another 3 ball by Iggy again. Roko Ukic drives and scores. But Philly was getting whatever they liked. Speights had a few nice scores and so did Lou Williams of the bench. Raps had 7 turnovers and almost all of them have ended with a Sixer dunk the other way. The Sixers has build a 9 point lead from a game that was tied after 1.

Marshall is a Sixer that was at one point my ex-girlfriends favourite Raptor. She was never much of a basketball fan till she met me and why she like Donyell I have not clue. But that was better than the Rogers did you know feature. Meanwhile the beat down is in full effect with a Sammy D Flush and Sixers lead was a dozen. Raptors answers with a 2. But a Thad Young 3 ball and an Evans dunk and Raptors were down 15 and Triano calls a time out hide the clipboards cause we don't need to see another clipboard lose it's life to early before it's time. 51-36 for the Sixers. This is ugly and really you have to feel for Jay Triano is a way. Bosh picked up his 3rd foul and the lead for Philly was 55-36. For the tri-fector of ugly the Raptors committed turnover number 10 opps make that 11. The Sixers Roll to a 56-39 halftime lead. Ugly but unfortunately not unexpected.

3rd Quarter.

I watched it. 92-74 Sixers after 3. I figure how many quarters have the Raptors taken off this season? So I took one to eat instead of type. Defense is still a foreign word in Raptors land and this quarter was proof of that. On to the 4th.

4th Quarter

I am not sure If I will say much about this one as well. However Andera Bargnani had a nice jam. Give this kid credit. In a game that really means little he is out there not feeling well and play great. Full marks for Bargnani the rest of the Raptors not so much. Raptors make a bit of a push back to cut the lead to 11. But forget about that we had some broadcast history. Jack Armstrong gave the first bilingual Hello in Raptor history. A little Bonjour. Raptors were fighting hard honestly but far to little and far to late. Also of Note Calderon glued to the bench and I am thinking that the Jose Calderon era as Raptor Point guard may be a heck of a lot shorter than advertised. Is it a conscience Raptors push was with out Jose. I think not. If you want something to cheer for down this stretch run, cheer for the Suns not to make the playoffs. If that happens Steve Nash becomes a more viable possibility for the Raptors in the off season. I honestly believe he is only answer to getting this fixed in the short term. Not just him alone but the other things a Nash trade could mean.

Calderon finally returns with Raptors down 8 and about just under 6 to play. Calderon has it stolen away and a dunk. Triano furious and why not calls a time out. After the time out no more Jose. Ukic takes his spot. Seems that Calderon and Triano are to say the least not on the same page.

The Boxscore As Required By Sports Law - Raptors and Sixers


The feeling and mood after this one sucked and it just is ugly times in Raptorland and no one can honestly say anything else. Chalk up another player with his career high against the Raptors as Thaddeus Young with 29.



6 comments:

  1. I do have a saying Dino-Man: Life and the work you commit to is like a bag of smelly crap, but in the bag of feces, there is a 100 Karat diamond in it worth "$1,000,000". Its all up to each of us to find this diamond in many different ways with the resources, effort, and time you want to spend on it. The process to find it generally sucks, but when you find that diamond it feels the effort you put in pays you off more than $1,000,000 dollars.

    Right now my patience deadline for Colangelo is @ the end of 2010.

    You said before that Sam Mitchell said that Bosh should not be booed at. Life does not work that way Bosh. Is it over hostility? Looks like it, but nope! Being a top athlete on TV is about accountability and pragmatism. If you can't generally state that you played like crap and there is a million things in a game that show you are failing at and you don't admit it, it pisses people off. You don't have to say everything, but you should at least relate to the people you disappoint towards, which are your fans.

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  2. Wait so you are saying that Bosh should have said the season is lost and things need to change? So let me figure out what the fan reaction to that would be? See Bosh hates Toronto he wants out. As the face of the franchise is Bosh responsible of course he is. But the point Sam Mitchell raised on Court Surfing and the one I have made is simple.

    You boo the guy it is negative and you contribute to the problem. It even goes beyond Bosh. If you are the next guy you see what happens to Bosh and someday think those people will turn on me. It is a question of loyalty and if you have it or if you don't.

    That is how I see it. However I totally get what the fans are doing I am just saying in the words of Ice Cube as far as fans go

    Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

    Because when Bosh is gone what happens than I have yet to hear a good answer to that question.

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  3. DinoBlogger,
    I am the part of the people who do react quickly to things as they are now, but I can at least see this entire thing go two ways. Success or failure, this team needs to find some good quality consistency for the coming years as players and coaching/management.

    About the booing, it is all about who you humanly are and what your mental limits/boundaries are, okay and loyalty. Bosh is tired of the losing and the booing and our growing cynicism for sure, but hell if I know how hard those players and coaches are trying to prepare for another game, or caring about our criticism. Booing is rude for sure, but fans pay their time and money to watch their people win and if they see and end to failure, they want to send a message by booing or angry internet blogs to tell their players that they should play the game better next time. If they don't win, they get punished again by who sits on those seats. Now if we boo them on the public streets, that is truly turning against them and crossing the line.

    This whole losing is definitely all in the mental aspect of the Raptors in all levels now, and it sure is hitting fans and making them say dumb things.

    You blew my Bosh thing a lil' out of proportion. Make him say the season is lost?? C'MON! We all have an expectation, but the body language in the interviews from Bosh are starting to resemble someone that is wilting (it is natural we you are losing 10 in a row) and getting detached. Some people are better standing up and give us the attitude that things can turn around, but it is sure disappearing in Bosh THIS season. Hope next season can be a stable improvement.

    Bosh is still a young player and he still needs good team NBA guidance to make him a better player. Its up to management not to make these bad decisions again or else no one will want to come to the Raptors via free-agent or trade. To shut up idiots like me, you just gotta win and build with solid pieces after every year. Easier said than done, but it is a recipe good teams follow.

    If Bosh is gone, we are going to have to see how this franchise improvises afterward.

    Don't worry, you don't need therapy, its all part of the job.

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  4. Yeah I know. For the record I love my job even this year. I just think there is a cause and effect to fan reaction. There are lots of factors in play with it.

    1. Expectations that were laid out by MLSE

    2. The Handling of La Affair du TSN Duex

    3. The lack of J.O and Bosh working

    4. Jose Calderon and his complete failure to match person expectations of him

    There is more likely but 4 that jump to mind

    Has this been the greatest season of Chris Bosh's career. No way. However look how it started and where it is now. I think the lack of support from this roster was evident. Anyway everyone is pretty pissed and we all have are theories on what has went wrong. But I will stand behind Bosh based on the total package I have seen over the entire career he has had. Chris Bosh is still a winner and it is the lack of support on all levels that has lead to where we sit now.

    I try to add some humour to it all. The needing therapy thing was an attempt at that I hope. After all part of what I love about what I do is at the end of the day it is just about sports. No one lives and dies. 6 game losing streak or winning streak is not the end of the world at the end of the day.

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  5. I have seen nothing happen so far this year that gives me the impression that Bosh has quit on this team in any way. Fans who think he has, IMO, are not looking properly at many different aspects of the NBA game and what "kind" of player CB4 actually is ... vs the "kind" of player THEY might WANT him to be if THEY had their druthers.

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