Gameday: Wizards @ Raptors, Feb. 25

by Garrett Hinchey February 25, 2013

It’s rematch week for the Toronto Raptors (23-33), as just days after colliding with a Knicks team for the 2nd time in 10 days, they’ll host the Washington Wizards (17-37), who they played just 6 days ago. The Raptors won that game 96-88 in a largely uneventful wire-to-wire affair, save for both the shot and game clocks malfunctioning at the Verizon Center (hey, you gotta cut costs whenever you can). The Raps were able to win largely due to strong performances from DeMar DeRozan and Rudy Gay (24 apiece), and they should both be key tonight once again, as the Raptors have a significant advantage on the wing, exacerbated by the Wizards’ moving Jordan Crawford out of town earlier in the week.

Since these teams last met up, the Raps have gone 1-1 with a gritty, close loss to the Memphis Grizzlies and a thrilling win over the Knicks, while the Wizards have gone 2-0, beating the Rockets(!) and Nuggets(!!!!!). Don’t expect this to have too much bearing on tonight’s game, as it’s all about matchups on the floor, but the general idea here is that both of these teams are probably better than their records, and tonight has a chance to be a good one.

Anyways, though, I wrote the pre-game for these guys less than a week ago, and I’m running out of fresh material. Let’s get to the tale of the tape:

Tale of the Tape
O-Rating: Toronto 107.1 (12th), Wizards 99.9 (30th)
D-Rating: Toronto 108.1 (23rd), Wizards 103.0 (5th)
Pace: Toronto 92.4 (26th), Wizards 94.5 (13th)
Strength: Toronto ball control (2nd), Wizards defence (5th)
Weakness: Toronto Freebies (30th in Opp FTA/FGA), Wizards ball control (28th)

Positional Breakdown
Point Guards: Kyle Lowry, Sebastian Telfair and John Lucas v. John Wall and AJ Price
Advantage: Raptors
I jumped the gun a bit suggesting Bassy would be in the lineup for Friday’s game against the Knicks, but he’ll play tonight. His impact should at least bottom out the floor for the Raptors’ backup point guard – it’s not that Lucas has been bad (he’s actually been quite a potent scorer these last few games) but he can have stretches where he really hurts the team, and having a second solid-but-not-spectacular body to run the point will be an underrated acquisition for Toronto. Kyle Lowry got the better of John Wall last game, forcing 7 turnovers, and I’d suspect he’ll have the edge again tonight, though Wall can explode at times.

Wings: Rudy Gay, DeMar DeRozan, Landry Fields, Alan Anderson and Terrence Ross v. Brad Beal, Garrett Temple, Martell Webster, and Trevor Ariza
Advantage: Raptors
The only thing that’s changed here since the last time these teams played is the subtraction of Jordan Crawford from the Wizards rotation, which does lower the offensive ceiling of this group quite a bit. Bradley Beal has been on a tear the past few games (he had 25 in their matchup last week), but the Raptors are strong at guarding teams’ 3-point game, so he’ll have to do his best to slash and use his mid-range game to be really effective. Look for Landry Fields to draw the assignment for stretches – I’d imagine he’ll be up to the task. As was the same last time, there isn’t really anyone on the Wizards to match up with Rudy, and hopefully he’ll be primed for another big game coming off the high from Friday’s 2nd half.

Bigs: Amir Johnson, Jonas Valanciunas, Andrea Bargnani, Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy v. Emeka Okafor, Nene, Kevin Seraphin, Trevor Booker, Jan Vesely, Ryan Hollins and Cartier Martin
Advantage: Wash
I gave the advantage to the Wizards last time, which might have been a bit generous – both teams didn’t get much scoring from their bigs, which is partly due to stingy defence on both ends and offensive limitations, again, on both ends. The wild card here is Andrea Bargnani, who’s floor stretching game could be extremely effective against two low-post defenders like Okafor and Nene. Hopefully he gets a few plays called for him and the fans are less vindictive then they were on Friday – echoing Blake’s point from yesterday, there’s no reason to boo your own guys. #SupportBargnani.

The Picks

Vegas: Raptors -3.5
Hollinger: Raptors -4
Garrett: The Wizards have been a solid team the last few weeks, but so have the Raptors, and I’d imagine a strong ACC crowd should be enough to get them through comfortably. Raptors by 7.

Why

wouldn’t count on the booing to stop – in the past pleas to stop booing mcgrady, carter,bosh because the booing served to increase their motivation to beat the raps were unsuccessful.
- BCBargnaniFieldsCaseyGots2Go!
  
  Can’t boo Andrea?- let them (fan base) eat cake (Marie Antoinette voice)…. Bargnani aka King Bargs aka The Pope aka Golden Child aka Spoiled Brat aka Pasta aka No Star aka The Italian LockerRoom Cancer aka Half Ass aka Lazy Mofo’er aka 13 Games aka Just Box Out aka Kid Caliper aka Toronto Bargnanis aka Andrea Raptors aka I Got The Flu Coach aka No One Will Pass Me The Ball Anymore Can’t yell at nor push AB too hard it might hurt his feelings- Sam Mitchell Rebounding and defense is for peasants- come here Amir, Aaron, Jonas, Quincy. (Bargnani voice) We are the worst team in the NBA (Bargnani) BC pr spin- He (Bargnani) didn’t say that his words got lost in translation. I didn’t say that. (Bargnani) Italian reporter- yes you did it’s all recorded verbatim. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AB!!!!!!!
  - ImAlwaysRight
    
    It seems your feelings are hurt as well. Not even P Diddy could come up with that many names.
    - What the
      
      he forgot II MAGRO the subject
Bob

Gonna rest my throat all day so that I’m ready to boo limp past boy if he doesn’t play well tonite. #TRADE AB
- Guest
  
  he can’t be traded until after the season so your booing does nothing but kill his confidence.
  - Nilanka15
    
    What confidence? :p
    - NyAlesund
      
      The team confidence!!!!!!
      
      What would you do if Lowry,Fields, DeRozan……… started to play bad for a while? Would you booing them or not because their not earning 10 mln, because their first name is not Andrea, because Colangelo never said idiotic things on them?
      - Nilanka15
        
        The “team” has won 6 of the last 7 games. And you’re trying to tell me that their confidence has been compromised? Please…
        
        Besides, my comment above was regarding Bargnani’s confidence. Guest implied that booing Bargnani will ruin his confidence. I was simply pointing out that his confidence is already ruined.
    - FLUXLAND
      
      Don’t mistake lack of confidence for not giving a shit.
      
      These Jack infested rumors of Bargs being sensitive have been grossly exaggerated, in order to deflect what is really going on. (Notice costume picture, who’s missing?)
      - FLUXLAND
        
        And if you actually think he needs a therapist or is affected by these boos in any way shape or form, you have clearly not been paying attention to what is going on the court. Maybe seeing what you want to see, but not what has actually transpired.
        
        What the
        
        “what is going on the court” the thing is you can see it and I can see it and we know the boooin fans can see it, how come daddy B and pound the rock can’t see it,does any body form Bell/ROG. sees it ,what about Larry T. does he sees it ,mybe daddy B has got them all looking at the STATS when they should be doing the old eye test… who knows Barney Booo Booo might have the flu tonight againt this power house team tonight we will have to wait and see what ACTUALLY TRANSPIRE tonite
  - voy
    
    and embarrass the whole team but i guess if booing a single player is more important than cheering the team, I guess thats his choice to make.
    
    and thats essentially the decision you have to make, cuz I dont think any other raptor player would want you cheering them if you are booing another teammate. in my mind, its either you boo andrea or you cheer the team. doing both is pretty much a bitch move.
    - Nilanka15
      
      Why is it a choice of one or the other, though? Isn’t it possible that one is booing Bargnani because of his negative impact, while cheering the rest of the team because of their positive impact?
      - nottheendoftheworld
        
        If you’re booing a team’s player, you’re booing the team. At the very least, it certainly doesn’t help.
        
        Nilanka15
        
        That’s a tad too simplistic a view.
        
        For example, when the Lakers are in town, and the local fans cheer Nash, would you consider that as meaning they’re cheering the Lakers team as a whole?
        
        There is a separation between “player” and “team”. They’re not synonymous.
        
        The only benefit to booing Bargnani would be Casey hesitating to play him….which would definitely help the team.
        
        what the
        
        your boy gary forbes wasnt booed and he still sucked (not according to you)
        
        voy
        
        why dont we make the raps the only team then to be coached/managed by the fans that can holler the loudest. we’ll have guys like “what the” drafting the ed o’bannons of the world and thinking a 35 year old shane corson is going to lead the leafs to the cup
        
        Nilanka15
        
        It worked for the Leafs and Ron Wilson
        
        what the
        
        stop lying
      - voy
        
        i understand the reason why they are booing bargs. however, if you want the team to win, booing andrea is not improving the team’s chances.
        
        I’m not 100% saying booing him is materially lessening the chances of the team winning but at the very least its proving a distraction, taking away part of the homecourt advantage for that period of time the boos reign down, eliminating that time where fans can be cheering against the opposition etc etc.
        
        it is a choice, i think, one or the other. if we were to ask any raptor player “out of the limited ways a fan can help their team win, what can we do to tip the odds in your favour?” nowhere on that list is going to be “boo the most frustrating player”. and they’re not not saying “boo the most frustrating player just to be a good teammate”. they are not saying “boo the team’s most frustrating player…” because of all the things they have to worry about during gametime prep and during the game the last thing they want to do is deal with such a stupid, pain in the ass thing like idiots in the crowd booing a teammate/their team.
        
        its like, gay, amir, kl, dd, jv have enough of a challenge trying to compete and turn this team’s fortunes around, do anyone of those players want to deal with some guy thinking he’s being cute or thinking he’s smarter than everyone else by booing andrea.
        
        in my mind its pretty simple. you want the raps to win – you cheer the team. you want them to lose – you boo the team.
        
        what the
        
        fan boy stop your shit the team is winning and Barney has nothing to do with it and i will booo him until he is gone from this team like Turk
      - what the
        
        i wish i could like this 2800 times… put BARNEY booo booo in the starting line up please
wesleysleong

With the 76ers on a 5 game slide, were in 9th place. 8th place is within reach especially with the Bucks struggling. That might give us that extra fire plus home court advantage to win tonight.
MorganC

Regarding the whole booing Andrea thing, how about whoever sees this and goes to the game tonight does their part by CHEERING for him upon insertion into the game. You don’t have to cheer him if he sucks once in, but maybe a nice heartfelt cheer at the start (instead of the merciless booing) would go a long way to just putting this behind us…
- what the
  
  fuck no
  - wes mantooth
    
    hahaha i dont agree with booing him ,,but that response is hilarious.. cheer him on you filthy animals!!
    
    toronto is filled with a bunch of haterade drinkin losers! cheer up!
- NyAlesund
  
  +1
what the

Hush nooo boooin, cause Barney booo booo is sleeping/spreading the floor maybe he’s gonna have a nap until the end of the season and the fan boys can cuddle up with him so that we don’t have to hear them whine for the rest of the season. get ready for the Barney Booo Booo and Tweetie(KL) show .
- nottheendoftheworld
  
  That’s a very pleasant fantasy. Maybe when you get the cash together to attend a game, you can express your personal disappointment that the team or one of its veteran players has not met your expectations by booing like an idiot.
  
  Or maybe you can just stay at your machine and support booing our team from the comfort of your cubicle.
  - what the
    
    BUDDY!! was it just me boooing or was it more than half the folks at the ACC plus the millions at home … we will see tonite as Daddy B (BC),Pound the rock(DC) and Tweetie(KL) will force feed Cuddles so he can lead us to playoffs watch out Labron here comes Barney booo booo
    - lay off the haterade
      
      Spelt Lebron wrong, idiot.
      - Ihatehaters
        
        LeBron.
      - What the
        
        my dislike for Labum and my dislike for Barney booo booo are not the same do the eye test buddy (the Cavs booo Labum because he stinks)
- Bob
  
  this should be the rap of the day!!
Bigbalboski79

The booing should be directed at Colangelo for failing to Andrea. A pure salary dump would have been a good trade. Clear cap space to keep the players with value?
- What the
  
  cont. child support/salary
Phez

We have a good chance of dominating this game. Raps made a lot of silly mistakes the other week last time we faced them. I don’t think those are mistakes to be repeated.
Holycraptors.com

Let’s see if we can get Drake to talk some smack to the Wizards play-by-play announcers.
raptormadfan

Must win game, we have to win the 4 coming and kill bucks outta the 8th spot
- Nilanka15
  
  Pretty much every remaining game will be considered “must win” thanks to our 4-19 start.
  
  It’s pretty shocking that we’re 19-14 since then (which is a pace good enough for the 5th seed). That’s a big enough sample size to tell me that we’re a strong playoff candidate next season, without even addressing the roster redundancies that currently exist.
  - Destro
    
    Too many blown losses to assume this team is going to be a playoff candidate next year…Losing to Washington,Sacramento at home blowing about 7-8 double digit 4th qtr leads,nothing strong about that…
    - Nilanka15
      
      Most of those blown losses were during the 4-19 stretch.
Mpav15

how bout i go to your work and boo the shit out of all the disrespectful fans
the ones who boo have problems in there life… its not actually bargs its the personality of the person who boos…. they are selfish, inconsiderate people who dont value others and or jump on the bang wagon since they have nothing better to do
- Nilanka15
  
  lol, love the folks who think there’s a parallel between professional sports and burger flippers.
  - unknown guest
    
    Dude, I’m guessing, you’re like me in that if we’re getting PAID $10 mill a YEAR, we’re NOT going to let a little booing ruin our day. Heck, if I’m will to bet if you and I were paid that much, we’d at least come to work IN SHAPE.
    - Nilanka15
      
      Well yes, that kind of money will always make up for some hurt feelings.
      
      But I’m not even saying that I can go out there and do a better job than Bargnani. Far from it, actually.
      
      I’m just saying that Bargnani is making a living in the entertainment business, and he’s doing so by choice. His salary is paid by the folks who cheer (and boo) him. That’s the nature of the entertainment business (whether it’s sports, music, art, theatre, film, or whatever.).
      
      You can’t draw comparisons with this line of work to some schmuck in an office unclogging his photocopier. Apples and oranges.
      - DumbassKicker
        
        I’d have thought you were slightly above “some schmuck in an office unclogging his photocopier”, but perhaps you can use that experience and expertise to unclog your mind a little.
        
        As has been well documented in numerous posts, this infantile neanderthal booing can do nothing but hurt the team, both short term and long term, so how can anybody who wants the team to do well, defend the idiocy?
        
        Nilanka15
        
        lol at “well documented”
        
        The team is better off with Bargnani sitting on the bench. Whether booing has any affect on that, I don’t know. But I certainly understand why the fans express their frustration.
        
        As for the misplaced “neanderthal” comment. It’s just as rudimentary to claps one’s hands to show approval, than it is to boo to show disgust.
        
        sleepz
        
        +1.
        
        You didn’t know that reference to something in posts equals “well documented”?
        
        DumbassKicker
        
        Funny how I don’t see either you or Nilanka addressing the solid arguments with direct rebuttals, but you’ll both do the petty nitpicking on my use of the word “documented”. For the slow witted, my point was that I don’t wish to waste any more time repeating was has been said (documented, get it?) many times already. I can point to you some examples of good arguments against the booing, but you’ve conveniently avoided dealing with them directly already. Keep up the fine work snickering in the corner with Nilanka over a word though.
        
        sleepz
        
        I didn’t read any of your other rebuttals. I glanced at your comment and noticed the “well documented” comment and felt compelled to respond.
        
        To me booing is part of professional sports. No one knows 100% if it has any affect on players but just like you are adamant it does, there is no evidence to prove that. I also don’t think there is any sure-shot evidence to prove it doesn’t hurt either.
        
        My stance is that if the booing stops it will be because the players performance dictated it.
        
        what the
        
        we winning POOKA , I mean Dumbass
        
        What the
        
        lies the boooin has nothing to do with the team Barney booo booo is smiling all the way to the bank with the child support money he got from Daddy B.
      - my
        
        Dude, stop been s####
        Don’t air your dirty laundry in public
- what the
  
  i have told you fan boys to go watch GALLO up in DENVER like POOKa .CJT,CESCO and forget about BARNEY BOOO BOOO cause he will only break your hearts (13 game thingy) how is that going for you
  - DumbassKicker
    
    How’s the multiple screen name trolling going for you? On the surface, it doesn’t appear to be helping any more than the meds or therapy seem to have.
    - Nilanka15
      
      Oh, the blatant hypocrisy…
      - DumbassKicker
        
        Look petty fuckhead, somebody started attempting to discredit me by using my name, even locking it up in Disqus before I caught up with you kiddie internet “pros”. What do you think I should do about that, bitchy little, petty numbskull screen name cop?
        
        Nilanka15
        
        Uh oh. I hurt someone’s feelings (although, it perfectly explains why you’re being such a princess about the booing).
        
        Let’s see how many expletives you can muster in your next rant. We can make it a game. The angrier you get, the more you win!
        
        But if you fail, I’m going to boo you….
        
        DumbassKicker
        
        boo me all you want, pathetic little whiny bitch. I’d take it as a badge of honour.
        
        PS. “hurt someone’s feelings”? LOL, you think too much of yourself. No hurt feelings, but annoyance that some shmuck that spends his time unclogging photocopiers gets jollies from screen name policing.
        
        Nilanka15
        
        Your multiple aliases have already earned that badge. It still only counts as one, pOOka.
        
        DumbassKicker
        
        Oh, go unclog your asshole and become less of a petty little bitch.
        
        Destro
        
        ha ha ha ha HE MAAAAD as fuck ! HAHHA
        
        Superjesusman
        
        You do a pretty good job of discrediting yourself.
      - What the
        
        hay Nil you do know that DUMBASS is POOKa right.
    - What the
      
      i knew i could bring you out Pooka how is DENVER? or is it Detroit with Dribbles how is the pick and roll going are you ready for the Barney BOOO BOOO SHOW i hope booo booo dosn’t have the flu tonight the whole world is watching even a few in Rome
    - What the
      
      DUMBASSPOOKA why don’t you and some of your fan boys friend go set up at the front door of the ACC and tell he fans going to the game not to booo CUDDLES our best player (his words) do yo think you would get boooed too
      - voy
        
        dude, what the, relax. andrea is just one guy. there are plenty of fish in the sea. what happened? did andrea block your number after you sent him a dick pic or something?
        
        you sound like one of those republican dudes always fighting for the sanctity of marriage but then 2 months later gets caught in the men’s bathroom in the minneapolis airport playing footsie with the unsuspecting guy in the next stall.
        
        boo andrea. boo him all you want. boo like the tea party brainiacs who think just because they can yell the loudest that automatically makes them economists. boo like you think you are striking a blow for the fans in toronto. boo, what the. no one expects any less of you. you are the point at the end of the spear, my man (or is it the white fluffy shit at the end of the q-tip?). you and rosa parks, what the. boo for the voiceless… or at the very least boo for the brainless.
        
        What the
        
        that was a lovely speech Dr King but you left out the part that says I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY BARNRY BOOO BOOO WILL BE GONE FROM THIS TEAM I HAVE A DREAM… AND I WILL BOOO FROM THE SPRITE ZONE ya you left that part out
        
        voy
        
        cool, man. keep having andrea being gone as the ultimate goal. i want the team to win. i dont care who or who isn’t on the raps. at least we seem to agree on one thing. when it comes to me and you, like you said, I’m king.
cb

“#SupportBargnani”

??? really?

yikes. i don’t think so dude.
j bean

The boobirds have had their 15 minutes of fame. Time to move on.

Looking at the growth of Bradley Beal and it bugs me that TRoss hasn’t been given the same opportunity to play through rookie mistakes and develop his talents. Beal is a quiet young guy but is developing into a leader because he continued to get the playing time even when making mistakes and not playing well. The coach can tell you how much he believes in you but when you’re getting yanked after 5 minutes it tells a different story.
- vino
  
  #sitAA; #playRoss!
wes mantooth

i dont understand the booing. do poeple hate him because he said we’re the worst team? or because hes playing bad? is it personal?? if he started to play well would the booing stop? to people even know why theyre booing??
- Advanced Strategy
  
  1) He threw the team under the bus with those “worst team” comments. Definitely a big factor.
  
  2) Remember that Spurs game at the start of the year when we lost in double OT? Check the tape. We had the lead, Bargs is 2-12 at that point near the end of 3. He goes on to throw up 7 22 foot bricks and refuses to rebound. “Worst team” indeed.
  
  3) The guy won’t dunk. He missed at least 20 wide open layups this season because he tries a fluttery finger roll instead of dunking it. With Amir and Val, he could get 3 dunks a game cutting to the rim. But he won’t.
  
  4) Shot selection. He catches the ball at the 3 point line, shot fakes, takes one dribble and launches bricks from 22 feet out. That’s literally what the defense wants you to do. Low %
  
  5) Hustle. Even in limited minutes, he doesn’t put out an honest effort. Don’t give me the stoic bologna. He walks the last 3 steps before setting limp screens for PG and then rolls early. Screen is sidestepped by defender. Thanks, bro. He hedges way too hard on D, makes our wing cover his man and then his cover gets the wide open corner 3 ball.
  - Guest
    
    Throwing the team under the bus results in the fans booing? How does that make sense? It’s not like he threw the fans under the bus. Actually, there was no throwing under the bus since he was correct in saying the team was playing like it was the worst team in the league. Have we already revised the past and forgotten the terrible start?
- Dan
  
  For me it’s his demeanor on the court. He just comes across as lazy and like he doesn’t care. Watch how many times people pass to him and he just stands straight up with his arms out rather then coming to the pass. Or how often a rebound will land in his area but he misses it completely because he’s still watching the guy he’s defending rather then tracking the ball once it get’s shot and turning around to box out his guy.
- What the
  
  whats to understand we want him fucking gone and not Daddy or pound the rock or that Tweetie guy is going to force this Barney booo booo guy down our throat we the fan will not be force fed this broken pasta
vino

Barny drama spills here too… holly shit! The team is winning, the poor baby is being boo boo and there is a tragedy.
- what the
  
  sorry its not a drama its fucking cartoon show
  Barney BOOO BOOO and TWEETIE watch the hookup/force feeding with Barney and TWEETIE PIE tonight
  - Bob
    
    HILARIOUS!!
FAQ

Moronto tribal honking fans are …. morons… sooooo obvious..!!!
FAQ

Bargs needs the ball …. how can he expect to get it with streetballing pudgy ballhogs running the show while the t.h.fs boo …. trade deadline passed, but I bet BC was working the phones trying to move Bargs for VC + spare parts …. ya think??
- Nilanka15
  
  Bargs needs a therapist first…
  - trample54
    
    He needs the ball.
  - Hater
    
    How’s your mama boo boo ?
  - What the
    
    that cost money
- What the
  
  don’t worry man Tweets got BOOO BOOOS back didn’t you hear
gradgrind101

WOW! There are a lot of haters on this site. You guys are less interested in the good of the team and more in bashing. Don’t tell me spewing venom at Bargnani is for the good of the team becuase after him it will be Lowry and after him it will be Fields and after him it will be DeRozan or Gay or Valanciunas or Casey or Colangelo or the Dance Pak or… Yeah you get it… The list goes on.

I check in to this site from time to time and it’s always the same haters always hating somebody or something… If hate is what lubes your tube then you have found your twisted version of nirvana. A sport where there is only 1 winner every year. The likelihood of failure is great so you will always have a reason to hate.

By the way… Last year AB played in 31 games. In those games he played 30+ minutes 24 times. The raptors were 12-12 in those games and the rest of the season they were 11-31. I’m not a Bargnani booster but I do want the Raptors to win and given the right matchups and situations he can help.
- BCBargnaniFieldsCaseyGots2Go!
  
  Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttttt (Clay Davis voice)
  
  Critical thinking =s hating?lmfao
  - Guest
    
    LMAO. The only time you exhibit any critical thinking is while pinching a loaf.
BCBargnaniFieldsCaseyGots2Go!

BC 2 the Raptors fan base concerning an injury returning AB- just be patient with him……..this is season 7…..patience is for waiting rooms not AB…….was BC patient with Sam at 8-9?

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