All The More Reason Why We Need Bosh Back Desperately

[Dr. James Naismith]

Hollinger breaks down the Eastern Conference playoffs race today via ESPN Insider and his odds on which teams make the cut and who doesn't.

All I gotta say is, I want Bosh to be 100% healthy, but if fans thought last night was disgusting without Bosh last night against the Blazers ..... well you ain't seen anything yet. Tomorrow night will be outrageously disgusting against Cleveland.

With each and every game that goes by without Bosh, its only making me wanting the Raptors to retain him more and more this summer. I'm not a religious guy, but right now I'm praying he remains a Raptor for years to come because if not, its back to rebuilding.

Toronto Raptors

Record: 31-25; Power Ranking: 17; Playoff Odds: 86.2%

With a four-game lead and an 18-8 mark in their past 26 games, you might think the Raptors are home free. Not so fast.

The Power Rankings see the Raptors as the weakest of the five teams, placing them 17th, and there are some good reasons for that. Toronto still has a negative scoring margin on the season despite standing six games above .500, and the Raptors' recent 10-3 stretch came with 10 of the games at home and against what was the league's easiest schedule in that stretch.

Now the schedule turns on Toronto in a big way. Toronto still has a West Coast trip to make, plus road dates against Cleveland and Oklahoma City; the home slate includes Cleveland, Atlanta, Utah, Denver, Oklahoma City and Boston. With Chris Bosh nursing an ankle injury, the timing couldn't be worse.

The Raptors do have 10 games left against non-contenders, and if they take care of business, they should slide in. On tiebreakers, the outlook is mixed: They win against Chicago, but lose to Milwaukee.

Source - Click here

[Ripp]

We won't miss the playoffs, imo. And I think it is better for us to get a 6th or 7th seed than a 5th seed. Finally, from Turk's language and gameplay, he is stepping into an active leadership role while Bosh is out. Hopefully Bargs can also step up tomorrow, and finish the rest of the season stronger than he started. We will need all three of them playing well to have a chance of doing well in the postseason.

[`Dre]

It's that time of the season where we have to prove ourselves to the rest of the league by beating the better teams... it's sucks that Bosh is out. We need his ankle healed FAST in order to keep the 5th seed and attempt to make a push for 4th. And I'm sure many Raptors fans are going through the epiphany that if CB leaves, this may be our team for the next few years. :/

[Ripp]

It's that time of the season where we have to prove ourselves to the rest of the league by beating the better teams... it's sucks that Bosh is out. We need his ankle healed FAST in order to keep the 5th seed and attempt to make a push for 4th. And I'm sure many Raptors fans are going through the epiphany that if CB leaves, this may be our team for the next few years. :/

I don't understand the big surprise. There is plenty of evidence (http://www.82games.com/0910/0910TOR5.HTM, or http://basketballvalue.com/teamplaye...=DESC&team=TOR, or using your own eyes) that this is effectively a one man show.

[`Dre]

LOL, I wasn't surprised, and those links you just posted only add more points to the "Why We Need Bosh" category.