A win against the Hawks would have been nice, but you have to believe that the game went a long way in helping this team mature. From what I saw, the Raptors played a great game until the final couple minutes where the Hawks experience and skill level was just too much to overcome. While the loss was a heart-breaker, the team shouldn’t hang their heads low and mope. They weathered a ridiculous 62 point outburst from Crawford and Johnson and were in it until the final seconds.

The one thing to take away from the game was that you have to always be playing for the win. Jose’s attempt to draw a foul on Horford on his last drive makes the point. From the moment he picked up his dribble, you knew nothing good was going to come of it. Horford did a great job of maintaining position and challenging the ball, while Calderon wasn’t able to draw enough contact to get the call. Would Kobe/LeBron/Wade got that call? Maybe, probably; but the Raptors don’t have that luxury. There was plenty of time from the inbound pass to run a play, and Calderon just lost his nerve and tried to force the issue.

If you want to blame anyone, lob it towards Triano for scripting a brutal out-of-bounds play that was doomed from the moment they left the huddle. There was nothing creative in the set, the Hawks switched on everything and defended with relative ease…

The last time these guys played, I had the fortune of not witnessing a 22 point embarrassment on the Raptors home floor. McGrady and Hamilton combined for 52 (seems to be a reoccurring theme of the Raptors losing when the opposing teams shooting guards go off); 17 of which coming from McGrady who seemed to have found his mojo against the Raptors and has been pretty good since.

Had a great chat about the Pistons with Patrick Hayes from Piston Powered:

Lots of drama with Kuester since day 1. I know he needed to have a loud voice with this team, and not pander to players like the whole Iverson fiasco, but it seems to be coming at a cost. What’s your assessment of this situation and Kuesters abilities? Will Kuester last, or will both Prince and Hamilton need to get traded for this team to have any chance?
John Kuester waited as long as he possibly could to bench Rip Hamilton. Michael Curry was fired after one season as coach largely because he couldn’t fix his relationship with Hamilton, so Kuester trudged on last season and most of this season with Hamilton as his starter, even as it became painfully obvious to everyone who watched the team that Hamilton just isn’t the same player he used to be. He’s in the midst of his third straight poor season, and Kuester, understandably, tried to make things work because of Joe Dumars’ reputation as an executive who will side with the players over the coach when there are conflicts.

Kuester inherited a horribly imbalanced roster with too many rotation players in the back-court to get them all sufficient minutes, no depth in the front-court and a point guard in Rodney Stuckey who might not be a point guard. There are plenty of things that aren’t his fault in that regard. But still, the team looks poorly prepared at times, the Pistons routinely give up leads in the third quarter, suggesting that halftime adjustments are a major weakness of the coaching staff and Kuester hasn’t established any type of legitimate rotation his entire tenure as coach.

It’s hard to predict whether or not he’ll last. I’d be surprised if he’s back, based on Dumars’ belief that this was a playoff caliber team. The ownership situation further clouds things — the team is on the verge of (hopefully) being sold, and there’s no guarantee that anyone will be back right now.

Over the last 4 games Greg Monroe is averaging 13.5pts 11rebs, coinciding with his inclusion in the starting lineup. What’s changed for him and what do you think of the kid?
Monroe’s development has been the best part of the season, by far. He looked lost at the beginning of the year. He couldn’t finish in traffic (he was shooting below 40 percent his first month or so), he was not strong enough to hold position on defense and his passing, which was what he was known for in college, was rarely ever seen.

Now, he’s their best front-court player. He’s confident, he’s become craftier around the rim (a necessity since he’s not the most athletic guy) and, to everyone’s surprise, he’s consistently been the team’s best rebounder. Monroe wasn’t known for that in college, but it has been a pleasant surprise considering the Pistons are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league.

I don’t know exactly what has changed, other than he’s the one player Kuester has done a good job managing. The better Monroe has played, the more he’s been rewarded with increased minutes. Not everyone on the roster can say that.

If the Pistons/Nets/Nuggets trade goes through, and you guys land Murphy/Petro, how much will the Pistons improve?
A lot depends on how healthy Murphy is. He’s been terrible in New Jersey. But if he can return to the double-double caliber player he was in Indiana, the Pistons still have an outside shot at the eighth seed. Hamilton being gone would remove a big part of the locker room tension/chemistry issues, it would free up more playing time for Ben Gordon and Austin Daye, who are both better than Hamilton at this point even though Gordon also is having a poor season and lost his starting job just a couple weeks after being rewarded with it, and Murphy/Petro would certainly make the Pistons a bigger team.

Of course, I’m not sure getting that eighth seed will be a positive thing when it would cost a lottery pick to do it, but some team has to make the playoffs I guess, and the Pistons have as good a shot as any of the bottom feeders to string a few wins together and get in.

If Hamilton gets moved, can we expect Prince to be jettisoned as well? What is the market for him and what do you think the Pistons get back, and want, in a trade?
Again, a lot of this depends on the ownership situation. The Pistons have been in a position where they can’t add long-term salary with the team up for sale, so that’s severely limited Dumars’ trade options. I would suspect that if Hamilton is moved, they’d be more inclined to keep Prince, who also has an expiring contract, then use the money to pursue free agents in the off-season.

If Hamilton isn’t moved, then maybe they’d look at some options for Prince. He’d certainly help a contending team, and as an upcoming free agent, the investment in Prince wouldn’t be significant. He’s still a reliable fourth or fifth option-type player on a good team. He defends, he’s smart, he’s a good passer who can run an offense in a pinch, he hits shots from the perimeter and has a decent post-game. If they can’t trade Hamilton, Prince becomes basically the only chance to improve, since I can’t see any other team taking on Hamilton’s contract.

If Rip is traded, I’d be Prince stays while the Pistons pursue a smaller scale deal, possibly finding someone to take Jason Maxiell and the remaining years on his contract.

How do the Pistons match up with the Raptors, and what will be the gameplan heading into the game tonight?
In a word, poorly. The Pistons don’t defend the three particularly well. They struggle to defend athletic big men with high motors like Amir Johnson. They struggle with stretch fours like Andrea Bargnani. They struggle with athletic wings like DeMar DeRozan. And competent point guards like Jose Calderon often have their way picking apart the Pistonss’ defense. Detroit finally got some revenge with the 22-point win in Toronto in December, but before that, the Raptors had delivered three really embarrassing losses to the Pistons. And with their lineup changes — Tracy McGrady, Chris Wilcox and Greg Monroe are all starting — the team is far from a sound defensive bunch.

Injury Report

Toronto
Reggie Evans – Out
Peja Stojakovic – Out
Sonny Weems – No idea
Jose Calderon – Day to day
Jerryd Bayless – Day to day

Detroit
Ben Wallace – Day to day
Chris Wilcox – Day to day

Match-ups

Point Guard
While Bibby stuck that game winning 3 like a champ, Calderon did a solid job of disrupting his flow from the perimeter up until that point; you can’t even blame him for losing Bibby through the screen, there was more than enough of that to go around. Tonight against Stuckey he has himself a different kind of beast to deal with. Rodney is more a combo guard than a traditional PG, so he’s not a natural floor leader and does very little to get people involved and execute plays; assisting on just 1 in 5 of his possessions. He does very well at getting his shot off in the short to mid-range, but struggles to get to the rim and hit long jumpers/treys.

Expect Jose to be back-pedalling most of the game. The danger will be when Rodney posts Jose/Bayless; his size and strength give him a huge advantage. Defensively, he’s going to give Jose/Bayless a tough time with his size and agility in one-on-one situations.

Offensively, off the high-screen, Calderon will pick apart the Pistons all night. I’m actually worried about Will Bynum, who’s torched us in the past with his speed, shooting and play-making. He hasn’t played a great deal over the last couple games, 4 DNP-CD, but could be a match-up that Kuester would want to roll.

McGrady could start at the point as he did against Memphis, which could be bad if his shot is on. While he sees the floor well, he’s not a playmaker off the dribble. He’ll probably get whatever shot he wants, but as long as Jose doesn’t give him too much space, and doesn’t give up a lot of good looks, I can live with McGrady trying to take matters into his own hands.
Edge: Raptors

Shooting Guard
Sadly, there’s nothing satisfying about seeing a broken down T-Mac end up on a dysfunctional Pistons team; the guy had his run. At this stage in his career, Tracy should be providing spot up shooting and play-making for a contender off the bench, but dems da breaks yea? What’s hurting the Pistons is some really brutal play by Ben Gordon, and Kuester’s inability, up until recently, to manage Rip Hamilton. Don’t get it twisted, all these guys have hurt the Raptors in the past, and can go off if left unchecked.

After that beating that DeMar took at the hands of Crawford/Johnson on Wednesday, he should be looking to exact some revenge, and can get off early by taking it to a broken down McGrady, who will have to rely on his veteran savvy to deal. Off the bench, Barbosa should have no problems taking Gordon off the bounce, and has shown enough defensive resiliency to not give Ben the space needed to find his rhythm. If DeRozan rebounds from the a bad game against the Hawks, he can really put pressure on Detroit.

A quick note on Hamilton: the guy seems to have checked out, and with the trade rumours going around, his recent benching might have sucked all the drive out of him. Still, doesn’t mean that the Raptors should let up, since their defense has been known to rejuvenate guys and give them career nights.
Edge: Detroit

Small Forward
Prince has also had friction with Kuester, but unlike Hamilton, he’s hasn’t checked out and has been able to produce when he’s playing. I’m calling a big game from him since Kleiza sucks. Not only does he suck, Triano is indulging him for reasons unknown. I’d love to see Wright get 30 minutes tonight, but he won’t. My hope is that BryCo will turn Peja into a starting small forward who’s athletic and comes to play, a Wesley Matthew’s type…to dream…
Edge: Detroit

Power Forward
I don’t know a great deal about Monroe, but the Georgetown product has flipped the switch and is one of the few bright spots for this team. He’s a big boy who plays exclusively in the paint and on the glass. He has the ability to step out and hit a mid-range jumper, but if he lives out there, it will be to the Raptors advantage. Defensively, he doesn’t have the speed to keep up with Amir or Bargnani in transition, and will probably lose his fair share of 50/50 balls off the rim against Amir/Ed. However, he has had some nice games against solid front courts in the last few, so he needs to be accounted for.

Off the bench, Villanueva brings a totally different dynamic to this, and will force Amir/Bargnani to the perimeter and out of the paint. He’s averaging 17.5pts in 24min against the Raptors this season; so he’s been scoring at will and making a mess of the Raptor defense.
Edge: Even

Center
It’s getting hard to say the same thing about the majority of Bargnani’s match-ups: he can score at will, poses match-up problems, doesn’t rebound. I’m not even going to try…Bargnani for 27/8 tonight.
Edge: Toronto

Keys to the Game

Crash the Boards
The Pistons are the second worst rebounding team in the league, and with Ben Wallace injured, will have trouble dealing with the Raptors size in the front court. Both Stuckey and Prince rebound well at their positions, and with Monroe coming into his own, it wont be a cake-walk. However, the Pistons just don’t have horses to battle the Raptors for a full 48.

Post Play
Another benefit of Wallace’s injury is the lack of defense in the paint against the Raptors bigs, and hopefully, a slashing DeRozan.  While the Pistons have a couple big boys to plant in the key, none of them has the defensive chops to challenge and change shots. Bargnani could have a field day backing Wilcox into the paint, turning and shooting; leaving Amir/Ed to clean up the boards and do the dirty work.

Triano
After the loss to the Hawks, there is potential for the Raptors to come into this game deflated.  Here’s hoping that the coaching staff can keep morale up and remind the team about the 22 point loss the last time out. Also, calling some proper out-of-bound plays would be nice, whatever…

The Line

The gamblers have the Raps as 5.5 point favourites with an over/under of 207. I may not have painted a real rosy picture for the Raptors, but they definitely have what it takes to win this game. You can bet your ass that they remember that embarrassing loss and will want to exact some revenge.

Check out Raptors Fan Fridays at the Sports Center Cafe if you’re in the area and want to hang, otherwise, hit us up on Twitter, Facebook and Live Chat.

Through the 90s, the Knicks were my favourite team, and if you liked a tough, bruising team oozing with heart, then they were the team for you. When the Raptors and Knicks were battling in the playoffs, I was never more torn; ultimately I cheered the Raptors, but had the Knicks got through….

While they don’t have great talent to surround LeBron and Bosh (for sake of argument), the team does provide the lure of being a God in New York if someone can deliver a championship. For the record, regardless of what they offer, I’m against any deal with the Knicks since they are a division rival. The last time we did that, we got BURNED in the playoffs; not looking for a repeat.

I spoke to Dan L. from The Knicks Fan Blog about the state of the Knicks, and got some interesting tidbits from him:

Sam Holako: There isn’t much to talk about the Knicks during the regular season since the last couple years has all been about making a run at two max free-agents this summer. Where do you realistically put the Knicks chances of landing LeBron this summer? A sign and trade with the Cavs will prove difficult (what kind of deal do you put together for the MVP?). Also talk about the LeBrostimistic graph you have on your site, I love that thing.

Dan L.: I think it’s impossible to say what the Knicks’ chances are to get LeBron without being part of the “inner circle”. But I think the Knicks have a couple of things working in their favor. One is obviously that the Cavs got spanked so hard by the Celtics. They clearly aren’t a championship caliber team and they’re also ham-strung by salary commitments with the likes of Jamison, Gibson, Varejao, and Mo Williams. They won’t be signing any meaningful free agents.

It is hard to see the Knicks and Cavs pulling off a sign and trade, but it could happen if LeBron told them he’s going to the Knicks anyway and unless they deal they won’t get anything in return. For example the Knicks can offer the Cavs a massive salary cap exception and future picks for LeBron. With that exception the Cavs could hypothetically trade for Elton Brand and the second pick (Evan Turner). Maybe they could even convince the Knicks to part with Wilson Chandler. Mo Williams, Turner, Chandler, Jamison, Brand. I could think of worse teams.

Ha. The LeBroptimism meter right now is at 0 because honestly, I just don’t have any kind of bearing of what LeBron is going to do. He and his team have done a masterful job of keeping everyone in the dark, and there are a lot of teams that have positioned themselves to get LeBron. I think the only realistic options for LeBron if he leaves are the Knicks and Bulls because I’d be shocked if he went somewhere that didn’t have a major media presence. I’d add the Nets to the mix but I think their young talent is vastly overstated. The Knicks’ young talent was better than 12 wins. Also LeBron won’t want to play in Newark, I don’t think.

If I was being completely honest with my own gut, I’d put that LeBroptimism meter somewhat higher than 0.

SH: That would be Step 1; Step 2 would be find a running mate for him. Chris Bosh recently put the Knicks on his wishlist. Make me an offer for him.

DL: he only offer really is David Lee. Not sure what Raptors fans think about Lee but you could do much worse. He’s a terrific rebounder (though he doesn’t get the tough ones) and due to his terrific work ethic he transformed himself into one of the best shooting bigs in the league. He’s also an elite finisher. He can get his shot off in the paint and make it with such frequency that it never ceases to amaze me. You’ll be losing out by trading Bosh but maybe not by as much as you’d think.

The downside for the Raptors is that their biggest weakness is also Lee’s, in that he couldn’t guard a lamp post. A lot of that has to do with the fact that he’s a PF and the Knicks had him at center all year. Still, I’d think that the Raptors want to address their D this summer, and Lee isn’t going to do that.

Financially, Lee is going to make less than Bosh because under the collective bargaining agreement, his max is about $13.5 million. The Raptors would therefore get a trade exception in the deal of about $4 million.

Another option the Raptors could consider is adding Calderon or Turk to the mix and taking back Eddy Curry. This would get the Raptors out from under the cap predicament they put themselves in by next year.

It’s all dependent on what Lee wants though. If he just wants money and the Raptors offer him his max I think he would agree to go to Toronto because he would get bigger raises in a sign and trade. If other factors are more important to him, like staying in the New York area, and the money is similar, I could see him signing with the Nets.

SH: Not sure how Raptor fans would feel about paying Lee $13.5; even though double-double machines are hard to come by, I was thinking a 5yr/$50mill deal. A front court of Bargnani and Lee would be the worse defensive unit in the league, potentially, but Lee is one of the better players we could hope for in a sign-and-trade.

Interesting you bring up a Calderon/Turkoglu swap for Curry. What is Curry’s status? Can he be looked too to play 20minutes a night? He’s still pretty young, and has great size/athleticism (well he did). I’m assuming with the financial problems he’s said to be having, that he will at least be motivated to play harder for the next contract.

DL: I’d think that Lee is going to get more than $10 million on the market this summer. But I guess that remains to be seen.

You’re right about the raptors defense. They’d have to slide Bargs over to the 3 and find a way to get a defensive 5.

That’s not Eddy Curry, even if healthy. The potential Curry deal would be solely a salary dump for the Raptors. Knicks fans have been waiting for the old Curry to come back for over 2 years. The fact is that he’s played only a handful of games in each of the last two seasons and just doesn’t seem interested in playing basketball.

You’re right that Curry SHOULD be motivated in a contract year. But I’d be shocked if he had the desire to. And even if he did, I’d be doubly shocked if he stayed healthy.

SH: I want to examine something you said about Calderon or Turkoglu for Curry. Even if the Knicks somehow manage to get LeBron and Bosh, they would still need to have people around them to you know, play basketball at an NBA level. In the worse case scenario that they don’t land anyone in the summer to line up beside those two, what will this team look like?

DL: Honestly I think that’s an issue that the national media has drummed up in their echo chamber because they are biased against New York (true New York perspective here, huh?).

The team WILL have players on it. Obviously Turkoglu or Calderon could be one of those other players. If not, the Knicks should try to move Curry for another team’s expensive mistake, like Ben Gordon, Rip Hamilton or Corey Maggette.

But let’s look at who is on the team right now. Danilo Gallinari played essentially his rookie year last year since he missed most of his first season with a back injury. He only finished second in the NBA in three pointers made. Folks in the national media have called him a “one-trick pony” but those of us who watch the Knicks every game know that he’s much more than that. Even the most negative tabloid beat writers like the New York Post’s Marc Berman jumped on the Gallinari bandwagon by the end of the year. He’s a terrific passer, and has a great basketball IQ, and most surprisingly, was probably the Knicks best defender last year other than Jarred Jeffries, both on the ball and in help.

Wilson Chandler is another player that most people who don’t follow the Knicks tend to ignore. It’s because he’s very quiet and unassuming. My opinion is that he doesn’t have star potential like Gallinari does, but there are observers who disagree. At the very least though he plays D, has a great mid-range game, and is a superb finisher.

Toney Douglas inexplicably failed to get off of Mike D’Antoni’s bench for most of the year but when D’Antoni finally let him play the Knicks what I like to say resembled a young Gary Payton. Douglas is very disruptive on the defensive end, is a very good shooter from distance, and LOVES the ball at the end of games. He’s very clutch.

These were 3 very young and/or inexperienced players but all of them have a world of potential. Importantly, they’re all very good fits with LeBron. Gallinari will can countless open jumpers off LeBron drives, and Wilson will get plenty of open looks slashing off of those same drives. Douglas will also knock down open shots and defend the perimeter, but more importantly, both he and Gallinari will take the pressure off LeBron at the end of games, which seems to be an issue for the King. It’s a good starting 5.

Aside from those 3 the Knicks have Bill Walker, who, after the trade deadline really came into his own for the Knicks. He has great range and shoots a high percentage. He’s also extremely athletic and can jump out of the gym. Finally, where Chandler doesn’t really read the defense, instead focusing on just making one on one moves to get open, Walker knows where to be on the court to space the floor and get open looks for himself both inside and out.

The Knicks also have 2 second round draft picks.

Finally, if the Knicks are able to land the big stars, look for some veteran players to sign on for cheap for a chance at the title. For example, PJ Brown signed with Boston for the minimum to win a ring. Same with Michael Finley.

I expect the Knicks to be able to round out their roster in a similar way.

SH: I’m actually pretty high on Chandler. I’ve seen quite a few Knicks games, and the kid is nice (Gallinari too). If LeBosh doesn’t pan out for the Knicks, would a Joe Johnson/Boozer/Stoudemire combination satisfy Knicks fans? The team obviously wouldn’t be a championship contender (the best they could hope for is the Hawks), but they would be in the high 40s in terms of wins and MAYBE a second round appearance.

DL: hose guys obviously represent the second tier of free agents. They’d improve the Knicks vastly but I wouldn’t be too thrilled about it. That’s particularly true because I assume those guys would be getting the max (or something close) and I don’t think they’re worth it.

It’s not the first choice and there are some fans who go by the mantra “LeBron or bust”. Not me though. I think Donnie Walsh had to take his best shot at building a dynasty. It might not work out that way but the idea was the right idea. Either way the Knicks will be much improved, even if they don’t get LeBron.

Since I have nothing better to do than think up scenarios, I’ve previously written that there are other options available besides just free agents. The Knicks could look at Tony Parker, for example. A trade of Chandler, Curry and Douglas for Parker, RJ and McDyess would make some sense if the Knicks also landed Amare. Parker, RJ (who plays better in an open system), Gallinari, McDyess, Amare, with enough flexibility to sign Melo in ’11.

Another example is a trade of Curry for Biedrins or Maggette and Anthony Randolph, while re-signing Lee and signing Joe Johnson. You’d have Tony Douglas, Johnson, Gallinari, Lee and Randolph/Biedrins. Not too shabby in my opinion, and a team that can grow better over the next few years. Not a title contender though, and you’d lose your ’11 flexibility, which I’d like to see the Knicks keep if they lose out on the big names.

Late last week, Chris Bosh’s camp released a wish list of teams he would play for, and the Bulls happen to be one of them (shocking all the teams are linked to either LeBron or Wade or Kobe). The Bulls will be frustrating to deal with (if we in fact do a deal with them) since the guys we would want (Noah, Rose) wont be the guys we would probably get (Gibson, Deng, Hinrich). Not to say those guys wouldn’t provide the Raptors any value, but you know, you trade Bosh, you expect a Noah back while not handing the Bulls a championship lineup since you know, we should be the one building a championship team.

I check with Matt McHale from the ESPN TrueHoop blog By The Horns, to get his take on the Bosh rumours, as well as the situation with Vinny Del Negro:

Sam Holako: Vinny Del Negro got the axe, and probably would have got it earlier in the season if the team didn’t pull together and play so well down the stretch. Looking in from the outside, it seems that he was dealt a bum hand by Paxson, who let Ben Gordon walk, traded John Salmons for rags and didn’t give a good enough team to a rookie head-coach to win with. If you ask me, Paxson should be the next change Reinsdorf makes to this team. What are your thoughts on this whole situation?

Matt McHale: Well, I do feel like Vinny was hired to be fired. Chicago’s front office had a plan that was two years in the making: Hire a “placeholder” coach, cut salary, and then try to go all in during the free agent bonanza this summer. All I can do is speculate, but Bulls management never showed strong support for Vinny nor did they ever do anything to indicate that he was part of their plans past this season. And yet all Vinny did — for all his faults as a relatively inexperienced head coach — was get the team to overachieve based on their talent and how they were constructed.

Speaking of which…who put this team together? John Paxson. And his management of the team hasn’t been stellar. His biggest mistakes — among many — include breaking the bank for Ben Wallace (who worked out so poorly he had to be traded for Larry Hughes!), trading LaMarcus Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas (who worked out so poorly he had to be traded for a couple expiring contracts) and vastly overpaying for Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng. The only thing that has prevented his stewardship of the Bulls from being a complete and utter disaster was the team lucking into the number one overall draft pick they used to get Derrick Rose. Just think of where this team would be without that kid. Yikes.

And yet during the 2008-09 season, after calling the team a “disaster” and “embarrassing,” team owner Jerry Reinsdorf said: “When you have a team that’s not performing it’s an organization failure. You win and you lose as an organization. But if there’s one person that is not responsible for what’s going on right now, it’s John Paxson. I have tremendous confidence in John Paxson. He’s really one of the best people that I know. He’s a great general manager and a great judge of talent.”

What can you do about a guy in that tight with the man who’s funding the team?

And although I would like to see Pax given his walking papers, this is a huge summer in terms of looking for a new head coach and trying to lure a big time free agent or two to the Windy City. Firing the team’s executive vice president would make the team seem in even more disarray…which could be costly.

SH: Wow, talk about a ringing endorsement; guess clutch 3-point shooting in the 90s pays off beyond a couple championship runs. So what’s the plan now? There has been very intense rumours about LeBron joining the Bulls this year. If he can handle playing in Jordan’s shadow, it seems to be the best fit for LBJ on any team in the league, and propel the Bulls back into championship contention. It would also redeem some of those poor personell moves Paxson has made over the years (lucking into the #1 pick shouldn’t have saved his job IMHO).

MM: Well, it goes without saying that the Bulls — and every other team — would love to have LeBron James suiting up for them. And I’m sure Chicago’s front office will reach out to him. But the larger plan is to land somebody big: LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Amar’e Stoudemore…a superstar or borderline superstar who can address some of the team’s glaring needs (scoring first and foremost, and an inside game if possible). That’s priority one in terms of player personnel. Then the Bulls will need to bring in a couple crack three-point shooters to help with spacing. But right now, every iota of energy that isn’t expended searching for a coach will be used to land one of the “White Whales.”

SH: Who’s the front runner for the coaching gig? Calipari’s name seems to be coming up left and right.

MM: Honestly, I have no idea. Cal has been very firm about the fact that he has no plans to leave Kentucky. And anyway, Chicago’s front office has stated that they want a coach with extensive regular season and playoff experience. Calipari compiled a .391 winning percentage over 184 games with the New Jersey Nets, and his only playoff experience was presiding over a three-game sweep of his team in the first round of the 1998 NBA playoffs. That doesn’t exactly fit the bill.

Bulls management is being very careful about this coaching search. Read that: slow.

And in all honestly, they could be waiting for a better idea of who they might be able to land in fre agency. After all, it could have a serious effect on the kind of coach they would want for the team, in terms of offensive/defensive philosophies.

SH: Speaking of free agency, there has been talk of LeBron, Bosh, Wade as possible targets, but each is a very different kind of player. What kind of player do you prefer the Bulls land?

MM: Well, let’s face it: If you can get LeBron James, you get LeBron James. I think the same thing could probably be said about Dwyane Wade. If you can get a bonafide superduperstar, you do it and then rebuild (even if only partially) around them.

But assuming those two are out of reach, the Bulls need — and have needed for years and years — a frontcourt scorer to complement Derrick Rose. Someone who can score from the low post and run the pick and roll successfully. From that standpoint, I think the Bulls should target Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer and/or Amar’e Stoudemire.

SH: What do you make of the phone call between LeBron and Rose?

MM: I think LeBron is, as Mr. Spock said in the latest Star Trek reboot, “cultivating multiple options.” It’s entirely possible he also called Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, too. To me, it seems like LeBron is feeling things out, getting a sense of what’s available out there, whom he might want to play with, and who might want to play with him. It seems to suggest that LeBron is at least considering Chicago as a potential destination…but that’s about it.

Of course, maybe LeBron is just buttering Rose up to get him to join the U.S. national team. Remember, back in December, this was what James said when asked if he’d like to team up with Rose: “Yeah, especially on an Olympic team. He did a great job this past summer holding it down for some of the older guys, giving them some rest. He’s a great point guard. He’s a great player. I love watching Derrick play, man, he’s unbelievable. All he’s going to do is continue to get better — with every game, with every practice. Hopefully in the 2012 Olympics, he can be a part of that team and have some fun.”

SH: Make me an offer for Chris Bosh in a sign-n-trade situation.

MM: Here’s my suggestion: Taj Gibson (and solid, up-and-coming PF) to replace Bosh and Kirk Hinrich. No, wait, here me out. I checked 82games.com and noticed that opposing PGs averaged 21+ PPG with an eFG of 52% and a PER of 20.1 against the Raptors this season. That’s like facing an All-Star PG every night. You don’t necessarily have to start Kirk, but you could bring him in as a defensive stopper off the bench against opposing PGs and SGs (whom I see average 22 points with a PER of 17 against the Raps). Hey, you guys need defense, and Kirk can bring that. So can Taj, actually. He was second on the Bulls in DRating this season as a rookie and will probably improve with experience.

I’m sure we can throw in some other filler to make the salaries work…

What a difference a day and some shame makes. It was the Raptors/Bulls game all over again, except the Raptors did the exact opposite of what they did against Chicago; aka, they played well. The day started with a guarantee for a win by Charlie Villanueva, and boy did he hear it from the pre-game tip. Matt, Jack, Rod and Leo all had a chance to rip into him for what I can only imagine was payback for Charlie banging all their wives or daughters or something equally bad.

So just to recap (cause I wasn’t clear yesterday), if:

• the Bulls lose both the next two games, Raptors are in
• the Bulls split the next two games, the Raptors need to beat the Knicks to get in
• the Bulls win both the next two games, the Raptors are in the lottery

Regardless of what the Bulls do, the Raptors have to beat the Knicks tomorrow. You want to be going into the playoffs on a mini two-game winning streak, not fall ass backwards into the post-season. It wont really matter in the grand scheme of things since the Cavs will roll over the Raptors something fierce, but you want your ducks in a row.

This game was over in the 2nd quarter, so I’ll save you the play-by-play, but a few things happened that really makes me hopeful while frustrating me at the same time, namely Bargnani. No one disputes his talent. No one disputes his abilities. We’re ok with his sub-par rebounding given his offensive talents; but when you only do one thing well (score the ball), you need to do that every single game. Guys like Jamal Crawford and Ben Gordon have made careers ($$$) doing nothing but scoring.

You know when Bargnani is going to have a good game. He takes his shots in rhythm; he keeps those lame shot fakes to a minimum; he scores from the post and drives the ball. His scoring fuels his defense (and rebounding), and when he’s doing more than just popping J’s, he’s a pretty good all around player.

Amir came through with a career scoring night; 26pts on 10-12 from the field and 6-7 from the line. Where was the rebounding though? I know I know, I can’t be happy with a win, and always need to pick at things….but Amir’s job is to rebound and bang in the blocks. He took good shots and made them, but only grabbed 2 rebounds? Detroit missed 42 shots, and grabbed only 11 offensive boards, that’s a lot of rebounds that Amir could have grabbed, but he didn’t. Just don’t want him to get used to scoring at the expense of his rebounding, scorers the Raptors have enough of.

The Pistons protected the ball better, grabbed more offensive boards and got to the line more (hitting more free throws than the Raptors actually attempted), but the Raptors shot the crap out of the ball. Wasn’t even a matter of being on, it was all about ball movement and playmaking. Calderon and Jack dished out 23 dimes with only 4 turnovers between the two. That’s an almost 6:1 ratio, ridiculous.

Playing Weems 40 minutes in a blowout was about the only thing Triano did that pissed me off (other than the post-game, those interviews insult and anger me). Hopefully the injury isn’t too serious, I didn’t catch any news yet.

At the end of it all, does it really matter if this team makes the playoffs or not? You make the playoffs and get swept by the Cavs, are you better for it? You go to the draft, and take someone at 14, does that make you better? I’m of the belief that going to the playoffs is always better, but only if the future of this team includes Bosh.

At the least, we can all enjoy a win over the Pistons.

The first 4 game winning streak of this season was a hard fought one against the Pistons. All things considered it was a quality win. You can pick at nuances of the game, which I will, but you have to be happy with the result, which I am. It used to be the Heat we could always count on for a win against, but this Pistons team has been a God-send this season. I thought yesterday was the last time we played them this season, but it turns out we get another shot at sweeping the season series against them on the second last game of the year (which will probably have playoff implications).

Two different distinct Raptor teams played yesterday. In the first half, we saw a team that shared the ball, got good shots and knocked them down. They rotated on defense, kept there man in front of them, and played a full 24 minutes of quality ball. The second half saw a team that had no energy. No one played defense, rotations weren’t there, they couldn’t score and looked like the Nets (for the 3rd). They got back their scoring touch in the 4th, but the movement wasn’t the same as the first half.

Rebounding was miserable for the whole game, lets get that out of the way now. The Pistons grabbed 10 offensive boards in the 1st quarter. TEN! Perspective: the Raptors grabbed 7 total boards (6 defensive). The Pistons have not been able to get good shots off against the Raptors for some reason. We have enough athleticism and quickness to keep their guards/wings out of their comfort zones for long enough stretches to build big leads, but their bigs rebound the crap out of the ball and kept them within reach throughout the whole game.

You know who is a good positional forward who does nothing but stand between his man and backboard? Rasho. The guy who got a DNP-COACHES DECISION. Blows me away. I’m not saying to play him the whole game, but how about long enough to keep the Detroit bigs out of the key to give a breather from the relentless attack on the boards? I can’t put all the rebounding burden on the Bosh/Bargnani, they pulled down 22 of the teams 36. No other Raptors grabbed more then 3 rebounds last night. It can’t all be on these two, everyone needs to chip in.

Rebounding aside, the offense sputtered magnificently in the 3rd to the tune of 14 points after the Raptors scored 60 in the 1st half. The whole team came out of the half flat. Aside from Bargnani who was trying to score inside of 8 feet, it was all jumpers. There was no attempt to get in the paint for a layup/dunk, or to draw a foul and get to the line. The Raptors actually only got to the line at the end of the 3rd when Bargnani/Banks hit 4 of 6.

So this is what I don’t get. the Pistons open the 3rd on a 9-2 run, and instead of putting in Belinelli or Weems who can score some, Wright gets the call. Defense wasn’t what was needed. I threw Belinelli under the bus, but he did score a few yesterday. Weems slashes and gets to the rack. These are qualities you need when you are in a shooting funk, Wright doesn’t have any of this. All this bumbling resulted in about 8 scoreless minutes in the 3rd.

I actually liked what I saw in the 4th. The Pistons closed the gap to 2, but the Raptors didn’t fold. They responded shot for shot, and made key defenisve rotations down the stretch. The Pistons attack was still relentless, but Jack/Weems/Turkoglu were all active on the wing, Bargnani was contesting shots and Bosh was rotating down low. Nothing came super easy which is what you want to see. On the other end, the last 10 Raptor points were at the line, or a Weems dunk aka everything was inside. It broke the Pistons back because they couldn’t make a stop when they needed too.

The refs did have a hand in this game, but the Raptors went to the line 44 times last night. You can’t tell me that we didn’t benefit from the poor officiating. Sure it helped the Pistons get back into the game, but hitting 32 of 44 was the difference in this game.

Quick thoughts:

• I thought DeRozan/Weems/Belinelli/Wright did a great job by committee on Hamilton and Gordon.
• The Raptors do seem to be gelling. They aren’t there yet, but you heard them talking to each other during the game yesterday.
• I think Antoine Wright has a contribution to make to this team, but only on defense. If he only worries about stopping his man, and hitting OPEN shot attempts, I can live with that.
• I also wont complain about Bargnani if he ups his rebounding to 8 or so a game. He’s at 6.1 right now, so it’s not out of the realm of impossibility, is it?
• Even though Turkoglu disappeared in the 2nd half, him and Jack have great chemistry when running the offense. I love the constant charge towards the rim.
• We need to handle Charlotte because once January hits, we have @Boston, San Antonio, @Orlando, @Philly and Boston in a row, not a great way to ring in the new year.
• The next game against the Pistons is going to be a tough one, and may have huge seeding implications for both Toronto and Detroit.

Sorry this got up so late, Rogers was not doing me any favours this morning, happy Monday.

There is a lot riding on this game. The Raptors are barely in 6th place in the East, they are on a 3 winning streak, and can sweep the season series with the Pistons if they have another solid showing. They were able to solidify the Nets win with follow up victories over the Hornets and Pistons, and if they win on Sunday, they will give themselves in an opportunity to finish 2009 on a 5 game winning streak (and close to within 1 game of .500).

Even though the Pistons are injury ridden, they can’t be taken lightly. There is a lot of fight in these guys. I checked in with Dan Feldman of PistonPowered.com to get his take on this matchup and what he thinks about the Pistons season so far:

What you think about the first two times the Pistons/Raptors played this season?

Both times, the Pistons had played the night before and the Raptors were on two days rest. Yes, Toronto has looked excellent in those games. But both teams are on three days rest this time. I’m not ready to concede the Raptors are so much better than the Pistons until we see this third game — and maybe not even then if Richard Hamilton and Ben Gordon return from injury, but look rusty.

How are the signings of Gordon/Villanueva working out?

When healthy, both have looked pretty good. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been often. I’m cautiously optimistic at this point, but that’s a little more pessimistic than the start of the season. (Note: He provides a great scouting report on Charlie V here, great read)

Are the Pistons a playoff team?

If they were healthy all year, I have little doubt they would be. It just depends how quickly Hamilton, Gordon, Tayshaun Prince and Villanueva can get healthy. Detroit may be too far back at that point. As of now, my guess is yes, but I’m hardly confident.

Do Hamilton and/or Prince get traded this year?

Probably not. I certainly think Joe Dumars would be willing, but I don’t think he wants to give them away. With so many teams either in financial trouble or saving their cap space for the summer, I doubt he’d find a taker.

The Raptors did catch the Pistons twice when they were playing the second night of a back-to-back, but they took advantage. Both times, they weathered the early storm, and cruised to a win. Tomorrow, the Pistons will be well rested, so they wont need to push so hard from the tip in hopes the Raptors will fold early. That being said, they have nagging injury problems (Hamilton, Gordon (questionable) and Prince) and regardless of how well rested they are, they just don’t have the horses.

Detroit was able to stay in the last game with an incredible effort on the offensive glass, where they grabbed 23 offensive rebounds that resulted in 30 second chance points. Bosh and Bargnani will have to battle on the glass from the get go. I can’t even stress this enough, if we win the battle of the boards, the Pistons have no chance. Zero.

I came down hard on Bosh for not scoring enough last game, and I still stand by that. He dropped 12 points last game, and regardless of how much we won by, that production wont cut it against better teams. It can be argued that he didn’t need to produce as much since the Raptors had the game early, but he did play 33 minutes, so he was out there for a significant period of time. The Raptors need a balanced attack where Bosh/Bargnani are both contributing 17+ points a game, with Jack and Turkolgu running the show.

Jack and Turkoglu played masterful games on Wednesday creating for everyone. Seems like Triano is on to something with his usage of Hedo, I must say that I’m liking it. Still not a Triano fan, but he is learning his lessons, late as they may be.

I’m calling another Raptor win Sunday, too much has to go right for the Pistons to beat them.

On another note, we are very pleased to announce the newest addition to The Republic: Arsenalist and his family welcomed Alia to the world on Christmas day – a Festivus miracle! The kid is damn cute, Arse did well on this one.

It’s been a minute since the last Raptors game. With five weeks of back-to-backs in a row (2-3 on the 1st night and 1-4 on the second night) and the toughest part of our schedule behind us (the Western road swing and 16 road games overall) the Raptors still have a chance to close the gap to .500 by the end of 2009 with games against the Pistons (tonight and Sunday) and Charlotte. It wont be easy, but if there is some effort and consistency, this team can get to 15-18 heading into the New Year.

The Raptors currently have the 7th seed, gotta love the East right? Better yet, the Pistons have lost 5 in a row and are close to free-fall status, but sit half a game out of 8th (.407 seems good enough to get you into the playoffs).

The Raptors head into Auburn Hills to face the Pistons on the first night of a home-and-home. This Pistons team is on the same level as the Raptors: middle of the pack/can fall anywhere form 5th to 10th in the East depending on how they battle on a game by game basis. They are free-falling a bit, half in part to a tough road schedule they just came off, and the other half due to some nagging injuries to important players (Prince/Hamilton have both played only 3 games this season, Gordon’s been injured and almost everyone else is listed day-to-day).

Coming off a loss to Charlotte last night means the Pistons will have to come out of the gates with their guns blazing if they hope to have any chance of taking this one. Ben Gordon is key tonight, if he is injured again, finding that instant offense will get challenging considering Hamilton will probably sit too. If you remember the last game, when Wright checked in to cover Gordon, the Pistons struggled long enough for the Raptors to take full control of the game.

Detroits injury situation will dictate how much burn Wright gets. The guy’s been in the doghouse, but he plays solid defense and was the only reason Ben Gordon didn’t score more then he did last time. Both Gordon and Hamilton thrive on taking their man off screens and creating great scoring opportunities. I just don’t trust DeRozan/Weems/Belinelli to play the type of defense necessary to shut them down, I’m sorry. I know there is a huge love-fest going on for Weems now, but the guy is a 9th man off the bench kind of player, can’t expect too much from him.

I hate to say it, but with Calderon out, it seems as though the defense at the point guard spot has improved. Jack is playing at the same level, but Banks was right, he is a game changer on defense, lol. Ok, he’s no Artest, but he’s better then Calderon which means that Stuckey, and especially Bynum, wont be running as rampant as they were the last time out. Bynum especially makes me nervous with his speed and dribble penetration, Stuckey does a pretty good job of that too, but Bynum comes off the bench which makes that attack constant on the Raptors defense. He lit the Raptors up the last time, and we had no answer for him.

There isn’t much standing in the way of Bosh and Bargnani to both have big nights again. Villanueva is great, but he givs up as much as he takes and Ben Wallace only brings rebounding and some defense to the table (the Pistons are effectively short-handed on offense with Big Ben on the court).

The game will probably be ugly, but it is very winnable for the Raptors. The Pistons are on the second night of a back-to-back, injury ridden and in the midst of a 5 game losing streak. You really couldn’t set the stage any better. Not much of a leap here, but expect a win tonight. The Pistons don’t match-up well against us at all when they are healthy, much less when they are mangled.

Little did you know that today is Canada Basketball Day. Join a bunch of ball-loving folk for some pick-up action at Hoop Dome around 1:30PM or so, and then head over to SCC for Raptor Fan Fridays.

With 7 of the next 8 games on the road against the West, it was mucho important the Raptors get this one against the Pistons. A Pistons team that grounded out a huge win the night before against the Magic. A Pistons team who was missing Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. A Pistons team who we haven’t beat since March 2008. For the third game in a row, the Raptors came in with the cards stacked in their favour, but unlike the Magic and Grizzlies games, they were able to win. Hard to imagine that a game where the you put up 110 points could be ugly, but this bad boy had its moments.

You knew the Pistons were going to make a run to start the game. There only chance to steal this one was to come in guns blazing. Ben Gordon scored every time he wanted. DeRozan had his first real taste of what guarding an elite-level (Gordon scores like an elite SG, overall he isn’t) SG means. Ben dropped 12pts in the first 10 minutes of the 1st quarter all through the Raptors poor defense of the high pick-n-roll. Every-time he came off that screen, he had an equally good option to shoot or drive, and for fun, he mixed it up, keeping the Raptors on their toes. In one-on-one situations, he would blow by whoever had the misfortune of covering him. Everyone was bracing themselves for a 50pt night from Gordon; we even threw Belinelli at him and finally Antoine Wright checked in at the 2:40 mark of the 1st. The result: Gordon goes scoreless for the next 6 minutes. Amazing Triano didn’t bring Wright in earlier, but this was the first in a line of a few mistakes made during the course of the night.

On the offensive end, things weren’t much better. The Raptors looked out of sync, dropping passes and missing open shots. Turkoglu was the lone saving grace for much of the first. He was only person *cough* Jose *cough* creating scoring opportunities by attacking the paint, drawing the double and kicking out to an open jump shooter. Sadly, DeRozan and Calderon missed wide open shots, but he did find Bosh under the basket for a dunk. Calderon didn’t seem to be in the game. In fact, this was one of the worst games I have ever watched him play, including his rookie year. He didn’t create any opportunities for anyone, played horrible defense and had he not hit those two jumpers late (one a three), he would have incited a riot at the ACC.

The tide didn’t start to change until Jack entered the game with Wright at the 2:40 mark of the 1st. Where the Raptors were lethargic and sloppy, Jack came in and pushed the tempo. Stepping up to the challenge of stopping Stuckey/Bynum, and breathing life into the Raptors. Last night was a clear example as why the Raptors CAN’T start Jack: they need him coming off the bench breathing fire.

From the moment Jack, Wright and Belinelli stepped into the game, the Raptors went on a 24-8 run. Oakley even praised them saying how tough these guys are. On a side note, and I’m just putting this out there, but I wish Oakley stayed the night commentating. He talks, I listen, it’s simple, but I digress…These cats pushed the tempo, attacked the basket, hit their shots, and moved the ball around. Our boys got back into the game by attacking the basket. It’s simplistic to say so, but from the moment Jack got into the game, he took it to the rack and either finished, or found an open shooter for a great look. He even provided a highlight reel where he split he double team at the 3-point line, headed to the basket, and tossed a no-look-over-the-shoulder-pass to a cutting Bargnani for the dunk. Raptors head into the half up 68-56.

The 3rd quarter was tough to stomach. With Jack and Wright on the bench, the pace went back to brutal. Bosh carried the Raptors with his active play around the basket. Our boy grabbed a couple rebounds, but in a display of his maturity, attacked the basket and drew fouls instead of popping jumpers from 17ft. In a 7 min span from the last minute of the 1st quarter, he went to the line 10 times, and kept the Raptors in front. But the 3rd quarter belonged to Stuckey. Like a man possessed, he carried this team to within 8pts by the end of quarter by attacking. Three times, he split the double team at the 3-point and strolled in for the layup, once for an And-1. In three straight possessions, Stuckey dropped 7 points. Had it not been for Wright missing two free throws in the last 30 seconds of the quarter, the Raptors would have went into the 4th up 10.

The Pistons came out like gangbusters to start the 4th, going on a 15-5 run to take a 91-90 lead. At this point, I had the gun to my head and murmuring to anyone who would listen to me on twitter. Then Bosh fouled Maxiell, and put him on the line where he promptly missed both free throws, which would have been daggers. On the next possession, Bosh draws the double and kicks out to an open Calderon for a three. Bargnani scores the next 6 pts, and the Piston disappeared like a fart in the wind. It was more tense then that, but the important thing was that the Raptors were able to pull out a win after a total collapse.

The Four Factors to Winning

Shooting the Ball
The Raptors shot the ball well, but not great. You can attribute this to all the missed three point attempts – 16.
Raptors – 48.6%
Pistons – 49.3%

Taking Care of the Ball When you only turn the ball over 6 times in 92 possessions, good things will happen. Calderon and Jack protected the ball beautifully only turning it over once each.
Raptors – 6.5%
Pistons – 11.9%

Offensive Rebounding The Raptors grabbed 29.1% of all available offensive rebounds, giving them an extra 14 possessions.
Raptors – 29.1%
Pistons – 26.1%

Getting to the Free Throw Line The Raptors got to the free throw 47 times, converting 36. This is what won them the game.
Raptors – 61.8%
Pistons – 30.1%

Player Impact

Bargnani and Bosh led the charge, it’s tight, but Bargnani gets the edge.

It’s interesting; this team is interesting. We have gone through a few pre-season games, 1 of which was an 8-point loss to a Timberwolves team sans Jefferson and Love; and this team doesn’t look like the finished product that would win 50 games and a make it to the second round of the playoffs. The Raptors are reasonably deep, but nothing of real note after the starters (lots of interchangeable pieces where one doesn’t shine brighter then the other). The 2 spot was always the question mark in the starting lineup, but you know what? Frank Zicarelli got it wrong, again – DeRozan’s role on the Raptors, is to start at the 2.

The roster has been set for the opener, with no surprises. There was no one fighting for a roster spot at training camp. Only those fighting for minutes. There is a a distinction. For what it’s worth, the starting lineup is not bad. Calderon is a solid point guard. He conducts the offense; hits jumpers; makes the safe right plays; protects the ball; and he’s butter from the charity stripe. Hedo is a match-up nightmare at the 3. Dude is tall, creative off the hop, gets to the rack, isn’t afraid to take clutch shots; and hits them once in a while. Bosh is elite. Bargnani spreads the floor. has a solid jumper; gets a couple blocks a game; and can take his man off the dribble.

The starters have scoring down. Between the four, you can expect about 65pts a night from them (based on what they did last season). You figure the bench will chip in 20-25 a night, which leaves the starting SG only really needing to come up with about 10pts a night to get us to free pizza.

Defensively, shooting guard is a tough position. You have chase the likes of Ray Allen, Joe Johnson, Monta Ellis, Ben Gordon, Richard Hamilton, etc, around the court on offense – and make them work defensively. No one has really stepped up to earn that spot: DeRozan has been raw; Wright has been hurt; Weems was playing great but he’s not really a starter; Belinelli is way to inconsistent. So the question then becomes, what is the starting lineup missing?

Defense

It is safe to say that Wright is the best defender of this lot. He came with that pedigree, and he struts around with some attitude (I like the trash talking), but he is not much of a threat to light it up on offense. We saw DeRozan chase folks around screens, block the lane and crash the boards. He may not be as good as Wright, but he has shown a willingness to get dirty in this department, which suits me just fine for a rook.

Slashing

DeRozan, Weems and Belinelli are pretty good at getting to the rim. All three have shown that they are fearless in this department. Weems has been a pleasant surprise this summer, but his contribution is marginally better (if at all) then DeRozan’s. Both DeRozan and Weems got to the rim, been knocked down numerous times, and keep at it. I’d say it is a toss up here.

Athleticism

This is the two man race between DeRozan and Weems. They are both are freakish in this regard: jump the hell out of the gym and are quick up-n-down the court. DeRozan is taller younger, bigger and taller then Weems, with a longer wing span.

I gotta like DeRozan here. He takes it to the rim, he has been working hard, wants to play defense, and Hopla will improve his shot over the course of the season. So what’s the problem? Ahh, you want to ‘hide rookies’. I see. Bury them on the bench and let them shine in due time. I hate this strategy. When you have promise in a young gun, you need to nurture it. I’m not suggestion you play him 30+ minutes a night, but he does a lot of good things to be an after thought on this team.

Sure, starting Wright here is the safe way to go. He doesn’t need the ball on offense, and plays good D (gave Carmelo hell in the playoffs last year). But as much as the Raptors need that sort of production, they need athleticism more. Getting out on the break, filling those lanes, attacking off the bounce, alley-oops…all these things, I haven’t seen Wright do. DeRozan fits this bill.

“What about scoring? Wont DeRozan feel pressure to score as a starter?” Ye he will, but what you aren’t considering is that the offensive load for the SG is MUCH less as a starter then a reserve, on this particular team. As part of the the starting unit, DeRozan’s only needs to give Jose/Hedo another passing option. He just needs to catch the ball on the go and put it down. He doesn’t have to worry about creating his own shot, because the defense will be far too tuned in on the rest of the lot, and take advantage of the holes left by Bargnani and Bosh pulling the bigs further away from the basket as they should be.

As a reserve, DeRozan will not be surrounded with as gifted offensive players as the starters, increasing his burden to do more. He now has to create his own scoring opportunities on top of doing everything else. To me, that isn’t hiding the kid. He now has to worry about carrying the 2nd unit. Talk about throwing him to the wolves.

So let him start. Wright can come off the bench IF Kid Dynamite can’t hold his own offensively. Weems can come in when the Raptors need a spark, and Belinelli can come in when all else fails. It might just take the whole year or more for DeRozan to get it right, but hiding him on the bench and sparing him the trial by fire at the hands of Wade and Kobe only keeps that pacifier in his mouth longer. To me, it’s a disservice. The kid can play, let him at it.

One more day!!!

I know it's just preseason but they should have gone out and won this one seeing as it's the last game!!! I'm pretty sure this game mattered to everyone on the team…& Doc might be right maybe there is something just not right about this team…

Timberwolves regroup in the third to beat Toronto 98-90 – NBA – Yahoo! Sports

"We got hesitant and had too many turnovers in the second half," Toronto coach Jay Triano said. "You've got to take care of the ball."

Chris Bosh Ends Preseason Ready To Go – Brothersteve’s Green & Red Raptor Blog

Fortunately these preseason scrimmages have accomplished one thing, Chris Bosh is officially ready to start playing for real. Bosh played over 36 minutes for the first time this preseason and as importantly, Bosh played over 16 minutes in the second half and was on the floor for the final 7:05. And Bosh played big with 27 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocked shots.

Doug Smith’s Toronto Raptors blog

The three-point inefficiency was troubling last night ? one of the two three-pointers was a heave from about 35 feet by Jack to beat the third quarter buzzer so it was a fluke ? and it?s been a bit of a bubbling issue all camp.

Breaking Down a Box Score – Part-II – Raptors HQ

The Raps played their last preseason game in Sioux Falls, SD and by the looks of things it wasn't pretty. The Raps, whose starters (save for Hedo Turkoglu who twisted his right ankle) played heavy minutes, lost to an undermanned and less talented Minnesota Timberwolves squad missing K Love and Al Jeff.

Timberwolves regroup for pre-season win over Raptors

The Minnesota Timberwolves used a burst of second-half energy to take over a 98-90 pre-season win against the Toronto Raptors on Friday night. Minnesota (3-5) fell behind by 14 points early, only to regroup in its third game in four nights for its second win in as many nights. "I felt like we were a little lackadaisical the first half, but I knew if we run our stuff and brought some energy we could get a win. That's what we have to do," said Corey Brewer, who had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves.

T’wolves take down Raps in pre-season finale – sportsnet.ca

An 11-2 run pushed the Timberwolves to an 11-point lead in the third quarter. The surge came with Toronto's leading pre-season scorer, Andrea Bergnani (13.0) on the bench after getting his fourth foul less than 2 minutes into the period and didn't return until the fourth. Bosh took over, scoring nine of Toronto's 16 points in the quarter. Flynn scored on a drive and Brewer had a three-point play on a breakaway with about five minutes to play to put the Timberwolves in control. DeMar DeRozan's drive with 5:47 remaining gave Toronto its largest lead of the first half, 38-30. Flynn scored six of Minnesota's final eight points to pull the Timberwolves within 46-44 at halftime.

Flynn, Brewer lead Timberwolves past Toronto – NBA – Yahoo! Sports

The Minnesota Timberwolves used a burst of second-half energy to take over a 98-90 preseason win against the Toronto Raptors on Friday night. Minnesota (3-5) fell behind by 14 points early, only to regroup in its third game in four nights for its second win in as many nights. I felt like we were a little lackadaisical the first half, but I knew if we run our stuff and brought some energy we could get a win. That?s what we have to do,? said Corey Brewer(notes), who had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves.

Playing the numbers game – The Globe and Mail

Having spent most of his working life in the NBA, Toronto Raptors president Bryan Colangelo believes putting a team together is more black art than science. “I always say there?s a gut you have to listen to,? he said. ?It?s your gut instinct on draft picks, on trades, on who might play and give you a chance to win that night.” But hey, there’s nothing wrong with getting a second opinion. Which is why this week the Raptors listened to a presentation by an unidentified consulting firm on everything from what spot on the floor yields the lowest points per shot in coach Jay Triano’s defensive schemes to the NBA player that best blocks shots and gains possession for his team. (It’s the Los Angeles Lakers: Pau Gasol, by the way.)

PREVIEW: Plenty of new star power among top three teams in East

The Toronto Raptors landed Turkoglu, signed combo guard Jarrett Jack and drafted guard DeMar DeRozan, hoping a playoff berth will convince impending free agent Chris Bosh to stick around. The Philadelphia 76ers also have a new coach in Eddie Jordan. They hope Elton Brand can remain healthy and Lou Williams can replace the departed Andre Miller at point guard. The Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat reached the playoffs last season but may have trouble getting back. The Pistons may have done too much, hiring rookie coach John Kuester and signing Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. The Heat may not have done enough, adding little around impending free agent Dwyane Wade. The Charlotte Bobcats need a star who commands a double-team. The Indiana Pacers have an All-Star in Danny Granger but a weak backcourt. And the Milwaukee Bucks need a cleanup crew after an off-season fire sale that saw Villanueva, Richard Jefferson and Ramon Sessions exit.

The Canadian Press: Ten players to keep an eye on during the new NBA season

Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors – The Italian centre's confidence soared under the guidance of coach Jay Triano last season, and he finally showed signs of why the Raptors took him with the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft. Armed with a lucrative contract extension, the seven-footer appears poised for a strong season.

Raptors 90, Timberwolves 98 – Box Score

Raptors 90, Timberwolves 98 – Box Score

Bill Simmons’ NBA season preview and 33 most intriguing NBA people – ESPN

18. Hedo Turkoglu
New team, different offense, overpaid, can't be hidden as well on defense because he doesn't have a shot-blocker behind him, signs of decline last season, high expectations, bad karma from boning over the Blazers after a verbal agreement, the day-to-day frazzles of living in a Canadian city ? my s— detector is going off. Sorry, Raptor Truthers. I always trust the s— detector. Just last week, it went off even as Balloon Boy's balloon was still floating through Colorado. Never fails me. I predict a surprisingly disappointing first season for him. And maybe even a goofy injury like plantar fasciities or a partially torn hip labrum. Always gotta trust the s— detector.

Eric Smith on POB’s Tweet idea

One man (amongst many — including me) that's been swept up by the momentum of Twitter is Raptors center Patrick O’Bryant. But his story just got a little more interesting in the past week…

More questions than answers for Raptors – sportsnet.ca

But the picture could get fuzzy over the coming months as Bosh heads into a season of uncertainty and the Raptors may be seeing the last of their team captain and poster boy. The six-year veteran appears poised to join an illustrious free agent group this coming off-season that could include LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Questions about the fate of the Raptors' franchise player are sure to swirl around the team as it tries to bounce back from a dismal 2008-09 season — and just how well it can do that will go a long way in determining what jersey Bosh will be wearing come this time next year.