Ajinca: he’s like a panther from beyond the arc….long, lean, supple, prowling for a kill. He’s also the prototypical Raptors back up big man: foul prone and rebounding is a secondary concern.

Alabi: he’s like that guy you work with that you don’t realize is off for the day until 4:55pm.

Barbosa: you ever call Rogers tech support the day a new product comes out, sit on hold for 48 minutes and then get patched through to a guy named Sammy who is about as easy to understand as your little brother who is talking while eating a cheeseburger? Barbosa was just that frustrating tonight.

Bargnani: if ever there was a game for all the haters to simultaneously say “SEE!!!” every, oh, 5 minutes or so, this was it. Getting his pocket picked, silly fouls, getting mocked by television commentators, looking none the better for a few days off…the whole gamut was on (pitiful) display tonight. The heartwrenching part?? He was still one of our better players.

Bayless: this has to be some sort of record. A guy who gets a double double, points included, but doesn’t make one shot from the field. Jerryd went to the line 12 times, hit 11, dished out 10 dimes…and also committed 4 fouls and 4 turnovers while going 0/4. Our new posterchild.

Calderon: picked up a tech for acting like Liston defending adjusted +/-. Typical Jose game where he tried his best to get the ball to guys that could do something with it. His problem? He plays for Toronto.

Davis: his college coach being in the crowd could have excited or nervous. Couldn’t really tell. He didn’t stand out at any particular time, but did contribute 7 boards and 2 healthy blocks. Keep your eye out for that rookie wall coming to a town near you.

DeRozan: the choker brought the same intensity and ability to this game as he did to the dunk contest. Lulled us to sleep for most of the game and tried to wake us up by trying too hard. Pretty to watch, too underwhelming to remember.

Dorsey: he used to be a part of our rotation…now he’s best suited to a suit.

Evans: um…hello?

A. Johnson: he was like a Hoover around the boards and he got to the line, but otherwise he was as handy to have around as he was to DeMar on Saturday.

T. Johnson:  thump.

Kleiza: next time he will be seen is in 2012. Could be the end of the world.

Weems: you think he was pissed that DeMar didn’t pick him? He played well tonight, making some nice plays and..wait for it..not thinking he was the only guy on the court. Solid night.

Wright: I feel for the guy. He fought hard to get some floor time, did fine when he had it, now there is more chance of seeing nude photos of Zsa Zsa Gabor than there is of seeing Julian be a contributor again.

Driving The Bus: Sonny Weems

Under The Bus: Leandro Barbosa

Game Theme:

I used to think Boris Diaw looked like rapper/singer/producer/composer Pharrell Williams. Now I just think he ate Pharrell. There, I had to get the token Diaw fat-joke out of the way early, or I’d be trying to shoehorn it in somewhere else the entire article.

Tonight, as on most nights, the Raptors were equal parts exciting and excruciating, fascinating and frustrating. They looked at times like the team we’ve been hoping they’re turning into, but a scoring drought or defensive lapse was always waiting just around the corner to kill any momentum. To wit, the Raptors lead after the first quarter for just the second time in their last six games, but watched the lead slowly evaporate over the second and third quarters, only to fall behind for good midway through the fourth.

On an individual basis, Andrea Bargnani showed us the darker side of his on-going Two Face impersonation, looking largely disinterested except for a few occasions of help defense, finishing with just 12 points on 4/14 shooting. He did chip in with eight rebounds, though…but when that’s the best you can say about your star 7-footer, that’s likely an issue. I get the feeling from the Twitterverse and the chat that I wasn’t as outraged with Bargs as most, but his disappearing act really has to come to an end. If he wants the contract of a superstar, the respect of a superstar (and I guess nobody has claimed he does), and the label of superstar, he has to be ready to play like one on more nights than not. The disinterest he shows roughly once a week isn’t acceptable, and while they may just be bad games that look worse because of his emotionless demeanor, there should never be a doubt in a fan’s mind whether or not a player worked hard. But I digress, as I’m sure the commenters will gladly handle the role of Bargnani post-game analysis.

Leandro Barbosa also had his ups and downs, tidying up a poor game with an eight point fourth quarter. Linas Kleiza had one of his rare performances where I didn’t curse his name, but quietly misfired on 6/9. Demar DeRozan showed flashes of his potential, as he tends to do, delivering a few nice drives, a sometimes-effective jump shot, and of course a nasty one-handed jam towards the end of the third quarter.

His best buddy Sonny Weems was even more frustrating, displaying poor shot selection yet again en route to a 4/13 shooting performance. Sonny manages to look the part, playing with intensity and being in the right place a lot of the time, but he forces his offense far too often and the criticism that he thinks he’s Kobe Weems held true tonight. In November, Weems railed off eight straight double figure performances, but has had just three in the past 11 games. It has been menacing to watch, as he showed us just a month ago that he can be a moderately efficient scorer. While he’s shooting 46% on the season, he has finished at just 38% over the past 12 games.

Amir Johnson was efficient with his 12-and-12 effort, but the team’s refusal to run plays for him persists. I realize that his offensive game is still raw, but he is a 60% shooter who manages just six attempts a game in 22 minutes. If nothing else, he suits the roll of dive-man splendidly and should be utilized further in the pick-and-roll game. His seven offensive rebounds see him right at 3.0 per game for the season, and he continues to be near the top of the leaderboard for rebound rate. His fouling reains a problem, with five more tonight, but his development will be a key point of analysis for the rest of the season as one of the team’s brighter spots.

With a team full of inconsistent indvidiuals, it should be little surprise that the Raptors change identities on the fly. While they displayed great help defense tonight, complete with six blocks, it’s this same help defense that they could not adjust against the Knicks and Pacers for three straight losses. And while the ball movement is at times spectacular, the team also falls into long spurts of playing one-on-one basketball, a strategy that does not suit this unit. With Jose Calderon out for a third straight game with a sore foot, the team was of course lead by Jerryd Bayless, the posterboy for this team’s tendency to show something great one play, and something awful the next.

A few games after Bayless was acquired, I argued he should be in the starting lineup for reasons other than the question of who is better between he and Jose. In Jose’s absence, I think it’s been reaffirmed that Jose is the safer, more efficient, more controlled master of this team and it’s offense. That said, Bayless has shown without a doubt that he was worth gambling on, showing us over and over that he has the skillset to become a top scoring guard in the league. The rest of his game lobs questions out at us fans, like whether he’s a good defender or just quick, whether he is too out of control when driving, whether he has a little too much T.J. Ford in him or just enough Russel Westbrook.

He gets to the basket with reckless abandon, which has afforded him trips to the line, scores at the basket, and the respect of yours truly. His 31 point outburst against Detroit was wonderful to watch, a reminder we needed that individual players can take over games at this level. Still, he is careless and reckless when compared to Calderon (who isn’t?), and it can be argued that he only involves others using drive-and-kicks, not the transition game.

There was a sequence late in the game that was illustrative of my point: In the last 44 seconds, Bayless missed a three at the top of the key, forced a layup in traffic that resulted in a timeout that was almost a turnover, scored an insane degree-of-difficulty layup, and then turned the ball over trying to dribble between Bargnani and two Bobcat defenders. It showed determination and aggression, two things this squad appears to lack some nights, but it also showed his inexperience and a little too much zeal.

This, of course, is a part of the development process. The Raptors need to see what they have with Bayless, and it’s becoming more clear with each game, but there is a lot more to be discovered. At the very least, I’m confident Bayless could play the role of scoring guard off the bench. At his apex, he may become an above-average all around point guard, though he’ll probably never shed the “scoring guard” label, which is fine.

It wasn’t Bayless’ fault tonight, just like it wasn’t the fault of any one player. The inconsistencies can be maddening, the 8 turnovers frustrating, the 52% opponent FG% depressing, and the 13 blocks by the Bobcats infuriating. The fact that Nazr Mohammed and Kwame Brown combined for 28 points in 37 minutes is enough to drive any fan mad, but if the team can get on a run where most players are playing to their upside, our patience will be rewarded with some damn good basketball.

And “if” my Aunt had balls, she’d be my Uncle. So there’s also that.

Alabi: DNP-NW

Barbosa: sub-standard for him tonight. That little hitch in his shooting motion didn’t seem to help.

Bargnani: we all have those nights were you would just rather be anywhere else. Say, Real Sports at around 6:30pm tonight when Arsenalist was hitting on our waitress. Bargs had an off night and like many of you (misguided) fans from last year pointed out, Bosh had more than his fair share. So, Andrea, enjoy your mini-vacation. We’ll chalk that late 4th quarter turnover to brain freeze in chilly Charlotte.

Bayless: Jerryd the Menace continued on his merry little way. Would love to see a few more trips to the free throw line, but beggars/choosers. Think he won the PG battle tonight.

Calderon: a few weeks ago, he felt he was golden in Toronto….now he’s nervous every time the phone rings.

Davis: that yell he let out when he slammed the ball home in the first was, um, unnerving. I think Jordan spit his soda out. Big minutes (25) for the kid tonight and it translated into a nice relaxed effort. Nice to see a kid come “home”.

DeRozan: produced a candidate for Raptors dunk of the year…but more importantly, played well. Took a few too many shots from long range for my liking, but it wasn’t a Dormant DeRozan night and we need to celebrate whatever we can.

Dorsey: made it off the bench, shook a few hands, kissed a few babies.

Evans: I need him to be my Santa at our office Christmas party….just to see the kids try to decipher what he says.

Johnson: 36 minutes!!!! Blimey!  A double double!!  Get the hell outta here!! This Amir is the one I want under my tree this year.

Kleiza: hoot hoot. well, he, uhhh, put his shirt on correctly. I want to set Linas and Sonny up side by side and do this.

Stojakovic: best job in the world.

Weems: seriously, that block by Wallace on Weems was like the Coles Notes version of Sonny’s last few weeks. I can’t begin to count the number of times he’s made me groan out loud. Way more than Isis Taylor…and that is saying something.

Wright: the guy gets press, he is featured on fan sites, people actually now know what he looks like and Jay……still doesn’t give him many minutes. Appalling.

Driving The Bus: Amir Johnson

Under The Bus: Sonny Weems

Game Theme:

I’m not sure wtf happened on Saturday, but that was one of the best games I’ve seen in a long time (had to fire it up on NBA League Pass Broad Band). Never-mind that the Raptors allowed the Pistons to go up by 25 points or so somehow; but the trust, chemistry and teamwork needed to come back 25 in the last 5 minutes of the game was out outstanding, and makes me excited for tonights game against the Bobcats.

The Bobcats are coming off two brutal losses in a row; the last one so bad that an RR commentator put it this way:

It was so bad, that if Boston never scored any points in the 4th quarter they would have still won.

Ouch…

After getting ripped by Michael Jordan (a 47 year old who could still probably kick most of their asses at the game) for their lackluster play, you can expect a different bunch of guys to be waiting for the Raptors in North Carolina.

The last time these guys played, the Raptors took a 5 point lead into the 4th and fell apart. The game came down to the wire, when some sketchy play calling ended with Bargnani at the top of the arc getting stripped by Jackson.

Injuries

Toronto
Jose Calderon
Reggie Evans
Peja Stojakovic

Charlotte
Gerald Henderson
Tyrus Thomas, GTD

Match-ups

Point Guards
What a bargain Baylesss has turned out to be. It’s not that he’s set the world on fire, it’s that he is starting to get some burn, and is showing Indiana, Portland and New Orleans that they gave up on him too quickly. Saturday against the Pistons, our boy put up 31pts 5rebs 7ast on 12 shots (12 attempts from the charity stripe to boot). That my friends is called being efficient. Without Calderon, it’s going to be difficult to take full advantage of this match-up, but the different look that Barbosa will bring in relief will be huge to winning this match-up. Augustin isn’t the best of shooters, but he still takes about 4 treys a game (40% shooter), last game against the Raptors he went 3-5 from beyond the arc, and did his part to open up the court a bit for Wallace to go all kamikaze. Since he laid a big fat donut against the Celtics on Saturday, you can expect him to come out guns blazing. Without Calderon in the mix, the point guard situation is a little worrisome for me since Bayless is still learning his craft. It’s going to be hit or misss tonight with Bayless.
Edge: Charlotte

Shooting Guard
I hate playing the Bobcats for two reasons, one being Jackson. The guy is 32, but shows no signs of slowing down (unlike me….fml). This is an ideal match-up for DeRozan to get up and down the court and use the athleticism to his advantage; the question is whether or not he’s going too. Since I ripped DeRozan, the kid has turned in a couple pretty solid performances, highlighted with 16pt 4reb performance in the win on Saturday. He still needs to get to the line, averaging under four (didn’t even attempt one against the Nuggets) over the last 5 games. DeRozan turned in a brutalr performance the last time they played, so he should be extra motivated to get at it this time around. I’m concerned about the wing battle tonight, since the Raptors don’t match-up well at all at the 2/3. It will take a solid showing by committee to get the job done.
Edge: Charlotte

Small Forward
19pts 14rebs 5ast 4blks; if you guessed Gerald Wallace’s production against the Raptors the last time out, you are correct. He almost single handedly out-blocked the entire Raptor team. I don’t expect anything different tonight; my only hope is he keeps the jawing on his mouth guard to a minimum. I’m trying to temper myself here a bit, but the small forward position is the most suspect on the Raptors. Between Weems, Kleiza and Stojakovic (if/when he gets back), you’d figure this lot has the tools to be an effective trio. Sadly it hasn’t worked out as such. Both Sonny and Kleiza have shown sparks of something, but neither has been able to maintain any level of consistency in effort/production/predictability.

Tonight against Wallace, Sonny has the athleticism, but not the strength; Kleiza has the strength, but not the athleticism; and Peja will be rocking Armani on the bench. Where does that leave us? Another 20/15 type effort from Gerald.
Edge: Charlotte

Power Forward
If the Raptors are to have a shot at winning tonight, it will come at the 4/5. Last time around, it was Toronto’s offensive rebounding (recurring theme) that kept them in the game to the tune of 14 leading to 12 more possession. Amir was a beast off the bench, putting up 16pts 9rebs in 28 minutes of fairly foul-free play. The Raptors will miss Reggie Evans’ rebounding and interior play, but Ed Davis has been picking up some steam, and should be good to battle with Thomas off the bench.

My real concern is with Amir and Boris Diaw though. Boris is a crafty player who has a lot of moves and a high basketball IQ. If there was a text book player to get Amir into trouble, it would be him. Diaw is a crafty guy, who seems to have a hard time getting to the line, it’s actually interesting. Amir’s been doing a good job of not leaving the ground and trying to swat everything. I actually really appreciate it as he’s showing some marked improvement since the start of the season in this regard.
Edge: Toronto

Center
I’m predicting a long night for Bobcats front court. Still don’t understand why Jordan would trade Chandler for Dampier, then wave Dampier, and still expect to make the playoffs without a big guy who LIKES to play defense and rebound. 30/10 for Bargnani tonight, book it.
Edge: Toronto

Keys to the Game

Pace
Bayless likes to run; DeRozan/Weems/Barbosa like to run. Amir and Bargnani run the break as well as big man in the league…you can see where I’m going right? The Bobcats are the 7th slowest team in terms of pace in the league. If this gets into a defensive match, the Bobcats will have the upper hand, but if the Raptors can get Charlotte to trip over their own feet running backwards on defense, things can happen.

Production on the Wings
DeMar, Weems and Kleiza will all need to turn in a solid performance tonight. Both Jackson and Wallace play heavy minutes, so it’s not like there will be much of an opportunity to catch a second wind when the replacements get into the game. Weems and Kleiza need to be active participants tonight; the solid game against the Nuggets aside, they are averaging a paltry 8.3pts and 7.2pts in the month of December.

Rebounding
While the Bobcats have improved from second worst to 16 in the association in rebounding, they still have a ways to go. The Raptors have been able to weather the storm on the boards left by Evans’ injury with a full-team commitment to crashing the glass, but with the Bobcats solid rebounding on the wings, they can be dangerous. Bargnani will need to carry a bit more of the burden than he normally does, and Weems/Kleiza will have to work a bit harder at keeping a body between Wallace and the glass. It’s definitely doable…

The Line

The gamblers have the Bobcats as 5 point favourites with an over/under of 202;I’m going against the grain, and picking Toronto to take this one by 4.

You joke about a team starting the year winless, or 2-18 after a quarter of the way in, but you never think it will actually happen. A lot is at stake tonight against the Bobcats, namely the tag of worse team in the East. It’s been a few years since we’ve had to worry about that tag, but it’s quickly approaching.

The good news is the Bobcats are right there with us, and we have a chance to stop the bleeding, yea…

I had a chance to speak to Brett Hainline of Queen City Hoops about the Bobcats:

The trading of Chandler (along with the cutting of Dampiers non-guaranteed contract), then signing Kwame Brown to fill the void seems contrary to Michael Jordan’s stated goal of making the playoffs. I was almost waiting for the other shoe to where Adam Morrison gets an invite to camp. What’s going on?
With the re-signing of Tyrus Thomas, the Bobcats payroll for this coming season was beyond what MJ was willing to pay for a borderline playoff team. If Tyson was still in Charlotte (and stayed healthy most of the year), the Bobcats ceiling is still, what, 48 wins? That’s based off the 44 last year, and Tyrus Thomas and Stephen Jackson being in Charlotte for the full season (and ignoring going from Raymond to D.J. at the point). Apparently, MJ and the front office think that the core of Jax, Crash, Boris, and Tyrus are still a borderline playoff team, and now a little cheaper (but just a little).

The Bobcats seem really thin at the point. Letting Felton walk was real suspect considering Livingston is the backup at point. The Bobcats have the luxury of Stephen Jackson at the point-forward, but this isn’t an ideal situation. Brown and Augustin seemingly haven’t been on the same page, but to his credit, he has played pretty well to start the season all things considered. How do you see this playing out?
D.J. had a really strong rookie season, providing some instant scoring off the bench. Based on his size, and skill set, that seemed like a great role for him. Cost considerations have forced him into a bigger role – and so far he has handled it well – at least offensively. In fact, despite some concerns that D.J. was too much of a shoot-first point for Larry’s taste, LB has been chiding D.J. to shoot more early this season. However, defensively, concerns still exist – D.J. is only an inch or so shorter than Raymond, but Raymond had a bit more heft to him that helped him defend and get through screens a bit better than D.J. has been able to. That is going to be the greatest concern – can D.J. defend well enough to justify starter’s minutes.

1-6 to start the season, but the Indiana and Detroit games were very winnable. Looking at the schedule, The rest of November isn’t horrible in terms of quality of opponents, can we expect to see an improvement, or are you guys bound to the same fate as Raptor fans?
The Cats started slow last year as well – and turnovers were a big part of the problem then as well. Early in the season, this is a team that is going to struggle to score, as switching point guards from last year is a significant change from last season. The roster turnover was somewhat low for a Bobcats team – but just for a Bobcats team, as the team has 2 different starters, 2 new players in the rotation (Livingston and Kwame Brown expected to garner minutes when he gets healthy), and 5 new players overall. That unfamiliarity (and Larry Brown’s general complex/detailed playbook) takes a while to gel.

Additionally, the Bobcats are still figuring out how to defend with this different group of players – last year, they relied on Tyson Chandler and Theo Ratliff to lock down the post, and Nazr played with a focus on scoring. WIth Nazr starting this year, the Cats defensive strength is missing so far. DeSagana Diop and Kwame Brown are going to be counted on to provide those minutes – Diop’s been solid so far and we’ve yet to see what Kwame will provide.

Anything else you want to add about this squad?
It’s been a slow start – but rather than the some of the older squads of the past, there is some reason to be excited about this one, even in losses. Watching them run out a long, athletic group with Livingston, Gerald Henderson, Derrick Brown, Tyrus Thomas, and Boris Diaw – it’s fun basketball to watch. Boris may seem like an odd fit with these lanky athletes -but his skill set and versatility on defense are a good complement.

Injury Report

Toronto
Ed Davis – Out

Charlotte
Kwame Brown – Out
Boris Diaw – Day-to-day

Match-ups

PG – Jack vs Augustin
Must be my curse, but as soon as I picked up Augustin for my fantasy league, he had two pretty games in a row, and I was forced to drop him. Overall he’s had a pretty good start to the season considering he’s essentially the load at point on his own. I suspect he breaks out from that funk tonight because he is a quick guard who has 3-point range: a recipe for playing well against the Raptors. Jack bounced back from a couple pretty brutal games with a solid outing against the Warriors, all things considered of course. I mean, when Curry puts up 34pts 5rebs 4ast 3stl on a bum ankle, his 24pts 8ast is put into perspective. Jack can give Augustin some problems with size and strength, and with Calderon on the second unit, they can really take it to the Augustin and Livingston and Collins all night. We have the horses here, just have to go at them and want to put a thin point guard situation to a test. One thing that has me concerned is Augustin’s passing ability that comes off his quickness…whatever….
Edge: Augustin wins the individual dual, but the Raptors win at point overall

SG – DeRozan vs Jackson
The league is filled with quality shooting guards, so DeRozan wont be walking into many match-ups where he has an edge. Jackson is a world champion, wiley vet, and destructive force all wrapped into a nice bull-dog of a package. If he’s on, this is going to get messy. He does so much, so well, that DeMar will be tested in all facets of the game. What DeMar has in his pocket is his athleticism and quickness, as does Weems. Running the floor and making Jackson run around screens is the only chance they have at slowing him down. Get him frustrated, and hopefully he implodes.
Edge: Jackson

SF – Kleiza vs Wallace
Kleiza hasn’t had to deal with a kamikaze forward who crashes the boards and plays off the ball very well. This is a key match-up for the game, and I would be totally down on this one, except that Kleiza is coming off a strong performance against the Warriors that should carry over. I’d like to see Kleiza go to the post, and try to get Gerald into foul trouble. On the offensive glass, Wallace is one of the best, and if it comes down to a hustle match-up, will grab everything Evans doesn’t. It’s really going to be a long night for Linas, I don’t see any two ways about it.
Edge: Wallace

PF – Evans vs Diaw
Diaw was a nose hair away from being the Raptor, so it would only be fitting if he killed us tonight. Evans should own on the boards, and it’s a draw defensively, but Diaw is crafty and can contribute in all fronts on offense: passing, shooting, in the post. He has been playing big minutes, and with his conditioning (as far as I remember), it might take a toll on him. It should be noted that Tyrus Thomas could potentially move into the starting lineup as a result of his solid play in limited play off the bench. If this is the case, he will give Evans a hell of a time since he’s longer, faster and more athletic. I’d expect to see a lot more of Amir Johnson tonight since he can negate what Thomas can bring to the table.
Edge: Even

C – Bargnani vs Mohammed
The Raptors have given Nazr a career over the years, affording him opportunities to put up big games (by his standards anyways). If Bargnani can’t win this match-up, I’m putting ‘Vegetable Lasagna’ back on the table; I think that’s fair.
Edge: Bargnani

Keys to the Game

Protect the Ball
Even without Chandler, the Bobcats are 8th in the league in points allowed, giving up 95.6 a contest. They put pressure on the ball, rotate well, and play solid man defense. With Jackson and Wallace playing big minutes anchoring the perimeter, crisp passes and ball movement will be crucial to peck at the brick wall.

Play Big
This is one of those games where Amir has to keep his head in it. The Bobcats are the second worse rebounding team in the league. Control the glass, get more possessions and run it down their throat. The Raptors offense can put a lot of pressure on the Bobcats if they get out and run, which all comes down to grabbing the rebound on starting the break. The Bobcats are also the worst offensive team in the league, so there should be plenty rebounds to grab, especially with the questionable shots Jackson takes. No excuses for Bargnani either; saying he scores and doesn’t need to grab rebounds is simply ignoring the fact that scoring is only one dimension of playing ball. Bargnani will never become a wicked defender, but he at 7 feet, can grab rebounds. Stop pussyfooting, take off your panties and do something already.

Sense of Urgency
1-6 to start the season with a winnable game against an equally inept team. The Bobcats have starish type players who can take over a game, but the Raptors just can’t let them. Enough’s-enough boys, it’s time to put the women and children to sleep and perform.

The Line

The gamblers have the Raptors as 2 point favourites, with an over/under of 194.5. This game is prime to be ground out. The Bobcats have the personell to win these sorts of games since they are so defensively efficient. Still doesn’t mean the Raptors can’t impose their style of play against a team that isn’t playing very well right now.

You can support the team by following the #RTZ (Raptors Twitter Zone) hashtag. Regardless of how bad this team is playing, we’re all fans and want to see them find their way. Respect to Nat from Heels on Hardwood for putting this initiative together.

We got Twitter, Facebook and Live Chat; what say you?

Sorry there aren’t any shot charts, if you’re so inclined, you can check out their last game against the Spurs here.

Q. How did the Knicks do this off-season? Talk about drafts, trades and free agent signings as well as ownership/management changes.

Kevin McElroy: The answer to this question is necessarily relative to expectations. By any normal measure, this was the Knicks best summer since the mid-90’s. Their failed pursuit for LeWyane Bosh aside, the Knicks brought in Amare Stoudemire, a five-time all-star with three top-ten scoring seasons who also happens to be the active career leader in true shooting percentage. While concerns about the riskiness of the acquisition (especially those relating to Stoudemire’s injury history) are understandable, the rarity with which players of Stoudemire’s caliber can be had without forfeiting any tradeable assets makes the signing a worthwhile gamble. The David Lee trade — in which the Knicks gave up a player that they had already made redundant and received two valuable role players and a freakish athlete with world-class upside in return — was the best player for player(s) swap the Knicks have made since they brought in Latrell Sprewell and Marcus Camby; if Anthony Randolph develops, it will go down as even better than those trades.

I worry about Raymond Felton eating up valuable cap space, but I get the feeling that his signing was about keeping Amare happy enough to keep telling his buddies how great things were in New York — Felton’s contract should be moveable if he becomes the final obstacle to bringing in another star. I hated the Knicks’ play-it-safe strategy on draft night, but based upon the summers that Landry Fields and Lance Stephenson have had, my opinion on the matter has softened. Fields will hang around for 10 years and be a useful role player for the Knicks in the near term.

Q. Who came out the bigger winner AND loser in the Atlantic Division?

KM: I’ll exclude the Knicks from the conversation here since I’ve already discussed their offseason. I think the Celtics are the winners by default, mostly because they were the only Atlantic Division team good enough to focus their off-season on filling their remaining needs rather than blindly overhauling the team and hoping it would work out. I’m not crazy about their Shaquisition for the same reason I wasn’t crazy about it when he was Shaquired by Phoenix or Cleveland, but at the veteran minimum it’s a low risk move and they can always tell him to go away if he becomes a problem.

As for the biggest losers, the Nets’ mind-bendingly bizarre assortment of free agent signings gets the nod even in a division where Toronto lost their franchise leader in scoring and rebounding just as he was entering his prime. Better build that arena, Brooklyn, or Johan Petro will be plying his trade elsewhere!

Q. Last season we saw a dog fight from 5-9 in the East for a playoff appearance (the Raptors dropped from 5th to 9th rapidly at the tail-end of the season). What are your predictions for this upcoming season? Who are your dark horses to watch out for?

KM: Obviously the Heat jump out of that dog fight and into the top 3, arguably the top 1. I think this will be another season in which the Eastern Conference can be separated into pretty well-defined tiers. The Tier 1 teams — Miami, Orlando, Boston — seem fairly insurmountable at the top of the pyramid, although if the Celtics all get old at the same time, they could feasibly drop into Tier 2. For now, Tier 2 is Atlanta, Chicago, and probably Milwaukee, all of whom should qualify for the postseason comfortably and will be primarily concerned with finishing 5th or better and thus avoiding the Tier 1 teams in the first round. Tier 3 is where it gets a bit hairy: Charlotte has to be viewed as the 7th best team going into the year, but New York has much greater upside and is the only team outside of Tiers 1 and 2 with a chance to vault into the top 6 if everything goes right.

If things implode for the Knicks — and, let’s face it, why shouldn’t they — The Pacers, Sixers, and Cavs are all in the picture for one of the last two playoff spots. One more quick point that nobody is talking about: I will not be surprised if strength of schedule becomes a decisive factor in the Eastern Conference this year. The Bobcats have to play a whopping 15 games against the Heat, Magic, and Hawks, while the Knicks and Sixers will play each other five times and have 10 games each against the Nets and Raps. Could be enough to bump the Bobcats down to ninth in a tight East.

Q. Is what happened in Miami bad for the league? On the one hand, players are taking control of their own futures (as best as possible); but on the other, the rich just seem to get richer.

KM: I swore a lifelong oath of hatred against the Miami Heat the day that Pat Riley hopped the fence back in 1995, but the answer to this question is still “no.” In the long-term, this has to be viewed as good for the league, and not just because it will allow us to see something we’ve never seen before (which it will) and give other fan bases a unifying enemy (which it also will). The reason I’m glad it happened, and happened when it did, is that it has placed everything from cap rules to player tampering to the merits of “Superteams” at the forefront of the conversation, just before a watershed CBA renegotiation. This is the best way for basketball fans and writers to have any kind of a voice about the future of the league. Maybe I’m dreaming on that but, at a time when the NBA seems desperate to drum up demand for its product, it will have an unprecedented opportunity to gauge public opinion on nearly every issue that is likely to come up this summer. We may all be thanking LeWyane Bosh before this is over.

(Was that convincing? No? Darn it. I really hate the Heat.)

Q. Do you share the view that playing in Toronto is similar to playing in Europe, and not very appealing to American born players? What’s your take on the Raptors and Toronto as a destination for the NBA elite?

KM: I think there are five or six “destination cities” in the League right now — LA, Miami, New York, Chicago, maybe one or two of the Texas cities — and I don’t think Toronto is one of them. But I think it’s still a long way up from playing in Europe and doubt the Canadian border has much of a practical effect on players’ decisions. Most NBA cities become appealing destinations if and only if their resident teams employ players and executives that are appealing to NBA free agents, which the post-Bosh Raptors probably don’t. The problem is that Toronto’s previous attempts at building around a franchise player were based upon guys whose personalities were not conducive to being the first major building block on a team in a non-destination city. It only takes one super-talented, super-loyal star — think Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard — to attract top players to a place that once seemed to be on the NBA periphery. The problem, of course, is finding that guy. Clearly, Vince Carter and Chris Bosh didn’t fit the description.

Q. What’s your take on Bryan Colangelo and the job he’s done for the Raptors? Could he have held on to Bosh had he made other choices? Did he make a huge mistake by not trading him earlier? What about the type of team he is trying to build in Toronto?

KM: I think Bosh was always leaving — he’s a very good second option alongside an elite scoring wing with good court vision; now he gets to play with two of them. It’s interesting to think about how things would have played out for Toronto if Bosh and T-Mac had come along at about the same time — they would have complemented each other brilliantly, maybe well enough that they both would have wanted to stay. As for Colangelo, I think he was probably doomed from the start. His mandate was to focus singularly on the retention of a player who was 1) probably always going to leave and 2) probably not good enough to be the best player on a great team anyway. To the extent that this strategy has failed (in the departure of Bosh) or set the franchise back (due to the shortsightedness of some of Toronto’s acquisitions), that failure is more associated with the flaws of the mandate (which fall at the feet of ownership) than with any flaws in execution (which would fall at the feet of Colangelo). That said, Toronto clearly needs to dive head-first into overhaul mode and that necessarily involves a conversation regarding whether Colangelo remains the right man for what is now a very different job.

True to Boston form, the Celtics shafted the Raptors yet again; this time by losing to the Bulls after taking a 1 point lead into the 4th. It’s literally come down to the last game of the year for the Raptors, sort of:

• If the Raptors win, and the Bulls lose, Toronto’s in
• If the Raptors win, and the Bulls win, Toronto’s out
• If the Raptors lose, and the Bulls lose, Toronto’s out
• If the Raptors lose, and the Bulls win, Toronto’s out

You look back over the course of the season, and start to cringe at some of the losses the Raptors had that weren’t taken seriously at the time: Washington, Indiana (twice), Philadelphia, Sacramento, and Golden State (twice). You win any of those 7 games, and this thing is over. So when we were crying bloody murder after these losses, there was a method to the madness (and not just our pride being hurt).

The fact of the matter is the Raptors don’t deserve to make the playoffs. When you look back on the season, they always came short when the pressure was on, and only got to 5th in the east by taking advantage of a weak schedule. When the chips were stacked against them, they rarely stepped up. And even after dogging so much of the season, they are literally one game from making the playoffs. It’s amazing and upsetting at the same time.

Tonight we get the Knicks, a team that the Raptors have owned over the last three seasons, going 8-3 over that span. At the best of times, the Knicks are a shell of a team, on this last game of the season though, I’m expecting a bit more. Al Harrington and Tracy McGrady (questionable) will probably miss the game, meaning the Knicks should be better off – no one to take ill-advised 3′s while the offense is setting up.

David Lee has been a Raptor killer with Bosh in the lineup, averaging 25.7pts and 16.7rebs. Without Bosh, it will be a task by committee. Turkoglu has stepped up his rebounding as of late, and I fully expect Amir to return to his rebounding ways now that Detroit has been dispatched; which only leaves Bargnani.

If he drops 30, I don’t think I will care how many boards he grabs, but he needs to drop 30, end of discussion. If not, the Knicks have this guy called Earl Barron, who seems to be grabbing a great deal of rebounds (11.7) since joining the team, and who could sway things to the Knicks favour if he goes unnoticed and unchecked. That’s about all there is to be worried about, they have a couple youngin’s who can ball, but Duhon is leading the charge, forgive me if I’m not worried.

On the Bulls side of things, they’re in Charlotte to face a Bobcats team that is 31-9 at home. Larry Brown said that they owe it to basketball to compete hard and not roll over for the Bulls. How long that lasts remains to be seen considering the Bobcats have nothing to gain or lose with this game in terms of playoff position (it’s always better to win than lose in the grand scheme of things though). You have to figure D’Antoni is in the same boat as Brown.

Really, that’s all there is to it. The Raptors have to win this game, and they need to get dirty to do it, since the Knicks have nothing else going on but to c*ck-block us from getting into the playoffs.

Any combination of a Raptors loss or Bulls win will end in Jerome Williams representing the Raptors at the draft lottery in a couple months. It’s sad, but things are on coming together like many of us said at the beginning of the season: that the 5th through 9th places in the East will be a dogfight, and the Raptors are not head and shoulders above the rest of the teams in the East.

In games that Bosh has been injured, the Raptors are 3-7 this season; with those three wins coming against the Nets, Wolves and Knicks. See a theme? They can beat the gawdawful teams without Bosh, but they can’t beat anyone else (they’ve also not been able to beat bad teams with Bosh in the lineup, but I digress). We actually have a good sample size of what life without Bosh is going to be like, and I’ll tell you, it’s not going to be good.

I actually have very little to say about the game. Contrary to the mood at the ACC, I didn’t boo the team, I wasn’t disgusted with the performance, and I’m not upset that we’re currently 9th in the East. I’m not saying I’m happy with the outcome, (that was as much basketball as rubbing up against a woman on the subway is sex) but I am sending bad vibes towards Colangelo and Triano. This team is where it is because of the personnel decisions Colangelo has made, and coaching decisions Triano insists on continually making.

Time has run out on the Raptors, and everything that should have been done yesterday to get the win…should have been done, and it wasn’t:

• Triano did the right thing by starting Weems on Rose and Calderon on Hinrich, what he didn’t do was take it a step further. We have a guy on the bench called Marcus Banks, who is easily our best defender at the point. He showed late in the 4th that he can keep up with Rose and was disruptive. Triano went to him in garbage time in order to rest the guys for tonights game against the Pistons. Rose is prone to turn the ball over if pressured. Weems, Calderon, Jack are all not capable of defensive pressure like that, Banks is.
• Noah and Gibson combined for 25 rebounds. Bargnani and Johnson combined for a pathetic 7. Now, Turkoglu was an animal and pulled down 19, but when your forwards aren’t crashing the offensive glass, well…forget it. All I’m saying is that Turkoglu had the same amount of offensive rebounds as Bargnani and Johnson combined and that can’t happen. Rasho would have been a nice choice to get a few more minutes early to stabilize the play in the paint. Especially with Amir picking up so many early fouls on stupid/lazy reach ins.
• Jack and Calderon again? AGAIN? SERIOUSLY? I feel like it’s groundhog day. With all the statistics against pairing the two, all of us moaning and complaining that they don’t play well together, wtf is Triano trying to prove? Is there something going on with that pairing that all of us are missing? I just don’t get it.

The most disappointing thing about the game was the booing. We need to be like the Thunder fans, who cheer their team, even when they are down and out, and will them back into the bloody game. Fans at the ACC need to be the 6th man, not the spoiled Torontonians the rest of Canada hates us for being. You want to show your displeasure with the team, don’t buy a ticket to the game. That sends the loudest message to MLSE in terms of lost revenue. Just wait till those fat cats don’t get that playoff cash, folks will get sodomized.

There is some good news: if the Raptors win tonight, then the Bulls MUST beat the Celtics (a team who is fighting for 3rd in the East and a chance to avoid the Cavs until the conference finals) AND beat the Bobcats on the road (Bobcats are 31-9 at home). The pressure is on Chicago, but only if the Raptors hold it down tonight. Yea, that’s about all I got.

It had all the makings for a disappointing game, but the Raptor killer known as Nazr Mohammed was injured so there was hope. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve come to expect that when a team has been dogging it for 20 games (the Raptors were 6-14 heading into last nights game) that you can’t just flip the switch on a whim and compete. Last night against the Bobcats, it was more like a leaky faucet that slowly got turned on. Like the Atlanta game, the Raptors kept it close, took advantage of every opportunity that reared its head, and pulled out a gritty win in spite of some very poor officiating at that.

Before getting into it, with 9 games left before the playoffs, me thinks Triano has stumbled on a rotation of:

PG – Calderon
SG – Weems
SF – Wright
PF – Bosh
C – Bargnani

BN – Turkoglu
BN – DeRozan
BN – Jack
BN – Johnson

This lineup serves a few things: better balance on the starting 5 (Weems and Wright don’t need the ball in their hands to be effective); better defense at the wing to start the game; a much stronger second unit (Turkoglu should be beating up on opposing benches); and it just seems to flow better.

It’s go time now, so Bosh and Bargnani should be playing 38-41 minutes a night from here on out, giving Amir between 14-20 minutes of burn; a nice tight rotation. As you can see, there shouldn’t be any more than 2-3 minutes a night for Evans (all of which should come at the end of the 1st and 2nd quarters to give the front line some rest)

So back to the game, it started with Calderon attacking the rim early. He was able to blow by Felton and get to the rim for a layup (he missed it, but he got there) and assisting on the first three buckets by Bosh and Bargnani. Penetrate, draw the defender, find the open man. Calderon is really a triple threat (shoot, drive, pass), and needs to attack the defense every chance he gets. The court will open up and give him more options on offense, but when he just throws the ball around the perimeter, or plays the high pick-n-roll, he is doing himself a disservice. Raymond Felton still abused him on offense, but that’s expected, probably not even worth mentioning.

Like Scott said, Bosh played harder in the first 4 minutes than he has since the All-Star break. When the franchise is motivated, his production isn’t hollow and it actually leads to results. Up until last night, he would be around his season average, but he did it invisibly. I know you’re frustrated dude, and I realize you like to lead by example, but not many folks are as naturally gifted as you, so when you dog your way to big numbers, others will follow suit without the same result. Something to think about for the rest of the year fam.

The second quarter saw more of the same from both squads. The Bobcats would penetrate, kick the ball and swing it till they got an open three, and the Raptors were led by an energized DeRozan who attacked the basket every chance he got. I really don’t want to gloss over the 3rd quarter, but it was more of the same: the Bobcats got open three after open three, but the Raptors kept it close with Calderon and Bosh attacking from the outside-in.

Calderon especially had a good quarter, going 3-3 from the field while dropping 2 dimes. I’m singling this out because Triano came out in the fourth with Jack instead of Jose, who was having a terrible game up until that point.

At first I thought it was just to give Calderon a rest so he can finish the game strong, but Jack really picked it up, scoring all 12 of his points in the frame, including 7 of the last 8 Raptor points (all at the line). Then I started to get nervous that as the game was coming down to the wire, Triano would snap and play Jack and Jose together, but he didn’t, and Jay rode the hot hand down the stretch.

Have to hand it to Triano who made some great decisions (sitting Hedo to start the game and gambling on Jack in the 4th). You know I don’t think highly of his coaching abilities, but he threw down the gauntlet and always had the right group on the court.

How about that Hedo? Think Triano got through to him? I know I do. Even though he wasn’t happy to start the game on the bench, Turkoglu was stone cold last night, and made some big plays. I know he was brought on as the #2 option, but if he can be the 6th man and hit daggers like that, including the eventual game winner, this team could be a handful in the playoffs (I won’t be holding my breath though).

With a few seconds left in the game, Felton blew by Jack, but turned it over. Part of it had to do with some decent defensive rotations and folks talking, and part of it had to do with Felton just throwing a bad pass. Either way, the Raptors played hard the whole game, and gave themselves an opportunity to win the game, and they took advantage.

The Raptors stayed in the game by protecting the ball, and crashing the offensive glass. They had 10 more shot attempts than the Bobcats, who were able to keep the game close by going 12-24 from beyond the arc (most were open looks) and solid shooting from the free throw line. The difference was Jack though, who went 7-8 from the line, all at the end of the 4th, validating Triano’s decision to play him over Calderon.

Had Carmelo not hit that game winner, and the Raptors held on just a bit longer against the Heat, the Raptors would be 7th in the East (ahead of the Bobcats because they now own the tiebreaker). So as bad as they have been recently, what is keeping this team back is as simple as one possession, or a couple minutes of unfocused play from being a better team. Had Triano laid down the law a bit alot earlier in the season, things may have been different for this team, just something to think about.

You might recall the last Bobcats game, it’s the one where you almost stopped being a fan. You know how in movies when a violent crime is committed against somebody, the memory is a bit hazy and they only remember the most shocking parts, and when the police asks them to recall the events of that miserable night, they burst into tears because they just remembered how awful it all really was. That’s how the Raptors talk of the Charlotte game between themselves, that is, if someone summons the guts to bring it up. It’s usually forbidden to talk about what happened, whenever someone does accidentally mention the night, a lull of silence descends on the locker-room and one of the victims tries uncomfortably to change the subject. The conversation does move on, but deep inside every soul recounts the Horrors of Charlotte.

Jarrett Jack, refusing to publicly talk about the massacre, scrawled this note from underneath his bed:

“It was rough. I think we were at a point where we were playing well and then we kind of took a slide against those guys. I think that’s where our confidence kind of wavered in each other. I think when you lose by 40, I don’t think anybody can forget that”.

Jay Triano mustered up the courage to inspire the troops:

“We got embarrassed down there. They turned us over. They had 41 points in transition, 60-some points in the paint. It’s definitely motivation of what we have to stop heading into the game”

What I’m trying to get at is that the Bobcats kicked our ass like it’s never been kicked before. They actually ripped the ball out of our hands, ran back down the court while we retreated the other way and then dunked it with such ferocity that we feared inbounding the ball again. Tonight they come into our building trailing us by 1 1/2 games for the sixth spot, they recently lost 6 of 8 and are currently on a 7-game road losing streak which includes dropping one to the Nets. The Raptors have won four straight at home. We still hang on to the league’s 4th ranked offense but Charlotte counters with their 2nd ranked defense.

Last time around the Raptors were too easy going in their offensive approach and thought they could coast their way to scoring against the Bobcats, a clear sign of unpreparedness by Jay Triano, shocking once you figure in that it’s a Larry Brown team they were facing. The Bobcats’ defense jumped on us early and we were flustered into turnovers leading to points and the game was over before it started. With knowledge of Charlotte’s ploys through experience, the Raptors should be ready to take on the challenge of executing against a very athletic defense headlined by Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson.

Maintaining energy for 48 minutes is going to be key and Triano might want to go deep into the bench to find it. Pops should likely figure into this one as Triano is under direct order from Colangelo to use the end of the bench (save POB) when facing athletic teams. How do I know this? Well, if you paid attention to those little segments during the broadcast where some poor chap gets to ask Colangelo a ridiculously easy question, you would know. Weems only played garbage time that game but look for that to change too. I would also throw in Rasho in there to slow the pace down and maybe have them adapt to us, rather than the other way around. Nazr Mohammed’s 11/9 including 4 offensive rebounds in 18 minutes played a big part in our dismantlement and perhaps Rasho (DNP-CD) could’ve done something about it. We do catch a break as Tyson Chandler is out a week with a foot injury.

Here’s an obvious suggestion, Charlotte are 29th in the league (only ahead of the Nets) in making jumpers between 16-23 feet, they’re hitting only 35.4% from that range. They shoot 31% from three, that’s 24th in the league. Last time they had 74 points in the paint, 41 fastbreak points and 29 points off 18 Raptors turnovers. Taking care of the ball and making them shoot jumpers is the way to go; perhaps we should also flirt with the zone defense that worked rather well against New Orleans. How Jack, Banks and Turkoglu handle their aggressive trapping will be crucial. For a more visual representation of how much Charlotte would rather attack the rim than shoot the three, check this well researched article out.

Jarrett Jack will go up against Raymond Felton, a model of point guard that he’s suited to do well against. Felton’s smaller, a little quicker and a candidate to lay off of even though he’s upped his 3-point and field-goal percentages by 12% and 5%, respectively. He’s still only a career 32% three-point shooter and 40% from the field. Stephen Jackson will try to initiate switches and exploit you by using his size and post-presence, and Gerald Wallace will assault the rim against Hedo Turkoglu forcing the Raptors to help. How we respond in those situations will determine how well we neutralize their primary offensive threats.

Antoine Wright figures to play this one for tactical and trade showcase reasons. I can’t recall too many games this year where he’s been given the assignment on the other team’s top scorer and has come up big. I remember him guarding Ben Gordon well in the first Pistons game but not much to talk about after that. Nobody would disagree that his abilities were over-hyped in the pre-season, but it’s still surprising to see him fall out of favor so fast. I suppose not many anticipated Sonny Weems to account for something so soon. For once, I’d like to see Wright do a shutdown job on an opposing wing and be interviewed at either halftime or post-game, maybe Wallace or Jackson could provide that opportunity tonight? Whatever the case, he’s being a gentleman about it and not demanding a trade, something I was sure he’d do by now (unless he’s been secretly promised it as long as he behaves).

The upcoming four game stretch will test the theory of whether the previous four game stretch saw the team finally find its feet. Judging based on the poll, 65% of us would be okay with a 2-2 record, I’m assuming that means wins against Charlotte and Philly, and losses against Boston and Orlando. That is exactly what you would’ve hoped for last year if we had played these four teams in a row. So I ask you, have we really improved if our measures of success are still the same? So much for dreaming big.

The early line for this game has Charlotte laying 5 1/2, I say you bank on the Raptors’ pride and the “Reggie Evans Bench Intimidation” factor and take the points.