Now this is a game that I’m feeling good about. Even though the Nets are tied for last in the East, they are only two games behind the Raptors (and could make up half that ground with a win tonight). 5 games is all that separates 7th and 15th in the East, and since it looks like you don’t have to be .500 to grab a playoff spot, making the playoffs has lost a bit of its cache in the East; for me anyways.

Finally spoke to a blogger who didn’t stiff me over the last week or so; Mark Ginocchio from the Nets are Scorching stopped in and answered a few questions I had about the Nets:

Avery Johnson was an interesting choice for such a young team (likes to control the entire game), but I always respected what he did
in Dallas, how is he working out? The whole Avery Johnson situation is very interesting as a Nets fan. The front office and owner clearly loves him (in fact, many believe Avery is the de facto GM of this team, not Billy King). As a coach, he’s got this bunch playing better defense, though they’re prone to lapses. The offense still isn’t clicking, though it doesn’t help when Travis Outlaw is awful and Anthony Morrow is hurt. The thing that worries me about Avery is he essentially handpicked this entire roster and only 4 guys from last year carried over, and I’m already getting a sense that he’s losing patience and drawing lines in the sand between guys who play “his” way, or some other way. That’s, in large part why Terrence Williams was shipped out, and that’s why Troy Murphy is rotting on the bench (more on that). And while I know this is going to make me sound extremely paranoid, there’s something about Avery Johnson’s behavior that reminds of John Calipari’s stay in New Jersey,
and I don’t think I ever want to relive that fiasco again. Again, I’m more than happy to be wrong about that. In fact, I’m hoping I’m wrong.

Why does Johnson hate Troy Murphy so much?
The whisperings around Troy Murphy centered around him arriving in camp out of shape, which led to early-season back injury, which I think irked Avery Johnson off. Factor in that Kris Humphries has actually been a solid starting PF this year, a young Derrick Favors who NEEDS minutes right now, and there’s just no place for Murphy on this team right now, except as an expiring contract to use in a trade.

Looks like the Nets are going to make another run at Carmelo after stockpiling so many picks (5 in the next two drafts); this is a three part question: 1) How likely do you think a Carmelo trade is? 2) Are there enough pieces to put a good enough team around Anthony so he resigns? 3) Will the Nets trade for him if he doesn’t guarantee to resign?
I respect your three parts, but I’m just going to provide you one long rambling answer here to “As the ‘Melo turns.” Yes, I do think the Nets have the pieces to make a ‘Melo trade happen. They have tons of draft picks, a big fat expiring in Troy Murphy and a potential stud in Derrick Favors. If Denver can’t find a match here, then they were never going to trade Denver in the first place. As for whether or not a trade will happen – this is all about whether or not ‘Melo signs on the dotted line for NJ, and I sense a big game of chicken leading to the trade deadline. He’s not going to leave that money on the table with a new CBA coming up but if you trust the media, even the non-Chris Sheridan media, they think he won’t extend in New Jersey. He wants to play for the Knicks, meanwhile, the Nets ownership/FO seems obsessed in besting the Knicks any way they can.

Long story short, if I’m a betting man, I think the Nets are going to overpay handsomely, get Carmelo, and then exist as the 5th-6th seed in the East for the next few years. Don’t really think I’m a fan of it, but that seems to be the MO of those in charge.

How do the Nets match-up with the Raptors? What will be the gameplan heading into tonight?
The Nets are desperate for some offense lately, and even though Toronto is one of the worst defensive teams in the league, I don’t feel good about any match-up lately. I can envision Bargnani getting Lopez out of the post on both ends of the court, which doesn’t behoove anyway. Meanwhile, after starting out the season in great fashion
defensively, Devin Harris has lost a step or two with some injuries piling up. I don’t sense a blow-out, but unless something changes fast, I see the Raptors winning comfortably.

Injuries

Toronto
Reggie Evans – Out
Peja Stojakovic – Out
Jose Calderon – Game time decision
Andrea Bargnani – Game time decision

New Jersey
Anthony Morrow – Out
Devin Harris – Hurting, but will play

Match-ups

Point Guard
I like Devin Harris a lot; shame he’s playing for the Nets, or I’d be a huge advocate for him. As it stands, he’s having a solid, injury-free, season. He’s another perfect storm type point guard against the Raptors with quickness off the dribble and an improving jumper off the bounce. Harris will always look to score first, but has good court awareness and makes good passes. He turns the ball over a bit, but he more than makes up for it by seemingly getting to the line at will (#3 amongst PGs). With Farmar backing him up, the Nets have a solid 1-2 punch at the point. With Calderon questionable for tonight, a lot of pressure will be on Bayless to maintain the solid play he’s displayed over the last couple weeks. Barbosa’s speed and aggressiveness will be huge off the bench, but only to counter what Harris/Farmar bring to the table, and not as an advantage for the Raptors. Wednesday against the Wizards, Harris went to the line 17 times, converting 14. Can’t have him attack Amir and Ed every time he makes up his mind or it will be a long night. Actually, it will be a long night at the point match-up anyways; but it should be fun to watch.
Edge: New Jersey

Shooting Guard
With Morrow out, Farmar has moved into the shooting guard role, and he should suffer against DeRozan’s size and athleticism, but that depends on what kind of mood DeRozan is in. While he has some hops of his own, he’s giving up 4″ and 40lbs to DeMar…you see where I’m going right? If DeMar is in the game, he should be able to do whatever he wants; I have nothing else to add here.
Edge: Toronto

Small Forward
Ross gets the nod at the small forward, and I know little about the guy. Hollinger has this to say about him:

1. Quick, pesky defender with wiry build. Moves feet and rarely gambles.
2. Can hit midrange jumper but otherwise useless offensively. Awful rebounder.

The Nets are pretty deep with under-performing small forwards (Travis Outlaw and Stephen Graham; always trips me out to see Stephen), but they match-up well with the Raptors under achieving 3s of Weems and Kleiza.
Edge: Even

Power Forward
I always liked Kris Humphries the guy, never the player who took far too many liberties offensively and shot the ball more than I would have liked. I also had a thing for his sister …something about big girls…I dunno…

So while he’s not a skilled offensive player, Kris works works hard and does a lot of things fans/teams appreciate: crashes the boards, hustles on defense (not a great defender but at least he tries his best *cough*), makes garbage plays around the rim. If there’s one way to exploit him, is to let him shoot the ball from the elbow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him pass the ball when he gets it in the paint, and he’s not a great finisher; you can do the math. However, he’s having a career season averaging 8pts 9rebs 1blk a game; highlighted with a 17 rebound performance against the Wizards on Wednesday. I like Amir in this match-up with his size and athleticism. Kris isn’t a crafty offensive player, so he will have some trouble drawing fouls on the young one.
Edge: Even

Something to consider would be Triano doing some work, and putting Davis on Humphries, and matching Amir up with Lopez. That would be a better match-up for the Raptors overall IMHO.

Center
With Bargnani out, Ed Davis is in for a long night. This is going to be a serious trial by fire for the rookie, where he will have to deal with Humphries’ hustle, and Lopez’s…Lopez; I got nothing witty to say about him. Frankly, Amir has the best shot at covering Lopez, and should get the call for most of the time Brook sees the floor. Fortunately for Johnson, Lopez has tree-trunk legs and wont be able to keep up with him, or Ed frankly, on the break in an up-tempo game. Amir will have a big advantage on the glass, and should be able to get free enough on offense to counter whatever Lopez does offensively.
Edge: Even

With the Lakers in town on Sunday, and that ugly loss to Chicago on Wednesday, the Raptors need this one. The gamblers haven’t decided the line for this one due to the injuries, which in other words means they’re not trusting the Raptors to win this game without Bargnani.

Some administrative notes. It has been brought to RR that we’ve become one of those sites that employers block at their work due to employees spending inordinate amounts of time on it. If you happen to be a victim of this crime, we suggest you quit your job immediately and work for someone more decent. If you can’t do that, try subscribing to our email feed where you get RR goodness delivered to your inbox.

You might have also noticed that we’ve switching our commenting system so the replies actually go the right person and you get to use Facebook etc. more easily. One of the features that is currently missing is the highlighting of unread comments. Fear not, Arse has been heads-down on this and will get it up soon.

Tonight is also Raptor Fan Fridays at the SCC.

1. Rid us of Turkoglu
2. Bring in a complimentary piece to Bosh

The fact of the matter is that Bosh wont be making a decision until he is allowed to talk to some teams, and see what they have to offer; at which point he will either sign on the dotted line, or give Colangelo his short list of teams he wants to play for.

Either way, unless we trade yet another lottery pick (and throw DeRozan in), I expect this trade to make the Raptors better in both the short/long run. Take that however you want, but we all have another week to go nuts on the ESPN trade machine.

I had a chance to talk to Rob Mahoney from The Two Man Game about the Mavericks, and what the f*ck happened.

Sam Holako: WTF happened???

Rob Mahoney: Well, that depends on who you ask. Talk to the Maverick faithful, and the team peaked too early; after riding a big winning streak following the Mavs’ acquisitions at the deadline, the team had faded going into the playoffs. Talk to the realists, and they’ll tell you of a Dallas team that never could quite get it together defensively, and lacked the offensive versatility to protect Dirk from aggressive coverage. Ask an extremist, and you’ll likely hear stories of how centuries-old prophecies as told by soothsayers around the globe foretold of Rodrigue Beaubois’ ascension, and Rick Carlisle’s stubborn denial of the rookie’s destiny led to an extended fourth quarter benching in the decisive Game 6 and a destruction of the natural order of the universe.

Needless to say, it’s all a bit complicated. Still, the easy part is that the team just wasn’t ready. They weren’t good enough on either side of the ball to get past San Antonio in the first round — much less a potential match-up with Phoenix or L.A. later in the playoffs — even if they fell just short in almost every loss.

SH: One thing I have admired about the Mavs/Cuban is that they have continually retooled via big moves in an effort to win a championship (Butler, Haywood, and Marion). However, I’m not so sure Carlisle was/is the right guy for the job (although I’m a big fan of his). You touched on his benching of Beausboise a little; while I’m not convinced he would have saved the season if played, I can’t help but think that specific event was symptomatic of a larger issue. Is it time to reduce Kids role on the Mavs and increase Patrices? Does Carlisle have what it takes to make this happen without things detiorating?

RM: I really do think he can make it happen. Carlisle has shown a lot of flexibility during his time in Dallas (his reluctance to play Beaubois was the exception, not the rule), and that’s crucial. I mean, he benched Caron Butler in a playoff game. It was the right move, but the real question is how many coaches would even be willing to do that? That was a lot of salary left sitting on the bench and a former All-Star, but Caron was hurting the offense and Carlisle knew it.

Coaches need to be willing to play whichever players give the team the best chance to win, regardless of standing or reputation. Carlisle has shown that he’s willing to do that (except with Beaubois, apparently, but again that’s more a fluke), and he’ll continue to alter the rotation until he’s satisfied.

For what it’s worth, the Mavs — from Rick Carlisle to Mark Cuban to Donnie Nelson — have made it clear that Beaubois will have a bigger role next season, both playing off the ball as he did this past season and with more time as the back-up point. That probably won’t indicate much of a drop-off for Kidd, but the team may be more conservative with Jason’s minutes in the regular season.

SH: What’s this kids upside? Not very often you hear people scream about benching a late first round pick in favour of Jason Kidd.

RM: It’s incredibly high. The physical tools are all there — the speed, the length, the athleticism, the body control — and once he finds ways to properly utilize all of his gifts, he’s going to be a force. In the meantime, he was only second on the team in points per minute, led all rookies in PER and true shooting percentage, and shot 50-40-80 from the field. He doesn’t have a ton of experience, but at the same time I wouldn’t call him “raw”; his instincts serve him well. He’s coming along at the defensive end as well, but he played defense like a rookie. I expect a little more nuance in his defensive performances in year two, with a better understanding of opposing players’ tendencies, how he fits into a team defensive concept, etc.

I see no reason why Beaubois can’t be a star in this league for a long time. All of the components are there, it just takes time and a little opportunity.

SH: An issue that has split Raptor fans into two groups is the notion of Chris Bosh as a max player. Some of us, myself included, feel that he is an elite level player in the league who is worthy of a max contract (in terms of his worth on a championship team, I feel he’s more a Pippen than a Jordan), while others violently disagree. I want to ask that question of you, can a championship team be built around Nowitzki at this stage of his career? Is he a max player? Would the Mavs be better off dealing him and rebuilding around Beaubois?

RM: For the record, I think Bosh is a max player and I’ll defend that notion to the grave. Similarly, Nowitzki is still a max player, even if he may take a lower-than-max deal to help out the team.

You can still build an offense around Dirk Nowitzki, it’s just not the easiest thing in the world. There is no template to follow, because Dirk isn’t a traditional low-post player or a super-quick point guard or an athletic swingman. The league has never seen anything quite like Dirk; there have been players with similar skills, but no one that combines Nowitzki’s unique versatility, talent, and efficiency. He just needs the right components around him on both ends of the court to secure a title, and he’s never really had that.

Even in 2006 when the Mavs went to the Finals, the thing that really put Dallas over the top was Devin Harris’ ability to penetrate. Harris is the only post-Nash point guard the Mavs have had that could really attract defensive attention. Jason Kidd, for all of his talents, doesn’t command coverage. He doesn’t penetrate particularly well, and he’s not forcing defenses to adapt to his movements. Similarly, Erick Dampier has been the most successful center of the Nowitzki era. I appreciate Damp more than anyone, but if the Mavs had a superior center in the last few seasons, Dirk could have a title to his name.

He still could, but it’s going to take some kind of adjustment. The guys currently on the roster — Jason Terry, Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, et al — are talented, but probably not talented enough nor do they possess ideal skill sets. It doesn’t take a monumental change, but Dallas needs a few upgrades, and given that, Nowitzki could still be competitive for a title. There may be a day when the Mavs would be wise to build around Beaubois, but it’s not today. Or tomorrow. And probably not the day after that, either.

SH: Nowitzki isn’t getting any younger, but he still has a few years at an elite level in him. Cuban has shown the chops to make things happen, and has continually loaded up year after year with players that have put together great regular season teams, but failed in the playoffs. What players should he be targeting this offseason to compliment Dirk; or is trading Dirk the only answer?

RM: If I had my pick of any potential acquisition, I’d shoot for Dwyane Wade. Not exactly a great center that can anchor a defense, but he’s an elite scorer, a terrific playmaker, and an excellent defender that fills a positional need. That said, Wade won’t be giving the Mavs the time of day, which makes some of the other players that could be on the market this summer — guys like Joe Johnson and Andre Iguodala — far more reasonable targets.

Bosh is a bit of an odd fit in Dallas. Offensively, he’d be a dream, but I’m skeptical of Bosh and Dirk’s ability to coexist on defense. That said, he’s a hell of a player, and if the Mavs had a shot of nabbing him, they’d do their best to take that shot.

That shot would be something like Erick Dampier (or really, his instantly expiring contract that wouldn’t cost Toronto a penny), Rodrigue Beaubois, and DeShawn Stevenson’s expiring contract. If the Mavs were particularly desperate, they could agree to take on Hedo Turkoglu in exchange for Caron Butler, but that would sour the deal rather substantially in my opinion. It’s not a knockout for the Raps, but I honestly don’t see Toronto getting any return value better than Beaubois; he’s young, talented, and inexpensive, and would really only come with the additional cost of Stevenson’s one-year $4.15 million deal. Beaubois may not be Chris Bosh, but he’d be an excellent young piece that when paired with DeMar DeRozan, could give Toronto the most athletic (and one of the most exciting) backcourts in the league.

–

Damn interesting proposal if you ask me. Have to say, if Bosh said he didn’t want to play for the Raptors anymore, and the Mavs agreed to take Turkoglu in a S&T, gotta say this deal gives us lots of options in the short and long term.

I’m on Twitter.

Third quarters have been the Raptors’ nemesis of late, but not last night, not with the big man rolling the way he was.

“I didn’t think he was very good in the first half and I don’t think he feels very good about his game in the second half, but we kept riding him and we knew he would come around,” coach Jay Triano said of Bosh. “He makes a couple and they have to step out on him. And then he started to do what we need him to do and that’s take the ball to the basket.”

To hear Bosh tell it, he might have had the big night on the scoresheet, but it was the encouragement and razzing from his teammates before, and throughout the game that helped make it happen.

“I just had opportunities,” Bosh said of his 36-point night. “That’s how I play basketball. If I feel I can provide a spark for my team, then I’m going to come out and do that. It worked out today.

“I give credit to my teammates. They stayed on me today. They encouraged me to shoot the basketball and just play hard.”

Bosh said he never goes looking for that type of thing from his teammates, but when it comes, he’s happy about it.

“Marcus (Banks), Jarrett (Jack) and Antoine (Wright), they were the main guys,” Bosh said of his rooting party.

“Before the game even started, they were on me about playing basketball. They made it fun. They were telling me what they wanted to see from me and what they wanted to do. Any time that happens, I look at it as a challenge. You don’t feel like you’re out there by yourself.”

Toronto Star

The Nets, led by Devin Harris’ 22 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds, offered some scrappy resistance. In some sequences – when, say, Harris made a memorable second-quarter basket, spinning past Jack before worming the ball beneath Bosh’s outstretched arm for a beautiful scooped bank shot – the home team looked as though it might have enough competitive fire to give the Raptors a run down the stretch. The lane often parted as the Nets drove it. And the Nets managed to haul down 16 offensive rebounds to Toronto’s 11, this despite the visitors’ insistence that they’re concentrating on keeping opponents off the glass.

And there were moments in the game, especially early, when Toronto’s on-court body language spoke of an ongoing struggle. Bosh tossed a ball out of bounds, one of his game-high six turnovers, and Hedo Turkoglu, in the midst of a 4-for-13 shooting night, shook his head in disgust.

"We can’t let these kinds of games slide away," said Turkoglu after it was over.

Added Reggie Evans: "Sometimes we play down to the level of our competition. This was a good win for us not to play to their level. It feels good to get a win, period."

Globe and Mail

After Toronto fell behind 55-48, Bosh hit seven of 10 shots the rest of the period to key a 32-15 run that gave Toronto an 80-70 lead entering the final quarter.

“I just had opportunities … that’s how I play basketball,” Bosh said. “If I feel I can provide a spark for my team I am going to come out and do that. It worked out today.”

Bosh was particularly good at getting away from Nets centre Brook Lopez (18 points, 13 rebounds) for open jumpers or driving by the defence when they got too close.

Raptors forward Reggie Evans just smiled when asked about Bosh’s game.

“That’s why you hear him with the talk about Dwyane Wade and LeBron James,” Evans said. “That’s nothing new for him. That was a good game for him and all of us. When he gets it going it opens doors for everyone.”

NY Post

The Raptors, booed off their home court Friday in a 26-point loss to the Thunder, got in at 2:30 a.m., stayed in Manhattan and got waylaid by tunnel traffic.

And they still beat the Nets, who were back at full strength through the returns of Devin Harris (22 points, after a two-game upper-respiratory infection absence) and Yi Jianlian (nine points after missing six games with a high ankle sprain — the Nets would have been better off if he missed seven).

Yi shot 3 of 10 and was invisible defensively. The Nets shot 39.8 percent (33.3 percent in the second half) against the league’s 28th-rated defense.

The Nets blew it in the final 8:07 of the third quarter when they bricked 12 of 15 shots, committed three turnovers and went from a four-point lead to a 10-point deficit.

"It’s frustrating," Harris said. "Obviously there are key plays we’re not making down the stretch."

The Nets, who botched a key fast break with 4:26 left to miss a chance to pull within five, are now 7-62, losers of seven straight, trying to avoid breaking the mark of the 1972-73 Sixers, who were an all-time worst 9-73. Chins up — those Sixers lost their final 13 games.

NBA.com

The Nets tried to defend Bosh by either denying the ball, staying with his first move, or double-teaming on the catch to force a pass. Boone admitted that if Bosh gets that first step, he’s among the best in the league at finishing the play. And even when Bosh struggles, he remains capable of reeling off a stretch that reveals the reasons he’s one of the top three potential free agents this offseason.
The game pivoted midway through the third quarter, when Toronto went on a 24-10 run that flipped a seven-point deficit into a seven-point advantage. Bosh scored 11 of the first 18 points, and dished an assist to push his contribution up by two more. When a player that skilled ignites, the defense does not have easy access to extinguishers.
“You’ve just got to do your best to contest the shot, take away his first move and then just hope he misses it, definitely,” Boone said.

NJ.com

here’s the Nets team output in the second half – 39 points, .333.

Highlighted by that robust 8:07 stretch (3-for-15, three-turnover) to end the third period.

But here’s the thing that bugs you most:

Toronto, who had been booed out of Air Canada Centre Friday night after being blasted by 26 against the Thunder, didn’t exactly start this game like a team seeking redemption.
The Nets had a 51-48 lead at the break, by which time Harris had ripped the Raps for 16 points, which he compiled by hitting seven of his last nine shots – many of them while driving into the chest of a curiously docile Bosh.

Basically, the Nets learned what has become obvious to everyone else in the league: The Raps are probably the softest defensive team in the league, with an average yield (106 per game, ranked 28th) to prove it.

Second half? Your team was outscored 26-12 in the paint.

The Zan Tabak Herald

If the team plays well. Similar to how they were playing before the all-star break. They should be able to get the number 6 or 7 seed. Doing that will land Toronto either Boston or Orlando in the playoffs. Two teams the Raptors have a chance at defeating.

If they play poorly and continue to slide down the standings. They’ll either sneak into eighth and have to face the Cleveland Cavaliers or they’ll finish ninth and miss the playoffs all together.

Both would be disastrous.

Without stepping forward. And by that I mean advancing into the second round. Chris Bosh will almost certainly leave the team. That would leave Bryan Colangelo up the creek without a paddle, forced to salvage what he can, by utilizing a sign and trade.

Fan590

Thumbs Up:
- Bosh put the team on his shoulders for the first time in a long time.

Thumbs Down:
- Hedo Turkoglu and Andrea Bargnani.  Turk was 1 for 9 (FG) in the 2nd half (though he did finish with a fairly solid 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and only 1 turnover).  Meanwhile, Bargnani was 2 for 5 (FG) overall … ending the game with 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 turnovers.  In the first half he had 0 points, 1 rebound, and 3 fouls.

Smith Says:
- “It’s not exactly like beating the 1995-96 Bulls but this was still a good win for Toronto anyway – a must-win considering Chicago’s victory in Philly tonight.”

Jones Says:
- “Finally a decisive 3rd quarter win for Toronto.  That was the difference in pushing the Raptors to the victory.”

RaptorsHQ

Although I was happy to see the Raps get the win, in particular with the Bulls getting a W, there were times during the broadcast when I started wondering whether it’s not too late for the Raps this season. What is the best case scenario for this team now?

On the one hand they could make the playoffs as the 7th or 8th team. Now making the playoffs is generally a good thing but I have little doubt that if the Raps do slide into the second season they will simply play the role of sacrificial lamb to either Cleveland or Orlando. There is little evidence that the Raps could win a first round series and I have a hard time believing that another token appearance in the playoffs is what will convince Bosh to stay. From where I am sitting it was going to take a second round appearance for Bosh to be convinced that this team was heading in the right direction.

On the flip side, the Raps could not make the playoffs. That on it’s face would be a worse scenario but maybe, just maybe, it would be better for the franchise. The way I see it, making the playoffs and losing in 4 or 5 games is essentially no better than just watching the playoffs from home. In either case this team disappointed and changes are required. The biggest difference however, is that should the Bulls managed to climb ahead of the Raps in the standings then this team will suddenly have a first round pick in what is shaping up to be a decent draft class.

I checked in with Mark Ginocchio from NetsAreScorching.com to talk about his team:

What, if anything, can the Raptors expect from the Nets?
The Nets have actually been playing a bit better the past week or so and I really believe they hit rock bottom during their West Coast trip in mid-January. Their defense has been crisper, and they’re starting o get more consistent contributions from guys like Jarvis Hayes and Terrence Williams. They’re still absolutely terrible offensively, and if the Raptors get into any kind of groove offensively, there is no way the Nets can outscore them. But I do expect the Nets to at least be more competitive than they were the first time these two teams matched up in December.

Are there any legs to the Amare trade rumours? Who are untouchable on the Nets?
I think the Nets front office is definitely looking to make a trade because there’s a legitimate concern that the team’s awful record is going to scare away a number of the big free agents this summer. If they could find a way to acquire one of those guys now and sign them to an extension, it could go a long way to helping them secure another FA this summer. Is Amare that guy? The Nets FO seems to be really backing away from those rumors, so I’m going to say no. I don’t think they believe he’s worth a max contract, and I can’t blame them for that. With that said, the only untouchable on this roster is Brook Lopez. Period.

What is Yi’s upside? How good has he been for you guys?
Yi is a mixed bag. Offensively he’s light years ahead of where he was a year ago. He’s more aggressive in taking the ball to the rim, but he’s also shooting from the outside with more confidence. However, he’s still a liability defensively and a poor rebounder for a guy his size. He could evolve into a nice rotation player on a winning team, but I can’t see him ever evolving into the “next Dirk” or anything like that.

Anything else you want add?
Hey, thanks for the opportunity. I’m sure most NBA fans think the Nets are a laughing stock, but with a top four pick guaranteed this summer, and the cap space to sign a FA or two, I think it’s going to be a quick turnaround. There are a lot worse situations to be in in this league.

The Nets are coming off a loss that came down to a last second shot against the Pistons last night; for some reason, Harris opted to sho0t a three from 27ft with 7 seconds to go (we can only hope he plays with the same judgement tonight). Otherwise, he had his best game of the year with 24pts 14ast 5rebs in 39min. The last time we played Jersey, Jack/Banks owned Harris, who had a miserable 8pts on 4-12 shooting to go with 5rebs 4ast.

Banks should get some burn tonight with Jose unlikely (at time of publishing); the last time they played, Marcus dropped 14pts on 6-7 shooting with 6rebs 1ast. He teamed with Jack (6pts 1reb 9ast) to really take it to Harris the whole game.

Brook Lopez came up big against the Pistons too, with 27pts 7rebs 2ast, but don’t expect the same when lined up against Bosh and Bargnani. My guess is that the two will take turns abusing Lopez and Yi. When Humphries (who also had a good night last night with 9pts 12rebs) checks in…we counter with Amir. While the Nets have nice players in the front court, they don’t scare me at all, and wont match Toronto’s production.

With Weems and Belinelli moved to the starting lineup, the Raptors bench wasn’t its normal self last night. I thought it a mistake to have both offensive spark-plugs from the bench start, and it looks like my feelings were validated with Weems posting a donut, and the bench only chipping in 21pts (they did contribute a solid 15rebs 15ast). With DeRozan and Turkoglu potentially out with injury, the most optimal rotation, that doesn’t rape the bench, would be the start Wright at small forward, keeps Weems at shooting guard, and bring Belinelli in the game as the first man off the bench. This maintains scoring off the bench, as well as improving defense on the starting lineup.

Both teams are on the second night of a back-to-back, but the Nets are on the road, and have a thinner bench. Even worse, they are missing Del Harris, who is no longer a member of the coaching staff; which has Yi feeling sad. The gamblers have the Raptors as 11 point favourites, and I can’t agree more. I can’t think of a better way to forget a 15 point loss, than with a 15 point win.

We can all be happy that the Nets have won a couple before facing the Raptors, otherwise we would have helped them end that streak of futility; bet on it. Sadly, this is one of those games that I wont be happy with whatever result we get: if they win, it was because the Nets are a terrible team; if they lose, I’ll hit delete on the server and end the good run we had here at Raptors Republic.

I’m interested to see how the crowd reacts to this lot, since there is no one left from those rival years except Josh Boone. The hate for Jersey goes deep, but it was never embodied in Boone. Tonight should literally be a walk in the park. I don’t care how bad the Raptors have been playing, their fundamental problems aside, just looking at this Nets roster, it is clear they are devoid of any real talent. Sure they have a couple nice pieces (Devin Harris, Brook Lopez, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Courtney Lee), but that’s all this team is, a couple nice pieces with Bobby Simmons who makes $10.5 million this year.

This will be the first of 4 meetings (wins) against the Nets, and it gives the Raptors some opportunity to work on their problem areas in a real-game situation. Not that the Nets should be taken lightly since they are still an NBA team with NBA’ish talent, but this is as close as you can get to a practice that has standing implications as you can get, 2-24 FFS.

DeRozan needs some plays called for him tonight. He needs to be rolled into the offense, STAT! Send him backdoor along the baseline and lob him some alley-oops; give him the ball at the elbow and let him attack the paint; hit him with a pass as he slashes towards the rim, anything really. I’m not saying Courtney Lee is a slouch, because he isn’t, but if our rook starts attacking the rim, then the New Jersey defense will have to rotate to help, which will open up the rest of the guys for kick outs and offensive rebounding situations. Just a thought Jay.

How about we let Bargnani guard a center. The last couple games, he has been on the opponents power forward, and that hasn’t gone too well (Beasley 28pts 11rebs, Lewis 21pts 5-8 3pt). Boone and Lopez will have their hands full on defense, but if Bargnani is our center of the future, and apparently is a good post-defender, then why not defend a center who strictly will occupy the post? I feel like I’m missing something here becuase it isn’t like Bargnani gets sent over to help defend in the post, right? Anyone?

14…that’s the TOTAL number of rebounds Bosh has grabbed in the last THREE games. Unacceptable. This needs to truly stop tonight. If Bosh doesn’t grab at least 11 tonight, I don’t even know what to say… Lopez is a big boy, and is damn active on the boards, but without another solid rebounder on the Nets roster to battle in the paint, this should be easy pickings.

The number 1 reason the Raptors win tonight is that Lawrence Frank no longer coaches the Nets. He has really owned the Raptors over the last few years. The guy got a bum deal this year, but don’t get fooled, he is a top level NBA coach.

The Raptors are 8 point favourites tonight with the over/under at 206. I’m thinking it will be a rout: 106-84. Don’t forget to join us tonight at SCC for Raptor Fan Fridays. Tom Liston said something about a free round for every point the Raptors scored or something along those lines.

Boston Celtics

My Prediction: 0-4
Nov – Fri 27 @ Boston L
Jan – Sat 02 @ Boston L
Jan – Sun 10 vs Boston L
Apr – Wed 07 vs Boston L

Easily the cream of the crop of the Atlantic, and quite possibly the East (I still contend that if they were healthy last year, they would have won it all). The Raptors were 0-4 against them last season, and I expect the same this year. The Raps will struggle with Boston’s size up front, it’s not as though foul-prone Johnson is rounding out an elite Raptors front court. If they can counter that front court somehow (which they will have a very hard time with considering the Celtics just replaced Leon Powe with Rasheed Wallace), they still have to figure out what to do with Pierce and Allen. Excuse me if I don’t like our chances.

New Jersey Nets

My Prediction: 4-0
Dec – Fri 18 vs New Jersey W
Feb – Wed 03 vs New Jersey W
Feb – Fri 19 @ New Jersey W
Mar – Sat 20 @ New Jersey W

I have a feeling the Nets are going to be an interesting team. Thy don’t have a whole lot surrounding Harris, Lopez and Lee, but looking at this roster, they seem like a tough lot who is sure to be a well coached one. The Raptors were 2-2 against them last season, but in those two losses, VC had 39 and 27 points respectively. That first loss of the year was the gut wrenching one where VC sent the game into OT with a clutch trey then won it with that reverse alley-oop…we wont have to worry about him doing to that to us with the Nets, the Magic get that honour now. Anyways, they have no one that will give us any trouble, and we sure as hell can’t afford to lose even one game against them if we have post-season designs.

New York Knicks

My Prediction: 4-0
Jan – Fri 15 @ New York W
Jan – Thu 28 @ New York W
Mar – Fri 05 vs New York W
Apr – Wed 14 vs New York W

They will score in bunches and be exciting to watch, but wont be very much better then the 32 wins they got last season. The David Lee situation has not been resolved as of today (to my knowledge), which is a disaster as he has been one of their best/most consistent players over the last few years. Jordan Hill brings much needed size/toughness, but the only way the Knicks beat the Raptors this season is if they score loads and it comes down to a coaching battle. In any event, they can’t be slept on, they have the type of team that can get hot and run you off the court, but that will be few and far between. The Raptors went 2-2 against them last season, but have improved athletically and and bulked up. I have a feeling the Knicks will be worst team in the Atlantic.

Philadelphia 76ers

My Prediction: 3-1
Jan – Fri 08 @ Philadelphia W
Feb – Wed 10 vs Philadelphia W
Mar – Sun 07 vs Philadelphia W
Apr – Sat 03 @ Philadelphia L

They lost Andre Miller, signed a gangster and replaced Cheeks with Jordan. Forgive me if I don’t get too excited for them. I don’t follow the Sixers too closely, but for a team that went .500 last season, got the 6th seed in the playoffs, and took Orlando to 6 games, they sure as hell regressed (IMHO) this past summer. It’s not all bad for them. They went to the playoffs last year, have a slew of talented young wings that can get hot and give folks fits on the perimeter and a healthy Brand. Philly will be nipping at the Raptors heels, and be one of the middle-tier teams in the East fighting for the 5-8 playoff spots (the Hawks have 4 locked up, especially with the addition of Joe Smith up front). Each game against these guys will be a very important one, as the Raptors and Sixers will be neck-in-neck in that playoff hunt. They split the season series last season.

Boston aside, I have the Raptors going 11-1 against the Knicks, Nets and Sixers. Seems very ambitious, but if the Raptors want the 4th seed (which they wont get), they have beat these type of teams each and every time they play them. Even going 7-4 against them – and they steal one against the Celtics, drops them to 42 wins in my scenario, which will probably get them into the playoffs kicking/scratching/clawing and screaming, but with a 7th or 8th seeding.

Boston Celtics – 60+ wins
Toronto Raptors – 45 wins
Philadelphia 76ers – 40 or so wins
New York Knicks – 32 or so wins
New Jersey Nets – 30 or so wins
* please note, I had accidentally switched the Knicks and the Nets predictions, apologies.

That’s how I see the Atlantic shaping up this year.

Devin Harris’ questionable decision to let the clock run down so he could take the final shot of the game worked in our favor. When he broke Joey Graham to create 8 feet of shooting space and rose for that jumper a feeling of nausea came over me. At that moment the only thing to be grateful for was that it wasn’t Vince taking the shot because you know he would’ve drained it. Time expired as Harris missed and the prevalent feeling amongst every Raptor fan wasn’t of joy but of relief. The Nets went on a 16-5 run to end the game as the Raptors saw their well-deserved 11 point lead whittled down to one thanks to some very shaky offense late in the fourth. In the end the Raptors’ blistering 56% shooting and Jose Calderon’s intelligent PG play was too much to overcome for the defensively listless Nets. The Raptors weren’t much better, we allowed enough drive ‘n kick scores to make your stomach queasy but when you shoot that high of a percentage, basketball becomes a forgiving game.

Quick quote from Calderon:

“We’ve got to be more aggressive and try to make plays for one another. We need more games like tonight, where we make a good defensive play at the end. We knew we would turn this around.”

I have no idea what “good defensive play” he’s talking about. To my knowledge Harris’ shot was as clean a look as one can possibly ask for. Still though, I’ll take the win and the three game winning streak, something we haven’t seen since 3-0, remember those days?

The Nets started this game hitting their first five threes – four of them by Vince. He had 16 points in the first 6:53 of the game and had the Nets up 25-12. It was a start that reminded you of the Raptors in some games, shooting a high percentage, forcing turnovers and building an early lead only to blow it by halftime as the percentages evened out. Getting down to the Nets early didn’t seem to be much of a problem as neither team was showing any sort of defensive resistance. The high pick ‘n roll which we’ve seen less off under Triano was in full-effect last night and was producing early results for Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Parker and Jose Calderon. Calderon was masterful in his usage of the high screen, after he had forced the switch his recognition of how to play the big that was on him was a sight to behold, his decision making of when to step back for a jumper and when to drive against an eager defense was something you could make instructional videos out of.

Dribble penetration was a problem in the first half as the Nets got good shots off Vince and Harris drive ‘n kick anytime they wanted, Harris continued to attack but Vince eased up. His early threes turned out to be good for us because it made him believe that he could knock down every shot and it kept him on the perimeter all night long (shot chart). As bad as our defense against Harris has been this year there were some good things to point out today. Jay Triano had Parker defending Harris in spots and he did a great job of staying in front of him by conceding the jumper. Harris was reluctant to shoot and tried to get Parker in the air so he could draw the foul but the latter did a fantastic job of avoiding body contact and staying straight in his defense. When Harris had a full head of steam he drove by whoever he wanted to but picking him up early in the possession limited those opportunities for him. On the other end Parker had no issue finding space in semi-transition and elevating over the smaller Harris or the ever-late Carter or Simmons, he had 16 first half points and led the second quarter charge that cut the Nets lead down to 54-50 at halftime.

Bosh wasn’t playing well and seemed totally out of it. He had the ball slip out of his hands twice in the half and on another play it looked like the pass hit him on his thigh and he simply watched the ball roll out of bounds. His waiting game with the ball was getting annoying as it wasn’t fooling Brook Lopez or Josh Boone who were more than happy to give him space for the jumper, Lopez only bit for his fake once the entire game! Bosh hit his fair share of jumpers (shot chart) but wasn’t causing the havoc he usually does by forcing the defense to foul as he drives the paint. He finished with a relatively quiet 18 points and 6 rebounds on 7-13 shooting and went to the FT line only five times. Lot of credit goes to the Nets big men, especially late in the fourth quarter as we’ll talk about later. We also saw an instance of Bobby Simmons, a SF, guarding him effectively by playing him tight on the perimeter. That’s always disappointing.

I though Andrea Bargnani started the game off very well, he hit a couple early jumpers and had a nice power drive which he was unable to finish. He was setting good screens for Calderon and moving to the right positions on the court giving Calderon the option to pass back in case he was sealed off. He was the victim of some terrible calls in the first half including a very cheeky lose ball foul. Jermaine O’Neal replaced him and immediately went to his patented “power fadeaways”. You know what I mean? He’s backing his man down like he’s about to take a sword to his head but then as soon as he enters the paint his body fades and he launches a seemingly high percentage shot that has all kinds of wrong English on it to make it rim out or hit back rim. To his credit he did make a very important “Old O’Neal” move in the fourth quarter when he drove the paint and layed it in, as it turned out we needed every point.

The third quarter started off as every third quarter should – with an 8-0 run. Jose Calderon and Anthony Parker hit two threes (the other one assisting) and Chris Bosh was found by Andrea Bargnani for a jumper. The Nets finally decided to do something other than shoot jumpers and went inside to Brook Lopez who had already shown that he could handle O’Neal or Bargnani in the post. He established good position for himself on three straight possessions and was picked out nicely by the guard for solid post-scores. Impressive display, he’s going to be great. Andrea Bargnani picked up his fourth foul and I was shocked to see Triano basically take him out for the entire game, reminded me of Sam Mitchell. In Triano’s defense, the Raptors were shooting a ridiculously high percentage by playing small ball, basically matching Lopez with a big and having Graham, Moon/Kapono, Parker and Calderon out there for offensive purposes. With the offense clicking so well there wasn’t much reason to change things. Granted, if we would’ve lost there would’ve been a lot of questions raised as to why Bargnani wasn’t brought in to circumvent the failing fourth quarter offense.

We won the third quarter 34-23 as Calderon’s chipped in with an efficient 10 points, Joey Graham drew some fouls to get to the FT line, Moon hit his uh-oh jumpers and even Kapono made a three. Quick observation about Jason Kapono. We often complain that the guy passes up a clean look by pump-faking, stepping in and traveling in the process. I don’t mind the pump-faking part, it’s the stepping in which is unnecessary and throws everything off, he just needs to immediately get rid of the ball if the shot isn’t dead obvious to him. He had a bad turnover in the fourth quarter and got lit up on the drives but I really didn’t see anything terrible in his game today so I don’t know why the chat folk were angry with him. Maybe it’s just habit? Anyway, seven point lead heading into the fourth was nice but you knew the Nets had a run in them.

Before the season started I was of the firm belief that if Joey Graham was to make anything out of his NBA career it wasn’t going to be in Toronto. He was locked in Sam Mitchell’s doghouse and the keys were lost. Many fans pointed out his misuse and debated on his behalf in training camp for the last two years when the SF position was up for grabs, but it always clear that Mitchell had a special place for Moon in his heart which translated into a very long leash for Moon and practically nothing for Graham. It seemed that Graham would only get in the game if Moon did something asinine. Under Triano, Joey’s shown us two things that makes me want to keep him on this team in the future. First, he’s shown great composure in the paint when he’s applying finishes and secondly, his mindset is that off a true slasher. The jumper is his second option and he’s willing to move without the ball as long as there’s a chance that he’ll receive it. He’ll still have his stinker games but to me he’s shown enough to be ahead of Moon in the depth chart. He also feels that we’re back in the playoff run:

“This is a momentum booster and a confidence booster. We were looking for stretches of games like this during our stretch of loses. We needed these games to get us back on track, to get us back in the playoff run.”

The Raptors started the fourth quarter with the lineup of O’Neal, Kapono, Calderon, Moon and Graham. This crew maintained the seven point advantage by playing the Nets even for the first 5:36 of the quarter. In the +/- department this counts as a 0 but in reality they withstood a determined Nets rally led by Harris and Lopez. Calderon went cold to start the fourth and it was Joey Graham’s 8 fourth quarter points and O’Neal’s two crucial scores that kept us afloat in the first half of the frame when the Nets were making their jumpers setup by dribble penetration. We managed to extend the lead to 102-90 with 4:47 left when the inevitable choke job happened.

Chris Bosh, Jason Kapono and Jamario Moon took questionable shots which led to Harris and Carter driving the paint and kicking out for open looks – a Dooling three sandwiched between two Simmons threes. The lead was slashed to three on Simmons’ second but Chris Bosh drew a foul and nailed both FTs. Parker then went a classic 1-2 from the line and gave the Raptors a 6 point lead with 1:59 left. Calderon couldn’t get the offense to produce anything as the Nets were showing intent in fighting through the high screen. He forced settled for two jumpers, the first miss leading to a Vince three. With the Raptors nursing a one point lead with 1:05 left, they went to Bosh against Lopez who drove the ball but tried the tougher reverse instead of going straight up – the shot was blocked with a hint of a foul. On the ensuing possession Devin Harris broke down Calderon at the top of the key with mild help from a screen and went in for the score. Calderon had another chance to ice it but missed the jumper and that setup the final play already described in the first paragraph of this discourse. Did we choke down the stretch? Yes, but when you’re 10 games under .500 you’ll take anything.

One-Liners:

• Nets announcers were brutal. They were the biggest homers and questioned ever foul call. They couldn’t get Roko’s name right and made fun of Ukeeec about four times. Ukic’s old haircut was deemed as being something of a “Croatian Afro” by the Nets announcers. SirCarlEnglish in the chat quickly patented the word AfCro.
• Calderon went 1-5 in the fourth quarter and would’ve been the goat along with Bosh if Harris’ jumper had fallen.
• Calderon’s assist distribution: Parker: 7. Kapono, Bosh, Moon, O’Neal: 1 each.
• Will Solomon did not play and Roko Ukic only played three minutes with a line full of zeroes. Anthony Parker is your official backup PG. I still say we trade him.
• Chris Botch was the nickname given when he bumbled those first half passes.
• We are 2-2 this year when Joey Crawford is officiating so as evil, inconsiderate and conceited as he appears to be, he doesn’t have much bearing on the Raptors winning or losing. Although, some of those calls on Bargnani were terrible.
• Some stats: The Nets shot 15-32 from threes, the Raptors were 11-22. 25 of the Raptors’ 39 field goals came off assists. The Raptors split the season series with the Nets, both teams losing the home games and winning on the road.
• Harris’ decision to let the clock run all the way down before firing was poor. That’s something you only do when you’re tied, he should’ve shot it a few seconds earlier allowing for offensive rebounding opportunities.
• The announced crowd was 10,138. Riiiight.
• Our man Matt Devlin yelled out Overtime! as Harris missed. Forward to 6:03 mark of this clip.
• Best Lineup: Graham, Kapono, Parker, Bosh and Moon going +4 to end the third. Worst Lineup: Parker, Bargnani, Bosh, Moon and Calderon going -12 to start the game, mostly due to Nets’ hot shooting.

You can check the Roll Call for more on the game. Be sure to use Twitter to keep in touch with Raptors stories throughout the day and there’s also our RSS feed. Thanks for reading.

Trailing the season series 2-1, the Raptors head into Garden State hoping to tie things up and regain some pride that VC & Co. stole when they did this:

I hate the Nets, dating back to Babcock getting fleeced out of our franchise. It upsts me to no end that this team is better us at this point of the season. Have to give up to Thorn, Vandaweghe and Frank…upsets me…

Fresh off a loss to the Thunder on Monday, the Nets are a miserable 3-7 i their last 10, which still has them a half game removed from the priviledge of be thumped in the first round. In fact, prior to their 3-7 run, they were a respectable 17-18. There is hope for them, and his name is Devin Harris – best point guard in the East by my estimation (let the hate mail roll in). VC not getting a coaches selection is one thing, but Harris missing out would be a shame.

The Raptors are also 3-7 in their ln their last 10 with one exception – 2 wins in a row. The kool-aid is flowing in the Tdot. Jose is healthy for the first time this season and O’Neal is healthy like never before. This was the team BC thought he put together when declaring it the greatest of all time…2 wins in a row (3 wins in a row is the longest win streak of the season).

Regardless, JC has been killing it since coming back: 19.5pts 9asts 0to 79% fg 67% 3pt in only 28:22 minutes a game. Parker’s emergence at the point gives JC the rest he needs without having to rush back prematurely to save us all from the exploits of Solomon and the inexperience of Ukic, I hope he doesn’t get traded (unless we get a young athletic wing who can help a bit now and has huge upside). The key here is that Jose’s All-Star-like production is coming at under 30 minutes, which works out great as heavy minutes wears Jose down like the rail does AltRaps.

Speaking of the rail, gotta love Laura here…captain of the Nets dancers, Economist by education and dental assistant by trade.

Injury Report

Raptors:
Kris Humphries

Nets:
Yi Jianlin
Stromile Swift

The Matchups

Calderon vs Harris
The Edge: Even – for all the good Jose does on the offensive end, his defense is still suspect, and Harris will be ready to exploit him off the bounce. I fully expect to see stretches where Parker gets the nod, and will play off him and force Harris to shoot over him. The key will be to keep the youngin’ out of the paint, limiting his options to shooting or swinging the ball around the perimeter.

Parker vs Carter
The Edge: Carter – Please refer to the video above.

Moon vs Simmons
The Edge: Simmons – This is more a condemnation of Moon then endorsement of Simmons. Moon is in serious cruise control lately, and hasn’t been cutting it on either end of the court. I suspect that Joey will get nod to start, which would be the right move here.

Bosh vs Anderson
The Edge: Bosh – lol…the Nets rookie has been playing pretty good, but that is relative. Bosh should use and abuse this kid. I’m actually looking for Bosh to make his mark on the boards, an area of his game that has taken a dip in recent games.

Bargnani vs Lopez
The Edge: VL – They both have been playing very well lately. Lopez will give VL nuff trouble in the hustle department, and will battle hard on the boards. I expect Barny will have to box him out more then he normally does to limit his effectiveness around the basket, don’t want Lopez picking up any of those cheap points on put backs and garbage buckets. On the offensive end, expect to see Barny rain down the treys as Lopez wont be much of a problem out on the perimeter.

The Line

VegasInsider.com has this as PK -110, which I don’t know what it means exactly, but can only assume this game is equal odds…anyone?

Prediction

I have two voices in my head talking to me about this game:

Glass Half-Full – The Raptors will continue their spirited play, and extend the win streak to three and looking to avoid losing the season series.
Glass Half-Empty – VC will win the game off a rare 4 point play at the buzzer.

A cop-out I know, but I’m going the half-empty route.

Free Ukic!

For starters, I’d like to revisit a couple of ideas that I have been writing about for the last month and change over at raptorstalk.com In particular, I’d like to share with you my thoughts on the firing of Sam Mitchell, which seem even more true today than they did on December 4th when I first wrote this piece.

…is Colangelo the right guy to right this ship.

http://www.raptorstalk.com/2008/12/04/you-are-running-out-of-chips-mr-colangelo/

You are running out of chips Mr. Colangelo OR Why Firing Sam Mitchell only buys the Raptors more time to make less moves.

I give Rob Babcock credit, he may have been a horrible GM, but at least he had the “cahones” to admit he made a mistake AND then set about fixing the problem immediately. One disaster ridden season after hiring Kevin O’Neil as the Raps head coach, Babcock fired him and admitted he hired the wrong guy. Less than 6 months later after he was proven wrong again in hiring Sam Mitchell (whom he hired to be “tough on Carter” and was rumored to have fought Carter in the dressing room). He sent Vince Carter to New Jersey in a trade that still makes Raptors fans cringe. The trade may not have been great, but at least Babcock was trying to fix his mistakes. He traded Rafer Alston to Houston for Mike James only 1 year into a 5 year contract, and even apologized publicly for drafting Rafael Araujo. Mr. Colangelo its time for you to own up. Ya, that’s right, I said it.

You see, the real reason the Raps have their hands tied at the moment is because Colangelo is having trouble admitting that everything he touches isn’t gold. Yes, in part, his trading away of TJ last spring was an admission that he made a mistake in acquiring him in a swap with the Bucks two years back for Charlie Villanueva – but not really. Actually, Colangelo’s hand was forced and his response came much too late. Had Colangelo been more active and humble, he would have dealt TJ as soon as it was apparent that Calderon could play at an all star level OR dealt Calderon as soon as TJ returned. After all, look what NJ got for J-Kidd last year at the trade deadline – yup, that’s right, Devin Harris + picks! Instead, Colangelo was continually cocky in addressing the media about the issue by insisting that their “2 guard rotation” was the envy of the league.

He allowed the controversy to not only emerge, but grow, and fester, until it ultimately divided and destroyed this team’s chance of making any type of run in the playoffs. And then, come the summertime, teams knew that Colangelo had to move one of the PGs and the only choices on the market for fair value included players like JO and Gerard Wallace. Now don’t get me wrong, I like the JO deal and I have endorsed it from day one, but in tying up 21 million this year and 23 million next year in JO, Colangelo has tied his hands to making other moves, especially because he felt compelled to include a #1 pick in the deal when there were at least 5 potential swingmen on the board at #17 who may have been able to help the Raps this season.

Colangelo’s second biggest mistake (and another one that up until today he was unwilling to move on) was the 4 year extension he gave Sam Mitchell. Yes, it was not Colangelo who brought Mitchell to Toronto BUT it was Colangelo who gave him a contract extension. He didn’t need to re-sign Mitchell. Remember, when Colangelo took over in January if 2006, Mitchell was coaching a team that ended the 05-06 season 27 and 55 that’s almost 30 games under .500. But at the time it appeared that he held onto Sam Mitchell to hold as a scapegoat so that if the roster did not look stronger in his first year of GM he could simply fire Mitchell and move on. And boy did that plan backfire. Instead, Mitchell led the Raptors in 2006-2007 to a 47 win season and even won Coach of the Year BUT and here’s the BUT – his contract had expired and even though Sam was the reigning COY, no one would have balked if Colangelo had come forward and said that he wanted his “own guy” in there.

Instead he re-signed Sam to a 4 year contract and at that point Mitchell became Colangelo’s guy and he was committed to him – even when the team started off 2007-08 poorly (1-4), or when Bargnani appeared to take a step back in his second year, or when they got embarrassed at the hands of Orlando in a first round match-up they should have won a year after being exploited by NJ. Time and time again, Colangelo stood back and let “the process” play out as he backed his guy and as top notch coaches like Stan Van Gundy, Larry Brown, Jim O’Brien, Scott Skiles, and even Mike Dantoni took their services elsewhere.

And this is why the timing of the firing seems strange. After all, if he didn’t fire Mitchell after the embarrassing loss to Boston on home court that saw the team fall one game under .500 and to 12th in the East only days after Carter humiliated this team in overtime against NJ, then why would you fire him in the middle of a west coast road trip less than ¼ of the way into this season? With an almost certain loss coming Friday night in Utah and the potential of up to 8 more losses before a truly winnable game on Dec 19th against Oklahoma., why wouldn’t you wait until after December when the schedule gets lighter and you could use the coach as a scapegoat for the teams play in December?

The potential reasoning for the firing may be that the 40 point loss in Denver was more than any respectable fan could take, especially when the coach’s response to it on the FAN 590 radio station this morning was very nonchalant when talking about the disgusting effort his team put up in allowing the Nuggets to shoot 60% – a feat that has been accomplished more than once this season against the Raps. Maybe bloggers on this site were right when they mentioned how Mitchell had lost the confidence of Bosh and the dressing room or perhaps the chance to get his hands on Eddie Jordan or PJ Carlesimo who were both recently fired appeared too lucrative to pass up?

But more likely than not, it appears that once again Colangelo’s hand was forced and against his own better judgment he had to publicly come forward and again admit that he was wrong. Lets face it, if he didn’t have to, Colangelo would not have fired Sam Mitchell. How else do you explain how Mitchell has lasted this long?

You see Colangelo had to fire Mitchell because he needed to make some changes here and everyone knows that, but unfortunately there is no real wiggle room for him to make any player movement. This is a roster that has some serious holes in it due to Colangelo mistakes. He miscalculated the importance of guys like Garbajosa and Delfino by letting them both walk and then not replacing either players’ grit, basketball IQ, defensive toughness, and versatility to play more than one position. And with no real trading partners out there and with the team too close to the cap to even pick up a player at the veterans minimum, the coach became the only viable choice for change.

When I started thinking about who this team could trade to get better, the list is very short, in fact its really only two names: Bosh and Bargnani. You see, AP and Joey Graham may be expiring contracts but they only total close to 7.5 million dollars, which isn’t enough to bring back a player of any significance (that is of course assuming that you could get an NBA GM drunk one night at a league party and then get him to play a game of Kevin McHale and trade you valuable players for garbage). While Kapono would be liked by many teams, he has 3 more years after this season at 6 million a year at a time when most teams are very hesitant to take on any contracts past 2010 unless they are players of real substance (and Kapono is a good 6th man but not a real power player).

Calderon could be a valuable trading chip but there are 2 problems here: first, is that it would require Colangelo admitting that he was wrong, which we know he is loathe to do..BUT the bigger problem is that he has a BYC contract, which means that if they were to trade him in the first year of his new contract they could only take back half of what he makes in contracts from another team – and that means he only has a trading value of 3.5 million and that just wont get it done. And since, Colangelo may get shot if he trades Bosh the only chip that remains is trading Bargnani…ouch! Think about how tough that would that be – to admit that taking Bargnani was the wrong choice with the #1 overall pick.

You see that’s what firing Mitchell was really all about. The team needed change and Bryan Colangelo only had two choices: fire Mitchell or deal Bargnani. And while firing Mitchell doesn’t solve any of the roster issues or make the players here any better, it does buy BC time, time to sit back and hope that “the really big 3” can get it going every night. Time to hope that JO can stay healthy. Time to hope that Joey Graham’s secret twin brother decides to show up every night (that is the third twin who no one knows about who has all the talent but suffers from an anxiety disorder so he only shows up for 1-2 games at a time whenever Joey or Stephen are in jeopardy of losing their jobs). But most importantly, time to hope that there is another answer to admitting that he was wrong because apparently BC doesn’t like to do that, even when it costs his team wins and chances to win a NBA title. Just ask Joe Johnson.

As always, standing in the key, I’m the Dr. I’ve got my feet planted and I’m planning on taking a charge!

phdsteve