I’m still stunned; the best performance by a Raptor team I’ve seen in three/four years. If you didn’t know the standings, and that was the first Raptor game you saw this season, you would have thought that this is a top team in the association; that’s the kind of game that was played last night.

It’s harder to duplicate that effort on back-to-back teams, but there is an added element of playing Chris Bosh tonight, which can’t be overlooked. The Raptors have a bit of history with the Magic, and were able to flip the on switch last night. The hustle and tenacity they have showed so far, was there for the whole game. Makes you wonder if this has two speeds: play hard/aggressive for some of the game, play hard/aggressive for all of the game. That switch needs to be on tonight for the whole game; even though the Heat are 5-4, they are mighty dangerous.

I had a chance to speak with Kevin Arnovitz, super writer/blogger for ESPN TrueHoop and the Miami Heat Index about Bosh and the Heat:

What a mess this has become; the basketball is almost taking a back seat to the dog and pony show.
From the vantage point in Miami, it’s actually settling down if you can believe it. Because this team has absolutely no track record even though it’s stacked like a contender, we can expect every single big matchup to be treated like a playoff game. It’s the only measuring stick we have. And outcomes generally stoke the extremes. If they win (Orlando a couple weeks back), supporters will crown them champs. If they lose (Boston on Thursday), skeptics willl revel in schadenfreude and pronounce the Heat paper tigers. It’ll be that way most of the season.

5-4 to start the year wasn’t the result many were predicting, but the fact of the matter is that the big three in Miami was a far different animal than the big three in Boston. What will this team have to do to get back on track?
The adjustments aren’t huge. Right now, they’re 25th in the league in total rebounding differential. LeBron James and Chris Bosh are well below their usual numbers. So that’s number one. Second, they need to buy into a defensive strategy and stick to it. Erik Spoelstra generally subscribes to a Popovichian approach, but over the past week, there’s very little evidence of that on the floor. The Jazz and Hornets shredded the Heat on rotations, and Boston lured them into silly gambles and exploited them on pushed balls. Take care of those two things and the Heat will stat winning 75 percent of their games.

It was generally assumed that Bosh’s production would drop offensively, but his whole game has seemingly gone south fuelling a lot of folks up here to argue that he was just a selfish stat stuffer during his time in Toronto. What are your impressions about Bosh as a person and player after watching him closely for the last couple months? How does he get back on track?
I’m not sure that Bosh put up gaudy numbers in Toronto because he was selfish so much as he was the single best matchup on the floor on every possession, and the Raptors fashioned their entire offense around that principle. That’s simply not the case in Miami. With the Raptors, he had a 5-man who lured the other big away from the block, whereas he’s getting no help in that capacity except when Ilgauskas is on the court. He needs to put the ball on the floor more and stop ball-watching when shots go up. Personally, he’s been very, very confessional about his struggles. He’s admitted the speed of James and Dwyane Wade have made him skittish and that he’s been more deferential than he probably should be. Ironically, the best prescription for Bosh might be to a more selfish stat-stuffer when he’s got a favorable matchup and the ball comes to him at the weak side elbow. Those are *his* possessions and he should own them.

Does Wade have what it will take to let LeBron become the alpha dog on his team?
It’s tricky because, on balance, this team is putting up the offensive numbers it needs to. They’re putting up 108.5 points per 100 possessions, which tells us that except for a few stretches when the ball stops, they’re doing fine. Both guys need to get more comfortable working off the ball. LeBron did this in Cleveland, but it was with the understanding that nobody was going to supplant him as the focal point in the offense. Wade has less practice with it, but Spoelstra is running some nice sets where Wade darts up from the weak side corner past a couple of stagger screens or gets a handoff from Bosh at the pinch post. To me, it’s no so much a need for a defined Alpha and Beta as it is James and Wade coming to a mutual understanding that the team can kill it if each of them starts doing more productive work off the ball to scramble the defense.

If you could add somebody to this team in the offseason, who would it be?
What they need is a Marcus Camby (who is unavailable) — rebounder/shot blocker who doesn’t need the ball, but can keep it moving and make plays.There aren’t a lot of players like that available. But a healthy Joel Przybilla could help. Tyson Chandler will be a free agent, but he might be out of their price range and is also susceptible to injuries.

Injury Report

Toronto
Linas Kleiza – Achilles, Day-to-day
Ed Davis – Out
Leandro Barbosa – Out
David Andersen – Pretty sure he’s out again

Miami
Mike Miller – Thumb, Out

Match-ups

PG – Jack/Calderon vs Arroyo/Chalmers
Since the Heat have both Wade and LeBron who handle the ball so much, the point guard situation for them is interesting. Neither Arroyo or Chalmers are big components of this team, with the bulk of their contributions coming on the defensive end, checking the opponents point guards. Offensively, they are reduced to hitting open jumpers/threes when they get them, and generally not screwing up. This should be an area of focus for the Raptors tonight, since the Heat struggle when they play teams with solid point guard play. Both Jack and Calderon are settling into a rotation that saw both struggle to start the season. Jack will need to continue attacking off the dribble, while Calderon has to maintain his control over the flow of the game offensively, feeding off the pick-n-roll with Johnson and hitting the shots that come to him. After fighting Jameer Nelson hard last night, there might not be much in the tank tonight, but they are off till Tuesday, so finding the second wind tonight will be crucial.
Edge: Jack/Calderon

SG – DeRozan vs Wade
DeRozan was absolutely brilliant last night, taking it to Vince Carter every single minute of the game, running around, crashing the boards…basically contributing at a very high level. Wade is a much better defender than Carter, and he’s coming off a God awful performance against the Celtics, so we can expect a nasty chip on his shoulder. DeRozan owned the paint/elbow/top of the key last night, and attacking from there opens up the court for the rest of the team when the Miami defense collapses on him, much like what happened last night.

One of the best ways to play Wade is to make him play on both ends of the floor, forcing him to play tough and try to get him into foul trouble. Should be noted that DeRozan did play 40 minutes last night in a very hard fought/emotional game, so getting him off early to get the adrenaline pumping will be key. Asking him to win this match-up is not fair, but we can ask him to play as hard as possible and put Wade under pressure from the tip.
Edge: Wade

SF – Weems vs LeBron
After starting the season forcing the action, Weems has really fallen into his niche of letting the game come to him, attacking off the dribble and hitting his shots. I don’t like saying this, but the injury to Kleiza was a bit of a blessing in disguise in that Weems adds a level of athleticism that Linas just doesn’t have. It was a big cog in the Raptor run-and-gun machine last night, and will be a very important piece tonight against LeBron. That being said, there is nothing anything in the world can do to shut down LeBron since he contributes in every facet of the game. Much like the DeRozan/Wade match-up, Weems needs to make James play defense, and run him around. On offense, his jump shooting will keep LeBron far enough from the rim that his spectacular rebounding wont be as big a factor; he will still grab plenty boards, but it should give Reggie one less person to worry about on every board. I was never a fan of calling Weems ‘Money’, but after last night, the nickname sticks for me. Hitting a game winning shot from behind the arc finally earns him such a big nickname.

Should be mentioned that Julian Wright has played damn good at the small forward spot the last few games. I like his length and agility on LeBron (not that he will stop him, but he could slow the guy down). His contribution on defense will be paramount.
Edge: James

PF – Evans vs Bosh
Haters unite, tonights your chance to rip Bosh up in the comments, chat and twitter. The hate being spewed at Chris has been epic, and more so than what Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady ever got from us. It only goes to show how important, and how tied woven into the teams identity Bosh has become over the years. Evans played Howard perfectly last night. While Howard still had a monsterish night (25pts 8reb 5blk), most of his points came as the garbage variety where the Raptors had a hard time matching his sheer physical prowess. Bosh doesn’t have those gifts, and will be working outside-in as he does. I like Evans in that role since he can put pressure on Bosh outside the paint, then keep him on his back when the shot goes up (limiting his rebounding effectiveness). Unlike Howard though, Bosh wont be missing 10 free throws in a game, so putting him on the line, and tempting him to beat us from there will be a terrible strategy. Bosh is right around 15pts 6rebs a night, which was expected to a degree, except for the rebounding. He has trouble playing at the speed Wade and James operate, so if this becomes a run and gun game, his contribution will be minimized.

I do expect to see Bosh play Bargnani on defense quite a bit this game, with Joel Anthony checking Evans in the paint, and am really looking forward to see how this plays out. Bosh has the quickness to stay with Bargnani off the dribble, and should know enough not to go for his pump fakes at the arc.

Wifee is pissed at me since I broke plans to watch this game, this is how important playing Bosh is for me this season. Beating him to a pulp would be sweet for me, and if Evans plays him the way I think he will, the Republic will treat him to a steak at Jacob & Co.

Haslem will have a big say tonight, and can’t be overlooked because he does everything right on the floor, and can pull Evans out of paint with his mid-range and away from the glass.
Edge: Evans (yea, I said it)

C – Bargnani vs Anthony
A mistake the Raptors did last night was not forcing the ball to Bargnani a bit more in the 3rd quarter, to maintain that ridiculous zone he was in, in the first half (9-12 from the field for 21pts). A lot of that had to do with Orlando sending a double at Bargnani, but a lot had to do with the game-plan coming out of the half. Compared to the last week or so, Bargnani should own Anthony tonight. How he handles Bosh when they match-up will be the key tonight. I’m basically looking for a repeat from last night, anything less, and this bad boy can get ugly fast.
Edge: Bargnani

Keys to the Game

Play Big
The Heat don’t have the same athletic front court the Raptors do. Between Evans, Johnson, Bargnani and Dorsey (to a smaller degree), the Raptors have the horses to really take it to a weakish front line that’s full of old men (Ilgauskas and Magloire). Haslem wont be breaking the game wide open, Anthony is only here because the Heat had no other choice which really leaves Bosh, who isn’t a big fan of the physical play, although he’s great at drawing contact and getting to the ine.

Substitutions
The injury situation has forced Triano’s hand into playing a tight rotation without the hockey substitutions, which we all know is how this game should be played. Making 4-5 guy chances disrupts the flow of the game for the Raptors, and has been a big piece of why they haven’t played well. The Heat have the luxury of fielding a team, where the best player in the world can play 5 positions. Triano (I’m just putting this out there) and Carlesimo’s ability to put out the best lineup will be crucial, especially considering that the Raptor starters played heavy minutes last night.

Sticking it to Bosh
This game needs to be more than just winning another game. Last night, the Raptors went into Orlando on a 6 game losing streak, and needing to stop the bleeding. They were able to dig deep and get a result that helped heal the team. Tonight, we play the guy who left us for greener pastures. I for one hold Bosh’s tenure in Toronto in high regard, and have nothing bad to say about him; but if we use his departure as motivation, it could serve as an ex-factor to fueling a win. Think about it, how sweet would it be to leave Florida beating 2 of the 3 elite teams in the East, where you’re ex-franchise player calls home?

The Line

The Heat are 15 point favourites with an over/under of 200.5.

How much the Raptors have left in the tank after an emotional game, and their ability to dig deep and summon the will to beat another elite team will determine this game. I will say this though, we will know very quickly how this game turns out. The 1st quarter will be telling.

We had a pretty good turn out for live chat, considering expectations were low for the game. I expect tonight to be super bumping on Twitter, Facebook and Live Chat; support the habbit.

“I don’t get it, what did we end up with?”

“Limp noodle (Andrea Bargnani), is he still on the team?”

My girl said that to me as I sunk into my seat while TSN played the Bosh presser. I seriously don’t know where to begin, except to say that there is no hard feelings towards Bosh from this corner of the internet (Arse excluded). All my anger and disgust are squarely aimed at the brass for failing this city so miserably, yet again.

Some bad PR aside, Bosh stayed true to the tenets he had maintained since his exit interview:

• Be a core piece of a championship calibre team (think Pau Gasol)
• Max contract (the Florida tax situation puts him damn close without breaking out a calculator)
• That he will resign with the Raptors IF he feels they are doing everything possible to put a quality team around him

We can do nothing but speculate about what was said between Colangelo and Bosh’s camp up until yesterday, but one thing was clear: there was not enough communication between the two groups. For that, the blame gets spread around evenly. However, you can’t take a couple tweets about the excitement of getting courted from a 26 year old guy to heart, that’s all I’m saying. While I fully believe that Colangelo was working like a mad man to get Bosh to resign, clearly not enough was done to appease him. For starters, perhaps he could’ve made the trip to Texas last week instead of sending his assistants.

By signing outright (for now, Colangelo can still negotiate a max S&T) with the Heat, Bosh has put winning a championship above everything else. For that, we should ALL have nothing but respect for the guy. Sure, the Heat only have Wade, Beasley and Chalmers under contract; they will have a tough time filling out the roster with enough talent to be a championship contender next season, but Riley has built a championship team in Miami in the past without a running mate for Wade of Bosh’s caliber. Top four team in the East as things stand? I say that’s about right.

Where did it all go wrong?

Colangelo had three summers to improve upon the surprising 47 win team that raised all of our expectations. While there were a couple smaller moves that worked out fairly well, Amir/Belinelli/Jack, the larger ones failed miserably:

1. He underestimated the value of Jorge Garbajosa after he went down with a broken leg, and literally did nothing to replace him in the lineup. While Jorge wasn’t the most talented of players, he was a glue guy for the Raptors who did a lot of the little things necessary to win games. The thinking at the time went that the team didn’t need a whole lot of tinkering, so there wasn’t any at all. Foul ball: 0-1
2. After getting thumped by Orlando in the first round of the playoffs, the Raptors had a clear need for a second “20 point scorer” who could take some of the load off of Bosh, so defences couldn’t zero in on him and grind our offense to a halt. Jermaine O’Neal was obtained to be that guy who could come in and be fill that role. Seemed like this was the start of a couple other moves (a shooting guard in the mold of Mickael Pietrus would have been a good fit), but it was the only move. JO didn’t pan out at all, and things went from bad to worse prompting the premature (but widely expected) firing of Sam Mitchell. O’Neal was promptly shipped to Miami (with a 1st rounder to boot) for the expiring contract of Shawn Marion and the crippling contract of Marcus Banks. Strike two: 0-2
3. The Raptors still needed that second option on offense, so Shawn Marion was turned into Hedo Turkoglu who, while coming off a great playoff run, couldn’t recreate the Magic (sorry) he displayed for Orlando. Hedo literally provided no relief on the offensive end of the court, and the Raptors narrowly missed the playoffs. To make matters worse, Hedo made a bigger mess with his appearance on Turkish television saying he wanted out and that the organization was unfair in their handling of his going out on the town. To top it all off, Colangelo outbid nobody and re-upped Bargnani to a 5yr/$50million contract instead of letting him prove his worth in a contract year and relying on the qualifying offer. That still could work out, but so far it hasn’t. Strike three: 0-3

If you were given the choice to play for Colangelo and Triano alongside Calderon, Turkoglu and Bargnani, or for Riley and Spoelstra alongside Wade and anyone else in the league – in Miami of all places, who would you choose? I think he made a great basketball decision. Doesn’t even matter that LeBron wont be joining them, since the pairing of Wade and Bosh rivals that of Kobe and Gasol.

Where does that leave the Raptors?

There is still some hope. Colangelo can still swoop in and try to make some things happen by giving Bosh a max contract, while trying to make a couple other things happen. I prematurely posted a Bucher rumour the other day that looks MIGHTY fine to me right now:

To Miami
Bosh/Calderon

To Toronto
Chalmers/Beasley and a trade exception

It is doubtful we get any draft picks back since Bosh was willing to forgo some salary to sign outright with Miami; Riley has proved to be a shark in these matters. The Heat still need a top calibre point guard, which Calderon still is. This leaves them enough space to fill out the roster by signing a few of their own free agents, while grabbing some veterans. Not a bad start for the Heat.

Where do we go from here?

The short: it leaves a squad with a lot to be desired. You can’t expect that Beasley will replace what Bosh (you also can’t expect him to even be a part of our imaginary dream either) brought to the table, you just can’t. The kid has talent, there is no denying it but the other stuff that comes with him frankly has me nauseous. A front court of Turkoglu, Beasley and Bargnani doesn’t get me excited, but it does get rounded out with Johnson, Evans, Davis and Alabi. Chalmers and Banks back up Jack, with a trio at the wing of DeRozan, Weems and Belinelli. That isn’t terrible, but there are no stars, and no one who can create their own scoring opportunities AND get to the line like Bosh did. The playoffs would be an unlikely event with this group, though.

IF Colangelo can negotiate a S&T that includes Jose AND if he gets back a large enough trade exemption that we can land a star somehow (I hear Chris Paul is available if you take Emeka Okafor’s massive contract, just putting it out there) AND if said trade exception is properly managed, things are salvageable BUT I wont hold my breath based on this teams history.

Here’s another IF: LeBron James. IF he decides to sign in Miami, expect a deal to get done that includes Beasley. The Heat still need to clear some space to bring in the second max free agent. With LeBron’s ego LeBron James holding a presser at 9pm tonight, Colangelo has a small window of opportunity to possibly take advantage of Riley since the clock is ticking to get LeBron to sign in Miami. Fortunately this ordeal will be over with quickly, then we can get to the important business of debating the crap out of our secondary tier of players and what to do with them.

I’m on Twitter.

There weren’t many Raptors fans who expected Chris Bosh to stay in Toronto once the season had ended, let alone blame him for leaving. Instead, we blamed Colangelo for using bandaids to fix hemorrhages and bringing us to the point where we’d be losing a highly sought player for nothing. Unlike Vince Carter or Tracy McGrady, and more like Roy Halladay, Chris Bosh would not be seen as a bad guy, and the reasons for his departure would be plainly understood by the fans. Despite what you thought of his strong points or shortcomings as a player, his exit was more or less understood because as he stated so clearly, he cared about nothing but winning and any self-searching Raptors fans can tell you that we’re not close to that. “I want to play in the postseason. I want to advance. I’ve been playing seven years. It’s time to start thinking about stuff like that for me, because I don’t know how many years I have left. I know I’m still a young player, but I remember when I got drafted guys were 25, 26, and now they’re on their last deals,” Bosh had said.

How Bosh has managed to transform the public’s perception of him from “good player tired of losing” to “greedy attention-seeking diva” is truly a thing of beauty. All Raptors fans wanted was a little feigned sadness and respect, instead we got a dose of egotism that changed our perception of him for the worse. He has handled the 2010 free-agency period about as poorly as one can. Whereas Dwayne Wade and LeBron James have met with other teams without alienating their existing ones, Chris Bosh has done exactly that. He’s managed to damage, if not burn the bridge with the Raptors 140 characters at a time for no other reason than to shine the light of attention upon him, and it has completely backfired. At LeBron James’ meeting with the Bulls in Cleveland, Cavs fans thronged the streets holding signs and booing the Bulls’ motorcade. Would anybody in Toronto even bother sending him an email asking him to stay? I think not. Even loyal fans have stopped updating their “Chris Bosh, please stay” website, and you can’t blame them.

Bryan Colangelo hasn’t sounded confident of re-signing Chris Bosh since the season ended, but the recent rumours that he’s inclining towards not even bothering with a sign-and-trade just to teach Bosh a lesson is reason to be concerned. As much as some would like to see Chris Bosh out $30 million, that line of thinking is hardly prudent and bordering on neglect. Amidst all the free-agency mayhem, one thing should not be lost: Bryan Colangelo cost us a decent return on Chris Bosh. An NBA GM must have the foresight of seeing what could transpire in the future, weigh his chances, and act accordingly. Hindsight is definitely 20/20, but fans aren’t being unfair to Colangelo when they state that he should have traded Bosh at the deadline, if not last summer. Instead of basing his decision not to trade him on wins against the NBA’s minnows before the All-Star break, Colangelo should’ve separated water from wine and done the right thing – traded Chris Bosh. Anyway, this post isn’t written to whine about that, so I digress.

As stated yesterday, there are reasons why a sign-and-trade with a trade exception as return isn’t the greatest option, but it is one that has more merits than disadvantages. The same is true for receiving whatever Miami will throw at us. Michael Beasley isn’t a model citizen or a player, but he is a second overall pick who has shown more than what our first overall selection has, and to think that he can’t help this team (on the court or in another transaction) is not seeing the forest for the marijuana trees. Writing off Beasley after two years but sticking with Bargnani after four doesn’t compute (year 1 comparison, year 2 comparison). Same goes for Mario Chalmers, obviously the two aren’t “fair” return value for Bosh, but at this point you swallow your pride, take the deal, and build on it or parlay it into something else. Or do you call the bluff?

It’s unlikely that Bosh’s attention-starved ways have cost him a maximum contract on the open market with a team who has the cap space but not the route to acquire James or Wade. However, Bosh will be, at the very least, reluctant to leave $30 million on the table, after all, he’s showing that he’s a business man first and a basketball player second. If Colangelo refuses to partake in sign-and-trade deals, you could see the Raptors become Bosh’s only option, and as interest in him dies down, it’s possible that he’ll come crawling back to the Raptors. In this case, what do the Raptors do? If this does happen, it’s clear that the only reason he’s considering Toronto is because of the money and nothing else. Do we want a player like that, especially given his track record when it comes to winning and being the focal point of a team?

If Bosh truly, in his heart of hearts cared about winning, he’s recognize the plain truth – he’s in a lower tier that of Wade and James, and take less money to sign with the Heat and bring fruition to Team Trinity. But that’s not happening and it speaks to his priorities.

The other issue of confusion these days is what to think of Chris Bosh’s service in a Raptors uniform. Overall, it’s to be appreciated and met with applause, he played relatively hard throughout his career, didn’t complain, brought the points and rebounds, and accepted the role of the franchise player which was shoved upon him only because there was no one better. After Vince Carter left, the franchise was desperate to replace him for fear of losing the momentum Carter had brought to the city, and Bosh was presented as the man leading the charge. It wasn’t fair to ask that of him and when he didn’t deliver instant glory, people started questioning his superstar status, when he didn’t even claim to be one. As the saying goes, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness, rather unsuccessfully, thrust upon them. The latter applies to Bosh. Good player, good competitor, not a good leader and hence, a longshot to be a franchise player.

The debate of whether the GM did enough to surround him with talent, or whether he failed to lead the team, can go on for months without anything fruitful coming from it, our time is better served looking to the future than dwelling on the past. And Chris Bosh is now part of the past. Just like Mitch Richmond in Sacramento, Ray Allen in Milwaukee, Tracy McGrady in Orlando, Grant Hill in Detroit, Kevin Garnett in Minnesota, and the many failed instances of a single second-tier star trying to lead a team to glory, this era has ended.

As usual, check the front page for the latest.

Three years ago, Bosh signed a short term deal for a couple reasons:

1. His people knew that with the CBA coming up, he would be in line for the last of the truly max contracts teams would be doling out until the next CBA comes up for negotiation.
2. He didn’t want to be locked into a long term contract with a team who might have different goals than he does.
3. He wanted flexibility.

No different than what any of us do when we negotiate with a company for a job; we want to be in the best situation possible. Sadly, Bosh is being dragged through the mud worse than VC and T-Mac were, and for what? The guy wants to play for a championship calibre team. He doesn’t like the direction this team is heading in? He wants to live in warmer weather?

In his exit interview he said he wants to stay but needs BryCo to give him a reason too. Up until this point though, what compelling reasons were given to him? Sure BC rolled the dice and brought in JO and Hedo, but to what effect? History has shown that this organization hasn’t been able to make the right decisions, and surround Bosh with the right talent. What is going to change all of a sudden to make things right? One of these gambles actually pays off? Seriously?

Let me ask you this: if your boss gave you a hockey stick and a fax machine, and told you to catch an elephant, what would you do?

Run; the answer is to run hard and fast.

Granted he might not have handled the situation very well, but this is a no win situation for him; he has a million mics in his face, being asked a million questions (all the same one though), and we throw him under the bus for saying how attractive it would be to play with Wade and/or LeBron to compete for championships. I know I would rather go elsewhere and play with Wade and LeBron than stay in Toronto and play with Hedo and Bargnani, wouldn’t you?

Beasley and Bargnani is something that makes you excited for the future of this team? Amir Johnson…?

So before you spit fire at Bosh, remember that he plays ball with the people he is told to play with, coached by people he is told to listen too by an ownership group that may not have winning a championship as their first priority. Winning starts from the top, the Lakers and Celtics have shown us that.

—–

Congratulations to Sam Mitchell for landing an assistant-coach gig in Jersey under Avery Johnson. Will be great to have him on the sidelines again.

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.

I checked in with Surya Fernandez from Hot Hot Hoops to talk about the Heat and the newly formed commission (Bosh, Wade, LeBron and Joe Johnson). We’re still getting weak trade offers for Bosh; I guess a 24pt 11reb a night kind of guy has no value around the league. It’s actually making me question what I think I know about basketball (which granted isn’t very much since I thought the Suns were going to be thumped buy the Spurs in the 2nd round).

Without even making a reach, Riley has a lot of options to pair Wade with an elite level forward this summer (Bosh, Boozer and Stoudemire), so you can expect him to jump at the first option regardless of who he really covets. I’m going out on a limb and predicting Bosh doesn’t end up in Miami this summer, but that the Heat will be a 50 win team next season with the additions Riley makes.

Sam Holako: What do you make of this free agent commission Wade, LeBron, Bosh and Johnson have put together to discuss their fates? Seems sinister, and frankly, I’m a little disappointed about it – whatever happened to being a man?

Surya Fernandez: It’s all a matter of perception. Toronto needs to find another willing team to do a sign and trade should Bosh want to go elsewhere to get something decent in return and start a new era. The Heat have been treading water for the last couple of years and are finally free of that huge chunk of salary cap that dated back from Shaq’s last contract extension. Wade doesn’t sound like he’s leaving so there’s little doubt that he’ll try to do some recruiting at this summit. There’s nothing else for him to talk about. I don’t mind players that are friends getting together and talking about something this important in their lives and careers. Maybe they all go their separate ways and nothing much comes of it. Just imagine what owners and GMs talk about when they all get together. It must be worse than a sewing circle.

SH: With Wade staying, I look at the team, and don’t see much of anything there: Chalmers is a nice player, Beasley has talent, I’m a fan of Joel Anthony, but outside of that, what does Miami do to round out the roster? What does Miami do to become relevant again?

SF: o question it’s a huge question mark with that many contracts clearing the books. But there is a lot of flexibility that comes with that. Udonis Haslem and Dorell Wright are solid players that can be retained or used for sign and trades to secure a point guard, the Heat’s biggest need. Chalmers and Beasley can be traded but if they stay will provide depth.

I’m not a fan of simply giving out max contracts to just anybody and I would pass on Amar’e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer and Joe Johnson because other teams that may miss out on the bigger names will be offered a max contract by a team like the Knicks, Clippers or Nets. If you can sign James or Bosh then that’s great but the Heat could also use the rest of the $10-12 million to round out a roster with some quality big men and long range shooters. I just wrote (Affordable free agents that the Miami Heat should pursue) about nine free agents that the Heat should go after if they went this path.

Another method that isn’t discussed much is to hold on to some of the cap space to facilitate trades with other teams after the season starts leading up to the trading deadline. Riley said last month that the makeover process could take up to 18 months. Teams will want to shed contracts (like the Marcus Camby or Eric Maynor trades) and the Heat could absorb them easily (and perhaps acquire a few draft picks in the process) to get some more depth leading up to a playoff run.

SH: That’s quite the list, what stands out for me is Oberto and Foye. With the Wizard probably shopping Arenas; what would you think about engineering a trade to land Arenas and Oberto for cap space and Haslem, still having enough cap space to sign a Bosh? That would be a lethal backcourt.

SF: On paper it would be a lethal backcourt. The problem is that the Wizards on paper before the start of this season were thought of as a playoff team. First you have that huge contract that in and of itself would be drawback even if it was the Arenas of a few years ago. Then you have the health issues that he never seemed to have recovered from then the gun incident that derailed the entire franchise. I’d stay away from him.

If Miami wants to try it out with an oft-injured player past his prime I’d rather take on Elton Brand and net the second overall pick too from the Sixers. His contract is just as bad as Arenas but at least then you could rationalize it by having two players who combined make “X” amount of money because of this trade. Both could be useful immediately for the Heat if Brand is at least healthy enough to contribute like Jermaine O’Neal did this past season (putting aside the Celtics playoffs). And the Heat will have an awesome rookie talent at that pick.

SH: Philly was my next option; I really think Brand will surprise folks once he gets out of Philly. Make me an offer for Bosh in a S+T.

SF: You can have your first round pick back from the Marion-O’Neal trade plus another first rounder, Cook and Chalmers (who both need a change of scenery as well). It’s better than losing him for nothing. Offering Beasley as well would be the last resort since Bosh might be persuaded to just simply sign in Miami, not have to pay income tax and the Heat could keep those players and picks I just offered to your Raptors and send them to another team for a solid player who makes less like Rudy Gay. I like Bosh but if the Raptors want to trade him to the Lakers for oft-injured Andrew Bynum then be my guest. The Heat would then go after Stoudemire and maybe Boozer.

SH: I think it’s safe to say he wont leave $30mil guaranteed on the table, so thanks for giving us back our 1st rounder, lol. Can you talk about Riley a bit. Heard he may want to take over as coach again, dropping Erik Spoelstra like he did SVG, if the Heat land another elite player to pair with Wade. Is this just all chatter, or are there some legs to these rumours?

SF: Riley threw that out there as bait for free agents to consider should they want to directly play for him. But even though he only would consider it if he was asked to now it’s hard to not to see Spoelstra as a lame duck after saying that. Quite frankly, I think the Heat has done enough for Erik since hiring him to cut video back in 1995 so I really wouldn’t mind it if the Heat had a veteran seasoned coach going forward. If it has to be Riley so be it. People complain enough that the Heat are somewhat wasting the last couple of years of Wade’s prime and I don’t see Spoelstra as a coach to take your team deep in the playoffs. He might be good at analyzing videos and preparing his players but his in-game decisions, robotic substitution patterns and poor play-calling in late game situations have been the subject of tough criticism from diehard Heat fans.

Van Gundy was squeezed out because Shaq did not want to be coached by him anymore after the Pistons series in ’05. That’s what can happen when teams employ superstars and GMs and owners have to choose whether to listen to them or not. I’m not defending Riley (and I’m positive he smelled a golden opportunity to collect another coaching ring) but sometimes it’s not as simple an issue as it may seem from outsiders looking in. The end result back then was a ring, let’s see what happens this time around.

SH: From the outside looking in, it seemed as though Riley created the atmosphere for SVG to ultimately get canned. Regardless, he was the right man for the job. Could we interest you in Turkoglu?

SF: Agreed but SVG really did muck things up a bit at the end of the Pistons series though. It sure looked like a slimy move on Riley’s part but it sure worked out. Not surprising Riley might consider jumping back in if the roster starts looking like championship material this year.

The Heat only should take Hedo if they can get Marcus Banks back!

SH: So the Heat tried to trade Beasley for Dooling, and were denied (they say he plays a very similar game to Yi); why is Beasley’s value so low?

SF: There is no accuracy to that report. It came out of a podcast with nobody to corroborate it. Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel has already confirmed that the Heat never made such an offer.

There’s no comparison between Beasley and Yi. It’s almost laughable. If you’re referring to Sebastian Pruiti’s comparison to them on Nets Are Scorching all I can tell you is that stats don’t tell the whole story. Stats don’t speak about how his unexperienced coach has never put Beasley in a situation to succeed on the court, how Beasley has never had a consistent role in this team or how he’s never had a chance to play with a decent playmaking point guard since he arrived in the NBA only two years ago.

Quite frankly I’m glad his value is perceived to be low so maybe he’ll stick around. Maybe it’s his personality or maybe it’s the off-court issues. I don’t know how many players in the 4-5 million dollar range could put up 15 points and 6 and a half rebounds in less than 30 minutes while playing in an offense that is solely geared towards Dwyane Wade. Power forward should not be a position of concern for the Heat with so many holes to plug so I can’t really justify carving out such a huge slice of the cap space for Bosh or Boozer.

Yes, of course he needs to work on his game and his defense (as should all young NBA players strive to do this summer). But give him a better coach, more minutes without fear of immediately being pulled off the court because of an error, and a true point guard who can run plays for him that can give him some easier looks closer to the basket. Then we can talk about whether he’s a bust or not. I don’t know how much more value the Heat could get out of that position.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Effort and laziness comes into play for everyone at this point of the year, even us (mostly me) at Raptors Republic. It’s so hard to get up and write a quality post when the team you’re covering isn’t giving it their all. I have to admit that even though they lost against the Nuggets I felt they put in as good as effort as could be expected given how they have been playing recently. Actually, that could be the only game that I can accept when Bosh says:

We just have to put this behind us and move on to the next game. It just goes to show we’re gonna have to give (a strong) effort every night, from here until the season is over; If we do that, I think we’ll be in a better position for success later.

I usually hate when they say you have to forget that one and move on (mostly because they’ve been saying it all year), but when it comes down to it, they lost a tough game to a better team. Nothing more to it. Count me as one of people who would rather go to the playoffs and lose the 1st round pick to Miami, than be perpetually on the treadmill. By the sound of Bosh’s tone, he really thinks that they are really close to turning things around and make a run at something. I can only imagine he’s talking about this season/playoffs since as things stand, I doubt he would be looking past the playoffs at this point.

A few things from the Denver have made me hopeful for the stretch run:

• Bargnani’s play in the paint: the guy was a beast on the boards and played solid defense. Sure he didn’t have a good shooting night, but that has never been his problem. It’s clearly an issue of effort for Andrea, since he has shown that he can bang in the paint.
• Weems as a starter: I’ve always thought that his energy off the bench was more important than the lift he would give the starting five, but DeRozan seemed to have responded well.
• Wright settling in: could have been part of the plan to give the young bucks some run during the season then integrate Wright as a major piece heading into the playoffs, or not…but it’s working. Me thinks Wright will be crucial heading into the playoffs.
• They can do it without Hedo: yea, I said it. Hedo wasn’t missed at all on Friday (by me anyways). Wright/Weems/DeRozan/Belinelli can all fill the 2/3 by committee as far as I’m concerned, and there will be no drop off. I find it really unlikely that there is an on-switch that Hedo will flip to all-of-a-sudden be a killer in the next few weeks. Now it’s up to Triano to have some cajones and do something about it.

The Heat are 7-3 in their last 10, on a 4-game winning streak and sit a game out of 5th (just behind the Bucks). We all know the Raptors have owned the Heat over the last couple seasons (8-2 against them in the last 10), and we have always looked forward to playing them sine they aren’t really much of a team. Yes they have Wade, but the rest of the guys could be swapped out by anyone random baller, and you wouldn’t have a drop-off of any significance since Wade is just that good.

Basically this game comes down to a couple things:

1. Stop Wade – easier said than done, but without Wade gunning along, there is nothing on this team that can hurt you (unlike the Warriors who have weapons up and down that bench). Weems will have to be uber aggressive out the gate, and make Wade work on defensive as much as possible. To be frank, as long as Weems just keeps Wade in front of him, and limits his options off the dribble, that’s all we can hope for.
2. Pound the ball into the paint – Jermaine O’Neal is out with an injury (apparently) so Bosh and Bargnani will have to take it to Beasley and Anthony. No excuses, no laziness, no nothing-just hustle. If Bargnani can give us what he did against the Nuggets (a much better front line btw), and Bosh can limit the turnovers, this wont be close.
3. Continue the effort – the Carmelo Anthony game winner hurt, but the Raptors played a solid game to that point. They need to continue the effort tonight against the Heat. No exceptions, no excuses.

This is a big game against a conference rival who sits a couple games ahead of us. Can’t let the Bulls get any closer, and have a chance to move up the standings (especially since the next two are against the two teams sitting ahead of us in the standings). Do or die time boys.

What else do you want me to do? Do you want me to score 30, 40 points a game? Twenty blocks a game? That’s not my game. That’s not what I do. I try to get these guys going, and that’s pretty much it. I’m not weak-minded by any means. I know that we’re going to be good this year. I think we have time to turn it around. That’s the plain fact. You can’t put the emphasis on one person … it’s a team sport.

While it was a bit self-righteous and dramatic, Chris Bosh drives home the point that he can’t do it himself. Not many in the NBA can; maybe 5 or 6. Even then, he’s not a Wade or LeBron who has the ball in his hands all the time and can take control of the game at any moment. He’s a power forward, meaning that someone has to get him the rock, in good position, and the rest of the team needs to make themselves useful so he has space to operate.

For the most part this season, Bosh has taken good shots. The 15 lbs of muscle he added over the summer has made it harder for defenses to push him off the block and keep him off the boards. He still likes to shoot that jumper, but he does have a great shot for a forward in a jump shooting league; the only guys who don’t shoot are the ones who can’t. So why is he getting so much flack for the Raptors recent woes? The team is 3-10 since the All-Star break (3-4 without him in the lineup).

You take a look at his stats since the break, and he’s averaging 22pts 8.7rebs 3.2ast and 2to. His assists are up, but the rest of his game is down. Coming back from an ankle injury is not an easy task, you will always favour it and wont’ be able to go 100%. What kills me is that the last two games he has gotten back up to where he was pre-injury, and is getting ripped for not doing enough by the media. During this losing stretch, he’s putting up similar numbers and shooting a similar percentage as when the team was winning, but all of a sudden, he’s to blame. I call shenanigans.

So I take a look at what’s been going on with the other two big guns for the Raptors: Turkoglu and Bargnani:

Turkoglu is playing so bad, it pains me to even mention his name. The guy is rebounding a bit better, but is worse at everything else: 10.5pts 4.8rebs 3.5ast since the All-Star break, and 7.5pts 5.8rebs 4.2ast in the last 4. You know how much money he made in those 4 games? $439,024.39. So reason #1 why Bosh snapped and the Raptors sucks is Turkoglu not performing at even his decreased levels as a Raptor. Even he realizes it and has been ducking out of the locker room before the media can rip into him. Way to run off and leave the rest of your team holding their balls while the media grills them Hedo, that’s real stand-up.

Bargnani is another major reason why the Raptors are in a funk. 15pts, 5.2rebs since the All-Star break is not far off from his season numbers, but no one else is picking up the slack. More troubling is that 7 of those games were without Bosh, which meant that he should have been the #1 option on offense leading to increased production; quite the opposite was the case though. To his credit, he did have a few good games, but each one of those came in a losing effort (Memphis, Cleveland, LA and Sacramento).

I’m not worried about his offense, though, never was (at least not this season); for me, this team lives and dies with his play on the defensive end. His rebounding has been absolutely brutal. On Saturday, against guys who were serving him fries a couple months ago (Anthony Tolliver and Chris Hunter), he gave up 11 offensive rebounds. Now, Bosh did have a hand in that, but Bosh grabbed 10 defensive rebounds; Bargnani grabbed 3. Gets worse for him against Portland where Aldridge grabbed 8 offensive rebounds to his single defensive board. Even Colangelo called it “disappointing.”

Both Golden State and Portland had significantly more shot attempts than the Raptors, 19 and 12 respectively. In Golden States’ case, that’s almost a whole quarter’s (for a normal team) worth of shots, totally negating the Raptors solid shooting from the floor. The more shots a team gets, the more chance they have to score – simple math.

Things have regressed to before that team-meeting that sent the Raptors on their winning ways, and this time it’s on Triano to make it right. Even though Bosh doesn’t think yelling is the way to go, demanding respect is; and Triano seemingly doesn’t have the players respect from where I sit. He’s clearly telling these guys to box out, keep their man in front of them, rotate and such, but they aren’t. So what does he do? Nothing, he slaps lipstick on a pig by taking Jack out of the starting lineup and replacing him with Calderon.

Over the last 13 games, Jack’s production has been spectacular; he is averaging 14.6pts 2.8rebs 5.2ast. Granted, the last two games he’s been off (which has coincided with Calderon’s mini two-game resurgence), but he is a better fit in a starting five led by his Georgia Tech teammate. If Triano had any balls he would move Turkoglu to the bench and start Wright for his defense. If he really wanted to impress me, he would start Johnson and bring Bargnani off the bench as well.

These types of moves address the teams inability to play perimeter defense and protect the defensive boards, but it would take a real coach to make that stand and not leave Bosh standing alone when taking the heat.

Toronto Sun

“I was hurting,’’ Bosh began to recall following Saturday’s practice. “I crunched over a few times.”

For purely precautionary reasons, Bosh was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was given an intravenous and later discharged.

Medically speaking, Bosh had a stomach virus and was suffering from dehydration.

Bosh means so much to the team and is asked to do so much that news of his admission to hospital spread like wildfire.

“E-mails, text messages, it seemed like they were coming from all over the world,’’ Bosh said.

The way some would have you believe, Bosh was on life support.

The good news is that Bosh did practise with the Raptors on Saturday and is expected to make his return to the court on Sunday afternoon.

The bad news is that Bosh looked tired and weak when he met with reporters, which is understandable in the wake of Friday’s ordeal.

Toronto Sun

The book on the Sixers isn’t very deep because they rely so much on creating tempo and scoring in transition. They can’t make perimeter shots and recently haven’t been able to make any stops. If you contain the Sixers from pushing the ball, teams will win. Philly should be contending for the playoffs, but instead it’s heading toward a lottery pick. The feel-good story of Allen Iverson’s return is now history, Andrea Iguodala can’t make a three-point shot and if Philly is forced into a half-court game, it can’t win. Prior to last month’s all-star break, the Sixers paid a visit to the ACC and tied the game with 2:06 left. The Raptors then ended the night by going on an 11-0 run. Lou Williams kept his team in it until crunch time by scoring 14 of his game-high 26 points in the final quarter.

Toronto Star

The whole saga began when Bosh woke up Friday feeling out of sorts. He couldn’t handle even looking at his breakfast of granola and when his brother broke out the bacon and eggs, "I just wanted to get him away from me," he said.

His plan was to "miss shootaround, take a nap, take some medicine and be fine for the night but it just never subsided."

That plan didn’t work out.

The discomfort didn’t go away.

He needed some fluids, got them at the hospital and was no worse for wear when he went though a light practice with his teammates Saturday afternoon.

He fully expects to be in uniform Sunday, returning from a seven-game absence to play against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Air Canada Centre.

"We’ll probably have to monitor his minutes and monitor his effort out there," said coach Jay Triano. "He’ll play and go hard for as long as he can. He’ll need a blow and then we’ll put him back in there."

Toronto Star

KEY MATCHUP

DeRozan vs. Williams

The Sixers guard went off against Toronto the last time the teams met, getting easy baskets in transition. DeRozan had a solid game Friday but will have to be at his best defensively to give his team a chance.

Khandors Sports Blog

If the Raptors can secure another W tomorrow afternoon, at home against the still struggling 76ers, it would ensure that Toronto [32-28] will be able to return to the cozy confines of the ACC [22-9] for Games 66 and 67 on their schedule, against Atlanta [40-21; Away/15-14] and Oklahoma [37-24; Away/17-13], respectively, no worse than 1 game above the .500 mark [i.e. if they somehow manage to go O-for on their road trip].

Loaded Orygun

Sidebarring with the East for a moment, there are three of them and all feature teams not much better than Sacto and the Warriors: Raptors, Wiz, Knicks. Bosh will probably be back for the Toronto game, but as long as Camby and Roy play the Blazers have the horses to win at the Garden. Washington and NYC should be gimmes, although both teams beat Portland in their place. The season is long over for them, and a West Coast swing is a drainer. The Raps will be on a back to back, and the Knicks in the 5th day of a killer 9 day swing.

So look–out of 18 games, fully eight of them could fairly be considered safe wins, as safely as any win can be predicted. That’s an enormous start. When you need 13 to get to 50, what can you expect from these eight? Seven? Six at worst? You’d hope so. Let’s say six. That leaves seven of 10 from the rest, a tall order given the competition…but doable. Let’s look.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Raptors all-star forward Chris Bosh is expected to play today. After missing six straight games with a sprained ankle, he missed Friday’s game against the New York Knicks with a stomach virus. Bosh, who is averaging 26 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 assists against the Sixers, practiced yesterday.

Should Bosh play, the Sixers’ immediate goal will be stopping him. Their long-term goal, however, is maturing as a unit.

"We just have to go out there and try to get better," forward Elton Brand said. "That’s what it’s all about. We got a lot of young guys. You look around. There’s not a lot of guys over 25 on the team.

"So they need the minutes. They are going to get better. And the veteran guys need to go out and play their hearts out, also."

Toronto Sun

If you are Chris Bosh, it makes sense to leave the Raptors for a chance to play with LeBron James or Dwyane Wade in Miami or Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles. But if he can’t manage any of those moves, he’s best to stay in Toronto and be the big fish in the small pond … Under the department of laughable: Career advice from Tracy McGrady, who may play his entire NBA life without winning a playoff round. Still have to wonder, after all these years, what would have happened if McGrady and Vince Carter had committed to playing together in Toronto: What would have been possible? … For the second year in a row, Bryan Colangelo’s big money off-season acquisition bombs. Last year, Jermaine O’Neal. This year, Hedo Turkoglu. The difference, though, is that Colangelo’s smaller moves, picking up Jarrett Jack, Sonny Weems, Amir Johnson, Antoine Wright, have worked out just fine … Almost one season in and I have no clue what to think of DeMar DeRozan. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t expect more from the Raptors’ first-round pick. Not sure if he’ll ever be more than just another NBA guy … Rumbling that won’t go away: The historically pitiful Los Angeles Clippers will not only go hard after LeBron in free agency, but will offer him a future piece of ownership of the club.

Beleaguered Sports Fan

McGrady chased the bigger money and the opportunity to be the number one guy on the team, something he couldn’t do with his cousin Vince in Toronto.  Bosh is already the number one guy in T.O. and can make $30 million more if he re-signs here than he can anywhere else.

The story bookends nicely saying that “McGrady, meanwhile, eventually decided the pull of his native Florida,” and “money he recognized” was “too much to ignore”.

McGrady was here for three years.  Bosh seven.  McGrady deceived then general manager Glen Grunwald into thinking he would re-sign here.  Chris Bosh has made it clear that he is undecided, and GM Bryan Colangelo knows the risks involved in not trading Bosh when he had a chance.

There is really nothing to compare here.  It’s just another slow news day.  Another chance to manufacture a story that unfortunately stokes the already growing fire of speculation about Bosh’s apparent desire to leave Toronto.

For fans, it’s just another day at the office.

Depressed Fan

Dalembert vs. Bargnani – Maybe the defining matchup of the game. Sammy is going to have to really do a good job on the high pick and roll, making sure not to leave Bargnani open for threes. He also needs to dominate the glass in his limited minutes.
Bench – Reggie Evans is all the rage in Toronto these days. Expect to see the crowd go nuts when he comes on the floor. They’ve also got Jose Calderon as their backup PG, and Calderon can really shoot the ball. I’m not sure exactly what to expect from the Sixers’ bench, other than 30+ minutes for Willie Green. I’ll give the edge to a depleted Toronto bench, I guess.