Who would have thought that the Nets would have done the Raptors a solid by taking the Bulls out in double overtime? If that wins doesn’t happen, the Raptors would be looking at a much different road to securing the 8th spot. They would have to win all three of their remaining games, and hope that the Bulls lose at least one of them.

As things stand now, a Raptor win today against the Bulls, and a split between the Pistons and Knicks will guarantee the Raptors a playoff spot; but if the Raptors lose to the Bulls today, they HAVE to win the next two games, and hope the Bulls drop one of their last two. It actually gets a little more exciting than that: the Bulls next two games are:

• At home to the Celtics who are fighting the Hawks for 3rd in the East, and a second round bypass of the Cavs
• On the road to the Bobcats, who are 31-9 there

So it doesn’t exactly look that good for the Bulls, but the truth of the matter is that the Raptors need every last bit of help they can get considering they are the walking wounded with both Chris Bosh and Antoine Wright expected to miss the game. At the least, the Raptors have kept it interesting all season, and it wouldn’t sit right for the team to get into the playoffs without a little stress and drama.

Friday against the Hawks, the Raptors got a big boost at power forward with Amir taking the reigns. By no means is he a viable replacement for Bosh, but he put up 18pts 13rebs in his place. I get it, the kid is good and will get mid-level type money in a couple months. Aside from that air-ball (over the basket) from a couple feet, Evans provided some good minutes, chipping in 5pts 4res (3off) in 9 minutes of play.

Front court play will be crucial today, even with Noah not a 100% recovered from his recent injuries. Del Negro has been managing his minutes recently, but he has the green light to let the kid run loose, which is not good news for the Raptors. Without Bosh’s consistency in the paint, Noah represents the kind of hustle player that can get Amir in foul trouble and outwork Bargnani on the glass.

Speaking of Bargnani, it’s time he delivers. There are only 3 bloody games left in the year, I’m pretty sure he can muster the effort and intensity to carry this team into the playoffs. 4 years man, do something already, my patience has been worn thin. 15pts 6rebs in 37 minutes against the Hawks, seriously man? Seriously…?

Between Gibson, Noah, Miller and Warrick, Del Negro has enough options to throw different looks out there and hope for the best. Bargnani, Johnson and Evans will be tested very often. I’m actually looking for Rasho to get some extra burn today. Noah will log heavy minutes, and the guy doesn’t get out past about 8ft; that’s Rasho’s style – tight and aggressive. Let the man play in an important game, it would make many of us feel better.

I just want to echo what Arse and many others are saying about booing Calderon: if there is one guy who doesn’t dog it when he’s on the court, it’s Calderon. You can book that. He’s always intense and ready to throw down (remember the shouting match with Garnett?). While he may be overpaid, who isn’t on this team? It’s enough already.

Calderon and Jack kept it down in the back-court with 23pts 16ast on Friday. There was consistency at the point all game, which will be crucial today against Rose. He is sick, and his dribble penetration scares the hell out of me. Calderon will have no chance of guarding him, so I would prefer he switch over to Hinrich, and let Weems match-up with the kid. No sense in even letting Rose get going quickly to start the game. Rose had 7 turnovers against the juggernaut Nets offense on Friday, so he is prone some sloppy play. Weems, DeRozan and Belinelli will all have to force and press the kid every chance. No layups and no drive-bys.

The line on the game is Bulls by 2; expect a tight, grind-em-out type battle. No more excuses, there really isn’t anymore time to make them.

Hitting up another of our TrueHoop partners for a look at the upcoming season. This time we hit up a city that is on my short list of places to visit: Milwaukee. These guys have the best name for a fan site: Bucksketball and those of you with a Rudolph fetish might enjoy their banner.

Last season we beat them in their home gym to go 3-0 on the young season and everything was coming up roses. Then, early in the new year we sucked eggs during one game and Bosh thought the ball had the cooties the next time we faced them. Marion arrived and we kicked their asses in the second game of our glorious 6 game win streak. So, a split.

Predicted starting 5:

For the love of god I hope Brandon Jennings is the starting point guard and not Luke Ridnour.  But, I’m not optimistic.  Ridnour/Redd/Delfino/Warrick/Bogut (fingers crossed on Bogut, hoping he’s over the injury by opening night.

Best offensive player:

For all the problems people have with Redd, he’s still the Bucks most efficient scorer, and it’s not even close.  Offense, for the first time in about twenty years, will be the Bucks biggest problem.

Best defensive player:

Andrew Bogut is the team’s defensive heartbeat.  If he’s in, they can control the glass and hold their own against most big men.  If he’s not, then Dan Gadzuric and Francisco Elson are in charge.  If we could somehow combine them into one man they might have the girth to stand up to centers in the NBA, but alone they are too small to deal with the pounding for more than 15 minutes each.

Best new player:

Jennings is the man everyone wants to see.  He’s already close to Redd as the Bucks most recognizable player, and judging from his strong summer league performance, he’s closing in on being their most important player on the court too.

Player that will be missed:

Richard Jefferson wasn’t all that pretty on the court, but he delivered offense when Redd and Bogut were out.  He also at least was a body on defense, which is more than can be said about Charlie Villanueva.  As much as I liked Charlie V. from January on last year, Jefferson’s absence will be most notable.

Weakest link in your top 8 rotation players:

The small forward position provides virtually no offense.  Fans still don’t know what to make of Joe Alexander, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is a terrific defensive player that can fill in anywhere, but offers little in the form of offensive capabilities and Carlos Delfino has been underwhelming in his previous few years in the NBA. 

greatest weakness as a team:

Offense.  Where will it come from if Redd cannot round into form after ACL surgery last season?

Biggest question heading into the season:

Can Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd stay healthy and improve on last year’s record?

If I was GM for a day, I would…

Have kept Ramon Sessions.

Your opinion of the Raptors:

If the Raptors have finally shored up their swingman position they could make some playoff noise.  I’m just not sure that Hedo Turkoglu and Demar Derozan qualify as "shoring up" the position.

If you had to assign a "movie title" to your expectations of the season,
what would it be?:

Groundhog Day.  (The Bucks miss the playoffs again)

w/l prediction for your team:

37-45

Our thanks to the guys at Bucksketball. Grab a look at their Media Day recap, their glossary of terms (jacker!), and a great piece on something near and dear to Raptors fans hearts: theme music.