Alabi: put a sash on him and call him Baby New Year. At least that could count as a contribution to his team.

Barbosa: the hard effort made a comeback tonight. Shot the ball well and didn’t shy away from contact or, more importantly, playing smart. I would still love to see him instill some of his personality on this team in-game.

Bargnani: memo to Mr Colangelo and Mr Fruitman: this team has more flow and plays with more passion without Andrea Bargnani. Time to admit it and do something about it.

Bayless: shouldn’t have played at all tonight, but went out there for 7 minutes of icetime and he deserves credit for trying.

Calderon: double double in heavy minutes. Pretty questionable shot selection, though. Just because you are wide open doesn’t mean you have to heave a prayer. Your guys are playing well and producing…use them.

Davis: that loud slapping sound you heard was the cold hand of NBA reality meeting Davis’ face. Granted he was being exposed by one of the best in the game, but Ed looked like he was playing a video game with a controller that only had one button.  Just an embarrassing display.

DeRozan: career high which could have been higher had he not picked up 2 fouls in the first minute of the game. You could just tell how he came out of the gates that he was “on” tonight. He’s a special player when he is, it’s just a shame that it happens just a few more times a year than, say, Christmas.

Dorsey: gadzooks…he may shoot like RapsFan, but he hustles like Arsenalist. If you counted his goaltending calls tonight he would have had 732 blocked shots. He’s making the most of his playing time and it’s helping us stay in (and win) games.

Dupree: Gold Club on him.

Evans: uses his teeth to break open the champagne.

Johnson: a double double that featured him unfortunately returning to his hack-anybody ways, but also came in a game where he showed passion again. He did look gassed and probably felt some of the soreness coming back, but he pushed his teammates.

Kleiza: looks like the little guy on his right shoulder that constantly says “shoooooot iiiiitttttt” was working overtime tonight. Either that or Hot Potato is making a comeback. What did impress me, though, was he didn’t look any the worse for wear after putting in 44 minutes.

Stojakovic: just go away.

Weems: I much prefer the Young Onez as a duet. Sonny and Andrea for anybody and some hotter cheerleaders.

Wright: one of Jay’s mysteries again tonight. Sure, he didn’t exactly mirror DeMar tonight, but Julian did some good things on both ends of the court. 11 minutes on a short bench with Kleiza playing pop-a-shot?  Come on.

Driving The Bus: DeMar DeRozan

Under The Bus: Ed Davis

Game Theme:

Andersen: started the game with the “hey, these are the bastards that gave up on me” chip on his shoulder, but tailed off as his minutes dragged on. Even gave us a little taste of an Hakeem-like shimmy.

Banks: DNP-UT

Barbosa: well, at least we know he’s alive.

Bargnani: another game where he played with silent purpose. He showed the Rockets a few different looks and, once again, shied away from living on the perimeter. He is going to start making people re-consider their AllStar picks pretty soon.

Calderon: Jose was like a master surgeon in the second half. Not sure if he hoovered down some polvorones with his Gatorade at halftime, but his ability to get his teammates the ball in good situations was a step above. If the decision to start was put to the people, Jose would wake up tomorrow with a nice desk and a sizable office with a view.

Davis: the view from his hotel room next week….

DeRozan: played heavy minutes tonight but didn’t look too much worse for wear. Did a fair job on the defensive end and turned a poor shooting night into one that he produced by getting to the line. It took Bosh a while to understand that he can help himself and his team by getting to the stripe…DD needs to realize it too.

Dorsey: about as valuable as a stripped screw.

Evans: pretty quiet night for Big E. In addition, he just looked out of sorts. Didn’t show that same revved up spirit or sustained hustle. Strange. Maybe it was the headband.

Jack: it’s like he’s challenging Triano or Colangelo to make a decision. He distributed well tonight, but any further compliments would just be a lie.

Johnson: a big block, some effort on the glass and only 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He had as good a night as Liston would have at Stats Night at the Playboy Mansion.

Kleiza: if his mug isn’t on the 2011 version of a basketball video game, it’s a sin. Whenever you see him straight on, I wait for him to reach down and pull a couple of sawed-offs from his waistband. On the court, this man is Doug Christie like….without the 3s and the psycho wife.

Weems: chock-full-of-shots hit yet another 3 tonight, proved that we don’t always have to slap our foreheads when he shoots, and probably scored a date with that blonde by the Houston bench. I hate him.

Wright: a great defender….of the stack of towels behind the bench.

Driving The Bus: Andrea Bargnani

Under The Bus: nobody, but since I have to pick…Jarrett Jack

Game Theme :

Not sure if you realized, but 8 of the last 10 games the Raptors played were on the road. They only won 2 of them, but if you’re an optimist, they’re 2-2 in their last four; that’s something right? It’s definitely been a trial by fire to start the year, and from some of the rumours I’ve been hearing, Triano is a dead man walking. I personally don’t think it’s the right move to fire him, not that I think he’s a good coach, but it really wasn’t fair to hand him this team and expect much out of the situation. We’re good at the mob mentality in Toronto, so if people scream bloody murder loud enough, it might force BryCo’s hand in the matter.

Had a really good discussion with Jacob Mustafa from Red94, about the rough start to the year the Rockets are having, as well as a bold claim:

I’m actually stunned how poorly the Rockets have started the season; yes they played 7 of their first 10 on the road, but this was supposed to be a team that went into the playoffs and could have made some noise. Defense, which used to be a staple, has fallen off the map. What happened?
If you’re stunned by this year’s start, you can’t imagine the jaws agape among Rockets fans. I know the notion might seem crazy, but plenty of Rockets followers had gotten attached to the idea that this team might be the only answer to the Lakers in this conference thanks to years of tough matchups with them (that almost always ended in defeat except for one glorious seven game series… in which four of them ended in defeat). To see the team flailing along and struggling to get its head above water just feels incongruous, and I think most Rockets fans are still dealing with the shock of cheering for a below-average team. As for defense, the answer is simple; this team built its defensive mindset with a certain roster and with a certain coach, and now only three of those players remain on the roster, while the coach bickers with Mark Jackson to make ends meet. The defensive powerhouse that was the Houston Rockets simply dissipated, too far removed from its source to be its own entity.

You essentially traded Ariza for Lee, and he’s been a huge disappointment. This is a two part questions: 1) why did you make that trade 2) why isn’t Lee performing?
Money was saved, and an asset was gained. Observers have flippantly written that move off as a straight salary dump, and while I do think the Rockets were prudent to cut their losses (Ariza fit on the Rockets like the glove fit OJ), Lee simply fit in better with what Rockets management thought its team would be. As for Lee’s performance, he’s simply seemed out of it, though he is being saddled with the responsibility of a ballhandler at times, a role for which he’s almost cartoonishly ill-suited.

I heard some grumblings that the Rockets are still in the market to land Chris Bosh after an unsuccessful summer courtship. Can you shed any light on this subject?
After Wednesday’s rise from the grave, I doubt Bosh will be mentioned in trade talks for a while (like 4 years), but I’m pretty sure that was all based on a Jason Whitlock article where he got his Peter Vescey on and just started spouting ridiculous trade scenarios for Bosh. The Rockets’ chances at Bosh range somewhere between snowball in hell and long-term viability of Disney pop stars.

Yao Ming…I feel bad for the guy. At what point do you say “enoughs-enough” and try to salvage something for him?
Through consistent under-performance, the Houston Rockets have been one of the NBA’s more profitable franchises; that is mostly thanks to the giant one, Yao Ming. This team obviously needs a new building block, but the Rockets’ attachment to Yao runs much deeper than who the offense should be run through. This will likely be the major conflict of the Rockets’ season if playoffs keep looking less and less possible.

How do the Rockets match-up against the Raptors?
The Rockets have been decimated by super-athletic perimeter players in recent weeks, especially stud point guards; though Jarrett Jack and Jose Calderon are fine game managers, they don’t exactly strike the same fear in me as names like Paul, Rose and Westbrook. If Demar Derozan can be contained and Reggie Evans doesn’t decide to eat our faces and collect 752 rebounds, I think the Rockets’ “depth” will be a little too much for the Raptors. I also think Houston’s big man who plays no defense but can pour in buckets, Luis Scola, is better at this point in his career than the Raps’, Andrea Bargnani.

Injuries

Toronto
Ed Davis – Out
Leandro Barbosa – Shoulder, Should Play
Linas Kleiza – Achillies, Should Play

Houston
Aaron Brooks – Ankle, Out
Yao Ming – Leg, Out
Chase Budinger – Ankle, Day-to-day

Match-ups

PG – Jack vs Lowry
One of my favourite parts the season so far has been how we’ve flip-flopped between Jack and Calderon depending on who had the better. Overall, we each have a favourite, but going between them is funny; even if you’re doing it in your head. That said, we can all agree when one (or both) of them is playing like doodoo, and Jack has been playing like doodoo of late: 7pts 3reb 3reb over the last 3 games. The good news tonight is that Brooks is out, and his lightning quick speed and scoring ability will not have us face-palming for large stretches of the game. Lowry is an energetic player, who runs the break well, but doesn’t make the best decisions. His jumper is poor, so there is no reason we should see Jack play him tight right? Let the guy shoot, and keep him away from the glass since he rebounds so well for a 6″ guard. The kids got a knack for getting to the line, so like I said again…let him shoot all he wants.
Edge: Jack

SG – DeRozan vs Martin
So we can all agree that DeMar isn’t a 26pt/game scorer, but he’s also not a 6pt/game guy either. He needs to consistently be dropping 14-17 points every single night if this team wants to be in games for the rest of the year. Martin is an excellent scorer who can get his from anywhere, and most alarmingly, from the line. The kid is great at getting to the line, and great at hitting his free throws. His shot is ugly, but it’s deadly. He gets to the rim, has nice head fakes, and will score an obscene amount of points tonight. The only chance DeRozan has is to go back at him, since he’s such a terrible defender and either get him into foul trouble, or go tit-for-tat on offense. I’m feeling positive on this one for DeMar after a brutal performance against the Sixers, he should be back, but beating Martin in this match-up will be challenging, especially if the pace of the game picks up.
Edge: Martin

SF – Weems vs Battier
Shane Battier is like Anthony Parker to me: a classy, hard working guy who makes good decisions, plays defense and makes their shots; all with a good attitude. He’s a solid cat, and would play for my team anytime. Weems is going to have to play a smart game tonight, since that’s how Shane rolls. He isn’t very athletic, but his length and high basketball IQ make him a solid defender. Weems wont have to worry about him attacking off the dribble, but if he floats a little too much on help, Battier will stick shots from the corner. Weems can use his athleticism to attack Battier off the dribble, but he should avoid over dribble and make his move quick; which he’s been doing a good job of recently. Sonny can get out on the break, and has the advantage if this gets into an up-and-down/running game. I’m looking forward to seeing this match-up play out.
Edge: Even

PF – Evans vs Scola
You have to give Evans his due: he’s playing within himself during games, and being a vocal leader of this team in the locker room. Before the Sixers game, he got the guys together to get everyone on the same page, and they won. I hope he did the same thing tonight, since this Rockets team isn’t as bad as their record says they are. He absolutely will have his hands full with Scola, as the Argentine is having a ridiculous start to the season. Luis is a crafty scorer in the post who can hit the mid-range jumper; he’s deadly from 15ft in where he’s shooting 54% this season. The one knock is that he isn’t the best defender, which wont hurt him much tonight against Evans who isn’t looking to score when he touches the ball as a first option. Scola’s rebounding has come down some since the first four games, but he is more than capable of battling on the glass if the Raptors front court lets up. This is going to be a 1-2 attack with Reggie and Amir giving Scola different looks at different points of the game. Given Johnson’s propensity to foul, Scola might get the nod in that match-up too unless Amir uses his head before trying to out muscle Luis.
Edge: Scola

C – Bargnani vs Miller
It’s amazing Miller is able to move. At this point in his career, he’s really just filler until Yao can play major minutes. Bargnani has an advantage in every facet of the game tonight, and needs to establish himself from the tip (hopefully winning it tonight). I know I’m glossing over this rather quickly, but if Andrea doesn’t dominate this match-up, there is really something wrong with him.
Edge: Bargnani

Keys to the Game

Rebounding
The Rockets are the 4th best rebounding team in The Association. Everyone crashes the boards, and makes an effort on the glass. The Raptors aren’t slouches either, even though they are 16th in the league, they only grab 2.5 less rebounds a game than the Rockets. Controlling the glass will be critical since Houston is also 4th in the league in offense (next point), and if you control the glass, you control the tempo of the game, and force them to play a different style; all on the road.

Defense
The Rockets are 4th in scoring, with a Pace Factor of 100 (# of possessions used in a game). This also ties back to rebounding since the Raptors are the 4th best team in Offensive Rebounding Rate, if they can grab a few more rebounds, the Rockets will get a few less possessions. Regardless of that, with Aaron Brooks out, Kevin Martin and Scola are the focus on offense, and need to be respected as such. DeRozan can’t be taking tonight off, and playing passively. Scola gets the room to operate in the mid-range because K-Mart attracts so much attention on the perimeter. One of these two need to be shut down, and since Evans is a weaker defender than I’d like, it will be tasked to DeRozan (and Weems in certain match-ups) to play Martin tough. I’m not so confidant in this, so rebounding will be crucial to control the flow…ok I’m rambling, but you see where I’m going.

Pick-up where they left in Philly
It’s not like we haven’t played well before. The energy, assertiveness and will to win on our homecourt need to be there from the tip. Like I said earlier, the Rockets are a lot better than they have shown, and need to be respected as such. Can’t get down early, can’t take bad shots, the ball needs to be moved around, and every needs to be vocal on defense.

The Line

This game is even, and that’s exactly how I see it. The Raptors can win it, but they have to take it; the Rockets wont be laying down. This is an important game since we got the Celtics on Sunday.

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One love.

We have about a month until the NBA Draft and free agency kicks in, so I decided to talk to some of the teams around the NBA that have been linked to Chris Bosh and the Raptors in one way or another to get a feel for their franchise, and what we could expect back in a sign and trade.

While the early offers for CB4 have not been very exciting (you’ll see when we get to them), they do paint a picture of why trades are so difficult, especially when you have your back to the wall. While I don’t think the picture is so bleak in regards to Bosh (I still think he resigns; there is no sane reason why he would either), I concede that we wont even get 40 cents on the dollar for our franchise player.

First stop, I check in with Rahat Huq from The Houston Rockets TrueHoop blog Red94. Overall, he’s a good guy, a bit delusional, but he knows his stuff (I can’t wait till we resign Bosh so I get my face on his website banner for a week or so):

Sam Holako: Are you guys regretting replacing Artest with Ariza? Maybe I’m just being biased, but Artest took pretty much the same team to game 7 against the Lakers last year, and Ariza couldn’t even get them into the playoffs.

Rahat Huq: Not at all. I fully appreciate the contributions Ron made to this team last season, and it was definitely a surreal ride. But let’s be clear – he didn’t take this team anywhere against the Lakers and in fact, was a complete liability offensively.

For the series, Ron shot just 38% from the floor (28% from 3) in averaging his 15.6 points per game and was even more dreadful when we needed him most upon the injury to Yao, averaging just 9.5ppg in the last 4 games, on 28% shooting (and a terrifying 15% on his 26 3-point attempts.)

Ariza wasn’t brought here to get the team anywhere; Trevor was signed to be a complementary piece. He struggled early due to being forced into a high usage role out of necessity, but settled in very nicely after the arrival of Kevin Martin.

SH: Let’s not beat around the bush; make me an offer for Chris Bosh.

RH: These are my two offers:

1) Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, Jared Jeffries, Dave Andersen, Jermaine Taylor, one Knick draft pick
2) Jordan Hill, Shane Battier, Dave Andersen, Jermaine Taylor, one Knick draft pick.

Andersen and Taylor included to make the numbers match – I could be slightly off on the figures.

SH: That offer makes me sad…very very sad. While Hill and the Knicks pick could have big value, I think I can speak for the rest of The Republic when I say that we expected more of an offer. I honestly haven’t even heard of Dave Andersen and Jermaine Taylor. The problem with your offer is that you think the Raptors have no leverage in this, but they do. Everyone knows that Chris Bosh wont leave the franchise high-and-dry for no other reason than if he does, he’s out 1 year and $30mill. Just for being insolent, Colangelo can use this S&T as a means to get rid of some dead weight in the form of either Calderon or Turkoglu. Let’s figure Jose since Brooks isn’t really a point guard, and you guys will need someone who knows how a pick-n-roll works.

RH: The inclusion of Andersen and Taylor would simply be for salary matching purposes. As far as our offer, I think you are coming in with unrealistic expectations. Look at the history of sign&trades for max players. From Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace (when he was a nobody), to draft picks for Rashard Lewis and Kenyon Martin, you won’t find a package even approaching the attractiveness of Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, and a lightly protected probable lottery pick.

SH: I have a feeling we might get into a fist-fight…so lets talk about Yao. The guy misses a whole season, is largely forgotten around the league, but should make a full recovery and be Über effective next season. The prospect of playing against a Bosh/Yao front court is scary; what are the plans for him going forward?

RH: He’s resumed workouts and is on schedule with his recovery.

I think the organization plans to limit his minutes and usage next season, and that shouldn’t be too great a concern considering some of the other parts that are in place. Still, Yao’s greatest value to the team is on the defensive end where, while he is not the best of shotblockers, he is as good as just about anyone at protecting the paint.

Yao/Bosh would indeed be scary simply because their skillsets mesh so perfectly. I’ve long felt that Yao was a finisher rather than an initiator. With Bosh’s high post abilities, he would provide the team a focal point from which to start its offense.

SH: Suppose in a bizzarro NBA world the Raptors sign-and-trade Bosh for Jordan Hill and spare parts, how do the Rockets matchup against the rest of the Western Conference? What can we expect from them?

RH: They won 42 games without Yao and Bosh and with a major personnel change midway through the season. If they can add what would have to be the best power forward – center duo in basketball in Yao – Bosh to the quintet of Scola-Lowry-Brooks-Martin-Ariza, along with a lottery pick, you would have to expect a significant increase in wins. Will they contend immediately? The talent is certainly there, but I think it could take a while and at least some growing pains to reach that level.

Based on your indignation over my proposal, I think you’re really suffering from delusions of grandeur. If a package of Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, and a future lottery pick would not suffice, in light of what has been bartered in past sign & trades of this type (Atkins/Wallace, only picks), I must ask, what exactly are you hoping for? It’s true that the Raptors hold leverage, but to a certain degree. They’ll pick the destination, but they won’t exactly be able to extract a king’s ransom, nor will they be able to offload their garbage (Calderon, Turkoglu.)

Part of me would rather put a bullet through my brain than write this recap but have you seen the price of bullets lately? Hopefully you turned this game off after halftime because it stopped being a family show after that. The Rockets were spanking us by 21 at halftime and the game was already over, but the Rockets had had a very miserable evening in Utah a couple nights before and they wanted to erase all memory of that, so we were forced to take it deeper than we’d prefer. Let’s touch on the salient points of this game and start with Bargnani: 14 first quarter points, 0 the rest of the way. 9 first quarter shots, 8 the rest of the way. The numbers force you to ask the question of why he scored the same amount of points as myself for the final three quarters. The answer is usually of the form of blame towards Triano and his teammates or towards Bargnani for simply missing whatever looks he had. My take is that it wouldn’t have mattered if he’d taken 65 shots in this game, we’d still have gotten murdered.

He had a few nice drives early, hit a couple tough threes and had the Raptors down only around 8 (that’s good, BTW). Problem is that the types of shots Bargnani takes makes it impossible for him to be a consistent force through four quarters. We often fall into the trap of extrapolating his performance in a quarter to the whole game which results in comments like, “Oh, we’re not looking for Andrea enough because if we had, he would’ve gone 6-9 in every quarter”. No, he wouldn’t. I’m not exonerating Triano or his teammates, just saying that it wouldn’t have mattered on this night because the reason we lost had nothing to do with Bargnani, and everything to do with Aaron Brooks and Kevin Martin torching us until there was fire coming out of our a****les.

Rockets started of 10-10 and were up by double digits early, we managed to slice the lead to 6 or so midway through the first thanks to Bargnani’s shooting and Jarrett Jack trying to get back of what he gave on defense (which was a lot!). The tempo once again didn’t suit us and nor did our sloppy turnover filled play, Aaron Brooks made sure that we were on our heels for the whole first half as he attacked Jack at will, ran around screens and forced the Raptors to switch until he had a lug like Hedo on him and then drained jumpers over him and just about everybody else. Martin was crafty against DeRozan and when Triano switched Wright on him in hopes of containment, he taught him a lesson in how to use pivot foots to blow by a man. Their backcourt abused our backcourt and that was the game. The starting backcourt scoring was 56-11! Pure domination. Our wings couldn’t guard their position and the effects of that were felt by everyone on the court as Houston went to any spot on the floor without even as much a bump from a Raptor.

Before we get to the surprising bright spot of the game, I’d like to touch on DeRozan. I’m a big DeMar fan but am I the only one still waiting for him to have a big game where he shows us a little something special? His signature move has become getting blocked at the rim from behind, seriously, he’s had that happen to him more than Roko Ukic this year. Whatever happened to finishing with authority instead of trying to sneak in a layup while underneath the rim? Sonny Weems should not be outplaying him so consistently and he’s got to assert himself in games where we have guys like Bosh and Calderon missing. Triano’s thoughts on him from a day or so describe him perfectly:

He has to get used to playing 82 games and concentrating … He can’t settle for shots all the time. It’s the same things over and over but it’s part of the growth a young player.

We need more from DeMar on a consistent basis because we don’t have the depth at the wing spot that the Raptors would have you believe. Weems has been a surprise, Wright has been decent in spots, Turkoglu has been awful and Belinelli is glued to the bench. We might have more bodies than last year but to confuse it with depth is a big mistake. None of these four wing players have been able to make the starting two-guard spot their own and the only reason DeRozan’s starting is because nobody’s been able to usurp him and that says a lot.

With Calderon out, Banks got the call off the bench and ran the offense nicely. Well, he knocked down a couple jumpers and made some pinpoint passes which led to scores. That’s something our PGs haven’t been doing of late, as much as we all like Jack, he’s playing too shot-first of late and isn’t benefiting any of his teammates. It’s hard to criticize that because he’s at least doing something by being assertive, sure, it’s at the risk of being selfish but I’ll take that over what Turkoglu’s doing. I’m at the end of my patience with him, 1-5 in 16 minutes and can’t make plays for his teammates, he tripped on something and limped off the court. He returned briefly and helped the game get out of hand before Triano pulled the plug on him. Not soon enough. I don’t want to comment any more on Hedo because whatever can be said about him has been said: untradeable, overpaid, underperforming and lazy. Let’s pray he wins us a couple games in the playoffs so we can forget about his nightmarish season; part of me wants to see him go on the injured list so Belinelli can start playing again, at least we’d get to see some sweet passes and mouthguards. BTW, poor Marco is the new human white flag and Jay threw him to the wolves midway third.

A little more on Turkoglu – if you haven’t thrown a rock at your TV and burned your PVR, try rewinding to the late first quarter and watch Turkoglu and Bargnani defer to Reggie Evans and opt to give him the ball in the post in a late shot-clock situation. What. The. &*^%. Do I really need to comment any more on this phenomenon? It’s absurd.

You’re going to think I’m crazy but I think this game was there to be had if we just showed up on defense. Just a little. The Rockets were sloppy in this game as well, both teams had 17 turnovers and even though their help defense was awesome, if we had just held the ship steady for the first half, I think we could’ve had a game on our hands. Instead we gave up 37 and 31 in the first two quarters and didn’t even give ourselves a chance. Unlike the first half of OKC, the effort wasn’t there tonight and Triano’s effectiveness has a motivator has to come into question as there have been far too many of these kinds of nights. How bad was our D? They shot 72% in the first, 64% in the half as Brooks and Martin led the way at the break with 22 and 18, respectively. If you can’t stop the other team’s wings you can’t win games, because unless you have unbelievable help defenders on your team, the defense will collapse.

Did you now the Rockets have managed to reincarnate Matt Bullard in another body? His name’s David Andersen and he went 6-9 for 16 points. Whenever a scrub goes off for three times his scoring average you know it’s a problem, but the reason players like these get off against us is simple – dribble penetration. Brooks’ penetration forced us to help inside and as we all know, we’re not the greatest at that. The Rockets had 33 assists on 41 field goals – that’s 80% and a sign of a team playing like a team. If you saw this one past the first quarter you saw some very sweet plays by the Rockets: baseline movement, Princeton cuts, hi-los, slip screens, you name it. I can’t give enough credit to the Rockets’ coaching staff for putting in a system where the ball moves so much and so effectively. Defensively, they were solid, Hayes, Battier and Brooks don’t need any help in guarding their man which means their defense isn’t always in help situations, something we found ourselves in on every possession. You simply can’t win playing like that.

The only advantage we had on the night was Jarrett Jack’s strength, the early Bargnani offense and bits and pieces of Sonny Weems picking off some passes and scoring effectively with his pristine jumper and smooth gliding skills. The man has shown me something, I expected nothing from him and he gave me something. He was probably our best player on the night considering he was the only guy who played both ends of the floor (I supposed you could say that about Banks as well).

At the end of the day, another game without Bosh ends in an L. Given that this was a back-to-back on the road it’s no surprise we lost, but the degree to which we got spanked was disturbing. The tough schedule was supposed to validate whether we were as good as we looked in early February and so far the results are negative with the caveat that we’re playing without Bosh. We’re off till Friday so we got a few days to lick our wounds. Oh, if you’re one of those fans that think another first-round exit would be considered a success, make sure you vote against phdsteve. If you don’t, show your support.

It’ll do you no good thinking whether we could’ve been more competitive if Bosh and Calderon played. Let’s just forget about this one.

On the second night of a back-to-back, the Raptors head to Houston to play a retooled Rockets team; without Bosh for the 5th game in a row.

I checked in with Rahat Huq of Red94 (you can catch him on Twitter) to get a sense of where the Rockets were after the McGrady trade:

Q: Darryl Morey: best GM in the league?
A: Obviously I’m biased, so my opinion there doesn’t hold much weight, but I think most people around the league have certainly taken notice. What Morey needs now in his resume is real success. The team obviously exceeded expectations last season and prior to the trade, this year, but for him to really cement his standing, he needs a real title run to show that his approach isn’t just conducive to overachievement – it can bring championships.

Q: How do you see Martin and Jeffries fitting into this team?
A: Jeffries just looks like a Houston Rocket – the activity and energy on the defensive end, always rotating, making deflections, drawing charges. Unfortunately, he also fits the bill for Rockets teams of past years on the offensive side in that he has no abilities. Martin is one of the most efficient scorers in our league and he kind of symbolizes the first major step towards what perhaps might be a vision to build an “offensive machine” – a drastic shift away from the defensive philosophy of years past. But he attacks the basket and draws fouls and it looks like, with the Lowry trade last year, that might be one of the main skills that the Rockets are building upon.

Q: Do you seirously think you guys have any chance of landing Bosh? What’s Plan B when you don’t land him?
A: I think there could be a chance given his ties to the state of Texas and the solid lineup we have built to (theoretically) fit around him. He fits this offense perfectly with his ability to operate from the high post. I think there might be some appeal to a guy like Bosh to coming to a situation where he would not only be the undisputed first option, but also have sufficient help around him. That’s pretty unique and I’m not sure many other teams can offer that appeal. Plan B would likely be Stoudemire or simply holding on until the deadline to see who might become available via trade. But I do think they will be very aggressive in free agency in gathering from what Daryl Morey has said.

Q: I’m sure you guys must be a stinging from getting thumped by the Raptors the last time out; what do you have to do to win this game?
A: I would really be shocked if we won this game. Not enough emphasis has been placed on the loss of Kyle Lowry, a guy who statistically speaking has been the team’s most impactful player this season.

The last time we played Houston, the Raptors played as good a game as they ever have, taking it to the Rockets for a full 48. With no real threat on the perimeter, and no double-team worthy player in the post, the Raptors perimeter defense was able to keep Battier and Ariza in check (and Brooks who went 6-20 but put up 20pts).

Scola and Landry were just monsters in the post, and absolutely owned Bosh and Bargnani combining for 46pts 22rebs, but Bosh and Bargnani countered with 41pts and 13rebs, and Turkoglu came up big from the wing with 23pts 6rebs 5ast. Replacing Landry off the bench with Jeffries is a step back, but the Rockets improved with the moves overall both strategically and tactically.

While the addition of Kevin Martin gives the Rockets someone who can create from the wing and score in bunches, he gives it back on defense. It will be up to DeRozan (but mostly Weems and Belinelli) to attack the hell out of him on offense, and keep Martin on his toes.

If Bosh were playing, I’d be all-in for a Raptor win, but in his absence, we don’t have a clear edge in the paint. Bargnani hasn’t really been utilized effectively, and Evans/Johnson/Rasho haven’t been able to fill in by committee. At the minimum, the pick-and-roll with Evans should just be put aside and never used again under any circumstances. While he does get the ball in motion, he is unable to do anything with it.

BARGNANI. BALL. PLEASE!!

I mean seriously, last night Bargs went 6-9 from the field; with Bosh out, why isn’t he getting more shots? I realize some of it has to do with Bargnani making himself available and aggressive; but no plays are being called for him. Nothing. Just to recap shot distribution last night:

Rasho Nesterovic – 4-10
Hedo Turkoglu – 3-8
Andrea Bargnani – 6-9
Jarrett Jack – 4-8
DeMar DeRozan – 4-10
Reggie Evans – 2-4
Antoine Wright – 2-8
Jose Calderon – 2-5
Amir Johnson – 3-7
Patrick O’Bryant – 1-3
Marco Belinelli – 2-4
Sonny Weems – 5-11

That’s a lot of bad shots that could have been given to bargnani. Even if a quarter of those missed shots (those 5 combined for 18-46 = 28 missed shots) were called for Bargnani, that’s 9 more attempts by somebody who was shooting the ball well. When you figure the Raptors lost by 20, that gap starts to close rapidly, even with the sloppy play. Think about it Jay, it could help tonight.

Another roller-coaster week, two disappointing losses sandwiched between an expected and an unexpected win. With injuries to Bargnani and Calderon, there was a chance for some reserves to make their mark and Jarrett Jack made the most of the opportunity. Sonny Weems had a nice run against Houston which many of us feel is something he can do rather consistently if given the chance. His game isn’t dependent on an outside jumper like Belinelli’s so it’s easier for him to be consistent. Utilizing ones athleticism is a matter of effort, something which is up to the individual to maintain, jumper’s a different breed as we’ve seen with Belinelli. You just don’t know when they’ll fall or when they’ll miss.

Jack’s been the most impressive Raptor for me, he averaged 14.75pts, 6.25asts and 5rebs for the week while playing 35mpg. The turnover numbers are rather high at 3.25/game but you’ll take that since he’s being very forceful on offense. He’s gone up against some quick hotshot young ‘uns this week and came out looking pretty decent, facing Flynn, Jennings and Brooks can be a defensive nightmare and he’s done a commendable job of it. Does he deserve the starting job? Before you answer yes or no to it, think back to Forderon and when some of us thought Jose should be the starter based on his play in a stretch of the season. I’ll try not to anoint him ‘the next one’, maybe he’s just a backup who’s having a good game, maybe he’s a starter in backup’s clothing. The good thing is that Jose is going to feel threatened which should help his game, just like it did when TJ was around.

Triano’s deservedly came under a lot of heat with the way the team lost against Milwaukee and Atlanta, in both cases the opponent made second quarter surges which we failed to overcome because of our inability to get stops. Fans just want to see him do something when the team is down, maybe call a timeout, gather his squad, draw up a couple good shot opportunities in the hopes of getting the team going. The frustration with him stems from his in-game management which seems to be non-existent, we’re 26 games in and I don’t recall him making a true change mid-game which gave the Raptors the advantage. We saw Milwaukee crowd Bosh in the second half, we saw Phoenix be prepared for the PnR switch a couple weeks ago, we even saw Minnesota, despite a size disadvantage, make a distinct effort to go at our bigs, I don’t know if anyone can remember Triano tweaking something at halftime to gain advantage.

Click on the play button below or listen directly in iTunes (37:31), you can also download the file (12.8 MB).

[audio:http://raptorsrepublic.com/audio/2009-12-14-weekly.mp3]

Podcast topics include:

• Living with Bosh and Bargnani.
• Whether Triano is screwing up DeRozan or is DeRozan just passive.
• A case for Sonny Weems.
• Lethargy against Atlanta.
• What the Houston win really means?
• The quest for .500 by January 1st.
• Bench depth. What do we have in Belinelli?

Looking Ahead

Tue @ MIA: Revenge mission for Miami. We beat them 120-113 earlier in the year. Since then they’re 4-6.

Wed @ ORL: Third time’s the charm against Orlando? If you can’t beat a team at home in two tries on Sunday afternoons, you’re not going to beat them on the road.

Fri v NJN: Lose here and…well, nobody will be shocked. I’m looking forward to seeing Brook Lopez operate, he killed Jermaine O’Neal last year and Bargnani should get a dose of the ‘inside’ against him.

Sun v NOH: Revenge mission for New Orleans. This seems ages ago, it was at the time a very impressive win but NOH went ahead and dropped 4 of their next 5 when Paul went out. Now he’s back and they’ve won 3 of 4, albeit against the Kings and Wolves (twice). They did lose to the Knicks at home 113-96 so that tells you how bad they could be. This is Mo Pete appreciation night, watch him go off for six threes. He’s pulled himself up to a 5.08 PER since we last checked on him, but good ‘ol Antoine Wright remains the worst player in the league:

Not sure what a win or a loss here means. A loss would go right in hand with what’s been going on with this team and a win would be just plain confusing. We’re at a very precarious stage of the season, after 25 games the record isn’t exactly brutal but at the same time the team hasn’t shown that they’re better than it. It’s one thing to hold a bad record and be a half-decent team, another to own a bad record and actually be bad. A familiar theme seems to be arising – beat the terrible ones, play .500 or bit lower against teams considered on par and lose spectacularly to the good ones. That, sir, gets you a record below .500 which doesn’t do much for the franchise.

First up, I’m sick of the fans who are trying to figure out who had the less shitty game – Bosh or Bargnani. Does it really matter? The fans were split along the Forderon lines a few years back but that was understandable because the team was winning and it was a fun thing to debate. This is different, we’re trying to assign blame on one particular player when the whole unit is playing like complete crap. It doesn’t make sense, take Atlanta for example, I read a comment in the post yesterday complaining how Bargnani was given credit for only one rebound in the Globe and Mail instead of 3. Really? Does that even warrant mention? I mean, it’s not like 3 is so much higher than 1 that it changes the meaning of the stat. We’re debating Bosh’s 5 turnovers and wondering whether one of it came due to an offensive goaltending. All this time Atlanta is kicking our ass in our own building while Jay Triano looks like he’s in a can trying to squirt one out the size of a baseball bat. Or while Bryan Colangelo models his high-collared shirts standing in the ACC tunnel next to Maurizio Gherardini who’s still chewing the pork-chop he ate yesterday. Let’s look at the big picture and be done with the Bosh/Bargnani BS.

Houston trots in tonight without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady and still finds itself at 13-9. A solidly constructed team with quality at each position and more importantly, players who are committed to the cause. They’ve won 5 of 6, the lone blemish a one point road defeat to Brandon Roy on the road. They’ve got speed with Aaron Brooks, pure hustle with Carl Landry, a tidy professional in Shane Battier, a solid defender in Trevor Ariza, and one of the most underrated players in the league in Luis Scola. Even their second round pick, Chase Budinger, is averaging 9 points leading all second rounders. Holding this bunch together is Rick Adelman’s experience and faith in team-ball philosophy, something he’s been preaching for ages and which has manifested in success in Sacramento and now in Houston. They’re better than us, and the purest proof of it is that we pick up their trash – Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Game thread has more. Trevor Ariza on the Rockets frontline:

“They’re undersized, but they play with a lot of heart. That’s what got them here, and that’s what got us where we are right now.”

Aah, heart. I long for those days. Back to the team-ball thing, when I heard that we were going Euro in Toronto the thoughts that conjured up in my head were those of beautiful passing, all five players touching the ball, movement-oriented offense, Princeton cuts, hi-lo feeds, high IQ plays, cross-court passes that slice open defenses, and all those things I for some reason associated with European basketball. None of that has happened, we’re playing traditional basketball with non-traditional players, something tells me it’s not going to work. Square peg, round hole.

Sustaining effort and competitiveness beyond the first quarter has been a problem in the last two games. We hung with Milwaukee and Atlanta in the first quarter but as soon as the benches came into play, we got crushed. Our bench got outscored 55-33 against Atlanta and thoroughly outplayed in the late-first and early-second stage of the Milwaukee game, in both instances the opposing team built a lead we never managed to erase. Consistency is the key and we don’t have it, Belinelli (as much as I like him) doesn’t seem like the guy that can be counted on to bring it every night, Jack is a solid pick-up but after him it really gets thin. This is a team built entirely around its starters and when they’re not producing as expected, we will suffer. While the good teams have backup plans, we don’t. Our depth at the 3, 4 and 5 positions has been exposed, Wright has been a failure, Johnson has been pleasantly surprising but far from a solution, and Rasho has been about as expected given his age. Evans hasn’t had a chance to do anything yet but c’mon, I mean, c’mon. He’s not a saviour and if we’re relying on him to be a saviour, we have much, much bigger issues.

A guy we all would like to see more of, Sonny Weems, is expected to get more burn against Houston. Belinelli hasn’t done much to make the bench minutes at the SG his own so we have to look at other options and so far this season Weems has been more or less ignored. Reggie Evans practiced but remains out, Jose Calderon practiced but didn’t appear to move too well and got shut down early; he’ll be out for a while. Triano’s going to have to figure out the backup PG position and right now waiving Douby doesn’t look like the right move (Carlos Arroyo could soon be available), he’s going to rely on Belinelli and Turkoglu to pick up the slack but Banks will be activated (formality, really, what the hell would it say about him if he’s a health scratch on a team with one PG). Triano spoke about the PG situation and how the team seems to give up after conceding a small run:

It’ll change the point guard spot… We’re going to make a couple of other changes too, to bring some more energy. Our biggest problem has been, I don’t know if it’s complacency or what, but they go on a 6-0 run and we kind of hang our heads a bit, and we’re still up. We just have to make sure that we get fresh guys in, energy and do the little things.”

What do you do when you’re not making your threes? Shoot more threes, of course. That’s what Triano’s plan is to get the team out of their slump, Chris Bosh tends to agree although why he’s commenting on three-point shooting is a mystery:

“Shooting is a lot mental. If you start pump faking and thinking about it, you’re probably not going to make it. You have to step into it and shoot your shot…. Lay it out on the line. That’s what this game is about. Lay it on out there. I don’t care if I miss five shots in a row because if I don’t [take an open shot], what’s the best we’re going to get? A panic shot at the end of the shot clock. That’s just about being aggressive and believing in our talent.”

So as we wait for this afternoon’s game against Houston, all you hope is that if the Raptors do win, it’s the start of something good. If they’re winning this game only to drop 4 of 5, I’d rather they lose this one too and get exposed for what we all fear they are – gutless. That gut will be tested this afternoon, Houston leads the league in offensive rebounding and plays 48 minutes. An optimist could argue that on paper this is a close game, but once you factor in team form and Houston’s effort level, this could get ugly. Bargnani and Bosh have offensive advantages, but will they be able to put that to use and not give it right back and more on defense? That seems to be what plagues every Raptor. Here’s hoping Hedo Turkoglu has two good games in a row, it’ll help us win this game and might even go some ways in renewing Portland’s interest in him. Houston is only a 1.5 favorite, I guess the odds-makers have more faith in the Raptors than we do.

Hey, you know how Scott Skiles threw Roko Ukic out there hoping he’d have some incentive to do well against his former team? You think we could pull something like that off with Pops? Naaah…just joking. Try to enjoy the game and I’ll try to do the same, although these days watching Raptors basketball seems to suck the life out of me. This has been surprisingly enjoyable.

Normally, RuPaul would respond to being called Bosh “sashay shante“, but he’s in Bush country and you can’t blame him for looking over his shoulder. We know how dem rednecks like dem der colored transvestites…they don’t. The Mavs rolled out the welcome wagon with a 109-98 spanking. Bosh put up a lady-like 28pts and 10rebs, all from the out-side, best part – he didn’t break a nail.

Normally, when a cornerstone of your franchise goes down for the year, the team packs it up. This season, we have seen the Bucks and Rockets play arguably better. I have watched a few Rockets games over the last couple seasons, and always found that they play a better brand of ball with T-Mac out of the lineup. Call it Iverson-syndrome, or the fact that karma is a b*tch, but since McGrady shafted the Raptors, his career has been nothing but cashing pay-checks ever two weeks.

This Rockets team is loads better without McGrady IMHO. If I were Daryl Morey, I would be trying to move McGrady for a couple pieces that would solidify the bench. Over the last 10 games, the Rockets are 8-2, with their two losses coming against the Bucks (what I tell you?) and the Bulls (a furious rally in the 4th). Their most recent game came at the hands of the Timberwolves, which doesn’t really count seeing as Jefferson is out for the season.

Backshot girl.

The Raptors on the other hand is 4-6, in the  middle of a 2 game losing streak that could stretch to 7. Marion is out with a flu, Bosh is the laughing stock of the league and each day we realize that this team is damned if they do, and damned if they don’t with their current management team in place. The last time these guys met earlier in the season, the Raptors managed to spank these guys 94-73.You might remember that game, the Rockets played some of the ugliest basketball, going 7-27 from the 3pt line.

They aren’t as well endowed as the Mavs cheerleaders, but we have ourselves a winner (and not by default). Her name is Julie, she takes pride in how far she has cum, and lists ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ as the greatest movie ever. There’s no accounting for taste, but she’s damn hot.

Injury Report

Raptors
Kris Humphries
Shawn Marion – questionable

Rockets
Tracy McGrady

Match-ups

Calderon vs Brooks
The Edge: Brooks - Calderon sucks. Brooks was a non-factor the first time they played this season, but with Rafers exile to Orlando, and Head being waved, he has been thrust into the starting role: 22pts 10asts? Raise of hands, who thought Calderon would put those numbers up this year? LOL

Parker vs Artest
The Edge: Artest - Ron-Ron will be having a big night for the Rockets, unless Marion is healthy enough to go, which wont change the outcome, but could keep Artest in check…to a degree. There is a possibility that Parker will cover Battier and Graham on Artest, that would a better match-up for the Raptors, still don’t like for either of them though.

Graham vs Battier
The Edge: Battier - How big a contract will Joey Graham get this off-season? I suspect a 3yr/$10mill type deal. I say this because we really don’t know what we have in this guy. Is he playing for a contract, or did Smitch really have it in for the guy? I’m leaning to the former, but who knows. Battier is easily the best player in the match-up, and easily will win this match-up for one reason: he does what he needs too. If he needs to play defense for the Rockets to win, he will and they will. If he needs to hit treys for the Rockets to win, he will and they will. The guy is a pro, he can play for my team any day.

Bosh vs Scola
The Edge: Scola - Does dropping 28pts 10rebs while losing mean you won the match-up? Statistically yes, but not where it matters, in the W column. I suspect RuPaul will put up solid numbers, but Scola will do 15pts 10rebs and the Rockets will win. He gets the nod.

Bargnani vs Yao
The Edge: Yao - It’s a sweep. Yao will dominate in the block, Bargnani should dominate on the perimeter. Yao will win the battle on the boards, Bargnani will hit more treys. Yao will win the game, Bargnani wont.

Note - Von Wafer is someone to watch out for. He lit us up for 18pts the last time around, and is averaging 17 a game over the last 5 games (since McGrady has gone down I believe, I wonder how he feels that every time he goes down, the team plays better?).

The Line

VegasInsider.com has the line at Rockets -8.5

Prediction

Go with the line, Raptor suck and the Rockets are jockeying for 2nd round home court advantage.

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Free Ukic .

And resign Bosh to a max deal or this team is in dire straits (or just ship RuPaul out for a few young QUALITY pieces).