Dwayne Casey:

We’re trying to hold on to him and keep him, but he has played his way into a very high status as a point guard. A lot of teams have been calling and wanting him.

Call me crazy, but the non-committal tone is something I don’t want to hear as a player, and Jose deserves more from this franchise. In fact, it has the stink of Danny Ainge all over it. It’s no secret that Jose needs to go if we really want to blow this mother up and rebuild, but the way he’s been playing…makes you second guess your armchair quarterbacking. He also deserves to be handled with the utmost respect, because that’s all he’s done for this city…

Trade speculation and free agency are my two favourite parts of the year by far. Rumours and plugging retarded scenarios into trade machine have been the only thing that has kept me going between mediocre season after season.

Before I get my head ripped off, let me go on the record as saying that I only support trading Jose IF it brings back young players who can be core pieces to build around, OR, brings back a youngish, serviceable replacement plus draft picks. I’m all for loyalty, but I’d rather have a winning team to cheer on.

The reality is that we could hold on to him, be happy with his stellar improvement, have his contract expire in 2013 then either resign him for half of what he’s getting now, or let him walk. Both scenarios hurt this team’s long term outlook because you aren’t getting max value for the guy by dealing with him at the right time.

Dumping Jose for cap relief makes no sense given how he’s playing and leading this team, so here are a few scenarios I’ve come up with that work and make some level of sense for the teams involved (in no particular order):

Raptors/Rockets/Lakers
To Rockets – Gasol
To Lakers – Calderon, Scola
To Raptors – Lowry
Trade Machine
Raptors do this because…they get a younger point guard who’s having a hell of a season, and save some money
Rockets do this because…they finally get Gasol, whom they covet for some reason
Lakers do this because…they upgrade at the point while getting a solid replacement for Gasol

Raptors/Lakers/Celtics
To Lakers – Calderon, Bass
To Boston – Bayless, Gasol
To Toronto – Rondo, Jermaine O’Neal
Trade Machine
Raptors do this because…it’s a no brainer
Celtics do this because…they can field a starting five of Bayless/Allen/Pierce/Garnett/Gasol; much better than what they have now
Lakers do this because…they upgrade at the point, clear $5mil from their cap and look to move Bynum for Howard to field a starting five of Calderon/Bryant/MWP/Bass/Howard

RaptorsSixers/Lakers
To Sixers – Gasol, Walton’s contract
To Lakers – Calderon, Brand
To Raptors – Evan Turner
Trade Machine
Raptors do this because…they save cap space and bring in a young swing guard who has lots of upside
Sixers do this because…they add an elite low-post scorer who can actually run the break with the other wings
Lakers do this because…upgrade at the point, and replace Gasol with a capable veteran

There was one more deal I came up with, that could happen if the pot was sweetened with picks and cash: Raptors send Calderon to Dallas for Odom and Beaubois (trade machine). Odom is useless, and I don’t want the shit-show that comes with Kardashian infection, but he will soon become ‘Odom’s expiring contract’ which will have some value. For Dallas, Jose could be a solid Plan B if they can’t land Deron Williams this summer; a core of Calderon/Nowitzki/Howard could compete for a championship for a few seasons.

I’m leaning towards the 1st scenario; it makes sense for all the teams involved, and the Raptors replace Calderon with Lowry, whose younger and makes half the money. Getting Rondo would be the best move to make here, but any deal that helps the C**tics drops to the bottom of my list. I concede each scenario has the Raptors getting back max value for Calderon, which doesn’t happen in real life, but desperate teams (Lakers, Celtics, Rockets, Knicks, Magic and the Nets ) in extraneous circumstances (lockout shortened season) will be working overtime to make something happen. BryCo needs to be ready.

Ryan Degama, from Celtics Hub, James Herbert and AltRaps answered three of my burning questions:

Read an interesting trade scenario on ESPN (Insider required) with Garnett going to Denver for Afflalo, Miller and Mozgov; good trade personally. Why hasn’t Ainge began breaking up the big three, and getting picks/prospects for them while he can?

Ryan: There are a few reasons nothing has happened yet. Part of it is that teams are still evaluating what they need and part of it is that you nail the expected return: picks and prospects. That’s a serious bounty and Boston’s early performance has done little to strengthen Ainge’s negotiating position. Now that Paul Pierce has returned to all-star form, Ainge has more to work with, but there’s no guarantee he’ll get an offer he considers palatable. It’s possible Boston will ride out the season as is.

Alt: I’ve hated Ainge my whole life. Hated him as a Blue Jay and as soon as he became a Celtic, well, it was all over. So, in short, he hasn’t moved on anything because he can’t cross a street without calling someone for help. Much like when we traded Carter, Danny knows that what he gets in return for any of these guys will show what kind of a gunslinger he is. The fact he was willing to part with Rondo before any of these guys tells you something. He will make a move closer to the deadline, especially as the Sixers get further and further ahead of them. You’ll see a desperate perennial playoff team give up some good picks and current talent for one of the two. Pierce is untouchable.

James: Ainge has directly said that he would break this team up if he received a good enough offer. Who’s going after these guys, though? You’re only taking one of them if you’re a contender, and what contender has spare young players that would actually help the Celtics? Maybe some team would like to shed salary for Garnett’s $21 million expiring contract, but would Boston want a bunch of overpaid guys? Would Ainge want Joe Johnson? I doubt it.

Can the Celtics, as presently constructed, still win a championship?

Ryan: Their offense is on the wrong side of mediocre and their rebounding is bottom third in the league. Those two factors guarantee an early round exit come playoff time. Add the team’s collective age and inclination to injury and it’s all over unless you really want to delve deep into “everything goes right” scenarios. Those haven’t been hallmarks of the last few years in Boston.

Alt: If they were able to pull out series wins in 4-5 games, yes. They would get a breather between sets (presumably) and it gives their coaching staff time to get them working on the possible next opponent. Give that time to an Allen, a Garnett, a Rondo, then you have a shot. The real hitch is beating the West in the final. Good luck with that.

James: Can they? Yeah. In the same way that Portland or Denver can if a lot of things go their way. The Celtics are not contenders, barring a major injury elsewhere. They’ll be better come playoff time and we shouldn’t forget how bad they looked during some parts of 2009-2010 before making it to the Finals, but as constructed they are not in the same class as Miami, Chicago, and Oklahoma City.

Will it be a bar fight tonight?

Ryan: Feels like it could be a rough one after Kleiza smacked down Rondo last time. But I don’t think it will be a close one if the Celtics are interested in playing defense (sometimes they’re not) and moving the ball on offense, like they did against the Cavs last night.

Alt: Casey has these guys playing scrappy. You throw Scarborough out there to lay some shoulders and I envision some chippiness. If it’s a close game you know they will zero in on Jose’s touchiness and, especially without Andrea playing cold hand Luke, he could fall for it. That’s okay, though…we have Kleiza who has taken the role of the NBA’s version of a viper.

James: I just watched the Raptors get blown out by the Hawks at home and it wasn’t for a lack of effort. They’ll fight, but without Bargnani they’re going to struggle to put points up against this Boston defense. It all depends on if Toronto can contain Pierce, the Celtics’ primary creator in the absence of Rajon Rondo — if it’s a blowout, it’s not a bar fight.

Injuries

Toronto
Bargnani – Calf, out indefinitely

Boston
Rondo – Wrist, day-to-day
Dooling – Hip, day-to-day
O’Neal – Knee, day-to-day

Match-ups

Point Guard
I’m really liking the effort Bayless has been putting up since his return from injury; what helps most is he’s protecting the ball much better. Calderon’s been consistent. I realize he’s been starting at the 2 the last two games, but I just don’t see DeRozan covering Paul Pierce and James Johnson taking on Kevin Garnett. So with Rondo out (probably out), Bayless will be backing up Calderon and playing some shooting guard in relief of DeRozan while Colangelo sorts out a trade for Barbosa.
Edge: Raptors

Shooting Guard
I took a lot of heat when I said DeRozan’s game against the Nets wasn’t that great (especially getting to the foul line 16 times against a D-league level team). When you such dramatic swings from game-to-game, you don’t get love from this corner of the interwebs when you make a pretty against a weak-ass team. Head-to-head against Ray Allen, DeRozan’s been mediocre for a few seasons, I’m not saying Ray-Ray is going to drop 30, but he will do 15-20; mix that with DeRozan’s love affair with the jumper and Boston’s defensive resurgence (4th in defensive efficiency)…it’s going to be a long night for the prodigal son.
Edge: Celtics

Small Forward
Paul Pierce may be old, but his game was never dependant on his athleticism; it’s that slow-motion first step that’s killer. JJ and Kleiza have been playing nice, but if their combined production matches Pierce’s, I’ll be surprised.
Edge: Celtics

Power Forward
I’d like to see Amir or Magloire nail Garnett in the face with an elbow tonight, then have Calderon bark in his ear about it. This would be a win for me.
Edge: Celtics

Center
All my match-up assumptions were based on the Raptors not going small ball because of the bad mis-matches at the 2 and 3 if they do. Maybe they go that route, in which case half of what I’ll be watching the Chicago/Philly game (I’ll be watching that game anyways, Love D-Rose), but maybe they try and match-up a bit smarter, and not let Allen and Pierce take it easy on the bench in the 2nd half because they built up a 20 point 1st half lead.
Edge: Even, but who really cares

Keys to the Game

• Ball movement: the Celtics are a damn good defensive team, but they are old. The Raptors need to make them work on the defensive end of the court and really attack the paint; Garnett and O’Neal aren’t what they used to be. Don’t settle for jumpers!
• Tight defensive rotations: with Rondo out, the Celtics don’t have a guy who can consistently break down the defense and create for the rest of the team. Can’t give Allen and Pierce open looks from the perimeter (the Raptors have done a great job of allowing this this season) or they will kill us; I can’t stress this enough.
• Get into Garnett’s head: this wont win us the game, but I want to see someone mess the SOB a bit…hate him…

The Line

There’s no line at time of publishing, but I’ll go ahead and put a line in the sand: Celtics  by 13.

How would you rate the hiring of Ed Stefanski: good, bad or meh?

Arsenalist: Good. An experienced mind in the front-office can only help, unless of course Colangelo and Stefanksi end up constantly butting heads. That’s unlikely to occur, though, as Colangelo would’ve taken that into careful account before making the hire. The Raptors haven’t had a fresh set of eyes for a while, and Stefanksi does provide that. A guy you can bounce ideas off, maybe if he was around two or three years ago, the thoughts of signing guys like Hedo Turkoglu and Jermaine O’Neal would’ve been cut short.

Unlike Colangelo, Stefanksi’s played the game at a relatively high level (got drafted in the 10th round too), so he definitely brings a blend of both executive experience, and a first-hand knowledge of the game. His recent picks are Evan Turner, Jrue Holiday, and Marreese Speights, and I expect him to be very beneficial to the Raptors when it comes to the draft.

Avid readers of RR will note that he did select the great Rodney Carney.

AltRaps: Meh. We already had a second in command in Embry that has gone untapped and/or ignored over the past few years. Not many in the league demand the respect that Embry has and his track record here is pretty damn good. I don’t need to remind you (I hope) of the gifts he provided to Colangelo upon his arrival by clearing space and setting us up for a pretty good rebuild. I also don’t need to remind you that Colangelo pissed it all away like he had been drinking Carlsberg by the keg.

Sam: Meh. Another guy batting .500 is brought in, and given more power than a guy whose been here longer, and hasn’t done worse than a double on any hit. Landing Pritchard would have been the move; that’s just me though.

How much authority will Stefanski have to make the moves HE wants to make?

Arsenalist: He has zero authority to “make” the moves, he can suggest them to Colangelo as much as he pleases, but in the end it’s Colangelo’s decision. He knows that entering into this job. I’m sure not having full authority isn’t ideal, but then again there are only 30 NBA GM jobs in the world. You take what you can get.

AltRaps: About as much authority as I have to go to Arsenalist and demand we change our logo every week. Nil. BC has gone for the quick save and brought a fellow GM in and razzle dazzled the MLSE Board in thinking that 2 heads are better than one. I’m sure there were some lovely graphs and charts showing how more is indeed more and we should pay some money to get a proven piece in to help this organization out in a spot that we needed filled. See Hedo. I’m convinced Ed is working in a cubicle beside JYD and that both have as much pull as each other.

Sam: Does puppet-master come to mind? Trying not to be pesimististic about this, and the guy has made some good moves, but BC isn’t the kind of guy to concede giving his stamp of approval on moves. This is how I see things going down:

1. Ed working the phone, putting together a deal that makes sense
2. Puts together his fancy pitch-deck using Keynote
3. Takes it too Colangelo who gets hung up on the background colors of the slides
4. BC tells Ed to leave it to him….and he does…
5. Calderon gets a 3yr/$21m extension

What will/should his first official act be?

Arsenalist: Deal with the power-forward glut: Ed Davis, Andrea Bargnani, Amir Johnson and Linas Kleiza. If Bargnani is option #1 there, we don’t need Davis and Johnson to vie for 25 minutes a game, it’s better to just hand them over to one of the two and cash in on the other in the trade market. Basically, one of the three has to go.

AltRaps: to increase the budget for halftime entertainment. His first official act won’t matter. You best believe Bryan has a list of guys he wants once free agency opens and nobody is going to change his mind. Stefanski I think will try, but it will be a lost cause. Once that passes, though, I’d hope he sits down with Steve Fruitman (the genius behind some of the good moves in the Colangelo reign) and they do a deep dive in the new CBA. Beyond that, we need someone that will be a solid back up to Jonas. This will surprise you but I’m not sold on the kid. It will be Andrea-like the first few years, so need a piece to bridge that time.

Sam: Seems to me a lot of time and effort will need to go into understanding, and really getting, the new CBA after something gets agreed too. Last summer was a disaster for the Raptors in this regard. Otherwise, any move that can improve the Raptors short term, with the future in mind will do. Just pick any position and make a move.

What I tell you about the Cavs game? Something didn’t seem right about the line, and although they gave it a go in the first quarter, the Raptors were able to storm back, win the 2nd quarter, then take the game. Wont be so easy tonight against Boston. Seems like we play the Celtics once a week or so doesn’t it? Fortunately this is the last match-up until next season.

The Celtics are coming off a huge win against the Spurs, where they went small ball and put the Spurs in their place. Small ball is actually an option that makes me nervous for tonight’s game since it nullifies Bargnani’s ability to put the ball on the floor and take his man off the dribble. Sure he will shoot over anyone from 18 feet out, but he doesn’t post-up enough when he has a defender on his hip enough  to punish the other team.

I checked in with Ryan DeGama from CelticsHub about the Celtics and the game tonight:

With so many injuries to start the season, and currently sitting 1st in the East, you guys must be feeling good heading into the second half of the season. Will anything less than a championship be a disaster this season?
Disaster’s a big word but if the Celtics drop another Finals to the Lakers, then it might be the right one. It would be disaster-level painful for most Celtics fans, who still aren’t really over the second half collapse in game seven of last year’s Finals.

The bottom line is this team was built to win championships and this might be the best team that Danny Ainge has put together for Doc Rivers, so expectations are sky-high. The fact the Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce-Ray Allen core won one championship means they’ll be looked on favorably by history, however, a second would cement their legacies in Boston, where winning one title is only sorta, kinda impressive.

Who do you not want to play in the Eastern playoffs, and if you get there, the Finals?
Eastern Conference: Probably Miami. Also Chicago. And Orlando. The problem with this year is that to just get to The Finals, the C’s will have to go through at least two of those teams. Miami may be a year of frontcourt reinforcements away from being able to topple Boston, and Orlando may not have a true second star behind Howard, so, counter-intuitively perhaps, I’ll nominate Chicago. Rose is a matchup nightmare, and they’ve got an athletic frontline that can give Boston problems. If the Bulls can upgrade their 2-guard, they’re going to be a handful.

The Finals: The Celtics would probably be best served playing the Spurs but even though it’s a tougher matchup, I think everybody wants the Lakers (see also: revenge).

Rondo’s improved every year he’s played in the league, but to average 14 assists a game is very impressive. It seems to have come at the expense of his offense, but his improved shooting efficiency has made up for it some. What can you attribute to the big jump in playmaking for him this season?
To quibble, scoring numbers aside, I think his offense is actually a level beyond where it was last year. He has a newfound consistency of effort and result from game-to-game and he’s shooting a career high 44% from the mid-range.

His assist numbers are up for a number of reasons including: his natural peak-years evolution as playmaker, because Shaq has replaced Perkins in the starting lineup, and also because Allen and Pierce remain lethal shotmakers.

Perkins is a free agent after this year. What do you think he’s worth on the open market, and will be a Celtic come next season?
That first question may be above my pay grade, particularly with us all unsure of what the new CBA is going to look like, but as a blind guess, how about $8M per? Ainge has been reluctant to sign any player beyond 2012 except Pierce and Rondo but I think he’ll re-up Perkins to a multi-year deal after the season – lest he undercut the C’s chances for a 2012 run at the title.

Assuming there is a 2012.

(You can take that as a reference to either a potential lockout or the Mayan doomsday prophecy).

What’s going to be the plan heading into the game tonight against the Raptors?
Nothing you haven’t seen. Doesn’t it seem like these two teams are always playing each other in clusters? Over at CelticsHub, Hayes Davenport refers to it as Raptors Week.

As usual, the Celtics will test the Raptors willingness to play defense on multiple offensive options for 24-full-seconds and try to keep your athletes from crashing the offensive glass and getting to the rim.

Injuries

Toronto
Reggie Evans – Out
Peja Stojakovich – Out
Sonny Weems – Day to day
Jerryd Bayless – Day to day
Jose Calderon – Hurting but should play

Boston
Kendrick Perkins – Out
Kevin Garnett – Out
Delonte West – Out

Match-ups

Point Guard
Rondo’s back, and he’s playing like a champ again. Wednesday against the Spurs he dropped a magnificent 12pts 10rebs 22ast 6stl 1blk gem. Can he do it tonight against the Raptors? Yes. Will he? Probably. My preference is to take away his options and force him to hit some shots, but he’s been hitting those at a 53% rate…so yea…

Jose can regain some lost ground with another monster game, but Rondo is no Mo Williams or Ramon Sessions, and plays great defense. 20pts 17ast may not be possible, but something like 17pts 10ast will help fight the good fight.
Edge: Boston

Shooting Guard
I keep saying it and saying it, and nothing, but DeMar needs to study Ray Allen and follow his lead. Sure DeMar is super athletic, but so are most shooting guards in the league; degrees of athleticism isn’t really an advantage. Regardless, DeRozan’s been on a bit of a tear of late, with a bad game for him being 13pts 3rebs 2ast…I’ll take that. Tonight will be more of the same with Ray Allen inflicting a great deal of pain on the Raptors. Barbosa wont fair any better.
Edge: Boston

Small Forward
The Truth, nuff said. Would be nice to get Julian Wrights defense on him, but it wont help.
Edge: Boston

Power Forward
As much as I loathe Glen Davis, the guy is having a great season. Against the Raptors, he’s averaging 15pts 6rebs 4ast which makes my blood boil to no end (death by 1000 cuts). With Garnett out, there’s very depth at the 4, which is where the Raptors can make up some lost ground in the match-ups. Both Amir and Ed are playing very well lately, and will give Davis a run for his money on the glass.

What has me concerned is that Doc Rivers going small ball, which will see Marquis Daniels switch to the 4 and Davis to the 5. This could pose a lot of problems for the Raptors as Daniels plays about 15ft in, pulling Amir/Ed out of the paint making help defense and rebounding that much tougher. On the offensive glass, Daniels will do zero to counter Johnson/Davis though, so there is a silver lining with this strategy.

At the end of the day, any advantage the Raptors may have here will be far outweighed by the Celtics advantage at the wing. To close, here’s Glen Davis doing the dougie:

Edge: Toronto

Center
Shaq can’t cover  Bargnani for long stretches on defense, so we will see some interesting lineups thrown at the Raptors. Bargnani will have to deal with a combination of Shaq, Jermaine O’Neal and Glen Davis, each bringing a different challenge for him to deal with. If/when the Celtics go small ball, Bargnani will struggle with defending Davis on the perimeter and his bull-doggedness when he gets into the paint with his interesting post-play (always has these moves where I full expect him to flop to the ground and airball the layup, but it works). Unlike the power forward advantage the Raptors enjoy, if Bargnani puts up a 30+ point night, he might be able to keep things very interesting for much of the game.
Edge: Toronto

The Line

The gamblers have the Celtics as 9.5 point favourites with an over/under of 200.5. Unlike the Cavaliers game, the Raptors can’t spot the Celtics a 32-19 lead in the 1st quarter and expect to take the game. With the game in Boston, the Raptors will need to hit the ground running from the get-go and do all the little things to have a chance.

We’ve got Twitter, Facebook and Live Chat. If you’re in the city and want to catch the game with other Raptor fans, head over to Sports Center Cafe at Yonge/St. Clair for Raptor Fan Fridays.

One love

The Raptors are on the second night of a back-to-back, and rolling into Indiana (9-9) who are two games ahead of the Raptors for 7th in the East. Yes, the Raptors currently hold the 8th playoff seed; half a game ahead of Milwaukee. Could be a nice win for the Raptors who play the Knicks again on Wednesday and will be looking to exact some revenge after yesterdays loss.

Injuries

Toronto
Reggie Evans – Out
Peja Stojakovic – Out

Indiana
Niente

Match-ups

Point Guard
I guess that settled that: Jose Calderon is the better PG. Since Jack got moved, Calderon has been averaging 10pts 8.6ast; numbers approaching the levels that had us all saying he was a top flight point guard when he got that big contract. The good news is that Jose is playing like the Jose we all know he can play like, the bad news is that he has another speedy point guard to deal with tonight in Darren Collison, who the Pacers landed in a damn good deal for themselves in the summer (only cost them Troy Murphy).

Collison was one of the prizes of the summer, and Bird somehow managed to engineer a trade that opened up playing time for Hibbert to shine, and land the point guard he desired, all in one-swoop; not to bad! Darren sees the court very welle, and is able to create off the dribble. He wont kill us from the perimeter, but his jumper is pretty good, have to get a hand up on him and things should work out. I like the energy Jose’s been-bringing on defense; hasn’t been stellar, but he’s not making it easy for the other point guard either. I’d like to see him continue that and make Collison beat the Raptors with his jumper and not his play-making when he gets going.

Should be noted that Collison is a pretty good defender, so Jose can expect to be tested on both ends of the floor.
Edge: Even

Shooting Guard
It’s going to be a long night for DeRozan/Barbosa, I just have a feeling. Dunleavy seems to be one of those guys that always gets up to play against the Raptors. Fortunately for us he comes off the bench, and DeMar will have to deal with Rush for longer stretches. Rush was one of the guys we wanted to draft when we drafted Hibbert (talk about this later on) and traded to Indiana for Jermaine O’Neal *shudder*. The kid is very athletic, blocks shots, and a solid defender on the perimeter. DeMar will be wise to attack him as he has some intensity issues that render him useless at points; something DeMar knows all too well.

There are massive match-up issues for Barbosa when he’s in with Dunleavy, this is where Triano/Carlessimo have to get creative with their line-juggling, but Barbosa can’t defend Dunleavy; and neither can Dunleavy guard Barbosa. Depending on who’s playing, the Raptors can have the advantage in this match-up. The Pacers are a big team overall, so unless the Raptors small-ball unit is playing off the chain, it will tough to get Barbosa playing time at the shooting guard. Bayless could see reduced minutes tonight as Barbosa would most likely get some of his minutes at the back-up PG.
Edge: Indiana

Small Forward
The wing situation is going to be a rough one for the Raptors tonight, where the Pacers are deeper than the Raptors, and able to throw different looks at us all night. Fortunately Weems (and DeRozan) have both started to play a little better the last couple games. Weems especially is finishing aggressively around the rim, when he’s actually engaged in the game. Granger is approaching elite-level scorer status the last couple seasons, and could easily go off for 35 (although we’ve been able to manage him rather nicely the last couple years).

I’m sure Posey’s good for a 3 pointer, if that…maybe he’s not, but the guy is a serviceable back-up off the bench in limited playing time; he’s a two-time world champion, that counts for something at the end of the day. The key will be to play Granger hard on both ends, and getting him into foul trouble. Since Weems is one of the two best finishers on team with a head of steam, running it at Danny can prove effective since he’s a tweener on defense who likes to swat balls (he’s not a bad shot blocker either, but you can’t block them all). Weems needs to rebound from a gawdawful game against the Knicks yesterday, and wont have an easy time of it. Still, he’s shown some resilience so far.

As an aside, I’ve lost confidence in Kleiza. It’s not that he can’t be a good player for the Raptors, as a spot up shooter off the bench he could still be a solid contributor, but he’s taking on too much and can’t deliver. Maybe Karl had it right with his usage in Denver…
Edge: Indiana

Power Forward
Amir has really stepped up in Reggies absence, with a couple monster games. He’s been able to play under control and not get foul happy which leads me to believe that the coaching is getting through to him. The Pacers front court isn’t very strong after the starters, McRoberts is a good shooter from the perimeter, but can’t handle Johnson in the block on either end of the floor. I expect to see situational match-ups with Josh covering Bargnani, which will only lead to more trouble for the Pacers.

On Amir, McRoberts can’t defend and is a poor rebounder for his size; all the makings for a 20/10 night for our Young One. Ed Davis is making some significant contributions given that he’s coming off a pretty brutal injury. I’m really liking this kid a lot, and he too will have an advantage against Josh on the glass and in the quickness department.
Edge: Toronto

Center
Like I said earlier, the Raptors front court is better than the Pacers. Hibbert, much like McRoberts, is a big lumbering player who can’t keep up with either Bargnani or Johnson (or Davis or Dorsey). He does, however, pose some problems since he’s a traditional center who can score from 15ft-in. Bargnani didn’t play heavy minutes yesterday (33), so he should have the legs to get after Hibbert and/or McRoberts, doesn’t really matter who’s covering him tonight, he will own.

His rebounding has improved, and should be able to contribute on that front. My only hope is that Jeff Foster doesn’t find the fountain of youth and make an impact off the bench; he’s really feasted on the Raptors front court over the years with his hustle and grit.

The Raptors front-court has the horses to really make a positive impact on this game; had this not been the second night of a back-to-back, it could have gotten messy for the Pacers.
Edge: Toronto

Side Note:
Does it upset no one else that the Pacers have two players, Granger and Hibbert, who by all rights should be a Raptor, that are thriving at positions that we currently need filled? Anyone?

Keys to the Game

Don’t get Down Early
The Raptors are on the second night of a back-to-back, so they need to use their energy effectively, and not to play catch-up; the game could be put away early if they come out flat. To Triano’s credit, he managed minutes pretty well last night, so the Raps won’t be totally worn out to start the game. The easiest way to stay in the game will be to pound the ball into Amir and Bargnani (depending on match-up and court positioning) and let them molest the Pacers front court. Getting into an up-and-down match to start the game may prove difficult to sustain and put them into a hole.

As always, the 3rd quarter push will be crucial, so catching a collective second wind at the half will be important. Jose might want to go back to handing out Gatorade in the locker room; seemed to help.

Rebounding
This would have been a perfect game for Reggie’s hustle, he could have easily grabbed 17 rebounds against a slow footed Pacer front court.

The Pacers are 3rd in the league in rebounding, with the whole team chipping in on the glass. Boxing out and crashing the boards should be the minimum requirement to see the floor tonight. Anything Bargnani can give us above 6 rebounds will be massive.

Perimeter Defense
Two words: Julian Wright; the kid Is our best defender on the perimeter, and can help. He’s clearly not the answer, but he has the size, length and athleticism to both all three of Granger, Rush and Dunleavy. Won’t hurt, right?

Make Your Free Throws
The Raptors went 11-22 from the line yesterday against the Knicks. Not saying if they hit them they would have won (they wouldn’t have), but they could have changed the complexion of the game. 50% from the the charity stripe is unacceptable.

We got Twitter, Facebook and Live Chat.

“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.

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.

The good folks at Dime Magazine reached out to us about Chris Bosh and The Summer of 2010. They have some interesting thoughts on why Bosh would be wise to leave Toronto, but they don’t know what he means to Toronto (and what Toronto means to him). Changing digs doesn’t always equal a championship, and the devil you know, sometimes is better than the devil you don’t.

The media frenzy surrounding his pending free agency has been ridiculous. The only questions I seem to be fielding about this team are about what he will do in the summer and whether or not he’s a max player. Just so it’s on the record, up until recently I was 100% sure he would be a Raptor come training camp, and still believe he is worthy of a max contract. However, the teams recent (horrible) performance and Bosh’s body language seem to indicate otherwise, or at create the perception that he’s dogging it.

The fact of the matter is that Chris Bosh is a man that is bound by the same rules as the rest of us: he wants an important role in a great company for great pay. The fact that he has other business interests at such a young age speaks volumes about the ambition he has, and the value he holds for any organization: he’s attempting to maximize every facet of his life to carve out his own piece of the pie.

What can we really read into this though? Sure he seemingly isn’t battling as hard as earlier in the season (I’m not so sure he’s checked out), but things are quite different than a few months ago and you can’t eliminate the human condition from the equation. You get worn down enough by what’s going on around you, and it will take its toll. It also doesn’t help that Toronto is a big media market, second only to New York/Los Angeles/Chicago. If you didn’t know, the spotlight here gets mighty hot.

During Bosh’s tenure with the Raptors, the only constant has been poor leadership and losing. So with the team desperate for a #2 to help take some of the burden off of Bosh, we saw two very big moves that brought in the wrong player over the last two seasons.

Last year saw Colangelo take a huge gamble on Jermaine O’Neal and lose; costing the Raptors players and two-1st rounder’s to trade for him, then ultimately unload him.

This season kicked off with a massive overhaul of the roster: 9 new players and Triano losing the interim tag as the coach. Hedo Turkoglu was signed as the clutch, playmaking forward the Raptors were sorely missing since Vince Carter. And Bargnani was expected to continue his realization as a legit NBA talent under Triano’s stewardship.

…we all know how that worked out. The team started 7-13 while trying to make the pieces fit; they took advantage of a weaker schedule going 22-10; and are currently watching it all get flushed down the drain as they have been struggling through injuries and motivation, going 6-14 since the All-Star break. Talk about an unstable work environment.

Both times, Colangelo had the right idea, but executed poorly in actually going out and getting the best fit for the team. Both times saw Bosh support the decision, because the intention of the move was right. Each times, we’ve seen it fall apart, leaving Bosh and whoever happens to be on the team, wondering where it all went wrong.

Bosh has always maintained that being the man on a championship team is his goal, but what about the city he lives in? Heading into training camp, he declared his love for Toronto, going so far as to say that he considers the Tdot home, and glad that he’s back after spending the summer in Texas. He is an established social figure here, and it is going to be difficult to recreate his brand in another city; where he’ll no doubt be less adored than the city who watched him grow and mature.

What if he actually leaves (or gets traded) though, then what? I think everyone can agree that Toronto wont be getting equal value back in a trade. Think about it: you’re giving up a 26 year old perennial All-Star who is only getting better, AND who makes about $16mil this year. You have to engineer a trade that nets you young talent and picks while making sure salaries match. In the event that he up and leaves, and his salary comes off the payroll, the Raptors will only have about $7mil to try and replace him. Bargnani has already proven that he can’t step up and be the man in Bosh’s absence, and you can’t even sign David Lee to a $7mil starting contract.

Either way, the core of the team will look like: Calderon, Turkoglu, Bargnani and whoever replaces Bosh. Excuse me if that doesn’t get me excited about the future of this franchise. Winning in the NBA requires teams to keep their stars and build around them with the right pieces at the right cost. The Lakers, Celtics, Magic, Cleveland and Miami are all proof of this. They drafted their star, and brought in the right pieces to compliment him.

I’m not sure I want to support a team that chases another one of it’s stars out of town while he gets vilified by the same people who showered him with praise and affection while he led this team. I’m pretty sure I wont have to make that decision though since Chris Bosh is the Toronto Raptors, everything that can be done to keep him here will be.

For the latest NBA news and rumors, check out Dime Magazine and follow them on Twitter.

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.

Good old Heat, you can always count on them for a win. The Raptors have absolutely OWNED them over the last few seasons, winning 8 of the last 10. Arse hit the nail on the head when he said that a win was more a signal of the continued resurgence than a feather in the cap. However, 5th is better than 6th, and the things that usually drive me crazy about Raptor games, didn’t even bother me one bit.

Who else didn’t give rats ass that Bargnani only grabbed 3 rebounds? I bring this up beacause you know how I feel about my centers (I prefer the Kendrick Perkins types), but this is 2010, and things change. Bargnani played like a beast, scoring 27 on 13-19 shooting from the floor, that’s ridiculous. That rebound with 40 or so seconds to go was where I found peace with Bargnani. Just like the Raptors defense stepped up at key times to power the Raptors over the Lakers; Bargnani’s rebounding showed up to snatch a sure fire offensive rebound away from the Heat.

Who doesn’t care about what Turkoglu contributes anymore? 6pts 4rebs 3ast for $109,756.01. Yes, he makes $110k a game, but God bless him, he hits his free throws when the game is on the line; cementing the win last night. At some point, teams are going to realize he can’t hit jumpers anymore, and not play him tightly on the perimeter, but until then, we get to ride his coat-tails as a closer which opens up the game for other Raptors to step in.

Weems? You have to love love the kid for his energy and tenacity. First career start, and he didn’t disappoint, getting to the rack and finishing off the dribble. That’s all we want our shooting guards to do in Toronto. Be active on defense and drive to the rim. He was a spark-plug in the 1st quarter when the Raptors were dragging their feet and in danger of being blown out of the game. So what if he moved away from the drive and started to pop (and miss jumpers). The kids young and seems to be coachable, and took advantage of the start and extended minutes.

Calderon and Belinelli as the Raptors best back-court? Raise your hands if you agree. I think they are a perfect compliment to each other off the bench. Calderon with his calculated approach coupled with Belinelli’s kamikaze ways; like the waitress and dancer hitting you up at the same time at The Rail. The more Calderon does his thing off the bench, the less I Want to trade him. I know I’m the guy who led the charge, but I forgot how effective he can be as the backup point (if only TJ didn’t rock the boat, things may have been different).

With Wade on the bench to start the 2nd, Calderon and Belinelli accounted for 19 (21 if you count Bosh’s tip-back) of the first 25 points the Raptors scored to give them a 48-47 lead. For the quarter, Calderon dropped 3pts 5ast while Belinelli put up 9pts 1reb 1ast 1stl.

The 3rd was where the game was won, and again, it was the Raptors defense that stepped up. In two-3min stretches, the perimeter defense was flawless. Jack, Weems and Turkoglu took away penetration from Alston, Wade and Richardson. Better yet, they contested the desperation shot that came late in the shot clock each time.

Antoine Wright was a significant piece, again. His 4th quarter play maintained the Raptors lead, as well as not allowing Wade to bully his way into the flow of the game. His defense on Wade, was the same as his defense on Kobe on Sunday: he stayed with him, didn’t try to do too much, but also didn’t give Wade a chance to draw a foul, stop the clock and get to the line. And for good measure, he hits a crucial 3 that extended a 4 point lead to 7 and sealed the game. This is his niche on this team, don’t trade him for a 2nd rounder, lets try to make a run.

Oh yea…Bosh, he played elite: 24pts 18rebs 4ast.

Knicks tonight.