Raise your hands if you had a big ear-to-ear grin on your face after reading the rumours that Colangelo would be open to trading Bargnani if re-signed. Even though the article was pure BS, and the Knicks clearly need someone to spread the floor like Galinari did, it was great to see that written in a traditional media site since all us bloggers have been screaming for this for about 3 years now.

Still, there is no one on the Knicks that I’d want that they would be willing to trade, plus I don’t want Bargnani going to a division rival; call me old fashion but if he does turn the corner and fills out his all-around game, I really don’t want to play against him four times a year.

Had a chat with Jeremy Schmidt of Bucksetball:

You recently wrote about Salmons’ struggles this season after getting a massive contract for carrying the team in the second half of last season. For those who haven’t read the article, whats been the contributing factor to the massive regression, and is there hope of salvaging him going forward?
What I focused on in that piece was Salmons’ struggles late in games. Last season the Bucks could turn to Salmons when their offense broke down late in games and he would bail them out. This season, Salmons has just been part of the problem. He wasn’t overwhelmingly athletic last season and he seems to have lost a step this season, possibly due to an early season knee injury. Maybe he’s just having a bad year, one in which his shots just won’t fall. If he can hit the shots he was hitting last season once again, he can be salvaged. But he’s never going to get to the hoop and finish with ease or consistently. That’s not ideal for a leading scorer type.

Injuries have clearly ravaged this team, and so far have seemingly cost them a playoff birth this season. How difficult is it building with Bogut as a (the?) core piece when he hasn’t played more than 70 games in the last 4 seasons? Is it time to move him and bring in someone who is a bit more solid? (His migraines have been killing my fantasy team this year; sorry, had to bitch)
It has been frustrating, but it’s hard to blame the guy too much. The injuries have seemed flukey enough that every year there’s some hope that they won’t be a problem going forward. Obviously last season’s fall and elbow injury carried over more than most expected this season, but he’ll likely be feeling better by next season. Given the injuries everyone else on this team had this season, it’s hard to spend too much time bemoaning Bogut’s. He’s so good defensively though and means so much to the team in that regard that it’s hard to envision moving him and getting equal value, especially since his offense is so inconsistent.

After Redd comes off the books this year, almost half the team’s payroll will be locked up between Maggette, Salmons and Gooden (all of whom will be tough to move). What moves do the Bucks have to improve this lot in the summer?
There won’t be a lot of money available, but bet that Milwaukee will be listening to offers regarding Maggette. Maybe once everyone can get healthy and the team gets more time to gel, he’ll find his place and get consistent minutes, but Coach Scott Skiles hasn’t trusted him a bit down the stretch. Maggette has eight DNP-CDs this month. Milwaukee needs an athletic scorer that can shoot and pass the ball. But what team doesn’t want that?

How much does Redd really have left in the tank? Could we hope to see a Grant Hill like rebirth in a different situation, or is he done?
The difference between Redd and Hill is pretty significant. Hill always was great in terms of awareness and passing the ball, whereas Redd’s always been a volume scorer. Perhaps Redd can still score a bit off a team’s bench, but he isn’t the shooter he once was. We’d need to see a pretty significant transformation in Redd’s game for him to stick around much longer, but he hasn’t put in all the work he’s put in for no reason. He’s going to give it a go and he’ll be on a roster next season. That will be his chance to prove he can contribute.

Can you talk about Brandon Jennings’ development this season?
It’s been difficult, since he missed a large portion of the season with a broken foot. Then it took him a good 10 games or so after returning to get his feel back it seemed. But he’s been better this month, shooting better than 40% for a month for the first time since his first month in the NBA. If he ever can get it together and start to hit around 43 or 44 percent of his shots consistently, he’ll be perfect for Milwaukee. He’s not there yet, but he has improved a bit this year.

I was never a Scott Skiles fan, as a player or a coach, so this might come off as a stupid question; but what’s your assessment of him, and how much longer does he have behind the bench in Milwaukee?
Skiles makes a pretty good chunk of change and earned an extension based on his work the last two years. Coaching in a small market for a team that’s bleeding money is going to work to his advantage. This season will probably get thrown out due to the injuries, so don’t expect anything crazy to happen any time soon. He’s safe. Especially since this team is still top five in defensive efficiency, despite all the offensive mishaps. He’s kept this team together, which is commendable given their problems making shots.

Injury Report

Toronto
Linas Kleiza – Out
Amir Johnson – the guy is hurting, let the man rest
Andrea Bargnani – day to day
Jose Calderon – day to day
Reggie Evans – day to day
Leandro Barbosa – day to day

Milwaukee
Ersan Ilyasova – day to day
Michael Redd – day to day

Not much time this morning, so I wont go into the individual players, just talk about a couple key match-ups:

Bargnani vs Bogut
After we did our fantasy team draft, I was really short on size and had zero shot blocking. I tried to pry away Bogut from one of the guys in the league, and he started asking about Chris Paul from my side. The trade grew into me sending Chris Paul and Wilson Chandler to him for Andrew Bogut and Blake Griffin. I clearly won that trade looking back at it, but no one thought Griffin would be a fantasy beast like he is. Anyways, if not for Bogut’s poor shooting form the field/line, he has been a great pick-up. The guy can be counted on for points in the paint, rebounds and bock shots, every single game. Very much a steadying force, and if he didn’t have so many injury issues, I would have no issues of him as a core piece. Against the Bobcats a couple nights ago, he did 26pts 9rebs 2blk; I’m expecting the same from tonight. Bargnani has a chance to light it up a bit since Bogut can’t cover him on the perimeter, and Gooden/Sanders/Mbah a Moute can’t cover him in the paint. i’d like to see Andrea take some defensive queue’s from Bogut, especially his defensive positioning.

Bargnani could be injured, and is listed as day-to-day, so if he doesn’t go, expect lots of switch-ups and zone to try to contain Bogut…not that it will do anything…

DeRozan vs Salmons
It’s feast or famine with Salmons who’s either hitting his stride offensively or building a brick house. The Bucks are a great defensive team, bout the only thing Skiles has done right – hate that mother ______, so getting to the rim will be tough for DeRozan (and everyone else) on a consistent basis. Fast breaks will be few and far between, and the defensive rotations will be on the ball. A key for DeMar will be drawing contact, and getting to the line 8+ times tonight. Have to challenge Bogut in the paint, and get him into foul trouble, it’s the only way.

Much like the Heat game where the Raptors welcomed Mike Miller by handing him the best game of the season, the same could be said of the Bucks. Redd has been out for the last 5 years, and can use the Raptors lax defense to get into a mini-groove. I don’t think that he will, but Salmons will definitely feast on us a bit.

The Line

There’s no line on the game (at time of publishing), but consider a few things:

• Raptors are home after losing their last four games on the road, most of them badly
• Raptors are 3-7 in their last 10 games (1-4 over their last 5)
• Milwaukee is 4-6 in their last 10, having lost 2 in a row
• Milwaukee is 3 games out of 8th with 9 games to go
• The Bucks have owned the Raptors in both games they have played this year

If the Raptors weren’t such a question mark in the injury department, this would be a competitive game. The Bucks want to get into the playoffs, and if they did, who do you think the Bulls would rather play: them or the Pacers? Even though this season has hit the wall (a long time ago), they can still affect other teams playoff positioning; and I have to believe that there is still some iota of pride left in this lot.

Let me leave you with this question: would you trade Andrea Bargnani for Andrew Bogut straight up? If Bargs wasn’t a BYC player this year it would work in trade machine.

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

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

Predicted starting 5:

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

Best offensive player:

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

Best defensive player:

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

Best new player:

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

Player that will be missed:

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

Weakest link in your top 8 rotation players:

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

greatest weakness as a team:

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

Biggest question heading into the season:

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

If I was GM for a day, I would…

Have kept Ramon Sessions.

Your opinion of the Raptors:

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

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

Groundhog Day.  (The Bucks miss the playoffs again)

w/l prediction for your team:

37-45

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

It was a challenging year to say the least, and no one on this team had a harder time with it then Chris. After a summer where he won Olympic gold as a KEY member of the US National team (KEY as in he was crucial to their winning, not a throw in like say…Michael Redd, KEY), and the highly touted pairing with Jermaine O’Neal, the year started on a high.

3-0 out the gates, with what we thought were quality wins over Philly and Golden State, I was looking foolish for predicting this team would be a .500 one at best. Then something began to happen. We noticed that Bosh (along with Calderon and Parker) was being played 40 minutes a night, “that can’t be sustainable” I told myself. O’Neal wasn’t working out, Bargnani sucked needed more time, and the Raptors were closing in on .500. Smitch got the axe, seemed like Bosh lost interest, and the Raptors quickly faded into obscurity.

What we considered Bosh not caring (or losing interest), was just a regular reaction to Smitch getting axed. You know, the guy who was with Bosh since his second season in the league. The guy that was there while Chris went from good to elite. It is only natural that he wasn’t all too happy when his coach for the last 4.5 years got axed. Then Triano comes in and changes everything up, mid-stream, without a real system. The guy just turned 25, excuse him if it took some adjusting.

Q: What was the only constant through the year? Through every win, loss, embarrassment?
A: Chris Bosh.

Just wading through some of his numbers, it is clear he is as productive as BC is overrated:

Rebounding
He finished 6th in the league in rebounding. Many say that it took a heroic effort on the last game of the year (19 boards against the Bulls) to average 10.0 rebounds/game for the season, but had he been rebounding 9.9, would we think any less of him? For much of the season, Bosh has had to contend with defending the paint against penetration, and checking his own man in the block at the same time (Raptors don’t know what a defensive rotation is).

He has had minimal help on the boards, but yet has a Defensive Rebounding Percentage (DRB) of 22%. that means, he grabs 1 (a bit more then 1 actually) out of every 5 defensive rebounds (which means the other 9 players on the court grab the other 4 (a bit less then 4 actually)).

Scoring
9th in the league in scoring at 22.7pts/gm. Bosh scores from all over the court: 9.2pts from jumpers, 7pts from the post, and 6.5 from the line. Surprisingly, he produces only 2.2pts more from the perimeter then from the post, something many of us (myself included) wouldn’t have thought.

Amazingly, he is the only player in the league who is Top 10 in both rebounding and scoring. In fact, there were only two (Bosh and Howard 20/10 guys (three if you count Duncans 19.3, I do) in the league this season.

Workhorse
Of the Top 30 Power Forwards/Centers, he was third in playing time at 38.02 minutes/game.

Wins Produced
The stat geeks over at Wages of Win have figured out that Bosh is responsible for 10.9 wins. Considering the Raptors as a team won 33, Bosh was directly responsible for a third of them.

Intangibles
Seems like he really wants to be here. He is out and about in the community pushing programs and selling gay $100 birthday t-shirts. Doesn’t sound like much, but Toronto has a troubled history of attracting talent, the fact that we have someone who wants to be here, is something we shouldn’t give up on too quickly.

Franchise? Max Player? Elite? All-NBA? Defensive force? Cornerstone? …Pansy? Whatever you label him, we can all agree that he is going to be one of the most highly sought after free agents at the end of next season. Only in Toronto can people be happy about signing Jay Triano to a three year contract as head coach, and vilify Chris Bosh for doing nothing but compete hard and put up 20/10 a game. Only in Toronto can a 25 year all-star (perennial) be labeled not worthy of a max contract, when the same people would rather build an NBA franchise around a one dimensional player, who has only put together half a season of solid ball in 3 years in the league.

What would I do? Whatever it takes to keep him a Raptor. Give him a max contract, and get him the help he needs to win. He may not be the prototypical franchise player, but he is someone you can build a team around. Colangelo believes on building family, and bringing people up internally, that same philosophy should apply to Bosh. It’s time we break our mold and KEEP our stars in the city instead of chasing them out.

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Bosh, our gift and curse…

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With the next four games (after tonight’s) against the elite of the league, the time is now for the Raptors to win their 4th game in a row for the first time this season. The Bucks are clinging onto the 8th spot for dear life now that Redd is lost for the season with a torn ACL. A big game with playoff implications as the Raptors can come with a game of the 8th spot with a win tonight.

The Bucks are 4-6 in their last 10, and currently on a two game losing streak dropping Wednesdays game against the pacers 107-99 off the heels of a monstrous game by TJ Ford (34 points). Unfortunately for the Bucks, again, both Luke Ridnour and Andrew Bogut are expected to miss tonight’s game with injuries. Tough to lose three starters, be on the road and facing a team that is starting to feel good about themselves after stringing together three wins in a row.

Redd dropped 34 on the Raptors last time out, and those shots/points need to go somewhere. Look for Jefferson, Villanueva and Sessions/Bell to be leading the charge. Frankly, Jefferson scares me. The guy has been a Raptor killer for years now, and will be  looking for redemption from the last time they played the Raptors. Even though the Bucks took the game, RJ contributed 6 points; we can expect Raptor killa RJ tonight, the one who dropped 19 on Indiana, so Moon beware, no falling asleep or going for the pump fakes, otherwise you will be sharing vegemite/grits recipes with Jawai while Graham takes your place.

It just dawned on me, we essentially traded Villanueva for O’Neal (no need to get too technical, they were the principals of all the deals). It hurt me then, and it hurts me now. Although Villanueva plays defense like the girls at rail when AltRaps walks in (when they find out he has no money in his pocket), the kid can score and he hits the glass. He is a career 15pt 7reb player against the Raptors, so I know I’m not alone sighing when he nails a three, or glides through the paint with relative ease.

Hola!

An important game for Barney, as we get to see what VL is made off coming off that abysmal game against the Nets; 8pts 1reb 1ast. I normally would be very skeptical, but I truly believe he has turned the corner and will respond in kind. That, and the Bucks really have no nobody that can pose VL any sort of problem. With Bogut expected to miss tonight’s game, VL wont be matched up with anyone who can hurt him on the defensive end. Sure Gadzuric, Allen and Elson are big dudes, but come on, even by committee they don’t add up to a single serving of VL.

Unsurprisingly, Bosh was named to the All-Star game as a reserve. Toss up on whether he should be a starter with how well KG and the Celtics are doing, but will have his time shortly. This will mark the fourth time he will be representing the Raps at the mid-season yawn-athon. Not to be a buzz kill, being an All-Star in this league is tainted when you put the decision of who should be starting in the fans hands. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather see Iverson playing then say…Jameer Nelson, but is Iverson still an All-Star?

Something that has been concerning me of late is his rebounding. In the last three games, he has grabbed only 19 boards for a 6.3 clip per game. That’s about 3.4 less then his season average (almost a third). He really needs to make a commitment to rebounding tonight, the points will come, but rebounding has to improve.

Err, to the right is Kayla. You don’t know how hard it was to the pic the Bucks best cheerleader (they are known as the Energee dance pak), bunch of butter-faces (everything but her face). What do you expect from a team that is owned by a US Senator, and is in the mid-west? Kayla is the best of the lot.

The Injury Report

Toronto
Kris Humphries

Milwaukee
Michael Redd
Andrew Bogut – questionable
Luke Ridnour – questionable

The Match-Ups

Calderon vs Sessions
The Edge: Calderon - This is contingent on whether Ridnour plays, but even then, JC gets the nod. Sessions is a pretty good defender, so JC wont be getting many cheap baskets. Look for the high pick n roll, if you don’t know what that is, just watch, every time the Raptors will be offense, they will go to the pick n roll tonight…

Parker vs Bell
The Edge: Parker – Bell was a thorn in our side the last two times out, but he is far more effective coming off the bench as a spark then as a starter, IMHO. He can hit open jumpers, unfortunately for him, there isn’t anyone Parker needs to double, so he will be all up in Bell’s grill. I think this will be a match-up to keep your eye on.

Moon vs Jefferson (Updated, thanks yertu)
The Edge: Jefferson - Pump fake city! If Moon can minimize his going after a pump-fake to about once a quarter, and keep RJ out of the paint, and stay at home regardless of what happens (no need to double anyone since Redd, Ridnour and Bogut are out), then RJ will have to fight for every point he scores. On the offensive end, Moon needs to make RJ work by cutting through the paint and running around the perimeter, no plays off.

Bosh vs Villanueva
The Edge: Bosh - CV is gonna have a huge game, I can feel it, but Bosh will prevail. He just got the All-Star nod, so adrenaline is pumping, andwill pace Charlie’s offense, and out-pace his rebounding and defense.

Bargnani vs Gadzuric
The Edge: VL - Statement game for VL. I get the sense that this will be a committee job for the Bucks defending VL. Fortunately, they don’t have anyone to throw at Barney that will bother him too much. 21/8 tonight, book it.

The Line

No line was posted at the time of publishing, but I’ll give a spread of -5.5, Raptors

The Prediction

Raptors by 5, could get ugly for the Bucks if Bargnani gets off early.

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These Raptor losses almost write themselves:

• 1st Quarter – Raptors get out to an early lead by sharing the ball, moving it around, nice defense rotations and quality shooting from the floor.
• 2nd Quarter – The fire that drove the 1st quarter starts to fade. It’s a slow creeping fade, but enough that the 1st quarter double-digit lead has become a 2-3 possession game.
• 3rd Quarter – Due to some interesting line changes, the wrong people are on the court, and that 2-3 possession lead is now a 2 possession deficit. The things the Raptors were doing in the 1st have been long forgotten for no reason other then the Raptors stopped doing them.
• 4th Quarter – The wheels come off the wagon with a double-digit deficit. The Raptors make a run towards the end of the game, but that gets quickly thwarted, and the Raptors head back to the dressing room with their tails between theirs legs.

On the second night of the back-to-back, on the road, the effort wasn’t as bad as could be expected; much better then what we have become accustomed too from the start of the year. Bargnani continued his solid play since the curse of O’Neal was temporarily lifted being moved to the starting lineup, with his fourth solid game in a row. Getting the Raptors to an early lead by hitting a couple treys off of some ball movement and dribble penetration, grabbed a few boards (1 big offensive board that translated into two free throws made) and finding open shooters and cutters in the paint. He kept Mbah a Moute off the boards, dominating the match-up early. I would have liked to see him post-up a bit more in the 1st quarter, try to be all things on the the offensive end, but I was happy with the performance, especially considering it was the second night of a back-to-back.

I’m not drinking the kool-aid yet, but the way Bargnani has been playing lately, you can see what BC had in mind for this team. VL is a great compliment for Bosh. At the 5:26 mark, Bosh, backed his man down in the post, drew the double-team and kicked it out to Bargnani for the deep/open three. If these two guys can develop a solid chemistry…look out because they are both long, fast and athletic, and will be a match-up nightmare.  For the first time in a couple years I am optimistic about this tandem, and hope for the sake of this franchise, and my sanity, that Bargnani lives up to the # 1 billing. Anyways, back to the game…

Voshkul continues to play ahead of Hump, and is quickly becoming my least favourite on this team. In a span of a couple minutes, he commits a couple fouls, travels, and goes 1 of 2 from the line. Does grab a rebound, or come close to grabbing one…and it’s not like he can keep up with Charlie V off the bounce either…confuse me?

Then the usual suspects started to rear their ugly heads in the second quarter:

• Dribble penetration
• Open-looks
• Offensive rebounds
• Weak defensive rotations
• Complacency

Ramon Sessions was the spark in the 2nd quarter, he penetrated and kicked to open Buck shooters, hit his own open shots, got to the line, and I swear, I think I saw him blow some steam off his finger tips…frustrating. The Raptors committed 7 turnovers in the half, that translated into 12 points for the Bucks. Can’t do that on the road…the Bucks all of a sudden decided they were gonna push, and ran the ball back at the Raptors every chance they got. This opened up a lot of space for long jumpers, or when they were inspired, they threw the ball around a few times until Redd was done running around picks and screens for an easy J. A key to beating to the Raptors is attacking their transition defense. Far to often Bosh comes out to help, and no one rotates behind him leaving everyone to scramble like chickens until the team decides which open shot they want to take. The highlight of the second for me was an inbounds play at the 8:40 mark where Kapono inbounds the ball, curls around a low and high screen, takes the pass from Hump and sticks the jumper.

Milwaukee takes the lead in the 3rd off of some incredible shooting by Redd, who stuck DEEP treys, giving them a 1 point lead. Then all of a sudden, Lil Willie goes off, penetrating and kicking out to open shooters. The Raptors go on a 12-0 run to take the lead, Bucks timeout. Enter Charlie V, who along with Sessions and Redd, break down the defense, crash the boards, swing the ball around and engineer a 21-7 run to finish the quarter. Kapono got WAY too much burn in the 3rd. Not making any shots, turning the ball over, no rebounds…no real contribution. Guy sucks…trade him for some medical staff, maybe that way JO could join the team on the bench during game time.

Again, the Raptors fight back and take a 4 point lead…how? Simple, the ball was going through Bosh on offense. He took it when he had it, and when he didn’t, ball was moved around until someone did. Then this is what kills me…with the Raptors up 97-94 with two minutes to go, they stop getting the ball to Bosh. I’ll concede that they tried to get him the ball, but lets face it the Bucks aren’t a defensive juggernaut. If you can’t get the ball to Bosh, your worth to this team needs to be re-evaluated:

• With the score tied at 97, who gets the nod to take the go ahead shot? -> Will Solomon who misses an 18 footer, Bosh didn’t touch the ball on the play.
• With the Raptors down99-97, who gets the nod to take the tieing shot? -> Will Solomon who misses a 26 footer, Bosh didn’t touch the ball on the play

In fact, the only time he touched the ball in the last two minutes was when he inbounded the ball. With all that said, it was defense that cost them this one. The Raptors gave up too many open looks, transition defense was non-existent for long stretches of the game, defensive rotations were laughable after the 1st quarter, no one helped Parker when Redd came off screens, Charlie V went off un-checked, nothing. I’ll be honest, I am disappointed.

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