Thank God the game finished. The only thing worse than watching a pre-season game, is watching a pre-season game go into overtime, then double overtime. It was worth it though; the Raptors pulled out a gritty win in a game that resembled what the regular season vibe will be. The Suns game couldn’t be taken seriously; the Celtics and Bulls are top-four in the East; but the Sixers are on about the same level as the Raptors.

There were a couple goals heading into the game:

• Settle on the starting lineup that everyone has already picked out (Jack, DeRozan, Kleiza, Johnson & Bargnani)
• Get Bargnani out of his early slump
• Manufacture some trade value for Evans
• Win a bloody game

So with our expectations tempered, this game provided a nice glimpse into what we can expect for the season, pardon me while I kick it a bit roll-call:

David Anderson – while he was a good pickup in the offseason, the fact that he jacks shots every single time he touches the ball makes me nuts. Even though Bargnani played heavy minutes last night on the second night of a back-to-back, I was floored when Anderson was inserted in OT. He did make up for the poor shooting night with some nifty rebounding though.

Leandro Barbosa – anyone else get the feeling that our 6th man is going to be our leading scorer? As Arse said, he comes as advertised. I haven’t been used to seeing a Raptor break down his defender off the dribble and take it to the rack with any semblance of consistency, but Barbosa has given us a few games of that. He chipped in 19pts (8-16FG) and 6rebs last night, which is about what I expect from him on the season. An added bonus is his ability to get off a pretty good look at the basket in pressure situations, which gives Triano another option (Bargs) in crunch time.

Andrea Bargnani – Best game of the pre-season hands down. While I don’t think he will be a 22+ point scorer a game this season (18-20 range), I wasn’t too worried about him finding his range. Bargnani misses all that space Bosh created for him to operate:

It’s just a matter of him trying to acclimatize himself with the new guys, a completely different offence than we’ve had in the past, which has been put in place for a specific reason. – Jay Triano

Early in the game his contribution was on the defensive end; switching between keeping Brand (12pts on 13 shots) and Thaddeus Young (8pts 5rebs) under control. When he was needed to hit a couple shots to close out the game, he flipped that switch (it’s so obvious when he’s motivated) and almost won the game on an offensive put-back off of DeRozan’s missed free throw at the end of the first overtime. It’s not all rosey for Bargs, but the Raptors pulled one out with a decent contribution from him.

Jose Calderon – I’m not sure what happened to the Calderon from the 2008-2009 season, but I want him back. This incarnation of the kid is painful. He threw three really sloppy (and uncharacteristic) passes to Johnson and Anderson that overshadowed (for me anyways) his 8 assists on the night. Look, he won the Forderon situation, but only because TJ went ape-shit. Looks like Jack should get the starting nod because Calderon’s talents are best suited on the second unit, where no-one not named Barbosa can score of his own volition. I’d really like to see him shoot the ball more, 5 shots in 26 minutes, when the ball is constantly in your hands, is almost not even trying.

DeMar DeRozan – Look, I like the kid, but we may have to be reserved to the fact that this might be the most to expect form him. He can help his own cause out by putting up 500 shots a day, everyday, for the rest of his life. 5-15 from the floor and 6-11 from the line? He’s a shooting guard, you don’t expect those sorts of numbers from a starting shooting guard in the NBA. What I did appreciate from him was that he was aggressive in take it to the rack and drawing contact. He cooly (?) hit the game tying free throw, but was off on the go-ahead basket. My biggest criticism for him was that his contributions were mostly scoring, but last night he chipped in 5rebs 2ast 2stl and a block, a pretty good all-around game.

Ronald Dupree – Got T’d up for showing emotion after he got called for a blocking foul (looked like he drew a charge to me). Terrible rule…errr…Dupree shouldn’t have played in OT, but whatever.

Reggie Evans – It’s no secret I don’t think highly of the guy, but he had a good game…still could have done without seeing him shoot those three shots, but I’ll let it slide.

Jarrett Jack – If the first four games of the pre-season were an audition for the rotation, then Jack has secured starting PG duties in my book. He got into the paint and took good shots (shot chart below), got people involved protected the ball, grabbed as many rebounds as Bargnani and hit a massive three in OT to give the Raptors a 2 point lead with 40 seconds to go. Seriously couldn’t ask for anything else.

Amir Johnson – While he had 4 fouls in 27 minutes, the rate at which he picked them up didn’t affect how he played very much. 11pts 9rebs is a solid performance (considering Joakim Noah averaged 10.7pts 11rebs last season), but I’m always left wanting more. I want this kid to play more minutes, so he can score more efficiently and grab more rebounds. The Raptors might need to invest in bringing in a mentor for him, could be a thought.

Linas Kleiza – Foul trouble kept him out of the game, but frankly, I’m a bit disappointed. There was no reason he couldn’t leave his mark on this game, and looking through my notes, he wasn’t mention worthy in them at all.

Sonny Weems – Had a balanced game in my books, didn’t shoot too much, but attempted good ones. Like Kleiza, nothing really stood out for me though.

We got Boston again on Friday.

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette

The fact that teams are cutting costs these days is nothing new ? the fact just about every corporation in the world is cutting costs these days is not new, in fact – and the Raptors point was hammered home a little bit yesterday. Counting heads when we got into practice ? it’s something we do every day – there was one guy missing: Assistant coach Micah Nori. Figured he hadn’t gone off to help the Evil Empire Yankees hit with men in scoring position (he was a Mighty Yankees hitting consultant this summer) but where in the world could he be? Then it him me: He had to be off scouting the Cavs before opening night.

Raptors? Johnson back on familiar turf

Johnson, a reserve forward with the Toronto Raptors, spent 22 games, or the better part of three months, in South Dakota three years ago, playing for the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the National Basketball Development League. He’ll be back there Friday, when the Raptors close out their NBA pre-season schedule against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was pretty good, Sioux Falls. It kind of grows on you, Johnson said. ‘there’s not too much to do. The fans are great. The food was great, actually. Johnson might not know everything about Sioux Falls – population: almost 155,000, as of last year; area code 605 – but the Raptors might learn a little bit about themselves there Friday.

In Raptors’ final pre-season tuneup, Johnson knows role – thestar.com

Johnson's had a solid pre-season and, with an injury to Reggie Evans taking one Toronto big man out of the rotation, seems poised to play significant minutes once the regular season begins Wednesday.

Toronto Raptors-roster analysis 2009-2010 NBA preview – NBA – SI.com

DeMar DeRozan is going to be a premier rookie, Hedo Turkoglu was a good get and they have better backups up front and at point guard. I like this team now. They're going to be back in the playoffs. The big story is going to be whether they can keep Chris Bosh as a free agent this summer. It's important for them to have a good year because if they don't make the playoffs, it will be devastating.

Quincy Douby loves Toronto, despite the trade that wasn’t – Posted Sports

The situation was this: Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo had signed free agent Hedo Turkoglu, but he was in the midst of turning that signing into a four-team sign-and-trade to ensure the Raptors could keep some of their salary cap exceptions that they would otherwise have had to forfeit.

Raptors just what Toronto needs

But for the Raptors, who open the NBA regular season against Cleveland next Wednesday at the Air Canada Centre, things might just be getting good. Toronto is craving a winner, and winning creates bandwagons crammed with casual fans that, once upon a time, helped the Jays set those attendance records.

Can Toronto Build a Winner Around Bosh? – The Wages of Wins Journal

The Toronto Raptors appear to be on a mission. Somehow, someway, this team needs to convince Chris Bosh to stay in Canada. The issue for the Raptors isn’t money. To convince Bosh to stay, Toronto must convince Bosh that he will someday play for a winner. So far, though, the facts presented to Bosh haven’t been too convincing.

HIP HOOP JUNKIES – The blog highlighting the Canadian flavour of the NBA: The Throwback: Where in the World is Bryant “Big Country” Reeves?

Not Raptor related, but I always wondered what happened to Bryant Reeves: After six seasons as a Grizzly, "Big Country" retired from the NBA in 2001 at the ripe old age of 28, with chronic back pain. The big man from Gans, Oklahoma (population 208) was a big scorer at Oklahoma State University and also a great rebounder.

What Makes A Great Scorer? : The Picket Fence

Bargnani's big enough to score over smaller defenders inside, which makes him a bit of a matchup nightmare. It’s no wonder many Raptor fans foresee stardom in Bargnani’s future. The problem, however, is that despite Bargnani being a great shooter, he’ll simply never become a great scorer. Why? The answer lies with his inability to get to the line.

Match Ups – Toronto Raptors v/s Indiana Pacers – Heels on Hardwood

A lot of the hopes for moderate success in Indianapolis hinge on the health of Mike Dunleavy, Jr. The offseason loss of Jarrett Jack means that TJ Ford, Danny Granger and the recently acquired Earl Watson are really the team’s only capable perimeter ball-handlers other than MDJ, who was essentially the Pacers de facto “point forward” much of the time he was on the floor the last time he was, you know, actually on the floor. So if he can’t suit up and be 100% for more than, say, 60 games, that doesn’t bode well at all for Indiana.

Is 2010 Jose Calderon’s All-Star Year? | Bleacher Report

But this year, Jose Calderon has slipped below the radar of many NBA analysts and, sadly, many Toronto Raptors fans. Sometimes we need to be reminded that each season Toronto fans have witnessed the development of one of the better point guards in the NBA.

Toronto Raptors Starting Shooting Guard Dilemma – Brothersteve’s Green & Red Raptor Blog

The contrarian view says DeRozan just isn’t ready to start. He is too young and too inexperienced to be asked to guard a NBA starting shooting guard on a nightly basis. A bad experience could hurt his confidence and retard his development. This is definitely a decision best left up to the coaches. If Jay Triano believes DeRozan’s development is best served by starting, he is in the best position to make this determination.

RAPTORS: Raptors Video Player

Devlin And The Czar: Part 1 – Oct. 22, 2009
Check out part one of Matt Devlin's audio interview with Mike Fratello!

Well, no. See, Calderon and Ford complemented each other in a way Jack and Calderon never can. Ford played at an entirely different pace than Jose and set the tone early using his speed, agility and quickness to throw off defenses. As much as some hated him, he had a one-on-one game which allowed him to create without the help of a screen which always kept defenses on their feet and forced them to pay close attention to a second player on the team (Bosh being the other). When Calderon stepped in, the game turned into a half-court affair with his turn-the-corner speed off the high pick becoming a resourceful weapon along with a mid-range jumper used only when the defender went under, something he improved as the season went along. One was a risk-taker who feared nothing and took his chances, the other a pragmatist who always chose the careful option but could burn you if you didn’t respect him. Defenses had to deal with two very different problems and through it was our advantage.

Had those two learned to play together and figured out that they’re perfect complementary players things would’ve been a lot different right now. As it stands, Jack is brought in to back-up Calderon but the scenario is very different than Forderon. Jack doesn’t have the motor Ford had, much like Calderon he tends to settle into the half-court game and take his chances running sets which he doesn’t like to deviate from. If called upon to do so he can take his man one-on-one in a bullish fashion but it’s nothing compared to Ford’s ability to penetrate in his prime. The same can be said for Calderon, he’ll never be known for his ability to break down his defender but will always look to run the coach’s play first before taking matters into his own hands – conservative to say the least. Neither player is known for their drive-and-kick skill but both possess solid mid-range games (Jack 45% and Calderon 50% FG last season). The overlap in their respective offensive games is such that it shouldn’t really matter who is playing, other than Jack’s slashing ability they’re far more similar on offense than different. When they’re playing with the other four starters it’ll be like having a steady, consistent PG play rather than the roller-coaster ride that was Forderon.

Jack should be playing with the starters as much as Calderon which is likely since teams rarely make 5 for 5 subs thus putting out a pure second unit. However, there will be times in the second quarter when he’ll be asked to play alongside Wright, Rasho, Evans and Delfino. Unless you have a team that executes exceptionally well you’re going to struggle to score and this is where we’ll need Jack to emulate Ford’s ability to score in bunches. Nobody’s asking him to be Mike James II but he’ll need to be far more assertive here than when playing with Bosh and Turkoglu. Ford recognized that need (sometimes to a fault), question is whether Jack can be “the man” on the floor for a few minutes a game. Last year we saw how sad we were when Will Solomon or Roko Ukic were thrust into that role and Jack should be better. Actually, if he can make an entry-pass into the post without wetting his pants he’s already done good.

Calderon and Ford were both mediocre defenders when they were in Toronto, the latter’s size was an issue and the former’s quickness. I remember Mitchell doing a decent job of hiding Ford’s size so we never really felt like he was being exploited. It’s always harder to hide lateral quickness so most of us only remember Calderon being attacked at the point which isn’t very fair to him. They were both bad. In the Jack/Calderon combo, Jack is the far superior defender while Jose is supposed to be the more refined offensive player. I strongly believe that we need to be proactive when analyzing PG match-ups, if there is a hint that Calderon is not upto the defensive assignment against the other starting PG, insert Jack immediately and let them switch roles for that game. Last year Calderon was getting exploited in the first quarter while Triano looked on only because the usual Calderon first quarter rest point of 10 minutes wasn’t here yet. Sure, Roko struggled offensively but he was still better at plugging a hole; my point is that there’s no reason to follow the script with Calderon and Jack.

The equation has also changed with DeRozan/Wright replacing Parker who often demanded a pass after running off of baseline screens. Calderon might struggle finding cutters to the hoop but he is excellent at picking out open perimeter players through quick-hits, skip-passes and the pick ‘n pop. He dominated the ball last year while waiting for plays like these to develop, to some extent it was needed since he was one of the few who could handle the role but this year his role will have changed. Turkoglu will see a lot of the ball at the start of the possession forcing Calderon to play off the ball, something he is not good at. Jack on the other hand is known to slash, bump and bruise without the ball and loves physical contact. While he doesn’t have Calderon’s three-point shooting ability, he could provide the cutting options needed when Turkoglu drives to create.

In fact, a lineup of Calderon (spot-up three), Jack (slasher, mid-range jumper), DeRozan (slasher, rebounder), Bosh (mid-range jumper or offensive rebounder) and Turkoglu (ball-handler) could be an ideal offensive unit which combines rebounding, shot-making and penetration. The idea is that the projected starting lineup is not necessarily the best Raptors unit out there and we should be using the most effective group of guys; often times that will mean playing Jack and Calderon together, something that previous coaches rarely did with Calderon and his backup.

Here’s another scenario: As Colangelo pointed out a couple days ago, DeRozan will determine how much Jack plays. I’d like to add it’ll also determine where he plays. If we sign Delfino and he becomes a staple as the backup for Turkoglu it would basically take up all the minutes at the SF. Right now expecting Wright to hold his own defensively and hoping that DeRozan can provide an offensive punch while not being a defensive liability. If DeRozan and Wright can do the same as Turkoglu/Delfino, Jack’s SG role (he played 48% of his minutes there last year) will quickly be diminished and he’ll be a strict backup for Calderon. Calderon played 34 minute a game last year which proved to be too much, the year before that he was at 30 which seemed more ideal. Assuming he goes back to 30 minutes a night it leaves 18 minutes for Jack, would that be good utilization? I’m starting to think the fight for SG minutes isn’t going to be between DeRozan and Jack, it’ll be between Wright and Jack, especially if we sign Delfino.

So those are my thoughts at 2:24AM. I think I’ll post this. Forgive me if I didn’t make any sense.

@raptorsrepublic :: facebook :: rss feed

Let’s call it what it is: a good convincing win at home, except nobody’s looking to get convinced anymore.  People have already made their mind up about this season and the only thing left to do is pick out some things that might be handy next year. Three things came about from this game. 1) Bargnani is on his way to something half-decent, 2) Pops is a high-energy player that plays within himself and could be a serviceable backup and 3) Maybe, just maybe, Jose Calderon isn’t terrible and could be an improved player next year if he stays healthy. Granted, that’s a big “if” since wear and tear is a factor for every player and his injuries seem to be stemming from just that.

The TJ/Jose battle hasn’t been as intense or fun to watch as one might expect, it’s probably because we’re starting to realize that they’re both mediocre PGs that don’t deserve to be the headlining acts of any play. We had a nice thing going with them in Toronto for two years, unfortunately the media and fans made them feel that they’re starter-quality players which eventually led to the split. They were great as a tandem, on their own they’re mediocre. Don’t tell that to TJ though, he came off guns blazing and looking to attack in the first quarter and got six points out of his aggressiveness, all on some pretty determined drives which made you think, if only Jose could add that to his game. Over the last two games Calderon’s finally making his 20-footer jumper and he had two of them in the first which Indiana and my man Brandon Rush might’ve even ran away with if it weren’t for Anrdrea Bargnani who is the reason I still watch the games.

Doesn’t matter who won, what the score was, what streak was snapped and who did what, the main thing I took from this one is Bargnani showing us that he just might be able to translate the talent we know he has into something meaningful. He had 8 first quarter points, looked comfortable on his jumpers and had a sweet drive to the rim against Murphy that Bosh should be envious of. You don’t normally associate Bargnani with points-in-the-paint but despite his perimeter oriented game, he’s the Raptor most likely to get you a score by taking his man off the dribble and finishing properly. And by properly I mean not getting blocked, not throwing it up there like its a hot potato and not letting the defense change your shot to the point that its a shot they want you to take. He’s always got that serious look on his face which says, “WTF man, let’s do this already”. Very much unlike the pointless yelling and screaming, fist-pumping and hand-signs that others on this team do regardless of quarter and score.

Danny Granger returned to the Pacer lineup after a two-week absence. Indiana’s probably thinking to get him warmed up against weak opposition like Toronto for their stretch run and you can’t blame them. Fortunately for us he had one of his worst games of the season, his handle looked rusty, he was unsure on his jumpers and didn’t look to get his teammates involved. I thought he was selfishly trying to get back in the flow of the game and it backfired resulting in a 3-11 night and a game-worst -21. Shawn Marion and Anthony Parker’s defense had something to do with it but he was bumping into people more than AltRaps at the Lower Brass Customer Appreciation Party. Granger summed up his game like so:

I played 18 minutes, I thought I had played 32.

Indiana went through a stretch of hitting four straight threes in the second quarter, the last two coming courtesy of T.J Ford penetration and kick-outs to Troy Murphy who’s defender, Bosh, was nowhere to be found. Murphy was outplaying Bosh by taking off the dribble, checking him on the glass and snuffing his rare drive. Bosh was more than happy to comply with Murphy on offense by clanking his jumpers and if it weren’t for Bargnani and Calderon stepping up and getting the W, the ire of this post-game report would’ve been directed at Bosh. All in all, a very un-Bill Russell like performance by Bosh. He started off 1-8, finished going 5-8 and had 13 rebounds. He struggled like a fish out of water in the first half and when I saw him lazily jogging up the court I wanted to throw a brick at my TV. Luckily, Calderon and Bargnani were there to bail us out, the latter finishing with 27 points on 9-11 shooting and as an entirely unexpected bonus, 9 rebounds.

Those Murphy jumpers were the last we heard from Indiana. The Raptors went on a 16-5 run to close out the second, Calderon hit two more 20-footers, Bargnani hit a three and Bosh got a couple hoops in the paint, one on his best-looking hook shot of the night and the other after Indiana lost track of him for a dunk. T.J Ford was creating for his teammates through his traditional drive ‘n kick but the Pacers just couldn’t apply the finishes and shot 37.6% for the game. Ford then, as per the scouting report, tried to carry the scoring load but shooting over tall trees in the paint will always result in a low-percentage no matter how quick you are to get there. He finished 7-16 for 15 points and 6 (real) assists, not a bad game by any means, but when he’s looking to score first your team isn’t going too far.

Calderon had 16 points on 6-9 and 12 assists. The thing that I was most pleased with was his ability to hit the jumper which if he’s not doing makes him un-contract and un-starter worthy. He had a nice alley-oop to Shawn Marion in the third quarter and hit Pops for a couple nice perfect-height passes on the pick ‘n roll for dunks. Speaking of the third quarter, it was one to remember. Raptors won it 37-19 as Indiana couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean and the Raptors and Bargnani were hitting full stride.

You know how sometimes the shot-clock’s winding down and you know you’re not going to get a good shot off so you give it to someone and he just does something with it. Well, that guy on the Raptors has become Bargnani. You might think it would be Calderon or Bosh but Bargnani’s the guy who seemingly always ends up with the ball with 4 seconds left and he usually tries to do the right thing. Jose’s #1 target might be Bosh but when the sh*t hits the fan, the ball goes to Bargnani. Today his jumper was working and he hit a half-minded three and had a couple drives when the offense had broken down. Two of his three threes came in those situations. Jose only had 5 points in the third but had four assists and upped the tempo of the game by getting us out on the break early which is not what Indiana wanted. He even played some defense on Ford by giving him enough space so that he’d have time to catch up to his drive when it did happen. Ford probably should’ve tried his jumper more often and forced Calderon to come a little closer, but instead he opted for the drive with resolute determination which isn’t always the best.

Jarret Jack was so terrible for them that he may as well have had a green Raptors uniform on. 4-14, 2 assists and 3 turnovers. He couldn’t get the Pacers offense into any kind of rhythm in any quarter and if it weren’t for TJ Ford forcing the issue in the first half this game would’ve been over sooner. Travis Diener for them was far more effective in 20 minutes and probably deserved the 36 Jack got; you could safely say that Jose outplayed all their three PGs put together. Indiana is similar to us in that they have some good pieces on that team but on the whole have been very disappointing. They’ve gotten some big wins against Phoenix, Boston and LA which is a silver lining to their season, we on the other hand don’t have that to hang our hat on.

You know how I really knew Danny Granger wasn’t into this game? He decided to take a charge while standing inside the circle against Shawn Marion and the latter made the most of it. Marion had a miserable scoreless first half with only one rebound but looked like a different player in the third quarter. It’s already been said before but if we honestly implement up-tempo in Toronto, Marion needs to be here. It’s painful watching him try to score off his drive or from short jumpers setup by mild penetration. That’s not his game and that was the difference in the two halves for him. He’s not cutting and flashing like he did in his first few games but that happens to a player when he doesn’t get the ball passed to him over and over again. Still, no excuse for inconsistent effort.

Let’s talk about Pops. 21 points, 8 rebounds and 11-13 FTs. Didn’t see that last stat coming. He knows he’s not a scorer (ahem, Hump), he can jump (ahem, Voskuhl) and he doesn’t play outside of four feet (ahem, Bosh). He understands the ‘roll’ in the pick ‘n roll, takes everything to the rim, tries to break the backboard on every dunk and spins off people when trying to get rebounds. I haven’t seen a Raptor do that since……I’ve never seen a Raptor do that. Let’s give Colangelo some credit, this has turned out to be a nice pickup. The toughness, grit and sheer hustle Pops has displayed isn’t something I expected from a Colangelo signing given his record. Looking forward to him next year. Here’s a Pops quote I thought was funny, he’s talking about Marion here and referring to his dunk on Granger:

I’ve been telling him I want to see some of those highlights I used to see when he was in Phoenix. He keeps telling me he’s old but I told him he’s still got it and, like you saw today, he still does.

He’s Matt Bonner, only stronger. He’s Charles Oakley, only younger, less crazier and people don’t owe him money. He’s Kevin Willis with longer arms. He’s Zan Tabak except the crappy part. He’s Eric Montross except he makes his FTs. He’s Oliver Miller, except good. He’s a sober version of Keon Clark. He’s JO except 96.46 times cheaper ($21,352,500/$221,360). He’s a darker version of Jelani McCoy. He’s Mamadou N’Diaye except he’s not injured. He’s John Thomas….no wait. He’s no John Thomas.

The score at the end of the third was 90-69 which meant the fourth quarter was garbage-time. And I don’t talk about garbage-time.

Liners:

• If you ever wanted to give someone an example of how meaningless the +/- stat is, I’ve got one for you. Jason Kapono went 3-11 with 4 fouls in 21 minutes but was a game-high +20.
• Joey Graham’s parents were in the crowd hoping for a showdown. Didn’t happen, Good Joey had 0 points on 0-7 shooting but did grab 10 rebounds. Bad Joey got some points in garbage time. Box Score.
• Jose Calderon missed a FT. He still leads the league in percentage but Ray Allen isn’t far behind.
• Raptors had lost the PINP in battle in both of games against Indiana until yesterday when they killed them 48-28 thanks to Pops and our 15 fast break points.
• At one point in the game Leo said that Bosh is following Pops’ lead. I cried.
• Not sure why Anthony Parker is being drilled in the Roll Call. Anytime he shoots more than 50% and doesn’t let his man go off for 30 should be considered a successful outing. As yertu damkule once said, him showing the ability to play the backup PG in limited minutes will benefit him more than it’ll ever the Raptors.
• The Raptors snap a 7-game losing streak. If we play our cards right we could win 6 straight. Wouldn’t that be terrible?

OK, time to plug the site. I’ll be honest with you. If you get a Twitter account and follow us you’ll be alerted of all the stuff you see in Latest Web Articles, the latest posts and you’ll always have somebody to chat ball with throughout the day as AltRaps and myself usually man that thing pretty good.

It’s times like this where I wished I could smite BC for his idiotic abuse of this franchise and its fans. The latest obscenity happens to potentially be the most expensive.

When this team was in desperate need of a wing player who could create his own scoring options and defend on the perimeter, he broke the bank by shipping out our three most marketable assets for a player who was past his prime and injury ridden for the last two seasons. Good job. Don’t be fooled, this trade isn’t a good one for the Raptors. It’s sexy, but it that’s it, no good will come of it.

The lone saving grace of having O’Neal in a Raptors uniform was the cap space he brought in the most anticipated free agent period in the history of the NBA. Not so much anymore, since we get to be a player the year before, did I F*&#(*$ miss something? Why wouldn’t the Raptors want to be players in the 2010 FA? Imagine they were able to somehow lure Lebron, Wade or Joe Johnson here. Ok, there must be some gems in this seasons free agent list, lets take a look at the cream of the crop:

• Mike Bibby
• Ben Gordon
• Brandon Bass
• Allen Iverson
• Rasheed Wallace
• Ron Artest
• Trevor Ariza
• Lamar Odom
• Shawn Marion
• Andre Miller

Anyone there you think would make this team an EC power, keeping Bosh happy so he doesn’t force a move next season where we will surely get sodomized in yet another trade? A show of hands…yea, me neither. How bad is this Marion trade? In essence, this is what happened:

Outgoing

• TJ Ford
• Rasho Nesterovic
• 2008 1st Round Pick – Roy Hibbert
• Maceo Baston
• Jamario Moon
• Conditional 1st Round Pick 2010-2015
• $4mill trade exception
• Fan Pride

Incoming

• Shawn Marion
• Nathan Jawai
• Marcus Banks
• $3mill cash
• Increased Raptered Fan Syndrome

About the 1st round conditional pick:

The Heat will receive a first-round pick from Toronto in 2010, unless that pick is among the first 14 (lottery) selections. Should Toronto be in the draft lottery in 2010, in essence not make next season’s playoffs, the Heat then would receive a 2010 second-round pick from the Raptors. The first-round pick then would be sent to the Heat in any year, from 2011 through 2014 that it is not among the first 14 selections (the next year Toronto makes the playoffs). Should the Heat not get the first-round pick by 2014, it then would receive a 2015 first-round pick from the Raptors.

So the kicker is if the Raptors are a lottery team next season, they lose a 2nd round pick in 2010, and a 1st rounder down the line somewhere, genius.

Implications of the trade:

• Another 1st round pick gone…
• The wing position is still thin
• Marion will be forced to play 3, what about Joey?
• Overall depth is even more suspect
• Marcus F*&#(*$ Banks, are you F*&#(*$ kidding me? F*&#(*$!!
• We have cap space in the summer of 2009, not 2010 – which is like playing in the NBDL instead of the NBA…
• There is $14,200,000 of salary tied up between Kapono, Humphries and Banks…

Idiot. Fool’s Gold this BC is. If you think otherwise, I know this Nigerian businessman who has a proposition for you.

Respect to Cuzzy from Cuzoogle.com for the graphic.

Free Ukic!

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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I have to admit, for once, I had no doubt about the outcome of the game. Even with the Kings sporting a 4 point lead in the first half, I was relaxed and firm in my resolve that the Raptors would pull this one out. The Kings just don’t match up well, talent is thin up front, their wings don’t have Wade-like ability, and Udrih is just not very good.

For the second game in a row, the Raptors didn’t get out to an early double-digit lead, and you know what? I’m good with that. Clearly that strategy wasn’t working out, so I applaud the Raptors for not going that route for the 43rd time this season. This monstrous winning streak has coincided with the return of Calderon, who had another great game manning the point, and O’Neal who has been getting better coming off the bench.

Since his return, Calderon has been looking for his offense more then we saw earlier in the season. When his check runs under the high pick, he pulls up for an un-contested J, and when his check runs through the high pick, he attacks the paint opening up court for a layup or kick out to someone for an open J. Thing of beauty. The clincher for me is that his assists haven’t fallen off with his increased offensive production. I’m of that school of thought that likes his point guards to score – opens up a lot more options.

Both teams got whatever shot they wanted, and made it to start the game. The Kings however, got their scores by breaking down the Raptors perimeter defense and hitting their open jumpers. Dribble-penetration, how many times have we said this about the Raps? They let anyone who has any inkling of handles into the paint, they collapse on him, they let him kick out to a shooter, who hits an uncontested jumper. How bad was it? Let’s just say that Brad Miller took and made TWO uncontested treys.

Salmons was punishing the Raptors Moon off the bounce, in fact, Moon didn’t look like he wanted to be out there, dude was Alabama Dreamin’. I wanted to slap that stupid smile off his face. Salmons would blow by him time after time, and he would just grin. WTF man? It wasn’t until Triano got sick of him in the 3rd quarter that he replaced him permanently with Graham, that things got better. In fact, that was the turning point in the game, as the Raptors/Kings were trading buckets up until that point. WIth Joey’s ferocious ways, the Raptors not only etched out a 13 point lead heading into the 4th, they also showed some balls when Garcia pushed Bargnani from Behind, and BOTH Graham and O’Neal came to his aid in the tussle.

For me, that was the highlight of the game. As the play was developing, I was thinking that this will be another one of those situations that Bargnani will be left to fend for himself against some border-line thug, but no! Joey came in bumping Garcia and pushing him away, then O’Neal got in the mix. This team is soft, there is no doubt about it, but O’Neal, Graham, Joey, Calderon…these guys will get in your face, and need to do it more to help this team out. Imagine if these guys actually had each others back last season when TJ got mugged, he might not have developed that complex when he returned…just putting it out there.

The PR machine was in full effect again hoping Riley was watching/listening, but in all fairness, HO had a good game. I must say, I appreciate how he battles in the block. If he continues to contribute from the bench at the levels he was before he got injured, may not be a total loss if we don’t trade him for Marion. I’m not saying he is the answer or anything to that extent, but if the guy can come off the bench, put up 15/8, and not cause any ruckus, it will go a long way to improving this team because VL has clearly locked up the starting 5 spot.

Speaking of VL, what is this…the 18th solid game in a row? It is actually a question I want answered: how/what/why/where were you able to turn this around? I mean, playing at 3 wasn’t woking, any idiot who saw you try and keep up there knew that you need to play 4/5. But the fact of the matter is that you made same sort of interal decision  and this is the result. My question to you is why now? Why not last year? Imagine if we get something more useful for Ford and Rasho? We would be a force in the East.

Mine the ball is.

Parker chipped in with another great game: 11pts 7rebs 7ast. The guy just needed some love. He has been the Raps unsung hero for 2.5 seasons now. All he wanted was some love to re-energize the batteries. I’m kind of torn right now about Parker:he is one of a few Raps who has any trade value that isn’t untouchable, but we desperately need him, so unless he is outgoing part of a trade for a solid 2, I’m not sure I trade him. On the other hand, I am totally biased in his favour as he is my favourite Raptor. I just don’t want to see him dumped for cap space, I want a young kid in return, who can ball, at a minimum.

No post-game would be complete without talking about Bosh. Yea…he’s good. lol. I wish he would have taken it to the rack more, as Mikki Moore is a shell of his former self, Miller never really moved and Thompson is still wet behind the ears. That said, 12-22 from the field and 7-8 from the line is good enough for me. There was a moment, after Miller hit his second trey, that I thought for sure Bosh was going to jack one up…but he didn’t, and I thought it impressive he wasn’t goated into it. It’s good to see him smiling again, they have been few and far between this season.

The next two games are somewhat ‘gettable’. Gettable in the sense that the Nets and Bucks are marginally better then we are, and are due to lose a heartbreaker at our hands. We need the next two because we have a very tough 4 game stretch coming up that will be just nasty (Magic, Cavs, Lakers and Hornets).

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I didn’t see the game, but the loss to Chicago cheapened the effort the Raps gave against the Celtics. All-in-all, three losses in a row doesn’t sit nicely with me, regardless of who they come against. For all the progress Bargnani has made, his efforts seem to be wasted since the Raptors don’t go to him during crunch time. He has shown the ‘look’ and ability to take those tough clutch shots (dating back to his rookie season).

With the Raptors heading into Indiana, and the specter of O’Neal rejoining the team looming, the Raptors enter into a potentially dark stretch of unknowns where team chemistry could potentially be thrown under the wheel. With absolutely no news over the last couple weeks, O’Neal has been absent from the bench while he gets ‘treatment’. Apparently it was getting the right anti-inflammatory drugs, so the master plan has come full-circle. The severity of his injury has not been disclosed, but all of a sudden, with a road games against the Pacers, the chatter of him joining the team has begun. He is saying the right things about his role on the team, but saying and doing are two different things.

The Pacers are the owners of the toughest schedule of any team in the NBA thus far. They have gone through a changing of the guard with the dispatch of O’Neal, and the emergence of Granger as a solid NBA talent who can put up points from the wing. TJ Ford has even won them a few games on his back.

Fresh off a home win against the Pistons, Indiana must be feeling good. Although Jack has replaced Ford in the starting 5, it was TJ who sparked the win against the Pistons with a solid 23pt 6reb 4ast game. In his last game against the Raptors, he had a poor showing, but this can be attributed to the excitement of coming back to the ACC for the first time. I imagine tonight will be his redemption. He might even start, which would

The Raptors? They lost 3 in a row. They suck, and there is no reason to think otherwise, it’s not Alice Fine. It seems they are tanking their way to the lottery, and I’m good with that. Hopefully some rash moves aren’t made in the meantime that will set AltRaps on a murderous rampage. seriously, I’d be afraid of him if he gets mad, big dude.

“I made the mistake of picking my dribble up after he cut off the baseline,” Bosh said. “It’s not going to be the last time we’re in a situation like that, or I’m in a situation like that. You just learn from it and keep going.”

Learn? He does this all the time. He picks up his dribble all the time in favour of jacking a jumper. I’ve learned he hasn’t learned not to do this.

The Match-up

Solomon vs Jack
The Edge: Toronto – Solomon has been a pleasant surprise since JC went down. He has played under control, taken relatively good shots and has minimized his jump-passing. Maybe I’m just settling here because Roko can’t play a full game (30+ min) yet, but he hasn’t been frustrating me as much as he used too. Jack on the other hand has been a bit of a disappointment for me since leaving Georgia Tech. He’s not a bad player by any stretch, but he isn’t great, he’s just good. Solomon should be able to take him off the bounce, and Roko should have no problem dropping the tear drop over him in the paint.

Parker vs Dunleavy
The Edge: Indiana – Dunleavy is coming into his own. I’m a big fan of him, the kid has talent, makes good decisions and is a match-up nightmare at the 2, Parker will have his hands full, there is no doubt. I predict a huge game for Dunleavy (25+pts 8+rebs 5+ast). Sending a double will open up Granger for even better looks. Parker will have to stay at home on Dunleavy, and not allow him to open space for Granger. This is a key match-up for this game.

Moon vs Granger
The Edge: Indiana – Granger was G*d awful last game at the ACC. He missed a ton of shots and effectively took himself out of the game. This wont be the case again. As good as Moon has recently played, Granger has played loads better. The wing spot is going to kill the Raptors tonight, especially if Ford (or Jack if he doesn’t start) is on. Dribble penetration galore.

Bosh vs Murphy
The Edge: Toronto* – The asterik is because Murphy grabbed 87 rebounds the last time around, his offense was limited, but he hit the boards something fierce. This will be even more crucial at home since they are fresh off a win and are feeling good about themselves. Bosh needs to make a huge commitment to boxing out and crashing the boards tonight. 10 boards isn’t going to cut. He needs to grab 12+. A good way to take Murphy out of the game is for him not to shoot it, but drive to the rack, every single freaking time. Also, don’t forget NOT to pick up your dribble when a lane closes, you’re an Olympian, you can figure something.

Bargnani vs Foster
The Edge: Toronto* – Another asterisk, since Foster has been a Raptor killer as far back as I can remember. Active bigs who run around and crash the boards, with little regard to having plays called for them kil the Raps. I expect Voshkul and Hump to contribute in this department during relief time. The good news is that with VL on the perimeter, he will keep Foster away from the boards. Bargs has been doing a pretty decent job on the defensive boards as well, a real commitment needs to be made here.

The Line

VegasInsider.com has the spread at Indiana -4.0 with an o/u of 213.5. Safe bet here.

The Prediction

Pacers. Raptors probably should win given their advantage up front, but dribble penetration and the wings are going to kill us tonight.

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The NBA-readyness of Ukic has often come into question, after being selected by Rob Babcock in the second round of the 2005 draft, Ukic, then a 21 year old, was deemed to need a year or so more of European basketball. But with Calderon and Ford gobbling up the minutes at that position Ukic was forced to prolong his European career although many scouts believed that he was NBA-ready. Now at 24, he comes into the league at the same age as Jose Calderon and we’re hoping the results are similar. Asking him to replace TJ Ford is a tall task given the former Raptor’s speed and ability to keep defenders on their toes, if Ukic can hold the fort down by playing good defense and running an organized offense while Calderon gets his 15 minute breather, he’ll fit right in.

There was some talk yesterday that the Raptors were interested in the services of James Posey. As ridiculous as that sounds the rumour carried some merit. That merit was quickly squashed as Posey cashed in on a 4 year 25 million dollar deal with the Hornets who have had enough of Mo Pete’s inconsistency. As John Hollinger points out, signing 30 year old role players to big deals rarely works out (see Bryon Russell, Dan Majerle, Jaren Jackson, Rick Fox and Raja Bell) and it hardly makes sense to pay Posey this kind of money this summer when nobody cared for him the previous year. The other big signing of the day had the Cavs giving Daniel Gibson a five year deal.

Mike Ulmer talked to Joey Graham about playing in the summer league. Basically Joey’s saying that its better than sitting at home. I’m curoius as to whether Bryan Colangelo requested Joey to participate or whether he decided on his own that he needs to sharpen up his game:

“I was at home, sitting around, and I really wasn’t working out with guys. I said ‘why not go somewhere and play?’…I want the coaches to know I still can play and that I am a guy who will work hard. Last year was the first time I didn’t play that much, my first bit of adversity. It builds character and makes me into the person I want to be. I didn’t like not playing.”

This is probably a good time to mention how bad the blogs on Raptors.com are. It took me five minutes to figure out how to just link to this story. I mean, can’t they just get a WordPress installation?

TJ Ford was introduced as an Indiana Pacer on Wednesday and he proclaims that “Pacers basketball is back!” Well, the way he said it there was no exclamation mark at the end but you know TJ, he speaks casually but his mind is racing at 100mph. Ford says he’s going to be durable and aims to play the entire season:

“I think a lot of people are wondering if I take a hard fall whether I’m going to get up or not. I think the staff we have here, the things they discussed with me, that can help my situation better than what it is. I think I’ll be durable throughout the season.”

I think he”ll be just fine with the athletes around him and the Pacers will surprise people. It’s definitely more of a rebuilding project than Toronto but Ford’s saying the right things early on and Jarret Jack does seem like he’s ready to take the back seat. Jim O’Brien’s calling the Pacers off-season so far a “stroke of genius”. I’m not going to go that far but it`s hard not to like the talent they’ve acquired.

Samuel Dalembert’s agent is responding to him being cut by wishing Basketball Canada “Good Luck ever getting another NBA player to show up again”. In hindsight, I’m not sure if cutting him was a great idea, it does send a bit of a harsh message to any other potential players. I think a benching would`ve sufficed but I stand behind Leo’s decision of not putting up with any nonsense.

The Raptors resume summer league on Thursday against the Sixers. Third time’s the charm. Dance Pak auditions are happening. Insert innuendo here.

The trade is designed to increase our post-scoring, make us stronger on the glass (3rd worst in the league) and is an attempt to build a formidable frontline which will attract more double teams thus allowing our shooters more open looks. If all parties in this trade were 100% healthy, the preliminary “winner” of the trade would easily by Toronto. However, given Ford and O’Neal’s injury histories, only time will tell who won this trade. My money’s on Indiana. Ford happens to be 4 years younger than O’Neal who is 29 and although Ford’s injuries have been serious, they’ve been of the “freaky” type having to do with stingers and aggravations. He basically had one injury and fully recovered from it. O’Neal’s injuries appear to be much more chronic in nature and have a higher chance of resurfacing once again – groin, back and knee. The Raptors are definitely taking on more risk here by putting their eggs in O’Neal’s basket.

Then there’s the matter of giving up the 17th pick in a deep draft. You could argue that the draft combined with TJ Ford provided us an opportunity to fulfill two needs: wing scoring and rebounding. However, we’ve packaged both of our best summer assets and a serviceable center for one player and passed up the opportunity to have a shot at some solid players that are slated to go in the teens in the draft. Granted, it’s early and we could trade our way back into the first round but I don’t see many teams willing to give up their first round picks this year. The pick to me is the hardest thing to give up here because there’s just so much bloody potential out there.

Then there’s the question of salary. O’Neal just became the highest paid Raptor and if God forbid he injures himself and ends up playing 40 games this year, his trade value come summertime will be zilch. That’s 20 million tied up in salary for the 2009-10 season! There’s no doubt that this deal has to a degree handcuffed the Raptors in terms of future trades and signings.

In every sports trade, trade is an element of risk involved and whether the risk needs to be mitigated eventually defines whether the trade is successful or not. If O’Neal puts up 20 and 10 like he did for almost 5 seasons in a row and we win 52 games next year, everybody will applaud this move. If he fails to deliver and doesn’t mix-in well with Bosh and the Raptors continue with their mediocrity, whats the point? When you give up on young talent as the Raptors have in this trade, be prepared to be scrutinized for years to come whenever the player in question is doing well. Before it was Charlie Villanueva, now it’s TJ Ford.

The impact on Bargnani won’t be as severe as you would think – we did give up Rasho in the trade and his minutes should be distributed according to player form. Rasho’s career average in MPG is 23 while O’Neal’s is 28. That’s a five minute difference which isn’t hard to live with for Bargnani and should motivate him to play harder now that there’s more competition. If the talk of Rasho returning after being waived is true, then Bargnani is in serious trouble.

The Raptors acquiring a legitimate starting center in a trade speaks volumes as to what the franchise thinks of Andrea Bargnani. Either they’re prepared to give up on him and traded for an insurance policy (ironic given JO’s health) or they see Bargnani playing the SF position thus giving the Raptors a very big frontline and an advantage on paper (although the Orlando series exposed him like never before). The trade should serve as an ultimatum to Bargnani that he should be prepared to battle in training camp and practice if he wants to see any minutes past garbage time. The other way to look at it is that Colangelo feels that Bargnani is still two more years away from realizing his potential and needs to play second fiddle to O’Neal during this time while learning in the process. Is this trade Colangelo acknowledging his mistake of drafting Bargnani? Not yet, this is simply a change of strategy.

The most glaring aspect of this trade is that we’ve handed our PG responsibilities to Jose Calderon without a certified backup on the roster. Calderon has as many defensive issues (if not more) than Ford and is as liable as going into a scoring drought as Ford. He does happen to be a better fit for the Raptors given his holding style of play which suits our “offense” much better. This isn’t a knock on TJ, he happens to need more athletic, alert, fast-break type players to be successful. Calderon doesn’t, he’s willing to patrol the three point line and be patient with Bosh on posts and re-posts while there’s inconsequential movement on the weak side. To put it in simpler terms, TJ Ford’s a Don Nelson/Mike D’Antoni player. Nothing wrong with it, except we’re not nearly as up-tempo, exciting, fast-breaking or athletic as players in those systems need to be.

The final word on the trade: We gave up too much and took on the greater risk. We gave up the younger player with less chronic injuries, a valuable teen pick in a deep draft and the expiring contract of a good center for a player who was great 4 years ago. I’d feel far more comfortable if we hadn’t given up the pick but at some point you have to prove to Chris Bosh that you’re trying to win.

Here’s hoping the Raptors do some maneuvering and somehow come out with Brandon Rush tonight. On the other hand, if Rush or CDR are gone by the time our Indiana’s pick rolls around, Colangelo needs to be given some credit for predicting that and using the pick’s value in a trade.

Check AltRaps.com for links relating to the story, here’s one however and its Colangelo talking about the trade and how letting Ford go was a foregone conclusion reached by both parties.

“There was discussion with T.J. at the end of the season and also with his agents or representatives since the end of the season where we amicably discussed the scenario that might play out where he might be part of a trade and he’s comfortable with that”.

Note: Live Blogging tonight for the draft starting at 6:30PM on RaptorsNation.org. I’ve never tried to do this before so we’ll see how it goes. Try to swing by so I don’t look like a fool. Thanks!