I cheered for Fred Jones every time he was in the game. I practically begged God for his jumpers to go in but even He couldn’t do much about it. The writing was on the wall and when Mitchell played Fred Jones for a whopping six minutes against Cleveland, I thought he was giving him a second chance but instead he was showcasing him for ANY possible trade, and surprisingly, it worked.
Juan Dixon will never dazzle you with anything but he’s a smart player who knows how to play. He doesn’t take wild shots, plays under control and his jumper can get hot. Besides figuring out how he’s going to get any playing time behind Ford and Calderon, there’s really not much dissecting to do here. We gave up Fred Jones for him so anything and I do mean anything he gives us, is a bonus. The great part is that he’s happy to be traded to the Raptors which is almost a first. This franchise has come a long way since another Blazer got traded to the Raptors and responded by chaining himself to his locker, yes I’m talking about Kenny Anderson. Nice to see Bryan Colangelo admit the signing was probably a mistake and take steps to clean up his own mess.
A little irony tonight as the Raptors mauled the Pacers on the day Fred Jones got traded. Good to see the team put behind that gut-wrenching loss to Cleveland. Rasho Nesterovic played like he should have played against Anderson Varajeo two nights ago and chipped in with an efficient 14 points and 8 rebounds. We all know Rasho is soft as a spring pansy and anytime he comes up with a manly game like this, I wonder why he can’t do this more often. Hard for me to say this but he locked down Jermaine O’Neal in the first half when the game was in question. The Pacers never recovered from a 40-29 second quarter and the rest of the game was a mere formality. Here’s a short highlight video from Chasin’s RealGM thread:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghxJjr7cEjI]
Jose Calderon played better than TJ Ford and Jorge Garbajosa’s shot is starting to fall and hopefully he’s officially out of his mid-season funk. Chris Bosh is becoming a damn good fantasy player, 23 points on 8-12 FG and 12 rebounds. Can’t ask much more of your franchise player than that. Got to see Danny Granger tonight making me recall the 2005 draft when Raptor fans wanted him so bad, just after Gerald Green. I’d say Charlie Villaneuva was the better pick, someone could even argue that Babcock got an A in that draft. All NBA teams make runs and the Pacers made theirs in the fourth quarter but it far too little and way too late. You can check out the highlights for this game in the RealGM thread.
Jason Kidd returned to the lineup as the Nets beat the Kings. So the Raptors and Nets have identical records since the all-star break at 1-1 which means the lead in the Atlantic Division is still 4.5. Isaiah Thomas is trying to acquire Vince Carter so he can add him to a roster that has Marbury, Francis and Crawford. If he’s not already the worst GM in the league, this sure as hell would seal that honour. The Knicks are crazy to give up Ca
Some sad news today, Dennis Johnson passed away. I never saw him play that much but what I’ve seen on ESPN Classic, he was a tough defender who you didn’t want guarding you. Rest in Peace.
