Fuckin’ shit.
New Jersey, meet the New Raptors.
In what only can be described as a thorough embarrassment, Nets fans watched slack-jawed as the Raptors shellacked the home team Washington Generals Nets. I haven’t seen a beating this lopsided since Rodney King. Raptors nation should consider this ass kicking the beginning of The Great Payback.
How’s it feel to get booed at home, I wonder? Like coming home to a mother who doesn’t love you? I think Vince must be getting used to it by now. NJ never got set and neither did Kidd, their lynchpin. On top of that, they buried themselves under a pile of turnovers and bad shots. The result was game, set, and match ‘good guys’ (that’s us). Did Vince even play in the second half? Or was he feigning injury on the sideline to avoid face time in the debacle?
Lawrence Frank is looking for a big rock to crawl under and die. Lucky for him, he’s in New Jersey.
On the Raptors side it was a total team effort to make a true basketball fan smile – a complete dismantling on offence, defence, in transition, even –gasp – on the boards. Don’t couple domination with ease, as it was hardly effortless: the Raptors played hard, in control (other than a three frustrating TJ turnovers) and everyone did their part. Rasho came through on defence in the first half with 3 blocks. Juan Juan the Leprechaun is reminding us why it was foolish to consider cutting him, with 14pts on 50% shooting, bringing impressive energy and speed to the court. In fact, our 2nd unit really won this game – And the lineup of Delfino, Dixon, and Calderon (who had 15 assists between them) are going to be an absolute nightmare for the next 80 games. Making the extra pass, keeping their hands active on defense, and running, pushing, forcing the Nets to keep up took its toll early on.
Can Luke Jackson do this?
I don’t want to sound like one of those hometown writers who can’t criticize his beloved squad, but I had a hard time finding errors in last night’s game. It was one of those golden nights (LA had one against Phoenix last night too). New Jersey only scored 28 points in the second half, so it’s clear they kind of dismantled themselves as well. And when you have the luxury of a 48-point lead, everything looks shiny anyway. For god’s sake, we were consistently up by 35-40 points for much of the night…one can conjure complaints, but for no good reason.
A Cinderella game doesn’t come along every day, so we can’t be expecting 40 point routs for the rest of the season. But on one of those rare nights when you hit the bar sporting a new haircut and for some reason, the stars are aligned just so and everything is turning up Millhouse (on in this case, you). Girls way too hot for you flirt, start buying you drinks. Then the bartender sees this, assumes you’re someone special, and throws you a round of shots on the house, which gets you just drunk enough to say the right things to guarantee you vulcanize the whoopee stick in the ham wallet later that night. The Raptors were so ‘on’ last night, they could have gotten the Olsen Twins to blow them in the handicapped bathroom on the set of “New York Minute 4”. Only Richard Grieco circa ‘If Looks Could Kill’ could be hotter. In NBA JAM terms, we were on fire.
Who else heard ol’ Dick’s trademark term whispering through the Meadowlands last night?
Here’s a question: Is Bargnani already more of an impact player than Bosh? I’m dead certain he’s going to have a higher ppg than CB4 at the end of the season. And while I know Bosh, who hit that amazing half-court heave, is taking his time getting back to top form (a luxury afforded by our new roster, deeper than Kim Kardashian’s cleavage), The Big Tortellini is exerting his dominance (and grabbing rebounds!) thus far.
Despite the excellent post defence, Bosh lays in an easy two.
The key? Focus. (But like the topless psychic in Mallrats, it can be pronounced different ways). In seasons past the Raptors taught us that no lead was safe, and no matter our lead at the half, 3rd quarter breakdowns were more predictable than an episode of Ugly Betty. Last night was prime time for the off switch to get flicked, but not so. Concentration, intensity, and discipline are ingredients to racking up an almost 50-point lead. Against the (now healthy!) team that knocked you out last year and are considered one of the top in the East.
Concentration. Intensity. Discipline. Forget KG, Allen and Pierce, These words are our BIG THREE, our key our success this year. We have all the talent, and if last night is any indication, we seem to finally have a grasp on our big three.
We’ve beat up two division rivals so far, and treading over Boston on Sunday would go a long way towards making an early statement. And that statement isn’t this. It’s this.
P.S. My Bobcats are 1-0. Every V counts.
