Let’s start things of with an interesting discussion going on in a remote part of this blog concerning race. It’s fascinating stuff!
Once you’re done understanding what constitutes white and what doesn’t, let’s move along to Chris Bosh’s birthday bash held on Sunday night which privileged blogger Dinosty had the chance of attending. I can’t imagine the mood being too cheery after the recent struggles of the Raptors and Bosh proverbially “calling out” the team. Nonetheless, I’m sure the festive atmosphere must’ve compensated for the malaise that the on-court product has been in.
Once you’ve had a chance to stomach that post, I present to you, Podcast #4 where amalgamated thoughts include Forderon, Bryan Colangelo, some of our technical issues and the playoff push:
“Nothing Cool” – Download it! (Size: 5MB, 14:13)
Coming up we have Detroit which has a significant advantage over us in every matchup. We’ve played them twice and it’s not been close, Wallace scares Bosh, Billups can cancel three Calderon’s and 2 Ford’s just by himself and Jason Maxiell gives us nightmares. For us to have a chance in this one, the rebounding battle must be even which is asking a lot of the Raptors against the Piston tall trees. Surprisingly, Rasho was glued to the bench against the Pistons earlier in the year which was questionable given Detroit’s size and the way they were killing us on the boards. Let’s see if Sam has learned anything since.
With Philly on our heels (can’t believe they’re better than us) and Washington pulling away, we need to go on a 3 game winning streak after the Detroit loss. New York and New Orleans at home followed by a trip to Charlotte to avenge the 32-0 second chance point drubbing. New York should be easy and there shouldn’t be any worries there but after that it’s New Orleans who we beat in their arena earlier in the year. In that game, Jose Calderon, Anthony Parker and Andrea Bargnani had great performances to complement a 29 point effort by Bosh and the Raptors overcame a 29/16/7 night from Chris Paul. In order to repeat that feat, the same needs to happen and judging by the way the Raptors are playing, it’s a tall order. The Charlotte game was humiliating and the Raptors need to be truly angry before heading into that one, maybe Sam Mitchell should replay the tape just to jog some memories and pump up the adrenalin.
Bryan Colangelo is really concerned about the way the Raptors are playing. Who wouldn’t be? It’s even forced him to return home early from a European vacation scouting trip where he was looking at Euro talent which apparently is running low. Thank God, I think we’ve maxed out the foreign quota allowed on this team.
I was watching Detroit and Phoenix last night and with the Pistons down 1 with a minute left, Chauncey Billups didn’t even look to pass in attacking Raja Bell and going straight down the middle of the paint and scoring on a three point play. The Pistons prevailed and I said to myself, Now, that’s a player. The great teams have always had someone who they can just go to in the clutch and get a high percentage shot. Even if they miss, you’ll feel good about the offensive decision. I don’t know if I get that feeling with Chris Bosh. He’s a very good player that can cause nightmares because of his quickness but I’m wondering if he’ll ever mature and evolve into a Kevin Garnett or a Tim Duncan type player where scoring is a matter of mechanics and routine. We’ll see I suppose but he’s got a long way to go.
I’m excited to see Chris Paul in Toronto. Mark Jackson in Peter Vescey’s column believes that Steve Nash is the third best point guard behind Paul and Deron Williams, I have to agree with that assessment. Steven Nash is great but Williams and Paul are just oozing with ability, talent and superior physical strength. Steve Nash happens to be the perfect point guard for Phoenix, Mike D’Antoni’s style of play suites him very well and he’s got great complimentary players. I think a lot of his success is a product of the Phoenix system, rather than sheer ability.
Forget the college basketball bracket, make sure you vote for the Raptors DancePak in their annual NBA.com tournament. They’re up against some skanks from the Miami Heat who are relying on immense cleavage to pull them through. On a sidenote, anybody see that special on Minerva done at halftime a couple weeks ago? I’m not feeling it anymore.
Update: TJ and Rasho back in starting lineup. Bargnani and Calderon out.
Later.