Eventually we were bound to run into a team that’s struggling worse than us and so it happened that Milwaukee swung around town on a back end of a back-to-back. The depleted Bucks put up a good fight against the Raptors who managed to sneak a win because of the quality of the opposition more than anything else. This isn’t exactly the emphatic response that we were hoping for after some “good” practices but when you’re stuck in the doldrums of mediocrity and in the middle of a three game losing streak, any win is a great win. The Raptors will take the W hoping it builds some confidence or momentum but let’s call a spade a spade: Milwaukee’s horrible and we didn’t exactly come close to dominating this game. So let’s take this win and move along.
Charlie Villanueva’s second quarter fireworks display was something to remember, he scored 16 straight points off of pull-up threes, mid-range jumpers and a couple takes to the rim. It would’ve been Supermanish if he had continued that hot streak in the second half but he decidedly cooled off. He hit a couple shots in the fourth quarter but the game was a little out of reach for the short-handed Bucks. I can live with the TJ Ford for Charlie V trade, both players have flaws and both have very appreciable strengths, I don’t know why Leo Rautins can’t just let it go at that and stop questioning Charlie V’s intensity, desire and hustle every time he goes 2 minutes without scoring. None of this came out when he was here, eh Leo?
After mouthing off about trust issues and other such abstract stuff, Chris Bosh showed up against Andrew Bogut and Michael Ruffin – 32 points and 11 rebounds against a Bucks defense that’s trying to finish off the season with the least amount of energy expended. Still though, give Bosh some credit for taking on Charlie V’s challenge in the second quarter and doing everything he could to be the central factor for the Raptors on both ends of the floor. There weren’t any “clutch” situations in this game so the Raptors offense never came under pressure, I was hoping for a late Bucks run which would challenge the Raptors so that I could see how valuable those practices really were. Maybe against NJ they’ll have a chance to prove themselves in the clutch but I doubt it’s going to change the mind of many people who are correct in their thinking that the Raptors are simply not good enough to do anything.
The Raptors definitely stepped up their defense in this game forcing 15 turnovers for 20 points, played the Bucks even on the boards and came up with 8 steals. They didn’t handcuff the Bucks by any means but played good man and help defense in 2nd and 3rd quarter periods. They doused the Charlie V fire in the second and got some stops and scores in the 3rd to build a 10-12 point lead. The rest of the game was trading baskets; against better competition this game goes right down to the wire. On the other hand, you can get any shot you want against the Bucks at any time – they’re very unmotivated on D. Be thankful that the Raptors showed enough patience on offense to exploit the flat out lazy Milwaukee defense which never looked to resist anything tonight. Probably fatigue from the back-to-back or maybe they just don’t care. Reading the Bucks version of the PG report, it almost feels like they’re talking about the Raptors.
Rasho with another solid game where he does almost everything right, he’s simply decided that this team isn’t really going anywhere fast and there couldn’t be a better time to step up and earn some coin. He’s playing like he just realized he’s in his contract year. Go Rasho, all the power to him for upping his scoring and rebounding when it counts the most. Andrea Bargnani with 10 points on 4-10 shooting and 4 rebounds – just a reminder that this is considered a great game. I’m just glad that he avenged getting stripped by Bogut by taking it to the rim and dunking it. It’s funny how Chuck Swirsky (unbearable to listen to) praises his “gorgeous rotation” every time he makes any jumper but remains quiet as a mouse pissing on cotton when he misses a wide open one. Here’s another Swirskism from today: Charlie V finally misses a three after scoring 16 straight and Chuck yells “That’s waaaayyy offf!” It hit the bloody rim dude.
TJ Ford with 14/7 and Jose Calderon with 2/12, neither had any turnovers. Let’s start the seemingly daily routine of supporters of the individual players shitting on the other……now! Calderon with a Calderon type game and TJ Ford with yet another solid performance where he took advantage of the matchup presented to him while keeping the team concept central. At least our PGs are somewhat in form going into the playoffs. Now if we could get Kapono, Delfino and Bargnani playing at a similar level, we’d be back in business.
Liners:
- NJ coming up, let’s see how we respond to the loss at the swampland.
- I don’t recall once in the last 3 months a defender being caught between doubling Bosh and guarding Kapono – wasn’t that supposed to happen on every play?
- Did anybody hear Leo say Anthony Parker was a clutch performer in the late stages of the game? If there’s one knock on Parker it’s that he can’t handle his onions late in the game. He tends to miss some very wide open crucial jumpers when they’re needed the most (Philly and Atlanta come to mind most recently).
- If Carlos Delfino AND Joey Graham are on this team next year, we haven’t done dick all to improve the team.
- No help from Boston or Detroit who are playing like they just don’t want to get anyone hurt. Boston got beaten by Philly and Washington’s taking care of Detroit.
- I’ve heard of players laughing when the team’s losing but even the Bucks coach was having a good time.
- Top Rap: Chris Bosh for canceling out Charlie V.
- Dave Feshcuk seems to be hopping off the Bryan Colangelo bandwagon.
