The “the jumpstart my heart” edition.
Banks – my neighbours kid went out on Hallowe’en as a basketball player and wore a Banks jersey. He came back with a piece of double bubble, a vanilla tootsie roll and a bruised ego.
Bargnani – another double double. Did most of his heavy lifting in the first half where he followed his own shot a few times and pulled down his own misses. He’s had a quiet game lately but he has been producing.
Belinelli – had trouble defending Wade early (please, I hope you were sitting down) but he ran off screens in the second quarter for some great looks as payback. He also had a great over the shoulder pass to Amir for an easy layup. He may be one of the only Raptors I have seen in 2 years that actually runs into traffic as opposed to away from it….but it works.
Bosh – superb. superior. the best. All can be tagged under his facebook picture. If I had one criticism it’s that Beasley beat him fairly easily a few times tonight. Bosh seemed to have trouble moving his feet to stay in front of him. Bosh had to be put back in mid-4th with 4 fouls to try and keep the Heat tidal wave from getting worse and he played well.
Calderon – 10ast and 9pts. Did a nice job on the offensive side of the ball, but on defense it was coronary-inducing. Blow bys, pullbacks and crossovers were on the menu. It was like watching a Three Stooges movie where Jose was the victim on the eye poke and head slap on most every possession.
DeRozan – He’s had better games, but this may have been my favourite of his so far. Don’t know if it was playing against Wade, but DeMar reminded me of good MoPete tonight. Defended well, had 7 boards, 7 points and was all over the map in a good way. Hilight of the night was one possession he had a block and rebound on the same sequence. It impressed me more than that sweet alley-oop dunk he had in the first, which is saying something.
Evans – faker.
Jack – his assist number leaves a lot to be desired, but his 17pts tonight and one big rebound pretty much sealed the game for us. The Jose and Jarrett tandem has been dragged through the mud in these parts and we need to appreciate what we say (at least offensively) tonight. He still needs to attack more, but his outside shots fell when we needed them most, the smile is back and the swagger is coming along for the ride. Welcome to Toronto, Jarrett.
Johnson – he was the recipient of the Marco pass above, Jose found him with a bullet entry pass off a screen, and most of his buckets were easy chippies. His first half game was so solid he actually was the halftime interview. As he was answering questions he looked like a kid that just brought home a straight-A report card. Beauty of an effort
Mensah-Bonsu – saw the floor for 7 minutes that were actually quite good. He had a good swat and showed that intensity most of you seem to love. As he came on the floor, though, I wondered how he got to see minutes considering how it took guys an entire training camp to learn this “defensive scheme” that Jay has made…eerrrr…..drawn up.
Nesterovic – every game without Rasho means another angel gets her wings.
O’Bryant – anybody else see him crouch down at the half to check the scoreboard from the tunnel? I’m thinking he thought the game was over and he could head home to play some Call of Duty.
Turkoglu- nice neat game from our biggest investment. 19,8,5 and perfect from the line. I would take this every night but he needs to have 2 or 3 big games to keep the opposition honest. Bargs and Hedo have that lull-you-to-sleep style, and Hedo needs to take Bargs’ lead sometime and attack the bucket here and there.
Weems – I can’t be the only one that when I see him jump out of the gym early, you keep waiting to see the follow up….and wait…and wait. I still think he has more Sportscentre nights in him than DeMar.
Wright – took the night off but looked fine doing it. Some lucky Toronto woman is gonna get the Wright stuff tonight!
Driving The Bus: Chris Bosh
Under The Bus: Jose Calderon
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