The “we just want to show our home fans that we care” edition.
Banks – back to the bench. Sadly, probably the right move.
Bargnani – offensively, a solid game. Completely different look to his demeanour tonight and it even included the return of the lean-in-for-the-shooting-foul move he perfected on his own teammates in training camp. Defensively, at least his offense was good.
Belinelli – see above. He awakened on the offensive end, but what he gave us, he returned with some horrible turnovers. More and more it seems like Nellie made the right call in Golden State. Marco has had the opportunity in Toronto to show he can play, but lately has shown that he simply can’t.
Bosh – quite obviously Atlanta knows how to play Chris Bosh. Yes, he got his double double, but they made him work for it and you could almost see the energy leave his body. Good effort on a night that didn’t feature many for the home team.
Calderon – played only a few minutes in the first half and didn’t return in the second half. I think he used the mercy rule.
DeRozan – horrible night for the rook who found himself chained to his chair again. Down 20, should we send the rookie in for some experience? Nooooo. Holding Bargnani back and yanking him as he made mistakes worked wonders for him, so why not do it with DD?
Evans – I’d fake an injury too. Much respect.
Jack – nice effort tonight on one end of the floor. He looked a bit more comfortable not being the primary ball handler. Of course that’s probably because he knows he wouldn’t have to answer tough questions after this loss.
Johnson – this guy probably goes to the gym himself and still throws elbows around on a rebound. Saw him get pushed off the block a bit too much tonight and he continues to show that defense can’t be a one man effort.
Mensah-Bonsu – he’ll be back in the UK by Christmas.
Nesterovic – you know when you are out holiday shopping and you get stuck behind a slow moving person that you just want to get around to move on with your day? You’ve been Rasho’d.
O’Bryant – we all know a guy like him. Whether you have a job or you’re in school, there is always one guy that, as you bust your ass, he just coasts and only does stuff when prompted. Incredibly you find out he actually makes almost as much as you and has a hot girlfriend. He’s your own personal POB.
Turkoglu- he took Bosh’s place tonight and came out like a house on fire. He was passing the ball with some crispness, he hit shots, he played alert defense. Tailed off as the game went on, but still had an impressive stat line. Still nowhere near where he should be, but at least he looked like he cared. Did he blow on defense? Sure did, but who didn’t?
Weems – wasn’t afraid to take shots and he actually made some. This is still a guy that I think could become a decent defender, but he has a bit of the Jamario mindset in him in that he is always looking to break out or push. Sometimes you just have to lock in, Sonny.
Wright – if they ever had a giveaway night for Wright, it shouldn’t be a bobblehead, it should be a rollercoaster. The guys game has more ups and downs than David Hasselhoff’s career.
Driving The Bus: Hedo Turkoglu
Under The Bus: DeMar DeRozan
Game Theme:
