The “season done” edition.
Banks – a long season that saw him get some meaningful minutes, just not often enough.
Bargnani – If only the entire NBA season could see the Raptors play New York and Detroit on alternate nights. Andrea attacked the hoop at will, his outside shot was on point and you could tell he welcomed playing against Gallinari once again. Still far from the face of the franchise, but a nice 2nd fiddle.
Belinelli – outside of one just completely boneheaded turnover, Marco played well. Shot 5/8 included a perfect 3/3 from 3. Still a massive failure this season and we should move him if we can.
Bosh – could not have been happy with the lukewarm response he received when shown on the scoreboard. That won’t sit well as he continues his rehab by watching Tyler Perry on repeat.
Calderon – Jose played limited minutes, but produced well in them, scoring 15 points on 6/10 shooting. He looked like he was in this game much more than he has been over the past month, which is both nice to see and completely aggravating.
DeRozan – well, if you are going to end a disappointing rookie year, you might as well do it with a bang. 9/11, 8 trips to the line, 37 minutes, 9 rebounds, 24 points. Wow. Yes, it was the Knicks, but it was really fantastic to see DeMar play with such passion and confidence. Well done.
Evans – didn’t see the floor and I couldn’t be happier.
Jack – he didn’t want the season to end, so he practiced being a vendor during the game by running up into the stands and slapping skin with the locals. Jack has been the glue to this team without Bosh and tonight was more of the same. Keep the Jose and Jarrett tandem happy (and not on the floor at the same time) and we can go places. Have them play defence and we could actually win 45 games! Maybe even 50!
Johnson – it’s like he and Andrea have their legs tied together in a 3-legged race. Amir with his second straight strong offensive game, this time with 21 points. for the haters, yes, he only grabbed 5 rebounds and yes, he did seem non-commital at times on defence, but he kept his fouls down and we won, so there.
Nesterovic – so, what do you think? Last game in the NBA? Could have been. If so, wonder if he will enter the Hall of Fame as a Raptor?
O’Bryant – see above.
Turkoglu- can there be anybody happier that this season is over than Hedo? What a way to end it too: 14min, 5 pts, 3 assists and 5 fouls. People in Portland often wonder why the basketball Gods hate them so much, but the Gods gave them a solid last summer.
Weems – bouncing back from a minor injury to post 18 points on 9/12 shooting. A diamond in the rough this year and a kid with the type of attitude you hope is infectious. I give Colangelo massive grief, but he deserves kudos on this one.
Wright – missed the game tonight as well and it must have killed him. He had an inconsistent season, but so did the whole team. Still not worthy of a starting role, but he was a solid addition to this ragtag bunch of players.
Driving The Bus: DeMar DeRozan
Under The Bus: Hedo Turkoglu
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