Official Toronto Raptors Thread.

[TheMC5]

You lucky easterners. Today's game started at 10 AM in Alberta, and Saturday's started at 11 AM. Stupid time zones.

[RapsPlayoffs]

about the TJ vs Jose argument..

Yes, alot of times calderon is the better decision maker, and he seems to be the more consistent and efficient one, but you just have to realize that TJ is one of the most talented point guards in the league. He is FAST as lightning and does have the ability to go into an unstoppable state at times. But its true, TJ has this superstar mentality that just kicks in to make him take all these shots and whatever, but down in the fourth quarter I would still rather have ford in than calderon. and also, alot of times late in the clutch when we need a go-to guy like bosh to step up, it seems like calderon just freezes up and doesn't know what to do, like he's dumbfounded in late game situations when we are down. and I don't think calderon has any of the ability that TJ has to create on offense.

Though TJ has gotten a bit more selfish this season, probably to prove something because I remember him saying he wanted to redeem himself or something like that.

[Abctest123]

Yay Raptors won. Oh no Bosh and Bargnani left the game with injury. Hope it's not serious.

Honestly I can't comment on this game. I was so tired when I came home from school I just took a really long nap (atleast 3 hours). I just watched small parts of it, like part way through the third when I started watching.

One thing I DO wanna ask is, in the fourth quarter, did anyone seem to catch this? Terrence Kinsley hit a jumper and everyone just seemed to ignore it and play just continued? It was weird, I looked like it went in, but play just kept on going without nothing ever being called. Maybe it was just the angle or something, with Kinsley missing it badly or something and the ball hit the mesh.

Even in the limited parts of the game I watched, the offense is SO stagnant when Darrick Martin is playing. But it's just so funny whenever he's in . Though if the Raptors were losing and he was doing that, I'd probably regret the laugh at the end of the game.


On a random note, at Rasheed Wallace smiling like an idiot after getting away with smacking Lebron by accident while grabbing a rebound (caught this while watching highlights of other games).

EDIT: Sam Mitchell's interviews where he disses up the media about the media's lack of knowledge on the team are hilarious . Example, tonight's postgame interview.

[Indy]

One thing I DO wanna ask is, in the fourth quarter, did anyone seem to catch this? Terrence Kinsley hit a jumper and everyone just seemed to ignore it and play just continued? It was weird, I looked like it went in, but play just kept on going without nothing ever being called. Maybe it was just the angle or something, with Kinsley missing it badly or something and the ball hit the mesh.

Did Tarence complain? If not I'm sure you just saw it wrong.

By the way his name is Kinsey, no L.

[Abctest123]

Did Tarence complain? If not I'm sure you just saw it wrong.

By the way his name is Kinsey, no L.

My bad on the spelling of Kinsey. And no, he didn't seem to complain about it so I guess it was just the angle.

On a side note, this pic was found from an old RealGM thread ...



EDIT: Even MORE!

[Raps13]

I knew the Forderon thing was big but damn! too take the time to do that! wow lol.

One half of the Forderon package returns from injury tonight to come off the bench. Should be good. Both Bosh and Bron are game-time decisions

[Abctest123]

Yeah I watched the game, but I don't have the time to really type up my opinion. Yay we beat Charlotte without three key members of the team. Though I would like to share a quote from you-guessed-it, RealGM:

I never thought that I would see the day when Darrick Martin got booed for failing to take an ill-advised shot. The world is upside down.

Yeah, for those unaware, whenever the Raptors score atleast 100 points during a home game, the fans can take their ticket for that night's game and redeem it at a Pizza Pizza (a Canadian pizza chain) location for a free pepperoni or cheese slice within 24 hours. The Raptors had scored 98 points, had final possession of the ball with less than 24 seconds left, and the crowd really wanted the pizza. Darrick Martin, instead of trying to just throw up a random shot to get to 100, he just dribbles it out and the crowd gets pissed .

[jepotsk8er]

i hope raps acquire k-hinrich or pom gordon

[Raps13]

i hope raps acquire k-hinrich or pom gordon

We don't need either of those players so it's not going to happen anytime soon. Don't get your hopes up

[jepotsk8er]

how about reacquire mp because hes more of a veteran they can use him in more tough games even if hes inconsistent when given a starting position

[Abctest123]

pom gordon

Yes they're nice players, but I don't think they're the type of players Colangelo is looking for. Kirk brings good defense and is an alright point guard, but this team already has two good point guards, hence I don't think trading for Kirk is necessary. Ben Gordon shoots the ball a crapload. Yes, he's a great scorer and can shoot the three real well. However, back to the point about him taking many shots. In Chicago's offense, Gordon is basically allowed to hoist up any shot or however many he wants. If he was to play for Toronto, that wouldn't be allowed and IMHO just wouldn't fit how Toronto plays.

And I don't remember where I read/heard it from, but for tomorrow's game against Phoenix, Bosh and Bargnani are out, Ford is a gametime decision. It's gonna take a miracle to beat Phoenix tomorrow. Please, do NOT compare the blowout game against Charlotte to use as a reason to think the Raptors have a good chance.

[Abctest123]

Awesome game by both point guards, but everything right now is secondary to TJ Ford's injury. No, Al Horford is NOT a dirty player, he was trying to prevent an easy layup, but did it in a very clumsy manner. He was absolutely disgusted with himself and had the "OMG what have I done??" look after Ford landed. Though he did deserve the flagrant two for the foul. I hope and pray that he's OK.

*If anyone missed how TJ Ford was injured, here's what happened. The Hawks were passing the ball along the perimeter, and TJ Ford happened to steal the ball. He was going in on a breakaway layup with Al Horford trailing him somewhat closely. TJ keeping a close eye on how close Horford is to him (Horford was close enough behind Ford that I wouldn't be surprised if Horford got a block on him if he TJ went in calmly for the layup), adjusted his layup, to try and sort of do something like a reverse. Al Horford tried to do a foul on Ford to just prevent the easy two, but in doing so, Horford's arm smacked TJ directly on the head, pulling Ford's head back and landed hard while also smacking his head on the ground during the landing.

EDIT: Youtube Video of the incident: LINK

[cyanide]

They're really crucifying Horford over at RealGM, but it doesn't appear he wanted to hurt TJ. Hopefully TJ will be ok.

A side note, Horford's bigger than I thought

[jepotsk8er]

yeah, i read in realgm that he came into the hospital where tj was

and tj said "he was a good kid" and i believe al horford is not a sheed-like player

[Indy]

The Horford foul was clearly unintentional. TJ did sort of a stutter step and then went all the way to the other side of the basket in the blink of an eye. Totally reasonable to expect that he might come down on his head and not the ball.

I'm looking forward to playing you guys tonight, you guys are a very tough matchup for the Pacers because of all the outside shooters. Our defense is based on keeping people out of the paint and forcing tough shots, but that's exactly what your offense tries to do. Should be another good high scoring game.

[Abctest123]

I didn't watch this but what I understand is that the Raptors were at one time down big, but came back like mad and then beat the Pacers. Didn't watch the game as I wasn't home.

Also, on RealGM, people were mad about the Pacers' announcers. What did they say that caught the ire of Raptors fans??

[cyanide]

^ Yeah, they were down, and Kapono's hot shooting brought the Raptors back to win. The Indiana commentators were referred to as "bigger homers than the Celtics" and what drew their ire was the commentators referring to the Pacers team as "the player of the game after 3 quarters..."

[Indy]

The complaining about the announcers really gets old, especially on realgm. I complain about other teams announcers all the time while watching the game, but that's more like a heat of the moment thing when they say dumb things during an intense game but its just due to them knowing their own team very well and not knowing the other team nearly as well. I know if I were a commentator I would sound smart to Indiana fans because I know all the players and their styles, but to other fans I'd sound dumb because I'd probably say some incorrect things about their players due to not knowing them quite as well.

Anyways, Kapono hit everything in sight, you guys beat us in our first late game collapse in quite some time. Luckily we got to take out our frustration on the Heat tonight and only had to wait 24 hours before getting another game. That Raps loss would have really stuck with me if we didn't have a back to back.

[Abctest123]

Wow...the Raptors actually beat the Spurs. Granted, they were without Manu Ginobili and Brent Barry, but the Raptors were also without TJ Ford. I can't believe they actually won with Bosh also resting all of the fourth quarter. They nearly gave away the game in the third, but managed to hang on and win. Also help when Tony Parker happens to have an off game.

Also, vote for Bosh to the All-Star game please. You can't say he's not giving the effort to earn your votes either :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv7IZP7u9FE

[shadowgrin]

Why bother voting for Bosh:

Battier > Bosh
Antoine Walker >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Bosh

[Abctest123]

Why bother voting for Bosh:

Battier > Bosh
Antoine Walker >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Bosh

WEST: Shane Battier, Antoine Walker
EAST: Chris Bosh

That's why, Mr. Grinch .

[shadowgrin]

Point taken. The retarded cowboy car salesman will get a vote form me.

[Gundy]

I remember making a post in this thread after Bargs was drafted about how the Raps should have drafted Aldridge instead because he was better overall. I know that it is still early in Bargnani's career but I still want to pose a question to you all.

If you had the ability to see into the future back on draft day 2006, and you saw what Bargnani and Aldridge were like now, would you still choose Bargnani. Personally, I would choose Aldridge because I think he has shown that he can excel in the NBA while Bargnani has been sort of incosistent.

[Abctest123]

I remember making a post in this thread after Bargs was drafted about how the Raps should have drafted Aldridge instead because he was better overall. I know that it is still early in Bargnani's career but I still want to pose a question to you all.

If you had the ability to see into the future back on draft day 2006, and you saw what Bargnani and Aldridge were like now, would you still choose Bargnani. Personally, I would choose Aldridge because I think he has shown that he can excel in the NBA while Bargnani has been sort of incosistent.

I'm not quite ready to give up on Bargnani yet (I'm guessing I'm gonna wait till middle of next season to decide) but Aldridge would sure look good beside Bosh right about now...


On a seperate note, Jamario Moon has received his invite to be in this year's Slam Dunk Contest! Yay! LINK

A few Youtube clips to show some of his highlights this season:
Unbelievable rebound, showing his hangtime

VERY nice hammer dunk

Sick dunk versus the Cavs

Awesome putback jam

Fakes out Ben Wallace, then skies over two Bulls, and softly lays it in

Big block on Mike Miller that wakes up Bargnani's usual sleepy self

Nothing much here really, just showing once again his jumping ability, saving a bad alley-oop pass

Drop-kicking/jump-kicking Louis Williams

[Abctest123]

WOW WHAT A GAME! I only happen to catch the final 5 mins of the fourth quarter and the two overtimes, and DAMN was it still sick. Raptors won an amazing game today, but hats off to Portland, they are one competitive bunch. Brandon Roy is un-freaking-believable.

Jamario Moon had that bad, bad foul at the end of the fourth quarter, fouling Travis Outlaw on a three that turned into a four point play. However, he did well in rebounding from that in the overtime periods with his hustle plays like blocks and rebounds.

Bosh played very well in the two overtime periods. He had a chance to win it at the end of the first overtime but didnt even get the ball off cause his two pumpfakes took too much time. But he did play well during overtime.

One thing I HAVE to criticize, that even I picked up on despite watching not a lot of this game was the fact that the Raptors were getting owned on their own end on the glass. I don't have the final rebounding numbers right now, but I can't count how many freaking times after the Trailblazers missed a shot, they grabbed a huge offensive rebound and then they get another chance (very often this second chance is a VERY good look at the basket).

The rest of the guys I can't really comment cause like I said, watched very little. Though one thing I did see after the game was over when the camera was on Bryan Colangelo; while walking back into the tunnel, he was looking rather pissed, sorta looking very mad cause Bargnani in this game was making Colangelo picking him look real bad. Don't know what Bargnani's statline was though.

EDIT: No wonder Colangelo is pissed, Bargnani finished with 4 points and 2 rebounds, and three personal fouls, in a less than 15mins. Also, final rebounding numbers, 52-44 in favour of the Trailblazers, not surprising from what I saw in limited time.