After an ugly loss against Charlotte, Toronto flew back home to take on the Chicago Bulls and their star Derrick Rose. With new acquisition James Johnson from Chicago in hand, T.O. proceeded to play a gutsy and heartfelt game with Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan playing terrific, both scoring 24 points. Bargnani took 11 free throws and grabbed 8 rebounds. DeRozan attempted 8 free throws and played aggressive. He used his athleticism at will and slammed down 3 dunks, many of which prompted TV play-by-play man Matt Devlin to exclaim,"No props needed!" This of course, is a reference to his fine Slam Dunk Contest performance in which he AGAIN used no props to throw his two first-round dunks. It also convicts the other dunkers of cheating by using the props. As for the game, this one was close with neither team leading by more than 9 points. Toronto did however, get some measure of a good lead up on the Bulls in the 4th quarter with a 10-3 run. This gave the team a 102-94 lead with 4:39 left in the game. Chicago didn't quit however, with Derrick Rose leading the charge on a 13-5 run to tie the game at 107-107. Did Toronto quit? Nope. Take 4 straight DeMar DeRozan free throws, a crucial layup from Amir Johnson, a defensive block from Amir and add three free throws from Sonny Weems and James Johnson and you have a Raptors victory secured. What about the new guy? James Johnson played a fine game with 9 points and 3 blocks and he even tried trash talking his former team mates throughout the game. Two of those points came via an alley-oop pass from DeMar DeRozan that had the good-sized Air Canada Centre crowd out of their seats. Now some numbers...
- Raptors shot 58% from the floor - a season-high for Bulls opponents
- 32 free throws made by Toronto
- Raptors 0-5 from 3-point territory
- Derrick Rose - 19 points in 4th quarter
- Jose Calderon - 17 assists, his 6th straight 10+ assists game
Read the recap.
Now, for the interesting Bulls fan comments. You can view them here. These ones were interesting because they came after Toronto beat the Bulls last night. In other words, the fans were upset over ONE LOSS to Toronto, but because of the opponent, the attitude is one of unwarranted panic! Wow...just...wow! Here are the best ones. Enjoy, and have a good one!
comment from lewismarien on 12:44 AM on Thursday, February 24, 2011: " I'm SO SICK of seeing the Bulls lose against teams that have the worst records in the NBA. Ugh. I watched the beginning of this game, thinking it would be an easy victory for us, but nope."
comment from Cardiae ArrogantSwagg Dunn on 1:29 AM on Thursday, February 24, 2011: "MAKE A DAM TRADE ALLREADY MAN SMH! Bogans is gonna be our downfall in the playoffs man.. He only put up 3 points...3 F n POINTS!?!?! smh Please make a move Bulls Front office He is killin us"
comment from Peter John Jimenez on 4:55 AM on Thursday, February 24, 2011: "Unless we got that All-Star level SG who average over 20 points per game were totally a dud."
comment from Jimmie Chess on 6:00 AM on Thursday, February 24, 2011: "All you Bulls fans that ready to make Tom Thibodeau. the coach of the year please reconsider. This rookie coach needs some help. Remember how crazy I sounded when I said James Johnson didn't get an opportunity at Chicago Wow! Who on the Chicago Bulls could have made that dunk JJ made running the floor? Only Rose. The Bulls could have used JJ 's 9 pts, 5rbs, 3 blks and he went right at the bulls weak link luol Deng."
comment from randomscreenname on 8:20 AM on Thursday, February 24, 2011: "What a disgusting loss. Beat the best team in the NBA (record wise) before the break and come back and lose to one of the worst? Come on, Bulls. Losses happen, we know, but to the Raptors? THE RAPTORS? Inexcusable. I hope chairs were being thrown-- mainly at Boozer and his non-existent defense (Not even going to get into that)."
comment from lev237 on 8:48 AM on Thursday, February 24, 2011: "James Jonson was really good. His energy level was very high, and he showed everyone his athleticism and toughness. Why, WHY Thibs didn't play him? It's just ridiculous.
Now we have a draft pick near the bottom of first round instead.
If we will not get Mayo or Lee with this pick, we may consider this trade as a huge fail."
comment from katmandu on 8:55 AM on Thursday, February 24, 2011: "Everone at least on this blog knew James Johnson could provide some athleticism at small forward. You can't just score on set plays. You need to score on fast break dunks, steals, tip-ins, what Johnson did this game and Deng can't do. Those points sometimes are the difference in close games. It wouldn't hurt also for Rose to have someone to run with.
Except the person that mattered, Thibodeau, didn't see it that way. Johnson could not get off the bench in Chicago then goes starting for another NBA team. What does that tell you about evaluation? ... Jay Tiriano is one of the worst coaches in the NBA. But this game he just attacked the Bulls weaknesses."
comment from mad skills on 9:21 AM on Thursday, February 24, 2011: "Speed kills, and we have now lost to three teams who use speed and athleticism to make up for other short comings. We just traded away our most athletic player to the Raptors and he showed us what he should have been doing all along. 9 points, 3 blocks, 5 rebounds and this without knowing the plays. Wakeup to a brave new world Bulls fans! ... I believe if we played the Raptors ten times we would lose 8. Wait to we play the 76ers, New York, Hawks and Miami in the playoffs."
Well, that's all. I think it's also interesting that the Bulls fans are suddenly praising James Johnson for his superb play in the game, considering that he didn't play much for Chicago and that the fans probably didn't care much for him before now. Gotta go!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Bobcats Rip Raptors, All-Star Rant
Well, the All-Star Break in L.A. has come and gone, and the Raptors start the rest of the season. They did so last night in Charlotte, North Carolina vs the Bobcats. Needless to say, they lost 114-101, giving the team a 15-42 mark. Their biggest deficit was 22 points. Sonny Weems was the best Raptor on the night, scoring 19 points on 9-13 shooting while playing 37 minutes. Jerryd Bayless, on the other hand, was an absolute embarrassment with no shots made and giving up 4 turnovers. He did however, score 11 points and dish out 10 assists. As well, Charlotte held a 42-26 advantage in terms of free throw attempts. This gives Toronto their 11th straight road loss, which ties a team record. Let's hope they do better tonight at home against the Bulls. Speaking of Chicago, the Raptors received a new player from them before the game vs Charlotte. His name is James Johnson. Toronto was able to get him because of the draft pick they recieved from Miami in the Chris Bosh sign-and-trade deal that took place in the offseason. Here is the game recap and here is the story on James Johnson. That's all for now on the Raptors.
Now, I want to talk about the All-Star Weekend that took place in Los Angeles, California from Friday February 18-Sunday February 20 at the Staples Center. This is where the L.A. Clippers and the L.A. Lakers both play their home games. The Rookie Challenge was fun to watch and I truly enjoyed it as it turned out to be my favourite moment in the weekend. DeMar DeRozan represented Toronto in the game and played on the Sophomore Team. He had a solid night, scoring 14 points in the 1st half including 3 impressive dunks, one of which was an alley-oop. The real star of the night however, was John Wall of the Washington Wizards who played on the Rookie team. He dished out an event record 22 assists to grab the MVP honours. DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings also played for the Rookies and scored a game-high 32 points. Here's the recap. Next up was All-Star Saturday Night with the Shooting Stars, Skills Challenge, 3-point Contest, and Slam Dunk Contest. The Shooting Stars event was next, which consisted of 4 teams: Atlanta, Texas, Chicago, and L.A. Each team had a retired player, a current player, and a WNBA player as participants. The idea is that each team has to make one shot from 5 different areas on the court, including a half-court shot. Whoever does it in the fastest time wins. There are 2 rounds to the event, which Team Atlanta won because Team Texas took longer to finsih in the 2nd round than Atlanta did. It was amusing for me to see guys of the likes of Kenny Smith, who is a TNT broadcaster now, try to shoot baskets, especially the half-court ones. Anyways, here's the recap. Next, the Skills Challenge took center stage with Stephen Curry from Golden State, Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, John Wall of the aformentioned Wizards, and Russsel Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder all taking part. The idea of this contest is that you have to go through an obstacle course, first making a layup, then throwing a chest-pass into a basket-like structure, zig-zagging around pylons, making a free-throw line shot, throwing a bounce pass through another basket structure, zig-zagging again and finally making a layup or dunk to complete the course. The contestant who does this in the fastest time wins and there are 2 rounds. Stephen Curry won the contest and took home the honours. He is the son of former NBA sharp shooter Dell Curry. Here's the recap. This contest is always enjoyable for me as I get to see how good these players are at speed, dribbling, and passing. The next contest was the 3-point shootout which featured 6 players: James Jones of the Miami Heat, Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics (who won it last year in Dallas), Daniel Gibson of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics, and two other players that I forget the name of. This contest consists of 6 racks of balls with the regular balls earning the contestant 1 point and the special coloured balls earning the contestant 2 points. The idea is to make as many 3-point baskets as you can in 60 seconds. The player with the most makes wins and there are 2 rounds. The winner this year was James Jones of the Miami Heat. Here's the recap. Now, I have to rant. The final event was the slam dunk contest for Saturday Night which consisted of 4 players: DeMar DeRozan from the Toronto Raptors, Serge Ibaka from the Oklahoma City Thunder, Blake Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers, and Javale McGee from the Washington Wizards. The idea of the contest is that you have to throw a dunk down in 2 minutes, and you are rated on a score of 30-60 based on whether you complete the dunk and if your dunk is creative, original, and gets the crowd pumped. At least, that's how it's SUPPOSED to be. Lately, however, it's all been about props that are brought in by the players to do their dunks, and this year was simply out of control. First of all, Javale McGee cheated to get to the final round. Both of his first-round dunks were dunks that utilized 2 or more balls with the 2nd dunk having 3 balls. This is a clear ripoff of Larry Nance who won the first NBA dunk contest in 1984. Nothing great here, but the idiot crowd and judges thought his 2nd dunk worthy of a 49! Serge Ibaka had a good night, with one of his dunks being a "take off from the free throw line" attempt. This was good, but as Ibaka is a 7-footer, it just looked awkward to me. However, yet again the people proved idiotic as they gave him a higher dunk rating (45) than DeRozan's amazing bounce off the side of the net and wrap around for a reverse dunk(44)! The other amazing dunk from DeRozan was a beautiful throw the ball in the air and scoop around for a little reverse slam that scored a perfect 50, and rightly so! Of course, he was booted out by McGee's antics. Finally, we touch on Blake Griffin of the Clippers. One of his dunks was an updated alley-oop version of the famous elbow-hanger that Vince Carter pulled off in 2000 while still a member of the Raptors. To me, this is what the dunk contest SHOULD be about, not gimmicks or props and other crap. The final dunk from Griffin however, was anything BUT great, as it was just him jumping over the hood of a car. Are you kidding me? THIS is what wins a dunk contest? Wow, this is pathetic. In my opinion, based on the creativity of the "pure dunks" - the ones without any props, DeMar DeRozan should of won the dunk contest. However, the masses would rather mindlessly enjoy prop using than judge by actual creativity. Here is the pathetic recap given by the NBA on the dunk contest. What was also pathetic was the loud-mouthed Kenny Smith, always screaming, "Oh! Oh!" after every prop dunk and the silly choir arrangements to prepare for dunkers such as Griffin was also crappy. Finally, we go to the All-Star game itself and I also have to rant here a little bit. Why? Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers received the MVP trophy and is now tied with Bob Petit for the most All-Star MVP's with 4. He got it by being a complete jerk and a selfish balhog scoring 37 points on 14-26 shooting. What really gets me is how the league presented it: only pointing out the most All-Star mvp's bit that I mentioned earlier. The entire game centred around Kobe Bryant and LeBron James (who plays now for the Miami Heat). Lebron became the 2nd player in All-Star history to record a triple-double with 29 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. (Michael Jordan did it in 1997 when the weekend was held in Cleveland by getting 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.) The pathetic recap that the NBA gave out only focuses on Kobe and lashes out at us calling us, "conspiracy theorists." It also rags on Amare Stoudamire of the New York Knicks for calling out Kobe on his selfishness. You'll have to read it to believe it! Here it is. Lastly, I just want to link to a few Youtube videos where a fellow NBA fan gives my take on this. Here they are:
Part 1 of All-Star Discussion
Part 2 of All-Star Discussion
Part 3 of All-Star Discussion
By the way, the guy behind those videos is Bruce Blitz. Good stuff!
Anyways, I have to go. This has been a LONG posting! The Raptors play tonight at home vs the Bulls. It starts at 7 PM on Sportsnet One. Have a good day!
Now, I want to talk about the All-Star Weekend that took place in Los Angeles, California from Friday February 18-Sunday February 20 at the Staples Center. This is where the L.A. Clippers and the L.A. Lakers both play their home games. The Rookie Challenge was fun to watch and I truly enjoyed it as it turned out to be my favourite moment in the weekend. DeMar DeRozan represented Toronto in the game and played on the Sophomore Team. He had a solid night, scoring 14 points in the 1st half including 3 impressive dunks, one of which was an alley-oop. The real star of the night however, was John Wall of the Washington Wizards who played on the Rookie team. He dished out an event record 22 assists to grab the MVP honours. DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings also played for the Rookies and scored a game-high 32 points. Here's the recap. Next up was All-Star Saturday Night with the Shooting Stars, Skills Challenge, 3-point Contest, and Slam Dunk Contest. The Shooting Stars event was next, which consisted of 4 teams: Atlanta, Texas, Chicago, and L.A. Each team had a retired player, a current player, and a WNBA player as participants. The idea is that each team has to make one shot from 5 different areas on the court, including a half-court shot. Whoever does it in the fastest time wins. There are 2 rounds to the event, which Team Atlanta won because Team Texas took longer to finsih in the 2nd round than Atlanta did. It was amusing for me to see guys of the likes of Kenny Smith, who is a TNT broadcaster now, try to shoot baskets, especially the half-court ones. Anyways, here's the recap. Next, the Skills Challenge took center stage with Stephen Curry from Golden State, Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, John Wall of the aformentioned Wizards, and Russsel Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder all taking part. The idea of this contest is that you have to go through an obstacle course, first making a layup, then throwing a chest-pass into a basket-like structure, zig-zagging around pylons, making a free-throw line shot, throwing a bounce pass through another basket structure, zig-zagging again and finally making a layup or dunk to complete the course. The contestant who does this in the fastest time wins and there are 2 rounds. Stephen Curry won the contest and took home the honours. He is the son of former NBA sharp shooter Dell Curry. Here's the recap. This contest is always enjoyable for me as I get to see how good these players are at speed, dribbling, and passing. The next contest was the 3-point shootout which featured 6 players: James Jones of the Miami Heat, Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics (who won it last year in Dallas), Daniel Gibson of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics, and two other players that I forget the name of. This contest consists of 6 racks of balls with the regular balls earning the contestant 1 point and the special coloured balls earning the contestant 2 points. The idea is to make as many 3-point baskets as you can in 60 seconds. The player with the most makes wins and there are 2 rounds. The winner this year was James Jones of the Miami Heat. Here's the recap. Now, I have to rant. The final event was the slam dunk contest for Saturday Night which consisted of 4 players: DeMar DeRozan from the Toronto Raptors, Serge Ibaka from the Oklahoma City Thunder, Blake Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers, and Javale McGee from the Washington Wizards. The idea of the contest is that you have to throw a dunk down in 2 minutes, and you are rated on a score of 30-60 based on whether you complete the dunk and if your dunk is creative, original, and gets the crowd pumped. At least, that's how it's SUPPOSED to be. Lately, however, it's all been about props that are brought in by the players to do their dunks, and this year was simply out of control. First of all, Javale McGee cheated to get to the final round. Both of his first-round dunks were dunks that utilized 2 or more balls with the 2nd dunk having 3 balls. This is a clear ripoff of Larry Nance who won the first NBA dunk contest in 1984. Nothing great here, but the idiot crowd and judges thought his 2nd dunk worthy of a 49! Serge Ibaka had a good night, with one of his dunks being a "take off from the free throw line" attempt. This was good, but as Ibaka is a 7-footer, it just looked awkward to me. However, yet again the people proved idiotic as they gave him a higher dunk rating (45) than DeRozan's amazing bounce off the side of the net and wrap around for a reverse dunk(44)! The other amazing dunk from DeRozan was a beautiful throw the ball in the air and scoop around for a little reverse slam that scored a perfect 50, and rightly so! Of course, he was booted out by McGee's antics. Finally, we touch on Blake Griffin of the Clippers. One of his dunks was an updated alley-oop version of the famous elbow-hanger that Vince Carter pulled off in 2000 while still a member of the Raptors. To me, this is what the dunk contest SHOULD be about, not gimmicks or props and other crap. The final dunk from Griffin however, was anything BUT great, as it was just him jumping over the hood of a car. Are you kidding me? THIS is what wins a dunk contest? Wow, this is pathetic. In my opinion, based on the creativity of the "pure dunks" - the ones without any props, DeMar DeRozan should of won the dunk contest. However, the masses would rather mindlessly enjoy prop using than judge by actual creativity. Here is the pathetic recap given by the NBA on the dunk contest. What was also pathetic was the loud-mouthed Kenny Smith, always screaming, "Oh! Oh!" after every prop dunk and the silly choir arrangements to prepare for dunkers such as Griffin was also crappy. Finally, we go to the All-Star game itself and I also have to rant here a little bit. Why? Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers received the MVP trophy and is now tied with Bob Petit for the most All-Star MVP's with 4. He got it by being a complete jerk and a selfish balhog scoring 37 points on 14-26 shooting. What really gets me is how the league presented it: only pointing out the most All-Star mvp's bit that I mentioned earlier. The entire game centred around Kobe Bryant and LeBron James (who plays now for the Miami Heat). Lebron became the 2nd player in All-Star history to record a triple-double with 29 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. (Michael Jordan did it in 1997 when the weekend was held in Cleveland by getting 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.) The pathetic recap that the NBA gave out only focuses on Kobe and lashes out at us calling us, "conspiracy theorists." It also rags on Amare Stoudamire of the New York Knicks for calling out Kobe on his selfishness. You'll have to read it to believe it! Here it is. Lastly, I just want to link to a few Youtube videos where a fellow NBA fan gives my take on this. Here they are:
Part 1 of All-Star Discussion
Part 2 of All-Star Discussion
Part 3 of All-Star Discussion
By the way, the guy behind those videos is Bruce Blitz. Good stuff!
Anyways, I have to go. This has been a LONG posting! The Raptors play tonight at home vs the Bulls. It starts at 7 PM on Sportsnet One. Have a good day!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Raptors Burned by Heat, Interesting Comments
So, I finally decided before the game started last night to watch it. I only did it to support the Raptors, nothing more or less. This is a decision that I truly regret making as the fans booed Chris and LeBron during the player introductions and whenever they touched the ball. As for the game itself, it was a close one, with Miami winning 103-95. They did cheer Dwayne Wade though, which was nice considering that Wade handled the offseason with class, deciding to stay with the Heat while Bosh and James spurned their former teams with immaturity. Andrea Bargnani scored a game-high 38 points and made two spectacular 3-point plays and also threw down a MASSIVE reverse dunk on the Heat. DeMar DeRozan also chipped in with 24 points. No other Raptor however, had so great of a scoring night. Back to Bargnani...he hit 5 out of 7 3-pointers and scored 17 points in the 4th quarter for Toronto. However, Miami had the last laugh, with Dwayne Wade scoring 28 points and Bosh scoring 25. Two final notes..Bosh blew sarcastic kisses to the crowd after the game, acting like a childish moron in the process. His response when asked was that the kissing was sarcastic to the naysayers and genuine to his supporters. In other words, be excruciatingly weak and mediocre. Also Bosh was asked about the play of Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan. His response was, "It is just like with me when Vince (Carter) left. I had to step my game up. I was put into different situations and we had rough patches and we were losing but that made me a better player." This is interesting considering that one of his major arguments for leaving Toronto was that the team was always losing and that he wanted to win. Maybe he is starting to realize that those experiences were actually good for him. You can read that on the Game Rap. By the way, the Miami stars accounted for 76 of Miami's 103 points and LeBron James grabbed 13 rebounds, 8 assists, and 23 points. I will also link to the article that Mike Ulmer posted here. Lastly, I will give you some comments that were left after I posted my initial comment on the Eric Smith blog article that I linked to in my previous post. Here's my comment: "All right, so I gave in and watched the game from start to finish, and I have to say that I am DISGUSTED! The fans booed LeBron and Chris non-stop and generally acted childish whenever the Heat players were shooting free-throws. Some even sounded drunk! Of course, Bosh blew kisses to the crowd like a moron at the end of the game. The team put up a good fight tonight, but couldn’t hit the shots in the 4th quarter, and they didn’t get to the free throw line enough either; the Miami Heat got there more. The Raps also got beat on rebounding which didn’t help. Also too, Chris scored 25 points and LeBron also played well for the Heat, proving my initial feelings to be true. The “it’s just a game” line is simply nothing more than political correctness designed to make us feel better about the players so that they can buff up their battered images. Dwayne Wade was the player of the game though, scoring 28 points in 40 minutes of play. I appreciate your kind words, guys. You’ve all hit the nail on the head about the situation. Have a good night!" The better comments however, came after my other one was posted. Here are some of the best:
comment #17 from former Raptors and Leafs owner Richard Peddie: "nick white has the right answer; agreed NW.
toronto is behaving like a pathetic jilted lover. i’m embarrassed for the raptors as a team"
Note about this comment: Actually, I'm not exactly sure if this is from THAT Richard Peddie, but if it is then this is a pretty indicting statement about the state of the Raptors.
Finally, we have comment #21 from brento: "Based on the first few minutes, I’m embarrassed to be a Raptors fan.To begin with, half the platinum seats are empty during the player announcements. That’s lame...Once again, Raptors fans come last when it comes to their image. With absolutely nothing to cheer about, they resort to booing players who left the city, after serving unusually long “terms” — and, in the case of Carter and Bosh, serving sentences that were extended after they signed secondary contracts to stay in TO. I would much, much rather our fans focus their frustration on the actual reason this team has stunk for it’s entire existence: management and ownership.Then, as opposed to coming off as ignorant pansies, they would come across as intelligent, demanding fans.I’m embarrassed."
That's all I wanted to share, folks. I will attempt to recap the Knights and the NBA All-Star festivities later. Until then, take care.
comment #17 from former Raptors and Leafs owner Richard Peddie: "nick white has the right answer; agreed NW.
toronto is behaving like a pathetic jilted lover. i’m embarrassed for the raptors as a team"
Note about this comment: Actually, I'm not exactly sure if this is from THAT Richard Peddie, but if it is then this is a pretty indicting statement about the state of the Raptors.
Finally, we have comment #21 from brento: "Based on the first few minutes, I’m embarrassed to be a Raptors fan.To begin with, half the platinum seats are empty during the player announcements. That’s lame...Once again, Raptors fans come last when it comes to their image. With absolutely nothing to cheer about, they resort to booing players who left the city, after serving unusually long “terms” — and, in the case of Carter and Bosh, serving sentences that were extended after they signed secondary contracts to stay in TO. I would much, much rather our fans focus their frustration on the actual reason this team has stunk for it’s entire existence: management and ownership.Then, as opposed to coming off as ignorant pansies, they would come across as intelligent, demanding fans.I’m embarrassed."
That's all I wanted to share, folks. I will attempt to recap the Knights and the NBA All-Star festivities later. Until then, take care.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Potential Evidence Against Bosh? Hmm...
I was reading with interest the latest blog article on the oficial website of Toronto's sports radio station, the Fan 590. This article was written by Eric Smith, who is the play-by-play voice on the Fan 590 for Raptors games. His article was on Bosh's return tonight to Toronto to take on his former team, the Toronto Raptors. Some of his comments seemed to suggest that Bosh was actually MEDICALLY CLEARED to play during the final 6 games of last season. However, Bosh sat out because of an "injury". If this is true, then Bosh lied through his keyboard on his Twitter updates that he made during the offseason about being undecided. However, we have no actual proof yet. I'll just let you read some of the comments and then link to the article. Here they are:
from the actual article: "I can’t tell you if he quit or not (he says he didn’t - and I never had any reason to not trust his word) but I can tell you that he was medically cleared to play the final 6 games of the season (with his face/nose injuries) and he wasn’t on the floor as the Raptors were still in the thick of the playoff race … trying to slide into the post-season ahead of the Chicago Bulls."
from his first comment in the response section (it's the "#5" one): "Yes, he was cleared to play"
The comment was in response to a fan question. The fan had asked whether that was true and that he thought Bosh's injuries (facial) were serious enough to keep him out for the year. (The fan's comment is the 3rd one listed.)
Lastly, here is my comment (it's awaiting moderation and is the 14th one listed): "On the game tonight, I’m debating whether to even WATCH it! Why? The fans will be poor sports and further blacken our collective eyes, and Bosh and LeBron will put on a big show at the end to give Miami the win. This will prove their comments of “it’s just another game” to be a lie designed to fool us and the media. However, I will ALWAYS root for the Raps. Go DeRozan at All-Star!"
Here is the link to the blog posting: Bosh Back in T.O.
Just thought that was interesting. Catch you later!
P.S.: For the fellow Toronto fans who will watch the game, I just want to tell you: DO NOT boo Chris Bosh or LeBron James! They WANT you to boo them, and it will give us a worse reputation than the one we already have in the minds of many other NBA fans. A better option is to simply give them the silent treatment and cheer on our Raptor players, whether they win or lose. If you want to boo ANYONE, boo the imcompetent management and ownership of the team for the ill-advised decisions they have made during the team's history: expansion years drama in 1998 with Damon Stoudamire, the Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady drama years and other bad trades and signings, the Chris Bosh moves and drama, and the current rebuilding moves we have made. To conclude, I will simply give you the lyrics to an old-school Christian thrash metal song called "Violence" that a band called Living Sacrifice made back in 1991. Here they are:
In the mind of mortal man
The vision is tainted red
Consumed by anger, provoked bye words
That should never been said
Now all this mind seems to harbor are misplaces aggressions
Once released, they will seek
Reaping the sadistic intentions
In this time and age that maintains no aspect of order
Hard to see are these lines in which many souls border
Visual assistance show life as a harsh reality
The bitter effect produced not approved by society
Read the words, hear Christ speak
Refrain from anger, revert the cheek
Withheld in compassion, not signs of the weak
Seek humility for blessed are the meek
Living Sacrifice Self-Titled Album info
Hear the Living Sacrifice "Violence" song
Later!
from the actual article: "I can’t tell you if he quit or not (he says he didn’t - and I never had any reason to not trust his word) but I can tell you that he was medically cleared to play the final 6 games of the season (with his face/nose injuries) and he wasn’t on the floor as the Raptors were still in the thick of the playoff race … trying to slide into the post-season ahead of the Chicago Bulls."
from his first comment in the response section (it's the "#5" one): "Yes, he was cleared to play"
The comment was in response to a fan question. The fan had asked whether that was true and that he thought Bosh's injuries (facial) were serious enough to keep him out for the year. (The fan's comment is the 3rd one listed.)
Lastly, here is my comment (it's awaiting moderation and is the 14th one listed): "On the game tonight, I’m debating whether to even WATCH it! Why? The fans will be poor sports and further blacken our collective eyes, and Bosh and LeBron will put on a big show at the end to give Miami the win. This will prove their comments of “it’s just another game” to be a lie designed to fool us and the media. However, I will ALWAYS root for the Raps. Go DeRozan at All-Star!"
Here is the link to the blog posting: Bosh Back in T.O.
Just thought that was interesting. Catch you later!
P.S.: For the fellow Toronto fans who will watch the game, I just want to tell you: DO NOT boo Chris Bosh or LeBron James! They WANT you to boo them, and it will give us a worse reputation than the one we already have in the minds of many other NBA fans. A better option is to simply give them the silent treatment and cheer on our Raptor players, whether they win or lose. If you want to boo ANYONE, boo the imcompetent management and ownership of the team for the ill-advised decisions they have made during the team's history: expansion years drama in 1998 with Damon Stoudamire, the Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady drama years and other bad trades and signings, the Chris Bosh moves and drama, and the current rebuilding moves we have made. To conclude, I will simply give you the lyrics to an old-school Christian thrash metal song called "Violence" that a band called Living Sacrifice made back in 1991. Here they are:
In the mind of mortal man
The vision is tainted red
Consumed by anger, provoked bye words
That should never been said
Now all this mind seems to harbor are misplaces aggressions
Once released, they will seek
Reaping the sadistic intentions
In this time and age that maintains no aspect of order
Hard to see are these lines in which many souls border
Visual assistance show life as a harsh reality
The bitter effect produced not approved by society
Read the words, hear Christ speak
Refrain from anger, revert the cheek
Withheld in compassion, not signs of the weak
Seek humility for blessed are the meek
Living Sacrifice Self-Titled Album info
Hear the Living Sacrifice "Violence" song
Later!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Raptors Clip Clippers
On Sunday, the Raptors hosted potential Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin and his Los Angeles Clippers in Toronto and defeated them 98-93. This snapped a 3-game losing streak for the team. Once again, they found themselves in a tight game in the 4th quarter, but this time, Toronto held on to win. Blake Griffin dunked to make it an 87-85 game with 4 minutes to go, but Andrea Bargnani finished off a 3-point play (bucket plus a free-throw) to make it a 5-point game. L.A. tried to keep up after that with free-throws and another dunk by Blake Griffin, but were unable to do so. The game hero of course was Andrea Bargnani. Besides his 3-point play, he also put in 4 more points afterwards in the 4th quarter, and also attempted 9 free throws which is surprising because he usually only attempts 4 per game. Overall, he scored a game-high 27 points, but only shot 9-21 from the floor. Andrea's biggest helper was rookie Ed Davis. This was due to foul trouble by starting power forward Amir Johnson throughout the night. This opened up the court for Ed to perform, and he did just that. He scored 13 points, grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks. 6 of Ed's rebounds were on the offensive end. The best thing about Ed's game was that he did all of this in just 36 minutes of playing time. Finally, some extra numbers...
- The victory over the Clippers was the 500th Raptors game to ever be played at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto is 268-232 all-time on their home court.
- It also marks the 5th straight win over the Clippers.
- Jose Calderon also played well for Toronto: game was 5th this season with 10 or more assists - all in the last 6 games too.
- Offensive rebounds were 14-9 in favour of the Raptors.
- The game was DeMar DeRozan's 6th straight where he scored at least 16 points.
Toronto Chews up L.A.
Next, Toronto has to play at home vs the Miami Heat on Wednesday. Yeah, that's right: traitor LeBron James and Chris Bosh both make their first visits as Heat players to Toronto. Expect the fans to be poor sports about Bosh. Also expect LeBron and Chris to both put on big shows at the end of the game in order for Bosh to rub it in Toronto's collective face, to tell us, "You shouldn't boo LeBron and I and you shouldn't have let me go from your team. I busted my butt for you and THIS is how you treat me? Of course, I DID tweet you half to death in the offseason, but hey, it was 'just for fun' you know." To tell you the truth, I don't know if I even want to watch the game because of those potential two factors. If you want to, the game starts at 7 PM and will air on TSN2. As for me, I'll be waiting to see DeRozan perform in the Rookie Challenge and the Slam Dunk Contest. Join me next time as I hopefully recap the NBA All-Star Weekend for those two aforementioned events. We may even get some London Knights recaps in there. Later!
- The victory over the Clippers was the 500th Raptors game to ever be played at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto is 268-232 all-time on their home court.
- It also marks the 5th straight win over the Clippers.
- Jose Calderon also played well for Toronto: game was 5th this season with 10 or more assists - all in the last 6 games too.
- Offensive rebounds were 14-9 in favour of the Raptors.
- The game was DeMar DeRozan's 6th straight where he scored at least 16 points.
Toronto Chews up L.A.
Next, Toronto has to play at home vs the Miami Heat on Wednesday. Yeah, that's right: traitor LeBron James and Chris Bosh both make their first visits as Heat players to Toronto. Expect the fans to be poor sports about Bosh. Also expect LeBron and Chris to both put on big shows at the end of the game in order for Bosh to rub it in Toronto's collective face, to tell us, "You shouldn't boo LeBron and I and you shouldn't have let me go from your team. I busted my butt for you and THIS is how you treat me? Of course, I DID tweet you half to death in the offseason, but hey, it was 'just for fun' you know." To tell you the truth, I don't know if I even want to watch the game because of those potential two factors. If you want to, the game starts at 7 PM and will air on TSN2. As for me, I'll be waiting to see DeRozan perform in the Rookie Challenge and the Slam Dunk Contest. Join me next time as I hopefully recap the NBA All-Star Weekend for those two aforementioned events. We may even get some London Knights recaps in there. Later!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Good Fight, but not Enough to Defeat NBA League-Leaders
Last night, the Toronto Raptors hosted the San Antonio Spurs, the team with the best overall record this season so far. San Antonio is 44-8, as a result of their 111-100 victory over Toronto. Toronto actually led after 3 quarters, 84-81. However, the Spurs used a 15-4 run to turn the game into their favour. They outscored T.O. 30-16 in the quarter and forced the Raptors to shoot only 33% in the quarter. Add to that, the monster game of Dejuan Blair who grabbed 28 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks - and you have a fine recipe for a Raptor loss. 16 of Blair's points came in the disastrous 4th, by the way. As far as Raptor heroes, Leandro Barbosa scored the ONLY bench points in the game - 20. He has come back from a lengthy and nasty injury, but showed last night that he is well on his way to regaining the excellent game he had before the injury occurred. Other Raptors of note were Andrea Bargnani who scored 26 points to lead the team in scoring, and Amir Johnson who grabbed 10 or more rebounds for the 4th time this season. He suffered a leg injury late in the 2nd quarter, but he would remain in the game to help the team. Jose Calderon also earned 10 or more assists for the 17th time this season. In the game, Toronto gave up only 8 turnovers, but were outscored 70-40 in the paint. Lastly, Tim Duncan scored only 16 points for San Antonio, but his teammate Dejuan Blair made up for it. So, that's my short recap. Here's the professional one. Toronto now sits at 14-39, the 2nd-worst record in the Eastern Conference, while the Spurs remain the best in both the West and the league. As for the schedule, Toronto now plays on Friday at home vs the Portland Trailblazers who are 8th in the West at 28-24. The game starts at 7 PM on TSN. As for me, I'm out. See you later.
Lastly...can someone explain to me why Miami and Boston are allowed to have all of their star players participate in the All-Star game while the San Antonio Spurs DON'T? If the best of the East can play, why can't the best in the West? This is unfair and makes no sense whatsoever, considering that the Spurs have THE BEST record in the league! They should have Tony Parker right there alongside Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli, in my opinion. The same could be said for the Phoenix Suns. Steve Nash should be in the game as well. He's that kind of player and is averaging 16.7 points per game and 16.1 assists per game which is the MOST assists per game mark for any player this season! Steve has also picked up 522 total assists, which is one of the best numbers in the league. This is all another indication of how shallow-minded many NBA fans are: they want the dunks, the offence, the flash, and the show rather than the things that matter most in sports: defence and unselfishness which is exactly what San Antonio and Phoenix do on a nightly basis. Anyways, just thought I'd rant about that. I'm out now! Goodbye.
Lastly...can someone explain to me why Miami and Boston are allowed to have all of their star players participate in the All-Star game while the San Antonio Spurs DON'T? If the best of the East can play, why can't the best in the West? This is unfair and makes no sense whatsoever, considering that the Spurs have THE BEST record in the league! They should have Tony Parker right there alongside Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli, in my opinion. The same could be said for the Phoenix Suns. Steve Nash should be in the game as well. He's that kind of player and is averaging 16.7 points per game and 16.1 assists per game which is the MOST assists per game mark for any player this season! Steve has also picked up 522 total assists, which is one of the best numbers in the league. This is all another indication of how shallow-minded many NBA fans are: they want the dunks, the offence, the flash, and the show rather than the things that matter most in sports: defence and unselfishness which is exactly what San Antonio and Phoenix do on a nightly basis. Anyways, just thought I'd rant about that. I'm out now! Goodbye.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
VICTORY!
Ahh, yes! The losing skid is FINALLY over, Raptors fans! Last night, the team hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and won 111-100 to snap an ugly 13-game losing streak. Don't be deceived by the final score, however. This was a hard-fought victory for Toronto, as the Wolves hung in there late in the 4th quarter. With just under 3 minutes to go, Sebastian Telfair knocked down a 3-pointer to make the score 103-99 in favour of the Raptors. However, Toronto took care of things with an 8-1 run to seal the deal, with 4 players scoring during the run. Due to the injuries to both Jerryd Bayless and Leandro Barbosa, starting point guard Jose Calderon had to play a ton of minutes in the game. He only scored 6 points, but his game was still magnificent. Jose dished out 19 assists to his teammates, which was key to the win. This also tied him with Damon Stoudamire for the all-time team lead for assists in one game. Along the way, Calderon also picked up 3 steals. Starting centre Andrea Bargnani also had a great game for the Raptors, adding in a game-high 30 points and getting 4 rebounds as well. Finally, we must also congradulate Amir Johnson for his fine game. He scored 19 points on 8-10 shooting (80%), pulled down 12 rebounds, dished out a career-high 6 assists, and picked up 3 steals and 2 blocks. Raptors head coach Jay Triano even said of Amir's performance,"I thought Amir was unbelievable, even six assists for him. His line is almost perfect basketball for a power forward. The number of deflections and steals, he was great." Trey Johnson, who is currently signed on a 10-day contract with the team, also scored a career-high 10 points in the game.
Finally, some numbers from the game...the Raptors picked up 35 assists on 46 made shots. This victory marks the 6th game this season where Andrea Bargnani has scored 30 points or more. Amir Johnson picked up his 10th double-double for the season with this game. Toronto outscored Minnesota 50-38 in terms of points in the paint. All in all, it was a superb effort from a team that sorely needed a win. Now, they get 3 days off before they have to play the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That game will start at 7 PM and it will air on TSN. Here is the recap for the win vs Minnesota.
Don't forget, the London Knights play tonight vs the Bulls in Belleville at 7 PM. You can hear the game on AM 1290 CJBK on the radio or just go to the Knights official website to listen online there. Until next post, take care.
Finally, some numbers from the game...the Raptors picked up 35 assists on 46 made shots. This victory marks the 6th game this season where Andrea Bargnani has scored 30 points or more. Amir Johnson picked up his 10th double-double for the season with this game. Toronto outscored Minnesota 50-38 in terms of points in the paint. All in all, it was a superb effort from a team that sorely needed a win. Now, they get 3 days off before they have to play the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That game will start at 7 PM and it will air on TSN. Here is the recap for the win vs Minnesota.
Don't forget, the London Knights play tonight vs the Bulls in Belleville at 7 PM. You can hear the game on AM 1290 CJBK on the radio or just go to the Knights official website to listen online there. Until next post, take care.
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