Bosh Is Excited Are You?

Update 04/10 9:40 PM EST: Chris Bosh takes his Message to UTube with a Message For Fans. Check it Out on our Podcast Site:

http://dinoblogger.podbean.com/2008/04/10/chris-bosh-talk-to-fans-on-utube/

I want to take you all back to 1992. Yes there were no Toronto Raptors back in 1992 and the rage in Toronto was the Blue Jays. In that season the Toronto Blue Jays would go on to win a World Series Championship. However before all that happened the Jays had brought in baseball veteran and All Star Dave Windfield. During that Championship season he would call out the Blue Jay Fans and say that they needed to be louder and get more into the game. The quote in the paper would read Windfield wants noise. The fans would answer the challenge and became more vocal. The Jays would go on to win a World Series and the statement made by Windfield would become part of the legend of that first World Series Championship.

Last Night Chris Bosh was interviewed at halftime and he said like I had stated a few times that the atmosphere  around this team was like a funeral. He said that Raptors needed to change that. They would come out in the second half and go on to a victory over the Bucks. In his post game scrum he was asked about the crowd by a reporter. He said well could you hear yourself talking to the reporter. He went on to say that fans were to quiet.  He said that his team was in the playoffs and he was excited and he wasn't waiting till the playoffs came to get excited. He went on to talk about places like Dallas,Detroit and Cleveland and how loud fans get there. It was not as direct as the challenge laid out by Windfield in 92 but it was a challenge. It was done in a very subtle way and he picked his words carefully. 

If he did not I think you might have heard that they are not that crazy about fans getting more excited about Pizza then they get about wins. The fact that booing T.J Ford is not exactly helping team moral. He took the high ground on those issues but I have to think if he was honest and in private would say those as well.  Dave Windfield was a long time veteran and desperate to win a championship.  Bosh is a young rising star but for someone so young he gets it. He is far beyond his 24 years in age as far as maturity. While everyone around him has been kinda losing it over the teams recent struggles he has remained calm and focused on the goal of the playoffs and winning. He is now calling all of those in this fan base to follow his lead and get excited. 

This is a breakout season for Bosh as far as his evolution as a player and a star. He has gone to that next level of superstar but he has done it his way. Vince Carter was on that level  in this city. But Carter was not as engaging as Bosh is. Bosh seems to have a good relationship with fans. Carter was once loved but he was not  felt to be on the same level as fans. He made himself to be larger then life and it separated him from fans. He was never the type of guy that if you saw him out in the city he would take that 2 minutes to say hello sign an autograph and put on a smile for a picture. Chris Bosh on the other hand seems to want to interact with his fans reaching out to them with his wacky videos and doing contests giving away tickets and actually taking the time to call the winner personally. Again another example of how Chris Bosh gets it.  The other thing is fans can feel that they have watched Chris Bosh grow up right in front of their eyes. When he came here he was shy and seemed very awkward in front of the T.V cameras. Now he seems like a veteran at the whole media game. His comments last night were proof of that. He knew what to say and what not to say. 

So not that he needs my help but I am giving it to him anyway. Get excited Raptor Fans not because you have too. Do it because Chris Bosh is asking you too. He is a nice guy and gives you a lot of entertainment through his hard work and effort. So give him what he wants. Make noise and lots of it. Will it help the Raptors win a Championship like it did the Blue Jays in 1992? Not likely if we are honest about it. Still will it hurt the chances of this team getting closer to that goal? Not at all. So do it and stop worrying about who is the starting point guard and if you will get a free piece of Pizza get off your butts and cheer. CHRIS BOSH WANTS NOISE so give it to him!!!!

Raptors Battle To A Win!!!

Toronto Raptors were taken to school by their former Franchise player in Vince Carter on Saturday. On this Wednesday night welcome back Charlie V. He would score the first 11 points for the Bucks. Both teams took awhile to get started but once Villanueva got rolling he was on fire. But other then that Raptors were taking care of the rest of the Bucks. The Raptors were showing more hustle and more effort. That effort would be rewarded with a 23-18 lead. Vilanueva had 14 of the 18 points for the Bucks.

Charlie would not stop after 1 though his highlight reel was being extended. It was a message to the Raptors who gave up on him. But it was a message to his own team just as much who had been starting Chinese Star Yi in front of him most of the year. Mo Williams was also not in the line-up for the Bucks but it was the Charlie V show and needed no stinking point guard. Charlie V was scoring at will and quickly ate up the Raptor five point lead. The Raptors Chris Bosh was trying to answer the the surge of his former team mate with some offense of his own. The rest of the Bucks were starting to see open looks. Eventually the only thing that would stop Charlie was fouls as he picked up a foul on Bargnani and that was his second which would send him to the bench. Raptors once again were having to fight hard to get a win against a team with the 3rd worst road record in the NBA. Chris Bosh remained on the floor and he himself had 22 points. Charlie V would return and he was on verge of a first half double double that would look like a complete game for many. He had 27 points and 9 rebounds a solid night of work for many a NBA player but that was in a half. Despite that monster performance the Bucks trailed by 2 points at the half 50-48.

Normally we wouldn't mention anything that happens at halftime. But Cabbie of the score was taking a shot that could make a fan 100,000 dollars. Cabrel Richards is known and loved personality on the score. Made famous for his zany antics with NBA stars especially. Cabbie on the street was on the court. I have met Cabbie a couple times he is a good dude. But if he makes this shot I will be more shocked then the dude who was getting the money. Predictable Cabbie missed and they allowed the contestant a chance to make the shot. The fan actually caught rim and might have made the Bank of Montreal sweat a little. Brett Pilon was the man referred to as dude and fan by me. He did end up walking away with 6 thousand bucks and some other Raptor autographs and goodies. Cabbie walks away with SHAME. But I still love the guy he is one of the best things on T.V in this country.

We now return to our regularly scheduled Raptor Rewind. Charlie V had a career high 48 vs the Bucks as a Raptor. He would need 22 in this second half to break that mark. Raptors would prefer that did not happen. The first to games in this series were blow out wins for the respective teams but this game was close. Micheal Redd was very quiet in the first half while Charlie was going crazy. He was starting to score for the Bucks. But the bucks were not playing much defense on the other end and Raptors were scoring with pretty much little challenge. Jamario Moon was breaking a Raptor Rookie record for starts on this night. But for a guy who should be the 4th or 5th scoring option in the starting line-up far to many possessions end with him taking jump shots. Sometimes it is his fault other times he is left holding the hot potato but it is a problem. But Raptors had a lead and were starting to extend it so we will leave the offensive analysis for another time. Chris Bosh hit a 3 pointer which he has started to use more often and Raptors had a 12 point lead and he had 27 points. But yes there was that whole 4th quarter falling apart thing to still look dead in the eye. But let's enjoy the rest of the 3rd quarter while we can. Bad news from around the NBA as well as the Wizards and Sixers were both leading threatening upsets over Boston and Detroit. Only scoreboard the Raptors needed to focus on was their own. Raptors were causing turnovers and showing more defensive hustle. Good idea seeing as the Bucks were on second half of a back to back which saw them lose a heart breaker to the Celtics. Charlie V had went silent and his Bucks were struggling. Raptors were showing a team effort on both ends of the floor. That close game I mentioned earlier was no more. Raptors lead 83-68 and would look to keep it from being close as they had a 4th quarter left to finish this off.

If Raptors had a check list heading into this game the last thing on that list would be 4th quarter play needs to improve. So would it they had a lot of wiggle room to get it done. So far so good the Raptors were holding on to the advantage that they built for the most part. Andrea Bargnani showed some flashes of brilliance on back to back drives to the basket. In between Charlie V would have a Jam that would push his total on the night to 38. He was trying to get back his swagger from the first half. The Raptors were doing a better job stopping him in the second half. The 38 points he had so far was a season high for Charlie. The Bucks were threatening to get to with in single digits and Chris Bosh would come up with a key rejection to stop that. Just six more minutes remained to hang on for the Raptors. There really was little excuse if they did not as the Bucks as mentioned were coming off a back to back. Raptors were getting key stops and doing what it took to close out a game. That had been something that had been lacking for them in this bad stretch they have been experiencing. The Raptors were not playing a great fourth quarter but it was good enough thus far. Chris Bosh was having a great game of his own with 30 points so far. Jose Calderon was having a nice night when he was on the floor for T.J Ford he had 9 assists .The Raptors down the stretch extended this lead to as much as 16 points. It would cause the first Salami and Cheese sighting in a long time on an Anthony Parker 3 ball. The unfortunate news was both Philadelphia and Washington were on route to upsets with double digit leads against the Pistons and Celtics respectively. But Bosh had 32 points and his team had a much needed 111-93 win and it was very much needed.

Boxscore: http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=280409028

Podcast:http://dinoblogger.podbean.com/2008/04/09/raptors-win-raptors-win/

Back To Work...But First...HELLO!!!

With all Raptor Fans have been going through you deserve something nice to look at so here you go.

After four days of no Raptor Basketball I almost have forgotten how brutal they had been playing lately. It would be nice if the Raptors have that same feeling because they truly need a fresh start. The team has been saying all the right things to the media over the past few days. Anthony Parker even used one of my favorite sports standard sound bites. "The playoffs start for us now". The reality is you can say that and maybe even think that but with a playoff spot secured it is very hard to play like it. The Raptors opposition will not exactly be playing like it is a playoff game as well. Only one playoff team of the 5 teams that remain. Some on these teams are playing for something much more valuable then the playoffs it is called a job in the NBA. But it is more a mindset then a reality for the Raptors. One game that will have a playoff type feel though is the Sunday meeting with Detroit. The eyes of America will be squarely on the Raptors as ABC is going to be broadcasting this game for a national audience back in the United States. For the players of that nation it is a big deal to get on that national stage. Vince Carter in his days as a Raptor saved some of his best performances for games that would be on national T.V back home. Chris Bosh has not had as many chances to perform on that national stage and is not the type to save anything for any game. It will perhaps give him a little extra push.

But no matter how many are watching and from where it does not matter to Sam Mitchell. He just wants to see if his team has corrected the mistakes they were making on defense over and over. He also wants to see is shooters mak shots as well. He has a lot riding on what his team does for the rest of this season and the playoffs. I am not in the camp that think he is coaching for his job. I will say that he makes his room for error next season much shorter. Bryan Colangelo will be having a serious look at his roster though and what can be done with it. Rasho Nesterovic would be a likely candidate to be part of a trade that would fetch the Raptors a large contract player. It was a no brainier that Rasho was going to be gone at some point to most people that have some understanding of how the cap works. But after this unexpected to some degree surge of Nesterovic does it change anything. If it does what will that mean for other players? Does it mean T.J Ford is more likely gone? Does it effect the money that would be on the table for Jose Calderon? These are two major questions that come up should Rasho not be a write off on the salary cap. Rasho really has been big for this team and the lose of him could be very impactive. It will be a much harder choice then what it was back in January.

Will Gherardini be part of that choice or will he be with the Bucks? That question is yet to have an answer as well. But no matter the answers or the questions the one thing that is clear is everyone has a level of comfort that Bryan Colangelo will make the right call. The fact the Rob Babcock had his name in the mix for that Buck job. It was quickly tossed aside by the Bucks owner. Some people like to try to find the good in what Babcock did in his time here. But it is just silly to try to defend this guy. Yes he hired Sam Mitchell who did win Coach of the Year. But he was already on the Raptors Radar as he was one of the last candidates when Kevin O'Neil was hired. He did also sign Jose Calderon but again this had as much to do with Jose liking Toronto as a city and feeling much more like Europe then any U.S City. His mistakes were far more glaring and far more about his skill as a general manager. The trade of Vince Carter and the Drafting of Hoffa were career altering blunders that in my view will never be recovered from. If any NBA team is dumb enough to make that mistake of hiring Rob Babcock they will get what they deserve. I do not think there is a team that would hand the keys of it's future to Rob Babcock.

Other teams that have playoff secured lay eggs like the Raptors have too. The Pistons lost to the Knicks last night. So it is important to remember that. But the difference is the Pistons are far more secure in where they sit. The Raptors in part due to Chris Bosh injury and a hard schedule in March have limped along since the All-Star break in February. Good teams may have the odd bad night. Raptor history even shows us that as the expansion Raptors are one of the few teams that can say they beat the record breaking Bulls that reached the 70 win level. Great teams respond from that the next game though and do not allow one bad lose to turn into two. Raptors have lost 3 games that they had no business losing. These are the things that make the Raptors just a good team and not a great team. If you also look across the way at the Western Conference you will see that a team far better then the Raptors will be watching them in the playoffs. Raptors should take advantage of their geography and not fall back on it. Raptors need to understand how fortunate they are to be in the Eastern Conference.

So to still a saying from the Blue Jays, "Let's Play Ball!!!". I know it might seem a little crazy to suggest this but I expect a big Raptor win tonight. The Bucks are coming off a game last night that they lost in overtime. It is the perfect storm for a Raptor Resurgence if they can only take advantage of it. The crowd at the ACC will likely have a short fuse as well if they do not get out to the right start. The last time the Raptors were walking off the ACC floor it was too Boos and Jeers from those who decided to stay to the bitter end. A lose to Vince Carter will not improve fans mood much at all. But they should like the team forget about it and move forward. No more worrying about Pizza and Hating on T.J Ford. Rally behind these players and make a push towards the playoffs. It seems like something that would be easy to understand but some people don't seem to get the message. Maybe it is the high prices at the parking lot and the concession stands that make the fans so easy to turn from cheering supporter to angry people that Boo the home side. But Sam Mitchell and his team don't set those prices so try not to blame them. the folks at MLSE need to find money for the lack of Leaf Playoff games and they are your people to point the finger of blame at. But 19,000 people don't get invites to an MLSE board meeting. That would be something to see. It would have to be on Pay Per View though for two reasons:

1. The amount of swearing that would take place would make it unable to be broadcast on regular T.V
2. MLSE would have to find a way to make some money out of this event.

But I wouldn't imagine this will ever happen. They are happy to take your money but do not feel the need to address your concerns. They show this time after time. They added a row of seats and bumped people from the front row to the second row at Raptor Games. They did say if you wanted to give them more money then the people in the new row 2 could get back what they thought they already had which was front row seat. The only person we ever hear from on the board at all is Richard Pettie and since Bryan Colangelo has come along we never do. Another reason to thank Bryan. I mean any time we would here from Pettie bad things usually followed. This is the man that hired Rob Babcock after all. Enough said.

So here is hoping there is a positive Raptor Rewind in our future. But good or bad it will be up for you all to check out after the game. Hopefully everything will be done 90 minutes after the final buzzer. That is always the goal.  

Party Like A Raptor!!!

This is one guy that will not get blamed for the Raptors recent struggles.  The Raptor brings his A game every night. Speaking of bringing their A game CONGRATULATIONS TO JON STIENBERG for winning the FIRST ANNUAL DINO NATION BLOG NCAA POOL.  Thanks to Kansas win over Memphis in overtime. Jon Stienberg is one of the people that writes articles at the Toronto Raptors Fan Application if you are a member of that his writing is always something worth checking out. After reading the DINO NATION BLOG of course. But he seriously has some good thoughts about basketball and I enjoy reading his stuff. It takes some luck to win a NCAA Pool but you need some basketball IQ to go along with that luck. So thanks to all that took part and hope you all play again next year. 

So Raptors did some good for the Fans and the Raptors Foundation last night. Now they need to do some good for themselves by winning some basketball games.  The break the Raptors have had before playing the Bucks on Wednesday was needed badly. The word that seems to be the theme from the players is execution. They feel that is the main issue that has lead to this free fall from grace. It seems to simple to be true to be honest. If it was just that easy wouldn't it have been fixed by now? But if there are other issues that are with in this team no one is talking. They have stayed together despite all the media speculation that there might not be the same happy group of Raptors that marched into the playoffs last year. 

The mood around town outside of the Raptor locker room has been bad. The Raptors are thought to be heading towards certain doom. Sam Mitchell said that his team just needs that one good game or one good 4th quarter to turn this all around. Is it wishful thinking on the part of Mitchell or could he be right? Well in order to find out the Raptors need to have a good game and a good 4th quarter.  The Bucks were part of a low point for the Raptors early in the season blowing them out in Milwaukee.  So I would hope Toronto remembers that heading into this one. Yi is done for the season and that means more minutes for Ex-Raptor Charlie V. He has been putting together a good stretch right now and will no doubt provide the people that are not part of T.J Ford Fan club as prove of why they wouldn't have made the trade to bring Ford here. But I stand behind that deal as it made sense for the team at the time and just as Charlie V had an injury plagued season last year and people pointed to that as proof of Raptors winning the deal were wrong to do that as well. The Bucks got a good player in return for T.J Ford and by no means got taken by the Raptors in the deal. It is not to say they won the deal ether if they had I don't think they are drafting Yi last season who at least at first had no desire to play in dairy state. 

It may be a place that Raptors Assistant General Manager Maurizio Gherardini might be considering. He is rumored to be one of the people being looked at for the vacant G.M post with the Bucks. Shockingly to all Raptor Fans Rob Babcock was ruled out by Bucks Ownership.  The fact he even applied for the job may be the shocking part to me. Gherardini however is well respected throughout Europe and the World and the NBA as well. It may lead to interesting times as far as his future and the future of his guy Andrea Bargnani. Here is a rumor you will here from day one if he ends up taking this job. Bargnani for Yi in some kind of trade. It makes complete sense as Yi was in favor of going to Toronto prior to the draft he listed it as one of the team's he had interest in. Raptor fans have seen the large amount of support from the Chinese community for Yao Ming. It would make sense in a lot of ways including basketball wise as the players are kind of the same style player. I am not saying it will happen but it will get talked about and it would be something worth considering for the Toronto Raptors. It is not the return of Charlie V that many Raptor fans may like more but that could also be a possibility. But it all depends on if Gherardini gets the job.

But that is something for the off-season and despite all the talk there is a season to finish. The Raptors still feel they can fix this and get it all together for the playoffs. Like that kid that forgets his midterm exam is next week the Raptors will look to cram for the playoffs. Most times that kid who crams will not do that well when the exam day comes. Sometimes the kid will pull that rabbit out of the hat and do well on the exam.  So the Raptors are like that kid hoping to hoping to pull out that rabbit from the hat. If they do it I don't think it will change the fact that Bryan Colangelo has seen enough to make some changes that will ensure that next season no cramming for the playoffs will be needed. What they are is for anyone to guess. I think we all know what is needed but how you go about getting it is a whole different matter. But as someone that sometimes didn't take school to serious and had to be that kid looking for that Rabbit I wish the Raptors LUCK!!! 

The nice thing is when you look at this schedule the exam that is the rest of the season is more like an open book exam without a time limit. Anything short of 4 out of 5 in these last 5 steps to the playoffs would be a huge disappointment.

Final Four Finale

So no Raptors till Wednesday but we do have the National Final that most never would have predicted a week ago. No one respected Memphis and now they are one win away from earning that respect. Rumors that their coach John Calipari is being talked about for some openings in the NBA. Calipari had a chance before in the NBA that did not exactly go that well. Not many college coaches have made the successful transition to the NBA. The reason is pretty simple when in gets right down to it. Control in college you have it and in the NBA you don't. You hold the future of your players in your hands having control over their scholarships. In NBA guaranteed contracts make it a bit harder to get rid of a player that doesn't conform to your wishes as a coach. 

The Orlando Magic were all set to make Florida coach Billy Donoven the head coach in Orlando but he would back out and that would lead to the hiring of Stan Van Gundy. The Magic have had a great season under their second choice for coach. The Magic are sure happy that they ended up with Van Gundy instead of Donoven. The Magic may have had success under Donovan but we will never know. But if history tells us anything the odds would be slim. Greats in NCAA coaching legends like Dean Smith and Bobby Knight had a good thing in college and they knew it. College coaches make large amounts of money that rival the money made by their fellow coaches in the NBA. Not to mention the status and security of a college job is much higher. These guys have courts they play home games named after them. They are treat like Gods on the campus. The NBA is far less secure and the flexibility to turnover a roster does not exist as easy. Rick Pitino took his shot with the Celtics but he could not find the success he had in the NCAA in the NBA. It was a lesson learned and he took his act to Louisville.

Just seemed fitting to mention this on the last day of the NCAA Basketball season. I should also mention are NCAA POOL is coming down to the final game with 2 people left with a chance to win. One has Memphis to win and the other Kansas. The winner get the huge glory of a mention in tomorrow's blog. Yours truly had an off year. Hope all of you that took part had fun and we will do it all again next year. Also next year I am planning on running a KEEPER league for NBA FANTASY. Just giving you the heads up. I am always looking for thinks that can give us all as a group some fun. I want this to be more then just a blog but a community of people with a common interest. Even as we grow in numbers I hope that feeling never leaves this blog. I do my best to make sure that it doesn't. 

The Raptor's Red Party is tonight. I am too poor to have an invite but that is life. If anyone that is going happens to read the blog. If you get any cool photos from the event and would like to share them I'd be more then happy too share them with everyone if you would like too provide them. In fact if you ever have Raptor Related Photos you want to share feel free to get in contact with me. Also if you want to be a sponsor of the Dino Nation Blog you can send an email to me to talk about the details. With the playoffs approaching it is likely we will get a traffic increase. So if you want to jump on board as a sponsor for next season we can work out something that will allow you to get some exposure this season if you commit for next season now. For any of the things I just mentioned you can contact me at:

DinoNationBlogger@hotmail.com

Anyway that is enough of my not so subtle sales pitch. Raptors are in need of some kind of sales pitch to get fans to buy into the fact that they are a good team again. The mood is getting ugly and it is hard to say people's fears are not justified. Raptors need to take this time and re-group and come together. It is a much different feeling then last season at this time. The mood was very positive and the Raptors were riding a high. This year is far less exciting as many feel the Raptors have under performed. What will it take to get that excitement back? I really don't know. The return of Vince Carter on Friday is always something that rallies the fans. Maybe a big revenge win against the Nets would at least get some smiles back on some Raptors Fan's faces. 

The truth is there are no easy answers on how this gets turned around but the first part of getting it turned around is changing mental attitude. The party tonight might just allow the Raptors to have some fun and forget their troubles for a few hours. It may be just what the doctor ordered. The fans are already talking about the off-season. Raptors need to give them reason to LIVE IN THE NOW!!! I was watching Wayne's World while writing this today and it fit. EXCELLLENNTTT!!! But if the Raptors want to PARTY ON in the playoffs they better address the defensive issues this team has. 

I have just got the feeling that the fun is being sucked of Raptors and it's fans. Sometimes you need to have some fun. The pressure of the post season is huge and the weight can crush you of you let it. Today's blog was a little bit lighter then usual as I all think we need to give are brain's a break from trying to solve the Raptors problems. 

After all there is still 2 more days for that. So despite the bad times for the Raptors remember to have fun cause as Sam Mitchell said come end of the season 15 teams will be heading home and the Raptors are not one of them. 

It's OUR Job not YOURS...Sam Mitchell

The Caption  of the picture was what Sam Mitchell said post game after a lose to New Jersey the third in a row. Mitchell also used some words that were not fitt for print. This was the most angry I have seen Sam Mitchell in a post game press conference since his first season in the NBA.  Sam was hot and was a ticking time bomb and the media did not have to do much to make him explode. You can see the frustration in Mitchell and the fact his team is missing the one message that he has said from day one of defense. I am sure that having the player that turned his back on Mitchell in that first year he coached the team didn't help matters. Mitchell has always said he holds no bad feelings towards Vince Carter but to see him playing injured and trying hard was frustrating to watch for Raptors fans more then Mitchell.  Mitchell has always had his share of people that don't respect him and there is no doubt they are pointing to this Raptors meltdown as proof of there point. The team concepts that made the Raptors so successful last season seem to not be working this season. There does not seem to be the trust on defense towards each other. The on going point guard debate that started in the media and made it's way into Sam Mitchell's locker room. It is a good thing that this team has a few days to cool down and reflect. Sam Mitchell for one can use the time to get himself refocused and can turn his attention to doing the same for his team.

Chis Bosh was the opposite of his emotion filled coach. Bosh had a blank stare on his face when answering post game questions. I have to tell you it was borderline scary to look at his face. Almost like the pod people had got to Chris Bosh. But if the Raptors were part of any movie genre it would not be sci-fi it would be horror. Bosh has looked like his tank is running on empty and his team seems to be spinning out of control. Not only Mitchell and his coaching will get called into question if this does not turn around. Bosh will also take some of the blame as the leader of the franchise. It may not come has fast or swift but people will start to whisper about his ability to lead this team. He has for the last three games been very critical of the team as a whole. He has not went as far as to call on people by name. Which honestly is the right thing to do in the eye of the media. However just because you don't say a name won't stop the media from speculating. The one topic that seems to be getting talked about by fans at least if not the media is the relationship between Ford and Bosh. Both from Texas have always claimed to be great friends and I have no reason to doubt that. They also say they have a very open relationship where they speak freely to each other. You have to wonder if with all that has gone on if someone took that freedom to far. Fans seem to think the relationship has been damaged. I don't know if it has or hasn't. Bosh has managed to stay clear of the entire Jose and T.J debate. Maybe that is the issue when it comes down to it. Ford may have expected Bosh to support him and back him. Bosh has for smart reasons has taken the neutral attitude on it and as the team leader that is the right move. 

Ford on the floor is despite what you may think of him giving everything he has in his tiny frame to help this team on the offensive end. That may be the problem T.J when he is at his best plays under control and he can get drawn into a personal battle very easy. If he could transfer some of the pride and fire to the defensive end of the floor it would do a lot more for his club as that is where they need the help. Bosh said that the problem on defense was not the system or the effort but the execution. Part of that execution as I have talked about in this blog is ball pressure from your point guard. T.J has the speed and ability to be a problem for any point guard in this league. Chris Paul is being talked about as an M.V.P candidate because he is not only a great offensive weapon he is a great defender as well. T.J talks about wanting to be an All-Star in this league and the best way for him to do that is to bring more effort on the Defensive end. 

Andrea Bargnani to me is far more frustrating then T.J Ford could every be. I mean Bargnani is just annoying to me because he constantly makes me think maybe. He gives you these small glimpses at his great talent and ability. But as fast as you see it comes it is gone. I have went over it in my head a bunch of times. But I personally have made my ruling on Andrea Bargnani. I say you have till next year's trade deadline and if I do not see the things I need to see I am getting him on the first plane out of Toronto.  What are those things? Consistency, Rebounding,Effort and Mental Toughness. All these area are terrible and need massive improvement. I just want to see some improvement. Basically give me a reason not to trade you. I don't know if Brain Colangelo has said that but he maybe should.  There are rumors that Maurizio Gherardini may be in the mix for the Milwaukee G.M job. If he were to take the job I could easily see his first move being to bring Andrea Bargnani along with him. So that would give the Raptors a chance at getting something good from the Bucks. The obvious fan choice would be Charlie V who was traded to Milwaukee for Ford. I am not saying it has to be Charlie but there are lots of interesting options including the Chinese star Yi who will all remember was not exactly thrilled to be heading to the cheese state. Toronto was said to be one of the cities he did find attractive. I am not starting a rumor here but if you connect the dots it would make sense. That is a lot of dots that have to happen though. But something to think about.

There is no question that even if the Raptors can turn this mess around that Bryan Colangelo has at the very least come to the conclusion that it is time to start phase two of the rebuilding of the Raptors.  Lots think they know what that plan is or have strong opinions of what it might be. Bryan Colangelo is the only one that does though I can bank on that. Colangelo never seem to be moving in the direction everyone seems to think he is. That being said his track record is pretty solid. The one fact he has shared is that Jose Calderon will be re-signed and that is not exactly breaking news.  To allow one of the more high value assets you have to just walk is just silly.  Bryan Colangelo and silly will never get used in the same sentence other then this one. 

So a uncertain long term future and a short term one that looks very dark what do you do? Have a party!!! What? Well the Raptor's "RED PARTY" was planned far in advance and is a event that allows players to party with fans that can afford the cost which is high. But it does all go to the Raptors Foundation unlike the money for those tickets at the ACC.  It may actually be what the Raptors need to relax and get some love and support from it's fans. The people that spend the big bucks are not that likely to BOO them after spending that kind of money. Again unlike at the ACC. But truth be told those tickets at the ACC are far from cheap as well.  The good ones anyway. So party be merry and just try to forget that the next day Sam Mitchell will be on your butt to get better. Actually when I think about it. Raptors will have practiced on Monday (The Night of the Event)  so if you are going my advice is to not speak loudly to any Raptor that you meet. They will thank you for it. 

Panic is a word that will get thrown around over the next few days. Truth is you can panic all you like but the reality is not much can be done. Trade deadline has passed and these are your Toronto Raptors for good, bad or indifferent. So it might be hard but try to give them a cheer on Wednesday and try not to throw them under the Bus so fast. Sam Mitchell when he was on the Score earlier in the week said he doesn't like BOOing but he understands why people do it. I understand it too. But I am believer in you BOO to make something evident. If you want something to change. We all understand the team isn't playing well by Booing them on Wednesday you would not be pointing out anything other then the obvious. This team needs a lift. Just as much as 19,000 people booing can hurt a team's pride, 19,000 cheers can restore that pride just as fast. Just a thought. With that I am done. 3 more days to another game got lots of time to talk it out. So enjoy your day even though the Raptors are a mess there is still a Sun in the sky and breath in your lungs so be thankful. After all Sam Mitchell said it is their job to fix this not yours so enjoy life.

Carter Returns To Kill His Old Team

Vince Carter was a question mark with an ankle injury but would start for New Jersey. Something Raptor fans would have liked to see him doing when battling injuries in Toronto. But for the first time in a long time Vince Carter was not really the story coming into this game. The Raptors struggling was the story and the fact they backed in the playoffs last night was not sitting well with Raptor fans. This was a much different Nets team from the one the Raptors beat twice early in the season. Jason Kidd is in Dallas now and Devin Harris is now the point guard in New Jersey. The New look Nets would start the game on a 10-2 run and the Raps were behind early once again. After getting booed off there home court the night before one might have expected a better effort. But realistically this has been a far to often script for this basketball team. Raptors would but the brakes on New Jersey and get the game back to close. The Raptors may have had an excuse for the slow start as the team bus only got to the I-ZOD Center just 45 minutes before the game. Nets were getting easy baskets in transition. Raptors were fighting for every point they got. The Nets were scoring far to easy and they had a 20-12 lead when Sam Mitchell had seen enough. You could actually at points hear Mitchell screaming instructions at his club on the broadcast. In part because of the lack of a crown in New Jersey but still to get picked up by mics you need to be yelling awfully loud.

Raptors would turn the ball over after the time out and it was looking like it was going to be one of those nights AGAIN. T.J Ford would get frustrated by a non call on a made lay up. He would voice that displeasure to the Referee while his man Devon Harris was going the other way and scoring. Jose Calderon was waiting to check in as this went on and he would after that and immediately hook up Chris Bosh with an easy score a stop and another easy feed to Bosh and a score. Calderon would make a shot himself he was doing  his best to rally the Raps but defensive breakdowns were making that tough. Raptors were trailing the Nets by a score of 33-26. The Nets were shooting 65% and the Raptors were still looking like a team with no idea how to play defense at an NBA level.

Raptors were just looking worse at the start of the second. Vince Carter drove and scored the Raptor then fumbled the ball away. Things were not looking good at all if you were cheering for the men in the red shirts on this night. The Raptors were making uncharacteristic turnovers and playing bad defense it was a bad combination. Just you were read to take the remote and decide the merits of throwing it at your television set the Raptors would go on a run and get this game down to a much more respectable 3 point advantage for New Jersey. It would be if the Nets were a good team but the record and the 10th place in the Eastern Conference would suggest otherwise. There was just no sense the Raptors had any element of control in this basketball game. The low point may have been Bargnani missing a 2 foot lay in and having Vince Carter drive and spin and score on the other end. If there was a bright spot it was Rasho Nesterovic who has just been unbelievable good for Toronto. Rasho was having his way with an undersized Net team he had 14 to this point. But other then that it was all bad for the Raptors. The only good thing was this game was in New Jersey and not Toronto because fans would be booing not just Vince by this point at the ACC. Rasho to the rescue? It seemed that way. Raptors kept feeding the fire which was one of the first things they had done right in this basketball game. Rasho had 2 blocks too. Tim Ducan said it RASHO IS ASSUME. On this night he was so far. Raptors would have a chance to regroup and Rasho ripped down the net when he rejected a Net Shot.

The Game was delayed for like 5 minutes while a new net was put up with 4:15 remaining in the second. Jose Calderon would score on a broken play and get the hoop and the harm and the Raptors were down 3 points. Calderon was left in the game with 3 fouls and he would get a fourth. T.J Ford did not look good earlier and would need to be better now given that Jose would be limited by having now 4 fouls. The Nets were starting to show signs of taking this game over again taking the lead back up to 7 points. Bosh who looked tired of late was showing that again and the evidence was at the line where he missed 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch of the half. The Nets had a 9 point advantage at halftime and the Raptors had some serious soul searching to do.

Proof the Raptor were really not playing their normal game of late they went without a three point shot made for the second consecutive first half. Raps started to dig in and were creating turnovers and getting points off of them. Vince Carter is hated in Toronto but he can make some amazing plays and he did that in the third quarter with a spin and a lay in. He is skilled as anyone when he sets his mind too it. Despite the Vince highlight the Raptors were still charging back into this game. the Raptors had never had the lead in this game and were pushing towards taking their first. But the Nets were doing enough to hang on to the lead for now. What has been on of the few good trends for Toronto is the chemistry that is build between Ford and Moon. The two players hooked up on another alley opp play and the Raptors were down a basket. Raptors would get the game to even. A rare Ford three point shot would give the Raptors their first lead of the night only to have that answered by a Carter Jam off a Raptor turnover a Devin Harris block on T.J Ford driving attempt. Ford would continue to drive and draw a foul on Harris and he would make his free throws putting Raptors back in the lead. Carter answered with a 3 point shot and Ford back the other way would score again. Ford and Carter were having a scoring battle. Both were getting caught up in it and both would have turnovers back to back and the game was level at 74-74. Calderon would play the final minute has he was nursing his 4 fouls from the first half and Ford was likely in need of the break to calm down and rest as well. Vince Carter would draw a foul on Delfino to give the Nets a slim 76-74 lead after 3.

The good news for Toronto is they could not be accused of blowing a lead in the 4th quarter tonight. They were still in the game though and really needed to produce down the stretch. Not only for this individual win but for this teams overall mental attitude.Vince Carter was taking it to Carlos Delfino and the Raptors were not making the rotations needed to help out an over matched Delfino. The Nets had started the quarter on a little bit of a run extending the lead to 6 points. Proof of how important this game was could be seen in Sam Mitchell calling a time out earlier then you might expect to try to kill the momentum Jersey was starting to build. He also would need to fix the defense on Carter if he could. But Vince would hit a jumper and continue a nice effort in his return to the line-up for his Nets. He was not known if he would play on this night and the Raptors would have preferred if he sat out. But Jersey was not dead in the playoff race officially anyway. The Nets had extended the lead coming out of time out pushing the advantage to 11 till Parker would finally answer for the Raptors. Toronto had at times looked disorganized on not only the defensive end but on the offensive end as well. Vince Carter was getting heated up and was looking pretty good for a guy on a bum ankle with 30 points so far. This was like rubbing salt in an open wound for Toronto Raptor fans. Vince gutting it out to beat on the struggling Raptors it was almost to much to handle for some I would imagine. The Raptors were hitting rock bottom and hitting it hard. To have the former franchise player taking them to school with his far less talented team should be the bottom for most Raptor faithful. The Nets had an 11 point advantage with just 4:20 to go. The way the Raptors have been playing was getting to be embarrassing. To think that the Raptors owned this Net team on this floor in November. Fast forward to April and a different Net team granted but not a better one and they were killing the Raptors. Unless the Raptors had a huge run in them they were going to drop below .500 and remain in 7th in the Eastern Conference. Raptors will not play again till Wednesday and were in desperate need of some practice and soul searching before taking on Milwaukee at home. No Salami No Cheese just more of the same as the Raptors lose to the Nets 99-90.

Boxscore:http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=28040501
Podcast:  http://dinoblogger.podbean.com/2008/04/05/vc-returns-to-kill-raps/

Searching For Answers

That was last year(Picture Above) as Bosh was learning how hard the playoffs are. Going back to the playoffs may be an even tougher task. This Raptor team backed into it's second straight playoff appearance. But it has not looked like a playoff team for a very long time. The lack of defense that has been on display over this bad stretch for the team is the greatest concern. In his post game comments you could see that Chris Bosh was concerned and felt the weight of a city a country and most importantly his team on his back. He is the younger leader of this basketball team and is given much of the praise when it succeeds but when it doesn't people point to him to make it right. The Raptors need to find some defensive pride and not accept what is happening on the floor. When at this point in a season people need to be talking about effort there is something really wrong. Bosh is not the problem as far as effort goes. You could see in last nights game he gave all his body had to give. But he must challenge his team to match his effort if they plan on turning this thing around in the right direction. 

T.J Ford and Jose Calderon need to be the start of that. Both have been putting in a far from good performance on the defensive end. The problems on the defensive end begin with them. I talked about this in more depth in another blog. It comes down to ball pressure that needs to be better. Ford is the fastest player in the NBA a title I have not heard him deny. So if that is true then there is no reason he should not be able to always be in front of his man and pressuring the ball. The advantage Raptors have with basically two starting point guards is that they both can put out max effort knowing they have the other to back them up. Calderon needs to fight through picks and not just let himself be taken out of the play. Fight through those picks and deny access to the paint. If I was Sam Mitchell I would tell both these guys. I don't care who has more assists, who has more points, The guy busts his butt on the other end of the floor is getting the most minutes. With both being skilled offensive players you don't lose that much if you roll with one or the other. So make it be about the defense. 

Then we have the problem of guarding the 2 and 3 spot on the floor. The main reason that Jamario Moon got into the starting unit was defense. The lack of it from Kapono and Delfino to an extent. if Kapono and Delfino expect to play they need to play a better level of defense. Moon needs to step up his defense as well. The Raptors have throughout this season not been able to deal with quality wing players which there are many. One of these 3 players need to step up and say they want minutes. Carlos Delfino is going to be a free agent and unless he changes his effort on the defensive end I would say he will not be back. Kapono may find himself on the trading block as well if he can not at least find a way to play some level of defense. He is in the line up for his shooting and ability to make shoots but he has not been getting that done. So if he can't at least be a average defender then he can't stay on the court to work through his offensive trouble. 

Andrea Bargnani is a big guy and it is nice that he is doing a little more on the offensive end. But he needs to use his size and show some of the great talent inside him on the defensive end. If he just makes an effort at his height he can cause problems. Rebounds are more valuable to this basketball team then any points he can put up. He is not a starter any longer based on the fact he does not bring enough on defense and on the glass. If he ever plans on being a starter again those things must change. Andrea Bargnani is young and will improve but he is on a playoff team and that means there are higher demands to do what is expected of you. The chances that a guy like Kevin Durant will get in Seattle do not get given to Andrea because they can not give them to him because there is expectations on this basketball team to win. 

All of these things are being exposed in the final stages of games. In the playoffs games become more intense. Every trip up and down the floor matters much more. When you get a lead you need to keep it. The Raptors have shown flashes that they have a killer mentality but that was a longtime ago. One of the times they showed it was early in this season against the New Jersey Nets in New Jersey. That is where the Raptors will be tonight and they may catch a break as Vince Carter may not be in the line-up. Vince is having an ankle issue and has never been a fast healer as most Raptor fans are well aware. This advantage should not matter if it does the Raptors will letdown and can not afford too. Only 6 games remain for this team before the playoffs start and they must get things together in short order. Like the title says based on Bosh's post game comments THE TIME IS NOW. Play the John Cena rap song with that title do whatever you have to do to drive home that point. 

What happens in these next few weeks will have a tremendous impact on the futures of many people and their role with this basketball team. Everyone needs to show they want to be part of the plan moving forward for this basketball team. Unless your name is Chris Bosh you need to understand that nothing is a guarantee for you. Bryan Colangelo will be watching and evaluating and no doubt make some choices based on what he sees. Pick whatever sports expression you like. I will say it is a MAJOR GUT CHECK time for everyone in this organization. They need to answer that with a solid effort and a better one. This is a extreme low point in this season and it is far to late in the season for it to be so. But it is not to late to rally together and accomplish the main goal of this team heading into the year which was to advance in the playoffs. If they do that the things that have happened recently will be forgiven and forgotten. But they don't and you can expect an off-season that will see changes and maybe significant ones.

Frustration Is Growing

Toronto Raptors would get another chance to do the ultimate goal of every NBA team to make the post season. You can't win a championship till you do that. The Raptors had 3 different scenarios that would make this happen. But the most positive would be a win on their home floor vs the Bobcats. A blown chance and a questionable call in Atlanta were in the past and needed to remain there. Bobcats only had 9 wins on the road this season and a lose in this game would be unacceptable. The Raptors had been pushed hard by this club this past Monday in Charlotte. The Bobcats have nothing to play for but that can also mean they have nothing to lose.

They would play that loose free style to start this ball game and had the early advantage. Jason Richardson was big in the effort on Monday and early in this game looked to be a challenge once again. He had a nice jam worthy of a slam dunk champion. Bosh would respond with a jam of his own. The Bobcats were hanging on to the advantage they had but the Raptors were starting to heat up. The Bobcats were taking advantage of the 3 point shot and were making them. The defense that is a concern continued to be one for the Raptors in this game to this point. Raps never have trouble scoring though lucky for them. T.J Ford would make a no look alley opp pass to Anthony Parker that was a thing of beauty. That play would get the Raptors to back within 2 points. Chris Bosh was having another good night against the bobcats who just have no one that can guard him. He had 8 points before making way for Andrea Bargnani. Jose would check in not long after that with score tied. The Bobcats were still killing the Raps from deep as Jason Richardson made a 3 point shot to break the tie. Bosh would return after a quick break and his team was now down 5. Raptors had one last chance to cut into the lead but a Bargnani shot would miss by a lot and Raptors finished the quarter down 27-22. A far from impressive effort from the home side.

Bobcats were shooting 50 percent which was far too good. The Raptors struggled on defense on Monday much like they were on this night. In the playoffs this kind of thing will cost you basketball games. Bobcats continued the run they started at the end of the first. They had a 10-0 run before the Raptors would respond with a Bargnani lay in to break the run. Bargnani on the next offensive trip would drive and drop it off to Chris Bosh for the easy slam. The truth though if you didn't know the standings you would think the Bobcats were the team looking to clinch a playoff spot not Toronto. Sam Mitchell if things continue this way will have no voice left for the playoffs should his team continue these type efforts. If there was a bright light Andrea Bargnani was doing some good things on offense. But the problem was clearly on the defensive end. Raptors would not wait for the screaming of Sam Mitchell in the locker room as the tried to fight back and got back to 3 points down. But Jason Richardson was making key scores for Charlotte as he would hit a shot that would be ruled a two pushing the lead back to 5 points. Richardson would have 18 points in the half and was the major reason his team was leading this contest. Charlotte  brought him in to be the veteran leader the team needed. Injuries would hurt the Bobcats having no Adam Morrison or Shawn May before this season every got started. The future in Charlotte is not as dark as it might seem. But the Raptors could care less about the Bobcats future and needed to address there immediate future. A nice jumper for Jamario Moon would keep the Charlotte lead at 5 going into the half.

It is a rare thing when Toronto does not make a three point shot in a half. They were 0-6 from beyond the 3 point line in the first half. Raptors were making silly turnovers and they could ill afford them. Good news though for Raptors in that Gerald Wallace would like miss the rest of this game with a groin strain. It would have been nice if it was Ricard son and not Wallace but it was a break for the Raptors as Wallace in a key part of this Bobcat team. Raptors were making a push and looking to finally establish some control of this basketball game. Down now just by 1 point the Bobcats would call for a time out. Emeka Okafor could use the time to cool off as he was frustrated with a call that did not go his way. Matched up on Rasho Nesterovic now instead of Bosh as on Monday he still was having problems. Hard to imagine that there was a debate between who to take between Okafor and Dwight Howard. Howard is a stud and Okafor is a nice player the gap is large unlike this basketball game.

The Raptors after the time out would take the lead. But as many times before in this game that would be the call for Jason Richardson to make a play. He had the old fashion 3 point play. Jamario Moon would reply with the modern version. T.J Ford was managing his club well he had 12 assists and was doing what he could to get the Raptors back in this thing. The lead was changing hands back and forth. First team that could play some consistent defense could likely take this over and get the win. The thought that ether team could do this was a different story. Chris Bosh would nail a rare three point shot and the Raptors had a 5 point advantage. After not being able to make the long ball in the first half the Raptors were starting to find the range. The Raptor had a 9-0 run and T.J Ford's assist total was at 14 in the game. Thus far this game looked much like the contest in Charlotte on Monday. Raptors would have a turnover and a miscue and the chance to extend the lead to 5 turned into a chance to cut the lead to 1 for Charlotte. They would split a pair at the line and trail Toronto 76-74.

Ford would enter the 4th quarter just 5 assists short of a career high. But more importantly need to keep up his effort to secure a win and a second consecutive trip to the post season. Ford would start the quarter looking on though at his fellow point guard Jose Calderon. The Bobcats would start the quarter playing well and jumping back in front by 7 using the 3 point shot to do it. Gut check time was here for the Toronto Raptors. They would likely be in the post season by end of the night based on the out of town results. However the way they have played they have not looked like that playoff team. This was all about pride as much as post season positioning. Charlotte started the 4th on an 11-2 run and the time for a comeback was now. After a time out the effort was stepped up and they were back to with in 3 points. Raps were really in trouble as Charlotte had looked like the better team most of the night and were a confident bunch. Jamario Moon was doing a good job for the Raps having 16 points. Anthony Parker would nail a shot to push the Raptors back in front only to get answered by Raymond Felton with a easy lay in on the other end. Bobcats had answered every Raptor push in this basketball game.

T.J Ford would join Calderon to close this contest and hopefully rally to a win. 4:20 left to pull out a victory for Toronto. Rasho Nesterovic has been doing a quite solid job and had a 20 plus scoring night for Toronto. Lots of great individual nights but still it was not translating to a win on the scoreboard. Chris Bosh who looked tired in this game still found the energy to get a basket to get the Raptors back to just 1 point back with just under 2:30 left to play. Raps missed a chance to take the lead and would get bailed out by a missed free throw by Charlotte and they trailed by just 2 instead of 3. Bosh would draw a foul and head to the line and return the favor missing his first free throw and Bobcats were up 1 with just over a minute to play. Raptors would get the defensive stop only to have Earl Boykins steal the ball from Ford and get a layup and a fouled for the old fashion 3 point play and a 4 point lead with only 40 odd seconds remaining. Raptors would misfire again and barring something unlikely the Raptors were going to lose and fall to .500 at 38-38 and in danger of falling to 7th by the end of this night. In the playoffs but playing the Pistons. Anthony Parker would keep hope alive making a 3 point shot to cut Charlotte lead to 2. Raps would need a break with free throw miss. But it did not happen. Parker tried another desperation 3 point shot that would be an air ball. There would be little time to feel sorry for themselves as they were taking a plane to New Jersey to meet Vince Carter and the Nets. A 105-100 win for Charlotte would lead to BOOS from the sellout crowd at the ACC and these BOOS were justified.
 
Boxscore:http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=280404028
Podcast:http://dinoblogger.podbean.com/2008/04/04/defenseless-in-bobcat-win/

Update: The Wizards won which does clinch a playoff spot for Toronto.

Man of the People

Yesterday Chris Bosh was announced as one of the finalist for the Joe Dumars award. It goes to a player that does the good things for his community basically. It isn't anything to do with basketball skill it is everything to do with the type of person you are. Bosh is a great person as well as great basketball player. He makes it really easy to cheer for him. When you read all to often about athletes getting into trouble with the law. But there are also people like Chris Bosh doing good things for the people in the communities that supports him. The NBA as a whole does many great things with it's NBA CARES program. The did a lot of good things for people in New Orleans this past All Star Weekend. Chris Bosh is proof that the expression about nice guys finishing last is false. He gives as much to his on the floor effort as he does to his off the court ones. The young star out of Texas as done good for both the people of his native state as well as Toronto. The Chris Bosh Foundation he has created helps out the most important resource we have. Children are that resource and his foundation does a lot of good for these young people. Bosh has worked hard as part of the NBA's Read To Achieve effort. He helps inspire kids to pick up a book or magazine or even hit the net and read a blog. Chris Bosh is doing much more then creating future potential readers for this blog. He is giving them a tool to be productive individuals in society.

Bosh is just one of the many people connected to this Raptor team that do more then just play basketball and try to win games. Jose Calderon works with the organization right to play. Which brings sport to children around the world in some places that have extreme poverty and have been torn apart by war. Everyone connected to this organization in there own way does good things. The Raptors are a group of good people and are easy to cheer for. I understand they can be frustrating and drive you nuts. But when the people that make up this team are decent human beings it makes it easy to forgive and forget the basketball mistakes. Look at what happened in Portland and what is happening in Indiana if you think this is not an important issue. Morals matter and if they are lacking there is a price to pay. Yes, winning does trump all in most cases. But once the winning stops if there are not quality people that make up that team people will just not have time for them. 

Even Sam Mitchell can be included as part of these group of good folks. He is a firecracker at times but deep down is a good person and has done many things in the community. I was real quite sad to see earlier in the week on the boards at Real Gm someone mentioned Sam working with Special Olympics and others used that to take shots at Mitchell. Why people take the time to bring down the fact of people doing good things is beyond me. It really is quite sad these people are around to spread that kinda hate. Basketball is important and we all get excited and fired up based on the results on the floor. But in the end it is a SPORT and ENTERTAINMENT and it is no where close to all the good things that I have mentioned in this blog thus far. This comes from a guy that writes a daily blog and follows this team as close as anyone. 

Sam Mitchell was on T.V for almost an hour yesterday on the Show Drive This on Hardcore Sports Radio and The Score. He talked about the play from the night before in Atlanta and a lot of over things. Including his relationship with the media, Kevin Garnett and his thoughts on the age restrictions in the NBA draft. Mitchell is alway enjoying for me to listen too. He is a funny and engaging personality he just seems like a guy you would love a chance to chat with. This is the spark of an idea I have had. 5 questions I'd ask If I had the mic.

5 Questions I'd ask>>>Sam Mitchell

1. What is the most frustrating part of being a coach in this league?
2. I know your respect for Kevin Garnett do you ever see Chris Bosh reaching the same levels in his career?
3. Can the Jose Calderon and T.J Ford Point Guard duo work long term and what do you see your role in that working?
4. Would you ever see a day where Sam Mitchell becomes part of the media in some capacity?
5. What is the greatest challenge that this team must conquer to get to that Championship level in this league?

The best part of being a Raptor Fan is that they are people that make it easy to pull for them to succeed. I am not against the Bad Guy type athlete but you need some good people too that make you feel happy to see them get success. Chris Bosh is a guy like that. Vince Carter was never a guy like that. Vince did many of the same things Bosh has done. Helping out in the community and doing many good things. So what is the difference? Bosh is a humble understated guy. Vince is not and based on that is thought of differently. The fact Bosh stuck it out when times were tough and Vince wanted out. 

Dino Blogger's NBA Bits and Bites

Speaking of out that is what Isiah Thomas is in New York. I said in the end of yesterday's blog it was fitting that he had done such a bad job that he deserved to get fired twice. Which in a sense is what will happen to him at the end of this season. Thomas as done one thing exceptionally well though in his NBA management career. That is the draft he has found many winners in the draft. If Thomas checks his ego at the door he would make an excellent head of scouting for some NBA team. But I can't see his ego allowing it to happen. 

Some Returns around the NBA as well Agent 0 is back for the Wizards which is of note for Raptor Fans. He will be hard pressed to make an impact for the Wizards and his addition may actual hurt the Wizards in this stretch run. The hope will be they can get him back as part of the fold in time for the playoffs. But should they lose ground and end up 7th the Pistons will have no trouble sending Agent Zero Packing. Perhaps for good. I think if Washington is honest in it's thinking Jamison re-signing is the #1 priority for the franchise. Arenas who is ego driven and has a chip on his shoulder will not take kindly to that and I could see him taking his act elsewhere. We will see but it just seems the Wizards have moved on without Arenas and will not be forced to re-sign him at any cost.

Meanwhile the Dallas Mavericks got a huge win over Golden State. Dirk was back in a surprise return. If he could some how rally the Mavs it might be able to save his damaged reputation. That started even before he was given his M.V.P trophy last year. One thing is certain the trade for Jason Kidd has not exactly saved the day for Dallas. Mark Cuban will have a lot of things to look at to turn his franchise around. They came so close to that goal of a championship and have fallen and continue too ever since. The 2 final participants  Miami and Dallas have come crashing down in a rapid pace.  There is prove that you should enjoy the moment. Playoff appearances and good teams can change really fast. Enjoy the moment and live in it for a little while. There is a long off season to focus on the future. That is a lot longer for fans of teams that don't make the playoffs.