Toronto Raptors Ramblings

Hey Meat. Don't Think. Just Shoot.

The Raps Win, Bosh dominates and we're 39 games away from the playoffs. I'd love to write about only the nuances of this game but let's quickly look at the Bosh line.
36 min. FG: 9-18. 3Pt: 2-2. FT: 9-10. Reb: 14. Pts: 29. Blks: 2. TO: 1.

What you didn't see, until you watched the highlights was Bosh jacking up a a crazy three to end the game. In fact let's recap the last 2 minutes before getting to the finer points of the game.

2:00 - Bosh takes it strong. Raps 96-95.
1:50 - Iverson ties it.
1:34 - The Slam Dunk Champion takes us up by two
1:10 - Dalembert ties it
:53 - Bosh crazy spin move fade away with right hand and the foul. Raps up again.
:42 - Iverson ties it
:34 - TJ Ford takes us up by 2.
:20 - Webber ties it (p.s. Webber stinks, this is the worst contract in the league)
:6 TSN TURNING POINT- Bosh collects loose ball near half with 7 seconds to go, choses not to pass to a an open an streaking TJ Ford who's dying to give Dalembert his 6th block (great decision). Bosh dribbles up to the arc and throws the Bosh Rainbow, a Bainbow, nothing but net. Sam Mitchell's face tells it all.

Nuances you don't get from the stat sheet.

Hump. I call him Humpty but I heard Sam call him Hump in the post game. I can go with that. Hump plays huge minutes tonight. This guy is active, keeping balls alive, running the fast break (honest to God), just doing things. I can't stress how important having bigs who can run and jump are. Fantastic game and that means Bosh plays just 36 min.

Meat. Joey Graham who is either making a run at the D League or 18 minutes a game showed us the good Joey tonight. The high energy, highly athletic, drivin' and shootin' guy. Much like Ebby Calvin "Nuke" Laloosh, Joey is at his best when he's not thinking. That's why the run and gun, reactin' and jackin' Raptors are a great fit for good Joey. No time to think. The guy tried to dunk over Dalembert tonight! Beautiful. Don't think Meat, just shoot. Joey Graham just earned himself a nickname...finally.


Joke of the night
Iverson goes flying on a little TJ Ford push and gets the call. The warbird (my girlfriend) pulls the the "Iverson. Pff. Try Diverson". Not bad. Of course she loved it and repeated it numerous times. "Diverson...ha ha ha. You can use that babe. That's pure gold".
Thank Jerry. And yes, i just used it as my joke of the night.

Sam Mitchell going with what works. With Meat and Hump playing well he sticks with them. With TJ making bad decisions he brings in Calzone to push TJ. note: TJ really makes bad decisions out there. Not all bad decisions...but lots of them. Let's hope Triano can work with him on this problem. Point guards have to be smart and know what is working and what is not. His shot is often not working, and you really have to recognize that in yourself. I'm the same guy who predicted he could be an all-star...I just need to see some smart games from end to end.

Last Nuggets and Notes....
Webber is done, despite what his stats say.....Raps mustered up 93 shots tonight....we barely missed a free throw until crunch time when TJ missed 3 of 4.....our final five does not look like our starting five....Anthony Parker is calm, cool, likes to play D and takes well needed drives...Iverson is still sick, this guy really really needs to get traded so we can watch him play with some talent...Iggy dunked one on Hump that will make the highlight reals for a while, Hump even tried to hide his face from the pictures (see, he's smart too).....

Question of the night...does Paul Pierce's 35 points, 13 rebounds and 12 Turn Over's (pre-overtime) count as a triple double? It should. Image Ricky Davis throwing a few end of game TO's just to hit the triple doubles.

Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. And sometimes...it rains.

posted by WG @ 9:41 PM