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26 Apr 2010 04:31 PM
This year, the Toronto Raptors finished playing basketball on April 14. Heading into the season, anyone asked would have said that with their offense, they would still be out on the court for a couple more weeks. Sadly, this was not the case, and the 2009/2010 campaign has to be considered one of the most disappointing seasons in the history of the team, if not the most. So what exactly went wrong?
It can be summed up essentially in one word: defense. While equipped with plenty of offensive weapons, there was no one who was able to clamp down on the other end of the court. Reggie Evans is probably the team’s best post-defender, but he was injured for more than half the year, and played very limited minutes in his return. Antoine Wright is a decent wing defender, but it takes more than one person to slow down players...
20 Apr 2010 03:00 PM
The NBA playoffs tip off Saturday afternoon, so here is a preview of the matchups and what to expect in each series.
Eastern Conference
(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) Chicago Bulls
The Cavaliers and Bulls wrapped up their regular seasons on completely different notes. Cleveland, having clinched the top seed in the league rather early, was able to rest LeBron James and not rush Shaquille O’Neal back to their lineup down the stretch. On the other hand, the Bulls had to fight all the way to the final game of the year, just in order to be able to punch their ticket to the postseason. Standout sophomore point guard Derrick Rose put himself on the line when he went out and guaranteed he would take his team to the playoffs. You will not see Rose make a similar claim about beating the Cavaliers, however his teammate, Joakim Noah recently said...
20 Apr 2010 02:48 PM
In the penultimate game of the season, the Raptors travelled to Detroit, and needed a victory against the Pistons to keep their slim playoff chances alive. Although they trailed by two points after one quarter, the Raptors used an enormous second quarter to take a twelve-point lead into halftime. From there they kept their foot on the accelerator and the final was 111-97. Andrea Bargnani had a game-high 33 points, including five three-pointers. Amir Johnson contributed 26 points against his former team. Overall, Toronto shot 60% for the game, compared to only 47% for the Pistons.
The Chicago Bulls were triumphant over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, so the Raptors would need a win against New York , coupled with a Bulls loss against the Bobcats in order to claim a playoff berth. Toronto easily had their way with a lackluster Knicks defense, shooting a walloping 65% for the...
13 Apr 2010 06:44 PM
Things went from bad to worse for the Raptors after losing at home to the Warriors. Within the first 4 minutes of the game, Chris Bosh took an elbow in the face from Antawn Jamison. Blood spilled onto the court and CB4 left the game. The Raptors’ all-star headed to the Cleveland clinic for a CT scan. It was 6-5 at that point, but by the end of the first quarter it was 35-26 for Cleveland. Jarrett Jack took his team on his back in the second quarter and brought them to a very manageable 55-53 deficit to overcome at halftime. In the third quarter, another Toronto starter went down, this time in the form of an ankle sprain to Antoine Wright. LeBron James had a double-double after three quarters, and Cleveland was on top by 11. The Cavaliers cruised from there, en route to a 113-101 win. The Raptors...
6 Apr 2010 10:04 PM
One day after blowing a seventeen-point lead in South Beach, the Toronto Raptors were back on the floor, facing another team they are chasing for a higher playoff spot, in the Charlotte Bobcats. Hedo Turkoglu was once again absent from the starting lineup, but came off the bench, totaling over 28 minutes of playing time. The first half was relatively evenly played, and as a result, the Bobcats held a small 4-point advantage at the midway mark. That lead extended to six after the third quarter, and with the way the Raptors had been playing down the stretch in the two previous games, everyone was waiting for Charlotte to open the floodgates. That would not be the case on Monday night, as Toronto outscored their counterparts by eight, and took the victory, with a score of 103-101. Chris Bosh was back to his old self, posting 22 points and 11...
31 Mar 2010 07:14 AM
The Raptors started off a busy week on Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have not been able to beat Toronto since all the way back in 2004. The Raptors got off to a slow start, and as a result trailed by one point after the first quarter. Not much had changed by halftime, except it was now Toronto who had the one-point advantage. Chris Bosh poured in nine quick points to start off the second half, leading to a 20-7 run for the visitors. The Wolves answered with a nifty run of their own, but the Raptors responded and took a 12-point lead into the final quarter and looked poised to sweep the season series against the T’Wolves. Minnesota refused to go away, and chipped all but two points off their deficit with just over four minutes left, but their defense was unable to stop the Raptors down...
23 Mar 2010 05:58 AM
Losers of five straight, the road did not get any easier for the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night when they squared off with the Hawks; the same team who has dominated Toronto both times they played each other. If they were looking for a glimmer of hope, they were playing in front of their home fans and would need to feed off the energy. Another bonus for the Raptors was that the Hawks’ leading scorer, Joe Johnson, was unable to play. Due to their recent struggles, Jay Triano decided to make a change in the starting lineup. Many thought DeMar DeRozan would be yanked, but it was Jarrett Jack who was replaced by Jose Calderon in the starting 5. After an even first half, the Raptors held a slim three point advantage over their counterparts from Georgia. As has been the case all year, the third quarter was a disaster...
19 Mar 2010 12:58 PM
Tomorrow March Madness officially begins. To say I am pumped would be a massive understatement as I plan and waking up and spending the entire day on the couch watching college basketball until my eyes bleed.
So far I have covered the West, East and Midwest Regions which means only the South remains. In case you haven't been paying attention my picks to advance to the Final Four so far are Syracuse, West Virginia and Kansas. Not going out on a limb there by any means but you the point is to pick the teams that are going to win.
The #1 seed in the South is Duke. Why is Duke a #1 seed? Because the selection committee wanted to ensure that Duke would remain in the tournament as long as possible to increase ratings because like it or not Duke = ratings. Jason Whitlock wrote an awesome column about...
17 Mar 2010 12:04 AM
Tonight is the play-in-game to see who will be the 64th team in the tournament and earn the right to lose to Duke. That means March Madness has officially begun. I have 2 more regions left to do and I will start right now with the Western Region.
The #1 seed in the West is Syracuse who dominated during the regular season, winning the Big East title and going 11-1 on the road, but look vulnerable right now having lost to Louisville to end the season and Georgetown in the Big East tournament. They also suffered a big hit to their Final Four hopes when power forward Arinze Onuaku went down with a quad injury. His injury is significant as he averages 10ppg and 5 rpg.
Will it be enough to bring down the Orange and send them packing early like in 2005 when they lost to Vermont who was...
17 Mar 2010 12:03 AM
The #1 seed in the East Region is the Kentucky Wildcats who went 32-2 this season winning both the SEC regular season and also the SEC tournament. Much hyped freshmen John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe all lived up to the billing and had impact years helping the Wildcats return to their former glory.
The East region is by far the most interesting as it boasts not only Kentucky but also former #1 seed Texas, Temple, everyones Cinderella Cornell, a tough Marquette team, New Mexico and Big Ten powerhouse Wisconsin. The path to the Final Four definitely won't be easy for coach Calipari and company.
Here is my sleeper, player to watch, potential upset, and bracket winner:
Sleeper - Cornell
They were the Ivy League champions this year and are the best 3-point shooting team in the NCAA which means they can pull ahead quickly or get back into...
17 Mar 2010 12:02 AM
Today was selection Sunday and that means that the brackets are officially set for March Madness which begins Wednesday night with the play in game. I am pumped for the tournament to start and love the fact that every team seems vulnerable.
Kansas is the #1 overall seed and is the #1 seed in the Midwest bracket which is where I will begin my preview. While they were given the #1 overall seed they were not given an easy path to the Final Four as they will have to get through Michigan State, Maryland, Georgetown and Ohio State. If Kansas can get through that minefield then they should be one of two things by the Finals. They will either be 1) battle tested and ready to go or 2) exhausted from playing consecutive tough games.
This is the toughest bracket by far. It features my favorite team and 3 of...
16 Mar 2010 11:58 PM
Normally if you were asked what team you would not want to face when in a slump, it would be the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the Lakers have been having troubles of their own recently and are riding a three-game losing streak heading into their game with the Raptors on Tuesday night. Chris Bosh and the rest of his team aimed to get their first win in LA against the Lakers since 2001. Hedo Turkoglu returned to the lineup and if the Raptors were going to play competitively with the Lakers, they would need him to step up like the last game they played against Kobe Bryant when he sank the game winning free throws in the dying seconds of the game. After an even first quarter, Los Angeles was on top 28-24, but Toronto stormed back outscoring the Lakers 34-22 in the second. Andrea Bargnani had 15 points and...
7 Mar 2010 11:13 PM
The Houston Rockets have been struggling and find themselves battling for a playoff position in the extremely challenging Western Conference. Nonetheless, they have weapons such as Aaron Brooks and Luis Scola, as well as big scorer Kevin Martin, who came over from Sacramento at the trade deadline. The Rockets looked to score an easy home victory against a reeling Toronto Raptors team, who were on the tail end of a back-to-back and without franchise player Chris Bosh and point guard Jose Calderon.
Houston came out firing, and ran out to a 13-point lead less than 4 minutes into the contest. By the end of the first, behind Martin’s 14 points, the home team held a 9 point advantage. This game got out of hand for the Raptors in the second, which translated into a 68-47 deficit at halftime. The game was all but sealed at that point and the...
1 Mar 2010 01:53 PM
After a lengthy break, many thought Chris Bosh would be active for a home game against the Portland Trailblazers, but that was not the case. In the first quarter, the Blazers were unable to put a substantial point differential between themselves and their Canadian counterparts until the final minutes of the period when they led by 8. Heading into halftime, the lead had shrunk to six, and it appeared as if the Raptors could steal a win. Jarrett Jack took over in the third quarter, scoring, or setting someone else up to score the first 7 Raptors baskets of the second half. Jose Calderon was substituted in and the Blazers closed the quarter on a 9-2 run. At the end of the day, Portland cruised to a 101-87 victory.
Turnovers were the story, as the Raptors gave up 16 of them, leading to 17 points for the visitors. This...
22 Feb 2010 12:56 AM
Since their move from Vancouver to Memphis, the Grizzlies have been the laughing stock of the league. When a team is bad for so long, they begin to stockpile lottery draft picks, which eventually translates into a talented group of young players developing together. The Grizzlies, led by youngsters Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol and OJ Mayo, along with veteran all-star Zach Randolph are finally starting to come together. They are one of the teams in the Western Conference vying for the 8th playoff seed.
On Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre, Memphis ran out to an early lead, and were in front by as many as 16 points, but Toronto answered in the second quarter and only trailed 49-47 at recess. In his second game of the season, gritty forward Reggie Evans contributed “4 minutes of fury” for the Raptors, accumulating 4 points and 4 rebounds in...
