For 12 minutes they were as good as maybe they can be, pesky and dominant on defence, selective and successful on offence, a performance at both ends of the floor that had coaches smiling and starters resting for the final minutes.
And when the Raptors had put the finishing touches on a Friday Night Laugher, a 106-75 rout of the weary Milwaukee Bucks, Sam Mitchell could not single out one guy over another, or praise one Raptor without naming someone else.
"We’re improving on that," Raptors forward Chris Bosh said. "In the past,
we might have still been thinking about [Wednesday's game in] Boston and we’d come across a team and be like, ‘Ah, well, let’s play.’ And we’d get smoked, we’d get beat by underestimating somebody.
"But we did a good job of coming out and being mentally sharp. We deserved everything we got tonight because we worked for it."
With the Air Canada Centre faithful in full-celebration mode with 12 minutes still left to play, Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell walked over to his star, who was sitting on the scorers’ table looking at the crowd.
"Why don’t you f—— do something tonight?" Mitchell playfully asked Chris Bosh.
Knowing what he had already given his coach, Bosh could only smile at the ridiculousness of the question.
Bosh continued his sublime month with a 32-point performance Friday night, as the Raptors throttled the Milwaukee Bucks 106-75.
They are far from a finished product, but as long as Bosh continues to dominate on offence, as long as Calderon continues to play with poise and precision and as long as the Raptors make enough stops, they seem capable of beating any opponent.
Suddenly, the team’s suspect interior defence and rebounding deficiencies get put on the backburner.
Helping the Raptors’ cause was the mental health of the Bucks, who settled for far too many shots from beyond the arc, were awfully slow on defence and who managed but a paltry 33 points in the second half.
According to some yesterday, the Grizzlies are no longer prepared to shell out the $4.5 million US needed to set Stoudamire free for any would-be suitor.
The change, it would appear, puts more onus on the Raptors to explore the trade market as the NBA trade deadline approaches on Feb. 23.
He is not, as some sports talkers have suggested, a second coming of Rafael Araujo, a lost cause slotted in the starting lineup to save a general manager’s face. Araujo, less than four years after Rob Babcock picked him eighth overall in the NBA draft, is a Russian leaguer. Bargnani, picked No. 1 overall by Bryan Colangelo in 2006 and possessed of a vastly superior skill set, isn’t bound for that kind of exile.
Still, he has much to learn. His jump shot isn’t falling like it did last year. Defences send smaller men to crowd him, and he’s not quick enough to drive by them. But he showed a flash of understanding last night, beelining to the low post when he found Mo Williams, the Milwaukee 6-footer, on his hip. He drew a foul and made the free throws. It was a small step forward in a season of steps back.
Do you think Rasho’s the king of the tap-back offensive rebound? Did it twice Friday night, giving the Raptors the kind of extra possessions they usually give up rather than get.
I’m telling you know, if Rasho’s still here come playoff time, he’s going to be hugely valuable. He’s got the size, experience and savvy to help anchor halfcourt defences and that’s what you need in the post-season.
I asked one of the zillion ex-Raptor assistants on the Milwaukee staff what he thought of Rasho and the answer was quick: “Smartest guy on the team.”
"They probably had this game circled on their calendar, after what we did to them in Milwaukee," Redd said. "With four games in five nights, we tried to keep up as long as we could."
Bosh admitted that he thought about the Bucks’ 112-85 drubbing of the Raptors in November, although Mitchell said it shouldn’t matter.
The 6-foot-10 Bosh was limited to a season-low one point in that game.
"I didn’t worry too much about it because that was early in the season and that was a different me," Bosh said.
Even after their lopsided loss Friday to the Toronto Raptors, the Bucks are hardly out of the playoff race, with Indiana currently holding the eighth conference position with a 19-25 record, just two games ahead of the Bucks.
But what continues to be the biggest obstacle to success for Larry Krystkowiak’s crew is the road, where the Bucks are 5-20 after being blown out by the Raptors.
I know why the Raptors don’t rebound well. I made sure to pay special attention to it during the game (so much easier when you are in arena, you see everything)…are you ready? Wait for it…wait for it…they don’t box out. Surprise…seriously though, they don’t put a body on their man. You have to keep your man on your hip, and time the ball to grab a board. Not rocket science, but the Raptors have issue with that. Even Bosh
Calderon and Parker had great games again and this time it was Delfino who was the extra mustard. He continues to shoot well and was even taking it to the whole. He had a spring in his step that I would like to see more of.
Related posts:
as disappointing as bargnani is, he is nowhere near araujo territory.
No, but he does get the same deer in the headlights look that Araujo often got.
I think the author was saying that he was like Araujo in the sense that Bargnani was placed in the starting lineup to save face for the GM, not based on skill (ala Babcock and Araujo).