Bargnani – 15 minutes of play from your #1 pick in a do or die game in the playoffs. What does THAT tell ya? He played with about as much urgency as a male teenager has going home for dinner when he is on a topless beach full of strippers.I still look back at the indifference the hometown media showed on his return to Italy this pre-season. They didn’t care. Should have been a sign.
Bosh – anybody see his interview from practice today. He looked like a tired man. Tonight he played like one. I feel for him. He had to play 5 games like they sliced off my gut, strapped it to his back and then had someone else poke him with the business side of a broom consistently for 37-40 minutes every second day for a week. Anybody that can blame this guy for this loss should be shot or forced to work for an oil company.
Calderon – seriously? really? That’s what you bring to the table in the playoffs of your contract year? Add to it that stupid thing you said about Dwight Howard the night before an elimination game? That’s like going up to LeBron and saying you just filmed his mom doing a 2 Girls 1 Cup spoof with Star Jones. Naked. In your locker room. With the guy from Girls Gone Wild doing play-by-play.
Delfino – I was impressed that Garden Gnome rung up 14 points…until I saw that 6 of them were from the charity stripe. Still, we hardly get there, so we should applaud him for that. 5 for 16, though, isn’t pretty nor was his “flyby” way of defending his man.
Ford – it’s too bad he wasn’t “mic’d” up in this series. Can’t you just imagine him saying “help…help….help” as he felt Hurricane Jameer run by him? Constantly. I do give him credit for trying to create his shot tonight, but thanks to Jose’s mouth, you would have needed 2 bodyguards to get in the paint unheeded.
Kapono – he is still pretty, even with that shiner. I still say he got it from looking through a glory hole into the Dance Pak change room after game 4. He has a thing for the blondes. 3 or 4 times tonight I think he thought a little too much about his shot and either hesitated too long or passed off on a shot that he should have taken. They seemed to close out better on him tonight, though. If he could add a drive and kick element to his game for next season, he could be a worthy 7th man off the bench.
Moon – he played defence tonight like he was Souljah Boy. Maybe he mistook Howard’s Superman nickname as a reason to dance? Jump here, jump there, woooosh. And, what do you know, he hits two 3s in a row for a change and…doesn’t take another one. Way to keep ‘em honest, homeslice.
Nesterovic – you know at tax time when you first sit down and get all your slips together and fire up that tax program or get it all together to take to your accountant and that little voice in your head says “man, I hope I get a good amount back so I can buy myself a nice flatscreen”? Then you get the result and you end up getting $200 or you actually have to pay? That frustration? That feeling that you just wasted all your energy and got your hopes up for nothing? Might as well be a Rasho fan.
Parker – the only starter in the NBA playoffs that will go home and have to listen to how his sister is a better player than him, has a shoe deal, and probably won’t turtle in the WNBA playoffs. Maybe he can pick up some pointers.
Mitchell – that suit was back. I need to know if that is velcro. I’m serious. Sam, I swear to you, if you get fired, I am going down to MLSE, I’m going to use my friends to get to Colangelo, and I’m going to hit him. Hard. So hard it will bend his $800 collar. You did no wrong, Sam. Good first timeout. Great inbound plays for easy points.
Sea of Red – so, Spudz and I go to this fairly well known sports bar in the west end. Granted, not a big place, but in an area that there is no other sports bar for numerous blocks on either side. 3 fans in there. We were 2 of them. Place had 6 or 7 screens…only 1 was on the Raptors game since we were outnumbered by hockey fans by like 8 to 1. Great local support, Toronto. You guys are awesome.
Driving the Bus: Chris Bosh / Sam Mitchell
Under the Bus: Rasho Nesterovic / Bryan Colangelo
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i need to know what you’re on bro. seriously, if smitch gets fired you answer is knock out colangelo? the guy did nothing at all to counter that penetration/kick for an open shot. zero. no strategy to counter. the magic did the same thing 398768 times this series, and nothing in terms of strategy done. u hanging out with swirsky?
Raps Fans last blog post..Raptors Lose in 5 to The Magic
i wont say smitch sucks as a coach, but he isn’t for this team. he was out coached left and right. the magic win 4-1, sure the players are responsible too, i say 50-50. they did nothing, but were also given no direction.
Raps Fans last blog post..Raptors Lose in 5 to The Magic
Wait..so the Magic did the same thing 398768 and they were better coached? Really? I mean, REALLY?
We played a better team.
How much more clearly can I write that? Sure, in a sense, it was two teams with the same strengths and weaknesses.
Speaking of, so Jose & TJ vs Jameer. Jameer better coached? Did Sam draw up plays to make Jose & TJ look bad?
Don’t you think Dwight should have been used more offensively? If so, bad coaching?
All those 3s that the Magic took and missed. Bad coaching by Orlando or good luck/coaching for Toronto.
It’s a tangled web, my friend. To say we were outcoached is a big big stretch. Outplayed? Outmanned? Yes. Coaches can’t be held accountable for turnovers or missed layups. Players should be, though…and there is only one man that can truly make a statement this summer. Lets see if he continues to lie or, for the first time in two years, he actually improves this team.
So looks like the good times for Carlos DELFINO and the Raptors have come to an end. The Orlando Magic defeated the Raptors 102-92 to win the series 4-1.
In today’s game, the showed tremendous amount of fighting spirit to stay alive in this series. Both of their point guard, TJ and CALDERON played well, Chris BOSH showed plenty of determination and Carlos was the sixth man for them.
Tonight DELFINO posted 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists & 2 steals to finish of what turns out to be his best ever season in his NBA career.
Remember he had a lot of tough times in Detroit. There were plenty of uncertainties about his arrival to the Raps squad. But like Luis SCOLA, he has proven that he can play in the NBA.
On some occasion when others could not deliver, he provides the much needed sparks that the Raptors needed from the bench. He steps in for BOSH when the latter was out injured.
I will be looking forward to see how would the Raptors regroup for next season. Till then, I would like to give thanks to the numerous comments that we’ve received from the entire Raps blogging community.
VAMOS CARLOS!!! VAMOS RAPTORS!!!
http://mundoalbiceleste.blogspot.com/2008/04/playoffs-news-end-for-carlos-raps.html
johns last blog post..Playoffs News – The End For Carlos & The Raps
Your analogies in this post were hilarious, Scott.
yea they are ebrian.
i’m not talking about orlando’s strategy, i’m talking about the raptors. i conceded they played a better team, but at what point, as a coach, do you take stock of what your team is doing, and think it isn’t working? at what point, do you try something differently, anything, in hopes that the same beasts wont rear their ugly heads? that’s all i’m saying.
sure howard should have had 8 more looks when he got deep position, but the fact of the matter is that it impact their play. i think arse suggested throwing graham out there, and have him bump hedu and rashard a bit. put humphries on howard a bit, get superfan to set some low posts…i would have taken anything other then running the same plays, and hoping for different results.
most of the raptors didn’t show up for a full 48, but if they did, and played the way they should, then i could have coached them.
Raps Fans last blog post..Raptors Lose in 5 to The Magic
okay I know this is late, and i never post here, but i just have to get something off my chest.
Fourth Quarter, Final 5 minutes of the game.
In my opinion
2 Mistakes
1)Carlos Delfino bringing the ball up and constantly shooting.
To Carlos – You are our sixth/seventh man, Why are you carrying the ball and WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING CONTESTED JUMP SHOTS from behind the arc. Multiple times?!?!?! Sure he’s got the grit, and he drives at Howard, but come on, final minutes of the game… Bosh, Jose, or even Kapono is the clear option here.
2) Sam Mitchell after five fouls, FINALLY telling his team go at Howard. Where was this the rest of the game? Who cares if you get blocked every time. This should have been the strategy from the first quarter. If Howard is out of the game, Raps win, (Game 3 anyone)
So to sum it up, this was a complete coaching meltdown in the final quarters of an Away game.
I also forgot ZERO ball movement from the Raptors. (in the final minutes)
Everyone was falling apart, because they tried to save the game themselves. The Raptor’s Strength lies in their ball movement and none was seen in the final minutes of the most important game of the season.
The last minutes were the most critical and we clearly folded over like so many games before. A sad ending to a possible great season.
Jason,
With all due respect, very little ball movement was seen all season.
In comparison to just last season alone, I saw very little movement around the perimeter, something that gave us numerous open looks last year. Granted, teams were locking in on our perimeter game a bit better, but if Bosh is being doubled, someone is open.
We have basically perfected the pick and roll. Time to work on another play.
Scotts last blog post..Linkage – May 1