Raps beat Grizzlies with efficiency

Jose Calderon was efficient and Chris Bosh was the heart and soul of the Raptors as they managed to beat an improved Grizzlies team 95-89 Wednesday night on the second night of a back-to-back on the road.

With T.J. Ford injured, Calderon got the start and he kept the offence executing with efficiency and the ball moving from baseline to baseline throughout the entire game. Calderon did a much better job than Ford has at getting his Raptors teammates to take the right shots and everyone seemed to get involved in the offence.

The ball went to Bosh when it should (22 points and 19 rebounds); Kapono got more open looks than he has had all year (14 points); Bargnani continued to take good, confident-looking shots throughout the game, despite missing all of his first half attempts and then caught fire in the second half (13 points and 11 rebounds); and even Jamario Moon had a big game offensively (12 points and 5 rebounds).

Bosh and Moon were once again warriors for the Raptors inside. They went after loose balls and rebounds all night and were the heart and soul of the team on a night they needed to get a win. Moon went up for a dunk that would have been the highlight of the year if he had thrown it down, but took a scary fall when Stromile Swift fouled him hard. Moon slammed his head on the floor and rolled around in pain for a minute or two, but came right back and hit his flagrant foul free-throw.

Jamario Moon is the best defensive player the Raptors have had since Marcus Camby and you can take that to the bank. Offensively, his shot is inconsistent, but he has shown signs of being able to knock down the open jumper. My only issue with Moon is that he should be attacking the basket in the halfcourt offence. He hasn't tried to drive in a halfcourt situation once all year and with his athleticism, I don't see anyone being able to guard him without fouling. The only legitimate reason for him to always shoot the jumper or pass, rather than drive to the bucket is if he has a terrible handle. I guess time will tell.

You have got to love the way Chris Bosh has been playing lately if you're a Raptors fan. He has shown a tremendous degree of heart and has worked his ass off for Toronto on defence and on the boards thus far. He hasn't been himself offensively yet, but his outside shot is starting to look more consistent in the last couple of games. Bosh still seems to be lacking a little bit of his spring that he had last year. I'm wondering if it's because of injuries or simply because he isn't at 100 percent in terms of his game shape yet.

I liked the way Sam Mitchell stuck with Bargnani even though he missed every shot he took in the first half. It paid off down the stretch as Bargnani knocked down some big fourth quarter shots from the perimeter.

Having Jose Calderon play big minutes for this offence was a breath of fresh air. I'm sick of seeing T.J. Ford dribble the ball around while everyone else on offence stands around. Calderon gets everyone touches and the ball seems to go where it should. I think his efficient play rubs off on everyone and the team plays smarter basketball as a whole.

The only bad thing about Ford being hurt is that we have to watch Darick Martin play point guard when Calderon needs a rest. After not playing in any of the Raptors first 11 games, Martin immediately missed two shots on his first offensive possession in the game. As usual, Raptors announcers Chuck Swirsky and Leo Rautins continuously praised Martin as he played like crap. What game are you guys watching?? Luckily, Sam Mitchell didn't leave Martin in for very long in the second half, giving Calderon an extremely short rest.

Without T.J. Ford, there was only one Raptor player in the game forcing shots and that was Juan Dixon. Leave him on the bench!

Important Fact of the Day: In the NBA's new +/- statistic that counts how many points a player's team gains or loses when they're on the court, Jose Calderon has beaten T.J. Ford 7 out of the 11 games in which both players have played in.