Posts
The Blue Jays open the regular season today in New York agains the Yankees. Roy Halladay vs. Wang at 1:00 p.m.
Same old story for the Jays as they start the regular season with a full lineup of injured players. The biggest loss so far has been Casey Janssen, who's out for the year. Luckily for the Jays though, there relief corps is deep and they should be able to overcome that loss.
Also on the injured list for the Jays so far is Scott Rolen (finger), Matt Stairs (hip), B.J. Ryan (sore arm), and Rod Barajas (shoulder).
No one's expected to be out very long, except for Rolen who will be back in 3-4 weeks.
If the Jays hope to contend with the Yankees and Red Sox this season, they'll need big years from Alex Rios and Vernon Wells. Wells especially has got to have a better season than last year, where he struggled after signing a lucrative long-term contract with the Blue Jays.
Look out for newcomer Buck Coats who will be with the big league Jays for now. The outfielder should see some at-bats because of the injuries and after watching him a bit in spring training, I wouldn't be surprised to see him stick.
As far as offseason additions, I really liked the Glaus for Rolen trade. Glaus was falling apart and could barely walk around the field during warm-ups. Rolen is injury prone and even though he's already out until late April because of a freak finger mangling, I still think he's going to have a good year for the Jays. His defence at third base should be a huge upgrade.
Not so happy about the addition of SS David Eckstein. I'd rather see John McDonald getting starts because of his defence. I've heard that Eckstein's defence isn't great, but I'll give him a chance before I make a final judgment.
The Jays also added Marco Scutaro. Scutaro's nothing special, but should add some depth for a team that needs it.
If the Jays hope to make the playoffs, they're going to need a lot of things to go right. Halladay, Burnett and McGowan have to stay healthy and have big years, while the hitters cannot disappoint.
Expect career years from Rios and Aaron Hill.
Check back for more later in the week.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Mitchell's move foils new lineups winning streak
Sam Mitchell had the bright idea to take Jamario Moon out of the Raptors starting lineup for just one game and replace him with Jason Kapono. The switch had disastrous results for the Raptors and they were destroyed by MoPete and the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night.
Peterson was received extremely well by the ACC crowd. The fans were itching to give him a standing ovation during the intros; however, the Raptors announced him second last for some reason and did not allow the crowd to give him a full standing O.
Peterson always played hard and was a force on offence and defence, even if he was never a consistent scorer. For some strange reason, which Toronto fans never understood, Peterson was buried on the bench by Sam Mitchell for much of last year and the Raptors made no attempt to re-sign him.
MoPete is a winner. The Raptors could give both Kapono and Delfino away for him and still be a better team. The Raptors miss MoPete's scrappy play, energy and defence. His absence is one of the reasons the Raptors have regressed this season.
Is it me or does Sam Mitchell think he's coaching a hockey team? Mitchell seems to think he needs two lines and doesn't realize that reserves are only there so that starters can get a rest.
More Calderon and Ford together please.
On a brighter note, the losing streak that the Raptors have been enduring over the last month or so now has them sitting in sixth place. This would mean a first round playoff matchup against the Orlando Magic. The Magic are the only possible first round playoff opponent that the Raps actually have a chance to beat so let's hope the Wizards keep winning.
Peterson was received extremely well by the ACC crowd. The fans were itching to give him a standing ovation during the intros; however, the Raptors announced him second last for some reason and did not allow the crowd to give him a full standing O.
Peterson always played hard and was a force on offence and defence, even if he was never a consistent scorer. For some strange reason, which Toronto fans never understood, Peterson was buried on the bench by Sam Mitchell for much of last year and the Raptors made no attempt to re-sign him.
MoPete is a winner. The Raptors could give both Kapono and Delfino away for him and still be a better team. The Raptors miss MoPete's scrappy play, energy and defence. His absence is one of the reasons the Raptors have regressed this season.
Is it me or does Sam Mitchell think he's coaching a hockey team? Mitchell seems to think he needs two lines and doesn't realize that reserves are only there so that starters can get a rest.
More Calderon and Ford together please.
On a brighter note, the losing streak that the Raptors have been enduring over the last month or so now has them sitting in sixth place. This would mean a first round playoff matchup against the Orlando Magic. The Magic are the only possible first round playoff opponent that the Raps actually have a chance to beat so let's hope the Wizards keep winning.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Team-oriented Calderon saves the day
We live in an era where many NBA players care more about how many points they score, or whether or not their latest basket made the Sportscentre highlight reel than they do about winning.
Jose Calderon is not one of those players.
Calderon is in a contract year. That means many teams will judge his value at least partially on his statistics. When judging Calderon, statistics don't even show half of the true story.
In a gesture unheard of in today's sports universe, Calderon approached Bryan Colangelo and Sam Mitchell in order to suggest putting T.J. Ford back into the Raptors starting lineup and returning Calderon to his role of coming off the bench.
Calderon's decision was made for one reason and that was to help the Raptors come out of their funk, which has seen them lose 11 of their last 13 games.
The losing streak has happened mostly because of two major events: T.J. Ford's return and Chris Bosh's injury.
If you've been reading my blog then you know my opinion of Ford, especially in the last couple of weeks, and it has not been good. Ford has been sulking ever since his return from injury and obviously Calderon knew that things would not change until Ford was given his starting position back.
With Ford injured for most of the year, Calderon played like an all-star and no one could have justified taking the starting spot away from him, but Calderon suggested the move himself. He wanted to see Ford play better and knew from experience that he could contribute just as much coming off the bench.
Calderon gave up his starting spot because he knew that the Raptors needed a boost if they were going to come out of their slump and have a chance at doing some damage in the postseason.
If tonight was any indication, his gesture may end up being the turning point in the 2007-08 season for Toronto.
Calderon's unselfish action not only helped Toronto beat the Pistons tonight, but may have saved the Raptors season from total disaster.
He also may have saved both Sam Mitchell and T.J. Ford's careers as Raptors.
By Calderon doing what he did, the entire team seemed to have a more confident look and T.J. Ford played team basketball for the first time since his return.
How could Ford or anyone else for that matter play any other way after the amazingly selfless gesture made by Jose?
Not only will Ford play better as a starter, but the second unit will get a much needed boost of energy and instead of losing ground when the starters take their rest, the reserves are now equally as strong with Calderon leading the way.
While Bosh can carry the starting lineup, the second unit needed a change.
With Calderon the court, Delfino, Kapono and now Bargnani, who was also moved out of the starting lineup in favour of Rasho Nesterovic, will now see open shots, rather than standing around watching Ford dribble out the shot clock.
Also, the change in the starting lineup seems to have motivated Sam Mitchell to do what he should have been doing all season, which is to play both Ford and Calderon side-by-side at the guard positions in the last seven or eight minutes of the fourth quarter. The two point guards played very well together and without both of them on the court in the final minutes, the Raptors may have blown their lead.
I'm not a fan of T.J. Ford, but when he plays smart team basketball, he's definitely one of the top three players on the Raptors along with Calderon and Bosh. With all three healthy (for now) and with Ford now playing to win, the Raptors could peak at the right time and maybe even make a playoff run.
NBA Notes
Monday night featured two great games: Phoenix at Detroit and L.A. Lakers at Golden State. These are the kind of games that make me want to do nothing but watch basketball for hours and hours at a time, but both left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. After watching Phoenix fight back to give the Pistons a game, the refs decided to give every call to Detroit. They basically decided the game, calling touch fouls and giving every close call to the Pistons. Eventually, Mike D'Antoni threw a fit and Detroit won the game, but I would have loved to see what the end result would have been if they had let Phoenix play. I think the Suns would have won the game in regulation.
After watching the early game, I didn't think anything could top it, but I was dead wrong. The Lakers - Warriors matchup may have been one of the most exciting regular season games of the year, but ended in an even more frustrating fashion.
After the Warriors made an improbable comeback and sent the game into overtime, Bob Delaney decided to call an offensive foul on Monta Ellis on the inbounds pass in what was Golden State's last attempt to tie the game and send it into double OT. The foul clearly should have either been a no call or a defensive foul on Derek Fisher. On the replay, it was clear that Fisher pulled Ellis down. Delaney had no business making the call and was at a terrible angle to judge what had happened.
Let's hope the terrible officiating ends with the regular season. There's going to be some exciting first round playoff matchups, especially in the West. I'd hate to see a Lakers-Warriors series come down to a bad call by an official.
Thursday's NCAA picks:
West Virginia -1.5 over Xavier
North Carolina -9 over Washington State
Louisville -3 over Tennessee
Check back this weekend for more basketball and a Blue Jays/baseball preview!
Jose Calderon is not one of those players.
Calderon is in a contract year. That means many teams will judge his value at least partially on his statistics. When judging Calderon, statistics don't even show half of the true story.
In a gesture unheard of in today's sports universe, Calderon approached Bryan Colangelo and Sam Mitchell in order to suggest putting T.J. Ford back into the Raptors starting lineup and returning Calderon to his role of coming off the bench.
Calderon's decision was made for one reason and that was to help the Raptors come out of their funk, which has seen them lose 11 of their last 13 games.
The losing streak has happened mostly because of two major events: T.J. Ford's return and Chris Bosh's injury.
If you've been reading my blog then you know my opinion of Ford, especially in the last couple of weeks, and it has not been good. Ford has been sulking ever since his return from injury and obviously Calderon knew that things would not change until Ford was given his starting position back.
With Ford injured for most of the year, Calderon played like an all-star and no one could have justified taking the starting spot away from him, but Calderon suggested the move himself. He wanted to see Ford play better and knew from experience that he could contribute just as much coming off the bench.
Calderon gave up his starting spot because he knew that the Raptors needed a boost if they were going to come out of their slump and have a chance at doing some damage in the postseason.
If tonight was any indication, his gesture may end up being the turning point in the 2007-08 season for Toronto.
Calderon's unselfish action not only helped Toronto beat the Pistons tonight, but may have saved the Raptors season from total disaster.
He also may have saved both Sam Mitchell and T.J. Ford's careers as Raptors.
By Calderon doing what he did, the entire team seemed to have a more confident look and T.J. Ford played team basketball for the first time since his return.
How could Ford or anyone else for that matter play any other way after the amazingly selfless gesture made by Jose?
Not only will Ford play better as a starter, but the second unit will get a much needed boost of energy and instead of losing ground when the starters take their rest, the reserves are now equally as strong with Calderon leading the way.
While Bosh can carry the starting lineup, the second unit needed a change.
With Calderon the court, Delfino, Kapono and now Bargnani, who was also moved out of the starting lineup in favour of Rasho Nesterovic, will now see open shots, rather than standing around watching Ford dribble out the shot clock.
Also, the change in the starting lineup seems to have motivated Sam Mitchell to do what he should have been doing all season, which is to play both Ford and Calderon side-by-side at the guard positions in the last seven or eight minutes of the fourth quarter. The two point guards played very well together and without both of them on the court in the final minutes, the Raptors may have blown their lead.
I'm not a fan of T.J. Ford, but when he plays smart team basketball, he's definitely one of the top three players on the Raptors along with Calderon and Bosh. With all three healthy (for now) and with Ford now playing to win, the Raptors could peak at the right time and maybe even make a playoff run.
NBA Notes
Monday night featured two great games: Phoenix at Detroit and L.A. Lakers at Golden State. These are the kind of games that make me want to do nothing but watch basketball for hours and hours at a time, but both left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. After watching Phoenix fight back to give the Pistons a game, the refs decided to give every call to Detroit. They basically decided the game, calling touch fouls and giving every close call to the Pistons. Eventually, Mike D'Antoni threw a fit and Detroit won the game, but I would have loved to see what the end result would have been if they had let Phoenix play. I think the Suns would have won the game in regulation.
After watching the early game, I didn't think anything could top it, but I was dead wrong. The Lakers - Warriors matchup may have been one of the most exciting regular season games of the year, but ended in an even more frustrating fashion.
After the Warriors made an improbable comeback and sent the game into overtime, Bob Delaney decided to call an offensive foul on Monta Ellis on the inbounds pass in what was Golden State's last attempt to tie the game and send it into double OT. The foul clearly should have either been a no call or a defensive foul on Derek Fisher. On the replay, it was clear that Fisher pulled Ellis down. Delaney had no business making the call and was at a terrible angle to judge what had happened.
Let's hope the terrible officiating ends with the regular season. There's going to be some exciting first round playoff matchups, especially in the West. I'd hate to see a Lakers-Warriors series come down to a bad call by an official.
Thursday's NCAA picks:
West Virginia -1.5 over Xavier
North Carolina -9 over Washington State
Louisville -3 over Tennessee
Check back this weekend for more basketball and a Blue Jays/baseball preview!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Sat picks
What a great day of basketball on Friday...so many upsets. The player that impressed me the most on Day 2 of the NCAA Tourney was Stephen Curry. Yes, Dell Curry's son! Curry shot 14-22 and scored 40 points to lead Davidson in a first round win over Gonzaga. The entire Gonzaga team was trying to prevent Curry from getting open, but he kept finding space to hit shots. The kid is like a cross between Reggie Miller and Allen Iverson.
I also enjoyed watching Villanova come back from an 18 point deficit to beat Clemson in the second half of last night's game. I'm a big fan of Scottie Reynolds and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Wildcats continue to make some noise.
Sonny Weems was also extremely impressive for Arkansas, putting up 31 points on 12-14 shooting. Weems' performance ensured that the Hoosiers had no chance to mount a comeback. Eric Gordon was invisible all night for Indiana and I'd like to go on record as saying he'll be a bust in the NBA.
Sat Picks:
Kansas State +4.5 over Wisconsin
I actually like Kansas State to upset the Badgers here on the moneyline. Wisconsin will be outclassed here as far as athleticism is concerned. They are a deep team, but hard work and defence is their trademark and the fact that they're going up against Bradley and Beasley does not bode well for them. Wisconsin has no one to cover Kansas State's two phenomenal athletes and they should have their way on the court tomorrow afternoon.
Check back tomorrow morning before 2:00 for more picks (straight up and ATS).
I also enjoyed watching Villanova come back from an 18 point deficit to beat Clemson in the second half of last night's game. I'm a big fan of Scottie Reynolds and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Wildcats continue to make some noise.
Sonny Weems was also extremely impressive for Arkansas, putting up 31 points on 12-14 shooting. Weems' performance ensured that the Hoosiers had no chance to mount a comeback. Eric Gordon was invisible all night for Indiana and I'd like to go on record as saying he'll be a bust in the NBA.
Sat Picks:
Kansas State +4.5 over Wisconsin
I actually like Kansas State to upset the Badgers here on the moneyline. Wisconsin will be outclassed here as far as athleticism is concerned. They are a deep team, but hard work and defence is their trademark and the fact that they're going up against Bradley and Beasley does not bode well for them. Wisconsin has no one to cover Kansas State's two phenomenal athletes and they should have their way on the court tomorrow afternoon.
Check back tomorrow morning before 2:00 for more picks (straight up and ATS).
Friday, March 21, 2008
NCAA Friday's Picks
Going 3-3 on Day 1 isn't too bad. I could definitely do worse, but let's hope it doesn't happen.
Day 2 picks:
Davidson -2 over Gonzaga
Drake -4.5 over Western Kentucky
Miami Fla -1 over St. Mary's
Butler -5 over South Alabama
St. Joe's over Oklahoma
Clemson -6 over Villanova
Day 2 picks:
Davidson -2 over Gonzaga
Drake -4.5 over Western Kentucky
Miami Fla -1 over St. Mary's
Butler -5 over South Alabama
St. Joe's over Oklahoma
Clemson -6 over Villanova
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
March Madness Thurs Picks!
Kent -2 over UNLV
Belmont +20 over Duke
CS Fullerton +11 over Wisconsin
Texas AM -1.5 over BYU
West Virginia -2 over Arizona
Cornell +14.5 over Stanford
I'll post more picks if I have them throughout the day tomorrow, but don't count on more picks until Thurs night. I'll post picks for Friday at that time. Good luck!
Belmont +20 over Duke
CS Fullerton +11 over Wisconsin
Texas AM -1.5 over BYU
West Virginia -2 over Arizona
Cornell +14.5 over Stanford
I'll post more picks if I have them throughout the day tomorrow, but don't count on more picks until Thurs night. I'll post picks for Friday at that time. Good luck!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Mitchell's favourite?
What's wrong with the Raptors? Throughout their despicable 0-5 Western Conference road trip, I've been trying to put my finger on exactly what the problem with this team is.
Their talent level seems to be better than last season, but then why are they playing worse?
Then, I watched the Raptors allow Utah to break open what was a close game heading into the fourth quarter, and if I had any doubts about who to blame for the "pretender" label that is written all over Toronto this season, they were completely erased by the end of the game.
T.J. Ford was a -21 on the night and when he came into the game to start the fourth quarter, the Raptors might as well have left the court. After once again playing terrible in the first half and getting a quick hook that wasn't quick enough, Jose Calderon finally started heating up in the second half and brought the Raptors back into the game.
When Calderon gets going, the team gets going and everyone was looking good in a third quarter where the Raptors outscored the Jazz 27-18.
Enter T.J. Ford.
After Calderon's great third quarter and Ford's dreadful play in the first half, no one would have believed that Mitchell would leave the backup on the court for long. But if there's one thing I've learned watching Sam Mitchell coach the Raptors, it is that the unbelievable becomes reality quite often when Sam's running the show.
I've seen Mitchell put Matt Bonner one-on-one to defend Dirk Nowitzki in the closing seconds of a tie game. Hell...just yesterday I saw Mitchell allow Carlos Delfino to lineup as one of the two main rebounders on the free throw line late in the fourth quarter of a close game against Sacramento.
Just as sure as Nowitzki scored and won the game for the Mavs, Delfino failed to get the rebound and the Kings hammered the final nail into the Raptors coffin.
Mitchell struck again earlier tonight in the second game of a back-to-back in Utah when he decided to put Ford back into the game.
Ford played his usual fourth quarter role, getting into a one-on-one battle with Jazz guard Ronnie Price and when he wasn't throwing up wild shots, he was dribbling the ball off his foot and falling out of bounds.
Needless to say the Raptors quickly fell behind eight points and Mitchell still didn't turn to the bench to call the second best player on the team back into the game.
Just as Mitchell has done throughout the West coast road trip, he left Calderon on the bench way too long in the fourth quarter and if not for that, the Raptors may have actually had a chance to win more than one of the five games they've lost on the road in the past 10 days.
Even the cameraman couldn't believe Calderon was still stuck on the bench with about seven minutes to go. The camera was continuously focused on the Raptors all-star calibre point guard during breaks in the action. Calderon, who has been absent of his usual spirit in the last couple of games, looked sick to his stomach sitting on the bench as the game got away.
In a fourth quarter that epitomized Ford's career as a Raptor, T.J. lost his cool after being schooled multiple times by Jazz reserve guard Ronnie Price. After Price scored one of several layups he managed to get with Ford defending him, T.J. worried more about his pride then his team you can be assured, stormed down the court, ran into Price while simultaneously shoving him, and throwing up a shot all in the same motion.
When the ref called the obvious offensive foul, Ford tried to attack the referee who blew the whistle and had to be restrained by Jason Kapono. Ford was immediately ejected and in doing so, gave the Jazz another two points on technical free throws, although they didn't matter much. Ford's play had pretty much already ended any hope Toronto had of winning the game.
Even more mind blowing was Sam Mitchell jumping to Ford's defence and giving the refs an earful after the ejection.
Not only did Mitchell look like a fool because of the obviousness of the call, but how dare the head coach take a chance of costing his team more points in a game that the Raptors had a chance of winning before Ford threw it away.
Instead of yelling at the refs, Mitchell should have reamed out Ford for a) getting involved in a mano-a-mano battle with Ronnie Price when he should be focused on getting the Raptors good shots and b) for losing his cool on an obvious offensive foul and giving the Jazz two points on technical free throws.
Let's be honest; Ford should never have been in the game in the first place. Why was he? One can only speculate that he continues to get playing time because of his close relationship with Sam Mitchell. Not only has Ford's play hurt the Raptors since his return, but Calderon's play has clearly suffered as well because of the decreased playing time.
Sure, Ford has potential and yes, he has played well about 50 percent of the time during his days as a Toronto Raptor, but in the long run, Ford is a team killer. I've written about this multiple times and his play this season has convinced me that he can't improve as a player.
This is true especially on this Raptors team with Mitchell as his coach because either he's not smart enough to make good decisions or simply because he's not willing to. Only his coaches and teammates know the truth.
The Raptors will never be a real contender with Sam Mitchell coaching the team and they will never have a shot at a championship with T.J. Ford on their roster.
So let's hope Bryan Colangelo really does know what he's doing and it says here that he does. Don't be surprised when Sam Mitchell follows his little buddy Ford right out of Toronto. I'll even pay for the cab ride to the airport if Mr. Colangelo packs John Lucas into the trunk with T.J.'s luggage.
Other Raptors notes:
Their talent level seems to be better than last season, but then why are they playing worse?
Then, I watched the Raptors allow Utah to break open what was a close game heading into the fourth quarter, and if I had any doubts about who to blame for the "pretender" label that is written all over Toronto this season, they were completely erased by the end of the game.
T.J. Ford was a -21 on the night and when he came into the game to start the fourth quarter, the Raptors might as well have left the court. After once again playing terrible in the first half and getting a quick hook that wasn't quick enough, Jose Calderon finally started heating up in the second half and brought the Raptors back into the game.
When Calderon gets going, the team gets going and everyone was looking good in a third quarter where the Raptors outscored the Jazz 27-18.
Enter T.J. Ford.
After Calderon's great third quarter and Ford's dreadful play in the first half, no one would have believed that Mitchell would leave the backup on the court for long. But if there's one thing I've learned watching Sam Mitchell coach the Raptors, it is that the unbelievable becomes reality quite often when Sam's running the show.
I've seen Mitchell put Matt Bonner one-on-one to defend Dirk Nowitzki in the closing seconds of a tie game. Hell...just yesterday I saw Mitchell allow Carlos Delfino to lineup as one of the two main rebounders on the free throw line late in the fourth quarter of a close game against Sacramento.
Just as sure as Nowitzki scored and won the game for the Mavs, Delfino failed to get the rebound and the Kings hammered the final nail into the Raptors coffin.
Mitchell struck again earlier tonight in the second game of a back-to-back in Utah when he decided to put Ford back into the game.
Ford played his usual fourth quarter role, getting into a one-on-one battle with Jazz guard Ronnie Price and when he wasn't throwing up wild shots, he was dribbling the ball off his foot and falling out of bounds.
Needless to say the Raptors quickly fell behind eight points and Mitchell still didn't turn to the bench to call the second best player on the team back into the game.
Just as Mitchell has done throughout the West coast road trip, he left Calderon on the bench way too long in the fourth quarter and if not for that, the Raptors may have actually had a chance to win more than one of the five games they've lost on the road in the past 10 days.
Even the cameraman couldn't believe Calderon was still stuck on the bench with about seven minutes to go. The camera was continuously focused on the Raptors all-star calibre point guard during breaks in the action. Calderon, who has been absent of his usual spirit in the last couple of games, looked sick to his stomach sitting on the bench as the game got away.
In a fourth quarter that epitomized Ford's career as a Raptor, T.J. lost his cool after being schooled multiple times by Jazz reserve guard Ronnie Price. After Price scored one of several layups he managed to get with Ford defending him, T.J. worried more about his pride then his team you can be assured, stormed down the court, ran into Price while simultaneously shoving him, and throwing up a shot all in the same motion.
When the ref called the obvious offensive foul, Ford tried to attack the referee who blew the whistle and had to be restrained by Jason Kapono. Ford was immediately ejected and in doing so, gave the Jazz another two points on technical free throws, although they didn't matter much. Ford's play had pretty much already ended any hope Toronto had of winning the game.
Even more mind blowing was Sam Mitchell jumping to Ford's defence and giving the refs an earful after the ejection.
Not only did Mitchell look like a fool because of the obviousness of the call, but how dare the head coach take a chance of costing his team more points in a game that the Raptors had a chance of winning before Ford threw it away.
Instead of yelling at the refs, Mitchell should have reamed out Ford for a) getting involved in a mano-a-mano battle with Ronnie Price when he should be focused on getting the Raptors good shots and b) for losing his cool on an obvious offensive foul and giving the Jazz two points on technical free throws.
Let's be honest; Ford should never have been in the game in the first place. Why was he? One can only speculate that he continues to get playing time because of his close relationship with Sam Mitchell. Not only has Ford's play hurt the Raptors since his return, but Calderon's play has clearly suffered as well because of the decreased playing time.
Sure, Ford has potential and yes, he has played well about 50 percent of the time during his days as a Toronto Raptor, but in the long run, Ford is a team killer. I've written about this multiple times and his play this season has convinced me that he can't improve as a player.
This is true especially on this Raptors team with Mitchell as his coach because either he's not smart enough to make good decisions or simply because he's not willing to. Only his coaches and teammates know the truth.
The Raptors will never be a real contender with Sam Mitchell coaching the team and they will never have a shot at a championship with T.J. Ford on their roster.
So let's hope Bryan Colangelo really does know what he's doing and it says here that he does. Don't be surprised when Sam Mitchell follows his little buddy Ford right out of Toronto. I'll even pay for the cab ride to the airport if Mr. Colangelo packs John Lucas into the trunk with T.J.'s luggage.
Other Raptors notes:
- The Raptors finally seem to have discovered that Jason Kapono is a good shooter. After 65 games Sam Mitchell has finally decided to give the best shooter in the NBA a chance to play and the Raptors have even passed him the ball a few times. Let's hope this continues.
- Carlos Delfino shoots 40% from the field and 38% from three point range. He also averages 4.0 three point attempts per game, which is more than Anthony Parker, Jason Kapono and Jose Calderon. Kapono is #1 overall in three point field goal percentage, while Parker sits in sixth and Calderon eighth. Maybe Sam Mitchell should re-evaluate who's taking the shots.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Raps can't Af-Ford erratic play
With Chris Bosh being injured, I think that everyone who watches Toronto has once again been reminded of his immense value on the court. Bosh is truly an underrated superstar. The Raptors have looked terrible without their all-star power forward and playing without him has really exposed some of their weaknesses.
Bosh is the type of superstar that can easily be taken for granted. He effortlessly puts up 20+ point and 10 rebounds per game and is the anchor on defence, as well as the only semi-dependable rebounder that the Raps have late in the fourth quarter. Any chance the Raptors have of securing home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs may go down the drain quickly if CB4 doesn't return soon.
After Bosh, the Raptors next best player is Jose Calderon. While I do consider Jose to be one of the best point guards in the league, Calderon is a team-oriented guard and not a player who takes over a game individually very often. The Raptors will need Andrea Bargnani to improve significantly, as well as a major upgrade at the 2 or 3 position if they really want to be a serious contender in the East in the near future. Marion and Maggette are two players Colangelo should be thinking about.
Beef it up:
1. Watching T.J. Ford play since his return from injury has made me sick. Serving as Toronto's backup point guard and rightfully so, Ford has proven yet again that he is nothing more than a slightly better version of Rafer Alston and Mike James. Ford has shown again and again that he is a stats first player, who cares more about getting an assist than getting the ball to the right spot. He constantly gets caught up in one-on-one battles with opposing point guards much like Alston and James did when they were in T.O.
In the last few games, Ford has played as if he has no respect for his coaches or teammates, embarrassing them with shots that only a Lebron James or Kobe Bryant calibre player should be taking. In a recent game, Ford took shot after shot until Chuck Swirsky finally proclaimed with more than half of the fourth quarter finished that no other Raptors had even attempted a shot in the period other than Ford. Needless to say, the Raptors lost the game.
Ford does make some of the poorly selected shots he attempts, but the Raptors are a team-first squad and T.J.'s style disrupts the team's rhythm. Jose Calderon gets his teammates good shots and sinks big baskets when the team needs him to, while Ford dribbles around lulling other Raptors to sleep.
Calderon is one of the best point guards in the NBA right now and the Raptors have to either get Ford to play a team game in a backup role or ship him out of town.
In the loss against Washington on Friday night, Ford continuously walked the ball up the floor and then dribbled out most of the shot clock. This equated to some poor possessions for Toronto. Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo continuously yelled for T.J. to push the ball up the floor in disgust. You should have traded him when his value was high in the offseason B.C.. We could have had Maggette.
2. Why does Sam Mitchell constantly pick on Jamario Moon? Mitchell never seems to chew out anyone else and is seen yelling at Jamario multiple times each game. I will admit that Jamario should be attacking the basket more often than he does, but as far as I'm concerned Moon is one of the team's hardest workers on defence and pulls down more big rebounds than anyone other than Chris Bosh. Jamario has become a consistent defensive force for Toronto and arguably has more impact on the defensive side of the ball than anyone else on the team. Moon has improved his shot since the start of the season and is making smarter decisions on offence.
Hey Sam: Save your yelling for the next time T.J. Ford dribbles the ball around for 23 seconds and then hoists up a ridiculous fadeaway instead of picking on the rookie ala Darrell Walker. I keep hearing that Mitchell treats all his players equally, but it seems to me he'd much rather take his frustrations out on a rookie than target the players who deserve to be criticized.
3. Dear Herbie Kuhn, please don't count to three in Spanish everytime the Raptors hit a three-pointer. It's way too cheesy!
4. Loving the MOOOON chants everytime Jamario makes a big play. Toronto fans need to improve this so it can be fully audible on television in the playoffs.
5. Why is Kris Humphries playing? Not only would Joey Graham be a better choice, but it would be easy to play Moon an extra 10 minutes at power forward if you really want to keep Graham nailed to the bench. With Delfino taking so many minutes at the three position, why not give Jamario the extra burn. He's better than Hump in every facet of the game and we could really use him on the floor most of the time.
Be back soon with some more Raptors news.
Bosh is the type of superstar that can easily be taken for granted. He effortlessly puts up 20+ point and 10 rebounds per game and is the anchor on defence, as well as the only semi-dependable rebounder that the Raps have late in the fourth quarter. Any chance the Raptors have of securing home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs may go down the drain quickly if CB4 doesn't return soon.
After Bosh, the Raptors next best player is Jose Calderon. While I do consider Jose to be one of the best point guards in the league, Calderon is a team-oriented guard and not a player who takes over a game individually very often. The Raptors will need Andrea Bargnani to improve significantly, as well as a major upgrade at the 2 or 3 position if they really want to be a serious contender in the East in the near future. Marion and Maggette are two players Colangelo should be thinking about.
Beef it up:
1. Watching T.J. Ford play since his return from injury has made me sick. Serving as Toronto's backup point guard and rightfully so, Ford has proven yet again that he is nothing more than a slightly better version of Rafer Alston and Mike James. Ford has shown again and again that he is a stats first player, who cares more about getting an assist than getting the ball to the right spot. He constantly gets caught up in one-on-one battles with opposing point guards much like Alston and James did when they were in T.O.
In the last few games, Ford has played as if he has no respect for his coaches or teammates, embarrassing them with shots that only a Lebron James or Kobe Bryant calibre player should be taking. In a recent game, Ford took shot after shot until Chuck Swirsky finally proclaimed with more than half of the fourth quarter finished that no other Raptors had even attempted a shot in the period other than Ford. Needless to say, the Raptors lost the game.
Ford does make some of the poorly selected shots he attempts, but the Raptors are a team-first squad and T.J.'s style disrupts the team's rhythm. Jose Calderon gets his teammates good shots and sinks big baskets when the team needs him to, while Ford dribbles around lulling other Raptors to sleep.
Calderon is one of the best point guards in the NBA right now and the Raptors have to either get Ford to play a team game in a backup role or ship him out of town.
In the loss against Washington on Friday night, Ford continuously walked the ball up the floor and then dribbled out most of the shot clock. This equated to some poor possessions for Toronto. Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo continuously yelled for T.J. to push the ball up the floor in disgust. You should have traded him when his value was high in the offseason B.C.. We could have had Maggette.
2. Why does Sam Mitchell constantly pick on Jamario Moon? Mitchell never seems to chew out anyone else and is seen yelling at Jamario multiple times each game. I will admit that Jamario should be attacking the basket more often than he does, but as far as I'm concerned Moon is one of the team's hardest workers on defence and pulls down more big rebounds than anyone other than Chris Bosh. Jamario has become a consistent defensive force for Toronto and arguably has more impact on the defensive side of the ball than anyone else on the team. Moon has improved his shot since the start of the season and is making smarter decisions on offence.
Hey Sam: Save your yelling for the next time T.J. Ford dribbles the ball around for 23 seconds and then hoists up a ridiculous fadeaway instead of picking on the rookie ala Darrell Walker. I keep hearing that Mitchell treats all his players equally, but it seems to me he'd much rather take his frustrations out on a rookie than target the players who deserve to be criticized.
3. Dear Herbie Kuhn, please don't count to three in Spanish everytime the Raptors hit a three-pointer. It's way too cheesy!
4. Loving the MOOOON chants everytime Jamario makes a big play. Toronto fans need to improve this so it can be fully audible on television in the playoffs.
5. Why is Kris Humphries playing? Not only would Joey Graham be a better choice, but it would be easy to play Moon an extra 10 minutes at power forward if you really want to keep Graham nailed to the bench. With Delfino taking so many minutes at the three position, why not give Jamario the extra burn. He's better than Hump in every facet of the game and we could really use him on the floor most of the time.
Be back soon with some more Raptors news.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
