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.