Posts for category ‘Toronto Raptors’

Caught the second half of the Wizards game via the Internet after shrugging my shoulders at yet another Redskins loss. Looking for Jim Zorn’s missing timeouts? The DC Sports Bog’s Dan Steinberg has some theories.

But what did I learn about the Wizards? Well, I can’t wait until Gilbert Arenas gets 100% comfortable with his offensive balance and ability to distribute … and is able to display it for a full game. He looked great in the third quarter. Made my day.

The turnovers, however, are a slight concern. So far this preseason, Arenas is averaging 6.3 turnovers per 36 minutes, which shatters his 3.2 TO/36 in 05-06 when he led the NBA in total turnovers with 297.

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Just over three minutes left in a close game, Wizards up by one point against an almost equally bad team, the thought crossed my mind….do I hope they lose?

I knew the Clippers and Kings, two of the other top three worst teams in the league, were playing each other last night. It would be “nice” to have better chances in the draft.

But just as quickly as the thought entered my mind, it left. All along, I’ve been against “tanking” or even hoping for more losses just for the possibility of maybe having a better shot at the top pick/Blake Griffin. It just doesn’t seem like good basketball karma, not like it matters with the Curse O’ Les Boulez anyway. But still, we’re talking principles…..principalities.

So eff the lottery it was, I was pulling for my Wizards to win, because that’s what fans do. And a win is what I thought we were getting when Juan Dixon squirmed for a layup with 47 seconds left, putting the Wiz up 96-90.

But nothing ever comes easy. Two straight Raptor threes later, the few of us on the Bullets Forever game thread were screaming for the ghosts of Anthony Parker, Michael Ruffin and Mo Peterson to be exercised.

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This Wizards lost again and all that…..surprise, surprise. Your web hits are below.

“We met the opposition and it was us.”
-Ed Tapscott

[Wizards Game 34 Blog vs. Toronto Raptors: Groundhog Day Continues - Bullets Forever]

[Wizards Outlet]
Another game, another slow start, and more inability to climb out of it because you’re physically and mentally spent from just trying to get even again. That is the position the Washington Wizards again found themselves in tonight.

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The Washington Wizards play the Toronto Raptors tonight….two franchises that have caused a great deal of disappointment for their fans this season. So, in anticipation of the game, I hooked up with Scott from RaptorBlog.com for a quick Q&A session. Read on….

1) The Raptors seem on the verge of making a run for the playoffs….what do they need to do for this to really happen?

I don’t know where you get the idea that the Raptors are “on the verge of making a run for the playoffs”. This team is seriously flawed. Their offense is average, their defense is subpar, their rebounding is atrocious and their bench is shallow. It’s possible that they could make a surge toward the seventh or eighth seed so that they can get stomped by the Celtics or Cavs like narcs at a biker rally, but I can’t fathom why that would be something to shoot for. This team needs to rebuild and get off the treadmill of .500 seasons and first round playoff losses.

2) The Jermaine O’Neal experiment…..verdict? The Basketball Jones podcast seems to think that J.O. is a hindrance to the Raptor offense. What say you?
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Jeff from CelticsBlog.com is doing the grunt work to put together a comprehensive NBA preview from bloggers ’round the ‘sphere. The complete Atlantic Division Preview is out. Here are the highlights from the participating bloggers for each team:

Boston Celtics

[Celtics Blog]
The East is getting better, so I feel like the bad teams will lose less and the good teams will win less, but the Celtics should still be good for the best record in the East. Prediction: 59-23

[Green Bandwagon]
Last year I laughably predicted the Celtics would win 49 games. Translation: I’m not too good at this. Meanwhile, Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, and the Eastern Conference in general should be better. Factor in James Posey’s departure, the question marks on Boston’s bench, and concerns about whether or not the Celtics will have the same fire and drive, and it is reasonable to expect fewer wins. Prediction: 58 – 24

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Still wondering about the injuries of Gilbert or Caron? DC Pro Sports Report has your back.

Caron’s hip deal is a funny thing….even he doesn’t know when he’s better. The possibility of an aggravation, this being an odd injury; I can’t imagine what’s going through his mind. All I can say is that I feel for ya Tuff Juice. Take as much time as you want as I can only imagine what it’s like trying to gain confidence with hip issues.

Gilbert…..pretty much the same to you. Knee injuries are far more common than those of the hip. So, you can rest a little more assured knowing that you’re not alone. Hey, even I am with you. I had microfracture surgery in late December ’07, and blogged about my experience once, then twice….but never followed up (unfortunately, similar to my dedication to physical therapy). One day.

Point is, Arenas is going through the confidence thing just as Caron. Whatcha gonna do?

Back to the current Wizards: It’s snowing in Toronto. The Pradamaster is a busy guy. DC Pro Sports goes into enemy territory. And I had my preview, so you’re covered.

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Yes, it was not pretty the last time DC took a visit to Toronto. Game 44 against the Raptors was the worst loss of the season for the Wizards….to date. 122-83 was the final. The Raps were up 10-0 in the game before I knew it; from there, they didn’t look back, aided by a 21-5 2nd quarter run.

In the previous Wizards game (#43) against the Raptors, which happened to be at home in DC the night before the above game, we were treated to this quote by Steve Buckhantz, except much louder: “Noooo!!!! It’s not possible!!!!!”

Why? Well, just watch below:

Hey, at least the Wiz won that one, thus, preventing horrible, horrible nightmares about the Raptors for the rest of my life. This clip expands on the reasoning.

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If you missed it…..I had a mini-game preview for tonight’s game. Mostly, it’s about recent comments by another blogger in regard to my Washington Wizards.

Let’s start the show.

1st Quarter

10:30 – The Raptors hit their first three shots to go up 6-0 before Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier can finish their ‘Keys to the Game’ for both teams.

10:05 – Check that, 4-4….timeout Eddie Jordan, 8-0 Raptors. The Wiz have attempted to go inside to Haywood a couple times, but the Raptors have come out aggressive on D, collapsing on the post.

9:37 – 10-0, after the timeout, a Jamison TO and a Moon putback off a Blatche block on Parker. The Wizards needed to come out swinging….they needed to punch the Raptors in the mouth first. They didn’t. So far, the Wiz have committed 2 turnovers.

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Well, back to the grind.

I tell you what, the Toronto Raptors almost ripped my heart out last night. I just don’t know if I could have taken an OT loss after Milwaukee and especially after last year’s Ruffin Ball Toss Gaffe, which has been revisited on pretty much every show that covers sports. What’s that you say? You want to re-live Steve Buckhantz’s call from that game last year over and over and over again? Well, just click on the link to the odd site found via Bullets Forever.

Anyway….this game is big….hell, they’re all big….yada, yada, yada.

Simply put, I don’t want to see any complacency with last night’s win. If the Wiz lose tonight, they lose….but don’t go down without a fight fellas!

We’ve all heard of so-called “Bulletin Board” material. I suppose that it transfers to the blogger world as well. Our humble Canadian friends at Dinosty had some choice things to say about the Wizards in a post about last night’s game.
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The breaking news is that Caron Butler is out tonight with a hip, and perhaps tomorrow night as well.

No one cares and neither should you.

Wizards fans did not care the last time Washington played Toronto in the 17th game of the season, when Chris Bosh was out with a groin.

And I did not give a damn that Michael Redd was out on Sunday.

But how to feel if you’re a Wizards fan? If myths such as the “Curse O’ Les Boulez” are not said out loud or typed on message boards, then they are most likely thought.

But it is an easy out to get all fatalistic up in this piece. Some on Bullets Forever, myself included, were unsure about this game even before the news about Tuff Juice dropped.

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