ballocks

i can finally say that bargnani's getting better, imo. he's playing with more confidence, not just on the floor but in the huddle too. it's not like he's just listening to his teammates/coaches blabber at him anymore- he appears to have an answer, he's starting to think for himself and becoming a pro. comparing his defense in this game to his defense of two months ago is like apples and oranges. his center of gravity's lower, he's stronger, he's not playing cards with his hands, foul trouble's almost a forgotten issue, he's moving laterally- it's fun to watch.

his rebounding is still butter awful, imo. but even that's getting better in that he's actually boxing out on a regular basis! raptors don't box out- but he does! the only problem being that when the ball is within grasp he's still a little reluctant to pick it up. but that'll come.

in terms of team rebounding, though, we were annihilated. 16-4 in the first? painful. but when some people suggest the raps need a force under the glass, where exactly is he going play? unless bargnani moves over to the 3 (which might be inevitable), this guy (in our offense) is going to have to play around the perimeter. how many rebounding specialists can bomb threes? you can count them on one hand. it strains me to think about but if this team is going to win the boards battle, the improvement will have to come from within- specifically from the guards. delfino looks like a rebounder on our team but if i had to give him a grade for it, it'd be about 7/10. it's not his best talent. imo, he looks so much better than he is only because the rest of the team (especially parker and, surprisingly, calderon) is so bad.

bosh's body is starting to worry me a little. he looks most raw when he's most fresh. for him, it's becoming apparent (imo) that rest is the last thing he ever needs. i don't know about playing him 48 mpg every night but seriously, i might consider it (!). in his defense tonight, while he should've been going to the rim at every opportunity, the spurs help was often cheating under the basket and he didn't always have anywhere to go. what's more, this team has become so reliant on his drives that when he doesn't take them, nobody does (minus delfino). it sticks out. it's a point for which he'll become unfairly ostracized until our team takes some of the load off his back. i'm looking at moon, calderon and bargnani. at least il mago's working on this, too; his fundamentals with ball fakes, angles and strides are improving every day.

but yes, chris had a terrible game. he can't show up like that if he wants to lead this team by his example.

peace