kirk_2003

missed the game.. looked like Luke got some burn..
shoot! i missed it! oh well.. slowly and maturely he will gobble up the wing minutes..

jibe

smitch kept LukeJ in the game for almost 19 minutes an the entire fourth quarter. why did he even have LukeJ in this game unless BC told him to.

LukeJ shot 4 for 6 with 2 for 2 from 3 .. he had 2 rebounds one off. an one def. he also had 2 assists and they were very good feeds. he ended up with 10 pts an looked good on the floor. his defence was a tad tenative an he is not noted for his defence.

all in all LukeJ looked good an i hope he gets his contract extended as he fills in for garbo.

SkywalkerAC

Sam going with Luke in the clutch and Luke coming through! That was blowing my mind!

TJ almost had the final shot. Not a bad look at all. We just didn't play that well today and were still in the game till the final shot.

A win would have been nice but I'm not too upset with this game.

__________________
AC

lucky777s

The two pointer by TJ was not a 'bad' shot. But is it really the best shot we could get. I am sick and tired of TJ's decision making down the stretch of games. He has this idea that he has to take the last shot and win the game. That is not his role. He is not a big time scorer. Set up a play for a real shooter who can take a good shot in rhythm and with good balance.

Sam did NOT call the play for TJ to shoot. The play is called for TJ to make a DECISION on where to get the best shot and CREATE something good. Unfortunately TJ's decision is always to shoot the ball himself. And because of his size he has to either take that step back fadeaway or throw up a wild layup attempt off the glass.

And TJ has no touch on those bank shots. He misses most of them, and that is not an exaggeration. He does not have that Iverson banker in his game.

Our success comes from sharing the ball to get the best looks. That shouldn't change in the final minute. TJ has to stop trying to be the hero or we are in big trouble in the playoffs.

All year he has been doing this 'take over the game' stuff and it hurts the team. We have been lucky in rebounding his misses but the shots are still bad and TJ doesn't seem to be learning from these mistakes.

TRON

I disagee Lucky, a lot of critisism that has been directed at TJ for his late game "selfishness" is unfounded IMO, I've seen this play called so many times this year, that there is no doubt in my mind that the orders had to come from the coach.

but I do agree in questioning whether it really was the best shot we could get. The Raps got back into the game by running their offense, sharing the ball and playing to their strenghts.

Instead of an iso for TJ at the top of the key, I would have preferred we just would have ran the offense and got a good look for somebody, similar to the previous play where Luke Jackson got a dunk.

overall, I'm not a big fan of those TJ iso's in late game situations, I bet if you crunched the numbers it would show that it is not an effective play to run......especially when your PG comes into the game cold and was already have a poor shooting night (2-11)

__________________
"and they aware of us though,
but we don't give a flying 747 **** though,
stayin on my hustle" -Nas

"To be honest, sometimes in this game, telling the truth is the best smokescreen of all." - Raptors GM Bryan Collangelo

Crossword

TJ's two pointer, I don't have much gripes with, other than the fact that he was cold coming into it. He had a good look, was pretty open, and he's made that shot numerous times in the past, including in clutch situations.

His three, on the other hand, definitely upsets me as a fan. I mean, he had MoPete, who at the LEAST we could have used as a decoy (Miami would likely swarm him after his shot against Washington), Parker, AND Jackson as other three-point options. All three are established long range shooters (not so much Jackson, but he was 2-2 on the night from beyond the arc, and had just made a clutch trey), and all three better options for that shot than TJ. There's a reason he was that open.

SickGame

I feel that the constant criticism towards a 24 year old point guard by Raptors fan is slightly ridiculous. With him at the helm, the Raptors are holding on the the three seed. People are all over Jose like he's the second coming of...a wicked european point guard of some sort (can't think of a name)...but Calderon hasn't really done much recently, nor can we be sure than he can carry the team on his back during crunch time. T.J., on the other hand, can and has done so. Yes, he has missed shots and lost a few games. He's also won them. No player in the league constantly wins games. Kobe misses game winners, as does Lebron, A.I. etc...
Are Raptor fans so forgetful about the fantastic stretch Ford had during March? The kid was on his game, going on a stretch of very solid performances including:

Mar 30 @ WAS W 123-118 29:49 10/22 45.5% 6 *** 23 pts
Mar 28 MIA W 96-83 32:25 3/9 33.3 9 *** 14 pts
Mar 26 @ BOS L 87-95 33:28 8/18 44.4 9 *** 28 pts
Mar 23 DEN W 121-94 27:06 6/10 60.0 14 *** 14 pts
Mar 21 ORL W 92-85 46:39 6/15 40.0 12 *** 16 pts
Mar 14 NYK W 104-94 38:15 5/12 41.7 18 *** 18 pts
Mar 12 @ MIL W 108-93 29:37 7/14 50.0 9 *** 19 pts
Mar 11 SEA W 120-119 37:29 11/15 73.3 13 *** 25 pts

Now, he's not the best shooting point guard. But he does create for his teamates, does break down defenses which causes the team to get that open look through rotating and plays with alot of intensitiy. He also wants to be the guy to take that last shot. He wants to win games and shows alot of confidence doing it, something that Bosh has yet to proove.
Remember, this is a point guard who is 24 years old and is now in his second season after a major surgery and injury (broken vertebrae).
All of sudden, the guy has a cold game, barely misses two jumpshots at the end of the game (both good looks) and he's an awful point guard and Calderon is the better of the two.
Give me a break.
He's a good point guard.
He has loads of potential.
He's inconsistent because he's young.
Even superstar point guards struggle and they take their time before becoming the great leaders that they are, à la Nash.
Patience. It's a good thing sometimes.


Granted, he wouldn't have been my first option as a three point shooter and I do feel that he is to blame and as is Mitchell.

__________________
Before Mr. Taylor taught the world to play, before fiber glass, before parquet, before the word "Doctor" was spelled with a "J", and ballrooms were ballcourts where the renaissance played, before the hype and before the dunk, after the rhythm but before the funk, before the money and before the fame, before new school and old school, before school had a name. It was only a ball, and the soul of the game.

SickGame

I feel that the constant criticism towards a 24 year old point guard by Raptors fan is slightly ridiculous. With him at the helm, the Raptors are holding on the the three seed. People are all over Jose like he's the second coming of...a wicked european point guard of some sort (can't think of a name)...but Calderon hasn't really done much recently, nor can we be sure than he can carry the team on his back during crunch time. T.J., on the other hand, can and has done so. Yes, he has missed shots and lost a few games. He's also won them. No player in the league constantly wins games. Kobe misses game winners, as does Lebron, A.I. etc...
Are Raptor fans so forgetful about the fantastic stretch Ford had during March? The kid was on his game, going on a stretch of very solid performances including:

Mar 30 @ WAS W 123-118 29:49 10/22 45.5% 6 ast 23 pts
Mar 28 MIA W 96-83 32:25 3/9 33.3 9 ast 14 pts
Mar 26 @ BOS L 87-95 33:28 8/18 44.4 9 ast 28 pts
Mar 23 DEN W 121-94 27:06 6/10 60.0 14 ast 14 pts
Mar 21 ORL W 92-85 46:39 6/15 40.0 12 ast 16 pts
Mar 14 NYK W 104-94 38:15 5/12 41.7 18 ast 18 pts
Mar 12 @ MIL W 108-93 29:37 7/14 50.0 9 ast 19 pts
Mar 11 SEA W 120-119 37:29 11/15 73.3 13 ast 25 pts

Now, he's not the best shooting point guard. But he does create for his teamates, does break down defenses which causes the team to get that open look through rotating and plays with alot of intensitiy. He also wants to be the guy to take that last shot. He wants to win games and shows alot of confidence doing it, something that Bosh has yet to proove.
Remember, this is a point guard who is 24 years old and is now in his second season after a major surgery and injury (broken vertebrae).
All of sudden, the guy has a cold game, barely misses two jumpshots at the end of the game (both good looks) and he's an awful point guard and Calderon is the better of the two.
Give me a break.
He's a good point guard.
He has loads of potential.
He's inconsistent because he's young.
Even superstar point guards struggle and they take their time before becoming the great leaders that they are, à la Nash.
Patience. It's a good thing sometimes.


Granted, the last shot wouldn't have been my first option and Ford is to blame and as is Mitchell.

__________________
Before Mr. Taylor taught the world to play, before fiber glass, before parquet, before the word "Doctor" was spelled with a "J", and ballrooms were ballcourts where the renaissance played, before the hype and before the dunk, after the rhythm but before the funk, before the money and before the fame, before new school and old school, before school had a name. It was only a ball, and the soul of the game.