[SkywalkerAC]

weak loss. Sam and TJ let it get away from us at the beginning of the 4th. we easily could have come back despite our monstrous drought but thornton made some very impressive plays. he's pretty much EXACTLY the kind of player BC should be looking for.

Bargnani should have fouled out Kaman on that drive. And he's starting to look 100% better rebounding the ball.

Bosh legs didn't look they were coming off a rest. Maybe too much?

Can't lose games like this. Especially when I got money on the line.

Not a set back though. You know how mad this makes the team. We'll pick it up. Now that we've lost this one I'm betting we take down the Spurs.

[firstrounder]

im worried about your money again!

[I Love Lamp]

Originally Posted by ballocks

i think tonight's spread should be 20+ points. i expect them to walk all over the clips.

oops

[seifer0406]

we need to stop losing these cheap ones.

[lucky777s]

Same thing that happened on our west coast trip. Raps get abused by physical wing players. Meanwhile we have Joey Graham sitting on the bench who is the only guy who can match the strength of Maggette. Way to use that depth coach.

Not like the Clips have anyone else we needed to key on and Maggette was sliding under the radar.

This team is lacking something. I know its not excuses because they can blame: too much rest, not enough rest, injuries, lack of confidence, overconfidence, or just about anything for their poor play.

[kirk_2003]

the turning point has to be the end of the third to the early fourth when TJ was in there..
and im not even hating on the guy.. but man im so upset that they loss.. same with AC.. i had money on this!

[ballocks]

tough to understand. i can't figure it out. i'll say one thing, though: this team seems very boring at times- or rather, bored. sam mitchell is too often the most fiery player on the court. i don't know how to explain it. for a team with such well-reputed chemistry, we really don't seem to enjoy playing basketball or playing together. we're so composed, and we're so proud of our composure, that we don't make the game very fun. for a team with our talent, i often ask myself if it's at all possible to get more boring.

i guess it must be a personality thing. i always thought mo pete, matt bonner and mike james, for instance, brought the fire. it had its good moments and bad moments, on the court and in the locker room, but at least it made things interesting. as individuals, i still think this team has it- i've seen it from chris, ap, andrea, tj, joey, jose, fino- but for some reason we don't feel comfortable... celebrating together. we often sleepwalk through games as a result.

peace

[southeasy]

i don't fully agree, i think the guys really like playing together... but i know exactly what you mean, there is not much emotion out there.. calderon & bosh were joking around on the court earlier in the game, which was good to see but then LA came right back & Jose was out of the game... i really think we just need to get into sync with TJ all over again.. because the guys really got comfortable with Jose.

also i think Toronto is used to seeing such great basketball, that when we are not clicking 100%, the game seemingly gets boring for us. Most fans of other teams, will name Toronto as one of the most exciting teams in the league, i've seen Western Conference team fans say Boston, Detroit & Toronto are the only eastern teams worth checking for, which i do fully believe.. At Times.

we play up to the level of some of our most skilled opponents (Spurs, Hornets, Mavericks, Blazers) then play down to teams like Philly & Clippers..

[ballocks]

i see what you're saying. you could be right. but i think that perception was borne last year. i thought last year's team was fantastic in this respect, quite possibly among the most fiery and passionate in the league. this year has seen imo, and for whatever reason, a significant change on this point. i don't know why- the roster is generally the same.

think back to parker's three against the wiz. i remember noting it at the time and thought it was really odd. he was ready to celebrate like a schoolboy- but then sort of realized no one was celebrating with him, and a key highlight turned ordinary and basic very quickly. it didn't seem like we got much of a release or climax out of it. i don't know why. the mo pete buzzer beater of last year, in much the same set of circumstances, left a residue of good feeling and positive energy that we seemed to ride well into the overtime period. what's the difference? i don't know. like i said, i can't explain it.

hopefully we're just in a funk that we'll get out of soon enough. i liked the crowd's energy last night, for one. it was an encouraging scene in the fourth quarter.

peace

[southeasy]

good point on the AP 3, your right on point with that now that i think about it, however, thinking back to the MP3 downloads *chucks lame* from last year, your right, our team deserved to celebrate & did, but this year were holding ourselves back for whatever reason.

then again, think about the portland game we won in OT last month, i think it was, the team and as you said, especially sam mitchell showed that fire & excitement.

however, it is apparant it was more accepted & oft happening last year, thinking about the TJ Ford winner over LA Clippers.. Sam goes crazy, Andrea goes crazy, the Team goes crazy.

hopefully it's more so that we are maturing and don't want to celebrate and get ahead of ourselves instead of just not being that into the game.

[bigbabyjesus]

too many negatives so i'll just name the positives from this game ahah

- bargnani played great defense on kaman. once this kid gets upper body strength he could be a hell of a post defender.

- delfino looked great offensively.. he slashed almost every play other than taking some open threes he had.. he wasn't hitting but he had great success going to the basket. too bad sam mitchell decided to go with moon over carlos inthe clutch?