[c_dog]

bosh missed a shot that would have brought the raps within 1, and we let ginobli followed up his own shot which contributed to the loss. this is a game the raps could have won but couldn't quite do it. i thought delfino played well but he does make some horrible decisions once in a while and he should have tried to secure the rebound instead of running off to the other end of the floor.

[southeasy]

Originally Posted by SkywalkerAC

****. another game we could have won and another joint i shouldn't have smoked.

(i've got a bet going with my roommate for every win above .500 he owes me $10 but i lose a point every time i smoke)

tough loss tonight, admirable to have fought back, they are defending champs, they respect us alot, straight from the spurs players mouths, they wanted to avenge the loss earlier. you can look at the TO's in the last 5 minutes, the missed shots we usually make, we played very hard & very well.. great game for delfino overall, he should have rebounded that final spurs possession but i know what he was trying to do, you win some you lose some, slight mental lapse.. his man missed his shot, 50/50 (or even greater, we are SUPPOSED to get defensive rebounds) chance his teammate gets the ball on the long rebound, and he's wide open for an outlet pass with great time on the clock, we'd be down 1.

we always get killed by long rebounds.... b***

[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

[lucky777s]

The nice thing about watching this game was seeing Jose take another step toward reaching that Nash level of PG. He took over this game offensively. He showed even more confidence and leadership than he has all year. He was that all-star level PG and go-to scorer. Nice to see he has some of that Mike James in him too. He needs that because some nights he is our best option on O.

Another injury to TJ, although minor, caused a big problem as the Raps had cut the lead to 6 with the ball and a horrible Dixon turnover leads to an open 3 and the lead is back to 9 instead of possibly 3/4 early in the fourth Q.

Just amazing how our D is so easily torched by wing players night after night. Moon isn't bringing the same results he did earlier in the year. Teams are using the pump fake on him and he bites every time looking for the block.

Bosh is becoming too easy to guard. Just put a physical guy who can move his feet on him and Bosh becomes very limited. Doesn't have the strength to dominate down low and he gets knocked off balance on his drives all the time.

[southeasy]

the terrible rebounding of toronto & san antonios padded rebound numbers Do have alot to do with the long range wide open shots we missed, however, We really do need to have a whole practice session on rebounding the ball, boxing out and GETTING TO THE BALL, don't wait for your teammates to secure it.