Man, that was such a tough loss to swallow. I was just about to soften my stance on Mitchell a little bit (until the playoffs at least), but that seriously pissed me off. The Raps did such a great job to mount a comeback in the last few minutes, and it took him a few timeouts to basically eliminate that. He's probably the only dude mentioned in CoY discussions that has done that to his own team. Why would you substitute anyone in on the play with 26 secs. left (let alone a player that had been off for the majority of the 4th quarter)? And why would you go to the same damn play that we've done all season? Get some motion! Spread the floor! Give the ball to your best player in Chris Bosh! Anything! And then when you still got a chance to force it into overtime, you keep Ford on when you know he's a shaky 3 pt. shooter? God...
HORRIBLE!@! Why would Mitchell put TJ in? He didn't do much right in the game, but he got to play infront of Calderon? Calderon played much better and could've created a shot for someone else at the end. Also, what kind of shot was TJ thinking!?!?!? Horrible shot, he should've looked to give it to Luke Jackson or Mo Pete in the pockets. I didn't like any of Tj's shots at end. I don't trust him in the clutch. IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME PLAY! DRIVES TO THE BASKET AND MISSES! On a good note, Luke Jackson is a keeper. He really impressed me. I thought he was only a long-range shooter, but he showed he could take it to the rack. I think he only took 1 or 2 shots, the rest were from driving to the basket, then getting blocked. On one occasion he faked out James Posey, took it straight to the hole and jammed it. His jumpshot is also really smooth. He had a solid night with 10 points. Joey G, Juan Dixon and Mo pete didn't have that great of a game. They were all really off with their shot. Rasho played fabulous in the 1st quarter shooting 5/5. He did an 'OK' job on Shaq, but who can really stop him?
I will take this loss.. We did alot of good things in the second half.... We can blame sam all we want, but the team was sluggish in the entire first half.. the game shldnt have come to those last two shots by TJ Ford.. First half was terrible, poor shooting etc... Sam was stupid taking bringing in TJ Ford for the last 12 secs.... stupid move. Perhaps he was thinking the game will go to overtime, rest calderon a bit, then use him in the overtime. I really hope sam learned his lesson tonite, TJ FORD IS NOT CLUTCH.... STOP FALLING IN LOVE WITH HIM.
i think after that la game winner, and that lucky play in chicago where bosh got the rebound that his end of game plays actually work...
This is why Sam doesnt have a contract past this season. He's gone, i'd bet my years pay on it. BC ain't no slouch when it comes to basketball knowledge...he's kept Mitchell on so far because he's popular with the players but after this season he'll be able to turn to the guys and say "i know you liked him, but if you want to win trust me on this" Mitchell is garbage...he should be a full time assistant coach
Same damn play every game. I'm tired of this. Give the ball to Bosh! Why is TJ taking a 3?! Letting your best player take the last shot, a concept that's foreign to Mitchell. TJ made one clutch shot in LA and Mitchell thinks he's Michael Jordan. On the bright side, I was impressed with Jackson. Seems like two solid moves by Colangelo - Dixon and now Jackson (although I still wished Tucker was here). I trust Colangelo has enough sense to get rid of Mitchell.
We need to get some more young talent on this team. Next Season I hope we can make some trades. Bargnani and Bosh are the only real young talents on this team, we need more. I hope we are smart, and trade Graham, Garbojosa and Parker next season. We must trade these guys while they still have value, and we will be better off. Or we might be able to get a reasonable pick in the draft. This was a really bad loss today.....
<div class="quote_poster">Basketballer05 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">We need to get some more young talent on this team. Next Season I hope we can make some trades. Bargnani and Bosh are the only real young talents on this team, we need more. I hope we are smart, and trade Graham, Garbojosa and Parker next season. We must trade these guys while they still have value, and we will be better off. Or we might be able to get a reasonable pick in the draft. This was a really bad loss today.....</div> Trade Parker? Are you crazy? Outside of Bosh, he's arguably the most important player on this team right now. Let's not overreact here. This was a winnable game. When we get a new coach, that will take care of a lot of the problems.
<div class="quote_poster">Eclipse Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Trade Parker? Are you crazy? Outside of Bosh, he's arguably the most important player on this team right now. Let's not overreact here. This was a winnable game. When we get a new coach, that will take care of a lot of the problems.</div> Parker really isnt THAT good. We could get much better for him.
<div class="quote_poster">Basketballer05 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Parker really isnt THAT good. We could get much better for him.</div> Well to start, he's our best defender and he is also our best outside shooter. I'm not sure how much more you expect from him. He holds everything together for us, he's our "glue guy". All good teams need someone like Parker. I'm not sure how you can watch the Raptors for the whole season and not notice those things. Trading 40% of our starting lineup is a bit drastic isn't it?
<div class="quote_poster">Eclipse Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Well to start, he's our best defender and he is also our best outside shooter. I'm not sure how much more you expect from him. He holds everything together for us, he's our "glue guy". All good teams need someone like Parker. I'm not sure how you can watch the Raptors for the whole season and not notice those things. Trading 40% of our starting lineup is a bit drastic isn't it?</div> Graham is useless, I think we all know that. He needs to go if we are going to beat any of the good teams. Ok maybe we can keep Parker, but he is still being overrated. Garbojosa is a 29 year old rookie, he is still very inexperienced. By the time he gets used to the NBA, and becomes experienced he will be 34/35 years old and near retirement. Its just not worth having him on the team. So I say we trade him while he still has value. It will help the team in the long run, trust me.
I think you're forgetting that Euro league isn't exactly the D-league. Garbojosa hardly plays like a rookie at all. Our roster is built on guys who can shoot, have a decent b-ball iq, and share the ball effectively. Garbo has all those. If we drop Garbojosa it's not like we get an instant replacement who fits all those criteria. If anything we're lucky to have someone like that under contract.
<div class="quote_poster">Basketballer05 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Graham is useless, I think we all know that. He needs to go if we are going to beat any of the good teams. Ok maybe we can keep Parker, but he is still being overrated. Garbojosa is a 29 year old rookie, he is still very inexperienced. By the time he gets used to the NBA, and becomes experienced he will be 34/35 years old and near retirement. Its just not worth having him on the team. So I say we trade him while he still has value. It will help the team in the long run, trust me.</div> You tell me what rookie mistakes he has done?? None so far this season in the NBA. Anthony Parker and Garbo are ROLE PLAYERS, thats what they are, thats what they will be. Every good team needs role players, and those guys are willing to sacrifice to win. Thats what great teams needs in certain players.
I'm all for trading Graham, but Parker and Garbajosa are keepers, IMO. Especially for the money they're making. It's not easy finding players that fit within your system and produce like that, without overpaying. Now that I've had some time to vent the anger (still was annoyed by Sam's post-game interview), I can focus on some positives. As much as I like PJ Tucker's hustle, the Luke Jackson signing looks to be great. He's a very good shooter, but more importantly, he's pretty damn smart. I kept yelling at him to shoot the ball, but every time he pumped-faked and passed, it led to a much better shot. And he was moving without the ball, which always a good thing in my books. Get him on this team from training camp and I think he's definitely a keeper. He fits our gameplan so well. And how about Rasho's play? He just seems to get up against top-level competition. Shaq still got his, but he made him work for every basket and made a nice impact on the defensive end. Despite his ridiculously huge contract, this dude's such an important part of our team right now.
<div class="quote_poster">Basketballer05 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Graham is useless, I think we all know that. He needs to go if we are going to beat any of the good teams. Ok maybe we can keep Parker, but he is still being overrated. Garbojosa is a 29 year old rookie, he is still very inexperienced. By the time he gets used to the NBA, and becomes experienced he will be 34/35 years old and near retirement. Its just not worth having him on the team. So I say we trade him while he still has value. It will help the team in the long run, trust me.</div> No he isn't. If anything he is being UNDERrated. AP is a very valuable member of our team, and I'm surprised there are still people out there that aren't recognizing it. He does everything a team player should. He takes high percentage shots, he doesn't force anything, he lets the game come to him, and takes what the D gives him. He's a good team, and on ball defender. He's unselfish, and doesn't need plays run for him, and doesn't complain about minutes. He's got a level head, and a good contract. He's a proven winner, and brings it every night. What more could you POSSIBLY want in a utility guy? Every team needs a guy like Parker. Every championship team has a Parker type player in their starting line-up. We're lucky to have him, and he's a big reason for our success this year. Don't undervalue AP's presence on the floor or in the dressing room. I think you're off about Garbo too. The chemistry he and Jose have together is invaluable. Garbo's experience isn't in the NBA, but so what? Have you been watching the games this year? He doesn't exactly look like a fish out of water. He fills his role perfectly, and only wants to win. How can you be so sure that moving major pieces of a winning team, with great chemistry will lead to improvement? At what point do we start sticking with a core group, and adding pieces around it? If every team just moved players while their value was high, before they got old, nobody would stay anywhere. You talk about Garbo as if the Raps are stuck with him till he's 40. He's only under contract for 2 more seasons. That means when his contract is up, he'll only be 31. You recognize that his value is high right now...and why is that? Because he's a good player that can contribute. So why on earth would you want to move a player like that? In exchange for what? There is a lot to be said for stability, and chemistry. You're not thinking of either, and just assuming that adding another big name player to our roster will show immediate dividends. I disagree....we need guys like Parker and Garbo. So no...I won't "trust you". I'll trust in BC. <div class="quote_poster">Basketballer05 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Parker really isnt THAT good. We could get much better for him.</div> This really makes no sense. If he's not "that good", then how can we get better for him? And better how? What more do you want from a player?
<div class="quote_poster">Basketballer05 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Garbojosa is a 29 year old rookie, he is still very inexperienced. By the time he gets used to the NBA, and becomes experienced he will be 34/35 years old and near retirement. Its just not worth having him on the team. So I say we trade him while he still has value. It will help the team in the long run, trust me.</div> Very inexperienced? The lack of any foreign basketball knowledge is priceless.
