How many times this year have our players been clobbered with ZERO reaction from the rest of the team. I mean we're at like five times now. Bargnani drives baseline and takes a flying chili pepper elbow and tackle from Anthony Johnson and winds up with a busted tooth, cheek, and potentially a mild concussion (the tests were negative but he could wake up later tonight with a migraine). Nobody on our team said or did anything. And then, to top it off, Johnson stands over a felled Bargnani with his hands out shaking his head like Bargnani had done it to himself. This is happening with regularity this year and its sickening. I would've been thrilled if one of our players had stepped up to Johnson and punched him in the ****ing mouth. Enough is enough. I know somebody is going to say, "well it wasn't an important game, maybe it was an accident, better to not have one of our players suspended, blah blah..." You think Detroit would let something like this slide half a dozen times this year? What about Boston? I can't wait to get pushed around in the playoffs again. This "character" team is gutless.
I'm with you 100 per cent speeds. It's like no one wants to mess up their nails or get their hands dirty. And this doesn't just relate to getting in someone's face after a hard foul, it goes beyond that and can be seen in their ability to rebound and get nasty on a team when needed. Granted it ain't the same league it once was and how many of us would be complaining if a roster and salary cap space were 'wasted' on an 'enforcer'? All the same, without Garbo this team has no grit and very little personality. Someone should show Hump old tapes of Oak and tell him how much money the guy made in his career.
When I saw this I was like im gonna rant about this tomorrow on sportstwo and I come on to see exactly what i wanted to say. This always happens to us, someone drives and they get tossed down hard and nobody says anything, if this happens again i'll go nuts. We need to send a message by breaking someones nose because this has to stop
Which players where on the court for the Raptors when it happened? You would think with as nutty as Sam is, he would have had somebody send a message later.
Raptors are a young talented team, but I do agree that they are somewhat soft....they could really use some kind of mean scrappy role player in the painted area............teams who get hit in the mouth and don't hit back, usually never win anything significant.
No one wants to send a message though. This is what happens when you get guys who just let things slide. I remember the good old days of the Raptors, where if a player hit the floor, they would all crowd and get in to someone's face. I think since Graham wants to be such a good player, his job should be to knock out guys who mess with us.
Some video. Scary. <embed src="http://www.veoh.com/videodetails2.swf?permalinkId=v6349144aqCkKKkw&id=anonymous&player=videodetailsembedded&videoAutoPlay=0" allowFullScreen="true" width="540" height="438" bgcolor="#000000" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed> Online Videos by Veoh.com
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (speeds @ Mar 5 2008, 11:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>This is happening with regularity this year and its sickening. I would've been thrilled if one of our players had stepped up to Johnson and punched him in the ****ing mouth. Enough is enough. I know somebody is going to say, "well it wasn't an important game, maybe it was an accident, better to not have one of our players suspended, blah blah..." You think Detroit would let something like this slide half a dozen times this year? What about Boston? I can't wait to get pushed around in the playoffs again. This "character" team is gutless.</div> Remmber 2 seasons ago, the game Mike James Snapped? that was a GOOD year, this is exectly why no one in the league pays any attention to the raptors, ppl say they loved da chris bosh video, and laughed buh they were laughin at him of how soft he is, man raps arent tough enuff. And I agree with you 200 percent raps r just soft (da horford shit, man if i was playin i wouldev beat the shit outta him)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The Dream @ Mar 6 2008, 06:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Raptors are a young talented team, but I do agree that they are somewhat soft....they could really use some kind of mean scrappy role player in the painted area............teams who get hit in the mouth and don't hit back, usually never win anything significant.</div> Agreed. Look at the Mavs, they crumbled when Dirk and Co. got pummeled by James Posey, Shaq, and Zo in the finals. Last year Baron got into it with Dirk, Terry, and Howard. Barnes, underrated cheap shot artist and notorious sh*t starter, also laid the lumber on the Mavs several times (hes leading the league in flagrant fouls this year too despite not playing that much). Jackson goes out of his way to be a peacemaker because hes a captain now and wants to change his image but people still respect him as a guy that isn't afraid to throw down. The Mavs got punked by two physical teams and their wannabe tough guys were no where to be found. The Rockets are another team who can never make it past the first round. Yao, T-Mac, even Battier and the rest of them. You gotta have toughness in the playoffs, its a whole different game from the post season. It gets more physical, slower, fouls get harder, tensions are higher. The players who disappear under these conditions will always fail. IMO Toronto should go after Ruben Patterson if it isn't too late for free agent signees to be eligible for the playoff rosters. Hes a nice player and will definitely add toughness and veteran savvy. I don't mean to be racist or stereotypical but Colangelo has built a very european, very soft team. They need some more physical, big bodies to balance out the high-skill low-toughness players they already have.
Toronto would never pursue Patterson, who is a registered sex offender. We don't need new players, frankly. We just need to man up.
There's a different between being soft and not being aggressive. The Raps aren't soft, because they don't really shy away from competition or contact (just look at the way Bargnani manned up after that cheapshot). But they aren't all that aggressive, as evidenced by the lack of reaction by our teammates.