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ClingRap wrote this today:

So. Is there any reason to believe in this team (outside of the local impulse to scream about how awesome it is that the Raps are in the playoffs again) will make a mark beyond a trace come this weekend? It seems sour. Bittersweet I guess, but outside of the so-so play in November and December, we haven’t been able to put together a run at all this season, so for many reasons it would appear that this team is locked in for a first round exit. With more downs than ups, and last night’s first half of ugliness against the tepid, it smells like Toronto’s fate is out of their hands. After all, to win against these guys is usually determined by the quality of their opponent. Jack made the point last night that winning teams make winning a part of their everyday habit. From the way they compose themselves on the court, to the post-game wrap-ups, they’re habit is walking and talking like a winner. For this to be a habit, obviously, you gotta start chalking up more W’s than L’s, but is there some kind of initial impulse that precedes the actual way a winning team wins? A culture of success?

Some have argued that Colangelo has come in and done that. He has comparatively when stacked against the likes of Babcock, Grunwald, and Zeke. But last year is looking more and more like an aberration. A year where they caught some people by surprise and guys had career years. Things have leveled off in some areas, while others have declined. This team still can’t manufacture stops on the defensive end on a consistent basis (The Tepid shot over 50% in the first half last night). This isn’t news. Though statistically they’re better defensively this year, the past two months have seen some pretty awful efforts to stop the opposition. What’s news is the steady decline of the Raptors ability to “make shats.” There’s theories abounding as to how and why the best three point shooting team in the league percentage wise has been taking less of them. The fact that the deadliest three point shooter in league history (percentage wise) not only made one, but also took one for the first time in a month yesterday is troublesome. There are guys in shooting slumps to be sure. Bargs is one for his last 17 behind the ark, and Delfino, well he’s a walking/talking heat check. But the guy you want taking maybe 5-7 threes a game in Kapono, not being able to get one off can’t simply be because he isn’t looking for his shot. Colangelo made the point that in Kapono’s case, his decline in play this season has been because of coaching. To elaborate, its this team’s lack of offensive cohesiveness and execution to be able to consistently get Kapono that kind of looks he’ll bury 60% of the time.

Whether this is due to personnel or coaching at this point is less significant than the timing of this executional conundrum. Finding answers this late in the season gives reason to think that this post-season is going to be as short-lived as last years. Pistons rookie Rodney Stuckey hit it on the head when he said during the playoffs, “You’re locking in on one team and everybody knows what each other’s going to do.” The problem here in the context of the Raps is that they’re entirely unsure of what “each other’s going to do.” Their more down than up play doesn’t leave them with a lot of room to establish Jack’s winning habit. Bosh et al are trying to sell this to the fans as a long season of ups and downs that every team goes through, which is light years away from what winning teams actually do. That said, maybe they get lucky, get hot, and snap out of whatever funk they’re in and take it to the Magic. There’s a ton of reasons to suggest otherwise, but in the end all you need is one for the contrary.

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ClingRap wrote this today:

Who is Raptors?

The snow’s falling and I’ve got an essay to write. There are lots of questions, but none more pressing than the one I led with. These guys can simultaneously stink up the joint and make it smell lemony fresh all in the span of 48 minutes. It’s refreshing and parching to the senses. It’s like watching someone make a really nice pizza, crust and everything from scratch, and then burn it to bits in the oven. The ideology machine at MLSE and their PR gurus will have us believe that the injuries are the source of this contradictory madness. They may be right. But there’s been some not-so-subtle indicators of some deeper issues plaguing this good one moment, gone the next squad.

Watching the game against Boston, it was amazing to see how significant Garnett is to his troops. The Boston teams of yesteryear, as in last year and the year before, took a lot of ill-advised shots and showed a lot of immaturity by not playing as a cohesive unit. They had talent, young talent, but a lot of one-on-one guys. They shipped those dudes west in exchange for a guy who has more focus that the Hubble.
He comes into the game after the Raps reel off a couple in a row and before you can say “Big Ticket”, his guys are back up by 18 and cruising to their ninth in a row. His impact is never subtle, always significant.

On the other side of the ball we have a team described somehow positively by Rautins and Swirsky as not panicking despite being down 15 mid-way in the fourth to the NBA’s hottest, most dominant team. From the opening tip until the final horn, this Raptors team didn’t simply play a bad game. Rather, Boston, like any good team that plays consistent ball will do, exposed the Raptors’ “deer in the headlights” tendencies.

Boston came out and laid some fucking wood. They hit Parker in the chops. They leveled Calderon twice. Clobbered Bosh. They played a suffocating man-to-man defense that looked a lot like a zone because of their scrambling. They talked and helped and forced the Raptors into more turnovers than assists and even more rushed and bad shots.

This team quite simply, with their asses being handed to them, kindly thanked the Celtics for returning them in tact. They didn’t push back, not once. They laboured and took what the Celts gave them. They wined to the refs. Even I know that if you get pushed in rec league, you push back. The hard fouls aren’t a coincidence, they’re a strategy.

So, who is Raptors?

Every single person in Raptorland knows that this team needs Andrea Bargnani. They need him now. He reminds me of C-3PO out there. He uses a lot of movement and energy (more than I thought was humanly possible) for one dribble pull-ups. For a professional basketball player, he sure seems confused as to what to do with the ball. His stance for one thing, is far too upright. He should go to YouTube and check some of his stuff from last year. With every passing game he looks less like himself and more like a poor man’s Pat Garrity. Who is Andrea Bargnani? Where is Andrea Bargnani? Have the Monstars stolen all of his skills? I think the scouting report is out on this guy. If you look at what opposing teams have done over the past month to contain him, it’s been to get in his grill. They’ve done that. Andrea has yet to show them he’s capable of playing under such pressure. Has he heard of ball fakes? Jab steps? Using his off-arm to create space? I think he’s better than this. Until then, I’m putting him on notice.

Who is Raptors?

I don’t know. They have quarters of magnificence and quarters of incompetence. Sometimes coming one after the other. I wish they could just play more like a .500 team that looked like a .500 team. Not like a .500 team that shows signs of being so much more.
This I do know. Turn down the volume of your televisions Raps fans. Don’t believe the hype being shoveled on there. Open your eyes to the inconsistencies, the lack of preparation and the indifference towards mediocrity. Ask yourself, “Who is Raptors?” When you figure it out, drop me a line.

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