The Goods On The Game, Vol. 14, and away we go

Happy Thanksgiving Eve to all our American viewers, listeners, readers or whatever you are. Hope you have a fine holiday weekend. And, yes, they did sell us a nice turkey dinner here in the press room with stuffing but no mashed potatoes. Some nice sweet potato wedges but it's not the same.
Enough digression.
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If you look closely, you won't see Jermaine O'Neal on the bench and you won't see him on the court, either. He'll spend most of the game, if not all of it, in the locker room getting treatment on his sore ankle and knee. But he'll be watching, I'm sure.
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Okay, if I call them the Charlotte Hornets, I'm sorry.
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You know the dude who screams when the Dance Pak's doing its thing before the tip? Anyone ever understood a word he says? Wags can't even recall making out a syllable, let alone a sentence.
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Chris Bosh always kills the Bobcats. Always.
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I'm not entirely sure how Chris Bosh just had the 4-11 DJ Augustin guarding him on a switch and the Raptors failed to get him in the post, but he did.
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Jamario starts and gets two personals in three minutes. Maybe it's that position.
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And Moon just got away with a third foul when he inadvertently smacked Gerald Wallace right in the eye. It gave Toronto a 5-on-4 powerplay they converted (how 'bout that pucks reference, eh?).
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Sean May checks in. Floor doesn't tilt.
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Sam stays with Moon with two fouls and is rewarded when Moon hits a three-pointer.
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Raptors 15, Bobcats 11 with 5;45 left
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For real, I just saw Moon drive. To the basket. With the ball. Sam's very happy. Of course, the guy he's guarding, Gerald Wallace, has nine points.
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The Raptors are defending with more energy and sending guys who penetrate to the help. Wonder how long it'll last?
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Raptors have committed six turnovers in the first quarter. Hmm, that's really, really bad. It's not like they're facing pressure.
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Let the fun begin. As expected, Hump's the first guy in the game and he'll give Bagnani a break.
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Bosh has got 10 points, hasn't missed a field goal and has drawn two fouls on Emeka Okafor. Remember what I said earlier? Man, I are smrt!
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Roko's got this nifty compression bandage on his left calf
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Jason Kapono just made a shot. Which means he took one. Which means this is already different than the Boston game.
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Bobcats 25, Raptors 24 after one.
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Paul Godfrey's right across from us. I don't see a bag full of $1,000 bills he'll be taking to Vegas in a week or so to try and give to A.J. Burnett.
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Hump's first touch is a jump shot. Never saw that coming.
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Hump's second touch is a rather zany drive. Never saw that coming, either.
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Bargnani's playing the three and they just posted him off an entry pass from Kapono. That's new.
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The joint's relatively empty tonight. Gotta be the smallest crowd of the season. Charlotte on a Wednesday night in late November? I gotta say I'm not surprised.
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Two fouls on Bargnani now but Sam's sticking with him.
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And as he sticks with him, Toronto goes to some zone to hide him a bit.
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It's just been pointed out to me that Cleveland is edging Oklahoma City 44-16. It has been pointed out by a legendary guy here on Wag Row that for taking the team out of Seattle, Clay Bennett should lose every game ever. And I agree.
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Roko's having one of those "Roko Should Be In The Hall of Fame" quarters. A basket and three very cool assists.
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I absolutely see Joey Graham here in front of me to check into the game.
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Toronto 36, Charlotte 35 with 5:39 until halftime.
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Bosh has eight field goals in eight field goal attempts, six free throws in six free thorw attempts, 22 points in 19 minutes and I can absolutely see him playing until this game's out of hand one way or the other in the fourth quarter.
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The starters are back for Toronto for the last five minutes with one exception: Joey for Jamario. I've got a feeling that's got as much to do with Moon's play as the fact he's got two fouls.
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Bosh misses. Perfection ruined.
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Bargnani has two rather emphatic blocked shots already.They give him the team lead this season with 20.
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Joey's tip-in of a Calderon miss is the kind of play that will endear him to his coaches. And the grunts.
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Bosh just got his second foul, a rather silly close out on DJ Augustin shooting a three-pointer as the shot clock expired.
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Someone else better start scoring for Toronto or they're going to lose this one.
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There goes Bosh's 48-minute night, he'll get the final 53.3 seconds off.
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Raps 51, Bobcats 46 at the half.
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Seriously, if you're watching on TV and you see a laptop come flying from out of shot on to the court, it's this piece of machinery, which seems to shut down its wireless at least once a game.
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Did you miss me?
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Didn't think so.
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Quick recap to here:
Joey's been nuts, 15 points in 18 minutes. Oh and five fouls
Bosh has been equally nuts, he hasn't missed a shot this half and has 34. Just missed his first free throw after eight straight makes.
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Joey gets a rousing ovation. Those aren't words I often type.
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Toronto was up seven after three and the Bobcats are still hanging around somehow.
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Bosh is getting beaten up and someone's got to knock some Bobcat on his butt to make sure they don't take liberties with him any more.
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Toronto 87, Charlotte 80 with 6 1-2 minutes to go.
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Seems dangerous that Toronto keeps letting the Bobcats hang around. They should be buried by now.
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Bosh just missed again, that's two misses in 16 field goal attempts. Rather economical scoring.
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Now it's three in 17 FGA for the captain.
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There's really a sense of unease in the audience, this game is too close for comfort.
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I think Moon's night is going to be over -- and it should -- because Good Joey's here and goes in with about five minutes left.
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Hmm, Joey shooting an airball up three with 3:40 to go won't endear him to anyone. Especially when he had Bosh open for a pass about a yard away.
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Bobcats are putting on some full court pressure and we all know how Toronto doesn't handle that.
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Joey. Joey. Joey. The dunk with 1:41 left was something else.
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The Bobcats were paying so much attention to Bosh that Calderon just drove in the dagger with a jumper with 30.8 left because two Charlotte defenders stayed with Bosh.
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Raptors 93, Bobcats 86 at the buzzer.

Comments

[peter]

bargnani on track for 20 rebounds!!!!!!!!!!

[Steve Gosse]

hahaha I like the Simpsons reference...

"I am so smart... S-M-R-T"
hahaha

[Mark Irish]

Didn't Paul Godfrey step down as President of the Jays?

[UK]

It may be a health issue or a defensive adjustment issue but why isn't Calderon taking it to the rack for a lay-up off the high screen and roll like he did so much last year? It seemed like he was able to turn the corner at will. I noticed that it wasn't happening nearly as much even before the hammy injury.

[Manpreet Grewal]

Who are the Wags you keep referencing?....in european soccer Wags are the wives and girlfriends of the players, so kinda confused

Blogger's note: We're not posh, it's just we comics here on press row.

[C.B]

Hey Doug,

No love for joey's awesome dunk!?!? Im sure smitch is smiling right now (as we all are).

[Mike]

Is this Good Joey.....
Where has he been?

[Mike]

bad Joey . . . .

[chris]

i LOVE how you contend that you're not a fan. pffft!!

(good to see it)

How do you like Joey tonight? YOu called it.

[Ryan]

"You know the dude who screams when the Dance Pak's doing its thing before the tip? Anyone ever understood a word he says? Wags can't even recall making out a syllable, let alone a sentence." Truer words have never been spoken. 2 Things that irk me about with the Raptors, failing to recognize poor match ups ie. Bosh and D.J. and short clock situations ie. 2 for 1 scenerios, they never seem to take advantage of these things.

[erica]

I love your blog, im at work right now and doing a 16 hour shift and obviously can't watch the game but your blog is good enough for me, so thanks a lot and keep up the good work!

[Martin Q]

Nice to see the Raps win a game; even if it was one they should expect to win. Bosh was in the zone, Jose had some big shots, Roko was good, Barg did other things than just score and thankfully Smitch gave Joey some minutes.
I said it before, watching and listening to those 2 Muppets - Sid & Tim (on The Score) is just painful; why do these TV guys feel the need to be focus rather than the highlight content and their dialogue is just garbage. How dumb do they think the viewers are?

[aditya]

you know what, joey graham bites on a pump fake and fouls dj augustine or some other short guy, and sam gets up from his chair and yells....something

when moon bites on a pump fake, sam mitchell never gets up from his chair, just punches his chair with his back and yells....something...

my point is joey graham deserves to start (with moon as his backup) as long as o neal is out.....

[David]

I know why your laptop screwed up ( and i did miss you). How many times can someone type in 1:30 secs oh good Joey good Joey oops bad joey good Joey without something exploding. I loved Joey tonight, always keeps you on the edge of your seat.

[a-rod]

Man, did anyone see Ryan Hollins? I'm not usually one to badmouth anybody, but watching him do things like try push the ball through Bargnani's arms and trying to block (and fouling) a Graham dunk by going through Bosh really made my day. It makes me almost appreciate Will Solomon.

[Jason]

Roko for the starting PG! Give Sam an extention! Trade that Bosh guy while his value is high cause we go Joey to take his spot.

[Jason]

It Sam's fault that the 'Cat hung around so long. He should be fired!

[Jason]

Good game for the Raps. Maybe this will shut up all the people who want to fire Sam.

[Jason]

I hope this game is the start of Roko's block of games that takes us until the end of the season.
3 Ast and no turn overs. Nice
Moon and Solomon please report to the end of the bench.
Doug, who was that chiseled, athletic, dunking machine tonight. Did we get him in the Pacers deal because he looks alot like that guy they have?

[Dan]

Read the end Doug. He stole the nick name you made up. It's from espn daily dime.
For the Jason Kidd trade. The man was my absolute idol and the only thing Jersey could be excited about since the Finals' runs in '02 and '03. But damn am I glad that Rod Thorn worked his magic. The Nets have been exciting and watchable lately, and as a broke college student I am amazed that I would lay down $189.00 to watch this team every night. It's been great. Now if only Bruce Ratner (can't we just call him "he who shall not be named"?) would realize this team belongs in Jersey. -- Matt Gaudio (Long Valley, NJ)