The Goods On The Game, Vol. 19, the Blazers visit

Plenty of seats available in anyone wants to come down to see the finish. If this isn't the smallest crowd of the year, it's pretty close.
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Chris Bosh made sure he went down before the game began to say hello to Portland coach Nate McMillan, who was on the staff of the American 2008 Beijing Olympic team.
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Yes, the stats say Greg Oden is 20 years old. No, I don't believe it, either.
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There's something you don't see every day. A banked lob pass. Jose just rifled a lob intended for Bosh off the backboard, where it was eventually caught by O'Neal for a dunk.
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Oden has blocked one shot and just altered -- and may have got a piece of -- a Parker fast-break layup.
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Jose just finished at the rim. Haven't written those words often this year.
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It's way, way early but AP's doing an excellent job defending Brandon Roy.
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Bosh hits a three, just his fourth in 10 attempts so far this season.
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With his team shooting 1-for-7 from the field, and 0-3 from three-point range, McMillan needs a time out. Looking at how tired some the Raptors look, they could use the break, too.
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Raptors 11, Blazers 3 with 6:36 left in the first.
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Okay, they've got those rich-people seats between the bench and the scorer's table, right? Well, I'm not sure they want the people sitting in them to wander 20 feet down the court to take a picture of the missus sitting there. In fact, judging by the reaction of the security staff, I'm sure they don't.
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Yes, the Nicolas Batum who starts for Portland is the same Nicolas Batum the Raptors wouldn't let work out before the draft after he had some medical issues.
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Kapono for O'Neal's the first sub, same early-game rotation as the other night in Utah.
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Two fouls on Bargnani, who now has to guard Oden with O'Neal out.
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Calderon turns the corner again and hits a reverse layup over Oden. Again, not something we've seen a lot of.
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Joey Graham, all 6-7 of him, is now guarding 7-1 Joel Przybilla. This should be interesting.
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I'm putting the over-and-under number on e-mails I get on Bargani-Roy at 25.
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Graham has now beaten Przybilla down the floor in transition twice. Once he gets fouled, once he dunks.
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An open Kapono three? He took it? He made it? Are we in some strange new universe?
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Like I'd know for sure, but The First Lady Of The Beat, who doubles as a football scribbler in the summer, reports that Danny Dichio is here somewhere.
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Today it's Will Solomon as the backup PG. And as soon as he gets in, the Blazers press. Scouting reports travel fast.
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I'm shaking my head here because I think I just saw Jason Kapono hit a running sky hook in the lane.
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That was a helluva quarter. They look good.
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Toronto 31, Portland 20 after one.
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Joey put up eight points in five minutes in the first quarter. I think I might have said the other night he'd thrive if he gets the chance.
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The O'Neal post-up on the first possession was called in the huddle at the end of the quarter. I know this because today I've got a front row seat and we find out these things up here.
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Rudy Fernandez is the real deal. You can just see it in the way he knows how to play.
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O'Neal is killing Przybilla.
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They've got to get AP back in there to guard Roy.
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Imagine that, there's AP back in the game.
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Toronto's forced nine Blazer turnovers in 17 minutes.
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Yes, they want Moon to drive the ball. No, they don't want Moon to drive the ball and try some behind-the-back pass on the baseline.
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Toronto 42, Portland 30 with 6 1-2 'til halftime.
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Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez and Jose Calderon on the court. It's like a Spanish team workout.
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The Raptors just missed a chance to post up Bargnani on Roy. Still scored on the possession but the should have seen it earlier.
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Jamario Moon's scored two baskets. Both at the rim. Somewhere, I swear Sam Mitchell is shaking his head.
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The strap on O'Neal's brace seems to be coming undone again, it's frustrating but I guarantee he doesn't take it off.
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Bosh has a wee cut on his head, trainer Scott McCullough, acting like a cut man in a boxer's corner, can't get it stopped in 30 seconds, Bosh has to come out of the game.
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Steve Blake benefits greatly from Brandon Roy's dribble penetration, all five of his shot shots have been open ones.
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What'd I tell ya about Rudy Fernandez, he's got 14 points in 11 minutes.
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Say this about Bargnani: Twice he's been iso'd on Oden and twice he's driven on him.
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Brandon Roy on Kapono is a bad matchup. If you're a Raptor, that is. As a Blazer, it's quite a good one.
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Entertaining half.
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Raptors 50, Blazers 48 at the half.
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There goes the modelling career for now. Two stitches in the middle of Bosh's forehead.
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The thing the Raptors have to get used to doing? Running on opponents baskets. Still too much of a tendency to walk the ball up the floor.
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A Blake three -- his fourth -- puts Portland up and there goes a 16-point Toronto lead.
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Blazers have made seven threes, Raptors have made three.
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Yes, those are boos. Well-deserved as Blazers finish a 10-2 run in the first three minutes of the third.
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Brandon Roy's in the game now, just spun baseline off Parker and took a great lob from Blake for a dunk.
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Jay is working the refs pretty hard. To no avail.
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The Nicolas Batum-Andrea Bargnani matchup is hardly rivetting. Batum's scoreless, Bargnani's got two points.
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Blazers 68, Raptors 59 with 6 1-2 'til the third's over
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Bosh is like Chuck Wepner today.
(I bet a lot of you have to look that one up).
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There is much consternation among the Raptors over whether Greg Oden travels every time he gets the ball in the post. They believe he does. The officiating crew -- a very good one of Bill Spooner, Scott Wall and Zach Zarba -- believes he doesn't. Their opinion counts more.
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Wow. The Raptors just got to a loose ball. Really. I saw it.
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Bosh was just so wide open on the post he was surprised when he got the ball and it took him a second to score.
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Kapono's coming in, a bit later this quarter than he came in during the first.
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Holy smokes. Joey just dunked on Przybilla that was nasty. Evil nasty.
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Blazers 78, Raptors 75 after three.
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Just lost the internet for a bit here. Sorry
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O'Neal's been a beast, he's got 22 and that's one off his career high.
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Bosh is watching, and I think it might have to do with a rushed shot one possession and bad box out of Joel Przybilla on the next one. But he's getting ready to get back in.
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Okay, a Kapono three puts Toronto ahead and I think we're in for a doozy.
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Blazers 90, Raptors 89 with five minutes go to.
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Jose's been at the rim more times today than he has in the last two weeks.
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The charge O'Neal just took on Outlaw with Toronto up one might be the most important defensive play of the game.
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Everybody on the Raptor bench is standing. I can't say I've seen that at all this year.
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Bosh just had Steve Blake on him, about a foot height advantage and shot a turnaround jumper on the block. Bad, bad shot.
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I'm not sure but Roxanne by The Police is not the kind of pump-up-the-crowd music they should be playing with 2 1-2 minutes left in a three-point game. But I guess it easy to dance to. Or something.
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Remember when they were booing here? Now they're standing and cheering. Ya gotta love fans.
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Jose just missed a three that would have been the dagger.
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The bigger, quicker Blazers just got two offensive rebounds after two good Toronto defensive stands. That's gotta be heartbreaking.
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Joey's in for Kapono with Portland having the ball, I see offence-defence coming. For once.
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Brandon Roy just makes it look easy. Can you believe FIVE TEAMS DIDN'T DRAFT HIM!!!!!
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By their own good luck, Raps get a final shot no matter what, they're up two with 27.4 left.
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Did Blake push off on Jose for that three-pointer? Probably. But that's a tough call to make.
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Ouch. That one has to hurt.
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Portland 98, Toronto 97

 

Comments

[al]

J-KILLA!
Ohhh Matt Devlin..

[Ryan]

Thanks again for your faithfulness in doing this play by play blog.
With 3 kids and us tightening our belt financhially, we cut out cable. So thanks agian for allowing us big Raptor fans still have a feel for the game.

[Chad Nunn]

Give me $100 on over.

[Mohammed J]

Wow, Rudy Fernandez is REALLY good. Amazing quickness, great shot, excellent athleticism, perfect to kill the Raptors.

[aditya]

Say this about Bargnani: Twice he's been iso'd on Oden and twice he's driven on him.

twice he hasnt scored !!!!

[Geoff]

The reason there are so many empty seats is because this team sucks, they are doing nothing about it, and people are losing interest. This is the worst city in the world to be a sports fan.

[Nelson]

Good Afternoon Doug

I just wanted to follow up with what the other raps fan as well,
im listening to the game on the radio and following along on your blog, ( it was either cable or internet) thanks for in game blog and the daily one, I read it every morning, or whenever you get a chance to put it up, thanks Doug

[Mike D]

Hi Doug,
What is your thoughts on Jose's play ? Why has he become such a fixture outside the three point line ? The opposing team seems to never have to work much on the defensive end and from what I see a lot of it begins with Jose. First quarter today aside, we have not seen much movement or penetration to try and break down the defense much this year from Jose. You see a guard like Rondo taking his game to another level because of his energy and effort to break down defenses and get easier shots for his teammates. And it's not just the speed factor, because the few times i've watched Portland this year even Blake seems to be very good at that and he is not one of the quicker guards in the league.

Is it really the injury or something else ?

[Saad R]

I'm watching the game and yet, I'm reading this play by play blog on the side. Love the comments, they only add to the entertainment.

Thanks for all the work, Doug.

[aditya]

o neal has 22, one off his career high

nope, its season high (23 against boston)

Blogger's note: Right, thanks. My mistake

[aditya]

Bosh is watching, and I think it might have to do with a rushed shot one possession and bad box out of Joel Przybilla on the next one. But he's getting ready to get back in.

nope, the unit that got toronto back into the game is playing....triano's riding those guys..!!!

[Jermaine]

You mean that O'Neal is one off his season high, not career.

Blogger's note: Yes, I did. Sorry

[martin]

there is no way oneals career high is 22 points

Blogger's note: My bad. Season high

[Jay]

Portland gets 6 chances to Toronto's 2 in the last minute and a half (4 offensive rebounds) and the brilliant play out of the timeout is to get our 6'11'' PF the ball 40 feet from the rim with 5 seconds less. Awesome.

[Mark F.]

Bosh isn't a PG. Can someone tell him.

[Dan W]

Somone needs to tell Jose to stop playing like a little --- That guy flops on every play. When he does actually get pushed the refs won't call it. That last play where Blake put his hand on him so he jumps back trying to draw a foul, instead you give up an open three. If he spent less time working on his acting and more time on his D he might be a better all around player. I think the real problem is the GM. He is really overated. He got lucky that Nash and Mike D were a perfect match and outside of that all his teams have been average. The two best players on this team were brought in by other people. He's been here three years who has he brought in that could become an allstar. Yeah O'neal has been good but you gave up two staring quality guys and a first round pick to get him. People always talk about players with permanent potential. Raptors are a team with permanent potential but no rising stars to take them to the next level. Bosh is already a star and Calderon is as good as he's going to get.

[Ishai Buchbinder]

Doug, do you think that Bosh asked for the ball? Did he have to? Did Triano just call an iso for Bosh without Bosh asking? Shouldn't their be a contingency plan if the only way to get Bosh the ball is at midcourt?

Everytime Bosh tries to do some "I'm the man" type play something bad happens.

[GM]

That was fun. Until the last shot, anyway.

A couple people lately have asked about the decision to go uptempo and giving up TJ Ford. There's a big difference between being quick and having the ability to run an uptempo system. Ford, when he was here, walked it up the court and when the team did run he had to be one of the poorest guards to run the break I've ever seen. It's just not his style. He's better in a half court system where his quickness can break down defenders.

And as for going big and trying to run, you need the big guy back there to grab the board and start the break. Kareem in his later years was no stallion and the Lakers still had the best uptempo game maybe of all time.

Doug, you said "gotta love fans". Couldn't tell if you were getting on them for booing and cheering in the same game (like they're mutually exclusive) or saying you liked that they were into it. I see no problem whatsoever with booing and cheering in the same game. They're reactions to the play they're seeing at the moment. I thought both the boos and the cheers were well deserved in this game.

Blogger's note: No, I wasn't getting on them. You do have to love 'em for their passion. Both ways. It's what makes sports great to watch.

[bballer]

ok, different coach similar style of play. i thought the raps under triano was going to push the ball a lot more. as the game went on, they went back into the half court sets. a new coach and still no playing time for ukic? ok kapono got more time but the team is still reliant on the play of bosh, calderon and especially o'neal on defence. the wings are still the worst statistically and realistically in the nba.

how can colangelo stand watching this game seeing aldridge play so well and roy controlling the tempo of the game in the last 3 quarters. the bargnani pick will be colangelo's legacy. judging the fact that alridge, gay and roy are avg 20ppg in their 3rd season makes one wonder, how much longer should we suffer watching bargnani. i thought getting rid of smitch would have made him better? the raps will not make the playoffs unfortunately.

i know, i know, i can't get over that pick.

[Abbas]

After that last play settled in, looking back at the game, it was probably the best the Raptors have played in a while. No doubt they gave up a 16 point lead, but they managed to come back twice down double digits in the fourth. Poor execution down the stretch, but you have to be impressed with the defensive effort. Considering they were rotating between two bigs the whole game...

[William Foe]

Hello Doug,

Do you know if the Raptors still own their draft picks for 2009 and if the draft class is shaping up to be solid?

I know it's early but looking at the rest of Eastern Conference, I don't think they need to worry about getting bounced in the first playoff round because it is more evident that they are heading for the lottery!

W

Blogger's note: They do have the pick. Now at least

[Roll With Tha Clan from Chicago's northside]

Doug, my friend asked me yesterday if i would do this trade. chris bosh for jerry sloan. i know a coach can only do so much, but he got average players straight balling.

humor aside, how does sloan do that? thats what the raps need. a system of movement in order to hide flaws and keep the opponents guessing.

[gball]

wow. bosh the allstar was playing so was j.o -having a good game mind u- and jose being out there and joey g contributing with some sick dunks and raps still lost. its like the raps of old when they manage to loose the lead and breakdown in the 4th. what is it guna take for them to win. trust me man raps are my team but it just pains me to watch these recent games. come on a 16 point lead? im disappointed. anyway daug, love the blog keep up the great work.

[IM DONE]

Im sick of feeling bad after terrible losses... I am done, no more will I watch the raptors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[I boo at raptor games]

bballer don't apologize. You can't get over that pick because it hinders us for like 5 years maybe more with punks talking about give him time to develop etc. A team that had solid pieces and could develop a project could draft Bargs. A team that needed a superstar couldn't. We fell into that second category and we see the fruit of that demon seed. You have two examples there of straight out the box walk on starters. That is what Toronto needed. I love Portland TO games cause for the last three years they prove the point that the pick was awful. Fire Sam but trade Bargs at the same time and MAYBE that is progress. Note to all who are tired of this particular conversation. When Bryan either admits by trade or by mouth that Bargs was a mistake the argument will end because we will assume that he is rectifying the problem. As it stands now it appears the nothing is being done.

P.S. After Bargs' trade I would expect him to flourish in a system in which he come of the bench or even if he does become a starter just a 10 and 5 box score. Those sort of stats are not for a # 1 pick.