The Goods On The Game, Vol. 23, here are the Hornets

You still here?
I am, in a star-studded arena it seems. Look over there are midcourt and it's Adam Van Kouverden, Kristy Yamaguchi and Johann Olav Koss. It's Right To Play day and they're the three folks in in the bright yellow jackets that say Right To Play on them. You know, in case you miss them.
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No, you don't see Tyson Chandler and you won't. He's got back spasms and the day off.
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Hilton Armstrong and David West are not going to be able to handle Bosh and O'Neal, I don' t imagine. West may score a lot but he's not a stopper.
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It's 801 games and counting with a three-pointer after Moon drills one, followed closely by Calderon in the first four minutes.
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There was just a heckuva collision, Bosh tripped Rasual Butler, Butler went down, Bosh fell over Butler nad it was like basketball bowling pins.
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The "Everybody Clap Your Hands" plague is upon us. I beseech you, please, no.
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Chad The Crack Stats fella from the back room tells us this is the first time since Anthony Parker became a Raptor that he didn't start a game for which he was dressed. History in the making, folks.
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Raps 14, Hornets 9 with 5:30 to go.
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Just before the timeout, and the post, Jose picked up his second foul, kind of a silly one far from the basket and it's Roko Time. Much earlier than usual, and I presume for a longer stretch.
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Tough start for Bargnani, a badly missed three and an aborted drive that becomes a turnover mighty quick.
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Two great hustle plays by Bosh keep balls alive that were going out of bounds. One turns into a Kapon three, another leads a Raptor break.
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If you sit near the bench at all, or if a mic picks up Jay very often you know what his pet peeve is: Travelling. He's at the refs incessantly about it.
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Chris Bosh has missed all five of his field goal attempts.
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AP's back as the firest wing off the bench.
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Toronto is out-rebounding the Hornets 13-8. You might want to frame that sentence.
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Toronto 24, New Orleans 22 at one.
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Sean Marks obviously feels a bit better 'cause there he is in the game. I've got a lot of time for the Kiwi, he once gave a group of grunts a great restaurant recommendation away from the Riverwalk in San Antonio duing one Finals and then sent over a round of drinks while we were there.
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And there's Marks drilling one of his flat, 20-foot jumpers on the baseline.
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As my man Perk points out, they're putting the varsity back in. Here comes Jose and his two fouls and Bosh and his 0-5 afternoon.
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Antonio Daniels is now Chris Paul's backup because Mike James couldn't get it done and is now in Wasington.
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James Posey has taken two shots, both threes and made them both. He's not bad.
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Referee Courtney Kirkland just helped a trio of urchins knock off The Chicken in a timeout tug-of-war.
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Jose hit a three and Johann Olav Koss did the three-finger thing. Cool.
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Well, the varsity's got it going, Jose hits a three off a double-team on Bosh necessitated by the fact Sean Marks can't guard him; and then Calderon gets a steal and hits a little jumper to finish a break.
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Raptors 37, Hornets 30 with 6 1-2 until halftime.
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Imagine that, another Posey three. Off good ball movement that the Raps couldn't do anything about.
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Calderon's killing offensively. He's got 12 in 11 minutes and hasn't missed a shot in five tries.
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This has to be a typo. The stats monitor says Toronto has 20 rebounds and New Orleans has 10.
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James Posey has now made five three pointers in 11 minutes. He's got 15 points on six shots. That's rather economical scoring, isn't it?
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Because they were told to, the fans just started cheering wildly in the timeout to try and win gas.
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Still no Mo and if Posey keeps shooting like that, there won't be any Mo, either.
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Well, it wasn't a double-figure lead, but the Raps were once up eight and are now down two. And it may soon be four.
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Make that five on a Peja three-pointer.
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Toronto's offence has gone in the toilet in the last five minutes.
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They'e called Roko for carrying the ball once, they could probably get him every other time he dribbles.
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New Orleans 51, Toronto 46 at the half.
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Seems I was misinformed. That isn't Kristy Yamaguchi over there. But it is Van Kouverden and Koss, that I know for sure.
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Hornets had one offensive rebound in the first half. That's got to be some kind of Raptor franchise record.
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Maybe it's fashion, but I don't think so. Jose and Moon both start the half with compression sleeves on their right and left legs, respectively.
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Toronto's going to have to get its bigs going if it's going to win.
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The Raps are shooting 37 per cent and there's no way that's going to be good enough 'cause they aren't defending like they did Friday night.
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Here comes Posey and let the three-point festival begin.
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Chris Paul is a great player. Today he's only been good. Which is why Toronto's hanging around.
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Hornets 63, Raps 62 with 6 minutes left.
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Posey just hits his sixth three-pointer of  the game, a guy sitting a few rows behind me bellows: "Posey, you suck" and I'm thinking, um, no, he really doesn't.
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Toronto's got seven points on 3-for-12 combined shooting from four guys off the bench.
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Crowd's filled a bit but this is no sellout, that's for sure. Maybe everyone's saving their money to buy tickets for tomorrow and the Nets.
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I miss seeing the Hornets and not catching up with old friend Darrell Walker.
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Now that Paul fellow has 10 points and 10 assists. Not a bad afternoon's work already.
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Posey just missed an open three. Will wonders never cease!
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The Chicken's over there getting its picture taken with Van Kouverden and Koss. The ham. He's never over here with a camera and the beat grunts.
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Raps offence still isn't in sync, although they are shooting 44 per cent now, up from 38 at the half.
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The Raptor bench has no produced nine points. Which is quite a few less than the 29 from New Orleans subs.
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New Orleans 80, Toronto 72 at three.
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An old beat grunt-slash-musicologist reports from the upper deck -- confirmed by The First Lady Of The Beat -- that dance hostess or something Leah Miller and crooner Dallas Green are in audience. I'd be far more impressed if it was old seamhead Dallas Green.
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Hornets were only 1-for-6 from three-point range in the third.
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Another carrying the ball call on Ukic. Told you they'll get him a lot for that. It's a call you never, ever see in the Euroleague.
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FInal push is coming, Bosh and Jose are at the table. And now in the game, Toronto down eight with 9:50 left.
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Devin Brown just got an offensive rebound while laying right on the floor.
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My Man Kiwi just stuffed Bosh. Impressive indeed.
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Remember way back in like the second quarter when Toronto had more rebounds than New Orleans? Not so much now. Hornets 32, Raps 30 as I type.
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Raptors are going to have to get some stops. And they can't.
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Calderon's on fire. Eight for eight from the floor and 22 points.
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Hornets 89, Raptors 81 with 6:10 left.
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The Hornets spend a lot of time letting the shot clock run down before getting off a shot. The thing is, when they get that shot, it's usually a three.
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Raptors are finishing today with their starters 'cause they've getting nothing from the bench.
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The Hornets have hoisted 31 three-pointers so far.
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Chris Paul just made the drive of the game, his bucket puts Hornets up seven and this one is over.
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The only Raptors other than Bosh and O'Neal to shoot free throws today were Calderon (who shot a technical) and Moon, who shot two with about 2 1-2 to go on a loose ball foul. No Raptor except the two bigs was fouled going to the basket.
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Jay's doing offence-defence. Parker and Joey for Jose and JK. That puts Moon on Paul to give him a different look.
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New Orleans 99, Toronto 91 and it's over.
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See ya tomorrow. Remember, it's TSN2 so you Rogers folks can't see it. You'll have to check back here.
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Comments

[John]

Is there some personal reason you don't like Andrea Bargnani? In every single thing you write about, you always have to throw in a jab about him. You don't do this for anyone else really. Like O'Neal's been a huge dissapointment this year, a $21 million 'good' player, but you would never say anything negative. Just reading your articles, you'll always add in if Bargnani didn't play well, even when it doesn't fit in and flow in your articles.

Doug, you're a joke and try to cater to the RealGM crowd too much. Just do your job (Making predictions that never come true, opinions that are always wrong, etc).

Blogger's note: Dude, you gotta go check the archives for me and Bargnani. I've been defending the dude for two years. Don't rip unless you know, okay?

[Mike]

Hey Doug

have you heard anything about this apparently Jake Voskuhl is in TO and will be signed by the raptors

Blogger's note: I've sort of been reporting that since last night, so yeah, we got it. Thanks

[Joshua Mejia]

John says:

"Is there some personal reason you don't like Andrea Bargnani?"

I could make a list of reasons why I don't like Andrea. Is there some reason you feel you have to defend Andrea?

[Tabber]

John, meet Joshua. Now take your discussion somewhere else, we've only gone through this 100 times already and we're tired of it. The kid ain't the great white hope, but he shows some good signs, more as time goes by. Wait another year or so, see what Jay does with his in-game role - maybe we'll see some consistency once there's some consistency. Move along, nothing to see here.

[Dave]

Who does Doug mean by "the first lady of the beat"? I have read Doug a lot, but haven't figured that one out. Help.

Now, keeping JK in the starting line doesn't look like such a good idea.

[nick p]

Doug caters to the "RealGM crowd"??? Do you even read this blog??

Doug is the voice of reason for all these Chicken Littles around here. I don't always agree with him, but I respect the even keel he maintains.

He's been defending Bargnani for the past year when everyone wanted his head. So don't take your frustrations out on the person who is providing you this forum to express yourself.

On another note, as much as I didn't expect them to beat the Hornets, I have to say that I have a hard time giving this team much credit until they beat at least ONE good team.

[GM]

"West may score a lot but he's not a stopper."

Couldn't that be said about Chris Bosh, too? He may be less of a stopper than West, in fact.

[GM]

Seems I'm always asking one of these "who is..." questions, but who is Johann Olav Koss?

Blogger's note: Former Olympic gold medallist speedskater and one-time paramour of Belinda Stronach.

[GM]

"It's a call you never, ever see in the Euroleague."

And it's a call you rarely ever see in the NBA, except on raw rookies and other non-stars, who do it just as much.

[Roll With Tha Clan from Chicago's northside.]

Doug always supports Andrea. Andrea just needs role definition and he'll be fine. i don't know what position he is right now.

[Milette]

What's taking so long with the Voskhul announcement? Geez BC, pull it together

Blogger's note: Not to worry, it's out there now

[MFox]

Pssst! Hey for those who don't get tsn2
check this out for umm play by play updates yeah that it
http://www.myp2p.eu/competition.php?competitionid=&part=sports&discipline=basketball

[Anthony]

Can you post the email to send our complaints about TSN2 and the Raptors? Is it not enough I pay for all the premium channels and Raptors TV, I will now have to pay more to get another Sports channel that offers no programming of interest outside 33% of the Raptor games???? I am not happy at all.

[Thane]

Carrying the ball? Is that like travelling, or is it a different call entirely? What does it involve?

(yes, that's a serious question, just in case it seemed otherwise)

Blogger's note: A different call. Carrying the ball is what used to be known as palming it and is now called a "discontinued dribble."

[Mike Kovacs]

Doug that was me in the orange shirt who said hello before the game from the seats - I get those tickets 6 times a year and I wear that shirt so my friends and boys not at the game with me can see me on TV ( we all have satellite! ). Anyway it could have been a win and there were some calls that did not help ( eg charge on AP that could as easily been an 'and-one' since the defender had a foot in the circle ). I still see promising signs but if word on Roko's dribbling spreads amongst the refs he could see many more of those calls. He does carry EVERY time!

[phil]

The defensive philosophy is questionable; but its kind of like pick your poision: die from inside or outside.
GM has gutted our team and now we do not have a reliable (consistent) bench. JO is a shadow of his former self but still getting paid like he just finished 3rd in MVP voting averaging 20-10. In hindsight, is Colengelo any better than Babcock?
The only moves that he has done that benefitted the team was to trade Jalen's fat contract (however he did assume an even fatter one in O'Neal), fraudulently getting Bosh to re-sign, letting Mike James walk (to get the headcase T.J Ford).
This franchise is cursed with inadequate personnel decision making and it really shows on the floor.

[brad]

Tough loss, but I thought they played good, just couldn't make their shots and N.O. did. The defense was strong in the first half, the 2nd they weren't playing as tough but overall very promising. AP, Kapono, Bosh, Bargs had bad shooting nights...3 more 3's from Kapono or Parker and they would have won this game. I think the Rap's are on the right path.

[Sivart]

"one-time paramour of Belinda Stronach"

No offense but we could say that about a LOT of people. That girl has been around, or as Sean Avery would say "she has been a lot of peoples sloppy seconds".

[Lake Simcoe]

Has BC the authority to fire some front office guys?

Vinsanity on TSN2? Are you kidding? I know you blame Rogers, but the one in MLSE that allowed this happen (and 24 games exclusived by Raptor TV some years ago) is simply Starbury-esque (not to mention someone quoted "its no big deal to miss a game...").

My HDTV plan is coming to an end, and I'm wondering to renew it.

[Andrew P]

Herb isn't going to make a habit of that "Whoooooo" scream after 3's is he? Or was this just a copy cat move from the New Orleans arena announcer?

[Michelle]

Hey Dougie, you're getting a lot better at making those videos!

Blogger's note: Thanks

[ad]

Jake Voskul is the the player the Raps need? Hes awful. I dont know what BC is doing. The Raps need WING players who are consistent and can score. That should be priority #1 and not signing crappy centres.

[steve Gosse]

It wasn't BC that traded Jalen by the way.. it was the interim GM at the time Wayne Embry if i'm not mistaken..

That was a big help in how they lured BC here I would assume.. was with all that cap space.

[Jonathan]

ad:

Name a wing player that meets your criteria who they can sign. Voshkul is bench insurance now that the Raps only have 3 bigs.