The Goods On The Game, Vol. 24, the Nets are here (again)

What you all watching in Toronto? Seinfeld reruns? Suite Life of Zack and Cody?
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The VC Sucks chant's already going. He hasn't even touched the ball. Yawn.
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First possession: Bosh goes at Yi and draws a foul; second possession: Lopez guards Bosh and when he gets some help, Bosh kicks it to a wide open Kapono for a three.
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A bit of electricity in the crowd, helped by the 9-0 Raptor run to start the game. Helps that Toronto's made all three of its shots and two free throws and the Nets are 0-2. Oh, and Carter has a turnover and had a shot blocked. Much glee amongst the masses.
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Carter makes a layup. No 0-for night for him again.
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Jay's got the pink shirt going. Channeling his inner Sam?
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Brook Lopez just threw a pass that hit Yi right on top of the head. Odd.
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Jose just makes a three and that's six in a row over two games. Impressive.
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The Nets have now blown two timeouts and the game's not even four minutes old. Of course, being down 16-2 will make a coach want to have a chat with his team.
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Carter's now made three shots in a row and has seven points. People are quite unimpressed.
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Toronto 20, New Jersey 9 with 6:30 left
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There've been a lot of Raptors who were really good at taking charges, Oak, Mo Pete, Garbo, Delfino. I don't think anyone's been better at taking them in traffic in the lane than Jermaine O'Neal.
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A jumper, a dunk and a rebound for Bargnani right off the bat. He's had worse starts.
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A bit of a change: AP comes in for Moon and plays alongside Kapono on the wings.
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And a Bargnani foul. One of each major food group, I guess.
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It's quite obvious that Roko Ukic is Jay Triano's backup point guard. He's back in the job tonight. And gets in early as Jose sits down after about 10 minutes.
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A lot of the energy has left the building, it seems.
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Raps have a foul to give but Roko gives it too ealry (with 11.5 seconds left instead of say, 6) and too far from the basket.
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Raptors 28, Nets 20 after one.

Josh Boone guarding Jermaine O'Neal is the highly exploitable matchup if you're Toronto.,
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Say one thing for Jay, he runs guys in and out quickly. Every starter's had a break after less than 13 minutes and O'Neal's been out and in already.
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There's a whole lot of one-on-one basketball going on here from the Raptors.
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Ryan Anderson is today's James Posey. Two threes already.
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Curly Neal's here with one of his Globetrotter buddies. Curly's still got game and he's got to be, what?, 100 years old? Looks good, too.
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Bosh and JK are back, Jose's getting an extended rest.
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Joey. Joey. Joey. One of those thunderous in-traffic baseline dunks and it'll be the lead of all the highlight shows later. Well, that's after about 28 minutes of the NHL and 33 minutes of the world juniors, of course.
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Here's Jose back, he's had seven minutes off, which is a good rest.
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Joey just had this spin dribble move and a pass for an assist on a Kapono three and I'm gonna call him Curly Graham.
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Raps 37, Nets 30 with about six minutes left.
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Brook Lopez is going to be a good one. But I think "plodding" might be an appropriate description of his foot speed at the moment.
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Lopez did just block a Bosh drive rather impressively.
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The Nets are shooting a somewhat miserable 37.5 per cent from the floor. Guess it's something about the way Toronto defends them.
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Raptors have committed eight turnovers that New Jersey has turned into 13 points so far and that's the only reason the Nets are hanging around.
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Lopez now has three fouls, which gets him a seat and the Raptors a bit of a break.
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Bosh has played 18 minutes and, even though he's been to the line six times, he's only had three field goal attempts and I'm not sure that's enough. Of course, the Raptors are winning so I don't imagine they care all that much.
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Yi just let loose perhaps the ugliest 24-foot airball seen in these parts in a while.
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Toronto's shot 14 free throws, the Nets six.
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Jose's guarded Harris the whole game, no different looks so far tonight.
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Well, there goes that 14-point lead. Nets tie with 1:04 left. Just before Bosh gets hit with a technical foul.
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Nets 46, Raptors 45 at halftime.
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Check that, they reviewed a Jose jumper with less than six seconds left and it's a three.
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Nets 46, Raptors 46 at halftime.
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Bosh is now 0-for-6. Carter like?
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Yi's now got four fouls and is no factor whatsoever. But he's not Richard Jefferson, I guess.
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Bosh hits a bank shot, all's right in the world.
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Now Lopez has four fouls, too, and Toronto's bigs have to go to work.
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Say this for Jake Voskuhl, he might not know everyone's name yet but he's up cheering with almost every Raptors basket.
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Remember when the Nets were shooting horribly? Now they're at 45 per cent and Toronto's at 44. And we know why the game is so close.
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Moon's scored twice this quarter. A putback off an offensive board and a layup just now.
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Nets 58, Raptors 54 with six left.
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Yi just had another of those bricks that, I think, hit the backboard below the rim on the other side of the basket from the side he was shooting at.
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Every time Carter makes a shot, this guy behind us yells "You still stink!" A voice in the wilderness.
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I don't know about you, but I am hugely impressed with Jason Kapono's court sense and basketball IQ.
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Moon has eight rebounds right now and, incredibly, his season high is only nine. I find that rather astonishing.
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Jose just tried a 35-foot lob to Bosh that bounced off the backboard. It was a turnover, not a field goal attempt.
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I know he's been hurt a bit but surely the Nets could find time for a guy like Eddy Najera, no? I always liked his toughness and his game.
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This will get 'em all riled up. Bargnani just tossed Carter to the floor trying to fight for a rebound. Carter got up glaring, they were hit with double fouls and there was no futher contretemps. And somehow the Nets got the ball.
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I think we might be in for a dandy finish here.
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Trenton Hassell just fouled Jose well after a whistle and Jose had a little staredown with him. I get the feeling these teams might not like each other very much. Which is good.
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Toronto 70, New Jersey 63 aftter three.
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We're getting some Roko time and there's alerady been a 24-second violation on Toronto after a brutal possession.
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I'm told Hazel, of My Hazelville, is in the house.
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Carter's getting a blow and now's when the Raptors can take control.
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There's 9:18 left, Toronto's up four and the rest is over for Bosh and Calderon. They're back and they'll be out there until this one's decided either way.
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The folks are getting quite restless with Toronto up two and 8:48 to go. This is about time when, in most arenas, fans cheer more loudly instead of hold their breath.
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Trenton Hassell, hardly Dennis Rodman, just reached right over Jamario Moon for a key offensive rebound. And then he took another one away from a lackadaisical Moon on the same possession. Bad. Very.
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Four of the five Raptors on the floor have compression sleeves or braces on their legs. Kapono's the only one without one.
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That's three offensive rebounds in two trips for the Nets, who now lead.
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Nets 74, Raps 72 with 6:21 to go.
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And here comes Vince.
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Joey's in to guard Vince, who proceeds to get a three-point play.
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Lawrence Frank just had the game stopped so he could run out and pick up some garbage off the court. I think he'd probably be better off coaching.
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Another crazy lob pass from Jose for Bosh results in a turnover.
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Ryan Anderson's got the dagger, I think. Just hit a three to put the Nets up 10 with 3:26 left.
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JO's struggling at the free throw line, he's a mere 2-for-6.
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This one's over 'cause Toronto can't possibly score enough to come back.
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As I type this, New Jersey has 83 field goal attempts and Toronto has 66. That's awful.
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Oh, and New Jersey has 51 rebounds to 35 for Toronto.
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Jay just got the first technical of his head coaching career. And he's thisclose to getting his first ejection.
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The fans are fleeing. Don't blame them.
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Nets 94 Toronto 87 and it's over.
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Comments

[Chris Phillips]

Here's another link to watch the Raptors game:

http://www.justin.tv/hustlin213

[Kevin Allison]

Hey Doug... Is Bosh forcing it, or is he truly being mugged in here.. I'm in and out fo the game and have caught a couple times under the basket where he looked like he got fouled.

Blogger's note: He's getting hit

[Kevin]

Hi Doug,
Please run all of these links in your regular column. Maybe your readers will find an alternative while the *%#@%%^#!#$ at Rogers/MLSE/TSN see that people can go elsewhere.

[ale]

Raptors outrebounded again.. i thought that we trade for jermaine to have someone to protect the paint and grab some rebounds...last 5 games, 4.8 rebounds a game.. RASHO can give us the same numbers..

[ian]

hey doug. i'm sitting here at half-time staring at an empty floor. wtf is wrong with game ops here? can we trade them? seriously, they're awful.

[ale]

is something wrong with AP, he played just 3 minutes, is he the odd man out with this new system , or he´s not ok yet from his injury...?

Blogger's note: Six minutes in the first half, actually.

[OH15]

Rogers sucks, TSN2 sucks, MLSE sucks... So who loses in all this? All Raptors fans, but especially the blue collar guy with 2 kids who can't afford to take his kids to the game and has to buy digital cable to see 30%+ of the games... somebody do something about this...

[GT]

hey doug, was that our beloved Hazel at the game?!

Blogger's note: If it was, I missed her. Dang! (I presume you mean McCallion and not Mae?)

[GT]

Yes Ms. McCallion. Uhh look left, press box front row right before the courtsides on the nets side?

[papa]

great, now wince is mad. but I guess bargs is too. does that even mean anything? (the second sentence.)

[Dennis]

Hi Doug,

I'm one of the unfortunate rogers subscribers that's getting the shaft today. Box score says VC and Harris are having a tough time shooting the ball. Who's been the primary defenders on these guys?

Blogger's note: Moon and Calderon

[bob]

Wow just came home for the holidays from the U.S. and can't believe they do not have this game on rogers.

Vince Carter in T.O. and not on TV. With the economy in the toilet you would think they'd like the ratings from this game to get some ad revenue... Great job rogers.

[Kendal]

Doug - Your call: the Apple Crisp or the Chocolate Brownie Explosion? I've given up on the game.

Blogger's note: You better have gone with the chocolate. That's a no-brainer. And a nice latte.

[Willy]

Whats wrong with Bosh. Im not being irrational but after the mad stretch at the beggining of the season he sort of just quieted down. A LOT. Is he hurt?

[Ryan Sadler]

KABOOM!

Somebody in the ACC accidently hit the self-destruct button.

[ad]

You know it amazes me that with Bosh and Oneal on the floor the Raps are still having trouble rebounding. Bosh is decent and Oneal is supposed to be pretty good at reboounding. It has to be a lack of effort. Im tired of seeing just perimeter shots and no rebounding. Is BC dellusional or something? He should make a trade to bring in a wing who can rebound and get to the basket.

[kathyt]

Arrrgggggg! I can't watch this game anymore :(

[AD]

Someone please tell the Raptors that generally, it's a good idea to get the occasional rebound...looks like they're afraid of the ball out there or something

[LS]

Dribble penetration.

The Nets can get this from Harris and Carter on a consistent basis to either draw fouls or get better looks for their teammates.

The Raptors get this from no one on their perimeter. Occasionally Calderon will use a good hard screen to get to the rim but he just doesn't have the tools to do it often and by himself. The rest of the Raptors perimeter players don't have the handles and/or are stuck to their spots behind the 3pt line.

[Nick]

This team just doesn't want it. They don't want to box out, don't want to rebound, don't want to get loose balls, don't want to play defense, don't want to get in to the paint. This is a team that won't win more than 40 games.

[Rob]

Most ironic comment of the night. About 1:45 left, Joey comes in for Jermaine O'Neal while Bosh is at the free throw line. Jack Armstrong says "Offensive for defense substitution". Let me get this straight, we are paying JO 20+ million a year for offense? We get killed every night on the boards, what did we get this guy for?

[bob]

This team is the worst rebounding team ever. Bosh and O'neal together in the frontcourt were supposed to be the answer to this problem... not looking good...

[Tom]

Has anyone seen o'neal ever make that turnaround fadeaway that he shoots a couple of times a game. Pass out of those situations and we should get some open shots. I statred watching in the forth Q and it was painful. The one bright spot was that for a while Bargs looked like he was really in control, doing what he wanted on offence and playing well againt bigs on d. (although he was lucky that some fouls were not called) All and all, a really weak preformance by the raps.

[phil]

CB4 is not a franchise guy. Sure he has the skills but his mindset is passive and opportunistic rather than assertive. Like VC he can only truly thrive as being the second banana. Bosh reminds me of Pau Gasol when he was in Memphis; great talent maybe lead the team to 1st round of the playoffs but not the elite guy.
Elite guys that lead their teams consistently in the upper-echelon of the league; LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Dirk(he's still kind of a hack), Dwight Howard.
Bosh is in that 2nd tier level with the Michael Redds, Pau Gasols, tracy mcgrady's.
A team that relies on CB4 as the franchise will not get you very far. He can only dominate the Bobcats and other crappy eastern conference teams and is a no show against the best teams. Good thing Raps are on TSn2 because id hate to see Cb4 tuck his tail between his legs once more in another blowout loss to a good team.
Also how in the world do you let Ryan Anderson get an offensive board over you??? Cb4 just gets rebounds by default.

[Zach]

Doug, like many others I was another casualty of the greedy selfish behaviour of TSN, Rogers and MLSE. To quote a great movie, I'm mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!

Can you email me a contact at The Star where I can submit a letter to the editor? I wasn't able to find it on the website.

Tough loss today... thanks for keeping us informed though!