Big game, big shot, big finish. Oh, and AI is ticked

What a terrible, stinky, horrible game.

Now they’re percentage points better than New York.

OH

MY

GOD

They might have the – gasp! – ninth pick in the draft instead of the eighth?

AP PHOTO

A little win streak to end a crappy season is sure better than an elbow to the chest.

And all because they gutted out a big win on the road against a very good team late in the season. Damn them!

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Seriously, that might as good as they’ve played since the San Antonio game just before the all-star break; the Magic is very good.

They decided early not to aggressively double-team Howard, to let him get his if he had to and take extra care guarding the three-point line. Worked out pretty well, I’d say and runs counter to the usual philosophy of packing the paint and taking your chances with the shooters. Not a bad piece of adaptation, I’d say.

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Action: Bosh’s game-winner

Reaction: Remember when?

Tell me what the difference is between the shot Bosh missed at the end of Game 2 last April and the one he made last night? He’s being lauded for being “clutch” after the make and was killed for being a soft bum when he missed it in April.

Both were the right play at the right time, one he made and one he missed.

And no one who crucified him for not driving last year (a play after he’d been mugged and didn’t the call) really should be allowed to heap praise on him for making the 20-footer at the end of the game last night.

His game last night – 24 and 12, 50 per cent shooting from the field, enough good defence on Howard and Lewis when he had to chase him to the three-point line – was pretty much the kind of thing we’ve come to expect from him.

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Hey, remember when Bargnani fouled with Jake-like frequency? When the gambling pool courtside was how long it would take him to get two quick personals and a seat on the bench? Well, those days are gone and that might be one of the most significant things he’s learned this year – how to defend without fouling.

Last night’s disqualification, and there were a couple of cheapies among the six for sure, was only his second of the season. That’s a huge improvement and shows more about his growth this year.

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This prank sucks and they should give the guy a job or something for jerking him around.

And, besides, isn’t noon the moratorium on April Fool’s Day jokes?

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Okay before anyone gets too excited, consider this when thinking about the ultimate season-ending miracle.

Not only do the Raptors have to run the table (and a 13-game winning streak to end the season is a bit much to ask), Detroit has to lose every game it plays and/or Chicago has to win no more than one and only a magical abacus can tell me what the means for Charlotte, Indy, Milwaukee, the Nets and Knicks.

So let’s take this for what it is, a very nice finish to a very bad season.

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A quick one from the rapidly-filling mail bag:

Q: I know stats miss a lot, but which stat do you think is the most valid indicator of a team's defensive proficiency? Is there any sort of formula for calculating an individual's defensive prowess?

David S, Toronto

A: In my opinion, field goal percentage surrendered is the best stat to determine a team’s efficiency. And I have yet to see any single formula for determining an individual’s defensive ability.

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How much did you want Charlotte to knock off the Celtics last night? Not just because it’s Boston and there’s a lot to loath about the C’s but because it would have (a) given the Bobcats back-to-back wins over the Lakers and Celtics and that would have been very cool and (b) tightened the bottom of the East standings immeasurably.

As it is, it’s going to be a wild finish over the next fortnight. I still think the schedule heavily favours Chicago to get one of those last spots but, I’m serious about this, do not sleep on the Bobcats to catch the Pistons.

That would be very cool, in my opinion; more new teams in the playoffs the better and I’ve always been a big Larry Brown fan.

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Speaking of Detroit, how’s this for a much-needed distraction with the season on the line and two weeks to go?

Somewhere, I presume Chauncey Billups is smiling.

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Action: Bargnani fouls out.

Reaction: It’s gotta be on Jay

I know they weren’t scoring a lot in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter and they probably needed his offence but to bring back Bargnani and his five fouls with just over seven minutes left was an ill-advised gamble.

One, of course, that backfired since he fouled out on his first defensive possession.

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I’m rubbing my eyes in disbelief here – and not because Super Son seems all ready to head to school and it’s 45 minutes until departure time – but because in the last five games, the Raptors are plus-69 in rebounding.

Read that again.

PLUS-69 IN REBOUNDING.

The Raptors are.

The Toronto Raptors.

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In Orlando, where they might be thinking that game will be the one that keeps them from getting second overall in the East, they awoke this morning, raced to the newsstand (or the porch, or the computer) and saw this from Good Old B. Schmitz.

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You know I was gonna run this as soon as I saw it:

Q: I dare you to write an article tomorrow about how great Howard is like you did with Shaq ...you know the other game where we got completely screwed by the refs and you BLEW the story. I also dare you to print this.

Stephen P, Burlington

A: Dwight Howard’s great. The Raptors still won. What do I get? (If it’s money, send it to my office today, thanks).

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Seriously, that was a poorly officiated game, Howard got the benefit of a handful of calls. Games are going to pop up like that every now and then, all refs are not created equally.

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Comments

[Peter]

Apparently that guy was an actor at the Magic game and the prank was actually on the crowd, which changes the prank from mean to stupid. Either way, not really a great promo.

This is a big win for the Raptors, regardless of (not happening) playoff hopes. To have some momentum leading into next season will be huge. If fans are saying, "Imagine if they played like this every night," you gotta think some of the players are thinking that way too. You could argue that they should play hard every night anyway, but having this streak to end the season will hopefully make them hungry come next year.

[Jason]

That prank was poor taste with these tough economic times. He took it better than I would have. Shame on the team and hopefully the NBA has the Magic make this horrible situation right with the guy.

[David]

As I understand it, the "prank" was on the fans. The "laid off" worker was being paid by the team. The fans and media were "pranked". It's just like the fake wedding proposal skit where the sports team sets up a guy to propose to his beloved, only to have her give him a big public thumbs down. Everybody feels bummed out for the guy who has been humiliated, except that he hasn't because the whole thing is faked.

[Greg]

There is no difference between last season's shot and this shot by Bosh: both were low percentage shots, which is exactly the point. He's just lucky that this one went in. If Bosh would have chucked the ball over his back 19 feet from the basket and it somehow went in, was that the right move?

[Wesley]

That is a pretty horrible prank, although it has been done before on collegehumor.com. So not only is it horrible, but plagarized

[Mark L]

Apparantly the prank was on the fans and the guy was an actor? (not mentioned in that article, according to the comments)

[David]

Doug... you're an idiot. That guy who was "pranked" was actually an actor. The joke was on the crowd... and on you, too, it seems. Why don't you pay attention for once.

Blogger's note: Thanks for the nice note.

[Ryan from Ottawa]

You know, that +69 doesn't surprise as much as people may think. Watching Bargnani and his newly found (since he became a starter) box-out ability, regular consistency by bosh, and a rebounding 3 who takes advantage of the space bargs creates and add pops' energy off the bench and you get a decent rebounding team. +69 decent? Maybe not, but we have had some crappy opponents in there too.

[Rob.V]

What a terrible, stinky, horrible game. Now they’re percentage points better than New York.

Love the sarcasm (as always).

Ok, I'll be the first to admit it. I was DEAD WRONG!!! There is no way you sit Calderon & Bosh in favour of the bench at this point. This is too good a stretch (finally!!).

Forget about the draft... we've gotta keep this play rolling as long as possible.

[anger management]

David,

Are you really THAT angry ... wow. You need to relax. Hey, it`s a five game win streak ... shouldn`t that make you hate the world less?

[Pharaoh]

Doug, a few points: (1) I still don't think the Bosh shot is the right option in those circumstances. Sure, he hit it this time, but it's still a low-percentage shot. I wouldn't agree that it was "the right shot at the right time" - more like it was the the least bad option given our lack of a slashing 2 or 3. I still say he misses that shot 7 times out of 10; (2) Joey did a fantastic job on Dwight late in the game, but why didn't Jay use Pops instead? He's bigger and stronger and I thought he could have added some valuable minutes; (3) what / who do you think has been the difference for the Raps turnaround on the boards?; (4) do you get the feeling that Bosh is a new man since "the story" broke last week? He's definitely had an extra spring in his step the last few games.

Blogger's note: I'll just go to the second one because I want to do some rebounding stuff in the morning. Pops was playing poorly, Joey was doing a good job; it was a no-brainer.

[Kelsie]

Since this prank thing seems to be the topic of the day I'll try and switch it up a little bit.

I know you're loathe to talking draft stuff before the season ends (forgive me for doing this) but Doug whats your opinion on drafting based on the best player available vs. team needs?

The consensus seems to indicate you take the best player available but I'm thinking if you have great needs in one area (perimeter players for instance) and not others (bigs) why not draft based on need and hopefully see improvement in the areas you are most weak?

It does make sense to get the best talent you can but why not try and improve areas that you can right away, if possible?

Blogger's note: As a general rule, I say take the best player possible and let the coach figure it out. Of course, I'm sure there have been exceptions but that's pretty much my philosophy of it.

[Roxanne G]

"the Magic is very good." Is? Are?
I'm not doing this to snark, but curious about which is the right usage. The Magic ARE very good? The Magic "team" IS very good? What's your interpretation, oh, wise veteran scribe?

Wilber-I'm not sure if Doug is going to get to this one or not - but here's my 2 cents: common nouns like team (and class, herd, flock, crew etc.) are collective nouns: one entity made up of a group of other nouns, that act as a unit. Collective nouns should take a singular verb (is, not are). I'm assuming then, if you substitute a proper noun for a specific team (Heat, Magic) it is still a collective and would still take the 'is'. I guess though that means that teams with the usual names ending in 's' are still a collective and should take the singular verb, too. ex: The Raptors is a basketball team. Now that sounds wrong - but often we use grammar based on what sounds correct, even if it isn't. The Raptors are a basketball team sounds 'right'. Come to think of it -I remember learning once that if you are trying to communicate that the collective noun is NOT working properly as unit but instead as a bunch of individuals, you should use the plural verb (are) to communicate that. Hmmmm...maybe the use of 'are' is appropriate more often than not (previous to this current streak of course!).

I'd never have guessed that my grammer geek and Raptor fan world's would collide.

Blogger's note: Couldn't have said it better myself. Unless I'd said the Raptors is on a roll

[Peter]

David... you're an idiot.

Doug, I hope you know there's more poeple out here who appreciate everyhting you do for us Raps fans.

[Jason]

I think the prank everyone claims was on the fans is false. I have the game log from ESPN and the original story had absolutely no mention that this guy was an actor. The first issue of the AP story was the same. There was no mention that he was in on the joke at all until the story got updated later on.
I believe to say the fan was an actor is a lie. I'm not talking about the people who posted, I'm talking about that this was real and now theres a coverup. The original AP story is all over the net.
After all these stories ran, the Magic claimed he was an "actor" which scream coverup for a mistake to me.

[GM]

Man, if there's ever a reason to allow the comments up as soon as they're posted, today's response is it. How many times do we need to read that the prank was a prank on the crowd? I mean, I'm glad so many people knew that, and am a little disappointed in the shoddy reportage of it by Feschuk, but we don't need to read 30 comments saying the same thing.

As for Bosh's last shot, I've got to agree with Jojo. Anytime a shot goes in, obviously there isn't a whole lot to criticise. But standing in one place staring at your opponent then firing up a shot is hardly the best play. And as someone else mentioned, it also seems to be a low percentage option. I'm glad it went in, though. The rationale behind it must be that the more passes you make in those situations, the greater odds that one of them will get picked off. But still... So I would amend your statement a bit: Both were the wrong play at the time, one he made and one he missed.

But hey, he made it and I liked it when I saw it hit the bottom of the net. Still, I reserve the right to complain about it the next time he does the same shot and misses!

[Doug]

How many more people are going to mention the fact that this guy was a actor and a prank on the fans,,,i think that's been made abundantly clear...

that shot Bosh made was fine, its a shot he makes all the time, to say it is a low percentage shot is wrong as if you watch his game for him it is not, for others it is....plus its not like the Red Sea's just part, other teams do play defense and adapt, so you have to go with the flow...

big loss by the Cats last night it will I think hurt them a lot, although as you say don't discount the Pistons, Dumars needs to suck it up and just send Iverson home, for a guy that was the model of G.M's before this year he has sure taken a few big steps backwards with his moves this year, even losing the services of McDyees for a month in that trade never helped...

thanks for answering my inquiry regarding the cap and contracts yesterday, can you sometime explain the mid-cap exception and how it works...could we use that to sign say a Delfino if we spend all our cap money on arguments sake, Marion, Pops, and Parker??

[quackers old meal]

i think jay realized the best defender against howard was joey, and he thought he could give him a bit of a breather by putting bargnani in for a bit without giving up too too many points (as would have happened with jake maybe) and getting some offense while he was at it.

[SY]

I say we either trade (Kapono + Cap Space for R.Jefferson) or (Kapono + Banks + future 2nd round pick for Deng) this coming summer. Re-sign Marion, Parker, Pops and Delfino. Draft Stephen Curry then we are done!!..I wish!

-SY

[Tim W.]

The Magic "is" commented jumped out at me, too. I've never liked hearing that. And to touch on what Roxanne G said, you don't say that the deer is running, when referring to a herd (or whatever they're called) of deer. The Deer ARE running. Only when you call them a herd can you use the singular. The herd IS running. The term herd can only describe the entire unit.

In the case of the Magic, each player is an individual Magic player, just as each individual Raptor player is, well a Raptor. You can say the team IS, but the Raptors ARE. It should be no different from the Magic. The team IS, the Magic ARE.

Anyway, the Magic IS just sounds stupid, quite frankly.

[Uncle Zeke]

Some people are so short-sighted... Dumars traded for Iverson for cap space nothing more... Pistons now have more cap space than any team this summer... Sure the Pistons would have been better with Chauncey this year but would they have beat Cleveland or Boston? No. The last several years have shown that Detroit fell behind other teams with Billups... Dumars only concern is winning titles- if you have to take a step back this year to move forward next year then that's what you do... Let's see how much Denver is smiling when they have an aging Billups on their cap for the next 4 years...

In regards to the prank every team uses actors for these bits... Doesn't everyone remember the guy asking his girlfriend to marry him and she runs out of the arena.. All an act... The Raptors do this all the time as well... The last game I was at they had a "dating game" bit at half-time with supposed fans.. All actors of course.. Or the planted fan with the opposing teams jersey on that the mascot will have a bit with... Welcome to the real world...

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

its simple...

marion, bosh, bargs, caldy, parker/delfino or draft pick

bench: roko, parker/delfino/draftpick, graham, pops, hump, voskhul, jawai, o bryant, mid level exception wing.

chemistry develops in training camp

keep the coaching staff as canadian as possible

[Chris]

Hey Doug, you asked what was the difference between Bosh's shot in the playoffs last year to last night and I can give you a few, I realize your point is that he usually makes that shot and sometimes it just isn't gonna fall but you gotta question the timing.

The key diffrence is that he made the shot in a game that meant nothing to his team except for an ego boost whereas the missed shot last year sealed the series for Orlando. I am not a Bosh hater I just don't think he is the guy you want with the ball late in a close games, he has proved that in the last two playoffs series as well as missing those clutch shots this year when the games mattered. Making clutch shots when the games don't matter means nothing.

[Peter]

"The magic is very good"?

You are a professional writer Doug. Learn how to write properly.

You're stupidity baffles me sometimes...

Blogger's note: Magic, being singular, would take the singular "is" it can be argued, like Raptors, being plural, would take the plural "are."
And you really, really, really distingush yourself as a person -- and I use the term loosely -- with the tone of your posts.

[Kyle]

Hey Doug, I notice a lot of sports writers writing statements like this one, "the Magic is very good."

Shouldn't it be, "the Magic are very good"?

I haven't really figured out why you use "is" instead of "are" when referring to a team.