There really isn't a whole lot to say but we have to say something

Where are they?

Good question, eh?

I wish I knew.

There are no easy answers and anyone who tells you otherwise is blowing smoke and that’s got to be the most confounding thing to the staff right now.

It’s not one guy and it’s not one thing, there are a lot of problems and it’s going to take determination and hard work to get back on track before this thing goes entirely off the rails.

Can they? Well, they did back in December, which is grasping at straws, but if you’re in that locker room, you need something good to think about and I don’t know that there is anything like that at the moment.

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THREE POINTERS

Calling himself out

It was kind of interesting to stand there and listen to Jose take responsibility for not getting Deron Williams stopped for a lot of the game.

It might have been the first time this season that I heard a guy in that locker room use the word “I” when discussing what went wrong.

“He got me in the first quarter like three times in a row or something like that After I was a little bit better in the second half but he’s a tough guy to guard and he had a good game. It wasn’t my best game, it happens sometimes.

“It was too easy and it was kid of straight line sometimes so it was my fault. What are you going to do? It happens.”

Not that it’s any consolation, of course, he had a bad night like about four other guys did. He missed a couple of open looks early, couldn’t keep Williams in front of him – not that many point guards in the league can.

If you think he was the sole reason they lost, think again; but a guy standing there and taking stock of what he did was kind of nice to see.

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What else?

Man, I’ve got to tell you, trying to come up with three talking points off that one is hard.

Let’s do this: How ‘bout them Jazz?

That’s a pretty good basketball team over there but I will take umbrage with one point Jay made about them a couple of times in his post-game session when he twice said:

“They’re bigger, they’re faster, they’re stronger.” I don’t think they are, actually.

They are not overly big, they are not overly athletic and, yes, they may by strong but it’s not a roster dotted with a bunch of Hercules clones

What they are is tougher

Way, way, way, way, way tougher.

They know what they want to do and they do it. They played every possession like it mattered, they competed every minute of the game at both ends of the court.

They were the anti-Raptors.

I still don’t think they can win the West – precisely because they are under-sized and relatively unathletic – but they are fun to watch for their workmanlike approach to the game.

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Change for change’s sake

You saw a whole lot of zone defence from the Heroes Of The Hardcourt last night, didn’t you? Now, I’m actually working on an Inside The Game takeout on that very issue for the weekend and it was nice of them to play some last night to help me out.

But the reason isn’t something that goes with the usual decision to switch defences.

Last night, as Jay said, it was a case of necessity.

“I thought the zone was okay only because it made five guys have to guard one and make him do something else than break us down or dish off to somebody.”

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Couple of other quick things:

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You know, having watched this team for each of its 15 years, I consider myself Canada’s foremost expert in bad – very bad – basketball but we’re talking a historical stretch of ineptitude of late.

As pointed out by the crack Raptors PR staff, the 115-89 loss to Oklahoma on Friday and the 113-87 loss to Utah last night is the first time in franchise history they’ve lost consecutive home games by at least 26 points.

See, it’s not that bad: You’ve witnessed history.

Something to tell the grandkids about, isn’t it?

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You probably noticed a little change in the way things looked last night, and I’m not talking about the nifty green Jazz uniforms.

The game was backwards.

The Jazz is one of the very few teams – might be the only one in the league to do it now – who turn the arena around, shooting at the west end of the gym to start the game.

The visiting team always gets the choice of which way they want the game to go but teams usually choose to have the defence in front of them for the fourth quarter.

Except Jerry Sloan, I guess.

Oh, and the Nets used to do it every now and then under Lawrence Frank, too, but those are the only two I remember.

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Speaking of the Jazz, here’s what the Tribune in Salt Lake had to say about that one.

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It’s always fun to get out courtside a couple of hours before the game, when the very first group that does its pre-game warmup takes to the court.

The first group out is Sonny, DeMar and Patrick and it’s almost worth the price of admission (given the last two home games it probably is worth the price of admission) to watch ‘em. Trash talking abounds, the rotating one-on-one games that also include Alvin Williams are, um, spirited and it really does look like a bunch of kids just having fun playing ball.

Kind of refreshing, actually.

Yesterday, it ended with the three players sitting in the front row courtside at about the hash mark trying to make shots from the seats.

I think Sonny was the first to make one, which caused even more jabbering and was quite entertaining.

Then the game started and mood went sour pretty quickly.

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Okay, I’ll ask for mail but, please, no rants and no “They suck. Your thoughts?” questions, okay?

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A moment of silence please.

Now run out and rent Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.

And as many seasons of I Spy as there are out there and relive the glory that was Robert Culp, who died yesterday at 79.

Okay, glory might be a stretch but that is a pretty good movie, as I recall.

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Comments

[Jim]

It's obvious the Raptors have lost their CC (not Canadian Club although that might be the solution for us fans). Something happened to the teams confidence and chemistry. Going to be hard to correct since one usually depends on the other.

[SS]

Ok it comes down to this, Jay is really starting to irk me as a coach. Desperate times calk for desperate measures! It's been more than once, would Sloan, Pop, or for that matter Van Gundy leave these guys that are consantly underacheiving out on the court? NO! Antoine Wright showed so much hustle and heart lastnite I felt sorry for him cause guys like Hedo were probably saying to themselves "look at this fool." I mean cmon Williams was abusing Jose and Jack all nite so yes even though Doug you say it's not a good idea, put Marcus out there just to see what can be done cause morale means absolutely nothing if the season is lost. Also it's time to put Antoine out there especially if nothing is gonna give with Hedo. Change, change, change!! It's time for something cause this here isn't working. An don't bring up "well they won 3 out of 4 prior cause if they didn't win those games this team is not deserving of going to the playoffs.

[Jacek]

Chris Bosh is really coming up with some classic quotes.

[Juan]

Hi Doug
You're right there's not much you can say about last night. I was at the game and what struck me about the Jazz was how much they played like a Real Professional Men's Basketball Team. Everything about their demeanour, the way they supported each other, and the way they went about their business reeked, in the most positive way, of professionalism. A guy sitting near me tried to take a shot at Williams at one point and he turned with a "are you kidding me" look on his face and simply said "look at the score dude".

[jimmie]

I hate to blame coaches when players lack the proper motivation to play basketball. And I hate how it's always the coach who's criticized when he "loses the locker room". But this is getting awfully close to how it felt just before Sam got fired for exactly the same thing. What that says about the players on this team, I'm not sure, but it's not good.

Mitchell supposedly "lost the room" because he was too tough/negative on his players. Triano is losing the room because he's too soft on them. When do we finally hold the players accountable??

What's become clear this year is that, yes, this roster does have sufficient talent to compete with the best teams in the NBA on a nightly basis, but that they also lack any sort of professional motivation as a group. That goes from the top to the bottom. And I'm not sure there's a coach in the league who could change that.

Sure, I'd like to see Triano say what he and the rest of us must be feeling -- that this perennially soft team didn't really get any tougher this year -- even with the addition of supposedly "hard" players like Evans and Wright and Jack -- and has lacked any sort of effort or dedication the the craft of basketball since the All-Star break, and that he's at a loss as to how to motivate them at the point in the season where they shouldn't need anyone to motivate them.

But this downward spiral is not on him, it's not about who starts, it's not about defensive schemes. It's about player effort, plain and simple. And what Bosh said about that last night is completely true -- you can't MAKE anyone be motivated. They have to have it in them to begin with. I'm not sure who on this team has it anymore.

[Andrew]

Quick question: If the Raptors somehow fail to make the playoffs, will the universe be sucked into a black hole?

[jim]

"Man, Doug, those fans were booing us, and yellin' out things like 'Put some effort into it!' and 'Get in their face!'. Who do they think we are..the Leafs?
It's not easy out here man; first we're the Raptors, then we're the Huskies, then the Raps again, Huskies, Raps, Huskies...Last week, it was 'Pass to the guys in green!'. This week it's 'Don't pass to the guys in green!' We're so confused. They expect poor old Hedo to be some sort of go-to guy. Man, at this stage of his career he just wants to have fun. No wonder he's sick. And Chris isn't happy again, and they're already advertising for post-season tickets, and imagine having THAT kind of pressure on ya, and that Feschuck guy's gonna write some nasty stuff about us, and we couldn't wave our towels last night, and with all these excuse how do you expect us to try hard?
Who do they think we are...the Leafs?!"

[LeeZ]

Doug, I honestly think the two teams last night were playing different sports. Utah was playing basketball, and playing it the way it's supposed to be played. Crisply, quickly, efficiently, with purpose and heart. Everyone in motion, hard cuts to the basket, pinpoit passes, decisive decision-making. Whereas the Raptors were playing some other sport. Time and time again (and this is getting very tiring), Bosh holds onto the ball, inviting the double and triple team, but none of his teammates move into proper position to allow Bosh to make the kind of passes that will make the opposition pay. One of two things is happening here: either Jay wants Bosh to do what he's doing, in which case the lack of teammate movement is an indictment on Jay's offensive sets, or Bosh is doing this against the coach's wishes, which opens up a whole other can of worms. Do you agree with this assessment, and if so, which do you think is the case? Also, I'm perplexed by something you wrote this morning. Maybe it's just a brain cramp on my part, but please explain: teams usually choose to have the defence in front of them for the fourth quarter. What do you mean by "in front of them"? Thanks.

[Kyle]

Sorry Doug, but I don't understand what you mean by "teams usually choose to have the defence in front of them for the fourth quarter."

Don't they always have the defence in front of them? What's the difference if you face east or west?

Blogger's note: In front of their bench

[Anthony]

Anger? Disappointment? Both emotions are starting to fade as I'm simply losing interest and I can't believe I just typed that. I've follow this team since Vince Carters early days and this years roster on paper may have had the highest expectations, loads of skill and loads of loses.

I'm not pointing the finger at Jay because at the end of the day players have to play and I believe Jay has a great Basketball IQ however maybe he is simply not a head coach... I realize this is NOT hockey but take a look at what happened with the Phoenix Coyotes AFTER the replaced the great Wayne Gretzky (the roster is still virtually the same).

[LeeZ]

Oh, and two things I forgot to mention:

1) Antoine was the ONLY Rap to show any heart and determination last night (and not just last night, but in the past several games). This, coupled with the fact that Demar played miserably and the fact that come playoff time (if the Raps make the playoffs), it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that Demar won't be starting, means that the Raps need to flip Antoine and Demar NOW.

2) While Bob, Carol Ted and Alice was groundbreaking at the time and indeed a fine movie, I think if you watch it today you'll probably find it laughable!

[Jonathan Cabot]

Once again, the Raptors as a group got outworked. You can get outworked by a bad team (like the T-Wolves) and sometimes win...you can't get outhustled by a good team like the Thunder or the Jazz and hope to do the same.

[peter]

Doug, why is Jay saying that he thought the team give a good effort in the post game interview. That's the farthest thing from the truth. I understand he wants to protect the players, but this is ridiculous.

[chris]

Doug - not that he's under-rated (far from it), but doesn't it irk you a bit that Jerry Sloan has never won coach of the year? And/or doesn't that say something about the award.

His teams always play very hard and execute VERY well.

[Penny]

Doug - When Hedo was unable to play the second half and Weems took his place, I thought the Raps did much better - they pretty much played even for the 3rd quarter. The game's defense was not good but it still would have been a much closer score if some of the shots had been made - ie Chris 38%, Jose 36%, Jack 33%. These guys are usually much better shooters than that.

[Tree]

“I can’t instill it in guys. You have to have it on your own; as much as I would like to, as much as I would like to do everything, you can’t do everything."

Wow ... just wow. Bosh appears from these quotes (and similar ones from the past week or so) to have checked out already. Maybe I'm missing some context, but I am shocked at how little responsibility he's taking. The best players in the game put their teams (and their teams' play) on their own shoulders - no matter how well they played. I think this shows that Bosh is not truly a leader - and paying this guy the bulk of a team's cap space could be a Carter-esque franchise killer.

I am a huge Bosh fan ... but I'm dismayed by what is happening with his attitude. Too much time around Hedo?

Also, big fan of Triano, and I don't put the blame for this on him (since their woes can be summed up by a complete lack of effort, and effort is on the players). But ... he doesn't seem to be resonating in any way with these guys anymore. SMitch was canned for less. With the talent this team has, there's simply no excuse for the way they're playing. Losing is one thing; rolling over and playing dead on a regular basis is something altogether different.

[Phil]

This organization seems to be perpetually incompetent. Now that their golden boy GM has failed where do they go from here? It is hard to understand exactly what the vision for the team is. They are soft, slow, lack passion, don't work too hard and seem a little thick between the ears.
.
I wonder if basketball will survive in Toronto because it sure looks like the fans have had enough and who can blame them. At this point all they have to look forward to is a first round exit and probably another star player leaving town. The best possibility at this point is probably not to make the playoffs at all, so they at least have a first round draft pick to begin the process of rebuilding again.

[kazbid]

Doug I know you have been hesitant to put any blame on Bosh during the losing stretch since his #'s have been decent; some posters pointed out he's settling for shots and you're like well he's only taking 2 less FT's a game

but something is up with him: I don't think he's injured or playing below 100%
i think defense's just have him figured out..and if u get physical on him and he doesnt get calls..then he's quite ineffective as our "go to" guy
the last bunch of games..we go to him in those situations we really need a good shot..and he holds the ball too long..settles for a jump shot or he's had a lot more TO's than usual driving into traffic..it just feels like other teams have him figured out.
on top of that it doesn't help that the raps couldn't get a stop if their lives depended on it.

i would never want to wish the raps miss the playoffs..but the team (at this pace) is going to get emberassed by a CLE, BOS, ORL or ATL in a best of 7

[Steven]

After being a season ticket holder for 15 years there isn't much to say except its unbearable to pay a lot of money to watch games that are effectively over in the second quarter. There is no doubt that Bosh is leaving and you can't boo him next year because who can blame him. In fact, I'm leaving too. After being a season ticket holder since day one, I got my renewal notice last week and advised the Raptors today that I think I'll save some dollars next year and watch on TV if at all. I'm a huge fan but there have just been too many disappointing years to keep supporting them financially.

[Derek]

Interestingly enough - most of the articles I've read in the last week make it sound like Bosh is playing well. I've been at most of their home games, and watched all of them, and I haven't seen Bosh play well since he came back from his ankle injury.

Yes - he's still putting up decent points, and getting his coveted "double-doubles" each game - but he's putting up most of those points in garbage time, when the game is already well out of reach.

He's settling for jumpers rather than attacking the rim and drawing contact. Although he's still getting to the line regularly, he's getting fouled on fade-away jumpers, rather than driving the net.

And as quick as he is to comment on what the rest of his team is doing wrong, he's averaging 4-6 turnovers per game since his return, clogging the ball on the offense by holding it too long, and playing little or no defense.

And in my mind, the most notable difference? When we were playing well, he was getting about 15-18 rebounds per game, now he's averaging about 10-11.

Perhaps naive, but I was of the opinion going into the All Star Game that Bosh probably still hadn't made up his mind yet about what to do next year, and figured there was a 50/50 chance he'd stay in TO. But given his play, his body language and his attitude in the last couple of weeks, I'm now of the opinion that he's already made up his mind and he's not coming back.

I hate to say it, but I think the best thing that could happen is for them to miss the playoffs, get a better draft pick next year, and force Colangelo to recognize that some major personnel changes are needed in the off season. While Triano still makes some mistakes (what coach doesn't), I don't think he's the problem. But you can't teach heart, effort and determination. Perhaps Colangelo needs to stop looking for guys with tons of talent, and find someone a little less talented who has shown that he's going to give 100% every night. You look at teams like OKC and Utah, and you don't see alot of "big names", but you see guys working hard and doing the fundamentals well - and they always seem to be in contention.

[Johnny's]

I find it comical that Bosh wants franchise (max) money but doesn't want to be the franchise player. By franchise player, I don't only mean score the most points (because quite frankly, anyone who gets that many touches/play calls will score), but take it upon yourself to carry the team, in all regards both on and off the court. Being the best player on the team doesn't make you a franchise guy. That requires you to be a leader. Something Bosh has clearly not embraced, and has in fact avoided altogether.

Would LeBron, Wade or Carmelo ever unleash these beauties?

“I can’t instill it in guys,”

“You have to have it on your own; as much as I would like to, as much as I would like to do everything, you can’t do everything.

“Personally, you have to bring something to the plate. Whatever gets guys going, we need to find it.”

Sorry Chris, but you CAN do everything. You can lead by example WORKING your butt off and mentally preparing and motivating your team. None your said draftmates would let their team play as uninspired and lifeless as what we as paying customers are seeing.

Bosh complained after the G.S. game that the Warrior's bench was up and cheering, even though they had nothing to play for. In the time since, have we seen Bosh up and cheer on his teammates when he's been off? No. It's time to lead by example. Say what you mean, and mean what you say.

Quit the diva act and man up!

[RCF]

Dedicated fan and reader of your blog but I am loosing faith in this team. I did not expect a win last night but thought we would see a strong effort, not the disgraceful performance that it was. Jazz are a great team with more much more talent, but there can be no excuse for this lack of committment. Jack spoke constantly on TV about the Raptors `battling` for their playoff lives - but there was very little battling going on - it was a walk over. the Jazz challenged virtually every time the Raps went to the rim and I cannot remember a strong enough effort to generate a 3 point play. Usually missed one free throw and guess what, we come away with 1 point instead. I didn`t (couldn`t) wait for post game interiews but if Jay really said that he thought the Raps effort was good he needs to raise his standards for this team. I have an 11 game pack and live out of town which adds 3 hours to any game - based on recent patterns I likely won`t renew (Bosh or no Bosh) when theres a 30% chance of seeing games like this one with the current roster and regime.

[Gene O]

The way I see it (opinions are free right), this season comes down to two scenarios. 1. They keep playing like this and slide down to 9th or hang on to 8th with a quick playoff exit. Bosh is gone
2.In order to get to 6th or 7th they will have to play so much better and then have a respectable playoff round.
In which case Bosh might stay

[Ben]

I think it would be really interesting to hear BC speak to how he feels his team is doing and his coach. Personally I think BC was hoping to have been a little higher in the standings. But some of this is his own fault. He tore down a team and started over, that's not something you really want to do when your franchise player is going into year 6. A team should be a gradual thing, adding and removing select pieces here and there. So now we are left with a bunch of pieces that don't really play all that well together (understandably so as many of them are new), not to mention most of them are very mediocre. I don't think BC has done us well, he made a bad draft pick in Andrea (look at the development of Aldridge), fired an amazing coach in Sam, picked up an old guy who has no spark or toughness and gave him 5 years, among other bad decisions throughout the past (look at the 07-08/08-09 team. Ya we made playsoff in 07-08 but only because we are in a weak conference).

Doug how do you feel about BC's decisions that he has made in his run with the Raptors? and be honest ;)

[Andrew]

"determination and hard work"

Doug, perhaps this collective group is patently unable to consistently work hard and play with determination. And nothing can change that.