No news on broken bones but many interesting items (really)

Join Doug Smith at noon Wednesday for a live basketball Q&A, as the Bosh-less Raptors get ready to take on the Boston Celtics.

Okay, so Bosh breaks bones, they lose a game very few thought they’d win, Boston’s here tonight and then there’s a trip to Atlanta.

But Chicago lost, the magic number is four and I guess it was a bad news-good news kind of night.

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THREE POINTERS

We won’t know

I wish I could tell you right off the bat what the long- or even short-term prognosis is for Bosh and his broken face and nose but the simple truth is right now I can’t.

I don’t imagine I will be able to until much closer to game time; about 5 p.m. Eastern time maybe.

Trust me, I’ll be making calls and hanging out beforehand but with no shootaround this morning (typical on the morning after a game, the Raps will come in around 4 p.m. to walk through the Boston stuff in the practice gym) there aren’t going to be many people around. And that means information might be scarce.

And I refuse to guess what might happen with him because it’s a disservice to you.

The sight of him on the court, blood streaming from his nose, holding his head in obvious pain, might have been the most gruesome injury with these guys since Garbo went down in Boston.

Aside from the dozen or so times He Who Shall Not Be Named cheated death over the course of his career, the Raptors haven’t had too many ugly injury incidents.

As for Bosh, it truly sucks that he’s hurt right now. He was playing pretty well, I know he wanted to finish the season strongly and what started out as the best year of his life back in November and December is certainly not close to that now.

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Stepping up? Or stepping back?

You know my feelings that it’s never on one guy to win games, that it’s a team game and placing blame in one spot is folly.

Well, as I watched that contest unfold Tuesday, I will say that this team stands no chance if Andrea keeps shooting at the 12-37 clip that he’s on right now.

He continues to confound – looking really good at some times, really invisible at some others – and while he has been better for most of the season, he’s got to be great in these final five games to salvage something of this season.

Watching him disengaged against the Cavs when Bosh was having his broken fact tended to makes me wonder if he can.

A couple of times last night, he got in the post and went to work; on one occasion I saw him flash into the paint and finish strong.

But a couple post-ups and one or two flashes won’t cut it.

And this is on him. His coaches run stuff so he’ll go there and he floats, at least one time last night I saw the point guard (and I don’t recall who it was) wave a teammate away so Bargnani could post up a smaller defender and he ended up being moved about 18 feet along the baseline.

That’s simply not good enough.

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I wonder …

When we were talking to Jay one day last week, it might have been Thursday or Friday, I can’t recall, the conversation got around to his newly-minted starting five of Calderon-Wright-Weems-Bosh-Bargnani.

And when he was asked if that’s the group he’d finish the season with, he equivocated a wee bit, said nothing was etched in stone and he couldn’t promise not to make changes the rest of the way.

Well, after giving up 37 to start the Golden State game and 35 last night in Cleveland, I wonder if he might tinker, even under the presumption that Bosh won’t play tonight so that’ll mean one change at least.

Not sure what he’d do – and Wright’s ankle may play a factor – but I found it interesting that even when everyone was healthy and things looked good that he wasn’t 100 per cent sure that was the group he’d stick with.

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A few more tiny items on a relatively quiet morning:

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How ‘bout them Bulls?

There’s some angst in Chicago, too. And KC’s chronicling it and I’m sure having a rip, roaring time.

Here’s what he had to say about the Bucks game last night.

And while you’re clicking to other papers, how about Mary's coverage in Cleveland of that epic struggle.

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Hey, it’s voting time as you may recall (which reminds me I have to get my awards ballot into the league by this time next wee) and there are more than just the usual coach of the year, rookie of year, MVP, all-NBA teams to worry about.

And one of your own is up for a biggie.

The PBWA administers three awards – the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award to a player who does exceptional community work; the Magic Johnson Award to the player who combines on-court excellence with excellence and willingness to deal with the media, and the PR Staff of the Year award to the group that shines in dealing with us.

Well, after our membership spoke, the finalists for the Magic Johnson Award includes on C. Bosh, who is up against Manu Ginobili, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bogut.

That is an excellent group of excellent players who deal with us as professionals and as men and women, they give us time and thoughtfulness and courtesy.

The finalists for the Kennedy Award, our most prestigious, are Samuel Dalembert, Ronny Turiaf, Adonal Foyle and Charlie Villanueva and the PR Staff will come from among Dallas, Milwaukee, Golden State and Detroit.

(As an aside, J. LaBumbard and his crack crew are former winners of that award, which should tell you we’re pretty spoiled in these parts).

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Got questions? Well, I might have answers. Or at least I can bluff.

Be here at noon if you do. With no shootaround I don’t know what I’ll have to add but, what the heck, it’s tradition.

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Oh.

My.

God.

Did you see Charo the other night? With Pam Anderson?

Iconic, I tell you.

Iconic.

And it helped Canada’s own rise from the bottom to the middle.

Still, whatshername of the Pussycat Dolls wins going away.

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First call for mail, although a couple of you are in there already and I appreciate it.

We’ll be back to a normal schedule of game stuff Saturday morning and mail on Sunday this week so click here and send ‘em along.

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Comments

[Peter]

Hey Doug,
I missed the game last night but reviewed your in game blog. That comment that you posted near the end of the game was unbelievable. I hope that you realize that there are far more of us who appreciate the work you do and don't thank you enough, then there are people who feel the need to say ridiculous things like what was said last night. Thanks for all of your great work, and have a great day!

[kelsey]

Good morning Doug and Raptor Nation. It was a tough night. Bosh get better, bad luck to the tenth degree.

For all you so called Raptors fans, this was not good. I hear people saying its better to miss playoff's why? at least if they make it 2 home games and some revenue. Many teams will get blown out in 1st round.

Everyday I talked about the same players, well its because I watch everygame. Bargnani just can not play on this team. He NEVER steps up when Bosh is down. Shot selection is horrid. He 7ft flippn feet tall. Yes he is talented, but like Jack Armstrong says "you need players that play HARD" please people watch Bargnani, he doesnt go full out getting back on defense and his team defense IQ is very low. Why did BC re-sign this guy early.

Hedo..have no words what a flippn bust, he too shot selection is horrid and not a good defender. Hedo doesnt not play HARD

Jose value is dropping fast, he cant play against aggressive teams bottom line. Jose may play Hard sometime,but his shot selection to has been horrid.

Hedo,Bargnani & Jose as the core. THE FLIPPIN CORE!!!
BC must do a good sign and trade and get good player(s)
Also hopefully 2 of these 3 are moved. Im hurting this morning...Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

[sam]

Bad Break for Bosh and the Raps last night -
Nothing worse than seeing your team leader in obvious pain - Hopefully It's not as bad as it sounds.
It's gut check time for the rest of the team.
Andrea has to step up - Some minutes for Rasho - and a chance for Amir to shine -

[chris]

Good call on Bargs. Its shocking how he doesn't step up when Bosh is out. He's letting a golden opportunity fade away.

Doug - if Bosh does come back next year, do you think BC might deal Bargs for someone who complements Chris a little better? I think Bargs has tantalizing talent, but he's hardly the *competitive force* we need up front.

[David Morton]

Morning Doug; one of your Irregulars here. No question here but I,again, wanted to thank you for the blogs all season long. Your game day chats are fabulous and your in-game blogs add a great deal to the game. So thanks very much.

DM

PS Agree with your comments on Bargs. I was extremely frustrated with him (again)last night. Seems to have no fire in the belly.

[Wilber]

Tense times in Raptorville.

Does this team have anyone like Antonio & Dell that will talk a walk and decide "Enough. Time to get it done"? I dunno.

Boston likes to push us around. Not sure if there's anyone to push back tonight.

Odds on the playoffs this morning, Doug? I'll go 51-49 we get in, but not putting a lot of cash on that parlay.

[Nick M]

Couldn't agree with you more about Bargs needing to post-up more. Last night was pathetic on Bargs part after your only other post up threat goes down.

Have to disagree with you on that one play you mention though (If I ma remembering the same one?). I believe Bargs had to set up out farther because the PG that waved passed it to the wing and the wingman was not spread out far enough so his man was backed off and helping on Bargs, who, at the time had deeper post position maybe even a foot in the paint.

[Jacek]

Who is Charo? How many hockey player references have you heard since last night?
And by the way Doug, please ask the editors to put a more visible link to your blog on the Sports page. Even though I visit everyday it still takes some searching. Cheers.

[Mike kovacs]

I don't know if you recall but this is the 2nd time ( at least ) that AJ has affected the Raps post-season. If you recall the year that The Raps won the division and the Wizards had Butler and Arenas out but AJ had an almost monster last game of the season for them. Unfortunately he missed something like 10 of 20 Fts which meant that the Raps played HWSNBN instead of the Wizards and we all know how that ended up.

Has any other team ever had 2 players with facial fractures in the same year?

[Marcus Rush]

Tough break for the Raps. Although it looks very bleak there was some good news--the Bulls lost and Lebron lost his lead in the scoring race. Despite his claims to the contrary this is important to him and in his next game he no doubt will try and go off so there will be no let up.

Good comments on Bargs and his shooting woes--in the Warrior game I counted at least five times where Jose hit him in a perfect spot with no one around and he clanged it. Actually in that game Weems did the same thing and most of these were in the first quarter. Bargs shot looks very flat at this point although he can hit that line drive shot. Confidence maybe--bad habits maybe.

I guess in OKC they will be benching Westbrooke for the rest of the season as Williams went off for over 40 Points against him last night. Its also a wonder that Williams was playing last night as he was lit up for over 30 a couple of weeks ago. I thought maybe he would have been benched for the rest of the season at that point. I am sure the OKC and Jazz fans are demanding that they be benched as they no doubt know more than the respective coaches.

[Frans]

Jose, Hedo and Andrea have zero combined toughness. Give me Jack, Amir Johnson and my 72 year old grandmother and they will win a 3-on-3 match with these overpaid, unathletic clowns we are pinning our franchise on...

Jack went to the free throw line 8 times last night....Jose, Hedo and Andre combined went to the line 3 times. That says it all...overpaid soft jump shooters that don't play defense is at the heart of our team...we aren't winning anything anytime soon....

[graham]

it is a team game as Cleveland showed last night: nice to have LeBron there but he showed his ability to facilitate last night. It may not be fashionable but review the tape from last night and watch how often Bargs made a defensive play and ran the court only to be ignored on offense -- yes he can float, but its never on one guy. After CB4 went down, the Raps played like a team the rest of the first half and then stopped after the initial run by Cleveland to open the second, too many one and done, too many people trying to do too much by themselves, no team work. Both on offense and defense this team does not trust each other and sad to say some of the issues are Turk related: if there are two players who do not mesh well it appears to be Turk and Bargs. Best Raptor group last night was Weems, Derozan, Johnson, Bargs and Jack -- played as a unit. After that they stopped and guys stopped doing the little things that give you good looks and sound defense.

[chris]

btw Doug -- if he has a maxilla fracture, there's NO way he's playing tonight. Save yourself some phone calls.

[Jim Rootham]

First, let me add my name to the appreciative chorus.

Second, yes, a consistent link path to the blog would be a good thing.

and third, a literary reference digression.

Do you know why the Toronto Chapter of the Baker Street Irregulars is called the Bootmakers?

Blogger's note: I don't

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

The fatalist in me wonders if that is the last time we'll see Bosh in a Raptors uniform. But my fatalist side is not very smart and tends to over react. My rational side says that regardless of what happens, it's going to be a very interesting off-season. Like you said, the Raptors are a better story then they are a team.

AG, Toronto

[Susan Dickie]

Chris Bosh's injury is a blessing in disguise. It will help the Raptors save face on not making the playoffs and having to be made fun of for four games by the Cavs.
On paper the Raptors have it. Talent is there- two players are poisoning the success of this team - Barnagni and Turkoglu. They are absolute "zeros" when it comes to stepping up to the plate when needed and showing some passion for their team - which pays them too much...
Now Bosh is down, let's just see if either of these two step up....they are currently liabilities to the Raptors.
Sue

[g.t.]

He Who Shall Not Be Named !!!

Ohhhhhhhh thats why we call him HWSNBN. Sorry, im not a regular so the acronyms are sometimes confusing.

[Penny]

Doug - I agree with the above poster who said that AB and Turk can't be on the floor at the same time - they are just too slow in their help out defence. As well Turk should always be on the floor with Jack to cut down on the turnovers and give an option besides Jack to the offense.

[Eli]

Doug, just a question as insensitive as it might be.

IF this injury is quite as serious as it seems - I'm comparing it to Amare's orbital bone thing but that's a stretch - and Bosh still opts out, what are the chances that he getting max offers from other teams? Wouldn't the risk outweigh the benefits? Or in a situation like that - would he not opt out at all?

Blogger's note: Sorry, not a chance in the galaxy I'm touching that now.

[Jacques]

Hey Bosh,

If your reading Doug's blog today, I just wanted to give you a shout out. Hope you get better soon. Maybe you can give Anthony Galea a call, he might be able to fix you up before the playoffs start. All the best.

[kelsey]

Sorry Doug and others I have to make another comment.
1st I shall thank Doug and whoever at the star that allows this blog to take place. Its a nice way to vent your fustrations.

PLEASE RAPTOR NATION, stop with the non sense phone calls into radio shows and blogs, I know opionion is to each its own. However foolish comments are just that.

Some called into a radio program this morning and said Hedo will play big the rest of the season. If he does I will be glad, but let's face it. 90% chance this will not happen. 70+ games have passed and we havent see it.
Its funny that Pizza commerical showed exactly how Hedo approachs a game (Yes coach) then the stupid comment "ball"

People please dont bring the maple leaf behaviour to Raptorland. Watch the flippin games closely. Dont tell me Bargnani is playing well. One on One D he's not bad, but TEAM defense he is horrid!! He doesnt even know how to foul HARD!!.Bargnani is a off the bench player if he sticks around. Im sorry its just reality.Cant rebound and doesnt get to the line..What the Flip, he is 7FT!!!!

[Jack]

I can't figure out why Triano insist on putting Bargnani on the floor when he doesn't play any defense, doesn't use his height advantage, insist on shooting from the 3 point line, etc. etc. So why doesn't Triano cut his playing time and give more to Amir? Other players are busting their chops when on the floor. Why doesn't Triano use them longer? Is he trying to please Colangelo so he'll be retained next year?
Four years in the league and Bargnani still plays like he's in the European league. He's a complete bust. Wasted number one pick.
The radio announcers last night were talking about how LeBron is built. 260 pounds of muscle. Bargnani is 270 pounds of goo.

[Pipit]

Lucky Jay and Bryan. Bosh going down. They have all the alibis in the world why this team won't make the playoffs.

[Paolo]

Doug, I agree with you on Andrea at 100%. "He continues to look really good at some times, really invisible at some others. He has to be great in these final five games to salvage something of this season....."
I must say that in his 2 last italian seasons he was able to show his emotions, winning the finals of the italian champonships with fundamentals shots and he was about 18/19 years old . He was loved by fans, teammates and coaches. He was facilitated because he was a sort of italian basketball goldenboy, but he had not to struggle against new language, new media, new fans. Maybe something is not so perfect in Toronto team? I think he is a nice character boy who needs an environment that demonstrates to him a total confidence. Watching the games from far Italy I can see that too many times his teammates and coaches (expecially Mitchell in the past years) were asking to him to be decisive without creating around him the right situation. I like Triano's way to manage the relationships with media and players (expecially with Andrea) but I think that during the games Andrea did not receive the chances to have easy plays made up on him. An example could be the normal screen that he received in Italy to prepare 15/18 feet easy (for him and not for me and you, Doug) shots. He was the 1st pick some years ago, but he is the only 1st pick that received an umbelivable treatment from his coach in the NBA history. He was a Big 20 years old and he could not make a single mistake without being benched. Now CB has a very big physical problem (everyone is hoping all's well as soon as possible for him) and Andrea has to show if he can save the Raptors season. But all the teammates have to play not in a selfish way and the coaches have to say them that they cannot win without using completely Andrea's abilities and talent.If this does not happen I think it's better for Andrea and for Raptors that at the end of the season he can change town, coaches and teammates. I remember an interview at the beginning of this season on Gazzetta dello Sport on wich Andrea in his tipycal polite way said: "When I was in Treviso playing I did on the floor exactly what coach asked to me, like a soldier, now really I'm not a soldier because none accept to be a soldier so you do what you can without a real organization".
I'm italian so I'm not so neutral but I think that in Toronto, except for the management, you are not building the right situation around andrea that is a real basketball phenomenom.
Ciao e grazie for your blogs and articles
Paolo

[jaclyn]

When you watch the two teams on their respective offense, isn't it glaring how much movement a good team gives the ball? We lob passes to one another, and the defense has ample time to catch up. Cleveland sends bullets to one another and they get 37 assists (and beautiful plays for the highlight reel to boot)