Boy does the Nba ever work in mysterious ways! My last post was significantly on the subject of accepting reality and ultimately a 4th seed in the East. And following this latest expression, the Raps win four successive games: First beating the Houston Rockets, then expectedly defeating the Atlanta Hawks, and finally and most admirably, triumphing over the Dallas Mavericks!!! I must admit that at the very beginning of this season I anticipated a very prosperous year for two main reasons, those being Jose Calderon and T.J. Ford. With two players contending for the starting point-guard role, it’s hard not to make healthy predictions. Because I’m a huge believer in the past-first mentality, I was hoping Ford would adapt to a Raptor’s style of play and play more of a distributing game. To my surprise, he did the exact opposite and demanded more shot attempts. Ford shows glimpses of being a great player, every now and then he’ll have a 20-25 point evening: this young man played exceptionally well netting 20 points with 10 of 14 shooting the night where it looked like he got hit by 100 m/h bus. The more I analyze Ford’s over all game, the more I begin to accept his shoot first mentality. The twenty something points alongside 5 assists is acceptable once in a while… If he can consistently shoot 50 percent or better, then I’ll be more then happy to watch him score. I would be more grateful if he can give these efforts against great teams, the way Jose did against Dallas and Houston. However, this style of play can be mildly problematic. Chemistry is terribly intricate to muster. The first step is to have a point-guard that understands his team. Its complicated enough with only one point-guard, now that we have two point-guards with two different styles of play, Bosh and the rest of the team must work even harder to understand both styles of play. If Tj sticks to his score first attitude, then he should be part of a different attacking unit. And I’ve detected two totally different units on the court at different times. It’s perfectly normal to have two different units.. I’m lying, its totally absurd..but it’s a convenient absurd. Apparently this is what’s going down. I mean that’s all I can understand from what Sam Micthell is throwing out on the court. If you havn’t already noticed, comparing to other teams of course, that there is a high amount of players that actually step out onto the court and ball. You’d have to be blind not to see exactly how many options Sam has. It was evident in this current 4-game winning streak we’ve strung together… When Juan Dixon entered the game in Indiana (filling in for TJ) and was a helpful boost at the point, it awe-struck me because he totally slipped my mind and came out of nowhere it seemed. This so called ‘luxury’ can have both positive and negative impacts. And what’s even more mind blowing is the lack of comparison of point guard duos from the past. I mean surely there has been one team in the history of the National Basketball Association, where a single coach had the luxury of having a team with two equally talented and important point-guards. I for myself have never heard of such a duo from the point guard position. This leads to a complete obliteration of hope that Brian would eventually trade Tj Ford. I was at the Dallas game and it was humbling to see most of the building rise up off their seats and give T.J a warm round of affection. That flagrant foul in Atlanta was a nasty one to say the least, and especially dangerous in Tj’s case because of his past of neck and spine injuries. Good thing that little fuck was tossed out because he unquestionably deserved it, although I believe he deserved a harsher punishment, perhaps a suspension?.. Even if the intention wasn’t there to hurt T.J., it isn’t extremely complicated to swat the basketball instead of a player’s head, no matter how small he is. These things uncontrollably happen in sports, but surely some measures can be established to prevent such miserable cases. I had a new found respect for Sam Mitchell after his dramatic outburst onto the court. As much as I bashed him prior, he showed a characteristic that was tremendously commendable, a characteristic the rest of the team failed to articulate. Perhaps you noticed the only person that went berserk was indeed the Coach. Sure some players (mainly Anothony Parker) fled to his side to check if he was even conscious, luckily he was. I understand when a player is injured; the last thing the player and medical staff wish for is hovering groups of people taking away his breathing room. For this reason, I didn’t mind most of the players staying put. However I very much disapproved of the lack passion. You better believe, if Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Allen Iverson, or any other elite point-guards in the league have been dangerously smacked in the head, pandemonium would definitely break out. But no for the Raps it wasn’t a big deal. I suppose the fact that we have a dominant back up point guard erased the fury from the player’s minds… Bull. Tj Ford is not a beach ball. If I’m playing my heart out, and some 6’9 dude swats me directly in the back of my head like a I’m a volleyball, and I tumble on the floor with a loud-cracking collision from head to hardwood, I would expect my teammates to go nuts. Certainly we don’t want wild acts of regret or player suspensions, but it’s not about that, it’s about standing up for your brothers and letting the team know flagrant fouls won’t be tolerated, not only by the league, but by the players themselves. The lack of concern and brotherhood is problematic for the team overall. I was really thwarted with Cris Bosh especially. I mean him ant Tj are about as close as the Devil and George Bush. I expected Chris to step up and convey some nature of aggravation.

Stepping up

Kris Humpries’ game of late has been developing wonderfully as a result of some well deserved playing time, mainly Bargnani’s playing time. And I don’t have a problem with this as I used to. Simply because a realization I’ve come across: that Bargs will never flourish to the caliber of a Dirk Novistki. Someone should be obliged to commend Kris Humpries for four foremost reasons: he does the little things well, he hustles, he rebounds, and most importantly..he penetrates more often then not. Signing Kris for a three year deal is a very smooth move on behalf of Brian Colengalo.

Friday in Indiana

We came out awfully slow…It was good to see Dixon come out and contribute a nice effort at the point-guard position on behalf of Ford’s injury. Jose Calderon is almost at the prime of his career. As I’ve said many times before this, when given a 35 or more-minute-night, he constantly produces all-star numbers. In Friday night against the Pacers he was instrumental contributing 18 points and 15 assits!! The more I see him play the more I want him to be an all-star. I heard on the fan 590 from the expert Jonseey, that a guy like Jose doesn’t care if he makes the all-star team or not. That is complete bull. Of course he cares, being an all-star is an individual accomplishment that most players stride towards. Sadly enough he isn’t even on the ballet, which is an insult to his overall game and passion. The fourth quarter was rollercoaster vs. the Pacers. Mainly we came back from a 15 point deficit thanks to Kapono’s three-point explosion. And towards the closing moments in which it was understood who was taking home the Double-you.. a group of five players huddled together mutually as one, in the middle of the court, hugging and giving praise to each other for one another’s efforts, smiles and glory painted across their faces, and for the first time all season, the Toronto Raptors resembled a family. Goosebumps climbed up my back and I was glad I stayed home Friday night.

The Toronto Raptors are rolling along and like I’ve stated after the first two-game winning streak of the season, a gargantuan test awaits Sunday … when the Boston Celtics come to town.