Gotta give effort all 48 minutes of the game!

What differentiates a playoff team like the Utah Jazz from a mediocre 14th placed team like the Raptors (in a week conference). One could easily answer this question by saying the amount of talent or coaching of the team. Both answers would be completely valid and there would be no way of me to say that Jay Triano is a better coach than Jerry Sloan or that Jason Kapono is a better player coming off the bench than Kyle Korver.....for god's sake even than Matt Harpring. Setting this aside the Raptors were ahead of the Jazz at the end of the third quarter on Sunday. 87-81.... For any NBA team that is a good lead coming out of the third quarter. Only 12 more minutes of playing time right? Well l not for our beloved Toronto Raptors. The painful final score 109-101. A difference of 28-14 in the 4th quarter. The main reason for this was the Raptors suddenly loosening the defense and not playing "smart" basketball on the offensive end. Completely unacceptable. That 48 minutes of effort is what differentiates the mediocre from the good.

In other words that game was a fail, sort of like Zack Randolph shooting a three point shot.


On Bargnani and Marion
No love for Bargnani! He was doing great against the Jazz,with twenty points, but only got 13 shots in the whole game. Triano should make more plays specifically made for Bargs. Now lets talk about Marion. When Marion left Pheonix he was trying to prove to the whole league that he didn't need Steve Nash to be an All-Star, but so far he has show that he's just a limited. I think that without a fast paced game and a point guard that can run the fast break Marion is uneffective. That unorthadox shot of his doesn't help either.

Now let's try to forget about the past 5 loses. How many have we had this season???? The next game is against the Philadelphia 76ers. Ever since Elton Brand has been injured they have been striving by using that fast paced system that got them into the playoffs last year. Now that we are just playing for the ping pong balls at the NBA lottery we should give our bench guys a little more burn. Pops will show the 76ers what he is made of. Bargnani is game time decision. So who knows he might even start.

I don't want to see what Andre Miller will do to Calderon inside the paint and the offensive boards that the 76ers will get. Make this nightmare stop!

I'll bet anything that Matt Devlin will make a reference or a joke about Philly Cheese steaks while commenting about the game. I'm starting to miss Chuck.

Jawai D-League Radar!
Only 2 points and 5 rebounds in 105-100 win against the Utah Flash. Luke Jackson played well with 29 points,8 rebounds and 6 assists. Get er' done BC. The Idaho Stampedes next game is tonight against Anaheim at 9 pm.