FanNation - The Republic of Sport

New Year's brings with it a time to reflect on the year that was and unfettered hope for the year about to commence. Wednesday evening at the ACC in Toronto, the Raptors held their collective breath as they hosted the Denver Nuggets in the rematch of the 39 point loss suffered in Denver on December 2nd. To open and close a December in which this team went 4 - 12 after losing another very winnable game against the Nuggets seems to be appropriate.

Heading into the game without Jason Kapono and Jermaine O'Neal sitting with leg injuries, this already undermanned team began the game under extreme pressure up front and would need huge games from Andrea Bargnani and either Anthony Parker or Jamario Moon who would be given the task of trying to slow down Carmelo Anthony. At some point, someone on this team that plays the 2 or 3 position needs to decide that they are embarrassed to be schooled every night. At this point, it seems, this Raptors team play 3 on 5 at both ends of the floor night after night. With Jason out, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon would draw the tough job of covering J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony who would combine with Linas Kleiza and Dahntay Jones to total 50 points and 14 rebounds while the Raptors would get decent games from Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon, Joey Graham was only able to add 6 points to Parker's 12 and Moon's 10 for a difference of -22 from the off-guard/wing position while collecting 13 rebounds as a group. At this point, there really isn't much else to add as our inability again to defend the wing/perimeter game allowed this smaller quicker Nuggets team to open up the inside for Nene who scored 21 points mostly inside. The Raptors again were dominated in the paint giving up 50 points in the paint while holding this running team to only 10 points off the break while Chris Anderson had a double double off of the bench. That improvement was a small victory as this Raptor teams any positive signs they can find right now. As I watched this game, it became very clear to me that this group of guys has decided that losing is what they do best. I can understand Jay's frustration after calling a time out and walking away from a time out in the third after getting into bonus 8 minutes left in the quarter and then not even taking the ball to the rim until Chris Bosh hit the line with about 2:30 left. These guys gave the game away in that stretch committing turnovers and jacking up stupid shot after stupid shot, it's no wonder Jay was screaming at them. Not much a coach can do when the players won't do the obvious small things you need to do as a team that will put you in a position to win. Again in the 4th after bringing the game back to within 1 possession, they again tried to be the Lakers or the Hornets or the Spurs and began to settle for 17 - 25 foot jump shots. I am not sure what the numbers for the 4th look like but I suspect they shot less that 40% for the quarter despite scoring 30 points. I am pretty sure that our bench must be held to account on this as well as Will Solomon, Kris Humphries, Jake Voskuhl, Joey Graham and Anthony Parker were again weak to start the second quarter offensively. Their defense was decent, but the lack of consistent offense in the 2nd and 4th quarters puts the fragile group of starters under the gun to outplay opponents. Last night, the Nuggets bench outscored the Raptors bench 36 - 17 and was ultimately the difference in the game. Turnovers cost this team the game again as the Nuggets were +7 in points off turnovers.

With Jermaine O'Neal down, Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani all stepped their games up combining for 68 points, 22 rebounds and 13 assists. They also combined for 8 of the teams 12 turnovers, most on weak entry passes from Jose. Overall, they found out last night how useless Jason Kapono has been as they were 10 - 24 from outside the arc and sure didn't miss his lack of foot speed against this quick Nuggets team. These guys have not hit bottom yet as they are not desperate in their mode of play, they still look as if they don't want to pay the price to be even a .500% team at this point. They give up way too much on the perimeter and they have no bench play that is worth talking about. With games against the Magic and the Rockets on the horizon, this team could easily be 10 games under .500 before games against the Bucks, Wizards and the Grizzlies next week. This team has no heart, no character and no desire to pay the price to improve and look to be awaiting a saviour in 2010. The way this team is structured, it will be a miracle if they can keep Chris Bosh and there is little chance of us landing either Dwyane Wade or LeBron James as there is no realistic opinion that they would move to this country for many economic reasons. The Raptors look resigned and the season of hope has quickly turned to disappointment. Happy New Year all!