Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Raptors Coverage: April 2-3, @Chicago, Orlando


Game 75 - @ Chicago (L 113-106 / 20-55 / streak L6) Saturday, April 2, 2011
Watched the first quarter
Then went to a Shad concert, downtown Ottawa. I wear my Raps hat, as is customary, yet Bartender has a Bulls hat and my other friend there is pulling my slacks; “Hey Devin, were they giving those hats away?” Then Shad comes out and shows me love. He comes onstage to “Compromise” and rhymes “Yo when I’m writing I repeatedly edit words and rework tracks/ I’ll admit I’m like the Raptors I’ve got weak drafts.” While standing right over me and using my shoulder to boost him up on the amp to spit this line we make eye contact and he nods to my hat. No lie. The later reference in the song to “Hafa” Araujo shows Shad’s not hating, he’s just feeling what I feel. The culture of the Raptors is undeniably one of losing and one that needs to change. Look at what the Bulls have done, after last year placing just one seed ahead of the Raptors they’re now first in the East. Meanwhile the Raps took another step back. Derek Rose has taken a huge, fast, step forward and he shows it in this game with 36 points, 10 assists, and three blocks including an athletic highlight block on James Johnson. Boozer had 18 and 10 rebounds, while Luol Deng scored an efficient 17 points. For the Raps DeMar has 26 points and Jerryd Bayless has 26 with 8 assists in the starting point position, Ed Davis has 17 and 11. Solid job by the young crew, try to keep this losing streak going to get a better draft pick? Games Remaining Countdown: 7

Game 76 – Orlando (W 102-98 / 21-55 / streak W1) Sunday, April 3, 2011
Watched the final minute
Unfortunately I was working on final essays during this game, while incarcerated in the Carleton University Library. I managed to hustle from the trainstop up to my apartment in time to catch the final minute. Not worth it? Not for some. The Magic were banged up, but the Raps have been all year, this time without both Bargnani and Calderon. Raps faithful booed the returning Hedo Turkoglu, and Ed Davis got the crowd involved early with a dunk in the lane on Brandon Bass. It is again the combination of DeRozan (24 points) and Bayless (24 with 8 assists) that led the Raps, only this time, to victory. The real difference-maker was Reggie Evans who scored only 4 points, but grabbed 17 rebounds, keeping Dwight off the glass. As a result Dwight Howard finished with 31 and 9 rebounds, breaking his 33-game streak of consecutive double-doubles. A hard fought win, and some Bayless free-throws ice it late over the Magic who are limping into the 4th seed in the East. Raps play next Tuesday in New York. Games Remaining Countdown: 6

Fast don't lie, watch out for Derek Rose on the chase-down block too
Fast don't lie commercial, a little annoying, but necessary for reference

No comments:

Post a Comment