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The Rick Report: Game #16
Miami Heat 78 Toronto Raptors 66
Toronto 8 - 8
November 30th, 2003
Let's forget the trade for a second. Whether JYD and AD had been available or not, even the most die-hard of Raptors fans should have seen this one coming, based on the Raptors previous record in back-to-backs, road games, and weak opponents. In fact, you can rest assured that this game report was written based on a recording of the game, and not on 2.5 hours of wasted existence. It always pays off in these situations to go and have a life for the evening and check the score afterwards. Especially since it was completely unsurprising that it turned out to be the Raps 5th game below 70 points. Fast forwarding through a brutal game later really helps to soften the blow.
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With that said, and despite the brutal result against a weak team, you can still take away a few positives from this one. First, Jerome Moiso wasn't crappy! Given some regular playing time, the guy might be able to give us a semi-regular double-double. He grabbed some solid boards and hit a few shots, but he did also travel a couple of times and bricked a few balls. However, this was still way better than the contribution we got from Morris Peterson, whose one dimensional game is really starting to hurt the team. He's got brutal ball handling skills, so he keeps getting lost on the perimeter when guys step out on him, and his "bread-and-butter" three point shot keeps landing butter side down.
Also acceptable: Lamond Murray showed a glimmer of his old self, managing to hit a few tough shots and a couple of treys. CB-4 had a classic rookie night of missed shots, but still managed to get the double-double, and Alvin Williams was pretty solid again too. But when Vince went down with another acute case of Carteritis, we just didn't have the legs or the talent to make a comeback. Believe it or not, we were within 5 in the 4th quarter with plenty of time, despite 19 turnovers and 1 free throw at the end of the third. Yes, the men in stripes have abandoned us to sort out our own mess.
And now we inject Jalen Rose and Donyell Marshall into the mix... ignoring chemistry for a second (yeah, yeah), they seem to be exactly what the doctor ordered. A 6'8" guard who can create for himself and others, and a 6'9" forward with an offensive touch. Definite upgrades on Mo-Pete and JYD talent-wise. However, we have obviously lost interior defensive strength and offensive rebounding, which perhaps Glen can address with another trade (bye-bye Morris). Of course, given the Titanic scale of Jalen's contract, why do I have the feeling Glen will be forced to go cheap and end up force feeding Bateer ten cups of coffee before each game?
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- Starting Monday, Vince is no longer the highest paid player on the team... does anybody else have a problem with that?
- Milt Palacio, at 19 minutes, 2 points and 3 assists, is officially a bust according to many. So what does that make Michael Curry, at 14 minutes, 2 points, 1 board, 1 assist?
- If Jersey loses on Sunday against Sacramento, Toronto will have an opportunity against Philly on Tuesday to knock the entire Atlantic division under .500 again.
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