RAPS OUTPLAYED REAL BAD

Coming into the ball game, the Raptors were just one win shy of reaching a season high four game win streak. With the eighth place Milwaukee Bucks in town, they looked like an easy prey for the Raptors, especially with Michael Redd out for the season, and Andrew Bogut coming back into action from an injury. This game was a prime chance to get closer to the Bucks in the standings.

One player who loves to play against the Raptors in Toronto is Charlie Villanueva. He shredded the Raptors with his 26 point and 13 rebound effort to lead the Bucks with a stunning 96-85 victory.

The loss was very disheartening for the Raptors, because they played a strong first quarter, but their Achilles heel came up, they didn’t play a full 48 minutes. With the upcoming stretch of games the Raptors have ahead of them, a win tonight would’ve been crucial to start something and maybe turn things around with time running out.

But a sad final three quarters for the Raptors did it for them, and now they have to face the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, LA Lakers and New Orleans Hornets. Those four teams are as solid as they come with a combined winning percentage of .760. That stretch of games right there will truly determine what the Raptors are made of and their season.

After a 30 point first quarter, which saw Andrea Bargnani score 13 points and the first six Raptor points of the game, the team was shut down. The Raptors absolutely had nothing going for them after that point, and give a lot of credit to the Bucks defence. They showed their metal and that led to a strong offensive charge.

The Raptors did everything right in that first quarter. The players read the offense neatly; Jose Calderon distributed the ball well for five assists and exposed a weak Milwaukee defence. One player the Raptors couldn’t stop was Charlie Villanueva, who had the first eight Buck points. Besides Villanueva, the Raptors as a whole did a good job stopping the rest of the team, including Richard Jefferson who had zero points in the first quarter, and just two for the half.

After that, things slowly fell apart for the Raptors, which started off with a bad technical foul from Chris Bosh on Charlie Bell over the shoulder. The team also committed two early turnovers, and had eight for the half and five in the quarter. There was zero flow in the offence which resulted in zero points and a 9-0 Milwaukee run in the first two minutes of the quarter to get the lead at 33-30.

Midway through the quarter, the Bucks had reeled off a 17-6 run for a 41-36 lead and never looked back from there. Along with Villanueva, Bogut got things going as well and that gave the Bucks a huge boost.
After showing a great pick n’ roll offense, the Raptors were dumbfounded when the Bucks easily stopped those plays. To end the half, the Raptors were down 49-47, and were outscored 25-17 in the second.

Once again, the Raptors started off another quarter slowly by missing their first six shots, and allowed the Bucks to go on a 9-4 run in the first five minutes. But, both teams played real slow in the quarter and that was a prime opportunity for the Raptors to get back into the game. In just eight minutes, Toronto had only scored 4 points, and were down 70-59 to start the fourth quarter.

The bucks easily controlled the tempo of the game and got whatever looks they wanted, and their defense was top notch. They made the Raptor players take long jump shots, and very hesitant shots too.

Here’s an ugly stat that really killed the Raptors. In the first half they had 14 points in the paint, and in the third quarter, just two points. The two middle stanza’s of the game saw the Raptors get outscored 46-29 combined.

Chris Bosh, fresh from being named to his fourth consecutive All-Star game, scored just two points in the third after 14 in the first half, and ended the game with 18 points and 9 rebounds. What looked to be a career night for Bargnani with a 13 point opening quarter. The Italian scored three points after that.

One of the keys to the loss was the play of Jose Calderon. Since his return he’s been averaging 18 points and nine assists, and the Raptors were scoring 111 points a game. The Bucks defence came up big and had the main man on lock. Calderon was held to just six assists in the final three quarters and finished with seven points. Calderon’s perfect streak from the free throw line also ended at 87 straight free throws made.

Entering the final quarter, the Raptors got a spark from Jermaine O’Neal who finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds in thirty minutes off the bench. The Raptors looked primed for a comeback with O’Neal in a bit of rhythm, and the Raptors on a 7-2 run to cut the lead down to 86-76 with five minutes left to go. But a suspect call on JO for an offensive foul that looked to be a blocking foul, quickly turned into a technical foul on O’Neal for arguing the call. Things only got worse from there as JO committed a hard foul on Richard Jefferson which started a scrum between him and Charlie Villanueva.

The end result, the best player on the floor for the Raptors was given a second technical which meant an automatic ejection for JO, and on his bobble head night, mind you. With JO out of the game and the Raptors down 90-81 with 2.04 left to play, that was it for the Raptors.

Even with O’Neal on the floor and the way he was playing, it still wouldn’t have been enough for the Raptors who couldn’t find any sort of offensive flow. That’s how good the Bucks’ defense was, and the Raptors made life easy for the Bucks too with all the one and gun shots the Raptors took. On the flip side Milwaukee was getting open looks at the basket and at times, the Bucks were able to stretch the lead to 19 points. The intensity just wasn’t there for the Raptors.

The Raptors now find themselves even deeper in the standings at 19-29 and in 14th place in the East. They are now four games out of a playoff berth.


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