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Sunday's win over Charlotte was big. Facing a likely loss against Boston Monday night, losing to the Bobcats yesterday could have started a downward spiral with five tough games upcoming on the Raptors' schedule (Boston, Philly, Miami, Orlando, Miami). Luckily, Chris Bosh decided to take over the game when the Raptors were down 10 midway through the third quarter. He scored 19 of his 30 points from that point on — outscoring the entire Bobcats team by one — with 13 of those points coming from dunks, layups or free throws. It's a good thing he figured out that the Bobcats' D couldn't stop him from getting to the rim whenever he wanted.
With all the hand-wringing of Jermaine O'Neal's slow start, Bargnani's development and the Raptors' putrid bench, it seems like Bosh's play so far this season has been overlooked by Raptors fans. I think it's safe to say we take him for granted, because nobody really seems to be discussing the strong case you can make for finally putting Bosh in the list of Top 10 players in the NBA.
Who's on the list? Glad you asked. The way I see it, these eight players make the list without question: LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade and Amare Stoudemire. So who are the other two guys? And can you honestly make the case that Chris Bosh shouldn't be one of them?
Bosh is third in the league with a 26.7 PPG scoring average (at a .537 FG%) and seventh in rebounding with 11 boards per game. He's putting up these numbers consistently and in clutch situations. If he hadn't raised his game this season the way he has, the close wins against Milwaukee and Golden State could have gone the other way. It's not ridiculous to suggest that, without Bosh, this team could be 1-5 right now. It's only six games in, but Bosh takes a backseat only to LeBron right now if you want to talk MVP. Not too shabby.
The Links
In his blog, Michael Grange asks: "Why does Boston add a respected interior defender and become one of the best defensive teams ever, and the Raptors add one — and we're not saying Jermaine O'Neal is Kevin Garnett, but he's supposed to be an elite defender — and the needle doesn't really move?" The Raptors are 17th in defensive efficiency so far this season with 105 points allowed per 100 possessions — they finished 12th in that category last season with 107 points allowed per 100 possessions. You read that correctly — they're lower in defensive rankings even though they're allowing fewer points this season. I would attribute that to early-season offensive rust, but let's check back on this later in the season.
Here's a fun anecdote about life on the road from Doug Smith's blog: "Jack Armstrong, M. Grange and I found ourselves with a Sunday evening to kill and, whaddya know, there's this Irish pub between the arena and our hotel. We're sitting there and all of a sudden a group of about 10 musicians, with fiddles and guitars and flutes and I think there was a set of bagpipes in there, shows up and starts playing, without any amplification, and give us about three hours of excellent Irish music." Apparently Doug is unaware that's just Jack Armstrong's entourage.
Kirk Hinrich is out for three months with a torn ligament in his thumb. I guess Derrick Rose won't have any shortage of playing time this season.
Knickerblogger points out that the Knicks' 4-2 record puts them at two games over .500 for the first time since January 2005. Mike D'Antoni is a coaching genius.
The Pistons have lost their first two games in The Iverson Era, and Blazer's Edge has a pretty good analogy for the trade: "I think it smacks of desperation on Detroit's part...a classic attempt to jam a crowbar in the window when you feel it closing."
Interesting Dwyane Wade trivia: "Saturday's game against the Hornets marked the sixth time over the past two seasons he has finished with at least 30 points and 10 assists in a loss. According to Elias Sports Bureau, all other NBA players have combined for only nine such losing 30/10s over the same span."
The Basketball Jones got Wikied! I'm a little disappointed that the listing excludes Skeets' passion for Renaissance Faires. I understand he looks quite dashing in a jerkin.
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