Here's a quick one

Raptors continue their poor play

Since I've last posted, the Raptors have lost four more games, including a 103-82 loss to the Grizzlies (who are playing great so far this season) on the road. The Raps are on a six-game losing streak and sit at 3-13 on the season. I didn't think Toronto would make the playoffs this season, but I at least thought they would contend for one.

Next up for the Raps, a home game against the 7-9 Suns. I'm hoping for a win, but the Raps are playing so badly right now I doubt it.

Rajon Rondo's streak comes to an end. . . with an ejection

Rondo ended his streak of tallying 10 or more assists per game at 37 consecutive games against the Brooklyn Nets when he got ejected for fighting with Kris Humphries. Good job, Rondo, you were only nine games away from tying Magic Johnson's mark at 46 games.

At least it was worth it. Check out the picture Humphries posted on his Twitter of the battle wounds he suffered from the melee.

Wouldn't want to cross Rondo in a dark alley.

Why the Raptors are losing

The Raptors dropped their ninth game of the season last night against the Charlotte Bobcats. They're now 3-9 on the year and firmly secured in last place in the Atlantic Division.

There were big expectations for the Raptors coming into the season. They had a new starting point guard in Kyle Lowry and a potential all-star big man in Jonas Valunciunas. Lowry has been playing phenomenal for the Raptors, and Valanciunas is starting to realize some of his pre-season potential, notching a double-double in each of his last two games.

Even DeMar DeRozan is playing better. His scoring is up from 16.7 ppg last season to 19 ppg this season, his rebounding is up from 3.3 rpg to 5 rpg, and his shooting percentage has crept up from 42 per cent to 45 per cent. So, then why are the Raptors off to such a slow start?

The Raptors just aren't stopping teams on the defensive end

According to ESPN, the Raptors are 24th in the league in points allowed, giving up 100.2 ppg. To compound their less-than mediocre defence, Toronto is scoring only 96.3 ppg, good enough for 18th in the league. Considering the defensive improvements head coach Dwayne Casey was able to coax out of the Raps last season (Toronto was ninth best in the league, allowing only 94 ppg last season), it's surprising to see such a sharp drop off.  

Bargnani isn't producing

Okay, maybe the subheading was slightly misleading. Yes, Bargnani is producing, just not very much. His scoring is down from 19.5 ppg last season to 17.4 ppg, and his rebounding has declined from 5.5 rpg to 4.4 rpg. What's more disconcerting, is it looks like Bargs has lost that intensity he showed during early stretches of last season before he suffered his calf injury. Too often this season does his face have his familiar uninterested look.

If the Raptors want to start winning again, Bargnani is going to have to step up and be the offensive force he's supposed to be.

The Raptors just aren't a good team

This is the most difficult of the reasons to accept, but the Raps, so far, haven't shown that they can beat any of the elite (or even good) teams in the NBA. They've lost to Brooklyn (107-100), OKC (108-88), Dallas (109-104), and Boston (107-89).

Toronto hung in their games against Brooklyn and Dallas, but got absolutely crushed against the Thunder and Celtics. They've also lost to Philly twice, Indiana once, Utah, and Charlotte (last night's game). It's understandable the Raptors will lose some games big. Especially against championship-contending teams like the Thunder. But if Toronto wants to keep their chances of making the playoffs alive as the season rolls on, they'll have to beat teams like Charlotte (played extremely small ball) or Philly (Bynum has been injured all season).

The only excuse I can think of for the slow start, is the Raptors have played seven of their first 12 games on the road and have already played four back-to-backs. I hope the Raptors can turn their record around once the schedule becomes more favourable.

The Raptors play next on Friday, Nov. 23 against the Pistons in Detroit.

The Raptors win again - finally

Quick Recap: Raptors beat Pacers

The Raptors beat the Pacers on Tuesday, Nov. 13 by a score of 74-72. Toronto lost to the Jazz in a triple-overtime thriller the night before, meaning this game was understandably brutal to watch at times. Aside from finally earning their second win, the other bright spot for the Raptors was Jose Calderon's first career triple-double. He put in 13 points and added 10 assists and 10 boards.

Calderon's triple-double nearly overshadowed the Raptors' lack of fourth quarter production - they scored only five points. Their dismal scoring output was only three points shy of tying the record for lowest points in a quarter, at two. What that says about how poorly the Pacers played all game is still unknown.

The Raps are now 2-6 on the season and play again on Sunday, Nov. 16, at home against the Orlando Magic.

Lakers hire D'antoni over Jackson

The Lakers signed former Suns and Knicks head coach Mike D'antoni  to a three year, $12 million dollar contract with a club option for a fourth year.

It was surprising Jerry Buss decided to hire D'antoni over Phil Jackson. Why do I say that? Well, aside from the fact Jackson has 11 NBA championships, D'antoni even admitted he was surprised by the decision. I thought Jackson returning to the Lakers was a lock, especially considering the emphatic reaction from the Lakers fans during a game against the Warriors on Nov. 9, then again, Buss is the same GM who hired Mike Brown.

Knicks only undefeated team left in the league

Maybe shocking everyone other than delusional New York fans, the Knicks are the only undefeated team left in the NBA at 5-0. Carmello Anthony is playing well and J.R. Smith is picking up the slack with Stoudemire out, averaging 18.2 ppg, the highest of his career. He's getting more minutes this year and producing. His neck tattoos terrify me but the man can play.

Oh yeah, the Knicks are scoring 103.4 ppg while only allowing a league-low 87.8 ppg, for the highest point differential in the league.

The Knicks play the Spurs tonight in San Antonio, where they've lost nine in a row. The Spurs are riding their own win streak, having won their last three games. Both teams had the night off last night and should be fresh for this one. There's no way the Knicks can keep up their absurdly-high point differential as the season progresses, but their team is looking dominant right now.

I'm calling this one for the Knicks.

Andrew Bynum's hair

I've seen a few pictures of Bynum with his new do but never thought any of them were real, mainly because his hair looks so ridiculous in all of them. However, after seeing these, I can only conclude they must be real, and that Andrew Bynum is losing his mind.

Why has Bynum grown out his hair and straightened it to look like Moe from the Three Stooges as Trey Kirby pointed out? I don`t know, but I hope he either shaves it off to return to his reliable bald look or grows it out to a ridiculous length for dreads.

The good and bad news against the Mavs

The bad news

The Raptors dropped their second game in as many nights on Wednesday, Nov. 7, losing 109-104 to the Mavericks, falling to 1-4 on the season, good enough for last place in the Atlantic division. The Mavs improved to 4-1 and increased their winning streak to three games. They sit second in the Southwest.

O.J. Mayo and Chris Kaman led the Mavs, both dropping 22 points. Kaman added eight rebounds, while Mayo added five boards and dished out six assists. Vince Carter, yes, Vince Carter contributed positively to his team, scoring 17 points and grabbing five rebounds to keep this game out of reach. 

Derozan had a nice bounce-back game from last night, where he performed dismally against the Thunder. Tonight, he had 24 points, six rebounds and, seven assists. He was aggressive all game, attacking the rim regularly. It's the way Derozan needs to play to be an all-star player in this league. He struggles when he relies on threes and fade away jumpers. Bargnani added 25 points and nine rebounds in a losing effort.

The game was played at a frenetic pace early as Dallas seemed to push the ball on almost every possession, exploiting the Raps in transition. Poor rebounding hurt the Raps all game but especially in the first half. They were out-rebounded 47-38. As a team that's supposed to pride itself on defence, the Raptors have looked undisciplined too often. Giving up 16 offensive rebounds can't happen if they want to beat the better teams in this league.

While the Raps kept the game somewhat close, cutting the deficit to single digits multiple times, they were never able to capitalize on the Mavs' scoring droughts. The third quarter was especially frustrating, with the Raptors unable to get closer than within eight points, despite a number of chances.

Like most NBA games, the fourth quarter was the most exciting. The Raps finally started rebounding and cut the lead to six points. Bargnani played well, making big plays like the no-look he had to Dominic McGuire for an easy bucket.

The game was back and forth for the last few minutes but Kaman provided the dagger when he hit a baby hook with about 45 seconds left.

It was a rough game for the Raps. They came out sluggish to start the game, not unusual considering this was the second game of a back to back, and never really had the run they needed to give them a chance to win.

The Raps struggled without Lowry. He brings so much more to the team than just scoring. He's one of the better rebounders on the team, gives the Raps some speed in the backcourt, and is a much better defender than both Calderon and Lucas III. Let's hope he recovers from his ankle injury soon.

Valanciunus had his first game where he was plagued with foul trouble. He was limited to only 10 minutes of action due to his five fouls.

The Raptors play again on Saturday, Nov. 10, at home against the Sixers.

The good news

Now the good news: Vince Carter said he would one day like to return to the Raptors' organization. This is just a hunch but I'm not sure if the fans have totally forgiven him yet.

Let the season begin

Raptors fall to Pacers 90-88

The Raptors opened up their season at home against the Pacers. I'm in no position to give any constructive feedback on their play since I was working. I never saw a second of the action; however, I did watch the highlight package on NBA.com. What follows will be extremely informed analysis.

Apparently Kyle Lowry put together a nice game, finishing with 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and five steals. There's absolutely no way Lowry will be able to produce at that level all season and he won't have to with Calderon coming off the bench, a role Calderon is better suited for.

Judging from the box score, it looks like Bargnani had a mediocre game. He scored 16 points and grabbed three rebounds, and I think there might be a typo in the box score because it said he finished with three blocks too.

Coming off a newly signed contract worth $38 million dollars over four years, DeRozan underperformed. He finished with 10 points, five rebounds, and one assist. If I have to take one good thing away from his stat line, I guess it would be the rebounds? Yes, that was meant to be phrased as a question.

Valanciunas notched a double double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 boards in a little over 23 minutes of playing time. These are nice numbers for a rookie big in his first regular season game, but his defence needs to improve. I make that claim having seen one highlight of him failing to rotate on a screen and roll.

Some other unsubstantiated assessments about the Raptors from their first game:

• Bargnani played too soft
• DeRozan needs more alley-oops
• Terrence Ross needs to play more.
• The Raptors earned the respect of almost everyone by not playing Kleiza

The Raptors play again on Saturday, when they travel to Brooklyn to play the Nets.

James Harden has a monster game

If anyone was wondering whether James Harden deserves that max contract the Rockets offered him, yes, yes he does. Harden poured in 37 points and added 12 assists, six rebounds, and four steals. His 12 assists were a career high.

Now, regarding the trade, there are two camps. One camp claims that Harden was too greedy, while the other claims the Thunder undervalued Harden and traded him when he never accepted the team's offer.

I'm of the opinion that the Thunder handled this situation poorly. Harden was still under contract until the end of next season. The Thunder could've at least had one more season with Harden's production on their team before deciding not to resign him for the max. Instead, the team is left with Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb to try and make up for the huge hole that Harden left.

Martin can come off the bench and provide a scoring punch similar to Harden but he is nowhere near as proficient. There's no need to really compare the two players. Harden is just a better player, period.

Lamb is an intriguing prospect. I have no idea if he has what it takes to be a big-time player; however, I do know that he's talented and will most likely not have the opportunity to thrive in Oklahoma City and realize his potential. He's a rookie on a team with established vets. He'll see minutes sparingly.

With the Thunder trading away Harden, the Lakers now have a legitimate chance of capturing the West. Granted, the Lakers have looked pretty bad in their first two games, but a team that has that much talent can never be underestimated. Yes, they have aged stars who can't produce at the same clip as they did in their primes but they have Dwight Howard. He's the best center in the league and will average over 30 points a game if he keeps hitting his free throws (he shot 15-19 last game).

Just for some perspective: Howard has only shot better than 60 per cent for the season once in his career, his rookie year. Oh yeah, the game before his 15-19 free throw shooting display, Howard shot 3-14 from the line. Really, who knows how he'll shoot?

The most awesome t-shirt gun ever created

Apparently this gun is called Big Bella. The only reason I think this is real is because I would be too disappointed if it wasn't. And I watched a video of it firing during a Sixers game.

Check out The700Level for a copy of the news release and the video.