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I miss The Oak.

Barring something unforeseen and entirely out-of-the-blue, this Raptors team is headed for a one and done in the post-season. If that is to be the case, I’m hoping it’s a very humiliating series where this team is ripped apart in every game starting from tipoff to final buzzer. There shouldn’t be any doubts or questions about what the flaws of this team are, what the talent level on it is, how hard working the players are, how bad the coaching is, how suspect the preparation is and how watered down the on-court product is. The last thing I want is a first-round exit where we win two or three games and give false hope to the fans and management that this group might be more than a .500 team in a weak East. That’s one school of thought. The other is that we somehow win a playoff round (facing Orlando or whoever) and build on it in the off-season replacing key components instead of blowing the whole thing up. Fine, this might be a legitimate roadmap and something that I still subscribe to but what the previous fortnight has shown me is that instead of requiring maybe a legit 3 and a rebounder, we need a legit 3, a real rebounder, a better shooting guard, a better coach, another decent 3 and maybe something else.

We’re a jump shooting team and Dave Feschuk correctly summarized the reason for the NJ loss in a single sentence:

“..their jump-shot-heavy offense couldn’t produce the preferable haul of long-range swishes”

We can talk about our defense for eons at a time but the heavy reliance of our offense on outside jumpers is too much. The always crucial Points in the Paint stat has always been against us and over the last three years there’s been nothing done to remedy that. Yeah we average 100.24 which is good for 13th in the league but what gets masqueraded is that we get into long stretches where we’re comfortable trading baskets with teams that know very well that when it comes down to it in the fourth quarter, they’ll be able to get a stop and we won’t. We lack a clutch performer, Chris Bosh is a power forward and that’s probably the last position player you want originating your offense in the clutch, it’s not a shock that the fourth quarter is usually his worst. I respect Chris Bosh for playing hard on both ends but his clutch game focuses on trying to get fouled rather than trying to score – not a good #1 strategy. In another Feschuk article, he’s absolving Sam Mitchell and blaming the fourth quarter blues on Bosh:

…if your $13 million all-star can’t stick an elbow in a smaller man’s eye and score at a game’s biggest moments, in a league in which the best player on the floor so often prevails, you’ve got bigger problems than the contents of the clipboard.

Harsh but warranted criticism. However, Sam Mitchell gets a big fat F on his coaching this season regardless of how well Bosh has done in the clutch. His failure to establish a consistent rotation, develop Bargnani (yes, he takes some blame for that), handle the TJ Ford situation and tighten up his X’s and O’s have no doubt proven that the Coach of the Year awards don’t mean shit. His post-game analysis of things has become mundane and it always boils down to making shots and just playing “better”. Sure, he doesn’t have much to work with but its not like he’s helped improve one area of this team from opening day. Even Sam Vincent’s ahead of Mitchell at this point.

As I’m typing this Kevin Durant just hit a deeeep bomb to tie the game in overtime at 135.

The question is how do the Raptors salvage the rest of the season and the playoffs. What can they do that might make this campaign a relative success and not a drastic reverse from last season? Winning a playoff round is looking more and more unlikely, the development of Andrea Bargnani (arguably our core piece) has been a huge disappointment, our successful PG combo from last year has been a source of more disruption than production, our bench has declined (especially defensively) and generally speaking there hasn’t been a single area where we’ve improved from last year. The answer of course I don’t have (maybe we need a hero?) But I know that even if we do somehow manage to fluke some playoff success by some sheer stroke of luck, it’s going to be a hollow victory because the knowing supporter is well aware of the problems that this team has.

We have five games left and even if we win all five, it won’t mean a damn thing aside from getting some soon to be squashed momentum on our side. I want Atlanta to catch us so we can drop to 8th and face Boston, at least Bosh will get an up-close look at greatness when he faces Kevin Garnett and take something away from the experience. If we face Detroit they’ll just put on a technical marvel of how to dismantle a team broken at the nucleus – if you think the Raptors have issues shooting the ball right now, wait till Billups, Wallace and Co. get done clamping down on Parker, Bosh and Forderon.

Let’s look past the technical issues, the thing to be most questioned about this team is its mental toughness and willingness to fight. There have been very few occasions where this team has played playoff intensity basketball or shown a determined grit and desire to make a consistent defensive stand. Never have we stood up for a teammate after a hard foul, rarely have we shown a willingness to win a game in the paint and play tenacious physical basketball in the trenches, almost never to be found is that deep confidence that even the hated Vince Carter displayed late in the fourth quarter. The swagger and killer instinct hasn’t been there all year and it’s left up to the smallest guys on the court to rev up a team whose heart seems to be missing.

There are times when one thinks back to Charles Oakley and even Antonio Davis (like him or hate him) and realizes that those types of players bought intangibles to a team that are almost a necessity to any rebuilding project. It’s that touch that we miss right now. Say what you will about Glen Grunwald but when he saw a problem, he tried to fix it. It may have gotten him in trouble once in a while but at least he acted and built a pretty damn good team at one point – it was Lenny that couldn’t figure his end out.

This summer is looming large for the Raptors, we need to take a long hard look at Andrea Bargnani and see what we have in him, if it’s just a continuation of status quo, we need to dump him right after bumping up his trade value. The TJ/Jose thing is a mess and someone needs to go (TJ has some great value, I sincerely believe that), summer signings and trades (note the plural) are almost a must if we plan on finishing anything above than 4th in the Atlantic. Our scouts (taking Final Four off) need to look at the draft and see if there are any sleepers that can help this team right now, we don’t need any more Joey Grahams or Jamario Moons, we need some players that can take the pressure off of Bosh. In other words, we have a lot of work to do and Bryan Colangelo and Maurizio Gherardini better not have any vacations planned.

One might even say that the summer has already started.

Caught portions of this game on the NY telecast and I’d take those two commentators over Forrest, Dobson or Reed any day. They were actually happy for us that we actually won a game.. Add in the fans (King Tut was awesome), the intense fog and slight drizzle and it looked like an English Championship side playing for a promotion. I have nothing negative to say, not even concerning Adam Braz. But let’s give props to Maurice Edu for scoring on a shot which would’ve made Thierry Henry proud.

So what does this win mean? Nothing obviously except we that we beat a pretty decent team in a pretty convincing fashion. Does this mean we’re good? No, Mo Johnston is looking for two forwards, two midfielders and two backs in the off-season, here are the two from each position he’s going to be keeping, or should be keeping:

• Forwards: Cunningham, Dichio
• Midfielders: Edu, Robinson
• Backs: Wynne, Brennan

How does that sound? I’d say those might be our six best players who actually would make it on any MLS roster? After these six guys we quickly drop to the likes of Lombardo, Boyens, Samuel, Braz etc. who would have issues when trying to say, make the roster for DC United. The other player that’s been surprisingly good has been Todd Dunivant who deserves to come back.

There’s an article in the Toronto Star by Cathal Kelly which encourages us to sign a designated player like Angel but he options he’s giving aren’t very attractive. Still worth a read.

Anwyays, enjoy the win, they don’t come often enough.

Grab the feed.

So let’s get to some of them:

• Kenny Stamatopoulos: He’s shown that he can be a good goalie in stretches, he doesn’t make too many fatal mistakes and tends to be in good position most of the time. His reaction time leaves something to be desired and his footing could be better. We need to find a better starting goalie but Kenny’s shown enough to warrant a fight for the backup spot.
  Andrew Boyens: He’s gone from good to bad to pathetic to decent to bad to ok to something nobody quite understands. Playing at the heart of the defense requires an awareness that Boyens doesn’t possess. He has the height but lacks the physical strength to match up with strikers with that low center of gravity. If Boyens is starting for Toronto FC next season, our defense will have issues.
• Adam Braz: He’s slow, he doesn’t have skill and gets caught trailing the play too often. You can respect his effort but don’t confuse that with talent, especially at a defensive position where he was caught trailing the play too many times. I don’t feel comfortable with him at the back and there are plenty of reasons and examples why.
• Maurice Edu: He’s probably our most skilled player but that hasn’t translated into goal scoring which I can live with. Edu’s dribbling skills have gotten better over the season and the improvement in him is evident. A talented player who can become the heart of this franchise if he’s not swept up by some European side.
• Jim Brennan: The captain was playing out of position for most of the season and despite that was a stellar part of the defense.
• Todd Dunivant: When he was acquired for Goldthwaite many questioned the move but his vision on the left is something to take into next season. He’s not a goal scorer but can supply the crosses, either we find him some real strikers or find a goal scoring right midfielder because he just isn’t one.
• Chris Pozniak: The most anonymous player on the team. Never contributed anything on offense and was a part of more than a few goals given up. You can’t pick one aspect of his game and say it’ll be something we could use.
• Tyrone Marshall: Great acquisition who plays with his heart on the sleeve, his skill is good and so is his emotion. An ideal player for us.
• Marvell Wynne: The experiment of him on the wing was a failure but he’s shown he can be a relialbe back who can occasionaly burst forward. His physical presence is much needed, he just needs to stay healthy.
• Collin Samuel: Has shown nothing except great effort, unfortunately for him that’s not enough to be on an MLS roster, especially as a striker.
• Carl Robinson: His performance tailed off considerably as the season went on, when we were playing well he was playing exceptionally well. Him and O’Brien are the engine of this team.

Grab the feed.

The first half was better than the second but that still doesn’t change this being one of the worst midfield performances of the season. We didn’t bother to play our formation and at times I thought we were actually playing a 7-2-1. Our passing was so bad that I lost track of how many times we passed the ball directly to the sideline! Yes, directly through either mistimed runs, mistimed passes, inaccurate passes or just very poor clearances. After we opened the scoring in the second minute we looked like we might threaten for a second but it was going to be a long shot at best. With Cunningham still unable to find that elusive defense breaking turn and Collin Samuel settling for shots well outside the area it was more a hope of scoring rather than a plan to score.

I’ve come to expect things like Maurice Edu wildly flailing at an open goal from six yards out (there goes the European club interest) and Cunningham hitting it straight at the goalie on a one-on-one breakaway, it just wouldn’t be a Toronto FC game without somebody missing some gifted chances. Maybe I’m so harsh on the team today because I had just seen Arsenal’s demolition of Derby County a few hours earlier and the lack of quality, pace and skill in the MLS was in full contrast to my earlier experience. Even then, I would’ve been content if we had played more like Columbus. The Crew deserved to win this game, there is no doubt about that. They withstood our first half pressure, mounted pressure in the second half and played very hard coming off a heart-breaking loss to Kansas City.

We looked very tired in the second half and were unable to do anything of real substance. I thought Mo Johnston dropped the ball in not making a defensive substitution when Columbus was making their game-tying bid. Fresh legs go a long way when it comes to defense and although Kenny hung himself out to dry on their first goal, a defender should’ve stepped up and bailed him out. There were about seven other TFC players in the box and they all watched. But even after that MoJo ignored the warning signs and failed to counter Columbus bringing on the speedy and powerful Jacob Thomas. What happened next? Thomas beat two of our defenders, Brennan for strength and Boyens for strength and pace. 2-1, game over.

Carl Robinson should just take himself out of the game if all he’s going to do is lay the ball off to someone knowing very well that the play isn’t going anywhere. It says a lot when your back (Brennan) is creating more chances than your attacking midfielder. He’s got to play through-balls into the area and hope and pray that his strikers can latch on to one of them and do something. It’s much better than laying the ball off to Brennan on the side and have him supply a cross for Samuels or Cunningham who don’t have the height to manipulate it into something more.

The following was our squad for this game:

Of these Cunningham, Edu, Dunivant, Marshall and Brennan are the only players that deserve a guaranteed spot for next year. The rest are components that can stand to be greatly upgraded. Pozniak and Samuel are both a waste of roster spots and need to go, they’re simply not good enough. Does it really matter who we play next? Not really, so why not just empty our bench and see what the youngsters have got. They can’t be that bad that Johnston doesn’t dare to use any of them. We got nothing to lose.

Grab the feed.

I don’t buy this theory of goalies having their “game of the season” against us, we just don’t have good finishers who consider the goalies position before calculating where to shoot. Exhibit A is Collin Samuel and Exhibit B has to be Todd Dunivant. I mean when things go bad, they go really bad. Dunivant (who otherwise had a good game) missed a chance that I could score on. No, really. He missed a chance that I could score on. Andrea Lombardo and his lanky figure managed to beat a RSL defender and cross it in, all Dunivant had to do was strike the ball, he didn’t have to aim, just hit it and it’s going in. Instead he tried to control it which gave the goalie ample time to recover. It was at that point I knew we weren’t going to score. Let’s talk about Lombardo for a moment, he’s a hard worker who tries to play smart and attack the goal but lacks the speed needed to out-pace defenders and lacks the strength needed to overpower them. Once you recognize those two facts (and they are facts), anything on the pitch he does is commendable. But the script of this one was identical to most of the games during this despicable stretch: Toronto FC build some pressure, pass it to a wing player, wing player beats somebody, wing player delivers a half-decent cross, our strikers can’t do anything with the ball. Some of the headers Samuel missed today would’ve been at least legitimate shot-on-goal attempts if Dichio was in there. Playing Samuel and Cunningham at the same time makes no sense to me, they’re both identical types of players with Cunningham obviously being vastly superior. They don’t complement each other at all so when Mo Johnston took out Lombardo instead of Samuel for Cunningham I was scratching my head until drops of blood came out.

How old is Adam Braz? If his birthday says he was born in 1981 why does he run like a 50 year old man, he’s out of breath practically as soon as he comes in the game. He’s lucky RSL didn’t score after he was caught trailing a play where he should’ve been in front of the defender. Even Kenny S had a crack at him for that. Don’t we have any other backs on the bench other than Braz? Is this some sort of loyalty thing for Mo Johnston? Canizales got some playing time today and to me he should be starting instead of Chris Pozniak who has been brutal. He does nothing on the pitch. Nothing. Zero. Nada. Nil. I’m not even exaggerating, when he was taken out I was surprised he was even in the game. I thought Canizales was pretty decent in those early games and never really deserved to be eradicated from the lineup in favor of Pozniak or Welsh. In his brief moments on the field he’s shown me enough to give him consistent playing time to see what he can do for us. If we can give Welsh, Pozniak and Braz time, why not him?

Marvylle Wynne was taken out at halftime, he had a pretty mediocre first half where his true colors shone. I thought he had a pretty good game last week against Dallas but tonight he was bumbling about like the fullback that he is. But I think Wynne is a solid defensive player who can occasionally spawn a few offensive threads, let’s hope his hamstring injury is nothing serious. This also marked the return of Alecko Eskandarian to Toronto. Let me put it bluntly: I like Esk because he almost suffered a career-ending injury, it’s more pity/admiration of that rather than his skill that keeps me from saying that he’s an asshole. Wait, did I just say that? Oh well.

I have to talk about Nigel Reed again. You know how after a while of living in Canada you start to talk like a Canadian, I mean you sort of lose your British accent and you almost have to force yourself to sound “authentic”. I think Reed is reaching that point. He’s begging for more complex words to use but nothings coming back. Of course he used “confirmation” again a few times, after that he said something about “purchasing” a shot, there’s a lot more instances like these which I should probably write down on a piece of paper while watching the games but my wife might think I’m crazy. Maybe next game I’ll do that.

I hate giving out player ratings because they’re a bit of a cop out on the part of a writer. So I’m going to write a short sentence about each player which will tell you how I think they played:

• Kenny Stamatopoulos: He didn’t have to do much but what he did he did well.
• Andrew Boyens: Didn’t hear his name much (good for a defender).
• Todd Dunivant: Plenty of quality crosses which were wasted by Samuel but Todd should’ve scored on a sitter.
• Tyrone Marshall: Good.
• Jim Brennan: Good.
• Chris Pozniak: Didn’t realize he was in the game until he was taken out.
• Miguel Canizalez: In his brief appearance he looked to create space and setup teammates. Almost scored as soon as coming in.
• Maurice Edu: Had more mishaps than usual today, not his usual self. He’s my pick to score our next goal.
• Carl Robinson: Can’t really complain but I’d like to see him lob the ball more into the box than towards Dunivant on the left.
• Marvell Wynne: Not as good a game as Dallas. Had to be taken out as a precaution.
• Adam Braz: He’s brutal to watch, I’m sorry. He’s slow and has no skill. Offensively he’s not a threat and is a liability on defense.
• Andrea Lombardo: No pace or strength to do much against Pope. Created the chance that Dunivant should’ve scored on.
• Jeff Cunningham: Cameo. Can’t say much.
• Collin Samuel: Brutal, awful and what a waste of a striking position. His first, second and third touch all suck.

I don’t even remember how many games or minutes it’s been since we’ve scored. The match report will probably tell you that.

Grab the feed.

Also missed was the Toronto FC/Chivas clash which saw TFC go six straight games without scoring a goal. When I said ‘Season Over’ a few posts ago I got flamed on certain discussion boards. I’m not i-told-you-soing but I told you so.

Finally, coming back from Kansas City at Toronto airport I see a big tall black dude and he looks familiar, it’s Chris Bosh. All I said to him was “Hey, Chris” and he’s like: “Hey, what’s up man”. Judging by where he was picking up his luggage, he was coming from Las Vegas. I snapped a pic without security looking:

So you work hard on your blog to try to get people to read it, you beg Arseblog to link to you, you put up highlights etc etc. Turns out I’m wasting time because I just realized looking at the WordPress Dashboard that all I have to do is create a site and put up some Flickr porn and booyeah! you make it to the frontpage of WordPress.

I also worked up a new header for the blog. It’s a work in progress but at least on first glance it appears like a sports blog.

Later.

Imagine running around in Grade 4 and telling all the girls you play for Manchester United. This kid’s getting laid as we speak.

David Beckham is not playing against Toronto FC. This is pretty shitty for anybody who paid $350 for a single ticket to watch Becks fire a few freekicks. Beckham didn’t even travel with the team to Dallas so if that happens again there goes any chance of seeing Posh in the stands here in Toronto. I’m just glad my bid to get tickets was unsuccessful.

After the victory you didn’t read the normal, “We’re so happy and lets get drunk” quotes, instead we get Iraqi captain, Younis Mahmoud, saying stuff like:

“I want America to go out. Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, but out. I wish the American people didn’t invade Iraq and, hopefully, it will be over soon.”

Fair enough I guess, in the only airtime the guy will probably ever receive he calls for political change. How often do you see that in America? You think if Terrell Owens wins the Super Bowl he’ll call for Medicare reform? If that wasn’t out of place, how about this:

“I don’t want the Iraqi people to be angry with me. If I go back with the team, anybody could kill me or try to hurt me.”

Now why anybody would want to kill the guy for winning Asia’s premier football tournament is beyond the scope of most people’s imagination. Maybe because he partook in a team which had both Shias and Sunis? The football team is probably a microcosm of what Iraq should be and this is probably one of those cases where politics can learn from sport. And to put things in perspective the victory came only a day after 30 Iraqis were killed in bomb attacks.

This is an Arsenal/TFC blog but I thought this deserved its own post.