PG: Clear Path FTL

[dagger]

-Vasquez should have been pulled sooner.
-Give JJ more minutes down the stretch in regulation.
-Lou was blizzard-like cold.
-Lowry missed a lot of shots he normally makes and also played a little hero-ball -esque down the stretch

In spite of that, we went into Portland's home court and dominated most of the game.Our D really stepped up but they also missed a lot of makeable shots in the 1st half.You knew it was unlikely they would remain that cold, especially from beyond the arc,l the rest of the game (and they didn't).Were the refs a factor?A bit.But you can't pin this loss on them unless you're willing to overlook a hell of a lot of other factors that were our (team)'s fault, not "corrupt officiating".

Actually, JJ sucked badly in OT. Contributed nothing offensively, and was late on his closeouts defensively. Sorry. He's a sub.

Agree, however, on Vasquez. I can't wait for DeMar to get back so we can shave GV's minutes to the minimum required for Kyle to get some rest. Vasquez is a stiff defensively, and if he's not scoring, he's a fat net negative.

[TDotsfinest97]

LISTEN, I can understand shots not going in, trust me, they were great looks and Lowry missed a ft as well. I just can't stand when a coach doesn't put his team in the best position to win, I can't stand when the refs aren't consistent with their calls. It was clear in the 4th they got us into early foul trouble so we won't be as aggressive and it meant free throws the rest of the way for the blazers. I'm not even talking about the missed calls I'm just talking about the entire flow of the game and stupid calls/non-calls + Casey. When I really think about it, JV wasn't getting calls and I can understand why Casey would bench him because of that, JV was getting murdered and same with Lowry but no calls at all. I just don't like the fact he kept Vasquez/Hansbro in game for that long, even if he put PP and JJ out there instead of those guys we'd be fine. It's a long season so we can certainly learn, it's frustrating cuz you can work so hard and deserve to win but the refs just screw you over like its nothing. I wish I could seriously do something to get those guys canned and embarrassed for how the officiated the game.

This game was an L when Lou/Vasquez/Hansbrough were on the court. Lou and Vasquez taking weird long 2's and Hansbrough giving LMA the and1 that changed the game forever.

[Scarface844]

Pathetic lol u probably are his number 1 fan when he comes through. Show some loyalty.

What? I never turned on him. We're a young team that can only get better with these sort of games. But it doesn't mean he doesn't deserve some blame for the loss. I call everyone out, and I praise everyone.

[JaysRule15]

I think JJ has definitely earned more minutes, especially in the 4th quarter. He's easily one of our best offensive options in the post and doesn't negatively impact the defense. When the jumpshots stop falling late in the game, Casey should run a few plays for JJ and give him a chance to score in the post.

[Randle McMurphy]

Was a good game until the refs got involved near the end. I'm still not sure why Casey didn't call for the team to take a three at the end of regulation. It takes the refs completely out of the equation and you don't want to go to overtime against that team in that building anyway. Nor do I get why Lou Williams or especially Greivis Vasquez continue to get the level of trust that they do, but that's another issue altogether.

Considering how poorly they shot, though, there was still an impressive level of fight shown. I take more good than bad out of this one (other than the continued lack of refereeing respect).

Well, they were 4-22 from three. That might have influenced the decision.

Well aware. And I'll still take my chances with that over having to play an overtime on the road, especially against that team. If it were a home game, it would be a different story. When it happens again (and it will), I hope a different decision is made.

[TDotsfinest97]

I think JJ has definitely earned more minutes, especially in the 4th quarter. He's easily one of our best offensive options in the post and doesn't negatively impact the defense. When the jumpshots stop falling late in the game, Casey should run a few plays for JJ and give him a chance to score in the post.

This. If Casey wants to bench JV during crunchtime, he should bench Ross too, make JJ and Lou your wing players, Lou will hit the clutch shots and JJ will draw some fouls to interrupt the momentum of the game.

[Randle McMurphy]

Actually, JJ sucked badly in OT. Contributed nothing offensively, and was late on his closeouts defensively. Sorry. He's a sub.

Agree, however, on Vasquez. I can't wait for DeMar to get back so we can shave GV's minutes to the minimum required for Kyle to get some rest. Vasquez is a stiff defensively, and if he's not scoring, he's a fat net negative.

JJ wasn't good in OT, but with as physical as the game got in the last 6 minutes of regulation (and with as little as guys like Greivis and Lou were doing on both ends), he could have helped.

[vaff87]

Was a good game until the refs got involved near the end. I'm still not sure why Casey didn't call for the team to take a three at the end of regulation. It takes the refs completely out of the equation and you don't want to go to overtime against that team in that building anyway. Nor do I get why Lou Williams or especially Greivis Vasquez continue to get the level of trust that they do, but that's another issue altogether.

Considering how poorly they shot, though, there was still an impressive level of fight shown. I take more good than bad out of this one (other than the continued lack of refereeing respect).

Well, they were 4-22 from three. That might have influenced the decision.

Well aware. And I'll still take my chances with that over having to play an overtime on the road, especially against that team. If it were a home game, it would be a different story. When it happens again (and it will), I hope a different decision is made.

I'm not sure a play for a three wasn't called. I thought Amir just didn't think it was available, and thought taking his man was the best option.

[Randle McMurphy]

Well, they were 4-22 from three. That might have influenced the decision.

Well aware. And I'll still take my chances with that over having to play an overtime on the road, especially against that team. If it were a home game, it would be a different story. When it happens again (and it will), I hope a different decision is made.

I'm not sure a play for a three wasn't called. I thought Amir just didn't think it was available, and thought taking his man was the best option.

Perhaps. Portland was definitely focusing on preventing the three in that situation.

I regretted that Amir shot the moment he took it, though, even after it went in. Not only did it give Portland a shot to win in regulation, but it gave them 5 more minutes to win against a cold Lowry (with the help of some expected home cooking as well in that building).

[Oneluckbox]

lol

[PenguinBoxer]

CASEY DOES NOT COACH!

HE CALLS ZERO PLAYS

NOTHING. KYLE CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT AS LONG AS THEY DONT "GIVE UP ON THE PLAY"

This team is going nowhere deep

[kayliecee]

Was a good game until the refs got involved near the end. I'm still not sure why Casey didn't call for the team to take a three at the end of regulation. It takes the refs completely out of the equation and you don't want to go to overtime against that team in that building anyway. Nor do I get why Lou Williams or especially Greivis Vasquez continue to get the level of trust that they do, but that's another issue altogether.

Considering how poorly they shot, though, there was still an impressive level of fight shown. I take more good than bad out of this one (other than the continued lack of refereeing respect).

Well, they were 4-22 from three. That might have influenced the decision.

Well aware. And I'll still take my chances with that over having to play an overtime on the road, especially against that team. If it were a home game, it would be a different story. When it happens again (and it will), I hope a different decision is made.

Well, you have every right to your opinion. Mine is that we have a better than 4-22 chance of winning an overtime on the road.

[RapsFanInOhio]

Well, they were 4-22 from three. That might have influenced the decision.

Well aware. And I'll still take my chances with that over having to play an overtime on the road, especially against that team. If it were a home game, it would be a different story. When it happens again (and it will), I hope a different decision is made.

Well, you have every right to your opinion. Mine is that we have a better than 4-22 chance of winning an overtime on the road.

That's a classic NBA argument - go for the win or tie on the road. I tend to side with going for the win, but I have no logical argument that you shouldn't take the best shot available. Then again, I've seen enough NBA refs to know that getting any calls in OT on the road is difficult.

[Randle McMurphy]

Well, you have every right to your opinion. Mine is that we have a better than 4-22 chance of winning an overtime on the road.

It's more like a 35-40% chance depending on who is taking the shot and how much of a quality look you can get. I'll take those odds on the road over OT every single time if given the chance especially against a team that good. And it's not like you still can't get a rebound put back off a miss anyway.

[Matty]

- Just came back from the Portland game. Terrible ending but it was a great experience.

- Dissapointed a bit with the Raptor fans in attendance tonight (myself included ). We had very loud chants around 45 minutes before the game started and it looked like it was around 100+ fans in attendance but unfortunately we didn't get our chants going throughout the night. I don't know how it sounded on TV but instead of starting our own chants we coincide our "let's go" chants with the Blazer fans which to me fell on deaf ears. Given our high standard of showing up and taking over arenas, we took an L tonight but the Portland crowd had a lot to do with it so it's not surprising. Throughout the game when we were leading by double digits we had a chance to quiet the home fans but they were consistent, give credit to them. And make no mistake there was a LOT of Raptor fans. Mostly from Van City but there was some from Edmonton and Calgary as well.

- DeRozan was actually shooting around and driving to the lane during individuals warm ups with Lowry and Lou. During pre-game I asked Alex McKechnie on a possible return date for DeMar. Told me flat out he wasn't telling no one, even Casey if he asked . Man didn't give in, I told him it's not like I was going to post anything online about it . Didn't flinch. Guy is a boss though, respect the work he does for the team and was great to talk to.

- Also had a little chat with another Raptor official (I don't recall his name). He talked about Lou being pissed about fans calling him Somali online (Raptor fanboys ) . Dude is proud of his Atlanta roots and was annoyed about being called somehing he wasn't.

- When Vasquez did the clear path foul the whole bench seemed to have a collective SMH moment . I was irritated at that play but was even more pissed at the previous no-call on the clear path foul for Ross. Heckled those inconsistent refs, missed so many calls.

- Overall awesome night at the Moda Center (Place was CRAZY loud as depicted on TV, crowd went NUTS when they got the lead late in the fourth). Fans had a lot of lame Drake reference banners like "Hold on Toronto, you're going home" and others I couldn't remember. Our identity with American fans seem to be linked with the ambassador so the whole exposure thing is kinda of working out?

Bit tired so I'll add more info if I can remember anything else.

[RedX]

GG Refs.

[Anatomize]

Similar to the Bulls 4th quarter collapse + refs treatment. I told two of my friends in the third don't get too excited, we're about to get our ass ripped by the refs..

[Arman_tanzarian]

I'm curious. Are we ever going to trust JV down the stretch of games? He was one of our best players tonight and he player about 3 mins and got pulled right away. Guys like ross, Lou, GV have no where near that short a leash

[Randle McMurphy]

I'm curious. Are we ever going to trust JV down the stretch of games? He was one of our best players tonight and he player about 3 mins and got pulled right away. Guys like ross, Lou, GV have no where near that short a leash

As long as Casey is the coach, it doesn't look like it.

[Slim_Charles]

The bipolar fans are out again!!