Years ago a young basketball star decided to attended his college graduation on a game day. No big deal. Right? His pro team the Raptors was a win away from the Eastern Conference Finals. The media storm following his last second shot miss versus the Sixers that night was immense. Since that moment the Raptors have been cursed.
Stars left town, McGrady and Carter. and professional basketball in Toronto has never recovered.
Witness last nights triple overtime loss to the Utah Jazz. As a longtime Red Sox fan I was reminded of the pre 2004 years. Closing games and some bad luck have become issues for the dinos.
Al Jefferson hits a three to send the game to overtime. The guy had hit two three pointers his entire career. Two! Paranormal.
Demar Derozean was huge scoring 37 for the Raps. Suddenly thrust into the closer role with his strong play he attempted an indescribable array of twirls and fades in a last second shot attempt to win the game as the first overtime closed. Dermar! Act like you've been there before.
The officiating also was atrocious. Toronto never seems to get calls. The persistent referee bias against the dinos leaves a molested core of Bargnani and Derozean with hands up in disbelief in the lack of calls.
The roster is devoid of a true star which is a prerequisite in today's NBA. For whatever reason the Raps cannot attract star power. So they end up acquiring good players through trades.
Luck has also shown on the injury front. Kyle Lowry has been sorely missed the past few games. Fields and Anderson are missed as well for the intangibles.
The overarching concern is that games are still not closed by Toronto. Their record is 1-6. They could easily be 3-4. Opening night against the Pacers and the lack of desire to shut down David West was an wasted win. Last night should've been another W, the game was bumbled away with late turnovers. A push to win versus Phillly and Dallas was lacking after horrid early play.
Luck has been an issue for sure and maybe there is a Carter curse but in the end little has changed in DinoLand.
No comments:
Post a Comment