The Fear

I don't know if I will ever get over the fear that the Raptors will go back to what they were. In the past 2 months they have giving fans a taste of what they once were and what they will hopefully become; a respectable NBA franchise. The past years have been dark ones for Raptor fans as the team has been poorly managed, mocked by NBA pundits and at times just plain embarrassing. Since November they have been making improvements every game, playing with purpose and as a team. Fans were coming back sucked in by the hypnotic rhythm of Chucky Swirsky’s voice and then they have a weekend like the one that just past.

Friday night was an absolute stinker. In front of a sell out crowd, on Friday night, they decided to revert back to being a team that looked helpless. Penetrate and kick out, penetrate and kick out, penetrate, kick out and chuck up a three; is that a game plan? To Milwaukee’s credit, they completely shut down Bosh. The Raptors couldn't get the ball into him and when they did Ruben Patterson was just too quick (it is interesting who Bosh has a hard time playing against, but that is another topic.). Ok, it is fine to play terribly once in a while as long as you come back strong the next night.

I am not going to say much about Saturday other than the Raptors did not come back strong. Cleveland steamrolled them and sent a clear message that they were not satisfied with only beating the Raptors by one point a week before. It is true that both Bargnani and Parker weren’t in the lineup but that is no excuse. A friend commented that the poor play started when Parker got injured but I refuse to believe that he is the key to this team. The bench stank, TJ was doing his bench Mike James impression and Mo Pete and Joey Graham should have stayed home. This team was not ready to compete and Sam Mitchell is partially responsible.

Insecurity is a terrible feeling for a fan. I want to cheer, I want to support, I want to invest emotion but I have been burned by this team too many times. I am sure I am not the only one who has been feeling like this during the past 2 games. It doesn’t look like the same team. I expect to see that mad scientist, Kevin O’Neill when I look at the bench. The defense has gone very soft and Bosh is not converting as efficiently as he was. He is trying to get to the line but the calls haven’t been going his way. I am extremely worried about the Wizards game tonight. Jamison is back and you just never know when Arenas is actually going to do what he says and score 50. After that they have the Sonics and then Milwaukee again. If they play like they did last weekend they will lose all three of those games.

Predictions: Bosh 30 points and ten boards. He will get to the line 15 times tonight. Toronto 110 Washington 103