Land of the Leaf

Four wins in a row!  The Raptors are rolling, too bad it wasn’t December when the games mattered.  Although they started playing some serious Sam Mitchell ball in the 4th quarter and allowed Chicago to get back in it (way back in it), Sunday’s 134-129 OT win was one of the best performances by the Raptors this season.  At least when looking at individual contributions from their stars.  Bosh and Bargnani both gave should-be Raptor John Salmons a lot of trouble in the post, and on the boards.  Jose Calderon showed a renewed sense of finding his open teammates, and even Shawn Marion managed to put up 16 points.

It’s not like the Raptors are giving their fans much of reason to care anymore, but we can all admit that a strong finish to the season would help their chances of retaining, re-signing, and attracting any free agents that aren’t plucked from Europe or the NBDL.  Bryan Colangelo intimated to Elliotte Friedman that he was happy with Jay Triano’s work as head coach, and that he’s prepared to handle the Bosh situation this off-season. Triano will most likely be back for next season.  I can’t think of anything that would deter Colangelo from sticking with him, unless Mike D’Antoni somehow falls out of favour in New York.  Stranger things have happened in Knicks land.

You can get full post-game analysis and more on Colangelo from Arsenalist at Raptors Republic.  I’m happy Chris Bosh showed some emotion… on the court.