Land of the Leaf

Raptors Republic has some grades for Bryan Colangelo’s wheeling and dealing from this past year.  Interesting and mostly accurate marks handed out, if you’re looking for an answer to why B.C. traded Will Solomon for Patrick O’Bryant then look elsewhere.  Only Jesus and B.C. know the answer to that one.
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Jays release Overbay, Maroth, and Harang, many more.  Not Lyle Overbay, but Seth, and although I wish the Jays had Aaron Harang-utan in their rotation it’s only Daryl Harang that’s been released.  That’s the real Mike Maroth that they cut loose though, that didn’t quite work out.

Opening Day is just a weekend away.  It’s rare that you have a Rogers Centre full of Jays’ fans, Opening Day is usually your first and last shot at pretending it’s 1993 in the Skydome.  Yes, the place gets pretty full when the Red Sox or Yankees roll in for a weekend series, but the Red Sox Nation and Yankee Douche-Crew severely outnumber us for those games.  Drunk Jays Fans has your Guide to the 2009 Home Opener.  Read, memorize, and apply your knowledge.

Providing fuel to the theory that superstar baseball players always go to the Mets to die: The Mets are close to signing Gary Sheffield according to MLB Trade Rumors.
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The Jonas Frogren signing cost the Maple Leafs a 4th round draft pickalmost nine months after the fact.  I really don’t care, but the parameters of the penalty are confusing as hell.  Bitter Leaf Fan Page lays out an accurate timeline, but there’s still no simple answer on all of this.

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.

Jay Triano hasn’t had an easy job this season after taking over coaching duties from Sam Mitchell.  In front of the media, and on the bench, Triano appears to be as composed as anyone.  His team has been struggling on the court more than any scribe could have envisioned, despite Triano’s calm demeanor.  It’s been 5 straight losses for the lowly Raptors, and they have all but disappeared from front-page and even sports page news.  They’re no longer a team searching for answers, but one just searching for a win as they roll into Philadelphia tonight to take on the 76ers.

On most nights Chris Bosh’s face says what Triano refuses to speak: this team is awful and their wimpy roster doesn’t stack up to even the fairest of foe. Triano keeps on nodding and pointing to the Raptors’ losing ways as some sort of learning experience, although we all know he’s just playing mum on the fact that Bryan Colangelo has failed to give him much to work with.  There’s a good chance that B.C. and Triano will be working together again next season, and with the likely departure of Shawn Marion this off-season, those two will have their hands full trying to assemble and coach a competitive NBA team.

Sam Mitchell was the fall-guy for the team’s struggles earlier this season, but Triano has been applauded in most media circles for the job he’s done.  The only finger pointing left at this point is to the players on the court and to the man in the front office.  Heading into the final leg of the season, somebody has to step-up and take some responsibility.