Land of the Leaf

Damn Yankees
Tuesday’s baseball game was awesome, last night not so much.  Andy Pettitte didn’t have his best stuff, but that didn’t matter.  The Blue Jay bats couldn’t get shit going against him.  That heavy-set left hander with all the money takes the mound today and we’re countering with Brian Tallet.  Here’s hoping that the pern-stache can top the Hamburglar.

I don’t like to make rash decisions based on one performance, but I’m kinda over Scott Richmond right now.  Regardless, great story on Richmond from Ian at The Blue Jay Hunter.

Rethinking the NBA Finals, Got A Love Buzz for Jay Triano
Took in what I could of the Nuggets-Mavs series and all I can say is that the Nuggies have a legitimate shot at making the finals.  The hell with a Kobe vs. Lebron NBA Finals match-up, Carmelo vs. Lebron has got a lot more intrigue.  Follow the Nuggets’ quest over at Dunking Nuggets with my man Bryan Douglass.  I’ll take any excuse I can get to post a throw-back Raptors picture:

Speaking of the Raptors, Raptors Republic has an overview of the players that have worked out for the team thus far.  None of the names immediately jump of the screen, but we still don’t know what our draft position will be so no reason to get worked up yet.

Yours truly talked about the Jay Triano signing with Mr. Douglass of Fanball.com and the “Statsman” Paul Bruno on last night’s Statsman Show.  I’ll post a link when the file is available, but I can tell you that we’re all happy with the move.  (Link is up.  You can download it here:  Statsman Podcast Archive.  We go Triano around the 1:40 mark.)

Toronto FC and the Lone Goal Complacency
Chad Barrett scored the lone TFC goal last night, and that’s all they needed to defeat the Montreal Impact 1-0.  Toronto FC is getting too comfortable with the 1-0 victories.

Obligatory East Coast Chest Pump
If you read my own Hockeyhead blog (and you fucking better), then you’d know that I’m a big Sidney Crosby supporter.  I’m sorry, Ovechkin is a great player too but he’s sorta greasy.  Simeon VarLAMov has got a wonky glove-hand and the Penguins exposed it.  My boy Eyebleaf is coming around on Sid the Kid, and pretty soon you will too.

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.