Stat of the Half: Raps @ Pacers Jan.11/10

SotH: 13; that is the number of touches Hedo Turkoglu received in the first 21 possessions of the game.

It was made obvious right away, part of tonight's game plan was to get Hedo the ball more often. This was certainly a reactionary move of the coaching staff to the comments our prized free agent made after yesterday's game against the Celtics. After a quick - and usually questionable - miss by the Pacers, the Raptors found Hedo and let him run the offense. And the result? Good things happened. The Raptors were able to jump on them in the first quarter; an extreme opposite to what happened against Boston. Though he only finished the half with two assists (one of them including a ridiculous hip pass which resulted in a DeRozan alley oop), there were several other instances where he either made the pass that led to the assist, or resulted in a teammate not being able to hit a clean look.

Another interesting stat that I have to bring up is that in the 10 minutes Hedo was on the court in the first quarter, he went 0 for 0 from the field. With the ball in his hands that often, he's got to be a tad selfish at times. When he's making his shots, it makes the Raps harder to beat. If he wants the ball in his hands, then he has to make the magic happen from all accounts of the offensive attack.

At the half, Turk's statline includes:

7 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast, 66%FG, 100%3pt, 2-2 FT

Way to bounce back Turk.

Raptors Need To Take It More Personal

Even with his eyes closed, Rondo was still able to help the Celtics get by the Raptors this Sunday afternoon with a final score of 114-107. And with his eyes open, the pesky Boston point guard was able to notch his 3rd career regular season triple double. That's starting to really tick me off, you know, the fact that we're always so prone to helping another team's player find their way to a career benchmark.

And while Rondo was having one of the better season games of his career, our 50 million dollar prized possession had his worst game as a Raptor. With a whopping 5 points, and a disastrous night from the field, Turk was anything but helpful in a game that the Raptors needed to get. While we've yet to reach the official half mark of the NBA season, Toronto's team has had more than its fair share of chances to redeem themselves.

Three examples come to mind right away. After being dismantled by Atlanta, we show up with an equally disappointing effort on OUR home court in the rematch. After letting one slip away in Phoenix, the Raps had a chance to even the series one game after Pierce punked the team captain. The result at the ACC? A 19 point dubbing at the hands of the Suns. And then of course the men in green seem to be our kryptonite. After being humiliated by them twice, the Raptors just couldn't find a way to come out of the gates guns blazing. Instead, we let an elite team jump on us with a 10-0 lead.

Everyone always wonders if the Raptors will ever play hard for a full 48 minutes. But that's not the problem. No team in the NBA plays hard for an entire game; that's why there are runs in the game of basketball. Instead, what the Raptors need to work on is establishing a new attitude. One that's defined by not letting teams bully you around. There's nothing wrong with getting beat up once. What matters is getting back up, making adjustments, and demanding it doesn't happen again.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Until this team decides to take it more personal, the joke's on us.

Shoot For Ball; Do or Die

Ok, well maybe not the extent some of you interpreted that. Then again, you may be a tad lost if you didn't get any meaning from the title. After all, this is a basketball blog. More specifically, this is a blog, a website, a journal dedicated to the Toronto Raptors. It's my shot attempt at a basket that consists of more than just two points, a rim connected to a mesh of thousands of interconnecting fans. It's crowded in here, but I like the pressure this situation brings. Everyone is eager for the opening possession, but I'm here for the long run, whether it's up to 11 or 21. Why? Because I love to help write a Cinderella story as much as I love to read the defense. But most importantly, I love to entertain. That sold out stadium is breathtaking. There's not a better feeling than an audience you've earned the respect of.

And so they watch.

And so do I.

Watch the ball release from my fingertips. And into the air. Then into an airball...

Call wind. But we're inside the gym...

Call foul. But no one was even near me....

Pretend you just finished lifting weights even though you show no particular muscle development.

Whatever the next move is, one thing is for certain, this won't be like anything you expected or are used to. So what? You missed the shot for 'first ball'. Big deal. It's a long game. There'll be more shots to come. And more after that. And then more after that. And you'll knock em down one by one. Or at least you hope. Because at the end of the day, it's not what you say in the beginning, but what you say near the end.

"GamePoint"

A no-hooter

Dave Barton

Bayonhoota

Stephen sent in the above owl.

Youth In Revhoot

Jamie Winn

Dragonhoot

I'm back! Tattooist submission from Adam Dorsett.