Catching Up...

So apparently I'm not the only one that needs to be playing catch-up here.
It may be a bad tie-in, but it wasn't really intentional.

For the second straight game, the Raptors came back from a 13-point first half deficit, and pulled out a win.

Sure, you could say the last game was against Maccabi (and that's all we're going to say about that game – since it's so far in the past), but against a Cleveland team that was back to full strength... Make no bones about it, the Raptors put in work last night.

Especially with Chris Bosh (plantar fasciitis), TJ Ford (sore left hamstring), and Andrea Bargnani (sore left ankle) all sitting out, the depleted Raptors found success, and improved to 6-0 in the preseason, for the first time in franchise history.

Raptors 91, Cavaliers 90

A courtside seat was a beautiful thing... although I have to say, it might have taken away a little of my non-sexual love for Lebron James. The man-child now expects to get every call, and wants to be treated like royalty by his teammates (and evidently the refs, too). Damon Jones, who I never liked anyway, proved to be an even bigger pest when in ear-shot of his constant yammering. First off, the guy's shorts were way too short (maybe it's a shot at Stern's rule of having them above the knees). Secondly, every time he would be defending (or trying to) someone who was taking a shot, he'd run by then and yell 'Oh HELL no!” And lastly, the ONE shot the guy makes (1/8 mind you) was a 3-pointer, and when it flushed through the net, he looked at the Raptors' bench, and smacked his ass.

Enough of that, though... a bitter taste is only fun to talk about for so long.

What was sweet, was watching Freddy Jones conduct play on the court. I'm calling it now – Fred Jones - 6th man of the year. Just watch. And quote me later.

The guy, listed at 6'2”, had 2 game-changing blocks in the 4th, and then drilled a go-ahead 3... Jones had 22 points overall (a game-high), to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, and 3 blocks in total.

Kris Humphries once again had a solid game – 16 points and a team-high 9 rebounds... and while Mo Pete put up 16 points as well, Uros Slokar can not be over-looked: 6 points, and 7 boards (5 of which came in his first 7 minutes of play).

If I hadn't mentioned already... Slokar is a treat to interview, as well.

“How are you feeling, from a personal standpoint? I mean, you don't get too much time out there on the floor, but tonight you seemed to make the most out of it...”
“Well, yeah. I just try to use every opportunity. I knew when I came here, I didn't gonna get like 20 minutes every game. I didn't come here as a leader, I came as a guy who needs to work his way up. I just use every opportunity. I'll wait for the next one, and try to do my best. Sometimes I'll do good, sometimes I'll do bad... Today I was lucky enough, I did good... I really fought under the baskets. Also Kris [Humphries] fought incredibly well, because we saw a couple of guys that were struggling – not that they didn't want to do it – but you know, the whole momentum and everything, we just came in there and we helped the team, and we won. And that's the important thing right now for the Raptors.”

“Now what do you see as your role on the team?”
“I really try to do the things that aren't really in statistics. Like, do something good in defense, help out the guys... Because you know, when a new guy comes like me, you're never going to take the ball and just shoot the lights out with it, you know? You go there, you help the team, and if your shot comes you take it. But mainly, I was just trying to get the rebounds, play defense, and things like that.

Once we wrapped up... I thanked him for the interview, and what was strange... he thanked me back.
Funny how that goes.

While I also got some quotes from Mo, Kris, Chris, and Sam Mitchell... I want to get back to Freddy, so we can move this thing along...

“So is this how it goes? The coach sits a few of your stars, and you guys have to come in and clean up the mess?”
“Well, you know... whenever someone is out – and it's going to happen somewhere in the season, it's a long season – 82 games, injuries happen. Other stuff happens, people not playing well, it's time for other people to step up and we had a lot of good guys step up tonight.”
“What were your impressions of the difference between the first and second halfs? I mean, in the first, you guys were giving up a lot of easy points in the point... but in the second...”
“Just a little more energy level in the second half. We just needed something to go right for us. We were kind of down, you know, in the first half... we weren't making plays that we were making early in the preseason – you know, we needed something to spark us, we got that spark, and it was able to settle us down.”

The preseason comes to a close with 2 more games – both on the road.
For myself, I've got to cover practice today and tomorrow... so I have got to get dressed.

We'll obviously chat soon.