Saturday, Dec. 27

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jermaine O'Neal
So this is the Jermaine O'neal we've heard so much about since the Raptors traded TJ Ford for his services.
Not bad.
Last night vs the lowly Kings, O'neal scored 36 points, many of which came on a series of beautiful twists and turns on the low block culminating with dunks or sweet finishes at the basket.
I like Chris Bosh, sure he's a little soft and he has trouble maintaining focus and intensity, but watching Bosh on the block is really not very exciting. He's basically going to shoot his jumper or try to get you to leave your feet on the upfake, put his head down and drive hard to the basket.
Watching O'Neal in the post last night was a basketball fan's dream. Beautifully crafted and skillfully delivered moves and shots that just seemed absolutely unstoppable.
We saw the Jermaine O'Neal that Pacers fans loved, and hated, The O'Neal that Donnie Walsh tried to trade for years before his successor was finally able to find a willing partner in the Raptors, who were desperate to unload TJ Ford.
O'Neal simply doesn't deliver night in night out. He takes games off, goes through the motions, doesn't play hurt. Frustrating.
If Jermaine can somehow play like that, at least 4 nights out of 5, for the rest of the season, the Raps may get back into the race.
Of course, even with O'Neal's performance, it still took the Raptors about 46 minutes to finally put away a horrible Sacramento team. Mind you, winning games on the other side of the continent over the holidays is never easy, just ask the Celtics (Golden State?!).
I think one of the Raptor's biggest problems is they are almost always outmatched at the 2/3 positions. If you could combine Jamario Moon and Anthony Parker into 1 player, you might have something. But as seperate entities, they are simply mediocre NBA players.
Parker can shoot it and he is a willing defender, but his lack of athleticism makes it hard for him to match up with the leagues better offensive players.
Moon has the athleticism, but he can't shoot, and he is not a good defensive player. He seems to have no grasp whatsoever of defensive rotation, let alone the ability to maintain 18 seconds of focus.
Add in Jose Calderon's defensive woes, and it makes for a hard time keeping the opponent's back court under control. It's enough that Calderon is Spanish, and the Spaniards are not known for their defensive prowess (see Pau Gasol), but he's also painfully slow afoot, making it nearly impossible to keep opposing point guards from getting to the key.
If the Raptors are ever going to get back into the race, they will need Jermaine O'Neal to play like he did last night. However, I doubt that will happen.