Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 9:00 am  |  66 responses

Chris Bosh’s Mounting Frustration

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Despite their ugly five-game losing streak, the Toronto Raptors are hanging on to the eighth and final Playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. What’s alarming, though, is that 3 of the last 5 losses have come at the hands of teams with no hope of qualifying for the postseason (and to make matters worse, the loss margin against those awful squads was by an average of 16 points.)

Armed with this knowledge, and feeling the sting from an embarrassing loss to the Golden State Warriors, Chris Bosh erupted on Saturday night.

The Toronto Sun reports:

He wasn’t throwing around theories. He was imploring everyone in a Raptors uniform to start taking this playoff thing seriously.“Just do it,” Bosh said in an expectably quiet Raptors locker room. “Act like you care. We need to do the things that win. We don’t do the things that win. I’m going down and playing offence on their side of the court and their (bench) is louder than we are. That doesn’t make any sense. They’re not playing for anything. We’re trying to make the playoffs. We’re trying to get the fifth seed but that is, like, slipping away every day.”

Once on a roll, there was no stopping him. “We’re supposed to be gearing up for playoff basketball and this is not playoff basketball,” he said. “Their bench is more active than ours is. They’re players are getting more stops. They’re getting more offensive rebounds. Everybody is doing everything. If you look on the schedule now and see Toronto, I’m sure people are checking the win box. I can understand if we lose a game going down fighting, but we’re not fighting at all.”

As the linked article points out, head coach Jay Triano shares in Bosh’s frustration, but did not hesitate to point out that Chris and Hedo Turkoglu aren’t exempted from the criticism of the team. Naturally, the Raptors went out and lost again last night in Portland, despite some changes in the rotations.

With the summer of 2010 rapidly approaching, I suspect that Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo hasn’t been getting the best sleep of late.

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  • T-Money Posted: Mar.15 at 9:08 am
    Triano doesn’t command their respect.

  • James the Balla Posted: Mar.15 at 9:09 am
    Should have got traded to the Lakers. But your tiny little above .500 team kept you there. I knew it was all a lie. See yaa Chris Bosh. He is GONE this Summer!!!

  • erich Posted: Mar.15 at 9:21 am
    I can understand if we lose a game going down fighting, but we’re not fighting at all.”
    He is right . They all should show some pride.

  • Eboy Posted: Mar.15 at 9:23 am
    Welcome to Miami (bienvenido a Miami)!

  • Eboy Posted: Mar.15 at 9:24 am
    Too many foreign born players on their roster to get so heated when losing occurs. Fact.

  • NotebookNick Posted: Mar.15 at 9:31 am
    Bosh won’t resign. The best Colangelo can hope for is a sign and trade deal.

  • jrb Posted: Mar.15 at 9:32 am
    Well be waitin for u in NY chris

  • Twinparadox Posted: Mar.15 at 9:37 am
    Hello, New York…or Miami…or anywhere else…

  • niQ Posted: Mar.15 at 9:38 am
    Watching the Raptors play is also frustrating.

  • Twon Posted: Mar.15 at 9:45 am
    Chicago Better Get Him

  • AL29 Posted: Mar.15 at 10:01 am
    If he wants to go, let him go. Don’t be fooled by his contract year. And don’t think that re-signing him to a max contract will preclude him from demanding a trade in 1 or 2 years, à la VC.

  • Shem Posted: Mar.15 at 10:31 am
    This isn’t good.. We only come out with effort against good teams in the 1st half. We always come out strong against good teams and think the bad teams will roll over. We have to come out strong and want to rebound. Last night against the blazers, triano SAT bargs in the 3rd because he was watching the blazers crash the boards on us. It’s crazy, i’ve never seen a team that just doesn’t give the effort especially not my own team. Before it’s that we werent strong down low but we still gave effort, now camby and howard who are old enough to be my grandfather are out rebounding younger and stronger chris and bargnani. I don’t blame bosh for being frustrated but sometimes chris has to not settle for so many jumpers

  • LA Huey Posted: Mar.15 at 11:25 am
    Sorry, Stackmack

  • Donell Posted: Mar.15 at 11:32 am
    with this economy he isnt going anywhere. toronto can offer him the best money. He should just be patient, he’s got the talent around him, they just need to gell. Or he can go to new york and lose there too

  • Sparker Posted: Mar.15 at 11:35 am
    here’s an observation. the raps were playing well until the all-star break, after which bosh got hurt. in my opinion, he was probably hurt because he went all out during the game, in his tiresome pursuit to prove that he belongs with the best of the best, instead of more or less chilling and focusing on his team’s second half. now he’s telling everyone else to get their priorities straight?

  • Cheryl Posted: Mar.15 at 11:43 am
    shem brings up a trait of Bosh’s i’ve been noticing too, namely that he drifts on the perimeter and sometimes avoids post play. Maybe that’s coaching, w/Bargs also a post player,but I don’t think so. And if that’s his tendency, then the Heat have a guy like that–Beasley. If we’re going to give max money to a guy, it should be someone who can post up the majority of the time or a max talented point guard and a defensive-minded 3 who can shoot the 3 ball.

  • Cheryl Posted: Mar.15 at 11:45 am
    Maybe Shinn will hold a fire sale and CP3 can force his way to South Beach. And a reunion of the FIU guys–Arroyo and Raja Bell–will bring me joy.

  • J-City Posted: Mar.15 at 12:13 pm
    To tell you the truth I’m a Raptors fan and I wouldn’t mind a S&T for David Lee. At least he plays down low. I don’t get why more teams don’t see that putting a lankier guy on Bosh like Camby really limits his effectiveness.
    Lee + Bargnani would work out better than Bosh + Bargs imo anyway.

  • Anton Posted: Mar.15 at 1:02 pm
    Anderson Varejao post game interview: “WE GON BULLY DEEZ NI&&AS!”

  • LA Huey Posted: Mar.15 at 1:51 pm
    @J-City, kind of agree with you there. Raps have two finesse bigs and that won’t get it done if you want a chip. Nothing against Bosh but I think Lee is a better fit with Bargs.

  • Stillballin Posted: Mar.15 at 2:01 pm
    raptors say goodbye to chris..because he won’t be there next year..

  • Shem Posted: Mar.15 at 2:58 pm
    J-City is right, Chris Bosh usually struggles when he plays agaisnst tall lanky players like Dalembert. Honestly, there aren’t going to be many good teams in the bidding this off-season most will be teams like the knicks and nets. Apparently, Toronto offers him $30 mill more (i read an article about this including indorsements etc. im not too sure about that because his contract right now is 15.7mill a yr) but if a team like Miami or LA offer him close to a max contract, I wouldnt be surprised if he took it

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Mar.15 at 3:20 pm
    This is all on Bosh. He says it himself: “I’m going down and playing offence…” Maybe if you played “offense,” Chris. But no. “Offence.” I wonder if he has a favourite colour as well? Does he put the date AFTER the month when he write out a check? Embarrassing.

  • S.Man Posted: Mar.15 at 4:14 pm
    I agree with Eboy, as a Raptor fan I’ve got to say that they are too European. Bargnani isn’t getting it done, averages 6 rebounds a game, doesn’t box out. Include him in whatever trade package to get a real center and make this team play more North American. Brace yourselves Raptor fans.

  • stu Posted: Mar.15 at 4:20 pm
    i’d call a spelling mistake in bosh’s quote, but lately their offense HAS been offence(ive), so fair play..

  • Tommy Patron Posted: Mar.15 at 4:44 pm
    Keep this softie out of Chicago.

  • BETCATS Posted: Mar.15 at 4:54 pm
    Bosh is gonna leave and the Raps will replace him with some random Euro. Thats just how it goes.

  • S.Man Posted: Mar.15 at 5:28 pm
    ^ That’s the sad truth.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.15 at 5:34 pm
    Hedo Turkoglu has been playing horribly the past few games. DeRozan needs more playing time, and so does Amir Johnson. Turkoglu needs to sit, seriously. He’s not the same as he was on Orlando.
    Amir Johnson, Demar DeRozan, and Sonny Weems are outplaying the starters almost every night. Antoine Wright plays really well too, but Triano has his minutes so sporadic that he can’t be a factor in games where he is needed.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.15 at 5:36 pm
    DeRozan usually shoots a great percentage from the floor, makes solid plays, and gets around 10 points on like 5-7 shooting. But he gets benched for Hedo Turkoglu and the two point guard backcourt…

  • Pardeep Posted: Mar.15 at 5:59 pm
    Bosh will show all his frustration now because he knows there going to get swept in the first round by the Cavs and then it wouldn’t look as bad if he leaves because people will think he left for a reason the Raptors weren’t doing ish for him. But then again it is the Toronto people so they’ll probably boo him every time he plays them. Raptors messed up with Turkuglu payed him waaaaaaaaay to much and Turk isn’t doing shit right now so now they aren’t even going to get David Lee in the summer. Raptors basketball is about to suck again unless Bargani turns into Dirk over the off season.

  • ab_40 Posted: Mar.15 at 6:17 pm
    leeettt the sun shine dude is off to miami next season. already played with o’neal. and miami can still get something for beasley he’s not in self destruct mode yet

  • Joel O's Posted: Mar.15 at 7:05 pm
    Some of us here are blaming the “Euro” influence for the lack of fire on this squad. I don’t like playing stereotypes. But it’s the sad truth. Who were the ones on this squad who actually got upset when they were losing? Jack, Wright and Bosh. The rest of the squad are so apathetic to winning and losing, are so embarrassingly unambitious (satisfied with another probable first round exit) that I really hope Bosh finds a team that deserves him. I’m sure there are Torontonians who’ve followed Chris his entire career who agree. I’d love to keep him, but deserves better.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.15 at 7:12 pm
    Sonny Weems, Amir Johnson, and Demar DeRozan need to be getting more minutes than Hedo Turkoglu and sometimes Andrea Bargnani.

  • Sparty's Law Posted: Mar.15 at 8:03 pm
    @ Jones: you forgot to spell “check” “cheque”

  • Sparty's Law Posted: Mar.15 at 8:08 pm
    Whoa, Derozen does NOT need more playing time. He has been one of their biggest problems. He needs to come off the bench and play exclusively against their opponents’ second unit. He is getting torched by the starting 2 on every team the Raptors play and it is hurting both the team and his confidence. He had tons of athleticism and seems like a good kid, but he is a long way away from having a consistent NBA game. They need to Wright, maybe even Weems, at the 2. Not Derozen.

  • JrSwishh Posted: Mar.15 at 8:17 pm
    Derozan definaely needs more playing time… especially at the end of the game… because this turkalou guy has been the worst decision made in this franchise’s history… i was telling u guys last year, this guy is a scrub… and the fact that we need to keep him for 4 more years is even worse

  • Shem Posted: Mar.15 at 8:26 pm
    Either Bargnani gets rebounds and gets down in the post with the 3 pointer as an “add on” to his game it shouldn’t be his entire game. Derozan doesn’t need more playing time, he needs to play D and get a more reliable jumper

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.15 at 8:39 pm
    Sparty you’ve got to be kidding me. What’s hurting the Raps on defense is having TURKOGLU GUARD LEBRON JAMES AND BRANDON ROY.
    DeRozan has been playing great as of late, and he can’t be worse at defense than having Calderon with Jack in the backcourt. Think about it.
    Also, DeRozan’s midrange game is one of his strengths… Why is it always the jumper argument against athletic players?

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.15 at 8:39 pm
    Also, TONEY DOUGLAS IS THE TRUTH! The Knicks FINALLY found a reliable point guard–and he was right on D’Antoni’s d@mn bench. Wow. If Douglas got more playing time he would have made All-Rookie no problem.

  • Jukai Posted: Mar.15 at 9:08 pm
    I’m going to co-sign Sparty’s Law and also say that Amir Johnson should ONLY come out when Bosh is sitting… dude is a walking bad decision maker…

  • Jukai Posted: Mar.15 at 9:09 pm
    Just cause yer starters are sucking, doesn’t mean you should play your sucky bench more often.

  • Pardeep Posted: Mar.15 at 9:12 pm
    Turkoglu is not a go to option at all he is just too slow and he needs to lose weight and become a Paul Pierce type player. Bosh is leaving for sure thats why hes showing his frustration because when its all over he won’t look like a bad guy for leaving because everyone knows if Bosh wants success in the playoffs it probably won’t happened in Toronto and he won’t get bashed for ditching the city like LeBron or Wade would but the Raptors crowd is still going to boo him every time he plays them. The Raptors can still get a 5th seed but I doubt it either way they probably are going to get swept or lose in 5 games in the playoffs IF they make it. Bosh and Wade are going to win the East every year for 5 years though.

  • Scottie Pimpin Posted: Mar.15 at 9:20 pm
    hey Bosh you wanna win and kick ass, come to Chicgo baby !

  • Tyson Posted: Mar.15 at 10:10 pm
    BOSH! You are the weakest franchise player in history. Your defence is atrocious. You lack lustre is infecting the rest of the team. You’re a good player but you’re a defensive liability, you’re not clutch, so you lack in the most important areas that qualify a franchise player. The sooner we get rid of Bosh the sooner we can find a real stud

  • Sporting-Lisbon-Blazers Posted: Mar.15 at 10:49 pm
    lol at Anton, he bullied them ni&&as thats fosho!! also, good to see those Knickerbockers revenge on the Mavs..maybe Douglas is a good piece for their future, he played really well in philly today again..

  • wilz Posted: Mar.16 at 12:00 am
    id be fine with the raptors pulling a jamaal tinsley with turk if it meant never having to see him again. guy is a disease. bosh isnt a good leader. he just doesnt have it. he can lead by example, but he doesnt do it for 82 games. he dropped off only slightly later than ever other year prior. he’ll keep pulling this stunt and breaking hearts for years to come if hes relied on to carry a team

  • wilz Posted: Mar.16 at 12:00 am
    id be fine with the raptors pulling a jamaal tinsley with turk if it meant never having to see him again. guy is a disease. bosh isnt a good leader. he just doesnt have it. he can lead by example, but he doesnt do it for 82 games. he dropped off only slightly later than ever other year prior. he’ll keep pulling this stunt and breaking hearts for years to come if hes relied on to carry a team

  • Jukai Posted: Mar.16 at 12:25 am
    How is Bosh’s defense atrocious? I hear that a lot, but I’ve watched him and he seems average. A bit weak on the block but he switches well and can keep up with quicker fours. He’s not bad at all.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.16 at 1:24 am
    Jukai, listen to me when I tell you you are COMPLETELY WRONG about Amir Johnson. Period. I don’t know what you saw in Detroit, and he may have been clumsy and underdeveloped and a poor decision-making then, but I have watched EVERY single Raptors game this season and Amir Johnson is FANTASTIC.
    He is the best interior defender BY FAR on the team, the best rebounder, and the best shotblocker. He has added an above-average and always-growing offensive repertoire to his game that he didn’t have in Detroit. He hustles and makes plays no one else on the team has the guts to make. And his decisions on defense this season have been spot on.
    Again, the bench has consistently outplayed the starters this year. The bench definitely is not “sucky.” Hedo Turkoglu is “sucky.”

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.16 at 1:28 am
    Tyson obviously has no idea about Raptors basketball. Chris Bosh is the ONLY player playing well on a consistent basis. Not clutch? How about the freaking 3 pointer he hit to tie the game in LA? I know the Lakers won (thanks to the refs) but that was clutch. He’s also made the most of the touches he’s been given down the stretch, but Triano always elects to go with Turkoglu as the closer. Which is ridiculous because he’s playing terribly this season.
    Also, Chris Bosh is NOT a bad defender. He isn’t great but he isn’t bad. Basically co-sign Jukai.
    The Raptors just suck at perimeter defense and Bosh isn’t a center who can anchor the paint. And if he isn’t a center, Andrea Bargnani definitely isn’t anywhere near a real center either.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.16 at 1:30 am
    Sonny Weems has been playing well when he gets adequate playing time. Antoine Wright, too. Trust me the Raptors are not lacking in a bench compared to last year (Jason Kapono).

  • tekno Posted: Mar.16 at 1:35 am
    RIP Mr Ping Ping!

  • CB 34 Posted: Mar.16 at 2:24 am
    Some of you are ridiculous for saying that the raps suck because their foreign players don’t care if they win or lose. Total crap! Triano is a terrible coach and bosh just isn’t that good. Bargs needs to work on the boards more but is a keeper, so is jack. Triano just won’t let turk play the point forward like he did in orlando. He’s one of those players that just operate better with the ball. Calderon hasn’t been the same and weems needs more minutes. Their d is terrible but i would mostly blame triano here. He shouldn’t be an nba coach! Bosh is gone. Eboy is nuts thinking their lineup is made up of non-americans so losing doesn’t bother them. Where the hell did you get that? Some of the foreign players in the league have the most fire and would kill for loose balls. Get out of here with that crap man. They suck because of the player rotation and lack of d. Bosh thinks he belongs in the upper echelon when he’s clearly not. Put in randolph or jefferson in his place and they get the same numbers. Bosh is just not that special.

  • CB 34 Posted: Mar.16 at 2:38 am
    @ eboy: If foreign players suck so bad and don’t care about winning or losing, then how do you explain the way players like manu, pietrus,nocioni, scola,nene or varejao play? The raps “foreign” players consist of rasho, calderon, bargs, hedo and belinelli. Given, they aren’t the toughest guys out there but it’s just stupid to think that just because they’re not american that they don’t care. Pure bigotry.

  • Joel O's Posted: Mar.16 at 3:06 am
    I’d have to agree with Teddy’s point that the Rap bench has outplayed the starters this year. Obviously, the Raps bench mob are individually less talented than the starters. But the bench definitely puts in more effort, especially defensively.

  • Joel O's Posted: Mar.16 at 3:10 am
    @CB34: There are a bunch of tough foreign players around. The Raptors have a bunch of pansies on their squad. They happen to also be foreign. Let’s not get into causality. But facts are facts. The Raps’ BIGGEST culprits defensively truly are Hedo, Marco, Calderon and Bargs. The guys who’ve shown the most effort are guys like Jack, Wright and obviously Bosh.

  • Joel O's Posted: Mar.16 at 3:21 am
    Problem with the Raptors is that they were put together in a confused fashion. Whoever makes the personnel decisions – Colangelo? – wanted to create a “Euro” team. But their idea of going Euro meant going pure finesse. Are European players pure finesse? No, but Raptors management thinks so. The Raptors HAD one or two Euro guys who actually had more than one testicle to call their own – namely, Delfino and Garbajosa. Delfino, for all his trigger-happy flaws, rebounds and attacks tenaciously. We let him go. And Garbajosa plays a lot like Rick Fox – gritty and smart – even though he’s not athletic. Again, we let him go.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.16 at 3:44 am
    “Too many foreign born players on their roster to get so heated when losing occurs. Fact.”
    Eboy again with the xenophobia! What is it with this man and for’ners that he just can’t stand? Two for two, Whit Eboy.

  • Jukai Posted: Mar.16 at 4:02 am
    Teddy, I mean, if you claim you’ve watched every single Toronto game, I gotta take yer word for it, but the Toronto game’s I’ve watched (20-30 something) Amir Johnson has been underwhelming in every sense of the word. I’m even surprised you’re name dropping him. I’ll have to watch him closer next time, but just from a quick glance, his stats don’t show the same story, even per 36 minutes (in which he’d amazingly have over fouled out every game).
    I’m torn on DeRozan. Dude looks like he has a bright offensive future and a terrible defensive future. That being said, the same could be said for ever Raptor, so I don’t see any reason not to give him playing time.
    I agree Hedo needs to lose some playing time. Dude got his paycheck, now he’s gotta take the hit for underperforming.

  • Jukai Posted: Mar.16 at 4:07 am
    Whoa, Joel O’s post is on the ball. Delfino and Garbajosa, especially the latter, had balls of steel. They shoulda kept them and left off crap like Bellinelli (crap is a little strong, but I had high hopes for the kid and he let me down)

  • Jukai Posted: Mar.16 at 4:09 am
    Although, on second thought, maybe we shouldn’t justify saying “the team is full of euros so go figure they don’t get heated when losing”
    The Celtics are dropping the ball in a very similar way end-of-the-year. Should we say “well, they’re full of American born players so go figure!”

  • Hoopistani Posted: Mar.16 at 4:58 am
    I smell a future Knick

  • Joel O's Posted: Mar.16 at 5:48 am
    Mo Pete was a very bad defender when he started out too. I don’t know if you guys recall his first 2 seasons. He gambled a lot and made really stupid mistakes. It’s not like we got Demar thinking he’d be a lockdown defender right away. He’s actually living up to expectations… like Jukai said, showing a lot of promise offensively and being a poor defender. Give him minutes and let him make mistakes now so he learns from them and makes less a few years from now. And let’s try not to run him out of town in 2013 or something.

  • Eboy Posted: Mar.16 at 7:47 am
    I’ll take 5 American’s of my choice against ANY of the “hard-nosed” euros you guys listed and see what we come up with in regards to who would be more willing to do whatever to get a win or care about winning.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.16 at 6:04 pm
    ^ Scola, Ginobli, and Nene are South American, noob.

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