Dinobots beat all of Lithuania

Watching the Raptors struggle with Lithuanian D-League equivalents Zalgiris last night three things were tragically confirmed: Toronto needs Chris Bosh in the line-up for the team to succeed; European baketball jerseys are horrid; and Andrea Bargnani is not a post player, yet.

Bargnani in the paint is all rethinks and travelling violations, desperate spins and blind chucks. It’s only his second season, and it is encouraging that he’s demanding the ball down low regularly, but he needs some polish and instinct which will only come with practice.

The game itself (or at least what one can gather of it in the RapsTV Game in an Hour) was a ghastly mix of kick balls and broken plays. Both teams’ break outs and transition defences were either jet-lagged or still in progress. After blowing a fourth-quarter lead Toronto was lucky that they were playing a group of Lithuanians and ex-NBAers rather than, say, an actual NBA team, which they’ll be doing tomorrow when the Bulls cross the border.

On the positive side, TJ Ford played as gloriously as he did during Bosh’s absence last year. Ford managed 13 points, 11 dimes and only two turnovers in just 24 minutes. But it was obvious, particularly in the fourth quarter, that Toronto missed the option of dumping it down to Bosh for a low-post bucket or a pass out of the double-team. Those plays will be the Energeon Cubes if the Raptors’ offence hopes to score on the Decepticons this season. And for that, we need a healthy Boshimus Prime.

Also, take what you will from the rebound stats last night, but beating the Lilliputian Lithuanians 47-43 on the glass is not medal-worthy.