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Raptors unhappy but win
Players irked by Babcock's lack of trade activity
Put feelings aside for second straight victory on road
DOUG SMITH
SPORTS REPORTER
MILWAUKEE—They are united in their disdain for and disappointment in a general manager who let a trade deadline come and go, those who didn't get to leave angry that they are still Raptors and others upset that no help was added to a roster that could use it.
But the ones who got left behind proved last night they also know how to put aside those feelings, compete and win.
With key plays down the stretch from Donyell Marshall, Chris Bosh and Rafer Alston, the Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 106-102, giving Toronto a two-game road win streak for the first time this season.
It is to the credit of coach Sam Mitchell that the Raptors have not mailed in efforts many nights this season and they had every reason to in this one.
They saw leads cut from 12 to one, saw the Bucks make repeated fourth-quarter runs and when they could have thrown up their hands and given in, they didn't.
"I give these guys a lot of credit, they didn't succumb to it," Mitchell said of the trade rumours that swirled around the team for weeks and the propensity that existed for a lackadaisical effort last night. "This is the team we're going to have from here on out. Whatever we do is on us."
What they've done so far is something quite out of the ordinary for the Raptors. They got big-time plays at big-time moments by their big-time players to run their record to 23-32, which isn't good but could be a whole lot worse.
Marshall, now resigned to staying with the Raptors until the end of the season, grabbed two clutch rebounds in traffic in the final 90 seconds; Bosh, his usual graceful self, made a perfect pass that Alston turned into a huge three-pointer; and Jalen Rose iced the game at the foul line.
Bosh, who had to sit out 11 minutes of the second quarter with foul trouble, led the Raptors with 27 points and his offensive rebound in the final 30 seconds kept alive a key possession.
And his pass to Alston set up a three-pointer that gave Toronto a seven-point lead with about a minute to go and represented three of the point guard's 14 points.
"We don't have anything to lose," said Bosh. "We just go out and play hard and the worst thing that can happen to you is that you lose. At least we'll go down fighting."
But there is a sense of unease, particularly when it comes to GM Rob Babcock, whose failure to make a deadline move Thursday while Atlantic Division rivals improved, caused more than a few players to wonder what was going on.
With Philadelphia, Boston and New York each pulling off deals to improve themselves for the playoff stretch run, Babcock's trade paralysis is weighing on everyone's mind.
"That's what their teams decided to do (and) obviously it made Boston stronger, it made Philadelphia stronger," Marshall said before the game. "Obviously Rob thought we had a good enough team to still contend with them. We always believed in ourselves and our players even though we've been struggling all year."
There has never been a suggestion Marshall would give anything but his best effort every night, but Eric Williams is so ticked off he refused to speak with reporters yesterday morning.
Babcock and his advisers have done little to show the players they are willing to make bold moves to get better.
And given the Atlantic Division might have been within reach before Thursday, the GM's decision to do nothing sent a terrible signal, even if the players won't say it publicly.
"What every team has done around the deadline — except our team — is made a move they feel like will propel them to win the division," said Rose. "Since we didn't do that ... it doesn't mean we don't have the guys who can get it done. Obviously, we're not going to be the favourites to do it."
Not by a long shot.
Additional articles by Doug Smith
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source:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...tacodalogin=yes
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