Raptors Need To Take It More Personal

Even with his eyes closed, Rondo was still able to help the Celtics get by the Raptors this Sunday afternoon with a final score of 114-107. And with his eyes open, the pesky Boston point guard was able to notch his 3rd career regular season triple double. That's starting to really tick me off, you know, the fact that we're always so prone to helping another team's player find their way to a career benchmark.

And while Rondo was having one of the better season games of his career, our 50 million dollar prized possession had his worst game as a Raptor. With a whopping 5 points, and a disastrous night from the field, Turk was anything but helpful in a game that the Raptors needed to get. While we've yet to reach the official half mark of the NBA season, Toronto's team has had more than its fair share of chances to redeem themselves.

Three examples come to mind right away. After being dismantled by Atlanta, we show up with an equally disappointing effort on OUR home court in the rematch. After letting one slip away in Phoenix, the Raps had a chance to even the series one game after Pierce punked the team captain. The result at the ACC? A 19 point dubbing at the hands of the Suns. And then of course the men in green seem to be our kryptonite. After being humiliated by them twice, the Raptors just couldn't find a way to come out of the gates guns blazing. Instead, we let an elite team jump on us with a 10-0 lead.

Everyone always wonders if the Raptors will ever play hard for a full 48 minutes. But that's not the problem. No team in the NBA plays hard for an entire game; that's why there are runs in the game of basketball. Instead, what the Raptors need to work on is establishing a new attitude. One that's defined by not letting teams bully you around. There's nothing wrong with getting beat up once. What matters is getting back up, making adjustments, and demanding it doesn't happen again.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Until this team decides to take it more personal, the joke's on us.