Here are the ten things I learned from last nights 122-83 Raptors win over the Wizards.

(1) Right from the get go you could tell the Wizards had no interest in being here. They had come off a huge OT win from the night before that left them totally gassed and were forced to give heavy minutes to the following cavalcade of stars: Dominic McGuire, Oleksiy Pecherov (Yes the Oleksiy Pecherov) and Nick Young. If there is one thing we know about the Raps it’s that they have incredible depth. No way were the Wizards were going to hang in for very long. Of course Washington quit so quickly that Chuck Swirsky could have started the game by saying “get out the salami and cheese this game is over.”

(2) Love the fact that MLSE keeps advertising for Toronto Marlies tickets. Shockingly good seats are still available. I wish I could write their ad slogan “Come see tomorrow’s crappy Maple Leafs today!” Who wouldn’t want to see the younger and less talented version of Matt Stajan?

(3) Jamario Moon may have put the Wiz away in the first couple minutes with a steal, a couple buckets and an offensive rebound. Toronto roared to a 12-0 start and Moon was driving the bus on that run.

(4) Brendan Haywood is a goon. He is so much bigger in person. Just a big hulking mass of six fouls. On one play he knocked down Chris Bosh WWE style while fighting for position on the offensive end. Also much like the WWE the NBA ref didn’t call a foul on the play.

(5) Roger Mason Junior you can’t stop him … you can only hope to contain him.

scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=280130028

(6) Give him points for trying, but Juan Dixon is not a point guard. I understand they need a #2 PG but why not let Carlos Delfino play some point? He played the position before he got to the NBA, he can shoot and would be the best defended on the floor.

(7) When it comes to excitement you just can’t do better than Jason Kapono. Watching him throw out the Raptors Top Five Plays of the week on the jumbotron was painful/hilarious. Kapono couldn’t have been more monotone, even Keanu Reeves has more range than Jason. The keyboard I’m writing this has more personality than Kapono did last night. The team should bring back Jerome Williams just to let him tape all the in game entertainment instead of forcing a miserable Kapono to stare dead eyed into a camera.

(8) Here is a sentence you will never hear:
“Joey Graham sets up Maceo Baston for a crazy dunk!”
Yes Maceo Baston got in the game. Not since Darko Milicic’s rookie year has there been such a clear cut “blowout” player like Mr. Baston. When Baston is in the game you are either up by 30 or down by 30, there is no middle ground.
One final Batson related note … Joey Graham, hang your head in shame. How does Baston get in the game ahead of you? What have you been doing in practice to piss off Sam Mitchell? Seriously, are you spending all your time on your blackberry during shooting drills?

(9) Favourite part of the game, betting with Darren Andrade from hoopsworld.com on who would score more points: Joey Graham or Maceo Baston. We didn’t count Baston’s first bucket since Joey wasn’t on the floor. It ended up being a 4-4 draw but those last five minutes of the game were riveting. If you want to have fun during a whitewash just pick two horrible players and make a wager on who will score more points. It makes the game fun, everyone around you will be confused about why you are screaming for some palooka to shoot the ball and best of all you’ll learn that it is possible to collect four fouls in nine minutes of meaningless action. Keep reaching for the stars Baston!

(10) Eric Smith on the jumbotron for the “bobblehead cam” being forced to nod his head while not smiling for 20 embarrassing seconds is just funny.

Gareth and I went to the Raptors / Wizards game last night. In a bit I’ll give you my observations from the game. But first, here is my assessment of Andrea Bargnani. I don’t remember ever concentrating on one player as much as I had with him. So here is a Coles Notes version of Bargnani’s game from last night:

He is so far away from being a reliable offensive option. First off you have to ignore the fact that he was the leading scorer in last nights Wizards game. The contest was blow out right from the get go. Bargnani scored most of his points after the team had a double digit lead.
What was disturbing was the fact that he was being ignored early in the game. On the first several possessions Jose Calderon would initiate the half court offense by passing to Jamario Moon instead of Bargnani, despite the fact that Bargnani was wide open. Think about that. The team’s starting point guard elected to go with the former Globe Trotter vs. a #1 overall draft pick.

Andrea is starting to get the Hoffa treatment, where no one wants to pass him the ball. It’s affecting his shot as well. Too many times he would rush a shot because in his mind he must be thinking “damm if I don’t shoot right now I may never see the ball again.”

As for rebounding, well let’s just say Bargnani is a couple years away from being the next Dennis Rodman. He just doesn’t seem to want to rebound the ball. You could make the case that he actually hates touching the ball considering his aversion for rebounding and his propensity for rushing his shots. I’m convinced someone has fooled him into believing that if he holds onto the ball for too long he’ll contract some horrible disease.

All right now for some positives. Bargnani didn’t pick up his first foul into 4:20 of the first quarter … baby steps! Second with about 1:30 left in the first half Bargnani drew shooting fouls on two of three offensive possessions. Again it is a little thing but it is a sign of offensive aggression, a sign of confidence and an easy way to collect your points.

Overall though I wish I could be more convinced that he is coming around. I just don’t see it yet.