By Walter Dubowec

The Raptors were robbed in Atlanta again on the disallowed T.J. Ford basket as regulation time expired!

If David Stern has any onions, he follows these five easy steps:

1. Acknowledges that the score clock started 1/10 of a second early
2. Provides an additional 1/10 of a second for the ball to leave Ford’s fingertips
3. Subsequently, Stern rules the basket as good
4. The Raptors are awarded a 109-107 victory
5. The overtime period is erased from the records, as if it never happened

Of course, this will never happen and Raptor fans are delusional if they think Stern will do anything significant to rectify the error.

Here is the NBA's six minute Raptors/Hawks highlight package.



The Raptors did not deserve the win

On the other hand, the Raptors did not deserve the W. No way. Not a chance.

I’m sorry, but the Raptors should never have allowed themselves to be in this position in the first place. They were the architects of their own demise. Don’t blame the refs. The blames lies 100% with the Toronto Raptors.

Consider these damning facts:

1. The Raptors had no business squandering a 17 point lead with only 13 minutes left. Elite teams don't choke like that.

2. With 11.5 seconds left, Carlos Delfino had an offensive rebound stripped from his hands and Atlanta still had life.

3. The Raptors missed three rebound opportunities in the next-to-last Hawks possession.

4. Jamario Moon fumbled an easy rebound out of bounds with 3.8 seconds left.

5. T.J. Ford inexplicably lost Bibby on the inbounds, but still had an opportunity to foul him on the floor, (which Sam Mitchell had instructed his players to do). Oddly, Ford let Bibby take a completely uncontested shot for three, instead of putting him on the line for two shots – which would have preserved the Raptors win.

6. In overtime, the Raptors coughed up a four point lead and then surrendered a whopping 20 points. The all-time NBA overtime period record is 25 points, which tells you how bad they were defensively.

This abysmal collapse and the subsequent errors and miscues by the Raptors in the final quarter, the final seconds and during the overtime are the real issue that Raptor fans should be screaming about.

Crying and whining to David Stern is missing the point and deflecting attention from the real problem, which is that the Raptors just aren’t a mentally tough or talented basketball team.

That's probably not what Raptor fans want to hear, even though its the truth.