Post Game: Houston Rockets vs Toronto Raptors

Force opposition under 40% = win, easy right?

Unfortunately for the Raptors, this doesn’t come often enough. Today’s game is the exact opposite to the Atlanta game. The Raptors controlled the pace from the start, pounding the ball to the paint. They scored 20+ points in the paint after 1 quarter. The Rockets were perhaps a little tired, they didn’t start the game with any energy, and they couldn’t come back after that.

I like theis Houston team though. Their entire roster consists of role players, no all-star (though you could make an argument about Landry after looking at his 40 minute numbers). While they are not very athletic, they have lots of grinders and grit. I wish the Raptors have some of those. They play hard, and they never quit. Every time the Raptors slowed down, the Rockets would chip into the lead. They weren’t shooting the ball well (3/20 from downtown), which kind of killed their chances.

Other notes from the game:

– Am I the only one who thinks Luis Scola looks like Russell Brand?

– Carl Landry is a beast, he is really 6-7 (though listed as 6-9), but he has good post moves and always in the right position.

– Hedo was getting more touches, I was almost breathing fire when Elliott Friedman reported that Jay Triano just realized that Turkoglu handled the ball a lot more in Orlando. What???? Didn’t he watch the playoffs? I am constantly amazed hearing what Triano has to say.

– Let’s talk about the Ariza elbow. It’s out of frustration, and luckily he didn’t hit DeRozan. However, there is intent and it’s interesting to see what Stu Jackson is going to do. If Ariza hit DeRozan with the elbow, then it’s an easy suspension, but he didn’t, but there is an intention to injure. I would think they would warrant some punishment of some kind. Anyway, nothing in this league surprise me anymore.

– BTW, Ariza was 0-9 with 1 point, he killed my fantasy team once again.

– Sonny Weems moving to the rotation is a move that’s long overdue.  I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago as Wright was absolutely horrendous on offense.  Of course with Triano, it’s always 3 steps too slow.  At least, they made the change.  Weems is a very good athlete, who is very good on the fast break.  He is a good finisher and a decent slasher to the basket.   Basically he is Joey Graham a with better handle but he’s a worse rebounder.

– Pops did get more playing time against his former club.   Still the same player, lots of energy, but he has absolutely no idea what’s doing on a basketball court.  He isn’t young anymore so I don’t think he can improve all that much.  Pops would make one good play and follow by 2 bad ones.   He is a little like JYD, but JYD has a much higher basketball IQ than Pops.  I heard reports that he could be cut and I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens.

Keys to the win:

– Aggressive from the start. The Raptors played with a purpose from the start. Attacking the paint on offense and protecting the paint on defense. They had a 15 point lead after 1 quarter.

– Help defense. The Raptors have 9 blocks in the game, which is a season high. Everybody is helping out, the Rockets have a lot of players who plays under the rim. So our length on the front court was really an asset in this game.

– The GT connection. Jack has his best game as a Raptor. 17-8-8, and playing tough defense. He is starting to hit his stride as a Raptor. Bosh continued his great season with 27 points.

Well, this will be my last post game report for 2009. I will be away on vacation for a month. The last time I had the similar length of vacation time, the Raptors didn’t win a single game. That was 6-7 years ago, hopefully the law of averages is working fine, and they will win every game this month.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

11-15

Post Game: Milwaukee Bucks vs Toronto Raptors

A 4 game winning streak is just too good to be true. The Raptors playing without Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon was no match for the Bucks tonight. It’s not the offense that’s disappointing. It’s the defense. They fell into the old habit of allowing dribble penetration and open shots. With a guy like Jennings, you got to able to contain him and be physical with him. Unfortunately, he knock down a couple of open looks and the game just went away from the Raptors.

Roko Ukic has a big game against his former club, he wasn’t getting alot of playing time until tonight, and he has 17 points including 2 of 5 from the 3 point line. I think he has circled this game for quite a while now.

Keys to the loss:

– Guard play. Jennings, Ridnour, Delfino, Ukic all scored double digits. That’s unacceptable.

– Bosh has another good game, but where are his teammates? Someone has to step up with the injuries to Bargnani and Calderon. Rasho was awful tonight, with 0 rebounds

– Defending the 3s. The Raptors allowed way too many open looks. They should not give guys like Ridnour and Jennings any room to shoot. I would take Jennings jumper away, and make him a passer. He doesn’t get alot of assists, because he has a scorer mentality, so you take that away and force him to pass.

Disappointing loss to say the least.

10-14

Post Game: Minnesota Timberwolves vs Toronto Raptors

Zzzz….

This is one of the more boring games I have seen this year. Brick after brick after brick, if you like to see good shooting, well this was not the game for you.

The Raptors won despite shooting a season worst 32%. This has to be a team record or something like that. They won because 1) The Wolves are horrible. They shoot 37%. 2) The Raptors went to the line 48 times, a season high. The 3 point streak was in jeopardy for a long period until Bargnani hit a 3 with 5 minutes left in the 4th qurater, and then Antoine Wright hit one late to seal the game.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Raptors grind it out. Got to give them credit, the offense wasn’t flowing but they still played passable defense, combine with the fact that Minnesota looked more like a NBDL team than a NBA team, the Raptors stole a win.
Jose Calderon was out for tonight’s game, I am hoping that he will play tomorrow because I don’t want to see Marcus Banks ever dressing in a Raptor uniform. The ball movement was dead once he’s on the court. If Jose is out tomorrow as well, they should consider putting Bellinelli as a PG and have Hedo helping out as well.

Keys to the win.

– Defense. Third straight game where the Raptors actually competed at that end. That results in 3 straight wins. Easy right?

– CB4 dominance. 21 and 16 for Bosh tonight, the team struggled when he was out of the game. I am surprised that the Wolves didn’t double him more especially the Raptors were struggling to shoot the ball tonight. A good team would have done that.

– Aggressive. Again, the Raptors was more aggressive than the Wolves tonight. Going to the free throw line 48 times. DeRozan is looking better and better each game. He still needs to work on his handle but he plays hard, and is very willing to get to the free throw line.

10-13

Next 10 games, Biggest non story of the season, AI returning to Philly

– Next 10 games

Taking a look at the Raptors next ten games and the current win/loss record for the opponents:

Minnesota (3-17)
@ Milwaukee (9-10)
Atlanta (14-6)
Houston (11-9)
@ Miami (11-9)
@ Orlando (16-4)
New Jersey (1-19)
New Orleans (8-11)
@ Detroit (8-12)
Detroit (8-12)

As you can see, only 4 of those 10 games are against .500 or better teams, and only 2 of them can be considered really good teams.

Yes, there are a couple of back to backs but good teams usually do win their shares of back-to-back. This is a crucial stretch where the schedule is starting to get a little more favorable. The Raptors have to take advantage of it. Going 7-3 would be very good.

– The biggest non story of the season so far.

I can’t believe how much attention Jack tying his shoelaces is generating. For those who didn’t know what happened, let me fill you in. The Raptors were up by 30 points or so close to the end of the third quarter. Jack has the ball, and realize his shoelace was undone, so he cradled the basketball and tie his shoelace. The Bulls didn’t do anything at all (no attempt to steal or foul), just waiting for Jack to tie his shoelace.

It’s an unique situation, something I have never seen in a game before, but so what? The game was over by then, fouling Jack or attempting to steal wouldn’t make a difference. If I am a Bulls fans, I would rather be upset about losing 31 points to team with a sub .500 record at home.

– AI back with Philly.

Signing AI is a no brainer for the Sixers. They lose Lou Williams to an injury, and they need another guy who can create on the back court. And Iverson is willing to play for a minimum contract, consider this a low risk, medium reward move. I don’t think him being a shoot first PG would hurt the Sixers much. Gilbert Arenas have no issue in a Eddie Jordon system, so I don’t think Iverson will have either. This move may help the Sixers compete for a playoff spot, but not anything pass that. If anyone thinks they can go beyond making the playoffs, they need their head examine.

It will be interesting to see how much Iverson has left. And also it will be interesting to see if his reaction when Lou Williams comes back and eat into his playing time. I watched his first game back and here are some notes:

– Sixers fan give Iverson a nice ovation, if Iverson screws up here, he might as well retire.

– Sixers started out strong in the first quarter, Iggy was hitting his shot, it seems like Iverson is willing to let Iggy be the alpha dog of the team. The Sixers played with great energy on defense as well, forcing Denver to commit some bad turnovers.

– Trivia question: there are 3 former Raptors on the court in this game. Answer later on.

– I am sorry, but Elton Brand is done. He has inside position on many positions but he can’t jump anymore. He can’t finish anything around the basket, his contract is becoming the worst contract in the NBA.

– Nice to see Dalembert motivated. He has 6 block shots tonight, a lot of them in the 2nd quarter, where he was everywhere, the Nuggets try to swarm the basket, but Dalembert denied them every time.

– Denver eventually caught up. They are just a much better team. They have depth, while the Sixers have none. Sixers have 3 starters playing 40 plus minutes, partly because their bench isn’t giving them anything. 2 points the entire night, yes 2 points.

– How did so many teams passed on Ty Lawson? I have always liked him in North Carolina, but a lot of teams have concern about his size, and his jump shot. But every time I watch him play, he looks like a million bucks. He’s the reason why the Nuggets turn things around in the 4th quarter.

– George Karl has said that when his team wants to play defense, they are a very good team. They play hard on D in the 4th quarter, combining with the fact that the Sixers have one of the worst half-court offense in history, the Nuggets win going away.

– Iverson final line, 4-11 FG, 11 points 5 boards 6 assists. Not bad for a guy who hasn’t played a month. He didn’t dominate the ball like he used to, he is trying to play within the team game tonight, so you got to give him credit for that. Iverson and the Sixers will have plenty of practice time (the irony!), since they have a 5 game home-stand.

– Answer to the Trivia Question. Name 3 former Raptors on the court tonight. Jason Kapono, Joey Graham and Haywood Workman. Workman had a cup of coffee in 2000 with the Raptors, he is now a referee in the NBA.

Post Game: Chicago Bulls vs Toronto Raptors

Start strong. Check
Build the early lead. Check
Go for the kill. Check

That folks is a recipe of a Raptor blowout win. The first big blowout of the year (though you could make an argument about the New Orleans game), and it’s the back end of the back to back game.

The Raptors were aggressive early. Bosh and DeRozan set the tone and the game was over by the end of the first quarter. But the Raptors didn’t let up, the Bulls basically had nothing in the tank.

One sequence basically summarize the entire game. Up 71-46, the Raptors kept up their attack and got 4 offensive rebounds in that sequence and Calderon hit a 3 in the end. The Raptors wanted it more and the Bulls didn’t.

The Bulls looked horrible tonight, as bad as the Raptors defense look this season, that’s how the Bulls offense looked. They have only scored over 100 points once this season. The problem is simple: They don’t have a low post scorer and they don’t have a guy who can hit a 3 point shot consistently. Most of their points come from mid range jumpers; the worst possible shot in basketball. The Raptors packed the paint and dared the Bulls to shoot from the outside. The Bulls ended up either turning the ball over or shooting bricks.

Keys to the win:

– Energy. The Raptors started with energy and didn’t let up in a back to back. Considering they played Washington in overtime last night, that’s impressive. And also, there’s no reason they couldn’t do this every night.

– The Bench. Last night it was the starters that got it done. Tonight, the bench made a strong contribution. Allowing the starters plenty of time to rest.

– CB4 leadership. Lead by example. That’s what I want a leader to do. He was embarrassed by what happened in Atlanta and had 2 great games. Tonight stat line: 25 points 12 rebounds (7 offensive boards) in 22 minutes.

2 wins in a this 3 game road trip. A blow out loss to start and a blow out win to finish. Let’s see if they can get the first 3 game win streak on Tuesday against Minnesota.

9-13

Post Game: Washington Wizards vs Toronto Raptors Part Deux

Let me step for a moment here…

I was watching Wednesday debacle till half time. I was so upset that I threw my remote control to the TV, luckily I missed (otherwise I may have to buy a new HDTV, that also said alot about my accuracy). Anyway, I turned it off after halftime, it’s an embarrassing display of NBA basketball.

After that game, players were blaming the coaches, players were blaming teammates, fans were blaming the GM, the media looking for blood. The team had a team meeting with the GM and coach. The only two players who didn’t say anything in the meeting were Hedo Turkoglu and Chris Bosh. Bosh said afterwards, ‘Talk is cheap.’

So here we are. The Raptors head to Washington with a must win. They started out hungry shooting the ball well; then Washington started to play better; the Wizards were playing good basketball lately, winning 4 out of 5 games. The Raptors hang in there, playing decent defense; they didn’t have the best game offensively, but because of their defense, they were able to hold on.

In the 4th quarter, the Raptors were down by 7, then Chris Bosh took over. Playing like the franchise player, he wouldn’t let his team lose. It’s his passion in the fourth quarter and overtime that kept Raptors in it.

Then there is Hedo Turkoglu, he missed a potential game winner in the 4th quarter, but he came back with a fade away to hit the game winning shot in the fourth quarter.

The team played with heart and effort on defense and won. Basically, they want it more than the Wizards.

Keys to the win:

– Defense. The Raptors scored less than 100 points in regulation and found themselves tied after regulation. The Wizards shot 36.8% from the field. While the Wiz did miss some easy shots, the defense did make Washington work harder, which is important.

– Big game from the starting 5. DeRozan was red hot early and aggressive getting to the paint. The Raptors win despite having only 11 points from the bench.

– Triano. Give the man credit tonight. This is his best game as a coach. He made quick subs, and draw up decent plays out of timeouts. His team respond to whatever message he send on Thursday. A NBA coach’s biggest challenge is to get his team to play D for you. He got that tonight.

Let’s hope they can continue tomorrow.

8-13

Post Game: Washington Wizards vs Toronto Raptors

I was at the ACC tonight. Not a good start for December. The game is very winnable and the Raptors are not facing a good team. They played a sloppy game, turning the ball over left and right. We had a lead going to the fourth quarter and can’t close them out.

It’s these losses that worries me. A game that the Raptors should have no business of losing. Now they are going to Atlanta on a back to back, which will pretty much guarantee a loss.

Keys to the Loss:

– Turnovers. Can’t do this. Turkoglu had an awful game, shoot the ball badly and didn’t take care of the basketball. 50 million…I am banging my against the wall right now.

– Offensive rebounds. Haywood had 7 offensive boards. That’s 7 extra possessions.

I am keeping it short tonight. I am too tired and demoralized after this. I need to sleep.

7-12.

Monthly review, and looking ahead

7-11. To be honest, it’s not the worst record in the world, with 9 new players and a tough schedule, a .500 record would be too optimistic. Obviously, the worry is how they get to the 7-11 record. They lost 3 straight games, the defense haven’t show any signs of improvement and the offense seems to slow down just a tad, and that is deadly for this team since they can’t win by playing defense.

Best Player of the month: Chris Bosh. A monster November. He is the best player and leader of this team. There are nights that he’s carrying his team on his shoulder. I shudder to think what would the team be without him.

Worst Player: Antoine Wright. I know he is worthless on offense, but he hasn’t impressed me all that much on defense either. Like his teammates, he is running around like a headless chicken on that end. The problem is that Wright is such a detriment on offense, that he has to be a great defender to justify his playing time. I hope Triano sees this and give Wright’s playing time to Sonny Weems.

Worst defensive player: Tough call, because they are so many of them. I say a tie between Bargnani and Calderon. Jose can’t guard a chair, and Bargnani has to be the worst help defender in the league. It’s real telling when of all people, Hedo Turkoglu has to yell at Bargnani about helping out on defense. Jose has always been a horrible defender, but he usually compensate on the offensive end. Right now he is not playing well on that end either. He has horrible instinct on defense and anyone with two feet can get by him.

Best defender: Well, I am going to give it to Bosh. He seems to be the only one who actually care to play defense at times. He is the best defensive rebounder on the team and his added strength has make him more effective to guard bigger players.

Worrying Trend: If the Raptors can keep the opposite team under 100 points, they win. They haven’t lost one game when that happened, unfortunately this only happened only 5 times all year. That’s 5 out of 18 games, which should tell you all about the non-existent defense.

What can be done: The problem with this roster is that we don’t really have a 2-way player. A guy who is good at both offense and defense. Bosh is probably the only one. If Jack can shoot better, then he will be another one. But most of the players on roster are either good on defense, horrible on offense or vice versa. So unless a trade can be made, we are stuck with this team.

Best 5 man unit according to 82games.com:
Calderon-Belinelli-Turkoglu-Bargnani-Bosh

Worst 5 man unit according to 82games.com:
Calderon-Jack-Wright-Turkoglu-Bosh

Look ahead in December:
The schedule isn’t as tough for December. The Raptors will face a lot of teams from the Eastern Conference, only 3 games against the West. 8 games at home and 7 games on the road. Now, they will have 4 sets of back to back this month, hopefully they can respond better. By my count, they have 4 really tough games (Two Atlanta game, and Miami/Orlando back to back on the road). So the Raptors, if they play their cards right, they can get a win streak going.

Let’s hope so, for my sake.