So much for 82-0

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Nov 3, 2005 6:30 AM EST

The opener.

Itâ€™s the night Raptors fans been waiting for since the squad dropped their 2004-05 season finale to Cleveland just over six months ago.

It certainly made teaching Calculus a difficult chore on Wednesday. When I was explaining vertical asymptotes (donâ€™t ask), I couldnâ€™t help thinking about Joey Grahamâ€™s vertical leap. During a discussion of local maximum points, I wondered if we would ever see Loren Woods give a maximum effort. Needless to say, it was a long day at school. But I digressâ€¦

Alas, after all of the discussion about the Raptorsâ€™ off-season, the draft, the signings, the launching of Raptorshq.com, the 2005-06 season started the same way that the 04-05 season finished: with a loss.

Letâ€™s break it downâ€¦

Chapmanâ€™s Game Thoughts

- We here at Raptorshq.com have been vocal about the need for a new intro for the team, and it appears that the team has heeded our advice. Sure, thereâ€™s no Kid Rock, but do we really need to see Matt Bonner dancing like Mark Madsen?

- If the first game is any indication, weâ€™ve found our backup point guard. Jose Calderon provided a spark in the second quarter with a nice little run that included hitting a jumper, stealing the inbounds pass, dishing to Morris Peterson for a three and then drawing a charge. Love the energyâ€¦

- We talked about it after the Celtics pre-season game, but the team really needs to stop giving up so many easy buckets. You wonâ€™t be successful for long if you allow the other team to continually score easy baskets.

- Ummâ€¦please tell me that posting up Matt Bonner on back-to-back possessions is not a new wrinkle in Sam Mitchellâ€™s playbook.

- I was really excited about Joey Grahamâ€™s start to the game. I was equally disappointed in his start to the second half. An inconsistent debut, but some good signs nonetheless. Heâ€™s got range on his shot and he plays good defense. Those assets will be helpful to this team.

- It wasnâ€™t a great start for Chris Bosh. Yes, I know he finished with 17 and 14. However, he struggled for most of the game until picking it up in crunch time. Plus, he struggled with the double teams that Washington threw at him. Heâ€™s going to see a lot of those this year.

- Dunk of the night: Caron Butler on CB4. Ouch.

- I wonder if Antonio Daniels has lost as much money this year betting on his alma materâ€™s (Bowling Green) football team as I have.

- Gilbert Arenas is a beast. Once he learns some shot selection, he will be unstoppable. It is evident that he has improved his passing (the weak area of his game) in the off-season. Brendan Haywood owes him dinner for those dimes.

- I am a firm believer that Michael Ruffin is the worst offensive player in NBA history.

- Norma Wick may be the most awkward interviewer on televison. I must admit that her interviews with Roy Halladay and Lara Flynn Boyle had me switching channels to NBA Court Surfing on the Score.

- By the way, Court Surfing rocksâ€¦

- By the way, Rogers needs to add League Pass to its Sports Package.

All in all, I was not overly disappointed with the teamâ€™s effort in the opener. They showed some good signs (shooting, energy, rookie play, rebounding), but struggled in other areas (inside scoring, spacing on offense, decision-making in 4th quarter). This game could be the first of many heartbreakers for the Raptors. They need to settle down late in the game and that was evidenced by their possession with three minutes to go in the fourth.

Up one, Bosh grabbed an offensive rebound and Rose launched a three right away. CV Smooth grabbed another board and kicked it out to our POINT GUARD, Mike James, who inexplicably launched a three with 22 seconds left on the shot clock. It missed, Washington grabbed the board and Antawn Jamison knocked down a short jumper to give the Wiz the lead that they would never relinquish.

Howlandâ€™s Random Game Thoughts

- Jim Todd is hysterical. "Where is everyone? This isn't pre-season"

- The Wizards have some big guys and yet we barely played our centre all night and did well on the glass. Even Loren Woods was productive when in there.

- Think the zone thrown out my Washington was the result of the article about Sam Mitchell not being able to design zone plays?

- Bosh needs the rock, ALWAYS on crunch time...when we went to jalen, the wheels fell off. At least Bosh will get to the line.

- There was a lot of talk on the floor all night, which is a really good thing

- No more offensive fouls. PLEASE.

Game Scores

In his excellent book, Pro Basketball Forecast, ESPN.comâ€™s John Hollinger outlines a method of assigning a score to each playerâ€™s performance in a game. If I can ever find a link to the formula, Iâ€™ll paste it. Until then, if youâ€™re really curious and too cheap to spend the dough to get this solid book, then I guess you could always email us at raptorshq@hotmail.com. Holla!

A Reasonably Strong Performance
Chris Bosh 12.5

Average
Jalen Rose 10
Mike James 10
Morris Peterson 9.4

Subpar Game or Didnâ€™t See Many Minutes
Charlie Villanueva 6.2
Jose Calderon 6.1
Joey Graham 5.4
Loren Woods 4.7

Poor Game or Used Very Sparingly
Rafael Araujo 0.9

Packing his Bags for Yakima
Matt Bonner - 2

Chapman

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Comments

I was at this game and have a few random thoughts of my own:

-I don't quite get Sam Mitchell's use of his players. Joey Graham had an amazing start and then in comes Mo Pete to eat up most of the minutes for the rest of the game while Graham, the 'starter', gets cold on the bench. Why does Mitchell start guys only to have them ride the pines after a few minutes?
-Man we need some inside presence. It's painful watching them huck 3's come crunch time
-Jose Calderon is not only a good backup point guard, he should be starting. This was my first look at Mike James and my impression is that he's so-so. There were a couple of drives he made that made me wonder if Rafer was back. Calderon, aside from a couple rookie mistakes, played a very high energy game, directed things well, and made beautiful passes. His game was beautifully up-tempo, never wasting time getting the ball upcourt and into someone's hand
-What the hell was Matt Bonner thinking?

by benjibopper on Nov 3, 2005 9:15 AM EST reply actions

I was also at the game and agree with much of what benji had to say.

- I also thought Mitchell's player selection was off. Why did we play most of the second half without a big man on the floor? I realize we didn't struggle to rebound but it led to Bosh getting destroyed by Brendan Haywood, which besides being alarming, didn't help our chances.

- Bosh played very poorly for most of the game but then picked it up mid-way through the fourth. And then the team stopped passing to him. What the hell?

- Matt Bonner looked dreadful. His offence I could live with (except that last shot) but his defence was absymally bad.

- Calderon will be the starter by Christmas. I love James' energy coming off the bench and Calderon's willingness to pass starting.

- I never thought I'd say it, but can we get some more Hoffa? Why didn't he play? Did he lose a wrestling match to Mitchell or something? He played half decently while he was in, and if he can't match up against Haywood and Etan Thomas we should just give up on the whole project.

- The pre-game intro was the funniest moment at a Raptor game in a while. It was like watching your grade seven high school class get dropped into a hip hop video if your class included a Spanish guy who clearly didn't understand what the hell was happening and a Brazilian guy who loved to point at his tattoos. Pape Sow's prominence was an added bonus.

by NeverNervousPervis on Nov 3, 2005 2:00 PM EST reply actions

I am a parent with a child who has Cancer. I would like to Thank Matt Bonner for the time he took on Saturday. Matt stopped and spoke to my son . He then gave my son his shoes which will always be remembered. How do you put into words how this touched my family and my little boy. Cancer is a hard diease and it is a stuggle everyday to wake up and face the struggle . I remember that I am the parent and have to be strong for him. It was very grateful and would like to take this time to express my thanks for the time Matt took. I realize this may not be who I need to express my thanks but anyone who has met Matt needs to realize what he did on Saturday. My 12 year old son turned to me and said boy I would like to see him play . I replied We will someday. The problem is that I never know if tommorrow will come and if it does the money factor is a issue for me. We have spent the past 8 month at Sick Children hospital and only home for few days . Well it take a special person and heart of gold to do what Matt did for my son. Thank you Matt maybe some day we will meet a again .
I realize that this is not a comment of the story but I would like to share with you my experience of Matt. Size 17 shoe boy how can you ever imagine.My boys will have forever THank you ,
Sincerly
Grateful Parent
Jacob Son 12 years old
Josh Son 9 years old

by Lin Wilkinson on Mar 13, 2006 10:05 PM EST reply actions