Tip-In: Raptors' Finish Road Trip on Sour Note with Loss to Jazz

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Nov 20, 2006 12:00 AM EST

I expected a blowout.

I expected Toronto to cave after four road losses, and five straight losses overall...

But instead, Toronto gave Utah all that it could handle before crumbling in the fourth quarter and losing 101-96.

While the first quarter showed Toronto's usual first quarter shooting woes, the team stayed competitive thanks to their ability to get to the free-throw line and only trailed Utah by four points. Toronto then played the best second and third quarters of their young season outscoring the Jazz 52 to 42 all the while playing some excellent defense (by their standards) and eventually the Raptors took a commanding lead heading into the fourth quarter.

And then Jerry Sloan got mad.

Sloan saw that Toronto was using its speed and quickness to get in passing lanes and disrupt Utah's offence, all the while scoring easy fast-break buckets. Therefore he countered in the fourth quarter with Toronto's biggest nemesis - size. A lineup of Mehmet Okur, Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap terrorized the Raptors on the boards and the constant pounding down low ground the game's tempo to a halt playing to the Jazz's favour. Millsap was the biggest thorn in Toronto's side with five offensive rebounds and numerous putbacks as he hit eight of his 10 shots from the floor and added two blocks to his totals. (As an aside, as a player we wanted Bryan Colangelo to take over PJ Tucker in the second round of last year's draft, this was a really excruciating thing to have to watch.)

And when Millsap wasn't grabbing boards and fighting in traffic, Okur was drawing Toronto's defence out to guard his three point attempts and Boozer was working his way inside using a wide assortment of offensive moves on his way to 35 points on an obscene 14 of 16 shooting!

The Raps simply didn't have an answer down low and Utah eventually took the lead.

The heartbreaking part of the loss however was that even with Utah's dominance inside, Toronto still had a chance to win. However the Raptors' inexperience shone through as TJ Ford made back-to-back rookie mistakes on plays - first, getting called for an offensive foul after charging into Deron Williams thus turning the ball over to Utah and second, even when Utah didn't score off the turnover, with 15 seconds still remaining, Ford made like Chris Childs launching an ill-advised three-pointer, missing badly.

And yet, Toronto still had one last gasp!

The Raptors corralled the long rebound off of Ford's miss but Fred Jones, yes, he of 41 per cent shooting, heaved one last desperation brick.

But it didn't matter. The moment Ford's shot missed, the game was done for the Raps. You could see it in their body language even as they grabbed the offensive rebound for one last attempt.

For the game, Toronto shot almost 42 per cent. Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 17 points and 11 rebounds but had an off night shooting, going only five of 14 from the floor. And based on the aforementioned field-goal percentage, his teammates didn't fare much better. When crunch time came, Toronto once again resorted to their puzzling habbit of launching perimeter shots. (Puzzling because the team has been shooting terribly from long range and knows it.) And everyone is to blame for this including Bosh who at times decided a fade-away would be much more effective than blowing by his defender as he had done all night. The Raptors attempted 37 free throws yesterday evening and I really feel that this is going to be a huge key to their season. This team is too quick to not regularly head to the free-throw line, especially at the power forward and point guard positions where they have a distinct advantage over many other teams. Toronto is simply too inconsistent a club in terms of its perimeter shooting to be settling for jumpers and to start winning some of these close matches, Toronto needs to continue getting to the free throw line...at least until the perimeter shots start dropping or they show they can make key defensive stops. (You can hear more of my thoughts on this topic on our recent podcast with Hoops Addict.com)

Lost in stats such as Utah's 51 to 36 rebounding advantage and some of Utah's individual performances was the play of Il Mago and Sam Mitchell's increasingly tightening rotation. Andrea Bargnani had his best game of the season with 15 points, three rebounds and two blocks and was instrumental in Toronto's third quarter run. Rasho Nesterovic was finally relegated to the bench for all but five minutes of the game (spelling Toront's bigs when they were in foul trouble) and essentially Mitchell played only eight players last night. The team looked much more cohesive with this lineup and here's to hoping that Mitchell sticks with it to avoid another Hoffa type playing time debacle.

Oh...and speaking of Hoffa? Utah might have won but the Brazilian Beast never saw the court against his former teammates.

Well...I guess I can take some solace in that.

FRANCHISE

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Comments

In football there is a tactic where if your passing game isn't working you just pound your way down field with the running game. Franchise just mentioned that the Raps continue to shoot outside and don't get to the line. So since their shooting is suspect right now, would it not be wise to simply start slashing to the basket more. If the lane opens up, it's a higher percentage shot and if it doesn't, a foul or easy dish is likely. It seems basic enough but maybe not for our Raps

by rt on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Is it just me that see Andrea as the best shooter on the team? (Jose has been good) So why would TJ stop kicking it too him? Deron kept kicking it to Mehmet and look what happened. Unbelievable.

by Denis on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

We've been out coached again! Unless we're going for ping pongs, fire Sam now!

by TFan on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Sam needs to go, there is no question about it. He jsut doesn't have the knowledge to be a head coach at the NBA level. Day in and day out we do get out coached and Sam tried to pass it off on anyone but him and his staff. Does anyone have Stan Van Gundy's number?

by Frustrated on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

I saw Sam's interview after the game "A timeout would not have gotten us a better look". Surely a NBA coach must realize that calling a timeout and designing a play can settle people down instead of them running helter skelter and jacking up the first open shot they get?

If the team is still not gelling by the All star break then Sam needs to get a pink slip.

by Todd on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

At least Andrea played well. I don't even know what to say about this team anymore. I never thought they'd be 2-8 at this point. I love Mitchell's after time out plays (bricks from the 3 point line). Utah isn't that good of a team either, its just that they have a better coach. Mitchell needs to be fired now, not at all star break when they're 5-40.

by Damir on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Really good interview by Chad Ford with BC on the ESPN website. It seems he is certainly pushing to get Bargnani minutes. Plus he didn't exactly give Mitchell much support.

Check it out.

by Dan on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

I couldn't believe it when I heard that. If he was referring to TJ's wild chuck with tons of time left, that's ridiculous. Maybe Fred Jones 3, considering how open he was and the time left in the game, was ok...but Ford's shot...ugh.

by Franchise on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Sam is on his way out !! B.C. is too smart of a GM to continue status quo.Sam does'nt know how too handle a game he certianly got out coached. When Utah went big why didn't we go big. Why didn't Andrea continue to play are we worried that he might foul out of a game. Why was Sam saving him for some reason. This team has game but someone else needs to coach.

by mudhen on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

"Toronto's biggest nemesis - size"

"The Raps simply didn't have an answer down low"

"Utah's dominance inside"

"Utah's 51 to 36 rebounding advantage"

"Rasho Nesterovic was finally relegated to the bench for all but five minutes of the game"

I wonder if these are somehow related. Is giving Rasho less minutes really the answer when we continue to get killed inside?

by md on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Bosh should touch the ball every half court posession. If the ball doesn't go through Bosh's hands then whoever didn't pass to him has to ride some pine. At this rate if Shaq were a Raptor he would never had more than 16 points per game.

Second, if Toronto had called a timeout it was a guaranteed screw up. Every time they call a timeout with three or less seconds to run a play it ends up with Bosh getting the ball at the half court line. The Philly game excepted, this is not ideal.

Mitchell needs to go because he can't coach. He can cheerlead, but he can't coach. I'm sure he'll make a great assistant coach somewhere.

by Never Nervous Pervis on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Is it just me that see Andrea as the best shooter on the team? (Jose has been good) So why would TJ stop kicking it too him? Deron kept kicking it to Mehmet and look what happened. Unbelievable.

by Denis on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Another Sam Mitchell hate on. Rasho is a big body of importance to this team. He may only manage to block out one body, but that opens some space for others. Rebounding and defence are team activities. Is there a stat that shows the team performance when an individual is on the court? If Rasho being out there means Bosh can clean glass, then I don't care how many Rasho has at the end of the night. If he's doing his rotations, he's playing quiet defence. So get him 15-20 minutes for the sake of Bosh most nights.
The real failure of Mitchell is not having any stones with his veterans. He's quick to rip a young and use youth as the reason they lose, but yet Fred Jones goes out there and turns a ball movement offence into the Mike James show. Him running into 5 guys or missing a 3. Park his ass on the bench and keep him away from Calderon. Calderon moves the team. Once Jones touches it, the play is finished. TJ shoots more, so he can run the offence without Jones interfering.

by EaseMyPain on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

I heard BC's podcast interview on ESPN yesterday. "I politely reminded Sam about... Barngnani's playing time" or something to that effect. Sounds like Sam might not make it to the All Star break. Who is available for the new head coaching position for the Raptors? Rick Adelman?

by Todd on Nov 22, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

md hit it right on the head. You can't bench Rasho when you are getting badly out-rebounded. Simple. Garbagassa and Andrea can't rebound.

by Ryan on Nov 22, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Look, I have no problem if they're going to stay small when Utah goes big. But you have to really burn them on transition baskets when they do so. That's kinda the point.

Once Sudden Sam saw that wasn't happening, he should have made an adjustment. Clearly, this L should be hung on him.

by Toolsy on Nov 22, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions