Tip- In: Raps Set the Pace Early Against Indiana

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Nov 26, 2006 12:00 AM EST

In this afternoon's matinée, the Toronto Raptors brought both hustle and energy against the Indiana Pacers and for a change, the Raps managed to hold onto a lead for the WHOLE GAME, and come away with a 92-83 victory.

Yeah that’s not a typo. The Raptors held a team to less than 90 points and below 40 per cent shooting. In fact over the last three games, the Raps have held the opposing team to less than 100 points...and in that stretch they are 2-1. The only other time the Raps managed to hold a team to less than 100 points? The home opener against Milwaukee, which was, as we know, a W.

See a trend here?

Now if only they could bring this same defensive intensity to their road games.

Speaking of intensity, this has got to be the number one concern right now for Sam Mitchell and his staff. The Raps just looked pumped to play today and they came out guns-a-blazing. Before you could blink, the Raps were up 27 and completely in control of the game. Much of this lead was the result of the bench boys who really upped the ante in the second quarter and then later in the game. Andrea Bargnani showed some unbelievable things out there, Joey Graham continues to look like the player he was projected to develop into when he was drafted, Rasho played well in the post and generally the Raps could not have played much better. Staying on the intensity theme however, somehow, someway, during halftime, the Raps completely lost their focus, in particular the starters. At the beginning of the third quarter the offence went stagnant, they had ZERO assists nearly heading into the fourth quarter, and like most teams not used to winning, they allowed Indiana back into the game. Just as fast as they were up 27, they were up only four with three minutes left in the quarter.

Then things changed. Why? Jose Calderon.

We here at the HQ have numerous times asked the question, "Who is the second best player on the Raps?" The answer as of this moment, in my opinion is Jose Calderon. His ability to come into a game, re-energize the team and run the offence both in a half-court set and on the break is fan-freaking-tastic. Should he start? Well I think there is a good case for it but right now he is the perfect back-up PG who should continue to play that role but see more minutes than his counter-part. Calderon runs this offence better. Mitchell seems to agree. The evidence? At the three minute mark Ford brought the ball up the floor only to have Mitchell yell, "Give it to Calderon." How’s that for confidence in your supposed starting PG? Let’s not give ALL the credit to Calderon though as there is a lot of credit to go around amongst the bench. As the starters lost control over the game's momentum there was going to be serious pressure on the second unit to come in and re-establish the offence, go on a run, and put the nail in the coffin. Calderon and Graham did just that. Yes that same Joey Graham that people have been doubting on in a big way since the pre-season.

Joey Graham has improved almost as much as Calderon over the off-season. His defense is EXPONENTIALLY better, he rarely leaves his feet and is showing a much better understanding of defending the wing. On the offensive end he is being very aggressive, playing within the flow of the offence and you can see that he is beginning to use his body to his advantage. Will he be a star in the league? - doubtful, but he is becoming a solid contributor. There is no doubt he will disappear at times, but he is playing much better than last year and expect all of the haters to disappear in due course. This is a classic case of people expecting too much too soon. When all is said and done (and yes I am bias, I really like Joey G) I feel pretty confident that people won’t look back and say Babcock made a mistake when he chose him 16th over all...despite who was left on the board at the time.

And let's not forget Andrea Bargnani. Now that he's getting some minutes, fans are really getting a look at what this kid can do. Today was his best game yet (yes I realize we're saying that now after almost every game) as he played well on both ends of the court. He's in all likelyhood (until Mo Pete gets healthy) the Raptors' best long-range threat already and some of the things he did in this afternoon's match were incredible for a seven-footer. It's hard not to see some of the Dirk Diggler comparisons as he can score from beyond the arc, get to the rim and run the court in a similar manner. He also is improving defensively with each game and he and Rasho Nesterovic' length really bothered Indiana's interior play. In fact, Toronto's defence today was the best its been all season as they were aggressive in fronting post-players (one of the reasons the Raptors had 10 steals) and even out-rebounded the Pacers 49-43. When was the last time you remember that happening?

The question for the Raps now is simple. Can they start winning on the road? With seven of the next nine on the road they had better and there is no better time than against the Hornets who will be without their big off-season signing, Peja Stojakovic as well as David West. To put the importance of this road swing into perspective, the Atlantic Division leaders are BELOW .500. If the Raps can win three or four of the seven away games they will keep themselves in the hunt and will have fought through a tremendously difficult stretch of their schedule.

The one thing that may prevent that from happening though is CB4's knee. As commentator Leo Rautins suggested during the game, if the knee isn’t hurt, then why wear a brace? Should the Raps star need some serious rest this team will struggle to complete, let alone win.

The next nine games are extremely important for this team. This team is learning to win, learning to close out games, learning to keep track of the score, and now needs to learn how to win on the road. It is definitely a work in progress...and we're excited to see how it turns out.

HOWLAND

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Comments

Love the blog, you guys are really great at keeping it up to date!!! Bargnani played amazing today. He kinda looks retarded at times, but i loved watching that bedhead fohawk really light it up tonight. Continue the awesome work boys. Go Raps Go

by edub on Nov 26, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Thanks edub...yeah, sometimes you have to laugh watching Bargs go to work...on one drive both Howland and I could have sworn that he travelled but on the replay it showed that his crazy stork legs just took REALLY BIG STEPS!

On another note, the next game the Raps play is actually against the Hornets as Howland mentioned in his recap, but we realized last night that we don't have their logo hence the Dallas game being displayed till we fix this!

by Franchise on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

"Rasho played well..." - could have something to do with that hickey he had on his neck. Anyone else catch that?

by rup45 on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Excellent work on the blog guys and thanks for being so quick on the updates.

by OneandDone on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

You can see flashes of the team's potential in every game. Liked seeing Rasho get some burn. Fred Jones started out hot but I still like Mo Pete better. Jose's game rocks and I can see why they like Bargnani. Wassup with CB4? He haad a quiet 17 and has a knee brace. When did that happen?

9 new players means Sam has until the All Star break to get the team in the playoff hunt.

by Todd on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

The game was definitely promising but not perfect, and still had some confusing aspects...

First, I'd argue that the second half swoon actually started in the first half. The Raptors totally dominated the first 18 minutes or so, and then someone closed the lid on the bucket and the Pacers started to creep back. The Raps' offence became lethargic, they started settling for long jumpers again, and only by virtue of Indiana's poor shooting did the Raps' lead remain as large as it did to end the half.

Secondly, much as the defence has appeared to clamp down, I still can't make sense of Sam's rotation.

Fred Jones got too much play in the second half - maybe Sam figured he'd be fired up against his old team, but his play was erratic and he played while Anthony Parker - who was rebounding more aggressively and not taking bad shots like Freddie - sat for basically the whole second half.

Then, in the last few minutes of the 4th Sam elected to bring TJ back into the game but left Calderon in. At first I thought this was to counter a quicker Pacers back court (Tinsley and Armstrong were both in at the time), but the fact that Sam had Jose running the offence meant that TJ got to play the role of World's Worst Shooting Guard and threw up TWO airballs in the waning minutes.

I don't have a problem in theory with running TJ and Jose together (for a short time) if the situation calls for it, and I certainly don't mind Jose running the offence when he's doing a better job of it, but if TJ and Jose are on the floor together, TJ has to run the offence. When TJ isn't handling the ball and using his quickness he's a complete black hole on offence and shouldn't be on the floor.

Okay, that's my two cents from section 310. :)

by MattK on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Fred Jones has to see less court time. He's not a shooter and until he learns that should stay on the bench. He's a slasher and needs to just get out there and do that. Tied of watching that guy throw up lazers at the rim.

by Ryan on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

I've been saying it for a while (on other blogs) but Calderon has proven just how good of a point guard he is time and time again. He's always keeping his dribble alive, getting people to the correct place, and playing smart positional defense on the other end. You can see that the offense starts moving the ball better, and he gets the ball into slashing players; something that TJ Ford has tons of trouble recognizing. While I see TJ's stats are better from an offensive perspective, there's just something you see on the floor with Calderon that Ford needs to pick up, and that's to really dictate the pace, and play in control. Too many times, Ford will turn the ball over, hoist up a very difficult shot that is almost akin to a turnover anyways. Really, Calderon has been steady from day one this season and I think he at least deserves as many minutes as Ford.

by Kinnon Yee on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Re Jones & Parker not scoring
Check on stats re contributations
Jones 5 RB 2 AST 3 STLS 7 PTS
Parker 6 RB 6 PTS 3/6 FG

by Johnn19 on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Jose Calderon - Made the game

Whenever TJ struggled and Indiana got close Sam put in Jose & the Raps moved ahead.

A real strength this year at PG with TJ & Jose.

Last year Rap's won their 4th game on Jan 4th. 1-15 for Nov. 4-9 is showing the potential, that hopefully winning some road games will lead closer to .500.

by Johnn19 on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

I missed the game but saw it on Raptor Game in 1 Hour later. While I agree that Bargnani, Joey G and Jose looked real good, we can't afford those lulls when we take jump shots and let the opposition get back in the game. Finally, I hope we don't win too many more games before the New Year that we have to keep Sam for the rest of the year.

by TFan on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

rup45 says:
November 27th, 2006
"Rasho played well..." - could have something to do with that hickey he had on his neck. Anyone else catch that?

Okay, I wasn't the only one who caught that. And I don't know if yall caught this and are in the process of changing it but the Raps have a game tomorrow night in Oklahoma City against the Hornets

by Blaxx on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

that drive to the hoop by bargs was like watching a man walk on the moon - he took it to the hoop from practically 25 feet out! it was insane. I thought he had for sure travelled too. but nope.

I think we have on our hands an italian astronaut.

by papa on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

For anyone who missed it Colangelo gave a 10 min interview to Stellick/Landry on the FAN 590 this morning covering Sam, Bargnani, and the missing 2 mins at Atlanta.
Its avail on the FAN website.

by Johnn19 on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Thanks for the headz up Johnn19, gotta check that out. Blaxx - see my post above about the Raps' next game...aaah technical difficulties. We'll still be doing a preview tomorrow as per usual.

by Franchise on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Right On Ryan!
Every time the Raps start to go in the tank it seems to start with Jones doing hiw worst Mike James and hacking stupid shots of. He's selfish, simple and clear. Not a bad defender and amazing at attacking the rim, but not a smart shooter. Percentage wise, he's relatively good at shooting the 3 for this team. But his selection and game sense suck. And Sam lets him do it. He scores more off the bench.

by EaseMyPain on Nov 27, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

THE GOOD
Bargnani can play.(feels good to finally be convinced)
Calderon is simply pleasure to watch.
Bosh is special.
Parker is two time raining MVP of Euroleague...enough said.
Graham has tremendous upside. He's been very good so far.

THE BAD
Jones is great slasher...should stay off threes
Same goes for Mo Pete.(11 3PA in one game??)
T.J should learn from Calderon.

THE UGLY
Garbajosa is my favourite Raptor...Somehow seeing him on the floor makes me comfortable...I love this guy!

THE REST
Rasho, Humpries and Tucker have shown they can be counted on...nothing more you can ask for.

by NetBenjo on Nov 29, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions