Tip-In: Ending on a Sour Note

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Dec 31, 2006 12:00 AM EST

Tony Barone had his team up for the task. Sam Mitchell didn’t.

The Raptors came out flat while the Grizzlies were firing on all cylinders leading to an eventual 110 to 104 Toronto loss to Memphis last night in a game that saw the Raptors claw back from a 24 point deficit only to lose in the end.

The Raptors allowed the Grizzlies to score 39 points in the opening quarter, digging themselves a hole that may have proven too deep to climb out of considering how short-staffed they were. Already without Bosh and with TJ Ford sitting due to an ankle injury suffered the night before, Jorge Garbajosa now appears to be day-to-day after injuring his calf late in the fourth quarter.

Morris Peterson led the Raps with 19 points and while Toronto had five players in double figures, they allowed Memphis to shoot a blazing 54 per cent in the first half and had no answer throughout the entire game for Pau Gasol and Mike Miller.
In fact after completing the successful comeback on a Mo Pete 3 with about six and a half minutes left in the game, Miller then drained back-to-back three’s to put Memphis back ahead for good.

This one was personally one of the toughest games of the year to watch.

The Raptors played so poorly at times (they had 18 turnovers again) and got down by such a big margin early on, that I was tempted to turn it off. Missed assignments on D, missed free-throws, poor decisions in transition leading to Memphis’ dunks...it all added up to an ugly site. On top of this, the game was a complete tease as Toronto did by all accounts make an impressive run, but only to come up with the short end of the stick.

And what really struck me was just how similar this game was in some ways to their previous loss to the Bulls. Toronto hung around on the boards (only out-rebounded 41 to 40,) got to the line a decent number of times (30) and made their runs but also settled for way too many outside shots (they attempted 27 shots from beyond the arc) and couldn’t guard a turnip at times.

It also struck me that as one of our readers "axl" put it, ("not really looking forward to a desperate Grizzlies squad,") timing had something to do with this loss as I hadn’t seen any team, let alone Memphis, come out so fired-up for a game and the recent coaching switch (think Mike Fratello heads back to being the "Czar of the Telestrator?") seemed to have fueled this fire.

The bottom line for me in this loss was that this is not how I wanted the Raptors to finish off a reasonably successful 2006. Some of the local media this morning seems to be "looking on the bright side" of the loss last night considering Toronto’s injuries and the fact that Toronto made a heroic run outscoring Memphis 86 to 71 over the final three quarters.

I’m not.

No, I’m not ready to pat the team on the back and say, "thanks for making it close." The fact is, if Toronto had even held Memphis to 30 points (still too high by NBA standards but anyways) they would have probably won this game.

And when the final bell tolls on the season, it’s games like these that Raptor fans may look back on and say "well, that’s one they shouldn’t have let get away."

FRANCHISE

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Comments

With all the turnovers, poor defense, and missed lay-ups/jumpshots the Rap's still were only 2 Pts down in the last minute. They were just unable to finish the game off.

Without TJ or Bosh or Jose on the floor there is no one who can get to the basket & score or draw fouls.

Jones the only other option has gone missing the last 3 games. Rap's really need a SG who can get to the hoop & score.

by Johnn19 on Dec 31, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

The one undeniable bright spot was that they at least played really hard. Other positive is D-mart playing unbeleivable. We wouldn't even have come close without him changing momentum in the third. Not many 3rd string guards in the league that can do that.

The only thing that pisses me off is the offensive indecision in the clutch. In the last 30 seconds, it was obvious bargnani was designated to take the shot, but memphis read that and dmart passed, garbo passed up an open look and too much time was wasted just so we could get bargs a heavily contested chuck. I'd rather have mo pete shooting that anyways, but garbo should have shot.

by axl on Dec 31, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

axl - good point that I didn't touch on. Who would have thought that Darrick Martin would play such an integral role in the team this year? And it's almost scary to think how bad Toronto would have lost in a couple of these without him...

by Franchise on Dec 31, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

martin did play well enough, but I still was very, very ridiculously upset to see him on the floor in the last minute. I would have rathered seen jose out there leading the charge.

and I'm with you franchise, I'm not satisfied with anything in this loss, in any respest - it shouldn't have happened period.

now we're going to have to watch as the raps try to reintregrate a rusty bosh back into their system - against arguably the fastest team in the league: phoenix. should be tons of fun.

by papa on Dec 31, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

yeah, papa, bosh should just keep healing until atlanta on friday. we have no chance against the suns.

don't feel so bad though, look at miami without d-wade, detroit without chauncey dropped 3 straight. Imagine cleveland w/o lebron. we're damn lucky to have salvaged what we could.

by axl on Dec 31, 2006 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Missed the game (lucky me) due to a great family gathering. Maybe this loss could turn out to be a good thing: we can get rid of Sam Mitchell! With the team's recent improvements, I was afraid that Sam would get an extension. Looking forward to see Nash this Wed.

by Tfan on Jan 1, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

What was up with taking Jose out after only having him in for 5 secs? I try to give Sam a break because of his 8 new players but then he does stuff like that and D Martin ends up on a bad layup attempt.

Sam is a good person and didn't put up with VC's crap but I don't think he has the seasoning to take the Raps to the next level.

I am sure that BC will be taking a good hard look at games like this when deciding if Sam is still coach next year. For the Raps sake if they're not playoff bound by the All Star break please get them a coach who can get them to play defense.

by Todd on Jan 1, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

wow, harsh commentary. No CB, no TJ, playing against a 'fired up' team with a healthy Pau Gasol on the back-end of a double-header, near-heroic comeback and you're still 100% negative simply b/c the Raps fell short. If DMart had knocked down the game-winner you would be singing the praises of this team's heart and grit, and lauding Smitch for sticking with his gut instinct to leave him in.

This wasn't the same Memphis team that has put up the league's worst record. Plus, you can't say the Raps were 'playing down' to the competition - without Bosh and Ford, I would say the Raptors have the worst team on paper in the league -including Philly. Sure, they got down early - but sometimes that happens. They didn't quit, they almost made the comeback. This is simply a case of "you can't win them all."

by dave on Jan 1, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions