Tip-In, Toronto Raptors Post-Game: A Dime a Dozen

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST

Lacing Them Up:

Ok, I give up.

I’ve spent the past three weeks trying to get a read on what the regular rotations will be to no avail. Just when I think Garbo has been outplayed in practice and therefore not going to see game-time, he plays 24 crunch-time minutes last night in the Raptors win. And after I’ve questioned what the point in signing Maceo Baston at all was, he not only plays almost 20 minutes but STARTS last night’s match!

The Raptors downed the Pacers 110 to 101 in a game that featured some sloppy first half execution from the Raptors, some terrible rebounding, but some sizzling point guard play and shooting from long range in the second half to seize the victory.

A Numbers Game:

12 for 23

That’s what the Toronto Raptors shot from three-point range last night. The good news is when the team is going like this, they are incredibly hard to stop. Pacers’ head coach Jim O’Brien after the game talked about how Toronto hit some ridiculous shots and how great a job they did of spreading the floor to give their shooters room. I agree as most of Toronto’s shots were good looks within the flow of the offense and Sam Mitchell had a nice combination of players contributing from long range...especially Anthony Parker, who’s 66 foot bomb to end the third quarter seemed to separate the Raptors from the Pacers once and for all.

The bad news is, we've sure seen the other side of the coin when these shots aren't falling.

47 and 15

That’s the total number of rebounds and number of offensive rebounds the Raptors allowed the Pacers to grab last night. This was one of the main differences in the first half as the likes of Greg Foster continually got inside position for second chance points. Maceo had a nice dunk and played some solid positional defense, but the starters missed Rasho’s rebounding presence as Baston had only two boards in 18 minutes of action.

The Turning Point: I felt the turning point in this game was an offensive rebound by TJ Ford in the third quarter. You could point to Jose’s big three late in the game, Bosh’s And 1 to bail the team out, you could even say you felt Toronto was going to win this game from the tip, which I did. But this one tiny play by TJ had a major impact on the Pacers. TJ had been wreaking havoc offensively all quarter and Toronto began to take the lead. Indiana was still hanging around on some hot long-range shooting from Jamaal Tinsley though and the Pacers looked like they were going to fight this one out till the end. However on this play, I noticed how TJ tracked his teammate’s missed shot all the way and anticipated where the rebound would fall, snatching it from Danny Granger. Indiana looked like they had finally gotten a solid stop only for TJ to get the rebound, reset the offence, and allow Toronto to push its lead even further. Great heads up play and I really felt that as close as Indiana got in the fourth quarter, the game was never really in question.

Garbs played a solid game last night, but any odds on how much he plays tomorrow?

Temperature Check: Hot – Jorge Garbajosa. Ok, Garbs wasn’t in "he can do no wrong mode," but the mere fact that he went from playing in only garbage minutes, and not many at that, to 24 crunch time minutes bears a spot in this section. He was almost Toronto’s top rebounder on the night and hit three of his seven shots so he was definitely no slouch either. As I previously mentioned, I’m not sure what to think about his role with the team now but he certainly didn’t look injured to me last night. Perhaps Rasho’s minor injury in that sense was a blessing in disguise?

Hot – RaptorsTV. Raps TV probably didn’t intend to be in the "hot" category. But two instances of the highest form of unintentional comedy put them smack dab in the middle.

First we had Jack dancing with the Four Corners Sound Crew DJ Captain Kirk and the Raptors Dance Pak. PLEASE someone find this on the net or on Youtube…seeing Jack with a Raptors hat cocked to the side like Flavor Flav and pumping his fist was too funny for words.

But then RaptorsTV topped that off post-game. You can’t put into words the expression on Paul Johnson’s face as during Center Court HQ, fans in the background chanted "we want Norma!" I was doubled over laughing at this one. PJ was as white as a ghost and looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or scream.

Not – Il Mago. The other blessing in disguise last night for Garbs may have been Andrea Bargnani’s poor play and three fouls in five minutes. He went 0 for 1 with 1 turnover last night and really looks right now to have taken a step back from his play through the season’s first three games. Of course, the local media was all over this after the game asking about Bargs’ lack of playing time and production. That resulted in the following comment from Sam Mitchell:

"We won a basketball game and we had eight or nine guys play well." "Don't ask me about that. That is just trying to stir up something. In 82 games, you are not going to play great every night."

I’ve gotta agree with Sam on this one. Today a lot of the media seemed a bit perturbed by Sam’s response but I’m not sure why. All we’ve seen so far this season from Mitchell is that besides Chris Bosh, TJ Ford and Anthony Parker, there’s not much rhyme or reason to any of the minutes doled out to any other player. Sure the argument could be made that for instance last night, Baston started so Hump could continue his solid play off the bench, Andrea could keep gelling with the second unit and Maceo knew the Pacers better than anyone else having played for them last year.

But would it really have surprised anyone if say Bosh had started at the 5, with Hump at the 4? I mean, can you name ONE other team in the league who would start a player who hadn’t even dressed for seven of eight games and hadn’t played a single minute?

I can’t.

So there’s really no point worrying about players’ minutes from here on out. Some nights I’m sure we’ll have Garbs playing 20 to 30 minutes and some nights we’ll have Juan Dixon doing the same thing. The players seem to understand that and as long as they can come into each game mentally and physically prepared, well we’ll see where this depth takes us.

I still worry about finding some consistency rotation-wise but Sam’s proving that it’s still early in the going and hey, a 5 and 4 record in spite of four different starting line-ups through nine games ain’t so bad.

Moving On:

For the Toronto Raptors, it’s Italian Day tomorrow at the ACC as Marco Belinelli and the Golden State Warriors are in town to take on Andrea Bargnani and the Raps.

Golden State got its first win of the season last night over the Clippers and will have suspended guard Stephen Jackson back in action. The Warriors have struggled so far this year, particularly on the defensive end and the Raptors need to pounce right from the get-go, something they neglected to do again last night.

We were hoping to have a chat with the cru from Golden State of Mind today, hence today’s late blog entry, but hopefully we’ll still get their take on things prior to tomorrow’s afternoon tip-off.

Oh…and speaking of afternoon tip-off’s, we encourage all Warriors to go out tonight and experience the hospitality that the T-Dot’s fine selection of clubs provides…

FRANCHISE

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Comments

I think we are going to see plenty more fiddling around with the "rotation". May not be until after the all-star break til we see a regular substitution pattern with the Raps. Sam's done this (maybe not to this extent) the past few years. He seems content to let the players fight it out among themselves for the first 20-30 games or so.

I also agree with Sam's comments on Bargs. Let's not dwell on the one negative after a victory. Although if the Raps are truly going to make some noise in the East this year, I think Bargs is going to have to play a significant role. He'll come around.

I hope Moon's ok. Not sure how bad that ankle tweak was. Also nice to see some solid play from Garbs. He doesn't look hurt to me.

Last point - I was so happy to see Calderon play the 4th. Was Sam sending a message to TJ after last night's debacle? We saw a bit of TJames in the first half, but the 3rd quarter was vintage TJ and hopefully we'll see more TJ and less TJames as the season goes on.

Jack and Minerva:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MNowoQx_4rA

by SonicSuper on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

I would like to highlight how important it is that Anthony Parker seems to be getting his game back in the last few days, I would say that AP at his best is the ideal SG for this team. And Kapono has not been exactly overwhelming us with his play, but I think his 50% 3p shooting could be very important come playoff time. Also it was great for Garbo to have a solid 24min game which should help end all that "broken leg" nonsense Feschuk started with his article.

by Sergi P on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

it seems we have so many players who are close in ability. sam has gone with the hot hand but hopefully a couple players step up and claim the pt.

by raptorville on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Don’t get too happy about Garbo yet…

Interesting article from Feschuk on TheStar.com this morning. Looks like there's a reason why Garbajosa is seeing more pine that usual. http://www.thestar.com/article/277022. I’ve included it here

"Still, if his game seems more tentative than it did last year, perhaps it’s because when he removed his sneakers the other day, looking down I noticed, HE HAD NOT FOOT! Just a peg and a shoe full of crumpled up newspapers where the rest of his leg should have been! This explains why no conclusive x-rays have been forthcoming. THERE IS NOTHING TO XRAY!!!"

Seriously though, where do these reporters get off making random, unsupported statements? Didn’t some reporter say Vince was going to resign with Toronto last year? Was it the same guy? Keep Garbajosa trade Feschuk!

by Hope on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

The Raptor’s TV intro that featured Jack Armstrong dancing, waving his hands in the air, hat cocked to the side with the Raptors dancers and Captain Kirk is one of the funniest things I’ve seen on TV this year and most entertaining on Raptors TV ever! EVER! Not sure if it was scripted to have him dancing, but stroke of genius!
I’ve been a huge fan of Jack for his knowledge and analysis, he has even shown evidence of his sense of humour in the past (HELLO!!!), but this took it to a whole-nuva-level! This has placed Jack firmly in Raptor lore from here until the end of time. From here on in, Jack can do no wrong. He can do halftime interviews in his pyjamas for all I care, he can do no wrong. If he ever gets dropped by Raptor’s TV I will start a boycott! Long live Jack Armstrong!

by MAS on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

i dont necesarily disagree with mitchells decision to go with the hot hand but at the same time, bargs only played 5 minutes, i know he was in foul trouble early, but I at least think they should of brought him back in in the second half to give him a chance to get some shots in...he only took 1 shot...i cant imagine what these last 2 games are doing to his confidence, maybe bringing him off the bench isnt the answer, cause since hes been there hes been struggling.

Kapono is money when he shoots too, hes just not getting a lot of looks...it just seems like hes never the one getting the ball wide open on the three point line like we hoped he would at the begining of the season. Hes either shooting in transition or trying to create for himself...hes still money tho.

Baston was getting owned in the beginnig of the game by oneal, in the post and on the boards, the dude only pulled down 2 rebounds...not sure if that was the right call in starting him but we still got a win out of it.

Calderon was stellar last night, and TJ again showed how he can be bipolar again. When he penetrates and dishes, the raps offence flows sooo well its ridiculous...but when he does his little "im gonna one up the other point guard cause i just got schooled on the other end" type offence, the raps get stagnant cause they just watch.
THe offence runs so much smoother and the raps get good quick looks when calderon is on. The game is at such a higher tempo..it helps explain why the raps always start off slow..its cause calderon is on the bench.

But i guess i should face the facts that mitchell loves ford and will continue to go with him no matter what.

Dixon must be getting outworked in practice as of late, we havent seen him in a while...but if parker and delfino can continue to bring it at the 2 spot then i dont know how much we'll be seeing of dixon.

All in all tho a decent game at points, but i look forward to some consistency at some point on this team in regards to their play and their rotation.

by bigd on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

also...did anybody else hear that guy booing jamal tinsley every single time he touched the ball....that guy was hating on tinsley...hes not VC..dont know why there was so much hate there

by bigd on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

1. If someone wants to make "We want Norma" t-shirts, I'll buy one.

2. Great point about minutes. No cry-babys on this team so why not focus on matchups, as mitchell is (says he is) doing?

3. Feel bad for bargs. He's getting roughed up and bodied by people and on top of that abused by the refs as if he were still a rook. I'd like to see him on the floor with Calderosa, get something easy for him although GSW is probably not the time for it.

by axl on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Check out this link to Grange's blog. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/wbbasketball
Specifically, take a look at his "Digressions with Sam" post, hilarious. Hit the link to his interview the fan 590. I could listen to Sam beat up on reporters all day! It appears that Sam's looking on the black market for some "yellow cake"? I think Smitch is building a WMD in his basement! LOL
bigd, I heard that guy booing Tinsley as well. Couldn't get why? That was some SERIOUS hate as it was audible over the entire crowd and it sounded like only one person's voice. I'm not sure it was related to Tinsley going off in the third quarter.

by MAS on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

ya i coudlnt figure out what the hate was for, cause this dude soundly like he sincerely hated tinsley...going at him for most of the game..tinsley must of took his spot on the highschool team back in the day or something

by bigd on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Glad someone brought up the booing, even on game in an hour when I was typing this earlier today I could hear it. So random yet another funny quirk from last night.

BIG UPS Sonicsuper for that clip. It's even funnier watching it now...the fist pump kills me, I want that to be the intro from now on ha ha ha...

PS - Grange's blog is great...saw/heard the Mitchell stuff earlier this week and was laughing at work. And speaking of Sam, anyone see him in that Ford commercial last night? I've seen Jack dancing now with a Raps hat on, Jamario Moon going from 15th man to starter and Mitchell pitching Ford trucks...nothing can possibly surprise me in life now...

by Franchise on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Did anyone else notice that Leo Rautins was noticeably intoxicated in the post-game on Raps T.V.? Either he hadn't slept in days or he was drunk or high on something. He was slurring. I've also noticed that he has a tick, which he never had before. I hope he's OK.

As for Ford, I feel that he's got the natural gifts to make him one of the top point guards in the league, but until he brings his full effort and concentration on each and every play, he won't be regarded as one of the greats (which he said recently is what he strives to be). When he's giving it his all, he can be spectacular. Much of last year's playoffs is an example; he seemed to take it to another level. And that other level was even noticeable at times in last night's game. By contrast, Steve Nash's physical and mental effort is consistent – it's always at 100% (or darn close to it). Until TJ learns that glory comes not from ability (and its occasional fulfillment), but by doing, he'll continue to frustrate the many of us who, by all accounts, experience his duality.

by levelheadedfan on Nov 17, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Really wasn;t impressed with victory. We beat a bad team on a bad night.
Took a step backwards in the rebounding department- it seemed that there was always 3 Pacers under the glass to one of ours.
What can I say about Barg's? He'll get out of this funk eventually. Applaud Sam's call to bench him. How would I handle? I would start him today against GS.

by Tinman on Nov 18, 2007 12:00 AM EST reply actions