Tip-In, Toronto Raptors Post-Game: Fourth Quarter Misery

i was not happy to see dixon back in the rotation.

I think you're being a little to easy on Bosh. TJ has been far better than
Bosh this season. Bosh is our 'franchise' player, he's making the max. When the Raptors get into a scoring drought they need to be able to throw the ball into Bosh and more often than not he needs to be able to be able to score or get to the line. He hasn't been doing that this season. The Raptors will only go as far as Bosh takes them, if he comes up small in the playoffs as he did last year (yes, I realize that I am getting way ahead of myself) making it out of the first round will be extremely difficult. I have never been as high on Bosh as some people, but I hope he can prove me wrong. The Raptors absolutely need scoring and consistency from this position. (This might be a ridiculous knee jerk trade scenario, but I've always wondered about the possibility of trading Bosh for Pau Gasol, if I were the raptors I would make that trade in a heartbeat)

One last note about the offense, the ball movement has been great (most of the times) under Sam Mitchell, but it seems like there's not much player movement. I see a lot of guys standing around, and when somebody actually cuts to the basket (Kapono's done this one or twice) they are usually hit with a pass for a layup. Which makes me wonder why there isn't more of this.

I'm officially hitting the "Concerned" Button. Unlike Leaf fans who hit the "Panic" Button every time McCabe touches the puck - I don't want to over react, however watching Bosh play this year concerns me greatly. Essentially it's been the focus of my last 5 posts. Bosh is no longer hitting the 16-19 footer. Bosh has always relied on his outside game to set up his inside game. Opponents seem to be giving him that shot now and sagging off a little. Whats worse is that he's not getting automatically doubled and getting killed when in the offensive paint. Yes he's getting some FTAs on some nights, but the Raps are going to get struggle if he keeps shooting under 40% in the paint.

When can we move Dixon south of the Mason Dixon line?!?! Mike James is that you?

What about a Chris Webber? I know he wouldn't fit into the system, but he might provide that inside presence that could spark this team and help CB4 out. The need something to help them in the half court sets.

trading Bosh for Pau Gasol?

Bosh not healthy bad knee bad feet I don't think that trade is possible without some sugar from the Raptors. I am not impressed with Bosh this year and late last year but I can wait. I have always liked His game and heart but don't like Him playing soft Like He has done so quite often since the playoffs last year

Take it easy on Bosh. I'm sure that knee is still bothering him and he has yet to find his groove after missing most of the preseason. The Raps seems very scattered as a team right now, no one is playing with any consistency.

What the Raps desperately need is to learn to attack the basket, especially when the 3-ball isn't working for them.

"The Raps seems very scattered as a team right now, no one is playing with any consistency."

Hard to do that when You don't know when or how much U aare going to play

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/277600

good article in the star today by dave f. he's basically calling out Sam as a one trick pony. I think we can all agree by now that when tj becomes the main scoring option for the raps, bad things happen. sam needs to get his whole team involved outside of the high screen and roll. moon and delfino could both use a few plays run their way, anything that gets them to the rim, really.

if it's all about 'making shats' as sam likes to say, it's going to be a long, long season.

also yesterday, I have to say, was the first time I was bored watching the raps play. outside of moon and like you said franchise, delfino, there just doesn't seem to be any excitement coming from the floor with these guys. it's like they're just running the playbook. nothing more, nothing less.

it's still early, no need to panic, bla, bla, bla.

Bosh is playing some great defence especially blocking shots He's shooting a high percentage at the foul line. He's neen drawing fouls. He's been doing a lot of good things however the improvement really needs to come in his decisions when to kick the ballout. He seems to only kick the ball out after he has tested the defence and has been stopped.This gives the defence time to close in on the perimeter shooters.

The Raps have hit periods where the shots don't fall and as a viewer you can see it happening and so it is reasonable to assume the coaching staff can see it happening yet they continue to shoot and miss the same long quick jump shots. There is a belief that when the shots are not falling , you should look for lay ups or dunks until you get past the bad spell. It would be nice if the coaches had an offence plan for when the players get into these shooting funks rather than just let them jump shoot their way out of it.

this was the first loss that really upset me.

Bargs - played hard, boxed out, a few boards slipped out of his hand but the effort was finally there. Then so they reward him in the post. how many times did he have his man pinned under the hoop and they don't give it to him? it was ****in' italian day! give it to him!!! Of course the one time they did, it was way late and he gets the 3 second call, totally calderon's fault.

Note to tj ford, you should not try to be micheal jordan.

Note to bosh, you should try to be micheal jordan.

They had this one and gave it away... brutal

Axl - this is the downest I've been in a while as well. Even Friday's victory was totally uninspiring.
Thats all I got to say.

Anyone know a good bar to watch the Raps in Toronto (south of Eglinton, preferably) when there's a Leaf game on?

PS: I would NOT trade Bosh for Pau.

TJ FORD: One-on-Five player and undisputable LOSER!!!

Yeah Adam, cause Mike James and Rafer Alston were much better options.

Totally agree RT - Sam's even alluded to the fact that Bosh is holding the ball too long and not swinging it and yep, that's giving the defence lots of time to double hard, or close in on his passing lanes, two things yesterday that resulted in many of his turnovers. That lack of quick decision making could indeed be rust, except that it's now game 10 and in many ways, he's looked worst lately than he has in games say three and four. I haven't even found his defence to be that great and his rebounding, pitiful for someone with his skill set. He got worked by Biedrins yesterday and is not even averaging 7 on the year. Moon and Delfino are both almost at that level!

Sonic - My favourite sports bar is Harbour Sports Grille at 10 Yonge. They've got mad TV's and always have a few on the Raptors even when the Leafs play. You can call ahead and book the couches usually and it's the HQ's HQ for the All-Star game, NBA draft etc...

Lots of undertones of questioning Sam's coaching abilities in the comments here, in Franchise's assessment of the game, and just in general lately. The phrase "one trick pony" was even mentioned. Interesting. I'll just sit back and watch this one develop, but I am happy to see so many people are either seeing or at least acknowledging the "light".

yo papa - Feschuk's article was crap, as usual. He's not a sportswriter, he's a sh*t disturber. Maybe smitch could do a better job of play calling, and the defensive schemes were crap. BUT - if you want to know what's wrong with the raps, look at what went right. One play - ball goes into Bosh in the low post. Monte Ellis starts coming to double - instantly to calderon to delfino for wide-open 3. No hesitation from Bosh. My guess - it's all mental from CB4 right now. He had a injury, felt rusty, and is now doubting his judgment. Do I pass? should I take it to the hole? It'll pass. The team just doesn't realize how good they are right now. In the 2nd and 3rd quarter, they just out-classed GW, and I don't think BD et al had an answer. My only complaint, despite my earlier posts, remains TJ. Too many 1-on-5s in the last few and too many taking BD's crazy takes to the hoop personally. Run the offense and scream at the CB4 if he ain't getting it right. That's what an elite point does in the NBA.

Dispite all the negative talk , the Raptors are still off to better start than last year.Bosh's flaws are certainly correctable but that's a coaching responsibility
I find TJ Ford an interesting study. He has a real great offence when under control. He is applauded for his quickness but other guards seem to be able to blow by him. He is vulnerable to being posted up (ie Kidd and Baron Davis) yet he can make up for it with his scoring however when he scores a lot the team tends to lose. I also think his closeness on a personal level to Bosh sometimes blind him to other team mates.The last thing about TJ is that Sam never seems to get upset with him.

Two things: Why are Kapono and Parker not getting their shots. Something is badly wrong with the spacing in this offense, because they both could score a lot. Also, why is Garbo not in the game? he seemed to play well on Friday. Sam has yet to answer that one!

I was just wondering how many games has Bargs been yanked because of early foul trouble,but never gets to see the floor again SAVE HIM FOR WHEN... THE SHOWERS ?At least let him foul out...with a good hard foul.Especially against the Warriors...I think he was asking for the ball down low...but to no avail,lets continue to launch bricks...I'm trying to stay positive,but its starting to become very apparant that CB4 can't handle the double teams,and waits way to long to react to the defense ...I'm not a huge Bargs fan,but at least he makes a decision..do something Chris...At this point I am tired of talking about the legend (and we all know who he is ...you know the smallest guy on the floor,going to the paint) Maybe I'm wrong maybe if some our wing players watches TJ,they would be able to figure it out for themselves how its done...

A few points to make this morning. I’ll start off by saying that the Indiana game, just like the GS game was a terrible game that we would not have won against any of the top 15 teams in the league. The Indiana faults were masked by an undeserved W, you can’t complain with a W.

That was the worst defense I’ve ever seen from the Raps in quite some time. Constantly leaving shooters open, 5 guys collapsing on BD leaving everyone else open, wide open gaps for anyone to drive a truck through. If we were playing a decent team, this would have looked a lot more like the Milwaukee game.

TJ: I think people have been very unfair to TJ. Does he frustrate me at times? Absolutely! Do I hate his forced predetermined moves to the baskets? Like everyone else! But, and it’s a big BUT, he’s been the only consistent Raptor on the floor this season. He has clearly proven to be, with the odd exception of trying to prove something, a pass first PG. He is the 6th leading assist man in the NBA, and that’s with his teammates missing many open looks. Can’t argue with that. In yesterday’s game he had the third best FG% behind Dixon and Kapono (will get to them shortly). When my PG is shooting this well, I actually want him to keep shooting! Let’s face it, many times this year, TJ is our best option on the floor with the disappearance of Bosh (more on him later).

Dixon: Nothing much to say other than instant offence. Not sure I understand the criticism of putting him in when you need a bucket and no one else seems about to get you one.

Kapono: The guy is money! Sam really needs to come up with some plays for him. Some screen and rolls set up for him. Free him up and give him the ball! The guy can shoot!

Bargnani: Last year reminded me a lot of last year. Bargnani getting good position only to be ignored by the offence. Why not pass him the ball???

Bosh: This is his 5th season in the league. We can no longer hide behind "he’s still young and learning" and "big man take longer to develop." It’s time we face the facts. Maybe he is what he is? Maybe he’s peaked? When you get shut down by Collins (last year’s playoffs) and Stephen Jackson, when you get schooled by Dalembert and Bogut, why should other teams double you? And isn’t that what our whole team is built around, the Bosh double team? This is what ails us. Fix this, and we will win the East! What’s the only thing you can take from a playoff lose? Most would say the learning experience. What has Bosh learned? He is still taking those 17 foot jumpers. Makes me what to throw things at the TV. Every one of those he makes means 4 more he’ll attempt and miss before thinking of going to the hoop. Chris has been curse with a decent shot which unfortunately makes him very susceptible to attempt an outside shot which is not what we need from our PF. The fix is easy, making it happen isn’t. Chris needs to focus on the following: 1) Catch the ball in the paint and close to the hoop. 2) Make a quick first move. Do not wait to react to the defense, make the defense react to you. 3) Go strong to the hoop, I don’t care who is guarding you! This should help with Raps being one of the bottom teams in getting to the FT line.

There is a common excuse being used on this forum and in the media which goes something like this: "Chris has yet to find his groove after missing most of the preseason"? Really? That’s funny, the preseason is only 7 games long and we are 10 games into the season. How many games do you think CB4 will need to make up the 3 missed pre-season games?

Rotation: The top PGs in the league get at least 33MPG with most getting in access of 35MPG. TJ is at 28.7MPG. We have the luxury of having an above average backup point guard which gives us many options out there. I love how Sam utilizes both our PG, but, that was one of the downfalls yesterday. TJ was one of the only scoring player out there and was creating rather nicely (9 assists). The offence was very smooth with him out there in the 3rd quarter. In games when TJ is playing well (and aside from people’s anger at the lose, you can’t argue with 9 assists and 29 points on 54.5% shooting), you need to leave your star PG out there. When TJ is average, go to Calderon, but when TJ is on his game, you need to have him out there to close out games. I know TJ came back in, but as usual, too late. You can’t come back in the last few minutes of the game after riding the pine and expect to be productive. I would have sat TJ with about 3 minutes left in the 3rd to about 9 minutes to go in the 4th.

Also with rotation, why was Bargnani not out there to finish off the 4th quarter? He was actually playing very well and was it just me that noticed we need a bucket or two? Why not go with your offence?

First time writer, long time reader. Best Raptors blog on the Net. Thx Franchise and Howland. Keep it up.

I was at the game yesterday and I was very frustrated at Sam Mitchell and the guys he was playing in the last two minutes.

Moon and Delfino in particular. I know Franchise touched upon this. Delfino 1-5 from 3-pt? Moon going 0-3 from 3-pt and playing 37 mins?? Delfino played well with his defense and reb but his shot was off. Moon provided energy throughout the game and blocked some nice shots. But his shot was off as well and he's an undrafted rookie. Rookie's are usually inconsistent and you don't play them 37 mins. Esp undrafted ones.

I would of liked to seen Bargnani and and Kapono in. It was Italia day and I'm sure he was pretty jacked up for this game. Not to mention he's our Number 1 pick who's only playing 20 mins a game. Do you see LeBron/Yao/Bogut playing only 20 mins in there 2nd year? Kapono made his shots and we also gave him $24 million to make some 3s at the end of the game. What exactly is Mitchell thinking giving Moon more minutes than Nani?

Chris Bosh is too good to struggle all year. Not too worried about him.

Bargnani is BC's guy and Moon is Sam's guy. You think there might be some tension there? I think so.

Oh ya, Jessica Alba was at the game so the loss didn't feel as bad after seeing her.

Erezona, I really agree with some of the things you had to say, with one exception. There are problems with TJ's style of play, because him pumping in 29 doesn't let other guys get their flow, and ultimately hit important shots when they are open. Having read Feschuk's latest thoughts from the Star, I have to say that I really agree with his assessment of why it is TJ is taking so many shots. Please have a gander. He has really nailed the source of the problem on the head, and the trail of blame can go back to a familiar face.

I admit our offence looks completely out of sync last two games. Whats happened to that extra pass? Considering our rotation has changed almost as much as it did last year, I'll give it more time. But I'm not pleased.
Raptors should never be in a position where TJ has 29 shots.
The Moon and Baston starting duo experiment must come to an end.
Branden - I know where you're going.........

Branden, are you referring to the article that says that when TJ went for more than I think it was 24 points last season we were 2-4? 10 games isn’t enough for us to be concerned yet but 6 games last year is somehow statistically relevant?

I don’t disagree that when Ford scores a lot of points, we are usually not playing well. I disagree with the reasons why Ford scores a lot of points. I believe that he scores points because of what the defense is giving him. They are leaving him open while covering all the shooters. He’s got to take that shot or get out of the league. Either, Sam has to draw new plays to get his guys open, guys have to get open, or TJ has to keep making that shot.

Our rotation and the extra pass is all a symptom of Bosh’s ailment. If he is playing well, the extra pass is there, when he insists on taking the 17 foot jumper, the defense is staying home on the shooters and we can’t get open looks.

RT: I agree with your assessment. Bosh needs to react quicker and make better decisions on when and where to pass the Ball. He has also failed to protect the ball and identify 2nd defenders coming at him, leading to turnovers. I am a huge (HUGE) Bosh fan and over the last 10 games, I have become quite concerned. He has looked robotic, indecisive and has no explosiveness in his post-moves or drives. Notice that when he drives or makes a move he jumps off one leg (running one handers) as apposed to planting and going up strong. This has resulted in his shots getting blocked on numerous occasions or flailing instead of finishing. Even in cases where he is given the opportunity to go one on one with smaller players (Posey in the Boston game and Steven Jackson vs. Golden State) he has not been able to over-power, out-quick or out smart them. Again this is in SINGLE coverage. It is now 10 games in and he has shown little improvement… starting to get concerned about that knee, the lack of explosiveness would lead one to believe he is favouring it.

However, Bosh for Pau is ridiculous, not worth discussing…

And another thing…

I will preface this by saying I always give Sam the benefit of the doubt because I think people are to quick to point out his shortcomings and forget praise when the team is successful. However, this Baston starting at centre farce has to stop. The team has started slowly since he was inserted in the starting 5 and he has produced very little. Even defensively, he has been outplayed dramatically by Jermaine O’neal and Bierdrens, the two he was responsible for guarding. I think Sam may have outsmarted himself with this one. The whole "we don't want to disrupt the 2nd unit crap is fine when you're winning, but we aint. It was an experiment, it has failed, let’s get sensible here. The starting line up could use another shooter, I would opt for Bargs over Kapono as Kap would take space from Anthony Parker. So what if Bargs may pick up quick fouls… he’s got to learn at some point and I would rather loose with him than loose with Baston.

It is interesting that since Rasho went down the Raps have looked a little lost. They definitely miss on d more than on the off side.
I was extremely frustrated with the o in the 4th quarter. They climbed back into the game and took a good lead and GS looked exhausted and ready to roll over and then the Raps started clanking bricks and playing silly. I do not understand how they get into that mentality. I mean you have a lead and the shots aren't falling, maybe you should try something a little different. I really think that the Raps should watch tape of their game against Utah and try and model their offense around them. Utah had a horrible game shooting but still won because they were constantly moving to the basket with backdoor cuts. GS are one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA and it just boggles my mind that everyone camped at the 3 point line and made defense easy for them.
On Bosh. Bosh had a horrible game (again). To be fair, he was getting hammered constantly without calls, or ignored by everyone by his teammates. I do not understand how he can not be given the ball every trip down the floor when GS has no defensive presence inside whatsoever. Stephen Jackson is assigned to guard Bosh, what is he like 6'8"? Arggggggggg. I said it last week and I will say it again, until this team learns to consistently attack the basket instead of settling for jumpers they are no better than .500 team. They are only marginally better than Milwaukee, Chicago etc (other teams who rely way to much on their shots to fall in order to win) and despite what some apologists are saying, this is totally Sam Mitchells responsibility. True he can't play the games but he is charge of their offense and he should be making the adjustments to team to make sure that they are executing (either by benching the guys who are not following the game plan and devising options on their offense that gives the team a chance to score without having to jack up jumpers all the time. I've always liked Sam and I feel he isn't completely to blame but to say he doesn't have some responsibility is a huge mistake.

"ustation" are you a moron? haven't you heard or seen Jose Calderon?

I was disappointed with Andreas not getting the ball when he was demanding it in the paint; and Garbo nailed to the bench after a decent showing against the Pacers. What's with Mitchell? I really question the way he doled out minutes.

Just a quick note - People as of late have been quick to jump on other people and call people idiots, morons, etc. Let's respect other people's opinions. We have said it a hundred times...it's the great comments that make this site what it is. Let's continue that trend (and avoid the race issue etc.)

I think the Raptors have a bigger problem: the infestation of Leaf Nation-itis among the fans. Booing the Raps on sun?? are you kidding me? Relax folks...the Raps were never a 50 win team to begin with which means they are going to lose more than 30 games. Typical Leaf Nation-itis - unrealistic expectations and constant whining about coaching and guards.

yeah I'm not saying d.f from TheStar is a genius or always writes good articles, but I do think he's speaking of a problem that isn't touched on by most in the media - and that the raps offense is predictable. it's no secret, of course (the high screen and roll,) but when that isn't working, it's a free for all. and because bosh isn't hitting that jumper off the role, the whole of the offense is now grinding to a halt.

you'll notice things work completely different when he's not in the game.

I'm just saying a plan 'b' would be nice every once in a while.

I think the tj problem comes down to predictability. Sometimes it's just too obvious what he's going to do.

Was at the game yesterday and was disgusted by the play in the 4th quarter. Moon played better in the second half, but his total lack of an outside shot killed us as GState didn't feel the need to have anyone within 1o feet of him. And he needs to stop trying to swat every shot into the 5th row; he jumped as high as he could for everything and was out of position more than a few times.

What disappointed me the most was seeing how Bosh responded to the double teams, or more accurately how he did not respond. Every time he got the ball he held on to it in order to read the defence, and when the double came it was too late to go to the basket. Nor was he making decisive passes to open teamates. It was the same thing he was doing last year and making quicker moves/ passes was one thing I thought he really needed to work on in order to become a better player.

I'm not worried (yet), but yesterday's game was brutal and overall their play is frustrating. And Bargs body language is not good at all.

its pretty much always obvious what hes gonna do...as a fan sitting at home, I can pretty much call out what hes about do everytime before he even does it, so if i am capable of doing so, u know the other team's players/coaches are also able to. You can tell by his body language what hes gonna do, u know right away even with 22 seconds left on the shot clock, wether or not anyone else will even touch the ball on the offense..its pretty ridiculous if u ask me

temperature check - RaptorsHQ - hot!

The segments where you check in with other bloggers are absolute brilliance. No longer do we have to rely on the media caricatures of opposing teams - we can actually get the real story from people who follow that team.

The information that they give is of such a higher quality. Keep doing these!!!

Raptorman...we plan on doing these all year long. We even get sick of hearing what we have to say and a fresh (opposing team) perspective is always nice.

Did anybody else notice that Golden State was playing Bosh like they played Nowitzki in the playoffs (albeit with less intense doubling). They put a smaller, quicker player on him to negate his speed advantage and challenged him to back him down.

And therein lies one of my biggest problems with this coaching staff (among many). Our most versatile offense weapons (Bargnani and Bosh) have become incredibly one-dimensional in this system. Bosh, for the most part, gets the ball at the elbow and other takes his man off the dribble or shoots a jumper. Bargnani drifts outside the 3 pt. line, sets the odd screen, and generally plays like a small forward. And the most frustrating part is that I'm fairly confident that both players are capable of more. In fact I've seen glimpses of it every once in a while, but they don't get placed in those situations more often and, as a result, haven't/aren't developing a more well-rounded game.

Chutney

Further to Your post BOSH takes a few jab steps then you know he will jump shoot

Bargani will shoot more often than not from the left arc.

Steve, thanks for the props and good call on Jessica. Chuck was freaking out about her all game...

Raptorman - we're hoping to get Blog-a-Bull, one of the godfathers of NBA blogging up this weekend for some Bulls-Raps talk.

NYfan - Some great points. I remember a few instances with Bosh like that. I know Sam Mitchell has referenced a few times that he needs Bosh to keep moving the ball so hopefully as the season goes on we see more of that.

McGateway - Agree on Rasho. I think Baston has been ok in spurts, but he's just not the presence Rasho was either on offence or on the boards. If he couldn't get the job done against Biedrins, not sure how he's going to manage against the gruesome twosome of Dampier and Diop. He should be coming off the bench right now...

Franchise, coming off the bench or glued to the bench?

Hate to say it, but Bosh isn't going to be alright this year at all. I'm sure that it is the foot injury that may not have been okay had he not played for the USA, and definitely isn't now. He looks like playoff Bosh,not quite interested in taking it to the rim and unable to get his feet on his jump shot because his feet don't feel well.

As for the articles about the simplistic Rap offence, it was apparent early on. You force the pick and roll so that it ends up in a jump shot or a collapse on the paint. They see it coming and when it starts, a big or 2 goes to the net to create traffic. They need a bunch of slashers to go to the hole to give the defences something else to worry about. Until we get Good Joey or Moon slashing, we aren't gonna break down any smart defences.

Adam, to call the league's 5th highest leader in assist totals a "Loser" is quite moronic itself. Then what you're also saying is every raptor PG in history has also been a loser. Now if you think Calderon is a better PG than TJ, well that's a different story. I would disagree, and at least one other person who counts would agree. I think what contributes to the perception that JC is better is because in stretches he is better than TJ. But I think in the long term, TJ can do more. This part is debatable. Calling TJ a loser, well puts you out of touch.

Other case in point, do people really think that if we swapped minutes with JC and TJ, that the raps would be anything but .500? There is a reason why almost every major analyst put this team at about .500. For all the disbelievers out there, live with it, they are what they are, and Boston is what people predicted. I know it's early, and injuries can turn things on a dime, but so far, it's unfolding as forseen.

Please stop making this into Leaf nation, where all of the leaf's problems are put on to McCabe. I've become a raps fan mainly to get away from the puckheads!

EaseMyPain and all others who have brought up the "simplistic offence", I don’t know that I agree. The beautiful thing about the pick and roll is that it’s simple. It allows the ball handler many options and as Jack said (I think on Hoops), there are at least 6 ways to defend it. It can create a lot of confusion on the defensive end and open up many options on the offensive end. The Jazz in their Malone/Stockton years ran this to perfection. This was their play. No one ever called it simplistic because it worked! It was beautiful to watch as long as you weren’t the one getting burned by it time and again.

There were variations, but for the most part, the way the play worked is that Stockton would run off a Malone screen. The defender would either fight over the screen and watch Stockton go in for a layup, go under the screen and watch Stockton drain a 10 footer, the defender would get help from Malone’s defender leaving Malone open for a drive to the basket or the defenders would switch resulting in a mismatch and a Malone drive to the basket.

Problem with the Raps execution is that the defense got smart. They would either switch defenders or leave Bosh open because they read the scoting reports and they know Bosh feels more comfortable taking that outside shot. So the play usually results in Bosh getting the ball minus the drive to the basket. This is a another way to run the play. You could have the big pull up for a jumper if he is free. Of course, if that’s the variation we were going to go with, I would pair Bargnani or Kapono with Ford for the play, not Bosh. The reason Bosh is there is to drive to the basket. This would also allow Bosh to play closer to the basket and hopefully get easier looks.

I’m hoping that after what we’ve witnessed, Sam switches up Ford’s partner for this play going forward.

Now I’m no expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

First, Erezona is quickly becoming my favorite read in here. Nice analysis of the "simplistic offence", and use of the Malone/Stockton analogy. Switchiing up pairings for the pick and role would be a very simple adjustment which might result in some more shots going down. Getting Bargs invovled here might really help his progression and confidence (assuming TJ remembers to occasionally give it up to him). Bosh would also be encouraged to be closer to the hoop, definately a good thing. However, two things may complicate this, the fact most defences seem very willing to slack off TJ because they realize the pick and roll is our only play, which means that shooter will likely not be open and TJ will continue interpreting this as an invitation to endlessly dribble around, and zone defence, which was not around when Stockton and Malone were doing their thing, and means aoutomatic switching. TJ needs to be automatic with that 10-15 foot jumper, and needs way more penetrate-and-kick action off the screen so that the Kapono's and Parker's get their shots and the Moon's and Graham's get lanes opened up for drives.

The problem for me with the pick and roll is that it's not situational so if you rely on it too much you can't take advantage of hot shooters, mismatches or pounding the ball into X player.

If you're constantly getting the same defense and so the ball goes to the same guy, who misses time after time, it just makes you want to cry. Not to mention, when nobody knows when or by whom the shot's going up, it's hard to get into rebounding position.

The other thing is that the partner on the pick and roll is only option one, it's up to the other players to either run to an open space on the floor or slash into position behind option one, ready to drive or shoot. Both those things require a lot of usually fruitless effort.

Feel free to correct me if you think I'm off base, everything I know I learned from watching tv.

TJ FORD: One-on-Five player and (ustation) undisputable LOSER!!!!!