3 In the Key - Raptors Game-Day Preview vs. Mavericks

Heard Sam on the Fan this morning. Nothing new except more verbal abuse all round. I hope to see Garbo tonight. I agree that we need toughness.

I expect us to compete tonite - we usually show ell against the better teams.
Agree with tfan about Jorge. We are a deep team but not so deep that he should not play. Lets start him and Bargs.
Enough with the musical chairs Sam.

It's interesting as a fan/supporter how involved we get in what is really a trivial pursuit, that of analyizing the Raptors and how good we feel when they do good.
Certainly the odds are stacked against them tonight. On your three points: Bosh tends to bounce back after a poor game so my guess is that he'll have a good game tonight.Toughness has been bantered about a lot and I think a start by Hump rather than Baston would be the only step Sam could make to bolster intensity if not toughness. Which brings me to a "strong start" - aggressive smart defence will be key to a quick start. If it takes them a whole quarter to get up to speed on their rotations, Dallas will bury them early.

Funny but I don't think Garbo can man up from the bench.

can we drop the security codes?

We as Raps fans put too much pressure on our selves and the team. The Raps have always have a slow November and yet we expect them to start 10 - 0 because of what they did last year, when the reality is our division and conference is much better. Last year Orlando was what 13-4 and the league caught up with them. This year the Boston bruins was given the softest schedule because of where they finish last year not taking into account that they would go out and pick up Ray Allan and Kevin Garnet. Then play every 2 or 3 days it seems will not be on an extended road trip until the end of December and there first road trip is against the weakest teams in the west. The real test for Boston will come in the playoffs or the weeks before. The Raptors once again have the toughest schedule, they might not start on the road like last year but almost every game so far is against a playoff of team, including Boston. So I still think we need to just give them some slack and let them play their way back. To me Bosh has not been Bosh since the start of the season. I know we are an unselfish team but your star player needs to take the bulk of the shots and play the most minutes. If its not there then kick it out...we need to get back to that. TJ is our best player so far. Toronto is the only sport city where your best player get crucified for doing good...TJ is the only one playing with toughness and grit and he is the smallest player on the court. Sometimes I read these post or listen to the Radio and the comments from the fans make me sick...a bunch of morans on and off bandwagonist... The Raps will win tonight, everytime we play Dallas they always beat us at the buzzer. Seems things have change this year and the Raptors are now a Road Warrior, playing their best game away from the ACC and why? They are more comfortable away from the Fans and less pressure is on them to perform...So what is the remedy...THE FANS NEED TO SUPPORT THE TEAM AT HOME AND STOP CRITICIZING THE PLAYERS FOR BEING GOOD...ALA TJ FORD.

Did I say Boston Bruins...I bet you guys are laughing. Yeh OK Celtics...Come on Rap Fans make me proud...Leave TJ alone the guy is good and is going to be great...What was it that Don Nelson one of the best coach in the NBA said and I quote "He's a handful. He's as close to (Steve) Nash as anyone I've seen," Nelson said. And yet our Toronto fans that have been sitting on their sofa coaching can't seem to see the upside for TJ. The kid takes 15 good shots for a game and the one bad shot he takes is all you hear about the next day...please. I AM A BIG TJ FAN. I ALSO LOVE JOSE but if Jose has to go up against the starting point guard in this league for 35 min a night then you would understand why Mitchell start TJ. They would eat him alive...ala Deron Willims Utah.

As you can tell by my handle, I'm a big TJ fan, but I think that he really need to grow up and not to go mano mano (against Deron) or take too many shots. BTW, constructive criticism is always good for the team. I'd sure like to see a big W tonight!

I see a loss tonight if we do not get our offense started early. Starting Bargnani at center would be a great way to combat the rebounders in dampier and diop. Those two guys have no offensive game and so bargs will okay on that end. I hope that the team does not fall in love with the jump shot and we only get about 70 points this game.

A big W tonight would really simmer people down and would be a boost before a tough game tomorrow night against an overlooked Memphis squad. I actually think Toronto will play better tonight against Dallas than they did against G State. Why? Well I think it's tough to get a true read on any team after playing the Warriors. They're just such a different beast and it's why they gave the aformentioned Mavericks so much trouble in last year's playoffs. They have a gaggle of athletes who can come at you and all can play 18 different positions on the court. They don't hesitate to pull the trigger either and although have no low-post presence, they have a rebounding machine in Biedrins who just gets put-backs or second-chance opps for his team-mates to keep firing away.

Dallas is much more similar to Utah and Boston and hopefully their more traditional inside/out style will give Toronto less trouble. I'll be keeping a keen eye on rotations as usual tonight but also sets and coaching maneouvers. Mitchell's troops were out-strategized last game and I'm hoping to see better adjustments in this one.

I think what it is with Toronto fans (and sports fans in general in most major markets)is the unrealistic expectations. Then the team doesn't meet those expectations and all heck breaks loose. This is true for all the pro teams in Toronto. The fans have to find the scape goat, always the coach, and/or a specific player or two - usually the "star" player or highest paid, if he came in from another organization. But it's never the homegrown "star" player if he was drafted by Toronto. You're also exempt if you're deemed a "blue collar" player. Toronto loves their muckers - the Wendel Clarks, Cliff Johnsons, JYDs. God forbid you come into this city with a tan!

If it's several years of unmet expecations, then the scapegoat goes to the GM.

What I don't understand about the whole TJ bit is that he takes his 13 shots a game and is hitting 48% with 81 Assists! In my books, that puts him behind Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, and AI as a point guard this year. Don't get me wrong, I'm not please with all his decision making this year, but 48% puts him above average.

Terry has been on fire coming off the bench this year. Hope thats a lesson for anyone going to the second unit.

Unrealistic expectations for Toronto sports fans? What exactly does this mean?

Call me crazy, but . . . I have compiled a list of the winning percentages of each team in the three major sports in North America (sorry hockey fans, I'm from the States, and ice-skating don't count--however, the Leafs wouldn't help anyway) and then arranged the total winning percentage by city. The data goes from 1994-2007 (roughly the years that I was old enough to really follow sports.)

Toronto ranks 25th out of 30 in cities that have at least two teams in MLB/NBA/NFL. This is up from 27th through 2006, because both the Raptors and Jays had solid 2007 seasons.

In that fourteen year span the Raps have made the playoffs 4 times, the Jays 0. That is awful and ranks among the worst of any city that meets these requirements.

Conclusion: Toronto fans are not overly critical, it's just that all of their teams have sucked for nearly fifteen years (outside of two decent Raptors seasons). Again, for those who like hockey for some reason, the Leafs winning percentage, while solid, would not help the equation much because NHL teams generally have pretty mundane winning %'s because of all the ties.

There you have it . . . if anyone wants the whole chart, I can pass it along somehow, let me know.

the raps seem to me to have a history of playing up to better teams, so I always hold out hope that they can win. I think playing better teams sharpen them up too, whereas even a win against a bad team lulls them in to bad habits and overconfidence.

Thinking of the 6-6 boshless road trip last year, the raps really played as a team, might need a test like that to really get going.

raps4life, Boston Bruins??? ha! ha! ha!

Okay Real Aaron, I guess none of us can claim the name Aaron to be fair so I am going to change my name as well. =P

Mike Rapfan, I would disagree starting Bargs for tonight. As you mentioned, we need more of a rebounding presence and I don't think Bargs is the answer for that. Since Rasho is still out and Baston, I'm not convinced he's been effective, I would go with either Garbs or Humphries at PF and start Bosh at C. I'd prefer Humphries. Bosh can guard Dirk since he is quicker and more athletic (which Dirk had trouble playing against i.e GS)as long as he uses his feet and not jump for those pump fakes. Jamario would be there for the weak side help if necessary.

Bargs gets off the bench for more firepower in the second unit.Besides, I'm not sure who can match up against Bargs with the Mavs' second unit..there could be someone, I'm just not sure who.

Not sure if that is the best way to match up with tonight but that's how I would put it.

LOL at UStation for the holiday inn comment haha

Real Aron in fairness to the Raptors they are a young NBA team. They came into the league in 95 and no one really expect them to have a winning record right away. I think Orlando is the only Franchise that acutally made it to the finals in there 1st 5 years. We didn't start making any noise until VC came in 2000...And ustation you should have make an exception with Vince because we drafted him, well you are right we didn't draft Vince I just remembered that we traded Antwan Jamieson for VC but that is so true. I have seen it over and over again the fans does not like to see atheletes make a lot of money in Toronto, they pick on them as if its their fault that the team signed them for millions. I notice that they started picking on Kapono already, the guy havn't even unpacked his luggage as yet and all everyone can say he doesn't deserve his contract. Pat Riley realizes it. I could go on and on about us Sport fans in this great City but in the end the Raptors will make the playoffs and advance this year weather they do it from the 1 seed or the 6 seed it does not matter all that matters is we get their and move on.

P.S RealAron here is my email address send me that link......sford21@ford.com

I'd love to take cred for the Holiday Inn comment, but I didn't write it, and I chuckled at it too.

Real Aaron, though I don't necessarily disagree, but it's not quite fair since T-dot doesn't have an NFL team (whole different conversation). Plus cities with multiple teams will tend to average out better (NYs, LAs, Chicagos). And just cause the teams in T.Oh haven't done all that well don't mean fans don't believe that we're winners. The last 3 years, I've heard many Jay diehards truely believe they have a playoff contender. Look at this sites comments pre-season. I think many people predicted a 50+ win season. And if you can listen to Toronto Sports radio, it's all about being critical of the Leafs. Basketball and Baseball may be a sport, but skate skate slap slap is a religion here in Canada. They spend the off season talking about the head of the players association for months and months for crying out loud. It's headline news.

Adam, name me a fan favourite in Toronto that has a tan?

I usually spend a lot of time on this sight defending the Raptors and the coach. The last few games though have concerned me. Thus my comments on the rotations.
raps4life - I agree its been either TJ or Delfino who's been our best player so far, but tfan best expressed my concerns about TJ - its when he tries to take over a game himself. I stated before his head hasn't caught up to his heart. He is our starting PG now and for the future but in his mind I think he considers himselF a top 5 PG, At this moment in his career he's hasn't cracked my top ten list.
When he decides to go one on one, it goes against the flow of our team and its no coincidence that we lose more games than win when he makes himself our #1 scoring option. The best game he's played so far this year was the one where he took 3 shots.

Raps will win tonight. They play up to their competition and tend to do well on the road. Also, TJ and Bosh are home tonight.

Branden, to answer your question from the previous post about the pick and roll, yes things are different with the zone. But one way you beat a zone is by hitting the outside shots. On the pick and roll, if there is traffic in the lane, it means someone outside is open. This team is set up perfectly for that with all the 3pt shooters we have. We were built for the pick and roll. What you hope for is for the defense to collapse 5 guys on Bosh, just like the Raptors demonstrated on Baron Davis. I agree that this may create open opportunities for TJ which I think he has to capitalize on. That’s why I’m not so hard on TJ scoring. I think that’s all part of the way the team was put together. As long as he makes good decisions. But to be fair, there was a moment against Indiana where he was embarrassed by Diener. I was fully expecting TJ to come back and take things into his own hands, but he didn’t. He passed out for a better look. I think TJ has some room to grow as a professional, but I think he is showing that he can do that. As I’ve mentioned many times before, I am far more concerned about Bosh not showing any capacity to learn from his mistakes.

Axl, agree with you as well (on the pick and roll comment). But as long as TJ is hitting a high percentage, all is good.

Please stop with the;
Is Jose getting killed in the 4th quarter in some back-alley game that I missed? The offence and defence has been clicking more often than not only to see him get yanked with 3-5 minutes left.
I do not think TJ is s#@, but at this moment he should not be the floor general down the stretch.
The argument that he is young and will grow out of it is also merely an excuse. Has Marbury or Francis grown out of their selfish ways? Just because people become veterans does not mean that they turn off the selfish gene.
Free Garbo!!!!!

Don't know what happened there but I was referring to raps4life's assertion that Jose would get killed by the other starting PG's in the league.

@sharpy
Ok, the "TJames" phenomena on this site is bad enough (how short a memory we fans have...Mike was a loon looking for a pay day), but comparing TJ to Steve Francis and Stephon Marbury? Come on, I understand the frustration but that is just ridiculous.

Another point: CB4 is our "man"...without him on his game we are mediocre at best. Since he has been off his game OF COURSE we're having problems (Can you imagine Orlando without Dwight?) If he starts being the player he was last year you will magically see the offense working smoothly. Right now, other teams aren't scared of Chris, and they need to be. No double teams, no open Kapono and Parker draining threes. Its that simple.

Adding to my last post,I will, however, agree with the many who have asked what is going on with Sam's rotation (or lack thereof). Garbo plays 24 productive minutes one game (after riding the pines) and is then nailed to the bench against GS? What kind of message is a coach sending with that? I realize that you can make the argument that GS has wing players that are too quick for him, but when the raps were imploding in the 4th, that's when a guy like Garbo is perfect. He doesn't give a s*** what the score is, he comes in, plays good positional defence, smacks some people around and moves the ball well on offense. Isn't that precisely what we needed to break up the stagnation?

totally agree stylin' - looks like we won'y be seeing him for a while. moved to IR because of mri, apparently (realgm)

looks like the shooting is getting beter again. Hate that, near the end of the 2nd, Raps do perimeter again, miss, but there goes Dallas going inside, layups, and chip away. Wonder if they will catch up in the second half? Or will the Raps go back to 1st quarter dominance?

Hassell (11.10 of 3rd), one on one against Bosh, Bargs comes in to help, and he STILL gets the layup. Now, tell, how does he do that, but we can't do that?

9.11 Tips it over Bosh. What is he, a pylon out there? Later, Bosh for a foul on Howard. Earlier, a phantom call on him against Dirk. No respect from the refs OR the players. Sheesh.

around 7.30 TJ dribbling around, in and then back out past 3-point arc, shot clock at 5, no one to pass to so takes shot, and misses.

"Raps are reeling here" says the announcers.

TJ the only one defending. Maybe Sam likes his hustle. Interesting how the lead is disappearing with TJ, and Diop LAYS IT IN. Now lead is four points - at 6.35, two throwaway turnovers in a row!

CALL A TIMEOUT!!

Now to Moon, ANOTHER turnover. This offence is chaos. Now 5.37.

fairness to TJ, Jose not doing much better. Dirk is money. Bosh, misses in the paint.

that's it. end of 3rd, Dirk playing with these guys. not interesting anymore. This game is Rapcrap. Got some work I need to do (its 1210 noon where I am), and I would rather get that done, time better spent.

Who was the most potent shooter in the 1st half? Who was containing Dirk in the 1st half? Who sat for most of the third while Dirk was going off? Why was Moon not on Dirk if it wasnt going to be Bargs?

saw this on yahoo/nba/rumors...

New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas could go at any moment. But the bigger questions are who replaces Thomas and who does the hiring?

If the league is involved, the NBA would push several big name candidates in James Dolan's direction. The most obvious are Jerry Colangelo and Jerry West. Also, Kiki Vandeweghe and Colangelo's son, Bryan, who is currently running the Toronto Raptors, shouldn't be ruled out.

One reader writes, "how about a donut, the donut will be able to make delicious trades and not harrass staff."

Ahh, needed a laugh after that horrid 3rd quarter.

Now back to work.

And who comes up with these "rumors" anyway? BC? Are you kidding me??

@Gerry: JERRY Colangelo...BC's father.

I'd vote for the donut.

16 points 1st half, 1 in the 2nd. Seriously, how does a coach let that happen? Not only that, but no plays run for Bargs, what did he have like 3 attempts in the second half? I am not buying this whole look at the upside stuff, or we aren't doing so bad in the East load. We are handing games away. Hey Memphis, you guys up for an amazing display on incompetance and a golden opportunity to walk away with a game? Great!! Sam and the Raps are coming to town.

Quick points:
Leo & Chuck were a pain in the....
Bargs.....did Sam forget he was on the bench...
Turning point the 3 turnovers...
Again...last 2 minutes ,time management ....Jose didn't give Bargs the chance to set up....
Bosh was gased.....but stop setting up 20 feet away from the basket...
It's too bad because our big 3 were humming the first half.
At least there was some effort tonight...I missed Garbo...what happened ?

Reports that an MRI on Garbo showed something strange, probably requires surgery, so most likely Garbo goes under the knife and is out for the season. "I am fine" - yeah right, Garbo, stick to b-ball, and leave medicine to the people who know what they are actually talking about. And I guess that does not include doctors who work for the Spanish national team?

BC must be livid right now.

the biggest problem I have with this loss, was sam mitchells coaching decisions...mainly the fact that bargs hit 4 threes in the first half and they were eating dallas alive with the pick and pop up top with bargs....in the second half...not once did they run a pick and pop for bargs...instead they ran it for bosh which wasnt doing horrible but at the same time...feed the hot hand...bargs was 4 of 6 from downtown in the first half...i didnt see him take a three in the second till late in the 4th when it was too late and he was cold.

Absolutely no excuse for that on sam mitchells part, you are up by 23 because bosh was doing his thing down low and bargs was killing it up top...they reversed the rolls in the second half and look what happens...brutal coaching tonight.

Just a side note I thought bargs played decent D on dirk for the most part, a few obvious mistakes but apart from that not bad...when dirk hit 4 straight threes it was on Bosh i might add.

You know, and Tinman will be heartened to hear this, I wonder what Sam is supposed to do if his players are running around with their heads detached? Can these guys tie their own shoelaces? At what point does Sam's yelling finally sink in, and these players do what they are being coached to do?

Bargs not playing; maybe he refuses to listen to Sam? I am the #1 pick etc etc. TJ - he was running around picking up other people's defensive lapses, trying to get passes to people who did not want to move but float.

Is Sam to blame for not wanting to bench the only guy out there who seems to give a damn? Would you bench him? I don't think I would.

I am getting concerned - have the players tuned Sam out? What exactly happened in Europe?

Let me sum the game up. It was a better team beating an inferior team. That's all. The readers must understand that the Raptor team is young. Dirk was crap his 1st/2nd years. Look at him now, a positive environment to grow coupled with a patient (couple of) coaches, and he has done wonders (he deserved the MVP award). Going forward, I was never really sold on the Raptors (they may surprise me). I haven't checked the stats, but some of the wins they had last year came against Boston and a sans Kristic and Jefferson New Jersey team. Colangelo still has some work to do.

I was never really sold on Sam Mitchell. Again I could be proven wrong, but out of timeouts it's either really poor execution or it's bad coaching (Bosh is NOT Shaq, he commands the double, but to a point because he can't hit the jumper this year so far...he was excellent last year at that). Anyways, as Howland and Franchise have said, this team lacks a serious interior presence. This maybe just isn't the year, but Bargnani may turn a only midly inferior verison of Dirk. We shall see.

Any comments would be much appreciated.

Thanks

"better team beating inferior team" - really? Not for 3 quarters! In the 3rd the Raps fell apart. If they stayed equal to Dallas that quarter, they win by 20.

So, what happened in the 3rd? I sorta noticed a change near the end of the 2nd: the offence got lazy, started taking floating 3's possession after possession without going interior, and Dallas was chipping away.

They kept doing the same at the beginning of the 3rd, Raps got rattled and couldn't keep their hands on the ball, and Dirk drove the daggers when they left him wide open for 3's.

In the 4rth, they settled down again, and played an equal game, but Dallas knew how to play with a lead.

For those of you who is heating on TJ, well he was in the game for the first half and the Raptors were winning by 19, he got a stinger and could not play for the other half, so Jose had to take over, guess what we lost the game, this is just a point we have 2 point guard who plays differently, but when it comes to winning games TJ is much better

raps played great I thought, they play like that, most nights they win. Mistakes obviously, but right mentality

Feeling better - even with the loss.
Everyone asking why Bargnani got no touches in second half - you don't think it was because Dallas made adjustments and didn't leave him free? Sometimes the answers to the questions you ask are obvious. No conspiracy, he was being covered! Hope this helps clarify.

Ya Tinman,I guess you are right in saying that the Mavs made adjustments to Bargs...I just wish we had made our adjustments as well re.Dirk...call a time out or something ,try to disrupt his flow ...something !! But I'm not to crazy about blowing a huge lead,however did we honestly think that the Mavs weren't going to make a run !!! I have to admit the team showed promise...Sam has to do a better job in the last two minutes...

Ya Tinman,I guess you are right in saying that the Mavs made adjustments to Bargs...I just wish we had made our adjustments as well re.Dirk...call a time out or something ,try to disrupt his flow ...something !! But I'm not to crazy about blowing a huge lead,however did we honestly think that the Mavs weren't going to make a run !!! I have to admit the team showed promise...Sam has to do a better job in the last two minutes...

Oh, well I wasnt aware it was that simple, now it is much more clear. First, Bargs need to be on the court to be able to say he was being covered, unless you mean Hassel or Diop was over on the Raps bench giving Bargs a headlock, so that he could not get on the court. Second, the Mavs had no answer for a penetrate and kick to Bargs, even if they did manage to get a guy out on him, all he would have to do is one of his quick head fakes, and then TAA DAA, open shot. And hypothetically, let's say the Mavs did manage to make an adjustment whereby Bargs was no longer open (under any circumstances, at all, so covered they could not possibly get the ball into his hands, as you have suggested). Does that mean we should give up on this option in our offence? Are the Raps legally obligated to not make an adjustment to the Mavs adjustment (say a quick little screen of the ball to get him some space)?

branden - did you watch this game??

Bargs played 33 minutes last night. Don't remember him ever having more court time.
Branden - we lost to a better team. As someone stated earlier we knew Dallas was gonna go on a run. As deep as we are, Dallas is deeper and with a more talented group. With the exception of that 2-3 minute where we played like keystone cops, I was not disappointed in what I saw last night.

Man - I benched Bargnani last night on my fantasy team. I'm glad he showed me up - but I could have used his shooting percentage!!

I was most impressed with Bosh last night actually. I only watched the first 3 quarters - but Bosh was playing much more like the Bosh this teams needs.

A loss to Dallas on the road is nothing to get worried over. Blowing another 24 point lead is!

Sam got out coached in the second half. Avery Johnson figured it out and changed his teams tactics in the 3rd quarter (at the end of the 2nd half actually). Sam has to do a better job at adjusting.

Does that mean Avery got outcoached in the first half?

Marcia,

The Lenova stats for TJ in yeaterday's game was a -3. So was Jose's at -3.
Nice fact finding mission by yourself once again.

Actually I did think that TJ played well yesterday and I will give him his credit when it is due. And it hasn't been lately.

However that does not mean I will be "HEATING?" TJ. I don't even know what that means.

Marcia you are the weakest link........good-bye.