Tip-In: All Hands On Deck

Sobeys bags. that's good stuff kid.

When did Mo Pete look focused? I watched the game and Mo Pete looked invisible for the most part. The only thing I noticed about him was that he ran around like a chicken with its head cut off on defense which led to some open looks for the Magic (most of which they missed). I was thoroughly pissed at his performance. He looked disinterested and the Raps are lucky that 1. Magic couldn't hit an outside jumper to save their lives (cept for Hill). 2. That the magic absolutely suck from the free throw line. It is amazing that people talk so much about Howard when his free throw shooting is barely better than his field goal percentage. It just boggles my mind that someone who has as much potential as Howard does cannot hit free throws at better than a 60% clip. Even Antonio Davis could do better than that (and it came through hard work). Now granted Shaq also cant hit free throws but Shaq is a player in his own world and Howard isnt even near approaching that level as of yet.
All that being said, Toronto needs Mo P to step it up and play both offensively and defensively better than last night or Toronto will be lucky to finish in a playoff spot let alone the top of their division. The magic number may be 9 but I just do not see them winning enough down the stretch if they cannot get better performances out of their other players than we saw last night. Bosh and Ford cannot pick up the slack from three guys like they did last night (That is 30/game they have lost due to Bargs, Parker and Calderon). I hope Mo Pete realises that if he wants to get paid next year from someone (and he doesn't want to return to Toronto) then he needs to start producing.

I thought Bosh played at an All-Star level for the first time since the All-Star Break last night. An all-around great game from him last night. TJ should get some credit as well for playing under control last night. That 3, followed by the steal and alley-oop to Bosh was one of the highlights of the season.

You're correct in saying that Sam Mitchell thoroughly outcoached Brian Hill last night. While Hill doesn't have the interchangeable parts that the Raps have, he didn't do an effective job of using the players that he does have.

It is evident that Orlando doesn't have good perimeter shooters....something you really need to have with Howard as your focal point. One shooter that they do have though is J.J. Redick. I wasn't sold on him coming out of Duke, but I am 100% sure that he can shoot the basketball. Having him on the floor with Howard as much as possible is a must. Each guy creates space for the other. Brian Hill barely played Redick last night even though the rest of the team wasn't shooting the ball well, and when they did play together, they were running sets for Howard with Redick on the other side of the floor. Not smart....and while I like Grant Hill and Trevor Ariza's games, they are very similar, so having them out there at the same time is unnecessary and probably hurts them more than helps. Opposing coaches can simply pack it in and make those two (neither effective from the perimeter) launch long jumpers and take away Howard's space.

Sam did a good job of recognizing the personnel on the floor for the Magic, and setting up his defense accordingly.

I think Brian Hill will be looking for a job at season's end.

I agree with Franchise and sit Parker till playoffs. The importance of a 100% healthy AP on defence is significant for the raps.

Last week I used the stat "Opponents Point Scored" when player X is ON the Court vs. when he's OFF as a defensive stat. I always questioned the effectiveness of that stat, because there's so much team play involved on the D. However, looking into a bit more, let's use some examples of bad defenders Rap fans would know:

Lamond Murray last year gave up 107 points when he was On the Court vs 103.1 when he wasn't playing = +3.9 difference
Mike James this year: 109.4 ON vs 105.1 Off = +4.3
Pau Gasol 111.5 On/110.5 = +5.0

What about a premiere defender?

Bowen 97.5 On vs 106.4 Off = -8.9 (I did some random searches, and couldn't find anyone higher).

So, what about the Raps?

A. Parker 104.4 ON vs 112.1 Off = A Bowen like -7.7!!!
Others:
Garbajosa 104.5 ON vs 110.8 = -6.3
Bosh 106.9 ON vs 108.1 = -1.2
Ford 106.7 ON vs 108.0 = -1.3
Which seems about right in terms of rating Rap defenders. And biggest surprise (non-surprise to me):
Mo Pete: 110.2/105.2 = +4.9

thats some really interesting stats ustation. where did you find these stats?

in any case, i think peterson has got a bad rap as of late. how effective would you expect someone to play when they are given 10-15 mins / game. It's about giving him some consistent mins and I think he'll be more effective. He has been so classy to the organization, i think they should give him more of a shot now that parker and calderon are out. I mean, why is martin seeing court time (in these parts he shots every time he touches the ball) EVERY TIME! i'd rather see dixon/peterson in the back court, rather than dixon/martin.

Five things that still blow my mind;

- Anthony Parker wasn't even in the NBA last year, and he's turning out to be the teams MVP after Bosh. How is it that this guy couldn't get a longer look before Colangelo rescued him from Maccabi Tel Aviv?

- Raptor's depth on the bench. Did you ever think you'd hear those two words together in the same sentence? This year? Really? Depth is usually something you see as a product of a large bankroll (Mavericks), from having lots of high draft choices, or for being in a situation players really want to be a part of (i.e. your city is near/on a beach). The Raps are none of those things, and yet our bench is without a doubt one of our KEY strengths!

- Charlie Villanueva who?

- "Sam Mitchell simply out coached him". Say WHAT!?

- The Raptors are going to make the playoffs. And they are going to make the playoffs despite a bunch of injuries that would have derailed a lesser team (see: New Jersey).

I don't care if we get swept in four.

I believe.

Ustation great stats, we've been talking about parker making a difference and it's nice to see some empirical evidence of that. I'm useless with stats myself.

I totally agree with resting parker and injured guys until they're 100%. I've had a lot of sprains and it's one of those things you can play through and it even still heals, but if you reinjure it before it does it can get much worse.

I think if raps were playing a tougher team, both those guys could probably have played. I think they both went through warm-ups. My gut tells me it's colangelo making the call on that... I wonder.

Denver's going to be interesting. Another team like orlando which plays no defense, but they can really score. If raps have a hot night and can keep up with them, they'll have a chance.

oh yeah, and GO PORTLAND!!!

TJ had closer to 20 assists if you count all the missed layups and intentional fouls that prevented them, and a dropped catch. Great game. When he's passing like last night, this team is really fun to watch.

Regarding the 'pursuit of Darko' over the summer and the dogging you are giving him, a couple of facts: the way Brian Hill is coaching him is ridiculous. It is obvious the kid has talent (after all, 3 blocks in the span of, what, two minutes?)and has had games in which he was absolutely amazing. However, this is essentially his first full season of any meaning and technically, he should be looked at as a rookie. He would be a major upgrade on Nesterovich, not to mention the upside the kid actually has... So, in short, I think that Raps would be doing the right thing of going after him in the summer...

The stats are courtesy of 82games.com and are based on 100 possessions.

Sorry, hard to stay focused and write while at work.

If you look at MoP's offensive contribution (horrible shooting percentage) and overrated defence, I'm not why his agent is complaining about playing time for him. BC pretty much said in an interview yesterday, a certain player needs to put up or shut up. Good for him for calling Mo and his agent out!

Sorry about using curse words in my last comment guys - won't happen again.

Franchise, they better have been some mighty nice kicks for you to stick Sobey bags in them.

Ok - this site is bar none the best place to get Raptors' info. Even the comments are great.

Anything we can do to help you guys get press passes and access at the games? I'd rather read this then a CP review or AP or ESPN.

McGateway - When I said "slightly more focussed" I guess that's sort of like saying Steve Francis' contract is a good deal compared to Adonal Foyle...you're right, he still needs to play much better.

Great stats Ustation, speaking of Peterson I'm hoping he can pull get that defensive number out of the plus and into the minus. What were his stats like last year in this regard?

Bedhed - Great point on Parker, does this show that 90 per cent of NBA GM's have no idea what they're doing. If you read Sportsguy you probably already believe this and the fact that the two-time MVP was sitting over in Europe untouched is probably futher proof...

Mac - I don't know - most of his blocks last night were the type anyone that size could have made, not pure effort and athleticism like CB4's crush of Dooling. I agree that Brian Hill underutilizes him, but watching him last night was just painful. He's got a long way to go and I'm not sure I buy the whole "he's just getting minutes now" theory. After practicing against the Pistons' bigs for that long, shouldn't you have SOME offensive skill?

Hen - To answer your kicks question they were the old GP "The Glove" Nikes...the ones with the zip-up outer shell. Still have them but don't wear them for ball for obvious reasons. When I bought them I thought they fit fine but my feet must have shrunk or something...

Re: Darko, I'm one of those people who is totally intrigued by him. Detroit essentially wasted his first few years by nailing him to the bench, but he is still so young, and so obviously talented, that I wonder what he would look like surrounded by people and team-mates who can help him realize his potential.

So long as we don't overpay for him, I'm cool, and that may be the kicker. If there is sufficient interest from elsewhere in the league, he may get too good an offer for us to bother chasing him.

But what if Toronto is the only serious suitor, and he can be had cheap? A front-court of Bosh, Bargnani and Darko is simply sick.

Franchise, I agree with you on Darko's showing last night - completely out of the game from the second he was in it. However, I have watched him annihilate the Bulls and dish out blocks, rebounds, points over players much more talented than Keyon Dooling. He is no Bosh or Bargnani but he is what we could potentially be missing - someone who can grow into a Ben Wallace type of a rebounder and shot blocker... And that is something we do not have on this team. Should be end up playing Chicago in the playoffs, I think we will end up missing someone with that skill.

MoP
05/06 Season 114.6 ON / 111.5 OFF = +3.1

04/05 Season 109.8 ON/ 109.8 OFF = 0

speaking of interesting stats...

• Chris Bosh had 34 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Raptors to a 92-85 victory over the Magic. The only other NBA players to reach those levels of points and rebounds in one game this season are Yao Ming (twice) and Amare Stoudemire, both centers. No forward had done it since Antawn Jamison, more than a year ago (March 14, 2006).

as bosh goes, so do the raps.

Interesting that last year Mo Pete's stats = 0 difference eh Ustation? Maybe Peterson's defence has been overrated? Or maybe the rest of Toronto's D has always been so bad that Peterson's stood out?

Papa,

Boozer got 39 points and 15 boards on Jan 24th. To me that's just as impressive if not better.

But your point stands, Bosh is amazing. Still, the unspoken tough question is out there. Did we do well in the draft? Wade was on the board when we selected Bosh.

stats aside, mo's made a lot of big plays and key stops to win. He was forced to play a lot minutes last year, maybe that elevates his game, didn't have that worry.

knicks lose, looks like magic number down to 8

For all the Darko-doubters . . . he is 21 years old. 21!!!

The NBA has become such a league of youth (twenty years ago even top picks would barely play) that we expect everything from these guys right away. Even so, Darko is going for 8pts, 5rbd, 2blk per game, which isn't bad for a "rookie."

I would love to see him in a Raptors jersey next year, especially if you could clear room for him by dumping Rasho for a decent shooting guard to back up Parker.

A fine game last night, with a CONSISTENT effort throughout. The Magic did miss a bunch of ridiculously open shots, but at least they managed to contain Howard this time.

Poor Grant Hill, he seems like such a good guy, but he's still paying for trying to play through the pain in the playoffs all those years ago. I hope he can find a Chris Webber-like situation next year and get one more shot with a good team.

Love the site today. The comments and stats particulaly perked my interest.

Anyways, I'm still not sold on Darko, even though his size and potential look attractive. Don't forget that Rasho has brought the Raps a solid defensive presence out there. He communicates and directs traffic with the best of em. Not to mention that he has defended his position well against the likes of Jermaine O'Neil and Dwight Howard, Eddy Curry and so on.
He isn't an all-star, but I just don't think that Darko is a HUGE upgrade.
Just my opinion though.

Just curious. What is Rasho's on and off the floor stat Ustation? Thanks

Axl, magic number is still at 9. Here are the details:

NJ 9
NY 7
PHI 4

Wow.. Rasho is a stunning -4.6 (wouldn't have guessed that)

104.6 ON / 109.2 OFF

datpif: MoPete was a 0 from the 04/05 season. That's the big question mark about this "defensive" stat. Whether or not it's more about the team "D" vs individual capability. The only thing you can do is compare other players subjectively and examine the stats. However, I've always thought MoP was highly overrated defensively, but other than subjective idioms it's obviously hard to prove. You can point the countless blown individual coverages by Mo, but the excuse was he was guarding the opponents best offensive player (which was true). I'm just trying to steal from baseball stat heads.

The same can be said, when many rap fans the Raps would lose their only clutch shooter in Mike James (Who?!). Statistically he was a horrible percentage clutch shooter. He just took lots of them and made a few.

thanks erezona - I 'm definitely not going to argue stats with anyone, but I though I read that any combination of 9 raps wins and/or new jersey or new york losses would lock us into the playoffs

Rasho lives!!!
Thanks ustation.