Barbosa'd

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Aug 22, 2007 12:00 AM EDT in HQ International

Before we get into the recap, our hearts here at the HQ go out to Andy Rautins, son of Team Canada Coach Leo Rautins, who suffered what looked to be a very serious knee injury only seconds after he checked into the game.

As of this post, no word on how severe the injury is but this HQ'er wouldn't be surprised to hear terms like "ACL," "MCL," and "Season-ending surgery" tossed around tomorrow when more details are brought to light.

The injury is triply damning as well. First of all from a Team Canada perspective, the loss of Rautins is a serious blow as in his absence, Carl English is really Canada's only dependable long-range threat. You could really notice his absence tonight as Team Canada shot a horrid 4 for 18 from beyond the arc. Rautins is also a solid rebounder an excellent scorer in general, both areas that were problems for the Canadians tonight.

Which brings me to the next point. Rautins was entering his third year at Syracuse and last season began to emerge as one of the go-to players for the Orangemen. He had a promising college career remaining and if this is injury is as bad as it looks, that may mean him having to red shirt for the year and he sadly may never be the same player.

And as his father's NBA and professional basketball career was cut short by injury, one hopes that history is not repeating itself. So finally, it must have been tough for Leo to continue coaching the team as surely in the back of his mind he was wondering how badly his son was hurt.

Perhaps the distraction explained Canada's loss...because for those who watched the game, it was like watching so many games from the 2005-2006 Raptors season.

The game was there for Team Canada's winning, but they just couldn't get over the hump.

Leandro Barbosa had 30 points and while only shot 35 per cent, his speed and ability changed the game and allowed his teammates some easy baskets.

On the Canadian side, there were some glaring issues right from the get-go starting with no Steve Nash.

Not that I expected Nash to play...but without a true point guard Team Canada's offence struggled with its motion. Jermaine Anderson was only one for six and without a scoring threat at the point, shooting guard Carl English was forced to play the 1.

English took some bad shots at times but you could hardly blame him in the first quarter because the Canadian squad simply had no one else to go to for buckets.

Also extremely apparent was Canada's lack of size. The team got out-rebounded 38 to 30 including 12 to six on the offensive glass. This killed Team Canada especially late in the game and one had to wonder just what "could have been" had Jamaal Magloire suited up.

As it was however, it was extremely nice to see Samuel Dalembert in the red and white. He got into early foul trouble but had a solid game finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and to blocks. My worry however is that he's being used too much for offensive purposes when in reality, he should simply be a put-back dunk type player at that end of the court.

In fact that's maybe the biggest thing that Team Canada needs to figure out before tomorrow's game against Venezuela. The Canadians' offence is going to have to come from somewhere and coach Rautins needs to decide if players like English and Denham Brown (who played only nine minutes) are going to play more of a facilitating or scoring role.

The real bright spot for me in this game was Juan Mendez. He outplayed Nene, (who still looks like he has a ways to go fundamentally) was Canada's top scorer with 18 points, and brought the energy and intensity this team needed to get back in the game in the second quarter. Kudos to coach Rautins for recognizing this and playing him starters minutes in the second half.

I expect to see a larger role for Mendez against Venezuela tomorrow and I'm hoping to see more of Denham Brown and Levon Kendall. If Team Canada wants a top five birth in this tournament and a win tomorrow, they need these two to step up in the worst way.

In fact the entire team needs to start hitting open looks if they want to get in the win column in this tournament. And unfortunately, http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/248772Dave Hopla is no longer North of the border to help. Hopla will be taking a position with the Washington Wizards in as an assistant coach next season.

In other Raptors' news, it sounds like Toronto is going to deny Jorge Garbajosa permission to play with the Spanish team according to various sources. How this will affect relations remains to be seen but we'll know in the next few days what the final verdict on this front is.

FRANCHISE

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Comments

Seemed like 10 point lead at the beginning made the difference...

by jdub on Aug 22, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I consider myself a basketball junkie. I have sat in gyms watching highschool basketball for over 20 hours during a weekend tournament. But I just had to turn off the USA game. Not because of the level of competition but Bill Walton is such a retard and should not be on tv. This is not the first time I turned off a game he was involved in commenting on.Give me the Swarts anytime

by Davl on Aug 22, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

does anybody know of an internet link to watch the tournament on? thanks in advance

by Davl on Aug 23, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

It says something about our chances that losing Rautins hurts Canada's chances. That isn't to disparage him but the truth is this team is awfully shallow when it comes to talent. English and Brown can't even make an NBA squad as Injured Reserves and as usual (for Canada) we have one NBA Starter quality player (Dalembert) on the squad.
Some people blame Nash and Magloire but the truth is that all of Canada is to blame. Nash has done his bit for Queen and Country and he is now 34 years old. True, Kidd is also in his 30's but the difference is he only has to carry the ball up the floor and play some D while Nash would be Canada's primary ball carrier and scoring threat and he simply is too old to carry that load in the summer then throw his body around during the NBA season as well.
Magloire I am a little more disappointed in but he isn't exactly a kid anymore either and his position in the NBA is iffy. He cannot afford to get injured playing for Canada as he it would be pretty much the end of his NBA days if he gets hurt.
The real issue it he overwhelming Basketball apathy that this country has. The grassroots of Basketball simply aren't there the way it is in most countries and that is a real shame. As long as Canadians avoid playing Basketball, Canada's teams will be mediocre at best.

by McGateway on Aug 23, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Keep in mind that Brazil had a 10 pt lead going into the 4th and Canada gutted it back to a tie.

That there is not a single player on Canada's roster the caliber of Nene or Barbosa.

(And speaking of Nene, this guy gets a $60M contract? Really?)

Barbosa was in cruise control throughout, and if anything lacked urgency putting up his numbers. He could blow by his defenders at whim, and should have had 50pts.

I thought all the Canuck boys played hard, but the lack of ball-movement on offense was a staple commentary throughout the game, and the lack of a true point guard was glaring.

In all it looked to be a game that Canada was lucky to be in at all, and the fact we were competitive to the end (or almost the end), says good things about Rautins as coach, and the character of the team.

by Bedhead on Aug 23, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I'm the president of the I hate Bill Walton unfan club.

Canada's got the population of the state of California. I think we do okay for what we are. We are a hockey playin, cold spending, beer drinkin, wrestling lovin kind of nation. Being able to produce a multi-time NBA MVP is beyond expectations. The fact that we can generate individual sport stars like in Baseball, Auto Racing, Beach Volleyball, Snooker, Poker, and Golf isn't half bad. Actually, I'm really surprised we can't generate a top tennis pro.

But aside from hockey, we've always been the underdog in team competition (at least on the men's side).

by Ustation on Aug 23, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I have to agree with everyone so far. I do wish that we could have seen what a Canada team with Nash and Magloire would have done. The knock on effect of having those guys on the floor would improve our depth and improve the other players on the court. Who knows, maybe we can make it in the top 5 and get everyone together next summer? It would be a real shame not to have ever sent the best team we could have sent.

by Robert Archibald on Aug 23, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

P.S. - If he continues his relative success, would Leo Rautins ever be a dark horse candidate to coach the Raps. If he shows strong international experience, it would match the Rap's style these days...

by Robert Archibald on Aug 23, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Interesting thoughts on Rautins, I thought he did a good job last night, especially considering his son's injury. Has there been an update yet on the severity? I'll be doing a recap again for tomorrow and will be curious to see what lineup Rautins rolls out. This team really reminds me of the 05-06 Raps; one or two solid players and the rest mediocre at best. This causes lineup problems as you never know who's going to be your "hot guy" so you waste half the game trying to figure out the best combination. How many lineups did we see in 05-06 with the Raptors? Mo Pete looked like a superstar and I'm afraid right now Juan Mendez might be in a similar situation. I think the X factors are Denham and Levon...if they can get going, Team Canada has a chance to finish top 5. The weird thing last night was that Rick Kamla (who kills me) and co. kept referring to the Canadian team as being very athletic...I sure would like to see some of this supposed athletic ability tonight...

by Franchise on Aug 23, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Agree with Franchise, Rick Kamla is hysterical. While travelling in NYC I watched him do an NBA Fantasy show on the MSG Network; maybe it gets carried on Raptors TV. Abdelnaby was decent too, at least for a Dukie. I'm glad I fell asleep before I had to endure Walton for the USA game.

The CND/BRA game last night was closer than I expected; it was frustrating to see them get blown away in the last 5 minutes after Nene and Splitter fouled out. Barbosa is definitely an exciting player; he must have been licking his chops at the college 3 line, even though he was only 3/12. Although I love our Raps, I'd have to say Nash and Barbosa are the #1 PG combination by far.

by jjdynomite on Aug 23, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

The shame of not being able to shoot the 3 effectively by Canada in this critical international qualifying event is that there are 2 accomplished players who can really shoot it and should be on the national team. They aren't the coaches' son and nephew, however. Andy's injury is a tragedy and within the framework of this team, it does hurt them. He is a good shooter; 32% in the earlier tournament this summer is not great but the offense was designed to get him a lot of shots. To not have another 3 point threat is another indication of the Rautins/Smart blindspot and contrived way of assembling the team to showcase their boys. They sh

by Phil on Aug 24, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions