Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game: Low Batteries

Random Thoughts: Crappy Game. Bargnani should've played much more once the energy in the 3rd started to show. The Kapono Signing was a mistake, it didn't improve any of our weaknesses. Maybe colangelo shouldn't have signed anybody and waited till this year.

We yet to show that we can get over that hump. We get teased for a few games and then we take a step back like last night. Maybe two back-to-backs in 5 days is a lot of basketball. Get some rest boys, we got a real test next game against the C's.

It looked like good times for you, fellas!
My comments at mid-season:
Positives:
- a positive swing of 6 games compared with last year mid-season (we were 19-22 compared with 22-19 now);
- strong additions in Moon and Delfino;
- solid improvements for Jose and Hump;
- victories against elite and red-hot teams (Dallas, SA, NO, Portland);
Negatives:
- injuries to Garbo, TJ, Bosh and AB, key members of last year success;
- poor bench production after TJ refused to play anymore; our bench was 3rd in production with both PG's playing; when Jose moved to the starting unit the bench almost dissapeared and the starting unit production increased dramatically;
- AB poor play for 1 million reasons and a ton of excuses; we practically play without Centre position;
All in all, we are exactly we are supposed to be, everything considered. We have to answer two big question marks: back-up PG to help the bench and C position. Bargnani could be an answer to at least 2 key problems: 2nd scoring option and better rebounding as a team providing he plays as lot of people envisioned when he was drafted #1 pick.
I am of the opinion that the success or failure of an elite team is judged by the post-season results therefore I'm willing to withhold my final judgement until after post-season. I love my team because it never quits and has an excellent chemistry on and off the court. Go Raps go!

Great write up once agian guys.

Nice post Daniel I agree with everything you said. Overall I think given all the injuries the first half of the season has been a tremendous success. The only part that has been disappointing has been the play of Andrea Bargnani. If we had stayed relatively healthy and Andrea had improved it would be interesting to see how good we'd be doing.

We're in solid shape for the playoffs as well. The two teams nobody wants to play are the Celtics and the Pistons so we have to be a 6th seed at worst. Right now there seems to be three distinct zones. The pistons, celtics, magic are at the top while the wiz, cavs, raps are in the middle and the nets and hawks are at the bottom.

Of this group I could see Orlando really dropping down and I think they've started to. I think the Raps and Cavs have a great change to move up

Bosh, Calderon, & Parker have been carrying the bulk of the offense the last 8/10 games,and had a poor game vs 76'ers. Calderon can not carry on with 40+ min/game. His efficency in slowing down and turnovers are increasing. The black hole @ back-up PG,and the 2nd unit must be solved by BC to effect improvement for the 2nd half.
Bargnani shoud concentrate around the basket on both ends,rebound & dunk or get fouled & FT's only. KISS.

I can't wait for the day I see TJ on the court again.

The Raps definitely looked out of sorts during the 3rd. Not sure why Bargnani didn't play more, despite his deep-freeze persona these days. I thought his 2nd foul was a cheap one. Hopefully he'll climb out of the cold soon. And is it me, or has the refereeing been off lately.

While it would be nice to have AB onside, missing TJ seems to be having the most adverse effect on this team. Especially the second unit. And not knowing where his health situation stands, certainly bugs me. Hearing that TJ may be out for another 5 - 6 weeks is not encouraging. It doesn't help that no one seems to know what the hell his time frame for a return will be.

RapthoseLeafs

http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Basketball/2008/01/20/4783068-sun.html

according to this article it could be another 3-5 weeks.....which is fine....but i don't like how there is a lack of coverage on this issue....it would be nice if the fans could get some info on this matter....although it might have something to do with team policy as I remember a while back Brian saying he couldn't comment on a few things in regards to TJ

I don't see TJ back this year. If he is back, it is 5 games before the playoffs to get his legs.
I'm guessing of course, but saying it will be 3-5 weeks could be a ploy to say that BC would like a point guard, but does not really need one badly enough that he'd overpay for him. I think the truth is that we need a back-up point guard upgrade badly. Suddenly, the great depth on this team just isn't.
I don't think Kapone is a great trade to make. He can be a very effective player if used properly. However, he may be interesting to some other teams and dumping 6 million is something that management would not mind so much, especially with Moon starting to look like the 3 for the next 5 years.
Bargnani isn't getting the promised love he was supposed to be. I thought that they were going to put him in and stick with him. He gets pulled for getting early fouls, but has not fouled out and is not on the court in crunch time. So much for boosting his confidence by giving him his 14 minutes at the start of the game. Why not run him until he fouls out? Heck, it should only take a few more minutes than he is playing now anyway.

I read some where that Delfino has played point before. He certainly handles the ball well. Maybe should give him a try. I saw Detroit play Prince at the point recently. It is probably time to establish Rasho as the starting center and put Barganini on a longer range development program (a few minutes off the bench to try what he has worked on in practice). The Basten situation is strange to me. Is he that bad that he can't play any minutes? and if so why pay such big bucks for a bench player. Finally, Bosh haS reached a point where he passes out of the double team faster and the team swings the ball well when he does. What if Bosh were to miss a few games, who do we have to play that post up role? It looks to me like it's Hump so they should be giving him more opportunity to do so in games.

Wow....in the Star ,thinking about getting a big man coach for Bargs...what a revelation !!!! Alex English was one great player but not a center.

On the bright side - and maybe this is a nyquil-induced hallucination - it's been two great games for the guys in the truck. I didn't notice missing anything but an occasional free throw.

Hey what about Mike James as a backup?

"Mike James is on the market again after his offseason trade from Minnesota to Houston failed to produce the anticipated career revival. The problem is James not only is due $5.6 million this season, but $6 million next season, with a $6.4 million option for the season after. "It's kind of bothering me to think that somebody thinks your basketball career is over and they put you on the bench," said James, 32, who has been buried behind Rafer Alston, Luther Head and Aaron Brooks. South Florida Sun-Sentinel"

Come on.. you guys have got to know I'm kidding.

Check out some possible endoresements that could be on the horizon.

http://cuzoogle.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/dino-ads-possible-raptors-endorsements/

Somebody mentioned that Colo is looking for a coach Andrea.

Sam has stated that Andrea is getting better....and Andrea is only struggling because he's making Andrea play close to the basket. I don't buy it....Andrea's still out on the perimter on offence and still doesn't rebound down low.

Rasho should be playing like 30 minutes a game....and Andrea should get at least 10 minutes with Rasho as he can communicate with Andrea in Italian (not sure if there is a language problem), make up for Andrea's defensive problems and MOST importantly it will allow Andrea to be a focal point on the offence for 10 minutes or so.....and plus bosh gets some rest.

There is a report in the sun that TJ's workouts are progressing and there are good reports coming out of Houston...the raptors are sending someone out (manager of basketball operations or something like that) to get a look at TJ early this week.

why not send bargs to the d-league for a couple weeks. he needs the minutes... even against inferior competition. haveing him with the big boys is clearly not making a difference...

Cuzzy....we don't mind you posting links to your site, provided it is done in the forum. It you could keep it off the comments page we would appreciate it.

axl - Thanks for pointing that out. I missed both games, but it's good to hear that there's some improvement in the truck. I'll be watching to see if the improvements were intentional. Except when the games are on Raps TV - then, I won't be watching.

lessthenzero,

In a perfect world, that would be exactly where Andrea would be, at least for a two week stint to test out the post offense he's learned in a less demanding environment.

However, I can think of a few reasons against it as well.

First off, since the Raptors don't own the NBDL affiliate, they'd be hesitant to send him down when they can't have a say in the amount of minutes he plays or system the team runs.

Second, you can learn alot having to guard Chris Bosh in practice, and having to post up against a vet like Rasho Nesterovic. When I envision Bargnani a few years from now, I see him incorporating aspects of both these players in his game.

However, I think it'll take time for him to to have the confidence in his "moves" to be able to perform them consistantly in games. As a reader alluded to earlier, he's anything but fluid at this point, and I'm pretty sure he knows that as much as anyone.

If only some of that self-awareness could transfer to the Hump, I'd feel that much better about our chances once the playoffs start and you need to make each possession count.

I hope that they're getting a big man coach for Bargs. From what I've seen so far, not only has Andrea lost confidence in himself, so have his team mates. They're not really looking to him for anything. Another course of action is maybe the D-League.

The mitigating factor with bargnani for me is that opposing teams are having a field day attacking him any time he switches onto a smaller player which is way too often.

Bargs should not switch so quickly, he should stay at home under the hoop and only guard other bigs. If he's in a mismatch, he need to just play off the guy and just bother him to avoid the foul and stay on the floor.

No surprise new centers tend to lead the league in fouls against as dalembert did last year apparently.

Hopefully a big man coach helps, but sometimes andrea seems to be his own worst enemy.

The comments about a big man coach confuse me, or better yet maybe they clarify things better for me.

The clarity is that the brain trust sees Bargs as a protypical centre (post moves, rebound, clear space for the rest of the team, etc...).

The confusion is why they drafted Andrea to fill a role he has never played before. That seems very contradictory. I hope that Andrea learns to play that way otherwise it will be Hoffa v.2

I re-read a couple draft sites for last year's draft and all of the list Bargs as a PF (one even includes SF) and few if any mention back to basket capability.

It's a square peg, round hole dilemma.I don't get it? But hey, in BC we trust.

I'm not sure if this has ever happened before but it might happen to Andrea.

The first time a guy who was competing for ROY might be left out of the rookie sophmore game.

http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Scoring.jsp?league=00&conf=OVERALL&position=0&splitType=9splitScope=GAME&qualified=N&yearsExp=1&splitDD=All%20Teams

Plus his shooting numbers are terrible and so are his rebounding. Paul Millsap doesn't get much time and could move Bargs out of his spot. Josh Boone has also been really impressive as of late and could be a dark horse.

It'll be interesting to see although either way it can't lower his confidence as he probably doesn't have any....and perhaps he could use the time off.....

All this talk about Bargs playing out of position seems misdirected to me. How does that explain the fact that he's BRICKING his 3 points shots? Last year open J's from the 3 point line, or just inside, were layups for Bargnani.

This is not a positional issue (do we already forget that near the end of last season Bargs was one of our better positional low post defenders?). Its mental. He's rattled and doesn't feel like he belongs right now. They have to work on finding him some easy buckets to get him rolling ... he needs something -- anythinng -- positive to happen so he can build on it. Just isn't happening yet. But it will.

I guess that's my point Supersonic, last year he was hitting the 3's and J's and was starting to become very effective at it until he got hurt. But, this season that isn't what the team wants him to do anymore. Instead they are asking him to work his low post game by (possibly) bringing in a big man coach. A big man coach ain't gonna help Andrea work on his jumpshot. I've belaboured this point on a couple posts so I won't keep harping on it anymore. Here's hoping that whatever happens, Bargs gets his confidence back and starts to contribute to the success of the team.

Sorry if I'm derailing the conversation, but today washington beats dallas, philly loses at home to indy, and I'm pretty sure cleveland's going to beat miami.

We really need that win against philly. Still can't believe they didn't get it.