Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game: Praise for Mr. Mitchell

I keep on going back and forth on whether or not we should start either Kapono or Moon.

Bargnani 11 and 6 in 25 minutes and we call this good? have expectations gone THAT low?

Renato -

That reminds me of something I wanted to mention in the recap. The new scoreboard at the ACC is quite impressive but for some reason they no longer have a live box score which is horribly annoying. Hopefully this is something they re-introduce for the regular season or else you will need to keep score from your own seat.

Even though I believe that Kapono is a better player than Moon, I think to balance the scoring between bench and starters, he just has to play off the bench. It's interesting to see that for most of the game, the Raptors didn't launch any 3s.

Dogs of the night have to be Solomon and Adams. I don't know what it is, but maybe Solomon will be my whipping boy for the year. I don't like his timing (missed Hump for an easy layup, and then ended up trying to feed a tight pass to him immediately afterwards) or his shot selection, and it just continues to make me wonder if Roko needs to be put ahead of him considering some of the skills and excitement he brought when he entered into the game. Yes, he's a work in progress, but if he works hard, I feel like he'll be special.

And Hassan Adams is starting to look like the 2nd coming of PJ Tucker. A guy that was lauded for his defensive tenacity, who seems to chase down the ball wherever it goes, regardless of the defensive scheme employed, he doesn't seem to have rhyme or reason for his actions. On more than a few possessions, he just simply chased the ball back and forth between two defenders before finally getting out of position because he was double teaming down too hard on one of the CSKA guys. Left his man wide open to make a jumper.

Renato, I think the point is that Barg's game is obviously different from last year. He's more aggressive around the hoop and his decision making has improved.

Anyway, last night Roko looked much better than Will in the limited minutes that he got. He has some nifty penatration moves which he finished quite effectively.
Also, it seems Sam was quite annoyed with Hump, Solomon, and Moon, as they didn't see much action.

great game, especially nice to see the starters so much and the "3 big" line-up to boot.

bargnani was awesome despite the numbers, in position, fighting for balls, picking them up when they roll by his feet... hopefully last game just a blip and this is the andrea we're going to see all year.

have to agree JO looks slow, but improving. I still thinks he's an upgrade on rasho even so far, but he's nowhere near his old self. I agree too the knee brace had me going hmmmm...

Its been a while since I posted on this site, but I've been reading the blog over the summer, and I thank you guys for doing a great job!

However, Howland I have to strongly disagree with you on one point. You say regarding the euro teams "The competition is weaker than the usual NBA match-up"
How do you figure this? Here CSKA Moscow are the reigning champs of Europe, and they are in shape, unlike NBA teams. Looking at how sloppy some pre-season games can get, I'd say a game against a good Euro team is exactly what the Raptors needed.

Just my 2 cents.

anybody notice Kapono playing a Reggie Millar Rip Hamilton run off of screen game? Does this suit Him? I don't think it does

I agree with you on the line-up. Kapono should be in in replacement of Moon.
Also, I've had that same O'Neal conversation with several others. I know its early, but I haven't seen anything that suggests this guys is anywhere near his form of years past.

renato, did you watch the game?

Bargs did all of the little things. 3 blocks, altering shots, playing hard on both ends of the floor, getting offensive rebounds and oh....only two fouls!

Is it me or is Hassan Adams a fat version of Joey Graham? No bball IQ and minus the JG physique??! Howland, couldn't agree more with your view on Solomon/Roko. I think Roko is going to be something special and Solomon is just trying to hard. Hopefully the next 3 pre-season games we can see some tighter basketball.

Are you kidding me, in www.foxsports.com, JO was ranked 4th among all centers in the NBA because the editors believe that he will return back to All Star form. WOW! That's awfully optimistic. That's like saying I'm going to get laid tonight because I'm going to get my game on tonight! LOL!! Who knows, anything can happen.

Fox Sports News:
'OK, this is a long-shot based on the past few seasons, but putting O'Neal in this spot just seems to make sense considering all reports are that the talented 30-year-old is not only free of the Indiana Pacers demise, but the catalog of injuries that have skewed his last four seasons. '

JO's numbers were not that telling either of his actual performance. I have to disagree with you Howland on the JO front. No, he is not in game shape, but you cannot discount what he does for everybody else on the court. It seems Bosh is able to roam around freely on offense when JO is in the game. He may have registered only two boards last night, but he was tipping balls to other players for rebounds and was flat out altering any and all shots when people drove the basket. Yes he mistimed a block on one play that led to a basket, but he has been improving and looking more like JO with each passing game. Even if this is all that he does for our team, we will still be in a better position than Raptor teams of the last few years. I also liked how as the game progressed he began to use his strength to push his way to the basket. When he becomes comfortable with his teammates and begins to do this with regularity, other teams will have big problems playing against us…just my thought!

Really interesting game last night.

Davl - I commented to Howland after the game about Kapono making like Rip Hamilton. I did like it actually, and thought he looked more comfortable playing off JO and Bosh. The question then, is do you try him as a starter, and if so, over who?

JO looks a bit rigid to me too but I'm not going to say much about this until we see him logging some serious minutes and playing against guys like Brand and Howard.

Adams has looked terrible though and I concur with the PJ Tucker comparison Kinnon. He's just sorta "there" on the court and I can't believe I'm saying this but "hurry up Joey and get healthy!"

Assistant GM,
no I did not watch the game, too late at night. I did watch the previous one with Philly thought. So, of course I am blind on this one, just the stat does not seem one to write home about. To be honest I do not like this version of Bargnani, he seems slow, with little offinsive talent. If you go back looking his rookie videos, especially towards mid to end season he comes across like he could score at will ( with some drawbacks of course, especially D and Reb. Andrea this season does not give me that feeling. Maybe he got better in D but I was aiming for something better than let's say Jason Collins.

I personally do not like the NBA philosophy to bench Rookies until they learn the nba...Roko is a bigger pg than solomon and he can survey the court much better...I think Sam should move away from Solomon and use Roko as his 2nd pg...On the job training goes a long way and if there is some games where he struggles then Sam can alway bring Solomon in...but I like what I see from Roko last night..I think he deserve more minutes in the preseason to get use to the team....just a thought...Raps4Life

Renato are you BargsBust in disguise?

it is good piece of blog.
on Barg note: last year he horrible on defense. very rare to see him get 4 rebounds, let alone 6. also seeing the games so far. he is much more aggressive in the paint and last games seeing him having two blocks. when did you see that last year. i think defensively he is much improved and seeing him getting most of his points without shooting a three is a huge plus.

Saw the game, but don't think it was Mitchell's doing.
Simply seemed that the Raps didn't want to get beat and Calderon and Bosh simply stepped up their games and CSKA couldn't handle that talent level. Calderon could have gone anywhere he wanted last night, and even seemed to allow himself to play a little with the steal, fast break, and behind the back bounce pass to Hump (I like when Hump runs the floor or gets that O-board putback slams, I'll take three or four of those a game, his rebounds, and no need for any jumpshots). The Bosh drive to the hoop near the end, going for the slam rather than settling for the mid range jumper, showed he also had a clear edge over whatever big man was on the court.

haha, no, I am not BargBust,
but pls, go on youtube and make your own analysis. My poin is they have drafted a guy based on certain characteristics just to turn him upside down?

his is an email sent to Jose Calderon on October 15th, 2008:

Hey Jose,

I can't wait for the Raptor season to begin. We're going to be amazing this year. With you, CB4, and Jermaine O'Neal, we're going to be a force to be reckoned with in the east. I hope you throw a ton of alley-oops to Jamario Moon too.

I was thinking that you could use a new celebration for after a big three pointer. The three fingers and circle thing that you do is pretty cool and all, but it's rather unimaginative don't you think? I mean, a ton of other players throughout the league do that whenever they hit a big three and it's not really a thing that you claim as your own. The closest that move ever came to being branded to any particular player was when Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles would bop themselves on the head like that after a big play.

In order to make yourself stand out and secure an All-Star spot this year, which you were robbed of last year, I think you should brand yourself with a new unique move that will give you more exposure and recognition throughout the league. Here's what I was thinking:
After you hit a three and you're running back down the court, you pretend as though you're shooting a bow-and-arrow.

It shows that you're a sharp shooter and it also represents a dagger into the heart of your opponent, which further emphasizes your ruthlessness as a competitor.

For maximum impact, I think you should wait to introduce this move, and bust it out when you hit your first really important three-pointer in the closing minutes of a game this season. And then, later in the season or playoffs, you could drop to your knees and shoot straight up into the air. That would be sweet.

I am certain that this is awesome and can only be good for you and the Toronto Raptors.

Looking forward to a great season. Please write back and let me know what you think.

All the best,

-Daniel

GO! RAPS! GO!

Join the facebook group titled "Hey Jose! Shoot that Bow and Arrow" to help encourage Jose Calderon to change his in-game celebration

There really is such a group on Face Book!! And yes, I joined. haha

I must admit that living in Scotland, I rarely get to see the games. I will usually listen to the live stream of the game starting at 1am. So I admit that much of my opinion is effected from other sources. After a huge rant on Sam I will take your word for it that Sam did well today. I dare say that as the games start to actually mean something Sam will start giving the minutes to his best players. This alone should lead to more wins, and is part of the reason why this team is designed the way it is. I am very curious to read about people's perceptions of Joey's game in Minny.

Daniel, i like Jose for being a real player, not one that sits around and thinks up ways to selfishly promote himself. It might be funny to see but I don't think it suits his character...