3 in the Key – Toronto Raptors Game-Day Preview vs. Nets

Toronto is a team that is very vunerable to one hot star player. Ginobli did it to them the other nite, Kobe and King James have done it to them several times and so if Carter shows up motivated, it could be another downer. It seems to be such a coster ride with the Raps. They are so inconsistant, it's sad. With the exception of Calderon and Bosh their players are all over the place. Parker could have 25 points one nite and 5 the next. Bargnani might shoot 70% one nite and 20% the next. Even the coach runs hot and cold. And so that's why they can beat a top team and turn around and lose to a bottom feeder. I wish them well but man o man they are frustrating.

I agree consistancy is the biggest issue with this team. However that should be expected. Consistant teams are either 1 of 2 types of teams. They are consistantly good and end up with records like the spurs, mavs, suns, celtics, pistons or they are consistantly bad and end up with records like sota, miami, knicks and bobcats.

The middle teams are usually struggling to find that consistancy...they have the tools but some nights they just don't put it together and on some they do.

I think just as important as containing kidd and carter will be containing richard jefferson. They guy was a top scorer for a large part of the season and can really get going.

I attribute Vince's downfall and lack of performance to Jason Kidd's desire to play elsewhere. When Vince first got there Jason wanted to be there....and vince new if he slacked of Jason would plant his foot in his a$s....now that kidd no longer cares vince can go back to being tinman.

However when the nets decide they want to come out and play they can be a very good team as evident by their 20 point thrasing of the nets.

The raps need to make Jason work on the defensive end, bosh needs to get to the basket, andrea needs to hit a good percentage of his shots and we'll need a very good performance from at least 1 of our wing players.

Ford is questionable for tonight? How serious is the injury? Is the wrist thing related to a stinger problem? I have not read or heard anything about it since last game. Anybody know anything? Thanks

"...they have the tools..."

well-put wtf - I've always liked watching the raptors, even when they sucked, and now that there's reason to hope they can someday reach elite status, it's just icing on the cake.

For tonight, I'm expecting a convincing win like they've mostly had against weak defensive teams this year. NJ is on a roll though, so maybe not proscuitto win, but a good one. Not that I'd put money on it with these two inconsistent teams...

"The Nets agree to trade All-Star point guard Jason Kidd and Malik Allen to the Mavericks for Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, Devean George, DeSagana Diop, two first-round picks and cash, sources tell Tony Mejia of CBSSports.com"

Well, this should be good news for tonights game except when The Clips didn't have their PG playing they crushed the Raps. Hope this isn't deja vu all over again.

Unreal - just reading the Kidd proposal on ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3244102

Good for the Raptors for sure...and good for the Nets too in my opinion. This to me looks like an even bigger knee-jerk reaction to the Gasol deal than Shaq. Not sure why you'd give up Devin Harris who is emerging as such an important piece of that Dallas team in addition to cash AND TWO first round picks no matter how low they are for a rent-a-Kidd.

As for Ford's injury - it sounds like it's unrelated to his stinger and back issues. He hurt it somehow against Minnesota but no one is 100 per cent sure how it happened. He's wearing a compression brace apparently and will likely sit tonight.

About time Rod Thorn finally pulled the trigger on this one. I still think they don't have enough to compete with the Lakers and Suns but we'll have to see when the playoffs kick off.

Is it just me or do the other blogs suck. I have only looked at the Nets and Celtics blogs but they look weak in comparison to this one. I tried looking for a game day break down of the game tonight without much success. Did I miss something?

Breaking News! Looks like we wont be seeing Kidd tonight. The WWL is reporting that the Mavericks deal has happened!

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3244102

For what it's worth, while I could perhaps be persuaded otherwise, count me among those who thinks the Mavs are worse, not better, as a product of this.

The Nets definitely got more than their monies worth on this trade. I still can't believe Dallas trade almost half their team away for Kidd and Allen. Plus two first round picks and cash. WoW! Also, I read that Dallas might be trying to complete another trade for Antoine Wright for a second round pick.

McGateway, there are TONS of other high quality blogs out there among the admittedly many brain-dead ones as well =P This is just a tiny sampling, in no particular order. All of these focus mostly on one team, but often cover others as well...
- Sactown Royalty (Kings mainly)
- Blazer's Edge
- HoopsAddict (Raptors mainly)
- Forum Blue and Gold (Lakers mainly)
- CelticsBlog
- Hornets247
- The Bratwurst (Bucks)
- ClipsNation (Clippers)
- Blog-a-Bull

There are many more, most that I probably don't know, but these are a couple of examples.

In the long term this move will hurt the Mavs....they lost a young starting pg with a pretty high ceiling.

However the lakers (thanks to the grizz) started the domino affect and then the suns joined in and that really put the pressure on the mavs.

Rumour has it that the nets plan on buying out Jerry Stackhouse right away and he will re-sign with the mavs in 30 days.

However a starting lineup that includes Kidd, Terry, Howard, Dirk and Dampier is argubly just as good as any in the league. They have size, strength, experience....what the mavs lost more than anything was depth.

However when playoffs roll around rotations usually cut down as well so depth isn't as much of a problem unless an injury hits.

Kidd's leadership and experience are two things that cannot be measured......it really takes the pressure of Dirk as having to be the best player and leader of the team.

Lets hope this deal becomes official really soon, kidd doesn't play and we run over the nets....

The cash is irrelevant....look at the mavs spending patterns i don't think they care about it. THe picks will be bottom 1st rounders where you will only get role players at best more than likely.

this just in the grizz have traded rudy gay for a bag of basketballs

Imagine how exciting the first round of the playoffs would be in the West if they started today:

Suns v. Warriors
Hornets v. Nuggets
Mavs v. Spurs
Lakers v. Jazz

What a bloodbath!

Nice matchups! By the end of the year, I expect the Rockets to have bounced the Warriors for that last spot, but considering how much fun it is to watch them, I hope they can hold on.

I'd take whoever comes out of the Lakers-Jazz match-up to win the conference.

Sam B:

That bloodbath only gets worse if the rumoured Artest to the Nuggets deal goes through. Good Lord, you could make an all star team just from the players who's team's lose in the first round.

Question, if Kidd is officially traded to the West before the All-Star game, can he still compete for the East? Or would someone else have to step in - say, a certain spaniard, who happens to play for the home team?

How does that all work?

Man oh man, for the other NBA teams, it's good to be in the Eastern conference. However for us NBA fans, it's good to watch the West which is going be very exciting and better than ever.

espn is saying it looks like kidd is on his way to dallas...i wonder if he'll be in a uni tonight?

I think Vince gets it worse than most because he seems to epitomize what fans, often those who would kill to have such talent and opportunity, dislike: laziness and/or fear.
I don't buy his athleticism has fallen off that much. I remember one sequence in last year's playoffs first round, when Vince took it to the hole and got fouled (no shots). Ball came back to him again, took it to the hole, got fouled again (I think by Bosh on a help defense, pushing Bosh up to four fouls). It was painfully obvious Vince could get by our perimeter defender with ease, and I figured he'd do the same again and again and try to get Bosh fouled out, off the floor or accept an open layup if Bosh was hesitant to make contact. But what does he do the next time? Jack up a three ball (which I know he can hit, but he's better hitting them on kickouts than wandering to the line with the defender in his face). One could argue that he shot the three after forcing the defender to play off him on the previous possessions. To me, though, he looked tired and couldn't be bothered to go to the hole again. Sad, really, that he couldn't bother to suck it up in the playoffs. He's a guy I had no problem with being a ball hog if half of his shots were from in or near the key. Guy's like Kobe in that he can score in so many different ways, when he wants. Sadly, not like Kobe in any other way, especially the mental aspect.

Casey, the plan that was being talked about earlier was that the traded player, in this case Kidd, would be added as a 13th member of the West team, and Stern would pick his replacement.

He matched position-for-position when he chose Rasheed to replace KG, so there's reason to believe he would do the same for Kidd, and there aren't really any other 1-guard options then Calderon at this point.

Considering that, and the fact that he still has to name someone to replace Caron Butler too, AND the fact that he may decide to add a 13th spot on the East to balance Kidd's addition to the West, the chances are looking better that we'll see our man where he belongs this weekend. ^_^

ESPN has mentioned Calderon's potential All-Star berth as well. John Hollinger has a small sidebar blurb about it in the article where he discusses the Kidd trade, saying it will "allow the NBA to undo a grave injustice"...

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=KiddDeal-080213

Well Kidd is a Maverick. Its supposed to be official tomorrow. Hell it could even be official tonight. Heres hoping theres no Kidd in the lineup and that Jose gets his deserved spot on the allstar team.

Well Kidd is a Maverick. Its supposed to be official tomorrow. Hell it could even be official tonight. Heres hoping theres no Kidd in the lineup and that Jose gets his deserved spot on the allstar team.

I think I need to send Hollinger a memo to be an unofficial "HQ" correspondent the way he's been pushing for Jose. Great question though about the All-Star situation. It could mean that they grandfather Kidd as in, "you were in the East when selected for the team so you'll stay on that side for this game. OR, they put Jose in and let Kidd be the 13th man in the West. I'm obviously hoping for the latter.

As for good blogs, there are some suspect ones out there McGateway. But what we did this past off-season is narrow down our list of favourites to one or two per team, thus our link section "HQ Associates." The blogs Costa mentioned are all there was well as some others and we'll be working on developping this section as the season goes on.

PS - I love how people never read through all the comments so we get the links reposted, always makes me laugh.

"PS - I love how people never read through all the comments so we get the links reposted, always makes me laugh."

=P

In my defense, the same link changed from being "Our sources say talks have heated up..." when I first clicked on it, to "Our sources say the two sides have come to an agreement..." when I later reposted it.

Still, had I noticed they were the same link, I wouldn't have put it again. ^_^

What's the chance of Jerry Stackhouse coming to TO for a short term contract if he gets bought out by New Jersey?

That's right, I said it. Jerry Stackhouse can shoot from outside, can get to the rim when he wants to, and has an hard nosed attitude. Maybe he can show Moon, Parker, Graham etc how to take it to the hoop and play some in your face D when the playoffs roll around.

Todd,

Dream scenario, but I can't see it happening. He might be enough to help get us through a round or two but probably not enough to make us championship contenders. He'll probably want to go to one of the elites for a shot at a championship should the buyout happen

I've looked around. This site is by far the best BBall blog.

From what I've read Jerry Stackhouse will either be bought out or waived or something like that and will resign with the Mavs in 30 days....sorta like what happened with Gary Payton (i believe it was him)

Halftime, Bosh is back in his groove, Raps up 21, and Calderon... 16 on 7-9 with 6 dimes... Is it even a mild surprise anymore? =D

Regarding Stackhouse, he would indeed be an excellent pickup for the Raps, but given that he'd have his choice of whichever team he wants, I don't think the Raps would be in the running.

espn is reporting that the Kidd deal is being block by D George exercising his no trade clause (1 year Bird rights).

Great game even if it was against a team that if they had this very roster would probably a bottom 3 team in the league.

I'd really like to see John Lucas stick around with the raptors.

I don't understand what has caused this mini transformation on offence for andrea and large transformation on the defensive end.

Armstrong is a machine

Nice game Raps.

The Nets announcer had a cute little line on one of those Calderon-to-Moon alleyoops, calling it a Honeymooner ("Bang Zoom, Alice!")

Some side news announced near the end of the game... Ray Allen has been given Caron Butler's All-Star spot, and with Devean George currently holding the Kidd-to-Mavs trade hostage, Calderon's chances to be in New Orleans this weekend have been squeezed.

Lots to talk about with the great play of Jose (man, he is sooooo good), the improvement of Bargs' -- especially on the defensive end as mentioned above by wtf -- and the possible nixing of the Kidd deal by Devean George (huh? a no trade clause in a 1 year deal?). So I'm just going to touch on one thing:

THE INEPTITUDE OF THE RAPTOR PRODUCTION CREW! I can't take it anymore. Paul Graham needs a serious refresher course on producing a live broadcast. Who do we email? Who do we petition? Who do we turn to when there's a game going on and the cameras are focussed on a goofy debate between Chuck and Leo?!? Who do we complain to when the cameras, time and time and time again, miss live baskets, screw up the score, go to weird commercial breaks, and then miss more live action? The amateur broadcasters like Sherman, Paul Jones, Paul Johnson etc are one thing, but the camera work and the poor coverage of live action is inexcusable. I can't take it anymore!

SonicSuper, the no-trade clause in George's contract is not something they worked in, it's a rule in the NBA's CBA (the Larry Bird rights rule as it's known)

Here's the actual wording of the rule:
A player cannot be traded without his consent when he is playing under a one-year contract (excluding any option year) and will have Larry Bird or Early Bird rights at the end of the season. This includes first round draft picks following their fourth (option) season, who accept their team's qualifying offer for their fifth season. When the player consents to such a trade, the team loses its Larry Bird/Early Bird rights, and the player is considered a Non-Bird free agent.

As for the Raptor prod crew, one thing I'll say as someone who actively seeks out opposing teams broadcasts, The New Jersey Nets announcers who were doing the game on YES network tonight were FANTASTIC! Extremely knowledgeable about every player in the game, very insightful, occasionally witty without being annoying and very reasonably objective. I wish they were all like that.

Thanks Costa, I figured it had something to do with an NBA rule, because there's no way a guy like George has the leverage to negotiate a No-Trade clause.

My new motto for Raptors telecasts:

"RAPTORS BROADCASTS: ALL REPLAYS, NO LIVE ACTION."

Chuck Swirsky is really starting to annoy me. I believe that he may be the most vapid commentator in all sports. I can't believe that this guy has a 3-hour daily show on the Fan 590. His analysis is crap, he has absolutely no opinions, and won't commit to any position. He's a "company man" to the degree that its pathetic, and his refusal/inability to analyze and/or criticize extends beyond MLSE, the Leafs, and the Raptors to ALL subjects.

Is Toronto really such a backwater sports town that we will tolerate such an annoying, useless, vapid shell of an play-by-play announcer or commentator?

Eric Smith, Paul Jones = A+
Jack Armstrong = A
Leo Rautins = B
Chuck Swirsky = F

Incidentally, Chuck inflates everyone elses grade, because of the bell curve.

Sonicsuper - I couldn't agree more with your analysis of the production crew. If you watch other teams & crews, you'll see that the Raptor crew is basically just trying to copy the same formulaic, boring production that everyone puts on: tight shot of player after made basket, tight shot of someone the commentators are talking about, show replay after whistles, etc.

Problem is, our crew can't seem to get it right. They ALWAYS hold the tight shots too long and they ALWAYS queue up the replays in the wrong parts. I can't remember the last time they showed a concise replay, where only the valid part was shown. Both of these mistakes are made at the expense of live action and, because this is basketball, both of them happen way too often. They also have an obsession with not showing free throws and not showing the PG take the ball up the court. Because of this, we regularly miss seeing turn-overs on inbound passes/ in backcourt.

Observer - Your opinions on Chuck certainly seem harsh. I won't disagree with you, but I will point out that Chuck is supposed to be a play by play man. I'd argue that if he stuck to his role, then we wouldn't have to hear his opinions or his (lack of) criticism. For some reason, I think he feels pressured to be more of an analyst these days.

I am a fan of chuck, leo and jack - They're annoying, but I think people just need to realize it's a schtick they're performing. The way leo rides chuck is gold, the bobblehead battle a month ago, you know, it's so bad it's good kinda stuff.