Tip-In, Toronto Raptors Post-Game: From Start to Finish

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT

AP and the Raps starters paced the team in the win over Charlotte...

Lacing Them Up –

Another game for the "do not try this at home" bin.

Nope, not exactly the complete performance I was looking for last night, but a win nonetheless.

Incidentally, this game in many ways was the complete opposite of Toronto’s loss to New Orleans as instead of the bench leading the charge, it was the starters who got the team over the hump with the reserves, besides Carlos Delfino, going MIA.

Charlotte put up a good fight using the 3-ball and their athleticsm mainly but in the end, Toronto's execution won out over the long haul.

Let’s break things down:

A Numbers Game – 37 Free Throw Attempts

If only Toronto could get to the free-throw line like this consistently. At present, the Raptors are averaging only 20.2 free-throws a game, good for last in the league. Yet last night as Jack Armstrong astutely pointed out, the Bobcats were jumping on every play looking to make blocks and Toronto took advantage drawing fouls.

As a result, Toronto added 27 points with the clock stopped, an important factor in a game where most other statistical categories were even. Both teams had almost identical field goal and 3-point percentages, and nearly identical rebounding and assist totals. (A big coup for Toronto after last month’s disaster in this area.)

But Charlotte only scored 16 points off of foul-shooting and this may have been the key statistical difference in a game that came down to the final minutes.

The Turning Point –

For once the turning point to this game wasn’t the tip-off. Instead, it was the moment Sam Mitchell re-inserted the starters in the second half. For some reason the bench could not hold leads with any success (something we’ll get to in a minute) and recognizing this, Mitchell rode his main horses heavily in this game. Check these numbers in terms of minutes played:

TJ Ford – 34
Jamario Moon – 37
Anthony Parker – 41
Chris Bosh – 46

Even Rasho played 28 minutes.

It was necessary though as these five and Delfino were the only six effective Dinos on the night and Toronto needed every ounce of their productivity to grit out this win.

Temperature Check –

Hot – The Toronto Starters

This was the difference in the game hands down. All five played exceptionally well with Chris Bosh leading the charge. Bosh had 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists and aside from a stretch of fatigue in the second quarter, was nearly unstoppable doing an excellent job of mixing up his offence and getting to the rim. Jamario Moon gave fans a glimpse of what could be as he played with more aggression than he has in months. He even got to the free throw line six times! Parker was his usual solid self and was some suspect refereeing away from putting up some of his best numbers of the year offensively. And what can you say about Rasho? Besides the double double, Nesterovic showed some offensive moves last night that hearkened back to his days besides KG in Minny. Words can’t describe what a breath of fresh air he’s been to the club…not to mention a boost to several of my fantasy basketball teams.

And finally we come to TJ Ford. In our recent poll question, "what do you see TJ Ford’s role being in the future for Toronto," of our 300 respondents, nearly 65 per cent saw him as trade bait this off-season.

I think it’s worth mentioning then that while I agree with this statement, I also realize that the team will indeed miss parts of Ford’s game if he’s dealt and last night was a perfect example. With Calderon in the game, Toronto was getting destroyed off of dribble penetration as Jose was simply not quick or athletic enough to stay with Earl Boykins or even Raymond Felton. This is something BC is going to have to take into consideration this off-season as if he looks to deal Ford, he needs to bring in a solid defensive back-up or be sure that Roko fits the bill in this area.

Ford played his best game since returning from injury in my opinion with 16 points and seven assists and only two turnovers. I counted three ill-advised shots on the night, including one near the end of the game that was the most egregious, but you can live with that provided he gives the team solid leadership on the court and an assist-to-turnover rate like that of last night’s.

Cold – The Raptors’ Bench minus Carlos Delfino.

Um…seven points from the bench? Jose with one point and one assist in 18 minutes of play? No PT for Kapono? None for Primo against his old club? Not exactly what Bryan Colangelo had in mind I suppose when he tried to add more depth to this club...

Toronto needs more productivity from the likes of Hump and Bargnani if they want to close out the season on a high note and Linton Johnson, after displaying some late game heroics Sunday, looked much more like the journeyman 10-day contract holder that he is.

Lukewarm – Sam Mitchell.

Early in the game Mitchell had me scratching my head again with some of his line-up combinations as the Bobcats used their athleticism in the second quarter to get Toronto back on its heels. And it was obvious that Bosh needed a breather before he missed an alley-oop attempt and got beat down the court by his defender on consecutive possessions.

However Mitchell adjusted and realized that it was his starters who were going to win him this game. He didn’t waste much time after that and did a solid job countering anything Sam Vincent threw at him.

Lukewarm – The Charlotte Bobcats

This Bobcat club is an interesting team. On one hand, they are a tough match-up for the Raptors with their athletic ability at the wings. Emeka Okafor is starting to show some semblance of a low post game, and they have some nice pieces in place. However their shot selection leaves little to be desired at times and watching them was like watching a series of 100 meter dashes. Charlotte would score six or seven points in a row and look to seize the momentum, only to play some lax defense or start chucking up 3’s allowing Toronto to take control again. With another solid draft pick however to shore up some of their weaknesses, (how good would Michael Beasley look at the 4 on this team??), and some more veteran depth, this team could make a push as early as next season.

Just don’t count on Adam Morrison or Sean May being the difference makers in 08-09...I mean, are there two injured players anywhere in the league that look less like basketball players? Morrison looks like he’s channelling the spirit of Jim and Doors, and May just looks like he ate an entire band!

Up next for the Raptors - Josh Childress and the Hawks

Moving On –

Classic RaptorsTV moment last night.

During the "ask the expert" portion of the game, Chuck tee’s up a question for Jack about the playoff seeding. Jack starts to answer and immediately, Chuck goes into some sort of trance which lasted for a good portion of Jack’s answer. I’m not sure if he was distracted by the Bobcatettes (is that what they’re called??) or what, but even Jack looked like he was about to wave his hand in front of Chuck’s face and give a "Helllllo!"

I guess the RaptorsTV crew is just like the team they cover, you just never know what you’ll see or hear when you tune in.

The red-hot (well for Atlanta at least) Hawks are up next tomorrow night in another important game. This is a game in which Toronto’s bench really needs to step up as essentially the Hawks have been playing six guys the last few weeks. Seriously, looking at last night’s box score for the Atlanta-Memphis game you’ll see that Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Joe Johnson and Josh Childress all played 30 minutes or more with Mike Bibby coming just under the wire. Throw in 20 minutes of Acie Law and 16 of Zaza and ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 Atlanta Hawks!

Just like Charlotte, Atlanta can be a tough match-up for Toronto due to their athleticism. Toronto had to fight to the finish to eke things out last night and I expect a similar result tomorrow.

The Raptors have the depth and talent to give Atlanta problems but Toronto can’t have another one point, one assist performance from Jose. Perhaps it was the match-up, or simply an off night for Jose but Calderon should give Toronto a big advantage over a Hawks team relying heavily on sophomore guard Law.

As our friends at www.foodcourtlunch.com reported to us yesterday however, perhaps his off-court goodwill is taking it’s toll and he’s a bit worn out.

I mean come on, Disneyland??

FRANCHISE

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Comments

Couple points on last nights game…

• Jack was in rare form last night. It’s always a better in-game experience when Jack is paired with Chuck.
• Jose was getting shredded by Boykins/Felton. There were some possessions where he was simply exposed. To make it worse, when he did his best to usher his opponent to "help", Bosh was too quick to concede the basket and did little to challenge. Now, I love Bosh, I know he has to cary a big load for this team and he has done a better job of closing out the play as the last line of resistance on D this year, but far to often he concedes lay-ups. For instance he had 0, ZERO fouls last night and only averages 2.4 on the year. I’m not suggesting fouls are a good judge of defence, however it does speak a bit to his level of engagement on the defensive end.
• Check out this quote from Doug Smith’s blog today, adds a little perspective to the season:

"Let’s say, just for argument’s sake, that these guys rattle off six wins in their last eight games (it might be a stretch given their penchant for blowing relatively easy games but play with me here).That gives ‘em 44 for the season and, I’m guessing, a fifth seed. Maybe sixth.

Is that a good season?

Does 44 make it successful given the absence of Garbo for almost the entire year, the absence of Ford for 24 games and Bosh for 15, the inconsistencies of Bargnani and every swingman on the roster and the presence of a rookie in the starting lineup?

Can you make the case, given those circumstances, that they over-achieved to get to 44, or even 43?

I think you can make that argument quite easily. And what’s that say about the coaching? And the other guys? That they were able to, in the absence of three key players and the knowledge that they never knew night to night what they’d get out of Delfino, Kapono and Moon, survive and even thrive at times?

I think it says a lot."

by MAS on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Recently I heard a Raptors joke, and I thought I'd share it with you guys, because we need to lighten the mood a bit on this forum :)

Chris Bosh and T.J. Ford were in a club recently celebrating their birthdays (they share a birthday)...So after a while it became apparent that T.J. was completely hammered and Bosh was still as sober as when he came into the club. Why was that? Its because T.J. kept taking all the shots! ha ha ha

cheers,

benjo

by benjo on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I agree with Franchise on the need for a more defensively capable guard, especially if Ford is traded. If the opportunity arose, I'd draft either Russell Westbrook or Darren Collison of UCLA. Westbrook is more of a shooting guard, but he's an exceptional athlete and defender. Collison is also an excellent defender, and pretty close to a true point guard, although he's not averse to carrying his team offensively when the need arises. I doubt the Raptors will be in a position to draft Westbrook, but Collison's a realistic possibility. I really like Mario Chalmers' ball-hawking skills too, but I don't know if he's coming out for the draft this year.

Love what Rasho's doing, but it's a little bit worrying that we've become so dependent on him. I guess the Bargnani at centre experiment is suspended for the time being. What an enigma he is. Hopefully he can add some upper body strength in the off-season, but I doubt he'll ever be more than a passable rebounder.

You're right about the need for athleticism at the wings too. Moon's been a nice surprise, and Delfino is a nice player to have around, but Kapono can't guard his shadow and it's apparent that Joey Graham is no longer in the Raptors' future plans. Don't know if they will try and fix this through the draft or through free agency.

by Skywalker on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Jose did not get His usual 1st q minutes. Although I don't believe this for a minute, but maybe He pulled a TJ

by Davl on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Sorry...don't mean to post off-topic, but is there going to be a Raptors HQ Final Four Party down in the Harbour Grille on saturday night? Just a suggestion, but I'd be very interested in watch both games there on saturday night. At least with the Leaves out of the playoff hunt we'd have a good shot of getting the big screen!!

by Beginners Luck on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

At this point all I want to see is wins, so I am happy with this one. Great night for TJ, Soon his good play as starter might add new life to the "taste great/less filling" PG debate.

Jack is simply the man. He is the authority and there is no way he isn't picked up by someone for next years Raptors' season. Hopefully it will mean even more Jack.

I re-watched a classic b-ball movie last night - HOOP DREAMS. Great flick, and it was funny to recognize some people. Kevin O'Neal was seen on a recruiting call and comes across as really smarmy -and goofy looking. Also, you could hear that it was the Swirsk calling one of the games, I think the Chicago City High School finals. If you haven't seen it, great flick.

Rasho should have been starting all year, but didn't so we could develop Bargs. It is "Win-Time" now and Sam can now play his vets more. Kinda miffed at starting Kap-one one night and benching him the next. I have already seen enough of Linton Johnson. I see no point to giving a guy minutes at this point in the season, that can't be on the playoff roster. Am I the only one that misses Joey?

Anyhooow, a win is a win, I can't figure out why the Bobcats aren't better. Beasly would be a perfect fit on this team.

by Robert Archibald on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

one area i've noticed improvement in bosh's game is passing. granted, i missed all last season, but compared to 2 seasons back he seems to have really improved his ability to find open guys for buckets when it's a better option than just taking the shot.

by benjibopper on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

A good road win against a hot ooponent. Will take it.
Finishing off the season on a roll would be nice.

by Tinman on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

MAS - Read the piece from Smith's blog and a good question concerning the success of the season. I'm going to get into that a bit tomorromw, especially in regards to the Andrea situation.

Skywalker - Ford has a good piece on who is in and out so far for the draft. Still VERY early of course but some have indicated which way they are leaning. Westbrook or Collison would be great options though, both warrant a workout invite at the least.

Beginners Luck - Great idea but not sure if it's possible. Howland is away this weekend (in the tropics on vacation) and I'd originally planned to camp out at my place for some scouting. But if there's enough interest, I'll see if we can book off the couches.

PS - Benjo - great joke. Hopefully Sam Mitchell wasn't at the bar too complaining about the bartender "Making some More Shaaaats."

by Franchise on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Two points about Calderon playing smaller faster guards.The Raps need to employ an offense where Calderon posts up, in this case against a very small Boykins. Kidd always did that when playing Ford. I'm sure Jose is quite capable of learning some post moves. Most teams try to take advantage of these size miss matches. Secondly, it seems that everyone is blind to the fact that small guards blow by Ford too. Felton left him standing several times last night. Fact of the matter is that with the amasing cross overs that many guards have today, it is advantage offense.

by Rt on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Interesting article on the Wages of Wins site about the Raptors...

http://dberri.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/the-fourth-best-team-in-the-eastern-conference/

He argues, among other things, that the Raps record doesn't do justice to their performance (they "should" have a better record than Cleveland), and that Bargnani has been awful but none of the other 2006 picks, save Brandon Roy, looks much better.

by MattK on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I think Chuck fell into that trance because Jack answered a simple question about playoff seeding and format in the most confusing way possible. He did a terrible job explaining how Division winners are not entitled to a top 3 seed and if not for an on screen graphic, I don't think anyone would have understood that they don't reseed the teams after rounds

by Blaxx on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Once again the raps are in a good positioning since all the crap that has gone on.

Whats also good is that we have glaring weaknesses so we do not have to wonder how we will get better.

Everyone in Toronot including Bargnani knows he flopped royally this season. Needs to get tougher, needs to continue to attack the basket. Learn to get to the line like Bosh does.

We have to do something about this pg controversy. I don't want to be paying 15 million at pg position without having a franchise pg like Deron Williams, Chris Paul or Steven Nash.

Pay one of them 8 million sign a back up for 2 million and spend the rest on bringing in a wing.

Which is obviously another area we are sorely lacking in. We need someone who can attack the basket like a pitbull at the wing position.

THere are plenty of players that can do that...however what will we have to give up to get one.

Don't think Kopono is a good fit on this team, however as Kyle Korver has shown there is always a market for a shooter.

Haven't said it in a while: You guys have created a hell of a site here.

by wtf on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Thanks for the update, Franchise. Just saw that the Lopez brothers have entered the draft. Brooke will probably go top five, but Robin is more of an open question. He strikes me as another Joakim Noah, but maybe he'll surprise.

Robert Archibald, totally agree on Hoop Dreams. It's because of that movie that I no longer take an interest in the Oscars. That movie should have been nominated for best picture. So it wasn't - I could live with that - but it wasn't even nominated for best documentary. What a joke.

by Skywalker on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Forgot to mention that Mario Chalmers is listed in the draft on NBADraft.net, albeit at the end of the first round. With the number of quality point guards available this year (Rose, Mayo, Augustine, Collison, etc.) I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed at Kansas.

by Skywalker on Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Give please. Time is that quality of nature which keeps events from happening all at once. Lately it doesn't seem to be working.
I am from Rwanda and learning to speak English, give true I wrote the following sentence: "Expert resources for cat lovers flea control for cats treatment and prevention while shampoos and flea collars are still options, parasitologists have.This page contains information and an overview of the comon cat flea, life stages, identification tips, food resources, reproductive rates, diseases carried or."

Regards :) Terris.

by Grant on Jul 1, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Sorry. Everybody knows if you are too careful you are so occupied in being careful that you are sure to stumble over something.
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Thanks for the help :D, Clementine.

by Clementine on Sep 1, 2009 12:00 AM EDT reply actions