3 In the Key - Toronto Raptors Game Day Preview vs. Pistons

Howland,

Good article, however, I am dissapointed with the tone...you have already given up on them making the playoffs...while it is a far cry, we are only 4 games out with about 40 games left!!!

I agree Blanco! If BC can turn JO into a Marion, J Howard (wishful thinking), or another 3 that can create, it will really compliment the roster as presently constructed. All is not lost...yet!

Anyone hear Jay's interview on the Fan 590 this morning? Great insight into Bosh's reaction to Moon and Moon's flaws (both defensively, and character-wise). I like how he mentioned that Bosh does hold himself accountable in the locker room when he blows it. He doesn't just jump on others when they trasgress the laws.

I would be dedicating the rest of the season to:

1) Trade all players with expiring contracts for draft picks.

2) Try to "inflate" the stats of the secondary players to increase their value in trades in the off-season.

3) Take a step back, and figure out the "identity" of this team.

#3 is the most important... right now, the Raps are a horribly mismatched team. We have the best 3-pt shooters and FT shooters, yet are near the bottom of the league in attempts for both. We have a "franchise" player who has no go-to moves in crunch time. We have a potential Mehmet Okur type Center (Bargnani), but no tough rebounder to compliment him. Even the coaching is mismatched: we got rid of the coach that relied on individuals making plays (Mitchell), and now have a coach that preaches a "system" and requires that players have higher IQs (which obviously isn't a fit with Moon/Solomon/Graham/etc. on the team).

So -- the biggest thing that Colangelo needs to figure out is what "style" of team he wants. If he wants to emulate Utah and maximize Bargnani, he needs smarter players and a tough rebounder. If he wants to still have Bosh as the centrepiece, he needs a "go to" guy to deliver in crunch time. Having your PF try to go 1-on-5 for your final play should never be an option.

Keep in mind: KG's teams were never great until he had 2-3 clutch players around him. Pierce/Allen are the 1 and 2 options in Boston, and Cassell/Troy Hudson/Spreewell/others were the ones in Minnesota who made it happen.

I think people talking about tanking the rest of year have done lost their minds. Everything I have read about this years crop of players coming out is that there is exactly one player (Griffin) who looks like he can contribute immediately (guess what position he plays) so there is almost no chance that we can get a player who will have a big enough impact (barring BC showing some insight and stealing someone in the draft) to make a difference next year. Without that impact player this team might as well trade Bosh because he will not be coming back (would you come back to an yearly loser when you can sign with LBJ and DW and win 10 championships?). This isn't a normal season, something has to happen soon or you can kiss this franchise goodbye (I do not mean move, I mean they will turn into the Detroit Lions of Basketball).
Asst Gm, how can you say (like you did yesterday) that this team is not fatally flawed? This isn't a case of we are a little weak on our bench. OUR WING (SG/SF) IS A FEMA DISASTER AREA. There is not a single player on our team who plays in that spot who would get more than 8th man minutes on any team worth their salt (parker might be worth something but he wouldn't start). Our backup PG spot is a blackhole. I do not mind Ukic or Solomon on their own it is the fact they are both there instead of at least one proven NBA PG that bothers me.
As for blaming Smitch for Bargs lack of development, it is impossible to argue whether that is true or not as who can say what was going on. I know that Bargnani's d had improved even from the beginning of the season but that could have been Oneal's presence. His o was off but we all knew he would turn that around and he was getting jerked all over the place at the beginning of the year(that is as much BC's fault for ramrodding him down Smitch's throat).
I too, am a Rams Howland fan have been since the Baltimore Colts moved to Indy and I have been pissed since Linehan came on board. I miss the days of Jim Everett and Flipper Anderson. Good Times.

Man, i'm just tired of watching the boys flounder time after time when others are playing their hearts out. Trade JO get the Matrix in here and let's just go to work.

Speaking of work I have to get back to mine!

I'm out.

Fresh 1

McGateway, where did I suggest that this team is not flawed? I even commented that this team desperately needs a 3 who can create and get to the rim. I just simply stated that we have a few young workable pieces and made an observation that this team is young based on NBA experience. Ukic should have been our 3rd string PG behind a more experienced PG backing up Jose. I hope that you just misread my post rather than attack me based on the fact that I didn't think that Sam was a very good coach. BC has to take a lot of the blame. He took a chance with JO and it hasn't panned out. He assumed by bringing JO into the fold it would negate the need for that coveted 3 that we so desperately need. I was even willing to trade Bargs and spare parts for J Howard after watching Howard play at the ACC against the Raps a couple of months back. As for Bargs development, I guess no one will ever know. I just thought that it was convenient that both he and Joey started to show signs post Smitch.

The realist in me thinks this season is a wash.

The optimist in me thinks that this team has been so dramatically bad and is so extreme in it's disappointments, that THERE IS THE CHANCE THAT THEY COULD BE EXTREME IN THE OTHER DIRECTION TOO!!! Here we come playoffs!!

Shut up Optimist side of me.

Up your Realist! GO RAPS!

Very insightful perspective Howland, great article.

A few things I'd like to see as we close out the season.

-look at how favorably our market responded to Voskuhl. We're fans of the hard-nosed plugger types, who scratch and claw to make their performance equal more then the sum of their talent. Lets get a wing that fits that mold.

-Give the young players a chance...yes and no. I think you give them opportunities, and you scale their minutes according to how much improvement they show. Just like Bargnani, I think that the best thing for Ukic is a summer in the gym with a Raptors coach. Until he develops a more well-rounded game, his minutes should continue to fluctuate a bit depending on matchups, while still remaining the primary backup pg. Calderon is here for another FOUR years, can't wait till he's back and able to get more reps with Bargnani as a main scoring option.

Re: Shawn Marion trade.
Not a fan of taking Marcus Banks contract. Given recent NBA history (ie every OK city transaction) you don't take a contract like that without a first round pick attached).A potential benefit of a Marion deal is chance to use him in a sign and trade if we don't like what's on the FA market.

BC great point about the change in coaching systems, and how that changes which of the teams flaws is exposed the most. Wishful thinking, but it would neat to see each player talk about how their role has changed under each coach. An interesting case study for the offseason perhaps.

If I'm the pistons coach - or a high school coach for that matter - I run a set play where the point guard uses a weak screen at the top of the 3 point line so that Bosh, Hump, Voskul or Bargnani switch off and create two mismatches (They don't even try to work through the screen, nor do the guards). Raptors fall for it every time. Nash and Rose exploited it ad nauseum ... guaranteed that Iverson does the same.

basics!

BC: You got big balls in critizing Bosh in this blog but your spot on.

Hey Rt - thanks...

I wasn't really intending to criticize Bosh, but make the point that your PF or C *cannot* be the one with the ball in his hands to create a play with 10 seconds left in the game and down a basket.

Bosh is an outstanding shooter for PF, and can draw fouls fairly well, but someone else needs to run the play to put him in position to score.

KG doesn't run plays, Amare doesn't run plays, Duncan doesn't run plays, so we should be expecting Bosh to somehow turn into Kobe/LeBron/Pierce/etc.

Bosh getting blocked by Joakim Noah at the end of the Bulls game, or completely missing a crazy drive at the end of the Blazers game is exactly what I'm talking about -- Bosh was set up to fail because the "play" was simply to dump the ball in and hope for the best. Even Malone needed Stockton to set up all of his baskets.

I apologise Asst Gm as I reread your post and saw that I did misread it (you said you never disagreed so I probably read it as you disagreed).

No worries McGateway. We are obviously all rabid fans who get frustrated over different aspects of our team's shortcomings. I really do appreciate all that you and others bring to this site. Imagine having nowhere to vent our frustrations. Now, that would be ugly! At least here at the HQ, everyone brings their own perspective and insight!

An idea for the Hq, maybe run a weekly post called Targeting, where the focus is to identify a free agent from this upcoming summer who might change the Raptors fortunes next year. The first candidate for such a feature should be Paul Milsap...my goodness that man can play. With each such profile you could focus on the potential impact of the addition, including how he would better balance the roster, how much would be a fair offer for such a talent, and who you would allow to move on to make room for him. Also look at that players receptiveness to playing in a place like Toronto. This way it gives us more to debate than the flaws of a team in a perpetual state of losing and maybe allows for the establishment of a common purpose amongst regular contributors: How can this team be transformed into a championship contender as early as next year. I mean if the Arizona Cardinals can make the Super Bowl, the Raptors making the finals next year isn't so far fetched. Ultimately that is the goal, so then, how can that be achieved. Just an idea

Championship teams of the past, all have had slight variations of the same winning template.They always have a strong defensive big man- Parish, Cartwright, Duncan, Garnet. They all have a super scorer - Bird, Jordan, Koby, Pierce. They all have a star side kick, McHale, Pippen,Ginobly, Allen. They all have a reliable steady point guard - Johnson, BJ. Fisher, Parker, Rondo.
In Toronto, Bosh fits the star "side kick" mold but he is not the crunch time scorer that Pierce, Koby, Wade or Lebron are. So in crunch time Toronto needs to go to the hot hand on that particular night which of course they have been unwilling to do because they have committed to Bosh being their only "go to" guy. Hence ,opposing teams can lock us down in crunch time.

Before we go all crazy and lose perspective, we're only 93 points away from a 33-10 record this season. That's right, the raps have lost 17 games this season by 8 points or less. 10 of those games have been by two posessions or less. Two stops more per game and we're 26 and 17. This team is just not built to close out games.

If I can steal something I've heard recently, the Raptors are like Denny's, they simply DO NOT close!

So yeah. Before we blow everything up, let's take a look at what we really need. 1 clutch player who can creat his own shot. A Danny Granger type, if you will. And there are more than a few players out there who would do the trick.

Can I be in Rams Mode and still stay in Camp A? I haven't given up on the season, but I agree it's hard to imagine how improvement is going to come, if it's not from within...

Put me in the full-on fantanking mode http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070202_magazine

Here we come Ricky Rubio!!! Or James Harden!! And hopefully Tyler Smith with a mid-to late first rounder that we pick up before the trading deadline. Theoretically, such a pick should be cheaper than other years due to the weakness of the draft. And by the way, if we can't turn a top 7 pick into a player who helps us, we aren't trying hard enough.

Hahaha. Leafs are now asking for more crowd noise too. Lovely.

For me, my expectations are still at a certain level for this club. Have they dropped off a little? Yes. But there's no way they should have been losing all of the games that they have been for the past week. As Michael Grange posted about it earlier in the week, and as I've talked about it earlier in the season, the Raptors got to 47 wins a year ago by routinely beating those teams that were below them in the standings. This year? No matter about the hard schedule so far, they've lost far more game against those in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference. Even worse is that they haven't beat enough of the top tier teams to balance their "unexpected losses".

I know that we talk about how management has royally screwed up this team with the players that they've brought in. I can't say that they're without blame. But the most egregious error I think is that the Raptors were allowed to get away with starting Jamario Moon for much of last year, even when it was clear to me and others that his softness wasn't going to change. Then now, guys like Jason Kapono and Joey Graham were nailed to the bottom of the bench, and now we are begging them to save our team's butt in crunch time. I think about the year-to-year of our team and our SG/SF have had largely the same personnel, but never the same minutes, or the same roles. Management is to blame for the personnel and not recognizing the situation, coaching is to blame for not giving players a consistent role, and frankly, we're partially to blame for not holding this team accountable for these mistakes.

For me, the sky isn't falling, but I do want to take some comfort in the fact that we aren't pidgeon-holed in a bad situation. We do have room to maneuver for a trade and that's why I don't think it's the end of the season yet. But I am waiting. I'm waiting for something to happen.

Raptorsaddict - Man, that link had me so confused ha ha...I didn't realize it was from a few years ago so was reading it thinking "why would he want the C's to tank now, they're not THAT bad..." and "trade for AI...huh?"

I actually think TO is due for a win tonight. This Detroit team is not very good right now (barely beat Memphis on Monday) and AI is just dominating the offense. (To no one's surprise probably.) So if they can keep him in check (although he loves playing the Raps), I think they can get the W.

That being said...I'm looking forward more to watching copious amounts of college ball tonight including Aminu and various other prospects.

For those who got to see Tyler Smith last night, the kid just competes. In fact, he's the antithesis of Jamario Moon. I pray he's in Toronto's range when they draft...

This is one of those posts that make me wonder if you guys have a direct pipeline into my head.

I've been a Rams fan since Vince Ferragamo was lobbing bombs for them in LA.

(which may give a clue that I am a decade or more older than most readers here)

That said, the Rams did go to two Superbowls (with the NFL's version of '7 seconds or less') and won one of them - so hope must be kept.

Also, I STILL think we can make the playoffs - we need Calderone back ASAP and we need to move JO for a wing defender, but if those two things happen it is still a possibility.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go place a bet on the Arizona Cardinals. There is something about their QB that seems eerily familiar...

Start printing the ballots!

"Smith & Aminu 2009 - Yes We Can!"

It would be hard for Triano to play for the future; His career is on the line, and he will be trying to get wins I would think. Unfortunatley that might mean playing the best current players and not the ones with potential, that you might do otherwise in a lost season.

Yes, there are many games left, and they are only 4 behind NJ. But this latest losing streak has crushed a lot of fans' hope.

It's been said many times before: we didn't mind cheering for losers that play in a hard and entertaining fashion. (most previous Raptor teams, really.)

But this team, as constructed, sucks. I think there was a lot of nervous optimism at the start of the year from most of us; And we've been proven right about a lot of our worries.

Just to pile on some more, Delfino was also a good ballhandler that could play point in a pinch.

The team is too nice; we need some mean pricks, chemistry be damned, we need an edge to this team.

Well you know the team isn't going to tank, I like to believe competitive althletes dont have it in them. Also feel its too soon to be talking about that.

Got a lot to say but not much time. Expect a short story from me soon.

Wow.

Wow.

Sad.

In the immortal words of Lenny Kravitz. "Does anybody out there even care." Really? You're gettin schooled on the glass and you don't get mad and go after it? ugh.

Outrebounded 40 to 28. And you had Bargs, Bosh AND O'neal in this game.

Seriously.

Somebody learn to rebound. Pathetic.

If I was Triano I would make these guys run rebounding drills and suicides all night! (one of the many, many reasons why I would make a terrible coach)

You want to put forth an effort like that? Eat it. You're runnin drills. I've gotta get my money's worth out of you lot.... drill time.

Okay, I gotta go jump in the snow and cool off. The 2nd half of this game just got me steamed.

Sorry for the rant.

who was due to win again? I am not sure if a case can be made for the Raps to win any more games this month.

19-point blowout loss.

wow. it was after a loss like this one that got Smitch fired.

If the Raps stand pat, and do nothing, then they do not deserve to have a fan base.

Didn't see the game tonight, do I need to explain why?
I say keep playing the way they are. JO will be worth more next year at trade deadline, and get some smart hardworking clutch players in the draft. That's what Portland did. They had a bunch of Shitty years. But if they draft soft projects, I will loose it.
Uhhh, there's nothing to cheer for this team anymore, they don't try apparently and I can't watch the games so, let's get some solid Picks.
Do I sound bitter, I think the 3-0 start really had my hopes up.

Oh yah, I almost forgot. Brian Colangelo should just go get his dream coach too. Because I don't think this team is getting it. Not the coaches fault either, but they do need to run drills, I completely agree Mcclarky.

This came apart fast.
I think JO is going to make a difference as he gets healthy. However, he is not going to lead us to the promised land, so we need to think long term.

BC is a guy who goes for it. He should try to get the Knicks to bite on Marbury-JO, and tank the season for some draft help.
Otherwise, just suck it up and do the big salary dump next year. Marion comes with a 4 million Banks dead weight. Lets get back to the Babcock plan. If Bosh wants to leave, let's use him to draft well.

Not that there is a lot out there this year. I'd love to get Rubio, though I dont' think Jose would be too excited.

Mccclarky,

re: outrebounded 40 to 28,

In general, Bosh and O'neal are just alright rebounders relative to whomever their specific defenders are on a particular night. Bargnani CAN NOT REBOUND TO SAVE HIS LIFE, PERIOD. So even with three seven footers, nothing is guaranteed when it comes to rebounding.

Bargs little hot streak still hasn't convinced me that he's anything special. My guess is that he'll just be a serviceable NBA player in his career

Brutal game. Detroit just out classed us as a team and a franchise. Hopefully BC can turn our mediocre assets into legit NBA talent at the 2 and 3 spots. And maybe grab a vet that can teach our guys to stop being so soft (of milquetoast-esque charactor - quit having complete breakdowns of any motivation and understand to and of winning ball games.

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