Tip In, Raptors' Post Game: Routing the Rockets

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST

Count the number of Raptors contesting Scola's shot - D wants to see this continue for the rest of the season...

New year, new team, new haircut, new injuries?

In our first game of 2009, the Raptors resolved to put the same kind of hurt they laid on New Jersey, what seems like a year ago, on the Rockets.

By taking it defensively to the group from Houston, the Raptors established that they were not going to win games with an overpowering offense. Even with such a large margin of victory last night, the Raptors did not break 100 points. Instead, the Raptors put the clamp down on the defensive end by holding the Rockets to just 73 points for the game. Shooting at 34%, Houston was simply having trouble establishing their offensive flow. With lots of strips from the wings, boxing out, and some inspired, hard physical play from players like Jake Voskuhl and Andrea Bargnani, the Raptors couldn't have played tougher.

Speaking of Bargnani, he managed to put together another good game by keeping calm in situations and believing in himself throughout the game. By taking initiative to stay in the game after his third foul, Bargnani made up for the absence of Jermaine O'Neal by going toe to toe with Yao Ming, and eclipsing the great wall with an even greater performance. And while Bargnani took a lot of beatings from the refs, he kept working Yao Ming throughout the game and was helped out by Voskuhl and Humphries who took turns pinning Yao away from the basket.

I for one, was glad to see Bargnani regain his form. I've resisted ragging on Bargnani for most of this year, as he's been yanked around like a yo-yo instead of having a defined role that was the stated mission of the staff in the beginning of the year. As of late, he seems to be finding the elusive comfort zone that he had earlier on in the year, and it is only very recently that we've seen a return to inspired defense and effective decision-making on the offensive end for our big Italian center.

And for one night at least, both Roko Ukic and Will Solomon looked like they belong in the NBA as the filled in admirably for Jose Calderon when he went down with another hamstring pull.

Nevertheless, the Raptors got this win because the wings did not play like a disjointed group. Anthony Parker found a way to contribute with eight rebounds, despite being unable to hit from long range. Joey Graham, with ten points and three offensive rebounds, used his size to abuse the Rockets, and keep the Raptors from losing ground to Ron Artest. When Ron Artest took the ball to the inside, the Raptors met him by drawing fouls and making his night difficult. In fact, the Raptors held the Rockets starting wings and Ron Artest to a horrid 6-for-26 shooting night.

However, I just can't believe the talk in the Raptors' Post Up after the game. Suddenly, because of one game, Will Solomon has earned his stripes as a starter. At the end of the day, this is one game which is simply an anomaly within the schedule. Houston is definitely no pushover, but the Raptors simply took full advantage of a team out of sync. T-Mac for one, was not getting many touches throughout the game, and the spacing on the floor was simply horrible. For one game, the Raptors took advantage of the situation, but we can't get ahead of ourselves. We are still relying on players that are, and have been largely inconsistent.

Honestly, can we rely on Will Solomon to put up eight points and seven assists on a consistent basis? Could we hope to have Jamario Moon to contribute seven points and two assists? Yes, last night's win was a great game of team work, but it will take more than one game to figure out if the Raptors have turned the corner.

And just listening to how dejected both Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were after the game showed that not all is right in Rocket land. After a fast start to this year, we're starting to see indications of the stress of having players such as Ron Artest and Rafer Alston on your team. When the Rockets decided to be flat footed and pack it in, the game got away and the Raptors capitalized on 22 turnovers.

But without a doubt, the most troubling aspect of last night's game is that the Raptors are down two of their big three. With Jermaine O'Neal and Jose Calderon both nursing injuries, the Raptors managed to stave off the Rockets for one night, but against Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson, the Raptors will find themselves against a much stronger test on Sunday.

1) Overcome Hurt -

So people say Will Solomon has turned the corner. If Jose Calderon misses this next game, he'll have ample chance to show his colours. And heck, Roko Ukic will finally get that burn that we at the Raptors HQ have been screaming for. However, the biggest thing we will have to look for, is Andrea Bargnani to just continue his play in the absence of Jermaine O'Neal. I don't see how he will assigned to defend Dwight Howard in Sunday's match up, as Voskuhl, Bosh, and Humphries all are more well suited to try and keep the big man-child on the perimeter. But Bargnani must continue to be an effective contributor to the Raptors if they hope to pull out a win with some defense and efficient offensive production. It is his production that allows the Raptors to open up the interior of their opponents, and allows for a beautiful inside-outside game that we saw for much of Friday's contest.

2) Contain Jameer Nelson -

Last year, the Raptors in regular season home games managed to completely dismantle the Magic. It was a thing of beauty to watch.

I should know. I was lucky enough to be there for all of them.

What changed between regular season play and the playoffs? The Raptors allowed Jameer Nelson to completely outwork them on the floor. Against the Magic, the Raptors will have to protect the paint not only from Howard, but from the dribble penetration of guys like Jameer Nelson. If they do that, we may be able to see yet another rout of a very good team on Sunday.

3) Build -

Chris Bosh's comments the other day about making the pieces the Raptors have at the moment work, is precisely what we need from our star player. We simply cannot allow the team to think reinforcements are coming because they simply aren't until Colangelo decides to pull the trigger. Perhaps most importantly is the fact that the Raptors will increase their trade value if they continue to play with the energy and effort we saw at last night's game. Yes, even we at the HQ have been talking about change, but building on past games and working to get momentum are important steps towards the growth of the Raptors as an organization. After all, no matter what kind of player Bryan Colangelo brings to the Raptors, the Raptors need to have the chemistry to overcome a change of personnel.

At the end of the day, I fully expect the Raptors to challenge the Magic in spite of their injuries. Last year, the Raptors managed to get the better of the Magic in three out of four home games in both the regular and post season, so I'd expect nothing less than an all-star performance from Chris Bosh. We've seen Bosh go off for great career games against the Magic before as playing Dwight Howard just seems to bring out the best in him. And while we've seen Bosh regain some of his effectiveness from earlier in the year, he'll have to put up a monster game to slay the monster man-child of Orlando.

But most importantly, last night's win can't be a once-in-a-month kind of effort. The Raptors simply have to keep this effort up if they hope to regain the ground they lost in December, and it's gotta continue on to game two of 2009.

Vicious D

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Comments

I still don't think 'effort' sums up this team's problems, more like 'talent' and 'momentum'. It seems like the raps have a chance at the latter over the rest of the season because of the schedule easing up.

It really, really sucks about calderon, just when he was really coming on.

Going to be at this game, so especially want a win. Let's go raps!!

by axl on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Excellent post, especially because you guys get them on so quickly and keep the dialogue flowing.

Bargnani is going to benefit from being a 4/5 and not getting his role jerked around. An encouraging thing was that he was good with Bosh on the floor. Too often it seems like they limit each other because they have similar skill sets and work better with JO. Nice to see them work together a bit better. Bargs did not do such a bad job against Howard in the playoffs, in parts, last year and he's much better inside this year. If Howard does not get all the benefit calls again, which was pathetic, he may not make Bargnani look so bad. Bargs also gets a chance to make some mid-range (please Jay, don't stick him out on the 3 line all night - if he misses a couple early, he'll suck all game)shots and take Howard away from his blocking perch.

I don't know how long JO and JC will be out, but it would be great if this is a period like the one the Rockets had when Yao went down and they rattled off a record winning streak.Maybe it will get them to play a little more of a dirty, physical game and then their healthy stars can adapt to the team when they come back rather than the team adapting, and watching, them.
Of course, if the refs call one sided or Howard-friendly games, nothing will work and the team's will will slide.

by EaseMyPain on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

The job done on Yao was incredible. We mugged him all night.
Only worse body language than McGrady was Houston's coach. All is not well in that dressing room.

Lats nights game is a glimmer of hope.

by Tinman on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Even though houston looked liek they wanted to be out on the town instead of in the arena, still a solid w. Worried about the magic tomorrow though - theyre playing really well right now.

by fromlongrange on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Well I have noticed that the Raps play much better when a few player are injured. When bench player are told to come off the bench, they have such enthusiam and energy. When Toronto starts the same five people eventually, the enthusiam and energy will soon wither away. This being said, I think that JO injury will benefit the team alot because it will spark a fire in Andreas head to play tougher and harder and show his true talent. The Raptors should think about not playing JO and Bargnani at the same because they be able to play with enthusiam which,the Raps greatly need.

by TheKiller on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

i thing that andrea bargnani played really well and if the raps play this good on the defensive end they can be one of the top teams

by fresh ozzy on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

the only thing im not sure about is how the raptors are going to do against the magic without calderon, oneal, and jason kapono. But the backups for those players were playing really well against houston so they will cause some damage to the other teams that they face. The raptors will have their schedule a lot more easier after they face the magic. Another reason why the raptors were losing their games is also because that they played the fewest home games in the east.so the raps will bounce back from losing to winning. LETS GO RAPS!!!

by fresh ozzy on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Sun, Jan 4 Orlando

Mon, Jan 5 @ Milwaukee

Wed, Jan 7 @ Washington

Fri, Jan 9 Memphis

Sun, Jan 11 Boston

Mon, Jan 12 @ Boston

Wed, Jan 14 Chicago

Fri, Jan 16 @ Indiana

Sun, Jan 18 Phoenix

Mon, Jan 19 @ Atlanta

Wed, Jan 21 @ Detroit

Fri, Jan 23 @ Chicago

Sun, Jan 25 Sacramento

Wed, Jan 28 @ New Jersey

Fri, Jan 30 Milwaukee

Not that easy of a schedule 8 teams over 500 7 under Raps split and go 500 it will be a good month

by Davl on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

raptors suck man. the raps really need to improve man. THEY SUK. if u wanna see a team that's actually good. check out the BOSTON CELTICS.HAHAHAHA JOSE. AND ROKO, DONT TRY TO ACT LIKE RAJON RONDO CUZ HE'S BETTER THEN ROKO. GIVE UP RAPTOR FANS .RAPTORS SUCK!AND DONT GET INJURED SO EASILY.

by joeHATER on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

As much as I believe BC will bring in HIS choice for coach (next year), I liked how Triano made use of Voskuhl to change things up. Originally, during the first part of the game, I thought ... oh, oh .... AB is gonna get killed by Yao.

But after Voskuhl did his job, and brought some bang to Yao – which I think AB got the point – it changed how the balance of the game went. Bargs followed up with some great defense, and a reasonable good offense, and was instrumental to a great TEAM win – despite how people say Houston sucked.

There were times when Bosh looked fatigued (or maybe just reluctant to attack the rim), but I have to think (or hope) that the Olympics and Mitchell’s early season overuse has run its course, and that we can expect to see the dominant figure back again. Triano has to emphasize to CB, that jumpers are not what makes CB a long shot MVP.

As for Orlando tomorrow, I won’t be disappointed if we lose by 15. But I will be disappointed if we return to the old ways. That’s what scares me about O’Neil returning as the starter C. I wonder if his style and play – qualities I enjoy – somehow affect the way this team plays. And should JO not be able to play against Orlando, and Jose skips another game, then Solo-man needs to play it simple, AB has to continue his resurgence, and CB needs to leads by example – attack – for the Raptors to make it a close game – win or lose. Of course, that means we need more of the same from Joey and the gang on the Bench.

Have to say again, but my favourite moment against Houston, was when Ukic said to Yao .... "I’ll take that now". I thought that was the play of the game – steal the ball, race down the court, and make a behind the back bounce pass to Humps, for a 3 point play. I’m sure Yao had that wtf look.

by RapthoseLeafs on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

I hate to be pessimistic but the win against Houston is about as much as Houston's chemistry issues and TMAC's lack of effort. We are without Jose and O'Neil for god knows how long and if we even make the Orlando game close I will be happy. Think Orlando without Howard and Nelson, they still have 2 good players, with out JO and JC we have eh bosh.

I don't get how people are saying this team plays better without JO. He is a tough dude, he is the only raptor that shows grit and pride consistently in games, not to mention rebounds and play good post defense. He is out for a couple of games and people are saying we are better without him? Yes our wings played better in Houston's game, but aren't they suppose to play that way every game.

Sorry for the rant but I would rather for Moon, Parker, Kapono taking some heat. But JO for missing games for an injury? Come on.

by JYD on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

JYD I am with You on JO! His effort has been 100 percent every game and I like his toughness and swager even in this losing season. If only the rest of the team would take notice and put forward the same effort and toughness!

by Davl on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Completely agree re: Jermaine. He's given us exactly what we should have expected; tough, hard-nosed post play, when he's able stay healthy.

Still, I'll be very interested to see how Bargnani follows up his excellent performance on Friday. I imagine he'll see his fair share of time against the man-child.

by Skywalker on Jan 4, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

This is going to be a tough one this afternoon. JO and Jose aren't playing apparently, two BIG holes then for the Dinos. Like Rapthoseleafs says, I won't be too upset about a 15 point loss but I at least want them to play with some toughness and swagger.

Also - minor Sunday morning trade idea that I think BC should take a serious look at:

Raps send Parker and Solomon to Houston for Von Wafer, Chuck Hayes and Aaron Brooks.

Wafer started for the Rockets last night and scored 17, he's that underrated, explosive scorer that the Raps could use off the bench.

Brooks is a speedy, athletic, pass-first point in the Rajon Rondo mode who would give Toronto a legit back-up option behind Jose while Roko continues to improve.

And Hayes is a tough, albeit undersized 4/5 who would help the Dinos off the bench.

For the Rockets, they are stumbling without much leadership, something Parker could give them, in addition to being an outside threat and defensive replacement while Shane Battier heals.

Solomon would inherit the 3rd stringer role on Houston, something he's probably better suited for.

In addition, none of the players being shuffled about have long-term salary commitments so it's relatively low-risk for all parties.

PS - Hope everyone saw Tyler Smith play yesterday for Tennessee. His club lost but he looks to be a great fit for the Dinos if they're in a position to draft him. Tough, athletic, long, good defender...

He's at the top of our newly updated draft prospect rankings.

by Franchise on Jan 4, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

Draft Cents:

Jrue Holliday in '09!

by JENGE on Jan 4, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

WOW! What a game. The Raptors finally get it. Franchise, why don't ya ever do the temperature check any more?

by Thor on Jan 4, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

PARKER LIVES!!! Roko performing late in 4th! Bosh re-energized! Bargs play resembling consistent! Moon defending well and snatching key boards! Solomon not doing too many bad things! A coach capable of forcing the opposition to adapt to his game plan! Have not been this excited in sometime. Here we go boys. Oh yeah, and my boy DELFINO IS COMING BACK! Now my autographed pic can be hung again.

by Branden on Jan 4, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

haha, good to see Branden so fired up, showing more pep then Tom Cruise on Oprah.

Yeah, I caught that Delfino reference during BCs halftime interview, looks like he's Count Chocula's on his way back.

Bargnani, where do I start. The fellows on a tear, and BCo 's reference of optimal conditions being 30-35 minutes a night, that's telling. Not that Sam and Jay necessarily were doling out the minutes wrong, just that having him sitting on the bench for long stretches, I don't think that helps anyone. He's not Jamario, he's a shooting big and he needs to be able to get into a rhythm. At this point, he needs as much live action minutes as you can give him. And with the games he's had lately, I can't possibly see a scenario where JO comes back and gets anymore then 30 per game, REGARDLESS of how he's going on offense. I think Mcclarky was the one a few threads back that cited how based on his recent work, ,bargnani had him firmly optimistic, I think I'm gonna keep my cautiously optimistic glasses on for the rest of the season. It took a battle with our playoff nemesis D-Howard to reaffirm my faith...

APark, great game but I'd rather see the reaction from my fellow posters before I weigh in him and how this impacts how we view him in the short and long term

by yardly on Jan 4, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

is delfino really coming back? i didnt get to see the game and missed everything. because if he really is coming back....that is ggggrrreeat.

by tea time on Jan 4, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions

WHAT A DIRTTTTTTTY F***IN GAME!!! oh wow no but really happy to see our raps get a much needed W, especially against the magic. Two game winning-streak here, not much, but I can definitely sense some optimism and some momentum going the raptors way...bargnani on a tear the past three games; I love the big fella always have, good to see him gaining that confidence we need him to develop in order for him to be a game changer for us, but you guys gotta give my boy roko ukic the game ball today against the magic. My man showed some big cojones tonight, the "lil' white rookie" (as he says), with the raptors up by one and the magic swarming bosh drops his patented one hand floater over nelson in crunch time puttin' the raptors up by 3 with like 30 seconds to go. THAT WAS SO CLUTCH LOL I JUMPED OFF MY COUCH. lol good game overall keep it up raps

by syMMetry on Jan 4, 2009 12:00 AM EST reply actions