Beyond the Box Score: Cavs @ Raps

I was a little inspired by the Raptors HQ post on statistical analysis and how the NBA only provides very basic stats. So, I set out to record a few more stats that could possibly be helpful. I found out that it's HARD, especially when you get caugh in the heat of the game, and especially when the video crew wants to show you a close up of the Leafs GM instead of the actual game being played. In other words, take these with a grain of salt...

Format: Player Name | Fouls Incurred | Charges Taken / Charges Attempted | Deflections | "Half Assists"

Jose Calderon | 5 | 0 / 0 | 0 | 1

Jose may not be in mid-season form, and it showed since his shooting touch was off, but you can tell the old Jose is back. All the Jose haters that said he can't create and never dribble penetrates can shut up now, as he did so on at least 3 occasions this game - at one point dropping a sweet dime to a cutting Bargs for the dunk. Triano's defensive scheme did a good job overall of hiding Jose's deficiencies in the department. Jose was a true floor general this game, slowing down the cavalry when the fast break wasn't there and using up the clock when we had the lead.

DeMar DeRozan | 1 | 0 / 0 | 2 | 0

I was a big supporter of starting Antoine Wright over DeRozan, but DeMar did an excellent job of playing with energy. He was caught napping a few times early on Anthony Parker, but hey it's live and learn. The important thing is that he was strong and athletic on the glass - he'd literally fly in out of nowhere to grab the board. He was also active in going for the ball which resulted in two deflections. I still have the jury out on him to see how he deals with a more star-quality 2 guard, but so far so good.

Hedo Turkoglu | 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 | 0

You want to talk about intangibles? I'll tell you about intangibles. Every time Turk had the rock in his hands, the offense seemed to flow much more comfortabley. I felt a lot more comfortable with the ball in Hedo's hands than I was when it was in Jack's and even sometimes Jose's. He's certainly the best creator on the team, but the important point here is that his patience doesn't result in a winding down shot clock. Add to that he crashed the boards, something we weren't sure he'd be good at after playing with Dwight for so long, and we have a pretty solid addition to the Raps. i wasn't a believer before, but I'm slowly seeing why this guy was paid so much this offseason.

Chris Bosh | 7 | 0 / 1 (!!!!) | 1 | 0

If you watched the game, you'll know that Bosh was completely robbed of a charge. Bullshit call by bullshit refs. Anyway, Bosh still has a lot of growing to do into his new role. He's trying to be more physical and it certainly showed, but he went back to his old ways at the beginning of the 3rd and nearly shot us out of the game (or at least, he completely killed our first half momentum). He struggled offensively, especially early, trying to get his shots in. Luckily his new found muscle means he doesn't get stripped as easily in the paint anymore (although it did happen once or twice) and instead results in trips to the charity stripe.

Andrea Bargnanni | 2 | 0 / 0 | 1 | 1


This man was robbed! 3 of the 5 fouls called against him were questionable, 2 of which being just damn unnecessary. Had he played closer to 40 minutes, he'd have closer to 40 points on the night. Also, those saying Bargnanni doesn't work on the glass need to pay attention to him in the game rather than the boxscore (hence the title of this post). The man was boxing out like there was no tomorrow, helping players like Bosh, Hedo, DeRozan, and Wright pick up the loose balls while he carried the Cavs frontcourt on his back. Excellent game for Bargs, now let's hope for some consistency.

Jarret Jack | 3 | 0 / 0 | 0 | 0

Either Jarret forgot his shooting stroke in Indiana, or he never had one. His offense is reminescent of a less talented TJ Ford, but much more physical. His bullish drives into the paint sometimes result in a foul incurred, and sometimes result in a missed shot. Luckily not many resulted in turnovers, because it looked like he has his eyes closed as he runs to the basket. His defense also didn't show up as advertised. What did show was that he's a solid ball handler and he can work with Calderon. If he can find his shooting stroke and play a little more under control, then we can all breath a little more this season. One thing's for sure though, he's a lot better than Will Solomon.

Marco Belinelli | 2 | 0 / 0 | 2 | 0

A lot of people think this guy's a shooter. That's a mistake, this guy is a scorer. Unlike when Kapono puts it on the deck, Marco can actually finish! The style of his game seems like it could be streaky though, so I'm not expecting consistency out of him. But if he can come in off the bench and provide a spark every other game, I'm all for keeping him on this roster. The knocks on his defense are also questionable. He played solid man-on defense throughout the game. The only knock is that he gambles quite often, something that could end up burning the Raptors in key end-of-game moments... that's probably why Wright was on the floor instead during those times.

Antoine Wright | 0 | 2 / 2 | 2 | 0

A lot of people counted 3 charges, maybe I missed one. Wright turned out to be a solid defender we can bring off the bench. The only problem is he's our new Kris Humphries. Yes, the black hole is back, this time in the form of a shooting guard. He showed a tight handle and the ability to knock down some shots, but he's not talented enough offensively to be able to do some of the things he's trying. Think Jalen Rose without the efficiency (and Jalen Rose was *not* efficient... so think that). Still though, his smart help defense and solid man-on defense was sorely missed last season.

OVERALL OFFENSE

At the beginning we seemed kind of stagnant, feeding Bosh a few times and getting burned. Once the team realized that Bargnanni is our new offensive scoring machine, things started to go uphill. The further we got away from Bosh, the better we did. That's not to say Bosh was a liability on offense - he got the opposing team in foul trouble and started to pick things up as the game went on. More importantly we now know that if Bosh isn't "on", we have other options.

The bench offense was spurred on by Belinelli but held back by Jack. If this was just an off game for JJ, who played a lot of minutes, then maybe our bench scoring won't be so bad.

OVERALL DEFENSE

People keep pointing to holding the cavs to under 40% shooting, which is great and all, but I'll tell you one thing: there are other teams out there with better shooters. We leave that many 3 point shooters open in the 3rd quarter against a team like Orlando and... well, look at what happened to Philly. Ryan Anderson, Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis... those are all better shooters than Daniel Gibson and Mo "I'm overrated" Williams. The defensive intensity was there, and that's a good thing to see. I think as we develop better communication over the course of the season, we'll be tighter on the perimeter. But we play Orlando on Sunday, and I don't want to be embarassed like Eddie Jordan was tonight.