Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post-Game: Close But No Cigar

I have to say this is one of the best games the raps played in months (or atleast weeks) I really thought they had this one... but I think it was a perfect example of how this team could do when they play with some desire.

I thought each player showed just what they bring to this team. If you guys don't mind I think I'll throw down a player breakdown (and if you do well, I guess you'll just have to skip it)

Calderon - Played great. Played solid D. Actually took a charge! (may be the first time all season)

AP - ummm..... typical game for him this season. Got burned on D all night. Supposed to be our shut down defender and yet he couldn't shut down a GM plant. Turn around fading jumper with 8 secs left on the shot clock... need I say more?

Bosh - had some intensity tonight, again relied too much on his jumper, but played hard. Wasn't completely there on offense come the end of the game, yet hit his clutch fts. Can't complain about Bosh.

Marion - didn't even realize he was on the court half the time, but still got the job done. Great job on Prince.

Bench

Pops - 'The Coach' said it best... "could be the next JYD" Thought he deserved some repect calls from the refs at the end of the game on those offensive rebounds.

Roko - showed some great signs again last night. Needs more minutes.

Voshkul - ummmm... should be 12th man and only play when things get chippy.

Kapono - yeah thanks for coming out... where's my Mo Pete jersey? Oh yeah Kapono took it.

Joey - didn't get minutes, but wasn't exactly on tonight. Still expect some inconsistency from him anyways.

Triano - ok again I really question this guy. Love the fact that he the first canadian Head coach but..... Hamilton was killing AP, why not try some Matrix on him? Seriously, Hamilton 20+ points, 15 assists?... just because a guy is a sg doesn't mean our sg HAS TO cover him.

AB - Has played great lately and sat this one out. Yet this is the first game the raps have played with desire/heart/intensity in a long time and coincedently AB is not on the floor. Does raise a few questions I think. Not trying to knock the guy, and it was only one game, but he is not known for his rebounding or hustle... and yet what is the very thing that kept us in the game? I know I'm gonna hear it for this, but it just makes one think.....
just imagine if he hustled likes Pops does.....

All said and done the raps really deserved this one, but Detroit is still a very good, intelligent team that has been playing well again lately. But most importantly, it showed just what and where this team is lacking. I'm sure we have all heard this, and said it too ourselves a million times... SG and bench. (although I have to give Pops and Roko respect for their play last night).

Calderon's speed of accomplishing the record was faster than A-Dub, but Damon Stoudemire had almost as many assists in 75 fewer ganes than José. (Last night's broadcast).

Great game last night; some elements of a good team there; unfortunately though this is 2009 and our patience is spent:

Orlando is killing it this year, and we were ahead of them developmentally at some recent point in time. (Feels like 10 years ago)

Boston used to be our doormat when we were an AVERAGE TO CRAPPY team.

Pretty sure none of us were shaking in our boots when the Cavs came to town a couple of seasons ago.

Just saying.

If you're wondering about the usefulness of the +/- statistic for NBA basketball, I point you in the direction of last night's Raptors-Pistons box score: Jason Kapono was supposedly +15 despite playing the most useless 29 minutes I've ever seen from an NBA player...

And Triano is a joke. I love that he insisted on rolling out Jake Voskuhl with the starters at the beginning of the 2nd half or kept Kapono on Prince when Pops could have given them AT LEAST another 10 minutes of court time?!? Nothing like having the worst rotation player in the NBA guarding a borderline All-Star by playing 10 feet off his man and watching him put up 5 quick points in OT! Nice work Jay!

SwirskysSoldier says...
A decent report on last nights game...why the hate for Bargs,poor guy sicker than a dog,attempted to play,and the guy gets shit on,come on !!! expecting Bargs to bring the Pops energy?
I agree it was nice to see some heart last night....and we shouldn't start thinking what if...because what if we a chance at drafting Shack way back when(Oh!,us boys got screwed on that one)
If anything last nights game showed me that we can play ball,however it also showed me how week we are...starting Jake,enough said.
Also Bosh's 100 shots showed me how much we needed Barg's offense.
Sad to say,but we will be in limbo land until Bosh tells us what he is doing...he has indicated that he already knows what he is doing !!! my gut tells me he is gone,we will have to build around the big pasta (I have no problem with that)lets at least get something in return...yes he had a better game,depending how you interpret the numbers BUT we LOST.

I'm really loving Pops! I think he's definitely a keeper. This is exactly how I would like the team to finish off the year. Battling till the end of each game with no giving up. If you're going to tank at least do it in style. As negative as losing is, at least the players know when they gave it everything they got. Just saying!

This was the first Raps game in ages that I only caught glimpses of - mostly because my Blue Devils were involved in a straight up war with Boston College (forget Big East, how tough is the ACC???) and as well, Cuse was in OT yet AGAIN against a very tough West Virginia club.

However there was a lot to like last night, namely Jose's play at last and Pops. Howland covered this in depth but again, just shocking that a D Leaguer is having this much of an impact, especially considering it's really only in one capacity! It's not like he's putting 20 points on the board each night and dishing out six or seven assists. I try not to think of it but had BC had the foresight to grab a few guys like this and Von Wafer a long time ago, Toronto might not be in the position they're in now.

And I agree with Geoff, in OT, couldn't for the life of me understand why Pops wasn't playing the whole thing to negate some of Detroit's offensive effectiveness. Because once the Pistons scored those first 7 straight, you knew that was it.

Sunday's game, which Howland and I will both be attending, should be interesting however as last night seemed to give the club a bit of moxy back.

In the meantime, hope everyone is enjoying the precursor to March Madness next week!

DayOner - yeah Damon did it in less games, but Calderon did it in less minutes. Don't forget this is his first year starting and Damon started his entire career here (although Jose has had better players to work with)

d279 - wasn't trying to 'hate' on Bargs, and I know he didn't play. That was kind of my point... the intensity lvl without Bargs on the floor. But as I said, it was only 1 game... and Bargs is still a young guy. Would just be nice to see someone (say a new coach) light a fire under his ass and get him hustling. I am also not questioning his offense.. just his willingness hustle.

"expecting Bargs to bring the Pops energy?" - just an interesting statement because I see no reason why any Raptor shouldn't have Pops energy on any given night. I know he is fighting to play in the NBA, but can you imagine if every raptor fought like that every night?

I cannot believe I find myself now hoping they lose, yet with a good effort. Last night is precisely what I want to see from these guys. Check the standings, we are now officially in the lottery.

I missed some recent post but need to comment on one from several days ago, when F&H were discussing our future. The way I see it, it depends on whether you see this year as a Murphy's Law type of season.
Pre-season it was repeatedly stated that we lacked depth and any extended injury to either JC, JO, or CB4 and this team could be in for a long tough season. Well Jose hurt his hamstring early and imo hasn't been 100 for many games this season. Solomon turned out a mistake and Roko, although with a definate upside, simply lacks the experience to handle the bulk of minutes.
Jermaine O'Neal missed several stretches as well, interrupting his adjustment to a new team and exposing our lack of depth in the middle(more on this point later).
Bargnani got off to an inconsistant start as well, never quite finding his niche in Sam Mitchell's system.
A coaching change early season, while nice seeing it change AB and JG's game, sure hasn't helped this club climb in the standings.

Which brings us to our day in, day out best player, Chris Bosh whose future with ou Raptors was the main subject of F&H's discussion.
Is this season simply a disaster? A fluke where unfotunately a nagging injury to a premier PG, a key new addition's adjustment to a new team always hampered but injuries, and an early season coaching change that when you look at the new coaches W-L record can only be classified as a mistake.
If that is the KoolAid you swallow, then you keep your core of Bosh, Calderon, Bargnani,continue to let Roko learn, probably hang on to JG, offer this Pop guy some $ and priority # 1, bring in a seasoned coach to install some pride in this team. Use Marion's(who is not the slashing scorer we need) expiring deal to help fill our holes.
Add in(hopefully)a lottery pick, see what you can get for Kapono, decide what you wanna do with Parker(I feel we should re-sign at reasonable price, his versatility and maturity can help off the bench)and perhaps this team could pull a 180 and compete for a 5-8 playoff seed next season. Maybe injuries can strike again and we will be rewarded with another lottery pick. With the direction and the roster that this team has that is the bext case scenario for next season. A 5-8 playoff spot and and first round loss to deeper, more talented Eastern Conference teams. For years to come!

Otherwise you got to consider blowing this team up.
Why are we considered weak in the middle when our two main guys are our bigs in Bosh and Bargnani? If we are to build on this tandem should this not be a major concern?
Bosh is going to want a max deal next year, and a big as he has been to this franchise he is not a max money guy.
He is also our biggest bargaining chip.
Lets say we can pull a draft day deal, grabbing another team's number 1 pick, and two solid young players. Add in (hopefully) this year's lottery pick and all of a sudden we are a much deeper team. Yeah younger, less experienced but in a better position to compete in a few seasons. I doubt our record would be any worse than this season.
Am I throwing in the towel for next season as well? What I've learned this season is that our Raptors are way behind teams like the Magic, Cavs, and Celtics, lack the improving young talent of the Bulls, Heat, shit just about other Eastern team. Our competition is showing upside and we are not. We are years away from competing. Quickest possible turn around would be to use our biggest chip, CB4.
Now I am not saying lets give Bosh away. Explore options, to make us deeper. Wonder what a team like the Knicks would give up?

swirsk, I'm not the hugest triano fan, but you have to admit, he made the right calls on the last few plays to get the raps to overtime... calderon going straight to the hoop laving 9 seconds left, no way the pistons thought the raps would do that... we usually would hold the ball for 3 or four seconds, then give it to bosh... I can remember beig impressed by a few plays out of time outs last night actually

One plus from last night's loss.....Toronto now has the seventh overall pick lottery balls aside. Warriors beat the Mavs to inch ahead in the overall standings........

Tinman - I do agree with the Bosh assessment... in a way. If he is not going to stay, then we must trade him. If he does sign an extension however, we may need to explore some other options (I do question the max contract status myself aswell). I don't think this is a team that needs to be blown up... just some big 'adjustments' (its just a matter if we can get those peices with the few we have to offer ofcourse)

Axl - it was a nice play... but was it designed that way or did Calderon see an oppportunity and take it? I didn't see an interview after teh game, so it may well have been the intentions (and I'll give Traino credit for a good call if thats the case)... but until I here Calderon or Triano say "yeah thats what we planned" I would question who gets the credit. It sure looked like a typical screen and roll w/ Bosh, and Jose decided to go the opposite way because Detroit left the bucket open expecting Bosh to get the ball.

Does anybody think that Gerald Henderson can make an impact right away? He is the exact player I think we need...do you think he would make a difference in his rookie year?

PS. Why Kapono was gaurding hamilton is beyond me.... even if joey was bad offensively, he is a much better defender and would have made the difference in OT

Joey was playing good defensively when he was covering Prince. He was on him like glue. Would have been nice to see him try to defend Rip.

I also agree with your post Tinman. I don't think I need to get into the specifics, but very well put.

I also expect this team to bring the Pops energy every night. That comes from desire. I am 34 and ball 3 times a week with my students (who you can argue have the age and height advantage; some even the skill), but I drive them crazy with my energy and aggression. Half-ass basketball (competition for that matter) drives me $#%^en crazy.

I do disagree that Bargs lacks intensity. He has been one of our better defenders often these last few months. He even did an admirable job covering Deron when Utah was switching off. If your team plays without energy, it reflects on the team as a whole. Anyway, just some early morning thoughts!

swirsk - of course plays can change based on how the defense reacts - my point is that, with sam mitchell in that situation, they couldn't change, the play was always for bosh to get the last shot no matter what - which is fine for you know, MJ, kobe, lebron, although those guys will kick if they have to (which bosh isn't good at). This is not to slam bosh, because big men, even duncan, garnett, even shaq generally aren't suited to being option 1 in this kind of sitution anyways. If Mitchell was a little more creative with the x's and o's out of time outs, he'd still be with the team right now I bet.

I think the only reason Kapono was on the floor was to create space in the paint. Detroit was forced to keep a guy on the perimeter to guard Kapono and took away the double team on Bosh. All the raptor's points scored when he was in there were were on drives so I guess from that perspective it was effective.
Unfortunately on the defensive end he was a disaster.
I guess the takeaway is that Bosh needs a lot of space to work in and that the raptors need to install an offensive system that instills better spacing.
Kapono is too one-dimensional to be an effective player on this team. Add in his unwillingness to shoot and he becomes an even greater liability.

Axl,

Back when Mitchel was fired I argued that it was in essence a panic move to cover up the deficiencies of the roster. I think that now it is pretty difficult to argue otherwise. Mitchel was fired and Triano was picked specifically because BC was convinced his roster was better than it was and he thought if he had a yes man that would do what he wanted, his roster would be validated. When Mitchel was fired, the team was 1 game under 500 at 8 and 9. Since the firing, the team has fallen off a cliff and gone 15 and 34. I in no way blame Triano for this. He was given a headcoaching job and what else is he going to do but be a good soldier and follow the whims of the GM that put him there.

Sure, some players may not have been absolutely in tune with Mitchel at the time, but Jack Armstrong put it best on "Hoops" the other night when he commented on the blow out loss in New York. He basically argued that the players that were pleased with Mitchel's firing and behind Jay basically gave up on Jay and utterly capitulated to the Nicks that night in the blow-out. His question was, how could the players do that to the guy if the were so in favour of the move at the time. This speaks volumes about the type of characters on this team.

In regards to your points about play calling vis a vis Mitchel... What Sam did was utilize his talent to maximize there strengths. He had a forwad in Bosh and PG in Calderone who excelled in the pick-and-roll and a roster that provided not much else. So he ran a lot of pick and roll. Well you know what. Look at Cleveland, their playbook consists of about 3 plays and all of them envolve a pick and roll with LeBron. The hornets run a steady diet of Pick-and-roll with Paul as well, because that is their strength. That is what you are supposed to do as a head coach, run plays that maximize the talent you have.

My point is while we can argue about plays that Jai calls, it matters very little in the grand scheme just as it did when everyone was calling for Mitchell's head.

Take a few minutes and watch this excerpt from TNT's NBA pannel on the Mitchell firing... (listen carefully to Chris Webber) Sadly for Raptors fans, this criticism of the Raptors holds as true today as it was in December.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUt0H9Ltfjo

Yeah, I remember that clip, and I mostly disagreed with them at the time, though at lot of decisions were made (like caldy over tj) for non-basketball reasons and in hindsight moving sam mitchell may been one of them.

Nowadays,I wouldn't argue anything from that clip, throw this team into a schedule against top teams and they just aren't that good. Period.

That's why i don't day much about mitchell's weaknesses, except in this case, where play calls out of timeout to me still seem to be one of them.

I supported the firing because Mitchell was getting annoying, really, he didn't respect the fan enough to talk basketball with him via the media. And I always hoped he gets another chance , because i think he'll have learned from his mistakes and be quite a good coach.

My whole thing with firing him was so that an even better coach would be brought in, who would pick all his own assistants and I'm hoping this happens. I wouldn't mind seeing avery johnson here, maybe pry away kurt rambis or brian shaw, even d'antoni I would rather have than mitchell, evne thoguh i don't beleive his style will ever win a championship.

Point well taken though, Mitchell was probably doing about as well as could be done with this team in this schedule.

I hope Bryan Colangelo was watching Terrence Williams in the Big East Final...11 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 7 steals...just a complete player.

I guess everyone is forgetting that Smitch completely lost the team during the last half of last season and clearly at the beginning of this season (it was a bit of a continuation from last season). I'm sure BC noticed the trend continue. Sam could not adjust to other coaches adjustments in games. He was too simple a coach. The Raps WERE a playoff team two years in a row that were flat out out-coached in both playoff series. Is the roster flawed? Yes. Is Smitch a good coach because this roster is/was flawed? No. Why? Because he never showed us in games that he is a good coach. People, why are we defending someone who clearly wasn't prepared to lead this team. I'm sorry, but I expect my coach to do everything to utilize the strengths of it's roster. I'm surprised that some of us don't expect more from a coach; that they accept mediocrity!

Oh and I don't have to watch a video of CWebb defending the Smitch when I clearly know that he and others in the video don't watch Raptor games. They like Sam the person and somehow talk about him as a great coach. I still don't know how CWebb and Payton ever got the gig on NBA TV.