Tip-In: Celtics Edge Raptors in Pre-Season Play

The article makes it sound like we looked like Phoenix the other night…..we lost by 4 on the road to a team many are picking to go to the finals again.

“Even in limited minutes, KG, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce were quite effective, and while they barely played in the second half, they pretty much did whatever they wanted in the first.” ====> Boston’s starting five only played on average two less minutes than our projected starting 5 (I’m assuming Barg’s, Amir, Kleiza, DD, Jack). If they did pretty much whatever they wanted, why were they a combined -8 in plus/minus.

You criticize our D for giving up a high shooting percentage but give them no credit for creating turnovers. Can’t have it both ways.

I’m not saying we are the Celtics, or that there weren’t problems in the game. Given our recent history against the C’s and the expectations for this year, I’ll take yesterday’s result as another sign we can at least compete.

And the fact Andrea didn’t look good in both games I still expect him to play better..people just have to be patient. He’s getting into a new role as being the number 1 option so he’s gonna see more double teams he’s not handle it well now but he’ll get use to it..he’s too talented to go 1-8 on a regular basis..Chris bosh didn’t handle double teams either when it first happened. Andrea does seem lost on offence a lot I saw the game last night and he looked more like a decoy than anything else and if that is the case the coaching staff better start calling plays to put Andrea in a position to score. I love jacks mentality to win but ur point guard should not be your leading scorer it has to be Andrea or DD.

“was last night’s loss to Boston a sign of things to come at the other end of the court?”

can’t be too tough on any team that has a poor offensive game when playing Boston. Thats what Boston does, what they are known for, is playing tough D… no matter who/what/when/where they play.

I’ll worry about the offense when its lacking over a period of time, against opponents that aren’t Boston. not that I think Toronto will have some potent offense… but lets concern ourselves with the offense when you are not playing one of (if not the) best defensive team in the league

“as Boston beat Toronto 91 to 87 using mostly scrubs…”

there are 3 players on Boston who’s name I do not recognize. Everyone else has been a starter in this league, atleast in recent history. (not sure if Wafer started for Houston, but I know he was a regular) Not that I would expect a ton out of Boston’s bench, but it is far superior to Phoenix’s. Really the minutes distribution (bench vs starters) isn’t that far off between the two teams.

“So was this a bit of a reality check type loss?”

how are we outside of reality before the season has even started? And people blame BC for building expectations to high and not living up to it…. maybe, just maybe, its just ourselves….

on a side note, I wonder how much discussion changes if the Raps shoot a reasonable percentage from the ft line (less than 60% is horrendous)

I think we need to temper our expectations with this group. I think we all agree that with the loss of Bosh, a number of new faces, new offensive and defensive systems and the overall lack and poor mix of talent this team will be in the bottom of the Eastern conference.

The only thing I am expecting them to do is compete. And last night they did just that on one of the toughest floors in the NBA.

I don’t care that it was pre-season or that the Celts played their scrubs in the 4th. The Raps competed and had a chance to win right up to the end. That is all that you can realistically hope for from this group this year.

This will be a long year with lots of losing. If the Raps hope to maintain a competitive edge Triano has to make sure the team remains positive and hopeful inspite of the losing. If he doesn’t they will throw in the towel by the 2nd quarter of every game and we will see the type of blowouts we saw in the first 3rd of last season.

With that in mind I will choose to ignore the fact that Bargs was totally disinterested and had brutal shooting & rebounding numbers to prove it. Instead, I will focus on the fact that JJ appears to have improved his game since last year and is ready to play, Barbosa appears to have regained his form from 08, the defensive energy was there and we forced 22 turnovers.

That is something the team can build on and hopefully carry over to the next game…. which of course they will probably lose.

Is the team has actually looked better than most had expected, even in pre-season, so the initial reaction is to discredit any perceived progress in overall play with caveats. Again, preseason back to back or no back to back, 51 point blowouts are a sign of something positive. Losing by 4 to Boston, in Boston, is a positive, considering our “best player” went 1 for 8, and shooting at the line was horrendous. The notion that this team might actually be decent hasn’t sunk in yet, especially for the segment that sees them as winning 20 something games.

What’s translated so far :
They turn teams over and they get to the line.

If Triano’s words are to be given any credit, they are three quarters of the way to implementing their defensive system – which has looked good so far, and only half way to putting in their offense.

Eventually reality will overtake preconceived notions of what this team is “supposed” to be and the recaps will have a more balanced tone to them.

The team is not missing much to be consistently competitive; they need 3 things imo after watching these 2 games:

1) A real C who can rebound and keep other Cs in front of him. That way we can move Bargs to PF and be more effective. I understand y BC was looking at Dampier. To me Biedrins from GSW who is available would be a nice fit for this team.

2) Small but consistent contributions in scoring from Jack, Weems, DeRozan, Barbosa, Kleiza and anyone else who feels like having a good game. Need this nightly from different ppl.

3) Bargnani to average 18+ PPG while playing decent to good defence.

If they keep playing as aggressive defensively as they have so far all they’ve got to do is score more to stay in games and that’s where Bargs is so so so important. To me Bargs overall season can make or break this team.

As for the players so far: Anderson and Barbosa have been nice surprises. Klieza looks like he is going to be quite useful; Amir and DeRozan have shown no improvement in their game, Dorsey shows some promise but we have to see him in a meaningful game against starters before we really know, Jack is a keeper, Calderon is not himself and possibly isn’t as motivated to be here after the trade stuff, Reggie Evans looks in good shape and is playing better but he is not a starter and should come off the bench, Weems is gonna be fun to watch but he needs more experience before we can rely on him to be a 14+ppg guy which is what we need at SG.

dissapointed with derozan and bargs

.
Sometime after the Boston game was over, I started to wonder how the Blogs would play this one out. Part of me wanted to just "miss" the next day or so – as I find the incessant negativity can be a little too much for my liking. Despite how Doug Smith can be too Raptor (organization) orientated, he makes a good point about relaxing a bit. And I think cmrm123 said it right. This is preseason; it’s Boston; it was in Boston; and the players some call scrubs, are not what I’d call scrubs on other teams.
.
Never-the-less, I appreciate your perspective Franchise. Unlike a new Post at RR forums [Does Bargnani Deserve His Starting Position?], I find things here a lot less juvenile, and more tolerable – although I am a fan of Arsenalist.
.
Between bites of turkey, I got a chance to watch some of the game. The Raptor offense concerns me somewhat. The team seemed disjointed & not really organized. I know that AB has had poor pre-seasons before (his only better one, was his sophomore season – a season he’d like to forget), yet I’m a little worried. Is he out of shape? Why isn’t he taking more shots? Does he miss his gf? (Okay, that’s the juvenile in me coming out). Why is JT starting Reggie with Andrea?
.
Then there’s Amir – not many minutes coming his way. AJ is causing a little anxiety for me as well – however, I realize Boston has some big boys, and I would assume Jay will adjust when the games really mean something. I do understand that Reggie will NOT be starting games (God – I hope not). That Kleiza will probably be our starting SF. That guys like Barbosa, Weems, Jack (Caldy starting) will make our Secondary fairly decent.

When it comes to preseason, I’m always reminded of Blue Jay pitchers. During preseason, the veteran Pitchers try out new stuff, and don’t get worried if they get lit up – as long as it’s not too often. Whereas the new Pitchers are trying to show their stuff, and tend to stick to what got them there. Hopefully, that’s how things will go with this year’s Raps. Remember, we’re picked to be dead last.

Just as scorching Phoenix by 51 points doesn’t mean we’re a offensive juggernaut, losing to Boston by 4, does not make us defensive sieves.

As cmrm123 said: "I’ll take yesterday’s result as another sign we can at least compete."
.

And then there was Andrea Bargnani, whose 1-for-8 shooting line looked better than his sluggish defensive work.

"(Bargnani) is not doing things as quickly, and with as much urgency as we’d like him to," the coach said. "Maybe he’s not in shape. . . . Maybe these practices are taking a toll."

Maybe they are, although Bargnani insisted he’s in fine shape and simply searching for what he termed his "rhythm."

Really!?!? After all that happened last year with Turk and an oportunity to come in to camp and take charge of this team with Bosh gone and the coach’s reaction to his play is “Maybe he’s not in shape”!?!?!? Thank god he’s signed up for another 5 seasons!

Whether we like it or not that dog don`t bark (nor does it rebound), so let`s get serious. Only a massive shot of testosterone will get him to play anywhere near his potential, and I`m guessing that`s illegal. Unfortunately, the organization has a huge investment in him, and they can`t very well sit him for five years, nor can they trade him given his lengthy contract. Best case for all concerned would be to bring in someone (like Dampier) who is at least a passable imitation of an NBA center. Bargs then moves to the 4 where he splits time with Johnson while Kleiza plays the three along with Weems. Once Davis comes back, Johnson and Bargs can watch, I heard those courtside seats are awesome.