Raptors' Rapid Recap - Miami Heat 103 - Toronto Raptors 95
by Adam Francis on Feb 16, 2011 10:53 PM EST
in Raptors Rapid Recap - 2010/11
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-They came, they saw, they kind of concurred. The Miami Heat visited Toronto for the first time in their "Super Friends" format this season, and came away with a 103 to 95 win thanks to 76 points from LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and of course Chris Bosh.
-Bosh was the focal point in this one obviously as it was his first game back in Toronto as a member of the Miami Heat. He led Miami in scoring with 25 points, but hardly dominated the way another Raptor-villain, Vince Carter did, in many of his returns to TO.
-However he and the Heat did just enough to escape with a victory, in what was actually a fairly close match. The Raps played from behind from mid-first quarter on pretty much, but repeatedly pulled within 3 or 4 points until the Heat finally put things away for good with about a minute left in the match. Andrea Bargnani put on an offensive clinic finishing with 38 points on 15 of 26 shooting, but again, he didn't get much help. DeMar DeRozan was a solid second-fiddle with 24 points himself, but after that, the next highest scorer was Ed Davis, with a measly 8 points off the pine.
-This game could easily have been an OT fight to the finish had TO knocked down just a few more shots. However Jose Calderon, Sonny Weems and Amir Johnson, Toronto's other three starters, combined for a beautiful night of 4 of 21 shooting, and the club just didn't have enough firepower to pass the Heat by the time the buzzer sounded. The Heat were missing Mike Miller, so weren't quite at optimum strength either, but they got 16 points off the bench from Eddie House and Erick Dampier.
-And what about the booing? The atmosphere? The venomous chants aimed at Bosh? Frankly it was all a little overblown as while fans came out strong, booing Bosh and even throwing out a few attempts at "over-ra-ted" and "Ru-Paul" heckles, nothing much caught on, and the arena just didn't have the intensity of Vince's return, or even a playoff game.
-A win would have been nice now to take into the All-Star break, but the Raps will have to head into the break with visions of Bosh blowing kisses to the crowd and Toronto losing its 17th game in its last 19 attempts.
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The heat benefit from super star ticky tac fouls that toronto would never receive. Raps missed at least 5 layups. Still though a good game overall. One thing we can boast about is that we did beat boston this year lol
I agree, those fake fouls that only get called in favour of superstars never allowed the Raps to get closer than 4 points. I love how Jack openly called the refs out on this!
by Assistant GM on Feb 17, 2011 12:21 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Neither team deserved to win
The most egregious was the clean block by Amir near the end when Toronto was down by 4. That allowed the Heat to widen the lead and it proved unequivocally that the refs were prepared to hand the Heat the game if they couldn’t get it done on their own. The next two drives by DeRozan could have easily been called fouls on the Heat, but then he is not Wade or LeBron so he doesn’t get those phantom calls.
That is the Number 1 reason why I hate watching Heat games. There is nothing that turns the stomach quite like watching a team win a game down the stretch based on biased reffing.
In the final analysis, neither team really deserved to win this one. The Raptors couldn’t execute and the Heat couldn’t give a s&*t because they knew the refs would give them the win. Basically, a disgusting game to watch. I am glad I didn’t tune in to watch the whole thing.
“This game could easily have been an OT fight to the finish had TO knocked down just a few more shots. "
Or stopped a few more on the other end. The Heat shot 49%. It’s hard to win against a team that does that. Plus they got outrebounded. You can win ugly when everyone does the little things. But if you shoot 41%, and don’t stop the other team and let them own the boards, you’re digging your own grave.
Sometimes shots don’t fall. You can always defend and rebound.
Tim W.
The Picket Fence
Normally the Raptors defense is pretty bad, we all know that. The special circumstance when playing the Heat is that if you actually get a stop against them they are likely to just get a “reputation” call and shoot free throws despite your efforts.
As far as Bargnani, I guess you could argue that 3/4 of his rebounds came in 4th quarter crunch time if you want to be a rainbow-seeing optimist.
Ya despite Bargnani’s great offensive performance last night (and it was pretty great) I joked last night in the in-game chat that at about mid-way through the 4th, except for one measly rebound he had "straight donuts" across the board in any statistical category other than shooting. Seriously, not taking anything away from his shooting performance (which was sublime) but he’s basically become nothing more than a 7 foot Jason Kapono that may or may not get hot on any given night. He is the prototypical bench player. I can’t see how you can argue otherwise.
positives
Amir, Davis and Demar…the usual suspects. Andrea played very well tonight and shot the ball extremely well from three point land. Well done. Keep working on the rebounds, 4 is not enough for that many minutes at the five. Keep shooting like that and no one will care about the rebounds.
And we lost…but we did miss a few layups and the refs were not very even handed, so we coulda won. I thought the Raps played well and competed with heart.
It looks like Demar will continue to improve. Watch closely, he is not peaking, he is getting better and better. Very good signs. Right now, I am not convinced for sure either way, but he may be a superstar. Last year was all about Evans and Jennings for the rookie class. I could honestly see Demar being better than both of those players and second only to Griffin in his draft class.
And Davis is perhaps the best future big man of his draft class. Cousins and Favours are in there as well but long term I think Davis is most suited to be a professional basketball player. Two solid pieces in Demar and Ed, plus a veteran player in Amir, who is young for a vet…now we’re getting somewhere.
Andrea as sixth man to bring scoring off the bench and average 27 mins and 20 pts per shooting 50% and 40%. Also still young. Play him at the 3 off the bench.
And maybe Bayless. And maybe Kleiza, depending what he does when he heals. We never really got to see Linas play. And maybe Jose for his offensive leadership to run the second unit with Andrea, but he probably has to go. But we need a starting 1 and 5 that can play D. We need a starting all star to play the 3 spot. Other than than that, we are a championship contender…
How much better would Jose be than Blake playing for LA. Or more useful than Nate in Beantown? In the right situation he could be very useful, but those might be the only two spots he would really make a difference. He wouldn’t help Dallas or San Antonio.
Orlando and Miami could use Jose as well but Miami has nothing to offer and Orlando is slim as well. JJ Redick is not the answer for the Raps. Nor is Joelle Anthony. We already have one player with a girls first name, that’s enough.
And for one night, it was very clear what this team is missing…Sonny please exit stage right. We got two points from our starting 3. Rudy Gay where are you?
To summarize, all we need is a starting 1, 3, and 5 and for one of them to be an allstar. That’s it and we can start talking rings baby…hahahaha
We might be able to trade for one of those pieces, and we might draft one of them this year…
I think Kleiza has been seen plenty, its just there wasn’t that much to see.
I think you are stretching things to say that Derozen may end up being the second best player in the class, I mean aren’t you forgetting the Curry kid?
Curry
I did forget Curry. My main point was that Demar is still developing and his ceiling could be very high. Last year it looked like Jennings and Evans were way better than Demar…now, not as much…and if it keeps going this way in the end Demar may prove to be an excellent pick.
And Davis looks like a steal now.
by defensive rap on Feb 17, 2011 1:40 PM EST up reply actions
trade
Bargs and Sonny for Outlaw and Lopez
Outlaw becomes our starting 3 and Lopez our 5
In one move we have a competitive starting five. No more weak defensive centre and Outlaw is an upgrade and relatively young.
NJ gets one amazing 7 foot offensive stud and then hopefully can work out a trade for Melo. If they can get Nash they might make a run….oops, no defense=no ring. But Avery hates Lopez and Outlaw is slipping. Andrea is putting up good numbers…you never know. They might go for it. Its late and I may just be dreaming.
Lopez has the same allergy to rebounding that Bargs has.
Talkinf fantasy bball on twitter http://twitter.com/FinalsFantasy#
by JumpShootersRUS on Feb 17, 2011 6:49 AM EST up reply actions
Bosh vs Bargnani
again i have to point out how similar they are.
All offense, no D… rebounding and effort were about on par.
Sigh… when can we finally get a real big man?
by Not so Friendly Stranger on Feb 17, 2011 7:56 AM EST reply actions
no I loved AD
but since then… blah
by Not so Friendly Stranger on Feb 17, 2011 9:42 AM EST up reply actions
I think you may be being unfair to Bosh to put him in Bargnani territory.
Bosh, by all accounts has played good defense for a Miami team that ranks as one of the best interior defensive teams in the league. Oh and despite last night’s rebounding totals, he’s actually a pretty good rebounder. I’m not trying to say Bosh is the next Bill Russle, but come on let’s be fair…
I'm just saying in the sense
of their styles. I won’t deny Bosh is the far superior player. He is much more efficient at both ends of the floor.
But I think the comparion is fair.
Both soft
Both lacking D
Both play more at the perimeter.
and I still think Bosh’s nice rebounding totals were more a function of having no good rebounders near him. He is ofcourse not at Bargs lvl…
I was reading some of Miami’s fans posts (I forget where the sun or something) and I just couldn’t help but be blown away. To sum up they went something like this:
“man Bosh is overrated. So soft”
“yeah well did you see his points total”
“yeah great he scored but he can’t defend and his rebounding is overrated. PFs are scoring like crazy on him”
“sure his D isn’t great but he needs a true C beside him”
“he has Damp and Big Z”
“no I mean a good C like Chandler”
I was just laughing my ass off….
by Not so Friendly Stranger on Feb 17, 2011 11:39 AM EST up reply actions
Bosh’s defense was not nearly as bad as some people thought last year, as I often argued. He was certainly not a good defensive player, but he at least knew HOW to play defense. In Miami, with more reason to play it, his defense is pretty good. Bargnani can’t play good defense because he doesn’t seem to understand how to. Personally, neither guy would be my first (or second, or third) choice as my big man, but you’re going to be able to win with Bosh a lot more than with Bargnani.
Tim W.
The Picket Fence
Bosh
He is pretty soft and yet talented. The best evidence is that when he faces Boston and KG, he gets taken apart almost everytime. When he faces Golden State, he puts up big numbers. He is a good, pretty boy power forward.
But he tries hard and he is a very good player. He’s not great.
You will win more with Bosh than Andrea. He is more efficient on O and better at D, but neither one is a “Franchise Player” Andrea is also a poor choice to be our leader because he lacks the integral qualities a leader must possess…or more simply, he doesn’t try hard enough on the defensive end to inspire others to do the same.
Wade and Lebron are both franchise players by anyones standards. Though Bosh is a third wheel, he might be perfectly suited for the role. He’s the only one of those three that I can stand.
Ed Davis is a beast and may be the best rookie big man (long term) of his class. Finally with Amir and Ed there is hope. Two talented young bigz with heart and soul…
Andrea
Instead of making him the face of the franchise why don’t they bring him off the bench in a sixth man role and see if he can’t win sixth man of the year award next year? Lemonade out of lemons? He could excel at that role.
Ed Davis is going to end up forcing the issue here. I mean, it’s ridiculous to see them play Bargnani ahead of two of their most productive players right now… but the excuses can be made that Davis was injured or he’s recovering from an injury or he’s a rookie, etc.
Next year? That goes out the window.
by RaptorsHQ - Defensive Stance on Feb 17, 2011 2:09 PM EST up reply actions
+1
If Amir and Ed can continue to get bigger and stronger, they could be a solid big man pair despite neither being huge. Ed posts up and Amir faces up/makes back door cuts. I would prefer Andrea be turned into something great via a trade, but do not see that happening.
Fortunately, Amir looks like a bargain and Ed Davis is on a cheap initial contract. Even with Bargs salary going up, the 3 of them should be able to become a formidable and affordable big man rotation. That is assuming that Bargnani’s minutes are dropped to the 25-30 minute range, with Ed Davis becoming the eventual starter. In 2012-2013 the 3 of them will make a combined 18 million dollars. Bargs would be an overpaid bench player, but the salaries of the other two balance things out…
Talkinf fantasy bball on twitter http://twitter.com/FinalsFantasy#
by JumpShootersRUS on Feb 17, 2011 6:29 PM EST up reply actions
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