RaptorsHQ Rapid Recap - Sacramento Kings 98 - Toronto Raptors 91
by Adam Francis on Jan 11, 2012 10:22 PM EST
in Raptors Rapid Recap - 2010/11
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-In an interesting twist of irony, while last year's Toronto Raptors' club couldn't stop anyone, this year's version can't seem to score on anyone. The result last night was an embarrassing loss to the Washington Wizards and tonight it was another L, this time to the nearly equally hapless Sacramento Kings, 98 to 91.
-The Raptors held the Kings to 37 per cent shooting but shooting only 42 per cent themselves, and being outshot at the free-throw line 34 to 21, the Dinos couldn't generate enough O in key moments to get this win. Add on the fact that DeMar DeRozan was invisible for the bulk of the game once more, and Andrea Bargnani was only 2 of 13, and then strained his calf in the third quarter, leaving Toronto without their top gun for the game's final period, and that was that. Leandro Barbosa was 11 of 18 for a team-high 24 points off the bench, but most of that came before the final quarter.
-That being said, there wasn't a huge difference between these two clubs when the buzzer sounded. Neither club looked like they wanted to win, and it was the Kings' small advantages in various categories like offensive rebounding that tipped the scales.
-Oh, and some fella by the name of DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins had a monster outing, barely missing a 20-20 match. The Raptors had no answer for him on the glass, and once their only regular big body, Andrea Bargnani, left the game for good, Cousins took over. In fact of his 21 points and 19 rebounds, 13 and 8 of these (including 4 of Cousins' 5 offensive rebounds) came after Andrea's exit.
-Toronto now gets a much needed day off from game action, but is back at it Friday against the Indiana Pacers. Considering the past five matches, only one of which was a win and four were...well...not so pretty losses, fans might be in for a really ugly stretch. Factor in the potential injury to Andrea Bargnani, and even the return, and successful return I might add, of Linas Kleiza tonight probably isn't enough to manufacture light at the end of the tunnel.
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Cousins And Casey's Game Plan
I think Casey screwed up this one big time.
He should have had Amir take it to Cousins from the gitgo.
This would have accomplished several things
1. It would have set the tone as to who was more aggressive. Cousins aggressiveness helped him as much as anything tonight
2. It would probably have gotten Cousins into foul trouble early.,
3. It would have set the general tone of the game with the Raptors being the more aggressive.
Instead Amir was out of the offense in the first quarter allowing Cousins to set the tone of being the more aggressive one. The majority of time the more aggressive player if he is playing under control will get more than his fair share of calls that could go either way and that is exactly what happened tonight
Driving the bus
No one
Under the bus
Casey
I think ur overestimating Amir's ability. Cousins is wayyyyyyyy better on both ends of the floor
and Amir has little offensive game. Having Amir try to go at Cousins wouldn’t have affected anything, it wouldn’t have made a diff.
Not to mention when Amir did get passes, he had major problems holding onto the ball.
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
by Adam Francis on Jan 12, 2012 12:19 AM EST up reply actions
Take Him Off The Dribble
Even if he had turned over a couple of times I think it still would have set the tone
I am not talking about Amir scoring a lot of points here.
I am talking about setting the tone of the game and possibly getting Cousins in foul trouble
I wouldn’t say major problems. He connected on on alley-oop
His right hand injury is definitely hurting his ball handling
I just hope Andrea is not hurt for too long – as a fan of the Raps and as a guy who owns him in fantasy…I also hope that he gets some more rest going forward. Who knows maybe it is just a charlie horse from not being ready for the number of minutes he has been asked to play.
Talkinf fantasy bball on twitter http://twitter.com/FinalsFantasy#
by JumpShootersRUS on Jan 11, 2012 10:49 PM EST reply actions
You’ve got tons of injuries suddenly!
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
by Adam Francis on Jan 12, 2012 12:19 AM EST up reply actions
Andrea
I actually hope he misses a few games, hes the best player on the team right now and the team cant score without him so maybe the best thing they need is for him not to play.. Let them figure out how to score ….. then when he comes back the ball movement will be better and less stagnant hopefully !
Sort of like that run of games early in the 06-07 season when TJ Ford had to carry the team to a few victories – once Bosh came back from his short injury, the team went on that magical run for the rest of the season.
by dhackett1565 on Jan 12, 2012 8:31 AM EST up reply actions
they also wont be relying on him to score all the time! I mean it makes it so easy for other teams to guard opposing players… u are going to see andreas field goal percentage drop of other players don’t step it up. all they have to do is guard andrea and they know 90 percent of the raptors remaining wont hit an open shot…. now kleiza on the other hand i was impressed with… a guy who has missed so much time, is playing better than half the team>!
Andrea Update
Going for MRI tomorrow. Not blaming heavy minutes of late (of course) and doesn’t think it’s the same calf issue as last year.
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
Good question…not DeMar from what we’ve seen.
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
by Adam Francis on Jan 12, 2012 12:48 AM EST up reply actions
“Pick me, Pick me, Pick me!” – Barbosa
by keepit4real on Jan 12, 2012 1:56 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
good bad and Ugly
Good: You Ed, stand up and walk. This is your chance
Bad: Let’s hope this does not derail the season Andrea ha had so far
Ugly: Let’s hope this does not endure what could have been an ASG campaign for Andrea
I just want
this team to not play him until he is 100% healthy… Jose, Amir, Kleiza… no more of those situations please
by Not so Friendly Stranger on Jan 12, 2012 1:54 AM EST up reply actions
andrea
He will be back soon…I hope hes back after 3 games lol he was 2 of 13 last night but hes due for an off night. Thats why its important to have other scorers on the team. I always wonder if he was on a better team….. I know most of you wont agree but a 7 FOOTER who can shoot and drive would be unstoppable when you have like D wade or lebron, or carmelo on your team. They cant possibly double team andrea all the time. I guess we will never know unless Demar figures it out this year. Andrea would have a field day scoring if he had that opportunity.
“They cant possibly double team andrea all the time”
when does he get double teamed now?
by Not so Friendly Stranger on Jan 12, 2012 10:19 AM EST up reply actions
2 out of every 3 times he has the ball in his hands for more than 2 seconds...
Although as I posted on this before…
EVERY Raptor appears to draw a double team as the opponents aren’t worried about the kickout going to anybody who can hit a shot… so they always collapse on the ballhandler, whoever that is…
"the Truth"
haha
yes they do do that… but thats not a double team.
by Not so Friendly Stranger on Jan 13, 2012 9:41 AM EST up reply actions
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