RaptorsHQ Rapid Recap - Boston Celtics 96 - Toronto Raptors 73

by Adam Francis on Jan 18, 2012 10:30 PM EST in Raptors Rapid Recap - 2010/11

-The Toronto Raptors are having some trouble scoring these days. The Raps headed into Boston averaging 79 points in their last six games and couldn't even hit that mark tonight against the Celtics, losing 96 to 73. It was an ugly affair as the Celts went up early and never looked back, breaking their five-game losing streak en route to handing Toronto their sixth straight L.

-It's hard to know where to start in terms of recapping this game because everything went wrong for Toronto. Or rather they did everything wrong. The Raps again couldn't put the ball in the basket, shooting only 38 per cent. They got out-rebounded, out-worked, and out-shot at the charity stripe. 16 turnovers didn't help their cause, and even the Raps' normally respectable D allowed the C's to shoot 48 per cent from the field.

-Individually things were just as bad. DeMar DeRozan began to look like he was putting together a nice game late in the second quarter, and he finished the first half with 10 points. However to say he struggled in the second part of the game would be an insult to the word struggled as DeMar put up 1 single point, finishing with 11 on 4 of 16 shooting. Other offensive "weapons" like Leandro Barbosa (6 points in 21 minutes) and newly minted starting small forward James Johnson (4 points on 1 of 7 shooting) were nearly as bad. Even the normally steady Jose Calderon had a mere 9 points and 4 assists.

-The lone bright spot was probably Gary Forbes who had a team-high 18 points on 5 of 6 shooting, all the while getting to the free-throw line 8 times. However considering his role playing back-up to Calderon, a mere one assist isn't going to cut it and far too often he was put in a scoring position because...well...there weren't any other options.

-So now what? Well the Raps head back to TO to face the Portland Trailblazers on Friday, and hopefully get some practice time in. Especially on offense. While the real story to this game was that again, the Raptors simply didn't have near the talent of their opponent to make a game of it, you have to ask some serious questions about coach Dwane Casey's offensive sets. Yes, there hasn't been much time at all to ingrain said sets into the team's offensive thinking, but game after game of perimeter jump shots must have some fans wondering if Bryan Colangelo essentially hired Jay Triano's opposite.

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People falling off the wagon...

We don’t have the talent, this has been known all year.

We are not a good basketball team and even though the first few games gave us hope, we are not a good team. On top of that we aren’t healthy with two of our offensive leaders out; Bargnani and Bayless.

Accept the process, because hopefully in a couple of years we will have something to show for it, that will be consistently year in and year out.

by Shalax23 on Jan 18, 2012 10:39 PM EST reply actions

+1

by Canuck Exile on Jan 19, 2012 4:25 AM EST up reply actions

One thing that is kind of interesting is how a lot of analysts always say it is all about the players and the coach doesn’t make that big a difference. Well, we’ve going from 100 points a game and atrocious defense, to 75 points a game and OK defense – basically with the same players

by Barflies on Jan 18, 2012 10:41 PM EST reply actions

Yet the end result (losses) is the same. It comes down to what you as a fan want to watch, Fast paced up and down games or fundamentally sound and playoff game winning but boring defensive struggles.

by McGateway on Jan 19, 2012 4:23 PM EST up reply actions

I Asked Eric Smith About Amir's Injuries

and why is he still playing at all?

Smith said it was up to him.

I obviously don’t know all the details of his injury or how serious it is but clearly his wrist is not getting better. I would hate to see him go through the rest of season like this and then again wait until the summer to take it care of.

He has trouble catching hard passes and trouble shooting. My guess is that his wrist is in constant pain unless it is medicated. Yea I know Kobe takes shots before each game for his wrist and plays good with a numb wrist. But Amir is not Kobe. He should sit his ass until he is healthy however long it takes instead of going out there and playing like sheet.

I am sure that he is getting all these fouls in order to take himself out the game because he can’t handle the pain I have no other explanation for the stupid fouls that he is committing.
’
He should sit his ass and take care of injuries instead of playing like sheet.

by Buddahfan on Jan 18, 2012 11:15 PM EST reply actions

… i thought of Rex Chapman in the Ed Davis thread, about guys who had great Madness runs and not much of an NBA career. Well someone once attached “Jumps like a brother but shoots like your mother” as his motto.

I think this could be the raps new team motto too.

by Ustation on Jan 18, 2012 11:56 PM EST reply actions

What do you guys think of starting Bayless at the two when he comes back? Forbes is showing signs of what he could in a bayless like role. Would this hurt Demars ego and push him further in development or would this push him to earn the starters role as he just walked into the job. He could be the focal part of the offense with the second unit as well as play against second unit defenses. Maybe he would go back to attacking Demar we used to know.

by VancouverIslandRapsFan on Jan 19, 2012 1:30 AM EST reply actions

I bet this is a record and it's really unlikely.

Last night a team played five starters a minimum of 20 minutes each. 3 of the five starters shot 50% or better combined and yet scored only 8 points combined. That is a record or very close to it. Statistically it is so improbable but it also shows OKC has an issue. Westbrook is a ball hog and no ball hog PG has ever won a championship.

I am not sure Westbrook has the right mentality to be a great PG. I mean a ring winning PG.
Rondo does and he can’t shoot at all, but he gets team. Watch the OKC game, Westbrook doesn’t get his teammates involved enough. He’s good, but he may be a little more Gilbert Arenas and Monte Ellis than he is Kobe, Wade or even Rondo. Pieces of a ring or nothing. If Westbrook is not a ten player, than OKC is a lot further away from a ring than many people think.

If JV and Kidd-g (?) are both all stars and unselfish and stay with the Raps for 5 more years, we may get a ring before the Thunder.

But Westbrook may be good enough to re define the rules. I am not convinced.

by defensive rap on Jan 19, 2012 3:36 AM EST reply actions

and yet Rondo’s FG% is still close to 50% which tells me he does the right thing and attacks the hoop.

by McGateway on Jan 19, 2012 4:25 PM EST up reply actions

good news

NJ and Wizs won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Wizards go! Go Nets go!!!!!!

by defensive rap on Jan 19, 2012 1:23 PM EST reply actions

I totally give the raps a pass

Lockout
New coach
On the road
Team scouted sans bargs (stop dd, stop Barbosa, real tough)
One game where they didn’t at least compete
Missed easy shots
Lack of practice
Tough tough sched so far
Refs wrecked rhythm early and they never recovered

by axl t on Jan 19, 2012 2:55 PM EST reply actions

Lets leave the Refs out of this because at the end of the day, unless they are outright cheating, it is up to the Raptor players to overcome tough calls.

by McGateway on Jan 19, 2012 4:26 PM EST up reply actions