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Yet Another Comeback
Posted on | January 28, 2010 | 1 Comment
I think the Raptors just like to play with their fans a little. Four wins in a row. Every single one of then they were behind by double digits in the first quarter. if nothing else, it’s certainly entertaining. It also begs the question, is it time for Jose to start again?
I know, I know. How can I suggest moving Jose into the starting lineup when a) he’s playing so well off the bench, and b) the Raptors are playing so well with him on the second unit?
See, it goes back to those first quarters they’ve been suffering through. They’ve had one main problem that have caused them to come out of the gate sputtering: Bad playmakng. A combination of not being able to get into their offense and turning the ball over might had had disasterous effects in all four games had the bench not come innand saved the day. Why mess with a good thing? Well, because it’s not a good thing. You think they can continue winning even with bad first quarters?
Of course, then you have to ask whether the bench will be as potent without Calderon seting everyone up? I guess what matters is whether or not the Raptors have good enough first quarters that their bench doesn’t need to bail them out in the second.
Then again, maybe you don’t shake things up when things are going well. Who knows. That’s why I’m glad I’m not the coach.
HOW ABOUT SONNY
Watching Weems, lately, it crosses my mind that he has the tools to be a very good NBA player. Offensively, he’s got that mid-range game that is so rare in the NBA and that all great scorers have, he’s an above average defender with quick hands, and he’s obviously athletically gifted. And he’s only 22 years old.
HEDO, HEDO, HEDO
That was certainly a game that was worth $10 million. Now if we could just get more of them. Am I the only one that gets the feeling that Turkoglu likes the big stage?]
EDIT:
Please read the previous post, as it does relate to this one, and people seem to have missed it. That’s what I get for posting twice in one day.
Clutch Play, All-Stars, Dogfights and Snubs
Posted on | January 28, 2010 | No Comments
I’m not sure which of the recent wins was more satisfying. Turkoglu coming up big with two free throws to win it against the best team in the league (causing them to drop below Cleveland in the standings) was nice. But as well as the Raptors played, the Lakers missed several chances to take the game away from the Raptors before those free throws.
The win against Miami, though, was a comeback win that meant more in the standings than the one against the Lakers. It was nice to see them take control of a game against a team on the same level, talent-wise.
And how about that bench. I don’t remember the last time they were outplayed by the opposing bench. Belinelli, Calderon and Johnson as well as Wright and Weems, are as strong a bench as the Raptors have ever had. It says something that both Belinelli and Calderon were on the floor at the end.
Speaking of being on the floor at the end, a stat that might surprise you is that, since December 4th, when the turned the season around (going 17-9), they are 6-1 in games decided by 5 points or less. That’s a compliment to both the coaching staff and the players.
ALL-STARS
So Bosh made it to the All-Star again. Okay, no one is surprised. Is anyone surprised that Bargnani didn’t make it? They shouldn’t be. Bargnani is having a career year, but his averages over the season (17.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg) are not overwhelming, and while it may seem like he’s been playing better lately, his averages, month to month, have remained fairly consistent. Ironic considering that consistency has been a problem with him this season.
Horford was an iffy call, but he’s on one of the top teams, so his stats are overlooked a little. Quite frankly, if Brook Lopez was on even a half decent team, he should have been an All-Star since he’s probably the second best center in the East. I also would have looked at Joakim Noah at center or even Andrew Bogut, both of whom have much better rebounding and defensive stats than Bargnani. Of course, a team’s record has a huge impact and Chicago certainly is not going to send two All-Stars to Dallas, which is the case with Toronto, too. Only top teams send more than one player to the All-Star game, and the Raptors are not in that category. Not yet.
I am glad to see Deron Williams finally get an All-Star nod, since he’s been one of the best PG’s in the league since his second season and would be a perennial All-Star if he were in the East.
A month ago, I would have been surprised by the inclusion of Derrick Rose. He never looked completely healthy for the first couple of months of the season, but has improved every month where, for the month of January, he’s averaging 23 ppg and 6.5 apg and is one of the main reasons the Bulls are now fighting with Charlotte, Miami and Toronto for the fifth seed.
DOGFIGHT
Speaking of this, one game separates those four teams right now. It’s going to be a dogfight the rest of the year (no, I didn’t mean the other kind). Any slippage from any of those four teams could be disastrous. Thankfully, the Raptors have 8 or their next 9 games (including tonight against the Knicks) are against sub-.500 teams and and 3 of the 9 games are at home. However difficult their schedule was early, it’s now paying off with easier opponents, more home games and fewer back to backs. Of course, it gets a little mre difficult after that…
SNUBS
If DeMar DeRozan is upset about not making it onto the Rookie-Sophomore game roster, he should remember than Kevin Love was also strangely omitted from that game. He’s now, arguably, the second or third best player from his draft class (and it’s a pretty good draft class).
ONE MORE THING
In honour of Apple releasing the iPad, which is actually a lot cooler and going to make a bigger impact that some critics seem to realize, I’ve decided to add one more thing (Apple people will understand). If Phoenix wasn’t tumbling so badly in the standings (3-7 in their last ten and are currently in the 9th spot in the West), do you think there’d be so much chatter about trading Stoudemire? It’s a LONG WAY from the first month of the season when they were the top team in the West. It’s looking more and more like Phoenix might not even make the playoffs again, and suddenly Steve Kerr is a bad GM again. Funny how those things work, isn’t it?
Bucking The Trend
Posted on | January 21, 2010 | 3 Comments
Just when it looked like the Raptors had taken a couple of steps back the last week or two, they come from behind to win a thriller in a revenge game against the Bucks. With the Raptors having lost four of their last six games, the Bucks took a 9 point lead over the Raptors into halftime, and with Bargnani not playing, Bosh and Turkoglu struggling, and Andrew Bogut dominating down low, it looked like another long night for the Raptors. Then a funny thing happened. The Raptors didn’t roll over. In fact, they came out of the locker room and started chipping away on the Bucks lead. Time and time again, the Bucks hit big shots that in the last couple of games might have taken the wind out of the Raptors sails, but this time they stood toe to toe and threw their own punches. Just about every Raptor had an impact in the second half, but Jack came up huge in the scoring column, scoring a season high 27 points.
Interestingly, Jay didn’t go with his three ball handler lineup at the end of the game. He went with a four ball handler lineup. With Milwaukee going small, and without Bargnani, Triano decided to put Calderon, Jack, Belinelli and Turkoglu on the floor at the same time, and lo-and-behold, it worked well. It was difficult for Milwaukee to defend four players who could shoot from the perimeter and create and allowed them to press on the other end. It’s something I’d like to see more of.
A few stats worthy of mentioning…
- The SG position accounted for 28 points, with both DeRozan and Belinelli having good games. The play of the game had to be the left handed bullet pass Belinelli threw to Bosh late in the fourth. After going through some struggles this season, Raptor fans have really gotten a good look at why Belinelli was such a steal from Golden State and why I predicted he would one day finish in the top 3 for 6th man of the Year.
- Brandon Jennings took nearly twice as many shots (15-8) as DeRozan, and only scored two more points. You might think Jennings going 5-15 is a bad game for Jennings, but it’s actually slightly higher than his average for January (.296). In fact, he’s only had one game so far this month where he shot above 40%. That’s 1 out of 11 games. His shooting percentage and scoring have plummeted every month since the start of the season. His 55 point game now seems like a lifetime ago. In fact, Jennings’ shooting percentage for the season (.381), is virtually the same as that of Antoine Wright (.384), who causes most Raptor fans to cringe when he takes a shot.
- Turkoglu shot 2-10, missed every 3 pointer he took, turned the ball over 3 times, and picked up 5 fouls. And he played one of the better games he has in quite a while. It’s the most aggressive I remember seeing him all year long.
BRANDON JENNINGS REVISITED
On Raptors Republic, some annoying poster who is probably all of 12, claimed that Jennings was already one of the best PG’s in the league and was going to be better than Isiah Thomas. That was about two weeks into the season. Now, having seen quite a few hot starts from players who never showed that again (Kevin Gamble, anyone?), I was not ready to concede his entry into the Hall of Fame just yet. I brought up the name of a former Raptor who I think Jennings can be compared to: Damon Stoudamire. Mighty Mouse had an immediate impact on the Raptors and even the league. He dominated a poor Raptors team and ended up winning Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, that was probably his best year, with career highs in apg and 3 point percentage. After leaving Toronto, he struggled to find his place on teams where he wasn’t the dominant player and didn’t have the ball 95% of the time.
Like Stoudamire, Jennings plays big minutes on a bad team. And like Stoudamire, more is being asked of him than a player of his inexperience should be. Both players shoot/shot more shots than anyone else while shooting a low percentage.
The fact that Jennings still takes so many shots, despite shooting so poorly (he’s averaged 20 shots per game the last three, yet didn’t come close to 40% in any of them) is troubling, but what is even more troubling is that he actually has some talent on this team. The Bucks play well when Bogut scores, but he takes 3 fewer shots than his point guard. And Bogut shoots over 50% from the field, as does Luke Ridnour, yet it’s Jennings who takes the majority of the shots.
Many Raptor fans have questioned why Colangelo didn’t take Jennings who, to them, is clearly a better player than DeRozan. There are a few things wrong with that line of thinking, though. The first is that you can’t judge a player after only a few months. Both players will no doubt get better. The second is that they are in two completely different roles. Jennings landed on a team with few other scorers, and was asked to score. He’s often the Bucks’ first option on offense. DeRozan landed on a team with one All-Star and 3 players who were expected to average in the mid-to-high teens. DeRozan is always the last option on the floor and has maybe had one play called for him all season, if that.
They also play two different positions. Jennings plays PG, so has the ball in his hands most of the time. DeRozan gets the ball either when none of the other players on the floor are open, or when he makes a cut or grabs a rebound. He works for his touches.
Had DeRozan landed in a situation where he needed to score, I’m sure you’d see his scoring average go up, and his shooting percentage go down, just like Jennings. If Jennings had landed on the Raptors, he’d probably be stuck behind Calderon, playing 20 mpg, just like DeRozan, and not being asked to score, just like DeRozan. He certainly wouldn’t have scored 55 points against Golden State, not with Bosh and Bargnani on the team. He’d also probably be shooting a much higher percentage, since he wouldn’t be forced to take so many shots. Then maybe Raptor fans would be wondering why Colangelo didn’t take DeRozan…
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