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The Only Indispensable Raptor (and other stories)
Posted on | February 1, 2010 | 12 Comments
[Update: I've added a poll for the blog, and the first one is at the bottom]
There’s a line of thought among some Raptor fans that Chris Bosh is not worth the maximum contract, and that the Raptors should let him go (either via trade or sign-and-trade) and build around Bargnani and the rest of the Raptors. To put it mildly, these people are morons who have no business watching an NBA game let alone sharing their opinions on one. Okay, maybe that’s not putting it mildly.
When Turkoglu got an elbow to the face, two thoughts came to mind. The first is that I really feel for Turkoglu because I know how it feels. I once got a shoulder hit just below my eye that felt like it completely collapsed my face. I’ve been hit (and hurt) many times and kept playing, but this was different and knew it. I first checked to see if all my teeth were intact (I’ve lost a tooth playing ball before), and then checked my nose to make sure it was still where it was supposed to be. Stupidly, I did go back in when I discovered my face still intact, despite the fact I was seeing double (slightly). The most shocking thing was when I finally looked in the mirror and saw that my face looked, for the most part, normal. I had expected a look similar to Rocky after fighting Apollo Creed the first time. There was a little swelling, but no bruising at all.
It turned out I had fractured my orbit bone and it was more than six months before I got most of the feeling back in my face and to this day, I don’t have all of it back (it’s been nearly two years). The worst part about having no feeling in part of your face is showering. Since you can’t actually feel the water on you, you can’t tell if you haven’t washed the soap off. It was very odd and not the least bit pleasant.
But I digress.
The second thing I thought about was how the Raptors won’t necessarily miss Turkoglu if he doesn’t come back in the game. The great thing about this Raptors team, as I’ve mentioned before, is the bench. Unlike last season, when an injury to any of the key players was devastating, this year there’s only one player who is irreplaceable. And that’s Chris Bosh. When Turkoglu went out, I knew that between Wright, Weems and Belinelli, the Raptors would be able to absorb his loss. Obviously those same players make DeRozan’s absence not even missed, and Jack and Calderon can both start, which makes an injury to one of them a non-issue, especially when Banks played so well during Calderon’s missed games, and Belinelli is a capable enough ball handler and passer that he can play the point in a pinch. Even Bargnani can be replaced by Nesterovic and Johnson. They don’t have Bargnani’s scoring touch, but are better rebounders and play well alongside Bosh.
Bosh, however, cannot be lost for long without the team going into a tailspin. You see, Bosh is the only consistent scorer and rebounder the Raptors have. Bargnani can have great scoring bursts and is the second leading scorer on the team, but he’s too inconsistent to be relied on as the team’s first option. He relies too much on people creating for him and doesn’t get to the line enough. And he’s the second best scorer. Nine times he has not scored more than 12 points in a game. Compare that with Bosh’s 2. And one of those two, Bosh only played 15 minutes.
And it can’t be written off to Bosh taking more shots than Bargnani because Bosh only takes two more shots a game. Besides, a lot of times, good players make their own shots. Bosh gets two more shots than Bargnani because he gets himself the shot. Bargnani, for all his talent, doesn’t do that, which is why he goes through so many scoring droughts.
And, needless to say, Bargnani is not going to be able to cover Bosh’s rebounding. The only two player on the roster who can consistently rebound at a rate similar to Bosh (Evans and Johnson) are both foul prone and don’t bring the scoring the Raptors would need if they lost Bosh.
The Raptors can go small to score more, with Turkoglu shifting to PF, but they’d suffer on the boards. If they insert Johnson or Evans into the PF slot, they suffer in the scoring department.
Let’s hope Bosh re-signs, because if he leaves, the Raptors will be in trouble.
SOARING RAPTORS
In ESPN’s recent Power Rankings, the Raptors are ranked #7. Okay, Mark Stein is one of the few American sports writers who is actually unbiased when it comes to things north of the border, but it’s still a great indication of how far the Raptors have come since their slow start in November.
Can I point out something I probably shouldn’t? The Raptors are only 4 1/2 games behind a struggling Celtics team that has gone 6-11 since winning against Orlando on Christmas day. And speaking of the Celtics, I’ve been suspicious of Garnet’s knee injury from day one. I didn’t like how little the Celtics said, even as the Celtics went into the second round. I didn’t like that little was revealed over the summer about exactly what was wrong with his knee, and I didn’t like how he looked at the start of the season. Sure, he’s had a few big games, but when a player limps, it’s a bad, bad thing. It means two things. One is that he’s not fully healed, and the other is that he’ll probably have problems due to favouring the other leg. Well, it’s already past the halfway point and he’s still having problems with the knee. I think they may be in trouble.
DIVISIONAL RACES
While the race in the east is for the 2nd spot among the contenders (as long as Cleveland doesn’t falter without Mo Williams), and the 5th spot among the pretenders (of which the Raptors are included), in the West, the big race is to see who’s going to make it to the big dance. Currently, there are 6 teams within 2 games of one another, and only 3 of them are going to make the playoffs. Right now, Oklahoma City, Memphis, and Houston are on the outside looking in, but no one would be surprised if all three make the playoffs. Portland is in danger of not making the playoffs, and New Orleans will certainly drop without Chris Paul for a month or two (due to knee surgery). I’m going to guess that at least a couple of those six teams are going to try and make a deal to better their chance.
TRADES
What on earth is this nonsense about Philly thinking of trading Igoudala. Is he really the problem on this team? And trading him for McGrady? What good would that do? Think they regret letting Andre Miller go? Okay, maybe they don’t, but they should. Personally, Igoudala should be one of the last players they should trade.
If they are intent on trading Igoudala, something crossed my mind. Now as regular readers know, I’m not for trading Calderon, but if Philadelphia offered Igoudala for Calderon, DeRozan and Wright, I’d think long and hard. DeRozan has a lot of potential, but realistically, you’ve got to hope that he’ll be as good as Igoudala. Calderon’s playmaking will be missed, but as I stated above, he’s not indispensable. The addition of Igoudala would give the Raptors an incredible starting five, a top defender, another playmaker and a very good scorer in Igoudala. He’d also immediately become the Raptors second leading rebounder.
The Sixers would get their point guard, and DeRozan would be a prospect that could eventually replace Igoudala.
Loading ...It’s Raining In New Orleans!
Posted on | November 6, 2009 | 4 Comments
So, tell me, who is this Jose fellow?
Yes, Jose was able to survive the lynch mobs by Raptor fans, as well as the calls for Triano to park him on the bench, to put together a game that people expected of Jose before the season started. In fact, if he finished the season with the stats he got tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised. 16 points (6-11 fg, 2-4 3fg), 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 0 turnovers. It wasn’t a spectacular game, but I think everyone hopes it means that the real Jose is back. He looked comfortable right from the started, played with confidence and even showed some of that feistiness we’re so used to seeing from him. It was nice to see.
Poor Chris Bosh had an off night against the Hornets, with season lows for rebounds, free throw attempts and field goal attempts. Of course, he also played a season low 30 minutes because the Raptors were so far ahead that he sat much of the fourth quarter, which is good because they play Dallas tomorrow night.
Oh, and he didn’t miss a shot from the field, including a 3 pointer which continues his perfect record from that range for the season.
Bosh was a beast, yet again, scoring inside almost at will against whoever the Hornets sent at him. And although it was sometimes uncomfortable to hear Matt Devlin and Jack Armstrong constantly confess their man-love for Bosh, they weren’t wrong. He’s currently playing at an MVP level. Now the question is whether he can sustain it this time. The extra muscle will help, and I’m guessing so will the additional talent around him.
Speaking of the talent around him, everyone chipped in on this win. Bargnani struggled from the field, as I said he might, but, more importantly, rebounded the ball, grabbing 9 rebounds. He also chipped in with 3 of the Raptors 14 three pointers during the game, including a team record 8 in the 3rd quarter. Seven different Raptors made at least one three pointer, and only Antoine Wright made under 50% of them.
The Raptors even `held’ Chris Paul to just 21 points. And believe it, or not, Calderon had a lot to do with that. Of course, Paul dished out 18 assists. The most astounding thing is, though, that Chris Paul either made or assisted on all but ten of the Hornets field goals. Think this team would survive without him? The Raptors exposed just how little depth and talent this team has, with only three players getting into double figures. The Raptors only had four, but also had two players with 9 points.
It wasn’t all good, for the Raptors though. Although they did play pretty good defense, they did allow the Hornets to shoot 48%. Of course, during the decisive third quarter, when the Raptors took control, they held New Orleans to only 6 field goals and 14 points, and stopped Paul from scoring at all. They can play defense, when they need to. Plus, the fourth quarter, when the outcome was no longer in doubt, the Hornets starting hitting their shots.
So the Raptors start off their big road trip on a great note. And, the Raptors are above .500, and so am I with my predictions.
LOOKING AHEAD
Tomorrow night (tonight for most who read this), is Dallas and a much tougher test. They’re coming off a loss against New Orleans, they’re deeper and more talented than any team the Raptors have beaten, so far, and they don’t match-up all that well against them. Both Dirk and Shawn Marion have the ability to guard Bargnani on the perimeter, and Bosh on the inside. And Jason Terry is the type of guard that causes problems for them.
On the plus side, they don’t have Josh Howard, who would allow the Mavericks to play small, and not be at a disadvantage defensively. And without him, they aren’t the high scoring team they have been, in fact they haven’t won a game yet where either team scored over 100 points. Since the Raptors haven’t scored BELOW 100 points, yet, this works in their favour.
Still, after back-to-back wins, and the game being the second of back-to-back games, it will be a very tough night against a Dallas team that should improve on their 50 wins from last season. I wouldn’t get my hopes up if you’re a Raptor fan.
Raptors @ Hornets Preview
Posted on | November 6, 2009 | No Comments
Blogger’s Note: Okay, so I’m currently at way more than 2-3 posts a week (this will be the fifth this week), but don’t get too used to it. It will probably slow down as the season goes on.
So the Raptors bump into a New Orleans team that is struggling in much the same way the Raptors are. They’re currently under .500 (2-3), but two of those losses were against San Antonio and Boston. Of course, San Antonio is only at .500 and the Hornets also lost against New York. Then they beat Dallas, who are looking like one of the better teams in the league this season. In other words, it’s impossible to know what to expect tonight.
Both the Raptors and Hornets are hot and cold teams so far, and I’m not making any predictions on a winner in this one. Sorry, if you were hoping for one.
I’m looking for Bosh to get back to 30 points again. One reason is that he’s always played well against Okafor, and he’s most likely going to be the one guarding Bosh. In the last few seasons, he’s averaged close to 30 ppg against Okafor, and with both he and the Raptors scoring more, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets at least 35 tonight. If Bosh can get Okafor in foul trouble, then the both he and the Raptors could do well, since New Orleans has a VERY weak frontline bench. The second big man off the bench is Hilton Armstrong, who would be getting about as much playing time as Patrick O’Bryant, so far, if New Orleans had any depth.
Bargnani might have trouble tonight. David West is not a great defender, but is quick enough to guard Bargnani out on the perimeter, and big enough Bargnani is not going to want to post him up. Bargnani’s main task will be to, at least, keep West out of the paint on defense, which will allow Bosh to have a big scoring night.
Turkoglu can look to his counterpart (who’s coming off the bench), as a cautionary tale. Peja Stojakovic, was a 6′10 SF with lots of big game playoff experience who New Orleans signed for lots of money as a free agent after he turned 30. He’s struggled with injuries almost immediately, missing 69 games his first season with the Hornets and has been on a steep decline since then. Now he’s coming off the bench and playing limited minutes to save the physical toll on his body. And he’s making $14 million this season. Ouch!
Since Peja won’t be starting, that means that Julian Wright will be. He’s young and athletic, but the Raptors will be happy to know that he’s not an outside shooter. He’s not really going to do much of anything other than defend, actually, but Turkoglu has size and experience on him.
Starting at SG is our old friend Morris Peterson who is only starting (and playing) because New Orleans got rid of Rasual Butler (in another of their boneheaded moves), and James Posey looks to be nearing the end of his career as a useful player. Then again, Peterson is in that role, as well, so it’s no wonder the Hornets are struggling. Their wings are either too old, or not skilled enough.
Let’s just get this out of the way right away: Chris Paul will abuse Calderon. Before people start talking about how bad a defender Calderon is (okay, they may be right so far this year), Paul abuses EVERYONE. He’s averaging 30 ppg so far, PLUS 8 apg. Are they any plays he’s NOT involved in?
The Raptors will probably try several defenders on him (I don’t see Calderon defending him for long stretches), including, I’m guessing, Antoine Wright, who whose defense won’t be needed much for New Orleans’ wing players. Wright may not be quick enough to handle Paul, though, but is any Raptor player?
You know that Paul is going to get his points, and there’s nothing much you can do about it. What the Raptors need to do is make sure none of the other players go off.
There is good news for the Raptors, though. New Orleans bench is horrid. They’ve got Peja and James Posey, both well past their prime, Bobby Brown and Darius Songaila, adequate role players who would normally be deep bench players on a good team, and Hilton Armstrong. The Raptors have done well against teams, so far, with a weak bench. The Cavs and Detroit both fell off considerably once their starters left the floor. If the Raptors starters can keep pace with the New Orleans starters, the bench might be the difference.
Even more in the Raptors favour is that New Orleans is not a good rebounding team. Okafor and West are really their only threats on the board. The rest of the team, apart from Paul, are below average rebounders for their position. If the Raptors outrebound their opponent, they seem to have success.
So, on second thought, I may go with the Raptors here.
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