If we had lost that game would you have written off this team? No, of course not. So let’s not get carried away after one win either, even though it happened to be the most impressive regular season win this franchise had registered in six years. Yes, six years. Excuse me if I’m giggling like a little schoolgirl but I haven’t seen a Raptors defense man the paint that well since Oakley and Davis. Yes, Oakley and Davis. I haven’t seen a Raptors player execute a legitimate professional post-up move since Vince used to take pathetic little guards and drive his shoulder into them until his shoulder was touching the rim. Yes, not since Vince.
There is a stat in this game which I fail to comprehend and am barely able to explain. We were outmanned by 23 rebounds – 56-33. Now if you had told me that we’d get killed on the boards that bad and still register a convincing victory on the road I would’ve taken you to be soft in the head and tried to sell you my Merrill Lynch shares. As was being discussed in the live blog I put out the theory that many of the rebounds Philadelphia was getting were of the Moses Malone type. You know, get four rebounds on one possession where you don’t even end up scoring. That appeared to be the case with Samuel Dalembert who ended up having 17 rebounds which all seemingly came in the first quarter and didn’t go unnoticed by their media. The offensive rebounding numbers were even for the last three quarters which showed that the Raptors had some very serious early jitters which they overcame by quarter #2. If that doesn’t make up for the rebounding difference than I think Philly’s 34.5% shooting compared to our 44% definitely does.
During that first quarter Jermaine O’Neal looked rusty and got dominated by Dalembert on the glass. Brand faced up Bosh and got scores on him and…and…well, that was about it. Philly only shot 6/15 in the first quarter which reprieved the Raptors’ 4/15 shooting. Had Philly been able to extend their lead during this crucial period we might’ve seen a different outcome to the game but as it turned out, the Raptors regrouped in the second quarter and made it a point to establish Jermaine O’Neal in the paint. The rest they say is history. With O’Neal displaying a plethora of moves including post-ups, mid-range jumpers and even a blow-by of Samuel Dalembert, order was restored and the Raptors offense started to click. Most impressive about O’Neal’s defense and his willingness to step in for charges, aggressively challenge guards who drove the lane and fight for rebounds. For the first time in a long time I felt comfortable that a guard driving to our key would be met with a force that was capable of repelling him consistently. Don’t get fooled by O’Neal’s lone block in the boxscore, he altered at least five shots and made the Philly guards think twice about how to finish when he was around the paint. A 17/8 night from O’Neal will likely not be the norm but we’ll take as many as we can get.
Chris Bosh was once again the hardest working Raptor on the court. After the initial mess that was the first quarter Bosh returned to his Olympian style of play and literally gave the 110% he’s been talking about. He wrestled away rebounds from would-be offensive rebounders and was belligerent in trying to finish his post moves with authority. Bosh ended up writhing his way to two huge dunks in that crucial 2nd/3rd quarter stretch after he had caught the ball in the post in less than favorable positions. Sometimes a dunk sends a message that says FUCK OFF MAN, I OWN THIS RIM and that’s what CB4 was saying when he dunked around Dalembert. All game long I counted only two bad Bosh shots – both long range jumpers (which he was otherwise making) that were the first option in the set. I’ve also noticed that he’s added a foot or two to his shooting range and feels very confident in taking the jumper when given space. Not hesitate in the least bit. Bosh’s work on the glass has become so good that we don’t even talk about it anymore, his 11 rebounds on a night where Philly was desperately assaulting the offensive glass need to be commended. Later he spoke about being aggressive and not settling, something I’d like to see over the course of a season not a game here and a game there:
“I wanted to be more aggressive. It was kind of like a chess match with me. If I do have an open shot, of course I’m going to take it, I’m not going to hesitate. The coaches are staying on me about settling, I want to keep the pressure on guys, I don’t want them to just be able to check my shot all night. I want them to have to move their feet.”
In the pre-game post and with my interview with Tim Chisholm I alluded to the fact that Philadelphia’s second unit isn’t exactly top notch and the entire team is a tad bit overrated because everyone’s making their predictions for them based on half a good season and an off-season acquisition coming off major injury, sound familiar? Well, we saw in this game how bad the Sixers are capable of playing once you take away their drives to the rim by congesting the painted area with enough bodies where they’re not just laying the ball in but meeting with the likes of Bosh and O’Neal. If that’s not completely shutting them down, take away the break and you’ve then eliminated their easy points leaving them with one option – bombs away from the perimeter which they happen to be very crappy at (11-33 FG from Iggy and Miller). Elton Brand is a great player but he can be neutralized by one of Bosh (quicker than him) or O’Neal (bigger than him) and once you add all this together and you have a winning formula against the Sixers. More from the Philly perspective.
A word about Sam Mitchell’s coaching. After Philly made their fourth quarter run (inevitable in the NBA) primarily through transition scores, the Raptors were facing a clutch possession at 90-84. Coming out of a timeout I was expecting a post-up of O’Neal or Bosh for a high percentage shot or a kick-out to a player left open by the double, something that was working like butter all night long (Bosh and JO with 8 assists combined and that’s not even counting the shots made after the swing sequences). Instead we ran the same “play” as the one we ran in Game 2 against the Magic when we were down 1 – give the ball to Bosh, don’t run any screens for him and have him take a 19 footer. The only difference? He made it. Close call, I’ll take it but next time let’s try to run some shit instead of playing Bosh’s 19 footer percentages.
Roko Ukic was impressive and if we see a few more games like these we can safely release Will Solomon and send him back to his resting place – Mike James’ body. Ukic showed patience by not picking up his dribble under pressure (dare I say almost Nash-like), displayed composure when running 3-2 and 4-3 semi-breaks and made two very nice low seeing-eye passes off the pick ‘n roll for scores. His lone dumb play came at the end of the third quarter when he fouled Lou Williams for three shots. Other than that he spelled Calderon beautifully in that second quarter when the Raptors made their big run. With a little experience and understanding of how quickly NBA defenses can adjust to what you’re trying to do he can play backup point guard. He often makes the mistake of underestimating the speed and reach of defenders and gets his shot blocked or turns the ball over because he’s honestly surprised that what used to work in Europe doesn’t necessarily work here. His shot is a work in progress and teams will soon figure out that all you need to do is tempt him to shoot in order to take away his aggressive drives, hopefully by then he’ll make them pay for it.
Bargnani’s 0-4 night with 5 rebounds is easy to overlook because we won but keep in mind that its not as bad as it looks in the boxscore. Yes, he was caught ball-watching a couple times but his two blocks came in that key second quarter run which opened up the game for us. His jumpers were rimming out but he didn’t sulk and become a total non-factor like he woud’ve done last year. Instead he continued to play hard, set good screens and managed to grab five tough rebounds – there were no easy rebounds tonight. We’ll give Bargnani a pass because its not like he took bad shots or made bad decisions on the court – his shots just missed, that’s really it. Last year he looked like a lost soul on the court looking over his shoulder every time the whistle blew, today he looked confident, did the right things on the court and got rewarded with a well deserved +10. Seriously, I’m not even joking, he had a half-decent game. The great negative on the night was the man-defense of Calderon and Parker who could not keep anyone in front of them and if it weren’t for O’Neal and Bosh behind them this game could’ve turned ugly for us.
The much maligned duo of Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon had mediocre games that were covered up in the great play of Bosh and O’Neal. Moon was active but ended up doing little more than hitting a couple jumpers and getting an early block and a steal but you’ll take that from him because he only played 24 minutes instead of his usual 33. Why did he play less? Because Kapono was on. After passing up a few jumpers early on, Kapono realized that Philly’s defense is far from suffocating if the ball is moving on the court and since the Raptors were busy swinging the ball around after Bosh and O’Neal doubles, Kapono got his looks and drained them. Parker chipped in with some big pressure-lifting threes that kept Philly at bay. After the game Bosh said in plain speak: You have to double O’Neal or myself and our shooters will be open. Basketball sure is a simple game.
Joey got in the second quarter and did a typical “Joey drives to his right and into the paint and tries to finish strong” move followed by a “Joey attacks the rim, misses the layup but fights hard to get the ball back and finished what he started” move. Those two scores got you out of your seat and his next two “moves” which were just ill-advised jumpers put you back in your seat and made you wonder when Parker or Moon would return.
So, the Raptors struggle early. Regroup starting in the second quarter through a commitment to defense and by running their offense inside-out. Philadelphia fails to counter the Raptors defense because they can’t shoot and we get enough complimentary clutch scoring through our wings (Kapono 15, Calderon 13) to make O’Neal and Bosh’s effort count for something. It’s only one game but its a damn good start and it feels really good that our set of twin towers outplayed their on their home court. Take that Lang Whitaker for picking Philly over us. Props to Tim Chisholm for correctly predicting tonight’s outcome.
Remember that you can check out pictures, video and player ratings from last night’s game right here on RR.
Later!
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42 Raps
What…no comments?
I thought O’Neal was done for?
I thought we were a treadmill team?
Yeah, it’s only one game…but it speaks volumes about how people’s expectations of O’Neal were totally unfounded.
There is no one in the league save the Lakers with a frontline like ours.
None.
Man, do you have pictures of Chisholm and O’Neal under (or on) your pillow?? :)
It’s kind of funny….I felt like I was watching last years Raptors a bit when watching the Sixers: work it in around the paint/10-15ft out, hit some shots from there, and then go away from it. They were outleaping and outworking us around the rim and then it stopped. Sure, you can argue that Bosh/O’Neal had something to do with it, but at the same time if I’m wearing a Sixers hat, I’m wondering why we went away from something that was working early on.
As I said in the chat (which if you weren’t there, you need to be in the future…I’ve never been in a room full of intelligent fans to that extent, so kudos), I didn’t mind any of Sam’s out-of-timeout plays. Even the Bosh one. He loves that shot and probably hits it more often than not. If their bigs aren’t guarding him out there, run the play.
Nice solid win and one I predicted too (take that you Chisholm loving freak). We now play a Golden State team that fought hard against an ugly-jersey wearing Hornets team and the Warriors have to fly cross-country to meet us. Be nice to see JO step up his game even more to show us hope of being an AllStar calibre player as opposed to just good and this would be a great game to do so. Home opener, wobbly legged opponent, running off a high, and the chance to really put the nay-sayers back on their heels.
David,
You said it…only one game.
To say that any JO comment was totally unfounded is folly. He looked lost to start the game, he had another issue with his legs, and I for one am not convinced that his presence made Bosh’s game any easier as has been touted.
They are a formidable tandem, yes. Had the Sixers made their shots, though, the result would have been different and we again would be looking at why we can’t challenge an outside shot any better.
My personal favorite part of the game,actually wasn’t during the game…it was at the half when CB4 & JO were walking off the floor with a big FUCK YOU swagger…that was sweet,and that was something I havent seen in years,bring out the rings,not just yet,but it did send a message to the rest of the East…
You don’t think laying off the shooters was part of the strategy?
Like, maybe the coaching staff knew they couldn’t make shots. Like, so, maybe they kinda knew what they were doing instead of not covering them?
Lost? Give me a break. The whole team sucked. They were tentative on the road in their first real game all year. That NEVER happens.
He didn’t have “an issue with his legs”. He did come out and get them maasaged, so what? Nash does it all year long. He asked to be put back in. Does that sound like he had a “big” issue? Didn’t stop him from being great, did it?
If 17 and 8 in his first game back in quite some time without him having his legs or wind back is the how he’ll play, I don’t think it’ll be “folly” to pooh pooh critics much longer.
By the way, Jermaine is 30. 3-0. Not 35, not 36, 30.
It is not out of the question to belive he could rebound nicely, unless you feel he has been talking out of his as$ about how the Pacers dealt with his injuries.
Being an optimistic sort and also, you know, not knowing the situation, I’m inclined to trust what he says. In fact, ESPN already came out and said he’d have a bounceback year. So it’s not like it would be “unprecedented”.
It is one game. But if he really is playing on one leg, that’s a mighty strong leg. He really is better on one leg than most on two, anyway.
It’s too en vogue to hate on the Raptors by imagining the worst case scenario all the time. This isn’t the economic summit people, it’s basketball. Sure he could get hurt. So could all the rest of them. Oden got hurt and is out to weeks for stepping on somone’s foot. Just because it’s negative doesn’t mean its true. Too many of you have Feschukitis.
The chat was great. How about using a third-party client like IRC for next time?
En vogue, David? I call bullshit on that. I think we as a fan base have enough history in our back pocket (and some of us have a glaring hole in our bank accounts from being season ticket holders) to say that looking at the beginning of the season and feeling trepidation is warranted.
Maybe those that liked the trade thought last night was an awesome game by JO. Maybe those that didn’t looked at it and went “meh”. Outside Toronto, Bosh is still getting the pub and O’Neal is an afterthought, which is fair enough since Bosh is our leader and did what he consistently does last night.
As a young former allstar that should have been doing nothing but training for basically 8 months, JO SHOULD be jumping out of the gym on both ends of the floor. He did it in L.A. in the preseason, but faltered in the other games. He sucked to start the game last night, got his ass sat down and we, as a team, came back and took back the game. He picked himself up and played well the rest of the way.
Full stop.
GipFace – Very good idea, we’ll make the switch over to IRC on Friday. It’ll be smoother.
David Moro, thanks for making the trip over to RR. I’ll give the coaching staff credit for leaving the Philly shooters open but I think our collapsing paint defense was a much better deterrent than any strategy would’ve been. Philly’s not going to have many nights where they shoot 34% and if you’re a pessimist (ahem..AltRaps), you should point that out. But I don’t think they “just missed their shots”. Our close-outs were superb, not good, but superb and even Kapono was making the rotations. After a long time could I honestly say that we had more clean open perimeter looks than the other team.
The point-of-attack defense still needs a lot of work – Calderon, Parker were getting blown by too easily and things would’ve been a lot like last year if O’Neal/Bosh were there to meet them.
Alt – Look at that first quarter tape. JO didn’t necessarily suck as bad as we’re making out to be. We got blitzkrieg by Philly’s offensive rebounding which makes everything look bad.
KHANDOR, where are you?
Yea Bosh has some swagger now that he has another big man with him. And that’ll win us a few games. I liked the effort on defence, Philly missed a ton of shots after the lane became clogged.
YIPPY!!! The optimist train is running full steam all to way to the Finals. Call Stern, wrap up the season now and give the Raps their rings. F! Is this the beginning of a Celtic type dynasty? JO is Bill Russell, no doubt.
Let me see this team play some true big men. Orlando, Suns, Rockets, Spurs, Celtics, LAKERS!!! Utah… let me see them play Detroit.
I see we had the patented 1st quarter choke job, and had we done the usual 4th quarter meltdown.. you are looking at much different game. But of course, the super optimist don’t see anything wrong… just keep picking out the positives.
Alright, I’m gonna have to respond to that Flux.
When did I say we were going to the Finals? In fact, what is my very first sentence in this post? I know its only one game but if the team plays well, I’m going to give credit and NOT assume the worst (that this was total fluke).
Philly is neither Spurs nor Celtics but you can only play who’s on your schedule and most pundits have picked them to finish above us and I thought we responded well. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of a thing called a “1st quarter choke job”, I’ve heard of a “4th quarter choke job” but never a 1st. Not sure what you meant by that. We were definitely nervous and stiff to start the game and if you were part of the live chat you would’ve seen that EVERYBODY commented on that. But we self-corrected and forced Philly to do things they didn’t want to do (shoot from perimeter).
As I said in the post, Calderon and Parker’s man-defense was a problem and Moon was doing way too much floating around. I’m not picking out the positives, I rarely do, I’m just telling you what I saw. Just because I happened to like what I saw does not mean I’m tilting the facts. It’s one game, I know, but its one game that was played very well.
Nice comment about Bosh Arsenalist! The Fuck-Off dunk! Yeah!
d279…. I missed it but I beleive ya! The ‘Fuck-You’ message hasn’t been here since the Oakley days. It’s something a NBA team needs. If you don’t have some attitude in the NBA or the real world people will walk all over you. Not Joey Graham attitude, but Jay-Z attitude. Maybe we can get some respect this year, but we have to keep sending the message all season long. Especially against the Real Contenders of the NBA
Arsenalist, my comments was pretty much “inspired” by someone else.
You should know, by now, that I never have any issues with you work, as it’s always fair and balanced. You cover the + & – and analyze them very well. If you need me to mention that, every time I post, I will. And btw, I know this was your first game recap, but it WAS really good.
Uhh.. 1st q _____ How many games in recent history have we started by going into a black hole? I don’t like it one darn bit. Call it what you want, I fear it’s becoming a “thing” with this team. No live chat for me, sorry.
Yes, it is one game. And that’s it. I know everyone is going to look it completely differently and take different things out of it. I am not taking much out of it, since Philly was not playing their best, but “I’m a moron” for having/holding a different outlook on the team.
It’s just that some of the recent comments on here have bothered me. Where the “pessimist” (dumb word and characterization) may simply argue their POV with points… some of the “optimist” find it necessary to spit on them. Irritating, is all. And it’s all about expectations, really. JO could go 5 and 7 for the rest of his time and people will call it the greatest trade in NBA history because “he takes up space in the middle” or whatever. This team could go 0-82 and people will still find ways to praise the team. Whatever, I am repeating myself, you get the point.
The “enough is enough, cut it out” moment for referring to athletes by their initials has finally come with Devlin’s “JK!!!”
Agree or disagree?
Kapono’s got three syllables, JK’s got two. Announcers prefer too syllable names. I don’t mind it too much. I thought Devlin was coaching the game as he was calling it…he kept saying stuff like, “Let him shoot…”, “Take that all day…”, “Get that rebound….”, “Oh, almost had it…”….nice guy he is.
Game 1 and the vitriol starts already!! Can’t wait for the rest of the season.
The plan worked and we executed on the theory that the team was built on. Feed Bosh or O’Neil and let them play one on one, if the defence doubles, kick out to our shooters, who are arguable among the better ones in the league. Its not going to work every night, but it is reassuring that against one of the quicker teams in the league, that can rotate and move on defense, it worked.
As pointed out, you cant get outboarded that badly and expect to win consistently, particularly against the top tier teams. Also worrying is that JO was supposed to help on that front. Hopefully its something they can work on, but lets face it, if its not Bosh and JO, there is no indication that anyone else is going to be cleaning up the boards. (one can only hope that Andrea mans up on this front)
JO had a good game, and as those of us who have played competitive sports know, you can run suicides till you puke, you dont get into game shape until you actually start to play. JO is going to take time, and he needs to stay healthy, in order for him to be regular season ready. Given how much time he’s had off and his age, he’s not going to be 100% till mid-season.
As usual Fluxland can be counted on to reassert why we should be trying to burn down the ACC and have ourselves hung for being Raptors fans.
P.S.: I have never, nor do I ever expect to, understand what Sam is thinking in the plays he calls during timeouts. Assuming he actually sets up plays. With the exception on the one call in Atlanta last year with TJ, that was nnniiiice, even though it didnt count.
DG
At the press conference announcing the O’Neal trade O’Neal talked a nice talk. He was going to add a defensive presence to a team that lacked it, give the Raptors some swagger all while realizing that this was Bosh’s team. It sounded nice in July but big deal. Zach Randolph said similar things when he got traded to the Knicks (although O’Neal was much more articulate than Zach).
Well, one game into the season O’Neal pretty much delivered. Again, no big deal yet but its a step towards walking the walk. And what does O’Neal say in his post-game chat? The team played okay and game 1 is something to build on. Pessimist, Optimist or whatever you are as a basketball fan, it is something small to build on. A month of small building blocks and you can justify optimism. I’m already feeling a bit. Looking forward to Golden State and Milwaukee. If the Raptors stick it to both of those weak-looking teams then Wed. against Detroit could be a fun game to watch, whatever your team allegiance.
MAAAAN!! I give up! Last comment on here:
JO is the greatest! Raptors are the Champs! Finals all the way.
Over and out.
Flux don’t sweat it.
We need another side to the story.
Embrace your role.
Flux,
Finally you’ve seen the light!! LOL
Dude, I like it when you present a reasoned arguement and are critical on what needs to be done and why. The same way I like it when people make reasoned arguements about what positives exist.
We can all agree or disagree, even passionately, so long as the discussion is respectful and based on rational arguements.
We need good dialogue and a healthy exchange of ideas. You be john mccain and I can be Obama!!
Arsenalist, I can’t begin to fathom that team rebounding stat either. 23 offensive rebounds! WHAT?!? Iggy and Brand went a combined 10-31 (read: Raps got lucky to some extent).
I managed to tune into the game midway through the second quarter and mistakenly thought “why is Rod Black commentating?” I find Devlin really sounds like him and it makes me wonder if he’s going to grow the cookie duster to match.
Paps: nice one.
Arse: ” Look at that first quarter tape. JO didn’t necessarily suck as bad as we’re making out to be. We got blitzkrieg by Philly’s offensive rebounding which makes everything look bad.” One must ask what JO’s stated role would be for this team. You are absolutely right to say that it only happened in the first quarter, but to say it was all luck isn’t fair. The JO we need is the one that came back after being sat down and the one that looked pissed when he was on the bench watching Bosh get all the glory.
General: I like the discussion here. Nice variance in views and all fair, in my opinion. Great passion. Passion is reflective of being supporters of a team instead of just “fans”. People who support this squad SHOULD be proud and SHOULD be pissed. It’s one of the reasons the group of us thought this site should be created and, I for one, am ecstatic at the level of discussion.
i find it ironic that when the raps shoot well, some lean toward attributing it to luck…and when teams shoot poorly against the raps, some lean toward attributing it to luck. uh, maybe the raps shot well because a) they were open, b) are good shooters, c) had good ball movement. and maybe the poor FG% of the opponent was due to solid D, forcing tough shots, etc.? i guess admitting that there’s probably a mixture of luck, skill & solid play would be too simple.
reminds of last year’s win over boston in beantown…basically, brushed off as ‘luck,’ because the raps shot the lights out. sure…cause the celts were/are the best defensive team in the league, so for an opponent to shoot well must just be an aberration, chance, luck, etc. couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that the raps were (are?) pretty skilled offensively.
so last night, they get DESTROYED on the glass in the 1st Q…yet are down, what, 3 to start the 2nd Q? well, either the raps played well in other areas, or philly was SO ATROCIOUS that despite all those opportunities, they barely got out of the 1st with the lead, and were then outplayed in pretty much every facet the rest of the way. if there’s luck involved anywhere, i’d say philly was ‘lucky’ the raps shot so poorly for the 1st 6 minutes of the opening quarter, or they would’ve lost by 25 (instead of ‘just’ 11).
Flux, come to the dark side . . . you get a free Jose Calderon jersey and thunderstix. Come to the dark side my son.
It’s interesting being cast as a ‘pessimist’ or a ‘hater’ by some Raptors fans who seem to think there can only be one specific type of Raptors fan in the world, and who appear to be ‘punch drunk’ on KOOL-AID.
Please recall that I have said, repeatedly, “My perspective on this team is far from straight-forward” and, is nowhere near a simplistic ‘either or or’ approach; and, regarding this year’s team, specifically, something along these lines:
1. There are some very nice pieces here this season which can win a lot of games in this League, if you properly by the organization; and, that
2. If this team fails to make progress over the course of this season … it will be due to the decisions made by the Raptors’ brain-trust, specifically the GM, in terms of (i) the High End Talent on the roster right now, (ii) the lack of Quality Depth, from positions #1-15, and (iii) the Commitment to Rebounding it takes to become a legitimate contender in the NBA.
My take on last night’s Game 1?
Game Review: Raptors @ Sixers [Oct 29]
It is going to be a terrific year across the entire NBA, as there are a swack of teams capable of winning 40+ games this season, of which the Raptors, as constituted, are most definitely one.
PS. And, as I’ve said for a long time: 1) Giving Ford’s minutes to Calderon should/would/will be a major benefit to this team, moving forward, and up the ladder, in the EC; 2) Chris Bosh is a special player, in the NBA; 3) Moon, Graham & Kapono are each legit NBA talents, given their strengths and weaknesses, if used properly; 4) Ukic is a superior PG, at this level, in comparison to Solomon; and, 5) etc., etc., etc.
lol syllables: JK, JO, DG…How is this for commentary:
From now on when Ukic breaks down someone, commentator says:
” O my, Roko just took that guy to R-L-U !”
I enjoyed the Raptors play after the cold first quarter. Rrrroko “Killer” Ukic really stepped up with his high tempo play and forced the Raptor regulars to keep up with him. At one time they had the bench players plus Bosh on the floor and they turned the game around for the Raptors. Kapono did well too and seems to have found some confidence in his regular season game.
I was disappointed with the Sixers who did not play like a team .. just individual performers .. a sure formula for failure in the NBA. Brand was a bust.
Let’s watch the Warrior game on Friday, to see if the Raptors can provide a new look to adjust for a different opponent. (Btw .. BC & Gherardini had the hots for SG Belinelli a couple of years ago. Graham for Belinelli + filler?)
RRRRRRRRRROKO “KILLER” UKIC
Roll those a”r”se fellas …. RRRRRRRRRRROKO
Khandor
Please recall that I have said, repeatedly, “My perspective on this team is far from straight-forward” and, is nowhere near a simplistic ‘either or or’ approach; and, regarding this year’s team, specifically, something along these lines:
you should add “and quite possibly wrong”.
hopefully O’neal can do what he did last night for many more years and retain is place on the fortune 50:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/specials/fortunate50/2008/index.3.html
giber. ish.
For now I’m happy. Nice win. Oh yeah, I’m extra happy we don’t have to listen to that “cheesy” idiot anymore!
I like Yertu’s point about local luck and skill perception. Also worth mentioning is that we’ve always been an atrocious rebounding team and won alot of games. How? We are always nearly leading the league in turnover (or lack of) stats. We always allowed high opposition PPG averages yet won alot. How? Our PPG average was equally high or higher. The big picture people…
An interesting theoretical stat for last nights game is how many offensive rebounds the Sixers got that werent “back to back” – as in “Slammin Sammy” Dalembert desperately tossing altered/highly contested shots upward when in the low post repeatedly (inflating rebounding numbers). If you play any shot blocking position in organized basketball you’ll realize that when you go up for a block (particularly help/weakside)in the low post you’re drastically reducing your chances to get the rebound for said shot due to lack of position. I think this might be why dispite the huge offensive rebounding numbers the Sixers had they got very few second chance points. Thats my theory feel free to debate.
In addition to winning the Assist:Turnover Margin by a tonne [+17], when you’re opponent does an atrocious job of guarding the 3PT Line and allows you to shoot 10-16 [.625] from there, while only hitting 5-19 [.263] themselves … then your team has a shot of winning that game even though it’s getting hammered on the boards.
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re: Also worth mentioning is that we’ve always been an atrocious rebounding team and won alot of games. How? We are always nearly leading the league in turnover (or lack of) stats. We always allowed high opposition PPG averages yet won alot. How? Our PPG average was equally high or higher. The big picture people…
Problem is … in the even bigger picture, this type of ‘Shoot first, Rebound last’ basketball doesn’t it get it done in the NBA playoffs.
In addition to winning the Assist:Turnover Margin by a tonne [+17], when you’re opponent does an atrocious job of guarding the 3PT Line and allows you to shoot 10-16 [.625] from there, while only hitting 5-19 [.263] themselves … then your team has a shot of winning that game even though it’s getting hammered on the boards.
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re: Also worth mentioning is that we’ve always been an atrocious rebounding team and won alot of games. How? We are always nearly leading the league in turnover (or lack of) stats. We always allowed high opposition PPG averages yet won alot. How? Our PPG average was equally high or higher. The big picture people…
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Problem is … in the even bigger picture, this type of ‘Shoot first, Rebound last’ basketball doesn’t it get it done in the NBA playoffs.
great game.nobody lost the game for us with selfish bonehead plays.TEAM BALL,LOVED IT…my one concern is sams delayed reaction to effectivley using a timeout to stop a run.sam likes to gamble that the troops will shoot themselves out of if,yet if they dont its a major emotional tide turner and hard to dig back out of….our perimiter d is shaky as i saw blowbys that looked attrocious,but u know what?(here comes giddy interjection)WE GOT MOTHERFUCKEN JO AND BOSH BACK THERE……other than the shaky first qtr the boys looked good…also,for 0 points bargs played great.he was a defensive presence.can u believe that shit? bigmen need time to develop and get comfortable. we know he has O its nice to see him with some D,he puts it together,its gonna be scary.its nice that fans in here aint shittin on the kid,besides, if u wanna be a negative twat, go bitch about bargs with the kiddies at realgm…..thx to raprepublic for hosting the game chat…fun times.
I do not think we will have a poor rebounding team by season’s end, god even sooner. The first seven minutes was quite simply “unreal” the way Philly grab the boards. Think the numbers were slightly inflated, some being the Moses Malone variety. But for the last 41 minutes, after we woke up, we were pretty much rebound for rebound with what should be, personnel wise, a top rebounding team in the East.
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re: I do not think we will have a poor rebounding team by season’s end, god even sooner. The first seven minutes was quite simply “unreal” the way Philly grab the boards. Think the numbers were slightly inflated, some being the Moses Malone variety. But for the last 41 minutes, after we woke up, we were pretty much rebound for rebound with what should be, personnel wise, a top rebounding team in the East.
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If you review the Full-Play-By-Play for this game you should be able to see for yourself that this observation is not factually accurate …
Q – Rebs – Tor – Rebs – PHI
1st – 05 – 18 Pts – 21 – 21 Pts [Tor -3]
2nd – 18 – 33 Pts – 10 – 24 Pts [Tor +9]
3rd – 06 – 23 Pts – 10 – 20 Pts [Tor +3]
4th – 04 – 21 Pts – 12 – 19 Pts [Tor +2]
as the Raptors WON the Rebounding Battle in the 2nd quarter [+8], when they opened up on the 76ers, outscoring Philly by 9 Pts, but LOST it during the 1st [-16], 3rd [-4] and 4th [-8] quarters, respectively, when the 76ers were able to hold their own with Toronto on the scoresheet, despite their high number of Turnovers and their atrocious 3PT-Shooting.
that’s true…but again, the 4th Q numbers are bit wonky…the 6ers were firing up desperation 3′s(and not hitting much, if any), and a lot of the rebounds were the long type that just bounced to the wrong guy (not that the raps were doing an even decent job boxing out). there were a few that the raps got a hand on but couldn’t control, a few misplayed taps, etc.
i gotta wonder, though…where was jamario in this fiasco? i haven’t seen too many here blasting him. isn’t he supposed to be one the top rebounding 3′s in the league? isn’t his D & rebounding reasons 1 & 1a why he’s still starting? moon’s line looked like one of barg’s from a bad game last year…and we all know how much we appreciated those games. i guess our expectations have slipped, along with his play…
Rebounding Numbers vs Philadelphia:
#4′s & #5′s
Bosh 11 vs Brand 13
O’Neal 8 vs Dalembert 17
Bargnani 5 vs Evans 4, Marshall 1, Ratliff 0
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Toronto 24 vs Philadelphia 35 [+11]
Toronto’s #4 & #5 = -11
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#1′s, #2′s & #3′s
Calderon 2, Ukic 1 vs Miller 4, Williams 4
Parker 1, Kapono 2 vs Iguodala 3, Green 4, Rush 1
Moon 1, Graham 2 vs Young 5
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Toronto 9 vs Philadelphia 21 [+12]
Toronto’s #1 = -5.0
Toronto’s #2 & #3 = -7.0
The Rebounding Conundrum: Inside rebounding is tough for the defensive team because of a temporal problem.
Defensive big men are always playing with their backs to the basket, and to rebound they must first turn around and then jump … and this takes extra milliseconds at the neuro-muscular level. Most of the offensive players are facing the basket and just run in and jump. The turning around takes time and you must them flex and jump. Things move too fast to and it becomes a timing problem.
If the defensive rebound is uncontested because the other team is running back on defense after the failed shot, the defensive rebound is a gimme. Some of these gimme rebounds even bounce on the floor before being caught. That’s why we see the offensive player elevating before the defensive players can set themselves to jump. Boxing out takes away the advantage.
It even shows up when there is a long rebound and the outside offense players pick up the rebound before the defense can turn around and figure where the ball is going. The offensive player also have a better bead on the long rebound than the back to the basket defensive players.
Boxing out is the only thing you can do to take away the temporal advantage. It will stop the offensive player from their rebounding flow. The brain can only process at a certain speed and send messages to the muscles. Big players are usually rather slow and need time and space to be effective. That’s the conundrum. (Sorry for the lecture.)
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