The “what’s that? You are down 3 players? Well we will take it easy on you” edition.
Adams – stumpy kept his rightful place nice and warm. You think he even puts his jersey on or do you think he keeps his street clothes on underneath so he can beat the line at Timmy’s?
Bargnani – you know when you make coffee and you want it so badly you take that first sip and it’s so hot it sears the top of your mouth? Then you forget about it and it gets luke warm, if not cold. Next time that happens, tell people you have been Barg’d. Buddy comes out like a house on fire in the first half. Block, rebound, rainbow…then he picked up his fouls and folded like a pasta shell. 12pts in 21 minutes, but had he kept up the intensity, the home crowd would have continued to forgive the past.
Bosh – there is no other way to describe his season so far: spectacular. He looked frustrated and irritated. Last year that may have taken him out of the game mentally. This year he has sucked it up, re-focused and thrown his heart into it. An insane amount of minutes (44) but it produced another double double of 26 and 13. Definitely the stirstick in the coffee that is the Raptors.
Calderon – Devlin is all over Calderon being an allstar this year. Could happen, but tonight was the first night that I saw something worthy of that. As good as Bosh and AB played in the first half, Jose shined offensively while giving up some blow-bys on the defensive end. Did a great job of getting to the line (perfect 9 of 9) to help him to 24 points. A manageable 35 minutes as well. Didn’t get a double double, but did pick up a regular.
Graham – 5 minutes of playing like a quickly melting Iced Capp. If anybody is looking for a place in Toronto starting in, oh, May 2009, maybe give Joey G a shout.
Humphries – he played 27 minutes less than Jermaine and scored 5 less points. He played one minute, took it to the hole and got fouled. A workman like effort. His court time may have been short (espresso like, really) but he did what we expect…outplayed some of his overpriced teammates.
Jawai – drink too much coffee and you might get heartburn.
Kapono – his game was as fulfilling as a coffee poured into a bottomless cup. 0 for 6, but he did fight for 5 boards (more than Jermaine). Could have used his deadly shooting, but he was a huge defensive liability in this one. 22 minutes was probably 4 too many.
Moon – as frustrating as ordering a double shot in your coffee and being handed a decaffeinated. So much anticipation and you get slapped in the face. The epitome of Moon: a 2 on 1 fast break and he passes it off and they re-set…..ON A FAST BREAK. They elected a black guy president in the US….now maybe we can witness another first: Moon dunking in traffic.
O’Neal – it’s like at the end of the year, for shits and giggles you figure out how much you have spent on coffee…..then you wonder what you are getting for it. It felt like he missed 300 gimmies tonight and I still think he jumped twice defensively all night. Great D on one (1!) possession, cost us points by misses, goaltending, a technical and, once again, racked up early fouls to earn him a seat and wasn’t on the floor at the end of the game. What’s that old adage? It’s not who starts but who finishes? Exactly. 8 points and 3 boards. The stats of a bench player.
Parker – hit a clutch 3 in the last minute to still give us hope. Like Kapono he had a poor night scoring the ball, but managed fairly well defensively. Also like Kapono, he is exactly the type of guy we need to shine in these types of games in order for us to win. He needs to play like a latte amongst a bunch of hospital vending machine coffees. 9 pts in 36 minutes doesn’t cut it.
Solomon – seeing his first action of the season, he held his own. His length and quickness matched up well against the Pistons, and he played double the time of Roko’s burn in the earlier games. 3 dishes in 12 minutes is nice to see from a guy that looks to shoot first. Compared to the other pickups BC made this offseason, Will could be the one worthy of a refill.
Ukic – if he has done so well in practice and is such a great listener and learner, why only play 5 min a game previous to tonight and none tonight? Is that why he is so long in the face? Did he use milk that was a week old and it came back to bite him in the ass? Some say he will be a 14/7 type guy. I don’t see it. I see Raptors-era Roger Mason……and that ain’t good for much.
Driving The Bus: Chris Bosh
Under The Bus: Jason Kapono
Game Theme: Indeed
21 Raps
I will like to add:
Smitch: For what the hell was he thinking?!
Raptors win again but I fear they cannot sustain this gut-wrenching style of bball dependent on a 7-player rotation. What happens is the rest of the bench cannot get into the flow of the team or the game, and then fatigue becomes a factor for the starters.
I hope Mitchell has some confidence in two or three more players on the bench because it’s somewhat difficult watching 5 + 2 players carrying the team. How much longer can Mitchell sustain a short rotation roster..??!!!
Mitchell was right in calling the Raptors a “basketball-wise” team, but it would be better if more than 7 players fit into this category of athlete. Oh well … on to the next conquest …
Naturally we want O’Neal to get better, but have to be extremely pleased with all 3 games from him. How you can find fault baffles me. You don’t see the change in our interior D with JO on the floor? I know its only 3 games in but our defence shoure appears to of improved, and rather quickly. Even his offence has been good, he has even shown glimpses of speed down low. Thought it would take about 10-15 games to be getting what his giving us now. Baffled.
Do admit Bargnani looked lost on offence, but not on D, which is more important to me. For whatever reason only 3 shot attempts. No attempts to drive. After GS game that he had, also baffling. As he progresses, scoring will not be a problem so am only mildly concerned with 2 shutouts in first 3 games. He looked like an allstar in the other game.
Did not expect 3-0. I know we haven’t played any powerhouses we also haven’t played the weaker teams. 2-0 on the road, on a 3 day in 4 night blitz, right at beginning of year – hard to find anything to complain about.
Have the Raptors peaked? Can they improve, can they grow as the season progresses? How much better can a 7-man rotation get so early in the season? If a couple of players cold, who can they look to on the bench to step up? Can they sustain a 7-man rotation, or is Mitchell just establishing his core players and hoping that others will step up when called to play later in the season?
If 7 reliable players is all Mitchell has, I fear for the season regardless of this good start to the season. Other teams will undoubtedly improve as the season progresses, but can the Raptors???
What do you call it when it’s clear everyone was out partying the night before? A “my kind of character” win?
Just finished watching the game on PVR. Bogut was killing us when we went small and chose not to double. Ate Bosh alive but CB4 returned the favor on the other end. Got lucky there, maybe send a double next time because the way he was going he’d score 8/10 times.
Once again we get bailed out by a “play” that was totally a “bad shot, bad shot, bad shot…goooood shot” one. Jose’s three was clutch but did you look at the movement on that piece? I’ll take it though.
I don’t understand why you’re shitting on O’Neal. 11 points, 8 rebounds on 50% shooting and 2 blocks + causing at least 4 shots to miss (that I counted while OD’d on Valium). What more do you want from the guy? As advertised he’s providing a defensive presence while also contributing to the offense. Also, he missed a three shots that he’ll be making with dead-eye accuracy in mid-season (if he stays healthy). Watch out Alt, O’Neal’s going to bust your door down.
FAQ, I see you’re cautious as usual. BTW, you strike me as the type of guy who buys volcano insurance. I do agree that a 7-man rotation isn’t enough to sustain what we’ve got going here, Bosh needs to be performing at the highest level for us to win. We basically played our starters the entire third quarter and they had barely enough left in the tank to finish the game. Ukic is going to be good but probably not this year, Graham is Graham (got beat at least 3 times on defense) and Hump is a garbage man who’s lost in the rotation. Not sure if anyone can step up and extend the rotation to even 8, Will Solomon? Eww.
I’ll take the road win on a B2B and let’s hope Moon perimeter shooting isn’t a fluke and that Calderon/Bosh don’t get burned out. Solid win in a close game on the road, I love this shit.
Got a real test coming against Detroit. We’ll be rested, should be a barometer of where this team is at.
Looking forward to the PG post, whoever is doing it.
Couldn’t resist.
This is quickly becoming my favourite feature on here. Really funny stuff, AltRaps. Dow Jones!!! This should be called RatptorPGReportCard/TheTruth/. Funny, every time.
Bogut went off. Respect. WorksCB4/Charge/MakesCB4his bitch/Steal. Word.
Arsenalist, sorry, don’t agree about JO. AS ADVERTISED??!!! Sorry, no. It was advertised as a doubledouble every night, new legs, fresher then ever because he played “60″ games his whole career, rebounding machine etc etc. 11,8, 50% – could have got that from Rasho. (just for fun, compare their numbers, thus far this season)And the D presence-meeeh…like to see it at the end of games, when it counts the most. It’s not just you.. people are talking about this “presence” like we are putting teams away by 20 plus or making them go on 20 point droughts. DOY? I don’t think so. For 20 mil per and what we gave up.. I want a LOT more. I am going to start calling you the Apologist, soon. : P
Truth is, people want to justify, whether they want to admit it or not, the trade anyway they can and are grasping at straws. Weak.
Agree, Detroit will tell us what’s really going on.
3 games and like FAQ was pointing out, we are playing seesaw nailbiters while burning up the starters. The FT attempts is what has essentially saved us the last two games. This will not end well, and the rebounding issue is alarming to say the very least.
AP, 2 games in a row – not clutch! Or as Arse would call it – tired leg syndrome (the Apologist version of not clutch)
Where is all the Moon hate? Thought he had not jumper to speak of. Oh well, I’m sure it will take a few bricks before the “drive to the bucket” screaming begins, again.
Again, great work AltRaps – keep it up.
agree 100% flux. moon’s shot is smooth like butta, so i say, keep on jacking. everyone’ll forget about those rebounds, just like with bargs when all he does is sit on the perimiter and jack ‘em up. oh, wait…
I gave O’Neal some kudos. Like Flux says, though, he came in on a white horse. Again, it’s three games in and I am giving him time to gel, but in the first two games, there were quite a few rebounds he missed within his wheelhouse and his lack of using his body to box out astounds me. And, come on, Turiaf????
Plus, if you are going to dump on Bosh and his jumpshots, JO deserves the same heat, especially if he is missing them..some badly.
C’mon man! We “spent” 20 mil on a rebounding machine!! Oh, wait…that’s the guards job, right?
NBA.com:Rebounding has obviously been a weakness for your team, so Jermaine should be an important addition in that regard.
Colangelo: Overall, we were not a very good rebounding team last year. By bringing in someone who’s historically averaged double-digit rebounds and put him alongside Chris Bosh, who does the same, we’ve already dramatically improved our rebounding capabilities.
What F numbers are you looking at Bryan? Them was an (long,long) 8 years ago… tempi passati, my Italian friend.
#10 was for yankee doodle.
The box out deficiency, agreed AltRaps, is perplexing.
Darn it .. this was the next paragraph in the BC quote.. forgot to paste copy after last sentence, for yankee doodle.
Further, last year, we were relying a lot on Jamario Moon to rebound the basketball, and in that case, he was unable to run the floor perhaps. So, there are other things that spawn from the improved rebounding scenario.
Thanks, Arse.
I got nothing to complain about in regards to JO. Too bad that there is a big dollar figure attached to him though. It would probably always be a bone of contention. By that regards, who would have been a better trade?
The minutes though. Wow. How long before the starter burn out?
Will Barfs be the next Joey? I hope not. I hope he becomes more consistent.
Should Jason get the nod to start over Jamario and Joey?
Can Jose and Chris continue to play 40+ during an Olympic year?
Does anyone think we have the right coach?
I don’t mind Sam at all. A few blips yesterday, but every coach has them. Elite coaches don’t, but nobody would put him in that category.
Jamario Moon is leading the league in fly-by defensive efficiency. 100% so far. He’s a machine.
Numbers with JO will improve. The guy has missed mega-time over the past 4 years and is playing his way back into game shape. Some of you are too concerned with his stat-line and disregarding what he’s done to the defensive mindset of this team.
There’s intensity and swagger where before there was none. There’s fan-taunting, finger-wagging and calls for team accountability. Some of it may rub people the wrong way, but I love this shit. Its stuff that doesn’t show up in JO’s box score, but it’s a major reason the Raps are 3-0.
The rebounding sucks, but the man-on defensive has decidedly improved. Bottom line is we’re finding ways to win. Like Tinman said, 3 wins in a row that were certainly no gimme’s. Big test coming up on Wednesday.
I agree to an extent, badass. If I was a real hater, I’d say JO should have been T’d up for the finger wag since it’s against the rules.
I do agree that having him on our squad forces teams to think about attacking the rim or feeding down low, which is great. However, for a team that lacks strength (still) in its perimeter D, is that something we necessarily want?
I’m still somewhat taken aback that we have been outrebounded in every game. That worries me. The relying on starters for extended minutes worries me. The concern of what we have after the initial 7 or 8 guys has yet to be addressed. If Roko is someone that was expected to walk in and hold his own, why only give him 5min a game. I admit he looked like he was going to dump in his shorts on Friday, but how about some on-the-job training?
One wonders if BC wants to start off a la the Celtics and use his main guys for extended minutes early in the season, build some wins, and then pull back the reins a bit.
Anyone notice how Anthony Parker player over 40 minutes per game this season??
No way he keeps this up.
For all the talk of how Bosh has improved his D, ANDREW BOGUT of all people scored on him at will.
Our defense was horrible. late in the 4th Q we coughed up a 12 point lead and just barely lucked out on a Jose 3-ball.
No way the Raptors win Wednesday against Detroit.
I think late in the fourth had more to do with being tired than anything. Bogut on Bosh happened a lot in that time frame as well.
Say what you will about Humph and his offensive game, he could have been used in that late 4th to lay the lumber on a guy or two.
Re: FLUXLAND Nov 2, 2008 8:10 am
FAQ, I see you’re cautious as usual. BTW, you strike me as the type of guy who buys volcano insurance.
………………………………
I vacillate between judiciously “cautious” and wildly “outside the box” in my Raptor critique .. which some can construe as being “negative”. I prefer to think of is as constructive criticism. Please bear with me …..
I believe the good thing take care of themselves, while the bad things should be broached immediately and hopefully rectified asap.
Tribal honking fans can only utter supportively unrealistic good things for fear of jinxing their team with a critical comment. “Don’t say a bad thing because that might come true and it’s yer fault for saying it.” This kind of juvenile thinking is … juvenile and can be found on another bball forum filled with juveniles who post one-liner blurts expressing their juvenile feeelings.
This fine forum entertains thinking people who can communicate their thoughts in paragraphs rather than ludicrous one-liner blurts .. although it does happen here but stands out like a sore thumb and not worthy of comment. As far as I can see, everybody’s comments today seem to cover the points I would want to make plus more.
We can’t manage or coach the Raptors, but we can certainly express our insightful views with alacrity and aplomb. Of course we can and should cross swords and let the sparks fly … and I did on occasion suggest you were a near-imbicile .. but I can’t remember for what cause. Oh, well .. old age dementia ……
Len – Bogut will score on anyone in the league if he gets position that deep. Bosh’s defensive strength isn’t his bulk, it’s just a bad matchup for him and the only reason he was guarding him is because Rasho isn’t here, JO was fouled out and Humphries was….well….I don’t know. You can’t hold that against Bosh. You bring a good point about the fourth quarter defense but I think JO not being there had a lot to do with it. Guards were getting dribble penetration (especially Sessions) and were killing us. Hopefully JO can stay in the game longer but yeah, not having a big man in there exposes Parker and Calderon.
FAQ – We go way back.
AltRaps, you said:
I’m just picturing you saying that in a really nerdy high-pitched voice.
Badass – that swagger to me, thus far, is some straight FRONTIN. Don’t tell me you were not biting your nails the last two games, or thought “Here we go again” during a few stretches. And I am not a big fan of pulling out tight games.
Has JO looked good on some/multiple possessions? Absolutely! I wanna see that defensive presence in the 4th, when it counts, that’s all. I also won’t mention how much I would like him to rebound a lot more.
I know it’s 3 games, but a few have come down to last minute, against not so great teams. I am not sure what they says about the future, but it’s not encouraging to say they least.
FAQ, I know you like me an all, but that wasn’t me. Might wanna get the old eye sight checked..; )