The only people that were happy when the Thunder nickname was decided upon were the Bobcats. Now there could be a serious debate about the worst named team in the league. The game’s at 1PM today and is the second of three on this roadtrip before we finish off in Boston or Monday. You can download the Opening Tip right here.
In our last meeting with Charlotte the second-chance points were 32-0 in their favor and they out-rebounded us 50-37 (18-6). It was one of the most depressing games of the year and made you want to gouge your eyes out. Right now we’re the worst rebounding team in the league at 34.80 and the Bobcats are 27th but still almost 3 rebounds to the good. The ‘Cats are coming off a win against the New Orleans Hornets where they slowed Chris Paul down to build a lead and then played just enough defense to hang on to it.
The problematic matchup here is Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace, two athletic wings that can score with ease against anybody we put on them. Moon was able to hold his Alabama mate Wallace to just 5 points in their only matchup last year and if he can do that again it’d be much appreciated. Then it’s up to Parker to defend Richardson, if he guards him like he guarded Corey Maggette, things will be looking up but if he guards him like he did Joe Johnson, it’ll be over before it starts. Common sense stuff really. Raymond Felton’s quickness advantage on Jose Calderon could come into play if they choose to exploit it. Mitchell has to realize that Calderon’s the far superior player and should use him to expose Felton. I know its not Jose’s nature but he needs to get himself going early in the games as much as others. He’s our second-best scorer and needs his warm-up shots so that he becomes a consistent scoring factor for us. With Parker spending his efforts on Richardson and Moon on Wallace, Calderon becomes the man you look at to get you points.
The chances of a win in Boston are bleak at best so if there’s a game on this trip that we can steal it’s this one right here. A 2-1 roadtrip would’ve been considered a success but at this point you have to settle for a 1-2 if you can get it. This is the front end of a back-to-back so we have to be careful how to use our starters. We don’t want them to be gassed in the second quarter against Boston so it would be wise of Sam Mitchell to get as many minutes out of that bench of his this afternoon. I’d say Kris Humphries should be able to get some minutes against Jared Dudley. If Bargnani ends up guarding Dudley it’ll be a nightmare, Dudley’s a very active player that can make Bargnani look lazy even when he’s trying hard. They have Matt Carroll and we have Jason Kapono so its possible that Kapono will be able to stay on the floor longer without getting burned on defense.
Remember how Bosh was taking Aamir Johnson to school as O’Neal was guarding Rasheed Wallace? Something similar needs to happen here. If O’Neal checks Okafor that’ll leave Dudley or Nazr Mohammed guarding Bosh and that’s an advantage that can work in our favor all night long. They might try putting Gerald Wallace on Bosh for a few minutes here and there but if Bosh is on his game he can easily win that matchup too. I’m looking for CB4 to have another big game. Roko Ukic or Will Solomon could also see some extended playing time as they’ll be matched up with rookie DJ Augustin. I reckon we have an advantage at the backup PG spot, how often does that happen?!?
Matt Devlin’s blogging about the Atlanta loss and he’s outlining some good points such as the Hawks being the first team this year to go over the screen on our pick ‘n rolls thus rendering them ineffective. Like everyone else he’s picking dribble penetration as being our Achilles heel.
We’ll start the live blog at 1PM EST. Gotta love the Sunday afternoon games, this is the first game on CBC. Let’s see what their intro looks like this year, last year was sweet. Let’s go you Raps!
27 Raps
im tellin u,bein last in rebounds in unfuckinacceptable.can sam or SOMEBODY please tell these cunts that all 5 of them have to crash the boards the moment the shot goes up on both ends of the floor regardless of the consequence of the other team leaking out.id gladly trade off a couple fast break points for board domination…..the moment a shot goes up i want to see opponents bodies thrown in battles for positioning……im curious to see if we still dbl with reckless abandon today.i wanan see man d and fight.
I’ve got one foot off the bandwagon. C’mon 2008-09 Toronto Raptors, show me something to make me rethink the jump.
How many games will we lose before Sam gets busted? Someone has to take the fall for this, and it WILL be Sam. The players can’t get ditched (and it wouldn’t solve anything) and Colangelo is still holding the reins. It might take 20 games losing to subpar teams or decent teams which have bad reputations, or it could take a 7 game losing streak (since we’re busy building one right now). What’s your guess on Sam’s shelf-life?
Darien, Mitchell’s shelf life is this yr plus 2 more @ $4mil per. Who are they going to get who is better, at what cost? Do you really think MLSE is willing to spend $8mil plus for a coach for this group, Mitchell and his replacement? I’m sure Sam would enjoy a vacation.
Let’s remember these same players were 3-0 2 games ago, and everyone was talking about the improved defense, now after 2 losses, the defense stinks, fire the coach.
The coach is coaching the players, who in the GM’s comments is the most talented group he has had in TO. Do you agree with Colangelo?
I love Johnn19. I want to buy you a beer.
Also, we will beat Boston. Just one of those feelings where I can see this group of Raptors stepping up against the champs.
As much as I agree with Johnn19, when the crap hits the fan..it’s usually the coach that eats the eff you sandwich. Things are not right in Raptorland. Even in yesterdays post game post.. the fans are arguing about who to blame, disagreeing what is wrong and how to fix it. Clearly, there must be internal turmoil going on with the team, as well, and the players are (at least minimally) tuning out Sam. Pile up some more losses, it will be completely and he’s gonzo. IMO, that is.
Avery Johnson, anyone? Van Gundy? The Czar? C’mon.. let’s bring a “bigtime” name up in this MF. Get Hubie up here. No more no name, little experience dudes. I want a NAME damn it!!!
AltRaps, we beat Boston – I’m buying you a digital beer. ; )
good lord, please let robo-joe start & play 30+ minutes, so we can put that little fantasy to rest.
good lord, please slap BC out of his ‘i drafted a bust with the 1st overall pick, and there’s no way i admit it by trading him now’ -induced haze.
good lord, please let the 1, 2 & 3 positions know that it’s ok to move their feet on D.
good lord, please let jose know that he doesn’t have to help ON EVERY FUCKING DEFENSIVE POSSESSION. JO don’t need your useless double-down, jose!
good lord, please let andrea know that it’s ok to appear as though he’s hustling. or to actually hustle. i’ll take either at the moment.
good lord, please let kapono know that taking 3’s is not a sin. it’s why he’s a multi-millionaire.
good lord, please impart moon with the balls to enter the painted area, at some point during the game.
good lord, please let my power go out so i don’t feel compelled to watch them get waxed by the bobbies…
sigh. all these years of atheism, down the tube…
Toronto vs Atlanta, the game was lost in a 3/4 minute period of the 2nd
quarter when Atlanta out scored the Rap’s 15-3, highlighted by 3 open 3 pointers by Bibby. Rapters 3 points were as damaging as ATL’s 15. Raptors were never able to make a run to make up the difference.
The key ATL player Bibby, was 5/7 3’s & 7/12 overall in the 2nd qtr, and the game.
Bibbys shooting % after the game is 39.6FG and 37.5FG3. Before the game it was much worse than that.
The defensive plan was to double Johnson, and was somewhat effective as he only scored 17 pts after avg 28 going in to the game. However they overplayed him and failed to get to the outside shooters who scored when open.
Raptors lost the game primarily because one player was open & HOT, and made his shots for 1 game for the first time this year, and no one on TO got hot to offset those points. He failed to score in the 2nd half also.
Without that it may have been a competitive game as Sam took his starters out with 6/7 mins to go.
The team defensive plan was not followed properly for one game, and they were dominated by an athletic team playing very well @ 4-0, and also beating Orlando and New Orleans, both thought to be better than TO.
They lost one game, for very understandable and corectable reasons and THE SKY IS NOT FALLING. They need a better defensive/offensive effort and they need scoring consistently from their 2’s and 3’s.
If they do not get it from these players then Colangelo will have to revise his assessment of these players talents, and take corrective action to replace them. The coaching staff can only coach the players they have, not improve the talent that they have, that is the players responsibility.
Yertu, thanks for the humour. Remenber I’ts 5 games with 77 to go, lots of time to win some games.
Look. We aren’t beating Boston. There’s no way, not even if Bosh has a 50 point night and O’Neal moves back to all-star form and Calderon has 20 assists. Pierce and Allen will be snacking on us in a few days time.
If you want to look at MLSE eating costs, just look at the Leafs overhaul last season. Colangelo wasn’t happy with Sam at the end of last season, and he has to show something, anything to be worth keeping around. I don’t know exactly how that goes down, but any sort of losing streak will not leave Sam hanging in good light. If Colangelo tells the board Sam’s gotta go and they have to eat the cost, I would bet that they fire Sam rather than risk letting Bosh think that Toronto has become a loser’s team again and then having him sign somewhere else when it’s his turn to walk. It looks like Sam has lost the attention of some of our key players already, so whether he gets it back in time is another question.
Darien,
We beat Boston last year with arguably a weaker team than we have now.
Lets all just sit back and enjoy the game today. Bobcats look better and any road game in the NBA is a tough one.
First.
There is only one player on this team right now who might … and it’s important to emphasize the word ‘might’ … be starting to ‘tune out’ the Raptors’ head coach and that’s Jermaine O’Neal, a 6-time former all-star who was only added to the squad this year.
Those who are seeing any other players ‘tune out’ Sam Mitchell are making a mistake in judgment, IMO.
Bosh and Calderon and Parker and Moon and Humphries and Graham and Kapono [playing the minutes he's getting at this point] and Bargnani … have in no way ‘begun to tune Sam out’.
IMO, at 3-2 on this current season … each of these Toronto Raptors has a strong belief in Sam Mitchell, as their head coach.
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Second.
IMO … if this year’s team gets to the the 2nd week of December and has LOST more games than it’s WON, then, there’s a much stronger likelihood that Bryan Colangelo will, at that point, look to make a coaching change for HIS team … which he has mistakenly perceived, to this point, as being ‘the most talented team we’ve had so far in Toronto, on paper’.
As Flux says … in the NBA, in general, and when it comes to Bryan Colangelo’s personal history as a GM in this League, specifically … when it gets to the 2nd week in December and HIS team is thought to be under-achieving, it is the head coach who will be identified as the person to blame for the short-comings of the present roster of players and a less-than-stellar WON-LOSS record.
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Third.
In this specific instance … this is NOT where the responsibility SHOULD fall, IMO.
j-19 – yeah, i know…just hard to envision the weak spots improving. looking around the league, there are many teams that match-up better than the raps, often to a substantial degree, at the 2/3. i’m not saying it has to be blown up, and i’m fine, for the most part, with AP at the 2…but having BOTH the 2 & 3 provide less than their competition puts them in a whole that makes it difficult for their strong positions (1 & 4, obviously) to make up the defecit. throw in the short bench providing limited production (both offensively & defensively), and you’re looking at a situation in which they’ll have a hard time matching up with many teams on those remaining 77 games (starting today).
if only they’d see the light & let joey work his defensive magic. he’s super strong, has good quickness, and heck, can even shoot it. he’s simply not being used in a manner that best takes advantage of the physical advantage he provides over almost all of the league’s 3s. sigh. well, we can dream, i guess. man, i get a little teary thinking about that one possession against det. when he TOTALLY shut down prince. boy, was that sweet. if only they’d let him go 35, 40 minutes each & every game, he’d probably resolve 90% of their defensive problems…and just think of all those easy buckets they’d get, ’cause he’s simply too strong & too talented to be stopped once he gets going. and rebounding!! man, dude can jump outta the gym, and he’s quick, and did i mention how freakishly strong he is?!?! it’s incredible. like, totally like orlando woolridge back in the day. what was it they used to say about him…’best basketball body from the neck down.’ except joey’s the total package.
Last year’s team that beat Boston, in beantown, was stronger than the current version of the Toronto Raptors … despite what you’ve been told, thus far, by their Management Team.
oops…’puts them in a hole.’
two words for todays game:
jarred dudley
dude is gonna kill us.
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re: j-19 – yeah, i know…just hard to envision the weak spots improving. looking around the league, there are many teams that match-up better than the raps, often to a substantial degree, at the 2/3. i’m not saying it has to be blown up, and i’m fine, for the most part, with AP at the 2…but having BOTH the 2 & 3 provide less than their competition puts them in a whole that makes it difficult for their strong positions (1 & 4, obviously) to make up the defecit. throw in the short bench providing limited production (both offensively & defensively), and you’re looking at a situation in which they’ll have a hard time matching up with many teams on those remaining 77 games (starting today).
if only they’d see the light & let joey work his defensive magic. he’s super strong, has good quickness, and heck, can even shoot it. he’s simply not being used in a manner that best takes advantage of the physical advantage he provides over almost all of the league’s 3s. sigh. well, we can dream, i guess. man, i get a little teary thinking about that one possession against det. when he TOTALLY shut down prince. boy, was that sweet. if only they’d let him go 35, 40 minutes each & every game, he’d probably resolve 90% of their defensive problems…and just think of all those easy buckets they’d get, ’cause he’s simply too strong & too talented to be stopped once he gets going. and rebounding!! man, dude can jump outta the gym, and he’s quick, and did i mention how freakishly strong he is?!?! it’s incredible. like, totally like orlando woolridge back in the day. what was it they used to say about him…’best basketball body from the neck down.’ except joey’s the total package.
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“‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”
They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: …
as, all too frequently, the man who has both sight & hearing, but is simultaneously blind & deaf, has no idea at all what his current state is … and, therefore, deserves our sympathy, not our scorn. : )
Raps Fan,
RODNEY CARNEY!
- Rodney [but not Art, except, perhaps, to my closest friends] Carney : )
My point wasn’t whether the blame SHOULD fall on Sam, but rather where it WILL fall, should such a thing come to pass. And if this team keeps “underachieving”, or “achieving” as the case may be, the coach will be sent packing.
Khandor,
There is NO way last year’s team was stronger than this year’s team. Last year’s starting 5 was:
pg: ford / calerdon
sg: parker
sf: moon
pf: bosh
c: rasho
this year’s starting 5 is:
pg: calderon
sg: parker
sf: moon
pf: bosh
c: o’neal
Our weak is argurably weaker because calerdon was on our bench last year, and he is starting this year. From what flashes I have seen this year, bargs is playing at a better clip than he was playing at last year and bosh is playing out of his mind this year. O’neal has improved our interior defense. If you are saying that 24 minutes of ford (becuase he split time with calderon) is better than o’neal for 35 minutes then i may have to respectfully disagree with you
Our bench is “arguably” weaker?!!?
Wow.
If ever there was an understatement….
Khandor,
How you can come to such conclusions after only 5 games is a mystery to all of us. Last years team won 41 and lost 41. Do you have us pegged for under 500 this season? You gotten better, at least, by adding IMO. Want to improve some more? You should add after IMO -”WHICH USUALLY HAS BEEN WRONG”.
Wow if Raptors fall under 500 in the first month and a half Sam’s job might be in jeopardy – what thoughtfull insight. A coach getting fired for his squad underperformance. JO might be tuning Sam out? Thats quite the statement, outlandish, but still a statement.
I will go with the “play Joey more” group. We have to learn what he can bring. If unsuccessfull, trade him immediately. This waiting game has to stop. Will he succeed or won’t he? I dunno – ask Khandor.
Yertu – you have given up much too soon. Proposing trading Kapono and Bargnani after 5 games for what appears to be considerably less talent just seems panicky.
Live blog started.
http://raptorsrepublic.com/liveblog/raptors-vs-bobcats-live-blog-chat.html
Tinman,
First.
At no time have I ever said/written that my ideas are outlandish or revolutionary or way out on a limb or ridiculously absurd, etc. … to those with sound basketball acumen, e.g. like Dave & others. Instead, that type of characterization of my observations has been left to the ‘omniscient’ domain of the likes of ‘youretoodamcool’ [and certain others who perceive themselves to be of a similar mind].
If you analyze what I’ve had to say about the Raptors, or any other sports-related topic for that matter, what you’ll find is that my observations are, in fact, not ‘way out there’ at all, to those who are (i) looking through the lens of an open mind [yes, and I understand that it's a mixed metaphor : )] (ii) with a concrete foundation, (iii) a non ‘defensive’ posture, and (iv) a sound understanding of the NBA/NFL/NHL/MLB/etc. game, to begin with.
Second.
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re: You gotten better, at least, by adding IMO. Want to improve some more? You should add after IMO -”WHICH USUALLY HAS BEEN WRONG”.
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Doesn’t seem as though you have visited my site.
Nuff said. : )
Third.
re: Yertu – you have given up much too soon.
In that regard … it’s safe to say that, “You know not of what you speak” … when it comes to assessing accurately the temperment of that specific individual. : )
Fourth.
I think it’s YOU who is well on the road now to a better understanding of the NBA game.
Al the best to you, and …
Keep On Truck’n : )
Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace are both excellent wings in the post. How well the Raps defend their post ups will go a long way to deciding the result.
Arsenalist, please boot Khandor
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