Return of The KingOK, let me try to get through this as best as I can because I honestly feel sick. As I sat there at Philthy McNasty’s watching the fourth quarter of this game I couldn’t help but think, damn, Devin Harris is good. He can do anything he wants on the floor tonight, there’s nothing Jose can do to stop him. Nothing. He doesn’t even have to make a move to get past him, just pure unadulterated quickness will get him scores and others open shots (and they did). Impressive. Then I watched Carter do his thing and I’m thinking if he ever decided to give 100% he’d challenge for the best player in the league year in and year out. Why does he always have to bring his A-game against us? Why can’t he just let bygones be bygones and then I remembered that we’re the ones who are booing him and reminding him how good he can be. Harris and Carter were simply amazing to watch and made Calderon and Parker look like severely inferior players in crunch time.
We all know that Sam Mitchell is quite the joke of a coach but last night we saw him at the height of his incompetency and it had nothing to do with the choking fourth quarter offense. Forget about designing plays to get us scores in crunch time, the man failed to come up with an inbounds play. Twice. Both times coming out of a timeout. It cannot get any more pathetic than that, it just can’t. With 24 seconds left all we had to do was inbound the ball and NJ was going to foul us and we would’ve had to hit a FT to ice the game. Mitchell failed, the players failed, we couldn’t even run a simple flare to get this thing in, the movement was restricted to within 20 feet of the inbounder and the look on Sam Mitchell’s face when the 5-second whistle blew wasn’t that of disappointment in his players, it was a realization of just how bad he is. Lawrence Frank once again pw3ns Sam. So that’s the first key play that cost us the game.
The second agonizing moment was Anthony Parker’s missed FT which was entirely expected. He’s the king of missing clutch FTs and he came up short once again. Stop, don’t tell me he hit that three to tie it because that’s not a clutch shot, nobody’s expecting him to nail that three and its basically pressure-free. No, you don’t believe me? Well, you’re wrong. The FT would’ve iced the game and Parker choked, just like he has in the past and just like he will in the future. Usually his miserable offensive game is somewhat forgivable because he tries to make life difficult for the opposing SG but not tonight, Vince lit him up like a cigarette after sex – 39 points on 17-29 FG. Parker should’ve been replaced in the summer but Colangelo gambled and thought he could get another year out of him, gamble lost. This guy is done.
Let’s talk about the alley-oop. Why is Calderon in the game? Is he known for his athleticism, leaping ability and defense? No, right, so why is he in the game? With 2 seconds left there is nothing Jose Calderon can possibly contribute to the situation, he should be benched in favor of Joey Graham or another big who can at least protect the rim and bother Carter as he’s trying to execute the game-winning alley-oop, not be a spectator with both feet grounded to the ACC floor. We did half the job by covering the inbounder and putting a 7-footer on him but didn’t bother dealing with the guy most likely to catch the pass. Just another coaching mistake that prevented the game from going into double overtime. Add another feather to Sam’s cap.
Then of course there’s the three-pointer. The Nets are down three with three seconds left and everybody in the house knows that a three is coming up. Two questions. 1) Why aren’t we switching on defense? This is common strategy in these cases, nobody bothers to fight through screens with such little time left since you’re playing right into the hands of the offense by giving them the quarter second they’re looking for to launch that shot. What’s ironic is that we seem to switch on defense almost randomly which is one of the reasons our recovery defense is so bad, yet we fail to switch when we absolutely had to Again, big time coaching error. 2) Why not just foul? This strategy is only adopted if your players are smart and confident enough to know what the “act of shooting” means so I don’t really blame Mitchell for not using this but it needs to be brought up, we know Vince Carter has ice in his veins and there’s no need to test him. In Mitchell’s he apparently instructed the players to foul if the Nets caught the ball with their back to the rim. The real solution is a combination of #1 and #2. If you switch you’ll be able to get to the guy catching the ball quicker and have a higher chance of fouling him while he’s still trying to control the ball.
I’ll get to Bosh, Bargnani and O’Neal in a bit but before we get to whatever good we can salvage from this horrible defeat we need to discuss what went wrong and there’s a lot. Our offense mostly produced points when we gave the ball to Bosh in the block and or at the top of the key and asked him to abuse Yi, Brook Lopez or Sean Williams. To his credit Bosh delivered and bailed out the joke of an offensive system that Sam Mitchell has designed over the past 4+ years. Our high pick’ n roll was featured on almost every fourth quarter and OT possession and it wasn’t accompanied by any meaningful weak-side movement, it was just Bosh and Calderon going through the PNR motions before one of them decided to take a shot. Jose Calderon had a nice little game shooting a high percentage and spreading his points across the quarters but the man got torched by Devin Harris when it counted. Make no mistake, Jose was at Harris’ mercy the entire game and when crunch time came Harris burned him for 23 in the fourth quarter and OT. Jose’s just not quick or good enough to stay with an athlete and true PG like Harris. It was fun to watch a baller ball.
That was not a flagrant foul. O’Neal came down awkwardly on his knee because he tried to resist going down by putting pressure on it. If he didn’t have the knee-brace I suspect it would’ve been in two pieces. We were up 85-76 when O’Neal left the game and immediately following his departure the Nets went on a 9-1 run. Coincidence? No. Jermaine O’Neal got abused by Brook Lopez on 5 possessions, great patient moves by Lopez had O’Neal clutching for air but aside from that you can’t say that he had a bad game. As long as he was in the game Carter and Harris stuck to the perimeter and New Jersey was weary of doubling Bosh, as soon as he went out Carter and Harris went on a tear. You know those two plays in the epic “12 points in 44 seconds” stretch where Vince Carter drove by Anthony Parker for layups? That doesn’t happen with Jermaine O’Neal in there.
Nothing I can say about Chris Bosh will do justice. I would just like to thank him for playing so well and so hard for 44 minutes and carrying this entire team on his back. That’s all. Andrea Bargnani’s coming along nicely, he finally cracked double digits in rebounding, stayed aggressive and got his 29 on efficient shooting. He even held Bobby Simmons, a player who we feared could exploit him, to only 8 points by taking away his drive while not leaving himself exposed to his quickness disadvantage. Jermaine O’Neal waiting in the wings has a lot to do with it but give Bargnani credit for playing some very solid and fundamentally sound wing defense – knees bent, hand outstretched, playing the angle right and forcing the defense towards the help. Keep up the D big guy. Yes, he missed two big threes late but it should’ve never come to that. Here’s some Bosh quotes about our perimeter defense, the inbounds play and the alley-oop:
“We have to keep a better job of keeping guys in front of us, next time we can’t leave Jarvis Hayes and Vince Carter open in the corners, they’ll knock them down every time.”
“Just throw the ball, don’t be scared, there’s nothing to be scared about, just throw the ball. That’s all.”
“Lawrence Frank drew up a fantastic play and he left it up to his best player”
You think Bosh is getting sick of his teammates’ incompetence?
Give New Jersey credit, they put Devin Harris (vomiting in the third quarter) and Vince Carter (easily could’ve had 25 assists) in one-on-one positions and allowed them to create and score. The Raptors never adjusted and didn’t bother going into a zone to compensate for Harris’ quickness nor did they wear out Carter on the defensive end leaving him fresh as a spring daisy to mount his assault. There was no effort made to take the ball out of Carter and Harris’ hands and make Sean Williams or Boki Nachbar beat you. Our overall defense was bad as ever, we gave wide-open threes to their shooters and couldn’t keep our checks in front of us. Can’t expect to win too many games when you let the other team’s guards dictate things. Our best perimeter defender was easily Bargnani. We had an 18 point lead in the third quarter and instead of putting the hammer down we let our guard down and got complacent, starting missing defensive assignments and started turning the ball over (10 in the fourth quarter and OT). We have to realize that we’re not good enough to play half a game, I thought we would’ve learned that after Boston and Orlando but no such luck.
We lose the fast-break points battle 15-8 (as expected) and get dominated in the paint 60-36, many of these points coming after O’Neal went down. Our defense was never tight in this game so even when we built up the 18 point lead the door for New Jersey was always open. Carter showed early that Anthony Parker was just a pylon and Devin Harris made it clear that it was only a matter of time before he would take the game over. Harris only had 5 assists to go along with his 30 points but its very important to note that one of them came late in the fourth quarter and the other in OT and setup Vince Carter and Jarvis Hayes for wide open threes. It was beautiful, he blew by Calderon, attracted four Raptors and kicked out beautifully, it was stuff you just don’t see with the Raptors since TJ Ford left.
What’s truly scary is that we’re seeing that our Big 3 can have great games but we can still lose to supposedly inferior teams at home. If nothing else this has to tell Bryan Colangelo that the supporting cast he’s put together is not adequate for us to achieve any meaningful success this year. Parker’s in a downward spiral, Moon has shown that he can’t be relied on to contribute anything and Jason Kapono is the mystery Sam Mitchell just cannot solve. Something’s go to give because it appears that the current assembly of the squad isn’t likely to achieve much, something the fans knew a long time ago.
A very bad loss before the upcoming C*ntics revenge mission. The team’s needs to forget about this loss, use hypnosis if you have to and come back to practice on Saturday with a new mindset. This is one of those losses that can turn a season for the worse, we have a tough upcoming schedule and really needed this to springboard ourselves to a good start. It didn’t happen but if we can beat Boston even a horrible loss like this can be forgotten.
Sorry about forgetting to start the chat for this game. My fault. Thanks to those who showed up at Philthy’s, it was fun watching the VC of old. We’ll do it again next Friday.
I feel sick.
69 Raps
Posted at 2am on a Friday. Nice!
It starts at the top folks. The higher ups. Blame all the coaches you want.
Peddie /Tannenbaum
Bryan Colangelo
Jim Kelly/ Maurizio/African exec
Medical Staff
Sam Mitchell/ Jay triano
Peddie retains the worst scouts in NBA. They Pass on Iguadala, Bynum, Roy, Gay, Granger. Franchise is set back to this day.
Bryan builds a soft jump shooting team with players who are inferior and are not NAB proven
Bryan hires people who have no NBA experience. What happens, they bring in guys like Roko and Solomon who are not up for the job
Medical Staff – They do not do a thorough medical check on Nathan Jawai before BC gives the thumbs up to draft him.
Sam Mitchell- No explanation. His assitants are Yes men as well.
3 years and we still don’t have any up and coming draft picks.
We have Solomon and Roko and a guy with a heart condition. Beautiful. And you think Sam is responsible?
I was watching the game on DVR delay, about an hour from real time. In the middle of the 4th I got an email from my cousin with the subject “Fire Mitchell!!!!!!” I became super paranoid. I even talked myself out of it. Maybe he just had a bad press conference. There was no way Raps could lose the game up 18. Not after the Bargnani 3. Definitely not after the Jose three. Even knowing the outcome I couldn’t work the scenario where they would lose. It was simply too much of a stretch. Bosh had 40 AND Bargnani had 30! Things would have to go catastrophically wrong to pull it off. But alas they did. I’m usually a sam apologist but tonight even I have to agree with my cousin.
What a terrible night to be a raptors fan…
I’m even considering skipping my annual $250 trip to staples to watch them lose to the Lakers. Ugh…
http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.php?content=video&url=http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/teams/raptors/rweb-081121-mitchellclip_wm9_512_download_ntsc_constrainedvbr.asx
1:50 – “They hit some shats”
I was worried for a moment that he wouldn’t deliver his signature line in the postgame press conference.
Joe, what you say is all well and good but lets talk about this game first. IMHO tactical mistakes on key plays ended up costing us the game. That’s not excusing our sad defense or the lack of contributions from Parker, Moon and Kapono but let’s for a change talk about Mitchell because he’s been getting a free pass this season because of the talent-free bench.
Looks like Smitch won’t be the first coach to be fired this season. That honor goes to PJ Carlesimo.
What made this loss hurt even more (besides the fact that its the SECOND time that VC decided to take a shit on us) is that he’s EXACTLY the player that this team’s missing. Also, don’t forget that Smitch was a big reason why VC got traded in the first place.
For all the “Basketball IQ” that Anthony Parker has, if you re-watch the entire last possesion, you’d see that he’s the one who left VC wide open for the drive against the helpless Jose.
The game never should have come to that, but a big part of the loss is on Parker choking on that FT. That CLANGGG was our deathknell. I knew it was done if we went to OT.
To the people suggesting we trade Bargs, I will say HELL NO to that swap until my dying breath.
another time it was felt the lack of one as Delfino….
with 0′neil on the game was another story
but Kepono steel a mystery
Solomon inadequate (Roko better give more space to experience)
i’d like also to see what would happen with coaches to parts reversed
(even PJ Carlesimo i think it’s better than smitch at this point)
BC fire Mitchell already will ya
It’s 3 years in the making, drop the incompetent fuck. I cannot describe the anger i felt after this game. It should be the nail in the coffin for Mitchell, nothing against the person but he just isn’t good enough as a coach. He can’t draw up an inbounds play? Sam, the second made me sad, just very sad. Let’s not talk about the doubling or lack there ofor putting an bad defender in like Calderon with 2 secs left
to guard Harris who he couldn’t stop and on top of that with 2 seconds left you always have to protect the paint when it’s tied. Jose “switching” on carter is hilarious if you ain’t a raps fan. This makes me sad, sad that BC didn’t make a change.
Messina is on the market, CSKA ain’t paying so he can get out from the contract. You want great out of bound plays get him or even Flip Saunders, he’s not great but he understands the defensive system.
Just end the reign of sarcastic Sam PLEASE
Okay, so you blame Sam for the failure of an inbounds play (huh?) and then post a very honest quote from the team leader that, without naming names, calls out his fellow players, and you say Bosh is getting frustrated by his teammates. Sorry, gonna go with Bosh on this one. Throw the ball in. Period. If you are awaiting the pass, make yourself available, don’t just stand there or wrestle with your defender. Make some cuts. You are an NBA player, a coach shouldn’t have to tell you that.
DA is correct in what he says above, but also add that Moon didn’t move fast enough on the help either. You want leaping ability, I think Moon has it in spades.
They drew up a play that is difficult to defend and it was executed to perfection.
That said, what play did the Raptors run at the end of the fourth? Same play, but the execution was horrible. Had the ball been closer to the rim, the game would have been over. Wonder who drew up that play?
Great write up as usual,
A couple things,we all knew that Harris was going to be doing blow bys all night against Jose,did Sam and his pussy assistant coaches prepare the defense as to what was coming.Obviously not !!!.and PLEASE dont give me the week bench shit.
I alway gave Smitch the benefit of the doubt or shatt,but the blame for this lose,the Celtic loss….up 18 & 16 and looze both land squarly on the coaching staff.
The boys that came to play left it on the floor (the others they know who they are,go back to Bama,UCLA…)
Nice to see Bosh more vocal,but without calling anybody out (Bargs) (just throw the ball comment) was uncalled for,did you guys see anybody open without a chance of a free run to the basket on a interseption….oh I guess it didn’t matter because they had the free run to the hole anyway.
Why does VC always bring his A game when he plays in T…..hang on a minute here ,anybody with an competitive bone in his body is going to be pumped ,when you have 18,000 stupid mother… urging him on.
Great observation,can we use a vc type playa right now? open question…hang on,he defended Bosh pretty good considering the height difference.and what a second scoring option.
Alt Raps,
I hear you, the players are also to blame for the messed up inbounds play BUT…….
It shouldn’t have gotten to that point. Period. Why were there no defensive adjustments made when JO got injured? Why does it seem that most plays the Raps draw up out of timeouts are poorly executed (This is a long-standing opinion of mine, not just ’cause of today)? Are we to believe that the Raptors are genetically inferior specifically regarding plays out of timeouts? What’s the deal?
Seriously, if they can afford it, Mitchell has to get the boot.
quick poll: who does this loss reflect worse on, BC or Sam?
The best coaching move of the game: Will Soloman was limited to 9 minutes of playing time.
The worst coaching move of the game: _________________________ fill in the blank.
BC and SAM at the same time. Somewhere, Rob Babcock is laughing
“If you scared, say you scared”
That gif is great, the best part is one dude raising his arm and another raising his fist. Guess there are still many VC fans in TO. Agree with Arse this guy could be better then Kobe, why oh why is he so lazy? Cot Dayum.
Rishi.. I could also say, it shouldn’t have gotten to the point where these players are even on an NBA floor.
Bottom line, the majority (if not all) of these players are mentally weak.
No one has IT. Not one of these clowns. And you know how you know? When Bosh is celebrating an and one, when he’s talking to the floor while walking to the bench (”yes, i am great”), when Jose is celebrating 3s and all with tons of time left. No NJ Net did during the entire game. (Carter once when he hit that huge 3) When Devin stuck that jumper in Jose’s face… nothing, no emotion. Our guys are so weak, the have to celebrate little battles, to convince themselves they are great and get the crowd going. You can just see who had to see a sports psychologist cuz they used to bum out when they missed shots. When Parker hit that 3, Sam was the only one to not even flinch. Great players do not celebrate anything until the final buzzer.
Rishi, the problem, though, comes down to talent. If everybody was honest, this team is not deep enough to make many defensive adjustments when a major player goes down. I am a huge Humph fan, but do you honestly believe he is capable of running a defensive assignment? He does his D like Kapono has been doing his O lately: scattered. So he blows an assignment and then who do you put in? Move Bargs down? Moon certainly hasn’t shown he can defend at all.
Mitchell is far from perfect. Should he probably get the boot in today’s NBA society where the coach gets the blame? Yes. Do I think they can bring someone else in that can do much better with this roster? No. I think that happens only if the players tune Sam out and quit on him.
Most here believed that the bigger bodies down low would help stop dribble penetration, maybe not completely but enough to force teams to think about it. Has it? Do you pull one of the bigs out to help further from the basket and open up the paint? Can we stop any wing player in this league? How many PGs have torched Jose? How many layups have our bigs missed?
As I said last night, EVERYBODY deserves some heat for last nights loss.
Mike, to your point, it reflects poorly on the organization. BC gambled that an allstar would bandage the wound for 2 years. That gamble didn’t pay off last night. More to the point, in the most important parts of the game yesterday, all the draft night talent that BC brought in couldn’t get on the floor to help. It happens.
Heck, watch Carter in the gif… dunk.game. over. walks away. nothing. Had that been the Raps, there would have been a baseball team type pile up, cigars all around like they just won the chip. Weak.
Even the girl in the front row knew what was coming… and loved it. The Nets deserved to win this game, no question about it.
Flux, great point. However, their bench was a little hippity-hoppity.
It ain’t over ’til it’s over. Celebrate as a team, not an individual.
(although, Pierce and Garnett might think differently)
Yeah, the bench is supposed to be the cheerleading squad when not on the floor, that I can understand – cheer on your team mates. Just irks me to no end how often Jose has to put up the 3 fingers and look into the crowd (like he’s getting paid to do it) or how Bosh now barks after every play he thinks is spectacular(something I think he got from JO). I think it takes away focus. You are a pro player, this ain’t college so grow up already.
KG is mental and has been doing that his whole career and P squared usually doesn’t do that until he hits that shot he knows seals the game (he starts howling now). Either way, that is part of their DNA make up – with our guys it’s so contrived and manufactured, it’s obvious and looks weak.
AltRaps,
I understand that the Raps aren’t a deep team, but 12 points in a minute? What?
I truly get your point that lack of talent is a major issue, but how about some freaking ZONE DEFENSE. Why not try that if you are getting burned so badly? That is a coaching decision, not a player’s.
Just a quick question for ya, assuming JO doesn’t miss that much time, do you think the Raptors as currently constructed, can make the playoffs?
AltRaps, its not black and white who lost us the game. Yes, the players couldn’t inbound the ball but a lot of that has to fall on the coach for not recognizing how NJ will defend and counteracting it. It’s an inbound play, he had no idea who his options were and in what priority they were. Just like our offense it was freestyled. I appreciate you defending Mitchell and hating on JO every step of the way. Keep it up.
Bosh’s quote gave praise to Lawrence Frank. He’s saying. Translation to me reads: Frank outcoached Mitchell.
The players always lose you the game but that doesn’t mean the coach is exonerated every time. The worst part is that the team isn’t even motivated anymore and doesn’t even give 100% at all times and that right there is supposed to be Mitchell’s strong-suit – motivation!
Is BC to blame for putting together a shit bench? YES. But that doesn’t mean you have to bring him up in ever. single. post. We lost this game because of mental mistakes and bad defensive strategy. Don’t even get me started on not doubling VC or Harris or not at least giving a shot at zone defense. Even Jack Armstrong who’s always defending Mitchell brought that up post-game.
bc needs to be brought up because he built this team. smitches bad coaching is indicitive of brycos bad management. sure mitchell didn’t draw up a good inbounds play, but he rarely does. what’s so fucking different now? it’s not like jersey is a defensive juggernaut. quite the contrary actually.
76ersrepublic.com
Mitchell’s bad coaching is indicative of Colangelo’s management? What does that even mean? You coach with the players you have, if a guy can’t draw up an inbounds play, you can’t blame BC and say that he didn’t give him the players that could execute an inbounds play. It’s an inbounds play! I think your hate for BC is crowding your judgement. It’s not like Will Solomon, Hassan Adams and Roko Ukic were trying to get the ball in, it was legit NBAers.
If you’re going to defend Mitchell start by explaining not giving zone D a shot and why Harris and Carter weren’t double teamed even after they showed that they could torch us. You don’t respond to every loss by pissing on BC’s desk. As you said yourself, NJ is not a defensive juggernaut and our current crop of players should be enough to beat them, unless of ofcourse you have Mitchell’s brain pulling the strings and up against a basketball geek in Lawrence Frank.
Alley oop to Vince for the win. OMG!
I love Smitch but man that is some bad coaching. Get a playbook.
What to say that hasn’t already been said. Get a wing player with some balls, a better bench, a new coach, how about double teams, pressure, zones, rest AP more, how about Swill at the 2.
Something is not right here.
Smitch needs to start playing Ukic. Solomon is not good enough and he won’t improve, Ukic will.
Bargnani is really starting to look good. He hit some key shots. Bargs needs to be getting some of O’neals shots. Barg’s it scoring much more efficient then O’neal. Bargs is playing good fundamental defence. He is really starting to look like a player that will be worth the pick.
Bosh is turning into a superstar. It’s only a matter of time before his heroics start paying off.
O’neal is playing great D. He needs to not shoot long 2’s.
Hump is right behind Bosh in PER. Still makes some dumb mistakes though.
Calderon is playing extremely well, On offence anyway. He really needs to defend better. He has to play excellent positional defence to help cover for his lack of foot-speed.
The rest of the team needs to start showing up.
arse, it’s not sam’s fault he sucks a coach, it’s colangelo’s fault that smitch continually costs the raptors games year in and out. he should have been gone after he won coy. everyone knew smitch wasn’t a long term solution, but bryco didn’t have the balls to do anything about it.
personally, i like smitch, he’s been the only raptor with balls the last 3 years (now we have o’neal who somewhat has balls). i bet if he suited up, he would be badass on the blocks still.
Well I’ve been saying all summer that Anthony Parker is not a starting shooting guard in this league, but obviously Colangelo and Damn Mitchell see’s something. Every time I see a Kings game I see John Salmons becoming an all star talent, If only he would’ve signed with us a few years back like he was supposed to….Maybe Im wrong but I swear the raptors had 1 more time-out let before Parker threw up that 50 footer.?.? Chris Bosh is the most dominating player that i’ve seen in the league this year (other than that James guy) and I think he’s a legitimate MVP candidate. Andrea Bargnani is the for real! He’s finally becoming the player that got drafted number 1, and I love it!
“you can’t blame BC and say that he didn’t give him the players that could execute an inbounds play. It’s an inbounds play!…It’s not like Will Solomon, Hassan Adams and Roko Ukic were trying to get the ball in, it was legit NBAers.”
Exactly. It was also legit NBAers that didn’t execute the play at the end of the 4th to win the game. Again, the same play that beat us and one that, short of committing a foul, if executed properly is pretty difficult to stop.
Nobody here knows the play that Mitchell drew up for the inbounds. Even if the play fell apart, the onus is upon the legit NBAers to get free in 5 seconds. Somehow. Someway. Especially if this is the best Raptors team on paper. If so, surely they know how to run cuts when covered on an inbounds play, right? Right? Should an NBA coach have to go through that simple concept with his legit NBAers on every out of timeout inbounds play? Come on.
Mitchell is not a great coach. He is barely good. He is better than good when he has the ears of his players. These same players have to do a better job of thinking on their feet and, to steal your term, I’m referring to the legit NBAers.
“Even if the play fell apart, the onus is upon the legit NBAers to get free in 5 seconds. Somehow. Someway.”
That somehow and someway is what the coach is there for. If you want to put the onus entirely on the players, don’t even call a timeout and pollute their brains with your rubbish ideas, just let them do what comes natural to them. In fact, why the hell do we even need a coach if its all up to the players…
Enough has been said about this team. I have been a Smitch hater from day one. This was another gut buster, we still are the funniest team in the NBA to watch. This has nothing to do with us being soft. We are an incompetent team. The first step is to get a competent coach and for from there. People keep saying JK is useless, lets get a competent coach and you will see how good this TEAM is. We dont have great individual players, aside from one, but we have a great TEAM. This team is built in a way in which a tactician is needed, not a so called “motivator”. We need to coach this team like a Euro team. Sam is not our Ying to or Yang, has never been, but hey I am enjoying watching the raps play, because every game is a comedy. This just happens so many times, if just because pathetic. Up 7 with 39 seconds left, all new low.
From reading the comments, I think we can all agree on three things: 1)our general manager has assembled half a team, 2)our coach is turrible, and 3)we only have half a team.
That said, the raps seem to be able to open up huge leads, which must mean that the team isn’t too bad. It’s just the raps ability to sustain the effort for an entire game. And frankly, that could be the players’ fault, the coaches fault, or the GM’s fault (for not getting enough quality players).
I stopped watching the game midway through the 4th, but then checked the score at home with very little time left and I think the raps were up 6 or 7 and I thought we had won…until right now when I read this recap. Arsenalist, I feel sick too!
mike – Nov 22, 2008 8:27 am
quick poll: who does this loss reflect worse on, BC or Sam?
I think it reflects worse on BC because he is responsible for assembling this team and for keeping Sam. Losses such as this must convince Bosh to get out in 2010 and find a winning team to advance his bball career.
Good US players will not come to Toronto to give it a championship run. I think that’s evident now. The Celtics bought their championship with a stacked team. MLSE would never take that gamble, and their only objective is to just reach the playoffs to retain their fan base and advertising revenue. It’s just a business to the MLSE.
To call this loss a ‘learning experience’ is disingenuous. What is learned is confirmation of incompetence and galling inconsistency. You can find fault with Sam’s coaching on specific plays and subbing decisions, but on the larger picture the real failure is with BC.
Reality is that Sam looks defeated already, and for being asked to perform miracles with this roster. I suspect Sam is p!ssed off with BC for putting him in this untenable situation. Is there a coach in the league who can do better with this bunch of disparate players? The players make the coach and then the coach has the luxury of player flexibility with athleticism and bball brains. Sam has no flexibility with this team roster, and everybody should just accept that reality.
hmm. stomach-punch game, or what?
let’s see? since wince left, there’s always been a rationale for booing him upon his return to TO. can we start some kind of petition to just go absolutely silent when he touches it, please? people assume he has no heart. not true. he just keeps it in storage for 85% of his games. he can’t NOT put in a strong effort against TO, ’cause mailing it in would prove that he does, in fact, suck. i firmly believe that if it weren’t for the crowd getting on him, he would have checked out mid-way thru the 3rd & spent the rest of the game hiding under a towel. instead, he got just enough motivation from the crowd to care…and what’s the last thing you want wince to do when he’s playing against you? that’s right, care. it’s unnatural for him, so why go to great lengths to bring it out of him.
as for the actual game…well, let’s see now. i’m starting to lose track of how many double-digit, 3rd-Q leads we’ve squandered so far. or how many times we’ve made opposing 1’s, 2’s or 3’s look like HOFers. not being able to hold a HUGE lead comes down to two things – a deep enough bench that opponents, when down big late, don’t bother putting up much of a fight against, and two, EXECUTING SOME MOTHERFUCKING PLAYS! for the love of satan, what in fuck does it say about a coaching staff when you can’t hold a 2+ possession lead with a minute to go? it was a perfect storm of royal fuckups in every regard.
arse – best point in your post was w/ respect to having jose on the floor for that final possession. how can a coach (& all his assistants), and the PLAYERS not understand how stupid it is. jose hadn’t defended anyone all game, so now, with the game on the line, shouldn’t SOMEONE have suggested putting in an actual ‘defender?’ & how the fuck does he get left alone w/ wince?
i still say that player personnel changes need to be made before a coaching change, but i’m thinking i could be swayed…
ARse, I was at the game and my entire section (318) was yelling to get Jose out of the game with those 2 ticks left. As you said no reason on earth he should be out there. The in-bound play was just sad, I wanted to get a look at Mitchells face after that but ACC camera didn’t show it.
I didnt read the roll call but thats a harsh thing to say about JO. He’s the hardest working Raptor and has made a big difference in our interior D. He gets injured going for a rebound and altraps is saying he’s performing for the Russian judge, thats hating for the sake of it
To take up something I think Altraps said above (I’m too lazy to check), I think Smitch already has lost this team. Whether it’s BC’s fault or not, he’s not leaving any time soon. So, at some point you fire the coach to see if someone else can reach the players so that the team does not regularly lose double-digit leads.
Besides, would Greg Popovich have figured out a way to win a couple of close ones, even with this roster? I think the answer is yes. And BC needs a coach who will tell him what he doesn’t want to hear and whose opinion on personel matters he respects, even if it differs from his own. Maybe Smitch has tried that. Maybe BC won’t listen to anyone. I have no idea.
But if Smitch goes, the season goes with him. If I were BC I’d give him to sometime close to the trade deadline but I’d check with Bosh first. If Bosh gives the nod, Smitch goes sooner.
Man, it’s going to suck watching this team fritter away what may end up being the best season ever by a Raptor. Wonder what Bosh is thinking about the summer of 2010 today.
Shit! Missed the game but I’m happy I did after reading this.
It was mention before. Any NBA team can play ball for 3 quarters. Players are just getting their feet wet and seeing who’s got the HOT Hand. When the 4th starts it’s a new game…Welcome to the NBA where the Men are separated from the Boyz!
**Offence**
Men- Bosh, O’Neil, Bargnani, Calderon, Kapono
Adolescence- Humphries, Parker
Boys- Graham, Ukic, Sam Mitchell
Babies- Moon, Adams, Solomon, Sam Mitchell
NOT BORN- Jawai
**Defence**
Men- Bosh, O’Neil
Adolescence- Bargnani, Humphries
Boys- Calderon, Parker, Kapono, Moon, Graham, Ukic, Sam Mitchell
Babies- Adams, Solomon
NOT BORN- Jawai
My feeling this year so far.
If Kapono is used properly he is a deadly weapon on Offence. He’s not expected to be great on defence but he holds up!
I’m a big Hump Fan for his effort and garbage man mentality so I made a catagory just for him!
I agree with people who say Parker IS NOT a cluch player…. but he does fill the 2spot Nicely on both ends of the floor in a “Streeky” maybe “Tooo Nice” of a way. Once we get our SF Parker might not feel the need to doulbe team and get caught all the time.
Bargnani- He’s Knocking on the Door!!
Calderon- Feeling the pressure more than ever! Bosh even said it will be a Huge Transition in terms of Wear&Tear with minutes and you ain’t got no help on the bench!! Defensively another player that would benifit with NEW SF.
Ukic- Just keep getting him minutes Sam. Please!
The rest are self explanitory!
I hope O’Neil plays tomorrow… I was pumped. I’m sitting right beside the Sprite Section! Won’t be the same without O’Neil!
Why not hire Flip Saunders?
Sam is his student and has never gotten to his level. It wouldn’t be too much of switch, but just enough to have someone with Coaching I.Q. running the team at the end of the game.
See: http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=450
Why was Calderon in the Game on the oop? Smitch was completely outclassed. He had home court advantage, better team, and a 7 point lead with 50 seconds left.
Is there any room on ‘Fire Smitch’ Bandwagon?
Wouldn’t it be nice to have Nathan Jawai with a healthy heart right now ,so we can keep Bargs at the 3…top to bottom fuck ups !!! still pissed,I was really looking forward to the bitch slap the home crowd was going to give KG.or the big finger wag.
Arse, seriously, come on. You talk about my HO hate, but you are doing the same thing here. You think any other NBA coach would have drawn up a play telling players to free themselves from their defender? It’s pretty much something you learn at the Y, no? You see the inbounder having trouble, you cut/dip/go long/whatever to make yourself open. That is general knowledge, not play calling. What happens if Sloan calls a play, the other team defends it well, and you have 5 seconds in the shot clock? Sloan call in another play or do the players fend for themselves?
FAQ, completely agree with the last paragraph. The players not coming here I think has been nipped a little bit. Well, at least the guy we traded for didn’t hold out. A winning environment will bring people. Getting there is the challenge. Grunwald did a great job with info packages to agents and personal managers, but that has fallen to the wayside lately.
ATV, the mention in roll call to HO being a prima donna was a tip of the cap to what many fans (in hindsight) refer to VC. Big fans mocked VC grabbing his knee, so why not HO? I praised him for what he did early in the game, but the fact that he came back on the floor after his first breather and did next to nil against a very weak frontcourt (especially considering Yi didn’t play many minutes and the rest was left to a rookie) is unsettling.
Also, watch the little slideshow up above closely.
If Jose was actually defending Vince well (you know, within reach) and also not watching the ball…..ummm…maybe we would have a better chance at keeping Vince away from the hope.
Still agree Jose shouldn’t have been on him, but that brainfart and lack of help from Moon should be cause for concern.
Please no Flip Saunders. How many teams have quit on that guy? Chris Bosh (and Raptors fans) deserve better. If Sam goes in the middle of this season, you let English or one of the other assistants do mop-up/show what they’ve got and do a careful job hiring in the spring, then let the new coach have genuine input into personel moves during the off-season. Which is why firing Sam probably amounts to a white flag for this year.
Maybe they’ll pull something out against Boston but this team now has at least 2 collapses plus the Atlanta and Philly no-shows to live down. In that regard, they look worse than last year. But since the theme of the team’s repeated failures – lack of focus – has been with them since Smitch has been coach I think a good deal of the blame lies with him. Good coaches get focus from their players, even players who might not be inclined to focus (unless their named Ricky Davis or Mark Blount). But I’m probably preaching to the choir there.
Oh, and AltRaps, I agree with some, but certainly not all, of what you have to say about the Raptors’ direction, etc. but if I had said something that was (reasonably) interpreted as gloating over a guy suffering a possibly career-ending injury the word sorry would be on the tip of my tongue. JO may be overrated but he’s had a better career than most and still has something to offer a team, whatever you think of his salary, the trade or whatever. Nothing weak about admitting a mistake. Be nice to hear Smitch (and maybe BC) do the same.
Sam, I was far from gloating. If you or anyone deem that I was, then Raptor fans have been doing it over Vince’s injuries for years. No difference in my opinion. Absolutely. None. Vince has been dubbed a prima donna for rolling around writhing in pain, so what makes HO any less of a target? He’s certainly had the injury history…or are we saying doctors lied? Most of the roll call yesterday was a mockery of the fans and their stupid continued hate of a 4 year old issue.
With respect to lack of focus being here just when Sam started, not sure I agree at all. He had a pretty good COY run (yes, we overachieved, but still a good run) and pre-Sam wasn’t exactly wine and roses here.
A streak of bad luck it seems.
The most eye-opening loss yet, served with a big can of shit dearly by Vince Carter. I’ve always been light on Smitch, but this is just too much. It was probably too much a while ago, but the number of plays in a row where he couldn’t make the most obvious adjustments or draw up a play to get the damn ball in bounds is ridiculous. Btw, “Carter showed early that Anthony Parker was just a pylon” LOL – sums it up great.
Just read the Smith blog…..interesting (and truthful) take on last night:
“Yes, the coach didn’t cover himself in glory on a few occasions but I need to point these things out.
On the inbounds play with 24 seconds left, Bosh was open on the first attempt and the second and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the coach holding the ball out of bounds.
On the Hump turnover in the fourth, he should have called time out, 19,800 fans knew it, his coach knew it, about 20 other NBA players knew it. He didn’t, even though his coach was screaming at him to.
On the He Who Shall … ah, hell, you know who I mean, basket at the regulation time buzzer, the chance to foul was there and they had made a conscious decision not to, righty or wrongly. But wasn’t that just an incredible shot? Off-balance, hurried, about 30 feet and nothing but net. If it misses, today’s a much better day, isn’t it?
On the final play, they were going to switch a screen, the Nets faked a screen, two Raptors got confused and the lob was there. It was a case of one team executing and the other not. The strategy was there, pulling off was lacking.
So, yes, it wasn’t one of the coach’s greatest moments. Nor was it a moment many of his players should be proud of.”
hmmm….
AltRaps – Nov 22, 2008 3:05 pm
FAQ, completely agree with the last paragraph. The players not coming here I think has been nipped a little bit. Well, at least the guy we traded for didn’t hold out. A winning environment will bring people. Getting there is the challenge. Grunwald did a great job with info packages to agents and personal managers, but that has fallen to the wayside lately.
AR .. Is it possible that this is only a stopgap team until 2010 when everything in the league is going to massively change? Everywhere I read GMs are lining up their player contracts to terminate at the end of the 09-10 season .. so they have Million$$$ for all-star players up for grabs .. LBJ to the Knicks, etc.
The JO trade is most certainly a stopgap measure to accommodate Bosh for the next 2 seasons, regardless of the cost. Now that JO has gone down, Bosh may be seriously contemplating his continued future with the Raptors. If JO is officially crippled, the load will again fall on Bosh, and I don’t think he wants to carry that burden any longer. Bosh is trying to set himself up for a $30 Million p.a. contract in 2010 .. if we still have a sustainable economy. Is the NBA recession-proof ???
The rest of the Raptor team has very little in the way of consistent star-quality players. Jose is the future face of the Raptors and so is Bargs if he’s not traded. The rest are dispensable with Bosh possibly being traded before 2010 so the Raptors can get a couple of athletic players plus draft picks. I don’t think Toronto can keep Bosh in Canada.
Imagine if somebody like Yi Jianlian were on the Raptor team .. all of Markham would show up for games …!!!
Hey, now I sound like a wannabe GM …LOL
Sorry, one more thing about Sam. Against Orlando when we were down 7, he conceded the game by pulling Bosh and the starters with a minute left. NJ makes its come back from 7 down with 52 seconds left. Alt, find me something on Doug Smith’s blog that justifies that too, I’m sure if you look hard enough you’ll find it.
Greg, teams quit on Flip Saunders so he wouldn’t be that much different than Sam. He might be more defensive minded but he’s not you’re looking for if you want a fine-tuned offense.
Man how can u blame this loss on the bench or BC deals or whoever ?
Roster played a perfect game that was leading to a W untill 44 secs left in the game.
This is pure coaches incompetence. The guy dont know ..i reapeat do not know how to draw up a single mfuckin play, or how to use the strengths in his guys..
Rememeber how Mitchell threw in the towel with 2 mins left vs Orlando and Magic up only by 7… NJ coach set up the win in same conditions within 44 secs !
And lets not talk about questionable decisions concerning substitutions and playing time.
Sam is just there to pretty up the bench. He is not a coach. Everything good that happened to raptors is owed to players exclusively.
He has the skill of Butch Carter in developping young players. Anyone remembers T. Mac his first 2 years in TO?
1.2.3.four
Nov 22, 2008 7:44 am | Permalink
another time it was felt the lack of one as Delfino….
with 0?neil on the game was another story
but Kepono steel a mystery
Solomon inadequate (Roko better give more space to experience)
i’d like also to see what would happen with coaches to parts reversed
(even PJ Carlesimo i think it’s better than smitch at this point)
— Thanks for the strangely worded insight there, Rorschach from The Watchmen.
Tough call, FAQ. I would hope if Bosh has gone to BC or if it was brought up in his exit interview at the end of last season he didn’t say let’s address just one of our issues and make sure it’s the one that potentially takes the most pressure off me. While I agree the trade probably pleased Bosh, I think his basketball IQ had him hoping something else could/would be done to address the perimeter as well.
If I’m Bosh, I’d actually be a bit concerned about JO being here when you factor in moves for other teams. If Bosh likes it here, and I’m saying he does, does Bosh become another Vince worrying about what is left in 2 years. If all these teams have nice space, what will be left after the dust settles? If BC trades HO next season for some nice surrounding pieces with enough left to make a run at somebody else (someone mid/high level but not a superstar) in the offseason, it’s works in Bosh’s favour. If HO is on our squad through the end of his contract, it will raise more than a few worrisome questions.
MoneyCarlo, I would say giving up a sizable lead well before the final 44 seconds is about as far from perfect as you can get with this roster.
The lack of accurate basketball analysis on the internet can sometimes be quite stunning.
————————-
To wit:
Possessions at the End of Regulation Time
[1] TOR: Bosh/Bad Pass – Humphries recovers – Humphries/Turnover, Steal by Harris … TOR/+7
[i] NJ: Harris fouled by Bargnani; Harris Makes 2 FTs … TOR/+5
[2] TOR: Calderon Makes a Layup … TOR/+7
[ii] NJ: Carter drives for Layup vs Parker … TOR/+5
[3] TOR: Calderon fouled; Calderon Makes 2 FTs … TOR/+7
[iii] NJ: Simmons Missed 3; Carter out-battles Parker for an Offensive Rebound; Team Rebound to New Jersey … TOR/+7
[iv] NJ: Baseline Out-of-bounds; Lopez (1st) & Carter (2nd) set Staggered cross-screens for Hayes; Parker & Bargnani Switch appropriately; Bargnani is now on Carter with Parker on Hayes; Lopez sets Stationary Screen for Carter, cutting to the opposite corner; Humphries Switches-out to Carter, then Recovers back to Lopez, while Bargnani Switches to Lopez then attempts to Recover-out back to Carter; TOO LATE; Carter Makes a 3 … TOR/+4
[4] TOR: Sideline Out-of-bounds; Kapono & Bosh execute Zipper Screen; Bosh breaks open cleanly but Parker is looking for Kapono, who is then covered; Parker looks for Bosh, who has been picked up by Carter, Switching off from defending the Inbounder; Bosh is open but Parker does not pass ball; Parker calls time-out instead; Bargnani inbounds the ball; Kapono & Bosh execute variation of Zipper Screen; Bosh breaks open a 2nd time and is again picked by Carter; Bargnani does not pass the ball; Bargnani/Turnover … TOR/+4
[v] NJ: Carter [playing at the #4] receives a pass at the R-Elbow from Harris [#1]; Carter sets Stationary Screen for Harris; Raptors defenders Switch; Carter covered by Calderon; Carter drives by for a layup … TOR/+5
[5] TOR: Calderon is fouled; Calderon Makes 2 FTs … TOR/+4
[vi] NJ: Carter & Harris execute #4-#1 Pick & Roll/Pop Series; Parker & Calderon Switch appropriately; Carter drives for a Layup vs Calderon; Bosh rotates to help but cannot block Carter’s tough Layup attempt … TOR/+2
[6] TOR: Parker is fouled; Parker Makes 1 of 2 FTs … TOR/+3
[vii] NJ: Sideline Out-of-bounds; Simmons is the Inbounder, Lopez at the L-Elbow, Carter is beside Lopez, Hayes is beside Carter with Harris is at the R-Elbow; Harris runs the loop toward the ball, then fakes a Cross screen for Hayes and cuts into the Opposite Corner; Hayes dives to the R-Block, then, cuts to the Ball-side Corner; Lopez & Carter prepare to set a Double screen at the FT Line for what SHOULD BE Harris coming back out to the TOTK after Cross screening for Hayes; INSTEAD, Carter steps toward the basket, momentarily, as if he is going to receive a Back screen from the baseline and then comes out hard off the Down screen by Lopez to the TOTK; Parker is deceived by the fake screening action and is late reacting to Carter’s cut to the TOTK; under the proper instructions of “Not to foul” if the ball is caught by an offensive player while facing the basket, when up by 3 pts, Parker closes out hard on Carter and does not foul; Carter Makes a TOUGH TOUGH 3PT-shot to force OT … TOR/0
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What you saw in those 13 possessions had nothing to do with ‘poor’ coaching by Sam Mitchell.
What you saw in those 13 possessions was outstanding execution by the Nets players and their head coach.
What you saw was HIGH LEVEL NBA basketball, where one team’s players simply out-performed the others … and, specifically, the Raptors were hurt by the inexperience of Andrea Bargnani, who should not have fouled Devin Harris on Possession [i], and who should have communicated better with Humphries on the 2nd screening action during Possession [iv], and who should have passed the ball to Bosh when he was open on Possession [4].
In general, Raptors fans need to stop complaining about the work of Sam Mitchell … who is far from being a TOP NOTCH in the NBA, just yet, but is NOT the person responsible for the current state of this Raptors team … and continue to learn more about the NBA game.
Repeatedly listening to the wrong things be identified as the REASONS for this team’s current W-L record … i.e. 6-6 … is enough to make a knowledgeable NBA observer pull “a Devin Harris at Half-time heading for the washroom at the ACC“.
khandor, can your possession outcome chart explain why Calderon was on the court with 2 seconds left on a defensive possession. How about the chart answering the question of why we didn’t bother taking the ball out of Harris and Carters’ hands or try to play zone defense. Let me know.
I’m not being fetitious here because I do respect the attention to detail you pay to the game, so can you please help us break down the two inbound pass attempts and tell us what went wrong.
no.
Wow Alt, thanks for that dickish answer. I guess I’m off to find a little Raptors chat elsewhere as well. Hopefully, you guys can enjoy your self-confirming circle jerk in relative private. Too bad Arse gets lumped in but whatever.
@ some pollster up there: the loss reflects on Sammy
khandor,
I couldn’t agree with you less about JO being a marginal upgrade to Rasho… today (to quote Jeff Daniels from Dumb & Dumber) ‘just when i think you couldn’t get any stupider… you go and do something like this… AND TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!!’
I am sick of all the SMitch hating… I’m basically done with this site, cuz it seems to be a venting forum for all the Raptors haters… But you are bang on with your analysis. I should cut and paste all the points I agree with you on… but basically, you win as a team, and you lose as a team. The Raptors did not execute as well as the Nets, and Vince hit an unbelievable 3 to send the game into overtime. Instead of focussing all your hatred towards the coach, why don’t you all take it easy, relax… realize this is a team sport, and one team has to win and one team inevitably has to lose…
If you are a basketball fan it was an extremely entertaining game… it hurts to lose, but shit happens. This team is not as good as you may think they are. They are a middle of the pack team as they are constructed, and expecting more than that is not anyones fault but your own. Be realistic and enjoy the game… Some Raps fans are so crazy that you’re embarrassing ‘real’ fans who stick by the team, management, and players. Do us all a favour and go watch the Leafs and Jays and pray that they fire someone…
Doc Rivers coached the worst team in the league… everyone wanted him canned… the next year they improve the players, and bingo! They are the NBA champions… Like it or not guys, there is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ coach… whoever replaces Mitchell is not going to get perfect, and I give it a month before you crazy bastards start suggesting we fire him too.
pakmacman,
You make me laugh. If management decides to raise season ticket prices so that you pay more to see a “middle of the pack team” than you would to see an elite team such as the Lakers, then “real” fans like yourself would continue to stick by management? You realize that’s what Leafs fans are, yes? The ones that continue to stick by the management by continuing to purchase products and giving the management a big thumbs up to continue selling the bull that they market? “Some Raps fans are so crazy” indeed.
Will,
The NBA is a business… would you prefer that they market themselves as a middle of the pack team? its not going to happen buddy… I’m not giving them a thumbs up… I’m just smart enough to see through the smoke and make my own opinions… something it seems most of you are not able, or willing to do. I think the team needs to improve in all areas… coaching, players, and management… But I am not one to sit here and blame everything on Sam Mitchell, or BC.
I’m sorry if I don’t like to play the blame game like the rest of you ‘experts’. I prefer to give credit where it is due (VC, DH, and LF) and move on… Its easy for anyone, including Arse to sit here and point out all the mistakes anyone on the Raps makes… But I highly doubt anyone of us could do a better job at running an NBA team than people who have been in and around the league for decades… BC and SMitch have been around for quite some time and so has Wayne Embry. I prefer to stay the course and judge this team at the end of the season. If at that time firing Sam Mitchell makes the most sense than by all means do it. But not 12 games into a 82 game season… If you do that you might as well throw in the towel and hope for a lottery pick. (which might not be the worst thing) but not something I’m willing to do at this point in the season. Call me crazy if you want, but I’m not the one bouncing off the walls… I try to keep a more even keeled outlook on the team.
I seem to recall many Raps fans wanting to hire PJ Carlesimo… 13 games in he’s gone…
and if you dont want to spend the money to go to a game… don’t.
Nothing wrong with doing some serious venting after a loss like the one last night. What else is there to do?
Although one good point has been made, let’s give Vince Carter his due. No, I’m just joking. It just sucks that the raps can’t make him pay for being a lazy jerk in his last couple years in Toronto. Instead, he continues to DESTROY the raps, as if we did something wrong…oh well, life is a bitter pill indeed.
I guess it would be fun to get a new coach cause the raps as they are now built don’t seem to be going anywhere. I mean, we’ll make the playoffs, but I can’t see us beating any of the other playoff teams, and so we’re stuck being a mediocre team. Maybe a new coach would create plays or enforce some defensive discipline? Or maybe we just need some better players, in which case we can exonerate Smitch and blame BC instead. Or maybe our players are good enough but they are too unfocused to get it done? Or maybe all three and we’re doomed!
I’m not sure what my point is. Just get ready for a long season…of the same thing as the last two seasons.
If JO is badly injured again and the Raptors can’t get any output from him, that will mean Bosh is on his own again in the frontcourt. That may unacceptable to him, and he could easily ask to be traded. I think BC would trade Bosh if he could get fair value for him … like two young and athletic players plus draft picks.
I think it’s fair to say that Bosh will leave Toronto by 2010 for greener and more promising pastures in the US .. and that BC will not invest all the MLSE money on one player. I suspect the 2010 Raptor business model will build a team not on star players unavailable to them anyway … but instead try to build a solid blue collar team in the mold of the past Pistons.
Only US major market teams will be able to afford players like LBJ, Bosh, Wade, others … and Toronto will have to make do with lesser but hopefully decent players. I for one would prefer a ’starless’ but deeper Raptor team that is better overall athletically and bball-wise.
Raptors will never assemble a Celtic-style stacked team … and perhaps the Toronto and Canadian economy will not allow that to happen anyway.
Arsenalist,
———————–
re: khandor, can your possession outcome chart explain why Calderon was on the court with 2 seconds left on a defensive possession. How about the chart answering the question of why we didn’t bother taking the ball out of Harris and Carters’ hands or try to play zone defense. Let me know.
I’m not being fetitious here because I do respect the attention to detail you pay to the game, so can you please help us break down the two inbound pass attempts and tell us what went wrong.
———————–
re: no zone Defense by the Raptors
Coming down the stretch, with the game on the line, most NBA teams prefer to play Man-2-Man defense … so as not to give up wide open perimeter jumpshots [2's and especially 3's] to highly skilled NBA players vs a Zone Defense.
In general, Scorers [Sc], Shooters [Sh], and Playmakers [P], the likes of Carter [Sh/Sc], Harris [P], Simmons [Sh/Sc], Hayes [Sc], Dooling [P] & Anderson [Sh], are too good to hope to contain in a straight zone defense for more than a few possesions at a time, in an NBA game.
As well, it is easier to control the Defensive Boards when playing Man-2-Man rather than Zone Defense.
Offensive Rebounds Allowed at Crunch Time can often times be THE difference between Winning & Losing a close game in the NBA.
——————————-
re: taking the ball away from Carter and Harris
The Nets made the decision to go ’small’ and used Carter as their #4. This was a key move by Coach Frank.
What the Nets did then was run their #1-#4, 2-man game … which works either with a ‘Dribble into a Pick & Roll/Pop Action’ or a ‘#1-to-#4 Entry Pass at the R-Elbow or at the TOTK’, followed by a simple ‘Give & Go Cut Back For a Hand-off Pass’.
By running this type of action in the middle of the floor, New Jersey made it difficult for the Raptors to send a 2nd defender at whichever one of Harris or Carter ended up with the ball, after Harris ran his cut around VC.
[i.e. most basketball teams/coaches prefer to Double-team a key player when he has the ball on the Wing, or in the Low Post area, not in the Middle of the floor, or in the High Post area. Double-teaming a skilled player in the middle of the floor is thought to be a dangerous practice and can end up with a wind open 3PT-shot, either at the FT Line Extended or in the Corners.]
With the other 3 Nets’ players working/stationed on the Left-side of the floor, New Jersey was able to isolate their two best offensive threats against the Raptors Man-2-Man Defense.
——————————-
re: Carter’s dunk
The Nets went with the following group of players, in the listed spots on the floor:
Simmons … Inbounder
Harris … Weak side Wing
Dooling … Centre Circle
Carter … R-Block [above JH]
Hayes … R-Block [below VC]
The Raptors went with the following individual player match-ups:
Bargnani -> Simmons [Big on the ball out-of-bounds]
Calderon -> Harris [PG v PG]
Bosh -> Dooling [best check athletically for the Raptors Best Player]
Parker -> Carter [Raptors Best Defender vs Nets Best Player
Moon -> Hayes [Raptors Next Best Defender vs remaining Nets player]
If Calderon was not in the game … with the Nets using four ’smalls’ AND Moon already on the floor for Toronto … the question to ask yourself is this:
Who else would you have preferred the Raptors to play in this scenario other than Jose?
[e.g. Solomon? ... I don't think so. Graham? ... I don't think so. Kapono? I don't think so. Ukic? I don't think so. Adams? I don't think so. Humphries? Not a chance. O'Neal was injured and therefore unavailable.]
Like it or not, given the other options, Calderon was the best individual basketball player who the Raptors could have possibly used in that specific situation … which was a tied game, not a situation where the home team was leading.
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The designated ‘action’ which New Jersey ran was a standard Screen-the-screener set piece.
The initial movement was a simple mis-direct … designed to force a Switch between Bosh and Calderon, which occupied Bosh out high, away from the basket, and told the Nets’ players that the Raptors were under direction to Switch vs All Screens.
The 2nd movement was a cut by Hayes to the Ball-side Corner, occupying Moon in that spot on the floor, a dangerous ‘Catch & Shoot’ position. Moon could not leave Hayes to help on Carter.
The 3rd movement was a Diagonal Up-screen by Carter, set at the FT Line, for Dooling [who was now being checked by Calderon] to cut over into the R-Block. Parker Squeezed Carter to start the defensive sequence, and then was ready to Switch over to Dooling.
However, as Dooling made his cut over Carter, Calderon reacted by going Under Carter’s screen … which is where he should have gone until he was called off by Parker’s yell of ‘Switch’.
It was at this point, where the defensive mis-communication happened between Parker & Calderon.
i. If Parker would have continued to squeeze Carter, and Calderon continued on his Under route vs Dooling, the inbounds pass would/should have gone to Dooling, who then would have had Calderon on his back [after catching the ball in the R-Block area] with a chance to score the ball by shooting over a Raptors defender [Calderon] who first had to negotiate his way around a screen. This would have been an acceptable outcome for the Raptors, at this stage in the game. If Dooling scores, so be it; if not, then on to Double OT.
ii. Instead, Parker initiated a Switch with Calderon … which is what the instructions were from the Raptors’ coaching staff … and jumped out to check Dooling, as he crossed paths with Carter. After starting on his Under route around Carter’s screen … Calderon then saw Parker react to Dooling’s cut and attempted to reverse his direction and his attention from checking Dooling to Switching out to Carter.
If Carter would have set his screen and then stepped out to the TOTK, as Calderon would have expected him to do, given that the score was tied and there still 2.1 seconds remaining on the game clock, Jose would have then been able to close-out on VC and at least challenge his Jumpshot. Except the play that Lawrence Frank designed did not call for that action by Carter.
Instead of screening and then stepping out, Carter screened and then stepped to the rim. When Jose took his first mis-step, and reacted up toward the FT Line, where he mistakenly thought Carter was heading, he was dead in the water, leaving Vinsanity momentarily open with an uncontested pass to the rim for his dunk.
Without being courtside, there’s no way to tell whether or not Parker made his Switch call late, or not all, or if Jose just reacted to slowly to AP’s call, stepping in the wrong direction vs one of the most gifted athletes in the NBA.
In this instance … it was an error by either JC or AP that resulted in this specific basket by Wince … not a ‘poor’ job of coaching by Sam Mitchell.
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re: Instead, he continues to DESTROY the raps, as if we did something wrong… – by Jord
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We DID do something very wrong … when it came to Wince Carter.
When a player like Wince Carter does what he did at the end of his tenure with the Raptors … what a 1st-class NBA [not NHL] organization does is REFUSE to trade his rear-end out of town.
What an authentic 1st-class, knowledgeable NBA organization does … when it’s run by individuals who know what they’re doing, building and operating CHAMPIONSHIP level teams, in this League … is Hold on tightly and stay the course with that individual until he has had the waters calmed around him, by his TOP NOTCH Head Coach, his TOP NOTCH General Manager, and his pig-headed but super-rich owner, who knows how to play and succeed in a game of high stakes Poker/Chicken with the very best in the world, Eyes Fixed Firmly On The Prize, at all times.
When a NBA franchise hires the wrong GM [i.e. Rob Babcock], in the first place, and then the wrong Head Coach [i.e. Sam Mitchell], contrary to the opinion/preference of their STAR player, after asking for his input on the decision … and that STAR player then goes into the proverbial tank, surrounded by relatively unaccomplished NBA decision-makers/experts, it has no one else to blame when that player doesn’t live up to the expectations of the franchise.
Wince Carter acted like a jerk when he left the Raptors … as did the people who ran MLSE at that time.
Sam, sorry you feel that way. I feel it dickish to continue to boo a guy 4 years later and provide him with the motivation to continually hand us our asses. I agree with the earlier comment: just don’t react to him. This whole thing has made this fanbase somewhat of a farce to other cities and I still believe to be a factor in some players not wanting to come here. The number of ex-Raptors that have been booed over the years greatly outnumber those that have been applauded.
To that end, and using FAQ’s comment, if Bosh requested a trade would he be subject to the same venom? Maybe not the same level, but using the basis of past boo-victims, he doesn’t want to be here, so he should be booed, right? Same with Chuck Swirsky, correct?
Also, FAQ, I think the very fabric of the organization and their fans starts to crumble if Bosh leaves via a trade. Unless somebody of similar stature comes back, I think you might see riots. That said, I agree with you…I’d rather see hard working intelligent ballplayers here than big name stars, especially if, as is the case currently early on, the formula of big names + filler = .500 ball again.
Stars win championships. Players want to play with stars. Bosh is a blue collar guy who made himself into a star.
The last thing I want to see is no-name guys playing good ball.
wouldn’t the ‘last’ thing we’d want to see be no-name guys playing bad basketball? speaking of which…
Um, did anyone notice the mistake?
“and make Sean Williams or Boki Nachbar beat you…”
Boki Nachbar? that guy is playing in Russia now…you probably meant Ryan Anderson.
Ha..you’re right. That wasn’t Boki…sure looked like him after a few cold ones.
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[...] Raptors fans are still in agony after watching Captain Carter sink them in OT in what was probably – sadly – one of the greatest games of Vince Carter’s career. One Raptors fan chooses to blame the incompetent coach. [...]