The silver lining to this disappointing season continues to be Andrea Bargnani. He was the best player on the court on Saturday and drew enough of those oohs and aahs from the crowd that showed both a respect for his game and the underlying fear of his abilities. He was a matchup nightmare of the Knicks and the primary creator of the Raptors’ offense, when he wasn’t scoring he was infiltrating the Knick defense to create openings for his teammates. As is always the case when two disappointing teams teams meet, the one which brought the more consistent effort would walk away with the victory and after a sluggish start the Raptors found their energy and the road to a sixth straight exciting but ultimately meaningless win in the world’s most famous arena.
It didn’t take more than two minutes into the game to figure out that the Raptors had trouble getting up for this one. David Lee – Mr. Fundamental of the East – gave some us early warning signs by running the fundamental pick ‘n roll with Chris Duhon and taking it to the rim after some fundamental spins and then spotting up to knock down a couple fundamental jumpers. We were lethargic to start the game which meant there wasn’t any movement nor any motivation or options for Calderon to even consider so he just dumped the ball down to Bosh who did something that has always made my stomach turn. If a fundamental but laterally challenged David Lee is checking you tight 16 feet out, that should be an invitation to take him straight to the rim, not force up a jumper. The jumper’s only an option when he’s sagging and sagging he was fundamentally not. Ditto when Jeffries was switched on him. Despite his early offensive not being there Bosh still managed to crash the boards, something he’s been doing extremely well of late – 13.5 during the win streak which is 3.7 above his season average of 9.8.
Andrea Bargnani looked comfortable and confident right from the start and looked for a touch or two on every possession. With the offense at a standstill he took it upon himself to do some playmaking and took his guard off the dribble with seeming ease. When the help came the decision making was correct which meant a pass off to Marion who was peeling to the elbow/mid-point area. When the smaller Al Harrington was guarding him in the block there was no hesitation in using his advantage in a high-percentage manner – strong determined drives. He had 7 first quarter points but the Raptors were down the same at the end of it. Why? After an equally sluggish Knick start, Nate Robinson came off the bench and provided the spark, the “spark” for the Knicks is jacking up threes and pushing it after make or miss. Quentin Richardson (still in the league and fatter than ever) hit a three set up by a fundamental David Lee double and a Robinson (white streaks in hair) breakaway dunk had the Knicks starting to play D’Antoni’s style – the Raptors were still waking up.
Our help defense was non-existent, Bargnani and Bosh’s weak-side defense consisted of them taking a step toward the rim and watching the Knicks lay the ball in, I could swear I saw Bargnani walk towards the baseline to inbound the ball before the Knicks had scored on one possession. Duhon and Robinson started the second and Kapono and Ukic had some serious trouble keeping up with them in transition. A typical Kapono turnover followed by a Pops one where he jumped and threw a behind-the-back pass “highlighted” our misery. We weren’t getting back in transition, our offense was a mess with Roko at the helm, Pops wasn’t bringing the energy and after Duhon and Wilcox ran a pick ‘n roll to the tune of a Sportscenter (ESPN, not the TSN garbage) dunk which pushed the lead to 12, Triano called timeout and said:
WTF guys? The Knicks are barely competing and are there to be had if only we put in 70% effort. Just up the transition defense effort and run a bloody play on offense because the Knicks have no intention of playing anything close to resembling defence. Let’s not make this any harder than it is – which is easy.
The message was well-received. Bargnani came in and drew a foul and Chris Bosh on the next trip down executed a beautiful post-up dunk to inject some energy into this lifeless affair. Jose Calderon replaced Ukic and since our movement was better, so was the ease in which the points came. Triano must’ve been disgusted with Ukic’s effort because he brought New York’s forgotten son Quincy Douby off the bench to check Duhon. Duhon recognized the no-name player and beat him off the high screen once but that was the only blemish in Douby’s cameo, he challenged his other shots and even snuck all the way to the rim for a layup. Triano seemed happy with him in his halftime interview.
A 13-7 high-energy run to end the half which saw the Raptors up the tempo on the Knicks. Calderon and Marion were the beneficiaries of some great Bargnani play which had the Knick defense scrambling thus leaving them open. Harrington’s too small for him, Lee’s too slow and Jeffries’ defense leaves a lot to be desired. We were down two at the half but comfortable in the knowledge that all we needed to do was maintain effort and there wasn’t a doubt that this game wouldn’t be ours.
Triano spoke at halftime about how the energy was lacking in the first quarter and attributed the late comeback to it returning. No doubt he was right and the message at halftime was clear. The third quarter started with the Knicks going on a 6-0 run where Marion missed some very makeable shots setup by Calderon which prompted yet another Triano timeout. After that the Raptors looked like they had in the last few games. Jose Calderon ran the point with a purpose and found Parker and Bargnani in early transition for two threes which were part of a 12-2 run which saw the Raptors take their first lead since early first quarter. Another 12-2 run late on consisted of two more assisted Parker and Bargnani threes and had the Raptors going up 4 to start the fourth. There was a sequence where Bargnani lost the ball to Jeffries on the wing and back-tracked his way to get the block, run back up up the floor after a good early dribble and was found by Parker for a dunk. His versatility was on full display.
Bargnani looked like a player, he knew exactly what he was going to do on offense and executed it to his own satisfaction. He lets the defense dictate what they want him to do but he’s become so good at taking whatever that option is and making a scoring chance out of it that he appeared un-guardable at times. Early on this year his pump-fakes were too quick, his threes forced and his drives unplanned but all that has changed and he seems to have seen the light of his own talents and knows that the game is much easier for him that what he initially had thought. His game is still too dependent on him hitting the 20+ foot jumper and we’ve seen what can happen if he’s not nailing it but I take comfort in the fact that Dirk is faced with the same issue and has made a pretty good career out of it.
Other than their mini 6-0 and 4-0 runs to start and end the quarter, the Knicks had come undone because our transition defense forced them to play the half-court game which they struggle at – they only had 2 fastbreak points for the entire game which I bet is a career-low for D’Antoni. Bosh’s defense on Lee was much better than the first, Bargnani was congesting the paint on their drives, Calderon was going under the screen set for Duhon thus preventing the dribble penetration and our pick ‘n roll show-and-recover defense was taking too much time off the shot-clock for the Knicks to put together any sound offensive possessions. Nate Robinson and Quentin Richardson were bombing ill-advised jumpers and despite Duhon’s persistence and ability to play a proper half-court style, his mates just weren’t into supporting him.
Chris Wilcox and Richardson were doing the Raptors a lot of favors by being on the floor, Wilcox had three turnovers in the early part of the quarter and Richardson took two very questionable shots. With Nate Robinson already in jack-mode and David Lee on the bench, Bosh, Kapono and Graham constructed yet another 12-2 run which gave us a 13 point lead with 5:48 left. When you play at MSG you expect a Knick run and it came to no one’s surprise through Chris Duhon. He took it upon himself to create the offense off the high-screen, Calderon couldn’t stop him and for the first time since the late first quarter, dribble penetration became a problem. Al Harrington slashed for two late scores which got the MSG crowd believing but Anthony Parker’s three-point play in transition setup by a Bosh steal made it a 9 point lead. Another Duhon drive led to a Jeffries three but it was too little too late.
Shawn Marion had another solid game – 12 points, 13 rebounds and a high impact. He combined with Bosh to keep the defensive glass clean and we held Lee to only 7 rebounds – a rare feat in itself. We were +4 in offensive rebounds and had 23 second chance points compared to the Knicks’ 10. This game might appear to have been won in the effort category but a strong showing on the boards had a lot to do with us compensating for a 40% shooting night.
Chris Bosh on the late run and the looming playoff-elimination:
We keep playing. We don’t pay attention to the standings. We just try to win the next game and they say we’re not eliminated yet, so until that day we have to prepare the right way for every game.
Sure, why not.
Liners:
- The highlight of the first quarter for me was Jason Kapono high-fiving the bench after a three-point play. Fraud.
- Just like Leo picked on Tyrus Thomas the other day he was ripping on Al Harrington for playing terrible defense. He ripped Harrington on a pick ‘n roll where he didn’t switch and allowed Parker to lay the ball in. On the next possession Bosh did the same and he was silent. Leo, please, we’ve had enough of you.
- The loss eliminated the Knicks from the playoffs.
- Both Bosh and Bargnani shot poorly from the floor but the latter broke the Knick defense down all afternoon long and Bosh anchored the defense.
- 10 points, 5 rebounds on 4-7 shooting. Who do you think I’m talking about? a) Roko b) Joey c) Parker d) Kapono.
- Jason Kapono: 3-9 and 2 turnovers. He. Is. A. Fraud.
- Bosh, Bargnani and Calderon with 41, 40 and 35 minutes. Yeah, we’re definitely not tanking.
- Not game related but I love how Jawai was sent back to the D-League. He didn’t have great things to say about his mates down there and I’m thinking his return will be one of considerable attrition.
- Leo did make a good point: The lighting at MSG is very theater-like.
- Still can’t believe the Knicks only had 2 fastbreak points. Unheard of for D’Antoni.
- The Raps took 95 shots which is 5 less than their season high (vs Clippers). This is the 11th time this season we’ve shot 90 or more times, our record in those games is 4-7.
- We’re going for the series win tonight at 6PM on TSN2.
Thanks for reading. @raptorsrepublic.
41 Raps
ILL mago
I just can’t understand why O’bryant is active and Jawai isn’t.
Because the Raptors actually care about Jawai and see some hope in him. They could give a rat’s ass about how O’Bryant develops.
Jawai is in Idaho right now, he got sent down again
Always a great post Arse.
I was impressed with the D in the second half especially. AB was very solid and CB4 was even altering shots instead of just standing there with his arms up.
Regardless of all this draft position/future intentions talk, I enjoyed watching this game as well as the 5 before it. Winning cures all ailments, even if we can’t make the playoffs.
I’m feeling back-to-back wins. Knicks look real tired.
Hey, we can make the playoffs, we just have to win every game and the pistons have to lose every game, Don’t Give Up!!!!
p.s. actually, give up all you want, its not gonna happen
95 shots
Instead of Il Mago, Bargs nickname should be Sampson, because he sucks without hair
“We just try to win the next game and they say we’re not eliminated yet, so until that day we have to prepare the right way for every game.”
“But after that we will not try to win, be in full tank mode, not prepare at all and put in zero effort.” He did not unnecessarily add.
Flux, you were right. They suck. Give it a rest until the draft.
Just found the quote weird, after the tanking/not tanking discussion yesterday. Like, you only play that way when you have something to play for? What happens after you are eliminated Chris Bosh?
Yeah, you are right, I need to give it a rest. Will do. See you in October, enjoy the summer.
Well come back sooner than that. I don’t need a BC lovefest either.
But you’re right. It was a strange quote. I don’t think Chris is the brightest bulb in the box. There have been a few weird quotes lately. Like the one where he said about Triano, “Most of the time he’s not afraid to give us a piece of his mind.”
To me it sounds like he’s trying to say the right thing, which isn’t necessarily what he really thinks. I would have liked to hear him say, “We’re going to play hard the rest of the season because we are naturally competitive athletes playing the sport we love. What else would we do?”
Aside from the surprising lack of touch around the basket that Marion often displays, there’s something about the quality of his play that might make him what some call the ‘glue guy’ on the floor during these last half-dozen or so games. I really like having him here and I hope we keep him.
The shooting yesterday was decidedly on the cool-ish side, especially early on but Bargnani upped his game just enough to get things going in the right direction.
You ever get the feeling that when Bargnani ‘ups his game’, he does so enough just to get it done? I do. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to … show everybody up too much. I understand (of course) how ridiculous that sounds and it’s probably just my interpreting what I see as I imagine I see it … but I’d like to see Bargs, just once, load the WHOLE team on his back (Bosh included) for a spell to see what he’s really capable of. I’m convinced there’s a whole other level there that if he knows about, he only knows unconsciously. To this point in time, anyway. Maybe playing for Italy this summer will get his blood roiling enough for him to glimpse the edge of that next level, if it is there. Good post as always.
He’s got the talent to score 50 in a game, but not the mindset.
It’s not the end of the world to have a guy who would rather get his teammates involved than take over the game by himself.
I for one am glad he is not Kobe Bryant.
I wish he had half the killer instinct that Kobe had. It would be nice to see him put the whole team on his back (he could) the guy has such a wide range of talents and now were getting a taste out of it.
*taste of it
“I for one am glad he is not Kobe Bryant”
That has got to be one of the stupidest things I have heard…EVER.
Without an all-star cast surrounding Kobe he is completely unable/unwilling to make his teammates better.
Not to mention he is a dick.
As star athletes go, I don’t think he’s a dick at all, I just think he’s made some mistakes and they’ve been put under a magnifying glass. And if LA offered us Kobe for Bargnani straight up … I mean, I like Andrea a LOT, but sorry kid, you’re on your way to California.
Im not sure I????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
When BC drafted Andrea, he was talking about this test like the wonderlic, and how Bargnani scored a really high score that indicated that he had the skills and the mindset to be an elite player. He has had to adjust to the NBA game and get tougher and bigger. Most people expect the first pick to be a huge contributer right away, but since the rules changed and the drafts got weaker overall, we should expect a development period. I still think the sky is the limit for him and that he will end up being a true 1st pick that deserved it. Roy is great. Aldridge is a monster, but I think Andrea is going end up possibly an MVP at some point. I don’t think the other two have a chance to do this. The main point is Bargnani does have the killer instinct and this year is just the edge of things to come.
In that draft I only believed that Gay was the only one who had higher surface than Bargnani.
+1. He doesnt want to show up his inferior teamates. I bet he could drop 40 nightly with ease.
Bosh boring … Barganani beautiful … next
The game has been moved from TSN2 to TSN:
http://www.nba.com/raptors/index_main.html
Fucking sweet.
i wonder why that happened…
TSN’s probably trying to save face.
in nyc they just reaired the game on msg and i just rewatched the 4th qtr…
i cant stress how great bosh was in terms of energy and hustle…the same can be said for marion…he flew in on a bosh miss for a putback and it was just a thing of beauty…having shawn out there takes the pressure off bargnani to be so close to the basket for offensive rebounds…and look…we’ve been out rebounding everyone lately.
my only question (aside from…why now? and who are we? really?) is why they dont run their 4th quarter like they do the first….getting bargnani crazy involved.
i think thats the best move..and let the athletes (ie bosh and marion) take care of everything in between (including the 2 and 3rd quarters).
I agree about that comment about Leo Rautins. Starts criticizing Harrington, and then Bosh makes a tonne of mistakes on the defensive end, and he doesn’t say shit. Leo is getting really boring as well.
I just want to emphasize a point. Bargnani is still looking at the floor when he dribbles. I don’t think he will change that habit, and it will likely prevent him from becoming even better.
1. The game on sunday has been moved to TSN.
2. Give Bargnani a couple more years experience, he’s only 23, and just beginning to learn the NBA and what he can do with his abilities.
I watch the game through the MSG TV feed and the commentators were absolutely raving about Bargnani. On the other hand they were very lukewarm on Bosh. They suggested that most of the Knicks fans they talked to would not be happy if the Knicks ended up with Bosh in 2010. Maybe the market for Bosh isn’t what everyone in TO assumes it is.
On a bad commentary note. With a little under a minute left and the Raps up by 6 one of the commentator said something very much like, “They still have time to drop a quick deuce.”
Is sundays game on TSN or TSN2?? The internet and the TV are saying 2 different things. It’s not the first time this has happened. Can someone double-check for me if they can? Thx
tsn…im watching it
Hollinger upgraded the Raps chance of making the playoffs from 0.0 to 0.1
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds
Promised land, here we come!
I WANT TO BELIEVE
this game was the result of having no reliable bench. Our starters need some time on the bench on a back to back, and they can’t get it because we have no bench. So, we have no bench, and tired starters. This equals a a loss.
So, we are mathematically eliminated. Next season?
Let us say we don’t replace Triano:
What assistant can we get to coach Bargnani and Bosh so that they improve their weaksude defence? And, someone to teach Bargnani when to switch and when not to? I feel like he makes the wrong decision every single time.
Roko:
Is he as good as some think on this site? Look at Phoenix’s Dragic who plays an eerily similar game to Ukic. He is a third-string point guard, whose only weapon is a drive. Phoenix finds it necessary to use him behind Nash and Barbosa, and sometimes alongside Barbosa. Are we expecting too much from Ukic?
Bosh:
If he is paired with a natural driving scorer, who also has a midrange game, Bosh will be deadly as the cleanup man. He will attract doubles, and be able to kick out to someone who can do something with the ball. Add Bargnani on the perimiter to swing around to, and we should have our way offensively.
I feel like if we can lockdown an all-star shooting guard (JJ…can Hedo play SG???), and keep our line as is, get a decent bench, and teach our bigs proper rotations, we should actually be quite good. Maybe I am just a homer.
That’s a lot to do. Sigh
As BC said in a recent interview: “We will have to see what Bosh decides this summer ….” …. meaning that if Bosh asks for a trade, it’s rebuild time for the Raps …. and if Bosh decides to stay will BC try to find the right pieces for SG and SF to make Bosh, Bargnani and JC function as a team??!!!