So you got the rebound? Doesn’t mean you got to take the shot.It’s another loss but the spark we played with was good enough for me, especially when the normally stoic Patrick O’ Bryant shows signs of life. Spurred on by the unlikely closing combination (even for preseason) of Amir Johnson, Sonny Weems, Marcus Banks, Quincy Douby and POB, they almost pulled out a win with a spirited 4th quarter rally that came up just short for a second consecutive night. One thing is for certain: this team has some exciting players. It doesn’t mean that the Raps are going to be the 2009 version of the Showtime Lakers, but they have some basketball players which is more than what could be said of last year’s crew.
One player that stood out tonight was Sonny Weems. He ran the wing well and was the beneficiary of some accurate passes on the break courtesy of Banks and Jack; but more importantly, he was active on defense. Dare we say Jamario Moon but with a nose for the rim? Too early to say, but he definitely seems to have a smarter head on his shoulders. It looks like he can hit an open shot but so could Joey Graham, I’m not sure about his overall NBA game and I’m not one to fall in love with pure athletes (see Fred Jones). It does seem that he has the potential and motivation to put it all together than his previous incarnations. He just seems more fluid and knows how to run the lanes, let’s hope this isn’t just his pre-season form.
Reggie Evans brings that JYD element that Toronto fans seem fall in love with. As mentioned by others, the dude is everywhere and maybe the main reason why he only plays 15 minutes is because there is no way he could possibly sustain that for a minute more. Those 15 minutes though, goodness. I do hope that his energy is contagious on this team, but you can already see some of the flaws his critics point out. For one, he tries to finish every steal or offensive rebound he comes up with. I don’t know if it’s tunnel vision or a sense of entitlement, or currently the lack of a better option, but he just barrels his way in and you can tell he’s trying to draw some contact and some free throws. The refs (replacement or not) don’t but it. I’m not sure why he tries to get fouled considering his ability to shoot free throws, but it’s a bad feeling, to gain a possession like that and throw it away. Sure it’s sometimes better to do something before the defense can react, but you have to think a quick pass or two could do wonders in those situations. The replacement refs got to Reggie tonight, and he got teed up, but quite honestly I can’t blame him. More on the refs later.
Andrea Bargnani looked good in his limited time. A willingness to take it to the hole is welcomed. The rebounding, well that’s still coming around, right? I would like to see a preseason game or two where they tell Andrea to just play just like Reggie Evans and try to grab every board and do nothing else. But that won’t happen and I’m getting to used to it. I know there’s a whole legion of Raptors fans that are with me on this one and I suggest that they get used to it too and start appreciating whatever else he brings.
Of the remaining two bigs, Amir Johnson definitely stood out. He showed some good hustle and the ability to provide weak-side blocks one in a while. He surprised a couple of Sixers with quick hops to take away sure dunks, something he did the night before too. The thing is that he is quick, really quick for his size. That’s what the Pistons loved about him but the production wasn’t consistent and hence the multiple trades, hopefully the Raptors see the side Milwaukee and Detroit never saw . He hasn’t shied away from starting a quasi break and he doesn’t look out of place doing it. His athleticism, quickness makes me think he can guard SFs which should allow him to eek out a few more minutes on this roster. Whatever Triano does, he has to find a way to get something positive out of all that size and athleticism. But that’s what they said about Jerome Moiso as well. Just saying. POB scored a quick low post bucket today and showed a little bit of intensity at the end of the game, intensity that he usually saves for arguing foul calls. Of which there were many, many today.
The refs were brutal. They remind you of that supply school teacher that followed everything by the book. Or maybe they know that this is their 15 minutes of fame and the regulars will be back before the games mean anything. At least they were consistent. They called EVERYTHING. At some point you have let minor stuff pass for the benefit of the game’s watchability. It even made me miss Joey Crawford. Hell, more of these whistlefests and even Tim Duncan will be missing Joey.
Let’s move on to the guards, shall we?
Not much to say about Jose. Seems like he’s fighting the ball a little bit but he’s the kind of guy who needs to have the starters around him to do well. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but for what it’s worth, JJ didn’t do much either in limited minutes, although I do think he set the tone in the 3rd quarter during a Raptor run that brought the team back into the game. Quincy
Douby setting up the “patented” floater.Douby played okay, his defense was good and he looks like he can make some plays, but he has to realize he can’t finish the way he did in summer league. It’s not going to be the same result, Quincy. Marcus Banks, he tried really, really hard. Good job, Marcus. I really don’t even know why they are playing the guy as much as they are. Heck, I’d rather see DeRozan running the point. I mean out of 1000 possible scenarios of how the season will play out, can you figure out even one where Marcus will play in something other than garbage time? Let me know, I can’t think of one.
Demar Derozan played better today. He started off the game as well as one would hope, and ended it about as badly. In what was an eye-brow raising move, DD was brought in with about 6 minutes to go and then pulled after a couple of minutes. Not even. Sonny Weems hadn’t even made into Marcus Banks territory at the end of the bench before he got tapped to go back in. We found out why in the post-game presser…DeRozan was sent to the corner for being a bad boy. Initially it sounded like a harsh reaction, but you know what, good on Jay. You need to deal with these things early before they become habit. Jay was specific in his criticism: Settling on a couple of plays. Not initiating something towards the rim. I think DD is afraid of failure. He’s afraid of trying something that has a level of risk associated with it. I know it’s a Jordan commercial and it was probably the best one featuring him: The one about failing time and time again, and that is how you learn to succeed. That’s what he’s got to learn. It’s just how he’s wired, but you can see flashes of the talent. You can see by this treatment that the Raptors brass has high, high hopes for this kid. Hope he can handle it, as AltRaps alluded to in the Roll Call.
Marco Bellinelli played well. He showed great basketball IQ with an assortment of drives, fakes and his shot looks good. I think he will bring more offensively than Delfino did. Defensively, he has active hands and showed good instincts on a steal later in the game. He’s got that deceptive quickness and body control that allows him to dribble-drive effectively. He also knows how to kick out to the open man in those situations which Delfino wasn’t good at. I think his passing is an underrated asset and something that Jay will call upon time and time again this season. I need to see if he can continue this with more playing time and against serious competition.
A quick observation the Sixers. You don’t get rid of a guy like Andre Miller. They look like a team that is quick, athletic but will lack the guidance of an experienced floor general. Don’t know if they will meet expectations.
Jay Triano, welcome to the big leagues. I’m not talking about the quality of the play calls, but that shiny number you had on today. You’ve come a long way from being fired for Leo Rautins.
Ed’s Note: We’d like to welcome A-Dub, a long-time partner-in-crime and “day one” Raptors fan to the RR crew. – Arse
38 Raps
The only good thing about the refs tonight was they didn’t actually stop the game from being played for about 6 minutes straight in the 3rd quarter like in London.
I guess its that they’re learning to ref at an NBA level and it’ll take a while? As painful as that sounds. We can hope for a last minute settlement before the season starts but it didn’t happen last time. ouch!
All the guys on the Raps played better – okay some of them still played like they were invisible, not mentioning any names, POB. I think the (very weak) signs of life are coming from a fear of splinters – whatever it takes?
I’ll stick to the its really really early line – things should be looking more “normal” by Sunday? (Not expecting much improvement from the refs though, sigh.)
re O’Bryant, 6 rbs & 3 blks are not being invisable !!!
An exciting game. Is it just me or is Sonny Weems already more useful than Joey G?
Reggie Evans is like Jekyll and Hyde…One moment he makes a great play next he ruins it
Sonny is more exciting than Joey and has better timing!
And Reggie is what he is – I think he’ll really help create a culture of “effort” on the Raps!
You got the Reggie thing right. If he just stopped as soon as he got the ball, man what he does would be money. I don’t mind seeing him go straight back up after a offensive rebound (got him to the the line once or twice)…. but when he steals the ball or gets a long offensive rebound. Stop. Look. Pass to Jose/Jack/Marcus etc, or do ANYTHING other than dribble the ball.
This years Raps looks much more athletic than last year which is great. Weems has been a pleasant surprise so far too. DD has been struggling in my opinion, but when the season starts and he’s on the floor with Bosh, Hedo, and Bargs, maybe he’ll be alot more comfortable playing off of them.
And you’re correct about Philly, they’re going to miss Andre Miller big time I think. Especially in the 4th
The Pistons saw everything in Johnson that the Raptors are seeing. The problem was, they froze him out of the offense intentionally especially last year.
What the Pistons did more than that is that last year that had Curry as head coach and Curry and Johnson just did not hit it off. Curry rode him, lied to him, manipulated him and basically treated him like sheet.
In addition Prince was much closer to Maxiell while R. Wallace was Johnson’s biggest supporter. Once Sheed it was curtains for Johnson. The whole thing last year was just one big ugly mess.
In addition, the Pistons organization fell in love with K. Brown and are now raving about what a great year they expect him to have.
If Triano lets Johnson just play and doesn’t get hung up on mistakes like Curry did and Saunders did to a lesser degree then Johnson could wind up helping the Raptors.
Just one example of how Curry treated Johnson. There was one game last year in which Curry inserted Johnson into the lineup during a time out in which the Pistons had possession of the ball for an inbounds play. It was as I recall in the first half. Evidently Johnson messed up on the inbounds play and didn’t do what the play had called for him to do. Curry immediately called another time out and yanked Johnson. As I recall Johnson was on the court less than 10 seconds. Curry did not reinsert Johnson for the rest of the game.
One other comment for now about Curry and Johnson.
Last night Johnson picked up two fouls within 30 seconds after he was inserted into the limeup. Curry had a 2 foul limit per half rule for Johnson, which except in a blow out Curry never varied from.
So last night Curry would have yanked Johnson after the 30 seconds and never reinserted him for the rest of the 1st half.
In addition, Johnson played last night for as I recall at least a 12 – 13 minutes with 5 fouls before fouling out. Curry would never have let Johnson play after his 4th foul since the game wasn’t a blowout.
So under Curry’s rules Johnson’s line last night would have been something like
Min 5
Shots taken 0
Rebounds 2
End of story.
‘The rebounding, well that’s still coming around, right?’
remember those words…we’ll be saying them for the next decade or so.
Let’s remember we have 15+ rbs per game sitting, with CB & the Turk.
uh, excuse my pessimism, but with those guys not playing, and all those boards up for grabs (theoretically), shouldn’t VL be grabbing at least a few? like holy fuck, our boy roko pulled down 3 in 6 minutes last night. i appreciate what VL brings offensively (kind of…)…but i can’t understand how a 7-footer doesn’t have 6 boards fall into his lap, merely by positioning himself correctly & boxing out. he should be fucking embarassed, ’cause nothing screams ‘TOTAL PUSSY’ than a guy that big, and with a supposedly high bball IQ, getting that few rebounds.
Maybe you should get out there and grab some boards for the Raps. You sound like a real all-star to me and I’m sure you could do it. Go get em superstar!!
Comments on Sonny Weems
I’ll make some comments about last night… It was sooo nice to see some atheltisim. Sonny Weems got me yelling top of my lungs with some of those dirty dunks – he’s the anti – Jamario Moon… He’ll take it to the hole, he won’t shoot like a thousand shots when he clearly shouldn’t, and most importantly, the play between him Douby and Banks reminded me of the old Vince days when I liked watching the Raptors hurt the rim… My opinion he should get some time during the regular season games.
Comments on the Game
Phili played their top players Brand, Igudala,etc.. (my spelling is horrible – sorry)…… Raps sporatically used Andrea, Jose, and their top tier players… For most of the game it was like 2 points away….. If Bosh and Hedo were there, and we used our top tier guys like Phili did, we’d be up by like 70…….
Bright Spots!
Sonny Weems as mentioned above! impressed by Amir, Marcus Banks played decent (Colangelo for sure is trying to up his trade value), Thank G-d on Belinilli – he looked awful last game and looked much better this game. He is a solid player – Raps will use him more then Demar throughout the year (just my opinion)
Dissapointments
Demar for sure – he looked better then last game, moments of wow factor (aka – dunk), but good for Triano for benching him for not going to the rim. Work out that Jamario thing early. Also!!!! He needs to develop his three point shot, players will back off him on the three and he needs to hit that every time. Otherwise he’ll be rendered useless.
Quincy Douby – Don’t care what anybody writes, I watched a behind the back pass that went astray, multiple drives where he missed badly when he had better options….. I’m being overly critical, but he’ll never see the light of day on this team if everyone remains healthy….
OVerall Raps are a way better team then phili…. no way Phili is 4th this year like they hope….. 7th or 8th more realistic….
preseason, preseason
Do not make the mistake of judging where teams are by how they perform in preseason. It means nothing.
Look how well Lebron played in preseason. Is that enough to say Clevland is not going to be a good team this year.
None of this means anything guys, Sonny Wheems can go off for 40 like Belineli once did. Who cares, this is about players showing what the can do, and above all what they CAN’T.
The truth is that vets never take preseason seriously. Look at how Arenas is playing, look at how Brand play… you can’t tell me that Brand is Brand. Even Iggy seemed to be going half speed.
We had a bunch of rookies playing it up, while vets coasted… exepct for Banks.
Sooooo, A-Dub … based on what you’ve seen, are you prepared to predict a playoff spot for the New Raptors … as so many of the tribal honking fans on this fine forum have done and as high as #4, I hear …LOL
Not if Bosh and Hedo sit all season, no. But good comment – much appreciated.
Sorry, you’re not getting that kind of optimism from me. I think the playoffs are attainable, because the East, after the big 3, is a bunch of teams that don’t really scare anyone. Take the Sixers for example, do you think they they will be that much better than us? They are one of the teams the “pundits” think should be playoff-bound right?
How long will it take you to evaluate this team re playoffs?? … I’m saying by Xmas we should know if this is a team or a bust … two months.
If the team is a bust, I predict that Bosh will not want to play out the season with the Raptors … and would want to be traded to a team that is playoff bound … all to save his standing as a max $$$ player.
A developing team cannot hold a max $$$ player because that would choke off development … plain and simple. Also BC would not want to invest some $125 Million to a max $$$ player … but would rather have two $10 Million players plus.
BC and Triano must be considering such scenarios, because both their welfares are dependent on creating a winning team with hope and filling the seats and maintaining tv ratings.
Sonny Weems should watch Antoine Wright very closely – he could make a decent living as a defensive specialist who can run the floor coming off the bench.
If Weems can play defense as last night he may see some mins with Wright backing up the Turk at SF.
I don’t have Raptors TV so I haven’t seen a lick of pre-season, but don’t the refs, replacement or not, *always* call everything during the pre-season? I’ve seen quite a few pre-season games in my time and I seem to recall it’s one big practice session / rules review for the refs.
yeah, to a degree, but it’s been pretty brutal. waaay too much ticky-tack, ‘look at me, i’m reffing a real-live NBA game’ kinda BS calls. the one thing that seems pretty evident is that these refs don’t have the experience or mental fortitude to let things go…if a player barks at ‘em or disagrees with a call, they’re very quick to whistle that player almost immediately (see evans last night – he got whistled for a pretty cheap foul, got t’d up, then immediately got whistled for another cheapie).
i know, i know, preseason, replacement refs, no one should care. but it makes watching the games a fucking chore. stern better be getting this worked out, ’cause if these douchebags are working ‘real’ games next month…well, as the kaiser chiefs would say, i predict a riot…
You’re right, but it’s way worse this season.
+100000
Anyone else notice the quality of Bargs’ passing? Dude’s made 2-3 really nice passes the last 2 games that’ve surprised me.
Yes , you are right ritchie. Possibly it is another improvement to his game and with a bit more rebounding and good team defense he will become that X-factor we have been looking for for 3 years.
I dunno about you guys but rebounding and defense is all I ever cared about Bargnani in terms of areas of improvement. Passing big men are always nice, but if he can’t get the big man fundamentals down, what’s the point?
not my point. we all know about his rebounding deficiencies, so harping on that every time his name comes up doesn’t really help much.
just pointing out that his passing for a big man is underrated, not great, but enough to surprise.
if ppl around him can finish, his high-low passes and big man pnr could notch him a few assists a game.
yup, he’s made some nice passes. of course, being a good passer is about more than making nice passes, it’s also about who you’re making those passes too. while it’s nice that he’s showing his vision in finding the open man, sometimes that man is open for a reason.
Bargs has always been a great passer for a big man. If he could just find a way to crank up those assist numbers it might make up for his rebounding deficencies.
Like Yertu sez, he needs to learn to find the right guy, not just the open guy.
Having Reggie go to the line is a good thing even though he is a bad shooter. Teams average between .75 and .8 points per possession. Reggie shoots .590% from the line.
I hear you. Down the line we’d probably get annoyed when we lose by the exact number of free throws he misses, but at least he provided us with a second chance to score.
Even if he did kick it back out, no one is shooting 59% from the field, right?
However, I think the main point by the post was that he’s trying (but failing) to draw these fouls, and as such, is wasting these opportunities by not just passing it out to someone else who might have a better opportunity to score than he does.
Well you can use the same logic for any possession right? The point is that, just because you get the steal/rebound, it does not automatically grant you the right to go for a basket. You still have to treat it like any other possession and look for the best possible shot.
Seeing as how a free throw is worth one point and field goal is worth at least two, you would have to divide that 59% by at least half.
We’ve got plenty of guys who can shoot 29.5% from the field.
Fortunately for us, math does not work that way. Here is how it actually works:
(p * 1) + (p * 1) = p * (1+1)
And p is the percentage change of the shot going in. Since we know that 1+1 = 2, then shooting two free-throws at 59% is the same as shooting a single two-point shot at 59% (or one three-point shot at 39.3%).
hence the reason we try to get to the free-throw line as much as possible.. wow.. interesting.. lol
I’m glad I’m not the only one who was getting really annoyed with Reggie.Not once did he pass the ball back out after an offensive rebound.Like you guys said already , its great to go back at the bucket with the defense not set but he was just barging into people. To my surprise his non passing ways got even worse when there was a couple of times in transition he came up with the ball and tried to go house , instead of passing it to someone who actually has ball handling skills. Hopefully the Raptors coaching staff let him know that this cant be a trend