The final from Minneapolis was 112-97. Chris Bosh got his first action of the pre-season and according to our podcast guest, John Focke of the T’Wolves radio network, looked “like a gazelle”. He even managed to get T’d up in an altercation with Ryan Hollins. Booyeah! Bring on Danny Granger. Check out the short and sweet podcast and find out which Raptor other than Bargnani (excellent game) and Bosh impressed the most. You’ll be surprised. Other topics include whether Jack outplayed Jose again, what to make of Bargnani’s 3 rebounds, Jonny Flynn’s terrible game, how DeRozan fared, how Love controlled the game against Bosh/Bargnani, what Reggie Evans was up to and a lot more.
You can click on the play button below to listen directly in iTunes. You may also download the file if you’re on a mobile device.
[audio:http://raptorsrepublic.com/audio/2009-10-10-JohnFocke.mp3]Highlights and more after the jump.
Some interview points:
- Raptors jumped on the Timberwolves, had 37 points in the first quarter and never let up. 54% shooting from the Raptors, 41% from the T’Wolves.
- Very impressed with Bosh, very active, went at it. Got a great steal on Kevin Love, hit a smooth jumper and drove the ball a lot. Only played in the first half.
- Bargnani “really, really impressed” and was phenomenal today with his drives and jumpers, very high percentage shooting 8-11 FG 21 points.
- Repeatedly described DeRozan as a very athletic player, got an early hoop on the break, struggled with his shot but the potential is evident.
- Asked Ryan Gomes whether he felt Bosh’s weight, he said no but John sees the extra strength.
- Wasn’t that impressed with Belinelli, didn’t show anything that jumped out as impressive.
- Impressed with Sonny Weems’ athleticism and aggressiveness.
- Amir Johnson described as very aggressive and agile.
- Toronto’s ball movement was very good.
- Jay Triano described already described as a “stand-up guy” and one of his favorite coaches whose philosophies are impressive.
- Jonny Flynn didn’t have a good game but he doesn’t think Flynn’s far from being a starter. Has been maturing in practice and has the ability to run an NBA offense. He’s the leader of the team despite being a rookie. Had a very nice AND1 today.
- Calderon was better than Jack today who looked very much like a backup and “didn’t show much”. Gives Calderon a 6.5/10 and Jack a 4.5/10.
- Toronto has a lot of big guys but the only guy who was pursuing rebounds was Reggie Evans.
- T’Wolves won the rebounding battle 45-36. Comparing Jefferson/Love to Bosh/Bargnani, he feels that our big men are more finesse players but thinks that the signing of Reggie Evans makes a lot of sense since he’s “trash man”. He compares the Reggie Evans signing to the Kevin Love acquisition. In other words, get a guy who loves to rebound to offset big men who tend to shy away.
- Pleasantly surprised with Kevin Love over the last two years who has improved his athleticism and added another dimension to his offense – a jumper. He doesn’t let a rebound “bounce” and puts himself between “man and basket” which some guys just don’t like to do.
- Sees the Raptors making the playoffs.
Triano on Bosh:
“Sometimes your first game back you’re rusty and you look lethargic out there, but he looked like he had bounce,” Triano said. “He looked good until he fatigued. “He’s going to have to be our anchor at the defensive end,” said coach Jay Triano. “He’s our most agile player, we’ve seen when he played with United States Olympic team how good a defender he can be. “He’s changed his body and he’s got a little bit more of a physical presence so we don’t think he’ll have a problem doing it. “If we’re going to be a good team, though, he’s going to have to be a better force for us at the defensive of the floor and be the guy who sets the tone.”
Bosh on the weight gain:
“We tackled all those issues,” he said. “These were our goals: ‘We want to gain ‘x’ amount of pounds but we want to have an intensity to the workouts and we’re going to work on different elements to make sure you don’t slow down, that you actually speed up. It was hard work.’ “I knew that was going to be a concern for a lot of people so I wanted to surprise everybody.”
Bosh on the upcoming season:
“Last year, we did a lot of talking,” he said. “We felt that we were going to be a good team we talked about it, we had no problem expressing that to the media and all this talking built up to the season and then when the season came, the things that we said did not translate to the court. “I would rather just not say anything. That way everybody can be surprised in the right way. Not like last year, when we were surprised in the wrong way. “Let’s just go to work and work hard and see what happens on the court.”
Kurt Rambis on his team’s effort:
“We’re going to be outmatched a lot of the nights, but we shouldn’t be where our effort hurts us,” he said.
Ryan Gomes
“We took a step backwards, especially being on our home court and losing like that,” forward Ryan Gomes said. “We did fight back a little bit, but still, you look at the start of the game, that was the difference.”
