"It feels like I’m learning a lot more every game, how to understand the defence, how to read the offence," he said. "My confidence is getting higher and higher every game and I want to try to keep that going."
The fact that Raptors held on for the win, despite shooting 39% from the floor, was a testament to their defence and the fact that they attacked the rim, getting to the free-throw line 40 times to Washington’s 21.
"I’m proud of the team, because we played four games in six nights. That’s tough in the regular season," Triano said. "This is an early test for us. They’re not in mid-season form yet and our guys competed through it."
Toronto’s bench outscored Washington’s 48-44, with three players scoring in double digits, picking up the starters who, other than DeRozan, did not play particularly well. The Raptors didn’t share the ball well either, managing a pre-season low 14 assists.
Hedo Turkoglu missed his fourth straight game because of "fatigue", but coach Jay Triano believes that the Turkish national team star will begin full practices later this week and will get into some pre-season games. Antoine Wright, who has a sore right knee, also missed the game but is expected to play later in the week.
A handful of times in Toronto’s 100-93 win over the Washington Wizards at the Air Canada Centre Sunday afternoon, the 20-year-old prodigy found himself walking to the bench for a quick tutorial from the coaching staff.
Never mind that he scored a team-high 19 points and had a couple of highlight reel-worthy forays to the rim, the game was more about teaching lessons than piling up numbers.
"I had to take him out three or four times just to talk to him and it wasn’t about getting a breath," coach Jay Triano said after Toronto ran its pre-season record to 2-2 before a sparse crowd of 11,936. "He’s still making mistakes. … If Hedo (Turkoglu) and Antoine Wright and Sonny Weems (all injured and unavailable) are here, maybe I take DeMar out and I’d punish him by sitting him down.
"The way we did it today, I took him out and we corrected it. The good thing about him is he’s a great learner."
The Raptors have made their share of off-season moves to shake off their 33-win season with designs on a top-five playoff seed, but the improvement of a team like the Wizards could make it all moot.
Toronto looked sharp at times in front of 11,936 at the ACC, hanging on to win 100-96 and even their preseason record at 2-2. They shot just 38.8 per cent but got their best showing yet from rookie DeMar DeRozan, who scored 19 points in 36 minutes, earning his way to the free throw line 10 times and converting nine. Amir Johnson was also impressive off the bench as he sparked the Raptors with seven points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.
“I really wanted to get to the line,” said DeRozan, who brought the ACC fans to their feet with two fourth-quarter dunks. “The first two games I really wasn’t aggressive, so I wanted to be more aggressive.”
"It’s not the best and it’s not expected right now," Bosh said of his on-court fatigue level. "But I’m happy where I’m at. I’ve been in situations in the past before that I didn’t know what I was going to do, pretty much. It took a little bit more time. Now I feel 100 per cent finally. So I can just go out there and let it hang out and get up and down the court."
"I told him when he was out on the floor, ‘Play as hard as you can for as long as you can. We’re not really concerned with how well you play,’" Triano said. "We know that’s going to come."
But what did I learn about the Wizards? Well, I can’t wait until Gilbert Arenas gets 100% comfortable with his offensive balance and ability to distribute … and is able to display it for a full game. He looked great in the third quarter. Made my day.
The turnovers, however, are a slight concern. So far this preseason, Arenas is averaging 6.3 turnovers per 36 minutes, which shatters his 3.2 TO/36 in 05-06 when he led the NBA in total turnovers with 297.
Yes, yes … again, “it’s the preseason” … and with increased passing (Arenas is averaging 13.6 assists per 36 this preseason BTW), and trying to gain familiarity with a new offense, an increased amount of turnovers is to be expected. But one thing I did notice against Memphis and Dallas was the nature of Gil’s turnovers … some seemed to be a bit careless/unintelligent (wasn’t able to gather much from Arenas’ four turnovers against Toronto).
Well, word is coming now that Bosh could be traded soon enough to the Golden State Warriors to play out this season before free agency. The Toronto Sun is reporting that four-time All-Star Bosh could be moving to California in exchange for Andris Biedrins and others.
Of course that doesn’t mean Bosh won’t be looking elsewhere once next summer rolls around.
Brothersteve’s Green & Red Raptor Blog
Sonny Weems however has everything down pat. The kid flew out of the gate again going 2 of 3 for 4 points to go with 6 boards and an assist in just over 9 minutes before jamming his big left toe. Post game reports said x-rays were negative but there wasn’t much news about when Sonny might be back.
And Raptors fans will want to know that Sonny is good to go soon. Between DeRozan, Belinelli, and Weems, the Raptors haven’t had this kind of play at the wing for some time. (Can the Moon – Weems comparisons please get put to bed already! Weems isn’t 29 years old.)
16. Toronto Raptors: They spent a lot of money this off-season acquiring Hedo Turkoglu, Jarrett jack, and resigning Andrea Bargnani. The Raptors are looking to space the floor with great shooters opening up the middle for Chris Bosh. They did draft DeMar DeRozan, a strong scorer at USC and can dunk like Vincanity back in the day, but will this team have enough offensive weapons and take pride in playing defense? If the Nuggets did it, they can.
Aside from Marcus Banks’ three fouls in less than two minutes of play, the biggest story was the breakout of DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan, starting his fourth consecutive game, scored a preseason-high 19 points in 36 minutes, including a pair of dunks to help swing the momentum in the Raptors’ favour in the fourth quarter. DeRozan was just 5-of-12 from the field but managed to get to the line 10 times, making nine.
This is quite possibly the creepiest, scariest basketball commercial I will ever see in my life. It features the Toronto Raptors new off season acquisition, Reggie Evans (whose full name is Reginald Jamaal Evans).
Vicious D takes a look at a game that really shows the contrasting styles of the Raptors, and what it may mean for the upcoming season.
32 Raps
lol@Yahoo. If I recall, the Sun article was referring to past trade rumours, not a current one.
Typical Yahoo, trying hard to make a big deal over something that was blown over
Lets all contact our basketball friends and start the push for DD as rookie of the year.
If it is blogged and tweeted enough it will certainly help.
Right now T. Evans and BG are the leading favorites
Lets get DD into the rookie of the year running.
No need to wait until Oct 28th.
The juicy part of the Steve Buffery/Toronto Star article was put up on Hoopshype, namely:
Perhaps that’s why BC doesn’t want Bosh playing too much and risking a pre-season injury prior to a trade. Of course the trade with GS may have broken down, and what we saw was the remnants of that trade with Belinelli for George.
If Bosh has indicated to BC that he wants out of Toronto, sooner or later, BC must be working on a trade even now.
I still wouldnt trade him to Golden State without getting Biedrins, one of their young players (Randolph), and a pick…. High price but im not in the mood to get fleaced like we did with Carter.
Randolph would be nice. The Raptors could then throw in Rasho.
Randolph can play the #3.
So you start
————
Biedrins
Bargnani
Turkoglu
Calderon
DeRozan
2nd Unit
———–
Evans
Johnson
Randolph
Jack
Weems or Belinelli
12th guy
————
O’Bryant or Duby
I’m laughing very hard that you guys think we could get Biedrins AND Randolph. Double-Double centre + up and coming powerfoward (aka the reason they didn’t trade for Amare Stoudamire) is worth more than a 1 year rental of Bosh. Much more.
I don’t see that happening either. However I could picture:
Biendrins, Turiaf and a pick for Bosh and Rasho. (lol would Rasho ever be pissed)
Fact of the matter is, FAQ, that Buffery’s “article” (which it wasn’t) just regurgitates old news.
Bosh stated he won’t commit to Turkey last week and the rumour with respect to Golden State was from the summer.
Twist it in whatever way you want to make out you have a point, but both you and Buffery are late to the party on this one.
Read what I wrote, namely:
“Of course the trade with GS may have broken down, and what we saw was the remnants of that trade with Belinelli for George.”
The fact is, BC is actively peddling Bosh because he and MLSE will not invest $125+Million in one player because it’s too risky business-wise .. ergo no max money player on the Raptors … just good, hard-working Euro-stock players, U.S. college draft picks and blue-collar role players. $10 Million p.a. players is enough for a potential playoff team.
Raptors don’t need an “all-star” on the roster to bring in the Toronto tribal honking fans … just look at the Maple Leaf fans …LOL
“MLSE will not invest $125+Million in one player”
we don’t know that at all. I would say if Bosh did get traded it will be because he didn’t sign an extension or guarantee he would return. Bosh walking gets the Raps nothing. A sign and trade gets the Raps nearly nothing. A straight up trade get the Raps something. They would be hedging there bets… not exactly a bad idea
BC and Bosh are not just sitting there, waiting for the season to end before they start talking money and contract. You can bet that both have made their opening positions known to each other. BC would have to initiate contract extension discussions … but if Bosh has told him he doesn’t want to discuss extension but wants to test the 2010 market, that would force BC to seek a trade. What else can BC do, just sit there with his thumb up his bum and hope for the best???
BC is in an insecure situation, and must surely be seeking to trade Bosh .. believe it regardless of what you may have heard or how you feeeel.
“doesn’t want to discuss extension but wants to test the 2010 market” & “What else can BC do”
umm isn’t that exactly what I said? thanks for coming out though!
So you acknowledge that BC attempted/is attempting to trade Bosh…!!!
ummm no I didn’t say he IS. I said if Bosh gets traded its because of player concerns(ie. getting something in return rather than letting him wak/weak sign and trade vs. some value) rather than salary concerns (which you said). Whether he is actually doing it or not I’m not sure…. but I definetely see it as a possibility.
Do you even read what is written?
Regardless of your play on words, would you accept that negotiations between BC and Bosh have begun even though both are denying a trade is imminent??
Bosh has said he is not negotiating and is only concerned about the upcoming season … but that doesn’t preclude his agent negotiating on his behalf. Then there is BC obviously denying any trade talks because that would destroy season ticket sales. Both understandably are hiding the truth from the fans.
The rumours this summer about a Raptor-GS trade involving Bosh has not materialized, but they did exchange Belinelli for George plus cash I believe.
You can hypothesize all you want .. but I prefer to speculate on rumours.
FAQ,
There is no play on words. There was a (intentional?) misunderstanding of what I said by the reader (namely you), but I can’t help that.
“negotiations between BC and Bosh have begun even though both are denying a trade is imminent??”
-its definetely a possibility, but the reality is neither you or I know if they have been negotiating a trade or a signing. BC could be taking every phone call about Bosh or could be telling everyone to shove it. We don’t know either way. Anything relating to this is pure specultion.
“doesn’t preclude his agent negotiating on his behalf”
-definetely a possibility… but again we do not know if this is true or not either. Why don’t you call his agent and report back to us. I’m sure everyone here will believe you.
“You can hypothesize all you want .. but I prefer to speculate on rumours.”
-do you even know what those words mean? I am taking an educated guess while you are making an uneducated guess…. and here I thought you didn’t speculate you strategize…
So let me just end the conversation there. Since I was retarded enough to reply to one of your comments, I deserve to feel a little more stupid.
i woould agree with trading bosh to GS if the package includes stephen jackson, anthony randolph, beidrins or ronny turiaf.
but bosh would just waste his life there if he wants to be traded there. golden state won’t repeat there magic in 2006 coz the lakers are back, and you got other elite teams in the west. but in the east, we only have boston, cleveland and orlando. the rest is a rat race. and we have a chance.
If the Raptors ever do trade Bosh to GS, there is no way BC should make the deal without getting back some package that includes Anthony Randolph aka. the best kept secret in the NBA. If he is not there then Raps almost instantly lose out on the trade
don’t mean to be rude but who is Randolph a secret to? Those who do not watch basketball? Everyone who follows basketball with any level of detail sees him as an up and comer…
The irony of including Randolph in a deal for Bosh… is he sure looks alot like Bosh at that age.
Ohh crap, those nuts at Goldenstateofmind.com are going to go berserk again. Damn you Buffery and damn you yahoo.
espn bosh to warriors
one of the lead stories rofl
americans go crazy
Sending Bosh over for Warriers AB and Jackson is a bad trade. you want atleast one of the their young stars in the package. For example, AB, Morrrow for Bosh.
I am looking at Goldenstateofmind.com and some of their trade suggestion are just plain stupid !!! who do they think they are dealign with !!!!
rob babcock
FAQ
I love bosh’s game and I like what the Raptors have going this year with this team. I don’t care in the least for Randolph’s potential. I want us to start competing and winning NOW!!
If BC trades Bosh away from this city I would never forgive him.
I would never trust him being able to win a championship and he would completely discredit himself and the Raptors, by labeling us a team who is marketable but Mediocre Forever.
I would be too sad if he trades Bosh and Calderon for Omare and Nash. I think that makes us compete right away.
You are the purrfect Raptor fan .. your “love” just oozes out of you … and your love for Bosh is evident because you would never “forgive” BC for trading Bosh.
But what if Bosh wanted a change of scenery away from Toronto … say back to his hometown of Dallas, Texas where his mom and relatives live? Would you deny him that happiness and would your love for him waver ???
Since I highly suspect that Bosh has told BC he wants out of Toronto and does not want to play here even for a max contract, that puts BC and the entire Raptor team at risk of losing a valuable asset. Shouldn’t BC then try to trade Bosh asap to get max value for him .. possibly even before the season starts???
These are some of the lamest post I’ve seen on this site. If Bosh ever read them he’d split a gut laughing.
“But what if Bosh wanted a change of scenery away from Toronto … say back to his hometown of Dallas, Texas where his mom and relatives live? Would you deny him that happiness and would your love for him waver ???”
What is this, a soap opera!
I have watched enough sports over the years to know that a midseason trade of any superstar only hurts your team. It damages you talent-wise because it’s impossible to get equal value back by trading away an All-star. It also damages your team chemistry, because you cannot replace the production of an all-star with 3-4 players who play fewer minutes and complement but do not lead.
YOU DONT TRADE ALL-STARS! You just don’t. If he wants out, sign-n-trade him next summer when there’s plenty of talented free-agents looking for a secure pay for their future and ending their career.
And finally, it ridiculous to talk about trade at this point, because every decision will be based on how good the team does. If the Raptors win, Bosh stays or the Raptors can attract another major player. If we lose, all bets are off. But I would never forgive BC if he trades CB4 away without giving this group a chance to prove itself.
Don’t you get this ominous feeling that something big is gonna pop soon involving a trade for Bosh with BC saying he had no choice because Bosh wanted to move on after having 6 good years in Toronto? JT is playing Bosh sparingly in the preseason which could be a bad omen … ya think?!
With all the new bodies, Hedo, DeDe and Bargs peaking, how will Bosh be able to get his 24 and 10 to make him look good for the max money bidding war?
With JT’s new ball movement offense, Bosh won’t be able to just hold the ball for 10 seconds trying to go one-on-one any more … he’ll have to give up the ball quickly and bust his butt rebounding. Not an ideal situation for Bosh getting a max money contract .. so obvious.