With 7 of the next 8 games on the road against the West, it was mucho important the Raptors get this one against the Pistons. A Pistons team that grounded out a huge win the night before against the Magic. A Pistons team who was missing Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. A Pistons team who we haven’t beat since March 2008. For the third game in a row, the Raptors came in with the cards stacked in their favour, but unlike the Magic and Grizzlies games, they were able to win. Hard to imagine that a game where the you put up 110 points could be ugly, but this bad boy had its moments.
You knew the Pistons were going to make a run to start the game. There only chance to steal this one was to come in guns blazing. Ben Gordon scored every time he wanted. DeRozan had his first real taste of what guarding an elite-level (Gordon scores like an elite SG, overall he isn’t) SG means. Ben dropped 12pts in the first 10 minutes of the 1st quarter all through the Raptors poor defense of the high pick-n-roll. Every-time he came off that screen, he had an equally good option to shoot or drive, and for fun, he mixed it up, keeping the Raptors on their toes. In one-on-one situations, he would blow by whoever had the misfortune of covering him. Everyone was bracing themselves for a 50pt night from Gordon; we even threw Belinelli at him and finally Antoine Wright checked in at the 2:40 mark of the 1st. The result: Gordon goes scoreless for the next 6 minutes. Amazing Triano didn’t bring Wright in earlier, but this was the first in a line of a few mistakes made during the course of the night.
On the offensive end, things weren’t much better. The Raptors looked out of sync, dropping passes and missing open shots. Turkoglu was the lone saving grace for much of the first. He was only person *cough* Jose *cough* creating scoring opportunities by attacking the paint, drawing the double and kicking out to an open jump shooter. Sadly, DeRozan and Calderon missed wide open shots, but he did find Bosh under the basket for a dunk. Calderon didn’t seem to be in the game. In fact, this was one of the worst games I have ever watched him play, including his rookie year. He didn’t create any opportunities for anyone, played horrible defense and had he not hit those two jumpers late (one a three), he would have incited a riot at the ACC.
The tide didn’t start to change until Jack entered the game with Wright at the 2:40 mark of the 1st. Where the Raptors were lethargic and sloppy, Jack came in and pushed the tempo. Stepping up to the challenge of stopping Stuckey/Bynum, and breathing life into the Raptors. Last night was a clear example as why the Raptors CAN’T start Jack: they need him coming off the bench breathing fire.
From the moment Jack, Wright and Belinelli stepped into the game, the Raptors went on a 24-8 run. Oakley even praised them saying how tough these guys are. On a side note, and I’m just putting this out there, but I wish Oakley stayed the night commentating. He talks, I listen, it’s simple, but I digress…These cats pushed the tempo, attacked the basket, hit their shots, and moved the ball around. Our boys got back into the game by attacking the basket. It’s simplistic to say so, but from the moment Jack got into the game, he took it to the rack and either finished, or found an open shooter for a great look. He even provided a highlight reel where he split he double team at the 3-point line, headed to the basket, and tossed a no-look-over-the-shoulder-pass to a cutting Bargnani for the dunk. Raptors head into the half up 68-56.
The 3rd quarter was tough to stomach. With Jack and Wright on the bench, the pace went back to brutal. Bosh carried the Raptors with his active play around the basket. Our boy grabbed a couple rebounds, but in a display of his maturity, attacked the basket and drew fouls instead of popping jumpers from 17ft. In a 7 min span from the last minute of the 1st quarter, he went to the line 10 times, and kept the Raptors in front. But the 3rd quarter belonged to Stuckey. Like a man possessed, he carried this team to within 8pts by the end of quarter by attacking. Three times, he split the double team at the 3-point and strolled in for the layup, once for an And-1. In three straight possessions, Stuckey dropped 7 points. Had it not been for Wright missing two free throws in the last 30 seconds of the quarter, the Raptors would have went into the 4th up 10.
The Pistons came out like gangbusters to start the 4th, going on a 15-5 run to take a 91-90 lead. At this point, I had the gun to my head and murmuring to anyone who would listen to me on twitter. Then Bosh fouled Maxiell, and put him on the line where he promptly missed both free throws, which would have been daggers. On the next possession, Bosh draws the double and kicks out to an open Calderon for a three. Bargnani scores the next 6 pts, and the Piston disappeared like a fart in the wind. It was more tense then that, but the important thing was that the Raptors were able to pull out a win after a total collapse.
The Four Factors to Winning
Shooting the Ball
The Raptors shot the ball well, but not great. You can attribute this to all the missed three point attempts – 16.
Raptors – 48.6%
Pistons – 49.3%
Taking Care of the Ball When you only turn the ball over 6 times in 92 possessions, good things will happen. Calderon and Jack protected the ball beautifully only turning it over once each.
Raptors – 6.5%
Pistons – 11.9%
Offensive Rebounding The Raptors grabbed 29.1% of all available offensive rebounds, giving them an extra 14 possessions.
Raptors – 29.1%
Pistons – 26.1%
Getting to the Free Throw Line The Raptors got to the free throw 47 times, converting 36. This is what won them the game.
Raptors – 61.8%
Pistons – 30.1%
Player Impact
Bargnani and Bosh led the charge, it’s tight, but Bargnani gets the edge.
149 Raps
I wonder what BC thought of Oak’s comments. Sounded to me like he was even holding back, a bit.
And did anyone notice Amir high fiving some of the Pistons after he got fouled, at some point early in the game? It was soo funny. Must have been odd playing last night, for him.
lol i haven’t seen the game but that’s funny!
Fairly interesting column, but, learn to spell..grinded! try ground. Through for threw! As a writer, you have a responsibility to the language.
I just finished reading the second paragraph and noticed three mistakes: “there”, “through” and “coarse” forcing me to comment. Glad to see others are on grammar/spelling patrol as well.
It’s a sports blog! Relax already on the shpelleng mishtakes :)
there will be lots of mistakes, get used to it.
Good job Raps Fan – especially the innovative and user friendly “impact chart” that actually provides the reader with useful information. And don’t worry about these spelling nitpickers. Compared to the stuff that “paid” bloggers with inside information like Eric Smith are putting out, the grammar here appears to be Shakespearian.
There are way too many spelling and grammatical mistakes here just to brush them off. “Sadly, DeRozan and Calderon missed wide shots, but he did find Bosh under the basket for a dunk.” Who are you referring to here? If you want to be taken seriously–which I assume you do–you’ve got to work on your writing.
Your handle is Vorkuta?? Like the Russian mining town? That owns.
haha yeah Rapsfan DONT YOU WANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY?!?
Turkoglu was the lone saving grace for much of the first. He was only person *cough* Jose *cough* creating scoring opportunities by attacking the paint, drawing the double and kicking out to an open jump shooter. Sadly, DeRozan and Calderon missed wide open shots, but he did find Bosh under the basket for a dunk.
how do you not understand that
hes clearly talking about turk dumbass
That’s not the way to respond. This is a very good site and I enjoy reading the articles posted, but you cannot be making grade school errors and be taken seriously. I understand that the mistakes noted are not something that spellcheck highlights. But two people commented on it, and you should remedy the situation. If you are making lazy grammar/spelling mistakes, you are likely making the same type of mistakes in your statistical analysis, which ultimately makes you a less reliable source.
holy fuck, ok, everyone relax. i’ll work on it.
Yeah, shit, RapsFan. How do you even brush your teeth in the morning, you useless tool? Rather than learn to spell, you might as well pull the trigger of your gun. Such are the collective sentiments of Raptor-Republicans everywhere.
Instead of working on it, you should hire me as a consultant. Not only are my reading skills at a grade 11 level, I am a masterful cookie maker and with the aid of a calculator I can convert miles into kilometres. My other skills include, but are not limited to: all things magical, pirates/ninjas, unicorn removal, masturbatory techniques, sword wielding, colouring within the lines, and tetris. Clearly you need these skills on your team. All I ask is for the occasional high five and a can of Arizona Iced Tea preferably served in a glass.
rap ‘o the day.
HAHAH definately ROTD
hahahahahaha. great!
Get the stats updated on the statistics tab first, then go and worry about your english. How does this not bother anyone else?
Seriously…you guys ever read the Dino Nation Blog…now that is a site full of spelling and grammatical errors…every single article i read over there i cannot understand what is trying to be said with at least one sentence/paragraph…here the odd spelling isnt bad, at least grammatically you knew what was trying to be said
Yeah, but in all honesty, he (Borbath) rarely has useful analysis either, so the above comparison remains apt.
Actually, I used to find his site ok, but honestly I was driven away by the impossibility of reading his wall-of-grammatically-incorrect-and-incorrectly-spelled-text.
Ironically enough, it was Borbath’s site that linked to here and I have never looked back
Dino Nation Blog is terrible. Sorry Borbath, but your writing is at an grade eight level; strictly observational writing full of syntax and spelling errors.
Dormant reader here but this got me to break my silence. Not the way to respond to constructive criticism. It’s call proofreading, have a go at it. If you can’t do it, tell Arsenalist to get off his lazy ass and do the job.
And tell him his Gunners side is full of shit.
For what it is worth.
My first wife had an IQ of 180, Mensa level and went on to become a teacher and very successuful clothing designer, but she could never spell worth sheet.
Spelling and Grammer have very little to do with the ability to observe the world and come to proper rational conclusions about what has or is happening.
did she write a blog?
I’d add to Yertu’s comment that if she was sloppy with her designs, she wouldn’t have been a successful clothing designer. Bloggers have analysis and words; they are their tools. A sloppy finished product is going to create a bad impression on a majority of readers.
IQ testing is based on knowledge on pre-determined topics. Grammar is an ever-changing definition of what is correct and/or acceptable in a particular language. Given the changes to the english language since the integration of the internet and other abbreviated electronic communications in western culture it would not be surprising to see a statement like the one below accepted as correct and acceptable.
“Would y’all please STFU about your lame-ass attempts at being a GRADE 4 GRAMMAR TEACHER and go get fucking laid or something?!?”
In closing I would like to thank you all for your consideration and debate.
Sounds like your first wife may have had a learning disability–was she ever tested? I once knew a university student who was incredibly smart but his brain couldn’t process the written word. He listened to books “on tape” and did all of his exams orally. (But noone would have advised him to become a writer for a living.)
Proofreading your own stuff is tough to do. Often, you will end up seeing what you meant instead of seeing what you’ve actually written.
It’s human nature, but we make value judgments and many grammar errors or incorrect words reflect poorly on a site. FWIW, I find RR to be reasonable for what it is, but striving to be better is a good thing.
Proofread your own comments if you’re going to tell other people to.
It’s *called proofreading. :)
worrying over Spelling/Grammar mistakes on a sports blog is ridiculous. Especially when they are minor.
Get over it and find something more productive to do with your time.
When someone doesn’t know the difference between “through” and “threw”, thats not a minor detail. This is something a child in elementary school should know. I don’t understand how it being only “a sports blog” is an excuse. That is a cop out.
People make mistakes… its part of being human. I’m sure he knows the difference between ‘through and threw’.
Making assumptions about people is not a minor detail. It has is something uneducated, unthinking, arrogant, narrow minded people do and has resulted in violence, segregation and worse.
By the way.. do you really think “that is a cop out” is proper grammar? Hand that one into you university prof. and see how it goes. Nice work.
“That is a cop out” IS proper grammar. It is a colloquialism–that’s what university professors discourage in formal writing. But there is nothing wrong with the grammar.
so if we are not worried about “formal writing” why the worry over spelling mistakes?
(Response to below.) A blog isn’t formal writing but that doesn’t mean that the writer can just suspend the rules of spelling and grammar. The point of writing is communication. Spelling and grammar mistakes create obstacles to communication. It’s really pretty simple.
“The point of writing is communication”
and his mistakes were so bad that you had an obstacle understanding what he was trying to communicate? Or is it that people were just nit-picking over what is really minor details?
Simple fact is… Raps Fan did make some spelling/grammar mistakes, which we all do, but they were minor and in no way made his post incommunicative.
It’s really pretty simple.
it is important to have proper grammer. having stated that, the lengthly discussion on grammar is more annoying to me as a reader. i come here for lengthly discussions on basket-ball. in my opinion, it is fair to point grammatical incongruities (sp?) for the purpose of postive criticism but having to scroll through lengthy non-basketball related posts is more likely to result in me not reading than spelling/grammar mistakes. I noticed them as well but they didn’t hinder my ability to understand what was being conveyed, and remember that is the point of spelling and grammar; it is supposed to help communicate ideas.
Below are some questions that an elementary school-child is expected to know the answer to:
“What is the capital of Nunavut?”
“Please use Long division to calculate the following: 78 divided by 15. Show full work.”
“What religious figure’s assassination istriggered The Great War?”
“What year was apartheid abolished in South Africa?”
“What type of clouds are whispy and reside below 6000 ft?”
“Define Heteronym.”
If you failed to get these all right without help – your a failure in everything you do and should simply cease to breath out of respect for the advancement of our civilization.
hahaha….i got 1 out of 7….or was that 6??? fuck I cant count either…i am gonna go shot myself now…
*shoot…..ahhh the police are gonna come for me
HEY EVERYONE LET’S CONTINUE TALKING ABOUT THE SPELLING MISTAKES
Holy fuck already…this is a sports blog people. The last 82 threads were about grammar,spelling,punctuation, alliteration, similes, metaphors,conjunctions and who knows what else. I forgot I was supposed to be reading about the Raptors…and now I have a fucking headache.
Damn, I missed two of them.
What year was apartheid abolished and what the hell’s heteronym?
Archduke Ferdinand was not a religious figure
You really need to chill on Jose. He made some great passes that guys simply didn’t convert. His shot is coming around and who the hell cares how many dimes he gets as long as he isn’t pounding the rock playing smitchs halfcourt BS system.
The reffing was horrible. The first time Gordon went to the line he’d actually jumped backward into Bargs. It was the first of many bad calls, but the Detroit NBA bail out didn’t pan out.
just another note on José: Last play of the 2nd q. José gets out on the break after a Detroit TO/JJ steal, seeing that Jack ain’t about to give up the rock despite being in the paint he steps into what should have been a charge on CV (if JC had fallen down it’d of been a whistle) which created an open lane for Jack and took out the only guy capable of blocking the shot. Of course Jack missed the open layup…
Basketball is often a game of “little things” like that. It’s not highlight material but these are the things good players and good teams do well that are often overlooked.
Last thing: Everyone gets burned by guys like Ben Gordon. He’s a mfn’ scoring machine and JC wasn’t guarding him straight up most of the night, he was forcing Stuckey to put it on the floor and not giving him space. I seriously suggest rewatching the game. He wasn’t an $8m guard but he wasn’t garbage either. I mean when he got beat more often than not the guy beating him has a straight line to the cup because the post players are out of position and terrible help defenders. Where’s the criticism of the help? Where’s the help??
I saw that to (only noticed it in the replay), was a real smart play.
Everyone does get burned by Gordon, but not everyone gets burned every single time their man puts the ball on the court. I might be a big rough on Jose, but he hasn’t been playing well. If he’s injured, get out of the way and let Jack and Belinelli run the point. If he isn’t injured, the wtf is going on?
Jose is just luring the opposing teams by sucking the first few games. Have you ever seen the movie Gladiator (the boxing one, not the Roman one)? In the last fight the “Gladiator” pretends that his hand is injured giving his opponent a false sense of security, just when he thinks he is about to win the Gladiator clenches his injured fist and lays the smack down. That’s the tactic Jose is using. Sorry if I spoiled the ending to a movie made in 1992.
A “BIG” ROUGH???? I CAN’T READ THIS SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have to agree… this is twice this year the Raps had to beat both the Refs and the other team (although it wasn’t as atrocious as the Cleveland game).
I have a hard time taking people seriously when they complain about refs being overly shitty because I dont hear anyone ever saying “The refs won us this game” or “the other team had to beat us and the refs tonight” lol
then don’t take me seriously….. I’m assuming you didn’t see the Cleveland game.
And if the refs won us any of those games on a call I would have said it….. unfortunately they didn’t
I agree that there is a case for the discussion from the cleveland game – just pointing out that perspective and the lack of balance in the arguement in general. Atleast one of those late Bargnani blocks should have been a foul – not on Bargs but on the wing defender that bumped the shooter off-balance…
Now that mentioned “bail out”
Last nights game was just another example of how the world works.
When those in charge “bail out” those they deem in need, others not deemed in need suffer and suffer unfairly.
Oak is just like Sam Mitchell, I don’t think todays players can handle honest and aggressive coaches. Look at Stan VanGundy, he’s having a hard time with his players and he’s a good coach.
The Oak has good roots and the words of his branches provide enjoyable shade.
hahahahahaha that was awesome!
Are you kidding me? the Refs totaly bailed this team out down the stretch! And trust me I watched the game..
If we were to replay this game again in Detroit i’m not sure we get all the calls in the second half and I see Detroit beating us with that last run with Bynum, Stuckey and Gordon getting all the calls from the refs when they madly drive into the lane and invite contact.
It’s digusting how the nba officiating dictates so much of the outcome of the game. I know it’s never going to change but it I just games were more fairly called for both teams, making it more honest for everyone involved.
The Raptors did get a lot of calls. But Bosh was really aggressive in the paint, and he’s elite. He deserved them.
A huge reason the raptors won was cause of Boshs/Bargnani’s play on the boards, and all the free throws.
you think bosh would get that many calls from the refs if we play the same game in dtown? interesting..
He goes to the line a lot, so i think he would. maybe not as many, but he gets to the line a great deal.
How many times do you think their guards get to line as well though? While simultaneously getting our top guys into foul trouble like they did orlando? something to consider.
It’s a solid point, and worth a look at.
Gordon got to the line 4.65 times a game last year (and 4.2x for his career) and got to the line 9 times last night (almost double the norm)
Stuckey got to the line 3.7x last year and 3 times last night
Bynum got to the line 2.1x on avg last year and 6 times last night.
Bosh doubled his normal trips to the line last night (20x) – but that was purely of function of “bigs” like Charlie V, Jerebko, Daye, etc not having a chance against him. They are very poor defenders, thus the tendency to have to foul.
Bosh will have a high FT count anytime he plays against mediocre defenders such as the bigs DET put on him last night. Wallace played fine against him, but Bosh is just too quick.
I thought I was the only one to notice…! we never get the calls!!!
I’ve watched the game straight through twice: Once at the game, once on Raps TV. We got calls because The Pistons kept fouling the Raps inside, but every 50/50 call (charge vs block, out of bounds, that time out in the first half when the piston [can't remember who] on the ground didn’t have posession with JJ and HT on the court with him) went against the raps and Ben Wallace was going over Boshs back all night. And for the coup de grace: 2 reviews of Raptors scores and not one against Detroit?
Whats even worse are the weak azz makeup calls. Where are the replacements?
Both teams got a LOT of cheap calls. Look at the tape again – they have almost zero defense with their bigs besides Wallace. They couldn’t handle us inside and thus why they fouled. Detroit’s lineup was a jump shooting team – hence the lack of fouls. Gordon did get bailed out a few times – much like we did.
I agree with RapsFan above.
Yeah you’re probably right, I admit I only see calls through Raps coloured glasses.
I personally remember 2-3 blocking calls there were horribly wrong (against the Raps). On one of them, Jack was planted at his spot for literally 5 slow-motion seconds (not sure how many that is, but it looked like an eternity on replay), before being run-over.
Like DeRozan, Love Calderon, but I think we win more ball games if we start Jack and Wright.. Jack also seems to have a great chemistry with Bargs and Turk..
The problem with starting Jack is that Calderon doesn’t spit the same kind of fire off the bench. I don’t mind starting Wright, but I think DeRozan is doing a pretty good job. I wouldn’t want to shatter his confidence at this stage.
This is straight up baloney. I watched Calderon play off the bench for nearly 2 full seasons, and he came in and provided a HUGE spark repeatedly.
+1
+2
If he is playing this poorly with the starters, imagine what he will do with the bench, who aren’t as capable as Bosh/Bargnani/Turkoglu. That 47 win team was a better/deeper team then this one. The 41 win team, he started for most of the 2nd half of the year.
As far as what I said, Jack is more of a defensive/attacking point guard off the bench, which is what the second unit needs. There aren’t any pick-n-roll guys on the bench. Jack takes it to the rack, and either finishes, kicks it out, or hands if off to Johnson. Calderon isn’t that type of point guard.
Turkoglu will be in the game if you want to run pick and roll, and by the way, we do, and is a better initiator on the Pick N Roll anyway.
So if Jack is a better starter, and turkoglu is a better creator off the pick-n-roll, then why not trade calderon for a wing who can create and defend, like we so desperately need?
I agree he is better off the PnR.
I’d have no issue at all trading Calderon for a 2 that can play both ways. On the other hand, its early to be christening Jack as your starting PG.
I called BS on the “Calderon can’t play off the bench” comment, not the idea that Calderon isn’t a legit starting PG. On the other hand, if he isn’t right, play him into shape 10-25 minutes a night as a backup until he is right. Turkoglu and Jack appear capable of holding the fort while that happens. If it turns out we do prefer Jack long term as starting PG, by all means, trade Calderon for a 2 that can D up, and score.
Can’t blame this on the refs, a lot of calls went both ways.
Jack and Wright killed it – agree with everythings Raps fan said above. I’m not surprised at all to see Jack was +17 last night.
Calderon looked horrible last night – no excuses at all. The raps were much better all night when he was on the bench.
The Pistons could have really used 80 minutes from Tay and Rip. When they went to their bench in the second (normally Gorden and Bynum would be fresh at this point), they got absolutely killed. I don’t think Gordon sat after mid-way through the second Q – Detroit had absolutely no replacements for him.
Detroit’s best line-up was Bynum (5′10), Gorden (6′3), Stuckey (6′5), Maxiele (6′6) and Austin Daye (180 lbs).
Most highschool teams are bigger than this. I’m shocked barny only posted up on Daye once all night down the stretch (which he turned around and got to the rim with ease). There is no way the Raptors should have let Detroit get away with that line-up at all.
Having Bynum, Gordon and Stuckey on the same line is killer. Had Rip/Tay been healthy, I don’t think the Raptors would have had this one.
But the Magic did….. This is why sometimes you can’t make sense of the NBA…. Add to that Calderon’s #’s in 4 game are pathetic and will improve and we have not seen a fully integrated Hedo yet….
Face it we are okay @ 2-2 and could easily be 4-0 or 0-4, which is why games are played….
Hey Raps Fan, you should employ a proof reader. Atrocious. Very hard to read when you make the simplest of mistakes.
you want the job?
Die in a fire, RapsFan, for making mistakes. We do not appreciate your beautiful impact chart. All the good parts of your article are neutralized by your occasional omission of an apostrophe. Quit from all your life responsibilities, to be replaced by infinitely more capable random people from the comments section.
whats the pay? I have free time 8 hours a day whilst at work
same pay we get, zero and some criticism.
Still dude, p-r-o-o-f-r-e-a-d.
I’ve been a longtime dormant reader but surprisingly this is what gets me to comment…Yes there’s a lot of mistakes on this particular post but most of RapsFans’ posts are pretty good in terms of spelling and grammar. Besides, you can still understand what he’s trying to say. To me, what he’s saying is more important than how he says it (or spells it).
Like what Oakley said though – today’s players don’t take criticism well. RapsFan, you can do a better job listening to what some of your readers say. Don’t take it personally.
I’ve have heard and we are bringing in a proof-reader. And by we, I mean me.
Not one to make a big deal of grammar, but this sentence is funny irony. Sorry Raps Fan.
I have the perfect proof reader for you, he’s called F7 and he’s awesome
“this was the first in a line of a few mistakes made during the coarse of the night.”
I can’t decide if coarse/course is ironic or poetic.
I almost ran over Leo Routins on my way to work this morning.
He was walking 2 dogs and carrying one (someone has him whipped) at 6:30 AM on Queens Quay.
Jaywalking bum.
Rap of the Day. Thanks for the laugh.
you shouldn’t have stopped…. if it happens again I’ll cover bail
LOL! Take one for the team!
hahah
“Last night was a clear example as why the Raptors CAN’T start Jack: they need him coming off the bench breathing fire.”
The big point of this part is that the amplification of the “Calderon you are not doing your job well” message will be amplified loudly to Jose when he sits down. Jose is not stupid to “TJ Ford” his way out of a team, so I can trust Jose to get the messages across his head. Who cares what the ACC crowd reaction will be when the switches are made, as long as Triano and the point guards have the stomach to make adjustments to WIN ballgames, no matter the drama.
I wouldn’t be suprised if Jose is willing to take a 6th man role without issue (if it becomes necessary). He did it in a contract year with TJ. He is a team player… if the team benifits from it I doubt its an issue. He has never struck me as a ‘needs minutes/stats’ kind of guy.
But I don’t think sitting Jose will “send a message”. That usually implies a lack of effort. Jose hasn’t played well… but its not because he hasn’t been trying. He is just off right now…. if it lasts then maybe a bench role would suit him.
But more than anything its a matter of time. Every player hits slumps… can only hope this is a short one.
Me neither, I don’t think he’s that type of guy at all. But what would it say of Colangelo? Paying 8M for a backup PG doesn’t sound like a good transaction at all, I can already feel the heat coming at him if Triano decides to bring Jose off the bench. Triano’s first and foremost “BC’s guy” and if anybody here thinks Colangelo doesn’t have a say in who gets to play, they’re mistaken.
I don’t necessarily it say much about BC. If it makes the team better it says alot more about Jose, Jack and Triano than anyone else.
But I agree, whether that is ‘allowed’ or not is a different story.
It’s a no-lose situation for BCo actually, because Jack and Calderon are BCo acquisitions and so is Triano. If Jack starts then and Calderon backs up and we are “successful”, not that I am implying or rooting for this to happen at all, it makes Triano look good, and then we all say “oh oh, Triano controls this situation at PG sooo well!”. The only reeeeally bad thing that can happen is if Jose’s performance dips down so awfully dramatically! Just hoping in the long run that Jose can find an “optimal” physical condition in his body (unless injury) so he can keep up with decent 2-guards.
technically calderon is a babcock acquisition
Lets be real when we talk about Jack taking Calderon’s Job and starting.
Yes he had 4 ast/9pts in the 1st/2nd 44 pts perfect storm with Wright and Andrea, etc. and jump started the team. That’s his job, why he got the big salary from BC.
He also did not score in the 2nd half, with only 2 ast’s, and was in charge at the beginning of the 4th when Rap’s blew the lead.
After the timeout when Jose, Bosh and the Turk came in for the last 5/6 mins to join Jack and Andrea the Rap’s went 17-6 to finish going away.
Neither Jose @ FG 37% or Jack 34%, are scoring yet like they have in the past, but the playmaking (6ast vs Det) and scoring of the Turk is compensating for now, until they get their games in shape.
Much too soon to throw Jose under the bus. You all have him under a microscope. PG beat other PG’s off the dribble the majority of the time.
Hey, we’re all scientists here, we all got microscopes…LOL. Jose just needs to be more aggressive with what he does best at when this season comes along. Pending on the coaching and the practices. Evans and Weems are a welcome sight as well if they can come back soon off the IR.
Talking about Calderon getting killed for his defense.
Who was Calderon guarding ? Stuckey who shot 5/18 with 1 layup and 4 jump shots and is a PG as he is.
Not Gordon who is a SG who scores on anyone who guards him, although Wright, who is a defender by definition, was able to slow him down.
I see Calderon doing a decent job on Stuckey in the TEAM defense.
Who was Jack guarding, the back-up PG Bynum who shot 5/11 for 16 pts.
I don’t see any big improvement there in the TEAM defense.
In the 3rd quarter before the “run”, Calderon actually started playing D on Stuckey a bit better, but his command in offense really took a dive and brought the others down.
When Evans returns I would start him along for more toughness and rebounding along with
1. DeRozan
2. Bosh
3. Calderon
4. Turkoglu
This would also give DeRozan a better chance to grow his offense.
2nd Unit
——–
Wright
Jack
Belinelli
Bargnani
Nesterovic or Johnson
I do not understand people’s fascination with altering the starting line-up. Although TSN2 has screwed me out of two games, Triano is doing a good job managing minutes while trying to create some chemistry between the players. As soon as Evans was acquired I assumed that he would be the primary big off the bench. In other words, he would see all of the minutes that Bargnani and Bosh did not play, around 16-22 mpg. That means a tight three man rotation. Everybody loves them some Rasho, but he was brought in as insurance and because he wanted to return to Toronto. Although Amir has the “potential” he is in the last year of his contract and will likely go somewhere else in the off-season. I cannot see BC resigning another big to a multi-year deal when only spot minutes are available. Unfortunately Evans is injured and the original gameplan had to be altered, but Evans is the perfect sidekick to Bosh and Bargnani. Evans is a rebounding machine who can set some screens and does not need a lot of minutes or touches. In the two games I saw Bosh sat down at around the 6-7 minute mark of the 1st quarter, that would be when Evans would enter the game and play beside Bargs, then Bargs gets substituted with Bosh and also plays beside Evans. The only time this won’t happen is when playing against a team with a big center off the bench, when it would make more sense to bring in Rasho.
Send our number 1 overall pick, budding all-star centre to the bench? Keep your day job
Budding all star?? LOL I doubt the coach for the Eastern Confernence is going to take a 7 foot three point shooter. but maybe he can try his hand in the three point contest.
Bargs is not simply a 7 foot shooter; he’s starting to rebound, working on post moves, and he has a good understanding of the game. In addition, I say that he’s showing a little bit of fire in his attitude, as well. If defences continue to (mistakenly) leave him open from 3, I’m happy to watch him take those shots all night.
Serious professionals and players alike repeatedly state that a big man takes longer to mature and to fit in today’s NBA … only impatient and ill-informed blog readers would give up on him at this point.
Off the bench? Not bloody likely … what if Jay is the East’s all-star coach?
Assuming Howard gets the fan votes, which other eastern conference centre is going to get the nod?
It will probably be Shaq, but that is a legacy admission, not based on how he actually plays. Whereas i’m confident Bargnani will have the more legitimate argument based on performance.
Brook Lopez is probably the second best centre in the East right now. I’d hate to think a coach would pick Shaq “just because”, especially with players like Bargs, Lopez, and Noah out performing his old ass.
Unfortunately this happens all the time. More so with the fan vote (i.e. how the fuck has Iverson been an all-star for the last 5 years), but all-star weekend is about promoting the league as a whole, and the NBA like to have its big stars/personalities on display. Remember the controversy when VC got voted in as a starter, but there was huge pressure for him to give up his spot to an over-the-hill 3 times retired Jordan? Vince was definitely out performing Jordan at that point in time, but thats not what counts in all star games.
Check Lopez’ numbers: 16 PPG, 7.2 RPG.
Bargnani’s numbers: 22 PPG, 6.8 RPG.
If anything, the only two guys that would be getting that spot over Bargnani would be:
Horford: 12.4 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 2.6 BLK
D. Lee: 19.2 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 0.8 BLK
Lee is playing for D’Antoni, meaning his numbers are inflated. I haven’t watched any Knicks games this year, but since D’Antoni likes to play small-ball, I imagine Lee is often the biggest guy on the floor for the Knics (so he doesn’t have a guy like Bosh to compete for rebounds with).
I will say this: if Bargs is averaging over 7 RPG by the All-Star break, book his ticket. He is the most versatile and, once Blake Griffin is back to shoulder some of the scoring load away from Kaman, the highest scoring center in the league. His rebounding and block numbers just need to be solid for him to win the votes, IMO.
Hey dude, who do you think leads All centers in scoring…that’s right, Bargnani. Not that this matters, but it does give some insight to his numbers so far, he is ranked 6th in Fantasy Leagues ahead of Kobe and Lebron. So laugh all you want because you sure as hell don’t know what your talking. And what does a ” 7 foot three point shooter” have anything to do with not getting picked for the All-Star game???
I’m only speaking of Bargnani’s skill set. His only shot this year at going to all star weekend will be as a contestant in the three point contest. His two best games against a small front court, and a old slow footed Shaq on a back to back. I agree with Oakley’s comments during the game. 4’s and 5’s should be playing there position. it’s fun to mix it up with a couple of three’s. but keep giving my the blocks and rebounds.
Bargs had 12 boards and 2 blocks, despite his 8 of 16 shooting night, which included 2 threes.
He averaged 1.24 blocks per game last year, a stat that is not low, as Centers go, so I am not sure where you are going with this.
If Bargnani plays average defense, average team defense, and continues to score 22+ points per game, thats All-Star Center, right there. Thats if he just gets to average for defense.
+1
Furthermore, just because he is an excellent 3 point shooter, you can label him a one trick pony anymore. These are your old prejudices showing that are no longer relevant. He is the teams best three point shooter, that just happens to be 7 feet tall (for the record he is currently shooting over 50%). Its not like he is Danilo jacking up 16 3-PT attempts in a game. Remember when Dirk came into the league, people tried to use this knock against him too. Now his bread and butter is the elbow post-up fade, he still shoots 3s but apparently people “have gotten over it.” I think winning a MVP award tends to do that. I suspect it will take nothing less from Andrea to appease you hardliners
You obviously have limited knowledge of Basketball if you think he’s just a jump shooter.
Fucking Amen
I watched Calderon last night on every play and he played defence like the majority of NBA point guards – average. While he struggled at times, there were stretches where he did a good job keeping his opponent in front of him. Where I worry is at the offensive end, where Jose is being asked to reinvent himself. The sooner he does, the better he will be at both ends of the court.
I was at the game and I was impressed with Jose’s D pretty much all night long. I saw a hell of a lot more hustle and energy than in the past three games and all of preseason. He’s still got a ways to go, but it’s a step in the right direction.
The Calderon situation is reminding me of what happened to Andrei Kirilenko in Utah. Sure, completely different players, but look at the similarities: Kirilenko was an up-and-coming star, then saw his team bring in a new core (Williams and Boozer), relegating him to a smaller role. He never adjusted and has since lost a ton of value as a player. It looks like that’s happening to Calderon. Without his offensive production, his weaknesses (mainly, his D) are being exposed considerably more. Can he adjust? I hope so, but he didn’t exactly adjust smoothly to all the changes that were made throughout the course of last season.
Calderon can’t adjust ?????
Last year, while bothered by hamstring injury’s for the 2nd half of the season, and a change in offensive method from twin towers, with O’Neil to a fast tempo with Marion he only had career highs in assists, points, and an NBA record in free throws, while fiishing the last 22 games running with Marion with 9.9 ast per game.
Now he is being asked to change again to adjust to the Turk as the playmaker, change his game to play off the ball as a shooter, and give the ball to Turkoglu to make the play. The running game with Marion and Parker is not there now as DeRozan and Turkoglu present different options. Bound to be some adjusments and impact on reducing his assists, and increasing the Turk’s.
Yeah, Calderon fell well short of my expectations last year after some of the flashes he showed filling in for Ford. He had career-highs but they came in increased minutes. He didn’t exactly step up into the bigger role I expected him to assume. But that’s just my opinion…my expectations were sky-high after some of the things he did in ‘07-08.
THE KEYWORD “FILLING IN”. SINCE MAKING HIM A FULL TIME STARTER, IT’S JUST BEEN DISAPPOINTING TO SEE HIM AGAINST TOP TIER PG’S. LET’S TRY HIM OFF THE BENCH AGAIN, HE’S TOO SLOW TO ATTACK THE MAJORITY STARTING PG’S IN THE LEAGUE. WE NEED TOUGHNESS, AND SIZE. JACK YOUR UP NEXT
Last year against Derrick Rose and the Bulls, Jose went for 22 pts, 19 ast, 8-11 fg, 2-3 3pt, 4-4ft and 3 steals…against one of the top tier point guards in the league…you’re right, he is way to SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW to be starting.
Speaking of Calderon and his sluggish start…Rose stats this season are as follows: 11.8 pts,4.8 ast,3.5rbs,40.4% fg, 0% 3pt,64.3% ft.
last season : 16.8 pts,6.3 ast,3.9rbs,47.5% fg,22.2% 3pt,78.8% ft.
So beleive it or not folks, there are other players in the league that have had slow starts but I wouldn’t want some of these Rap fans with tunnel vision to know that.
Its been like 5 games. However Jose’s D has always been bad.
a promising sign we saw this starting year is that I see Jose go for layups more in 2 games this year than what I saw in 20 games last year.
Because of his hamstring injury, Jose was relegated to taking jump shots.
http://www.torontosun.com/sports/basketball/2009/09/26/11128351-sun.html
Everyone here will be doing the “Jose Ole Ole Ole” chant soon enough. Give it time. Patience.
Did nobody see this coming? Calderon always looked fabulous on a team with no other nba playmakers – It was inevitable his star would fade with the addition of 2 or 3 legit passers… not every bucket is going to be scored from a direct pass from him. He just has to get back to shooting 40% from three and play smarter both ways without the ball.
Hallelujah, Josh … Jose is trying to make his team better, not pad his stats. His defence, offense and all-around play is nowhere near as poor as is stated here. We haven’t seen his best yet…
i think it is too early to throw jose under the bus or on the bench, but i am a bit pissed about his performance thus far, didn’t he not play basket-ball this summer so that he could be at his best for the start of the season? i think it was the orlando game and leo said something to the effect that he is so shitty because he didn’t play int’l ball this summer(of coarse leo probably said rusty instead of shitty) which made me wish i was still in fan590 range so that i could mute tv commentary and listen to the radio (even though it isn’t in sync it’s still better than leo and devlin) anyway, i’m a huge jose fan, but he’s waaay off and i don’t know why. i hope he gets it together.
ps. question: who pays leo and how much does he make?
answer: an idiot and too much
He didn’t play all summer (5 months) at the request of management because they wanted his hamstring to heal properly.
Hi,
This speaks of how much I am dependent on this site: when this Thursday morning I loaded up RR, and there was no write-up of the game from previous night (I live in Europe, so it was like 3am ET) I was all pissed, like wtf’s going on etc.
Anyway, really interesting content, people, site. I like how you guys keep bringing on new people, let them write, do podcasts, and I really enjoy prompt game recaps (especially by arsenalist). I also like the “rich community” around the site, commentators and all the links you guys provide.
So thanks to all of you.
If you are not sleeping already (it is pass midnight in most of Europe at this time ) , you are wrong to say that there was no article on the Wednsday game at 3am ET on thursday . Arse RR ratings post appeared around 11 pm ET on Wednsday night.
I wanted the full game recap :) But yeah, a small dose of fix did exist.
Everybody needs to calm down with the Jose bashing. Seriously, there is no point guard in the league that lock down any other point guard. Look at last years playoffs, Derrick Rose killed Rondo and the Celtics (the best defensive team in the league). In the same way Rondo killed Derrick Rose. Its the NBA, nobody can guard anybody one on one, the players are too fast and far too athletic.
The only thing Jose can do is play within the system and funnel his man towards the help defense. Unfortunately, the Raptors haven’t got their rotations down pat yet, and they’re getting beat because their big’s don’t help defend very well. Teams like Boston, LA, and Orlando have good interior defense to help out when their point guards get beat. Toronto doesn’t have that presence and that’s why everyone thinks Jose can’t guard a pylon.
Along the lines of trading Calderon for a wing defender/creator:
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yf2ulzt
That would mean the Raps could start DeRozan (future all-star) and Martin, giving them a huge backcourt, and putting the ball in Turkoglu’s hands.
The bench rotation would remain the same. This would give the Raps a matchup issue almost every night with the bad guys having to use a 6-foot guard to defend either DeRozan or Martin.
Sac can probably get a better deal elsewhere, and who knows if Colangelo wants to do something like this, but it’s always a possibility.
“I love to come off of the bench. I think that role suits me more and I think it’s also more beneficial for the team,” Jack said. “I think we have more than enough firepower in our first five. Jose, Hedo, Chris, and the way Andrea is playing, good gracious.”
Calm the fuck down everybody!