The Raptors are in a the middle of a dire 5 game losing streak and things are approaching crisis level. Effort on the defensive end has been garbage (any defense that has been played is incidental/accidental). They aren’t doing anything that speaks of any desire to win. Sure, we can score, but when most of your guys need the ball to be effective, and the coach can’t find the right recipe, things go from bad to worse. Welcome to the 2nd team in a row that Colangelo has sold to this city, yay for us.
So that Hawks game was killer. I regret not being able to muster anything after that one, but I had nothing. Literally sat in front of my computer and stared at my screen saver then gave up. What could I say? That effort shouldn’t have to be asked for? That being a professional athlete means you are being payed to compete at a high level every single time you step on the floor? That you can’t make excuses when you have actually gone through a training camp? That when you look at yourself in the mirror, you need to be proud of the guy staring back at you? That when you get backed into a corner, you should scratch/kick/claw your way out and not crouch into the fetal position and hope it stops burning?
Triano needs to figure out a formula that works. If that means putting the ball in Hedo’s hands, so be it. If that means cursing out Bargnani till he cries, do it. If that means bringing Calderon off the bench, jam on. Maybe we sit DeRozan. Maybe we start Amir. At this point, everything is an option since the current plan doesn’t work.
Tonight the Raptors head into Washington to play the Wizards for the second time in three games. The last time these guys played, the Raptors suffered a 4th quarter collapse that ultimately was lost on three very bad decisions by Jack. Sure he had a great game, but he Ben Gordoned us (he shot the team into a hole, then tried to shoot us out).
The Match-up
The Point: Calderon/Jack need to attack Arenas constantly and aggressively. The guy is a poor defender who seemingly doesn’t have the foot speed he used to have. Jose started the last game 5-6 from the field, but then the ball was taken out of his hands for most of the rest of the game – can’t have that again. If the guy is hot, keeping feeding him, makes sense, no? Jack needs to do more driving and less shooting. It’s not like he’s shooting that well, 42% from the field isn’t stellar. Last game, Arenas was able to work himself into the game, after a slow start. Can’t let that happen either. Intensity and focus on the guy. He was scoring 29 a game and calling 40 point outbursts just a couple seasons ago.
The Skill: DeRozan and Young were not a factor in the last game at all. In fact, none of the 2-guards on either side contributed much of anything, not that they needed too. It would be good to see DeRozan follow up a career game against Atlanta with a solid performance tonight, same with Belinelli who was playing terribly until dropping 19 on the Hawks. These guys should really have no problem taking it to Young/Foye.
The Wing: Had Turkoglu not shot so poorly the last game, things may have been different. He got good looks on Butler, just couldn’t knock them down. This was an even match-up for most of the game with neither player really going off. As long as Butler is under control (I considered 19pts 7rebs under control), then I’m happy. Just shoot better ok? Antoine Wright as we came to learn yesterday has the worst PER in the league (3.1). Morris Peterson is 2nd worse, but 60% better. This should tell us all something in regards to what kind of shots he should be taking – none.
The Big: Bosh showed up for the 2nd quarter, and took the rest of the game off against the Wizzers. Still, he had 22pts 14rebs, but when you go 7-22 from the field, you aren’t helping anyone. After scoring 2 on Wednesday against the Hawks (yes, I said 2), you know he will be fierce from the tip. That fire needs to be directed at Jamison who played like he always does against the Ratpors: really freaking good – 30pts 12rebs. Granted, some of that was against Bargnani, but the majority of it came against our franchise. Jamison needs to be kept under control, not sure how, but that’s not my job, it’s Triano’s…oh wait… Amir gets spot duty, and I really have nothing to say but that I hope he gets more minutes, and keeps doing what he has done so far this season.
The Strong: I really-really hate Brendan Haywood. The guy has owned us for years, and always puts up huge numbers: 15pts 9rebs 3blks last game. For a guy who has a limited offensive arsenal, I wonder why Bargnani doesn’t do a better job of staying between him and the rim? That’s all he needs to do. Seriously, if he can box out, and put his arms up when Haywood is going up strong, good things will happen since most of the damage Haywood inflicts was on the offensive boards (he had 7 offensive rebounds last game, and probably 7 dunks/layups right afterwards). I shudder to think what Haywood would have done had Bargs not grabbed 7 defensive boards of his own. All Bargnani should be doing is standing between Haywood with an elbow in his chest, at all times. Do it.
Injuries
Raptors
Reggie Evans
Wizards
Mike Miller
Javaris Crittenton
The Line
The Wizards are 4 point favourites with an over/under of 216.
Simulation
Visser’s sims are 14-6 this year and this time the crystal ball is predicting a 105-102 Raptors loss.
Prediction
My goodness am I defeated. I’d like to say a Raptor win, but I can’t. I don’t see how one day, and some tape-watching is going to help anything. This team needs to be read the riot act. 103-94 Wizards.
Come swing by the RR Forums and check out our game thread. You want Twitter? Live Chat? ESPN Daily Dime (will post link as soon as it goes up)? We got you son!
Also, if you’re local a 416/905er, come hang in person with us tonight at the Sports Centre Cafe for Raptor Fans Friday.
100 Raps
I can’t believe Brendan Haywood is considered unstoppable when he plays us. Says a lot about the toughness of our frontline.
Do ya think there’s a 150 point game somewhere in the schedule… ???
speaks well to the meet & greet in Colangelo’s first year when he said “rebounding is not a concern if we score the ball”.
That will always stay with me for as long as he is here…and we all know his teams are a reflection of that statement.
I honestly think if I heard him say that I would have challenged him to substantiate it.
Cut salaries in half if they don’t play defense !!!!
Sounds a bit foolish, maybe he meant, that if you get the ball in the hoop, there is no rebound.
…than again, that above statement is just as foolish as no one should be expected to hit 100% of their shots.
I was there, so I know the context in which he said it. It was the second to last nail in the coffin for me cancelling my seasons tickets.
What was the last nail that did it for you? ;)
HO?
All we can wish for to-night is that they play a sound game and the scoring stay very close , in the low one hundred . An improvement on the offensive side would be to feed the HOT HAND who plays at the periphery (Jose , Hedo ,or Andrea ) continuously to keep streching out their defense and facilitate Bosh and Amir work on the inside . Possible defensive improvements is a little bit much to ask but 6-7 rebounds by Andrea is a must ( I hope his shyness in rebounding in the last game is not hiding a slight injury because he was rebounding good in the few games before that).
I don’t want to see any quitting. We quit at half time last game, that is not very professional, NBA player or coach.
The fans paid their money, they deserve to see hustle even if their team is down 20 pts, I know we are away today, but there are still fans out there that made a substantial investment in this team and are holding on to tickets that no longer feel like a sound investment.
Well … the starters got well rested in Atlanta so they should be ready for Washington .. ya think ??!!!
Andrea needs to realize that he can use his arms for more than just shooting. :(
geez, check out mr. high expectations.
We take what we can get at this point.
He’s overheight and scared to hit the ground. That’s why he shoots the ball right after touching it. Mickey mouse!
You play defense with yer feet and yer brains … unfortunately the farther the feet are from the brains the defense gets worse ….
When you compare the raptors and the suns, is there that great a difference in defensive ability?
nash vs Jose, both horrible defenders
J-Rich vs Demar, Richardson is better, but he’s still not great
Grant vs hedo, again, Hill is better, but he’s slowed down a lot
Amar’e vs Bosh, Bosh is actually a better defender
Frye vs Bargs, rebound at the same rate, but Frye is probably worse as a defender.
The only realistic difference is that while Phoenix have an effective garbage man Jared dudley we have Antoine Wright (just saying his name makes me vomit in my mouth), and once reggie comes back he can be our Louis Amundsen. Their rebounding on the wings is also an advantage
The fact is, defensively none of the Phoenix starters are actually good, some aren’t even adequate, yet they are 14-5 and play acceptable defense, because they are put in a system that allows them to succeed, or at least somewhat cover up their shortcomings.
IMO, this can be put down to two things. lack of basketball IQ and more importantly coaching.
For Triano to do a better job (and I’m not advocating his firing, just saying), he needs a simple defensive system and he needs to motivate his players to want to play for him, because no matter how good a system he may design, if the players don’t commit to every possession then it will fail
Phoenix plays a system which wears other teams down. Teams just don’t have the energy to keep up with the Suns and let them off the hook defensively. Still though, they’re 24th in defense so nobody’s suggesting they’re any good. The difference is that their offense is consistent for 48 minutes, they play they run in the 1st quarter is the same play they run in the 4th and get the same result most of the time.
The Raptors have a history of coming up short in key possessions. Look no further than the Washington and Boston games. We couldn’t score in key third and fourth quarter possessions when the defense was cranked up.
One more point on the Phoenix defense, this year’s team is better than previous versions, they can play defense in spots when they want to. I’ve seen them play a few games this year and Richardson, Hill, Barbosa, Dudley, Lopez and even Dragic get after it when they have to.
nash isn’t a good defender, absolutely, but he’s a different class of athlete than jose. he also seems to recognize his weaknesses and at least attempts to compensate by positioning. jose has a size advantage (they’re both roughly the same height, but jose has a good ~20 lbs on nash), but i really don’t consider them to be equally bad.
Good point, the guy is also a smart defender and plays to his opponents weakness. I’m not even sure Phoenix does much to hide Nash. He gets burned by the elite guards sometimes but in those cases he’s usually offsetting the damage with his scoring/playmaking, can you come close to saying that about Jose on a consistent basis?
Check the picture I posted on the Phoenix post-game report. Nash defending/fouling Turkoglu, have anybody ever seen Calderon D someone up like that?
There’s merit to having Calderon as a starting PG, but I just think it needs to be in the context of an otherwise solid defensive unit. Having a PG who allows dribble penetration out there with a center who doesn’t rebound and a lethargic SF is hard to overcome, especially given their effort levels.
The Suns run a lot on offense and get a lot of fast break points. They also get a lot of layups in their offensive sets.
The Raptors are a jump shooting team.
Hence it is a lot easier for the Suns to keep up their high level of scoring throughout the game.
If the Raptos arn’t hitting their jump shots their offense falls off to the point where they are getting outscored and lose.
I’m shocked by how the Rap’s fan think about Wright 20 games into the season. After opening night he was probably the best SG in the team and someone said he should be startin ahead of Turk in order to bring Hedo as the Sixth men. It was only a matter of time, after 20 games watching him, now he’s the worst SG in the NBA. I never liked the guy, but at the same time, i never had high expectations for him.
His role in Dallas was very similar to Demar’s role in the Raptors with the only difference that they had the sixth man of the year in the bench who plays a lot in the SG position.
watched celts/spurs last night. they were doing this weird thing (BOTH TEAMS) that i was having a hard time understanding. like, each time their opponent had possession of the ball, they would appear to actually try to prevent them from scoring – and in some cases, it looked like they were even trying to take the ball away. quite inconsiderate, if not downright rude.
even stranger, it seemed like each time they had the ball on offense, they would do this odd thing where more than one player would move WITHOUT THE BALL! they’d even have two or even three players moving, and doing things like ’setting screens’ & ‘cutting.’ i had to look some of these terms up, as they are completely foreign to me in my experiences watching the raptors.
but the weirdest/strangest/wackiest thing was that there were players on both teams that seemed interested in doing this thing called ‘rebounding.’ it was kind of exciting, and the crowd really seemed into it, even though they didn’t score 125 points, and even though they didn’t spend most possessions shooting the ball from 25-feet (which i’ve learned is the most efficient way to score). the spurs have this big burly kid name blair, and the crowd seemed to really take to him. he’s a bit short, but is wide & thick, and seems to like being physically involved in the play…and he does this ‘rebounding’ thing really well. i’d consider him a good young player, but he doesn’t shoot jumpers (let alone 3-pointers! whaaat!), so he’s obviously got no ‘upside potential’.
hahah
This is too funny.
Blair = Beast. He is Barkley-like in his rebounding. Duncan’s got to teach him some post-moves before he retires. If he gets an offensive game he’ll be their PF for years to come.
thanks for the laugh, best thing about the Raptors are the fans
Funny stuff
but the weirdest/strangest/wackiest thing was that there were players on both teams that seemed interested in doing this thing called ‘rebounding.>>
==============
The Spurs won the battle of the boards by a wide margin and I mean wide 55 – 32 yet they were behind the whole game and wound up losing at home.
They turned the ball over 6 more times than the Celtics couldn’t make a free throw 7 of 17 so they lost.
When you play top flight competiton you need to execute well in all facets of the game in order to win.
the spurs’ rebounding was the only reason it was close. they turned the ball over way more than normal (boston’ll do that to ya), the missed their FTs (no excuse for that), and they stank shooting from deep. kinda shows how valuable it is – that a team outplayed in almost every other facet of the game kept it close (against one of the top teams in the league) simply by rebounding.
Thanks Buddafhan , just in case the majority of fans will blame a possible defeat because of Andrea not catching at least 8 rebounds , you give me some ammunition to show that rebounding way better than the opposition does not necessarily translate into a win (like in the Spurs game).
You are absolutely right in saying that you need to have more aspects of the game that you do better than the opposition in order to win a game .
I think most fans tend to blame defeat on one aspect which is easy to see to the eye like rebounding.
Don’t go taking that ammunition to the shooting range because you will find yourself shooting blanks.
There is a possibility of a team winning a game without getting a single rebound. They have an extra possesion over their opponent and both teams make all their shots. (or the team who rebounds get the ball stolen by the team that does not)
The above example sounds absurd, but nevertheless it is a possibility.
Now just because the above can happen, does not mean that it is a good example that rebounds do not contribute to winning. We all know that statistically your odds of winning when you get outrebounded by 20 are fairly slim.
Of course rebounds contribute to winning. I think that is a given.
But you can have the best five rebounders in the league on the floor for you at the same time and I can guarantee you that that lineup won’t win a lot of games.
Did the Spurs really put 5 rebounders out there?
How does this relate to the Raptors, who only have one?
My point was about using extremes as an example, which you are doing AGAIN above. It does little to help our team out of its difficulties when odd ball box scores are used to show that nothing is wrong with our team as constructed.
Actually if you put the five best rebounders by position, you’d have a pretty good team capable winning games.
Kidd, Iguodala, G Wallace, Bosh, Howard. Not bad.
Nicely done. If we don’t laugh at this pretty soon being a Raptors fan is going feel like we’re living in Jonestown and waiting for the koolaid.
Hahaha.. Laughing while the raptors are endangered!
Make mine grape please.
Honestly when is Reggie coming back if ever?
i know, what’s with all the hidden secrete agenda. team doctor analysis? expected date of return? i mean where’s the guys getting the info for that? other teams seem to have projected time before getting back. All I been informed of was he dresses to some of the games with the cast, than no cast, and boot? and returning soon, but wheeeen? still remains a mystery…
plus even when he gets back, I just went to see how this team plays out with him for a few games and look forward to some roaster trades, as there seriesly is some issues with this squad atm.
Actually,what he should do,is walk into the dressing room and punch every mother fu…. in the head ,including all the coaching staff,and telling them to wake the fu.. up !!!
that would be fun, i’d like first hand coverage from the tube feed. in the case first one he should go after is marc iv^*^$#@%^.
defensive specialist my as5&%#$%&#
The most important question is if the NBA will allow him to wear his size XXXL wal mart brand khaki blazer and exco jeans over his uniform during games
under the uni would be a better look…
LOL, dude is an icon
It could be that BC and Triano want to give minutes to Johnson to see if he can continue to develop. If he can ever get his foul problem under control, I am not holding my breath, at least to where it is at the Boozer level, then he would have a more complete and better game than Evans.
I would disagree with those that say that Johnson can’t play the #3. He might not be a scoring threat yet but he can definitely defend the #3 probably as well as anyone on the Raptors except maybe Wright. Whether Triano plays him with Evans when Evans returns remains to be seen.
uh, no.
If things don’t show signs of change over the next few games (ie. and actual attempt at defense) I’m going to go back to the recommendation I made in the offseason…..
Amir/Rasho/Evans at the 5
Bosh at the 4
BArgs at the 3
Hedo at the 2
Jose at the 1
I know I got ripped when I mentioned it before… but I think it really hides some of our problems. Bargs moves to the perimeter and we have a body down low to help with rebounding and help defense. Bargs can stand at the perimeter and shoot his 3s, and when there are big mismatches (which should be often) he can post up.
I know when I mentioned it before people were concerned about defense on the perimeter… but seriously could it get any worse anyways? Atleast Bargs/Hedo can make it tougher for people to shoot over them… not to mention Bargs looked half decent on Nash when he was forced into a switch (all things considered).
Just thought I’d throw it out there…..
Bargnani at 3 just wont work out man, you gotta let that one go. Making him a backup to Bosh at 4 is a viable option though.
its not like anything else is exactly working out either though….
Arsenalist can take Bargnani off the dribble, imagine what Gerald Wallace or Rudy Gay would do to him?
Who isn’t taking everyone else on our team off the dribble? Who stopped Rudy Gay and Wallace when we met them before?
You could use Amir to cover the more athletic 3s. I think its atleast worth a try.
I feel like I’m missing something here. No other team in the NBA uses a PF/C to cover a SF, no team. Maybe in a switch off a screen, or in a zone situation when getting attacked from the corners, but not as a strategy for a full game. Anyone else want to chime in here? I can’t believe I’m even discussing this.
Lamar Odom, Artest, Beasley, Tim Thomas…. there are lots of guys that are 4s (and sometimes 5s) that also cover the 3 at times. Its all relative to what you consider a ‘position’. Jackson was playing PF for the Warriors, Granger/Jones PF for the pacers at times. Sometimes NOT matching up to the other team, forces them to match up to you.
I don’t see why you are so oppossed to atleast this being tried. The Raps are currently on pace to be the worst defensive team in the HISTORY OF THE NBA. I repeat THE HISTORY OF THE NBA.
Your biggest concern is Bargs getting beat off the dribble…. which is currently happening anyways on the perimeter. Atleast we can cover some issues in the post and on the boards…. play more zone… I don’t see how this hurts.
You don’t think Johnson is quick enough or long enough to guard a #3? I have seen him do a lot on switches. He now moves his feet well enough to stay in front of #3s and is strong enough to hold his position against a #3 on the post up except for maybe Lebron.
When Evans comes back
Start
Evans
Bosh
Turkoglu
DeRozan
Calderon
Johnson and Bargnani can back up all three of the big guys. Wright or Weems can be brought in at the #3 in case foul trouble leaves the Raptors one man short out of the first 5 bigs due to foul trouble.
Belinelli should back up DeRozan and Jack only back up Calderon. I agree with dumping the Jack and Calderon tandem.
Big difference between Bargnani and Odom/Artest/Beasly/Thomas, those guys are much more athletic then Bargnani, and are 3/4’s anyways, not 4/5’s.
I’m opposed to this being tried because we already tried it during the orlando series and it failed miserably. No reason it would work now.
I would break the minutes down like this assuming no foul trouble.
Front Court
Evans 20
Bosh 36
Turkoglu 32
Bargnani 32
Johnson 24
Guards
DeRozan 24
Belinelli 24
Calderon 30
Jack 18
I hope that adds to 240. LOL
You are comparing it to a time prior to Bargs (for lack of a better term) hitting his stride. Absolutely nothing worked with Bargs in his first 2 and a half seasons.
holy fuck, you know things have gone from ‘holy shit, we stink’ to ‘blow this mo-fo up’ when we get to bargs going to the 3 & hedon’t to the 2.
while doing so would, theoretically, improve the frontcourt (i.e. 4/5) defense (though i’m thinking bosh would be better suited to the 5 & amir the 4, though it can be virtually interchangeable), moving bargs to the 3 (a tougher cover for him than opposing 5s) & hedon’t to the 2 (an exponentially tougher cover for him than opposing 3s), i’m not sure how the whole is improved at all?
seriously – a (relatively) slow-footed (esp. compared to conventional 3’s – let’s remember, bargs wouldn’t be checking hedon’t) 7-footer defending the perimeter against some of the more elite athletes in the L, and an even slower footed 6′10 hedon’t defending against guys infinately quicker. they’d have to slough off shooters so much to prevent the drive, guys would have 8 feet of space to fire up open jumpers.
unless that’s the plan – let everything come from the perimeter, pack the paint with rebounders, and just hope that professional NBA players miss more wide-open jumpers than they make…and that our bigs can outrebound their bigs.
yeah….
They’ve tried Bargs at the 3 with mixed results in the past when JO was here, but I think that with Amir in the mix that might be worth a shot (anything is at this point). Amir is aggressive on the boards and doesn’t need to be fed the ball on offense in order to sustain his defensive tenacity. Would be neat to try that lineup with Jack at the 1 as well, maybe going into a 3rd qtr situation just to see if he can push the ball a little quicker than Jose and not get stuck running half court sets.
I can’t dispute this enough: if we think bargnani is a suspect post defender, how are we going to feel when he has to guard dribble-penetration? stupid-stupid suggestion.
there was no mixed results in his playing 3, didn’t work out at all. might as well play jack at 3 while were at it.
What would you think about Bosh playing 5 and Bargs at the 4?
that doesn’t really change anything… they defend based on Match-ups. The 4 and 5 are (for the most part) interchangeable
Hasn’t that happened quite a bit the last couple of games with disasterous results?
Mixed results? He got torched by Hedo in the Magic series, that’s all I remember. I put that one on Mitchell, that was an absolutely insane thing to do to somebody who had never played the position before and had quickness issues. Still can’t believe that.
I don’t think we tried much of that experiment last year, maybe in bits and pieces after Triano lost track of his subs but definitely not in a strategic way. Sometimes he wanted to have Bosh, O’Neal and Bargnani on the same time so he squeezed them in but that was only to please BC.
Yeah I could see that. I definitely meant “mixed” results. By the same token it would be interesting to see if CB, Amir, and Bargs can make anything happen playing together, no? JO and CB were way to similar in the way they played.
Amir is a “lineup neutral” guy, he’s versatile enough to not be a defensive liability in any lineup you put him in. Obviously you can’t expect him to defend the 3 for too long and that would also affect his offensive rebounding position. At least if he’s at the 3 he’ll provide a rebounding advantage over his check, you can’t say the same about Bargnani.
I agree. I can see Amir’s role on this team getting better defined next season in the wake of CB4’s situation, be it stay or go. At 22 yrs the dude is a 4-5 yr vet already, he has alot of upside for a team that is willing to recognize his potential and refine his offensive skillset.
You can’t expect Amir to defend 3s at all, why the hell are you even suggesting this? Has this team forced us to completely lose our minds? I should erase all these comments and save you guys the embarrassment of having these thoughts documented.
LOL, ur probably right. Personally I’m a Bargs fan, so I would like to find a way to keep him with the starting 5. But..when his offense disappears there is nothing to eclipse his defensive shortcomings.
New suggestion- lets start Notorious POB at the 3.
LOL POB at 3 would be epic
yes. about the losing our minds part.
i mean, i was playing with the trade machine this morning, and came up with:
bosh & banks to miami for beasley, JO, the pick they sent in the marion/banks deal, and miami’s #1 (either ‘10 or ‘11);
jose & bargs to wash for jamison & foye (might have to include filler, and/or take back a bad contract to get wash. to bite).
so yes, we are losing our minds.
well, according to some, bargs had played his whole pro career in europe as a SF…not to mention his first two seasons in the NBA.
Did nobody take issue with Hedo at the 2? I know the Bargs move is bad but Hedo at the 2 would get crazy exposed as well. It would be like a scene from a bad kung fu movie where the guy keeps trying to catch the fly with the chopsticks except that Hedo wouldn’t be catching anybody in those defensive sets.
yeah, me, above. infinately stupider than moving bargs to the 3.
were you trying to be ironic with ’stupider’?
nah, but typing ‘more stupid’ just seems like a lot more work.
now you sound like a Raptor!
Andrea has to continue to develop his game similarly to the game Nowitsky has , don’t return to experiments that failed (playing SF). He has the potential to achieve close to what Nowitsky is doing which should be fine even for a # 1 pick (in a year where 6-8 players could have been # 1 picks).
Punch the wall to make a hole in it TIDBIT: In the 2001 NBA Draft the Raptors select Michael Bradley as the 18th pick, Brendan Haywood is Selected 20th.
You could drive yourself crazy doing this – drafting is an inexact science. Do you recall Haywood at UNC? He was an overweight slug.
Maybe he was, maybe he was…. but do you recall Michael Bradley? He was a useless white dude
That “white dude” has his own business now too, look at his client list, a bunch of “winners” on there too
http://www.bradleysportsmanagement.com/about/about-michael-bradley/
The Top 50 NBA Draft Lottery Busts of All-Time
Raptors have 3 on the list. I never heard of these guys except for Bender. I guess they were really bad. heh.
11.
2004 #8 Raptors: Rafael Araujo, BYU
The Brazillian, who played collegiately at BYU, lasted just three seasons with the Raptors and Jazz. Araujo averaged less than three points and three rebounds per game, which are less than impressive statistics to say the least.
10.
1999 #12 Raptors: Aleksandar Radojevic, Bartin County CC
In what appears to be the shortest career ever by a lottery pick, the 7-foot-3 Radojevic played a total of 15 games in the NBA. He played three games in 1999-2000 with the Raptors, and 12 games with the Jazz five years later. He finished his career with a grand total of 26 points and 36 rebounds.
8.
1999 #5 Raptors: Jonathan Bender, Picayune Memorial HS
The 6-foot-11 long, athletic forward had worlds of potential coming out of high school. He averaged just 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in the best statistical year of his career. He finished his injury plagued seven-year career with the Pacers averaging just 5.6 points per game, before retiring at the age of 25.
http://www.thehoopsreport.com/article.aspx?id=111
The Bender pick netted us Antonio Davis and a second round playoff appearance, that was probably the best pick in franchise history.
That is a nice postive way to look at it.
I never could decide who was better, Antonio Davis or Dale Davis. For some reason I always confused the two. LOL
You heard of Bender but not Araujo… where have you been? It was almost impossible to talk raptor ball for 3 years without hearing that dudes name.
Not putting you down, because you seem knowledgable about the game, just surprised you do not know about Hoffa.
…than again, you are the lucky one.
I remember Araujo started and was pulled after 5 minutes and does not re-enter the game until the start of the 3rd where he will be pulled after 5 minutes again. Reminds you of Derozan anyone?
ignorance was bliss…now he’s gonna find out about him. it doesn’t make things better.
The FAQ-Raptor Game Strategy:
1. Use the bench players as starters for the first quarter.
2. Attempt to tire out the opponents starters in the first quarter with a frantic pace on offense.
3. Use up the full 24 seconds on offense to tire out the opponents, even if you don’t get a shot off.
4. Apply a brutal defensive strategy, even flagrant fouls to intimidate.
5. After softening up the opponents starters in the first quarter, put your first stringer on in the second quarter and let them feast..!!!
Okay … so who’s on board with me …???!!!!
start bosh, amir, turk, jack and weems/benelli/wright/derosen
Yah, I agree, put bargs on the bench and make him a great 6th man… keep derozan on the starting line up if he attacks, cause if he shoots, he sucks, but attacking, he’s pretty lethal…
For once I can semi-pseudo-quasi be on board with something you say ;-)
I say play very agressive man D… doing whatever it takes to not let your man score (including hard fouls) and keep between him in the basket. If you fail to do this (ie. constantly beat to the basket, or giving up uncontested jumpers), you are benched and run suicides in the tunnel for the rest of the half. You get a second chance in the 2nd half. I don’t care if the whole team ends up in the tunnel running suicides.
Johnson
1st 6 games this season
MPG – 13.1
PPG – 3.2
RPG – 3.5
BPG – 0.0
FPG – 3.0
Last 14 games this season
MPG – 19.3
PPG – 6.2
RPG – 5.9
BPG – 1.0
FPG – 3.6
Evans Career Averages
MPG – 19.6
PPG – 3.3
RPG – 4.6
BPG – 0.1
FPG – 2.0
Johnson Last 14 Games Extrapolated to 33 MPG
MPG – 33.0
PPG – 10.7
RPG – 10.0
BPG – 1.7
FPG – 6.1 Oh oh, there is that foul problem again messing up his career.
Bottom line is that over the last 14 games Johnson has averaged the same minutes per game as Evans has for his career and Johnson has higher numbers across the board including fouls per game. LOL
If only he could get those fouls per game under control I believe that he would have a shot someday at playing over 30 mpg and averaging a double double for an entire season.
If he could get that foul problem under control I suspect his points and rebounds per 36 minutes would increase from what they have been over the last 14 games especially as the game continues to slow down for him and he improves his offense which he should be able to do if he can get his fouls under control. As always, I am not going to hold my breath on that happening.
I think we need to bring jose and barney off the bench until they start to play better… I think if they play agaist weaker players from the bench they can regain confidenece and trust in there game. Now saying that we bring in Johnson to see how he fairs against the starting lineup of other teams. He is playing well and I would like to see what he does with more minutes under his belt. Now that being said we put jarret jack as starter as he is playing better ball and he is a bit better of a defender than jose. This will increase the number of rebounds and over all toughness of the starting lineup. We do not need to keep jacking up 3’s as some nights we miss like 60 percent of them. Run the plays for amir, bosh and turk. This could be temperary but if necessorry keep it going until jose and barni starts playing better and when I mean better they have to smoke the 2 line up guys that they play against. This method is sort of a D-league method of rehibilitating players who are not playing well in the starting lineup.
Wat u guys say?
I expect a very tight leash on the players. If Bosh plays without aggression, he will be yanked out. If Bargnani comes out flat against Haywood, expect to see him yanked as well.
This is no time to be fragile with the players’ egos (a job that is not as easy as some might think). All the players know that tonight, there is no pussyfooting. They need this win as bad as any win in franchise history. I am thinking that Bosh and Bargnani spend a good deal of time on the court separately. Also, I expect that Bargnani will be told to fight through any screens to make sure that he is not the one guarding Jamison, although this is contrary to Triano’s/Iavaroni’s general strategy.
If they lose tonight, Bosh is definitely gone because this will for certain prove what the Raps are capable of.
I do in fact, predict a Raps win. The the Wiz just will not be able to keep up with the Raps’ intensity, which they will bring.
Another thing I think will happen – Triano plays this lineup a lot: Calderon, Wright, Hedo, Bosh, Rasho
*He wil play that lineup a lot provided that Wright does not do anything stupid, like shoot. We is capable of doing the little things on defence though.
I mean, Dallas did have success starting him, because they had other players to score. I bet also that Kidd was smart of enough not to pass him the ball.
Wright is terrible
He is an atroucious Roland Rating of -13.2 before the last game. I am sure it is lower now.
http://www.82games.com/0910/0910TOR.HTM
He has an offensive rating of 84 and defensive rating of 120 or minus 36 which is the worst I ever seen, ever. His net rating for his career is minus 13.
He has a Win Share of -.5 which means he is making a postive contribution to the Raptors opponents beating the Raptors. In 238 career NBA games he has a Win Share of 2.4.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wrighan01.html
This guy should never see the court again as a Raptor except in an emergency or a blowout.
Those are his Toronto stats. He seemed to be able to bring something to a winning team.