Game #72: Toronto Raptors 103 - Chicago Bulls 116

[OldSkoolCool]

Teams seem to be amazing 3 point shooters night in and night out but I've come to realize it's just our D. When you get wide open 3 after wide open three at some point you're gonna start knocking it down.

For those who advocate that the ISO is just as effective as a system that is designed to get teammates open shots, I present this little tidbit of insight.

Teams get open looks against us and shoot very well.

We take ISOs against them, and are inconsistent as hell

[SamMitchells]

2 good things from this lose

First- we will most likely finish fourth and face wizards, we have a advantage against the Wiz and then we will face Hawks in the second round isnt of Cavs

Second- Casey is one lose closer from getting fired

Nah, those are two exact opposites you mentioned.

If we make it that far , CASEY AINT GOING NO WHERE

[Nilanka]

Haha, watched the first three quarters on a flight. Landed and missed the fourth. Was not at all surprised by the final result - the whole time the Raps had the lead I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Oh well, the first three quarters were pretty good.

The Lowry injury is troubling. If he's not healthy for the playoffs it'll be a quick exit for sure.

The only consistent thing about the Raptors is 1 dreadful quarter per game. Whether it's scoring 12 pts, or giving up 40, the Raptors are guaranteed to produce 12 minutes of lethargy.

[Nilanka]

How in the hell are the Wiz a better matchup than the Bucks? Everyone realizes they traded Knight and pretty much suck now right?

Yeah I'd rather play the Bucks, even though we swept Washington. We have Casey and anything is possible

We'd be hard pressed to beat the Washington Generals right now....

[psrs1]

I don't see how Wizards are a good matchup. May I remind you that they John Wall. He's going to murder us.

I agree. I would put our odds at 35% to get past WiZards.

[suspenders]

With my limited knowledge of basketball (which I'm working on), it doesn't matter who we play first round.

If we continue playing like this we are going to lose... Wizards, Bucks... They will find a way to beat us.

[caccia]

Bulls shot 80% in the 4th

That's incredible.

[JimiCliff]

Just finished the 4th quarter.

Noticed that: Demar re-enters game with 7:07 to play; Raps lead 95-91. He plays the rest of the game; Bulls win 116-103.

And why in God's name does Casey call a full timeout with 30 seconds left and his team down 11?

[Nilanka]

And why in God's name does Casey call a full timeout with 30 seconds left and his team down 11?

He had to tinkle....

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Just finished the 4th quarter.

Noticed that: Demar re-enters game with 7:07 to play; Raps lead 95-91. He plays the rest of the game; Bulls win 116-103.

And why in God's name does Casey call a full timeout with 30 seconds left and his team down 11?

DeRozan had a good game until the 4th, but then he (and others) seemed to go into hero mode, forcing their game and forgetting to share the ball. It looked like, as it often does, that guys want to help the team win so badly, that they try to do it all themselves. Unfortunately, that always has the exact opposite result.

I put a big chunk of that on the coach, for two reasons:
1. Not realizing that hero-ball is the exact opposite of what worked through the first three quarters, especially in the first half.
2. Not holding players accountable for forcing the issue and playing selfishly.

[KHD]

I put a big chunk of that on the coach, for two reasons:
1. Not realizing that hero-ball is the exact opposite of what worked through the first three quarters, especially in the first half.
2. Not holding players accountable for forcing the issue and playing selfishly.

Same old, same old.

[slaw]

DeRozan had a good game until the 4th, but then he (and others) seemed to go into hero mode, forcing their game and forgetting to share the ball. It looked like, as it often does, that guys want to help the team win so badly, that they try to do it all themselves. Unfortunately, that always has the exact opposite result.

I put a big chunk of that on the coach, for two reasons:
1. Not realizing that hero-ball is the exact opposite of what worked through the first three quarters, especially in the first half.
2. Not holding players accountable for forcing the issue and playing selfishly.

The offense is immaterial, though. If the Raptors had scored 33 points in the 4th Q they still would have lost. They scored 103 against the Bulls and had some big quarters. You simply can't give up 39 points in the 4th quarter and expect to win close games. In fact, the defense was atrocious from the second quarter onward.

In any case, whatever one may think the problems are, it is clear that the coaching staff and players have no solutions right now.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

The offense is immaterial, though. If the Raptors had scored 33 points in the 4th Q they still would have lost. They scored 103 against the Bulls and had some big quarters. You simply can't give up 39 points in the 4th quarter and expect to win close games. In fact, the defense was atrocious from the second quarter onward.

In any case, whatever one may think the problems are, it is clear that the coaching staff and players have no solutions right now.

I think it goes hand-in-hand a little bit, as even Jack alluded to.

He said that some players/teams ride defensive momentum to fuel their offense, whereas so many of the Raptors seem to feed off their offense, in order to be consistently engaged/active on the defensive end.

It was evident that as the offense stagnated, the Raptors seemed to play tighter and tighter, leading to more defensive breakdowns. It's almost like they went from playing to win (playing loose) to playing not to lose (playing tight), and that never bodes well. It was like a self-fulfilling prophecy, where the players could see/feel what was coming, and played at both ends in a manner that would enable the Bulls to come charging back.

[slaw]

I think it goes hand-in-hand a little bit, as even Jack alluded to.

He said that some players/teams ride defensive momentum to fuel their offense, whereas so many of the Raptors seem to feed off their offense, in order to be consistently engaged/active on the defensive end.

It was evident that as the offense stagnated, the Raptors seemed to play tighter and tighter, leading to more defensive breakdowns. It's almost like they went from playing to win (playing loose) to playing not to lose (playing tight), and that never bodes well. It was like a self-fulfilling prophecy, where the players could see/feel what was coming, and played at both ends in a manner that would enable the Bulls to come charging back.

Maybe. But the offense was humming in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and they gave up a 30-spot and 27, respectively. Shockingly, they still led at the half and actually outscored the Bulls in the 3Q!

[golden]

Maybe. But the offense was humming in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and they gave up a 30-spot and 27, respectively. Shockingly, they still led at the half and actually outscored the Bulls in the 3Q!

The offense wasn't humming. Raps were hitting unsustainably insane shots. So, says an un-biased Bulls blog, anyways....

http://www.blogabull.com/2015/3/25/8...ors-in-toronto

.....the Raptors just seemed to be making some tough looks. The thing about relying on making insane shots, though, is that those shots usually stop falling at some point. Unfortunately for the Raptors, their crazy shot-making largely disappeared in the fourth quarter.

This has been the complaint about the Raps offense from a lot of posters, really early on. It relies on one or more of our guards to go supernova.