Barbosa: for one night at least, he was back to the Barbosa we need. Crisp passes, getting to the line (where he was a perfect 9/9), active hands on defense…it was good to see.

Bargnani: this is verging on redunkulous. His game is almost written by a Hollywood script night in and night out: get pushed around, ignore it, give up taking a 3 to get a high percentage shot, have one reverse, pull one never-seen-by-him-before defensive move out of nowhere, make your critics eat crow. He got off 25 shots and 9 free throws in 45 minutes of action and he looked like he would go full throttle in OT if needed. Incredible.

Butler: I’ll give $20 to the first person to take a picture of his vehicle’s gas cap opening because I’m sure it is surrounded by gashes from the nozzle. This guy just can’t find a hole and fill it. How he has escaped the boo birds by the local fans is mindblowing. 0 for 5 from deep and every time he hoisted you almost knew it wasn’t going in. Embarrassing.

Calderon: I can’t be the only one who was terrified to see what Jose would do tonight. Going up against Rubio with at least a few thousand more Spaniards watching online than there were Canadians at the ACC tonight, the proud Calderon was bound to be wound up more than Liston at a new release of Microsoft Excel. Happy to say, though, that this is an older/wiser/freshly shorn Calderon and he passed with a solid B.  He held Rubio in check and refused to be on the bad part of a highlight reel.

Carter: sweet momma….7 minutes, –17, no points, no assists, 2 fouls. If you had given him a jar of pickles to open tonight, I’d put my money on the jar.

Davis: I’m not going to say that, one again, I’m disappointed in Davis’ game and he underperformed against a team that he should do better against.  i will say that I am less disappointed in my dog who ate my roast beef dinner and drank 2 bottles of my Carlsberg then went to the bathroom on my newly purchased area rug. The excuses are running out for Davis and soon one has to wonder if Solomon was actually the most deserving of being sent to the DLeague.

DeRozan: he once again made an attempt to redeem himself late in the game but as was deftly pointed out by Mr. Armstrong, we need more out of a guy who represented the team at Allstar weekend and is constantly referred to as our future. There are times he seems disinterested.

A. Johnson: I know the season is just underway, but if there was ever a game to show the change in Amir, this was it. 30 minutes, with the majority coming against Kevin Love, almost a double double at the half, 7/9 from the floor, 5/6 from the line. Last year he would have been saddled with 3 fouls in 4 minutes and then pick up a quick 2 in the second. This year all he did was make Love look like he’d met his match. Phenomenal game.

J.Johnson: James didn’t fare as well against Love. Heck, he lasted one possession at one point where he came in for Amir, he fouled love in a few seconds and Casey swapped Amir back in immediately. Just like DeMar, he saved his soul in the 4th with 2 wonderful blocks that set the tone for the Raptors to finish the game. I have no doubt that he’ll be punished by watching a lot of video tomorrow, but that’s well deserved. We still need him playing like he did in game 1.

Driving the bus: Amir Johnson

Under the bus: Rasual Butler

Theme of the Game:

I caught my first Wolves game of the Rubio era yesterday; liked what I saw. They are a nice team, with some real solid pieces to build around: young point guard with all-star potential; elite power forward who does everything; and a young talented supporting cast. Even without their 2012 1st round pick, you could argue they are better positioned than the Raptors going forward; especially considering no one on the roster makes more than $6.5m (no bad contract imho).

I spoke with Benjamin Polk of A Wolf Among Wolves:

The Wolves seem like a nice, young, deep team in-spite of Khan’s best efforts; am I wrong?

You are not wrong. A few qualifiers on that though. First, although Kahn certainly has his fair share of bewildering moves (drafting Jonny Flynn chief among them), I don’t think he’s quite as terrible as he’s made out to be. When he replaced Kevin McHale, the team’s roster was a hot mess. Untangling it all would have driven the best of us to drink. Second, while people are feeling pretty good about them right now, they are still a wing scorer/defender and an actual (not Darko-holographic) big man away from being for real. If can can make that happen (without a ’12 first-round pick and without giving up anything serious) then you can color me impressed.

True or False: Rubio is the real deal.

That is true. Nobody passes like that by accident; the kid is seriously gifted. But: I’m still not convinced that his solid shooting isn’t an anomaly. If he regresses back down into the sub-40% range (where he was projected), he’ll be a lot easier to defend. Also, right now he has the second-worst turnover rate of any point guard in the top 30 (Mario Chalmers is worst). That’ll take some fixing.

Call the game.

Well, since both the Raptors and the Wolves are working on new identities under new coaches it’s still really hard for me to know who they are. Statistically, they’re pretty even so far–the Wolves have been a bit better defensively, while the Raps have been a bit better on O. But because I’m a blatant homer I’m gonna go with the Wolves, let’s say by five.

Match-ups

Point Guard
Both Ridnour and Rubio have been doing their damage from the perimeter this season. Yesterday against the Wizards, they took three shots inside of 9 feet between the two of them.  Now that we know how these guys score/operate, Calderon and Carter should be prepared, right? We may see some remnants of fatigue tonight with Calderon, and if the Raptors get into an early hole, don’t expect to see heavy minutes from him. Barbosa may even see some time at the point since Carter really can’t put in much more than 10 minutes himself. I’m just hoping Ridnour doesn’t have another career night against the Raptors; he always gets up to play us. Barea might see action tonight, but the guys been injured to start the season, so he wont be a huge factor given he wont be logging heavy minutes.
Edge: Even

Shooting Guard
DeMar hasn’t been helping himself at all the last couple games. I still stand by my assessment of him needing to get to the line more; three trips in the last two games is unacceptable. Both Ellington and Johnson are perimeter players who will make DeRozan pay if he gives them too much room to shoot. He needs to set the tone early, test the Wolves defense early, and be engaged from the onset, otherwise another 8pt 2reb performance is all we can hope for.
Edge: Even

Small Forward
By all rights, Beasley should be playing for the Raptors; why we passed on taking him back from Miami is beyond me. I’m asking because I’m interested to know what people think: would you rather have Beasley and Norris Cole or James Johnson and a trade exception that wont get used? Fortunately, Michael is injured and wont be dropping 31 on us tonight. Leaves a combination of Derrick Williams and Wesley Johnson for JJ, Butler and Forbes to deal with. Wont be quite as bad as it could have been, but with three games in three nights, we’re going to bear witness a lot of ugly.
Edge: Wolves

Power Forward
You’d be hard-pressed to name a better power forward than Kevin Love right now. Bargnani could actually do worse than look to him for some pointers on rebounding and putting himself in the right spots at the right time. Otherwise, I am really looking forward to this match-up. Love will have a hard time defending Bargnani off the bounce, but will give him more than a handful on the glass. Love should win the match-up and post somin’ nasty on the box score, but Bargnani will take back his. Whatever happens, I have a feeling that this game will be won on the wing.
Edge: Wolves

Center
Darko doesn’t play heavy minutes, and when he does, he doesnt leave much of a mark on the game. The guy will block a couple shots, grab a couple rebounds and score a couple from 3 feet; that’s it. The Wolves will go small ball whenever they can, making Magloire less useful than he already is. Amir should benefit against a smaller front court, but he still needs to show up and make things happen. This will be the least interesting match-up tonight.
Edge: Even

Injuries

Raptors
Linas Kleiza – Knee, Game-Time Decision

Timberwolves
MIchael Beasely – Foot; Out
Jose Juan Barea – Hamstring, Out
Malcolm Lee – Knee, Out

Keys to the Game

1. Limit Kevin Love’s effectiveness on the boards: the Wolves are 2nd in the league in rebounds/game; have to box the guy out make him work for everything
2. Control the pace: Raptors do much well when they slow the pace, and walk the ball up on offense. Getting into an up-and-down will do nothing but create space on the perimeter for the Wolves to shoot uncontested jumpers which they are good at hitting.
3. Attack the paint: the Raptors went to the foul line 12 times against the Sixers; this is utterly unacceptable. You need to be able to get easy points on the board; have to take advantage of the athleticism our key-players have, and attack the defense off the bounce.
4. No open looks: I’m not sure how much more of this I can take, but the Raptors do a great job of giving opposing teams clean looks at the rim from the perimeter. How many open shots did the Nets hit on Friday? …makes me crazy…

The Line

The gamblers have the Raptors as 3.5 point favourites with an over/under of 188. If the Raptors are to win a game over the next three, it will be tonight (we’ve never seen the Raptors play three games back-to-back-to-back, but it’s going to get very ugly come Wednesday). I hate to say it, but I’d bet against the line right now, and take the Wolves by 4. This is a team that walked into the Wizards house shorthanded, and beat them like they stole something.

Barbosa: so is buddy auditioning to be a Sleep-eze spokesman or what? It’s like his pregame meal now is turkey and milk. No spark, no excitement, no point being on the floor.

Bargnani: still not as active on the boards as Casey had hoped but for a guy who used to take 3 pointers about as often as a 15 year old looks at porn on the internet (or RapsFan, lets be honest) he continues to put it away and zip it up when it comes from launching the long ball. Only 1 attempt tonight in a game that last year would have seen him take no less that…hmmm….42.

Butler: another night where my television can breathe easy and not feel the wrath of my collection of Scotch bottles. The human groan was one of only 4 Raptors to score in double digits, he dug his heels in defensively, and he didn’t feel the yank of Casey’s cane. Pop some bottles.

Calderon: one has to question why Jose takes the most shots on the floor during any game, but the answer is easily found by looking at the final score…and the stat line of the man he covers. Williams came back to the floor tonight and wiped it with Jose’s jersey that he ripped from him as he spun him around like a dradle.  In fairness, Jose did his best to keep up and match him, but that’s like saying Kris Humphries was suitable competition for Reggie Bush in the bed of Kim.

Carter: speaking of Hump, Anthony almost found himself as a tattoo on Kris’ elbow at one point and had Magloire come to his aid. Still don’t mind this guy. Love how he spreads the floor and runs plays as opposed to flashing signs for a Burkie Dog and a soda like Jose does. 4 points, 4 boards, 3 assists in 12 minutes.

Davis: I’m gonna have Liston run the numbers, but I’m sure Eddy has the lowest shooting percentage from within 1.5 feet of the hoop.  On a shot chart that is to scale, you can’t see his misses because the dots are covered by the damn hoop. It’s a shame too, because you could basically see the confidence coming back tonight. He did everything except let out a roar that shook Brampton. 11pts, 8 rebs and finally a night he can call home and not feel like he needs a hug.

DeRozan: his game tonight reminded me of the time where it took me 90 minutes to go from Yonge and Sheppard to Union Station on public transit. You swipe your metropass, you get on the subway, you are happy after downing a few pints and wings with your buddies, then the great spirit above decides that another game of Grand Theft Auto just isn’t fun, so he decides to reach down and mess with your aura.  If the Raptor mascot was standing on a ladder above the rim waiting to guide the ball in, DeMar would have hit the shot clock tonight. Just an off night for TMZ.

G. Forbes: I feel for Casey. Forbes is far enough down the bench that you look at him and you second guess yourself. Example: you had a lovely evening with your lover. You both get a few hours sleep, but you wake up and you feel some…stirring.  Your lover wakes and it’s on. Then it hits you. You only had one condom and it’s lying on the floor next to the bed, used in your jump off earlier. Do you reach down and cover your Gary with the Forbes or……??

A. Johnson: I’m a believer. He has completely changed my opinion of him in a short period of time. That block in the first half, his hustle all night, his continuing ability to keep his fouls in check, all impressive to his ultimate doubter. I think the faith that he has been shown by the coaching staff this year has gone a long way to improve his game and bring him to the floor as a professional as opposed to a wannabe twitter celebrity. Kudos.

J.Johnson: another enjoyable game. He was finding teammates with crisp passes, he was in the ears of the Nets, he was seen salting popcorn at halftime.As much as Rasual is as worthy as being in the starting five as much as I’m worthy of being featured in a swimsuit calendar, I’ve come to enjoy watching James come out as the leader of the second unit.

Magloire: he picked up 2 fouls so quickly I automatically blurted out “WTF PRIMOZ????”.  When my acid reflux settled down (great commercial space timing, using that product as a sponsor for Raptors games) I comforted myself by realizing I wouldn’t have to see Big Mouse for most of the game tonight. I do applaud him for backing up AC, though. That was some true gangsta stuff right thurr.

Driving the bus: Andrea Bargnani

Under the bus: Leandro Barbosa

Theme of the Game:

Barbosa: he hit one shot all night and it was one that went so high that God caught the ball, wiped it off with a towel, spun it on his finger, all while whistling Sweet Georgia Brown. Then Chuck Daly told him he had to give it back, which he did by letting it fall through the hoop without touching rim.  God celebrated and so did about 7000 at the ACC tonight.

Bargnani: okay, this is getting out of control. He smiled tonight. No, really. A smile and a laugh. On the court. At ACC. Ready for more?? It seemed genuine. This really could be the end of the world. Life insurance offices will be overrun tomorrow.  31 and 7 and it seemed effortless.

Butler: someone BBM’d me tonight asking if I felt the tremor. I merely responded that I was at the Raptors game and it was no earthquake, it was just Rasual crashing back down to earth. Didn’t hit a shot all night and kept trying from downtown even though it was apparent to everybody that Monday’s game was a flash in the pan. Nice to have Kapono back.

Calderon: Kyrie Kryptonite. Irving made it to the line and sunk his shots, but from the field he was held down like a 10 year old on his birthday getting the paddywhacks.  Another double double for Spanish Fly with 13pts and 11 assists. Not to be lost in all this: the evident disappearance of the handclap defense.

Carter: the one downside of Jose playing so well is less floor time for AC. I know he doesn’t have a ton of fans here, but I still think it’s important to get him out there to have him get familiar with the squad. This month’s schedule with Bayless out for a bit will require some time from the deep bench and someone with his pedigree is important to keep fresh.

Davis: good work, young fella. Sure it came against a team that we should beat on the second night of a back to back that looked disinterested from the start, but hopefully it’s a seed planted. Early on it looked like a repeat of every other game, but he stepped it up in the second half and made a team on their heels pay for their disinterest.

DeRozan: lawdy lawdy lawdy, TMZ has been reborn and he is proving that he can be a great piece to this team. He was feeling it from deep and he kept reloading and ended up taking 8 shots from downtown, hitting 5.  It was ideal DeMar: have fun, play hard, hit shots, defend well, smile.  Question for you, though: if it was an opposing player that pseudo-celebrated in front of the Raptors bench the way he did in front of the Cavs, would you be calling for his head?

G. Forbes: you are put in with 2 minutes left, you come in, hit a nice shot then come back down on the next possession, don’t pass the ball and put one up that probably cost you more bench time. Not a wise move. At all.

A. Johnson: not a lot on the stat sheet for him to be proud of, but he was laying lumber almost every minute he was on the floor. I don’t think there was one Cavs player that saw action that didn’t get some Amir sweat on him. He’s the kind of guy that can be used to deflate a tired opponent and he did exactly that tonight.

J.Johnson: ever since he ditched the hair and the headband he has played like he actually cares. He was jumping around like he heard there were pieces of gold on the rim all night, just too bad he felt he would double up if he took silly shots. Still, for a team like this, we need to learn to accept 50% effort as a B+ effort. Tonight he earned a solid B+.

Magloire: wasn’t a spectacular night for anybody from Toronto. Jamaal put in an effort that Hedo would be proud of. Inconsequential against a team that he should have had a great night going up against.

Driving the bus: DeMar DeRozan

Under the bus: Jamaal Magloire

Theme of the Game:

Barbosa: we got the W, but I still feel the need to ask where the hell he went in the second half. Yes, DeMar was having a game, but as the lead shrunk, Leandro, who had a nice first half, sat on the bench and tried to make a mental note of all the celebrities in the house so he could text his brother afterward.

Bargnani: I want to befriend the guy just to have him buy my lottery ticket. Evidently someone has told him that the solid line at the court that he stopped at the last few years can actually be passed without penalty and, holy moly, you have an easier time scoring!!! You can bet the usual doubters will be out with pitchforks at his first poor game, but lets enjoy the silence and the ride until then.

Butler: stone cold!! stone cold!! stone cold!! This guy beat you up, stole your lunch money, went to Harlem, bought a mixtape and a 40, came back, stole your girl, and is now rocking a fedora, a cane, and a fur coat as he gets a great return on his investment, just like Colangelo. Long time coming…for both him and your girl.

Calderon: the stinger he felt in his neck last night came back tonight, but only from watching the missiles being launched from downtown courtesy Douglas, Anthony and anybody else in white. He was a point shy of a double double which, for a PG playing 43 minutes, should be almost automatic.

Carter: you want a line to be proud of?  5 mins, 4pts, 4rebs, 3 asts. In that short amount of time he showed he was comfortable in knowing where guys were going to be and how to get them the ball. He certainly didn’t look like a guy who has had just over a week with these guys on the floor.

Davis: it was Ed’s girl that Rasual stole. He is trying harder than my girlfriend is to get me to look like some dude from some werewolf movie, but the one thing he and I have in common is we are coming out uglier in the end. Me physically, him in his game.

DeRozan: TMZ had the night of his young season tonight. None of that “let me just throttle up in the fourth” stuff tonight, baby. 7 of 13, 6 trips to the line, and enough bravado to have the ladies swoon.

A. Johnson: the first game where I was fearful of him fouling out before I needed a refill. He just made me fear the ref’s whistle from the outset. Sure enough, he picked up 5 but he never did get ejected. A few nice blocks, a silly turnover, and another night wondering what the hell that tattoo is.

J.Johnson: luckily we still had some confetti left from the other night, so I used it when James hit that corner 3 with enough wide open space in front of him that Donald Trump already had his assessors out there determining  how much he could get per square foot. Of course he followed that up with a quick shot that clanked like the Liberty Bell a few minutes later, but hell, he hit an important shot and looked like he had the weight of the world fall off his shoulders.

Magloire: from Howard to Chandler, the kid from Scarborough hasn’t had the easiest 2 nights in a row. Like last night, however, he earned some respect by hanging tough and actually matching Tyson’s rebound number with 10.  The Big Cat lives to see another day. I couldn’t be happier.

Driving the bus: DeMar DeRozan

Under the bus: Ed Davis

Theme of the Game:

Barbosa: he cares, he shows passion for the game, but I’m beginning to think the Blur nickname has passed him by.  Maybe the Brazilian Barely Buzzing is more apt.

Bargnani: might as well start calling him the puppet master. As Andrea goes, so do the Raptors so far this year. This was his best game but late 4th you could see him tire. He was still attacking the rim (!) but coming up short. The back to back Sunday/Monday should prove interesting, but Andrea seems to shine in NYC.

Bayless: down early due to a strained ankle. About as disappointing to most as it would be to find out a cheerleader had a crush on you.

Butler: Mr. Consistency showed us why he should be kept around to fill an important role:  nothing.

Calderon: the Spanish Sputterer looked confused and lost most of the game. You’d think if Andrea drops 30 you’d see your PG who played 30+ minutes stockpile some nice assist numbers and look, you know, active. On the contrary, at times Jose looked like he was wondering how he could get his name on the guestlist at the hottest club in Orlando for NYE.  That semi-dive where he looked like somebody hit him with a poison dart was impressive, though.

Carter: first action of the year and the first time since Hoffa where we have seen someone do a shout out to The Rock in the tattoo department. He gave us what we have come to expect from our backup PGs which is the equivalent of the effort of a waiter at the 3am rush in Sudbury during a snowstorm. None.

Davis: the effort seems to be there, but the results are somewhat shocking. Don’t know if it’s trying to grasp a new defensive system or the fact that the offense has taken a back seat, but Ed still hasn’t prompted any desire to move him up the rotation. He actually seems to be in the right spot…which is surprising for someone we all think is a double-double machine.

DeRozan: that clear path dunk was pretty, huh? Pretty enough to forget his poor shooting and inability to create opportunities or get to the line? I want so badly for this guy to be a solid #2 to AB, but I see nothing to say he will be.

Forbes: used to kill some minutes, but unlike the other night he actually provided an impression. He was a little Amir out there in a short appearance.

A. Johnson: Triano must be watching these games and wondering where he went wrong. Amir just seems to naturally be the guy that many touted him to be last season. Setting hard screens, driving the lane to slam in a follow up, calling huddles, listening to his coach. He is quickly making believers out of doubters and will soon have the following Reggie had here if he keeps it up.

J.Johnson: yikes. He definitely showed his on-court age tonight and it wasn’t pretty. 15min no points, 2 turnovers, and the look of an 11 year old that is having a tough time with his homework and his parents have told him he’s on his own. I actually think I heard him whimper at one point.  All players have games like this and no shame in having it happen against the champs, but if you played even half as well as you played in game 1, the Raptors could have stolen this.

Magloire: shocking that he basically fouled out just by standing up. 6 minutes, 5 fouls.  Big Cat is more like Big Detriment when on the court. Hey, I can see him being a motivational tool for the young guys, but so is providing bottles of Patron for the flight home if you play your ass off.  Hmmm…guy from Scarborough who is meaningless to most players or free booze?

Driving the bus: Andrea Bargnani

Under the bus: James Johnson

Theme of the Game:

Barbosa: the blur was far from it, but he was creating for his teammates. Rarely standing still with the ball he was looking to make things happen, which is why he could be the one player you don’t want to see sitting out games this year. We’ll need what we can get out of him.

Bargnani: it would be an easy out to rip him for not getting the “required” rebound numbers his coach has challenged him with, but you have to admit that the vegetarian pasta is looking a lot meatier. Talking on defence (and it actually getting caught on camera!), following his shots, getting his hand on loose balls, etc…all things we saw tonight and in the fake pre-season and something we have rarely seen in his years here. Impressive.

Bayless: it’s as if he and Jose decided to switch roles just to see how the other lives. Coming in you had to worry that Irving and Sessions would throw Jose around like a gingerbread man, but it was Bayless who seemed to show the frustration of getting a BlackBerry Playbook for Christmas and not an iPad2.

Butler: Rasual got the starting nod ahead of James Johnson and, to be honest, he did as much with his time in the spotlight as Kris Humphries did. You just gotta hope that Hump has some great video to show for it. Butler was never even close to being a factor and short of James just being a naturally better fit  with the second unit, Rasual should be back coming off the bench the rest of the season.

Calderon: not entirely shocking in that Jose always seems to play above himself (read: he actually exerts effort on the defensive end) when playing in big games. This being the first game of the season and the first real trial of who should be the starting PG, Jose flourishes against someone who is already in ROY talk by posting a double double (15/11).

Davis: Thompson made Ed look foolish early on, absolutely undressing Davis any chance he had. Pregame we asked RR followers who would lead the team in rebounding in this game and the straw poll had Davis the winner. Certainly didn’t start off that way, but Davis turned it around, hunkered down, and made TT work for everything he got. Offensively he was as perfect as Katy Perry in a bikini, going 7-for-7 and rocking the red headband.

DeRozan: remember as a kid you always seemed to open the smaller crappier gifts first? Socks, underwear, pet rocks, the new release from Menudo…..then, magically, as you hit your final few, it turned into Colecovision, a Three’s Company calendar, and a Michael Jordan rookie card. Well, that was DeMar’s season debut. To say he sucked rocks in the first half would be kind. No doubt that the coaches laid into the poor bastard at the half, because he sat for an extended period in the second and came back like he had been told if he led the team in scoring he’d get first dibs at landing the team charter.

A. Johnson: remember a few years ago when management would try and convince us that Toronto had a new Twin Towers? Well, under the radar, we might actually have it now in the Johnson’s. Together on the floor tonight they were prettier than some of the sister acts I’ve seen at the Zanzibar over the years. You get past one and, bam, another was waiting for you to break your heart. Amir threw double 13s and, for one game, absolutely wiped out the bad taste he left in some peoples mouth last season (okay, mine), but still he was out performed by….

J.Johnson: ……who came off the bench and LeBron’d the Cleveland crowd. He absolutely just made you go “whaaa??? whoooo???” as a Raptors fan and literally had Cavs fans buying programs to find out who the guy was with the funny hair. As the game wore on, others took over the spotlight, but a solid line of 5pts, 5asts, 6rebs, 3blks and 2stls doesn’t show justice to the effort he put forth to jumpstart his team.

Magloire: I’ll give you this: he has shown up in the best shape he has been in for years. After that, I got nothing. Sure, great story that he is the first Canadian to play for us, but Khloe got married before Kim, so firsts mean nothing. Surely there is someone out there that can save us from a season of watching this guy lumber up and down the court only to be lauded post game for being born here and nothing else. Waste of a roster spot.

Driving the bus: James Johnson

Under the bus: Rasual Butler

Theme of the Game:

Can’t knock the hustle, as long as they keep playing hard that is. This is the 1st game in a season of opportunities at changing this teams culture, perception and attitude. From the rise of Bargnani, to tight(ish) defensive rotations, to Calderon giving a rest to the clapping hands-defense, things are on the up-and-up. This season wont be defined by wins or losses; it’s all about step one, and that tone will need to be set against the Cavs tonight.

(I’m still stunned that two pre-season games and a handful of interviews with Casey have changed my view of this team for the better)

Match-ups

Point Guard
As bad as Calderon was defensively, there were always guys who made him look like Gary Payton; Ramon Sessions is one of those guys. The guy can’t move laterally (zero pick-and-roll defense), is not much of an athlete, but manages to do most of his offensive damage in the paint. His jumper isn’t great, so Calderon can afford to play off of him a bit, and force him to beat the Raps with a jumper; I can live with that strategy even if he drops 20 in the process. Keeping him off the pick-n-roll, where he can do more damage, is paramount.
Edge: Raptors

Shooting Guard
Anthony Parker is still the starter for the Cavs, but they are pretty deep at the 2 (Boobie off the bench). DeMar should have no problem’s whatsoever with anyone the Cavs throw at him. I’m cutting this short, between DeRozan, Barbosa and Butler, the Raptors have the depth and the ability to throw enough different looks at the Cavs to keep them off balance the whole night.
Edge: Raptors

Small Forward
Omri Casspi is someone I would have loved the Raptors to pick up in the off-season, and it didn’t cost the Cavs much; JJ Hickson. We could have easily have made a similar offer of Amir Johnson had we known Aaron Gray was in the play fo us. Regardless, he will give James Johnson a hell of a time on the floor. He is a solid rebounder, and makes his jumpers; keeping Johnson out on the perimeter and a step further from swatting his weak-side blocked shots.
Edge: Cavs

Power Forward
Don’t know enough about Thompson and Harangody to really give my two cents here, but Jamison will drop his 18pts/7reb tonight, I have no doubt. That said, he will surrender 24pts/8rebs on the other end, take that how you will. The 36 year old will hit a couple annoying off-balance floaters that somehow hit the bottom of the mesh, but will provide little value other than being a mentor for Tristan. I like Bargnani and Davis in the match-up as they both will give a little flavour on the perimeter and in the paint.
Edge: Raptors

Center
Varejao has the ability to do nothing the entire game, then grab an offensive rebound and put it back for the win with less than a second left on the clock. I would love to have him play for the Raptors. I think he would be fantastic to lineup with Bargnani in the front court as he can make a lot of hustle plays and win small battles all over the floor. I don’t see this game being won by Cavs at the 5, at best, they draw even with the Raptors centers…that’s just me (Varejao missed most of last season with an injury)
Edge: Raptors

The Line

I was stunned to see it, but Vegas has the Cavs as 3.5 point favourites with an over/under of 197. It’s super unlikely that this game will be in the mid-to high 90s, so go with the under. I personally think the Raptors take this by 5 in an ugly win. Of the first 10 games we play this year, 3 of them are winnable (two against the Cavs), while this team probably wont win 30% of their games this year, 3-7 in the early going is doable.

Hopefully league pass broadband works tonight, Arse has the post-game.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

Are there going to be mistakes? Yes, but I want them to be hard mistakes – Dwayne Casey

Even though Casey was treating this game as a practice of sorts, he still couldn’t help but spit fire throughout the game. My favourite moment was in the 3rd quarter when Rondo and Daniels burned Davis and Bayless on the give-and-go; Casey jumped to his feet and called a timeout before the ball hit the ground, and Davis was sitting on the bench after the timeout. Haven’t seen that in so long, it brought tears to my eyes. I was paying attention to a few things this game: 1) defense 2) Bargnani 3) the new guys.

Defense really is a focus of the team this year. While Triano paid a lot of lip service over the last couple seasons, Casey was able to do more in one week than Jay ever was. This actually really angers me. I mean, at the end of the day you are paid fat stacks to do your job, and nothing. He was as effective in getting this team to play defense as Leo is as a commentator. I question having Triano serve on this team in any capacity at all.

How did Casey get people to play hard you may ask? Hold them accountable; simple is as simple does. Let me ask you this, have you ever seen Bargnani play so hard on defense in 6 years? I’m the first person to piss on the guy, and I counted exactly two defensive mistakes he made all game; only one of which resulted in a basket. We are witness to a new epoch; the Bargnani era. I’m serious, and not being facetious at all. This is what I saw him do defensively in crunch time:

• With the Raptors on a 16-5 run, Bargnani defended the pick-n-roll like a champ jumping out on Avery Bradley, recovering and blocking Brandon Bass at the rim. On the ensuing break, DeRozan hit a layup cutting the Celtics lead to 70-69 with 4 minutes left in the game
• After cutting the Celtics lead to 1 with 40 seconds left in the game, Bargnani hedges defending the pick-n-roll, forcing Bradley to throw the ball to Johnson who took an absolute brutal shot (brick off the front of the rim)

These were two of a few solid defensive decisions he made on the floor. I can’t express how excited I am this happened in a pre-season game. Effort people; Casey got Bargnani to give a shit and play as hard as possible. You have to take what happened with a grain of salt, and he’ll need to repeat this effort throughout the season to shake his reputation, but it’s very encouraging to see hustle in a game that meant nothing.

…Impressed with him; he hit the boards and gave effort on the boards…he competed and got out and impacted the ball – Dwayne Casey on Andrea Bargnani

As far as the new kids on the team, Forbes and Butler really grew on me. Forbes in particular really stood out and could be a key reserve for us going forward. He showed nice flex on defense, hit his open shots and generally hustled. He’s a James Johnson with offensive touch; have to like that. Magloire is really a donut, at this point he’s big body for DeRozan to practice tea bagging on in practice; a turnover and a foul in 8 minutes of pre-season action against a teams B-squad is nothing to write home about. Looks like the center spot will be split between Amir and Gray with Magloire being used sparingly when either of those guys are injured or out of pity.

I’m going to finish with one thought: as bad as Calderon is defensively, and as much as he get called out for it, Bayless is equally brutal. I counted three times he looked lost and out of place defending the high pick-and-roll (the third time he actually didn’t do anything at all – just stood there and prayed the shot would clank off the front of the rim; luckily it did). I expect that will change, but just an observation I wanted to put out there especially since Calderon had a pretty good defensive effort today.

TL;DR – Bargnani the defensive anchor in a 1-point loss to the Celtics; Casey already leaving his mark on this team.

The Raptors are on a three-game losing streak, George Karl is gunning for 1000th win as an NBA head coach; the stage is set for some fireworks tonight.

Had a chat with Jeremy Wagner from Roundball Mining Company about the Nuggets, Raptors and everythign in between:

How is Shelden Williams the starter for this team? I mean, seriously?
Shelden Williams is a solid player, definitely deserving of minutes on a good team. As far as being a starter, that is another conversation altogether (and in memory of Canadian comedy great Leslie Nielsen let’s all say, “That is another conversation.”). If Kenyon Martin were healthy, Williams would be just playing spot minutes here and there. Martin should return sometime in the next month and once he does, Williams will return to the bench. The saying goes it does not matter who starts, but who finishes and you will not see Williams finishing a game unless there is another injury, ejection or foul trouble.

This does hit on a larger issue. George Karl likes to have plenty of scoring off the bench and he has started players like Anthony Carter, Arron Afflalo (last season when he was less of an offensive threat than he is now) and this season Williams because he likes to attempt to set a good defensive tone to start the game while preserving some of the offensive punch to go against the reserves of the opponent. It certainly worked in the last game in Boston when the starters fell behind by 19 in the first quarter only to see Ty Lawson and J.R. Smith bring the team back against the Celtics bench in the second quarter.

Realistically, what can Denver expect back in a trade for Carmelo since he seemingly wants to go to New York, and the Knicks playing a very patient game of wait-and-see?
If the Nuggets get painted into a corner where the only option is the Knicks, they will be stuck with Eddy Curry’s decomposing contract, Danilo Gallinari, a future first round pick, way in the future, and probably the Prospect Formerly Known as Anthony Randolph. The ideal trade partner is New Jersey, with players like Derrick Favors and Devin Harris available along with one or two first round picks, one from Golden State, thrown in for good measure. With the Knicks playing well the potential of playing with buddy Amare Stoudemire and possibly Chris Paul in a couple of years could be too much of a draw and will convince Melo to hold out for the Knicks.

As much as it would benefit Denver to make a trade sooner rather than later, the players, coaches and fans all know it is just a matter of time, I expect this will become a staring contest between Denver and Melo. If Melo blinks first, he will end up in New Jersey. If Denver blinks first, he will end up in New York.

The hammer the Nuggets wield is money. If they do not trade him before the trade deadline, he will have to walk away from $85 million over the next four years in order to become a free agent. He will have to opt out of the final year of his current contract worth over $18 million and thus lose the three year, $65 million extension. Of course he will get a big chunk of that back through whatever contract he signs. The danger for Melo in that situation is if salaries are rolled back by 25%, as the league wants in the new CBA, Melo could be looking at a max deal that will earn him possibly only around $50 million over those four seasons. That is a big pay cut just to play in Manhattan with Amare instead of Brooklyn with Brooke Lopez.

Of course Melo wields a hammer as well, and it is a weapon that Toronto fans know all too well having seen their former star player tag along with his buddies to Miami.

The Nuggets seem to play better with Lawson manning the helm, what’s the plan with Billups? Will he get traded while he as some value? What’s the market for his services?
What happens to Chauncey when Carmelo is traded is the big variable in this entire situation. As you may know Billups is a hometown hero. He is widely, and I believe rightly, credited as the player who pushed the Nuggets from a playoff also ran into a contending team. He has made apparently conflicting comments suggesting both that he has no desire to be part of a rebuilding project, even in the city of his birth, and also that he wants to retire a Nugget. The truth is Chauncey does want to be a Nugget for life, but not at the expense of hanging around on a lottery team after Melo is dealt.

Chauncey has also been very vocal about his deep desire to see Melo remain in Denver long term. He has two significant motivations for that. First of all, he wants to play on a winner in Denver. The other secondary reason is his contract. If Melo is in Denver, the Nuggets likely pick up the final year of his current deal worth over $14 million. However, only $3.7 million of that final season is guaranteed. Denver is likely the only team in the NBA who would pick up that final year of his deal. If Melo is dealt, it only makes sense Chauncey will be on his way out of town soon after. If that happens, no matter Billups ends up, the trade will probably cost him about $8.5 million.

As far as who would be interested in Chauncey that is not an easy question to answer. Denver would be looking for a pick and expiring deals along with Billups. Obviously, Billups would have to be sent to a good team; if not a contender, at least a strong playoff team. Before the season I thought the best match would be the Bobcats. Charlotte was a solid playoff team last year and it would reunite Chauncey and Larry Brown who both have a deep respect for each other. Add in the unknown quantity of D.J. Augustin and it seemed like a good match. However, the Bobcats have not built on their solid season last year and Augustin has played well. Miami makes sense, but does not have the contracts. Portland has been mentioned, but I do not think they are a good fit as Denver would have to take back Andre Miller and that is not an upgrade for Portland anyway. Sacramento would have been a dark horse if they were a fringe playoff team, but that is not the case.

In surveying the landscape one team keeps coming back to me, the Lakers. L.A. can cobble together enough expiring contracts to make it work, thanks to Sasha Vujacic’s 5.4 million in the last year of his current deal, and they could certainly use a player like Billups to go along with Derrick Fisher. Plus the Nuggets are high on rookie Derrick Caracter, and tried to trade into the second round to draft him last June. Seeing Chauncey in the Forum Blue and Gold would be a terrible pill for Nuggets fans to swallow, but it would be a great situation for Chauncey.

The Nuggets have said publically that the only players who are untouchable are Chauncey and Lawson. I suspect the former is only to try to retain some semblance of sanity in the locker room and the latter is because they are really high on Lawson.

At this point in their respective careers I believe Lawson is the better player. Billups was an All-Star last season, but that was due to a career best stretch from mid-January to mid-March where he was simply amazing. The first part of the season was disappointing and he definitely did not play well over the final month. Billups followed that up with a poor showing in the World Championships and now he has really struggled to start the season. It looked like his shot was coming back before he had an atrocious 2-10 night in Boston. He will still make plenty of threes although the rest of his game is nowhere near the level fans are used to seeing.

Lawson is very good in both the half court offense and obviously is great in transition. He is actually a better defender than Billups who cannot stay in front of anyone anymore. Ty is learning to be more assertive at the request of the coaching staff and he is still a little inconsistent. It will be interesting to see how he follows up his big night in Boston against the Raptors.

Arron Afflalo has been a pleasant surprise, posting a career year across the board. Does he have what it takes to be a rebuilding piece once Carmelo and Chauncey get sent elsewhere?
I think Denver will try to hang onto Afflalo. He has shown a great work ethic and has improved dramatically every summer. He is a solid defender and is developing into a more than adequate offensive player. His name did briefly surface in the rumors swirling around the four team trade which fell apart prior to the start of the season. Who knows if there was any truth to those whispers? Add in Denver’s rumored preference of finding a taker for J.R. Smith and Afflalo, while certainly not untouchable, would seem to be part of the Nuggets long term plans.

Denver has owned the Raptors over the years, last year around this time, they dumped the Raptors 130-112. What will be the game plan this time around against the Raptors, especially with Carmelo being listed as game-time decision?
Not knowing whether or not Melo will play makes it difficult to project much about this game. Deep down I would expect Carmelo to sit. He will certainly want to play in Denver’s next game at Madison Square Garden and after playing horribly over his last five games, it would make sense for him to miss the Toronto game in order to be as strong as possible against the Knicks.

Denver plays a iso heavy offense and it works fine when Melo is on the floor and can get his own shot. He also draws so much attention from the defense that it opens up lanes for his teammates. Without Melo, that same iso offense looks much worse. Ty Lawson is the only player who can penetrate at will and the rest of the team ends up taking plenty of bad shots. You know Denver is in trouble when Al Harrington starts trying to wheel and deal with the ball. On the other hand, if Denver shows the patience to move the ball around, they can get good shots and have offensive players who can make jumpers. Afflalo, Billups, Smith, Lawson and Harrington can all hit the three although Harrington has been shooting blanks for quite some time now. Plus if Denver can play up tempo, they have good athletes and finishers and need not bother with trying to get good shots against a set defense.

Look for Denver to try to get Nene involved early, especially if Bargnani is guarding him. However, if the Raptors double him or front him, Denver will try something else and likely will not go back. Billups will probably also look to be aggressive shooting plenty of threes and posting up Calderon.

Defensively, Bargnani could feast on the pick and pop as Denver has shown a complete inability to deal with that play. They are not much better on the straight pick and roll either. Calderon can get any open midrange shot he wants as Denver’s bigs hate to hedge on the pick and if he wants to go all the way to the rim, they usually give enough ground that the drive is a good option as well.

There is definitely a cloud over this team as they simply wait for Melo to be traded. Still, they showed a lot of heart in their comeback in Boston. Denver may regularly defeat the Raptors, but Toronto will definitely have a shot in this one, whether Melo plays or not.

Injury Report

Toronto
Reggie Evans – Out
Peja Stojakovic – Out

Denver
Kenyon Martin – Out
Chris Andersen – Out
Carmelo Anthony – Game-time decision

Match-ups

Point Guard
Even though he’s not what he used to be, Chauncey Billups is still a top-flight PG in the league. His numbers are down across the board this season, however, it’s more than his age that has reduced his effectiveness. Carmelo’s been injured, the front court is decimated with injuries and the distractions of George Karl’s health and Carmelo’s status on the team, coupled with Josh Kroenke taking the helm have all been a factor (phew, I wanted to get that out in one sentence, my apologies). Don’t get it twisted though, he can still go off and has had a couple great games already this season; there’s a reason this team is 13-8 and holding steady at 7th in the West. Depth-wise though, the Nuggets fall off considerably after Billups, giving Calderon and Bayless a chance to really attack him.

Interestingly enough, this team looks a whole lot better with Ty Lawson running the show. The kid is bloody fast off the dribble, and hits his shots from the perimeter. In a half-court game, he has trouble creating space since he’s so small (5″11 195lbs), but both teams play at a faster pace, so he could be a big factor. Would like to see both Bayless and Calderon take advantage of their size and force him to pick up some fouls.

The one area of concern is perimeter defense, namely coverage beyond the arc. The Raps have allowed something like 629 looks from beyond the 3-point line the last couple games. With Billups averaging about five 3-pointers a game, things could get sticky. That said, I like the different looks/styles we can throw at him, and for once, I’m calling a match-up against Billups in the Raptors favour.
Edge: Toronto

Shooting Guard
so I called him out against the Knicks, and to his credit, DeRozan responded with a strong game. It will take more than one good game to get out of the Republics doghouse, but I know the kids trying. Tonight, he matches up with Afflalo who doesn’t do any one thing great, but is playing mighty fine this season. Afflalo does well off the dribble, and is a crafty scorer. Being on the wing alongside Carmelo has helped him get better looks, but with Anthony potentially out for the game, a lot of the scoring burden will fall to him, which could be a good thing since he’s not an elite scorer. Attack. Attack. Attack. Hit or miss, that’s all DeMar has to do tonight since the Nuggets don’t have much in the paint in the paint to slow him down when he gets by Afflalo.
Edge: Toronto

Small Forward
If Carmelo’s healthy, and in the lineup, he’s going off for 34; if he isn’t, Denver has some guy I never heard of (rookie Gary Forbes) getting burn in his place. This team is totally different with Carmelo out of the lineup, they squeaked out a win against the Suns, and got thumped by Boston on Wednesday. With him though, they are the 6th ranked offense in the league. Off the bench, J.R. Smith will be gunning hard. The guy is instant offense and isn’t shy; Wednesday against the Celtics he took 18 shots in 26 minutes, 10 of them were cringe worthy. I’m actually looking at Barbosa for a big game tonight. He has the speed and determination to get to the rim every chance he gets, and since the Nuggets don’t have anyone to really contest him there, he should be dangerous.

As long as Weems (don’t you dare call him money) does exactly the opposite of what he’s been doing the last few weeks or so, he should be fine. A note on Kleiza…I’m done with him. To regress the way he has over the course of this young season is stunning after the great performance he turned in during the FIBA championships. I only wish the leash Triano has him on would extend to other folks who aren’t carrying their weight.
Edge if Melo’s Playing: Denver
Edge if Melo isn’t Playing: Toronto

Power Forward
No joke, Sheldon Williams is starting for this team, that’s how brutalized the front court is. Since he’s so useless, Amir shouldn’t be getting into any early foul trouble early, which bodes well for him to log 30+ minutes. Off the bench, Harrington is someone to be concerned with, even though he’s only scoring about 12 a game this season; historically he’s feasted on the Raptors, averaging 21 a game over his career.

That said, between Amir and Davis, the Raptors have the size, speed and athleticism to own this match-up. Ed Davis has an opportunity to really step up defensively and on the boards.
Edge: Toronto

Center
What was just as impressive as the 41 points Andrea dropped on Wednesday, was the 7res and 6ast he stacked alongside it. A complete game, I don’t think I’ve ever said that about Andrea during his time with the Raptors. He’s really stepped up this season in Bosh’s absence, and I really couldn’t be happier about it. Triano has done a good job of hiding his rebounding woes (averaging 5.7 which is brutal for a 7 footer getting 35+ minutes) with creative line juggling with Evans and Johnson, allowing him to concentrate his energies on the offensive end.

Nene will be a handful, the Brazilian is super active in the paint, takes very good shots (and hits them to the tune of 62%FG), and gets on the boards. He’s an undersized center, so Barg’s shouldn’t have too hard a time backing him into the post. Nene will win the hustle match-up, but he doesn’t have the tools to really affect Bargnani on either end of the floor. If he starts to float and crash the boards though, he could prove to be trouble.
Edge: Toronto

Keys to the Game

Own the Paint; both ends
I assume that the Nuggets will be shooting the lights out, but they don’t have the forwards to battle in the paint and crash the glass with the Raptors. There is significant drop off after Nene, with Harrington mostly concerned with his own scoring and one-upping himself with shooting threes (I can’t stand him). In Evans’ absence, the Raptors have continued to rebound the hell out of the ball, and with Alibi getting called up from D-League purgatory, the bench has another long kid to get after it.

X’s & O’s
In the dieing minutes against the Knicks, the Raptors ran two brutal out of bounds plays that yielded them exactly nothing. Triano needs to do a much better job at diagramming plays out of the timeouts, on the fly, actually calling good plays in general; especially going head-to-head with Karl, who is one of the better coaches in the league.

Consistency
Three losses in a row, against two teams who are under .500, all in the last week. This after a 6-2 stretch that saw wins against Houston, Boston and Oklahoma. I don’t understand it either, but it speaks to the Raptors not bringing the same effort on a game-to-game basis, which comes down to preparation and motivation, which comes down to Triano and Carlessimo doing their jobs.

With or without Carmelo, the Raptors need this win, have to stop the bleeding and build some momentum heading into the next week where 5 of the next 7 are at home, and against weaker teams (obviously the Bulls and Lakers aren’t weak teams).

Excuse the spelling/grammar mistakes, didn’t have time to go through this with a fine tooth comb; at least I never said ‘literally’.

***UPDATE***
The gamblers have spoken, and the Nuggets are 2 point favourites with an over/under of 217.5.