Alabi: kind of like that kid from small town Ontario that gets sent to summer camp with a bunch of rich kids. An outsider that has as much chance as playing in the reindeer games as Rudolph would without the nose.

Andersen: I’m a fan but tonight he looked like a bird searching for a tree to land on in the middle of the ocean. Plenty of movement, very little result

Banks: if he was your kid, chances are when you went to parent/teacher night, the teacher would have to search his class roster and look for a photo before remembering who the hell he was.

Barbosa: more like the Brazilian Blot. Andersen can be ineffective because he’s expected to be. Barbosa is a legit NBAer who doesn’t have a big role so he should be able to bring it every night. Tonight I think he left his skill at the Denny’s.

Bargnani: 26 and 9, got to the line 9 times and showed why the Jazz staff were concerned about him. I’m declaring the early drought over, but obviously we have to expect some dry spells. Still, away from home and reading the articles that he has become a reason to have to plan when playing the Raptors must be great for his confidence.

Calderon: know how when the batteries die in your remote and you spend a few minutes still trying to change channels or power your TV on with it? That is the epitome of Jose’s game tonight. Frustrating and time to get some fresh juice.

Davis: last seen checking out the hotspots of Salt Lake City. That would be the airport and the bus terminal….both at the departure gates.

DeRozan: had a good 3rd quarter but ended up giving it all away via one of the dumbest moves possible. Seconds left in the quarter, gets the inbound, heaves it downcourt but, in doing so, steps on the line. Turnover. Jazz inbound and hit a three. Saddle up the horses, Young Onez….your sheriff just swapped his bullets with blanks and forgot the one in the chamber as he shot your hopes outta your head.

Dorsey: 4 fouls in 9 minutes. Evidently that exit ramp he has as a forehead isn’t capable of keeping the concept of staying on the floor to help his team inside his head.

Evans: that thud you heard around 9:42 in Toronto was Heavy E coming back down to earth and landing on top of the ACC, smashing through the roof and landing in BC’s office with a big goofy grin on his face and saying “Gotcha sucka!!!”. He deserved a night off but as we were getting our asses handed to us, he and Bargnani were acting more like 98 pound doormen protecting the paint rather than the animal he has been lately.

Jack: poor shot selection, horrible distribution of the ball save for about 4 minutes in the third and what appeared to be no motivation to rally the troops as we were getting kicked in the cohones by a bunch of guys being cheered on by wheat farmers.  Who was Pat Riley offering again? Anytime your starting point guard commits 2 fouls in the first 6 minutes of the game and comes off the floor shaking his head and brushing off his own teammates as he sits down, you know it’s going to be a long night with Mr. Personality.

Johnson: if you are your teams big re-signing of the summer and a guy named Joey Dorsey is getting more minutes than you 4 games into the season, you need a long hard talk with yourself. Either that or you need to buy your agent his own jet because buddy is your BFF.

Kleiza: kind of torn. This type of effort tonight is what I expected most nights. But, after hearing how he played this summer and witnessing his efforts in pre-season, I thought he may be up there as as steal of the summer candidate. Granted, he was up against an always(usually)-ready Jazz team coached by the best coach in the league, but you can either choose to cower or try and step it up. Linas cowered as if he was hooking up with twins and their dad just came home carrying an axe and a double layered garbage bag.

Weems: Only in Utah: Green and Yellow are colours that are predominant in something other than stoplights and ballhogs like Sonny Weems have career nights. 7/13 and 9/10 from the line. Sonny never stopped shooting  and rarely looked to help his teammates. He’s like the basketball version of Bruce Willis in Die Hard.

Wright: as you read this, he is begging the bus driver to pull over so he can go cowtipping, proving he can indeed be a productive part of this team.

Driving The Bus: Andrea Bargnani

Under The Bus: Jose Calderon

Game Theme :

The 2nd game of this Western swing, and things couldn’t be tougher. The Raptors very well could have been 3-0 heading into Utah tonight, but dems da breaks. On Monday, the Raptors lost a heart breaker to Sacramento where they played a pretty solid game, but lost composure at the end. That doesn’t set a good precedent for the Jazz game; a team that has been nothing but composed for as long as I can remember.

I got a chance to chat in with Spencer Hall from Salt City Hoops about the Jazz and some of the changes the team has made in the last year:

We always knew that Millsap would be a beast when given a chance. What does it mean for the Jazz that they will get similar production as Boozer without the shortened seasons because of injury? You guys were able to pick up Al Jefferson for a song. How is the pairing with Millsap working out? Does this make Okur a trade candidate (he’s expensive for someone playing limited minutes off the bench)?
The Millsap Corollary has been a favorite topic for the stat-head community. When Boozer left for Chicago, it was exciting to finally have a chance to see if Millsap could maintain his high PER with starter minutes or if his true genius was only effective as an energy guy matched up against then opposing second unit.

The arrival of Al Jefferson, however, threw a wrench in the test. With Jefferson playing the traditional center spot and doing work on the low block (rather than playing alongside Mehmet Okur, who floats out to 3-point territory), Millsap has been free to pick up scraps and show off a midrange game. He still gets to play the role of energy guy without the burden of being the focus of the offense.

So, instead of replacing Boozer with Millsap, the Jazz have countered with the two-headed monster of Jeffer-sap. It took a few games to figure out, but if the nearly flawless performance against the OKC Thunder on Sunday is any indication, the Jazz will be an offensive force to be reckoned with.

The Jazz now have the luxury to allow Okur to ease back in when he returns from a devastating ruptured achilles tendon last season. He won’t be back until December at the earliest, and probably not until January, but his unique offensive game won’t require him to do much work inside to be effective. All that to say, I don’t see Okur becoming trade bait upon his return. He’ll be an important weapon for the Jazz down the stretch.

The Jazz lost two sharp shooters in Korver and Matthews; what’s the plan to replace that production from the perimeter?
The Kyle Korver era in Utah only happened on paper. Jazz assistant Phil Johnson once commented that they could roll Korver out on the floor in a wheelchair and people would still respect his ability to shoot. His mere presence spread the floor. But that’s just the problem. The Jazz only used him as a decoy (and jersey salesman) and never really let him unleash his crazy shooting ability.

In the first two games of the season, opponents packed the lane and dared the Jazz to shoot. We’ve seen what it looks like when Raja Bell and CJ Miles are bricking shot after shot and it isn’t pretty. On the other hand, it’s beautiful thing when everything is falling, like it was in OKC. Unfortunately, that’s how I see the season going: Live by the midrange game, die by the midrange game.

Even more important than the 3-point shooting of Matthews and Korver, though, was their ability to finish layups. The Jazz offense is designed to get players open looks at the rim. The only teams that have struggled in the Jerry Sloan era have been the ones that couldn’t hit their layups and short runners. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this weakness.

Sloan’s been coaching the Jazz as long as I’ve been watching NBA. A big part of playing for the Jazz is being in his system; what happens when he finally hangs it up?
Speaking of Sloan, it’s hard to imagine the Jazz sideline without him there. He’s healthy, he’s sharp, he has the unwavering support of the ownership and the front office, and the players all seem to love playing for him. I think he stays at least another five years, and I’ve said before that I won’t be surprised to see him stay for ten more. It’s his job as long as he wants it.

That being said, owner Greg Miller has echoed what his father said about succession; that long-time assistant (and former NBA Coach of the Year) Phil Johnson will have the chance to take over if he chooses to do so. Most people think, however, that when Sloan hangs it up, Johnson will follow.

I’d rank Deron Williams as the best point guard in the league, if for no other reason than he is much more durable than Chris Paul; thoughts?
I’m honestly completely bored by the DWill-CP3 comparisons. Deron Williams and Chris Paul both make me love the game, but it just seems like apples and oranges. And we may all be missing the point completely: Rajon Rondo is doing ridiculous things in Boston despite any semblance of a jump shot.

That being said, I love DWill for this Jazz team. His ability to pass or score, as well as the durability you mentioned, make him a very special player, and I definitely wouldn’t trade him for either CP3 or Rondo.

Injury Report

Toronto
Leandro Barbosa – Day-to-day [expected to play]

Utah
With Boozer no longer here they are good

Match-ups

PG – Jack vs Williams
So what’s the expectation here? Last game against the Thunder, the kid put up 16pts 15ast 6reb; ridiculous. Jack is coming off his worst game I’ve seen against the Kings. Jack can’t win this match-up, but what he can do is play Williams tough, stay in front of him and keep him the eff out of the lane.

The Jazz are all about getting open looks at the rim (see above), and the best way to do that is for someone to penetrate, get into the paint and draw defensive attention. D-Will is that somebody, and Jack/Calderon need to do there best not to hand the key over on a platter. I wont hold my breath.

Edge: Williams

SG – DeRozan vs Bell
Coming off a career game, DeRozan is starting to carve out his niche on this team. Whatever you may think of his progress, we can all agree that he has made nice strides. Heading into a weekend where he gets Kobe and Roy back-to-back, DeMar has the chance to make me a happy man, by pounding on Raja Bell tonight. I have hated Bell, as well as Aaron McKie, since the Toronto/Philly playoff series. He’s that player you loathe, but would love to have on your team; for me anyways.

Sadly, he’s not the player he used to be, but can still play some D, and spot-up from time to time. It won’t make up for the annoyance he’s caused me over the years, but I look forward to DeMar teabagging him.

Edge: DeRozan

SF – Kleiza vs Kirilenko
Full Disclosure: Kirilenko is one of my favorites in the league; something about his Russian sensibilities, and his wifes yearly pass to frolic. I also desperately tried to pick him up on waivers in my fantasy league, but had to settle on Wilson Chandler.

Kleiza has come as advertised. I never expected great offensive efficiency, but he delivers the goods. I was hoping for some more leadership from him, but there’s still quite a bit of ball to be played; I’m not too worried. He’s going to have his first real test in Kirilenko who is the jack of all trades, but king of none. He wont have to worry about getting beat off the dribble, but Kirilenko gets into the paint somehow and can knock down the open looks that Williams will be creating for him. I’m leaning to a give-and-take situation with these two. Neither will win or lose the game for their team; but I’ve been known to be wrong.

Edge: Even

PF – Evans vs Millsap
Fantasy owners rejoice, both these cats finally got their chance to shine. Playing behind Boozer all these years, Millsap’s only teased folks with his steeze when Carlos has gone down with whatever weird injury he was afflicted with. The kid is legit though, and a beast like Evans with more offensive touch. As Spencer said, he gets to float around the perimeter, hit some jumpers and crash the boards. Evans can control him on the rebounding front, but he wont match him in the scoring department. Regardless, I’m ok with Millsap taking jumper after jumper if it means Evans keeps him out of the paint and off the glass. Still, it will be tough given Deron’s (how nice is it to have a cat who can make every player on the team better) ability to create nice scoring opportunities for his mates.

Edge: Millsap

C – Bargnani vs Jefferson
I gave Cousins the edge last game, and aside from scoring 16 points in 17 minutes, and conceding two key rebounds down the stretch, Bargnani came out on top. Jefferson is a different animal on his own: he plays tough in the paint, takes good shots and crashes the boards. Interestingly enough, Bargnani’s strength on defense is man-to-man in the low blocks, and since he has some height on Big Al, he will give him a run for his money on defense. The glass is a totally different story; and Bargnani needs to pull his weight in the sense that he needs to make a much more serious effort boxing out his man. I’m good with him scoring 23+ points and Evans grabbing 14+ rebounds, but he has to keep Jefferson off the glass on the defensive end; end of story.

Edge: Jefferson

Would you believe me if I told you the Raptors were 9th (96.7) in defense and 7th (44.3) in rebounding in the league? Yea, I was a bit surprised until I remembered the effort they are bringing to the floor every game. It’s truly been a pleasure getting that kind of effort considering what we’ve had to put up with over the years. Colangelo has definitely shifted gears in his team building philosophy; sure these guys can still score 13th in the association (100.7), but they are getting at it.

Vegas has the Jazz as 10.5 favourites, with an over/under of 209.5…yea…if I see some fight and effort tonight, I can take a loss. The schedule wont be letting up for a while, so we will get a good sense of how committed these guys are to this whole/weird/alien team thing they’ve been doing.

All things considered, the Raptors aren’t doing that bad recenty. They are 6-11 since the All-Star game, but 3-1 in their last 4 games, with two of those coming on the road. Those two wins were against the two worst teams in the NBA, but a win is a win is a win, and they got em. What got lost is that win over the Hawks that has these guys looking to make a bit of a run heading into the playoffs. Triano echoed that sentiment after practice:

We’re not playing well and we think we’re starting to turn the corner a little bit where we have better focus. I don’t think we’re playing great basketball, but we’re starting to share it a little better.

He is on to something there; in the last 3 wins, the Raptors are averaging 23ast while shooting 48.4% from the field, both higher than their season averages, and both indicative of the team moving the ball around looking for the right shots. Take that with a grain of salt though, two of those three wins have come against poor teams…man I’m jaded…

The Jazz on the other hand are just rolling along quite well. They sit 4th in the West, and are 7-3 in their last 10 games. This is a team we all want the Raptors to be: solid ownership/management, Hall of Fame coach, elite point guard surrounded by above average talent. In fact, the Raptors are winless against the Jazz dating back to 2006 (9 losses in a row). This is a franchise that proves players will go anywhere as long as the program is a winning one because let’s face it, there’s nothing cool about Salt Lake City Utah (no offence Spencer).

The last time these guys played, the Jazz got the better of the Raptors in a game that was over rather early. The Raptors made a go of it, but it was already written. Kirilenko had a beast of a game with 20pts 7rebs 3stl 2blk off the bench, and Boozer and D-Will basically did what they wanted 22pts 18reb and 20pts 6rebs 9ast respectively. There is no reason to think they can’t replicate that effort again tonight.

I checked in with Spencer Hall from Salt City Hoops to get a bit of insight into this Jazz team:

Is Carlos Boozer staying or leaving? What would you look like without him? Can Millsap do it full-time?
I’m more and more convinced that Carlos Boozer will re-sign with the Jazz this summer — a scenario that would have been absolutely unbelievable just a few months ago. All things considered, I have to give both the Jazz and Boozer credit for putting aside the nonsense from last summer and having a great year. It is a contract year, but he’s been nothing but professional. Don’t be surprised to see Booze back in SLC next year. I don’t think we’re even going to have to see if MIllsap can do it full time. It looks more and more like the Jazz paid a lot of money to get exactly what they paid for: Paul Millsap, not the next Carlos Boozer.

Without Boozer the Jazz definitely become a different team, and not always a bad one. There have been stretches over the last few years when he’s been out with injuries that the Jazz have played very well. But there’s no way this team contends without contributions from Boozer, Okur, AK, and Deron Williams. It’s definitely a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.

Can the Jazz hold on to 4th? Who do you guys want to play in the 1st round?
The Jazz will definitely hold onto fourth, and might steal the division title, considering the way Denver is stumbling. Anyone is going to be tough in the first round, but the Jazz have somehow had the Spurs’ number this year. If we were picking the opponent, D-league style, the Jazz would go with San Antonio.

At what point does Jerry Sloan get Coach of the Year? If he gets it for a season he may not have deserved to (like Denzel Washington winning for Training Day when he was gold in Hurricane and Malcolm X), will that make it any less sweet?
I think you’re right, he’ll get it some year when the Jazz win 48 games with a boring roster and no one cares. He makes a good point that COY is kind of a kiss of death. The list of coaches who have been fired the next year is almost shocking. That being said, there is nothing I enjoy more than hanging around Sloan’s postgame remarks. It’s like going to a book reading with Hemingway.

Is Fesenko enough to carry the Jazz into the playoffs?
Are you forgetting Kosta Koufos? The Jazz have the feared Ukrainian-Greek combo ready to carry the team to new heights. Honestly though, Fesenko really is an X-factor. He’s a huge guy with sneaky athleticism. He’s been solid filling in for Memo down the stretch but his mysterious “stomach virus” keeps acting up and keeping him out of games. He’ll win a game or two for the Jazz in the playoffs.

Has Andre Kirilenko cashed in his once a year infidelity chip? Is he worth anything in a trade?
Apparently AK traded in his pass to get permission to grow out his hair (made up), a decision that has been rewarded with a reverse-Samson effect: He’s playing his best basketball in years but his injured back keeps flaring up and keeping him out of games. He’s also been seen in a walking cast lately. He’s probably not a great value at $84 million, but he’s absolutely been the glue for the Jazz for most of the year, especially early.

So the Jazz tonight and Denver on Friday, it wont be easy, but one of these needs to be a win; I’m liking the Denver game a bit more for some stupid reason – we owe them. It’s going to take a full 48 minutes of effort and execution from the Raptors. Bargnani and Turkoglu have been violently inconsistent the last few games, but really need to lead the way, and not be lazy. Not saying it’s going to happen, but I have a good feeling (the gamblers have the line at Utah -3.0 with an over/under of 214, not exactly a ringing endorsement for the home team).

The Raptors are back on a roll after beating both the Knicks and the Mavericks in convincing fashion on the weekend. Tonight they are in Cleveland on the first night of a back-to-back against the Mavs. I always thought that the win we had over the Cavs was a disservice to this team because it made a lot of people think the Raptors were better than they actually were. The fact of the matter is that Cleveland was playing the second game of a back-to-back, the first of which was an intense season opener to the Celtics.

While it was a quality win against an elite team, it by no means meant that the Raptors were destined for 50 wins and such. All it meant was that we were able to take advantage of a tired/oldish team who were playing their second game in two nights while trying to integrate a new piece (Shaq) into a team that didn’t know what to do with him. Since that game, the Cavs have gone 30-10, and are sitting pretty at the top of the East.

Don’t think they’ve forgotten about the beating we laid down on them earlier in the season. When asked about tonight’s game, Mo Williams said:

We’re playing at a different level. So are [the Raptors] — 10 of their last 13, they’ve won. They’re playing well. But, at the same time, we feel like we owe them. They handed us a loss, and you always want to use that as motivation. That’s what we’re doing.

A motivated Cavs team scares me, really. This will be a redemption game for the Cavs who are playing some great basketball, 7-3 over their last 10 and 31-11 on the year. Of their 11 losses, 5 of them are on the road to .500+ Western Conference teams; and 2 of them are against the Bobcats who seem to have their number for some reason.

You might remember the Saturday loss to Utah where some dude named Sundiata Gaines hit the games winning three with no time left on the clock.

Tonight, the Raptors need to bring a lot of what they had in the first game, namely an aggressive Bargnani. With Bargnani playing the way he has been, the Raptors front line has a big advantage in terms of speed, quickness and outside shooting. Shaq/Ilgauskas have no chance in hell of covering whoever Varajeo isn’t. If the Cavs send the double, the Raptors will kick it out and share the ball like they did against the Mavs.

The high pick-and-roll becomes even more important in this scenario since neither has a chance in hell of doing anything but getting called for a foul. Varajeo is the only person on that front line who makes me nervous, and he has been having a great stretch over the last 10 games, posting 9.7pts and 9.2rebs on 36-71 shooting, all those shots coming inside 8 feet.

When it comes to LeBron, you just hope you can keep him on the perimeter and let him shoot the Cavs out of the game. While he had a triple-double that last game against the Raptors, he was 7-19 from the field (1-5 3pt) and 8-14 from the line. Hardly the kind of the line that would force you to defend the shot. I say let him shoot all he wants, bait him to shoot but provide heavy coverage on drives, this way he wont be able to get into the lane then Hit Parker/Williams/West with a kick out for an open jumper. Easier said than done of course.

As far as Hedo goes, 8pts 4rebs 6ast on 2-9 shooting isn’t going to cut it. While those are decent numbers and got us a win over the Mavs, a guy making $10mil should be providing more, and with LeBron probably notching another triple-double, Turkoglu needs to really step up. We can only hope he doesn’t have pizza for lunch today.

I’m looking for DeRozan to continue his strong play from the Dallas outing where his shot was popping. I’d liked to see him take it to Parker and try get the old mans legs weary. Run through the lane and around some low pics for a catch-and-shoot around the elbow.

The Cavs are -9.5 favourites with an over/under of 203. This is another test for the Raptors, but not a must win. We can only hope that if the game is out of hand by the 2nd half, that Triano will rest the starters (and Jose) in hopes of being as fresh as possible tomorrow against Milwaukee.

Oh, I can’t wait to see Jamario Moon jack a couple bad jumpers when he should have swung the ball. That really makes me happy.

At least it’s over. This killer road trip that everyone said would be the first true test for the Raptors has finally run its course. After dropping two tough ones in Phoenix and Denver, the hope was that the ‘moral’ victories and lessons learned would help the Raptors steal a game from an injured 4-6 Utah Jazz team. Didn’t work out that way, but the Raptors did learn a lesson on what it takes to be  a top level team.

The Raptors have played more road games in the West then any Eastern conference team, having gone 2-6 (Memphis before this trip). We can be thankful that this trial by fire is over with. It wont be until February, where the Raptors play 7 of 10 at home, that we can expect to make up some ground from this early scheduling fiasco.

The game started ugly with Bosh and Calderon each fumbling the ball, leading to four quick Utah points off the fast break. This seem to be the trend the entire game: the Jazz being able to push on the break, creating very easy scoring opportunities for each other. The Raptors laboured on each and every possession and could score only in contested one-on-one situations.

In fact, the first quarter was probably the worst quarter the Raptors have played all season. D-Will and rookie Wes Mathews got the best of the Raptors back court. If it wasn’t Deron punishing the Raptors for each and every turnover, pushing the ball and making the right play each and every time, it was this dude Mathews, who I’ve never heard, getting into a nice rhythm and making the Raptors pay for some weak defense on the perimeter. Not much else to report about the 1st quarter. I could have been out on the court and things wouldn’t have gotten any worse.

In the early second quarter things went from bad to worse. Where the Raptors were going one-and-done on offense, taking bad jumpers with our rebounders nowhere to be found, the Jazz were working the ball into the paint, getting great looks from inside 15ft. The Jazz were executing so well that they had 13 uncontested shots on their first 26 attempts, the pick ‘n roll working magic for them and our bigs unable to cope. They literally scored 26 points with no one between them and the basket.

Seemed like Bosh was all alone in this quarter. My game notes literally either had Bosh losing someone on defense (4pts off layups), Bosh rotating to help with no one picking up his man (2pts off layups), or Bosh finding his game in the latter half of the quarter being active on the boards, contesting shots, and scoring.

It was Bosh who put the Raptors on his back and scored 11pts in the last three and a half minutes of the half to pace a 16-6 run. In fact, this was the problem the entire night. The Raptors were just running around trying to make things happen but not playing basketball. Every single point Bosh scored was because he created for himself. They were unassisted and weren’t the result of any ball movement. Bosh got the ball, and everyone else stood around watching him do his thing. Whatever, it cut a 17 point lead to 9 with momentum building for the Raptors slowly. You’d hope at some point either our vaunted offense or a semblance of defense would make an appearance.

The 3rd started the way the 2nd ended, with the Raptors scoring off of one-on-plays. Only one of the shots (a high-lo feed from Bargnani to Bosh) was the result of someone creating for another Raptor. This 10-4 run to start the 3rd was paced by some really good defense. Jose was up on Deron, staying with him on the penetration and forcing a contested layup (missed). Bosh contested a Boozer jumper, DeRozan stole the outlet pass from Boozer to Deron.

Then it happened, the Raptors hit the wall, going scoreless for 4 minutes. Brick after brick rained down. Every single one a jumper that was forced. With Bosh on the bench, the Jazz pushed their lead to 9, then he entered:

MARCO BELINELLI TIME

(sung to the tune of peanut butter jelly time)

In a span of 2:30, Belinelli either scored or assisted on every made basket. The Raptors closed the 3rd on a 9-3 run, capped with an off-balance buzzer beating three by our boy. On a side note, Belinelli is going to be the end of me this season. I like him, but the dude is just plain nuts. He cut the lead the lead to 1, with a layup in traffic (assisted by Hedo), but then the Raptors reverted back to first-option jumpers. One-and-done. Catch-and-shoot. Watch as your check blows by you for 5 minutes. Literally; the Raptors were scoreless for 5:19.

This time it was another unrecognized rookie, Eric Maynor, anchoring the Jazz as they slowly but surely pulled away. This Raptors had no answer for him. He was quick, crafty and did what he wanted. 11pts and 2ast in the 4th. The Raptors as a team scored 16 and had 2 assists just to put it in perspective.

Four Factors to Losing

Shooting the Ball Well
They did not shoot the ball well for one reason: Calderon/Hedo/Jack did a poor job of creating for the rest of the team. 14 assists on the night, seriously? The Raptors scored on great individual playmaking, not as a team. When you can’t hit your jumpers, you usually move it in, try to get a couple easy layups and build some confidence. No, the Raptors kept shooting and missing. To put it in perspective, the Raptors grabbed more offensive rebounds then they dished out assists.
Raptors – 40.6%
Jazz – 50.5%

Taking Care of the Ball
Both teams took care of the ball well here, which is no surprise given Calderon’s and Williams’ track record. Sadly, Calderon had 2tos to 2ast. That hurt.
Raptors – 11.5%
Jazz – 10.5%

Offensive Rebounding
This was the sole reason the Raptors were able to weather going scoreless for 4 minutes in the 3rd quarter: they grabbed  offensive rebounds. With Okur out, the Raptors were able to use their size advantage to crash the boards and grab 16 offensive boards. The Raptors did a great job of crashing the boards, grabbing 50.
Raptors – 30.7%
Jazz – 27.6%

Getting to the Free Throw Line
Not gonna get to the line when you’re shooting jumpers, but Bosh managed 9 trips on his own to ensure  that all was not lost in this department.
Raptors – 24.1%
Jazz – 34.5%

Player Impact

Not surprising that Bosh led the way, again: 32pts 17rebs – ridiculous. I shudder to think where this team will be if we run him out of town.

One the thing the Raptors have done really well is shown resiliency when the chips are down. This is a tough team that has some fight in them. It takes its toll though, you can’t keep getting into double digit deficits and expect to grind your way back every single game. Oh, I freaking hate Jarrett Jack. Hate him. He is my new Jamario Moon with that garbage jumper of his. I’d rather Rasho pop J’s from 17.

Arse has more of the grizzly details as they happened.

Banks – gettin’ paid.

Bargnani – a double double from out of nowhere. His night played out like a Where’s Waldo story. He’s there, then he’s gone. Brutal defensively and a bad shooting night. This back to back killed him.

Belinelli – fantastic play in the third and he almost singlehandedly pulled his team back to within one point. Faltered in the fourth when he tried to drive in traffic and didn’t get the call. Our jumpers weren’t falling, but his were earlier, so not sure why he went away from them.

Bosh – I’m sure he was just happy not to see Nene. 32 and 17 for a guy that went against Leo’s argument that this team was fatigued.

Calderon – 2 assists, 2 turnovers. That tells you this wasn’t a typical Jose night. Deron Williams was back, he was hungry, and Jose was the main course tonight.

DeRozan – It was going to be tough to come out and play as well as he did last night. His line was small, as were his minutes (14) but he hustled out there tonight. He should be happy with his first western road swing.

Evans - faker.

Jack – safe to say that is appearance with Jose on the court at the same time in the fourth was the pin in the balloon again. Jack is struggling to find his groove, period, so why he gets put out there with Jose who is also just getting back to form is beyond me. Also, if you get the chance, you have to see one of the most awkward shots taken in Raptors history. Arsenalist breaks it down here.

Johnson – they should have a little puppy gate set up at the scorers table for when this guy checks in. It’s like he sees the ball and his eyes light up, a bell goes off in his head, and he has to have it. His energy boost was welcome tonight, even if stats-wise it did nothing for us.

Mensah-Bonsu – didn’t see the floor. This will be a common theme.

Nesterovic – didn’t see the floor. Wish this was a common theme.

O’Bryant – didn’t see the floor. The creator of the common theme.

Turkoglu- horrible start, but he picked it up when he checked back in. I was half expecting to hear the “He’s On Fire” sample being played whenever he shot the ball for a stretch there. He had one of those stat filling nights: 11pts, 6rebs, 4 assists. Played almost 40 minutes which surprised me given his night off last night.

Weems – not much to say here. Love the guy, but showed next to nothing tonight. I keep waiting for him to break out and absolutely crush his man. Guess I have to temper my expectations.

Wright – didn’t play, but kept active by setting up the team poker tournament for the flight back to Canada.

Driving The Bus:  Chris Bosh

Under The Bus:  Andrea Bargnani

Game Theme:

Update: Boozer is out with a sprained ankle!

You ever open up a watch and look at its inside? What an instrument! What intricacy! All those gears rotating in a systematic fashion to perform one particular purpose. That’s what the Utah Jazz are to basketball. The Raptors are a little different, they’re like the twisted blunt rusty nail that can’t even penetrate the drywall which you end up throwing away in favor of some glue. The Jazz are my favorite team to watch because their whole is greater than the sum of their parts which is what a basketball team is supposed to be. They’re what I hope the Raptors someday become under the guidance of a brilliant coach and a GM that supports him.

The Jazz are playing with a purpose, they’re 6th in the Western conference in a pack where 1 game separates 5 teams vying for the third spot. The Raptors are playing out the season, have nothing on the line and have no reason other than personal pride to win any games. We are the second worst team in the East and the most disappointing in the entire league. So motivation at this point becomes the biggest factor and after the deflating loss to Miami, the rainy weather, and summertime around the corner, you can’t help but think that the players are starting to check out.

The only players I want to see on the court on Sunday are Roko, Banks, Pops, O’Bryant and Bargnani. The rest can go to hell, especially Jose Calderon and Jason Kapono, two players that make me cringe every time I see them with the ball or they show a close-up of their faces. Jose’s been so disappointing this season that you just hope he’s been playing at 20% all season long and the real Jose will come back next year. I don’t think he can handle summertime basketball and the Olympics combined with the full-time PG duties have thrown him a conditioning curveball. We need to shut him down ASAP and ensure that he doesn’t play for Spain in the summer. I believe he’s better than what he’s shown us this year. He has to be, it’s just that Colangelo (along with most fans) didn’t properly evaluate the impact of him playing in the Olympics. If we’re to play run ‘n gun next year Jose will have to be about 250% better than what he’s been this year when it comes to court-vision, pushing the ball and attacking the rim.

The Jazz have won – get this – 10 straight and 13 of 14 where they’ve beaten the Lakers, Celtics, Hornets, Nuggets and Hawks. Deron Williams has put up 10 straight assists in 11 straight games including 20 against Golden State this week. Most recently he went off for 25/11 against Billups who he held to 12/2 on 5-17 shooting. The Jazz are 7th in the ESPN rankings but I think they should be fourth ahead of the Magic, Spurs and Nuggets. The Jazz are kicking off a five game Eastern roadtrip where they’ll play Toronto, Indiana, Atlanta, Miami and Orlando. The Raptors have lost 4 straight and 6 of 8, most recently of course, they were humbled by Dwayne Wade at home.

The last time we played them they blew us out – Okur had a strong game and Harpring came off the bench to give them a boost by scoring 14 points on 6-9 shooting. He’s a type of player that you love to have on your team: gritty, hard-nosed and smart. But hey, we got our own version of Harpring coming back next year and its Delfino as Colangleo tries to recreate the magic of the 07-08 season.

The injury report for this one is quite thin with all hands available for the Jazz except some dude named Kyrylo Fesenko. Kris Humphries is out for the season. BTW, if there’s one Raptor I want to follow on Twitter, it’s him. I’m guessing his updates would be something like:

11:34 PM: “Smoking hot chick just walked in Lobby, let me see what I can do.”

11:36 PM: “She didn’t know who I was…worst part? She follows the Raptors.”

Marion: He appeared mentally out of it against the Heat which didn’t sit right with me, how much of that has to do with him being looked off twice early by Calderon is another matter. If a player like him cuts and doesn’t get the ball, he’ll cut again and if he doesn’t get the ball even though he’s got his hand up and is shouting, he’s not going to cut again. I’d still like to see him on next year’s team because in a good system he can be an awesome player. The question is whether he’s interested in waiting for that system to be build around him in Toronto. If I were him I’d definitely look elsewhere as there are greener pastures across the league who would gladly take him on if he’s willing to take the paycut which the Raptors will most definitely mandate. Colangelo and him had to have had private conversations about his future in Toronto or else this deal would not have been made. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out come the off-season but if I were to put money on it, I’d say he’ll be gone and it won’t be a slight against the city but the team.

Before we get to the starting matchups, check out who Utah brings off the bench: Andrei Kirilenko, Matt Harpring, Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Price. You could make a case that we don’t have a singe player on the bench who is even equivalent to them. Pops was a good surprise off the bench against Miami and if he plays with the same hustle and energy, you could make a case for him to be on the bench as the 8th man next year ahead of Jawai, O’Bryant and Voskuhl. Then again, it’s one game and we have much bigger problems.

Calderon vs Williams
The Edge: Williams. Let’s see what Calderon can do to slow Williams down…hmm…nothing! Either we’ll have to help on every single possession or we could try and put Parker on Williams to minimize the damage. On offense, Jose’s been reduced to a player that’s only effective when his jumper is falling, and those are the worst kinds. I’d settle for Williams having an 18 point, 8 assist game.

Bargnani vs Okur
The Edge: Okur. You know how Dirk is what we want Bargnani to be? Okur is what we’d settle for. That’s nothing to be ashamed of, Okur’s averaging 18 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field and 47% from three point line. Looking at their 82 Games pages (Bargnani, Okur) you’ll find that more of Okur’s points come from inside than Bargnani’s (30% vs 20%) which as a lot to do with him being a more efficient player in every aspect. I think that’s somewhere we’d like Bargnani to improve along with his rebounding, currently at 5.4. As for the matchup, Okur can be exploited on the perimeter but Utah’s help can offset any advantage Bargnani might gain off the dribble.

Parker vs Miles
The Edge: Even. Miles is another example of what you can find in the second round if you’ve done your scouting. He was the 34th pick in the ’05 draft and has started 56 games for the Jazz this season. Parker’s just been lit up by Wade and I don’t actually see him guarding Miles much as he’ll likely be switched to Williams. The Raptors just need to be cognizant of Miles’ slashing ability and whoever is guarding him (Joey, Parker, Marion) must be aware that he can take it to the rim and pass off of dribble-penetration. He’s very much a system-guy with limited offensive ability so you don’t expect him to go off and be the difference maker. Not: You get this when you look for CJ Miles images in Google.

Bosh vs Boozer
The Edge: Bosh. Boozer’s played 18 games in total this year and since returning he’s averaging 9.8 points and 11 rebounds over 6 games. Most recently, he’s had monster rebounding games of 17 and 16 against Houston and Denver. The last time Bosh and Boozer matched up Boozer ate him up by going 23/14 to Bosh’s 14/7 in a Jazz win. He’s also averaged 23.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in his last four meetings against us. I’m giving the edge to Bosh because Boozer’s coming back from injury and could be rusty enough laterally to provide Bosh a driving advantage (of course Bosh has to drive). Also, Bosh is coming off one his best games of the year and saw Watchmen on Saturday so he’s probably feeling like a superhero. Something tells me that I should switch this to Boozer since the last time Bosh was matched up against a half-decent PF, Scola got the better of him. The homer in me tells me to hang on to something positive.

Marion vs Brewer
The Edge: Marion. Brewer’s started all 60 games for the Jazz this season and has averaged 14/4, nice enough numbers for a guy that’s not asked to do much except what’s dictated by a structured Jazz system. He’s had 13 20+ point games this season so is liable to score when he’s slashing. They key to making him a non-factor is forcing him to shoot from outside – he’s a 26.7% three point shooter. I doubt that he’s actually undisciplined enough to take bad shots, though. Marion wins this matchup because he can exploit Brewer off the dribble and by using his unorthodox jump hook, he’s a good enough defensive player to make Brewer a non-factor while making some noise on the other end.

My pick from the Jazz dance team is Makinzee who wants to be a doctor and loves eating chocolate chip cookies. A man I trust once told me that Salt Lake City’s got a bad rep and is actually a very nice place with very nice girls, which is a prerequisite for any NBA city.

After incorrectly predicting that the Raptors would upset the Heat, I’m going with the Jazz covering the 5 1/2 point spread and continuing their hot-streak as the Raptors’ defense looks lost against Williams, Boozer and Okur. Unless we have super individual performances from three players, chalk up another L.

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The Raptors led by Jose Calderon had just finished a third quarter which had rescued this game from getting out of hand. The Raptors had slowed the tempo and the scoreboard down in the third quarter winning it 27-18 by playing gritty paint defense and by riding Jose Calderon’s hot shooting. A 9 point halftime deficit had been entirely erased and with the fourth quarter set to go, the Raptors were smelling a San Antonio like upset. That’s when Sam Mitchell tried to get too smart for his own good. He inserted the volatile and struggling TJ Ford who went 1-4, turned the ball over twice, got himself into a one-on-one contest with Ronnie Price and the official, picked up two technicals and was sent packing. Add it all up and a 65-65 game had turned into an 81-69 ball game with 6:58 to go and Utah had the momentum with the crowd fully in to it. Game over. The crazy part might be that if it hadn’t been for the technicals, Ford would have continued to play the PG while Calderon and his hot hand cooled off on the bench. Mind boggling stuff, how many times has this happened already?

Utah was off today, they were back from an Eastern swing and their malaise allowed the Raptors to stick around at the end of the first quarter. Sloan went to the bench in the second and as is a Raptors custom, an relative no-name player (Price) scored 4 times his season average to pull the Jazz ahead at the half. In the third quarter our defense picked up and Rasho/Moon/Parker came up with blocks and strips near the rim to contain Utah which was excellent as usual moving without the ball. The third quarter belonged to Calderon who had 9, more than canceling out the brilliant Deron Williams’ 8 to bring us back in the game. Only two other Jazz scored field goals in the period and the Raptors had the momentum and the right defensive attitude going into the deciding quarter. Then TJ Ford happened and this game got out of hand making the final score very unreflective of the actual proceedings. Seriously, take the fourth quarter stats out of it and things are pretty even across the board. If we had just buckled down and played the fourth like we did the rest of the game, this one was going to stay close and would’ve been there for the taking late on.

According to Sekeres, Calderon and Ford were complaining all night to Sam Mitchell about the officials, it just so happened that TJ was fragile enough to explode:

Mitchell said that both Ford and Jose Calderon were complaining that the Jazz guards were riding them with their bodies throughout the game, cutting off penetration with physical contact. Mitchell and the point guards talked to the officials several times during the game about the tactic, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. When Ford was called for an offensive foul on a play where he felt body-riding was taking place, it was more combustible than gasoline near a bonfire.

We were without our best player on this swing but even then there is plenty of reason to be disappointed in our play. It doesn’t say much about the defensive depth of this squad when opponents have no issue shooting 50% against us simply because one player is missing. Is our offense so broken that if Chris Bosh isn’t there, we can’t put three consecutive decent possessions together? Can the severely stagnant nature of our offense be blamed on Bosh not playing? If PGs are meeting with zero resistance on both options of the pick ‘n roll, is not having a Bosh a good excuse? Sure, I can understand if rebounding is suffering and we’re not getting points in the paint with the same ease, but to continually point to Bosh not being there as the source/excuse of our poor play is a fallacy. It’s scary to watch this team without Bosh because you realize just how easy we are to defend and how horribly coached we are on offense.

I’m sure Bryan Colangelo is watching this team and seeing the limitations of our players, the pedantic nature of our coach and the inner turmoil that is on the verge of exploding. He’d be not doing his job if he weren’t to shuffle at least 3 players out of the current lineup: one of TJ/Jose, upgrade Moon/Graham, upgrade Hump and do something with Bargnani because he’s playing flat out awful. Bargnani went 2-11 which immediately reminded me of jeff’s comment from last night. I’m not sure what needs to happen for him to get back to becoming an average NBA player but I would think not relying solely on the perimeter shot is something that’s topping the list. Number 2 would be fighting for an advantageous position and establishing your 7-foot frame in a way where the PG is forced to pass you the ball. Just watching Rasho do his thing tonight should be motivation enough for him but who knows. Bargnani’s game is constricted, rusty and forced, there is nothing fluid or confident about his play over the last month and he’s basically taking the same bad shots over and over again just hoping they go in.

This nightmare is over and we need to get back home and start winning some meaningful games. Miami is a win and I’ll gladly take it but after that we have three massive games coming up which if we win, will give this team a huge boost of confidence which it so desperately needs. This trip has undoubtedly given every Raptor player and coach a first hand look at just how vulnerable we are and how fine the line between us being a good team and a lottery team really is. After Miami, we get Cleveland away and then Denver and Detroit at home. If we manage to win two of those three games, it’ll do a lot towards grabbing some momentum for the final stretch. I’m not worried about Washington catching us, I almost want them to, it’s Philadelphia that is of concern. Philly is a game back and playing well, if they catch us it’ll pit us against Detroit in the playoffs which will be no fun.

If you’re looking for something positive to take out of this roadtrip, we played better defense against Sacramento and Utah. They still shot 48% and 55% respectively but there were stretches where we played well and contained them by collapsing in the paint, contesting mid-range jumpers and fighting for rebounds. It’s not much but at this point the Raptors need to take whatever positive there is and build on it. The negativity of this roadtrip and the losing can kill the will of this team if they’re not too careful and that’s why the upcoming 4 games are so crucial, even more so than the roadtrip.

Go Raptors Go.

Liners:

• What can one say about TJ Ford? (PG Interview) He needs a shrink to help him cope with the complexities of taking a back seat. Mitchell obviously hasn’t done a good enough job of harnessing his competitive spirit, emotion or style of play. He has all the attributes of being a fiery, energetic guard that can be a positive catalyst for this team but the channeling of his emotion and fury has all been incorrect. Doug Smith tends to think that way also.
• This is the lowest point of the season and we need to show up with energy, emotion and a plan over the next week to get back into playoff mode.
• Sam Mitchell has a COY award while Jerry Sloan doesn’t. Something doesn’t feel right. The players come and go but the Jazz continue to play solid and sound basketball. There’s a reason Kris Humphries isn’t on that team, you think Sloan would tolerate missed defensive assignments and going into Jordan-mode?
• I don’t remember Utah doubling a single Raptor at any time in the game. This has to be a first.
• Rasho Nesterovic (13/12) has been instrumental in preventing us from getting dominated on the boards. We played the right way on defense today, at least the interior kind. We won the rebounding battle 38-36 and didn’t let Kirilenko or Boozer get off. The perimeter D was leaky as ever, Calderon was slow to fight through screens and Ford was brutal and impatient.
• Jason Kapono is showing some signs of life and willing to force his shot. That’s much better than him preserving his FG percentage and only looking for wide open shots. I’d rather him hoist up 11 shots than Bargnani any day, at least his have a shot of going in.
• I like the St. Patricks day uniforms, check Dinosty, he’ll probably have some nice pics.

Unfortunately for Bosh you can’t take 85% of the game off on the offensive end, show up in the last three minutes and expect to win the game. As for Bargnani, when you’re strictly a jump shooter it’s only natural that there are nights where your jumper isn’t working. Combine Bosh and Bargnani’s struggles, mix-in a little bit of Jose Calderon sleepwalking, throw in some TJ Ford erraticism and finally add some out-of-timeout Sloan on Sam ownage and you have yourself a home loss where you shoot 38% and submit to playing the Jazz style of half-court basketball where only they can succeed. We can’t just accept this defeat and say, “Oh well, we lost to a good team, better luck next time”. We need a more consistent rotation and our best players need to be put in positions where they can succeed and not be anonymous for quarters at a time, like tonight.

Let’s fast-forward to the key play of the game where Jamario Moon has forced Kirilenko to mess up his drive and the Jazz have the ball out-of-bounds with 6 seconds left. Jazz get a quick play from the bench which ends up with the Raptors falling asleep and Deron William laying the ball in. Instead of a chance to tie, we’re looking at a four point deficit. If that wasn’t bad enough, we get the ball back at the end of the game with enough time left to call a timeout, organize a play and attempt a shot. Instead we choose to wing it and TJ and Humphries end up playing hot-potato with TJ launching a shot prayer that God will only too happily decline. Now the flip side of the coin is that calling a timeout would’ve allowed the Jazz defense to set but we’re at home and with the crowd behind you, you call a timeout and setup a proper play for one of your shooters like Parker, Bargnani, Calderon or Kapono, anything but a TJ Ford fadeaway behind Kris Humphries!

We can analyze Sam’s substitution “pattern” to death and not get anywhere because he doesn’t have a pattern, he has random thoughts at random times which result in random substitutions with random players. What sin did Juan Dixon and Jorge Garbajosa commit that they were glued to the bench? To me this was an ideal game for Garbajosa, his pass defense and grittiness would’ve been valuable in a game which looked like going down to the wire from the beginning and was decided by a defensive breakdown. Why did it take Bosh 3 1/2 quarters to finally assert himself in any way? Do you blame this on Bosh or Sam not using the resources at his disposal properly? Did it really take that long to figure out that his jumper wasn’t working? Coming out of the half Bosh had one good move going to the rim where he got fouled but after that the Raps just didn’t look to exploit his quickness down low until late in the fourth. What gives? These are questions that beg answers. Parker had the hot hand and should’ve played 10 minutes in the fourth quarter. No reason why on a night when our offense is struggling we limit the PT of the one player that’s doing well. It just doesn’t make any sense, it’s not like he can’t handle it, he’s one of the most durable players we have.

There’s no point analyzing Andrea Bargnani and his 1-11FG and 3 rebounds, he was simply brutal in all areas of the game including following up his own misses. When he shoots he tends to admire his shot instead of anticipating a miss and potentially getting the rebound. That shit works great in NBA Live but against the Jazz every possession counts and remember, the Jazz WANT you to shoot jumpers, they get off on that because they love to grab the defensive rebound. Bargs was brutal and it’s sad to see him be so one-dimensional that he can’t help the team in any other way if his shot isn’t working. If I’m Bargs I use as much Valium and painkiller to completely erase this game from memory and come back strong against the Pacers.

Naturally, after every such game there are always the “Bosh sucks” and “Boozer >> Bosh” chant but as I’ve always said, one needs to take a step back and see Bosh for what he is: A good player who can help this team win given proper coaching and instruction. He is NOT a franchise player but a good forward who can thrive in the right situation. If you’re expecting too much of Bosh, it’s your own fault, you’ve just bought into the media hype. So where do we go from here, 4-4 with a bad home record and two wins against the worst team in our division and one against a team that’s struggling worse than Damon Huard (KC Chiefs reference). If the season so far is a microcosm of things to come, we should prepare to fight for the eighth spot and suspend any talk of this being the nucleus of a contender. At best we’re the poor, AIDS-inflicted, homeless man’s Phoenix Suns except we can’t score when we need to and shoot about as consistently as Bruce Bowen hits FTs.

Observations from the game which warrant more discussion:

Deron Williams ball pressure: He was killing us all game yet we did not make ANY effort to get the ball out of his hand. We allowed him to do whatever he wanted in short-clock situations and he always burned us.

D on Mehmet Okur: Bosh should not be guarding him and Sam should ensure this. Just like teams have trouble guarding Bargnani at the 3-pt line, we had trouble guarding him. Bargs should’ve been on him for defensive purposes, Okur hit a couple threes on Bosh that really hurt us.

Jose Calderon on All-Star ballot: Chuck picked a nice game to moan about Jose Calderon not being on the All-Star ballot. 3-7 FG, 6 points, 3 TOs and 0 assists. God hates Chuck. Terrible game by Calderon, all his TOs came on the break when we should’ve scored on a 3 on 1.

Jamario Moon keeping us in the game: Another good game by Moon, his late fluky 3 probably prolonged this game longer than it should have. He can cause havoc on D and is making me forget about Joey Graham.

Kris Humphries effort unmatched: Since he got his contract he’s playing like a man-possessed. He held his own against Boozer/Collins/Kirilenko and was a real force for us. I love his heart and desire.

Thanks for reading. Grab the feed and let’s hope the Raptors get better and that Sam figures out how to coach.