It all went according to plan for the Raptors last night: spot an early lead, the second unit sparks the comeback, stay within a possession in the 3rd, then Bosh and Bargnani take over in the fourth to bring it home. Until 5 points in the last 37 seconds happens, the game goes to OT and the Raptors lose. As I sat there stunned, it dawned on me: Triano went out of his way to hand the game to the Grizzlies.

There seriously is no other explanation…

The Grizzlies played the night before against the Suns, and shook some of the cobwebs off before heading into Toronto. Since the Raptors were fresh off of a week of inactivity, you could excuse the lazy start to the game, and almost expected it. I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t up in arms when Memphis started the game on a 15-2 run (I was pissed, but I wasn’t up in arms).

No one had an answer for Zach Randolph as he accounted for 13 (8pts 2ast) of the first 15 Memphis points. Short of a Reggie Evans nut-sac-special that never came, Randolph chewed up-and spit out everything thrown at him. Memphis was getting great looks from all over the floor. That was some of the best ball-movement I have ever seen in my life; it seemed like everyone on the court touched the ball twice before Mayo or Gay got wide open and buried their shots.

DeRozan, fresh off the All-Star whirlwind, was looking to attack early, which was great since the rest of the Raptors were still on holidays. He got out on the break, ran the floor, attacked the rim…it didn’t last as he quickly faded after the 1st quarter, but had he not hustled early, things would have been much worse.

It has gotten to the point where I count down the minutes until Calderon and Johnson check into the game. True to form, they checked in with Sonny Weems, and changed the pace. Most of that could be attributed to Hedo going to the bench; Memphis is an athletic team, and Turkolgu is to athleticism what Frank Zicarelli is to sports journalism.

The trio did spark the Raptors to a 10-0 run over a 5 minute span between the end of the 1st and beginning of the 2nd quarter. More importantly, they opened up some space for Bosh to get going offensively. With the team standing around stagnant on offense in the 1st quarter, it gave the Grizzlies the opportunity to crowd Bosh and force him to either take a bad shot, or kick out to the perimeter where nothing happened. With Calderon orchestrating and Johnson/Weems attacking, Bosh now had room to make some plays.

The 3rd quarter started like the game did, lame. The Raptors got 2 quick buckets, but went cold for 4 minutes where Memphis went on a 10-0 run to take an 8 point lead. Calderon/Weems/Amir/Wright check in, and all of a sudden you have athletic wings on the Raptor side, and voila…13-6 run to close out the quarter.

The 4th was tight, but the franchise stepped up and dropped 16 in the frame. The big treat was that 8 of those came from the line which meant he was attacking the rim off the dribble instead of settling for the jumper. Bargnani was a pillar on defense, and controlled the defensive boards keeping Randolph and Gasol under control and out of the paint. Calderon was protecting the ball and things were going good until Triano caved.

Jack and Turkoglu were playing terribly from the tip. Jack got pulled after 18 minutes and never saw the floor in the 4th, but for some reason, Hedo did. Turkoglu gave new meaning to crap last night: 1pt 1reb 2ast 1st 3to 3pf -29 in 29 minutes of action. The guy can’t keep up with younger, more athletic guards, hasn’t hit a shot all night, and just generally sucks. On top of that, he’s been sitting since the 6:37 mark of the 3rd quarter (about 15 minutes), so he is ICE cold. Who’s in your ear Jay? Do you really think it’s a good idea to bring in an ice cold player late in a tight game? What were you expecting him to do?

What he did do was foul Mayo, putting him on the line for two that obviously dropped, then a couple possessions later, he forces a 26 foot three that makes a ridiculous thud off the back of the rim, at which point Conley runs the ball back down the court and finishes the layup. He does zero in OT except for missing another ill-advised shot with the Raptors down 1 and a couple minutes left in the game. No ball son, no ball.

The second catastrophic mistake came at the 5:05 mark of the 4th, when Zach Randolph picked up his 5th foul of the game. Only once, a Bargnani basket in the paint, did the Raptors go at Randolph for the rest of the game. They didn’t get the ball to the guy Randolph was covering on defense to try and manufacture a foul; not one time did a pick and roll with the guy Radolph was covering occur to try to get a switch where he could be attacked off the dribble by a guard/wing. The thought of getting Randolph to foul out didn’t seem to manifest itself into a single play. WTF?

At the end of it all, this game came down to making shots (I can’t believe I said that), and the Grizzlies did a better job of it. They knocked down their jumpers, they got to the line more and hit more free throws. In fact, the Grizzlies hit as many free throws as the Raptors attempted, 23.

The only thing I’m hoping is for the Basketball God’s to smile down on us today so Colangelo can move Turkoglu for anyone; at this point I don’t care who comes back. At least we can look forward to the Nets on Friday.

The advantage the Raptors had on opening night, quickness and conditioning, was a non-factor against the Grizzlies who have a young, athletic team. Bargnani was able to take Shaq/Big Z off the hop, but Gasol and Z-Bo were able to counter, and in some instances, nullify the Raptors front court. As big a night as Bosh had (37pts 12rebs), Randolph countered with a 30pt 7reb monster of his own.

I think they just had a little bit better conditioning than the Cavaliers.They were coming up a lot harder, their fast-break. I don’t think Cleveland did a very good job at fastbreaking against us and that put a lot of pressure on us.

That doesn’t sit right with me. We beat an Eastern Elite, and fell asleep behind the wheel playing a young – up ‘n coming one? One that draftee Thabeet 2nd overall? We didn’t know that a young team with some of the best young wings (Gay, Mayo, Carroll) wasn’t going to push and attack?

Orlando has come out the gates like a team that belonged in the Finals; sans Rashard Lewis. They have convincingly won their first two against Philly and Jersey by an average of 12pts. Howard has been a monster, averaging 20.5pts 18.5rebs. Yea, he has grabbed 37 rebounds in the first two games of the year. That’s ridiculous.

I wandered over to Orlando Magic Daily to see what our TrueHoop brethren had to say about their recent game against the Nets:

It’s not a win the Magic will look back on — surely, it’s one of those wins where you forget about it on the plane ride home — but it’s the type of win an elite team is supposed to win. It was ugly, but it gives you confidence knowing the Magic can take care of a team when they didn’t shoot well and were missing two key starters.

The tone in the things being said is jarring for me. Against the Cavs, the Raptors were able to withstand a run by an elite team while they wore down. Against the Grizz, they couldn’t. Athleticism and conditioning seem to be an issue for our guys. The Magic on the other hand were able to win ugly while missing two starters. The Magic are an athletic team. With Carter expected to come off the bench, the starting 5 will be tough to deal with.

Match-ups

Calderon vs Nelson
All I can think about is Swirsky saying that Calderon will own Nelson in those playoffs, and that backfiring. Nelson straight up owns Calderon. He is a tough cover: strong, quick, a bulldog. He had an off-game against Harris, so I am sure he will rebound.
The Edge: Magic

DeRozan vs Reddick
With SVG saying he wont be surprised if JJ starts, chances are good VC is coming off the bench if at all. Reddick is Mr. Fundamental. Bit of a disappointment after a solid college career, but he is carving out a niche for himself. I can see it now: DeRozan will be sent to Howard in the low post; the ball gets kicked out to Reddick who nails an open trey or swing it around the perimeter for somebody to nail an open shot. Kid Dynamite has been playing great so far. He should give Reddick fits chasing him around the court, but I suspect being the one sent to double Howard wont bode well for the kid.
The Edge: Magic

Turkoglu vs Pietrus
It upsets me that the Magic got Pietrus so cheap (5yr/$25mill-ish). I was pleading for the Raptors to sign him, as he brought all the things we needed (at the time) need: defense, take his man off the bounce, slashes to the rim, rebounds and hit some shots, but alas, we got HO…Turkoglu has been playing pretty decently. Dropping 13 a game, grabbing 4.5, but not the playmaker we had hoped (2ast). I was ripped for saying his matchup with Gay would be even (a draw would be a generous assessment of what went down Friday), but I’m saying it will be a draw this time around. Pietrus will be the beneficiary of some open space created by Howard in the post, but will have a hard time covering Turk in the paint on offense. This will be an even match, book it.
The Edge: Even

Bosh vs Anderson
Bosh has been a beast the first couple games. You have to figure that having him score 37 is bad for the team. 20-25 is the perfect range, where he is producing, but not at the expense of a fluid offense. Anderson, whom our very own PHD Steve said was NOT to be slept on this season, has been proving just that. He was a throw in as part of the Carter trade, but the kid can play, and is starting ahead of Brandon Bass, who was looked at as the starting PF when they snatched him from the Mavs in the summer. Just don’t see Bosh slowing down against this team, not even after a night of partying with Jay-Z.
The Edge: Raptors

Bargnani vs Howard
LOL, doesn’t look good for Bargnani at all. Forget the playing defense on Howard, but keeping him off the boards. Howard should have zero problems cleaning up the boards given VL’s lack of rebounding/boxing out grit. Seeing the trouble Andrea had with Gasol, I cringe to think about the possible 40/20 Howard can drop on our boy.
The Edge: Magic

Injury Report

Raptors
Reggie Evans
Sonny Weems

Magic
Rashard Lewis
Vince Carter*
Adonal Foyle

Simulation

Our boy Jeremy Visser from That’s What I’m Saying, Guy… checked in with his simulation. You can hit him up on twitter @jeremy_visser. We’re keeping track of the simulations here.

The Raptors couldn’t handle an Orlando team that was missing Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis, falling 96-91 Sunday at the ACC. Chris Bosh had 29 points and a career-high 23 boards, but had trouble handling Dwight Howard, who had 28 and 13 of his own.

Aside from Bosh, the only Raptor in double digits was Hedo Turkoglu, who had 17 in his first game against his former team. Like Bosh, Andrea Bargnani had his hands full with Howard and was limited to just 17 minutes, picking up five fouls and scoring just five points in the process. Jose Calderon had eight points and six assists.

Howard was one of five Orlando players in double digits — Matt Barnes, starting in place of Carter, had 16, while Jameer Nelson had 15 and Michael Pietrus and Brandon Bass added 10 apiece.

Surprisingly, Toronto out-rebounded Orlando and had almost three times as many trips to the free throw line, but it wasn’t enough to come out with a win.

Keys to Winning

• Keep Howard off the boards, both of them
• Don’t double Howard in the low post, let him score 40, but keep everyone else in check
• Bargnani should never rotate on defense, stay with Howard at all times
• Let Jason Williams shoot as many transition-pull-up threes as he wants, seriously

Prediction

This has the makings of a solid game: The Raptors are reeling from a tough loss on the road to a team they shouldn’t have lost too; The Magic are 2-0 to start the season, and looking to secure home-court throughout the playoffs aka they will be coming hard and fast. As much as I would like to think that the Raptors will avenge their Friday loss, they wont (unless Bargnani duplicates his effort form the home opener, which you will excuse me if I don’t hold my breath for). Magic by 6.

Catch us for live chat at 1pm here.

Things are going according to my plan. We’re only one game into the season, but the Raptors are gunning. I must admit, I was skeptical about the team during training camp since folks were injured and the game-play was lethargic, but the Raps found their on-switch, and took it right at LeBron et al. The Raptors beat the Cavs for the first time in two years in convincing fashion. Sure the Cavs don’t match up well against us with all them slow 7 footers and the rest of the lot (tell me you didn’t crack a smile or laugh maniacally when Moon took those jumpers, lol).

The difference between the elite teams and the rest is that they have the tools/desire to make a run to draw things even. With the Raptors up 18 heading into half-time, Mike Brown must have delivered a Braveheart level speech that inspired LeBron & Co. to go on a run to start the 3rd, and bring the game within 7. They even tied the game at 69 when it happened, the Raptors regrouped and went on a run to finish the game. That’s what good teams do, they don’t fold. It isn’t something we are used to seeing, but BC, for one game at least, looks like he has built us a team to be proud of.

The Grizzlies on the other hand had a pretty rough start to the season at the hands of the Pistons. What did our TrueHoop brothers at 3 Shades of Blue (a great blog btw) have to say:

Wow. That was just horrible. HORRIBLE … Laziness, lack of polish, lack of coaching preparation? … A rough start. VERY rough. Couldn’t have been any rougher, really.

Losing to the Pistons was once something that didn’t upset folks, but not so much anymore. Dumars has done an equally good job of blowing up this team as he did building a championship one. Whatever, I’m just happy that the Raptors have the ability to solidify a great opening season win, with a follow-up one to a lesser team. For all the quality young talent this Memphis team has, they aren’t very good, Iverson seems incognito too for some reason.

Match-ups

Calderon vs Conley
I don’t like Jose running the off-guard with Jack at the point, he is almost invisible, but he had a decent game overall. His shot wasn’t falling, and he missed one less free throw then all of last season, but he got the rest of the Raps involved and dropped 11 dimes. He needs to attack Conley, who is coming off one of his worst games as a Grizzly, and not let up. Fortunately, Conley wont provide much in terms of defense, so Jose should be able to take advantage of the sophomore.
The Edge: Calderon

DeRozan vs Mayo
Easily the most exciting match-up of the game. It will be fun to watch these two chasing each other around. Both are athletic and can get up and down the court quickly. DeRozan, by my count, had a great debut. He hit key shots, slashed to the rim, grabbed a couple boards, and made things tough for Parker. Mayo is a machine that didn’t have a good shooting night. You can bet he will come out gunning, and take it right at at our rook.
The Edge: Mayo

Turkoglu vs Gay
Our big FA acquisition did well in the opener considering he missed most of the pre-season. He wasn’t shooting great (3-7), but dropped 12pts 7rebs 3ast 3blks…I’ll take it. Gay was one of those guys that pained me to see: what could have been right (not so much anymore though if Bargs keeps this up)? He is the long, athletic, durable and can score, but I have a hankering that Hedo will take a big step forward tonight playing that high pick-n-roll with Bosh/Bargnani.
The Edge: Even

Bosh vs Randolph
Bosh looks to have found his niche in the Cavs win. He’s an elite player, but not one who carries the team offensively. He is a complimentary offensive player, but his defense and rebounding was off the charts as far as I’m concerned. Against Z-Bo, I don’t expect much otherwise. Zach will get his 20-10, but he’s a black hole. His impact on the game is strictly statistical, and I don’t expect it to be much different tonight.
The Edge: Bosh

Bargnani vs Gasol
How YOU doin? Shaq, tell me how VL’s ass tastes! Bargs was a one man wrecking crew. He owned Shaq/Varejao/Ilgauskas all night (when he wasn’t sitting on the bench due to foul trouble). He took his man off the bounce, hit 3s in transition, created his own shot, and grabbed a couple boards. Efficient and deadly, Gasol is a stud, but a slow one. 21pts 15rebs in 30min against the Pistons. Those are scary numbers, but he will have his hands full trying to play Bargs from the 3pt line in. Expect a lot of what we saw with the Cavs: Bargnani having his way. It will take getting used to, but Bargs will own a lot of centers this year, makes me giddy.
The Edge: Bargnani

The Bench
Memphis has Thabeet on their, by default their bench sucks. I still laugh when I think about them taking Thabeet with dudes like Harden, Rubio and everyone else not named Blake was available, lol. The Raptors bench on the other hand was solid. Belinelli scored at will, Wright had swagger and Jack made Calderon a bit nervous. How bad was the Memphis bench against the Pistons: they contributed 11pts 14rebs…8 guys contributed less then what Gasol did as an individual.
The Edge: Raptors

Injury Report

Raptors
Reggie Evans
Sonny Weems

Grizzlies
Allen Iverson**

The Line

The line is set at Raps -4 (-105) with an over/under of 195.

Keys to Winning

• Attack Gasol from the opening tip, need to make Thabeet and Haddadi play big minutes tonight
• Box out Randolph and Gasol – have to limit those boards
• Let Randolph score as many as he wants, he does a good job of disrupting the offensive flow of his own team

Prediction

The Grizz have nice-young talent up and down this roster, but they don’t have much of a team. You have to figure when they took Thabeet at #2 that they aren’t really serious about winning to begin with. The Raptors will get off to an 2-0 start, this should be like shooting fish in a barrel.

Today’s recap:

Pistons

• Signed Ben Gordon to a 5r/$55mil contract.
• Signed Charlie Villanueva to a 5yr/$35-$40mil contract.

Dumars saved face with the whole Michael Curry situation by making a massive splash on Day 1 of free agency. Did he pay too much for Gordon? Probably, but he got himself a youngin who can score in buckets, is tough as nails, and clutch. Also, he scooped up our boy CV31, and signed him to a GREAT deal. Are the Pistons championship contenders? No, but they have a nice young core of Rodney Stuckey, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Jason Maxiel, Aaron Afflalo, Amir Johnson with the likes of Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. Not too bad.

Grade: B+ – Retooling quick, but at a price.

Grizzlies/Clippers

• Clipps exile Zach Randolph to the Grizz for Quentin Richardson and calmer nerves.

Can’t believe they actually found someone who will take Zach and that nasty attitude/contract off their hands, but they did. Clipps get rid of a cancer, save some money, and clear space for Griffin to become the #1 guy on the right block, all in one move. Memphis on the other hand just made Thabeet’s life much tougher protecting the paint.

Clippers Grade: A – Franchise moving in the right direction…finally.
Grizzlies Grade: D – WTF????

Lakers

• Ariza wants more then mid-level, I’d give it to him.

Is he worth it? Maybe. Is he going to walk? Probably. The Lakers need to keep Odom before giving Ariza the big bucks. One of the guys I would target if I were BC, a younger Marion.

Grade: D – You keep this guy, no questions.

Blazers

• Flirting with Hedu, I like the guy, but not for $60mil.

Not a good move, could just be smoke/mirrors. Khandor breaks this move down better then I could. On the bright side, this whole thing has Fernandez pissed off, giving most of us something to talk about, even though some other GM will probably pluck him out of the air if he becomes available.

Grade: D – I’d rather keep Rudy and bring in a Richard Hamilton type, that’s just me.

You really can’t expect much when you role into the Spurs house, and they are healthy. The road to championship in the West still leads through them, and the House that Popovich designed and Duncan built is still the standard of excellence in the NBA. Forgive me if my expectations are low non-existent. Actually, I expect my Bacon n Egg McMuffin to slow down the Spurs more then the Raptors (clog their arteries).

True to form, the Raptors came out, and played a pretty solid 1st quarter, holding on to a 5 point lead after 12 minutes. This was done on a combination of things, but mostly the Spurs poor perimeter shooting – 2/12 from behind the arc in the frame. Parker got into the lane whenever he wanted, and kicked to an open wing, who just couldn’t make them stick. You knew, I did anyways, that this wouldn’t last. Giving guys like Finley, Mason and Bonner open looks will end bad, as the Raptors found out int he 2nd quarter, when those shots began to fall.

Beating the Raptors is nothing more then a recipe at this point of the season:

1. Add one part dribble penetration
2. Add two parts double team
3. Add a zest of kick out to the open shooter
4. Let simmer at medium intensity
5. And you get an easy basket that no one in the organization can do anything about

“It’s tough to beat a team like that,” Raptors coach Jay Triano said. “We forced the ball to the perimeter and they made the shots. Pretty awesome display of shooting.”

Seriously? That was the strategy tonight? Make the Spurs hit shots from the perimeter? Have you not been watching what the Spurs having been doing for the last decade? You really want guys like Finley/Bonner/Mason/Ginobli getting open looks at the rim? Although he may be old, Bowen can still knock a fair number of looks down, especially if they aren’t contested. Would it not been better to try to get the ball out of Parker’s hands, and make Duncan score 50? OR, if you want to make them beat you with shooting, why not leave only certain people open…say….Tolliver, rather then leaving guys like Roger Mason Jr., who was specifically targeted and signed by the Spurs for this very reason.

I must be taking crazy pills, because O’Neal seemed surprised by the Spurs ability to make shots too:

“Those guys just really seemed to make a lot of 3s.” O’Neal said. “Every time we would stop them it seemed like they would come back on the next possession with a 3. When we didn’t score, they did, and it mostly was 3s.”

This is the result of a well made team, the balance they have is incredible:

• You have guys who can knock down jumpers/3s
• You have guys who can create their own shots
• You have guys who can penetrate at will
• and You have Duncan, who hasn’t made a mistake in 10 years

It’s actually beautiful watching them play, Parker penetrates then either takes it to the rack, or kicks it out for an open jumper after everyone collapses The Raptors force perimeter plays, when their franchise player has a mismatch on the offensive end with almost every team/player in the league. It upsets me when Bosh has a player on his hip, is battling in the paint, calling for the ball, only to see Moon launch a three after hesitating with whether to shoot it or not. And you guys are wondering why Bosh doesn’t look very happy recently.

‘Dribble-Penetrations’ ugly sister reared her head too – the slut ‘rebounding’ was again another issue. I don’t have much to say about it really, other then to question why Humphries doesn’t get more burn. Actually, in general, why doesn’t Humphries get more burn? He is an energy guy, hustles, battles on the boards, sure he forces it on offense a few times too many, but he competes. Which is more you can say for this team that seemingly isn’t playing for Triano is in a funk at the moment.

What the Raptors do a terrible job of, IMHO, is getting Bosh the ball at the right time. How often have we watched him with with a mismatch on his hip, only to watch the ball get swung to someone say…Moon, who clanks a J off the back of the rim. Recently, I have been noticing the Raptors get the ball to Bosh late int he shot clock, and while he is out of position. Khandor always says this is a game of matchups, well, part of any matchup is timing. And if your timing is off, then you’re in big trouble.

Is it safe to say the Bosh/O’Neal experiment has failed? We are a third of the way into the season and…nothing, I got nothing. I wont get too dramatic, it’s not like teaming Randolph and Curry together, but it’s not much better. One excels while the other is stuck in pergatory. In fact, aside from interior defense, this O’Neal thing hasn’t quite worked out how BC planned. The Raptors are still need of a legit second scorer (sorry, but Kapono isn’t the answer, really, he isn’t; rebounding hasn’t improve dramatically, in fact, it hasn’t improved very much at all. Going from 37rebs a game, to 39rebs a game, and winning less games isn’t an improvement.

I’m just putting it out there, but do you think Bosh likes this new system? It seems as though he was much happier under Smitch. Before, Bosh was the centerpiece of the offense, he was charged with help defense, and was leading the fight on the boards. Now, seems like Kapono and Graham are getting a chunk of his shots. At least he isn’t being played for 42 minutes a game, thats good right?

Am I alone when I think the Raptors were better off with Smitch on the bench?

Anyways, sorry for the late post, I planned to do it this morning, but fate conspired. Follow us on Twitter, and grab our Feed. Free Ukic!!

There’s a damn good reason why the Knicks are 17-39. They play selfish basketball, don’t communicate on defense, are horribly coached and are in general just a bad dysfunctional team. Despite all that, they managed to split a home and home against us. Just like one didn’t feel excited about beating an injury-depleted Washington on the back-end of that home and home by 39, there’s not much pleasure to take out of this one. Except from some individual performances.

Andrea Bargnani’s 25/7 came in fairly natural way, usually when he ends up having a good game he shoots a very high percentage, hits some deep, deep shots and at the end of the night you get the feeling that there’s no way he can actually sustain such performances. Today was a little different, things came a little more naturally, all his threes came off of swing passes and Bosh kickouts. The rebounds he got didn’t fall to him, he had to work for them, even his five assists were clever. Nothing flashy, just solid decisions when the ball is passed to him on the perimeter or below the foul line. One wonders if he can deliver performances like these on a semi-consistent basis. I mean, we’ve seen this movie before, a few bad games followed by a great game leaving all of us confused. Those who doubt him get a glimmer of hope, those who blindly support him get a little more reason for their faith. In the end, we all get a little hope that this guy can be more than an erratic three point shooter who rebounds on occasion. The saga continues. The ESPN recap has some fighting words from Andrea and praise from Jamal Crawford:

“I tried to be more aggressive from the beginning, we were very angry after [Friday's] loss. It was a bad loss.” – Andrea Bargnani

“That’s tough, that’s not something that you see. He’s probably the only guy in the league with that range to be that big. He got it going tonight and that set the tone for them.” – Jamal Crawford

The NY Times perspective on the game pretty much makes fun of Isiah Thomas’ substitution pattern and Eddy Curry’s crapiness.

Primoz Brezec looks to be a serviceable player, give Bryan Colangelo credit for acquiring a big body. It’s only one game but it’s clear that Brezec plays with a swagger and confidence that this team needs. Plus he runs the floor and hits the glass – at least he did for one game. I feel bad for Kris Humphries, he’s done a good job for us, his hands may be clumsy at times but his effort and desire can never be questioned. If this game is any sign of how Brezec’s going to play, it’s hard to see Humphries and Baston get any burn. Again, it’s only one game but 11 clean points and 3 rebounds got me thinking that just maybe him and Rasho could allow Bosh to ease himself on the defensive boards. This story about Brezec lipping at Sam Vincent didn’t exactly make me feel great but at the same time it’s good to know that we got a Raptor with an edge. As for calling him a steal, we should remind ourselves that when Juan Dixon was acquired for Fred Jones, we all thought it was a steal. Check out a conversation between Bryan Colangelo and Brezec, very interesting character this Brezec fella.

I’m all for TJ Ford jacking up shots. He needs to get his legs back in to his shot and must play at his pre-injury level. With Bosh and Bargnani around, sometimes we forget that our real true strength and advantage over any other team is our PG play. Looking ahead at the potential matchups against Cleveland, Washington or Orlando, if you had to pick one position where we can dominate, it’s got to be the PG spot. So even if it comes at the expense of some bad stretches of play (like Friday in NY), I’m all for anything TJ needs to do to get back to being TJ.

For the high-flier Jamario Moon is, he sure wimps out when he’s within a 6ft radius of the rim with any sort of traffic around. What’s up giving up the ball to somebody who isn’t even expecting it when you have a chance to take it hard? His defense in this mini-series has been brutal, Sam rightfully went off at him after he kept giving Crawford space to shoot. Anthony Parker was then given the Crawford assignment and faired much better by forcing Crawford to create. Parker’s good scoring night was nice but his aggressiveness in taking the ball at Crawford slowed down the Knick G. Crawford’s an awesome offensive player but he’s not a great defender and can’t guard the slower but multi-faceted Parker.

We were making the same mistakes as Friday in the first half: leaving Jamal Crawford open who made us pay with 14 points which kept the Knicks in the game. Mitchell’s message at halftime worked, he played all five starters the entire third quarter which began with a 18-3 run where the ball movement out of the post and round the circle was impeccable. Although we almost exclusively made the critical run through jumpers, at least we went inside and started things off of Bosh doubles. On the other end, all you have to do is collapse on Randolph and Curry – they’re just not smart enough to know how to react. Over the last two games, every single time we’ve crowded them and put them under pressure, good thing have happened. I still can’t figure out why we didn’t do that for all 8 quarters.

Indiana tomorrow, we’re 5-4 in February, need to step things up.

Liners:

* There is no reasonable explanation of the drop-off in Kapono’s production from early in the season. One can only give so much credit to the defense and scouting reports. At some point you have to wonder just exactly what we need to do to get him off and implement a solution to this HUGE problem. If I’m Sam, I’d start by running a couple scripted plays for him, almost like out-of-timeout plays anytime he comes in to the game. This guy needs to air it out before he becomes completely useless.

* Zach Randolph: That play where he tried to take Brezec one-on-one and lost the ball only to run it back from halfcourt was bad enough, but then he jacked up an airball. What a mess!

* You have to check out the injury to Arsenal striker Eduardo from yesterday. Reminded me a lot of Jorge Garbajosa’s injury.

* Bosh only played 27 minutes, he should be good to go tomorrow at Indiana where we need to win and finally pick up some momentum and get 7 games over 500 for the first time this year.

* Bargnani: Top Rap

Till tomorrow.

So much for that Orlando win, before we dissect this performance it’s time to remind everybody that the Raptors are 4-4 in the easy month of February, a month where they were supposed to go 9-3. Let’s get the stats out of the way: We got out-rebounded 45-36 (12-5), the leaky perimeter defense gave up 43 points to Jamal Crawford and we committed 16 turnovers. Andrea Bargnani went 1-5 FG with 2 rebounds, Zach Randolph killed us with 26/15 and Bosh countered with 23/8. Enough numbers, let’s talk about why we lost to the team that got spanked by 40 in Philly.

We were shutting out the Knicks in the first quarter for one singular reason: hard double teams at Randolph/Curry, neither of which know how to pass out of double teams. It left the Knicks scrambling and struggling to get into their offense, they couldn’t establish any kind of rhythm and their bigs never got near the offensive glass, it was one and done. Starting in the second quarter, Jamal Crawford lit us up from the perimeter and for the remaining three quarters, we never adjusted. We continued to give him space on the perimeter and he kept knocking down jumpers, Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker and Carlos Delfino were all guilty of allowing too much space beyond the arc for the deadly Knick. The same old perimeter defense, the same old result. Sam any ideas on Crawford?

“With Jamal making shots like that, it’s just tough. It’s hard to overcome 43 points by one guy”

Aah, the throw-your-hands-in-the-air excuse.

But we’re used to bad perimeter defense and bad rebounding so it’s not a shock that even the lowly Knicks can beat us when they’re motivated enough to play. It’s the mysterious departure from doubling Randolph that gets me, whenever Randolph caught the ball in the third quarter, he was allowed to progress instead of give the ball up. Maybe it was the fear of Crawford that was in Sam’s mind that he refused to double Randolph, allowing him to go at Bosh and Baston without mercy. Sam does know that it’s possible to slow down a hot perimeter player AND send a double team to a guy who can’t pass out of one, right? We allowed Crawford to get hot early and he stayed hot, we allowed Randolph to get hot starting in the second and he stayed hot. A bad, bad defensive game by the Raptors.

We attempted 26 threes. Granted, we’re a three point shooting team but you can’t rely exclusively on the outside shot. Time and time again, the Raptors swung the ball out of Bosh double teams only to settle for a three. If you thought the Raptors interior rotation defense is bad, I got news: the Knicks is even worse, their communication on defense is horrible. However, we never exploited this weakness, instead of swinging the ball inside ala UCLA cuts, dump-downs or even hi-los, the Raptors were content on shooting from the perimeter at the end of the swing sequence. Case in point, this is how the Raptors ended the game on offense:

2:39	Carlos Delfino misses 23-foot three point jumper   94-97
2:36	Jamario Moon offensive rebound                     94-97
2:27	Jamario Moon misses 26-foot three point jumper     94-97
1:44	Chris Bosh misses layup                            94-97
1:15	Chris Bosh defensive rebound                       94-97
1:00	Carlos Delfino makes free throw 1 of 2             95-97
1:00	Carlos Delfino misses free throw 2 of 2            95-97
0:39	Jose Calderon misses 25-foot three point jumper    95-99
0:20	Chris Bosh misses 26-foot three point jumper       95-99
0:15	Jose Calderon personal foul                        95-99
0:14	Jamario Moon defensive rebound                     95-99
0:07	Carlos Delfino misses 23-foot three point jumper   95-99

We took 5 threes in the last two and a half minutes. The only play going to the rim was a short Bosh jumper at 1:44. That’s it. Bosh was guilty of settling more than anyone, two nights after his performance against Dwight Howard, he never challenged Zach Randolph or David Lee into guarding him, always making life easier for the defender by opting to go with the jumper. Maybe we thought we had this game won after the first quarter? We’ve had letdowns before and it’s no surprise that it happened again tonight, and we shouldn’t be surprised if it happens again next week against Indiana.

Good thing Colangelo got Primoz Brezec to come in and help out with the rebounding, I was getting real worried there for a bit. Seriously though, we can’t compete with any team with a half-decent frontline when it comes to rebounding. Chris Bosh is the only player who goes after the rebound on every play as soon as the ball hits the rim, but other than him and maybe Jamario Moon, we’re all “wait and see” rebounders. As in, let’s wait and see where the ball goes before I decide to go after it or not. Asking Bargnani to rebound is like asking Paris Hilton to do her own laundry. Bargnani prefers to shoot the ball, rebounding is meh to him. I was angry 7 seconds into the game when Bargnani launched a deep three as soon as he caught the pass from Calderon on our first possession. What the fuck are you trying to prove man? A heat check this early? Whatever happened to inside-out and using your quickness against the slow ass Curry? All that shit went in one ear and out the other?

I’d like to quote CreaM from RealGM who summed up Bargnani’s overall game in response to a poster who was blindly defending the pick:

Do you honestly think that with the type of shots Bargnani takes, he is consistently able to hit at a high percentage? The numbers don’t lie, he is inefficient as a scorer but people fail to realize this because the try as much as possible to focus on the little “positives” they can find.

Call me a hater but as long as Bargnani plays the way he does, he will never be a consistent scorer in this league. He like to get up shots in a hurry and when he hits 2 or more straight, he feels like its his right to take the next 5. I dont know if that is the way he was coached in Italy or its just a natural flawed mentality but its present. That is why you either see 4 point games or 24 point games from him. Unfortunately, the latter only happens once every 10 games.

As long as Bargs plays the way he does, he will never be a successful player in the NBA IMO. He has to change his style of play which I don’t see happening anytime soon.

It’s hard to sweep a divisional rival, no matter how pathetic, in any league. The Knicks were going to get a win in the series at some point, they almost pulled it off in January and finally managed to do it here. The worst part about it is admitting that the Knicks deserved to win this game while the Raptors pretended to have won it. This team often goes into cruise control for reasons beyond my comprehension and that is a reflection upon the coach. As soon as things start coming a little easy for us, we assume that that’s how things will be for the rest of the game. There is simply no excuse to let your guard down when you’re playing at Madison Square Garden. Sam Mitchell sees it in the same light but is obviously unable to transfer his ideas onto his players:

“You’re never supposed to win, this is professional sports. If you don’t play well and execute, you’re going to get beat. I don’t care who you’re playing.”

Calderon had a very mediocre night going 5-15 FG and Ford looked very rusty and rightfully so. This game showed how important Calderon is to this team, he needs to have a stellar game for us to have a chance in games. Any time Bosh is neutralized we can only look to Calderon to provide the necessary scoring punch and leadership. It’s sad that the two other sources of offense that we were supposed to have (Bargnani and Kapono) are struggling so bad that we’ve grown to accept their negligible offensive production. I hope the only reason Kapono remains on this team is that nobody was willing to take on his ridiculous contract, other than that there is simply no excuse why his ass is warming the bench. 8 minutes and no shots? As PsychicSpy’s conspiracy theory goes, he’s strictly looking out for his percentages and doesn’t even want to shoot unless he’s wide fucking open.

Is it me or is every Jamario Moon jumper of the bad shot! bad shot! goooood shot variety. You know, the one where you cringe while the ball is in the air and let out a sigh of relief when it goes in hoping he’ll never try that again. You just knew he wasn’t going to make that three late in the fourth, he was simply due to miss. You can’t argue with his production on the night though, 16 points and 8 rebounds is saying a lot despite the two instances where he tried to force a pass to seldom used nomad Maceo Baston. Baston’s cameo reminded me just why Sam Mitchell doesn’t play him. Brezec’s already ahead of him in the rotation.

Here’s a lame prediction: we’re going to kick the Knicks’ ass on Sunday but guess what? Just like Washington, it don’t matter if you didn’t win the first game. Going .500 against the Knicks is as bad if not worse than going .500 against a Wiz team missing Butler and Arenas.

Liners:

* What is up with the funky camera angles when interviewing Brezec at halftime? Made me dizzy.

* I’m not sure how I feel about Delfino’s game. He was 5-11 FG with a couple important deep threes and was a huge part of our comeback. But I’m not liking the shoot-first modes he goes in and out of throughout the game.

* Kris Humphries played a good 9 minutes in the first half and was never heard from again. I don’t understand it, why did we bring in Maceo Baston when Humphries was on his way to having a solid game. He already had 4 points and 4 rebounds in 9 minutes, why the exile to the bench?

* Same applies to Rasho, he should’ve been there at the end of the game instead of one of Parker/Delfino/Moon, none of who can properly box out and prevent David Lee from getting crucial offensive boards.

* Eddy Curry wasn’t even a factor in the game. He was hurting us early but Isaiah did a good job of taking him out of the game for us.

What a horrible way to start the weekend, I’m disgusted.

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