This one was comfortably in the bag before tipoff when it was announced that Lebron would be resting his finger for a day or two. Not having Bosh didn’t even matter because we simply have way too much depth for Cleveland to handle; even with Lebron this would’ve been a tough one to pull off for the Cavs but without him the responsibility of creating on offense falls to……..er……Sasha Pavlovic? Cleveland’s a one-man team and asking Pavlovic or Gooden to carry them through a game on the road against an opponent who felt they should’ve deserved to win their first encounter is asking like the Knicks to show some pride.
There’s a couple things that really caught my eye. One of them was Bargnani making a conscientious effort of asserting himself at the offensive end. It hardly matters that he missed his fair share of jumpers and looked uncertain at times, it’s the fact that he was trying to become the focal part of the offense that is encouraging. It was clear that he wanted to “lead” the Raptors tonight and he did it through attacking the rim, showing emotion and playing good solid defense. Delfino being on fire made life a lot easier but it was awesome to see Bargs play with an emotion that sometimes we all wish we’d see more of.
We lost the game in Cleveland because we didn’t play any perimeter defense; tonight was different, although Pavlovic and Gibson drained a few threes, their shots were always contested and close-outs were quick and effective. It was nice to see the Raptors react and adjust after the game in Cleveland, something that you don’t see happen much in Raptorland. TJ Ford looked very rusty and it looks like Sam will be easing him back in rather than starting him tomorrow in Washington, probably a good idea. Ford’s jumper isn’t there and he looked shaky running the offense, something which is completely natural when you haven’t been playing for an entire week.
Over the last couple games the Raptors have been running an increasing amount of curls for Kapono, Delfino and Parker and it shows that Sam Mitchell is actually trying to add another play to the arsenal. It’s not much but we’ve seen that those three can come off the double screens and stick the J and even pass out of it when the defense stays with them. It’s a pretty good strategy given that Bosh is out and that the screen ‘n roll is a lot less effective without him. We always rip on Sam Mitchell and it’s always deserved but let’s give him some credit for recognizing this and making another good adjustment.
Caught a bit of the post-game and some scum reporter wanted to find something where there’s nothing and asked Delfino if he’s “looking to start”. Delfino just shrugged him and off and pretty much said he likes coming off the bench. Typical Toronto reporter who’s digging for dirt and trying to cause controversy. Makes me sick. There’s a lot of talk about Paul Johnson not being a great host for the Raptors pre and post game coverage but I say he’s acceptable, the man hands off most of the talk to the experts which is what he’s there for.
The Swirsk brought out the Salami and Cheese with with a 20 point lead and 9:30 left in the game only to see Cleveland go on a 10-0 run – Chuck must’ve been sweating bullets with flashbacks to Kobe and the Lakers. So in summary, Raps always had control of the game and win easy at home. Tomorrow in Washington should be a little tougher given the back-to-back on the road, it’ll be a much more competitive game and something to celebrate if the Raps win. November ends with the Raps at 9-7, much better than last year.
One-Liners:
I’m Facebook friends with The Mop Girl 😉
Who’s that guy with the slick hair who’s always standing next to BC and The Godfather?
Lebron will be the first 1 billion dollar athlete?
Has anyone seen Juan Dixon? He gets the most unexpected DNPCDs of them all.
Daniel Gibson needs very little time and space to get his shot off, if he could just learn to play a good point Cleveland wouldn’t have to rely on Lebron so much.
Would you rather have Bargs shoot a jumper from 15 or 23 feet? I think the latter has a higher chance of going in.
Jamario Moon’s blocks are starting more and more fast breaks.
Thanks for reading, grab the feed.
