Games like this used to be the reason people disliked the Eastern conference: a slow, annoying, unspectacular matchup “featuring” two average squads without marquee players on a snowy winter night.
If you’re a Pacer fan, this game might still fall into that category for you. If you’re a Raptors fan, there was lots to get excited after this Friday night matchup.
We started off flat, confused (except for The Big Twisty, who tore through the Pacers for 13 points in Q1), looking like plyons as Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy Jr, and Jamal Tinsley (not the most fleet-footed of players) danced around us in a way that would make Doug Smith proud. But other than the constantly malfuncitoning scoreboard, which forgot to record important buckets and occassionally gave them to the wrong team, the Raptors cleaned up their act and made it competitive, closing the Pacers out in the fourth for their four consecutive victory.
Twisty throws it down. Others step up, but this team runs off HIS engine.
Over these past four games (since I made the 1/4 season post), these Raptor wins can be defined with words like “character”, “disciplined”, “focused”, and “confident”. We’ve beaten good teams, and decent-yet-dangerous teams: Houston and Dallas in the first group, Atlanta and Indiana in the second.
But, as Matt from Hardwood Paroxysm pointed out, “The biggest thing we’ve seen out of the Raptors this year is you’re not dependent on Bosh killing it every single night.” Matt pinned the tail on the donkey with that one. One of the greatest joys of following this team is watching our new players come into their own.
First it was Delfino, who figured out his role on the squad and has been the team’s 4th most valuable player so far (behind Bosh, TJ, and Jose).
Next came Jamario Moon, who fell off a pig-farming truck and into our starting lineup, learning that his blocking, shot-altering, and rebounding skills change the face of our defence.
Most recently, it’s been Kris Humphries who has benefited from Bargnani’s slow return by getting the minutes necessary to gain confidence in the offence and recognize that his energy can be matched by few players in the league (I’ll put him in the Turiaf/Millsap/Maxiel/Bass contingent, though he might be two months behind them).
And tonight, we might have seen Jason Kapono make that leap. Though he was our ‘marquee’ free-agent signing in the off-season, it’s taken him the longest to get comfortable. That’s likely because he’s the most offensive-minded of the above-mentioned players, and on a team of jump shooters the rock doesn’t always find it’s way to him often enough to create a rhythm. But we might look back in March at his career high last night as the tipping point in his first Raptor season.
(He even has an appreciation for the classics.)
9-14 from the field, 6-7 from three, 5-5 from the line for a career high 29. We can’t expect him to do much more than that. The line above is EXACTLY the reason BC signed him.
So, echoing Matt once again, it’s going to be increasingly difficult to beat this team as more and more players get acclamated into our system. We saw it last year with Jose, Garbo, and Bargnani. Now we’ve added the four players above as threats to compliment or compensate for Bosh and TJ’s performances.
A message to the NBA as we round into 2008: don’t sleep on the Raptors, unless you want to explain to your fans why you got bent over without lube by Kris Humphries or Carlos Delfino.
Notes from the game:
– Tinsley’s playing this game like it could be his last. I wonder his near-death experience last week has anything to do with that?
It’s a chilling and frightening thought, but Jamal Tinsley could be the 1st NBA player assassinated during a game. Please understand that I’m NOT advocating for this, as any loss of life is a tragedy and would demolish my favorite sport. But I mention this only because, as much as we might not like to admit it, it’s not an outlandish possibility. Security in NBA arenas is lax as best. I don’t know what he’s got going on off the court, but he’s obviously wrapped up with the wrong cats. And if you think the Malice had repercussions (see Phoenix/SAS, 2007 Playoffs), an on-court death would set the NBA back 15 years. It is, literally, David Stern’s worst nightmare (and probably Tinsley’s). It would force every NBA player with enemies of significance (how long is that list?) to think twice every time they stepped onto the court. Ron Artest would keep a gat tucked under a towel beside his Gatorade. Stern would institute background checks onto players, maybe even secretly ‘weeding out’ potential threats. Again, this would be beyond awful, and I hope to the heavens it doesn’t happen.
My point is, what’s stopping it?
– It was a night of career highs: Humph (17pts), Jose (16 dimes), Jason (29pts).
– Humph missed at least three dunks, and still finished with a career high. Anyone know the Raptor single-game record?
– What’s with the Indiana Pacers in-game trance soundtrack? Is that what passes for music in the Midwest?
– Delfino’s block (20sec. into this clip) into Kapono’s game-changing 3 will be on every Raptors “season’s best sequences” list at the end of the year.
– For those who didn’t watch the game, the halftime feature was players discussing their holiday traditions. To summarize:
- Delfino loves artificial fireworks. Another reason to move to South America: X-mas fireworks.
- Parker watches the Griswolds every year with his family. YAWN. I bet the party never stops there…
- Jamario’s family just ‘acts crazy’, the definition of which is wrasslin’ hogs and making moonshine eggnog.
- Bosh eats Mexican every Christmas Eve.
- Humphries’ holiday story was by far the best. His face in the seconds after he finishes talking is priceless. Let’s just say he finds Dora the Explorer challenging.
Next up, Boston on Sunday. I know this blog is Raptor-centric, but I can’t help but mention that Baron Davis’ performance last night killed Kobe Bryant. Boom Dizzle was SMOKING last night down the stretch. Sorry Phoenix, but GS is the most exciting team in the league, by far.
