So let’s get this straight, we’re getting killed on the boards and Charlotte’s scoring everything off of second chance points but yet we continue to only have one big in the game? We decide to play small ball with one of Humphries, Brezec or Rasho in the middle for what reason again? why not play big upfront knowing that our weakness is rebounding? Playing small ball is nice but only if you’re even on the 2/3/4 matchups on defense; however, if the other team has a decided advantage when it comes rebounding at those spots, playing small ball will kill you. That about did us in.
Dudley and Okafor play 37 and 30 while Rasho and Brezec play 27 and 11. No shit they killed us on the boards and scored 32 second chance points, we didn’t even have the personnel out there to counter what they were doing, nor did we use our resources to their potential. Our substitution pattern is so inconsistent that Joey Graham can stay on the bench for weeks on end but suddenly get thrown into the game in the first quarter. Our biggest and most physical player doesn’t get into the game until the third quarter. After being adamant about not playing TJ and Calderon at the same time, they play significant stretches in two consecutive games. After playing 40 minutes against the Pacers, Bargnani gets 18. There is no method to this madness. Either Sam has no clue on how to manage a rotation or he’s too busy trying to incorrectly react to what the other team is doing instead of imposing our strengths on the style of the game.
We were up by 10 after the first quarter which also happened to be the only quarter where we out-rebounded Charlotte and also happened to be the only quarter where we stuck with two big guys upfront for the majority of the time. The Raptors came out with an intensity and purpose unlike against Indiana, they were playing good tight defense forcing Charlotte into jumpshots and taking care of the defensive rebounds. But after that Charlotte realized that all it takes to beat the Raptors is to run a simple pick ‘n roll and you’ll have a lane to the basket from which you can kick out, go up for the layup or just take a really bad shot knowing that our defensive rotations are in shambles and grabbing an offensive rebound isn’t a tall task. Of course, not having Bosh there hurt but even so somebody has to take the initiative and step up.
For a team that runs the pick ‘n roll on every offensive set, we sure can’t defend it to save our lives. To put it in Layman’s terms, you have two options: switch or don’t switch. Whatever you decide to do make sure it’s based on the matchup at hand, just like the Indiana game, we get caught on switches that are completely to our disadvantage. Felton on Bargnani, Richardson on Brezec, Dudley on Calderon and so on. It makes no bloody sense, you have to make the effort, fight through the screen and force the offense into resetting. We got exposed the first time Raymond Felton or Jason Richardson ever tried to use a screen. On the other end Charlotte was smart, whenever they switched they also backed off tempting TJ to shoot or ended up crowded the big who got the ball (Bargnani, Hump) and forced them into a shot they didn’t want to take. Calderon was denied the lane he so loves to use after coming off a screen forcing him to give it up.
We can talk all night about the intricacies of our errors but I wouldn’t be incorrect in painting this game with one broad brush: rebounding. With Bosh out, Moon, Delfino, Calderon, Rasho, TJ and the boys needed to step it up and by ‘step it up’ I don’t necessarily mean grab 10 boards, it means box your man out and make sure he doesn’t get the board. That didn’t happen and our starters mustered 21 boards to their starters’ 35. On the offensive boards, they killed us 18-6. Need I say more? Need I really say anymore? Jared Dudley’s 10-rebound game reminded me of the game Dominic McGuire had against the Raps in Washington. In other words, Dudley provided dominant offensive rebounding during key stretches which ultimately proved to be the difference (can’t help but think Brezec might’ve helped here). That’s the type of guy we need on this team, a prototypical banger who’ll get our jump shooters more shots. Get ‘er done Bryan, or are you waiting for Garbajosa to be that guy?
A word about Kapono. He’s a bad defender, no surprise but there were a few plays today where you really found out just how bad he is. Matt Carrol was blowing by him while talking on his cellphone and Richardson and Felton were hunting for him on matchup screens. Kapono’s got the lateral quicks of a refrigerator and the rebounding prowess of a cripple. In his 17 minutes he scored 6 points while giving up about 10. Ughh, what a huge mistake by Bryan Colangelo. At least Mo Pete played some defense and actually attempted 3-pt shots. supersub15 on RealGM, did some analysis on Kapono:
Last 25 games:
Minutes per game: 15
3-pointers made/attempted per game: 0.16/0.4
Free throws attempted per game: 0.36
Rebounds per game: 1.1
Cost of every 3-pointer made in those last 25 games: $408,231.70
Great ROI, eh Bryan?
We got a L coming up in Orlando and the struggling Heat after that, I would not be surprised if we go 0-3, the Heat are licking their chops at our laughable defense. With Bosh not there to man the paint and Brezec secured to the bench, Wade might go for 40.
Liners:
* Anybody notice how Brezec threw that towel after Sam finally gave him the call late in the third? Sam screwed this substitution up. Primoz was pumped to play this game with all that’s been going on with Sam Vincent and Mitchell failed to see this and didn’t use the energy and intensity that he would’ve brought early on.
* Charlotte was 1-9 in their last 10. The Raptors have always (not just this year) been a team who other teams end their slumps against. Always. Doesn’t matter how bad you’re playing, if the Raptors are coming to town it’s sure to be a good night.
* Anthony Parker played hard again, I think I was painting him with same brush as Moon in the Indiana game. I was wrong there. He was trying to attack the rim, did a god job on Felton, did well in boxing out Richardson and most of all, his intensity level never dropped.
* Andrea Bargnani: 2-8 FG, 6 rebounds. Discuss please. Like Indiana, Andrea tried to get himself off early by driving strong to the rim on his first possession but after that missed a couple jumpers which appeared to kill his confidence and he never looked to assert himself on any end and became a non-factor. With Bosh out, we needed him to step up but he faded away into obscurity. Insert generic statement about his inconsistency.
* Jose Calderon’s been turning the ball over very uncharacteristically. The Raptors gave up 12 points off of 11 turnovers and 4 of them belonged to Calderon. It’s not like they were forced passes, they were just bad and lazy passes that should be easy to make, something you never see from him. I don’t understand it. He’s also very passive on offense and needs to look for his shot when he’s in the game, especially with Bosh out. I’m not sure how much having TJ back is affecting his game. Theoretically, it shouldn’t.
* Chris Bosh can’t climb up stairs nor can he move laterally? Ouch. I was hoping for a little more optimism from him in his pre-game interview, it’s obviously a slightly more serious injury than originally thought. Definitely not just a “precautionary measure”, the man’s in pain.
* Check out Jamario Moon getting posterized by some scrub named Ryan Hollins.
Till later. I’ll leave you with this clever little GIF:
