Pre-season rolls along with the Raptors in Chicago tonight, it’s an 8PM start with no local TV but Comast Sports is carrying the game in Chicago which means there will be a stream. Not sure what the point of the team having it’s own TV station is if they can’t broadcast their own games when nobody else is caring to. I can buy that the cost of sending Devlin and crew down to Chicago would be a bit much for a meaningless game, but what about paying Comcast a few quid for the rights to carry this thing? C’mon Raptors TV, get your act together.
This is a rematch of Game #80 from last year when the Raptors folded at home, and since that day the Bulls have gotten better and the Raptors worse. Scanning the Bulls’ roster makes my stomach a little queasy, they’ve got Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer (mysteriously injured) and Joakim Noah starting for them and they also have Taj Gibson, C.J. Watson, Ronnie Brewer, Kurt Thomas and Kyle Korver. That is a well-balanced lineup with good shooters, a decent interior defense, and a star-player in Rose. The Bulls have to be in the conversation for contention in the East because if Gibson and Noah continue on their upward trajectory and Boozer provides the muscle inside, the bench is capable of holding their own against anyone. You know Tom Thibodeau’s going to have them play the right way on defense, so it’ll be about developing chemistry for them because they definitely have the talent.
For the Raptors, a game on one day’s rest gives them a good chance to put the “heartbreak” of Boston behind them. Specifically, this is a chance for Andrea Bargnani to silence his critics, at least for a bit. He’ll be up against his antithesis in Joakim Noah, a player who is on his way to being one of the top three defensive centers in the league. A lot was made last year about Chris Bosh’s double-doubles, in a season gone to the sh*ts, it was the only positive our commentators could draw upon as they watched Hedo Turkoglu gently jog back to play defense as if it was entirely optional. Noah finished 22nd in the league in this ridiculous category, and managed to average 10.7 points and 11.0 rebounds. The guys ahead of him in the double-double category who didn’t average a double-double? Rajon Rondo, Al Horford, Al Jefferson, Chris Kaman, Brook Lopez, Luis Scola, LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire and Marc Gasol.
This is a very typical matchup for Bargnani – a slower big who would rather not come out to defend on the perimeter. These are the matchups where Bargnani was supposed to use his unique skills to create mismatches which he and the Raptors could exploit. However, even though it adds up on paper the results never seem to match the pre-game thinking so I’m not even thinking and just hoping that Bargnani turns the corner. He needs to find a spark to get himself going but even if he manages to have a great game tonight (as he is liable to do if his jumper is falling), there is no guarantee that it indicates a spell of consistency for him. As mentioned briefly on Facebook, thanks to Triano he’s also got the weight of being the only outright starter on a roster where nobody is head and shoulders better than anyone else. Depending on what kind of personality you have, an early tip as a starter could inspire you to prove yourself, or have you shying away from the eye-contact of your peers as you brick another shot and they wonder just why you’e been given this special treatment.
Jack Armstrong commented on Bargnani’s play in an article where he gave thoughts on the first two pre-season games:
Hasn’t looked too sharp in first two games. Am I nervous? No. Now if he plays the same way on Oct 27 & 29 vs. Knicks & Cavs in games that really count will I be? Yes-you betcha. Big adjustment for him will be that teams will be preparing for HIM. without No. 4 around to attract attention. The ability to adapt to that significant change will be important for him to handle.
I have a hard time believing Jack that teams pay much attention to Bargnani when preparing for the Raptors. Even though Bargnani should be a tough cover, he’s made himself very easy to defend by bailing out defenses without challenging them and exploiting the theoretical weaknesses that exist.
In two games we’ve seen most of the guys get a good run in, except Solomon Alabi and Julian Wright. Wright played a couple minutes against Boston and managed to brick two FTs, and Alabi only played eight minutes against Phoenix. Triano seems to prefer 1960’s love-child David Andersen as the backup center and so far he’s performed reserve duties with a quiet gusto that deserves to be respected if not applauded. At the same time I would have liked to how Alabi would’ve approached guarding Kevin Garnett; maybe tonight is when Triano reduces Reggie Evans’ minutes to give Alabi and everybody watching a break.
The rotations aren’t even close to being set but based on two games, here are how things line up based on actual play:
Starters: Jack, Weems, Kleiza, Dorsey, Andersen
Bench: DeRozan, Barbosa, Johnson, Calderon, Bargnani
However, if the regular season started tomorrow, here’s what the rotation based on expectation would be:
Starters: Jack, DeRozan, Kleiza, Johnson, Bargnani
Bench: Barbosa, Weems, Calderon, Evans, Andersen
The players that are perceived to be the best should in reality be the best, but so far it hasn’t materialized for the Raptors and we’ve seen Dorsey outplay Johnson, Andersen outplay Bargnani and Weems outplay DeRozan. With six more games to go there’s plenty of time for things to correct themselves but I don’t care either way because no matter how you slice this lineup, we’re a below-average team. All I want to see is team-ball played with a workmanlike dedication and two games in, it’s happened so at least we know that training camp is being put to good use.
Back to tonight’s game for a bit, the Rose-powered Bulls have had a simple philosophy of late – let Rose create and either kick it out to shooters or dump it to Noah after some high-screen action, Del Negro kept things dead simple. This year their inside game is going to be more of a threat which means their shooters will be more open. The Raptors defense has to worry on three fronts:
Containing Rose at the point of attack: It’ll be interesting to see if the Raptors will revert to the trapping they did against Phoenix but didn’t against Boston. It’ll depend on how the offense goes because it’s easier to trap on makes, and if you’re not making you’re more worried about transition defense than causing turnovers or getting the ball out of the opposing point guard’s hands. Rose is too quick for any of our points so the usage of the big in hedge-situations is key in defending him.
Keeping Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah and Kurt Thomas off the glass and outside the paint: This is dependent on individuals than team play, Johnson (or Dorsey) will have to deal with Gibson’s mid-range and soft post-game, and Bargnani has to keep a body on Noah so that he doesn’t hurt us on the glass. Fairly simple stuff here.
Covering Luol Deng and Kyle Korver on the perimeter: Directly related to how much perimeter help will be needed when dealing with Rose, if it’s not a lot then covering shooters becomes easier, but if the Raptors defense is scrambling to double down low, they can be made to pay the price. Boston’s off-the-ball movement hurt the Raptors in the fourth quarter because when Boston’s bigs were operating underneath, their wings kept cutting until they got open, case in point was Daniels’ two jumpers late over Kleiza. The Raptors have to minimize help situations if they want to prevent clean looks, and that comes down to individual defense and communication when defending two-man games
The chat starts at 8PM and I’m sure there will be a link to the game there. Join the RR Facebook group for game and news updates, we plan on updating this frequently with relevant content. My secret with for tonight’s game is to see Reggie Evans in street clothes, who’s with me?
