The Raptors overcame a mediocre second half… to complete a perfect tank.
The young’uns got a lot of burn, they made the game respectable but still lost to maintain their 3rd-worst record in the league.
They also got a few minutes of real NBA coaching once Jay Triano was ejected midway through the 4th quarter. Well, at least one that doesn’t sound like he’s taping an instructional video during his timeouts.
Jerry Bayless had another statistically strong game, hitting some tough shots in the second half to keep them in the game. The spin move he pulled off at the end of the game was a thing of beauty. He has mastered the ability to layup balls high of the glass with accuracy.
It’s not how I’d like my point guard to play but the results are there. The team has done relatively well with him starting, the numbers are quite decent. Unorthodox but effective, somehow.
This is where you have to take a long hard look at the drafting situation. I’ll keep it short. It comes to down to best player available vs. drafting for need. If the lottery gods are with us, do we just go for Kyrie Irving, or do we address a certain position?
Our biggest needs seems to be at point guard, small forward and center, especially small forward. I do think an Amir Johnson/Ed Davis frontcourt with decent backups could mitigate the center situation.
The point guard situation is less certain, but we do have more talent there, especially after seeing Bayless, than we do at the 3.
The best plan going into the draft would then be something along the lines of this: Best Player Available unless that player is a power forward. That would mean Derrick Williams, although I think he can shift to the 3 because of his excellent shooting.
If there was a super shooting guard prospect you’d have to consider him too *gasp* but i don’t think there is anyone even close to that in this year’s class.
I hope Julian Wright staying in the game lights a fire up James Johnson’s arse, because there’s been a noticeable decline in his defensive intensity, surprise, surprise. Some of it might have been fueled by vengeance, but his first game for the Raptors may still have been his best one, where you saw with some highlight reel type blocks and a lot of of energy off the ball on offense.
Personally, Wright has just as much potential as Johnson does, but I understand that you can’t have a 3 who can’t hit a shot if his life depended on it. I get that. But on this team? One of the worst defensive teams in recent memory? He helps.
Take a look at Andre Iguodala last night. Despite being keyed on defensively by Wright, he eked out some points in the 4th quarter just through sheer athleticism. Is this the ceiling for DeMar DeRozan? Can he even reach Iguodala’s level? DeRozan is not quite that level of athlete, but few players are. Iguodala has a better handle, seems a lot more fluid with the ball, whereas DeMar still struggles to keep his dribble alive on long drives.
What I’d really like to see is DeMar getting the ball at the top of the key, and seeing if he can make something happen. I’m not sure how effective he’d be in that situation, but putting him at point may help his development.
Still a good game overall. I’d like to see them keep Calderon and Bargnani out for the rest of the season. I’d like to see Alabi play a few minutes instead of Reggie Evans.
I’d also like to DNP Triano and see what PJ Carlesimo can do. I still maintain that Triano is at the mercy of Bryan Colangelo’s machinations, but I’m sure PJ would be in cahoots with the GM while still providing a little more sandpaper than Jay, surely?
It’s a combination of a lack of autonomy and simply not being enough of an A-type personality as practically every NBA head coach is, that should spell the end of the first Canadian coach in NBA history.
