Raptors' Wish Granted: Toronto Beats Washington and Ascends to 5-1 – Raptors HQ
The only negative note occurred whenAmir Johnson tweaked his ankle at some point in the third quarter. He gamely tried to play on it afterwards but, with the score ballooning away from the Wizards, ultimately sought the bench as a precaution. The Wizards, let by John Wall's eight point, 3-for-13 performance, played from behind the entire night. They shot 3-for-19 from three as a team, and 36 percent from the field. Every other team stat between the two squads broke fairly even, but when you shoot like that you're not going to win many NBA games. "Over the long run they understand we can't start games the way we've been starting them," Coach Dwane Casey said after the game. And while a coach's job is never quite done, Casey had to be pleased with the game's outcome.
Raptors Set A Franchise Record With Win Over Wizards | Pro Bball Report
“It was a good old-fashioned butt-whooping,” confirmed Head Coach Randy Wittman after the game. Washington started out missing 10 of their first 11 shots and only scored 35 points in the first half as the Raptors cruised to a 24 point half-time lead that they rode to the 103-84 victory. Terrence Ross played his best game of the young season, scoring 18 points and DeMar DeRozan had a game high 25 points, but the night belonged to Kyle Lowry. Fresh off a 35 point performance against the Celtics, Lowry recorded his first triple-double of the season with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Observations From Toronto’s Locker Room After Beating Washington 103-84 | Hoops Addict
Ross bristled briefly and appeared flustered when he was asked what it was like matching up against Paul Pierce again. His teammates, however, howled as the question was asked. My assumption is Ross took that playoff series against Brooklyn to heart and there’s a chip on his shoulder to prove he can stop Pierce. Mission accomplished tonight as Pierce was held to eight points while going 3-11 from the field.
Toronto Raptors Cruise in a Win Over the Wizards
Defense: A+ Finally. After shoddy defense through the teams first five games, the Raptors were locked in from the word go. The Wizards shot 36.1% from the field and 15.8% from three. John Wall in particular was shut down, registering eight points on 3-13 shooting. Granted, some of his shots were just off regardless of the defense, but give credit where credit is due, the team from the north played their first great game on the defensive end. The rotations were on point, they swarmed to the ball and they held the opposition to under 85 points. A great effort all around.
Raptors roll over Wizards for franchise-best start | Toronto Star
“Man, I’ve said everything positive I could say about him. I’m about to start saying negative things,” DeMar DeRozan said of his back-court mate. “Nah, I’m playing. I love him. Love Kyle Lowry.” The Raptors did it with a great first quarter for the first time this season. After letting teams score at will almost every night, Toronto harassed Washington into eight straight misses to open the game, led by 14 points eight minutes in and was never really threatened. All the harping coach Dwane Casey had been doing was worth it, just in the nick of time. “It was definitely important, especially the way we have been starting off games and the way we started off in Boston (a 16-point first-half deficit),” said DeRozan, who led all scorers with 25 points. “This is the way we have to be all year. We have to rely on our defence and the offence will come. If we play that way defensively every night, we will be fine.”
Toronto Raptors deliver new-age rout of Washington Wizards on throwback night | National Post
“Amir and [Valanciunas] really came in and gave us that rhythm that they have as a first unit: their screening, their spacing, their running the floor, their understanding how to screen DeMar [DeRozan’s] man, how to screen Terrence [Ross’s] man,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “No disrespect to Pat [Patterson] and Tyler [Hansbrough], but there are angles and understanding of feel for how they like to do it. Amir is one of our best players at doing that.”
Game Rap: Raptors 103 Wizards 84 | Toronto Raptors
"I think we played well from start to finish. I think we still made some mistakes but I think there’s a lot more positives than negatives to take from this game, finally we can say that." – Kyle Lowry, on the Raptors total team effort "It's a collective effort. All five have to try and slow him down in transition. Show him five bodies every time we got back and not just leave it up to Kyle (Lowry) to try and get in front of him." – DeMar DeRozan, on the defensive effort required to stop Wizards All-Star point guard John Wall "I got to the gym last night and just kept getting shots up to try and get my touch back. Anytime your shot starts to fall it feels like one of those nights. I guess things just went my way."- Terrence Ross, on regaining his shooting touch
Ex-Raptors star Carter should be honoured, former teammates say | Toronto Sun
“Personally, what he’s done for my career as far me passing the ball and getting out of the way. He’s done a lot not just for us for a team, but just for this country. You see the Canadian players now that are in the NBA … they’re all a testament to him. That shows what he does, not only for the Raptors, but what he did for this whole country.” Carter, now a member of the Memphis Grizzlies, will make his lone visit this season on Nov 19, but so far, the team has only honoured former players. Davis said he takes pride in being on the formative squads with Carter that helped build the game of basketball so much in Canada. “You never know what the affects are going to be,” Davis said. “If what we were doing can inspire a young basketball player or a young kid to want to play basketball, then, yes, you have to feel extremely proud about that.”
Once a NBA top dog, Glen Grunwald dons new title at McMaster University | The Globe and Mail
How times change. Grunwald is now the new athletic director at McMaster University in Hamilton and lives in Burlington, Ont., a long way from the power and panache he once enjoyed. His budget is $12-million (Canadian) and he has to concern himself with a student-athlete population of around 700, encompassing more than 30 teams, everything from ultimate Frisbee to the cheerleading squad. “I can’t say it [McMaster] was the place I thought I’d wind up, but you never know where life takes you sometimes,” the affable 56-year-old said in a recent interview. “I’ve been fortunate to have been taken to a lot of good spots. And this is the latest one.” And it begs the question: Can a man who has spent 22 years of his working life as a senior NBA executive find contentment toiling in relative obscurity as a Canadian university sports administrator? “It just seems like the right fit for me at this time in my life,” Grunwald said, insisting he could see the McMaster job being “long term.”
Recap: Raptors blow Wizards straight out of the ACC | Raptors Watch
Davis, who played 310 regular season games for the Raptors, admitted “misconceptions” about coming to play in Canada may have hurt the team in signing some free agents but believes the word is spreading about how good it is in Toronto. “Winning kind of solves everything,” Davis said. “If you’re winning, guys want to come here.” Williams said he thinks the current version of the Raptors has “the same type of togetherness” as the teams of the early 2000s. The big difference was earlier teams had more experience and Vince Carter. “I think we had more vets that had been through the wars, that had been through the battles,” Williams said. “And, we had a young superstar, so we had a little more I think.”
2. The bigs came up small: It's unfair to some degree to tie a player's production to his salary, but I'm going to do it anyway. Nene and Marcin Gortat will make over $24 million combined this season. Meanwhile, Jonas Valanciunas, Amir Johnson and Patrick Patterson make about $16.5 million. Yet it was the latter trio that dominated the painted area, as they often do in Wizards-Raptors games. How do your starting big men go a combined 3-12 in the paint? How does Gortat only shoot two free throws? Two plays stood out to me. On one, Nene made a beautiful baseline spin move on Valanciunas, only to lose his balance and wildly fling a sidearm spin of some kind off the side of the backboard. So much for going up strong. On another, John Wall forced Kyle Lowry into a wild floater, only for Valanciunas to wedge rebounding position and beat Gortat to the ball.
Raptors continue hot start by beating Wizards | Raptors | Sports | Toronto Sun
The starting five, which has looked stuck in mud despite getting off to a 4-1 start, were looked in from the tipoff. The game was more than three minutes old before the Wizards managed a basket as Paul Pierce, the guy who ended the Raptors first-round playoff hopes with that block of Kyle Lowry last spring in Game 7, connected with a jumper. The Wizards would only score 18 in the first quarter and be held to just 31% shooting while the Raps were humming along at a 55% clip and had a 10-point lead after 12 minutes. Dwane Casey’s second unit, which has been as big a reason as any that the team came into the game 4-1, continued their fine form of the early season so when the starters returned they did so with a 17-point cushion.
Finally something for the Raptors to celebrate | Raptors | Sports | Toronto Sun
Davis, who retired in 2006, fit that bill, at least near the end of his tenure in Toronto. When he was traded to the Raptors in 1999 from the Indiana Pacers, the Oakland, Calif., native was thrilled because he got a chance to start. But after five seasons in the Great White North, it became clear he wanted out. You’ll recall how he famously groused about how his eight-year-old twins weren’t getting a proper “American” education in Toronto (never mind with his salary he could have flown in an MIT professor to be a tutor and put the dude up at the Four Seasons). “You know, the metric system, when they go to school every day and they’re singing the (Canadian) national anthem,” Davis said. “Some of those things are going to pass as they’re kids. As they grow older, there are some different things they need to learn. “I’m a little worried about it now because they’re really starting real school — first and second and third grades — and I think those grades are very important”.
DeMar DeRozan will make guards remember the post | Crossover Chronicles
he post game is kind of dying. More and more centers are inching away from the paint and the 3-pointer has become a widely accepted and necessary weapon in the NBA. So who are the kings of the low block? Believe it or not after your Al Jeffersons and Kevin Loves and Blake Griffins, the best player on the low block might be a guard. Lance Stephenson and DeMar DeRozan are taking up the mantle left by long time post savants from the guard position like Andre Miller and Kobe Bryant and Joe Johnson. It is a rare gift to have the footwork, size and strength to play in the post — and it takes the right team able to appropriately space the floor — as a guard.
