Greivis Vasquez and Lou Williams with poor games; Derrick Rose with the opposite. Bulls score 49 points in the fourth.
 | Amir Johnson, PF 18 MIN | 1-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | -2Tasked with guarding Gasol, he looked tired three minutes into the game. His significant contributions were largely of the non-statistical type, bodying Gasol, fronting him, coming from behind on entry-passes. There wasn’t much pick ‘n roll play, and he was reduced to being a scarecrow on offense and lost minutes to Patterson as Casey preferred to go with the smaller, more energetic lineup. |  | |||||||
 | James Johnson, PF 33 MIN | 7-10 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 4 STL | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 16 PTS | +2Incredible effort from Johnson again. Fantastic movement off the ball had him slashing to the rim all game, and on D he was the only Raptor able to slow down Jimmy Butler. He got a couple weak-side blocks, and any time he saw a mismatch of any sort, did well to take it to the rim. The Bulls tried to run plays to get Johnson off of Butler using screens, and a couple times it burned them, the most crucial one when the Raptors conceded a Butler-on-Lowry post-up which ended up with the Bulls scoring. |  | |||||||
 | Terrence Ross, SF 35 MIN | 6-16 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 17 PTS | -13Great effort tonight from Ross who tried to step up. The outside shooting was there and he worked hard against Butler who just happens to be stronger and more physical, so that didn’t work out. Made efforts to get to the rim and also hit a huge three at the end of the third, but for every one of that there was an ill-advised pull-up long two which made you cringe. |  | |||||||
 | Jonas Valanciunas, C 33 MIN | 8-18 FG | 4-6 FT | 9 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 20 PTS | -12Had a career-high in FGAs in the first half. Executed some great one-on-one moves against Gasol, and benefitted by Johnson checking Gasol on a cross-switch. Got overpowered in that third quarter when Noah got angry, and too many times got 30% of a rebound. I’d like him to be a guy that swallows a rebound if it’s within a 4-foot radius of him, and right now he’s just a little too bumbly and uncoordinated to do that, maybe next time. Also, given his first half successes, no idea why he was a forgotten man in the second. He got the short end of the stick in terms of officiating, some very harsh calls went against his way, especially on the offensive glass in 50-50 situations. | | |||||||
 | Kyle Lowry, PG 37 MIN | 12-22 FG | 6-10 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 34 PTS | -11Tried to take over the game late, but it was too late. Got into a battle with Rose at the end where neither could stop the other, which favored the Bulls. I felt he was too passive for the occasion in the first three quarters of the game, and perhaps wanted to defer to the in-form Johnson or Ross, but that backfired. To be fair to him, Rose was on fire and unstoppable on his initial move. He got his points but he needed to have about 12 assists in this game for the Raptors to have a chance, because we missed the easy buckets he creates for others and the Raptors found it very hard to score when it counted. | | |||||||
 | Patrick Patterson, PF 30 MIN | 5-10 FG | 2-4 FT | 9 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | -7Preferred over Johnson as part of a smaller lineup, and did well. D’d up the very physical Gibson in the first half, and was able to get his offense through a couple pick ‘n rolls and presenting himself when guards were either trapped, or had picked up their dribble. His work-rate is fantastic, especially when he goes up against physically stronger guys. |  | |||||||
 | Tyler Hansbrough, PF 5 MIN | 0-0 FG | 3-4 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 3 PTS | +8Matched up with Mirotic briefly in the second, where he lost his cool after losing a rebound. Was involved in two-man action with Vasquez, and did well to present himself, it’s just too bad that unless he gets the ball near the rim where he can execute a short hook or a crude up-and-under, passing him the ball is useless. Still, did OK against Mirotic so I was surprised to see Hayes played over him in the fourth. |  | |||||||
 | Chuck Hayes, C 8 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | -7No idea why he played ahead of Hansbrough against Mirotic, seemed very random. Did pull down a couple rebounds and made nice pass to Ross for three, but if you’re going to play him, make him part of the game early so he can have a more sustained impact rather than throw him out there on a whim hoping to kickstart something. | | |||||||
 | Greivis Vasquez, PG 15 MIN | 1-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | +2Said this was like a playoff game, played like it was summer league. I was quite forgiving of him on the latest podcast, and now he makes me look silly. Remember Good Joey Graham and Bad Joey Graham? Well, there’s a Good Greivis and Bad Greivis as well, and the latter showed up. Take your pick: zero defense against Brooks or Hinrich, taking shots with no rebounders underneath, and trudging back on defense like he’s carrying a sofa on his back. When he’s not giving you offense (like he wasn’t in that 6:09 scoreless stretch in the third), he’s giving you nothing, so he gave us nothing. |  | |||||||
 | Louis Williams, SG 26 MIN | 3-10 FG | 6-6 FT | 0 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | -5Got into a one-on-one battle with Aaron Brooks in the first half, which we narrowly one because he got a couple calls. In the second, Brooks burned him with his quickness to get very important scores. Couldn’t handle the screens set against him, since he’s extremely dependent on his teammates to give him 2-3 seconds to recover after he’s been screened. His offensive response to his dismal defense was to take contested shots with Jimmy Butler in his face. Not good. |  | |||||||
 | Dwane Casey The offense in the second half was horrible, no structure whatsoever, which was disappointing because the Raps started the game cutting and moving very well without the ball. He has no control over Lou Williams’ play which is annoying when the shots aren’t going in. Had JV and Patterson out there against Noah and Gibson, which didn’t work out well on the boards, and he bumbled up the Hansbrough/Hayes subs tonight. Props for starting James Johnson but that is negated by only giving JV 4 shots in the second half. Unforgivable. And conceding 49 points in the fourth quarter on 70% shooting? I know it’s a back-to-back, but this is supposed to be a defense-first team. |  | |||||||
Five Things We Saw
- The Raptors had the right approach to this game: beat the Bulls with good ball movement, establish a presence inside, stay even on the boards, and stay in front of Butler and Rose. In the second half under the watch of Vasquez, they just lost their way and never recovered.
- The Raptors gave up 24 second-chance points, while scoring only 12. That’s your game right there, and to be fair to them, they didn’t get many 50-50 calls in this game on the boards and Casey looked visibly upset at the refs (30 fouls called on the Raptors, 20 on the Bulls).
- Against the better teams in the league, the idea of having Lou Williams and Greivis Vasquez gun their way in the second unit isn’t going to work out. There needs to be more structure and inside-out play, and since our only interior presence in Jonas Valanciunas, it’s exactly these situations where hockey lineups don’t make sense.
- Lou Williams’ perimeter defense against Aaron Brooks is the reason the Bulls erased that third quarter deficit. Neither Williams nor Casey had an answer for Brooks, and since the Raptors lack a smaller, quicker, third string point guard, I thought they should’ve put Terrence Ross on him who at least would’’ve taken away the drive.
- Sucks to lose twice to the Bulls, because now the Raptors have lost 4 of 5 to the projected top two in the East.
