I think this game will be a pre-cursor to the rest of the season: the Raptors will keep it close for 3 or so quarters, then fall apart in the 4th. To be fair, Jersey is a very tough team, especially with Kidd dropping a triple-double.

1st Quarter:
It was nice to see the Raptors running actual offensive sets. I have become far too used to seeing the high pick and roll end in a shot on the first pass. Instead, we saw the high pick and rolls with the shot coming a pass or two after the roll, cuts through the key, great ball movement for open shots (clearly some homework was done during the off-season in regards to offensive sets). VC undressed Anthony Parker on two straight possessions. Parker hit a couple early shots, to keep Carter honest on the defensive end.

I hate when teams do not come out of timeouts prepared to play. At the 5:23 mark, the Nets came out of a timeout, where Nenad Krstic hit an easy 2 footer, bad bad defensive lapse by the Raptors. Andreas Bargnani came out, and picked up two quick fouls, a nice shot block, and kept with it on the offense to grab his own rebound, and put back a strong basket in box through traffic.

I must say, Sam Mitchell went 9 men deep in the first quarter, giving Lawrence Frank a few different looks. This kept it quite interesting, and I was happy to see most of the Raptors come out and play good…except Joey Graham. Wow, this man got raped on two straight possessions by VC. I am very hard on Graham for some reason, I don’t know why, but he hasn’t given me much to change my mind on my assessment of him.

Stat of note: New Jersey shot 61% in the first quarter.

2nd Quarter:
A single offensive play stood in my head for this quarter: Jose Calderon and Jorge Garbajosa played a high pick and roll. Once Garbajosa got the ball, he took it through the lane, and kicked it out to Fred Jones who knocked down an open trey. It is so nice to see this kind of basketball.

Graham continued his horrible defense, all the while hesitating on offense. I am sure I will hear it from Ron about Graham (and Kris Humphries as well for that matter), but here goes: Graham and Humphries will be marginal players. Summer league means absolutely nothing. If Graham and Humphries do anything this season, everyone will be surprised. Now, that being said, I would rather have Humphries than Araujo.

Was it me, or did the Raptors jack a lot of bad shots this quarter? What happened to running? I always thought running meant finishing (or attempting to finish) within a few feet of the basket. Not launching bricks from outside of 12 feet. That’s just me though.

3rd Quarter:
Clearly Mitchell was able to make adjustments in the locker room. The Raptors came out firing, and exhibited better shot selection. They shot over 50% for the quarter (compared to under 45% for the first two quarters). They shot less threes, and took it to the basket much more. Seems as though this team is much more adept to taking it to the basket, then shooting jumpers. The Raptors matched Jersey basket for basket. and put themselves in position to make a game of this in the 4th…

4th Quarter:
…not much of a quarter for the Raptors. Seemed like Garbajosa built Jersey a new stadium with all the bricks he shot. Wow…lol. It also seems as though Mitchell has an allergy to calling time outs when the opposing team builds some momentum. The Raptors started the 4th down 4 points, and when they called their first time out at the 7:02 mark, they were down like 14 points. This timeout was called 4 baskets too late if you ask me. You are given a certain amount of time outs for a reason, and that reason is for them to be used when it is necessary. Clearly I have a differing opinion on when necessity struck, but that that is for a different post. On a positive note, they came out of this timeout with a quick basket, always a good sign when this happens. Kidd gets his triple double, and Jersey wins. Simple as that.

Game notes:

• Anthony Parker could become a really nice piece for this team
• Is it me, or did Bosh look out of place in this offense? Is he still injured, or is this a symptom of a bad system being put around him? …please be the former (but not a serious injury).
• Garbajosa jacked a lot of shots, but he did a lot of good things all over that it didn’t bother me too much
• Mopete only jacked 1 shot, that I could count, that angered me. Otherwise he played and finished well.
• Trippy to see 7 and 15 worn by players other than Alvin and VC
• PJ Tucker is a bad ass, he showed toughness that this team needs
• The Raptors can not gaurd the 2 and 3 spots well at all. They need to address this.
• They also do not rebound the ball well, and are under-sized if you ask me
• Mitchell’s contract situation will be addressed in another post
• Will we see the Raptors play any defense this year?
  • If we don’t see defense, can we at least count on them to finish more than 40% of their shot attempts?
• I really miss classic eastern conference basketball: hard noised, half court offensive sets with tough low post defense. Is that a dead game plan? Anyone?

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