What is that semi-circle under the basket? ‘Ask the Expert’ tonight was a very fitting one. Chuck and Leo should have told the Raptor team what that semi-circle actually is. The Bucks clearly knew what it was; an easy place to score from. I think from the 112 points they scored, 110 were in that semi-circle. This was exactly what I feared for this team when Colangelo didn’t address the need for interior defense/rebounding this summer: that teams with an active/big front court will own both semi-circles.
I started my analysis of the game, but quickly became disgusted and disenfranchised. Instead, I am going to rip the franchise bottom to top. Everyone is accountable for what we saw tonight. I hesitate to use the word competitive sport; canned hunt seems more fitting. When your franchise musters 1 point, and the chosen one (Bargnani) musters 5, you are in for a long-long night.
This game is a clear indication of what Colangelo’s lack of activity in the off-season can do. The Atlantic got two all-star power forwards (Garnett & Randolph), and a quality center (Magloire). Last season, the Raptors were clearly thin up front. With these moves, they are far more exposed in a division where each loss counts twice as much in the standings. Bargnani was expected to step up, and fill that gap at the forward/center position, but when night’s like tonight happen, there is no depth at the 4/5 to step in. Humphries, Nesterovic and Moon running simply wont cut it.
There was a point in the second quarter, where my girlfriend turned to me, and asked “Why are the guys in white scoring at will from some close to the basket? Can’t we bring in some tall guy to stand there and do something?” Seriously, that is what she asked. Clearly Mitchell has no clue what to do when the chips are down, shots aren’t falling, and no pride is being displayed. He does a good job between games, but in game strategy is not a strong suit. You could see Jim Todd glad he got out from under Mitchell first chance he got. Substitutions were again suspect tonight.
Question: what do you do when you’re being raped in the paint?
Answer: something differently than what you were doing. Zone defense for example. That could have helped. We couldn’t cover the front court, back court…ball boys at all. Why not try something new? Can’t get worse, that’s for sure.
We could have used Rasho’s low post defense tonight. Moon really sucks. Leo hit the nail on the head when he commented on his shot selection during garbage time. On a break, Moon got the ball swung to him on the wing, and he elected to jack a shot, rather than taking it to the rim, or stepping in a step or two for a better look.
It is far to early in the season to be calling for massive change, but a 30 point loss to the Bucks is unacceptable. There are clear weaknesses that need to be addressed ASAP. I sent an email to Colangelo (I hope I did, I took a guess at his address) asking him to bring either Marion or Kirilenko in to help a bit. Hell, at this point, I would welcome Oakley back into the fold. At least post-game interviews would be worth watching.
This is a jump shooting team. Bosh, at best, is a 10-15 foot player. With no consistent threat in the paint, nights like this could be repeated at a regular pace.
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November 7th, 2007 at 12:23 am
i forgot to put this in, but is it me, or does tj look VEX when he rides the bench in favour of calderon? am i reading way too far into this, or can we open some dialogue about it?
November 7th, 2007 at 12:57 am
Yeah, good point about changing it up defensively. We got beat using the same Buck offense from the first to the fourth quarter, we didn’t change a single thing. Nothing. Sam is incapable of making a game-changing adjustment, I’ve just learned to live with that (I know, it’s sad).
I think you might be reading too much into Ford sitting down in favor of Calderon, I’ve actually been paying attention to his behavior and he seems fine to me.
As for Bosh, him being injured is the only excuse for a performance like this. I never thought he was a superstar and will never do, he’s just a good player with the mantle of greatness thrust upon him by the media.
November 7th, 2007 at 1:24 am
ok, i am going to try to be less biased with the ford situation, lol.
bosh had big shoes to fill with taking over the reigns of the raptors from vince. say what you want about carter, but he was an all-star, a perenial threat at all times, and a huge impact player. up until he started to tank, he was a solid player (bit soft), but never ever gave a 1 point performance.
i think it speaks volumes that he is never in the same breath as lebron, carmelo, wade, howard. he is always second breath, that has to mean something.
November 7th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Breathe. There’s another game tonight. And if by some miracle we win by 25 points, will that make people feel any better? I suspect not.
I agree with most of what you’re saying, just not necessarily in the tone you’re saying it. Is Bosh utterly worthless right now? Yes. But will be bounce back to avg. 18-10? Barring injury, absolutely. It’s his knee that’s very troublesome at this point, because if Bosh goes down for an extended period of time…well, I just might begin to adopt the tone you’ve already embraced.
Win tonight? Or another blowout?
November 7th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
to answer your question, if they win by 25 tonight, i still wont be happy. because they is no consistency. these guys need to be consistent in order to get to that next level. on a night to night basis, we really have no idea what the raptors are going to give us, that is really frustrating.
i agree my tone is harsh, but if this team really wants to be taken seriously, and if bosh really wants to be mentioned in the same breath as some of his other peers, then things like this shouldnt happen at all.
yes he scored 1 point, but he didn’t contribute anywhere else. being an all-star means when you aren’t haveing a good offensive game, you play tough defense, bring down some boards, a couple blocks, a few dimes…anything. he did nothing.
if he is injured, get him off the freking court, and rest and get better. if he isn’t then fuck, do something.
if he plays like that against villanueva, yi and gadzuric, what the hell is howard going to do to him tonight?
November 7th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
i’ll take any kind of win. I think there is too much critisism going on right now. the raptors are 2-2 and they’ve blown a team out and been blown out. in my opinion they cancel each other out. the focus has to be on the bounce back against the magic and if the raps can show some heart and fight then all the over reaction will go away. we dont need AK or Marion, we need to fix the problem internally. 5/82 games…lots to go