I began to do my customary quarter-by-quarter breakdown, but frankly, I lost interest for this game. Before I go any further, there were some positives that came out of this one. The Raptors started the game doing the right things. To Mitchell’s credit, his strategy out of the gates was the right one.
The good:
-
Starting Bargnani payed early dividends, he came out of the corner swinging and dropping bombs. Big game, hopefully it continues.
-
Bosh was aggressive, hit his shots, took it to the rack, and pulled down boards. Monster game, hopefully it continues.
-
The Raptors kept the Mavs in check defensively for the first half (Nowitzki and Howard were on lock down).
-
The rotation was kept tight, with the starters logging most of the minutes (as it always should be).
The bad:
-
The Mavs started to mix up their defensive pressure, going in and out of zone defense.
-
They realized the Raptors are weak defensively, so they started to penetrate, opening up their shooters for easy shots.
The ugly:
- Nowitzki hit 4 three’s in a row.
It all fell apart for the Raptors when Nowitzki decided to hit those four trey’s in a row. After he hit the first one, I was yelling for a timeout. After the second, I was pleading. After the third, I yelled so loud I lost my voice. I simply laughed after the fourth. The joke was, even after the fourth trey, Mitchell didn’t call a timeout (granted there was a minute left in the quarter). The Mavs took an 8 point lead in a span of 2 minutes, and nothing. Dirk was allowed to get off, and he got off all over Mitchell’s forehead.
More on Mitchell: the man can’t coach. It seems to be a consensus among all the blogs and conversations I have with people. There is no rhyme or reason to his game plan. He can’t adjust strategy on the fly, he runs the same play over and over, he doesn’t effectively use his time outs. A minute into the game, after two quick Raptor baskets, Avery Johnson called a time out. ONE MINUTE INTO THE GAME! I was jealous, I must say. He didn’t like what he saw, and tried to stop some momentum. How different would this game have been if Mitchell called a time after Nowitzki’s first or second trey? To add insult to injury, with the Mavs up 7, and 45 seconds left on the clock, what does Mitchell do? He call’s a time out.
This “what’s in your pocket” thing is getting out of hand. We don’t care what’s in peoples pockets. However Chuck, we know what’s in yours: a hardon for MLSE. Go fuck yourself Charlie Brown.
Technorati Tags: Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Sam Mitchell, Avery Johnson
+0
November 20th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
papa’s got a lot of anger…lol….what can you do but laugh at a game like that.
Letting Disco Dirk get funky on the dancefloor with your women with a bottle of lube and a dildo…
Is Mitchell a gambling man? Has he been hanging out with Pete Rose, because that is the only explanation as to why he didn’t call a timeout.
I too was applauding Avery Johnson’s early timeout with the Raps up 4-2…
You know how to beat the raps…change you defensive sets..just like you said Sam…they looked confused in the third and fourth with what they wanted to do…basically the offense consisted of Calderon taking selfish jumpers and Iso Bosh.
November 20th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
dude, you have no idea. i lost my freaking voice. shane got scared i yelled so loud. lol.
nba games are won in the third quarter. letting dirk get greasy is what killed them. they did a great job of not letting him get into rhythm to begin, he hits two big treys, and they give him two more uncontested looks from beyond the arc. what do you expect?
November 20th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
hahahah…poor shane…I love it when you yell personally…it makes me laugh inside…gives me a warm fuzzy feeling..lol
November 21st, 2007 at 9:09 am
dude, i still can’t speak properly…lol. i feel much better now though.
November 21st, 2007 at 11:56 am
“Dirk was allowed to get off, and he got off all over Mitchell’s forehead.”
Dude, that was more of a money shot right between the eyes. Dirk’s hot german lovejuice crusted on Smitch’s smug face should be enough for a usually perceptive BC to start looking into other options…he’s got the balls to fire a undeserving COY, right?
I maintain that Sam winning COY was the worst thing that could happen to the franchise, other than it firing Sam and re-hiring Isiah.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:20 pm
i agree, it was the worst thing that could have happened. last years team was put together in one offseason, and had a bad start. that allowed them to stay under the radar, and do what they did. this year though, teams know what the raptors do, and know how to stop them: defend the pick and roll, attack the paint, and they are exposing mitchells strategy.
i would rather have isaih. i have always contended that he is a better coach than gm. the team he assembled is ass. no one short of jerry west and phil jackson can save that team. but if you remember, he coached a couple of those indiana teams to good results.
that being said, i dont want either. the next raptor coach has to be A list, and able to take us to the next level.
November 21st, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Last night in NYC there were loud chants of “fire isaiah, fire isaiah”. I doubt that will ever happen in Toronto with our fans who live in fantasy land and media who refuse to see Mitchell as the problem. This is Bullshit..
November 21st, 2007 at 2:11 pm
he has screwed up that franchise big time though. however, the writing was on the wall when they bought out larry johnson, and got rid of latrell.
i think the problem with toronto fans are that the ones who go to games, are more casual fans. they don’t know about game plans and what not. i mean for crying out loud, those stupid ask the expert questions are embarassing. there are tons of blogs and forums (toronto media are ball suckers) that think differently.
but your right, toronto fans will never boo the raptors. they will boo the leafs though. god the leafs sucks…
November 21st, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Sam Mitchell reminds me a lot of my high school coach “Rocket” Roger Cote. On that paticular team we had an abundace of skilled players who could shoot the ball. Being aware of this, and that he had absolutely no idea of what he was doing, he simply allowed us to do what we wanted and shoot the ball without any repercussions.
I have to admit, I sort of enjoyed playing for him, because I was allowed to shoot and shoot and get into a rythym and it did wonders for my game.
However, the end result was that we were a .500 team when if we were better coached and utilized could have won it all.
The fact that I am comparing Mitchell to this useless excuse for a basketball coach pretty much tells you where I stand with the man right now….
“Chicken!!!”
November 21st, 2007 at 4:21 pm
absolutely classic rm, cote…
Sad night in toronto sports last night though.. leafs up 2-0, lose 3-2 and raptors up 27 and lose. How can MLSE … sorry the Teachers pension plan watch this and not at least make a change for the sake of change…. who knows.