Sadly, this is a lottery team without Bosh. After leading 32-22 at the end of the first, Smitch decided to go small-ball, and it all fell apart. What a disgusting game. How do you lose to a team that is 19-39? Give them 18 offensive rebounds, open jumpers, play small ball, basically do everything wrong. Two games in a row, and Smitch is exposed as having no strategy other than ride Bosh into the ground. How else do you explain him playing Bosh 40 minutes in a blowout win over the Wolves? That was probably the catalyst for losing Bosh for 4 games.
Today was a real lazy day for me. I watched Cavs/Bulls then Mavs/Lakers. High quality basketball. Everything from the production crew, to the commentating to the teams…high performance all the way. I figure with no Bosh, the Raptors will have to grind a bit, but they should pull out a win. Charlotte sucks balls, and they are missing Gerald Wallace…has to be a win. Nope, I was sadly mistaken.
Colangelo is going to have to step in, and let Smitch know small ball doesn’t work for the Raptors. Seriously, Dunleavy raped and pillaged the Raptors on Friday. Dudley/Okafor/Richardson ran a train on them today. Howard is going to do 40pts and 30reb on Tuesday…going to be nasty.
After witnessing what small-ball did on Friday; Smitch, in his infinite wisdom, decided it was the way to go today. All the usual suspects reared their ugly heads in this loss, highlighted by Smitch’s innefective/utterly useless game-plan. Lets run down the list:
Rebounding: The Bobcats grabbed 18 offensive rebounds to the Raptors 6. On every rebound, Dudley and Okafor were banging in the post, grabbing the board, or tipping it out to the perimeter to Felton or Richardson. Very lazy effort on the boards. It was manageable in the 1st with Rasho in the game, but once he came out, Hump was useless, and it went down hill.
Perimeter Defense: What’s to say, the Raptors suck at it. Felton broke down the defense with his dribble penetration. Parker/Moon kept getting caught when they were sent double, nobody rotated and boom!!!! open jumpers/treys. Richardson, Felton and Carroll had 14 open looks. If they shot a little better, this game would have been absolutely disgusting.
Interior Defense: What’s to say, the Raptors suck at it. When you go small-ball, big active guys like Okafor and Dudley take advantage by grabbing 25 rebounds between the two (10 offensive). The Raptors gave up something like 40 points in the paint. How many rebound put backs are you going to give up before you try and do something about it. Anything, just try something new.
Coaching: What’s to say, the Raptors suck at it. Talk about no game plan. Rasho gets the start, which was about the only right decision made by the coach. Joey Graham got an early nod, surprisingly, but came in and produced. It went downhill from there. With the regular mixed bag of bigs and smalls working so well in the first, Smitch goes small ball, and the come back begins. Smitch makes no right decisions for the rest of the game, mostly it was the lack of options that forced his hand…
Players: Only Nesterovic and Parker decided to show up for this game. Calderon, Moon, Ford, Delfino, and Hump did more harm then good. Brezec, the only guy massively motivated to pound on the Bobcats, was a + 7 for the game, and the only person actually trying to make things happen.
I’m sure Arsenalist is disgusted…yep, he is. Cuzoogle too. At least I’m not alone…misery likes company. Down to business:
1st Quarter:
- Missed the few possession cause I was watching the Lakers/Mavs game…serious finish…Dallas isn’t going anywhere, not this year, not ever.
- Turned it back in time to see Parker catch a pass from Calderon, and nail a three.
- The Raptors should take these guys, even without Bosh.
- Parker curls off a screen, changes directions and hits a fade away jumper.
- Rasho catches a pass from Parker on the baseline, and nails the J.
- Parker finishes a reverse layup in transition over Okafor. Too easy, he was trotting more than running.
- Felton finishes a layup in traffic far too easily.
- Rasho gets open in the paint, takes the pass from Jose and finishes with the baby hook.
- Richardson finishes a layup in traffic far too easily.
- Rasho hits a jumper on the pick and roll with Calderon.
- Parker steals the ball and lays it up in transition.
- Rasho gets great position and takes the feed from Calderon for another short hook, butter baby.
- Rasho is on fire, nailing the J on a pick and pop with Jose.
- Rasho does it again, wow, he’s feeling it.
- Rasho is all over the court, blocking Felton’s layup which leads to a jump ball.
- Felton hits a tough jumper as the shot clock expires, nothing you can do there.
- Moon catches and shoots inside the arc, he sticks it.
StephenJoey Graham draws a foul taking it to the rack, he hits both.- J-Rich hits an open three.
- Graham answers with a sweet looking step back jumper.
- Graham puts the ball behind his back, and sticks another jumper at the top of the key.
- Hopefully Rasho gets more playing time the rest of the game, he played a great 1st quarter.
2nd Quarter:
- Parker gets called for a BS charge.
- J-Rich takes it baseline, and lays it up…easily I might ad.
- Raptors commit a 24 second shot clock violation, sloppy.
- Felton breaks down the Raptors defense, laying it up.
- Delfino drives, steps back, and nails the J.
- Dudley is starting it up again, grabbing the offense board, and putting it back.
- Parker misses a layup in transition, but the Bobcats turn it over on the other end.
- Hump checks in for Rasho, but no Primo.
- After hitting his first couple of jumpers, Joey bricks 2 in a row.
- The Bobcats are penetrating at will, without Wallace.
- Humphries forces a shot on his first touch, he draws a foul…so upsetting. He hits 1 of 2 from the line.
- Kapono in, still no Primo, that “gangsta” comment must have really pissed Smitch off.
- Humphries bricks another shot, Boykins hits a jumper in transition, 3 point game.
- Carlos grabs an offensive board, and draws a foul.
- TJ grabs an offensive board, starts the break, and dishes to Hump who puts down the two-hander in transition.
- TJ dishes a sweet dime to an open Humphries for an open dunk under the basket.
- Davidson penetrates, tipping in his own missed shot.
- Delfino takes it to the rack and draws the foul, he hits 1 of 2.
- Delfino hits a ‘bicycle-kick’ jumper in the lane.
- TJ passes the ball to…no-one…eesh.
- Hump gambles on Okafor, and gives Emeka an open look for a dunk.
- Boykins hits a layup on the break, 18-10 Bobcats run, Raptors timeout.
- Kapono penetrates and sticks it.
- Still no Primo with 2:11 left in the 2nd.
- Jose throws the ball away, not sure what he was thinking there. Moon wouldn’t have done anything with it even if he caught it.
- Felton penetrates, again, misses the layup, Okafor grabs the board and ties the game.
- Kapono curls off a screen, dribbles once and nails it.
- Bobcats are really active on the offensive boards, tapping it out the perimeter.
- Richardson strips the ball from Moon, and drops it off to Carrol for the layup and the lead, Raptors timeout.
- Calderon dribbles the ball off his foot, out of a timeout.
- Moon hits a running trey at the buzzer to give the Raptors a 49-48 lead heading into the half.
3rd Quarter:
- Bargnani sticks the J at the top off the key.
- Parker dunks the ball on the break.
- Parker calls glass on the jumper.
- Calderon penetrates and hits a layup.
- Jose turns the ball over which leads to a Dudley layup in transition.
- Okafor grabs another offensive rebound, and lays it up over Moon.
- Bargnani takes it to Richardson, drawing the foul, he hits both from the line.
- Richardson takes it back at Bargnani + 1.
- Rasho grabs a tough pass in traffic and lays it up + 1.
- Calderon body slams Felton on the jumper + 1.
- Carroll hits an open three, Moon gave him too much room, as per usual.
- Parker curls off a low screen for a runner in the paint.
- J-Rich finds an open Dudley under the basket, who draws the foul - he hits both from the line.
- Hump subs in, still no Primo…
- Delfino in, Moon finally out.
- Calderon misses a jumper, really early in the shot clock.
- Richardson nails an open trey, Raptors timeout.
- Parker misses another layup, in traffic this time.
- Okafor grabs another offensive rebound, Bobcats up 10.
- Humphries finally grabs the 1st Raptors offensive rebound.
- Felton hits an OPEN three in the corner.
- Delfino slashes to the rim, and draws a foul.
- Brezec finally gets in at the 4:23 mark of the 3rd.
- Parker sticks a J on the baseline.
- Richardson sticks a trey in the corner off a baseline screen.
- Humphries travels in the post, trying to force another shot, FFS!
- Brezec posts up Okafor and draws a foul, he hits both.
- Carroll takes it baseline, and nails a layup in traffic + 1.
- Dudley out-hustles Hump for another offensive board.
- Brezec hits a turn around J over Okafor.
- Please Chuck, I’m not looking for a PBJ…that is the worst/idiotic nickname/description thingy you have come up with yet.
- Raptors are only down 12 heading into the 4th, I thought it was more.
4th Quarter:
- Boykins lobs a lazy pass to Davidson who slams it on the baseline.
- Felton grabs an offensive rebound at the 3-point line, the circle is complete.
- Brezec commits two fouls in a minute and a half. Both are tough calls.
- TJ penetrates and dishes to Parker who nails a trey in the corner, quick Bobcats timeout.
- Dudley grabs another offensive board, and puts it back.
- Why isn’t Rasho on the court?
- TJ gets called for the technical.
- Delfino breaks down the perimeter defense, and puts down a wide open dunk.
- J-Rick loses Delfino on the screen, and sticks a J.
- Guess who grabs another offensive rebound? Dudley. Guess who was covering him? TJ.
- I can’t watch this game anymore…but I will.
- TJ dishes to Moon for a dunk. He actually dunked on someone. Wow.
- TJ blows by Felton for a layup.
- Richardson answers with a jumper inside the arc.
- Dudley grabs another offensive rebound, and puts it back.
- Ford blows by Felton again for a layup.
- Moon plays lazy help defense and fouls Carroll. The charge was there for him to take, but he elected to try and block the shot. Good decision.
- Bargnani hits a 17 footer.
- Parker misses a trey, tap out to Bargnani who misses a trey, then Moon fouls Dudley in the corner…
- Yea…I’m done watching this game.
Technorati Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Parker, Bryan Colangelo, Carlos Delfino, Charlotte Bobcats, Earl Boykins, Emeka Okafor, Jamareo Davidson, Jamario Moon, Jared Dudley, Jason Kapono, Jason Richardson, Joey Graham, Jose Calderon, Kris Humphries, Matt Carroll, Mike Dunleavy, Primoz Brezec, Rasho Nesterovic, Raymond Felton, Sam Mitchell
Popularity: 31% [?]
March 2nd, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Yep misery does love company…
Just like pizza for 100 points, Raptors fans should get free shots after games like that.
cuzzy’s last blog post..Is their a Matrix program for boxing out?
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Rasho was passable in his first burn. He was hustling. Of course, that got him a seat and he went into a shell from that point. Joey was okay too…same thing.
But, hey, who needs these guys when you have Mooooooooooooooooooon?
Also, thanks for proving my point on the uselessness of the +/-. +7 for Primoz who had, what, 72 fouls in the short time he played?
I bet Portland is looking better and better to Jose right now.
AltRaps’s last blog post..Linkage - March 02
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:18 pm
oh man, don’t say that Alt. i just don’t think he can co-exist with TJ. not out of malice or anything, but because this isn’t his team anymore. he played much better when he was the man at the point, now its back to the tandem point situation, i know i wouldn’t be too happy.
shots would have been nice cuzzy, so much for 3rd in the east huh?
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Any thoughts on what the hell’s going on with Calderon? I can’t seem to explain why he’s making careless turnovers and being so passive on offense. He needs to look for his shot when he’s in the game, especially with Bosh out.
Arsenalist’s last blog post..Since when the **** do we play “small ball”?
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:53 pm
i really think it has to do with tj being back, and calderon feeling like this isn’t his team anymore. it is no coincidence that the slide in calderon’s production has coincided with tj’s return, a triumphant one of sorts. i could be way off, but only one of them will be back this summer, and by all the indicators, i think it will be jose. what do you guys think?
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:49 am
I’m not sure about that theory, only because (a) Jose played pretty admirably at the beginning of the season off the bench, with TJ in tandem and (b) Jose has always struck me as an out and out professional.
I really think he is just gassed. He didn’t play this many minutes last year on a consistent basis and, lets face it, the man was playing out of his mind. He was always good, but THAT good? It’s funny, had Bosh not gone down, I was going to post about how we should sit Jose for a game or two, just so he can re-fuel. The turnovers that he is making that are directly his fault all seem to be mental, and that is the first thing to go when you are fatigued.
I also wonder if now that Juan is gone, he might feel that there is no other backup. Maybe he is thinking that he has to over compensate and make sure things are done properly.
Bah. He’s the least of our worries.
AltRaps’s last blog post..Linkage - March 02
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:16 am
Calderon will leave if he can. Portland with Rodriguez and Fernandez seems an excellent destination for him. Miami may be another destination: they will put it together again and it has a numerous Spanish speaking population. Colangelo screwed up this team and Calderon knows it. Other than Bosh it seems that he doesn’t trust anyone else nowadays.
Calderon is a world champion PG who had to back-up a chimp. The experiment must end.
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:53 am
“Calderon is a world champion PG who had to back-up a chimp” — and people call ME racist? Whatever, Daniel, get your TJ hate-on elsewhere; yeah, it’s most certainly TJ’s fault that Jose is playing like ass and throwing passes into the first row. He’s still starting, isn’t he — and has the full vote of confidence from TJ to continue doing so. Jose only has Jose to blame for his recent struggles.
A much more pressing issue is having incredibly weak perimeter D, which is not that surprising considering the Raptors “starters” are an almost-32-year-old Euroleague veteran who is slowing down and an almost-28-year-old “rookie” (lifelong D-leaguer) who plays man-to-man defense about as bad as Kapono (oh yeah, the first 3 off the bench). How that could be considered effective for a playoff-hopeful team is beyond me.
RapsFan, following J-Rich’s 30 (10 PPG above his career average), I think you should start predictions about the next swingman to go off on the Raps:
Tuesday: Hedo - over/under of 30
Wednesday: DWade - over/under of 40
Friday: Stevenson - over/under of 25
Could be fun!
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 am
~It’s BRILLIANT! Now this is why Smitch is COY! Think about it! He’s getting the Raps ready for a tour of the Western conference. We are playing SMITCH BALL, so that when we face the HUGE GARAGANTAN line-ups of the Lakers, Spurs, Suns, etc. (who NEEDLESLY play [if they can] more than two 6′10 rebounders at a time), we–yes we–can force THEM to play small ball. Only the best and basketball mind would EVER think of it!
How else to explain NOT playing Primoz, Bargs, AND Rasho together. Just brilliant!~
*please note sarcasm above … and don’t punch me, I bruise easy*
Arsenalist > Raps Fan and I have a few theories on Caldy.
1> He’s been told that TJ will be back at starter (yes, even with the whole “speech”, etc. and it is starting to weigh on his mind) …
2> He feels a loyalty to TJ, and the unwritten rule of a “starter” can’t lose his job due to injury …
3> He is gassed …
4> The gangsta comment, really hurt him
Daniel > “Calderon is a world champion PG who had to back-up a chimp.” ?!?!? Do you want to elaborate on that?
Raps Fan > I got a prediction! Smitch will start Joey G @ center to go VS Orlando, and we will see Superman for 50 pts (all 2 pointers), 35 rbnds and 12 blks!!!
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:31 am
Is JJ a tshirt on a clothesline? Just blows in the breeze? Typical Toronto sportsfan I guess.
Blasts people for being negative about this team, yet a week or so later after this team shows the weaknesses we have been talking about now says “How that could be considered effective for a playoff-hopeful team is beyond me.”
Ask the GM who put this team together. I’m sure he will give you a fantastic response full of charm and cheer. YAY TEAM!!!
AltRaps’s last blog post..Linkage - March 02
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Hey AltRaps, you hypocrite, want to talk about inconsistency? I had to go back into your pathetic link aggregator of a blog to check this out (and trust me, it was difficult to find since your own opinions are buried underneath all the “linkage” as you don’t have the balls to put your own thoughts front-and-centre like Arse and RapsFan do):
“Rasho Nesterovic - The poster boy for this team. Boring, stuck in mud, not going anywhere, but MAN, will we be ready for the playoffs!! What’s that? The Nets kicked our ass? Oh. Forgot. The guy is built like a tree and jumps like one. Nice. An $8mil tree. Couldn’t get 2 or 3 smaller ones…nope, lets go big…and go home.” (http://www.altraps.com/2008/02/19/a-current-look-at-mediocrity/)
Then, today, commenting on Arse’s website:
“Rasho proved why he should be back in the starting lineup in place of Jamario Eclipsed Moon.”
–
And *I’m* the one who changes my tune? You want to go back through all my posts, see where I haven’t criticized the perimiter defence of Parker and Moon. Garbo is MY favourite player (I have his jersey), since he gave all-out effort, as opposed to your favourite player, who, according to the above link, is a spaz like Humphries who never met a jump-shot he didn’t like even though he’s built like a truck.
Fact is, I’ve spent most of my comments defending TJ against REAL racists like Daniel (chimp, huh?) as well as defending the “soft”/”Euros” (or whetever you and PsychicSpy call them) who have played hard when given playing time (Delfino, Rasho, now Primoz, and, increasingly, Bargs).
I’ve never defended one-dimensional Kapono, or Baston, nor BC’s signings of them. All I want to see is effort and Jose’s matador defense and Moon’s jump-shooting offence is not cutting it. And I’ve never said that this team WOULDN’T be dead-in-the-water without Bosh.
And this game was still winnable except that Smitch had a “small ball” brain cramp (2 games in a row now). But according to you, however, what else could Smitch have done with the crap that BC put on his roster, except for… wait for it… wait for it… play his “soft” “Euro” bigs like Rasho, Primoz and Bargs more?
But yup, you, AltRaps are right and Arse, RapsFan and pretty much everyone else who saw a winnable game go up in smoke because of Smitch’s horrible substitutions are wrong. I may be a typical Toronto SportsFan, but you’re a typical prick. Even?
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
AltRaps: being tired could be the problem, but come on man, he is 26, and is in peak condition. being a little tired shouldn’t affect this much. i could see a dip, but not a total breakdown. i would buy an injury much more.
Daniel: if calderon leaves without bc getting something for him, i will have lost all faith in the man’s abilities. the chimp statement needs to be substantiated a bit. we talking chimp as in black guy, or that he is running around like a chimp? lol
jj: i agree, i know calderon will get back to form…the defense, not so much. hedu/rashard do 25+, wade 30+, stevenson/mason 20+.
SiC: small ball vs the lakers should be interesting, i imagine he does 53 against us.
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Raps Fan > LOL, yeah, it would be interesting what kind of shuffle Smitch does.I have a weird feeling that he’s forcing the issue with the line-up. I just can’t see that “picture” yet.
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
he is definitely forcing the issue, going small ball once and having it fall apart…ok i understand, but two games in a row to two shitty teams…smitch is definitely trying to force something. maybe its bc who’s forcing it, i’m up for a conspiracy theory! lol
jj - how’s the leg?
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Raps Fan > LOL, now you got me trying to come up w/ stuff @ work (sucks since we upgraded to bigger monitors). Dude! How come no one asks about MY knees? :p (I’m off crutches, but still limping)
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I am at work and i haven’t had time to read the comments. I was shocked that what I said about TJ (I have nothing against the guy - my beef is with the GM and the coaches for bringing him here and handing everything to him on a gold plate) could have been interpreted racially. I meant “chimp” like a small guy with relatively long hands and poor decision making abilities. It was a poor choice of words for which i apologize to anyone who felt offended.
JJdynomite, i have found out once that we had the same opinions about Raptors perimeter defence and we expressed them in the same time. We may think the same however your agresiveness in language destroys any credibility you want to build around your opinions.
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I don’t know, JJ. You do a pretty good job of reading into what other people say, twisting it, and making it seem something else and that something else is always right. Maybe JJ = Cluck Jerksky?
Using the quote above…I, amongst many, think this team as put together will go nowhere. RapsFan and Arsenalist seem to think they are doomed for a first round exit, which I agree. That, to me, is nowhere. If you are happy with that, so be it. I’m not. Not two years into a #1 pick, some cap room, and still no help on the boards. I have never been a big fan of Rasho. However, given the alternative being Moon, to address our weaknesses, I suggested a new starting lineup, including Rasho, on Feb 26, well in advance of yesterdays game and my comment about it. (http://www.altraps.com/2008/02/26/time-to-tighten-up/) RapsFan was even kind enough to link to it on one of his posts, but I guess you missed it there too. Convenient.
I’ve also never said Euros and soft in the same sentence. This WHOLE TEAM is soft. I praised Primoz for knocking Nate in the face. Stuff like that is what we need when we get physically manhandled by the Knicks.
Not sure what I was “wrong” about since I don’t have a mirror handy to hold your post up to to make any sense out of it. However, the winnable game comment is a brilliant one. Aren’t all games winnable? This certainly was coming in, no? Damn Mitchell for causing Primoz to foul like he was doing the sprinkler.
If you aren’t Cluck, you should fire off some of your missives to him. I’m sure you guys could cuddle under a towel at the local steam bath.
(man, can’t you just hear Cluck saying “Leo, this was a winnable game for the Raps…what went wrong?” followed by “hold me, JJ, hold me”.
AltRaps’s last blog post..Linkage - March 03
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:16 pm
RapsFan, physically in peak condition, but I still wonder about how much all the stuff going on around him has taken a toll on how he carries himself on the court. Again, it’s a stretch, but going from being a back up guard to running a 35-40min show on a team that is far from a national level Spanish team takes a bit of a fresh kick.
AltRaps’s last blog post..Linkage - March 03
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:48 pm
SiC: dude, sorry, i didn’t know you went down too. what happened to you?
Daniel: no need to apologize man, this is a forum of uncensored opinions. i personally thought it was funny.
AltRaps: i think you’re on to something. the up and down of it all could be weighing on him. i just hope we dont lose him for nothing in return a la t-mac!
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Seriously, I would be shocked beyond belief if Jose was gone. The only way that happens is a complete breakdown (read: collapse) of his love of this team. Well, that or some club offering him an insane amount of money and BC deciding not to match it to avoid losing Defino, cap space and moving too close to the luxury tax.
He’ll be back. If not, there is always a sign and trade. Oh, wait, we did that with TMac as well, didn’t we?
AltRaps’s last blog post..Full Court Heave - Mar 3
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:56 pm
o man, the flashbacks…what did we get for tmac, a second rounder or two?
March 4th, 2008 at 10:53 am
AltRaps > I would like to keep Calderon, but he’s no longer a secret, and there are a lot of teams out there what would probably want to spend 7+ mil on a PG. It’s a toss up.
Raps Fan > LOL, I was on crutches since end of Jan., now I can hop/limp around! w00t! It’s a LONG story that the wife reminds me about
Simply put, being sick and grappling do not mix.
Oh yeah, we got nothing for McGrady.
March 4th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
ha, you’re jokes dude. good to hear you are back and in action. it was a sign and trade tho, wasn’t it? i know we didn’t get anything, but man…i’m losing it.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Toronto traded TMac to Orlando for a conditional first round pick.
AltRaps’s last blog post..Full Court Heave - March 04