Can’t say that I’m surprised, cause I’m not. Holding 3rd quarter 10 point lead, the Raptors manage to lose a game that doesn’t mean anything; but have managed to make my glass half-full approach to this season a half-empty one. Easily the most boring game I have watched since the end of last season, can’t believe I sat through it all, wasn’t even taking notes…slow sunday.
Off the bounce, the Raptors had big trouble with the Philly guards and wings. Perimeter defense is still a concern, and should continue to be a focal point over the next couple weeks. On the bright side, during the first half, the Raptors showed some good rotation on D, and closed out the wings pretty good (best I’ve seen so far this pre-season). It dissappeared in the 4th quarter, but at least we saw a little something in that department.
Devlin is growing on me. He doesn’t bring the excitement that Swirsky did, he just calls it, and doesn’t tote the company line in the process. On three occasions, that I caught, he made an observation that I have never heard Swirsky make:
- Moon took an ill-advised three, and Devlin called him on it
- Bargnani took a fade away in the right block, and Devlin suggested he should have took it at the defender
- Humphries forced one on offense, and Devlin was like “what are you doing?”
On the flip side, he did give Lil Willie a nickname, you ready for this?….
Will the Thrill??
It’s weak, tacky and lame. Hopefully it was just a one time thing, and wont be repeated….ever.
Back to the game…
It was an opportunity for the Raptors to make a statement against a division rival, one who’s off-season improvements have been on par with what the Raptors did (get tougher in the paint). From this bloggers perspective, the only statements made were that Young/Iguodala/Green/Miller can have their way with the Raptors wings/front court. Don’t fool yourself, this Sixers team is much better then what we saw today. In all fairness, so are the Raptors.
Mitchell continued to play the bench significant minutes again. The time might be better served to get O’Neal/Bosh more time together, to really work on the hi/low post dynamic we’ve heard so much about. Both our forwards didn’t show much tonight, call it what you want, I’m blaming it on this being a pre-season game. I would still like to see some focus on this pairing during the remainder of the pre-season, can’t afford to work this out when the games count.
Speaking of O’Neal, I was expecting much more out of him today. He got about 7 more minutes then in the first two games, but showed very little. Makes me really nervous, not sure about the rest of you.
Moon still has a love affair with that jumper. He took 5 too many, and needs to stop thinking he’s a two. I can’t imagine Mitchell giving him a green light outside of 15. There is a reason he has so many decent looks from the wing, people know he can’t make it when it matters. How many passes does he get until his leash gets tightened up a bit. He did attack the rim three times, but has to do even more.
On the bright side, Bargnani came out aggressive and gave us a teaser, for the 2nd quarter at least, and showed us what he can bring to the table if he has his ducks in a line. The rebounding wasn’t there, but I really don’t care as long as he can drop 15-17 a game.
On a personal note, I never thought I would ever say this, but I would rather have Leo then Sherman. Armstrong is my favourite, and should be doing all the games, but Sherman just doesn’t do it for me. He is much better suited to doing the pre/post-game.
Next up, CSKA Moscow on Tuesday, get your tickets Here and Here.
Grab the Feed.
One last thing, as I’m writing this, the Nets/Heat are playing, and anyone who said (not me) that the Heat are going to be a team that contends for the 8th seed are on crack. This team will be lucky to win 25 games (they should improve on last season seeing as Marion and Wade were shut down for most of the second half of the season).
Technorati Tags: 2008 Raptors Pre-Season, Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller, Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh, Chuck Swirsky, CSKA Moscow, Dwayne Wade, Jack Armstrong, Jamario Moon, Jermaine O’Neal, Kris Humphries, Leo Rautins, Matt Devlin, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Sam Mitchell, Shawn Marion, Sherman Hamilton, Thaddeus Young, Wil Solomon, Willie Green
October 12th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Count me in as a fan of Devlin. Wouldn’t have taken much to improve on Swirsky in my opinion, but Matt is a great even-keeled play caller.
Sherm is merely a fill in, is my understanding. If he was a permanent fixture, it would cause issues.
What does scream concern, though, is how long it has taken to get a broadcast schedule together for the regular season. Spies say that they are fighting to get every game on the tube, but to say there is a lack of interest is an understatement.
AltRapss last blog post..toronto raptors linkage – oct 6
October 12th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
unbelievable there is a lack of interest. how bad could the ratings be when you can’t get a freakin ticket to a game?
October 12th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
It was disappointing to watch Bargnani revert again this game. Shows how much we need him to perform when before everyone said that 15/5 would be great, and now 10/1 would be ok. Let’s keep lowering expectations so that it doesn’t hurt so much later.
My biggest issue was how much JO and Bosh were essentially non-factors given how much time they played. I mean, maybe they’re just taking it easy, or maybe there’s a huge number of kinks in the tandem that need to be worked out like… now.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:43 am
Yeah, Bosh and Jermaine stood out for me too …. I thought they were just taking it easy because it’s preseason. Neither one seriously looked to stamp their authority on the proceedings. They were coasting. I don’t think you can say there are any problems there until they start competing at their regular levels.
Disappointing to see Bargnani get taken to school so badly on the backboards, especially so shortly after a surprisingly good night on the boards against Cleveland. Too early to jump to any conclusions on what his rebounding will be this year … but that was a disappointing performance.
I thought Will Solomon looked a tad careless with the ball, didn’t like that. I’d like to see sharper, more precise, play out of him.
On the bright side of life …. the team was had a solid lead late in the third quarter when the starters where in the game. That’s a good sign considering they’re the one’s who’ll be playing more minutes when the regular season opens.
Also, Jamario Moon did an excellent job helping out on the boards, that was great.
Daves last blog post..Fesenko vs Shaq
October 13th, 2008 at 10:11 am
When the starters exited we were winning we finished the game with 5 backups who will never all be on the court at the same time. The sky is not falling, clearly it was an ugly game but how good was the Raps D when the starters were on?
Moon, Bosh and Oneal are the best defensive front line in the NBA, with Boston of course. Relax folks!!! Sure Lou Williams got to the rack with ease, he is a fast dude and he will give every team fits off the bench this year. We are better then Phily, Philly is good but we are better. In a seven games series (I cant see us playing them in a playoff round) We win for fun! They may win more regular season games only if they stay healthier then us. When I look at the preseason I am so optomistic based on the play of players who are actually going to play. The starters look great. JK can score, Andrea and Hump look solid off the bench and the backup PG does not look like an issue at all. If Hassan Adams never smelled the court we would have won for sure. He looks so bad so far (I know he is banged up) but he looks like a fat kid who can’t shoot. Hopefully Joey can bring a little energy when one of our wings gets in foul trouble our is having an off night.
I enjoyed Sherm and he is easily better then Leo, but who isn’t. Hopefully Jack gets the bulk of games, or Leo gets punched out by Dalembert in the first game and breaks his nose and he takes the year off.
One thing that pisses me off, and I know were fans and were critical, but how negative people are on here. You guys need to chill out an give this team 10 regular season games and then judge. I gurantee you there atleast 6-4 (which would be on pace for around 50 wins)
Premiter D is a concern, but so what every team has to have strengths and weaknesses:
-Phily Can’t shoot
-Detriot and Boston struggle to score at times
etc, etc
This will be the best team ever assembled in Raptor land both in regular season wins and playoff rounds so in stead of nitpicking the things we are not good at, how about we enjoy this great ride we are about to go on.
October 13th, 2008 at 11:00 am
“The starters look great.”
I agree with you 100%, O’Neal’s 3-10 and Bosh’s 1-5 had me totally jumping up and down with excitement at how we’re going to kill people in the finals. And did you see those jumpshots from Moon? We need way more of that if we’re going to beat Boston!
October 13th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Will
Are you seriously worried about CB4 after going 1-5? Are you crazy?
Our starters as a 5 man unit have been solid this preseason out scoring the other starters on opposing teams by a good margin.
How good was our defence as a 5 man starting unit VS Philys, If we did not have an off shooting night we would have been up 12-16 pts after the first quarter.
Oneal’s 3-10 does not bother me either, His scoring is not the most important thing we need, its his D and rebounding, his offence will come around, Chill.
As for Moon, his shot actually looks a little better so far (yes i know its early and yes I want him never to shoot and go to the rack every time he has a chance too)
WILL GIVE YOUR HEAD A SHAKE AND REMEMBER 3 YEARS AGO YOU WOULD BE WATCHING MIKE JAMES GO 13-30 FOR 36 PTS AND A 15 POINT LOSS. WE HAVE A COME A LONG LONG WAY. THANKS BRYAN GO RAPS. THIS IS THE GREATEST RAPS TEAM IN THERE HISTORY, WAIT AND SEE!!!
October 13th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
i gotta agree with rbs, bosh/o’neal really look like they are coasting. they did nothing, and it was a 4 point game.
i could make a case for bosh/o’neal/moon as a top 5 defensive front court in the league.
i do take exception with anointing them as the greatest raptors team assembled without even one game that matters being played. the potential is there, but for now, that is all that it is…potential.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I have redesigned the Raptors Aggregator and included this blog
http://snaptopic.com/sports/nba/toronto-raptors