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Raptors lose Bosh, game

MICHAEL GRANGE

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 9:35 PM EST 01/03/08

All-star forward leaves with sore knee, prognosis good as Toronto blown out by Pacers Friday night, Michael Grange reports ...Read the full article

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  1. Sean O'Reilly from Canada writes: This team is such a tease.

    You never know from night to night what you're going to get.
  2. andy c from Canada writes: i caught bits and pieces of that game and man it was painful to watch. the raptors looked completely lost on offense when the ball does not go through bosh. the spacing was just not there and with no bosh to worry about the pacers closed aggressively on the shooters. the game would have been closer if TJ could hit a layup while calderon was reduced to a spot up shooter without the pick and roll offense with bosh (which still does not explain the turnovers).
  3. C Ta from Richmond Hill, Canada writes: Watched most of the game on fast forward. It really was painful, but the Raptors somehow remained close. Otherwise I would've tuned out completely.

    I wonder why it is that Sam Mitchell always seems to adjust to the opposition's players? Is it because we're so versatile that we (try to) match-up to whatever body types are presented to us? I question putting Jose and TJ on the floor for most of the 2nd quarter. But I've never coached basketball, so maybe there is a rhyme or reason to it. I personally would've shaken things up and tried Primoz in there with Andrea and/or Rasho. At least we'd have better interior defense.
  4. Roger S from Canada writes: Didn't watch the game, but run a simple stats: As a team, Raptors shot 94 times, made 46 and scored 111 pts, which is 49%. Not too bad. As an individual player, TJ Ford shot 17 times alone in limited 27 mins played, but he only made 5, which is 29%. Finally I ran another stats, called "field goal attempts / mins played ratio", then I compare TJ Ford to NBA's most famous ballhogs: TJ Ford at this game: 63% LeBron James 55% Kobe Bryant 53% Carmelo Anthony 54% Allen Iverson 46% Tracy McGrady 53% Dwyane Wade 48% Congratulation to TJ Ford, you beat all the hogs. The conclusion, of course, is: Don't you think this guy is a drag?
  5. Roger S from Canada writes: Didn't watch the game, but run a simple stats:

    As a team, Raptors shot 94 times, made 46 and scored 111 pts, which is 49%. Not too bad.

    As an individual player, TJ Ford shot 17 times alone in limited 27 mins played, but he only made 5, which is 29%.

    Finally I ran another stats, called "field goal attempts / mins played ratio", then I compare TJ Ford to NBA's most famous ballhogs:

    TJ Ford at this game: 63%
    LeBron James 55%
    Kobe Bryant 53%
    Carmelo Anthony 54%
    Allen Iverson 46%
    Tracy McGrady 53%
    Dwyane Wade 48%

    Congratulation to TJ Ford, you beat all the hogs.

    The conclusion, of course, is:

    Don't you think this guy is a drag?
  6. Clark The Mighty from Canada writes: Fire Mitchell!

    NOW!

    BC is over-rated, the Toronto media should stop worrying about 'access' and start telling him to find a real coach and get Bosh some help for boarding next year!
  7. Beaver Shots from kingston, Canada writes: Geez, such analysis! Mighty, boards weren't the problem. The inability, again, to contain a wingman was the major problem. This time it was Mike freakin' Dunleavy going off for 36 points. The Raps point guards, both of them Roger, I don't need to watch the game to offer expert analysis, S. , got torched off the bounce all night and the defense went down hill from there. It was pretty sorry effort all around with the exception of Andrea, who's defense and rebounding continues to improve. He's actually getting some hard fought boards over last 7-8 games instead of the "look what I founds" that made up a fair chunk of his rebounding stats previously and drew a couple of charges as well. Jamario hoisted up a few more ill advised 3s (what else is new) and Carlos really didn't get untracked either. T.J. hoisted a few bricks but seeing as how no one seemed to want to play the
    post, he often didn't have a lot of choice.

    Let's hope Bosh's knee isn't too bad and we play better on Sunday.
  8. Conrad Sola from United States writes: Congratulations TJ Ford.

    You can still win the NBA MVP.
  9. albert strauss from Toronto,Ontario, Canada writes: The coaching was so bad I could watch only the first half. Sam, watch the game! The opposition scoring came mostly from players driving straight down the centre line and dropping a straight up lay up in the hoop. Instead of a short team Sam had stationed (read planted) any one of his 3 hulks (Nester, Hump, orBrezec) in the middle just south of the free throw line, the ball carrier would have had to go through a stone wall to score this way. That is what these monsters are for and you have 3 Sam. As usual at any break in the play the suits huddle with the suits and the players scatter. Why bother. Only bright spot, Bargnani is learning NBA ball and can do it if he wants
  10. Rich Chan from Vancouver, Canada writes: Well, didn't see the game either, but I have to say this: it's hard to sweep any team, and Indiana must've thought that they weren't going to get swept by the Raptors for the entire season. Our team is good, not great, but good. They're we'll capable of beating any team each night, but they're not capable of consistently doing it with even the worst teams. There's no problem here really, just time to grow and commit themselves to winning consistently, which must take more time. Eh, you win some you lose some, and though Mitchell got out-coached in this game, it isn't so bad.
  11. M Spiker from Ottawa, Canada writes: It was a bad loss at home to a team they have to beat and who was missing 4 players to boot. Their recent wins against the weaklings were givens. The losses to these teams in this stretch is going to hurt in the race against CLE (ORL doesn't matter if you can't pass CLE).

    My take after watching this: while JC plus TJ can play offense together, they can't defend; AB can ball when he is up against non-athletic bigs (code word for 7ft white guys); the opposition has clearly spotted something in their perimeter defense; and SM uses a magic 8-ball to determine his rotation and substitutions.
  12. M Spiker from Ottawa, Canada writes: ...and why is their Joey Graham better than our Joey Graham?
  13. R 27 from Canada writes: Good point Roger S. TJ Ford was the biggest mistake for BC. I can't understand why at crucial moments (when the team needs to rally) in the four, TJ was on the floor instead of the more productive PG in Calderon. Must be some 'brother' thing. As a fan, I'm really fed up on Mitchell turning a blind eye on TJ. Observe TJ as a player and tell me if Phil Jackson or Popovich wouldn't pull his behind faster than he can say 'my bad'. BC need to find another coach and get rid of TJ Ford.
  14. andy c from Canada writes: rog. you dont think calderon's turnovers had any impact on the final score do you? bottom line is the whole team sucked last night. the only bright spot was bargs and a distant second would be Ford who's excellent dribble penetration was negated by his inability to finish last night.
  15. Roger S from Canada writes: Hat off to R27.

    Firstly, to sam mitchell, TJ is a pet; to BC and MSLE, TJ is 32million investment. Politics plus brotherhood, they have to play TJ Ford. Of course you know Sam Mitchell has no clue about basketball, and TJ Ford has no clue of who he is. The combo will lead you to nowhere.

    Secondly, if TJ can not finish, he has to be colored as "Dark" instead of "Bright". andy c, I think you are off regarding to this point.

    Bottomline, Toronto should work a deal to trade away TJ Ford this coming summer, although TJ has something to prove before he is becoming tradeable. Hopefully John Lucas's arrival can do some positives rather than just getting hooked with old friend.
  16. JOHN PALANDRA from Canada writes: Reading some of the posts on this site it amazes me how some of you function in a multicultural society. M Spiker writes "Bargnani only performs well against non-athletic bigs (code word for 7 ft white guys). First off the statement is false because he has had big games against Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, Tim Duncan, Josh Boone, Al Jefferson, Dwight Howard, Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Ronni Turiaf etc. All of those guys arent white, and by your logic that must mean they are all athletic, yet Bargnani was still able to have a good game against these players. Im just curious could you please explain what being white has to do with athleticism? Then we have the enlightened R27 who posts that the only reason TJ gets playing time from Sam is because its a "brother" thing? Ignorant comments from two cowards who cant even use their real names when they post.
  17. M Spiker from Ottawa, Canada writes: Palandra, get back on your meds...AB doesn't go up against any of the guys you list...CB defends them if they can score and they all will be covering CB.

    DET (Wallace/McDyess) are just about the worst matchup for the Barneys -- they kill them on the boards. Wallace can easily handle AB (AB scored points in the first loss but couldn't get a rebound and was outshot from 3PT by Wallace, in the last game AB had 0 points) and McDyess defends CB very well.

    Also, you missed the sarcasm in my post. AB put up a ton of shots last night and going 3 for 10 for 3's wasn't good when you consider he is not getting defended out there any more. He quickly fouled out when IND decided to take it inside against him (3 or 4 in the 4th). He had an OK game (AP had a better one) but this wasn't against any decent bigs -- he should have dominated as this was an ideal scenario for him.
  18. andy c from Canada writes: rog. you dont think calderon's turnovers had any impact on the final score do you?
  19. HC Bargs from Toronto, Canada writes: Boy, this team has a lot of problems playing defence (especially at the wing position). I am hopeful that Colangelo will address this need big time in the off season.
  20. Joseph Daniel from Canada writes: This was a painful game to watch. I have never criticized Smith before, but just what was he trying to prove playing Calderon the whole first half? I may jump on Rog's bandwagon that Smitch is conspiring to make Calderon look bad and thus paving the way for TJ to resume as a starter. Also there has been discussions about Baskeball IQ this week. Well you want a perfect example of another bone headed play by moon. Raps down by 1 74-73 late 3rd quarter , Raps are on a 16-0 run they are showing life in this game, they can take the lead with a bucket and Moon commits an offensive foul, turnover, Deiner comes back hits a jumper, 3pt miss by the Raptors, 3pt make by Dunleavy another 3pt miss by the Raptors another 3pt make by the Pacers, Game over Salami and cheese time for the Pacers are back to a 9 point lead and the Raps never threatened after that. Another rant on Smitch, he keeps saying that the Raps have to go out and dictate the play to the opposition. Well why are you playing small, when the only big the Pacers have is Foster. Why not try to take advantage in the low post with Rasho and PB? I just don't get this game at all. It is almost as if this game was fixed from the begining. Of course that never happens in pro sports!
  21. M Spiker from Ottawa, Canada writes: HC: I concur and I am still waiting for the media experts to explain why they are having problems with wing players (or at least opine on the issue). The closest I hear is JM not playing his man tight on the perimeter (but I have a hard time blaming a guy out of the D-league for their woes).

    Is it because they would have to be critical of the coach or players and that isn't the Barney way (...i love you...you love me...)?

    If they don't fix this and with their weak rebounding, it does not bode well for any playoff matchup.
  22. Beaver Shots from kingston, Canada writes: This stinker was a team effort. TJ's value to the offense is maximized when Jose has effectively run the pick and roll with the first unit and TJ's waterbug dribble penetration style provides a contrast. That didn't happen last night. Jose is much more effective when his shot is dropping and he's been out of sorts the last four or five games. It almost looks like he's fighting a flu or something. The first unit couldn't get it going and Indiana shut down TJ pretty effectively by clogging the lanes. Kapono missing 12 to 15 footers and Andrea launching line drives at the front of the rim from three didn't help. Still, they managed to score 100 points outside of garbage time, so blaming this loss on the offensive side would be misleading; they just couldn't get anything done on defense. Is that down to coaching? Maybe. On a few occasions this year the Raps have played good lock down defense on high quality teams, so presumably the coaching staff has the ability to draw up effective defensive schemes. Someone has to execute them though. My two cents is that the culture of taking pride in playing lock down defense just hasn't been established in Raptor land yet.
  23. M Spiker from Ottawa, Canada writes: Joseph: I agree. SM played their game and with the same number of players.

    IND played without a C for 1/2 the game and no bigs for a good chunk and SM opted to play (follow the leader) small with just AB. IND had only 2 bigs who can play a bit -- O'Brien had no options -- TOR had a choice. Why not change the game?

    SM also shortened his bench to match the depleted IND team (check out the mpg's in the box score). Why?
  24. JOHN PALANDRA from Toronto, Canada writes: Spiker you need to start watching the Raps games, because CB is not guarding Duncan, Wallace or Howard when AB is in the game. Also to say Anthony Parker played a better game when he was consistently getting beat off the dribble and losing his man just tells shows that you are no better then Roger when it comes to picking favourites on this team. Parker got outplayed by Steven Graham, a guy who is probablly a week away from getting waived by the Pacers. I love Parker and what he offers to the team, but all the wing players for the Raps yesterday really let the team down with that display on D.
  25. M Spiker from Ottawa, Canada writes: Palandra: if he was guarding Duncan and Howard in their last games, then AB didn't do so well because they had good game loss) and huge game (win thanks to CB). I could guard Ben Wallace -- and in the 2 games against CHI which the Barneys won big AB didn't play well. AB draws the weakest defender of the other teams bigs. If he hangs around in 3PT range, nobody guards him.

    AP had a much better offensive line (check the box score). He also was able to play the 3 when they went small. Defensively there is a problem but obviously not enough to sit AP since he was their big minute guy. And I don't see your buddy AB, helping out much on the defensive end and when he does it's a PF.
  26. M Spiker from Ottawa, Canada writes: ...and why can't we cut our Joey Graham?
  27. JOHN PALANDRA from Toronto, Canada writes: When i said Wallace in my last post i was reffering to Rasheed Wallace who he did a great job guarding and he also dropped 27 on him in that game. Rasheed was guardng him that game, i was at the game i know that for a fact. As for the last game against San Antonio he did a good job against Duncan, limiting him to 16 points while putting up 18 of his own, so i dont know where you're coming from on that one. If you recall it was Ginobli who torched them, again a result of poor perimiter defense by Delfino, Parker et al. Im not saying the raps are good rebounding team or a good defensive team, but i think we would all notice a dramatic improvement in those areas if our wings and our pg's werent getting beat off the dribble so easily, resulting in the bigs being out of position having to help out. If these positions were guarding more adequately i think the raps would be a decent rebounding team.
  28. M Spiker from Ottawa, Canada writes: Palandra: that makes a little more sense...just a little...you need to check your stats though.

    They have been beaten (handily) by DET twice this year. Unfortunately DET v. TOR in the playoffs is a nightmare scenario. DET will just roll Wallace, McDyess, and Maxiel through C-PF. Billups, Hamilton, and Prince will eat up JC-TJ, AP, and JM.

    In the first (a home game) AB's line was 25 pts, 2 boards (and a team leading -15). Rasheed's was 20 pts, 6 boards ( 12 and he out 3PT's AB). The stats are a wash but Sheed won the game and shared minutes with Maxiel who also put up decent numbers.

    In the second game AB had 0 pts, 2 boards, and a whopping -23 in only 16 minutes. Rasheed had 9 pts, 4 boards, and 14 in 30 minutes -- not great stats but he wasn't benched like AB was.

    Duncan had 22 pts and 13 boards (vs. AB's 12 and 2). You might remember Duncan wasnt getting a lot of help in that game (one of the reasons SA went after Thomas to fill the Horry void).

    I wouldn't normally quote plus-minus but it makes sense if you are comparing 2 head-to-head players.
  29. elwyn jennings from Canada writes: Most of the posters here have no clue about basketball...go big against Indiana????? You mean, go to Nesterovic and Brezec because of their exceptional offensive prowess????? You guys are just dumb...

    Everyone needs to take a V. It's a long season, one game doesn't make the season...and remember...the Celtics lost to the Twolves; the Suns lost to the Twolves twice!!! It's a long season, it's a long season, it's a long season...
  30. M Spiker from Ottawa, Canada writes: Elwyn: staying small against IND worked really well...not.

    P.S., we are waiting anxiously for you to impart some basketball insight on us.
  31. Tony Irwin from Burlington, Ontario, Canada writes: I'm not sure the last time I saw Pat Riley, Chuck Daly, Phil Jackson, K.C. Jones, or Greg Popovich go with a Joey Graham-like player at centre. Ever.

    Maybe Shaq, Kareem, Laimbeer, Timmy, Moses, Hakeem, Patrick, or the Chief. But never a Joey Graham. I guess there's something Sam knows about Joey that makes him better than Rasho or Primoz in the post.

    Maybe we've started something we'll see more often.

    No way we need 7 foot rebounders & shot-blockers when we can play small. No way we want to post up Andrea against smaller players. He's better as a 7 foot perimeter shooter like all the rest. Only Chris gets to post up.

    Jose probably was more effective playing big minutes on the floor with TJ (on top of the big minutes he's been getting lately) instead of being our 1-2 punch & getting a chance for an occasional blow.

    More creative strategy from our deep-thinkers. They must be. They got the hardware to prove it, don't they?

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