Kapono exhibits all-around game

MATTHEW SEKERES

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

March 17, 2008 at 9:31 PM EST

SALT LAKE CITY — Jason Kapono will never be known for his defence and rebounding.

The Toronto Raptors' small forward is a shooter, maybe the best shooter in the world, and his career 46.4 percentage behind the three-point line is the best in NBA history.

But Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell says it has been defence and rebounding that have kept the Californian on the floor over the last fortnight when his shooting stroke had left him.

That missing stroke re-emerged Sunday night in Sacramento, when Kapono put on an exhibition and led the Raptors with 26 points in a 106-100 loss. He made 12 of 19 shots, including two of six from three-point territory, and finished three points off his season high.

Kapono disputed the notion he was in a slump, saying his role does not provide him with big minutes and that the Raptors' depth requires certain players to defer to others. That said, prior to Sunday, Kapono had hit 10 points or more only four times in the past two months, and made just three three-point shots in that time.

"I don't really think I was gone," Kapono said yesterday. "This team is so deep, it's kind of hard to have all the guys playing well on the same night. It definitely felt good to have somewhat of a breakout game, but I understand my role here. I'm a bench player, I'm a spark guy, I'm a short-minutes guy, so I just try to capitalize on the minutes I get."

Mitchell decided to go with the same starting lineup last night against the Utah Jazz, even though small forward Jamario Moon clearly found the doghouse Sunday. Moon was yanked after 3:36 of the first quarter and didn't re-enter the game until after halftime. Down the stretch, Mitchell went with Kapono and Carlos Delfino, which led to speculation that a change in the starting five was coming.

"I can't complain the way [Kapono] has played the last two weeks, and it hasn't always been about shots," Mitchell said. "I tell our players all the time, 'If you want me to take you out of the game because you missed some shots, then I'll do that, but there are a lot of other things you can do on the court that keeps you on the floor.' Jason has been playing defence, he has been going to the glass, [and] he has been keeping his guy off the glass. He has stepped up his play."

Kapono, who won his second consecutive three-point shootout title at last month's all-star game in New Orleans, instantly changed Toronto's fortunes Sunday as the team nearly erased a 15-point disadvantage. The product of the University of California, Los Angeles scored 10 consecutive points, and his rhythm was so superb that every teammate began looking for him on every possession.

"Jose Calderon, Anthony Parker, T.J. [Ford], all the guys did it," Kapono said. "When you have a guy out there who is hot, you want to ride him."

The display painted the best picture of Kapono's value to the team.

He is not an exceptional athlete like Moon, nor bull-strong like Joey Graham, which leads to struggles on the defensive end and with rebounding. But he can shoot Toronto back into a game at any time, or shoot a slight lead into a big one in a matter of minutes. That is a given, but Mitchell said he has been impressed with Kapono's effort on the other things, even when his shot has not been falling.

"The last two weeks, he has really been working hard on the defensive end," the coach said. "He has really been making an effort to box guys out and he has been getting shots, he just hasn't been knocking them down."

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