GAME THREAD: RAPTORS @ BLAZERS - FEB. 1st, 2014, SATURDAY, 7:00 PM, CSNNW

That would suck. Everyone in the world will want Toronto to at least make it close.

 

The low scoring nights from the bench still vastly outnumber the 30+ point nights. I don't expect much from our bench, but they've GOT to score more than 11 points. We essentially had to have four starters around 20 points to win the game.

 

It's not all about scoring. We scored 106 points! Scoring was not an issue. They grabbed big rebounds, gave us big minutes when Lopez was in foul trouble, played good D, and didn't lose the lead while in the game. What exactly did they do wrong?

 

There are points some of our starters scored because of our bench rebounding. There are always starters in the game so the bench players are hardly ever the number one option. They played great tonight. I assume you didn't watch,Nate. And if you're only looking at the box score, look at the WHOLE box score. Not just points. With the offensive firepower we have in our starting lineup, we don't need our bench to score big like a team like OKC does.

 

You're right Eric, it's not ALL about scoring, but our starters can't score 95 every night. That's just absurd scoring production from our starting unit. We need at last around 15-20 from our bench. When Mo has a good night, he can usually put that up by himself, but when he doesn't have a good night we usually struggle to find scoring on our second unit.

 

Sure but the bottom line is our bench played VERY WELL tonight and you dismissEd the, because (we have no bench) because they only scored 11. In a WIN. In a game where Mo was in foul trouble. It's like you didn't watch the game which I assume you didn't.

 

Also, we don't have a "second unit.". There are always starters on the floor and those guys are always the number one option. We don't throw 5 bench players out there and then they blow the lead. Freeland's job is to defend and rebound. He did that. TRob's job is to defend and rebound. He did that. CJ's job is to score which he did well given his opportunities. And Mo was in foul trouble. Saying we have no bench based on tonight's game is just ignorance.

 

Eric has a good point; we lost the lead with the starters in. If the starters hold their end of the bargain (and I do get your point about their unusually high offensive load tonight) in the fourth, we win going away. Just trading baskets would have been fine. But, I can see they were maybe tired from scoring 90% of the points up to that point already.

 

The strength of our starters is a positive and not something to beat over the head of the bench. We are the best offensive team in the league. We are 34-13. We are scoring enough points. The problem when we lose is defense, something Freeland and Robinson did well tonight.

 

Nate would have a point if we were a team that only scores 97 a game and needs more scoring to win games.

 

Well, but here's the problem that I see, when your starters have to carry almost all of the scoring load, it tires them out. They run out of gas. We definitely have a better bench than last year, but it's one of those things where the starters have to do all of the heavy lifting on offense. I don't think that's a recipe that can work long term. All of the really good teams have someone who can come in off the bench and score. We still don't really have that. You're right, it's unfair to say we have no bench because we do have guys that play their roles. Freeland isn't a scorer. He's a rebounder and a defender. That's what he does. What I actually meant is that we still have no scoring on our bench, and that concerns me.

 

To be fair, that was our previous two games... though ironically, I think the bench did rather well in those two.

 

Yup. The bench did their job and the starters laid an egg in those last two games. Against Golden State, if even ONE of our stars had been scoring, I think we win that one going away. Total fluke that everyone on the starting unit was ice cold, but that's just an example of when our starters simply can't put up the production that we've come to expect.

 

Thanks for the good discussion, Nate. You plugged me in.

 

Team played great for three quarters. Glad to see Dame playing like a star again. LA had another huge game. I love seeing our starters score like this.... I just know they can't do it every game. Not very often we see Nic with 18 points.

 

No doubt we could use one guy to come off the bench and score consistently, but with 4 starters who all need their shots during the course of one game, when they are in with the subs, they are shooting.

Toronto had one guy (Patterson) who scored more than 2 pts tonight off the bench.

 

As Olshey watches the game, I wonder what he's thinking, and what defenders he'd like to pick up at this month's deadline.

 

Tonight I would have tried letting Watson harass Lowery for a few minutes, with Nic on DeRosan.