Toronto vs. Philly in London, Ontario. Out for the Raptors: Bosh (hamstring), Hedo (tendinitis) and wright (knee, a little swelling) i'll do a full recap after the game or when i get time. please feel free to express your observations about the game, specifically the new additions in this thread.
What's with the crowd booing Jason Kapono? Is that really necessary? It's not like the guy asked for a trade. Reggie Evans is a good hustle player. Jose is rusty. Pretty unwatchable game. Can't believe we're still a month out from the season. Seems like it's been forever.
we all know a team's performance in preseason in inversely related to the actual performance of the team during the season
-the sixers first team outplayed our first team, particularly louis williams over caledron -jose was atrocious, no hyperbole. defensively, louis williams eviscerated him and offensively he was surprisingly careless- throwing some ill advised passes. he didnt play the second half; triano said it was to ease him back after the offseason rest -demar was alright. i dunno think they ran one single play for him until the last few minutes of the game. his shot looked terrible and defensively he was foul prone but so was every raptor -jack was solid but he did throw some ill advised passes which ill attribute to his unfamiliarity with his teammates -amir johnson was pure hustle but he couldnt finish offensively. he also seems to be out muscled way too easily but he makes up for it with his length and athleticism- his game is an enigma. if he figures it out- he could be very good but for right now i think he's the ideal fourth big with his brand of energy -reggie evans dominated the first 5 minutes of the game then he looked like a petulant child for the rest of the game with some over zealous defense. although, u have to admire his hustle and i really think he's going to turn games for us this season with his win at all costs effort. -rasho looked alright but kinda looked out of place with this up tempo team -douby was solid in the first half but his game regressed in the second -marcus banks was really good but he looked spent at the end- i imagine the offseason of inactivity might have something to do with it. -sonny weems was by far the most aggressive player on the court not named reggie evans. the kid has no handles, no shot, left kapono wide open a few times but he's got a motor and athleticism as well which makes him a prospect. -bargnani looked really good. he dominated offensively like ive never seen him before -belinelli looked really polished in the first quarter but after that he was attempting circus three's and played a little out of control -pat o'bryant looked alright but his body language said "i dont give a shit"
another tidbit about derozan- triano said in his post game comments that they were trying to limit derozan's minutes so he can optimize his effort while he's on the court. my guess is that he's going to get some run at the start of the first and third quarters then sit for the rest of the game
Isn't it a bit early for so much criticism, like they were without bosh and hedo I watched last nite game since I'm one of the suckers who still has raptorstv and it wasnt so bad, some good in it
Let me start with a couple disclaimers. First I didn't see the game. I was attending the Blazers/Kings game. So, my comments are based purely on the boxscore and online game summaries. Second, I know you were without Bosh and Hedo. Having those two will obviously make a big difference. Third, it's preaseason. So, you can't read too much into it. Obviously, Bargnani's offense was stellar. 22 points in 22:22 is flat out getting it done (and nicely symmetrical). However, 3 boards in 22:22 from your starting center isn't getting it done. He still needs to work on that rebounding. It's a huge weakness and the more he plays the more important it becomes. Finally, I don't usually put too much stock into single game individual +/- stats. +/- is really more of a team stat than an individual stat. After all, there are four more guys on the court with you. So, a good player can have his +/- brought down by poor play from his teammates. However, when a player consistently has an exceptionally high, or exceptionally low +/-, a trend begins to emerge and you start to take notice. For example, LeBron James led all players (by a significant margin) with a +/- of +871 last season. Not surprising. So, if a player constantly has his team's worse +/- you start to wonder if it's him dragging his teammates down, and not the other way around. Bargnani had a +/- of -12 last night. That by itself wouldn't mean much. However, last season, he had, by far, the worst +/- on the team (-248 accordng to 82games.com - Kopono was second worse at -137). He seems to constantly have the worst +/- on the team. A single bad game is easy to explain away. Could be the starting unit got off to a slow start and that put him in a deep hole. Or, he was playing against an exceptionally strong opponont, etc. But last night, Bargnani's -12 stood out (as did Calderon's -10). So, in his 22:22 on the court, in spite of him scoring 22 points (one of his best offensive showings ever), the Raptors were still utscored by 12 points while Bargnani was on the floor. Belinelli started , shot the ball horribly, played 5 - 6 more minutes than Bargnai, yet his +/- was only -3. So, given Bargnani's horrible +/- last season, and his performance last nigt, are the Raptors really a significvantly worse team with Bargnani on the court. Is his awful +/- indicative of a trend? If so, why is it so bad? If not, how do you explain it? The sample size (all of last season) is too large to claim statistical anomoly. Could it be due to the fact that Bargnani is such a horrible rebounder that the opposing teams simply get a lot more possessions, and therefore, more scoring opportunities when he's in the game. Could it be that his defense is so bad, that it more than negates his vastly improved offense? What exactly is it, that makes the Raptors, as a team, perform so poorly when Bargnani is on the court? BNM
second preseason game thoughts... the philly first unit outplayed our first unit again but it was a lot closer than last night. marcus banks- another impressive, in control game. he even got in evans face on the sidelines after evans made some foolish plays. evans- the dude rebounds but he was way too overzealous again offensively. for instance- he would force a turnover and then lead a fastbreak without deferring to the point guard and promptly turnover the ball himself bargnani- didnt really push himself nor did he get the minutes caledron- a lot better defensively but still not there rasho-alright but amir is ahead of him pat o'bryant-terrible first half but he actually was really good in the second half jack- good leadership and has a good mid range game derozan- his shot is as inconsistent as your going to get. needs to improve his ball handling desperately. nevertheless, he played a controlled floor game. weems- hardest working man on the team amir- the star of the evening, did everything but score belinelli- incredibly skilled and crafty but needs to exercise better shot selection
i havent watched any of the games.. but hows sonny's d? he seems active on the court with all those open slams. Sonny jumps higher than DD!
i dunno if sonny jumps higher than derozan but i think he's bigger. derozan is the more offensively refined player with a better jumper, better passer and possessing the better overall instincts. weems is a hustle player who ppl are comparing to a young james posey and i kinda like that comparison. weems if harnessed properly could become that guy and i hope colangelo is bright enough to keep him around. although, for him to get any minutes in the league- he needs to get up at least 100 shots a day because frankly- his jump shot is non existent.
fourth preseason game -bosh and bargnani looked terrible -jack looked really good defensively -belinelli is a chucker -weems looked awesome, almost gerald wallace like until he sprained his ankle -derozan had his moments, particularly in the open court but in the halfcourt he looks uncomfortable -caledron was alright but arenas was on cruise control -amir was awesome -evans was solid -pat obryant was solid believe it or not -the raptor offense looked flat -the two point guard look with jose and jack is a work in progress -the raptors first unit, particularly bosh and bargnani couldnt rebound nor play d. although, all that changed when amir was on the floor.
Re: fourth preseason game off the bench awesome and with approx 27 million committed to bosh and bargnani annually- i suspect if amir was bill russell good, he still wouldnt get starter minutes on this team.
Re: fourth preseason game This will be an ongoing problem. Your starting center is averaging 3.3 RPG during the preseason. You have enough offensive weapons to win some games during the regular season, but you need much better rebounding and interior defense to have any chance at all of advancing past the 1st round of the play-offs. And, another poor +/- game from Bargnani (-14). BNM
Re: fourth preseason game the entire first unit played horribly. the worst out of the bunch was caledron.
Re: fourth preseason game Oddly, DeRozan had a +/- of +17. I assume most of the "plus" came when he was on the floor with the second unit. The big problem with Bargnani is that when his shot isn't falling he doesn't really give you anything else - poor defense and weak rebounding. Not good from your starting center and probably explains his consistently poor +/-. When is Hedo supposed to play? I know they are letting him rest to recover from Eurobasket, but it's now been over 3 weeks since Turkey lost to Russia in their final Eurobasket game - and Hedo only played 19 minutes in that game. How much rest does he need? So, are they really just resting him, or does he have some kind of nagging injury? I'm anxious to see him play. It should totally change the dynamic of your starting unit, and hopefully cure the team of these cold starts. BNM
