GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

Re: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

What a game. Ford with 14 assists, Bosh stepping up and Jamario Moon, my god. Started the game, had some monster dunks, steals, blocked Deng and was just playing great basketball. If he can get a better jump shot going, he will be scary. I'm thinking he could be that exciting player the Raptors are missing.</p>

Delfino and Kapono off the bench is deadly. It gives us a lot more offense and really spreads the floor. I like Rasho starting and Bargnani of the bench. Great game overall.</p>

 

Re: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Denny Crane)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

It sure seemed all along like the Bulls were the little engine that could. "I know I can, I know I can..." That seems to be missing this year. Have they simply been reading their own press? The reports that they need post scoring, to trade for Kobe, etc. ?</p>

</div></p>

I don't think so.</p>

Wallace - old.</p>

Tyrus - inexperienced.</p>

Kirk - weight issues and lost confidence after being cut from Team USA.</p>

BG - taking bad, contested shots because he (perhaps rightly) feels his teammates are worse options</p>

Deng - ???</p>

What you say might be true for Deng because I have no idea what is wrong with him. This guy had 10 straight solid games in the playoffs. Kapono, Delfino, and an undrafted rookie named Moon outplayed him tonight.</p>

 

Re: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

You guys sure need Kobe.</p>

 

Re: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

Really impressed and satisfied with the Raptors outcome over this back to back on the road. Moon today was outstanding...I know you Bulls fans are probably tired of listening to us Raps fan praise Moon but this is pretty much the first game he has actually got significant minutes during meaningful parts of the game so this, like yours is our first look at him and he didnt dissapoint. Anyways most noteable stat lines to me were six Raptor players with 10 or more points and TJ and Calderon combined for 23 assists and 3 turnovers.</p>

 

Re: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

Nice game for you guys Raptors fans.</p>

For us Bulls fans... wow. I don't know where to start. Losing by 30 at home to a team that played last night? I'm not trying to sleep on the Raptors because I think they're a good team in any case, but this is the sort of game that we've got a real advantage coming into.</p>

And what do we get? Garbage, that's what. Pretty much all of our guys played awful. Forget about the Pistons game, the game before and the game after (tonight), he was benched. That's one good performance and two benchings. Deng is just plain invisible. Thabo shoot the ball more than anyone else... what the hell.</p>

A season is a wash thread is tempting me.</p>

 

NBA: TORONTO at CHICAGO

<div class="pre">TORONTO (101)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
C Bosh 27:08 7-12 0-0 2-6 2 1 14
J Moon 23:30 6-10 0-0 1-6 0 5 12
R Nesterovic 22:08 4-6 0-0 2-8 1 1 8
T Ford 24:29 2-3 1-1 1-3 14 2 5
A Parker 21:14 5-8 0-1 0-3 1 2 12
A Bargnani 21:19 4-7 4-4 0-0 2 3 14
J Kapono 26:08 5-7 0-0 0-1 1 3 11
C Delfino 19:56 5-9 2-2 1-7 1 1 16
J Calderon 17:48 0-0 0-0 0-3 9 0 0
K Humphries 15:14 1-5 2-2 0-5 0 3 4
J Dixon 10:55 0-4 0-0 0-1 5 0 0
J Garbajosa 10:11 2-4 0-0 0-1 0 1 5

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 41-75 9-10 7-44 36 22 101
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.547, FT-.900. 3-Point Goals:
10-20, .500 (J Moon 0-1, A Parker 2-2, A
Bargnani 2-4, J Kapono 1-3, C Delfino 4-7, J
Garbajosa 1-3). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked
Shots:2 (J Moon, C Bosh). Turnovers:23 (R
Nesterovic 3, J Kapono 3, C Delfino 3, K
Humphries 3, J Moon 2, J Calderon 2, C Bosh
2, J Dixon 2, T Ford, A Bargnani, A Parker).
Steals: 10 (J Moon 3, R Nesterovic, T Ford, J
Dixon, J Garbajosa, C Bosh, C Delfino, A
Parker).


CHICAGO (71)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
L Deng 22:28 2-8 1-2 0-0 1 0 5
T Thomas 12:21 2-5 0-0 1-1 0 3 4
B Wallace 17:58 0-0 0-0 1-5 2 1 0
B Gordon 24:09 4-10 2-2 0-1 1 1 11
K Hinrich 16:31 0-6 2-2 1-4 4 3 2
J Smith 11:27 0-4 0-0 2-3 0 0 0
C Duhon 27:18 3-9 0-0 1-2 4 0 7
A Nocioni 29:12 8-14 2-2 2-5 1 2 20
T Sefolosha 25:46 4-15 0-1 0-6 4 3 9
J Noah 19:15 0-3 2-2 1-4 0 1 2
A Gray 12:00 1-2 2-4 1-2 0 3 4
V Khryapa 21:35 3-5 1-4 1-5 1 0 7

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 27-81 12-19 11-38 18 17 71
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.333, FT-.632. 3-Point Goals:
5-21, .238 (B Gordon 1-4, K Hinrich 0-3, C
Duhon 1-5, A Nocioni 2-4, T Sefolosha 1-5).
Team Rebounds: 9. Blocked Shots:2 (B Wallace,
J Noah). Turnovers:20 (A Nocioni 3, A Gray 3,
T Sefolosha 3, K Hinrich 2, L Deng 2, V
Khryapa 2, C Duhon, B Gordon, J Noah, T
Thomas, B Wallace). Steals: 13 (K Hinrich 3,
T Sefolosha 3, L Deng 2, V Khryapa 2, J
Smith, B Wallace, J Noah).

--------------------------------------------
TORONTO 17 24 36 24 - 101
CHICAGO 13 17 13 28 - 71
--------------------------------------------

Technical fouls: None.
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 22,467. T: 2:01.
Officials: Derrick Collins, Dick Bavetta,
Mark Ayotte.</div>

 

NBA: TORONTO at CHICAGO

<div class="pre">TORONTO (101) AT CHICAGO (71)

TORONTO

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

C BOSH F 27:08 7-12 0-0 2 4 6 2 1 1 2 14
J MOON F 23:30 6-10 0-0 1 5 6 0 5 3 2 12
R NESTEROVIC C 22:08 4-6 0-0 2 6 8 1 1 1 3 8
T FORD G 24:29 2-3 1-1 1 2 3 14 2 1 1 5
A PARKER G 21:14 5-8 0-1 0 3 3 1 2 1 1 12
A BARGNANI 21:19 4-7 4-4 0 0 0 2 3 0 1 14
J KAPONO 26:08 5-7 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 0 3 11
C DELFINO 19:56 5-9 2-2 1 6 7 1 1 1 3 16
J CALDERON 17:48 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 9 0 0 2 0
K HUMPHRIES 15:14 1-5 2-2 0 5 5 0 3 0 3 4
J DIXON 10:55 0-4 0-0 0 1 1 5 0 1 2 0
J GARBAJOSA 10:11 2-4 0-0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 5

TOTALS 240:00 41-75 9-10 7 37 44 36 22 10 23 101
(.547) (.900) TEAM REBS: 5 TOTAL TO: 23 (18 PTS)

CHICAGO

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

L DENG F 22:28 2-8 1-2 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 5
T THOMAS F 12:21 2-5 0-0 1 0 1 0 3 0 1 4
B WALLACE C 17:58 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 2 1 1 1 0
B GORDON G 24:09 4-10 2-2 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 11
K HINRICH G 16:31 0-6 2-2 1 3 4 4 3 3 2 2
J SMITH 11:27 0-4 0-0 2 1 3 0 0 1 0 0
C DUHON 27:18 3-9 0-0 1 1 2 4 0 0 1 7
A NOCIONI 29:12 8-14 2-2 2 3 5 1 2 0 3 20
T SEFOLOSHA 25:46 4-15 0-1 0 6 6 4 3 3 3 9
J NOAH 19:15 0-3 2-2 1 3 4 0 1 1 1 2
A GRAY 12:00 1-2 2-4 1 1 2 0 3 0 3 4
V KHRYAPA 21:35 3-5 1-4 1 4 5 1 0 2 2 7

TOTALS 240:00 27-81 12-19 11 27 38 18 17 13 20 71
(.333) (.632) TEAM REBS: 9 TOTAL TO: 20 (21 PTS)

TORONTO 17 24 36 24 - 101
CHICAGO 13 17 13 28 - 71

BLOCKED SHOTS: TORONTO - J MOON, C BOSH. CHICAGO - B WALLACE, J NOAH.

3-PT. FIELD GOALS: TORONTO 10-20 (.500), J MOON 0-1, A PARKER 2-2,
A BARGNANI 2-4, J KAPONO 1-3, C DELFINO 4-7, J GARBAJOSA 1-3. CHICAGO 5-
21 (.238), B GORDON 1-4, K HINRICH 0-3, C DUHON 1-5, A NOCIONI 2-4,
T SEFOLOSHA 1-5.
TECHNICAL FOULS: NONE.
FLAGRANT FOULS: NONE.
OFFICIALS: DERRICK COLLINS, DICK BAVETTA, MARK AYOTTE.
A - 22,467. T - 2:01.</div>

 

Re: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MikeDC)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

Nice game for you guys Raptors fans.</p>

For us Bulls fans... wow. I don't know where to start. Losing by 30 at home to a team that played last night? I'm not trying to sleep on the Raptors because I think they're a good team in any case, but this is the sort of game that we've got a real advantage coming into.</p>

And what do we get? Garbage, that's what. Pretty much all of our guys played awful. Forget about the Pistons game, the game before and the game after (tonight), he was benched. That's one good performance and two benchings. Deng is just plain invisible. Thabo shoot the ball more than anyone else... what the hell.</p>

A season is a wash thread is tempting me.</p>

</div></p>

Yah, I know, I feel bad for the Bulls and the Bulls fans, but the season is still young and you guys will probably find your stride since like us you're a jump shooting team as well. I thought you guys would win today, but yes, the Raps have improved on defence and you guys need to find some other options beside Thomas soon. Good luck with getting Kobe too.</p>

</p>

 

Re: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

Moon me. Go ahead. Moon me. Right now.</p>

 

By Bruce Levine
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


CHICAGO (Ticker) - Carlos Delfino scored 16 points to lead sixplayers in double figures as the Toronto Raptors rolled to a101-71 victory over the struggling Chicago Bulls on Saturdaynight.


Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani both netted 14 points and T.J.Ford dished out 14 assists for the Raptors, who had lost 15 oftheir previous 17 meetings in the series.


"We did some good things," Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said."Everything starts with defense. We forced turnovers and madesome shots. When you get a lead guys shoot with moreconfidence."


The Raptors held a 30-26 edge with two minutes to play in thefirst half before breaking the game open with an 11-4 surge tograb a 41-30 advantage at halftime.


Toronto started the third quarter just like it ended the firsthalf, opening with an impressive 14-1 run to push the advantageto 55-31 with 8:58 left and never looked back. Anthony Parkernailed two 3-pointers during the stretch.


"We wanted to stay aggressive and not let them back in thegame," Toronto forward Jamario Moon said. "Our tendency has beento get big leads and let other teams back in the game. Wedidn't want to let that happen again."


That run broke Chicago's back as Toronto went on to outscore theBulls, 36-13, en route to creating a 77-43 bulge heading to thefourth.


"I thought we played a very good first half on defense," Bullsforward Loul Deng said. "We are going to have to find someway toget our offense functioning before our next game."

Andres Nocioni led the way for Chicago with 20 points off thebench.


The setback was disappointing for coach Scott Skiles and theBulls, who picked up their lone win of the season against theDetroit Pistons on Thursday.


With the contest out of hand, Skiles benched all of his startersfor the remainder of the night with just 9:35 left in the thirdperiod.


"It wasn't a punishment for the starters," Skiles said. "I waslooking for something like a hot player off the bench to get usback in the game. Unfortunately we didn't find one."

 

Re: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

That stunt that Skiles pulled in the third quarter was downright inexcusable, and he deserves to be fired for that single stunt. His coaching is beyond ridiculous. We could have easily won this game. We were down 17 and the idiot decides to take out all of our starters. Ben Gordon didn't even get to take a shot in the 2nd half, yet the idiot takes him out. You'd think he'd know by now,e specially after the New Jersey game, that we are a team that is capable of catching fire (aka Gordon catching fire) and coming back. With the way Nocioni came off the bench, if Skiles just subbed in Smith for Wallace, Nocioni for Deng, and Duhon for Hinrich, we probably could have fought back in this game, or at least kept it within single digits by the end of the game. Skiles just gave up on this team, and the core guys (Gordon, Hinrich, Deng, Wallace, Thomas) should give up on him, and request his firing.</p>

In addition, the main problem is that this team does not have a clear cut 2nd option. Ben Gordon looked really good tonight. He got whereever he wanted on offense, and was continually breaking down the Raptors while playing pretty good defense too. His three point shooting was a little off, but his overall shooting looks worse than it actually was, because he had an akward tip/layup that threw off his shooting percentage for the night. He had so many plays where he created for guys, but once they got the ball they did nothing. Gordon's only turnover tonight was a pass that Deng should have had, but it bounced off Deng's hand (should have been on Deng). Gordon was good, not sure why Skiles didn't try to just feed Gordon in the third to try to ride him back into the game....but Skiles was obviously going for the sabotage tonight.</p>

Luol Deng is toast. He is completely useless this year, and Nocioni should be subbed in as the starter. Luol Deng's bread and butter last year was his midrange game, and thats gone. It seems like he did not take too many shots this summer, and his shooting is suffering accordingly. It seems like he's shooting it flatter, and sort of stiff arming it in a jagged motion on his shot...which is something that would come from a lack of repetition. Instead he opted to work on his post game...and his post game was so horrible before that its still downright horrible. So he abandoned something really good, losing that, to try to create something that was impossible to create.</p>

In addition, Hinrich has been bad. Not worried about him like Deng, since he always has his off months. He'll come around sometime. But this team isn't designed to have Hinrich/Deng both be playing like shit at the same time. Its always been one of Gordon/Deng/Hinrich having a bad month, and then two coming on strong (and Gordon isn't playing the greatest ball either....but not bad). So two playing terrible is going to be rough on this team, especially with the mental midget Skiles making things harder on the team.</p>

 

Re: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

This Bulls team looked nothing like the one that I found so intriguing last season. They always depended on their jumpshot to a certain extent, but what I thought separated them from typical fast-break teams was their committment to defense, their energy, their hustle plays, etc. That was completely missing tonight and their starters just looked lethargic, which allowed our offense get into a groove fairly quickly. I think the Raps have a very potent offense, but this wasn't a case like the New Jersey game where we just randomly had an incredible shooting night.

What happened to Kirk Hinrich? I actually considered him one of the more underrated players in the NBA last year and thought he was the glue for this team. Now he just looks like an inefficient scoring PG as opposed to a pure distrubutor.

For Toronto, that was the first impressive game since the one against New Jersey (I liked bits and pieces of the Boston game as well, but these were completely satisfying). They executed perfectly on offense and I think the distribution of the scoring is a good indicator of how well we play. When we have 5+ players in double digits, we're really using our depth properly and moving the ball better (as opposed to simply isolation plays).</p>

What more can be said about Jamario Moon? My brother (who's not much of a basketball fan) asked me where he came from in the middle of the game and then it kind of struck me how unbelievable his story is. Here's a dude that graduated from a community college and his journeyman career through most of America suggested nothing special. At the age of 26, he gets lucky in that the Raptors had no draft picks and most of their roster was playing in FIBA tournaments, so they decided to hold an open camp instead of fielding a summer league team. I don't think anyone expected anything of it and it wasn't even a foregone conclusion that someone would be signed from it. But Moon impressed enough to get a training camp invite, where he showed enough in the preseason to steal a spot from a player with a guaranteed contract (Luke Jackson). Then as the last player on our depth chart (behind Darrick Martin!), he gets an opportunity to be on the active roster when Joey Graham suffers an injury. He proceeds to get pity minutes and actually shows signs of being a serviceable bench player. Smitch takes an amazingly bold move by starting him one day after he scored his first NBA point (surprisingly, it worked) and now we have a player that showed that he has an NBA future. If he continues to bring that energy and works on developing his jumpshot, I like him being in this team's future (especially at that contract). He's like what we all hoped the Pape Sow saga would turn out.</p>

 

Re: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

I didn't get the game here, but the final score looks pitiful. No one could guess what is wrong with the Bulls right now because I do not believe this whole Kobe ordeal is completely it. Sure, it is a distraction, but we are playing like it is a roach killer to win. They have got to step it up because if we keep at this rate, we will end up like 1 - 9. I still have faith in the team, but that is the reality of it.</p>

 

Re: NBA: TORONTO (3-3) at CHICAGO (1-4)

Well, people had no faith in the Raps!! Everyone thought the bulls were going to win!! Keep proving everyone wrong boys... GoRapsGo!!</p>