Well, well, well....The Raptors went into the Magic Kingdom last night, and got their asses handed to them. However, this loss was worse than the playoff losses because it does look like the Raptors have addressed one glaring deficiency (getting owned by Dwight Howard in a prison bitch sort of way), only to discover a whole new and imporved way of getting crushed (not hitting any 3's, turning the ball over 20+ times). Let's break this game down because in the smoking ruins there were actually some good news, but its mostly bad.
1. Bosh's line: 40 pts-18 rbs, well it looks like Bosh still owns the Magic. CB4 was cooking last night in the face of Howard's strangely girlish/affectionate teasing?!? Anyway, Bosh is awesome, and its pretty clear that he has taken his game to the next level. Has the team followed his example? More on this later.
2. JO's line: 16 pts-10 rbs-5 PF/(Howard's line: 18pts-9 rbs), why did I include Howard's line as a part of JO's stats. Considering that Howard averaged 30-20 against the Raps last season, its pretty clear to anyone watching the game last night that JO was able to hold Howard in check whenever he was on the court. Yes, JO ended up in foul trouble, but the fact that he was able to guard D-12 one on one, and was able to mute the Superman's impact was, in my opinion, the most important development for this team. Of course, the team decided to waste this stellar defensive effort.
Well that was the good news. Are you ready for the bad news? Cause there's a lot of it.
1. Andrea Bragnani starting at SF: Why was Andrea out there trying to guard Hedu? Is Sam Mitchell actively trying to give the Magic a super obvious mismatch to exploit? Did Andrea morph into a 6-8 small forward over the summer? I have so many questions because this EXACT plan didn't work in the playoffs last year either. Are we really at the point where we are recycling strategies that have clearly FAILED? Because if we are, well I think we all know what road we are travelling down. Not only did Andrea get exposed defenisvely by Hedu, but his offense suffered as well since he wasn't able to play the mid range-semi post game is he trying to develop this season. Why is Mitchell messing with Andrea? The bigs had clearly defined roles that seemed to be working. Andrea at the small forward is a disaster, and has to stop.
2. 14 for 45, 15 turnovers. What an impressive measure of offensive shittiness. That was the shooting line for Raptors not named Bosh and O'Neal. Want to know why this lost by 13 even though 2 of their best players seemed have great and good games? Because when the rest of the team plays like it belongs in the D-League, guys like Jameer Nelson and JJ Reddick drop 32 on us, why do the Raptors even bother showing up. Pathetic.
Final thought. A lot of people are going to say, that the Raptors were undermanned because they were missing Jose. Fine, I accept that, with Jose, its possible that the Raptors cut down their turnovers dramatically, and this game is a lot closer. In fact, with the games that Bosh and O'Neal had, Jose might have been able to bring it home. However, that doesn't mask the fact that the Raptors collectively allowed Hedu and Rashard Lewis to light them up like Christmas trees. JO was brought in to stop Howard posting NBA Jam like numbers, which he did, but where is the sense of urgency from the rest of the team? Where is the improved perimeter defensive schemes from the coaching staff since they don't need to help on Howard on every possession.
Here's the truly scary thing. Bosh scored 40 pts, and missed like 2 shots in the 2nd half. Meanwhile, JO provided the interior defense that the Raptors desperately needed against Howard. So if I had said that those 2 things were locks to happen, most of us would say that Raptors would definitely have a fighting chance. Except they lost by 13! 13! This Raps squad is in trouble. 5-5 might look okay to some, but if you have watched every single minute of Raptors action this season (which I have), you know this team is desperately needs the dynamic to change.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
Coaching schemes can't make our 3s better defenders.
Soloman was awful last night. He turned the ball over way too many times and didn't get the ball inside enough. And that made no sense after the first half O'Neal had.
The impact of Calderon not being in the lineup was huge. Just huge.
But I can't really disagree that the dynamic needs to change. This team was supposed to be at the next level now. They're not.
You're right that coaching schemes can't make the 3's better defenders, but it can put them in less shitty positions.
But a coach (in many cases) can make a team play harder. The Raps SFs and SGs don't play hard. Its obvious. Sam's lost the room, I think what happens in the next 5 days will determine Smtich's future here.
Mimai, NJ, Boston. If they don't go 2-1, and look good doing it, I think Mitchell needs to start packing up.
I just can't see a coaching change coming, man. Who do you think Colangelo is going to bring in?
Smitch is the man this year. If this ship goes down, he's going with it.
Jeff Van Gundy. 2 year deal. Same as O'Neal. He gets it down with this crew, or BC starts with another coach. Colangelo isn't going to let Mitchell sink his ship. If you look at Colangelo's moves in PHX, he'll can a coach early because he ALWAYS blames the coach first (then the players - see Starbury to NY).
I disagree with the pessimism. I think this team will be ok.
Here's why:
1. O'Neal is really beginning to come around. A great sign.
2. Soloman and Roko aint got what it takes? Who cares! Dump Soloman and bring in Damon Stoudamire for the year.
3. Bargs aint a 3 but he has been lookin good as a 6 man. Thats a fuckload better than he played last year!
4. Bosh is awesome.
5. The SF problem will be solved. I don't know how, or who it will be - but it will be solved soon.
Post a Comment