Game Day Preview: Raptors against the Pacers

Raptors against the Pacers tonight and it feels like a close, grind-it-out game between two comparable teams in the Eastern Conference. Saying that, its probably going to be a blow-out for the Pacers now as I have incorrectly predicted two comfortable Raptor wins which turned out to be a blow-out and no-heart loss (NJ and Bulls)

The Raptors should have the advantage at the big men spots with Bosh playing his usual 'jumper, jumper, ... ,jumper, DRIVE!' on offense and Bargnani playing pretty awesome right now. Bosh has been relatively consistent with his jump shot but has proven again that he is not Toronto's answer in late game situations as refs usually swallow their whistle and his attempts are usually misses. Bargnani has had a very impressive 9 game streak; scoring over 17 points and his rebounding has steadily increased to a double double of 31 points and 10 rebounds against the bulls. We really need at him for late game situations as he seems to be the only raptor with ice in his blood who can create and hit his own shot.

The Pacers have a huge advantage on the wing positions with Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy. Both of these players are really coming into their own as scorers and could penetrate at will against our weak wing players. It really is a case of pick your poison of letting them have space to shoot or playing them tight and letting them drive. Considering how weak our collapse and help defense is, I would give them shot all day and hope they don't pull a Ray Allen against us. Letting them drive would create easy shot opportunities for them and the rest of the Pacers; which would increase their offensive efficiency.

The point guard battle is basically a wash with Solomon against Jack. NBA reboundtable has done a nice write-up on the performance of Solomon when he has played 15+ minutes and he has done surprisingly well; much better than what I thought he could do from "what in the world" free willy. If he continues to play within himself, there is no reason why he cannot be a backup calibre point guard in the NBA.

Raptor Republic have a nice write up on the game tonight, predicting that Pacers will eventually pull the game out due to their dribble penetration in spite of our advantage in the bigs. They also discuss Bosh's learning experience and the neccessity to win the game tonight after losing the last three.

The Toronto Star notes that Jermaine O'Neal will be playing tonight. Pretty funny how he is suddenly ready to play against his former team. O'Neal also says that Bargnani should be starting saying:

"He's earned the right to stay in the starting lineup. I have no ego about that. ... Some guys would want their starting position back, but I've been out for two weeks. ... I don't deserve the right to come back and take somebody's position that has been playing well."

People thought he might complain and be angry that he might be on the bench, but he has taken it well and seems cotent to let Bargnani start and prove he is healthy and ready to contribute again.

Hopefully we have a good performance today and pull out a close win. I am predicitng Il Mago drills a late three and the final score...

Raptors 102 - Pacers 99

Go Raps Go!

The Bulls 'Raptored' our Dinos

Raptors 98 - Bulls 102

I could not help but feel like an opposition fan when the Raps beat them. The Bulls went ahead by double digit leads, the opposition came back to make it a close game by half-time, the teams went toe-to-toe in the third, the bull surged ahead in the fourth but the raptors came back and the bulls squeaked out the win. This sequence the bulls had has been the recipe for almost every toronto win this season.

The Bulls raced out to leads of 8-15 in the first quarter due to excellent spacing, hard cuts and sticking the jumper. From 5:26 to 1:23 of the first quarter, the Bulls made a 13-4 run to lead 26-14. This was primarily due to Rose penetration and assisting his team for easy shots. What also really contributed to the run was the obsene amount of offensive rebounds that the Bulls grabbed during the time coupled with untimely turnovers and our reliance to shoot the jump shot.

The second quarter started with more of the same for our Raps. We were taking and missing many long range jump shots and the Bulls raced to 34-21 lead. During this time, Bosh was sitting on the bench due to two early fouls and was quickly brought back in. He was very active with the ball running through him, getting a lay up, getting to the foul line twice and making a jumper. The lead fluctuated between 8-12 points for the Bulls until Bargnani entered the game. Due to our increased effort on defense, we started forcing some turnovers and this allowed us to get on the fast break. We got fouled and started making our foul shots and the lead was cut to 3. One play which I want to point out which showed our increased desire on defense was Bargnani's on Deng with about two minutes left in the half. Deng caught the ball at the top of the key and started to drive against Bargs. Bargs cut off the interior so Deng decided to head back and go right, around Bargs, but Il Mago kept moving his feet and forced the turnover on Deng when he threw it away. This increased defensive awareness has complemented his increased productivity as he had a career night scoring 31 points and grabbing 10 boards. Check the 2:12 mark, this was not the play described above, but it was another excellent defensive possession for bargnani. The Raps ended the quarter up a point thanks to Bosh and Bargnani's contributions.

The third quarter was a scrappy affair where both team traded blows and Bosh and Bargnani were crucial for our success in the quarter. We won the quarter +2 and lead 71-68 entering the final quarter.

The Bulls started the final quarter on a 9-0 run, thanks to a balanced contribution of Derrick Rose, Sefolosha and Nocioni. Rose, in particular, started to heat up scoring 5 points during the run. Rose was penetrating with ease and this helped open the shooters for the Bulls for easy scores. The space created from the drives coupled with the collapse of help defenders freeing Chicago's shooters was too much for the Raptors to handle, as Chicago pulled to a 5 point lead with around 7 minutes remaining. Bargnani scored four straight points and it resulted to 96-94 lead for Chicago, which set up an interesting final two minutes. Derrick rose scored 4 straight points for the bulls through two dribble penetrations and this was countered by a Bosh score. Anthony Parker scored a driving layup with 29 second remaining which set up a bizarre finish. The Raptors had a foul to give and decided not use it a first; with the 5 second game/shot clock differential. Then, inexplicitily, Solomon fouls Rose 24 feet out with 14 seconds remaining, which reseted the shot clock at 14. This meant that if Chicago inbounded the ball and made their free throw they would win the game, but Hinirich on the inbound threw it straight at Bosh. The Raptors got a gift from god and had 12 seconds to score down two. Jay drew up a play where Bosh was isolated against Noah on the left block. Bosh went baseline, got sealed picked up his dribbed and shot a fadeaway with 5 seconds left, and got blocked. I am not sure why he decided to pick up his dribble and also why he didnt look for Bargnani, who was having a career night. It was a disappointing way to end the game, but the Raptors are good at that.

The Bulls went ahead by double digit leads, the opposition came back to make it a close game by half-time, the teams went toe-to-toe in the third, the bull surged ahead in the fourth but the raptors came back and the bulls squeaked out the win. This sequence the bulls had has been the recipe for almost every toronto win this season.

I was quite impressed with Bargnani's performance. I think he has really turned the corner, producing in nine straight games while contributing to rebounding and defensive. With respect to rebounding, he is going for the ball and is starting to get the tough ones. His offensive does not look forced and is trying to get what the defense is giving him, a sign of offensive maturity.

Joey Graham and Jason Kapono were not productive today, with Joey only contributing two reboundings and missing the only shot he took. Kapono scored 7 points in 22 minutes but the duo were -11 and -10 respectively. Joey seems to be losing his place in the rotation and he really seems like a player who needs consistent burn to remain productive and Jason Kapono is really killing the team in terms of defensive liability. His offensive will never outweigh the negatives that we lose on defense as he is usually the link which make the oppenent's offense easier and therefore more efficient. He does not have the positional awareness and is just not physically capable of staying with the quick guards.

We're at Indiana on friday and hopefully we can end this three game losing streak. Jermaine might be back, but he may start of the bench due to Bargnani's recent performances.

What's the Upcoming Plans?

This post is going to give a taste of what to expect from the blog the upcoming week in additional to Toronto Raptors and Arsenal pre and post game posts.

Arsenal
1. What should Arsene Wenger's targets be this transfer window and at what price?
2. What system is best to maximize Arsenal's player, now and with an injury-free squad
3. How has Arsene Wenger's philosophy affected Arsenal, the Premier League and football in general?
4. A look back at some player Arsenal has let go over the years
5. Arsenal's future kids, a dawn brighter than now?

Raptors
1. The state of the Raptors: what can be done now, and what must be done to start and ensure continual success
2. The optons for the Raptors during the trade deadline
3. The rationale on why Kapono could not fit with the Raptors
4. An in-depth look at the system Jay Triano is implementing and how different is it from Sam Mitchell's

These are all topics which are of great interest to me and hopefully they will be for you. Keep checking this blog as I will try to post a new article a day and answer some of the topics I just rainsed. If you have any suggestions on any topics I should write; post it in the comment section.

Game Day Preview: Raptors against the Bulls

I decided to change the heading for raptor game day preview from 'fast break' to 'raptors game day preview' because I realized paul jones uses the same thing, which I wasn't aware of.

Raptors entertain the Bulls tonight. Chicago is 16-22, a half game above the raptors. They have lost their two last game; same as our dinos. They have a squad not unlike our raptors; they are neither rebuilding, on the cusp or contending. They were lucky to get Rose at the first pick last year, as the rest of their roster looks very weak.

The Toronto Star reports the both Jermaine O'Neal and Jose Calderon will miss tonight's game due to injuries. This is Jermaine's tenth straight game he has missed due to the bruising of the knee.

Jay Triano comments on O'Neal saying:

"You don't want to throw a guy out there who hasn't had a chance to practice.
He's going to have to get a couple of good practices in, or at least one, and
see how his knee reacts to that. Then we'll find out whether he can go or not."

Triano plans on using the same line-up which has brought much success over the last few game; a strech when the Raptors have gone 3-2. Both of the losses have come against the Celtics; one in overtime. Here are some things the Raptors must do to win this game.

1. Contain Derrick Rose

Dribble penetration is one of the Raptor's major weaknesses this year and they play much better defense when they prevent the opposition's point guard getting into the paint. If solomon and ukic can contain the pg, then we will be in a good position to win the game

2. Out-rebound the other team

We cannot give up second chance point due to our lack of rebounding. We must make sure that we boss the glass and win the rebounding battle. Bargnani has been getting strong rebounding numbers of late and hopefully he can continue this trend against the bulls.

3. Be the bigger team

Nobody on the bulls can contain Bosh and Bargnani. Il mago should continue to shoot the ball well against this team and Bosh could get 30+ points tonight. We should win the PIMP battle and hopefully we can carry a comfortable lead the entire game.

I think we have a strong chance of winning this game. We need to play inside-out early and establish Bosh and Bargnani. When they start to double the two men, we can start to pass out to the open shooters. I'm predicing a comfortable win in the high nineties.

Raptors 98 - 90 Chicago

General Catchup and Raptors show some heart

Sorry for the super-long delay, I had to catch up with some university work. I have been around the net recently and found a few great sites. They are:

Raptors / NBA

Raptor Republic: http://raptorsrepublic.com/blog/
NBA roundtable: http://nbaroundtable.wordpress.com/

Arsenal

The Arsenal Column: http://arsenalcolumn.wordpress.com/
7 A.M. Kickoff: http://7amkickoff.wordpress.com/

These are all quality blogs and will be added to my blogroll for future reference.

Raptors came off an emotional and hard-fought battle against the celtics yesterday. The Raptors were up most of the game by around 10 points, but the Celtics made their huge run and led by three with 14 seconds left. Jay called a timeout and ran a weak play where Parker ran off a soft screen and throw an off-balance three. It obviously missed (its parker and late game) but Bosh showed some heart by outjumping Garnett for the rebounding and tipping to an area close to parker, who threw it to Kapono. Kaps saw Bargnani beside him and the italian sensation nailed it with 1 second left on the clock. In overtime we quickly fell behind to a six point lead and could never recover.

Rather than give an intensive play-by-play update, I am going to provide some general observations I made and couple that in with some thoughts from across the web.

• Bargnani is really starting to find his role on this team. He has displayed great confidence and is playing with a consistency he has not experienced in his career. He has averaged 21.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.8 steals over the past 8 games. He rebounding numbers have increased to 8,9,8 over the last three. These are quality stats for Il mago and he has complemented bosh very well. Both players have a perimeter game which allows the other to have space in the paint for their post move.
  
• Graham is really starting to get it in the league. He realizes that he should play tough defense, and always drive to the whole. This new-found aggression is much-needed for the raptors and really helps space out the floor and create favourable match-ups for the rest of the team.
  
• Bosh still needs to show me he can go to work on the elite defenders. He made a nice move when Baby tried to play him too close, but his offense was almost non-existent against KG. He has to get into the post and develop a few post moves, at the very least this will put pressure on KG and he may foul more.
  
• I did not like the fact that Rondo set up Powe for an alley-oop 'and1' style with the game out of hand and with one second left. It was completely unprofessional and only increases my hatred for the Celtics even more
  
• Dave Feschuk's article about the game yesterday provided some insight from the players. Jay Triano replied to the team commitment by saying,

"I liked our fight,"

I appreciate the fact that Jay is trying to implement a new system and we are playing with more competitiveness than last year. This is not his fault but we need some additional depth at the wing positions to make any system work. I will be addressing this in my next raptors post.

Chris Bosh said that the team "shot itself in the foot" last night by over providing on help defense and leaving players open for easy shot opportunities.

• In Doug Smith's blog, he mentions that no one should expect Bosh to do well against Garnett, to be happy with the fight and that Roko should be the primary backup to Calderon. Okay points, but he sounds way too content to be in mediocrity.

Overall, I thought it was a good effort, but I think the Raptors should be able to pull the game out. They were ahead by 10 the majority of the game but they do not have a player who they can throw it to and have them create. This is the crucial player the Raptors need to become an elite team in the Eastern Conference and to finally challenge Boston toe-to-toe. Hopefully we can wipe that ugly smirk of KG's bony face the next time we face him, he deserves it.