Game Day Preview: Raptors against Detroit

Raptors roll into the Auburn Hills to face the Deeeeeeeeeetroit Pistons. The Pistons are having some issues of their own, especially since acquiring Iverson, and are at 23-17. They are well off the pace of 55 wins and have solved the 3 guard problem by placing Rip Hamilton on the bench.

The Raptors have traditionally never matched up well against the Pistons and today is no different. If Bosh is KG's bitch, then Rasheed is Bosh's creepy uncle teddy, he'll just have his way with Bosh. Stuckey should abuse Parker/Solomon/Ukic both with his size and his athleticism. Prince is just an extremely rich man's version of moon, so we are at a disadvantage there and Graham can only dream of keeping up with Iverson.

I don't think we have a chance tonight, but I have been enjoying watching Bargnani play recently and I can see the starting of a system, so maybe just maybe, no ... we're not going to win.

Raptors Republic have a good preview of today's game, and includes cheerleaders, which is always good.

NBA roundtable has an analysis of Rip as the man of the bench. I still can't believe they chose Iverson over Hamilton as Iverson would destroy bench players and Rip is used to playing with this group. Rip has my favourite routine for making free throws, I use it in pickup hoops and it works for me.

The globe and mail has an interesting article about Prince comparing the Pistons and the Raptors, saying both teams have had some difficulty adjusting to a 'big time' new player. He also mentions that he can't believe Smitch was fired and that he was a good coach (which I find funny, seeing how he has played under Carslie, Brown and Saunders).

Obama as a Basketball Player

With Obama's inaugaration into the White House today, I thought it might be a bit interesting to compare his personality and leadership style to current players in the NBA and see if any are similar. I want to also compare the role of the player's team.

Obama recently sat down with SI's Alexander Wolff to discuss the role of basketball in his life . Obama credits basketball as a way he:

"won a reputation as a consensus builder while playing recreational in college and law school. A pickup game with Robinson did nothing less than confirm Obama as a worthy suitor to his wife-to-be. In Chicago, basketball helped him connect with the South Siders he worked with as a community organizer and with the circle of professionals who would help launch his political career."

But basketball was so much deeper for him. Mr. Obama learned much about himself on the basketball court. He discovered the attitude the game carried; you can talk trash, but you better back it up. The president also lived out a 'black man's adolescence' through the game, as it was difficult for him to understand his place as a half black half white male. Basketball was an outlet for him, and he grew an undying passion for the game.

There were some comparison's made in the article of which players Barack Obama could be, such as:

"Kenny Anderson, Dick Barnett, Manu Ginóbili, Lionel Hollins and Delonte West (sans neck tattoos)."

but I think there is a player which match him better; both as the player's personality and with the team's expectation. The first player who I think he would represent is...

Brandon Roy

Brandon Roy has been the main instigator of change in the mindset from the old "Jail Blazers" team. In the article, Wolff mentions "He was a passer despite the fact he could score," and this is a characteristic that Roy embodies, he just makes his teammates better. Roy, like Obama, liked to take over at the end of games, but was humble on the court. Roy is the shining face of the new NBA, a player who stays calm at adversery, but gets pumped at the end of games and stays clutch. The Blazers are a team challenging the NBA's comfortable elite and are planning on staying there.

Coming out of college, people were questioning Roy. Was he strong enough? Is he athletic enough? Will he stay injury free? He overcame those who opposed him and rose to the occasion, and is now widely considered the best player out of the 2006 draft. He was the ROY, and has already played at the all-star weekend in the rookie/sophomore game.

People also questioned if Barack was capable of being president. They asked: does he have enough experience? How will he manage to beat Clinton and the Republican candidate? People were undoubtedly also implicitly thinking, how can this guy think he would be president. He's African American. But Barack stepped over the challenges. He proved that America is a place of equal opportunity and anybody could strive to be whatever they want. He proved that people can believe in government again. He became the face of change in the country through the mantra of 'yes we can'.

Barack backed it up, he's allowed to talk. Besides, in a game of pickup hoops, how could not not choose him first?

Critical Mistakes in Crunch Time

Raptors 84 - 87 Hawks

Bargnani is just bringing it

This game was really lost by the Raptors' habit of making bad basketball decisions late in the game. There has been much debate on who was responsible for this loss, but it really comes down to team personality and attitude. This is not the first time we have lost in the last minutes, and I believe the ability to make crucial decisions at this time is what seperates great teams from mediocre ones.

The Raptors outcomes from their possessions in the last two minutes of the game:

1:46: Roko turnover
1:15: Joey missing 9 foot jumper
0:50: Bosh turnover (bouncing ball off foot)
0:35: Jamario Moon missed three (18 seconds left on clock)
0:02: Kapono missed three (after almost losing ball)

Even with players who are not gifted at creating their own shot, it is still possible to manufacture solid shot opportunities through dribble penetration, swinging the ball, correct spacing and most critically, allowing your best 'under-pressure' shooter taking the shot. The Raptors, in my opinion, should have designed plays for Bargnani to take the shots in the final two minutes. I would have had Bosh in the post (fighting for position to make the entry pass easy), with Bargnani the closest player. This type of two man interaction would have caused some defensive concern for the Hawks as Bargnani is capable of shooting, driving and now able to make a pullup j.

On the other side, Joe Johnson took over for the Hawks in the final two minutes. Driving at will and finishing while drawing contract and making ridiculous shots, he is a very dependable player in crunchtime. The Raptors need a player with his personality to truly take the next step as a team.

The Raptors started the game off well, as usual, by playing inside out, and making their jumpshots. The game was close through the first quarter, with Joey Graham and Andrea Bargnani being very aggressive. We managed to get some easy fast break opporutnies with Joey Graham the outlet from a defensive rebound and making a strong jam. Joey Graham looks very comfortable in the open court and this is when he is able to take advantage of his athletic ability. The Raptors entered the second quarter nursing an one point lead 24-23

The beginning of the second quarter was similar to the first quarter, as both teams were going toe-to-toe and keeping the score close. Roko Ukic was playing well, using his smarts and athleticism to drive past the defenders to make easy scores. This type of dribble penetration has not been visible under Calderon this year and help create easier shot opportunities for the other players. Unfortunately, Roko started making some rookie mistakes throughout the game by overdribbling and giving up crucial turnovers. The Raptors turn up the heat late in the second quarter going on a 10-2 run to end the quarter. This was made by playing great defense and forcing turnovers which lead to easy opportunities in the paint.

The Raptors were ahead 52-43 at the break, with good control of the game and were playing well. However, in this quarter the Raptors defense really let them down. They were giving up dribble penetration far too easily, which gave the Hawks open looks at three, a shot they can make. Josh Smith was driving at Bosh, Joe Johnson was driving by our perimeter players too easily and Bibby was camped out at the three point line, making three after three. It would have been worse if their role player Flip Murray could convert on the shot opportunites he was given. The Raptors held though and carried a two point lead into the fourth quarter.

The Hawks started building on their lead through the good habits they had established in the third quarter. Josh Smith continued to exploit the inside, Joe Johnson could get whatever shot he wanted and made it and Bibby exposed us at the perimeter. We just didn't have the athletes to keep up with this youthful Hawks team. The Hawks pulled into a six point lead before the Raptors pulled it back, but as explained above, we made mistakes down the stretch that gave the game to Atlanta. It was a game we really should have won having lead most of the game, but the Raptors managed to give it up.

Andrea Bargnani has really impressed me during 2009. His three point shot was not falling today, but still managed to be productive by hitting pull up jumpers and abusing their undersized bigs in the post. He is really developing quite nicely and complements Bosh very well. I disagree with those we argue we should trade Bosh and put Bargs at the 4, Bargnani has a much better speed advantage against 5 and can guard the 5 very well. This tandem works well, we just need a sg/sf who we can rely to make the neccessary shots and this team will be well constructed.

Anthony Parker continued at the pg poistion and played very well. Credit to Khandor for calling that, and he right in theory and in actuality he matches very well against the less quick point guards. He had a line of 12 points, 9 assists and 9 rebounds and this should boost his trade value. He would be a quality guard coming off the bench for a contending team.

The short-term future is not looking good for the team, with this season basically lost but there are positive signs for the long-term with Bargnani's improvement, Bosh's work ethic and the development of Ukic and Graham. Take heart in the fact that we have some of the pieces needed to be a contending team, the hard part is trying to get the rest of them without giving up what you already have.

A potentially great weekend turns into an indifferent one

Arsenal 3 - Hull 1

Nasri scoring a well taken goal in the 82'

Scoring Tally
Arsenal
Adebayor 30'
Nasri 82'
Bendtner 86'
Hull
Cousin 65'

Arsenal Starting Lineup
-------------------Almunia-------------
Clichy------Djourou---Toure-----Sagna
Nasri------Denilson---Diaby-----Eboue
--------Van Persie--------Adebayor----

I was pretty excited at halftime of the Chelsea / Stoke game I was watching. The scores of the four games I was keeping tabs besides Arsenal/Hull were:

Halftime
Man U 0 - 0 Bolton
Sunderland 1 - 0 Aston Villa
Chelsea 0 - 0 Stoke

If the games were to end at these scores, it would have been a perfect weekend for Arsenal. All of the gunner's major rivals except Liverpool (who play tomorrow) would have dropped points. Unfortunately Man United, Aston Villa and Chelsea all won which made it mandatory that Arsenal win to keep pace.

Hull started off very brightly, creating some pressure through crosses and corners. Mendy was causing some problems for Clichy and Geovanni had a few long range drives on Almunia's net. Arsenal started to get a foot on the game by playing neat passes and keeping possession well.

In the 27' minute Van Persie whipped a free kick which came inches from scoring. Myhill made a fantastic save fingertip save to keep the shot off.

3 minutes later, Adebayor proved to us all of the time practise jumping was worth it as he jumped higher than the Hull defenders to head a looper to the far corner. Quality goal from the Togo hitman and helped settle some nerves. The rest of the half went without incident and Arsenal took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

In the 53' minute Manucho replaced Halmosi as Hull employed a two-striker system to take the game to Arsenal. Manucho, a Man U player on loan, was very involved in the action and had a legitimate penalty appeal shot down when Djourou missed the ball and headed him. He came off with a swollen eye but kept playing, fair play to the lad. Daniel Cousin worked very hard throughout the game and was rewarded in the 65th as Mendy swings a deflected corner in and Cousin powered it past Almunia. Clichy played too far off Mendy due to his pace and the partial deflection took the ball over Toure and Cousin had a free header.

Diaby and Eboue were having their usual game, not really contributing and I do not know what Wenger sees in these two. Maybe because of the lack of options due to injury or because he has a fetish for Africans, Wenger stubbornly keeps on choosing those two to play. Eboue was replaced by Bendtner and the Dane instantly brought attacking options. Wenger decided to employ a three striker system and the pressue was turning in Arsenal's favour.

Nasri scored a fine goal in the 82' minute from some nice work from Bendtner and Van Persie. Van Persie recieved the ball just outside the 18 yard box and drew three Hull defenders towards him. He slid it on the ground towards Nasri on the left and the Frenchmen cooly slotted the finish to the far corner.

Just 4 minutes later Bendtner sealed the game with some nice inter-play between himself and Van Persie. Persie was marginally offside when he recieved the pass but the flag was not raised and he played a square ball to Bendtner, who finished it strong. Bendtner has fully grasped the role of super-sub for the team which we need now considering the lack of craft we are playing with. Song came on, but frankly I dont care about him at all.

The last few minutes were very nervy as Hull tried to score and looked close to doing so. Arsenal held firm and escaped with a 3-1 victory. Arsenal had 62% of possession throughout the game which lead to 14 goal attempts; 7 on target. Hull had 7 attempts on goal and 2 hit the target.

The Gunners had a very tough time recently grinding out results and some reinforcements are needed to be purchased in this transfer window if we want a chance of competiting for the FA cup and securing a champions league spot.

You can catch all of the goals at Arsenalist's, thanks mate!

Pathetic, Gutless Display by the Raptors

This accurately sums up last night's game

First, I would like to say that I am more of the more optimistic Raptors fans, you can attest it to my sometimes ridiculous trade rumors, hopeful performances and general support for the team when it is far more logical not to. Last night, Friday January 16, turned me off of the team. For the first three quarters we played as lethargic as I have ever seen the team play.

The first quarter was fought tooth-and-nail. We quickly went down 4-0, not making a shot for the first three minutes. We fought back to a 10-5 lead through excellent spacing, and finding the open jumper. Indiana came back and it was a 20 -20 tie at the end of the first.

The second quarter killed the team as the Raptors were outscored 36 -22. Indiana went a 13-5 run to start the quarter and the raptors didn't challenge the open shooters, kept giving up easy layups on screen and rolls and too many uncontested layups. It was disgusting to watch and it looked like the Raptors didn't care. Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy absolutely killed us in this frame scoring inside, outside by the three pointer.

The third quarter was more of the same. The Pacers really blew the game open, even TJ Ford and fricken Stephen Graham were scoring at ease against us. The majority of the shots taken by the Raptors were of the jump shot variety and they were usually missing. We entered the fourth down 24.

The Raptors surprised everybody and started it with a 11-0 run. Indiana didn't score in the first four minutes which greatly aided the raps run. I am not going to give Raptors credit for the huge run; cutting the lead to 1 because it was Indiana taking the foot off the pedal. The Raptors have given up multiple double digit leads and I do not credit the opposition for playing, I am critical that the Raptors do not have the mental strength to stay up. I offer the same criticism for the Pacers. It was false hope and I knew that this year's Raptors would not have pulled it off. We committed far too many silly turnovers (travelling), and if we were to win it would have been tainted victory.

Danny Granger did not impress me at all. He went 8 -24 in the game for 23 points. He is an extremely high volume shooter and his basketball personality would not have fit with this team. I think he is already overrated and should not be getting all the praise he seems to get. Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy had great games, knowing when to shoot and drive and keeping hte Raptors defense unbalanced.

Bargnani played well for my money, scoring 20 points and grabbing 5 boards. His shot wasn't falling as easily yesterday but he still managed to get points in other productive ways. He has started to show some offensive post presence and that really impressed me.

O'Neal came back today and was extremely unproductive. He has disappointed me recently with his long injury delay and lack of offensive contribution.

This game left a bad taste in my mouth and hopefully Jay can regroup the troops for the game against Phoneix.