Linkage - Feb 3
After watching the Los Angeles Lakers turn themselves into a championship contender with the addition of Pau Gasol, a question about the Raptors begins to form.
What would move the Raptors into that upper echelon in the Eastern Conference, a group that contains Boston and Detroit with Orlando on the periphery?
The answer might be Andrea Bargnani.
Hot on the heels of the “Send Chris Bosh to New Orleans” video campaign, the Raptors franchise player takes to the net once again, this time with something called “Who is Blane Harrington?”
Not to ruin the surprise, but we believe Bosh has been exposed to a little too much BBC television up here north of the border. And we can honestly say that’s about as good of an English accent as you’re going to find from a Texan.
Juan Dixon’s point guard comfort level continues to grow. The natural shooting guard had a season and team-high six assists in Friday’s loss to the Lakers. He has 15 assists in his past three games and looked particularly good on Friday feeding Jason Kapono in the fourth quarter when the silky smooth shooter hit for eight consecutive Raptors points … One reason the Raps didn’t pull off a fourth-quarter comeback was the Lakers’ shooting over the final 12 minutes. L.A. was 16-for-22 from the field in the fourth for an incredible .727 shooting percentage.
It’s not as if Bargnani has suddenly turned into a complete player, since there is much more work to be done before he can be called such a thing.
His defence, while better, is not as good as it has to be, and he’s still finding it difficult to direct the defence from his position under the basket guarding centres. But that’s a learned trait that takes communications skills and quick thinking, both of which Bargnani has to improve upon.
But he did have some defensive moments against the Lakers – getting out to guard his man aggressively along the baseline – that were solid.
“Obviously, he has to continue to improve on his rebounding, he has to continue to improve his defence, but he is getting better,” said Raptors coach Sam Mitchell.
Earlier this week, Mitchell was lauding Bargnani for his work ethic and his willingness to ask for help. When reporters were allowed into practice on Thursday, Bargnani was at the far end of the court working on his low post game, making moves while being battered by something akin to a tackling dummy, wielded by assistant coach Jay Triano.
“Andrea’s coming to the coaches now and saying, `Let’s get some work in,’” Mitchell said. “We used to have to go to him. I’m not worried about Andrea, he’s working and he’s getting better.”
Someone asked Mitchell how he thought the Wolves should acknowledge the return of their former franchise player.
“I’m not going to answer that,” Mitchell said. “I have no idea. They should give him the same thing they gave me when I left and came back: ‘How ya doing?’ I wouldn’t expect anything for myself, but somebody who has done what he has done? It’d be nice if they do something to show that for 12 years they appreciate it.
“That would be nice. Do I think Kevin is expecting anything? No. Would he be disappointed if they don’t do anything? Probably not.”
It’s no real problem compared to what could have been an actual crisis, but T.J. Ford might make it back to the Raptors only to find he won’t get the job back as starting point guard. Backup José Calderón went from being the replacement to being a near Eastern Conference All-Star who is fifth in the league in assists entering Friday. Ford, sidelined since a hard fall Dec. 11 that resulted in being taken off the floor immobilized on a stretcher, is expected to begin practices soon, though no timetable has been made public for a return to game action.
Yes, it’s the Eastern Conference, but entering this weekend, only three teams from the conference had more victories than the Toronto Raptors.
And even though their electric point guard, T.J. Ford, is recovering from injury, their offense has been fluid in the sturdy hands of a lesser-known guard. Calderon averages 8.8 assists per game, fifth-most in the league. And his name pops up all over the league-leader lists. For instance, Calderon is third with a 91.6 free-throw percentage. And he is ninth in 3-point percentage (44.8). He has cracked double-digit assists in six of the last seven games, including a dazzling performance in a “we-belong” victory against the Celtics. That night, the Spaniard scored 24 points on 8-for-10 shooting, and added 13 assists.
Now in his third season in the league, the Raptors guard has increased his scoring each season, 5.5 to 8.7 to 12.3 this year.
His role in the lineup has proven paramount. In victories, Calderon averages 9.5 assists. In losses — 7.9. And in the last five games entering the weekend, Calderon’s assist average was a jaw-dropping 12.0.
Gasol’s Spanish buddies in Toronto, Jorge Garbajosa and Jose Calderon, were thrilled for their countryman.
“For sure he’s going to enjoy Los Angeles, it’s a great city and he’s a great player,” Garbajosa said. “And in the past in Memphis, sometimes he didn’t agree with the team. It was not a winning team.”
Added Calderon, “It’s an unbelievable trade for him. Right now, I think they can win the championship. Or contend.”
Other possibilities in the East for D-League teams include Harlem, Youngstown (Ohio), Trenton, and possibly a site outside Toronto for the Raptors.
You were an excellent positional defender in the low post. You helped the Nets win a lot of games by slowing down the opponents’ big man. You were key in last season’s First Round win over the Raptors with the way you pushed Chris Bosh around in the paint. To quote an NBA scout…
Collins is an underrated defender. He defended Bosh by himself in that series against Toronto and when you don’t have to double the other team’s best player, you’re doing something well.
No one has had a more impressive first month of the season than Calderon, who is playing a starring role for the Raptors because of an injury to T.J. Ford. While Calderon is playing with much better talent than he’s routinely credited for, he has taken control of things for Sam Mitchell’s squad in ways few observers thought he would be able to with the Raptors’ season on the line.
- Atlanta Journal Constitution
You rarely hear a sound like the one that kept coming out at the ACC last night. It’s a hybrid between a painful “moan-ugh” and an admiring “woah”.
That’s the sound the ACC made over and over last night as Kobe dismantled us with dunks, crazy fadeaways and moves so smooth they make silk seem like sandpaper.
Unlike the ‘ugh-moan-sigh-boo’ combo you’ll hear against San Antonio, when you get dismantled with such style, there is a certain amount of props that must be given up. A certain amount of awe for what you are witnessing. Raptors fans passion for winning colliding with the amazement that somebody is that good.
So despite 25 cm of snow yesterday 18,500 packed the ACC and the cheapest scalped tickets still sold for $100. As Kobe said “I only get here once a year, so i like to put on a good show”.
(Game note: last night we looked like the wimpiest team in the league. After 9 Kobe dunks you’d think somebody would foul him hard…but nope. Not a one. Where was Humphries when we need him?).
Since 2003 the Raptors Traditionally would have a early afternoon tip off at the ACC. The start time would usually be noon or 12:30. Usually against a Western Conference team from a different time zone giving the Raptors a nice advantage. But not this year the Raptors will be watching the Super Bowl in South Florida after Practice. It is to bad for Raptor fans. It is hard to avoid the Super hype which leads up to the game. A two and a half hour B-Ball Break was a welcomed thing in my household.
So speaking really conservatively, in the worst case we’ll go 7-5 this month which would put us at 7 games over .500 at 32-25 and possibly on our way of repeating last year’s win total. However, if we manage to sweep Indiana and New York, we’ll be at 34-23 needing to go 14-11 from there on out to eclipse last year’s win total. What I’m trying to hammer home is that barring further injury and steady improvement we’re going to have a pretty good regular season when it’s all said and done. So despite consistently losing to the better teams in the league, at the end of the regular season we’ll be considered one of the better teams in the league. Ironic, eh?
They are the Toronto native native in a faded ‘O’Neal’ jersey jumping up and down as Kobe Bryant drops 81 points on The Raptors. Your next door neighbour from Seattle who has been a “lifelong Celtics fan” since July 2007.
I hate it when I ask people wandering around my school wearing a Derek Jeter t-shirt who there favorite athletes are and they respond with a combination of: ‘Sydney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Alex Rodriguez, Tom Brady, David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Lebron James or Manny Ramirez.’ Do you people not know what you are doing in supporting these teams or these players when you have a team of your own to cheer from at home? I suppose these supossed ‘fans’ have just become lazy. It the easiest thing on the planet to root for the favourite, or the guy that everyone knows is great. But don’t expect me to give you any respect.
Here’s the frustrating part about Kobe’s performance: Toronto’s shitty defence. The Raptors had no specific plan for defending him. Whereas the Lakers had a particular way they wanted to defend the Raptors (aggressive hedge on the pick & roll, double Bosh in the low block, let him go one-on-one when he’s facing the basket), the Raptors couldn’t decide what they wanted to do against Kobe.
AP and Carlos Delfino didn’t have the footspeed or the length to stay in front of Bryant, which led to countless open lanes to the bucket. “The fact that they were honoring our shooters made it easy for me to get to the basket,” Kobe said, then adding, “I know for a fact it was really pissing Chris Black off.”
Since Jose Calderon is a Toronto Raptor, I’ll support him till death. However, I am not appallingly devastated that he didn’t qualify for the 2008 All-star weekend. I tend to think a few steps ahead of the blinded. Just try and consider the following. By the end of this season, Jose will be an unrestricted-free agent. Meaning the Raptors association must either sign the 26-year old veteran or let some other general manager rack him up. The whole world now knows his capabilities and value to the raptors…so in all likelihood, Toronto will grant Calderon a wealthy contract in order to keep him here in Toronto for many years to come. Now, the exact dollar figures and timing is up in there air, but I will speculate that Brian will luck him up for 4-5years, earning Jose between 10 to 15 mill per year. So, even though he absolutely desires his first all-star birth, and that he’s indisputably worthy of the acknowledgment, it still doesn’t bother me if he sits home, cuddling with his sexy senorita, watching the game on his larger then life big screen TV, because in due course, if he isn’t chosen, the coaches will be doing Toronto an unforeseen favor. Allow me to explain the complications… For example, if Calderon is chosen to represent the East as a reserve, then this summer, his agent would play that card to obtain a wealthier pay day for Jose. So, if he isn’t chosen, that sole decision, by the coaches of course, will provide, more or less, a few million in cap space for Brian Colangelo to play with this summer. Now think about it, what’s more important, the raps’ future, or Jose Calderon’s individual goals. I know the Calderon devotees will feel some resentment towards that statement. But it’s the real. Another thing, when he says to reporters that he doesn’t think about it, that’s complete bull, every athlete dreams for individual accolades. I know I certainly would. In addition to it all, lately he has been consuming overwhelming minutes averaging roughly 40 for every game, and I can see it’s taking its tole. A few more turnovers here and there, nothing ruinous. Anyways.. I’m sure when All-star Weekend arrives, Jose will be sitting home in his lovely wife’s arms, thinking about this summer’s big pay out… So don’t worry, he’s not depressed and on the brink of suicide. All things considered, I’d be happy either way: for the City of Toronto, or for Jose Calderon. Last point: Yet another Toronto Rap will be at All-Star Weekend. I suppose he deserves to be there, if not by sheer talent, then at least to defend his three-point reign of least year…Kapono..I hope he loses..maybe he’ll be stirred to start playing defense.
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