Linkage - Feb 12
If I’m Bryan Colangelo, I am on phone 29 times today seeing if there’s a small forward who can defend out there to be had. I know Ginobili and Kobe are all-stars (well, Ginobili should be) and Maggette’s pretty good but, really, watching them abuse the Raptors with ease in three consecutive home games has to be, um, disconcerting.
And I like Jamario Moon, good kid, heckuva story, fine athlete but maybe it’s time for the experiment to end? We were trying to recall that last time he had what you might call a good game. Heck, they ended up using Jose Calderon to guard Ginobili on a few possessions last night because no one else stood a chance.
Maybe nothing comes of Colangelo’s calls but he’s got to make them, rather than wait and take them.
“They’re a physical team,” said Evans, who was the interim head coach of the Denver Nuggets in 2001-02. “They understand that C.B. is not one of the brawniest guys in the league, so they physically handle him — grabbing, pushing, whatever they have to do.
“That’s a compliment to C.B. Whenever they had the ball, there were two or three guys coming at him trying to get the ball out of his hands.”
For Bosh, the struggles started from the opening tip. The Spurs covered him with Fabricio Oberto, another Argentine national team star, who simply focused on trying to front Bosh and deny entry passes to him.
When the ball did come, the Spurs did, too, with hard, fast double teams. The first one frustrated Bosh to the point where he drew an offensive foul for elbowing.
“They’re the world champs,” Bosh said. “They’re good at some stuff. It was tough enough getting the ball, and then when I got it where I wanted it the double team was coming and I didn’t know where from. It wasn’t the classic double team … but every time I got the ball there were guys coming.”
Mitchell left for Atlanta this morning upon learning of the death of his father-in-law. Raptors assistant coach Mike Evans will assume head coaching duties for tonight’s game, while Jay Triano will have responsibility for the Nets game.
It’s the first game Mitchell has missed in four seasons in Toronto.
On the East side, I don’t know if there were any big snubs. I mean, some people wanted Jose Calderon. Jose Calderon? Who? Come on man, this is All-Star, people. When I’ve seen some of the names that are being thrown around on the ticker as snubs, it’s killing me. I understand Calderon has the best assist-turnover ratio in the league, but you know what’s funny? All back-up point guards have the best assist-turnover ratios. Screw it, Kevin Ollie should be an All-Star then! For like five or six years, Ollie was No. 1 in assist-turnover ratio!
An All-Star is an All-Star! He’s playing at a high level. That means, if you take him off the team, that team should fall down if he’s that one guy. An All-Star means that he is dominating the game of basketball. It’s not even about numbers necessarily, it’s about dominating.
I could probably say that Richard Jefferson got snubbed maybe Josh Smith too. His 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks puts him at No. 14. Richard Jefferson is No. 13. Turkoglu is No. 15. But, El Calderon? Come on.
I’ve been loving the way he’s been playing for the last two years. When he first came into the league he was a little timid and scared to shoot the ball, but he’s taking over that team. But All-Star? He’s about 20 years away from being an All-Star.
This is the difference between Antawn and Caron stepping up with me out and Calderon stepping up with T.J. Ford out: Antawn is second in the league in double-doubles and there’s only five players in the league averaging 20 and 10 – he’s one of them. There’s Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh and Antawn. Four of those five are All-Stars and their teams are winning. Caron is playing at a high level. He’s taking over the game when he’s been playing – All-Star. Calderon is managing a team. If he was up for Rookie All-Star, Sophomore All-Star … BOOM … he’d get in. He might even be MVP! But for the big show? The big game? No.
You know what? I’m sorry people. I think I’m biased because my team was fifth in the Eastern Conference and I was averaging 29, five and five and I got snubbed off the All-Star game. So maybe I’m a little biased. I was in that Larry Brown era, so, my fault. You know what? Calderon might have been an All-Star. I can’t look at my situation and judge everybody else’s situation in the All-Star game. I guess my 29, five and five and being in fifth place wasn’t good enough at the time.
One of the main reasons why the Raptors were able to hang around was the inspired play of Jose Calderon, who poured in a career-high 27 points.
Calderon never puts himself ahead of his teammates, refuses to get caught up in any numbers and certainly was undeterred by comments, in this case words, expressed by Washington Wizards star guard Gilbert Arenas.
Earlier in the day, Arenas wrote on his blog that Calderon did not warrant all-star consideration, an attack the Spanish sensation dismissed.
“I think he’s a great player,” Calderon said. “Everyone has an opinion. You can write what you want. Whatever he says it’s good for him. I have nothing personal.”
The only thing personal for Calderon was the seemingly personal goal he had of finding ways to slow down the Spurs.
“I play for my teammates,” he said. “All I want is for our team to win. Everyday I feel I’m getting better because I’m feeling more comfortable with my teammates.”
Ginobili was a one-man show on Monday night, scoring 34 points, including six three-pointers, as well as grabbing 15 rebounds as the Spurs handed the Raptors a 93-88 loss.
“He’s one of the best international players in the world,” Raptors swingman, and fellow Argentine, Carlos Delfino said.
“He can do everything. He can drive, he can rebound, and he makes passes,” Delfino added. “When you face someone who is making every shot you know if you give him the shot he will make it. If you give him the penetration he makes those shots, too. At that point, it is too hard to control because you don’t know what to give.”
The Raptors never figured it out.
There was also a bit of injury news for the Raptors.
T.J. Ford hurt his right wrist during Sunday’s win in Minnesota. He played in the first half, but sat out the second half.
Bosh also left the game briefly in the first quarter after bumping knees with Jacque Vaughn. He returned before the quarter was out, however.
Damon Stoudamire admits the notion of returning to Toronto crossed his mind when the Memphis Grizzlies bought out the point guard’s contract.
During the Raptors’ early years, Stoudamire was the on-court face of the franchise.
Off the court, Mighty Mouse developed several relationships he maintains to this day.
But the allure of winning a championship was too tempting, hence Stoudamire’s decision to sign with the reigning NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.
“I want to win a ring,” Stoudamire said before last night’s tip. “I enjoyed my time here, but the Spurs give me a chance to win a championship.”
But the age-old Raptor problem – poor rebounding – did them in as Ginobili calmly collected his miss on the game’s biggest possession when Carlos Delfino took off up the court instead of staying with the shooter.
A couple of Raptor fouls later, Michael Finley hit a pair of free throws with 7.3 seconds left to seal it.
“You think about that and he (Delfino) played really good in a lot of areas and that’s just one of those things at the end of the game you want to do-over, get a do-over on,” said Toronto assistant coach Mike Evans, who filled in for head coach Sam Mitchell, who went to Atlanta after the passing of his father-in-law.
“You change that and maybe you come up with that rebound and the game’s different.”
Or, given the way the Spurs played, maybe not.
The sense was that no matter what the Raptors did, the defending NBA champions would have found a way to make one better play at one more significant moment.
Sam Mitchell’s father-in-law passes, an unfortunate set of circumstances that means Mike Evans is the coach of record against the NBA champions. Meanwhile, Jay Triano gets to wear the sharp suit and call the timeouts tomorrow night as coach against the New Jersey Nets, one of the league’s many dysfunctional families.
This is approximately like one guy drawing Tiger Woods in the match-play next week in Tucson and the next guy drawing Carlos Franco.
While there are a handful of oldsters still making significant contributions to good teams – look at Robert Horry and Bruce Bowen for Toronto’s opponent last night, the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs – there are more who are on rosters in case of emergency, ready to fill in for short spurts.
Dikembe Mutombo in Houston has appeared in only 14 games and averages eight minutes a night; Phoenix’s Eric Piatkowski has seen action just 13 times and averages 6.6 minutes per game; Toronto’s Darrick Martin has been in 15 of his team’s first 49 games, for an average of 8.9 minutes; and Lindsey Hunter of Detroit has played in 17 games with an average of 8.3 minutes.
None are considered vital to their team’s success but all have a spot on a roster and most make the minimum salary for a player with more than 10 years experience – about $1.4 million (U.S.).
“I knew Wally (Szczerbiak) was taking my place (in Minnesota),” said Mitchell. “I had two choices. I could be a good teammate and help him out and maybe play another year or two, or I could try to (mess) with him and they’d cut my ass in a minute.”
The perks for sticking around for as long as possible are significant. Aside from the salary, there’s a $104 per diem for road trips, cushy first-class travel and no significant on-court responsibility. Just stay in shape, be ready if called on and don’t be a disruption if you aren’t.
Ran into Matt Bonner in the hall before the game, after he glad-handed about everyone in the joint, and he was a tad frenzied. Seems family in Boston and friends in Toronto on a back-to-back just wore him out.
“(Sunday) I forgot to get my ankles taped I was so busy,” he said. “I’m not forgetting tonight. Now, I came out here to do something, what was it? I don’t remember. This is too much.”
But he did have something to look forward to. Spurs stayed the night after the game and Matt, who throws around nickles like they were manhole covers as they used to say, was off to a downtown eatery because he’d kept a couple of gift certificates he got from the radio dudes.
Great guy, Matt.
And, finally, nothing says St. Patrick’s Day quite like a green Raptor, right? Watch closely March 17 in Salt Lake City because that’s when you’ll see the latest installment of marketing run amok. The Raptors, I’m told, will wear green jerseys in that game and if you’re really got nothing to do with a lot of your money, you can probably buy one soon.
Or you can wait until they come to their senses and do something with a replica Huskies jersey, which makes exponentially more sense than a green uniform.
Much to the disappointment of Bonner fans in attendance, their hero played a total of just 24 seconds in the Spurs’ 93-88 victory.Bonner first entered the game with 8:55 to go in the second quarter. When coach Gregg Popovich pulled him just 13 seconds later, it elicited a light round of boos from the crowd.
Chris Bosh, Toronto’s All-Star forward, struggled offensively, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Bosh entered the game averaging 22.8 and 9.2, but the Spurs’ defense essentially forced him to take midrange shots he couldn’t consistently knock down.
“We always try to take him out of the game,” the Spurs’ Tim Duncan said. “Obviously, he is their best player, and when he gets rolling, it is a tough night for us.”
From his spot on the Toronto bench, Carlos Delfino barely blinked. He thought he knew all of Ginobili’s tricks by now.
“Obviously,” Delfino said later, “I didn’t know everything.”
But Delfino, another Argentine who owns 2004 Olympic gold, does know Ginobili. So, no, nothing else Ginobili accomplished in the Spurs’ 93-88 victory at Air Canada Centre — not the 34 points, nor the career-best 15 rebounds, nor the season-best 13 field goals, nor the team-high six assists — really surprised him.
“It’s not for nothing that Argentina won gold,” Delfino said.
After Monday’s victory, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was succinct in his summary. His opening postgame remarks to the media consisted of just two words:
“Manu Ginobili,” he said.
Starting his seventh consecutive game with Tony Parker injured, Ginobili had 21 points in the first half, helping the Spurs build a lead that twice got as high as 18. By that point, Toronto’s Rasho Nesterovic, a former Spurs center, was having championship flashbacks, too.
“It’s no secret,” Nesterovic said with a shrug. “That’s how he won three rings.”
“When you face someone who is making every shot, you don’t know what to give,” Delfino said. “He is smart when he has those opportunities.”
Delfino knew as much before he walked into the arena Monday night. It just didn’t seem to matter.
“We started pretty bad tonight. We have to play better the whole game, because we can’t be trying to come back for the whole game because of the first quarter,” Calderon said.
“They are a young and very dangerous team,” Ginobili said. “We were not expecting to have an easy game today. We knew that even though we had the lead at halftime, they were going to make a run sooner or later. We just had to be prepared.”
Toronto is 4-14 when trailing at the half
Jamario Moon (Raptors) 3- 1 - Okay so he is my obvious pick but I have reasons to back it up. First the guy can jump out of the gym and has the style and awareness of the big stage. Are you telling me he does not have some Globetrotter tricks up his sleeve? Okay I know, jumping is not what separates him from the others. What Moon has going for him is the mystery factor. The judges and people in the crowd hardly know this guy other than ESPN throw downs. Moon can have the crowd in his palm if he plays it right and I have a feeling he knows this is his coming out party moment.
The Raptors were out-rebounded 46-34 in the game and never led.
The lights, the music. The shine of the floor, the flash of colours, the crowd, the game. Codey Branch would have loved every minute of it. His family knows that.
They would like to think the 17-year-old basketball player was with them, as his parents and brother and sister soaked in the sights and sounds of their first NBA game at the Air Canada Centre last night.
He wasn’t, he can’t be.
The talented 6-foot-6 centre for the Bathurst High School Phantoms never made the trip, his young promise snatched in the early morning darkness just outside his hometown.
Mr. Branch was one of the seven teens from Bathurst, N.B., killed when the van the basketball team was riding in lost control in bad weather on the way home from a road game and slid into an approaching transport truck early on Jan. 12.
Pretend you didn’t watch the game and somebody told you the Raptors lost, what two reasons would you guess for the loss? Think about it, take a few seconds while I type a few ellipses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . if you picked rebounding and perimeter defense you’d be spot on. See, it’s come the point where you don’t even have to watch the game to know why they’ll lose. We got outmanned 46-34 on the glass and got burned by the Spurs’ perimeter ball movement which continuously carved us out with lot of the effects being felt in the paint. You’d figure that we’d defend Manu Ginobili a slightly different way after he’s already dropped 25 but no such luck, and there’s not even Sam to blame. The loss drags our record against the quality teams even further lending a significant hollowness to our overall record which stands at a seemingly constant 4 games over .500. Now when the month began, most of us had already circled this one as a L but to see it happen this way is disheartening. The loss isn’t bugging me as much as the way we lost it.
Manu leaves, Horry enters, Bargnani tries not to suck and dunks it, and makes the +1. Toronto is a deeply talented team and has some great passers, and really, watching them this season has been great. They’re like the Suns, only they don’t whine so much and didn’t trade Marion for a corpse. Hopefully, mocking Shaq won’t come back to bite me in the ass.
I wonder how it feels to have TJ Ford as your backup PG. Don’t get me wrong: I hate TJ. He was way overrated last season, and Calderon has outplayed him in every possible fashion. Still, as a backup PG, he’s a great option. The man just dished out 14 assists the other day! I remember someone saying that Forderon (Calderord?) was an all-time PG for the Raptors, and while that’s an exaggeration, he’s definitely an all-star.
Funnily enough, I’ve heard that Calderon has one of the worst +/- rates in the team. Does that make sense to you?
I wanted to write good things about the Raptors tonight, I really did. I love a lot of their players, and Calderon is simply a future perennial all-star, but the Spurs are stealing their thunder playing stretches of truly great basketball. 2 minutes to go in the second quarter.
I’m convinced that Manu can’t miss a shot. Too bad Rasho is such a stud.
Since I really am a fan of the raptors, I’m going to talk about their players. I think they’re a couple of players away from becoming a title contender.
PLUSES:
Calderon, of whom I’ve already talked. Just a a dream PG, with the Nash mold. Tons of assists and the ability to take over the scoring when his team needs it. That he’s proved to be clutch doesn’t hurt.
Bosh, a borderline dominant player. He has monster games, and then disappears against good teams, and gets schooled by the Duncans and Garnetts of the world. Still, the Raptors wouldn’t be half the team they are without him.
Moon, a fun fun player that isn’t afraid to hustle. We’d love him in SA.
Ford, and I’ve talked about him already. It takes a lot to overlook his major flaws, but I’m willing to for a top-notch backup PG.
Kapono, who has a tendency to show up big when no one expects it of him.
Delfino, and not because he’s Argentine. Hell, he’s the Argentine I like the least, but still, he’s given them a lot when the Raptors didn’t really have him in their calculations early on. In a bench so thin, he’s a definite plus. (Of course, he’s 1-7 tonight.)
MINUSES:
Bargnani, and I really can’t say anything about him that a thousand sports writers haven’t already. He’s poo.
Parker, not quite starter quality for a team that wants to reach farthest than every other.
The rest, since they don’t have a real bench. In short, they suck.
The Raptors shot more jumpers than they usually do. Moon didn’t even dribble the ball in the direction of the basket. I’m sure Smitch will give him an earful when he’s back in action.
Same goes for Bosh. Three times he had either Stoudamire or Vaughn covering him, and he forces a jumper at the top of the key, clanking each one off various parts of the rim. The only attacking forces were Delfino and Calderon. Delfino missed too many shots and jumpers to be effective. Calderon hit too many, if that makes any sense.
On a night where Calderon scored a career high 27, lighting it up from all over the court, the Raptors offense laboured. This had everything to do with the Spurs eliminating passing lanes, and forcing Calderon to score. Worked like a charm. Seriously, what did you expect? A repeat of the first time the Raptors won? Offensively, the Raptors were marginally better this game, mustering 5 more points and shooting a bit better from the field.
The Raptors prepare to enter the All-Star break with three consecutive home losses and face a “who knows how they’ll play” arch-rival in New Jersey.
New Jersey has been one of the most disappointing teams in the league this year, but all the Jason Kidd trade talk and “Vince Carter is done” discussion might have started to stir the embers. The Nets looked nothing like the team that has barely scored 85 points on most nights as they walloped the Mavericks recently. And with the rivalry these two teams have built up recently, I’m not expecting another Toronto rout such as the match two games into the season.
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moon needs to be moved to the bench soon. he’s on everyones radar now, and people know to give him the jumper. he doesn’t have the handles to break defenses down and take it to the rim. he has been put in a really tough situation, but is doing fairly decent in my opinion.
in comparison to other Colangelo mistakes, he is doing FANTASTIC. However, I’m not sure having him as a starter is the best move. He is hardly a defensive stopper, unless the guy he is guarding is 6foot and not athletic. Like, you know, me.