Linkage - Feb 28
Q: I forget which GM it was, but when Sherm Douglas was running the show in Boston, this GM said of the Little General, "He’s just good enough to get you into the playoffs, and just bad enough to get you knocked out." Who are the Sherms of today’s NBA?
– Tim, Asheville, N.C.
SG: Nice question. I’ll give you a starting lineup and a sixth man …
- PG: Jose Calderon
SG: Anthony Parker
SF: Carlos Delfino
PF: Andrea Bargnani
C: Chris Bosh
6th: Jason Kapono
In the 10 previous games entering the night, the Raptors averaged 105.8 points and close to 50% shooting from the field.
"We’re getting healthy now,” Jose Calderon said. "We’re getting contributions from everyone; the starters and the guys who come off the bench."
For the second game in a row, T.J. Ford played like the T.J. Ford of old, sparking Toronto’s bench and making shots by applying a lot of pressure on Minnesota’s defence.
While the debate at the point position is sure to resurface, it would be foolish for the Raptors to supplant Calderon with Ford.
While Calderon runs the offence and protects the basketball, Ford is one of the few Raptors who can actually create his own shot.
His ability in transition to find spot-up shooters is uncanny and it’s hard to see the likes of a Jason Kapono and Carlos Delfino getting so many open looks if Ford wasn’t leading the Raptors’ second unit.
Ford dissected Minnesota’s defence with his penetration and got to the line often, a point of emphasis on a night when the Raptors attempted 28 free throws.
A member of the expansion Raptors and the team’s first captain, Pinckney was holding court as the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves conducted their pre-game routine.
Pinckney joined Minnesota’s coaching staff as an assistant this season after spending the past four years at Villanova, his alma mater, in a similar capacity.
One of the nicest players to ever don a Raptors’ uniform, Pinckney took the first opening tap in club history back in 1995.
Though the years have elapsed, Pinckney fondly recalls the expansion season, the disparate characters he once played with, the growing pains associated with any first-year club and the basketball buzz created in Toronto.
It was Toronto’s fifth win in its last six games, one of the hottest streaks of the year. To suggest things are clicking on all cylinders, however, would be wrong.
"I’m not sure about that, I don’t know if it’s the best basketball (of the season)," said Jose Calderon, who had six points and seven assists while splitting the night’s point guard duties almost exactly down the middle with T.J. Ford. "We are winning games and that’s good, but I think we can play a little bit better. We’re a little struggling some times, we need to clean some plays (and) some other things up, but we win, and that’s the most important thing."
The fact the Raptors missed 15 of 18 three-pointers, the fact they allowed the Wolves to shoot 50 per cent from the field to 49 per cent for Toronto really doesn’t matter. A win is a win is a win and the Raptors now have 32 of them this season, putting them a game ahead of the pace set in last season’s 47-win campaign.
The Timberwolves, who had played at home on Tuesday while the Raptors rested, weren’t nearly quick enough to keep up.
"When you’ve got a tired basketball team, you have to force the issue," said Raptor coach Sam Mitchell. "We did a good job getting to the free throw line 28 times, and we normally make them when we get there."
Toronto also got a good boost from Ford, who scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half on a night that included an 8-for-8 performance at the free throw line.
It continued Ford’s resurgence since returning last weekend from an abdominal muscle strain.
"The games have been such where T.J. has been able to get the minutes he needs. Like we’ve said, we need both those guys," Mitchell said of Ford and Calderon. "Both are good with the basketball, they don’t turn it over and they make us better as a basketball team."
Not sure if this ironic, or funny, or what but Chris Bosh passed Morris Peterson for second on the all-time scoring list in the first quarter last night. And he did it when he made that three-pointer. Bosh now has 6,521 career points. Next up: He Who Shall Not Be Named, V. 2.0, who had 9,420.
A subtle change in strategy by Sam and something he should probably do more often. Bargnani gets two quick fouls – surprise, surprise! – and has a seat on the bench after less than seven minutes and he’d usually be done for the half. Sam rolls the dice, brings the kid back in with about eight minutes to go in the second and he ends up making a couple of baskets, and getting no fouls, in the rest of the quarter.
Since Bargnani hardly ever plays in the fourth quarter, what’s the harm in letting him get second-quarter minutes with two personals?
Seems the Raptors have had a slashing small forward all along. His name’s Jason Kapono.
I know a kabillion of you are ragging on Sam and everybody because Kapono doesn’t shoot three-pointers any more but he had 10 points and three boards without attempting one last night and nine points without trying one on Tuesday in Indy. He keeps doing that and you’re going to forget about filling up my e-mail with “What’s wrong with Jason?” questions.
Oh, and because it was a boring game and we like to make, um, caustic comments to each other, I turned to M. Grange ™ and said, “Kapono spends more time in the paint than Jamario.”
Old Mike says, “So do I.”
We slay each other!
The NBA: Where Sam Happens
In about an eight-minute soliloquy post-shootaround yesterday he got Barry Bonds, the New England Patriots and Andre The Giant into the speech.
The verbatim snippets:
On winning begetting winning:
"The more you win, it becomes, I wouldn’t say a habit …
"I remember Barry Bonds said something. Someone asked him about his work ethic. He said, ‘when I’m on a hot streak, I spend more time in the batting cage, I lift more weights, I run more in the outfield, I’m in here earlier. When I’m going well, I’m really cranking it up because I want to keep it going.’
When you’re winning, that’s what you want to do. ‘Cause that feeling of losing – if you can ever get on a streak where you can win 10, 11, 12 games in a row, man, you don’t want to lose. You don’t want to lose, you don’t want that feeling, that taste in your mouth of losing a basketball game or losing anything you do."
On games you’re “supposed” to win (notice the seamless transition from football to grappling):
"All them people who took the Patriots, that just goes to show you on any given night that the team that executes and plays the hardest and plays the best is going to win. It’s funny, now I look at the highlights and see talk shows and you’ve got people saying, ‘well, the Giants could win.’ Well, you always say they could, to cover your backside.
"If Andre the Giant the wrestler was still alive and we had a wrestling match, yeah, I could beat him. Just to cover the backside. But no one’s going to bet on me winning. People do that just to leave that little crack open but no one really thought they could win that football game. No one.
"Now you look at and see what happens. New England didn’t lose, they got beat. They didn’t give the game away, they got beat.
"You’re never suppose to win.”
Big wins have become somewhat of a habit for the Raptors lately as their past eight wins have been by an average margin of 22.3 points a game.
Those who put a lot of faith in statistical projections weigh margin of victory and point differential as a strong indicators of future performance. In their five previous games, the Raptors’ average point differential was 11.6, third in the NBA behind the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets, who, with winning streaks of nine and 13 games, respectively, before last night, are the hottest teams in the NBA.
Mitchell isn’t one of those who places a lot of weight on such things.
"I don’t even think about that, it’s not that important," he said. "It’s just another game where we played well and we have to continue to do the things we need to do to get better."
At one point in the second quarter T.J. Ford did his thing — he dribbled into the middle of the paint, drawing about three defenders. Then he squeaked out a bounce pass to a wide-open Jason Kapono, who missed an uncontested, in rhythm 18-footer. This is the equivalent of most people suddenly falling down while walking. Ford totally chewed him out for blowing such an easy chance, but not in a mean way, really, just more to remind Kapono that, you know, the only reason he’s in the NBA is because he hits wide-open 18-footers like most people walk. Creating them is the hard part. Anyway, Kapono kind of gave T.J. the ‘my bad’ nod and they slapped hands. It was just kind of funny.
Not as funny as the look on Sam’s face when he got up to call a time-out and Calderon either didn’t hear him or tried to get cute with it and beat Sebastien Telfair while he was napping in anticipation of the time out. Except Telfair wasn’t napping, and when Calderon tried an around-the-back dribble Telfair guessed right and Calderon ran right into him, losing the ball. Minnesota took the ball the other way and scored. The whole time Sam and all the assistants are standing up in anticipation of the timeout that wasn’t. Sam finally got his timout after the basket, and Jose made sure he was the last guy back to the bench.
The Raptors, who are shooting a league-best 42% from beyond the arc this year, hit just three of their 18 three-balls on Wednesday. Thanks to an efficient 24-for-28 performance from the free-throw line - and some help from their lowly opposition - the Raptors coasted to yet another easy victory.
"On nights where we’re making 10 or 12 threes, we’re going to score a lot more points and beat teams even worse," said Chris Bosh, who hit one of those three long-balls. He finished with a game-high 28 points. "But it’s good to know when we’re not shooting the ball well, we can still win in a dominating fashion."
The hope is that the club puts enough wins together that when it goes on a five-game Western road trip starting on March 11 in Los Angeles, winning will have become second nature.
"We play these games with the fact in mind that we do have to go out West," Bosh said. "So we need to build ourselves up right now because we have to be confident going out there because there are a lot of good teams out there."
Vince Carter heads the list of the greatest players in the history of the Toronto Raptors franchise, as voted on by a panel of USA TODAY experts, including editors, reporters, Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay and former NBA head coach Dwane Casey.
Carter, the Raptors all-time leading scorer, averaged 23.4 points a game in seven seasons in Toronto. Nicknamed Air Canada, Carter was a six-time All-Star and the rookie of the year with the Raptors.
"He gave the Raptors an international name when he won the slam dunk contest," said Canadian Leo Rautins, who played for the Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks and has been the Raptors television analyst for 13 seasons.
Wittman was frustrated with the way the Wolves stopped passing the ball in the second quarter after doing such a good job of it in the first. The Wolves tied a team record with 11 turnovers in the second quarter.
"The first quarter we played together and moved the ball really well, and then we stopped doing that," said Randy Foye, who scored 13 of his 18 points in the first period. "That’s when Toronto took advantage. They got some turnovers, some steals, they got out on the break, got the crowd into it, and they took off from there."
The Wolves struggled with turnovers — 20 that led to 30 points for the Raptors — and played especially poorly on defense when the outcome of the game was still in doubt in the third quarter. Toronto shot 15 for 22 from the floor in the third.
As for free agency, the Heat’s options could be limited, especially if Marion does not invoke his opt-out clause and the team remains over the salary cap, limited to a mid-level exception that should fall in the $6 million range.
In that case, the Heat could make an all-or-nothing run at Toronto’s Jose Calderon, with the Raptors expected to match any outside offer for the restricted free agent.
Bosh scored 14 in the third, making seven of eight from the field.
"You’ve got to be on your toes when you go against him," Jefferson said of defending Bosh. "I always take that matchup seriously because if you don’t, he’ll embarrass you."
Minnesota forward Antoine Walker didn’t travel to Toronto because of what Wittman called "a passport problem."
Wednesday, the Wolves limited the league’s most accurate three-point shooting team to a 3-for-18 night beyond the arc, but they had no answer for Bosh, the cornerstone for a Raptors building effort that is several seasons and high lottery picks further along than the Wolves’ new plan.
This game had all the makings of a trap game. As a result of the KG trade, Minnesota has essentially become an afterthought in the league. Although the team has a lot of young players, many with good, if not great, potential, they are currently one of the worst teams in the league with a record of 12-44.
That being said the Wolves have not been that bad as of late. Over the last sixteen games they are 7-9 and they have managed to beat some solid teams including, Utah, Phoenix and Golden State. Early on in the game it started to look like the Raps were not focused but in the end Toronto managed what on paper looked like a strong victory (107-85). This victory however, cannot be chalked up to the Raps simply outplaying the T-Wolves. Much of this victory was a result of the Wolves inexperience.
So, a well rested Raptors squad managed to show us some wrinkles. Andrea Bargnani was pretty ugly from beyond the three point arc, and his help defense was a little suspect as he doubled down on Jefferson without sealing him. However, he managed to get rebounds in traffic, as well as go perfect from inside the arc.
Jamario Moon found a new way to do something defensive by drawing his first charge, and with the Timberwolves being weak on the interior, Moon found some open lanes to the basket.
Chris Bosh continued to be productive and efficient from all over the floor by being aggressive and getting to the line. However, he also kept turning the ball over on his drives.
Finally, it was interesting to watch Primoz Brezec hit the floor again, as he basically is becoming a Serbian Junk Yard Dog most of the time, with his animated expressions and hard work on the glass. When he came into the game, it seemed as though the second unit began switching a little more efficiently, and at least for another game against a weak team he managed to leave some decent work on the court at the end of the day. On one particular play, he managed to block out three Timberwolves to get the rebound, which was amusing on its own.
For the first time this season the Raps are 8 games above .500 (32-24) as they get set to host the Indiana Pacers on Friday night at the ACC.
After dropping a disappointing game in New York last week, Toronto has bounced back to care of business against the Knicks, Pacers, and Timberwolves. They’re winning the games they’re supposed to!
We’ll see if that trend continues on Friday - and then Sunday in Charlotte.
It is great to see T.J. Ford get better each game. His speed and ability to go to the hoop whenever he wants is a great advantage coming off the bench. There are few backup PGs who will be able to stay with him.
Bargnani, Kapono, Delfino and Moon all had moments tonight and overall played well.
I like the Parker is taking it to the bucket more. He did not add that much tonight but I really like the Brezec deal. You can never have enough bigs heading into the playoffs. Plus he is active and comes across and someone who can be very annoying to play against.
Bosh was Bosh and Calderon had a pretty average night.
If there is one team in the NBA that is absolutely, 100%, totally geared to beat our Beloved Puppies, it is the Toronto Raptors. We’ve all heard the sound bite about how no Wolves team has ever beat a Sam Mitchell-led squad and there are many reasons for this fact: what they lack for in rebounding, the Raptors make it up in FG% (46.5), 3FG% (42.2), and a defense that is capable of holding opponents below 80 points. They are long, athletic, pass well, and they can make the outside shot.
Not only were the Wolves going up against their NBA anti-matter, but also they were on the road in the Eastern Conference, where they have gone 1-9 over the first 50+ games of the season.
Back to the Cavs, barring any unforseen injuries over the season final six weeks the Cavs figure to finish as the four or five seed in the Eastern Conference, setting the table for a first round matchup with the Toronto Raptors. Buried in the land to the North, GM Bryan Colangelo has put together an impressive bunch of players capable of competiting with any team on any night. The continued emergence of big man Chris Bosh along with pure point guard Jose Calderon being thrust into a starting role give the Raptors a strong one-two punch. Looking beyond the cover however, question marks surround the rest of the Toronto roster. With roleplayers such as Anthony Parker, Carlos Delfino and Jamario Moon not proving consistent enough to carry the load, coupled by TJ Ford’s ongoing injury troubles and Andrea Bargnani’s disappointment in what could have been his breakout year, the Raptors seem to be easily overmatched in the opening series.
The T’Wolves coming off a back-to-back didn’t give us anything interesting to talk about. If you missed the game, check out Eric Smiths’ blog, he’s got a nice little recap of the game. This game was so boring that even Raptors Talk is at a loss for words. Top Rap? Hmmm….let’s give it to Jamario Moon who ran the floor well enough and only took two bad jumpers, making one of them. Indiana on Friday should be similar and then things get very interesting in March where we have a stretch of 8 out of 10 games on the road. That’ll tell us just exactly how good this team is and what we can expect in the playoffs.
Feb 28th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
love the news on the links. keep up the good work.
Feb 28th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Thanks Bob, much appreciated.
Feb 28th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
man, between your links and arsenalists discussion, i have missed a solid 2 hours of work today, lol.
Feb 28th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
FIGHT THE MAN!!!
Feb 28th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Raps Fan > you’re getting paid an awful lot to dawdle online
LOL … just playin’
BTW, any1 catch AP’s nice dunk in semi-traffic? Nice.