Linkage - March 10
With Nesterovic cast in the most unlikeliest roles as a facilitator, the Raptors were able to ride his inspired play en route to a much-needed 114-106 win as Toronto gets set to play a gruelling five-game western trip beginning tomorrow night in L.A. against the Lakers.
"We put in a little set for him,” head coach Sam Mitchell said of Nesterovic. "It wasn’t necessarily for him to score, but to create some things and Rasho is smart enough to pick and choose when to try to score."
For the game, Nesterovic tied his career high by recording a team-high seven assists. He added a season-high 17 points in a game that the Raptors simply had to have given the daunting task that awaits.
"This is one of the hardest trips of the season,” Nesterovic, who was inserted into the starting lineup following Chris Bosh’s knee injury. "We play against teams that are on top in the West.
"The first thing is to stay healthy. If we play focused and stay aggressive, things will go well."
"Rasho is a pro,” said Mitchell, who embodied professionalism during his playing career.
"There were nights early in the season when he did not play, but he would go upstairs after the game to get his workout in and he never complains.
"He is always ready to play and that is something young players need to learn from."
Nesterovic’s teammates took notice, taking their cue from a seasoned veteran whose deadpan humour is hard to match.
"He played well,” Jose Calderon said. "He has been doing a great job since Bosh has been out and even the whole season.
"He does the little things for us. He’s really important and he knows how to play basketball. It’s easy with him — just give him the ball in the post and he can make assists."
Naturally, Nesterovic deflected all the accolades.
The key, he felt, was the way the Raptors reacted once the third quarter began.
"We were really not aggressive at the beginning of the game,” Nesterovic said. "They were much more aggressive and much more focused than we were.
"We talked about it at halftime and we just came out and said if we want to win, we have to do what we normally do. We have to be aggressive and focused."
Seattle head coach P.J. Carlesimo, one of the finest individuals associated with basketball, was very complementary of Raptors reserves Carlos Delfino and Kris Humphries.
"I thought Carlos and Kris Humphries really did a good job changing the tempo of the game,” Carlesimo said. "They just came in and guarded us.
"They were just more aggressive, got rebounds, got loose balls. They kind of turned around the game a little bit. I thought we had a lot of trouble matching their aggression."
The new sets are designed to get the defence scrambling and initiate more motion in the Raptors’ offence. They will go back to relying on Bosh whenever he gets back but in the interim, having someone able to pick and choose who to pass to – and when – out of the post is a luxury the Raptors haven’t exploited all season.
"They don’t let big guys pass, they don’t trust them," Nesterovic joked. "It’s hard to find a team to trust a big guy."
The Raptors are certainly learning how to trust Nesterovic, who has scored 16 or more points in three of his last five games.
"Any time you win, you have confidence," said Mitchell. "You’ve got to go out and play with confidence … if you don’t have that, then you don’t have a chance."
The confidence boost will be greater if Toronto can match its unselfish offensive style of yesterday afternoon. Led by 23 points from Anthony Parker, the Raptors had six players in double figures, everyone who played more than five minutes had at least one assist and outside of the 21 shots hoisted by Andrea Bargnani, no one had more than 14 field goal attempts.
"We got some unbelievable production from our bench," said Mitchell, pointing to 15 points from Carlos Delfino, 12 from Kris Humphries and 10 from Jason Kapono.
With Parker scoring 10 of his 23 points in the third quarter, Toronto outscored Seattle 35-21 to take a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter.
And even with the requisite Seattle run – the Sonics got within five with under four minutes left – the Raptors were able to hang on.
The discomfort was emanating from a couple of nasty scratches on the left side of his neck, flaming red and doused with post-game ointment, evidence of the underrated power of an NBA fingernail raised in anger.
"I felt like Bruce Lee for a second," said Parker, referring to the martial arts wizard who made flesh wounds photogenic. "For some reason I’m always the one to get scratched. I have them all over, chest, back, everything. And that’s on the court that that happens … "
Parker laughed because he’d just been mercilessly teased by teammates who suggested he bring home the tape of Toronto’s 114-106 win over the Seattle SuperSonics as proof to his wife that the claw marks were legitimate professional nicks and not evidence of extracurricular indiscretions.
The lack of urgency in the stretch drive, mind you, is obviously a factor in the way the Raptors are approaching Bosh’s ongoing stay on the sidelines. The all-star big man missed his fifth straight game with a sore right knee yesterday. He hasn’t run since the injury. And the East’s mediocrity gives the Raptors the luxury of not rushing his return.
"I don’t think we’re trying to lose games to get one opponent or the other, or hoping to win to avoid anybody," said Parker. "Those are things you can’t control."
I know the Hump went crazy with six shots made in a row but if the last five games have shown anything, it’s that the frontcourt rotation in the playoffs should only include Bosh, Bargnani and Nesterovic. No one else. Not for a minute. There are no back-to-backs, no arduous travel, the matchups with both Orlando and Cleveland would seem to favour a guy of Rasho’s size and experience. Regular readers will know I’ve been a Rasho fan for a good long while and watching him go for 16 points at least in three of the last five games while acting as a pretty good defensive anchor only hammer that point home more.
I know Sam will find himself calling for the Hump when he thinks there’s a need for some energetic rebounding but he should ignore that little voice in his head and stick with the three big men only.
Hey, Jason Kapono can hit three-pointers, I saw him do it twice Sunday afternoon. Didn’t even have to check a video after, they were legit threes, the first two he’s made in more than a month. But here’s the funny thing: Neither of them came off “plays.”
The second came off a Hump offensive rebound, the first was on a good old T.J. drive and dish, nothing specific to Kapono, nothing drawn up with a three-pointer in mind. And that’s the way he’s going to get them most often, as he did living off Dwyane Wade’s drive and kicks a year ago, double-teams on Shaq and open looks in transition. Because Toronto needs him on the boards defensively – like they need everyone – he’s not going to get many in transition; because they don’t have Wade or Shaq, he’s not going to get them off guard penetration or many double-teams. He’s going to get them like he did yesterday, in the flow of the game.
Oh, that zany Primoz.
Some guys change jerseys at halftime, he changes hairstyles.
Not sure if you all caught it but he came out to start Sunday’s game with some wacky ‘faux-hawk’ (at least that’s what the young kids on press row were calling, I just thought it looked silly. Then halftime comes and he’s back out looking his normal self.
I guess that’s what five minutes of 0-for-3, two rebound, one turnover, one foul play will force you to do.
With opponents loading up to stop the Raptors’ high screen-and-roll plays, the team put in some plays that start with the ball in the centre’s hands and allow him to pass to open shooters on the perimeter.
It worked well enough that Nesterovic got five assists in the third quarter, a big reason the Raptors gained a 35-21 advantage and turned around the game. They trailed 31-24 after the first quarter and 58-54 at the half.
That the offence is running through Nesterovic, even for short stretches, says a lot about the Raptors’ predicament with Chris Bosh injured and a lot about Nesterovic, too.
Nesterovic says that staying ready just makes sense.
"You get paid for that, you know," he said. "It’s not a bad job to get so much money for what you like to do. I don’t think about if I’m going to play two or 20 or 30 minutes. I never know what’s going to happen, who’s going to get injured, when they’re going to need you. You just try to give something to the team and stay in shape."
Another issue is the performance of the Raptors’ second unit, now under the purview of point guard T.J. Ford, who has played unevenly since returning to the team after missing eight weeks with neck problems.
Mitchell praised Ford yesterday for helping spark the second unit when the Raptors were trailing 25-16 after eight minutes in the first quarter.
With Ford pushing the pace, there were some easy baskets for Jason Kapono and Carlos Delfino, while Kris Humphries — 6-for-6 from the floor on the afternoon — found room for offensive rebounds after Ford broke the defence down.
Ford mixed four turnovers with four assists, but Mitchell saw signs of progress.
"We’re going to need T.J.," Mitchell said. "His defence was excellent, and when we were down in the first quarter and second quarter, him and [the rest of the second unit] brought us back on energy and moving the ball and defence and we need that from T.J."
One added bit of information related to the whole T.J. thing: I saw him grimacing a bit on Friday night and grabbing at his side and he said to me that he’s still suffering a little from the pulled muscle he suffered in his first practice after the all-star break. That doesn’t explain some of the turnovers he’s been making but might explain why he’s been finishing so poorly.
"It’s not a time to be playing without your best player," Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "To go on that trip when you’re 100% is going to be difficult. Hopefully they can get Chris back at some point, because going in without Chris is really going to be a handful."
With the win over Seattle, Toronto (34-28) cannot come back home below the .500 mark. Bosh or no Bosh, Toronto will still be treading water in eight days.
"We’re in a good position in the East. That can change when we come back. I hope it’s not going to change," Nesterovic said, before breaking into his power-of-positive-thinking routine.
If it changes, Nesterovic said, "It’s going to change in a good way, not in a bad way."
It wasn’t quite booing; it was more rumblings of discontent, restless and unhappy. T.J. Ford had just completed another frustrating burst of play late in the second quarter: A bad pass for his third turnover, a miss of a drive, a foul, another missed layup, his fourth turnover, and finally, on an unwise 1-on-2, a driving layup that refused to drop. Cue the chorus, if only a part of it.
"I kind of took a little step back," said Ford in a brief conversation before sliding out of the locker room after Toronto’s 114-106 victory over the Seattle Supersonics. "[I was] OK, then jumped high, then coming down. This whole situation is different. Early I was healthy, I had a rhythm, I didn’t have to make an adjustment as far as my body. Now I’ve got to make adjustments for my body every day.
"My whole season’s been adjustments."
Sunday, there were more flashes of that impatience: Ford went 3-for-9 for six points, four assists and four turnovers in 20 minutes of play. In the first half he played too fast; in the second he played slower, and maybe too slow. Ford’s game is such that his mistakes are big mistakes, so the more efficient Calderon can be more attractive. But when you’re a daredevil, there can be crashes.
"That’s the good thing about T.J.," says Parker. "He’s the guy that can probe and create things, and when things go right, everybody’s happy. So I think you can’t really take that away. There’s certain guys that you just can’t take that element away from their game. I think he’s one of those players."
Seattle led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but Toronto reserves Kris Humphries and Carlos Delfino helped change the game in the Raptors’ favor in the second quarter by hitting the boards and getting easy buckets inside. Humphries finished with 12 points and six rebounds, and Delfino contributed 15 points and four rebounds, helping Toronto to a 43-33 advantage bench scoring.
“They just were more aggressive, got rebounds, got loose balls, and they kind of turned around the game a little bit,” Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “I thought we had a lot of trouble matching their aggression.”
Ilgauskas, 32, sees it as a final chance to play for his country and potentially the best team they’ve had in years. There’s a chance this could come to a head in a few months, not unlike a standoff the Toronto Raptors had with forward Jorge Garbajosa last summer in a insurance issue after a severe leg injury. The Raptors reluctantly allowed Garbajosa to play for Spain in the European Championships, but lingering problems have knocked him out for this season.
Let’s talk about home-court advantage, I don’t think the Raptors need it to win a playoff series. This team plays better on the road, as crazy as it sounds, it’s true. They’re more focused, energetic and generally much more crisp when they’re playing away from home. A lot has been made of the Raptors lack of toughness and grit but one that’s self-evident is that the Raptors don’t get phased by the opposing arena and I feel confident that as long as their jumper is dropping in one of the first two games in the playoff series, we’re more than capable of stealing home-court advantage. Their success depends entirely on whether they can rebound and hit their perimeter jumpers. Both these facets of the game are a huge variable on this team which can fluctuate on a nightly basis, so it’s conceivable that the Raptors can simply “catch fire” and pull out a win.
The Raptors’ locker room features several flat screen televisions, wood-paneled lockers, and some of the thickest and most comfortable carpet you could ever hope to walk on. The visitors, meanwhile, are forced to walk on the cold hard floor.
-Jose Calderon is perhaps the least-intimidating and most cordial NBA player that I’ve ever spoken to. Unlike some of his League brethren, who treat media like pesky flies equipped with digital recorders, Calderon actually takes the time to listen to your questions and look you in the eye when answering them. An all-around swell guy.
-Chris Humphries, I’m guessing is a poker player. I was able to deduce this when I spied a copy of the entertaining book “Bringing Down the House” under his arm.
-Maceo Baston, despite the high probability that he will not see the floor tonight, is nonetheless taping his own feet. Baston explains that he doesn’t have access to any of the modern medical technology that pro athletes make use of on a daily basis, to which Calderon replies, “Why, do you play in Eastern Europe or something?”
-Toronto’s crowd isn’t exactly hardcore. With their team down three points, a wave inexplicably breaks out. Imagine if someone in Philly attempted to start one of those (assuming there were enough people in the gym to make it happen, of course.) That person might get shot.
-In the Toronto locker room, the mood is predictably somber.
-Primoz Brezec, though, seems to have moved on from the tough loss rather quickly. His locker is next to Calderon’s, who is taking questions from a throng of media, and Primoz is busy apparently prepping himself for the remainder of the evening.
-I observe the tall Slovenian spray himself with cologne no less than 15 times – up and down both of his arms, on his chest, and even on the back of his neck – and I begin to feel sorry for the poor young woman who will have to endure that insanely strong scent tonight.
-The white board says the team has a noon time practice tomorrow, but it’s Friday night, and Primoz is ready to party!
"I thought the Raptors played extremely well," said Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo. "They just executed, made shots, and really did a good job. We felt going in that we couldn’t turn the ball over, and that’s been a major problem to begin with, but especially against a team like Toronto … 22 turnovers for 30 points, you shouldn’t even be in the game."
This pivotal week also makes the Nuggets stop in Toronto (playoff bound) and New Jersey (who is fighting for their playoff lives). I think the Nuggets will be fortunate to emerge from this five-game jaunt with three wins, but anything more than that would be over-optimistic and the possibility for fewer is certainly there.
Be clear about this: With TJ and Jose, it’s not companionship, it’s competition. And when you’re used to being ‘the man’, getting coddled is only going to heighten that tension. He needs a slap in the face and a kick in the ass to smarten up - a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio is completely unacceptable…again. He took almost twice as many shots as Jose, but scored fewer points. I predict Jose gets 75% of the minutes in the playoffs…but what I can’t predict is how TJ is going to react to that.
In his interview he mentioned that he might be training with Jason Kidd in the off-season. That would be so fantastic for him - to learn the position, learn some discipline, and perhaps most importantly, to learn to lead.
For once, Sam Mitchell tried to keep two bigs on the floor for the entire game, and as a result the Raptors managed to wrestle control. Anthony Parker continued to be the main offensive threat with 23 points and Jason Kapono broke out of a prolonged absence from beyond the arc when he tossed in 10 points from the bench. Add Kris Humphries as the surprise of the night with solid minutes on both ends of the floor and the Raptors put their foot down in the second half.
One last side note about this game - TJ Ford seems to be slowly making an adjustment back to the pass-first mentality point guard we’re used to. With Kapono hitting some important shots Ford had some options to go to from the bench. Even though Ford showed some propensity to force passes and guess where his man was, he still eventually slowed down and showed some rhythm on the court. It’s going to take time, but as he remembers to slow down his play just a couple steps and use his court vision rather than his scoring ability, Ford will see his options more clearly.
My problem is that this is Game 62 and we have a lot to play for and yet we have trouble sustaining a consistent effort. This is very disconcerting to me, we should’ve come out in the first half with a sense of urgency and revenge on our minds instead we let Seattle dictate things and control this game for far too long.
This was a game we had to have and let’s just be thankful we didn’t screw it up.
Well it started out bad and there were feelings of “here we go again” at half time but the boys came out in the second half and got the job done. It was not pretty and the Raps still did a lot of things wrong but a win is a win. I would have the say the most important story of the game was just how careless Seattle was with the ball. They had more turnovers than Oliver Miller at the local bakery. Now it is time to go west young dinos and hopefully not come home 0-5.
Just like most games of late at the ACC, the road team came out on fire. The Sonics shot over 60% in the first quarter and that had a lot to do with the weak defense and effort Toronto was putting up.
Alright, I’ve had enough. I’m sitting here watching the Raptors struggle through a home game with the Seattle Sonics, the NBA’s perennial doormat. T.J. Ford is, of course, struggling while adjusting to his new role of coming off the Toronto bench. Anyway, with the playoffs fast approaching and the Raptors looking like a guaranteed first round loser, I’ve got some advice for head coach Sam Mitchell…
This game wiped me out man. With the spectre of losing another game to the Sonics weighing on me heavily, I started to assess my involvement with this team. Seriously. I may sound melodramatic, but I am really emotionally involved with the Raptors. Sounds pathetic and juvenile, but when I get behind something, I really get behind it. Anyways, I digress, the Raptors pulled out a win, and I’m not forced to make any decisions, lol.
Seriously though, what the hell man? The Raptors came out flat, disinterested, disenchanted, disconnected, what have you…they are not playing with any sense of urgency after dropping games to the Knicks, Pacers, Bobcats and the Wizards. By my count, that is 10 games they should have won, but didn’t this season. Which leads one to think if they are underachieving…I say no, they are doing what they should be. Losing games you should have won is still a loss, which means this team is a 6 game over .500 team, plain and simple, no better or worse.
A sense of urgency.
This is something that has been missing from the Raptors for some reason, and considering their upcoming road trip, there was no better time than yesterday afternoon to bring the “urgency.” The Raps needed to take the bull by the horns and get it done on the offensive end and maybe even more importantly, on the defensive side of things, an area where they’ve struggled recently. The other thing I was interested in seeing was whether the Raps did anything differently in terms of in-game strategy because clearly the status quo was not been working.
Well, right from the get go the Raps looked a step slow and they were not exactly bringing the hustle I expected. Were they that affected by the loss of an hour of sleep with the clocks rolling ahead? If anyone should have been effected it should have been the Sonics! It was the same old story from the opening tip. Letting the Sonics score 31 points in the first quarter is completely unacceptable and once again the team was settling for jump shots, many of which were not falling. Any excitement I had about watching this game quickly disappeared and grew into mounting frustration.
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