Linkage - March 30
Air Canada Centre crowds are famous for giving former Raptors the business when they return to Toronto.
But head coach Sam Mitchell and all-star forward Chris Bosh are hoping that the ACC faithful will greet former Raptor Morris Peterson with a long and loud standing ovation when the Raptors host the New Orleans Hornets tonight.
"I hope so, because he deserves it," said Mitchell, when asked if he expects a nice ovation for Peterson tonight. "Mo played hard here."
"He did a lot of things for the organization," Bosh said. "He was fan favourite and I think a lot of people will be really excited to see him play."
"MoPete is one of my favourite people," Mitchell said.
"Mo is one of my favourite players. He was with me when I first got here, we went through a lot of tough times together. I felt like Mo was one of the guys in that locker room who was on my side. He supported me. I couldn’t always give him what he wanted, but I had the utmost respect for Mo, and I think Mo had the same for me. And I’m glad that he’s with a good coach (Byron Scott), a good organization and with a good team. I’m happy for Mo. And I hope they do well except for when they play us."
Mitchell said that he always tries to get across to his players that any decisions he makes in terms of playing time, etc, is based simply on how they play.
"I wish I could give them all $10 million a year, and give them all 40 minutes a game. I really would," Mitchell said. "But the reality of it is, I can’t. I have tough decisions to make, and I have a job to do and I’m going to make it. And it’s not about like or dislike. It’s about, on certain nights, if you’re not playing well, you have to sit down."
The Raptors defence continues to lead the NBA over the last five games, holding opponents to an average of 86.0 points. The Raptors held the New York Knicks to 95 points on Friday night, marking the fifth time in the past six games an opponent has been held under triple digits.
"Just wanting to do it," said Chris Bosh yesterday, when asked to explain the club’s improved defensive play of late. "That’s all it really is, just wanting to do it. You have to will yourself to bring the energy. You can talk about it all day, but at the end of the day you have to move your feet, you have to talk on defence and you have to put a body on somebody to get a rebound."
One prominent blogger in the Big Apple suggested that the Raptors would be interested in wingmen Renaldo Balkman or Jared Jeffries, or perhaps try to upgrade at the shooting guard spot by trading for Jamal Crawford
Mitchell, whose Raptors carry a two-game winning streak into tonight’s game with the Western Conference-leading Hornets, said both he and Scott coach for themselves and their teams, not the public’s perception.
"What Byron understands is players win games. Coaches? We hold them accountable, we try to put them in the right system and we put them in a certain structure to be successful. But at the end of the day, not one coach makes one shot," said the 44-year-old who was a teammate of Scott’s for two mid-1990s seasons in Indiana.
"The thing I’ll say about New Orleans is they respected Byron enough to when he didn’t have players, they left him alone," said Mitchell. "They didn’t blame him and as soon as he got his players back, look at what he’s done."
Adds Scott: "There’s a little parallel in some of things he’s gone through, some of the things I’ve gone through. I thought he’d be a good coach. Obviously he’s done a heckuva job."
The Raptors have the easiest of the remaining schedules. Only two of their final 10 games are against teams above .500. And they have five home games remaining. Although they struggled with a late-season slump, much of it was because of the absence of all-star power forward Chris Bosh, who has returned to full strength. With him, they have won their past two games.
I doubt Toronto’s Chris Bosh, a Lincoln product, has a second career as a motivational speaker, but the slumping Raptors did beat Detroit after Bosh criticized his teammates for being too passive down the stretch.
I know there are still San Antonians who never warmed up to having Rasho Nesterovic as the Spurs’ starting center, but Raptors coach Sam Mitchell just benched Andrea Bargnani, merely the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 draft, in favor of the guy his Spurs teammates called “Rashito.”
Nesterovic has been playing well of late and logged 46 minutes in a huge Raptors win over the Pistons last week.
Bargnani has looked lost of late, but benching a guy you took with the No. 1 overall pick is a gutsy move, and it doesn’t speak well for the Italian center.
"We have a certain obligation when you draft a kid No.1 to develop him,” Mitchell told Toronto reporters, “and Andrea’s still a very big part of our future but right now, with the 12-game window and considering where we are and making the change at the point guard, we also felt like Andrea’s been successful, we know he can play with that second group also.
"This is no knock on Andrea and his future with the Toronto Raptors and eventually what position he’s going to play, but you have to do what you have to do when you’re in this position. You have to do something different."
And sometimes, “Rashito” does things differently.
Here’s the event you’ve been waiting for your whole life: Sam Mitchell versus Charles Oakley in a Mad-Libbed quote-off.
Jose Calderon is always the first player off the bench to offer congratulations and ass-pats during timeouts or substitutions*. It just keeps getting better, doesn’t it? Might he end up being the most popular Raptor of all-time? I’d put money on it. Jose had little impact on the game, but now that our other PG has found his way back to Planet Teamwork, Ocho doesn’t have to carry the load himself.
*Meanwhile, TJ Ford went out partying with Fred Jones out the night before. ‘Nuff said.
As I was trying to gather myself Mo ran over picked up the lid, grabbed the door for me, and shook my hand on the way out.
He simply said “Thank you, we appreciate it”, inside his hand when he shook mine…$100 bones.
I bought his jersey the next day, and as time went on, he was one of the only guys that took the time to learn my name, always said “Hello” when he passed me in the halls.
So for that reason, and more, Morris Peterson will receive a standing ovation from me on Sunday,
Just to say
“Thank you, I appreciated it”
=============
Toronto could probably work a Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, and either Joey Graham or Jorge Garbjosa deal for Gordon and Nocioni.
It also reminded me that I completely forgot to post the transcripts of my interview with numero ocho from last month. So here it is. Of course, you can and should pick up SLAM 117 if you haven’t already, to read the In Your Face that I wrote on him.
I spoke with Calderon just after they completed a home-and-home series with the Washington Wizards. They won the back end of that series.
The next home to a well-run pick and roll/pick and pop is Toronto. The Raptors have a two players tailor made for the play: Spanish point guard Jose Calderon and forward Chris Bosh. Calderon is one of the best playmakers in the league. Bosh, though not as strong, is among the NBA’s best shooting big men. He is often on the receiving end of a Calderon’s pass off of ball-screens.
Linton Johnson III, keeper of a career 13.5 TRB%, is in Toronto to out-grit Bargnani, and barely out-rebound Jamario Moon. Whisperers close to Tom Dore report the big guy feels the Bulls’ lack of "man’s rebounds" could have been resolved with the addition of LJ3.
Mar 31st, 2008 at 7:03 am
———————————————————————-
re: “I hope so, because he deserves it,” said Mitchell, when asked if he expects a nice ovation for Peterson tonight. “Mo played hard here.”
“He did a lot of things for the organization,” Bosh said. “He was fan favourite and I think a lot of people will be really excited to see him play.”
“MoPete is one of my favourite people,” Mitchell said.
“Mo is one of my favourite players. He was with me when I first got here, we went through a lot of tough times together. I felt like Mo was one of the guys in that locker room who was on my side. He supported me. I couldn’t always give him what he wanted, but I had the utmost respect for Mo, and I think Mo had the same for me. And I’m glad that he’s with a good coach (Byron Scott), a good organization and with a good team. I’m happy for Mo. And I hope they do well except for when they play us.”
———————————————————————-
Qualifies as one of my all-time favourite Sam Mitchell quotes.
As a man and a basketball player, Morris Peterson has my R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
khandor’s last blog post..Raptors vs Hornets … post mortem