04.06
It’s official: The Raptors are a bunch of losers.
With last night’s 99-90 loss to the host New Jersey Nets, the Raptors sport a losing record as the post-season beckons and as questions surrounding the team intensify.
While guaranteed of a playoff berth, the Raptors continue to show no signs of playing post-season basketball.
They still can’t defend for extended stretches, still make poor decisions with the basketball, still play with no urgency and can’t find a way to step up in the fourth quarter, signs that all lead to an early April exit.
There really are no excuses for the inexcusable way the Raptors are limping into the playoffs.
"Right now, we’re struggling. It’s obvious,” veteran Rasho Nesterovic said after yet another strong performance.
"We have to get everybody on the same page. We have to refocus, especially on defence. Everybody has to know what we’re doing."
The Raptors will have today off and will then have two rare off-days to practise, to recommit themselves, to take stock as another winnable game looms with Milwaukee coming to town on Wednesday.
It’s no secret the Raptors are a jumpshot happy team, but when they can’t make shots there’s nothing to fall back on.
Last night, the Raptors went 3-for-22 from beyond the arc, their worst three-point shooting effort.
"It’s not pretty, but we have to play through it,” Nesterovic said of the team’s protracted funk.
"It’s not effort. We’re just not focused as much as we should be in the fourth quarter. Couple of mental mistakes on defence, couple of mental mistakes on offence.”
Sam Mitchell is becoming more irritated with each passing loss.
"We understand we’re not playing as well as we’re capable,” Mitchell said in a post-game session that included the f-bomb. "There’s no secret.
"Do you (media) think we don’t care? You think you’re more frustrated then us. It’s not your job. It’s our job.
"We care. They’re playing hard, but sometimes you go through some tough times."
Mitchell admits a win will go a long way in helping the Raps regain their confidence.
"Just one game,” he said. "It’s all confidence. We’ve lost games in the past month and a half and our confidence is dented, but it’s one game.
"We’re all frustrated. We expect more out of ourselves, but we also understand that you go through some tough times."
The theory is that Carter wanted to rub it in to his former team, but will likely sit out next Friday’s return game at the Air Canada Centre, where fans have been quite vocal in expressing their disgust for Carter.
Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker and Carlos Delfino took turns trying to defend Carter, who was crafty in getting off his shots and even showed off his post game by using a nice spin move on Delfino to score on a left-handed layup.
Linton Johnson’s 10-day deal with the Raptors expired last night with no official word on the forward’s future.
Johnson was signed to provide some sort of spark on a team that has been lifeless far too often in recent weeks.
Asked to assess the frustration level in the Raptors locker room in the wake of last night’s 99-90 loss to the lottery-bound Nets, Chris Bosh didn’t appreciate the question.
"Everybody’s using frustrated too much, to be honest with you. I come off an injury, people are asking me am I frustrated. You know, frustrated, frustrated, frustrated," said Bosh. "I mean, losing is a part of the game … "
"The players are frustrated. The coaches are frustrated. We’re all frustrated," said Sam Mitchell, the Raptors coach. "This is our job. We expect more out of ourselves. But we also understand that come April 14th, there’s going to be (14) teams (that don’t make the playoffs). You go into their locker room and guess what? They won’t be there. We’ll be there."
Bragging about having clinched a playoff berth in the woeful Eastern Conference isn’t exactly a beleaguered coach’s deadliest anti-media ammunition, of course, and plenty of questions lingered after the loss. Why, for starters, did the 6-foot-10 Bosh find himself locked up defensively in the fourth quarter by Trenton Hassell, the Nets backup who, for all his prowess, is 6-foot-5? Bosh, forced into an offensive foul at the height of Hassell’s effectiveness, could neither score for himself nor turn the Nets’ wont to double team him into points for his teammates.
"We get the basketball in his hands but they send two people in his lap," said Mitchell. "And Chris did what he was supposed to do, he passed the basketball and we missed shots.
"The feeling is we’ve just got to play better. Everybody in there is frustrated. They understand we’re not playing as well as we’re capable of playing. That’s no secret. We all feel that. What do y’all think? We don’t care? Y’all think you’re all more frustrated than us? It’s not y’all jobs. It’s our jobs. F—, we care. Everybody in that locker room, they’re playing hard."
You could see Bosh getting more tired, and more slow on his decisions and passes as the game dragged on because just about every time he caught the ball, there was someone in his jersey and a second defender coming.
But, fact is, he passed out of the double-team enough times that his teammates should have made open shots and getting to the free throw line 16 times proves he tried to make something happen.
The legions of you out there killing him this morning might want to look elsewhere.
You know why Rasho’s scoring like a madman, don’t you? Because he’s smart and he knows how to find open space on the court. If Bargnani’s doing nothing else on the bench, he better be sitting there watching Nesterovic dive in the paint when there’s an opening, watch him drift out on the baseline to create space for himself and for Bosh or an attacking guard.
So much of big man play is ‘smarts’ and the kid’s got a golden opportunity now to see how a smart guy operates.
"You never want to go into the playoffs not playing your best basketball, and we definitely have been far from that," guard Anthony Parker said. "It’s just a matter of getting it going our way quick."
The Raptors didn’t arrive at the Izod Arena until an hour before the game because of traffic coming from New York City, and it took them a couple of quarters to get going.
Toronto’s swingman play has been dragging it down as of late, and it reached a valley last night. The four players at the position who are getting regular minutes – Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Carlos Delfino and Jason Kapono – combined to hit just 13 of their 38 field-goal attempts, with Parker having an especially off night, missing seven of his eight three pointers.
And as has been the case lately, Rasho Nesterovic was the only reason Toronto was competitive. Nesterovic has been the Raptors’ lone stable force, and he was great for Toronto. The centre had 16 points and nine rebounds in the opening half, hitting eight of his nine field goals.
He finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds, both team highs.
But his teammates did not meet his standards. In addition to the swingmen, there was Andrea Bargnani, who was almost invisible in his 16 minutes. He was held scoreless, with Nesterovic rendering him superfluous.
Day-in, day-out, the Slovenian anchors the back-end, blocking shots, rebounding, and plugging the key after teammates get beat off-the-dribble.
Unfortunately, rotating on defense has consequences. The veteran has been on the wrong end of a few poster jobs, which get more youtube play than a Britney Spears meltdown.
The most impressive number Carter put up was 45 – the number of minutes he played, more than anyone else on the team.
"It says a lot about him as a person," Lawrence Frank said. "He probably had every opportunity to if not sit out or shut it down, to take some time off or reduce his minutes. Yet he continues to fight."
"It just means a lot to me personally to be able to finish the season," Carter said. "We’re not quite mathematically out. We may be counted out, but that doesn’t mean we can’t come out and play hard."
But the Raptors aren’t alone in their struggles down the stretch, as the Cavs, like the Raptors, have a 4-6 record over their last 10 games. Meanwhile, the 76ers and Wizards are only two games better at 6-4 over that same time.
The problem main problem is one that’s really been there all season, the lack of consistent scoring production from the behind Chris Bosh, especially off the bench. It’s even effected Jose Calderon, who had been one of if not the most consistent players behind Bosh, as since T.J. regained his role in the starting lineup he’s only scored in double digits in two of the seven games. Right now, behind Bosh the only players you can count on double-digits from are Ford, Parker and the continually impressive Rasho Nesterovic.
Part of it was because the Raptors, one night after kicking away a home game against Charlotte, played like angry commuters in need of a lie-down: Sam Mitchell’s team was caught in traffic en route from Manhattan last night and showed up about 45 minutes before tipoff, which was not exactly the best preparation for a team that had lost 10 of 14 to sink to .500.
Then the defending Atlantic Division champs fell into a double-digit hole after only 7 1/2 minutes, and spent the rest of the night looking one step slower than Carter, Jefferson, and Devin Harris.
We give up easy baskets and play pretend D, you know the kind that’s just enough to make it look like your getting out to a shooter but not really. Never put a decent foul on anyone. Carter came back to play, just to stick it to us and blows kisses to the fans at home, and we don’t put any lumber on him. They put a small on Bosh because they figured out he can’t really dominate if he’s not being fouled be a slower player. And the smaller guy can still get him off his spots. Frank, pwns Sam, frankly. And Sam hates it. He goes off like in post game interview like a man about to break. Who could blame him? It’s obvious the cookie jar is bare.
Crystal Balling: Looks like the Raptors (7) will end up facing the Pistons (2) in the 1st Round of the playoffs. After being eliminated in 5 games, it is going to be an intriguing off-season ‘North of the 49th Parallel’.
Just so I have this straight, the Raptors can’t rebound the ball for their lives and Hump is a DNP-CD? Hell, at this point, I might even throw Gatorade Graham in there to shake things up a bit. True, you have to get set for the playoffs, but you also have to send a message to the team that you aren’t going to win anything playing like this. Hell, can we suit up Linton Johnson III? Hump’s rebounding and overall game has seriously dropped off, but it’s a little bit of chicken/egg. Did his game really drop off first, resulting in him going to the bench, or did he spend too much time on the bench, thus resulting in his poor play?
If you have followed the Association for any length of time you have seen teams that end the regular season looking dazed and confused but turn it around in the playoffs. But those teams are the exceptions to the rule. The Toronto Raptors a couple of weeks ago were comfortably perched in the number five seed destined to play the Cleveland Cavaliers. They are now below .500, in seventh place, and although they have a spot locked up, and are assured of being in the post season they are as close to the eighth seed as they are to the fifth.
This year, Forbes magazine ranked the Leafs (again) as the most valuable franchise in the NHL, by far. It estimates the team to be worth $413 million, up 24 per cent in one year, on revenue of about $138 million, and operating profit just north of $52 million. Consider also that the Leafs are just the biggest part of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., which also owns the Toronto Raptors of the NBA, the minor league Toronto Marlies, the Air Canada Centre, and the Toronto FC pro soccer team. All in all, the whole enterprise is valued around US$1.5 billion — three times its estimated price tag of nine years ago, when Richard Peddie took over as CEO. Even at that, Peddie maintains Forbes’ valuation is way low. “Let’s just say none of our owners would consider selling for that price.”
Despite the utter lack of on-ice success, the team has been able to wring ever more revenue from its beleaguered fans year after year. Team Marketing Report issues an annual study of pro sports prices, and this year the Leafs ranked (again) as the most expensive ticket in hockey. The Fan Cost Index estimates the cost of bringing a family to a game — four average-priced seats; two beers; four small soft drinks and hot dogs; parking; a couple of programs and two ball caps. At a Leafs game, that’ll cost $476, up 4.8 per cent from last year and way ahead of second-place Montreal at $388.
Economists say that kind of pricing power is typical of a monopolistic business. Remember the days when calling long-distance was a special occasion, because the monopoly phone companies charged a fortune for overseas calls? With their ownership of four of Toronto’s major teams, MLSE has an firm grip on the southern Ontario sports market, and the cost of being an Ontario sports fan reflects that.
The Toronto Raptors may be heading to the NBA playoffs, but they’re giving every indication that their stay won’t be a long one.
Toronto’s losing streak has now hit three straight games and during the fourth quarters of those games (plus one overtime), they’ve been outscored by a total of 101-69.
Since coming to Toronto, Johnson has appeared in 2 games – averaging 3.0 points and 0.5 rebounds.
The Raps will be coming off a back-to-back after tonight’s game … thus … chances are the team will be given the day off tomorrow before returning to practice on Monday.
If that is the case – and IF Toronto chooses to re-sign Johnson to a 2nd 10-day – they could wait until that day … to make sure they have the swingman in uniform right up until the final game of the regular season … in Chicago … on April 16. Basically, that would mean Johnson would go without a deal on Sunday … and simply ink the 2nd 10-day before practice starts on Monday.
The Raptor’s have learned/accepted losing as a way of life. Would any one like to comment on who will be learning how to not accept a NBA pay check ??
BC
SMITCH
Bargnani
Kapono
Johnson
Baston…..
Right now a lot of them would clear waivers !!
Not sure they have “accepted” it. I still see frustration and some sinister looks. What they ARE doing is making life a bit tougher for BC. I can see some potential trade partners looking at this downslide as a great thing in that it will leave a bad taste in the mouth of BC, possibly forcing him to take on a bad exchange of talent.
Scott’s last blog post..Linkage – April 6
I still believe this team is still in rebuilding mode and because of this I feel a lot of changes could be coming . So a trade or sign/trade of one of the PG’s to move higher in the draft makes sense. Losing home advantage in the playoffs will cost the franchise money and I suspect a total collapse at the end of the season will not help season ticket sales(raising the price did not help either). So at the end of the day the board will be a little testy with BC. How that effects his decisions awaits to be seen. Sam just signed a contract so he probably has another year ot two before he truelly feels the heat.
Just wondering if this makes sense. Or will BC stay the course and just tweak the roster??
if you are a “rebuilding” team, when do the major overhauls stop? Why are you still considered a rebuilding team after winning a division title? If you are a rebuilding team, why bring in pieces of mediocrity and never use them?
It’s a season full of questions and a short summer to answer some of them.
Scott’s last blog post..Linkage – April 6