Linkage - April 15
If things don’t change, that was Jack Armstrong’s last game as a Raptor analyst and that, frankly, sucks. The guy brings insight and entertainment to every game he does and to not have him around next season diminishes the product and the game. I have no idea what the tallest of foreheads at the various networks and Maple Leaf Sports are going to do about it but if they don’t find a way to keep him around for the majority of the games, I’ve got a feeling they’re going to lose viewers and since ratings aren’t exactly through the roof now, that’s not something they can afford to do. First-rate broadcasters don’t grow on trees and for almost a decade now, Jack’s been a first-rate broadcaster. I’m pretty sure any of the handful of other networks he’s worked for would love to have him full-time, so should one here.
You want to make your feelings known? Go here and contact ‘em. Surely to goodness someone in the ivory tower over there will listen.
Not only did Jason Kapono attempt a three-pointer for the first time in 11 games last night, he actually made one for the first time in 12 games. Ought to put that video in the vault.
the hard part is going to be finding someone to give both T.J. and Jose a break. I guess Carlos Delfino could play the point a little bit but if Martin was still active, he could get about a 24-minute run.
I’m thinking now that the 10-day Linton Johnson experiment might not have been the greatest of moves.
"Record-wise, (Orlando) is a better basketball team,” Mitchell conceded. "They’ve earned the right to have the third seed.
"We have a tough climb for us."
What the Raptors have to do is play at a high level for the entire 48 minutes.
Even against sub-standard teams such as the Heat, the Raptors have too many lapses, something that must be corrected by this weekend.
On paper, the Raptors have a huge advantage over the Magic at the point position with T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon, but Toronto’s perimeter defence will be tested.
It has become a rite of spring, an opportunity to address the home faithful and thank it for its support.
As the Raptors closed out the home portion of the regular season last night, franchise player Chris Bosh took the microphone before the opening tip and asked the crowd to continue to show its support as the post-season looms.
Recently named Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley was acknowledged during a timeout. Fans warmly cheered Riley as Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell stood to pay Riley his proper respect.
Details have yet to be ironed out, but TSN or The Score will carry the Raptors during their post-season run.
"We’ve got a lot of film to watch; we haven’t seen Orlando in a while," coach Sam Mitchell said after Toronto was assured of a sixth-place finish in the NBA Eastern Conference. "Me and the coaches have to get in there and start watching film, breaking down tape and seeing where we might have some opportunities to exploit some things.
"They’ve been the third-best team in the East all year, they’re a good basketball team. They’ve earned it."
"You can’t simulate it," Mitchell said of post-season intensity. "These games are not going to be the same when the playoffs start. The good thing about it is we played in the playoffs last year. I think I talked to Chris (Bosh) after the playoffs and he finally admitted it was just a whole (different intensity). You try to tell players about it, but they don’t really believe you. I think last year was good for us. We got to experience it for the first time in a while and hopefully this time around, our guys feel a little bit more at ease and understand what it’s all about."
"It’s good to know who we’re going to play," Parker said. "I don’t know what Sam’s going to do regarding playing time or how he’s going to do it, but it’s a luxury to have that option
"For us to still be in the playoffs," said Mitchell, "I think we had an unbelievable year."
"Unbelievable," of course, is the most misused and abused word in the current sporting lexicon. Is it truly beyond belief that the Raptors, though they’ve suffered through injuries to key players, are one game over .500 one game before the playoffs? Was it absolutely contrary to reason that the Raptors found themselves down as many as eight points to the bottom-of-the-league Miami Heat before squeaking out last night’s dubya, 91-75? Hardly. Out of the realm of believability would have been Mitchell doing a Sinatra impersonation and lingering on the bit about "Regrets, I’ve had a few …"
It’s true that Dwight Howard, the Magic all-star, and Chris Bosh, his Raptors counterpart, have often played to a statistical saw-off; that the Magic’s vulnerability at point guard – Jameer Nelson backed up by Carlos Arroyo – gives Toronto a decided advantage if T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon can locate something approaching the tops of their games; and that while the Magic have shooters in Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis, the Raptors, too, can light it up from the perimeter when the mood strikes.
But the caveats are the killers. If you’re waiting for a shooter named Andrea Bargnani to crank his game into gear – and you’ve been waiting all season – you’re also watching him clank wide-open jumpers ad nauseam and looking to next year.
If you’re waiting for Ford to regain the defence-slicing form of last season, you’ve yet to see evidence of its onset.
The pall is widespread. Anthony Parker has disappeared too often of late, as has the alleged depth off the bench. Jamario Moon is looking suspiciously like a D-Leaguer on too many nights. Rasho Nesterovic is the only pro who has raised his game to coincide with crunch time.
And if you’re waiting for Bosh to emerge as the team-carrying leader, join a club that includes the management of a franchise that’s paying him $13 million to be just that.
In other words, they’re playing so poorly, it might not matter who they’re playing.
"A great season," Bosh called it last night, addressing the Air Canada Centre crowd. Enough with the spin, already: For that to be true, Bosh and Mitchell et al will have to engineer a turnaround that would make the use of "unbelievable" almost appropriate.
And telling was the Raptors’ reasoning for their celebration. “It takes a lot of pressure off the Wednesday game,” Toronto captain Chris Bosh said. “Going in knowing that we have the sixth spot is good.”
It’s been a long time since the Raptors have faced pressure, let alone played well under the weight.
Like the Raptors, the Magic are young team with limited playoff experience, having been swept in four games by the Detroit Pistons last season.
“Everybody is pretty fresh,” Bosh said. “There’s not that playoff-savvy veteran, except for [Raptors centre Rasho Nesterovic]. The whole series is a lot of young guys playing and trying to get some experience.”
After the Cavaliers’ Devin Brown drained two free throws to give Cleveland the lead with 0.2 seconds left - and in the process locking Philadelphia into seventh spot, keeping Toronto in sixth - the Raptors loudly yelped at the pending result. So much for the apathy.
"You didn’t hear any cheers," Raptors guard Anthony Parker, sporting a smile at the time, said. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
T.J. Ford was a little more honest about matters.
"I think I’ve been saying it all along," Ford said, "that if we can go ahead and get that sixth spot and go against Orlando, against a team that probably has the same amount of experience as we do, I think that would be best for us."
The Raptors got a touch of serendipity to clinch that sixth spot. Philadelphia appeared to win its game, as regulation expired with the 76ers holding a one-point lead. But upon further review, a replay showed that Brown had been fouled before the clock hit zero. Brown stepped up and hit the free throws, and the 76ers could not get a shot off at the end.
Just two weeks ago Wednesday, the Raptors lost a game that they thought they had won, when T.J. Ford’s would-be tie-breaking lay-up was not counted as time had expired. However, further evidence showed that the clock was started too early, and the Raptors should have won.
Now, that result will not eat at Toronto.
"It was funny to see somebody else have to go to that replay and reverse a call," Parker said.
But if this season unfolds in the way that pretty much everyone expects - 41 or 42 wins, quick first-round playoff exit, thanks for coming, drive safe - then at some point, blame will have to be assessed. General manager Bryan Colangelo has made it clear that he is disappointed. So unless these guys pull it together awful fast, that means fingers are going to be pointed, and, presumably, problems will be addressed.
So who will stand at the front of that unenviable line? The coach? The players? The Raptors Dance Pak?
Since Colangelo said last week that he believes Toronto has "arguably underutilized some of that talent," Sam Mitchell can’t be feeling overly comfortable, contractual security notwithstanding. But you want to lay blame - and for any chance to pull the upset in Florida - look high and look low. Look at Andrea Bargnani, and look at T.J. Ford.
"I think when you guys talk to T.J., he’ll tell you that he is just now starting to feel comfortable getting hit," said Mitchell before the game. "You don’t sustain the type of injury he had and all of the sudden you start bouncing on the floor. All of a sudden you don’t stop looking behind you … I can see certain things that T.J. does out there that he’s tentative.
"It hurts us. Last year a lot of the plays at the end of the game, we put the ball in T.J.’s hands. And T.J. was able to get to the basket, get a foul, create a shot for himself, or create a shot for his teammate."
"Dirk Nowitzki, the first two years in the league, we used to draw straws in the locker room to see who was going to get to guard him," said Mitchell. "We used to draw straws because it was a 7-footer who we felt like couldn’t go past us and couldn’t post us up. No one is drawing straws to guard Dirk now."
Yeah, but Dirk averaged 17.5 points on 46% shooting his second year, and he was one year younger than Bargnani is now.
Bosh, Raptors Shine Against Hapless Heat
If ever there was a cautionary tale about the uncertainties of the lottery, it was on display Monday in the form of Raptors center Andrea Bargnani. Imagine if that was your No. 1 overall pick?
While T.J. Ford could shake free in the offseason, with Toronto to do all it takes to retain Jose Calderon, Ford no longer stands as a coveted commodity. He was outplayed Monday by Chris Quinn, who towered over him.
Classy move by the Raptors, acknowledging, during a first-quarter timeout, Riley’s selection to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Magic much rather would have faced the young Sixers who have been rebuilding since dealing Allen Iverson. Philadelphia is the only team in the postseason not to have an all-star player.
Instead the Magic will play the Raptors, who have all-star Chris Bosh and a deadly point guard tandem of T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon.
The Magic beat the Raptors two of three times this season.
"There’s three main things that concern me with Toronto," Coach Stan Van Gundy said. "One, Bosh is a guy who is very difficult to stop. Two, they’re pick-and-roll game is terrific, especially when they play it with Bosh. Three, they have shooting, like we do.
"They will be very tough."
Van Gundy said he would have to give Bosh different defensive looks. With Rasho Nesterovic now the starting center, Van Gundy said he and his staff would have to figure out whether Rashard Lewis would defend Bosh.
Dwight Howard usually has been assigned to Bosh. "We could go with Rashard and maybe Hedo (Turkoglu). I’m sure we’ll have Dwight on him some, too. I don’t know," Van Gundy said.
Of greater concern for the Magic is the pick-and-roll game executed so well by Calderon when they are playing. In the Raptors’ 127-110 rout of the Magic in Toronto Feb. 20, Calderon ran the Magic in circles, and Bosh matched Howard’s big night.
It’s a dangerous matchup for the Magic, who haven’t won a first-round series since 1996.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Bosh said. “Dwight (Howard) is a good friend of mine, but he’s one of the best competitors that I have in this league. You know he’s going to go hard. We have to get a game plan ready for him. We know he’s a big, strong, physical presence on the inside.”
Nesterovic was 10-for-19 from the field, scoring double figures for the 17th consecutive game, and grabbed seven rebounds.
`He’s been playing great all year and he’s especially picked it up lately,” Bosh said. “The thing I love about him is he never steps outside of his boundaries. He knows what he’s good at, he doesn’t try to do too much. When that right hook is falling, he’s mean.”
Raptors forward Chris Bosh was a teammate of Dwight Howard on the Eastern Conference All-Star team, and they are expected to play together again this summer with the USA Basketball team at the Olympic Games in Beijing. Bosh missed Toronto’s second loss to the Magic, but he was big in the first two games, getting 26 points in Orlando’s Nov. 7 victory in Toronto and 40 points in Orlando’s 127-110 loss in Toronto on Feb. 20.
The Raptors’ point guards — T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon — also have given the Magic some trouble. Calderon had 19 points and 13 assists in Orlando’s Feb. 20 loss. Ford had 20 points in the Raptors’ 102-87 loss in Orlando on March 4, the game in which Bosh did not play.
In conclusion, this game taught me that the Raptors have serious issues with motivation which is the only thing that I count on Sam Mitchell to provide. If this is how we’ll start playoff games, I’m betting on a 4-0 sweep. No, seriously, this kind of effort and intensity coming out of the gate is what makes for embarrassing playoff series. Only one game to go to fix our “energy problems”, after that its all upto matchups, Chris Bosh v Dwight Howard, guarding Turkoglu/Lewis and the X-Factor Bargnani.
I have a question, and it is plaguing me: does Swirsky, in his heart-of-hearts, actually believe the Raptors can beat Orlando in the playoffs, or is it the PR machine in full effect? I just want to break that series down quickly:
- The Magic have great two guys called Rashard Lewis and Hedu Turkoglu. These guys play the 2 and 3 spots, positions the Raptors have no way of stopping.
- The Magic have a guy called Stan Van Gundy. If you thought the masterful job Lawrence Frank did last year in the playoffs was something, wait till you see what SVG does with the Magic.
- Moon will get 15-17 looks a game, and miss 11-13 of them.
- Forderon will get outplayed by Arroyo/Nelson at the point.
Say what you will about how poorly Toronto has played in the last quarter of the year (9-16 in their last 25), but this is a good matchup for the Raptors. T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon can dominate Jameer Nelson, while one of Dwight Howard’s few weaknesses is Chris Bosh.
You’re not going to get any guarantees here, however I will confirm that this matchup favors Toronto in a best-of-seven series.
Toronto is clearly backing into the playoffs and it doesn’t seem like they are nearly the team they were last season as they headed into the postseason, but this year’s version of the Raptors are more playoff ready.
So you’ll forgive me if I had the urge to throw something at the TV when post-game, Chris Bosh stood at center court and applauded and gestured for the fans to make noise in response to the win. Bosh was decent, but hardly dominant, and the rest of his team was putrid at times making CB4’s recent comments that much tougher to swallow.
This team just hasn’t played well in a long time and right now and could use a serious injection of confidence before the playoffs kick off.
In fact confidence is a funny thing.
You could see that the more turnovers Toronto racked up last night, and the more shots they forced up, the more Miami got into the game and jumped on Toronto. Miami seemed to say to itself “hey, this team is overrated, we can take these guys!” while the Raptors, showed about as much confidence as a 42 year-old virgin heading to a brothel.
I really wanted to see the Raptors come out strong against a just plain bad Heat team, a team they should easily dominate, but that obviously wasn’t the case, as they trailed for three-quarters of the game. Honestly you can’t even blame the back-to-back games for their struggles because the Heat played yesterday night in Cleveland, while the Raptors had the advantage of a noon start time, so there really is no excuse.
Bad news for us, because I really would prefer to play Philadelphia. But the Raptors haven’t played well lately and are vulnerable. Then again, we aren’t exactly blowing teams out either. Maybe a matchup against the Magic is just what the Raptors need. Chris Bosh (averaging 33.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, .645 FG% vs. Orlando this season) and Jose Calderon (14.3 points, 7.3 assists, .600 FG%) must be salivating right now…
I’m not looking forward to the playoffs. It’s nice to be there, but that’s simply not good enough. And against the Raptors, I’m not sure we’ll stick around very long.
This is what it boils down to: LaMarcus Aldridge took on a huge role in his second season. His team’s record improved dramatically (in a historically tough Western Conference), as did his statistics. On the other hand, Andrea Bargnani reacted to increased expectations in his second season by slumping hard. His team’s record worsened (in a historically bad Eastern Conference), as did his statistics. Neither player is wholly responsible for improvement or lack thereof of their respective teams, but give credit where credit is due.
And just so we’re clear, that credit should go to LaMarcus.
The best in the business did the American national broadcast of yesterday’s Raptors @ Pistons game. This is what he had to say about Toronto & Detroit, as these two teams finish off the regular season schedule later this week and look ahead to the start of the post-season tournament.
Enjoy!
Apr 15th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Sent my email….
Arsenalist’s last blog post..Unmotivated Raptors crawl past Heat, get Magic in playoffs
Apr 15th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I just wanted to say I am fully in support of keeping Jack Armstrong. I have tried to bring up this Topic several times in my blog to make fans aware. I had wrote a blog about Armstrong before this became an issue. I had passed it along and was happy to get an email back from Jack himself. Since then I have stayed in touch with him through e-mails. I just wanted to let everyone know that he is very happy that Raptor fans have been showing him support so I encourage everyone to do what they can to HELP JACK stay a part of Raptors Basketball.
James Dino Nation Blogger’s last blog post..Superman Is Coming
Apr 15th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
James is right. He is one of the original guys to start the ball rolling on this topic and his efforts in bringing this to the forefront are partially responsible for the groundswell.
Everybody should be clicking the link above. Everybody.
Scott’s last blog post..Linkage - April 15
Apr 16th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Thanks Scott I posted a link to my score BULLHORN on this topic in my blog for 04/16/08. Hopeful people can go on there and let the score know how they feel. I have little confidence in the folks at MLSE doing the right thing on their own.