The Morning After The Night Before, XXVI

Remember when the Raptors could defend? Like earlier this week in Los Angeles? Not sure if it’s the rain up here in the Pacific northwest that made their brains short-circuit or what but that was as bad a defensive game as they’ve played in years.

Funny thing was, it wasn’t like a real road game. There were so many Raptor jerseys in the joint, it was like being at a neutral site game. Too bad they didn’t get a better show.

Anyway …

Three Things I Learned

Who’s to blame?

There were so many mistakes by so many people, it’s not fair to single out any one or two guys. Except that Sam did.

He was ticked, it seems, at the efforts of Rasho Nesterovic and Jamario Moon, and rightfully so.

Here’s Sam post-game:

"Rasho takes the best inside guy and Jamario takes the best perimeter guy and the last couple of games we’re letting those two guys … get off to a good start and then it makes it tough."

I can’t see a change to the starting lineup coming tonight or anything but I’m also not sure how long until Mitchell will go with the status quo.

What’s he do? How about Delfino at the three? Maybe Hump at the five? That’d be a different look, wouldn’t it?

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Yes, that was Juan Dixon you saw

Why last night? No one knows but if Dixon can provide that kind of 11- or 12-minute relief nightly for Jose Calderon, Sam has to keep playing him. He’s a threat to score in a couple of different ways, his shoot-first proclivity seems to have disappeared – for now – because he’s getting other guys involved and, while small, he’s a passable defender.

So Sam should keep playing him.

And while we’re on the subject of point guards, how about Jose? Sixteen assists and one turnover! That’s playing.

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At least they checked this time

There were 31 seconds left in a five-point game, the Sonics were in-bounding the ball and every single player on the court looked over at the bench to see if Mitchell wanted them to foul.

If they’d done that the other night in Portland, who knows what would have happened.

They did foul the Sonics and they did ultimately lose but it’s apparent something good came out of the Portland loss.

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Three Things You Wondered

Q: I agree with you on Bargnani, he is soft but fans should leave him alone and let him work on his game, he is only a sophomore. My question: I lived in Seattle from 69-73 and they had a fantastic player Spencer Haywood, whatever happened to him. I seem to remember that he had a bad knee injury and I heard he had done the Lew Alcindor thing and changed his name. Is he still around?

David, Ottawa

A: A good Sonic question for after a Sonic game.

Spencer Haywood is still Spencer Haywood, we got to hang out with him a lot in Italy and Spain during training camp. He does some ambassador work for the NBA and was with the Raptors over there, on the same commercial flight as us from Rome to Madrid, too.

He’s got a lot of different business things going and looks like he could still play.

And if you remember him, he was unbelievable when he first came into the league, a great, great player.

Oh, and some Spencer Haywood trivia: He was married once to Iman, the woman now wed to David Bowie.

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Q: Can’t blame this one at all on the coaches, this was all on the players and their execution. How many layups and dunks did Seattle have in the second half? Too many by my count. Tomorrow night will be ugly in Phoenix.

My question: How long can you see BC let this team slide before pulling the trigger on a deal? It would not be a shock at all if the Raptors went 0-4 on the rest of this trip and that brings them back under .500.

Chris, Toronto

A: If there’s one thing Bryan Colangelo hates more than an ill-fitting suit, it’s losing. I would imagine he’s working the phones now trying to find out if anybody’s got anything to help. Not sure what’s out there, or what he’d have to offer besides the predictable – Joey, Juan, maybe Rasho – but you can bet he’s looking.

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Q: All summer I heard that Kapono can play D.  The argument was that if he played for Miami and slick hair than necessarily he can play D. Evidently that was not true. He is a horrible defender, shockingly bad.

Jordan, Toronto

A: Shockingly bad? That might be an overstatement but it’s true his defence is lacking. Sorely. Funny thing is, we were told he was a good ‘system’ defender in Miami; guess they’ve got a different system.

But his offence is so good, there’s going to be room for him to play and he’ll get a little latitude because of it.

Watch him, though. Usually within seconds of entering a game he commits a foul, often a silly one and that’s what drives Sam mad.

However, if he keeps shooting like he has been, he’s going to play.

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Thanks everyone

A dozen or so folks e-mailed this in from NBA.com after I fumbled the ball on the consecutive games with a blocked shot question:

Atlanta’s Josh Smith has now gone a full calendar year (beginning Dec. 12, 2006) without failing to record a blocked shot in any game he’s played. His streak of 75 consecutive games with a blocked shot dwarfs the next-longest active streak (Marcus Camby, 18), and is the longest in the NBA since Dikembe Mutombo went 116 consecutive games with a blocked shot between Jan. 20, 1995 and April 2, 1996.

Comments

[Arlene Erven]

My concern now is the predictable Raptor offense. Teams have figured out the pick and rolls, and are able to defend these with
more ease. Raptor players aren't that creative and get stymied,
often very slow with offensive sets which lets defence get set.
What would you suggest by way of changing offense? Does Sam have
anything else up his sleeve?

Blogger's note: They tweak the offence every game a little bit, move people around subtly. I don't think there's any major overhaul coming, or necessary.

[Zack]

I gotta agree with Doug. While Kapono is not a great defender by any means, he manages to get by. We didn't sign him to a four-year deal for his rebounding and man-to-man defense.

After watching the last 3 games (even though the Clips game was a W, it was an ugly W) I really think that Chris Bosh needs to step up and be more of a leader ala Kevin Garnett. Bosh needs to talk to his guys on the floor more and push them to know what they need to do every night. The frustrating part is, Bosh is very soft. Even when you beat grunts mention playing a little tougher to him, he usually retorts with "That's not my type of game". Well Bosh, if you want to remain the cornerstone of a franchise, you need to act like one. Get this team on track before it's too late.

[Zack]

And before anyone tries to say "It's only a game, they play again tonight. That's the beauty of the NBA", I don't buy it. There is no excuse for dropping two games in a row to inferior and rebuilding teams. The Raps are no longer a new team with nine new guys yet they still play like it.

[David G]

Doug, Sam had his reasons for last night's loss, but I have mine. Watching a number of Sonics games this year, I've noticed that teams that double team Kevin Durant consistently are successful at containing those huge scoring outburst that will make him a superstar some day. Yes, that allows other Seattle players to become heros, but they are such a mentally fragile team that if Durant is being shut down, you can beat them even if Wally Szczerbiak or Chris Wilcox is having an above average game.

So why not double team Durant consistently? We doubled him once on the perimetre and forced a turnover, but he went off like mad in the second half and that was a major reason for the Raptors defeat?

Did our advance scouting miss something? Maybe they need a subscription to Raptors TV because doubling Durant is a common way to deal with Seattle.

[Darko Dubajic]

What a pathetic display of " Prayer Defence " in Seattle, you know the one where the only thing you do on defence you PRAY that opponent does not score.
I have an issue with Sam singling out Rasho and Moonshine for last two games. He should thank Rasho for the only win on this trip so far, for completely frustrating red-hot C. Kaman in LA
And, was he not checking Prizbila in Portland.
On the other hand Moonshine was giving too much space to Durant, but it says on NBA.com that he is shooting 40% FG's, and 32% 3 Pt's. I would bet lot of money that Raptors scouting report would say make Durant a shooter and not slasher, and with those numbers rightfuly so.
What concerns me more is, at the best, average defence that CB plays and that combined with his tendency to fall in love with jumpers more often is simply not up to level that he should be playing at.

[Max Webster]

We used to be a crappy team, now we are mediocre. BC may not be as good a GM as Danny Ainge but at least we are moving in the right direction.

[GM]

Now I have a bit better understanding why the Raptors fans are so crazy. I went to the Seattle game last night. It's the only chance I have to catch the team live. And for the second year in a row, they were a major disappointment. Good thing I didn't pay anything more than 25 bucks for nosebleeds.
Sam could have singled out Bosh, too, for all his fumbles and bone-headed plays. And he could have singled himself out for keeping Jose out for as long as he did at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth. As Doug said, there was enough blame to go around for everyone.

[lennox]

i agree with that guy zack. bosh has to just keep on his players to play better. sam needs to start delfino over parker to get more athletic. this team has had problems with athletic wings all year and will continue to unless some changes are made. we have been talking about getting this team more athletic for years to no avail. will bc finally make the move now? we are still only a jump shooting team. it is not in the character of this present lineup to get to the rim aside from bosh. this road trip is another sign of how much we miss tj. he is not afraid to carry a team on his back.

how is the tj/jose debate coming along now that we lost a couple of games with jose at the helm?

[Wyatt S.]

I'm not sure what is more pathetic, Doug Smith's belief that he understands basketball or Sam Mitchell's substitution abilities??

Blogger's note: Yes, one of the great mysteries of the world, isn't it?

[Tim Sonoma]

Why are people focusing on Doug Smith who is a simple newspaper writer? Doug Smith isn't paid enough to fly first class, eat steaks & lobsters every night, or buy decent suits.

But.... Sam Mitchell and his team is paid enough to enjoy such things. Which is certainly irritating given the Raptors poor play.

Things to improve the Raptors now:

1) Quit being a jump-shot only team and acquire a real slasher to help Bosh and Delfino.
2) Fire Sam Mitchell - the players are tuning him out real fast.
3) Get rid of Chuck Swirsky (no he doesn't affect the Raptors play but he is an annoying cheerleader).
4) Acquire a real back-up point guard if TJ is done for the year.

Blogger's note: Your opinions are your opinions and you are entitled to them but since I don't recall ever meeting you in the locker room or at a practice or at a game or at a shootaround, you cannot get be allowed to get away with saying the players are tuning the coach out.
That's simply not true. And should you actually be around these guys six or seven days a week and see the interaction between coaches and players, you wouldn't make such silly assertions.
Now, I'm going to back to my lobster before the tailor gets here.