The Morning After The Night Before, LVII

The wave? You people in the stands were doing the wave? What was it, ‘80s night? Yeesh. Helluva game, though, wasn’t it? Close, pretty well played, in doubt to the final seconds. You got your money’s worth. And I presume lots of people who need it are thanking the nice ones among you for the free slice of pizza they’ll have this afternoon.

And away we go

Three Things I Learned

Head you off at the pass

No, T.J. Ford did not lose them the game; no Sam Mitchell did not lose them the game. Ford has to play, Calderon isn’t going to go 48 minutes and a 39-14 split was about right. Ford’s start of the fourth quarter – two missed layups and a turnover – weren’t great but there were lots of instances after that at least contributed.

Bargnani’s foul on Jamison in the final 30 seconds was a mental blip; AP missing that shot (the same shot he makes with regularity) late in overtime hurt, so did Stevenson’s tip of Jamison’s miss at the end of regulation.

I killed both Ford and Mitchell after Orlando, they don’t get the same treatment today.

Last night was just a game where one team won by making more plays down the stretch. That team wasn’t Toronto.

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A pet peeve

Regular readers, and irregular ones, know that I’m generally okay with refs, who have the hardest job in all pro sports, in my opinion. You’ve got big, fast guys colliding on every possession in a very small area and they could probably call a foul on every play.

But there’s one call that irks me no end and we saw it last night.

Parker’s going to basket a bit off balance, tosses up a shot while he’s bumped by DeShawn Stevenson with about three minutes left in the third. The shot misses and about a second and a half later, the whistle blows and a foul is called.

It was one of those “if the ball goes in, they don’t blow the whistle” deals and I hate ‘em.

End of rant.

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Still on ugly shots

For last night’s entry, I give you Andrea’s ‘lean-in-try-to-draw-a-foul’ attempt in the first quarter that hit the side of the backboard.

Of course, when he finally gets it right, leaning into Darius Songalia and getting the call, he ends up missing both free throws.

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Adam out in Walla Walla, Washington’s been pestering for a couple of days with this kind of good stuff:

In reference to the email I sent you last night, I understand it may have been a bit wordy--feel free to edit it or this one.
But my main point still stands: I want to see 1,000 Raptors fans on Sunday waving "Save the Sonics" signs. It can happen, right?

I don’t think it can happen, unless someone gets 1,000 signs printed up today and hands ‘em out ‘cause even snowbound, I’m thinking Raptor fans aren’t all that emotional about Seattle.

They should be, though. It’s one of the great cities and storied franchises in the league. Losing it for Oklahoma City (no disrespect to Oklahomans) would suck.

Trouble is, I entirely understand not using public money to fund arenas for pro sports teams (although the folks in Washington did help out the Seahawks and Mariners, so why not the Sonics?) and that’s one of the sticking issues out there.

There were reports this week that a local group of the uber-rich may ride in at the last minute to save the day but that’s a longshot.

Maybe some folks at home can make some signs to show their distaste for the impending move, maybe a big ovation when they introduce the starters.

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Speaking of the Sonics, they were edged by 37 in Philly on Friday and it’s a full-on youth movement as Percy Allen explains here. And here's how last night's game played in the pages of the Washington Post.

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So, Alexander Johnson gets suspended for smacking Andrea – the only right thing to do.

Not sure what this says, but it does say something: There have been three guys suspended for hitting Raptors this season (Al Horford and Anthony Johnson of Atlanta, Miami’s Johnson) and not one single Raptor has even had a Flagrant Penalty I called all season.

But, as they say, it’s been forever thus.

In the long and not-so-storied history of the franchise only two players – Keon Clark for elbowing Troy Murphy in 2001 and Corliss Williamson for getting in a scrap with Tom Gugliotta – have ever been suspended for on-court acts of aggression.

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One more from the full mailbag and don’t forget to check back here tomorrow for the usual bonus instalment.

Q: A lot of talk of Andrea’s play of late and watching the last couple games I’ve noticed he’s coming up short and flat on quite a few of his jumpers (off front rim). I’ve often heard that this can be attributed to fatigue, is this true, or do you feel he is just plain struggling?
Also, it seems that Andrea too easily allows poor offensive nights (which are often) spill over into other parts of his game.  For example, on nights he goes 2-11 from the field it’s as if he forgets to rebound or help on the weak side D. On nights that he has it going, such as versus the Knicks, he goes 9-17 from the field with seven boards and does his best impersonation of Forderon with five dimes. Is this mental? What can Sam/teammates do to remind Bargnani that he is capable of contributing to the team when his shot is not falling?

Rohit D, Brampton

A: What can they do? Do just what they do every single day of the season. Remind of the other things he has to do, rebound, play defence, pass up shots if his isn’t falling. It’s up to him to listen.

As for the flat jumper? They have this shot-retrieval contraption in the practice gym and we’ve seen him working with it often. At first glance, it looks like simply a machine that gets funnels balls down to kind of gun that shoots ‘em back out at the shooter. We figured it was an unnecessary luxury since they’ve got about a billion staffers who could rebound for him.

And then Jay Triano pointed out to us that the sides of the thing extend up above the rim, forcing the shooter to put extra arc on his shot.

Ingenious. And something Bargnani needs to work more on.

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And finally, we’d be remiss without some props to travel guy/equipment guru Kevin DiPietro, who was apparently named Most Valuable Player or Employee Of The Month or somesuch by the MLSEL folks the other day.

Kevvy’s biggest contribution? Besides answering questions about practice times, gym availability and whatever else we need to know was that he manufactured the ball racks Jason Kapono used to practice before the three-point shot contest this year.

Not sure what untold riches he got for the victory but I’m sure it’ll be enough to take and his backroom partner Paul Elliott (not to mention a beat grunt or two) out for a cocktail sometime.

Comments

[Zack]

Doug, you're the man so you would know better than me but didn't Mo Pete recieve a flagrant when he play-slapped VC a few years back? I remember him getting ejected.

Blogger's note: That was an ejection without a Flagrant Penalty II or a suspension. Check with the NBA on it last night just to confirm.

[Matt]

Oh give me a break. If Jose can't play 48 minutes then get him his rest before the fourth quarter. In a tight game you have your best players on the floor when it counts. Do Chris Paul, D. Williams or Nash sit in the fourth of a game they can win? No.

Blogger's note: Actually, Nash sits at the start of every fourth quarter. About three or four minutes, it's his usual rest. The other two? I'm not sure about.

[HC]

With the 76ers coming on strong and the Wiz not all that far behind the Raps in the standings, chances of Toronto falling into 7th (and facing either the Pistons or Celtics in the first round) before it's all said and done now seems like a realistic possibility. This team looks absolutely horrible without Bosh and if he can't go during the Western trip, I wonder if they'll win any of those games. Colangelo has to change this team up in the offseason and bring in someone who can rebound and play tenacious defence, and be a consistent scoring option behind Bosh...and if that means getting rid of one of the PGs (preferably TJ), Kapono, etc, to do it, then he should. The only one who should remain untouchable is Chris.

[Doug S]

Jose +10; TJ -14 - honestly - how can you say this game was not TJ's fault. It clearly was. And I know you don't like the plus minus but how leads were blown with TJ on the floor and re-gained with Jose reinserted?

[Kevin D.]

Here's an idea: sign-and-trade Calderon for a star SF this offseason who can score, rebound and play D. (There's no way TJ is going to fetch comparable star value; although in the event it can be done, definitely go that route). Then bring in Roko as the backup.

[CARLoS M.]

What's with Bargnani not finishing at the basket? I get so excited when he drives, it adds such a nice alternative to his pump fake, step aside, and shoot. But why is it that he can't seem to finish? Just dunk it already! He's 7ft tall for crying out loud. Why all the finger rolls? I'd rather see him draw a foul by trying to dunk on somebody than a lean in jumper.

[GM]

"Remind of the other things he has to do, rebound, play defence, pass up shots if his isn’t falling. It’s up to him to listen."

I dunno, Douglas. Coaches can do so much more than just remind guys to rebound and play D. There are specific drills and motivational tools. If it were that easy, you and I could coach. Yes, the player should shoulder much of the blame, but the coaching staff has to do more than just rag on a guy every day. If it's not working, find something else that might work.

Has everyone read Bill Simmons' two excellent columns (essentially huge mailbags) about the Sonics situation? It's a must-read. Google it.

[Jason Ohashi]

Why does everyone love Roko Ukic so much? His stat line isn't all that impressive and watching him on youtube really isn't that impressive either. Don't get me wrong, he looks like he deserves to play at the pro level but like Doug always say, everyone hypes him up to be in the Hall of Fame already. Like am I missing something? I can live with Roko being a third stringer, but a backup? I don't know because even if the Raps get something great back at SF and assuming they lose Jose, I think that loss would hurt them too much because I really lack confidence in Roko, at least in the first year, and it'll feel like a step back. (Jose wasn't the greatest in his first year)

Blogger's note: All good points. Except one. The "assuming they lose Jose" is a dead wrong assumption. I'm not sure what more you need the president and general manager to say than what he has but Jose Calderon is not going anywhere. Period. End of story. Listen to the man who counts and who controls Jose's fate.

[Gerald]

"Here's an idea: sign-and-trade Calderon for a star SF this offseason who can score, rebound and play D."

Please identify that small forward (keeping in mind that the Raps currently are starting the THIRD BEST rebounding small forward in the league).

[Jason Ohashi]

I know they're not going to lose Jose, just going with what Kevin D. said and using Jose in a trade.

[Sean S]

I'm assuming that Bosh is a no-go for tomorrow, or is no one entirely sure yet?

P.S. I'm still trying to find out whether a player gets a technical foul if he's not wearing underwear. (I'm guessing it's a moot point considering it's unlikely for anyone to know he's not wearing underwear.)

Blogger's note: Bosh is a no-go.
The other part is ridiculous and shockingly immature, which is why I ignored it the first time you sent it. And I will in the future so, please, don't try it again. Thanks

[notfit]

Amazing. A guy can pick out one stat off a boxscore and "clearly" determine that this loss was TJ's fault. Last time I checked basketball was a team game. TJ was one of five players on the floor for 14 out of 53 minutes yet somehow this loss was his fault. Does TJ deserve some of the blame? Of course, but he shares it with the other nine Raptors who played and the coaching staff.

[Dave]

Doug:

You missed Matt Bonner's flagrant foul on Kevin Garnett on December 15, 2004.

"Raptors' Bonner was ejected for flagrantly fouling Garnett. After Bonner knocked Garnett to the floor with 5:24 left in the fourth, Garnett charged the rookie forward. Official Anthony Jordan and Raptors coach Sam Mitchell held Garnett back, but Latrell Sprewell ran toward Bonner and pushed him.

"It was a hard foul. That really didn't even spark me until I saw him pointing into the crowd like he's some enforcer," Garnett said."

Blogger's note: It was on the list but there was no suspension so it didn't make the cut. Thanks, though, it was a special Matt Moment.

[GoRapsGo]

I was at the game and here are my observations.

TJ definitely was not entirely at fault. TJ is not a pass-first PG and it will take a long time for that to happen. His team mates should realize that and should adjust to his style of play. In the first half, TJ made some good passes however you could tell that he wanted to shoot.

It's not all the players fault either, Mitchell should also consider how the players he puts out there matches up together (I feel that our team philosophy is to match up against the other team and not worry so much about if the players on the floor know how to work together). TJ needs one of the bigs (Rasho) or a slasher type player in the paint (??) when he tries to goes in. Having all perimeter players does not work with TJ's style of play.

Anyways, GO RAPS GO ... its still exciting basketball that we are seeing. Not so worried about how they finish this year in the end as long as they are in the playoffs and learn from the experiences.

[lulu]

Here's the solution to TJ.

Let TJ start, let him play 5 to 10 minutes in the first and third, then we get JC to finish the first half and the game. This ways he can play the hole 2Q and 4Q. It seems to me that the only way we are going to get anything good from TJ is by making him the starter, and since JC doesn't mind coming off the bench we can making the finisher.

Last post of night! Kids it's time to go to bed