The Morning After The Night Before, LIII

How conflicted are some of you today? They lose but you get pizza? Probably doesn’t taste as good, does it?

Just remember, though, everything you saw last night has to be tempered by the fact Bosh left so early.

And on with the show

Three Things I Learned

Small experiment, small returns

The great Jose-T.J. experiment fizzled and it’s probably the last time we see it for any stretch of time. But the reasoning behind it was solid: Everyone was getting torched by dribble penetration (like we haven’t heard that before) and it was a futile attempt to get some quick guys on the floor. And trying something, anything because it was obvious 10 minutes in that none of the perimeter guys were getting the job done. Guess he could have stayed with them and the game would never have got close.

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He’s gonna lose his voice

If Sam screams at Jamario to get up on the perimeter and guard his man one more time, I swear the coach’s head might explode right in front of us. Half a dozen times every game it happens. And it generally ends with the rook on the bench. It’s the fatal flaw in Moon’s game. And I don’t know what you can do to fix it except scream at him, and wait for the explosion.

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Mix and match

Here’s one simple and undeniable fact about this team’s roster: Of the four swingmen – Moon, Parker, Delfino and Kapono – you have no idea for sure what you’re going to get every night. That’s why you see a lot of shuttling in and out of those two spots, trying to find the combination that’s working that game. And that’s why you’re going to continue seeing Sam shuttle the four of them in and out even in the playoffs trying to figure out who’s going well in any particular game.

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Here’s a game-specific mailbag question:

Q: Former puckhead here so be gentle. I noticed in last night's Indiana debacle that many times when the Raps pump faked (i.e. Bargs at the 3-point line), they had the Pacers leaving their feet and jumping out at them. With their lack of free throw attempts, couldn't they just make the Reggie Miller-jump into the defender in the air as you shoot- shot attempt to draw the foul or is it not that easy to draw the foul?

Tim B, Cambridge

A: Yes, they could. And should. But that’s a play that comes with experience and not many of these guys have enough of that. You can tell them to make that move – and the coaches do – but it’s got to be up to the specific player to see what’s going on.

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Great line

Stephen Graham misses a three-pointer in the third quarter and a guy turns to me and says:

"That’s Bad Stephen.”

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Let’s see how Mike Wells in the Indianapolis Star chronicled that glorious Pacer victory.

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Did you notice in the silly beach ball competition that the winner was in the upper deck?

Chalk one up for the cheap seats and the folks in Section 310 should be commended for keeping the ball up there.

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Fair? I think not.

From the mail:

Q: I think this is a pretty fair question and would love to hear your opinion: How many games do you think Sam Mitchell was outcoached this year? And how many games did he outcoach the opponent's coach?

Josip M, Oakville

A: You remember every single stretch of every single game? I don’t. And I’m not going back through every boxscore to look.

So I’ll say seven and eight.

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Olden days

A few of you liked that hot dog on the bench story from Year 1 so here’s another tale from back in the day.

Think it was Year 2 and a player – who shall remain nameless – was injured and sitting on the bench in street clothes when he spies a fine looking young lady in the front row across the court.

Enterprising young fella that he was, he sends a bellboy or someone over to the lady with a note and his phone number.

Didn’t quite turn out to be a blissful meeting, the woman was actually at the game with the son of a very, very, very, very senior executive with the team.

They were not amused.

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Some old mail, cleaning up before we run the rest of ‘em in Sunday’s bonus mailbag

Q: Hey Doug, am sure you’re not a huge football (sorry, soccer) fan, but I was wondering if you saw or heard of the terrible injury the an Arsenal footballer called Eduardo suffered last Saturday where his bone tore through his calf? Now to my main question, what is the worst injury you can think of that’s happened to an NBA player? Mine is probably Shaun Livingston's injury when his kneecap went out of place.

Chaz E, London, UK

A: I did see video of that ghastly injury. I’m not sure I go as far as Arsene Wenger and think Martin Taylor should never play football again, but something has to happen.

In the NBA? Livingston’s was horrific but so was Garbo’s last year. We were at the other end of the court and could hear him scream and see the ankle twisted the wrong way. And when Boston’s Tony Allen went down after that post-whistle dunk, it was pretty ugly, too.

Am sure there are others but those two come quickly to mind.

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Q: A fun little question for you and then a basketball 101. If the Raptors had a three-point contest, who would be in it and how would the rounds and points in your estimation break down? Even though it’s a given Kapono would win there might be someone who would give him more of a challenge then all-star weekend.

As for the 101, can you explain the main concepts/purpose of a zone defense and what makes a good one? What are the little things to keep in mind when playing it to make it effective. My friends and I try to use it once in a while in our pick up games but we just suck at it.

Del L, Unionville

A: I did the three-point shot thing a week ago in a mailbag, I had Kapono winning over, man, I can’t remember who. You can go check it out, I’ve got more mail to do.

What makes a good zone? Length up top so it’s harder to pass side to side, quickness in getting to shooters in the corners and smarts in finding offensive rebounders to block out.

The concept is two-fold: It’s to force teams to be jump shooters rather than allowing them to pound the ball inside and it can be used to change the pace of a game because it tends to slow possessions down.

And don’t worry, lots of NBA teams suck at it, too.

Comments

[Gerald]

Is Jason Kapono not using his deadliest weapon because he is worried about his percentage going down? I can't help but think that when I look at the boxscore and see that he has few to no attempts. On average as a team we have three fewer attempts per game than anyone we play...and we're the best trey shooting team going. Not advocating we start jacking them up like Bargs but it would be nice to be able to use our second most formidable weapon more consistently.

Blogger's note: Toronto's actually 13th in the league in three-pointers attempted per game.

[Andy Wu]

One thing I really don't understand is why Sam always makes substitutions to match up against other team’s lineup on the floor. I have never seen him counteract by putting a lineup that would attack the other team’s weakness. Take last night’s game for example. We all know that O’Neil is hurt and Granger is suspended, so the Pacers were forced to put out a small, athletic, and quick lineup for most of the game. So Sam chose to put out Jose, TJ, AP, JK (not like he can stop anyone’s drive), and Joey/AB just so that we can go small and play into what the Pacers want? I am not saying which will work better, but why not counteract by putting out a big lineup out there and pound the ball inside? I would rather have the Pacer’s Harrison on the court than any one of their other bigs. Maybe try having Rasho, Brezec, and Andrea on at the same time and see if it works (I know this sounds crazy). It is not like TJ with lighting speed wasn’t getting beat of the dribble or shoot over by the whole Pacer’s team anyways. The bottom line is instead of adjusting to the other team’s strength, why not try and attack the other team’s weakness and force the other team to adjust?

[Zack]

Tough loss last night, Bosh or no Bosh. One thing I don't get is why Sam is always trying to match-up with other teams, like going small when Indy went small? Why not make other teams adjust to us? Why not throw in a big line-up and try and alter the way they play? It couldn't have gone any worse than what was happening on the court last night.

[Mike]

I don't remember ever seeing so many "and-1s" in a game as the Pacers had last night. Do you have any idea what the actual number was? And do you think Marquis Daniels has Marquis Daniels on his "fantasy" team or something? That last minute where he was heaving up shots and almost let the Raptors back in the game was unbelievable.

Blogger's note: I don't have my play-by-play in front of me (I'm currently standing outside the practice court waiting for practice to end) so I don't know the exact number. But there were a lot and it's a direct result of Toronto being unable to stop dribble penetration and then having to help and scramble in the paint.

[Mike D]

Doug, loved the anecdote from Year 2. I wonder if the player (who shall, of course, remain nameless) had a given name rhyming with "Q-Bert."

[Jim]

Couple of points on last night's game:

-Moon HAS to stop shooting jumpshots, his first option should be drive or pass it out.

-Stephen is better than Joey

-Chuck calling Stephen Joey several times was unintentional comedy

-Delfino disappeared

-And regarding using a big lineup to force Jim O'Brien to his 5: it only works if your bigs are major scoring threat. Rasho and Prezec isn't.

[Jim K]

Before I respond, I need to remember that Bosh was out? Sorry - but we ONLY had Bosh out. Indiana had O'Neil, Granger and Tinsley out. Without Bosh, we still should have beat that team by 20.

Horrible horrible loss - no two ways about it.

[Jason Ohashi]

I understand Jim's point about the bigs but I think Andy and Zack's point is valid to go big because really, it's not like anything was working. The one time they got into the game, Moon got an offensive foul and it went downhill from there. I'm not blaming Moon, it's just what happened.

[Paul M.]

And...do we have any form of update on Bosh's injury yet?

Blogger's note: If you check the blog now, you do.

[LS]

The Raptors simply aren't that talented once you get past Bosh. The 2nd best player on the team is either Ford or Calderon. That's 2 borderline All-Star PG talents as your 2nd best. Not too impressive.

When any team loses its best scorer, rebounder and 2nd best interior defender (after Rasho) you are going to struggle.

[Dan West]

The Raptors should have easily won last night since they have the better team. YOu have to give Indiana credit though. The Raptors bought Graham at full price and definatly overpayed for what he can do. The Pacers waited for Graham to go on sale and now their version is looking nicer then the Raptors and works better too.

[gerald]

Bloggees note: So you don't see a discrepancy between a team that is the best three point shooting team in the league and the fact that they are halfway down the pack in attempts? And Kapono in particular takes significantly fewer attempts than any of the major chuckers. And I know we have really bad perimeter D but it's a little frustrating when we watch these good players from other teams having career games from beyond the arc when someone like JK can't get clean for a shot. And I know I'm a complete B ball geek but I actually waded through the boxscores, did the cursory math, and on average we take three less three pointers per game than our opponents. Anyway I just took my meds so I think I should be fine.

[Eric]

This team, win or lose, just looks lost. Like they're searching for an identity. Sort of like Phoenix these days- but the Suns have an excuse, that being Shaq. The Raptors, well, they don't. They've been trying to click all season and it hardly looks like much progress has been made. I don't know what the problem is but this team is clearly not good enough like this. Something has to give.

And yes, I agree with the Mitchell critics. I've thought the same thing pretty much since he began with the Raptors- the man is always on the defense. We're always reacting to what our opponents are doing. And by always, I mean ALWAYS! It never seems to work the other way around. It's symbolic of the team, I think: we're always reacting. We never put our foot down and force THEM to adjust to US. It's the little brother syndrome. But I have no clue why this team has such a bad case of it or how to get rid of it.

[Eric]

Good Joey -- bad Joey. Garbage. Graham is a relatively young player who hasn't progressed much from his first year. HOWEVER, he's never been given a definite roll. He's been allowed to succeed, but never to fail.
He's come into some games and played very well. Good Joey! But when he makes a bonehead play or two -- back to the pine for long, long stretches. How can a young player develop under that kind of coaching? He can't. Bad Sam.
Give him a few minutes each game. Leave him in that roll if he succeeds or if he fails. If 'good Joey' shows up for long stretches, increase his responsability. Let's see if he can really play and stop the good Joey -- bad Joey crap.
Sam's intensity will be a big plus as the Raptors develop into a contender. Good Sam. He needs to lighten up on some of his younger players and let them develop. Joey would be poster boy for that philosophy.

Blogger's note: No definite role? Dude started almost a quarter of the games in each of his first two seasons. Joey's the 11th man on the roster now, there are no minutes for him except in emergencies.

[Jack]

You killed Sam Mitchell??? I must of missed that inbetween your daily "its not sam mitchells fault" BS

Also lets again not let sam off the hook for subbing delfino on the court in the middle of a great raptor run in the 3rd quarter with near 4 minutes left. Lets also not forget he then subbing in Hump in the third quarter with a couple minutes left in the third during a tight battle when he hadnt been on the court at all the entire game. Then lets not forget him overplaying ford in the fourth when it was clear to everyone on the planet he was dazed and confused. Its the same old BS with Sam Mitchell, pull players in the middle of runs, play players that are having off nights to long and then pulling lineups out your backside when the game is on the line.

The other day I read that Moon doesnt even read scouting reports, what coach in their right mind starts a player that is not prepared in the NBA? Lets also take a look at this team which is worse today 3/4 way through the seaosn then it was in preseason. Players are playing for themselfs, the system is flawed, some players are sick of being yanked and played like a yo yo in and out of the game or never in the game at all.

Face the music Dougy boy, this team is falling apart and its because Sam Mitchell is a poor coach who has been unable to get the best out of his talent and kep them playing together

Sam Mitchell is the worst coach in the entire NBA