Some Game 1 thoughts

Wasn’t that something? I swear if Stan Van Gundy had put a uniform, he’d have made a three-pointer.

Action: Bargnani starts.
Reaction: Bewilderment. Followed by a yawn, really.

It was a gamble, no doubt. Sam’s explanation – Bargnani played well in the playoffs last year, having him out there with Bosh would deny the Magic a chance to post-up Hedo or Lewis – makes marginal sense.

But it didn’t address the defensive matchup problem, which is Bosh on Lewis. And it’s not like the Raptors were doing anything to get Bargnani more involved in the offence.

One thing it did was, effectively, cut the rotation by one (Moon’s four minutes were inconsequential) and I’m all for that. A seven and a half-man rotation (Calderon and one of Delfino-Kapono) isn’t that bad in my opinion.

The move also smelled of a way to get Bargnani going and if that was the case, it certainly didn’t work. Five points, eight shots? Hardly the production they’d expect.

Not sure Moon could have given them much more, although he is a quicker defender on the perimeter.

Trouble is, now do they go back to Moon? Or stay with the group that gave up 43 first-quarter points? I’d stick with this one for one more game. But it did not cost them the game.

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Action: Dwight Howard shows up.
Reaction: Most Raptors cower.

That was the quietest 20-20 game I’ve ever seen and if the Magic had thrown the ball to Howard a dozen more times, we might have seen a 40-30 game. His ability to shrug off defenders and hit the offensive glass is stunning. I have no idea how the Raptors will deal with him, and they don’t either.

"The thing we have to do a better job of is keeping him off the glass. It’s easy for me to sit here and say it but I don’t have to do it. Our guys understand what we have to do and we’ve got to do a much better job of keeping him off the offensive glass,” said Sam.

Here’s the thing: Mitchell’s right. Howard’s going to get 15 or 20 defensive boards a game, he’s that good; if they hold him to six on the offensive glass, that’s about as good as they can hope.

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The view from the south.

How the Orlando Sentinel had it.

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Another dark day. As we’re searching the record book after the 43-point first quarter, it points out the 43’s the most in a first quarter ever and but the 60 in a first half is two off the all-time record. Those other two marks were established in the same game, a May 16, 2001 121-88 loss to the Sixers in Game 5 of that series.

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Action: Raptors play zone.

Reaction: Orlando smiles.

Three possessions in the first quarter, all after made baskets. First possession Bosh gets a steal and Raptors score. Second: Maurice Evans hits an open three. Third: Rashard Lewis hits an open three.

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Action: Kapono shoots
Reaction: We are shocked.

Yes, that was Jason Kapono taking six three-pointers and making four.

The shot he made to make it 88-83 (as close as they’d get, of course) was exactly the kind of play he should have been making all year. On the catch, he pumped faked Hedo Turkoglu, got him off the ground but instead of heading to the rim to meet big men and being forced to shoot that runner of his, he stepped back and to the side and drilled a three.

That’s what they’re paying him $24 million to do.

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Oh, a word to The Chicken, who I’m told knows what goes on around here. The Orlando Dragon made his arrival coming down from the arena ceiling. Not sure you can do that in the ACC but I hope he/she/it is trying to come up with something special for Thursday.

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Action: Raptor point guards supposed to shine.
Reaction: Not so much.

I can’t remember a game when both Ford and Calderon were so normal. No idea why they didn’t guard Jameer Nelson and Keyon Dooling the length of the floor but that’s something I’d like to see them try tomorrow night.

Oh, and making some shots would be a good idea. Four-for-20 is not going to cut it.

Trouble is, I get sneaking suspicion that Ford might try to show everyone that he’s got his game turned around by Game 2 and that’s a dangerous proposition.

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Magic officials told us after the game there were about 3,000 tickets left for Tuesday night. Anyone coming? See you there.

Comments

[Kevin]

haha, this "action/reaction" thing is waaay cool Doug. Very nice. And good to see kapono draining those downtowners

[GM]

Jeff Van Gundy said something on the game he was broadcasting about teams using the regular season to practice what they'll do in the playoffs (he worded it much better). The point being that you can't just lollygag around and hope to turn it on in the post-season. The impression I've gotten from Mitchell all season is, "just wait". And then today he puts Bargnani in the starting lineup to jump-start his game? Makes no sense.

[MK]

Action: Raptors played like who we thought they would.
Reaction: Raptors need to play like they can to have a chance.

- They also need to win Game 2 or all hope is lost.

Action: Dwight Howard is Superman.
Reaction: Rasho/Bosh/Raptor bigs is no kryptonite.

[Brad M]

The comment in your article and on the blog about Bargnani not really defending b/c Hedo had 21 pts...mid-way through the third he only had 9 and wasn't shooting too great...and then seemed to get a lot of points with the smaller AP guarding him in the late 3rd and 4th. I thought actually that Bargnani played pretty good D. If he could get his shot going it definitely would have made more of a difference but I was happy with his defence last night.

[Roger]

I can't agree with you more, Doug. I think your comments are right on the money. From the action-reaction list you would see most are the problems steming from Sam Mitchell. It is hard to replace him since BC singed him a ridiculous 4-year contract last year. Is there anyway to solve the coaching issue? I mean, for example, let Sam be an assistant coach (for motivating players), and hire another head coach? I know Larry Brown want to coach again.

[Ellie]

Good for the Magic for demonstrating why they are (and deserved to be) the third seed. They played a great game. I wish I could say the same of the Raps -- they had moments, like that Kapono three streak (where has that been all year?!), but no sustained effort.

Maybe they should be called the Toronto Moles. As in we love to dig ourselves impossible holes.

Here's hoping they take a page from the Sixers and pull up their socks for Game II.

[Tree]

Wow - where to start with this one. While I've been pushing for Moon to lose his starting spot, why in the world did Sam wait until game 1 of the playoffs? Bad coaching? I'm not giving up on this team until they lose their fourth, but I'm no longer as hopeful as I was. Shredded by the Magic in the first, the Raps - almost to a man - seemed to have played that down, and didn't come off as 'getting it'. This isn't new for this team - giving up so many points in the first that the game is over by the second quarter - yet, they all seemed to think it was a one-time fluke. Listening to Mitchell and the players after the game, I didn't get any confidence that they'll learn from this game. PGs were both pathetic, Bargnani - well, did he play?, even Bosh was a big disappointment (only 6 rebounds?!?). I fear that if the rest of the series plays out like this, Mitchell HAS to go in the off season.

[Mauro]

A serious comment: after looking how Dwight Howard was playing I understood what's the gamble with Bargnani with BC eyes. If he can become half as good under the glass and shoot 3's, with Bosh alongside him, well, first round playoff isn't the ceiling anymore.

And a not so stupid proposal to avoid most of DH defensive rebounds. Can we simply shoots 3's. A lot of them, please ?
I mean we are good % wise on the League but not in term of numbers. Most of the 3's rebounds are falling far outside the paint making Superman a little bit less effective. I know we will hit less % of 3s than 2s, but if you add the bigger % of rebounds we can get it seem a good approach to me.

[Joe T.]

That was tough viewing yesterday! After that opening three-pointer was made, I said to my wife "And it begins!" I was hoping I was wrong...

And Doug, I was thinking the same thing about applying some full-court pressure. Can you ask about this? The Raptors have got two good Point Guards splitting time so I don't think they need to worry about tiring them out. But watching Orlando walk the ball up the court, especially when the game got a bit close, was frustrating. You watch Boston and the Lakers and other good defensive teams and they do this ALL THE TIME. If Sam wants to add something new for the Playoffs, full-court pressure on the ball could be one that won't confuse his struggling players...

As for Kapono, I hope he gets more time in this series. Let's face it, the first quarter was a three-point shooting contest the way the Raptors were defending. I'm pretty sure Kapono has won a couple of those so he may as well get in on this one. I think Sam waited too long to put him in...

And I know Howard is a beast and he's gonna get his rebounds no matter what. But perhaps a little face-up boxing out would cut down on them, or at least on the putback dunks. Was anyone doing this? I admit, I wasn't watching for it. I will in Game 2...

[Scott]

The Chicken has actually descended from above before: The first game ever at ACC. It's how the game ball was delivered.

To me, though, I figure it's more important how the Raptors enter the game at the tip than how a mascot comes in to an already raucous arena.

[James D]

"But it did not cost them the game."

Disagree. For two reasons.

1) The energy needed to climb out of a 20 point first quarter deficit, cant be understated. The preparation was horrendous.

2) A 43 point quarter, getting almost every Magic player's confidence and mojo going, has repercussions later in the game. See the late game run, enabled by the spacing the Raptors HAD to give otherwise average shooters - Dooling, Evans et al who were wide open on their first quarter attempts.

If Jameer Nelson's scoring 24 a game, we might as well take the "if necessary" tag, off Game 5 right now.

[Ellie]

Mauro, if you live by the three, you die by it, too. We've proven that all year. Hopefully the Magic will get a taste of that vexing karma before the series ends.

[Mike]

To Brad M:
"The comment in your article and on the blog about Bargnani not really defending b/c Hedo had 21 pts...mid-way through the third he only had 9 and wasn't shooting too great...and then seemed to get a lot of points with the smaller AP guarding him in the late 3rd and 4th. I thought actually that Bargnani played pretty good D."
Actually, he was terrible on D. The reason Hedo didn't have more points before that was he was to busy hitting his teammates for wide open 3s after he went by Bargnani and caused the D to rotate. And actually in the first 6 minutes of the game when Bargs was guarding him he had a layup, a dunk, and assisted on 2 threes.

[dan p]

I know that it was garbage time, but seeing Joey Graham come out and throw up two contested prayers early in the shot clock drove me nuts. I'm sure Sam couldn't have been too happy about it, and Doug, I know the way you feel about it.

Joey belongs in the NBDL, where he'll probably be a star, but he has no place in the big league.

[Uncle Zeke]

No surprise here... Raptors are a mediocore team with a .500 record that got beat by a better team at home. The only people shocked are those that either don't have a clue or have been operating in denial all year. This team is flawed and as constructed has limited room for improvement. Sam Mitchell is as clueless as they come and shows what a joke the COY award is. It's akin to the MIP winning the MVP every year.

Doug you ready to finally take off those Raptors coloured glasses and admit how wrong you've been about the Raptors, Mitchell and Bargnani?

[Dan H]

Action: Rashard Lewis shutting down bosh
Reaction: Go Small with bosh as your big

Force dwight to guard bosh because he can't and will get into foul trouble. Bosh doesnt have to do that much against dwight, orlando wasnt giving him the ball that much and rasho wasnt doing a great job anyways. Hedo and Rashard were controlled much more having delfino/parker or even moon on them, rather than bosh and bargnani. Rasho played good and I could even see the rotation shortened to cut bargnani out, but I'd like to see them go small a lot more.

Action: Jameer and Dooling out dueling Jose and TJ
Reaction: Start Jose

For the reason jose matched up better against jameer and could drive better on him, had trouble with doolings speed. TJ should handle dooling better, and when tj has his brain cramps, dooling is not a 3 point shooter compared to nelsons 41%. Enough with the charity, the team played their best ball of the season when Jose started. He gets bosh going and thats what counts.

[Dan H]

Also to add to the earlier comment, wouldn't having moon (regarded as one of teh best rebounding SFs in the league) even playing the 4 against rashard help out their rebounding? I noticed AP had some luck helping out in the boards as our bigs are often busy just boxing out dwight.

[Anthony Feher]

Yes they played lousy..... Still lot's of series left.... Rather that happen then what happened to Phoenix on Saturday. Everything that could go wrong, did.... Good, get it out of your system. I liked the Bargnani start, not the execution. He needs to get more aggressive and be allowed to have made mistakes during the regular season and that did not happen.

Mitchell if he continues to be out coached will be the reason we lose.

More court time for Delfino, sit down TJ and tell him to look for the open man and quit making it a one man team, get Bosh closer to the basket and don't allow the Orlando backcourt to get past you..... Oh and maybe shoot better then 37% wouldn't hurt.

Only one game, expect a lot more Tuesday.

[chris]

Lets face it . I really think Toronto played o.k considering they did do things that majority win games such as free throws, rebounding and assists . Orlando just played out of control and i hope they come with that same attitude because their is no way they can play tonights game like Sunday . And Dwight i even think thats the best were going to see out of him he controlled both sides of the court and he's a 50% free throw shooter during the season he shot like he was a Steve Nash at the charity stripe on Sunday. And the raps still had a chance to win its not like they were really out of it . But the one thing i'm going to look out for tonights game is the urgency and the importance if the raps show this.
I'm stating this now i guarantee if the raps play the way they played on Sunday they will win .. If they can hang around in boards not win but hang around , and consistently shoot a high volume and percentage at the stripe they will win ...and keep the assists rolling . I predict a "W" at Amway Arena .

ps: i can't wait for Orlando Fluke to come to ACC...Game 3 we will win by 15 plus . the sea of red will be too much for the fluke too pull off another unbelievable performance .