Of Roko and Bargnani and Kapono, among others

Nothing like a seven-point win over a 4-10 team to ease the cranky old mind, is there?

Okay, okay. Sure, a win’s a win’s a win and it beats the alternative for many but those were the vertically-challenged Charlotte Bobcats the locals beat up on by a whopping seven points.

Maybe reserve judgement on the “dark days are behind us” stuff?

Anyway, there were some actions. And, of course, some reactions.

Like …

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Action: Roko’s getting it.

Reaction: The job has to be his.

The behind-the-back dish and the little floater in the lane were the highlights but it was the pace at which Roko Ukic played that has to keep him as the team’s backup point guard.

He only got seven minutes in the second quarter but they were played at a tempo the Raptors desperately needed at the time. And for a rookie who has been pretty turnover-prone at moments in his development, not giving the ball away while playing quickly was the thing that was most noticeable.

I’m thinking it’s a while before Will Solomon gets another shot

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Yes, there are still some glitches with the big scoreboard. Looked at it last night a couple of times only to see advertising logos where the boxscore should be. No, that’s not good.

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We have to talk about Joey, right?

Q: As I write this the Raps are holding on against the bobcats with a couple minutes left. We have seen Good Joey tonight and it has really been a huge boost! I know we have asked this before but is there a chance that we could have Good Joey for maybe 3 of 5 games for the rest of the season? If he can play this well for 60% of the time he really should play over Moon. Any thoughts? P.S. Thanks for all the hard work you put in each day to keep us crazed raptor fans at bay.

Blake H, Provo, Utah

A: Sam promised last night in his post-game chat session that Joey earned a chance to play on Friday off his performance on Wednesday. We’ll reserve judgment on what that means until we see how he does on Friday but, yes, if they get that kind of effort and production out of him 60 per cent of the time, I think he has to play ahead of Jamario.

After all, the thing that set Jamario apart last year was his defence and rebounding and that’s been lacking too many nights this year.

I’m certainly not about to suggest Good Joey’s going to be a regular around these parts but I can’t see the problem in giving him five or 10 games to see what he can bring.

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Yes, Bryan was back in his usual spot visiting with the coaches after game. You’ll recall he didn’t stop for a visit after Sunday’s loss to Boston.

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Fashion alert

Comical moment of the night.

Joey Graham and Jamario Moon are getting dressed, one locker apart, after the game and they’ve got on exactly the same shirt. I mean exactly. A Sean Jean thing (no, I didn’t know that, someone told me)  in green and blue.   Seems I may have been misinformed.

Much hilarity and it begged one question: How did Jamario get into Stephen’s closet?

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This is why I love Larry Brown.

In a little chat before the game, I mentioned that the first time the team’s met, he was lamenting his small frontcourt (the Bobcats were starting 6-7 Jared Dudley at power forward back then) and while it’s bigger now with 7-0 rook Alexis Ajinca in there, it’s still not an imposing lineup.

Here’s Larry’s verbatim reply:

“It’s a process. The French kid’s not ready yet, even though he’s got great size, he’s just so thin. He’s going to be fine in time, I don’t think it just happens overnight. Other than that, we do have some tall guys but … We have some tall guys.”

How can you not like a coach who offers that kind of honest assessment.

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Action: Bargnani can’t shoot.

Reaction: But he still plays.

Not that it’s a turning point or anything but Bargnani found a way to help his team despite a 4-for-15 night from the field but defending, rebounding and blocking shots.

Now, that’s not something we usually say around here, is it?

Nine boards were impressive and so were the three blocks and his effort allowed Sam to, um, rest Kris Humphries, who was in one of his “I’m Michael Jordan” moods it seems.

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Here’s how the game played in Charlotte.

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Wait! What was that byline on that Charlotte story? Who is this guy? Oh, he’s just an interloper helping out a Carolina beat grunt who wanted to spend Thanksgiving at home. We do favours for each other when we can.

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Action: Jason Kapono, 3 FGA, 15 minutes

Reaction: More time at the whiteboard

Guess it takes longer to practice and implement any new plays for Kapono, it was the same old, same old last night.

He did have a patented pump-fake-and-travel move on what I think was his first touch and then used that hair-trigger release to hit a jumper curling off a screen a minute or so later.

But other than that? The usual decoy rule, which has to be really infuriating for him, not to mention the fans.

They really ought to make him more of a focal point when he’s on the floor, no?

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Speaking of:

Q: A few years ago, one of my favourite Raptors was Dell Curry, the dude could shoot. If I recall correctly, there were quite a few similarities between he and Jason Kapono, deadly shooters with quick releases who don't do much else. It seems though that Dell Curry would always get his shots when he came into the game but Kapono seems to have a ton of difficulty doing so. In your opinion, what are the differences between these two players and their respective situations that made it (seemingly?) easy for one to get his shots whereas the other struggles so mightily?

Serge P, Ottawa

A: Dell Curry is the single greatest shooter I ever saw in purpose. His stroke was like a “How To” video on quick release and deadly accuracy.

The differences? Dell was almost a decade older when he got here than Kapono was when he arrived and there was a craftiness about Dell, an ability to get open on his own, that Jason hasn’t yet mastered.

And, yes, the coaching was better in regards to getting clean looks for Curry than it is for Kapono.

Comments

[Ellie]

Joey Graham sounded so happy to be the guy who gets to speak to the radio guys at the end of the game. Here's hoping he rides the good buzz to similar performances, but I realize this could easily be a flash-in-the-pan kind of thing.

[John MacDonald]

Why is there no comments on the fact that JO didn't play last night and if he did the Raptors probably would have won by a lot more (5+)? Did everyone forget that we didn't have one of our best interior defenders last night? I mean he would have blocked at least one of Gerald Wallaces shots and probably altered others, plus put a couple of extra points on the score board. This raptors team is way better with JO in the starting lineup, without him they are a marginal team.

[Andre]

Um ok.. heres how i see it.

Raptors beat the Bobcats by 7.. there were times in the game the raptors couldnt buy a bucket. If this team was Pistons or Magic or even the lowly knicks, raptors wouldnt have won. Graham played well. kinda. 2 shots he missed, were AIR BALLS! (but his trade value may go up because of last night! SWEET!) Bosh. BOSH. wow. Cauldron his injury is hurting his shot. So its all good, he will be back to normal soon. Moon. Still missing defensive rotations. Andrea, We can't trade that kid, hes to good to trade.

Imagine: Gerald Wallace a Raptor? wow. I hope dreams can come true.

Doug, question. Do you know if Smitch gave graham an assignment and told him to stick with it? Like EVERY TIME YOU GET the BALL PuMP FAKE AND GO TO THE BAKSET? Maybe he should tell him every game

Blogger's note: Yes, he should.

[Chris]

Thanks for bringing up the scoreboard issue, I was actually going to write a question to you about it this morning.

Seriously, how hard is it to have a functional scoreboard 3 months after they installed the thing? It’s frustrating for a fan sitting there wondering how his fantasy basketball players are doing (Bosh, Calderon, Bargnani, and Augustine), I can only imagine how frustrating it is for beat grunts who need to know the stats for their articles.

Imagine it came down to the game where Bosh finally puts in 50 (based on his past few games its not of the question) and the ACC will be silent because no one will have any idea what’s going on. Get on those fat cats at MLSE to fix this right away!

[Country City]

Action: Bargnani anchors D all by himself

Reaction: Has Bargs suddenly become a better defender than Bosh?

Now Chris isn't exactly an all-NBA defender (and personally I think D is his main weakness, hello weak-side cuts), but this is just one of the various benchmarks that could be used to access Bargnani's progress in his 'all around' game, the improvement of which has been incredible and somewhat of a surprise even for the optimistic. A handful of games back when he was the lone starter to play 15 minutes (!) into the game, I went from 'cautiously optimistic' to 'officially impressed' in Bargnani. Jack says it all the time on air, don't just look at his scoring stats, or even his rebounds, his improvements are huge in less tangible but oh so important areas of boxing out, moving his feet, taking charges, imposing on shooters without letting them blow by, positional awareness, blocking, etc. If it weren't for O'Neil I'd dare say he's becoming the best defensive player on the team. (I know switching to covering the 3-spot has helped with this improvement, but many would have predicted he'd get royally schooled by small forwards and instead he has been shutting them down).

[WSG]

After watching Chris Bosh’s sublime performance last night, I find myself wondering about Garnett’s comment and how difficult it must be for this superb, young American athlete (CB4) to not imagine future possibilities of playing alongside (say) King James in (say) the Big Apple in (say) a few years to come. Who could blame him for daydreaming about the likely racking-up of championships that would ensue?

As an ardent fan, I so hope it doesn’t happen … but, I wonder if, on payday, he’s not a bit wistful (and/or perplexed?) while calculating missing dollars, paid to a government that’s not even his own? These days, especially, with all the excitement going on in his home country, right there, not too many driving minutes away? If I were he, I’d probably be homesick at times.

I also wonder how much reflecting they all do (Sam, CB4 and the rest on the team, not to mention BC), over the apparent reality that being mostly owned by the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund (whose cold gaze at the bottom-line translates into a hard limit of available resource$), suggests that as much as we have might have SOME of the pieces of what could be a championship caliber team … that too-short of a bench just tells too big a part of what might be the rest of the story?

CB4 is too good (and getting better all the time), to not win championships, at least, one day … and if it’s not here, it’ll be somewhere. And we can nitpick, but my opinion is that Sam’s doing an alright job with what he has. It’s not Sam, when they don’t win (in the big picture). Or JO. Or Jose. Or Bargnani. It’s not even BC. It’s quite simply (imo) the limit that our (Raptors) owners impo$e, that some other teams’ owners do not. What we have is actually pretty good (when all are healthy – has Jose been 100%, at all really yet, this year?) and it’s not impossible that this team can and might compete with the best this year, but it would be much more likely if we had that extra starter and/or good bench player or two. In my opinion.

This NBA game is the best game in the world. One day, maybe our team owners along with our TV networks will act like they care about their customers (fans) enough to act in ways that the owners of the better teams seem to do … instead of like the owners of the auto companies.

To Sam, Chris and all the Raptors here from the U.S. … Happy Thanksgiving. And Go Raps!

[DS]

You know who's better than Good Joey AND Good Jamario? Good Kapono. The guy needs to start or be first off the bench when Bargs is at 3 so he can play with Jose and AP - he's useless when Moon's on the floor, since Moon's defender will always be the one to cheat and JK's man can stay at home. If he blows assignments (possible) or doesn't hit shots (unlikely) then you can sit him, but I think he should get the benefit of the doubt more than he does.

[Darrol]

John MacDonald,

Don't forget, Charlotte was without Jason Richardson, who is arguably Charlotte's best offensive weapon. One can make the argument that JO and JRich can almost cancel each other out. None the less, I agree that the Raptors should have been able to blow out the Bobcats considering how terrible they are on the road.

[Alex]

Anthony, this was Hump's first bad game in a long time. Before that he was playing very well.

[Rob E]

Doug,

Question regarding Bargnani. It looks like he's taken a step forward this year and his ability to play multiple positions on the floor has been pretty valuable. My question is what did Colangelo and the Raptors Brain Trust envision his position would be when they drafted him? PF is obviously filled. He has the size for center but I can't see him banging with the likes of Shaq and Howard on a nightly basis. Small Forward? I remember during the summer you were hesitant to write him in there, but doesn't it seem that's where he fits with this franchise? Thanks.

Blogger's note: They saw him as a guy who would eventually be able to play three positions. And, today, they look pretty good with that assessment.

[Colin W]

A few random musings:

1) Re JK: is it that the coaches do not run plays for him, or is it that he is simply not shooting the ball when he should? I am hard pressed to believe that Sam and the other coaches would choose not to have him shoot when he has an open look; so I'm curious as to how much of this is the coaching staff and how much is the player.

2) Starters' minutes: Definitely a cause for concern and I think we see the toll on AP. Yes, he's guarding the opponent's best wing player and doing a very good job most nights, but he doesn't seem the same shooter as he was a year ago. Bosh is firing on all cylinders right now, but he really shouldn't have to play max minutes against the Bobcats.

3) Joey: Last night was one game. IMO, he has been around long enough to figure out how to play in the NBA. During pre-season, he did promise to "step up" this year but fans are still waiting. In the meantime we continue to get 'killed' on the 3-spot. One have to believe a trade is imminent.

4) Moon: What's up with him? I don't think he feels he has 'arrived', yet he seems incapable of taking the next step in this his sophmore year. I don't expect him to be pogo-stick every night, but how long is it going to take him to figure out his role? I like the guy, but something has to give.

As well as Bosh (and to some extent Bargs & JO) has/have been playing, it is almost criminal that this team is at .500. Yeah, it is still early in the season but the passivity of the front office in addressing glaring weaknesses is making me think management seem content to ride this out. I hope not, because Bosh deserves quality help from guys who understands what it means to play in the NBA every night, and who wants to win.

[Dan]

At first I was thinking it was bad they didn't win by more.But Jose and Andrea missed alot of wide open three they usually make. They each hit one or two more and it's a blowout. Thats the way it goes with jumpshooting teams.

[Joe]

the biggest problem with kapono is that he's the definition of a one trick pony. he can't dribble, he can't defend, he can't rebound, he can't slash. all the other team has to do is put a guy in front of jk with his hands up and he'll be shut down for the night.

[Steve]

Re Bottom Line$

I may not be a business owner, heck I may not even be able to keep a dollar in my own wallet, but I think of the possibilities of a team that can go deeper than 5 games into the first round of the playoffs must be a lucrative financial option for MLSE.
I may need help here, but if we can go and get a 6-7 million dollar player and go over the tax (I still don't know the ins and outs of this issue), do we not think that the return will be greater than the $$ spent?
Television interests will be tuned into a winner, merchandise sales will increase, more games on espn to larger markets....I am absolutely positive real NBA fans would want to see Bosh entering his prime, heck maybe even "make" money with key players accepting a few million less to be on a winner (see duncan). Maybe my local newspaper (peterborough only 1.5 hours away from the ACC) will have more than a paragraph about last nights game, causing the younger ones maybe to turn off the Atlanta/Minnesota Wild game to watch the RAPS, heck maybe even subscribe to RAPS TV.
If we have a winner...the team will surely be supported by fans, even non fans craving for a winner in the TO region.
Being married to a teacher I (and she) would probably even give up a few bucks - just to be able to cheer for a winner.

[GM]

Hey Colin W, I think it's exactly that, that the coaches don't run plays for Kapono. The offense is an inside-out one, where they look down low first and then just rely on swinging the ball to perimeter guys. Reggie Miller, Del Curry, and Dale Ellis, for example, all had plays designed to get them a shot, where they'd run through multiple screens and were hit as soon as they came off the last one. Guys like them, and Kapono, only need a fraction of a second to get a shot off so you'd think the Raptors might run something similar a couple times a game anyway just to see if it works. I think they rely way too much on 'get Bosh the ball and get the hell outta there'.

[Mike Bunting]

Why do you appear to dislike Bargnani, you are sarcastic when you have to say something positive about him. Is it a personal thing?

Blogger's note: Me? I think I've been a rather big Bargnani booster, much to the chagrin of many a reader.

[Colin W]

Hey GM. I hear you on the coaches not calling plays for JK but it makes no sense to me that if he's as good as advertised, that Sam and the coaching staff would have him "floating around" without the benefit of him getting shots. Towards the end of last season they seemed to have wanted him to play ala Delfino (cut/slash/drive to the basket), but I'm not sure if that's his game. At the same time, he has to bring a bit more than the ability to shoot 3s; our team do not have enough talent to have a player just hanging on the periphery. There has to be something else going on that we're not seeing / aware of. Maybe Doug knows/have an idea? Mmmm...

I agree with the poster who said Sam is doing his best with this roster. He has made his share of mistakes, but in watching this team, it is simply not good enough as is. Frankly, the inability of some of these guys to grasps the nuances of what the coaching staff wants them to do, and to execute plays at this level, is frightening.

[Paul]

Hump is still WAY better than Hoffa, and that's all he cost 'us'. Remember Hoffa? Ah, yes, now you're all breathing a sigh of relief that he's gone, aren't you?
Last night's play makes me want to break out in song...

Joey, baby, don't get crazy
Detours and fences, I get defensive

I know you've heard it all before
So I don't say it anymore
I just stand by and let you fight your secret war
And though I used to wonder why
I used to cry till I was dry,
Still sometimes I get a strange pain inside
Oh, Joey if you're hurtin' so am I

Joey, honey, I'v got a little money.
All is now forgiven, listen, listen

And if I seem to be confused
I didn't mean to be with you
And when you said I scared you
Well, I guess you scared me too

But we got lucky once before
And I don't wanna close the door
But if you're somewhere out there
Passed out on some floor
Oh Joey, I'm not angry anymore

And if I seem to be confused
I never mean't to be with you
And when you said I scared you
Well, I guess you scared me too
But if it's love you're looking for
Well, I can give a little more
And if you're somewhere drunk and
Passed out on the floor
Oh Joey, I'm not angry anymore

Angry anymore
Angry anymore

[Jonathan]

To Steve (and others),

I wish people would do a little research before bringing up the whole going over the luxury tax level issue once again. For one, Doug already explained the ins and outs three times a day before the season started. To recap:

1. The Raps are right at the luxury tax level.
2. The Raps are over the salary cap.
3. Other teams make trades that make sense to them, and not just because we want them to.

Because of #1, any additional salary they add will be taxed one for one. Take on $7 million in additional contracts and a $7 million tax will be levied. This doesn't even include the money that goes from the taxed teams to the non-taxed teams, so when all is done, it will cost the Raps $16 million or more for a $7 million talent.

Because of #2, we probably can't add a $7 million talent anyway. When you're over the salary cap, you have two options for adding players: 1) signing someone under one of a multitude of different "exceptions", and 2) trading for a player, with the salaries coming in restricted by the salaries going out (must be within 25% plus or minus $100k, IIRC). At the moment, we only have about $3 million or so left under the mid-level exception, so the most we can sign is a $3 million talent that will cost us $8 million when all is said and done. Picture spending $8 million on a Dan Dickau type. Worth it?

Because of #3, and our only trade bait being Kapono and a bunch of expiring contracts, you're not going to see Kapono, Graham and Parker for Caron Butler anytime soon, not to mention we would be taxed for the two players we would have to sign to put us back at the minimum required roster size (13). The more likely scenario would be Kapono for another team's "trash", like Jared Jefferies and his $6-7 millon contract.

Of course, I don't know every team's financial situation, and last year proved that you can't predict what some zany GM might do (as surprising as Marc Gasol has been, at the time of the trade, Memphis should have gotten more for Pau), but for now, it looks like we will have to make do with what we have. A tweak is likely, but don't keep your hopes up for a miracle.

[Jonathan]

@Paul:

Nice one there, haha. For a second, I thought you actually wrote that yourself.

[sam's fan]

hahaha....classy doug..."im michael jordan" wat would hump say if u said it to his face?

Blogger's note: He'd probably laugh, like people were supposed to

[CARLoS M.]

Congratulations Doug!!

"Toronto Raptors beat writer Doug Smith was today awarded the Mary Deanne Shears Award, which recognizes reporting excellence at the Star." Shouldn't that have read "grunt"?

"Smith is the first winner from the paper's sports section." And well deserved!! Eat that Damien. LOL

"Smith, a noted ascetic, claimed later that he was spending his $2,000 prize money to help fund a repair of his roof. Some believed him. But nobody in sports was fooled."

Ascetic! Oh that Cathal slays me.

[Tim H]

Congratulations Doug!!

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/544826

A MUCH deserved honour!!! And, although it doesn't equal the salary increase you deserve for all of the "above and beyond" that you do, it must at least be nice to be recognized by your employer for all the great work that you do.

PS - What's an ascetic????

Blogger's note: Not something you'd associate with moi

[Rahil]

Doug! Congrats on the award. Don't spend it all in one place.

[Nate]

Doug, congrats on the award! Well earned.