One game, so much stuff

Here’s the funny thing.

In the immediate aftermath of that game, when I was still trying to slow down the heart rate after deadline stress like you can’t imagine, things were running about 95-5 that it was all Sam’s fault and the venom was spewing like seldom before.

So I wake up this morning expecting to find more and of the first dozen letters in the in-box, I’d say nine put it on the players or give credit to He Who Shall Not Be Named for a spectacular shot at the regulation buzzer and Lawrence Frank for a great call to end overtime

 Of course, that’s not going to appease those who demand that heads roll today but I’m just saying, there is some moderation out there.

And it’s welcome.

So, I presume, is this stuff:

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Action: Sam’s tough night

Reaction: Much.

Yes, the coach didn’t cover himself in glory on a few occasions but I need to point these things out.

On the inbounds play with 24 seconds left, Bosh was open on the first attempt and the second and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the coach holding the ball out of bounds.

On the Hump turnover in the fourth, he should have called time out, 19,800 fans knew it, his coach knew it, about 20 other NBA players knew it. He didn’t, even though his coach was screaming at him to.

On the He Who Shall … ah, hell, you know who I mean, basket at the regulation time buzzer, the chance to foul was there and they had made a conscious decision not to, righty or wrongly. But wasn’t that just an incredible shot? Off-balance, hurried, about 30 feet and nothing but net. If it misses, today’s a much better day, isn’t it?

On the final play, they were going to switch a screen, the Nets faked a screen, two Raptors got confused and the lob was there. It was a case of one team executing and the other not. The strategy was there, pulling off was lacking.

So, yes, it wasn’t one of the coach’s greatest moments. Nor was it a moment many of his players should be proud of.

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Action: The fallout

Reaction: How serious?

Standing there in the doom and gloom and silence of the locker room after the game, the over-riding question in the mind is: How much will this hurt?

Some losses are tougher to get over than others and the manner in which that one was achieved is going to make it hard, hard, hard to forget.

The dangerous thing is that they come out flat against Boston and get smoked, the drop one of the two others on this homestand and they head out west where you can see a three-game losing streak lingering.

Then, my friends, you can panic. Seriously panic.

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Of course, they aren’t rejoicing in Jersey too much but, as the iconic Dave D points out here, they’re pretty happy with the win.

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A hunk of mail:

Q: Hey Doug, how do you rate the Raptors-Nets game in terms of excitement and atmosphere compared to the home opener against Golden State? Even though the Raptors lost by blowing an 18 point lead, this game was incredibly entertaining to watch with monster performances from Bosh, Bargnani, Calderon, Harris, and Carter and spectacular plays in crunch time from both sides.

On an unrelated note, if you and Stumpy had to compete on Dancing with the Grunts, with winner getting a lifetime supply of food and adult beverages at the Harbour Sports Grille, who'd take it?

YF W, Etobicoke

A: Funny, I was thinking about that very thing as the game was unfolding and, to be honest, there was more energy opening night than there was last night. And it’s not simply a difference of winning or losing because last night was decided so late. There was just a different vibe at the Golden State game.

The dancing thing? With that on the line I’m Fred Freaking Astaire.

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Action: JO’s knee

Reaction: We’re all waiting, too.

No word last night on how serious it is, a gaggle of doctors and radiologists were looking over results of tests while we were chatting to Sam and the fellas.

But here’s the question: If he’s out, what do they do?

Do they move Andrea back to the frontcourt and give Jamario his starting job back? Or give someone else a shot at the three, which is going to continue to be a trouble spot. Does that jerk around Bargnani some more, coming off three good games in four at the small forward spot?

Or do they leave Bargnani where he is and put Hump in the starting lineup? Of course, if they do that, it leaves them with a backup big no bigger than 6-8 and the bulkiest players to bring off the bench are Joey and Jamario. Ugly.

Either way is fraught with peril.

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Oh, yeah, if I'm the Raptors, I make sure Stu Jackson sees a tape of that foul and ask him to consider upgrading it to a Flagrant Penalty 2. Sure looked like Sean Williams grabbed O'Neal's jersey and yanked him down. That's pretty dangerous.

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Another hunk of game mail:

Q: Is it wrong for a grown man to stand outside in the west coast rain purely to hide his tears? That one hurt. Just a quick question regarding substitutions. At the end of tonight's game against NJ would it not have been more advantageous for the Raptors to pull Calderon and put in a stronger, taller more athletic defender such as Moon or Graham?

Also, the next time you run into Sam, could you please ask him just how long the book of Solomon is?

Mike M, Victoria

A: No, go stand outside. Entirely understandable. That one had to hurt badly.

Trouble with asking someone else to guard Devin Harris for Calderon, who was obviously hurting in the final stages of the game, is that even if they did a good job defensively, someone would have to run the offence.

And if the book of Solomon didn’t end last night, something’s wrong. They’ve got to give Roko his shot.

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Here’s a question posed by Gary Sussman of the New Jersey Nets, a media relations big shot who became a confused television viewer sitting around his hotel in Toronto on Thursday.

“Why can we watch the NFL network but not TNT? I can see the Steelers and Bengals but not the Celtics and Pistons?”

I didn’t have time to go into the whole TSN2 issue but he’s got a point.

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Action: Pleading a case

Reaction: Falls on welcoming ears

Interesting byplay in the first half between He Who … and referee Monty McCutchen.

The player was miffed about one of the various calls he felt went against the Nets in the first half and asked the ref to look at the video of it during halftime. McCutchen went right to the scorer’s table and wrote down the time of the play so he could indeed look at it.

And, just before the second half started, McCutchen called HWSNBN over and went over the play, again.

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Anyway, I believe a long day awaits. Got to get to practice to find out about O’Neal’s knee and I owe you some thoughts about the remake of the Knicks, what might happen with the local s and then there’s a whack of mail to get to.

Comments

[Jason]

Doug,
This isn't a fire Sam rant but I'm calling my shot here:

If the Raps go two games below .500 or on the 3 game skid you mentioned, Sam is toast. I see it in BC's eyes.

If you think I'm wrong Doug, we can put a little wager on it. If I'm wrong, I'll courier you a dozen of the beverage of your choice but if I'm right, you gotta do one end of game video blog in a Leafs hat. Nah that would be too cruel. to make you do that.

[Laz]

What a horrible night yesterday. Heartbreaking loss, Jermaine injured, AND Jalen Rose at ESPN guaranteeing that LBJ and Bosh will be playing for the Knicks in 2010.

[Nick H-C]

Didn't they recently change the rule to allow coaches to call timeouts when their team has the ball. Could/should Sam have called time out when Hump was trapped with the ball in the corner or does the rule not apply in that situation?

Blogger's note: He was yelling and screaming not 10 feet from me, both at Hump and the refs. No one saw or heard him.

[GM]

Yes, it's on the players. It always is. But at what point is it on the coach? Every single win or loss can be pointed to the players because they're the ones on the court. So is the coach never to blame? He's got to put them in a position to win. You said the difference with Frank being down 7 and fighting win, and Sam being down 7 and bringing in his bench was that Frank had Carter. Well, Sam has Bosh, O'Neal and Calderon. Surely they could have at least tried.

Anyway, two things jump out at me from last game. Parker's missed free throw. It seems whenever it's a crunch moment at the end of a game and Parker goes to the line, he always goes 1-for-2. I called it before he stepped to the line. Had he made two, the Raps would have been up 4 and then who cares if Carter hits a three or not.

The other point was Carter's three. You said they chose not to foul him. I recall you saying the same thing in the past. So it must be Mitchell's philosophy up three at the end of a game. But why is that a good philosophy? Why on earth wouldn't you foul? Because of the danger that Carter might throw up something as you're fouling and then go to the line three times, I guess. But I say that's a risk you take and just make sure it doesn't happen. The play when Parker hit the three was different because the Nets couldn't get to him before he shot. But there was time to foul Carter.

So there you go. One clear player goof-up, and one clear coaching goof-up.

But now it's gloom and doom time because it's doubtful the Raps beat the Celts on Sunday.

[kidshizzle]

That was an amazing game last night. But as much as you don't want to admit it, it wasn't about the Raptors. Very few people care about the Nets right now but even fewer realize how good we can be.
We have the best back-court in the east.
Anyone ready to call Lopez a bust?
We have 5 young athletic and skilled bigs.
an underrated coach and one of the best GM's in basketball.

Last night was about the Nets toughness and resiliency, not Sam Mitchell.

Devin, Coach Frank and the role players gave a CLINIC last night on how to be competitive, execute and give yourself a chance to win. Vince gave a clinic on smoking the Raps.

And Sean's not a malicious guy, so I really think he was grabbing JO's jersey to try to keep him up because his foul was so hard. But he fouled the ball, not the man.

The Nets have several injuries themselves right now and are a better team than the "big 3" already. L-Frank is a genius for getting those guys into the second round year after year.

[Alex]

I find it hilarious all the Sam haters....sure lets fire him mid-season and replace him with...? one of the unemployed ex-head coaches sitting around, whom I presume are unemployed for a reason? Hey heres a great idea! Lets hire a rookie coach to come in off the street mid-year, he'll sure turn this ship around in a hurry!!!
I swear most of these haters think they would be the solution, even though from reading their posts its evident they have no more basketball knowledge than your average fan. Its a huge case of "YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT" end of rant.

Question: Doug you mentioned Marty McCutchen mouthing O Canada, makes me wonder, and Canadian refs in the league or refs with connections to Canada?

As always Doug you rule. I was very disappointed to not win the Raps auction and get a chance to hang with your legendary self. Congrats to Javid on that honour!

Blogger's note: The only ref I know for sure with a strong tie to Canada is Bill Spooner, whose parents lived in Hamilton. He's a helluva ref, too

[Andrew R]

The game was lost on two defensive lapses.

One near the end of the 4th where Hump and Bargs were supposed to switch off, but Hump failed to recognize the switch and left HWSNBN wide open for a critical J.

Of course the OT winner where Jose got caught not switching and HWSNBN got wide open for the alley-'oops'.

Sam did a decent job. I would have put Moon back out there against HWSNBN, because he was keeping him out of the paint and he was hitting his Js, I also would have tried to foul to prevent the 3 at the end of regulation. Parker should have hit BOTH those free throws too BTW.

[GM]

Hey Alex, it has nothing to do with hating Sam. I kinda like the guy. But you gotta seperate personal from professional. Obviously the Raps have to look at other coaches out there before they make a decision. They might be unemployed for a reason, but that reason might not have to do with their coaching acumen. Sometimes coaches and certain players just don't mesh, or they've been around too long and players tune them out. It doesn't mean they're not good coaches.

So who's available? As of today, PJ Carlesimo, but that would be a mistake. The Little General, Avery Johnson, might be a good one. He's a bit too intense, but that's probably what the Raptors could use. Plus he has experience coaching Dirk, so might have a clue on how to handle Bargnani. Other than that, who else is out there?

[yertu damkule]

thanks, doug. that sure is the sentiment i'm getting so far this year...that they're just some 'tinkering' away from being complete.

as much as jose is a top-notch offensive PG, you'd have to be blind not to realize that he's also one of the worst defensive players, at any position. he hadn't successfully limited harris in any perceptable way during the game, i guess they figured he was due for a big stop.

thanks doug. i think my time is better wasted elsewhere. enjoy all those tough questions from your minions.

Blogger's note: Thanks for your contributions; enjoy your journey.

[Blake Kennedy]

As for that sidelines out of bounds play, Doug, you attempt to defend Smitch on that and place all the blame on Bargnani.

Go back to the game tape: how many passing lanes were open on that second play? The first one doesn't count because Smitch screamed for a timeout before the ball went in. That's right: none. He got a second chance to get something worked out and dropped the ball.

How about not switching on Carter's 3 that tied the game? That's on him. Every coach of any stripe in the world knows you switch all screens with less than 6 seconds to play because there's barely any time to really expose a mismatch on a switch and you don't want to get hung up on a screen. So Smitch decides he wants the guys fighting over screens. And they get hung up on a screen. And Carter had a nearly-uncontested look. Going to overtime? That's on Smitch.

[frizzer1]

After watching this team for the last 3 years i am convinced that regardless of personnel Sam's team will never defend well enough to compete for a championship.
They simply never improve on defence and we seee the same things....open 3 point shooters,inability to defend 2's and 3's..year after year.
enough!.

[Fernando]

I can't take it anymore...our wing players have stunk it up most of the year if not one all at the same time.

Kapono can't defend a cake from a fat kid. Graham is all but lost. Jamario has fallen in love with his jump shot instead of taking it to the rack.

There' Jerry Stackhouse looking for a new home. The last time I checked he can still hit an open jumper and defend better then this band of misfits.

He won't cost an arm and a leg and might shake things up just a bit in these player's heads to get them to focus for more then 3 out 4 quarters.

Signing off Frustrated and Perturbed.

Peace