The bumpy season ride continues

KEVIN KOLCZYNSKI/REUTERS

Solid minutes from O'Neal and Bosh, but they had no help.

The good news? A game Wednesday. The bad news? If they lose that one, there may be people jumping in Lake Ontario.

There was lots to hate about that Tuesday effort in Orlando and judging by the comments and e-mail it’s running about 75 per cent point guard play, 20 per cent coach and five per cent ‘aw, they suck anyway.’

Makes for some delightful late-night reading around here.

Just like this makes for some delightful morning reading wherever you are.

On with the stuff:

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Action: BC missed the game

Reaction: He won’t miss the fallout

The GM was off scouting on Tuesday and I’m told he was headed to Miami to pick them up Wednesday. What’s The Man to do?
Well, something.

I don’t think anyone can look at this team right now and optimistically suggest it’s a second-round playoff team, let alone a conference title contender. Sure, given the right matchup and if everyone’s playing great, they could squeeze out a first round win and make a lot of people happy.

The likelihood of that happening is Slim and None and Slim’s just about left town.

So, the GM thinks, what can I do? Maybe Doug’s got an idea? Well, I don’t really, except to reiterate:

Bosh, O’Neal, Calderon and Bargnani aren’t going anywhere, Solomon, Ukic, Jawai and Adams have little or no value on the market and Hump, Graham, Parker, Kapono and Moon are, to put it bluntly, too wildly inconsistent to really bring back value.

So, a guess? Try to package two or three of them for some young wing making a fair bit of money ($7-8 million), blow the tax threshold, sign a couple of old heads to fill out the roster and hope things get better.

I have no idea if that guy they need is out there or not (I cannot read the minds of other general managers) but Bryan better be searching.

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For you history buffs, the last time the Raptors had as many as 24 turnovers in a game was March 30, 2005 when they had 24 and were drilled by – ta-da! – the Orlando Magic.

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Action: 40 of 90 points from Bosh.

Reaction: Long year coming

As many of you point out, I know nothing, but I do know this: If seven of the nine guys in the rotation play poorly, this team won’t win 25 games.

And that’s exactly what happened in Orlando. Go down the list and figure out who, besides Bosh and O’Neal, had even, for them, average games. Can’t find anyone, can you?

And I don’t care of Jerry Sloan or Gregg Popovich or Red Auerbach is coaching, if that many players don’t play well, you cannot – ever – win a game.

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So how does it play in Orlando? And what are they saying in Miami about tonight’s big rematch? Read about it here. And here.
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Cha-ching!

That sound you hear is cash registers registering because I truly think The Fine Females of the Foundation are going to have to hire scads of temporary workers just to count the money after this auction for a stupendous prize package for Sunday’s game against Boston.

Really, isn't that the greatest possible Sunday afternoon?

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Right, Jerry Stackhouse. He’s the answer.

He’s the answer because the Raptors really, really, really need an unathletic 34-year-old who is shooting 29 per cent from the field this year and who has missed 13 of the 16 three-pointers he’s taken.

Now those numbers may skewed because he’s not playing a lot so let’s put it this way:

The Raptors really, really, really need an unathletic 34-year-old who is shooting 29 per cent from the field this season and who has missed 13 of his 16 three-pointers he’s taken this year coming off a 2007-08 season in which he shot 40 per cent from the field and 33 per cent from three-point range.

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Action: These guys are shooters?

Reaction: Yeah, right.

In one set of back-to-back possessions in the third quarter, Jason Kapono hit the side of the backboard with a three-pointer and J.J. Redick air-balled one at the other end.

Sweet basketball, that is.

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From the mail:

Q: Hi Doug, this maybe a stupid question but was curious if the Raps change their offensive and defensive set ups with Solomon or Ukic is on the floor to cater to their strengths (ie weaknesses)?

Jamil B, Sydney, Australia

A: No, they run the same plays, just not nearly as well.

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Action: Jose’s watching

Reaction: It’s carnage

Yes, Will Solomon was terrible last night (the leaping, spinning, ‘oh my God that’s Dwight Howard so I better just throw this ball somewhere’ play was my personal fave) but, really …

I think he’s somewhere between the guy who had 15 and 11 on Sunday and the over-matched dude we saw last night.

But I think, once Jose gets back, there should be a very short leash on Solomon because Ukic has to get his turn.

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We’ll finish up with this:

Q: So you're covering and blogging 16 road games from home this year? Hmm, that's interesting. That sounds an awful lot like the "blogger in his mother's basement typing in his boxers" stereotype you people keep using (even people like Bob Costas). Can you print media cavemen finally agree that it's quite possible to cover a team without having a journalism degree or "access"? In fact, most bloggers do it quite well, and a lot of them do it even better than newspaper columnists. Just check out some of our very own Raptors blogs. By the way, I'm not a blogger. I'm just tired of the arrogance and jealousy that people in your business exhibit toward a perfectly legitimate medium.

Shawn P, Brampton

A: No, you cannot do it “quite well” nor can you even remotely do it “better than newspaper columnists.” Not even close, actually.

And you absolutely cannot, ever, ever, “cover a team” without being around it.

Yes, you can sit and write entertaining prose and dash off a well-thought-out opinion, but you cannot bring context, insight, or experience if you’re not around the team to know the people, understand the dynamics or appreciate why something happens.

There’s no question that a few people who have never asked a question of a player or a coach have the ability to make coherent arguments to validate their points, and some are quite nice writers. What they aren’t, and never will be, is able to provide inside information or context. Sorry.

And, I guarantee you none would be having conversations during a game with anyone at a game to have questions answered or information provided.

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See you tonigt. From the couch.

Comments

[Doug]

Re: Blogger Bashing

Dear Doug:

This message coming at you from Dov, exhorter of your videos and indicter of your ancient Greek malprops.

Your criticism of sports blogs is thoughtful, well balanced, and most of all - and this makes it unique - based on hard experience. I would love to read more on the subject.

It would be fascinating to read a longer 'opinion' type article on blog opining vs. pro reporting from the beat grunt perspective. I could imagine that type of article appearing in the Walrus or another highfalutin Canuck rag.

Why don't you bang it out and submit it to the pretense-puffed publication of your choice - I hear that they pay $1-$2 per word, and what beat grunt doesn't revel at the prospect of earning $2,500 for being a pro and pumping out a 1,200 word op-ed in 30-45 minutes?

Yours,
Dov

[Boko]

Doug, there are other things that could be done. 1) Fire Sam Mitchell. 2) Hire Flip Saunders. 3) Incorporate a system that uses the best players in situations that take advantage of their strengths (and hide their weaknesses) on a consistent basis (see SMs use of Kapono). 3) Use the best lineup AGAINST THAT TEAM, EVERY NIGHT! 4) Let the players get used to the new system. 5) Help them become confident in the possibilities. And all of that keeps us out of the dreaded luxury tax.

Do we need a new substitute PG in the rotation? YES!

Do we need a new starting SF/SG in the rotation? YES!

With $3M & future 1st-round draft picks (every second year), & 2nd-round draft picks (every year), & the odd journeyman, we do have something to offer. Whether anyone accepts it or not is out of our control. But at the very least, we can try ...

[Dan W]

I would like to see Roko start if Jose is out again tonight. He is a better passer and plays more controlled. As for trades I think Parker with his expiring contract or Kapano with his shooting both can bring back someone decent when you package them with a draft pick and somone else. I honestly don't understand the logic in the Solomon signing. YOu already have Roko with no NBA experience. If your going to bring in a guy over thirty why not make it an NBA veteran who won't be phased by the NBA game and play like a rookie.

[George]

So it wasn't all that bad, or was it? We have to take some heart in the fact that O'Neal contained Howard; even at times looked like the more dominant player and Bosh had an outstanding game. True, there were a lot of negatives. But most of them can be attributed to perhaps one problem. We played without a floor general. Solomon and Ukic got frustrated and looked lost with the amount of pressure and energy that the Magic guards brought. Solomon with the twist and throw the ball up in the air move, running without a clue of how much time is left on the clock etc. Besides, Orlando had a great 3 point shooting night. Perhaps assisted by Toronto's lack of perimeter defence. It was no doubt a frustrating game to watch. But I will take a couple of losses to have a healthy Jose back. And perhaps Ukic and Solomon need these minutes to become better back-ups for Jose? But this glass is beginning to look half empty. I agree with you Doug. We are not a second round team this year with this roster. We probably need an athletic SG/SF who can play some point. Delfino… where are you? Do you know how much Delfino receives in Europe now?

Blogger's note: Somewhere north of $8 million US a year, depending on the exchange rate.

[Peter]

Doug,
Is it just me or does it seem like Kapono's averaging more turn-overs per game than 3-point-made per game?
Is it ever frustrating to watch him put the ball on the floor!
It's either travel or foot goes out of bounds EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Oh my.

[Alex]

How long before Bosh gets frustrated with the lack of production - and effort - from most of the rest of the crew?

What a performance last night. And diving on the ball late in the game with virtually no chance of winning. The rest of the team should be completely ashamed with themselves given Bosh's effort.

Oh, and Parker... yowza. Worst game he's had in a long time.

[marcus rush]

without any type of wing presence could the Raptors not swing a deal for a player such as Grant Hill who is not starting with the Suns? His veteran presence would help the likes of Moon and Joey and he knows how to play the game. Could he not be had in a straight up deal for Kapono who would help the Suns as a pure shooter?

narcus rush

[Ryan]

Only 20% coach? That must be a record low. I was thinking it would be the usual 50%+, since us fans are all great coaches-in-waiting.

[Russel A]

I recall you saying Redick was 'no good' the other day. I agree with you... but last night he sure did look better than any gaurd we had. And your personal fave play.. wow... I must have rolled of the couch when I watched that. Solomon was terrible last night and that play I think summed up why at this point, he could never ever ever be a starting pg in this league. SHOOT THE BALL!!! I would have rather seen d12 smack that to the moon then have seen what I did.. and I actually think dwight wouldn't have blocked his shot.
And boy did nelson kill us. I don't know why people have underestimated him so much .. he's on a team where he's the 4th scoring option at best.. and there are other people who can handle the ball.. hence the lower assist numbers.. hes good.

[MARK M]

Hey Doug

Hate to sound like a punk but on the realgm boards they were saying you suggested Finley. Is that true? If so.......just as bad as Stackhouse (who I also don't like).

Blogger's note: I believe I may have suggested Monday night that if San Antonio stayed in the toilet Finley might be the one guy available later on this year and would probably be worth investigating. Is he the answer? No. I think I also said they were at least a player and a half away from contending realistically.

[CARLoS M.]

Is it wrong that I dreamed of T. Jose Forderon last night?

[Eric]

It's a good point that no team can win with 7 or 8 guys playing poorly. But the question with the Raptors should not be WHO is playing poorly but rather WHY are they playing poorly. This team has not done a good job of answering that q and have found it hard to improve or even get on a roll as a result. They've gone so far as to dump half their rotation because they felt they were too deep! It's really gotten out of hand. Under Sam Mitchell and co, this team has only shown me that they cannot utilize the tools at their disposal and when it comes to developing players, they fail on that front as well. Am I the only one who thinks that Danny Granger would be stapled to the bench if he were a Raptor and Joey Graham would be starring for the Pacers? Does it have to do with the player or is it something else? With all the evidence we've seen, I would bet money on the latter.

[Alex]

Ahhh your man Jawad at it again!
How did they come up with that package value....I mean a meeting with the great D. Smith that has to be worth wayyyyy more that $953.
There better be a stipulation that Doug can't order that Harbour Grill gift certificate entirely in pitchers!

Blogger's note: Pitchers? Who drinks pitchers? How '90s

[brennan]

"If seven of the nine guys in the rotation play poorly, this team won’t win 25 games...And I don’t care of Jerry Sloan or Gregg Popovich or Red Auerbach is coaching, if that many players don’t play well, you cannot – ever – win a game."

-but if they two guys that do play well, are say - kobe and shaq

[Tree]

Bosh and O'Neal give the team a combined 56 pts and 28 rb, and they still lose by 13! O'Neal is bringing what I think was expected from him so far, Bosh has been better than hoped for, and still this is a middle of the pack team.

Doug, a question: now that he's well into his third season, what do you think the ceiling is for Bargnani talent-wise? The 10ppg 4rpg averages don't cut it in my books, and while I know you won't label him a bust yet, he must be getting pretty close. Heck, Kapono is a second round pick, and his numbers are better than Bargnani. In my opinion, he plays very well in small spurts - enough to think he's turning a corner - then reverts back to poor play. What is becoming realistic to expect from this guy?

Blogger's note: I have no idea about numbers but I think Bargnani's got a bright future as a four-five; not as a three.

[Dan Witzel]

I am still waiting to see Joey get his chance. Does it not seem that he gets out on floor for a few minutes makes one bad move than he is kicked of the court for the rest of the night, or until the garbage minutes of the game. This is the only thing that is truly frustrating me about the season so far. I believe before the season started everyone understood that withough Calderon a win would be tough. So far without Jose we are 1-1, now we are crying desperately for another guy to come off the bench and do a bang up job, but for some reason the first thing is to look elsewhere, as opposed to try out the one guy on the bench who so far this year has averaged about 8 minutes a game, and I bet of those 8 minutes 2 of them are garbage minutes. I am not saying he is a starter or a top 6 man but he could be better than what they have. Especially if they showed a little confidence in him.

[Uncle Zeke]

Hmmm... Doug, do you still think that the Raptor's don't need a veteran backup point guard? Definitely don't want to hinder Ukic's development do we... I bet Lindsay Hunter would have looked like the second-coming last night compared to whatever you call what the Raptors trotted out at PG against the Magic.

In Bryan Colangelo the sheep blindly trust...

[Jacques]

Sam did a bad job at coaching last night...time to let him go and let Jay run the show.

[Smooth Fan]

These are the issues with our team currently I feel:

1. SMitch shouldn't have given up on the game, 1:07 down 7 pts is still reachable and Bosh did not want to give up.

2. The backup PG situation will work itself out, I can't believe the # of careless turnovers, but this is due to nerves/inexperience under that kind of defensive pressure, we knew not having TJ Ford as backup would result in a weaker bench, that's the trade off for having ONeill, hopefully they will get better before the year ends.

3. SMitch really needs to learn how to draw up plays for Kapono, the man can shoot and with 4 quick shots can give you 12 points, not many players out there (besides Allen and Reggie) that can pull this off.

4. ONeill was awesome last night, I don't care about his stats, but he single handedly stopped Howard. That was incredible, this guy can play and he looks like he's going to break out this year big time out of the funk he's been in due to injuries.

5. Finally, as much as I hate to see our team lose, I think once Calderon comes back, games like this would easily be winnable. NBA.com shows that Calderon is the #2 PG in the league right now with the #1 AST/TO ratio, only second to Chris Paul, he'll be an All Star this year, no doubt and he's definately the key to our team winning.

6. As for SMitch, this loss isn't on him, its on terrible passing by the PGs and ball handling by others. However, if SMitch can't bring this team above .500 as they should be (they are much better without Ford and with ONeill), then I think BC will let him go (aka fire him) and pick up another coach. SMitch is out of excuses about not having defensive players, so it's time to step up as a coach or ship out very soon.

Doug: I've been an avid reader of your blog back from the Nothin' but (inter)Net days, first time posting, look forward to some debates/discussion with you!

[Ajitvir Singh]

Doug, I understand that the Raptors have their deficiencies. But aren't fans overreacting WAY too much over their loss to Orlando? I mean our second best player was out of the lineup (Jose) and his replacement is apparently a big fan of leaving his feet and chucking the ball at the other team.

Don't you think that with Jose in the lineup the Raptors would have won that game last night?

Also, don't you think that the game changing moment was when O'Neal picked up his second foul (due to another terrible play by Solomon)? Jose would never have dribbled on of the bigs into a situation like that.

Blogger's note: They would have had a far better chance to win with Calderon playing and, yes, that second foul on O'Neal was crucial and a mistake by Solomon.

[GM]

"I don’t care of Jerry Sloan or Gregg Popovich or Red Auerbach is coaching, if that many players don’t play well, you cannot – ever – win a game."

Yes, great coaches will have games where their players just don't play well. That happens. But one thing that makes them great is that those games are few and far between. And they have options for when those games come up. And they get the most out of their weakest players. Can't say that's happening on the Raps.

I predict a loss tonight, but not because I'm down on them. I just think it's next to impossible to beat an opponent at home when you just beat them at your place in a close game. Those games are almost always split. So don't anyone do anything rash when they lose tonight. (And I hope I'm wrong... there's a first time for everything!)

[Roll With Tha Clan. from Chicago's northside]

i believe in this team, 24 turnovers and not a blowout, we should have been blown out on the road like how atlanta did us 2 weeks ago. instead, we battled the whole way despite being overmatched by jameer nelson (did i just say that) and having two pg's that love dribbling for 12 seconds and then making an ill-advised play. calderon and roko is sufficient enough to play in the nba.

i'm also liking JO's emphasis on defence, but i guess we gotta live with that 10 foot fadeaway for no reason, just to keep him playing defence like that(JO loves doing that shot at critical parts of the game)

i've been watching alot of basketball lately, and the only teams i fear is cleveland, boston and detroit because raptors suck against teams that play defence.

alot of teams are looking bad right now and there is definetly alot of parity in the league, i still believe we are above average in the east, when we get rolling by christmas.

[DS]

The fact the Bargnani is playing 3 certainly signifies how thin we are at that position. I have a sneaking suspiscion (hope?) that it's also to showcase him as trade bait. Bargnani and Kapono are tradeable assets, and Parker and Joey make $6m in expiring contracts and won't hurt (might help) the team they wind up with.

[Raj G]

Hi Doug, I know you've covered it before but given our more recent on court troubles with the 'smalls', does it make any sense to re-mention the name Damon Stoudamire?

Blogger's note: To me, it makes no sense. As a backup, 12-14 minutes a night, the combination of Solomon and/or Ukic will be okay. There are other matters that need to be addressed first.

[Kelsie]

Simple problems, simpe solutions. How many of these guys on this team have atarted for another team or have the ability to start? The answer is 3, Bosh, O'Neal and Calderon. You can throw in Parker but he only got his starting experience playing in Toronto so I'm not sure how he's received by the rest of the league and Bargnani has the potential but is not there yet. Everyone else is marginal talent at best trying to get better and become productive.

I can't blame Sam for a lack of players and talent. And for those who say that he has no ability in developing players, remember what Calderon was like when he came into the league and also remember that he had a very inexperienced CB4 who although was very talented has been moulded into a superstar. He won coach of the year and we won our first division title.

More talent = more wins. I can't believe everyone's begging for Delfino now, lol. Didn't everyone want him out of town last year? Next thing you know fans will start pining for my guy TJ and that would be music to my ears considering how quickly my "fan bretheren" wanted to get rid of him last year.

I think the issues right now can only be righted by BC, because it's his job to find better players and talent to add to the team. We don't have enough talent right now and our role players are not playing well enough to be a top 4 team in the East.