That one might leave a mark

Ouch.

That one hurt, didn’t it?

RENE JOHNSTON/TORONTO STAR

20 and 10 for Vince Carter on this night.

I’ve had more “I’m done with these guys forever” e-mails in the last 10 hours than I usually get in a week.

I presume if they go 4-3 in their next seven I’ll get a bundle of “Where do I buy my Jake Voskuhl jersey” queries.

-

Let’s just say this: You can fire the coach, you can change the rotation, you can alter the starting lineup, you can change the system until the cows come home.

But a team that can’t rebound can’t all of a sudden rebound.

Is there anyone surprised they got hammered on the boards? It’s not like it hasn’t happened before or anything. And no matter how you couch it or coach it, rebounding is effort. They don’t give a good enough effort often enough and until they do, there will be more nights like Monday.

-

How bad was it?

The eternal optimist Jose Calderon was grumpy:

“The last couple of games I was so positive, I thought we were doing a good job but today I don’t know what’s going on, it was a bad game. We’re supposed to have this one, twice we went 10 points up and we couldn’t finish. It was the same type of game as two weeks ago (against the Nets).”

-

Action: Key moment.

Reaction: Blown call?

Here’s a sequence that was pretty costly, and pretty confusing.

Nets, up two, get the ball, according to the official play-by-play sheet, with 6:04 left. After a bad possession, they get a 20-foot jumper by Brook Lopez, which didn’t look like it hit the rim to me, with 5:40 left and the ball goes out of bounds with 5:39 left.

That’s 25 seconds, right?

And not only that, in the scramble off the miss, the Raptors are sure the ball goes out off a Jersey player.

So there’s a timeout, Raps draw up a play and are stunned to find out when they go back on the court that it’s New Jersey’s ball.

If it wasn’t a 24-second violation (and I thought it was), the deflection out of bounds may have gone off a Net.

The kicker? The officials, who were confused and shaky all night, told New Jersey during the timeout it was their ball, they didn’t bother to tell the Raptors.

And, to make matters worse, the Nets get a three-point play from that Carter on the subsequent possession to go up by five and the Raptors never get closer than that.

-

Here’s what The Other Dave wrote in Jersey.

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These are impressive numbers:

New Jersey: 38.1 per cent.

New Jersey: 31.3 per cent.

Indiana: 31.3 per cent.

Portland: 44 per cent.

Yes, Cleveland shot 49 per cent and New Orleans shot 48 per cent but those other field goal percentages would lead one to believe that the defence is actually doing a good job. Except for that rebounding stuff, of course.

The decision to switch on the perimeter almost all the time and to try to force people baseline has certainly cleaned up a lot of the dribble penetration issues that plagued these guys for weeks. It’s coaching the roster to maximize it’s ability.

Now, if they’d just finish possessions and work a little harder, they’d get rewarded with wins and not bitter losses.

-

Action: 17 points in the fourth

Reaction: And none when it mattered.

Almost lost amid the rebounding travails was the fact the Raptors were 0-for-freaking-14 from the floor in the first 9:25 of the fourth quarter.

That’s right: They did worse in less than a quarter than Carter did in the entire game on Friday.

They didn’t score a bucket until a Calderon three-pointer got ‘em within 11 with 2:35 to go and by that time, fact is, the game was over.

-

Know what I wish? I wish today was Feb. 20. You know, the day after the trade deadline.

While we appreciate all the zany trade proposals being sent hither and yon these days, there’s no way they can all be answered. Some of ‘em are so out there – Mo Pete and Sean Marks for Hump and AP or something make me laugh out loud almost – and some simply can’t happen ‘cause of salary issues.

So send ‘em but you’re sending them pretty much to a vacuum.

-

Action: Reggie Theus fired.

Reaction: Will the nonsense ever end?

Six coaches whacked before Christmas? Ridiculous.

If six GMs, who’ve saddled the coaches with unworkable rosters, were to get fired, too, then I might be okay with this insanity.

-

This dovetails nicely:

Q: With the recent firings of Reggie Theus, Sam Mitchell, PJ Carlesimo, Eddie Jordan and Maurice Cheeks it’s easy to see who hasn't done the best of coaching jobs so far this year. But if they were to hand out the coach of the year right now, who would be on top of your list?

Mario A, Toronto

A: George Karl would have to be in the running, wouldn’t he? And I know the schedule has been somewhat soft but Mike Brown in Cleveland would have to be in the discussion.

-

Speaking of trades, here’s the latest (or at least the latest after talking to a handful of people Monday)

There are things bubbling out there but nothing serious at the moment, although the moment could change at any moment. That’s the way the business works.

Do I think something will happen before the deadline? Absolutely.

Do I think something will happen in the next 48 hours? I doubt it. But look at it this way, Bryan’s not a cruel, cruel man and if he’s going to make a move, I’m not sure he makes it over Christmas to disrupt the lives of the players traded. There’s no moratorium in the NBA like there is in other sports (hi, pucks!) but common courtesy suggests the Dec. 20-Jan. 3 time is not a time for deals.

Maybe he does pull the trigger today or tomorrow but I’m thinking it’s more likely in early January.

Comments

[Aaron Campbell]

This team is going downhill fast. What happened?

[Omar H]

4-3 in their next 7? I would take the under on that. I'm a massive Raptors fan, but the reality of the situation has been laid bare, namely that this team lacks leadership, edge, and most importantly, talent. Adding JO, seeing Moon come back alive, having CB4 uninjured, and we still cannot rebound? Or manufacture a basket for nearly an entire quarter? I guess it is within the realm of possibility that the team can turn this around, but seeing the sloped shoulders walking off the court last night, and witnessing jump shot after jump shot (usually one and done) followed by short forwards like Hassell out-rebounding our forward corps repeatedly in crunch time at the other end, does not leave much hope. The Raps over-delivered the last two years, on the back of unexpected performances (e.g. Moon last year) - and now, everyone, including our star player, is returning to earth. Expectations must be adjusted accordingly, at least until BC tries another high-risk change of personnel. I hope it comes soon.

[Claudio DiG.]

Dear Doug, please let me go with this kind of rant/informative:
1) "Blogger's note: Sam was quite a bit of a scapegoat; anything happened in the first 20 games was as much, if not more, on the players than the coach". Partially true; the other side of the fact is a coach that didn't go well with many players (in fact, he promptly broke up with O'Neill, for instance) and was reknowned by all of them like a "technically mediocre" coach (I just re-heard it in that famous video-interwiew - in Italian - with Bargnani). 2) You're totally right on Maggette; all the canadian readers just go and read the S.F.Gate link: fans (and front office) over there had just enough of that guy, and trying to kick him somewhere else. 3) You're totally right on Kapono too: clever man, great b.b player with no Superman tools. 4) Please, someone say to Bosh that is up to him, not us, to work for those rebounds!
Best regards
P.S = maybe 5 billions of people in the world would change their own sort with that of the "poor-millionaire-fired Sam"

[Nicholas C]

Hi Doug,

The opponents shot percentage table really puts things into perspective. The Raptors D has increased immensely. The rebounding is awful yes, but yesterdays loss came at the hands of ice cold shooting in the fourth. My question is this; Triano has been letting the team make a lot more of their own decisions, during that cold spell did you happen to notice how much of it was called plays and how much was in-game quarterbacking?

[jack]

Just yesterday you said there was zero chance of a trade happening now your covering your tracks by saying well maybe there is one coming, do you really have any clue of whats going on??????????

On top of that these guys are being paid millions of dollars, coaches or players if your not doing the job here then make a change wether its christmas or easter I dont care! Give me 10 million dollars and you can trade or fire me any christmas you want.

Blogger's note: You need to read more closely, or get some remedial reading comprehension lessons. What I said was this:

Action: Jake’s here
Reaction: Nothing else imminent
The Voskuhl signing, as we’ve mentioned a few times, is not precursor to any other significant move, I’m hearing around the team.
Yes, Bryan is having all kinds of discussions about trades with all kinds of other general managers but even the stuff that’s on the front burner isn’t really cooking at the moment.
It’s the usual suspects – maybe deal Joey, AP’s expiring contract is a selling point, Kapono’s emerging play of late may make him attractive – but no one’s bowled the GM over with an offer that makes sense.
So I’m afraid anyone expecting something big to go down on the heels of the signing is going to be disappointed.
-

Nothing "imminent" which means, like now, not that there was "zero chance."

[Aaron J.]

If I see Bosh throw up one more ill-timed shot... I'm gonna snap! What's with this team? Their shooting goes cold and instead of being aggressive by taking it to the net, they just keep tossing up outside shots?
Wake up, man!

[Tim]

What? COY ? AND NO MENTION of Jerry Sloan ? Even after his 1000th game ?

[liam c]

Hey Doug.

I have a question... Will you be our hero?

Any chance you might write another piece about the "TSN2/Rogers Debacle".

Maybe mention the Facebook groups and even interview some fans (especially the ones that are canceling their Rogers subscription). Get this movement rolling.

Power to the people?

Blogger's note: The people have power, indeed. I'll give it my best shot to get something in the paper soon.

[Kiwi]

KIWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why u messin wit my main man? (to quote Ahmad Rashad)

I got a better deal than that. AP and Hump for Marks and Mo Pete and some picks (maybe NO's 1st or 2nd rounder this year).

What about that one?

Anyone got a KIWI cuz I want one!

[Joe T.]

Doug, since my long questions never get answered, I thought I'd throw this one in the Comments in case other people (and you) have some insight. I'm troubled by the Raptors poor rebounding this season and even more disturbed by their futility in this category from season to season. People want a team identity? There it is: Poor Rebounding! Toronto is currently 28th in rebounding, 26th in rebounds allowed and dead last in rebound differential per game. All of the top 8 rebounding teams have at least 4 guys who average 5 or more boards a game. The Raps have 2. So maybe they're just a trade and a Bargnani board a game away from being a great rebounding team...

Now for some history (which is where it gets frightening). The Raptors have been among the worst 5 rebounding teams in the NBA for each of the last 6 seasons (this young one included). No other NBA team can make that claim. The last time they were an above-average rebounding team was 2000-1. In that same 6-season period, they've been among the worst 5 for opponent rebounds 3 times. (Amazingly enough, they were above the league average in that category last season. Wasn't the Jermaine O'Neal trade supposed to help IMPROVE all this?) The last time they were above average in both categories? You guessed it: 2000-1. The last time they had 4 guys average 5 boards per game or more?: 2003-4. Paradoxically, that is the only season they finished WORSE in both rebounding categories than where they sit now. But that's because two of those guys (Jerome Williams and Antonio Davis) only played 15 games. So let's say it was really 2002-3, when those two were here all season...

Pretty dire, no? Through 3 GM's, 3 Coaches and numerous players, the Toronto Raptors have been a horrid rebounding team. WHY, DOUG, WHY? And how can they reverse this trend and develop a more meaningful team identity?...

Blogger's note: Think it was pretty well addressed this morning, get players to work harder. It's really not a complex thing

[Rahil]

Hey Doug,

Thought you may be interested in the following link.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12162008/sports/nets/carter_still_has_warm_feelings_for_cold__144354.htm

Good Job,

Rahil

[peter]

Doug, I disagree with the switching strategy. Our bigs end up in the perimeter and out of position to rebound. That's why you are seeing a huge rebounding discrepancy.

Blogger's note: And if they stay home, they get killed by penetration and on the perimeter, as we've seen. Pick your poison, I guess; but I'll take shooting percentages in the 30s any game.

[Louis]

Tim;

It seems that your caps lock key is broken on your keyboard. You might want to get that fixed.

[basketballbuzz.ca]

Any word on the TSN2 & ROGERS fiasco.

Blogger's note: No

[Steve Gosse]

It would be nice to have a David Lee type player here..
but the problem is.. you can't really play him at the 3.. and then he'd be coming off the bench and not really solving our rebounding woes..

maybe bringing someone in like that could help motivate the guys to hit the glass.

Amundson in PHO last night seemed energetic and tracked down the ball well in the very few minutes he played... I liked his energy. (whether he always brings it.. not sure)

[Roll With Tha Clan from Chi's northside]

it's funny, because when we were up by double digits in the first quarter, i knew it would be close by halftime. the only thing i didn't see coming was ryan anderson mutating into VC lastnight and hitting us with dagger threes.

i just hope we can get to that illusive 13-19 record by January 1st and pull it together by then. regardless, i will continue watching this team until the bitter end.

it seems triano's strategy works if we can just finish the play somehow, i just wish he was the coach from the beginning, maybe we would be .500 ballclub.

Doug, where is humphries? he can get the odd rebound, is he still hurt? (i can't believe i'm asking you a question regarding hump, i have now hit the all time low...)

Blogger's note: He was available last night, they just went with three bigs.

[brad]

I'm glad you acknowledged the ref's last night; I thought they were bad. There were a couple calls against the Rap's that were questionable at best (one strip by JO, one strip late by Joey Graham, and one against JK)...all might have been fouls, but they weren't calling the same type of calls against the Nets.

But the bottom line, the Rap's keep letting the ref's get to them. I'd like to see them play through it; if they take it to the net and don't get the call, just keep taking it until you do get the call. Too often they won't get a call and then they won't bother going back again. OR, they are so concerned with getting a foul called that they don't finish the play. How many times does Bosh, and now Bargnani and JO, make a flailing, arms in the air motion when they go to the net, instead of just holding the ball and going hard to the net.

[SY]

What's wrong with the Raptors? They were playing well in the first 3 quarters then the fourth quarter came - fourth quarter breakdown, AGAIN!!

If I were B.C., I'd probably have one huge headache rite now. Should I do any major changes to the roster now? If not, I run the risk of throwing the season away if the raptors go another 3-7 (I say it is highly possible with the way the Clippers & Sacramento are playing rite now).

Doug, if you were B.C., what would you do?

Also, is it just me but I rather see Bargnani to get 10 boards than 10 points? Why can't his role be a rebound specialist or something?

-SY

[Dan W]

I would love to see the Raptors get Josh Howard. Parker and Barngani's salaries would match. Give Dallas a pick as well and that's not a bad deal for either team. Dallas would most likely want a sf in return. Parkers expiring contract with the pick along with Jason Kidds 20 million coming off the books would give them alot to work with this summer.

[Kelly Mc]

Hey Doug, do you think there is any truth to the Newsday article that Diaw and bell will be traded again this season, or is that just another crazy line coming out of the New York media? Do you see any value of either of those players coming to Toronto?

Blogger's note: Diaw's been a disappointment for, what, a year and a half and has $27 million on his deal after this year? Bell's all right but his best days are behind him. Guess they might have some value, but not as much as some think

[WSG]

Doug - Has there ever been such a thing as a Rebound Coach? I'm thinking Dennis Rodman would be someone to bring in, even part-time. Couldn't hurt.

Blogger's note: Rebounding is effort and instinct. Not the most coachable of attributes

[Kelsie]

Dribble penetration by New Jersey, no rebounding by the Raptors, equals 14th loss.

Two things Doug,

I would like to keep him and see what he can develop into, but shouldn't Bargs be on thin ice unless BC is content with riding him for better or for worse? I think he has improved this year in many areas but perhaps not enough for a #1 pick. He has had a support system from the day he came into the NBA (Colangelo, Gherdini) so although BC has commented that he has been pleased with his progress, I'm certain he wants to see better numbers as well as being able to have him on the floor late in games. Currently his play for the most part has been inconsistent and this being year 3, his numbers have generally remained static. I just don't think he should be considered "untouchable" anymore, although I would like to see him develop into a significant piece with this team if possible.

Secondly, a previous blogger commented on your response to the players being more accountable for the start of the season than Mitchell or Triano for that matter, which I agree with you, but I think we are overlooking things slightly.

Raps are 2-5 since Triano took over and although I do see some new philosophies that are certainly welcomed, the results have been the same. Mitchell and now Triano are coaching a flawed roster. I think rebounding is definitely about working hard and laying your body on someone but if you continually have to preach it maybe they just can't do it, and usually in situations of reaction you revert to bad habits, so I don't see this issue going away this season with this roster.

My issue with BC is his expectations are fair but the teams limitations should be equally factored into these expectations. Didn't he also fire Mitchell for losing big leads?lol I'm trying to stay optimistic and not rag on the Raps every minute of the day but I do feel like Colangelo should accept more responsibility for the teams lack of early success this year than anyone else. He has trumpeted the "potential" good of this team but scoffs at analyzing the negatives arguing that every team has negatives and flaws. This is true, but when these flaws are the main issue that keep us from winning consistently or losing big leads who's to blame? Coach, players or GM?

Right now, I would say that the guy standing in the tunnel watching the game in the nice suit with the open collar and no tie who also makes the personnnel decisions around here......he's the guy to provide answers to these questions.

[jhaus]

"They did worse in less than a quarter than Carter did in the entire game on Friday. "

really, what kind of sentence is that? i guess this means they sucked? is it difficult to do worse in a quarter than an entire game?

[Mark]

Hi Doug, the comments on M. Grange's blog about Bargnani and Calderon are quite interesting, can you provide any insight?

Blogger's note: Haven't read it yet today.

[Jonathan]

Gotta love it when someone tries to slam you on something you wrote, and instead falls flat on their face. Is it a problem of having a one-track mind, or horridly poor reading skills?

One thing I absolutely hate, when the Nets come to town, is the booing of Carter. You'd think that at some point, people would realize that if they value their team winning more than getting their kicks, they should ignore Carter instead. Carter ALWAYS lights it up when the Toronto crowd gets on his case. That alone would probably get us more additional wins than a coaching change.