Some Joey, some Shawn, some Marcus, and some other stuff

This really getting a bit tedious, isn’t it?

They play, they lose, nothing happens that we haven’t seen too many times before (lack of energy? Check. Lack of rebounding? Check. No third scoring option? Check. Scary ugly defence? Check, check, check) so what’s a guy to do?

Well, plumb the recesses of the brain to come up with marginally interesting topics of discussion. And work on those goofy top five lists to generate some, um, discussion.

And today, this is what those recesses of the brain came up with (and if you think it’s easy, you don’t know my brain):

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DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR

Joey Graham has been one of the few positives this year.

I can’t remember who and I can’t remember why (creeping senility, I say) but someone last night during the game asked about Marion and Graham and I suggested you could make the case for Joey over Shawn, so I will.

You can say Graham’s at least Marion’s match in athleticism (he’s a far superior physical specimen, the only thing he doesn’t have is that spectacular second jump of Marion’s) and in quickness and explosiveness, the worst it is is a tie.

Marion’s got a better nose for the basketball and an ability to track down rebounds that Graham only wishes he had.

Both are equally adept finishing on the break and if you really think about it, isn’t Graham a better ball handler? Sure, he handles it too long on too many possessions but he’s got a knack for getting by his man on the baseline and creating space in the mid-range area.

Defensively? You’ve got to give the edge to Marion. I’ve seen Graham beaten back door so many times, it’s not even funny. Fixable? Probably.

Shooting? Well, I don’t think there’s a question of who’s got the better mid-range game.

Now, all that said, I’m still not convinced that Joey’s a starter on a good team in the NBA and Shawn’s been, what, a four-time all-star and been through some huge, huge games in which he’s had a major impact.

The point? Not sure there is one except that those two are much closer together in skill level than many would think at first blush.

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Action: Yeah, like there was any last night.

Reaction: 65 down, 17 to go.

That’s about all I’ve got off that one, folks.

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Maybe there is one:

Action: Bargnani’s big start

Reaction: And a so-so finish

Eleven points in the first quarter, 10 the rest of the way sort of sums it up for the kid too many nights, doesn’t it?

And if you’re trying to ascribe blame, there isn’t one single culprit.

Teams like Utah – you know, good teams – stick to him like glue after he gets off to a hot start; it was more the Jazz than the Raptors on Sunday afternoon who got him stopped.

There are times he stops himself, either by getting in foul trouble and having to sit down because he’s a rhythm guy like few I’ve seen and after going cold, it takes a while for him to heat up.

And, yes, some of it’s on his coaches and teammates. There aren’t a lot of specific plays set up for him, a pick and pop with the point guard is the bread and butter but until someone gets a summer and a training camp to figure out other ways to use his skills, that’s going to be about it. There’s been far too little practice time since December to revamp sets to get him more looks in different places.

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A question off the game, sort of:

Q: Last night towards the end of the blog you responded to a question about BB IQ. I would agree Kapono has a high basketball IQ, but only off the ball. He sets great screens and moves to open space. If you give him the ball he seems to have no idea of what to do. It's the same on defense for him. He helps well but is clueless or athletically overmatched all the time. Your thoughts?

Kevin M, Maple

A: I see your point and it’s obvious that he’s physically over-matched at times but some of what you point out goes to his level of intelligence.

The offence? Well, that’s an issue, I think he sees himself as more of a slasher than he is, maybe because he sees space he thinks he can fill but his release is so quick, he’s got to think “shoot it” as soon as he catches it. I’m sure the coaches have pointed this out but when it’s the rush of the game, he seems to go blank on that point at times.

Defensively, a coach once told me this:

“If you tell Jason not to let his guy go left, he won’t let him go left. He might get beaten right like a rented mule all night, but the guy’s not going left.”

Now, if instances like that, the correct help is on the right, he’s not nearly as bad as many think. Trouble is, here it seldom is.

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Oh yeah, in Philly, they got up this morning to read this.

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The Not So Curious Case Of Marcus Banks

I’ve had a few, um, friends, suggest the Raptors are missing out somehow by not playing Marcus Banks an awful lot to see what they’ve got.

Well, here’s why:

You’re going to have a new starting two-guard next year and it’s not going to be Banks and there’s no way in the world he’s a starting point guard on even an average team.

And, if you caught the few minutes he got last night and the horrific airball he put up at home the other day, playing him to “showcase” him so teams might sniff around a trade this summer is not the wisest of choices.

No, what you do is try to include him in a summer transaction as cap ballast (“You want Bosh, you take Banks and Kapono”) or you hope that by the time you need him for a few minutes in a couple of games next year, he can get the job done.

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Here’s a question.

Next time these guys win – and it has to be someday soon, doesn’t it? – when I run the story for the paper in the other city, it’s going to be something like:

‘OHMYGAWD, They Lost To The Raptors!!!!’

Yes, folks, it’s come to that.

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A quickie

Q: What's the difference between an unrestricted and a restricted free agent? Thanks.

Chili S, Toronto

A: Teams have the right to match any offer a restricted free agent gets on the market.

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Just read that Galen Weston’s worth has dropped from $7 billion to $5 billion.

That tells me either (a) those omnipresent television commercials really do blow, or (b) a whole lot TSN2 viewers who can’t see them are Loblaw’s shoppers missing out.

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Comments

[Jon]

Doug,

Why do you think the fans of Toronto are not as critical of Triano than they were of Mitchell? Say what you will about the quality of the team's roster, they were both working with the same people and in the same environment. One was widely criticized for the team being .500, and the other is defended for not having enough to work with. Same roster, same season.

[Martin Hartshorne]

You opened the door by saying the Raps will have a new starting 2-guard next year. So I'll ask it - Is there an '09 free agent that fills this role for us? (for the sake of estimating cap space in this question - assume that Graham is resigned for $3M / year and that Parker and Marion are not resigned).

Anyone? Bueller?

[TJ]

Hey Doug.
I am no longer convinced that Marion is a good keeper, but I do hope they resign Joey. As long as the contract is built around how he produces. He is a back up, and could be a great 7th or 8th manbit I still believe that this team is only a few pieces away from being scary good. Plz no one freak out.
Of Jose gets healthy and has a preseason to learn the run game, he'll be fine, Bosh, Bargs and him are a decent trio, they just need that 2-3 wing player who can slash and create his own shot.
And if the rumours are true and Carlos does return, our bench becomes that much stronger. We would have a healthy Joey, Carlos, Pops, Hump (healthy), Roko and Parker. That is a heck of a lot better bench the. We have now.
If BC can use his cap space this year to get either a decent 2 or 3 and then use our high draft pick (and it should be high) to get another 2 or 3, (and not a project player with potential down the road) then next year Bosh and company will be happier and they may just make it to the second round!! And that would be a 1st for most now involved with this franchise.

[Sasha "Fierce"]

Hi Doug,

Love the blog. Thanks for your insights. Do you know what the reaction was by the fans to Miami last year when they playing so poorly. Were they a lot mor forgiving then the Toronto fans. Not sure how much Wade being injured for a good part of that season contributed to the way their fans felt.

Blogger's note: I believe they stayed away in droves

[Jack]

To all those who subscribed to TSN2 so you can watch more Raptors games (because you were hypnotized by the Rogers' ad), this one's for you.
In the words of Nelson Muntz, "HA-HA!"

[James C.]

Reading comments that Colangelo can right this ship like he did at Phoenix and that Calderon was playing too little last night - its amazing how some people believe they know basketball but really know nothing about the sport at all. On Colangelo - who do you think signed Marbury to the max contract? who do you think let Nash go initially to Dallas? who do think signed Marcus Banks to his dead weight contract? Yes the same guy who took Barney #1 overall, who traded for a dead weight Indy center who took 40% of the salary cap, who fired the former COY 17 games into the season start ... On Calderon, there's a statistical term called regression to the mean - Calderon's performance will eventually gravitate around its average (or below average) once we discount his anomaly performance of year 2007. He is what he is - a slow footed high dribbling too cautious and lousy defensive PG who not going to be a top calibre championship material player.

[Dave]

"It's important to note that basketball is the only sport where you can really turn a team around within one year. "

Simon S-G: I respectfully disagree...and quite strongly disagree...I think it takes several years to turn around BB teams, and your Miami reference is flawed, as DWade was a non-factor when they were terrible...Imagine Lebron goes down next year, Cleveland misses the playoffs (an incredibly likely scenario), then the following year, Lebron returns, to lead Cleveland to second in the conference....You wouldn't call that a "turn around"....SA I suppose turned around when they drafted Duncan...but I believe they had an injury bug that year as well...with a fellow named Robinson...I could be wrong.

The only sport where a year-to-year change is very do-able is football. It often happens, and is because teams rarely ever get saddled with ridiculous contracts - you cut a player, you don't have pay his salary, and it doesn't count towards the cap.

Turnarounds in basketball take a few years, and good, patient management, and I would suggest some consistency in the coaching department.

Utah was never terrible, neither was Denver - they went from good to better......Boston was a complete abboration - Most definitly not the norm. Really they, and the Lakers reaped the benefits of poor management on the Wolves, and Grizzlies.

Basically, I would not get my hopes up for some 30 game turnaround next year for our beloved Raps...look to 2 or three years...

Those are my two cents. "...and now you know the rest of the story" (RIP Paul...)

[Michael]

Watching Jose plays defense is like a joke. The opposition player didn't even move and Jose move away from the player and give him an open lane. It really made me laugh.

So is it his fault or the coaches fault for not pointing out this? Am I the only person thinks that's an issue or everyone else thinks that's right?

I just think many people overrated Jose. He plays poor defense. Even though he has lots of assist but we should give credit to the people who made the shot. More than half of his assists were coming from screen play or the shooter set himself up in a clear position. It's not like Jose blow by the defender by himself and the help defense came over then he passes to the open shooter.

[NameD. Walker]

In reference to James C and his comments about Calderon---check the stats---he is far closer to being one of the top 3 PGS in the league than he is to going downhill. Slow---who on the Raps beats him down the floor? You can't run if no one runs with you. No one in this league can defend dribble penetration because it is not physically possible without help. None of the top point guards are excellent defenders. One more thing--Jose was the starting point guard on the last world championship team which included beating the Americans and all their stars. In the Olympics the Americans won a close game but Jose was injured. Would the Americans have won if Jose had played? Who knows?

[Nick]

Opposing player/team always get mile stone record or career highs against Raptors... I agree with Joe T.
Can you check how many players have their career highs on pts, rebounds, and assists against the Raps?
Would be interesting to know.

[GM]

Marion is a much better passer than Joey. Can't believe you forgot that one!

I think your last factor in Bargnani's late-game fade is the biggest one. There have to be more plays designed for him, whether it's down low, mid-range, or a three. Also interesting that you rarely, if ever, assign any of the blame to Bosh's late-game fades. Instead, you blame the rest of the team for not looking for him. And that's part of it, but if they're both big guys who don't handle the ball, surely the same reasons apply to both. If somebody were to say Bosh had a poor game, you'd say, "21 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 8-13 shooting. Man, you guys are tough." (Those were Bargnani's stats last night.)

Not trying to pit one against the other, understand. Just trying to show that Bosh oftentimes gets a free pass that others don't get. Both can and should be critiqued for their shortcomings.

[GM]

And another factor might have been the flu that kept Bargnani out of shootaround. Maybe he felt weaker as the game wore on.

[Jeremy]

"what you do is try to include him in a summer transaction as cap ballast (“You want Bosh, you take Banks and Kapono”)"

Concise, to the point. Golden advice.

I have a question for you Doug. How would you compare the progress of Bargnani with Graham this year? Do you see either holding their improvements, or falling back?

Thanks

[Travis]

"but until someone gets a summer and a training camp to figure out other ways to use his skills, that’s going to be about it."

is this a jab at the fact that bargnani is going to be wasting his summer playing for the Italian team and not getting the proper development he needs? cause i couldn't agree more.

Blogger's note: Um, no. In fact, it was about a coach getting a summer and a training camp. not Bargnani.

[Jack]

The curious case of Marcus Banks.
When he played for Minnesota, he started a handful of games and was playing major minutes. He was making a decent contribution. When he went to Phoenix, his minutes were decreased, maybe because he was playing behind Steve Nash and Captain Barbosa. When he was traded to Miami, before Mario Chalmers came along, he was playing about 10-12 minutes a game as a back-up and averaged about 9 ppg. Maybe all he needs is to play more and not languish on the bench. A couple of bad games does not translate to the kind of player he is perceived to be.
The number of players in Triano's rotation means fatigue will be a factor and that is showing now. Imagine Parker starting and playing 2-guard. When Calderon goes out, he plays point. So why not play Banks to relieve Calderon? It's not showcasing him to make other teams sniff at him. Just play the guy. The season is lost anyway. There's no use to pad the stats of the star players because they will get what they deserve anyway. Maybe Banks will play better if given the opportunity. He did it before.

[bballer]

kapono has finally gotten a shooter friendly coach, who encourages him to do so. when is he going to stop thinking himself as a slasher and start shooting. he is 'earning' less and less minutes every night. he may have a high bball IQ, but has noted, fails to use it when he has the ball.

as for joey g, he doesn't get it. he is in control of his minutes. he fails to continuously to mentally keep himself in the game. another coach, on another team will help him. unfortunately, there are not too many teams that may play him since guys like marion, odom,kleiza and outlaw are some of the more talented sf who will be on the market with him this summer. do you think joey g will come around and actually get consistent playing time somewhere?

[Ali Hussein]

Doug, Calderon has been pretty lackluster as of late as far as his play goes. Especially the game against Miami. You noted that lack of effort got him benched. Is there any conflict between Jose and Triano as far as style of play goes that's causing this? Jay T has wanted to run and Jose seems content to walk the ball up the court.

Blogger's note: No, no conflict at all. It was a six-minute stretch of one game where the coach decided he'd get better with other players. And it's been right back to normal since then.

[Rob]

As a raptor fan the only thing I look forward to is the hope that the team plays an exciting style in the future. You know I would rather have the Warrior's from a few years playing here than the current Raptors. Sure they both may really be mediocre teams that aren't very good fundamentaly and can't beat a real championship contender. But heck seeing a free wheeling team that scores in the 100's is a lot better than what we have now. No offense intended to any particular current player but they are boring and not very good.

If you aren't going to win games at least lose with style. There is no championships in the near future, so try to stop the hemmoraging of season ticket holders and put an entertaining product on the court. And no, putting Dj's in the crowd does not make it entertaining. It makes us look like minor league.

Basketball is supposed to be fun, no one can watch this team and can say this is a fun team to watch on a regular basis. Sure there will be a barn burner once in a while that makes you say wow, but the overwhelming majority of time you rather watch informericals than this current squad. Of course, like any fan I wouldn't care about the 'fun' aspect if we were grinding out wins like the Pistons did for a few years this decade.

Sigh, everyone else has so much and we have so little.

[Takashi]

Doug the Knicks apparently put a offer of 4 mill on the table to Delfino.Do you think the Raps would Match if Delfino accepts the offer?

Blogger's note: There's no offer sheet out there, officially, so none has been signed and you know how unreliable speculative stories like this can be. So I don't know what the Raps would do but I imagine they'd have to think long and hard about it, depending on the pro-rated value of the deal for this year, it's value next season. Tough call, too few details to know for sure.

[Kelsie]

In response to NameD. Walker.

Stats alone do not make you a top point guard in the NBA. He has great assist numbers and doesn't turn-over the ball alot for a 23 win team.

Shouldn't good numbers result in more w's? If not then it's hard to get excited about glowing numbers when your not winning. Jose has contributed greatly to a lack of wins this year. It's not his fault but he's played his role as well.

Top pg's like Paul and Williams are good defenders. For your arguments sake we'll not call them great defenders even though Paul is in the passing lanes like it's nobodies business, but watch them guard pick and roll scenarios.
Watch them fight through screens even when they know they most liekly won't get there and need help from teammates. Watch them battle to get to where they need to, to try and avoid dribble penetration. Now watch Jose. No fight at all on pick and rolls and he's already expecting his man to be picked up before he's screened. In man to man situations many opposing pg's get by him without contact. Take a foul, hand check do something but don't let your guy get by you unmolested. Thats the problem with the raps defence. Too much help and not enough old fashioned manning up and guarding your player.

Who cares about the World Championships and what he did. This is the NBA we're talking about. If he plays like the second coming of Magic in the World championships then comes to the Raps and plays like Ridnour whats the difference in what we did at the World Championships? The majority of us only care about what he does on the floor as a Raptor.

He needs to defend better.

[Kelsie]

In response to Jon:

Great point.

[Serge P]

Marcus Banks is terrible, plain and simple. To say that he "produced" when he was in Miami is ridiculous; The fact that he could only manage to earn 10-12 minutes as the ONLY back-up to CHRIS QUINN on a LAST PLACE team should tell you all you need to know about Marcus Banks. I have no clue why they play him at all, give the minutes to Roko and let him develop. The only value I can see Banks having is as a learning tool for Ukic, like every time Banks is put in the game Triano should go to Ukic and say "ok, I want you to pay close attention to everything Marcus does and then do the exact opposite when I put you in, got it?". Or maybe in practice, every time someone screws up Triano points to Banks and announces "you keep playing like that and you'll end up like Marcus over here."... Then again, maybe Banks has some value after all..

[Doug]

the media has no reason to be hard on Jay...as the coaching change was made, he is here for the rest of the season...so why be hard on him, it's a moot point...people are aware of his strengths and weaknesses, plus really as has been pointed out ad nauseam, the problem with the Raptors lies in their lack of consistent depth...I am sure the media and fans etc...will be just as hard on Jay if he goes from interim to permanent coach, anyone that thinks the raps record is due mainly to poor coaching is delusional...Auerbach himself couldn't resolve this teams present problems.....

[agstox]

Hi Doug

Given that 30 wins this season seems like a bit of a stretch. Can this be regarded as Toronto's worst season given the expectations?

[Rob.V]

Some thoughts:

A) Man this blog is definitely up in my headspace cause last night when I was watching that "spectacle" I was thinking about you Doug. My thoughts to be exact... at least Doug is getting PAID to sit through this GARBAGE!!... What a LUCKY SOB!

B) At what point does Colangelo say to himself. Maybe the problem is NOT the players I'm bringing in? We couldn’t win with O’Neal (6 time All Star), and we can’t seem to win with Marion (4 Time All Star). Outside of Bosh... what has anyone else on this team accomplished?? Nada!!!

Losing is a BITCH!. Period. Now some of you are turning on Shawn Marion??? Come on guys, this guy has been with the team for 15 minutes!!.. but I guess when things go bad EVERYONE starts pointing fingers. On a solid team, both JO and Marion HELP those squads.

C) Emphatically, I might add. Bosh and Calderon should be benched!!!.

No I don’t think we should run them out of town however what annoyed me most last night was that if these two are your leaders... then I am demanding better from them. Far too often they have taken (defensive) possessions off... sets a bad tone for everyone else.

I'm not blaming these two players specifically on the dunks however it looked like T.Young was in a bloody "dunk contest"... and that's embarrassing. Everything starts with your leaders and frankly it appears as though Bosh & Claderon have taken their foot off the gas pedal. Grant it, it must be tough in this trying season... but still totally unacceptable. This leads me to D...

D) If Triano cannot motivate his "leaders" to go all out... for 48... then he will effectively have coached (or lack there of) his way right out of the league anyway. So why not some tough love. It’s got to be his way.. or the highway!! If I'm Triano, I forget all the niceties and bench (some of) my starters.

Triano may be a "players" coach however these guys are not doing him any favours and they clearly do not have "his" back. How Triano has not blown a gasket more often is incredible!.

The hourglass is ticking on his coaching career and he somehow needs to "get" to these guys... one way or another!.