Well, well, wasn't that something?

Hey, at least they made history!

Biggest margin of victory ever for the Bobcats.

Pretty cool, eh?

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THREE THINGS I LEARNED

That’s what he means

A week or so ago, maybe a bit longer, the memory fades, Jay was talking about his team and it’s seeming inability to fight through tough times every now and then and he said:

“We’re a fair-weather team.”

Pretty good assessment right there after that dog’s breakfast Wednesday night.

What he meant, and what we’ve seen, is that if the team’s offence is working at a high level so is its defence, an inverse reaction to what normal teams do.

And as soon as they got stagnant last night and the turnovers piled up and the Bobcats had them forcing quick jumpers, the game was effectively over.

I don’t think it’s a fatal flaw over the season but it’s something that has to be corrected. And it gets corrected by the players realizing it and digging down deeper when they aren’t operating at full efficiency on offence.

I’ll say again, this team doesn’t need to be a great defence team, just a passable one, but passable has to be consistent, even when they’re not making shots.

-

Stats misleading?

Yeah, I know, hard to believe isn’t it?

But if some Martian had landed this morning and the first thing it looked at was the Raptors boxscore (and why wouldn’t that be the first thing it looked at?) it’d notice a 74-44 edge in points in the paint for Charlotte and think, ‘man, those big guys really stink, don’t they? We’ve got better interior defence on The Red Planet?, which is not to be confused with the Planet Purple Orange (hi, Kat! Thanks), which is what Phoenix uses as a slogan.

Anyway, my point is that number has everything to do with scary bad transition defence, not a lack of muscle around the basket.

-

Really, there’s not much else

Not sure what more there is to say.

They were bad at both ends, they were all bad (I’ll give Amir and Andrea average marks because they did pretty much what they usually do, the rest of ‘em were horrible) and there were no redeeming qualities whatsoever to that game.

So what to take away from it?

Not much. It doesn’t take Red Auerbach to realize that 18 turnovers leading to 29 points and no defence in transition will kill you. So will shooting 34.5 per cent.

But it’s one game, the worst one but only one, and I don’t think there’s reason quite yet for anyone to give up on the season.

Luckily, that’s months away.

If they play four or five games in a row like that, then we’ll talk.

For now? They stunk, it’s over, there’s another one tomorrow, one Sunday and three in four nights next week.

That gets ‘em a quarter of the way through the season when they come back from Chicago and then we’ll see where they are.

-

And, now, the rest of the stories:

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Allen Iverson’s retired?

So he says but I’m going to believe it when I see it because just reading the quotes, I’m sure that if some injury-ravaged team calls in February or March, he’s back in a second.

But if no team calls, how’s Iverson to be remembered?

He’s a Hall of Famer, in my opinion, a guy who played every game hard, sometimes looking for his own to the detriment of his team but still a guy who seldom took a game off.

As little guys go, he’d be right there with Isiah Thomas and Tiny Archibald as the best who ever played the game.

But, still …

I agree he’s probably got a couple of years left but the simple fact he won’t accept what he is – a possibly outstanding guy coming off a good team’s bench – somehow diminishes his departure.

And may be that’s his legacy, given his anti-practice rants and style of play:

Maybe he’s a guy who was great but a guy who could maybe have been even greater. A guy who gave everything but could have given more.

I loved watching him play, I wish I could have seen him ease to the end rather than have the end come so abruptly.

-

Before they get to the turkey and the football and the family, the folks in Charlotte read this one about that one.

-

A wee digression:

Juan, over in the comments section yesterday, professed surprise at seeing Dave at the airport for a stupid early flight to Charlotte and wondered if there was a later flight that wouldn’t have been more convenient.

So, as a way of responding, here’s a Five Grunt Travel Musts

Go early

If you’re flying somewhere on the day of a game always take the first flight because if something screws up, you can scramble. If you take the last flight and something goes wrong, you’re screwed.

Pick the right time

Never, ever leave Pearson early Monday morning, the lineups are nuts; if you have to travel Monday, go mid-afternoon.

Know your connections

Avoid Chicago like the plague, if you can. I’ve got a trip to Milwaukee in a couple of weeks, Air Canada wanted crazy money to fly direct and instead of going through O’Hare, I’m going through Cleveland on Continental.

Stay on-sight

Only rent cars from agencies that are at the airport if it’s at all possible. Taking shuttles just adds to the time needed to travel.

Don’t let ‘em handle

If there is any way to only have carry-on luggage, do it. Saves money and saves that nasty need to fill out forms for lost bags and wait around hotels wearing traveling clothes.

-

We could use some mail over here. And please, no “Why do they stink so bad?” questions or rants about the Charlotte game, okay? Thanks.

-

How’d you all do on your mock MLS Expansion Drafts?

Can you believe no TFCer got taken? Not sure what that says but I have uber-confidence in Preki now that he hasn’t lost a player.

Really, Preki? We need to get a one-name hoops coach. Like Smitch.

-

Speaking of the Charlottes, it’s impossible to really get a read on them after that game last night, isn’t it? I’d like to see them play a team that puts up a least token resistance before trying to assess where they are.

I will say this, they could use some better point guard play.

-

Oh yeah, Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends. Not sure why you wait so long for the holiday, but have fun.

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Comments

[Joachim T]

Doug,

That was terrible but at some point (now), you have to stop using the back to back excuse. They might have got in at 2:30am but it wasn't 5am. Charlotte is the type of team which I think the Raptors will almost always lose against (good interior defense and long and athletic wings). I hope Jay and the coaching staff will learn a lesson from this lost and have some new plays set against these types of teams. Did you also notice the Bobcats played lots of straight up defense (rarely any double teams) and the Raptors almost didn't know what to do on offense?

[nik]

hey doug, 'preki' is just a nickname.

[Ryan G]

Doug, I realize this may be better suited for the mailbag but when playing the 2nd game of a back to back, how does the raps winning percentage compare against other NBA teams in the last number of years? I would be surprised if it was higher than 15%.

[DougG]

On a night like last night you almost wish the Raptors had a cheap, 10 time all star shooting guard on the team, who you could bring off the bench and say, "go in and be a ball hog and try to win it on your own, because most of the other guys have taken the night off." Either that, or they need to learn how to play defense.

[Rahul]

Thanks for the post Doug. Watching the past few games, I like the Raptors' players (even though I know this one was ugly).

We have talent, but we don't have much two sided talent. Besides Bosh, we have guys that can play offense well but are not good movers and can't play good defense (Bargs, Calderon), and we have players that are good defensively but that aren't great offensively (Wright). A couple more two way players would be a huge step forward. I think Bargnani is what he is. He's a great offensive player.
Also, I know this loss was bad - but Im still holding out that Reggie Evans comes in and unleashes this amazing contagious defensive energy. Lets go Raps

[Matt M]

Brutal game yesterday. I think they should send that one to the league as evidence that back-to-backs should be outlawed, even if it means the season is reduced by about 25 games. Don't get me wrong, Charlotte looked good yesterday and would have likely beaten the Raps even if they had a couple days to rest. But I like to think it would have been a much more watchable game if both teams were rested. Being rested would have at least eliminated one of the excuses for not fighting through this one.

[yertu damkule]

interesting point re. the 'fair-weather' assessment, especially coming from jay...kind of a calling out to his players, IMO (though i'm sure i'm reading too much into that, right?). it's actually pretty troubling, to have a coach acknowledge that his team's D is dependent upon the O being there. i wonder how much is psychological...like, the team as a collective knows that it isn't overly strong defensively, and that in order to be in games, they need to produce offensively...and if/when that isn't happening, they realize their margin for error becomes narrower & narrower as the game progresses if the offense continues to struggle. i really hope they don't simply assume that they don't have a chance to win if they aren't flowing on offense. unfortunately, that's what it looked like last night...exceptionally disjointed offense, lack of hustle, no lift/energy (outside of amir). and just playing dumb ball, you know? no help or transition D, very little movement on offense, careless passes, etc. it'd be one thing to become demoralized if you're working hard on offense & shots aren't falling, but they simply weren't working hard. to allow that to trickle to their defensive approach shows a lack of on-court character & leadership, and a gap in philosophy between the coaches & players. my old coach used to say he could live with errors of commission, but not errors of omission. the raps had plenty of both.

[AS]

We haven't had a 2 day break in eons it seems. Must be taking a lot out of the grunts/comment makers. Oh ya, and the players...

[Manny]

WHAT THE F#@% WAS THAT?!?! 35 point loss on yet another lacklustre effort...

Doug, what is it with the Raps? These kinds of efforts have almost become a team trademark. Its certainly not the coaches as this has long been a bad habit thru the different coaching staff the team has had over the years. No doubt the NBA and schedule is tough and gruelling but c'mon, these players are professionals. I understand and accept losing but not with efforts like last night. No Reggie Evans... back to back games are tough, we're tired..... NO MORE EXCUSES!!! FOCUS, SUCK IT UP AND COMPETE!!! Its just infuriating to see a team with so much talent and promise to have performances like that. end of rant....

[Andre]

Its obvious that the Raptors are NOT buying into Iavaroni defense. Im sick of this... i still dont know why he was hired. Both teams that i know he was coaching had terrible defense (Memphis and Phoenix). It doesnt WORK. even when they win, they give up over 100 points. Time to bring in a specialist. Paul Silas still alive? bring him in, fire Marc....

[Jack]

BARGNANI!! Jeez... he was like a contestant on Dancing With The Stars last night on defense, avoiding contact with the person he's "defending".
The game with Boston is tomorrow? KG and Sheed will abuse him.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Morning Doug,
About your assessment of Allen Iverson: Wow. Absolutely spot-on! Bravo!
About last night: Wow. Absolutely inexcusable! Next!!
Cheers and turkeys all around.

[KatTheBadOne]

Dearest Doug, To ensure you'll never again forget that the Phoenix Suns fans are known as Planet ORANGE [Planet Purple is probably some team from Saturn], I have bought you an orange Suns hoodie for Xmas, which I expect you to wear next time we are together at the US Airways Center. You're welcome!

Blogger's note: Entire brain cramp since I was there like a week ago or something. Doh!

[Jojo]

I'm not freaking out about last night...one of those games and just about everyone looked out of sync and a bit dead. It's also a bad matchup on the best of days. What I am freaking out about is that the Raps are an objectively atrocious defensive team. They were bad last year, and somehow Bryan and Jay thought that having a starting lineup with no good defensive players (Bosh is decent IMO) and bringing in a guy with no credentials to help with the defensive schemes would result in some sort of turnaround. Seriously, what was the love affair with Iavaroni? What did he show in Phoenix or Memphis?

Bringing in a few bench players who can play D does not make for a good defensive team. The Raps have been a soft, poor defensive team for years now (I believe it's been getting worse) and fans have every right to be ticked off about it. I don't want to root for a team that's going to hover around 500 and win or lose a lot of 120-115 games. Bryan's core group of guys is Calderon, Bargs, Turk and maybe Bosh if he resigns. That's not a commitment to defence, not even passable defence.

[Wade T.]

In light of this effort I don't know how you make a case for the Raptors making the playoffs. Hope I am wrong but the Raptors defense is non-existent, which means even the weakest teams in the NBA know they have a shot against them and bring their A game.

If the Raptors don't make the playoffs and you're looking to blame someone, why not start with Bryan Colangelo for assembling this roster? He's the guy who somehow thinks Andrea B and Chris B can lead a team despite the fact neither of them are defensive-minded big men.

Hey maybe the Raptors will turn it around, but ask yourself something, are any of the Raptors on this roster as individual players playing below their previous standards? Is this team not just doing exactly what a team with offensive-minded jump shooters would?

Only in Toronto I would submit would any fan think a team this soft would accomplish anything. Every good Raptor team had balance on the floor and relied heavily on role players willing to do the dirty work that doesn't show up in the stats. Think Oakley, Garbo heck Rasho was the starting center on two Raptor teams that did a little thing called make the playoffs. Why is Andrea starting over him?

When do people start questioning the gospel according to BC?

Blogger's note: Couldn't fit this all in one; need two in six minutes?

[LeeZ]

Strictly from anecdotal evidence, it appeared to me that the entire team suffered last night from Pops Disease (a syndrome characterized by excessive stripping of the ball from the would-be-shooter's hands). And sure enough, when I look at the stats, I see there were SIXTEEN batted-aways! Is that some kind of record? Doug, can you get your stat-monkeys on it for me and see if that's an all-time Raptor high?

[Wade T.]

In light of this effort I don't know how you make a case for the Raptors making the playoffs. Hope I am wrong but if they don't, whose to blame? Isn't it time to lay it at the feet of someone who never gets called out.

The Raptors defense is non-existent, which is significant because it means even the weakest teams in the NBA know they have a shot against Toronto. But who loaded the roster with players in the league for their ability to score?

Who past up Brandon Roy with the first round pick to bring in Andrea B? An offensive-minded big man, something the Raptors already had in CB4.

Also, who hired Coach Triano? A guy that likely would not have been hired by any other organization. And who acquired Jack this off-season despite having two great ball handlers on the roster already in Calderon and Hedo?

If the Raptors don't make the playoffs and you're looking to blame someone, why not start with Bryan Colangelo for assembling this roster? He's the guy who somehow thinks Andrea B and Chris B can lead a team despite the fact neither of them are defensive-minded big men. He's the guy that started tinkering with a roster that in its first full-season under him won 47 games (why was Rasho sent to the bench after his first year? Jason Kapono.). He's the guy who opened his yap the past two-seasons saying he had assembled potent playoff bound rosters.

Hey maybe the Raptors will turn it around, but ask yourself something, are any of the Raptors on this roster as individual players playing below their previous standards? Is this team not just doing exactly what a team with offensive-minded jump shooters would?

When do people start questioning the gospel according to BC?

[chris]

Doug - how is Felton a worse defender than Calderon? What are you seeing that i'm not?

[David]

I'm sure the New Jersey Nets are hoping to get the Raptors on the back end of a back-to-back...

[Brian Gerstein]

I totally believe Jay's comment, because I do the same playing pick-up basketball twice a week. When my shot is falling I fell better about my game, and play much harder defensively. When it doesn't I get frustrated and down and do not play as hard as I should. I think it is human nature to do so. The big difference is that the last time I checked I am not paid to play. NBA players should be professional enough to understand this and not to fall into this trap. I can understand Jay's frustration, and yes, he pretty much called the entire team out on this.

[Jack]

Before the start of the season, people were already annointing Colangelo as a saint for assembling the team. Even urging him to run for president. "Yes, we signed Hedo". "We got Jack". "Trading a stiff George for Bellinelli". "Got toughness in Evans for a soft, no defense Kapono".
Now they are crucifying him. It's just funny how things change when the team is not performing well.
Colangelo got the supporting cast for the big 3 and if you all noticed, the second team is performing well. Amir Johnson. Bellinelli. It's the big 3 that are not playing defense at all. Well, two of them. Bosh is passable on defense. At least, he rebounds and block shots. They're supposed to be the core of the team and they are consuming most of the minutes. Bargnani? I don't see him improving on defense at all. That's how they play in Europe. No defense. And he's used to that.
And now, the fans are waiting for Evans to play to have the toughness needed. How many minutes do you think he'll play every game? Will that be a game changer at all?
I don't think so.
Bargnani has to toughen up. Otherwise, ship him out. See if there's any team that will eat the fat contract that Colangelo gave him.

[Phil A]

Terrible effort last night. I really did not expect a game this. Charlotte is one of the worst offensive teams in the league and yet the Raptors allow them to get over 110 points...unacceptable! Good teams don't lose games against teams like that. With all that being said, it's obviously not time to give up on this team but like I said, good teams find a way to win even though they're struggling...

[anthony.mackay]

Morning Doug,
Gonna stay away from the negative on this one, have to say I like Amir a little more each game. Jay tells him to bring energy, he's the first one down the floor alot of times and I think they should look for him on a touchdown type pass couple times a game... last night i counted 3 times he was the first one down the floor with his arms up but no pass.

Jay tell hims to do the dirty work, every game I see up craching the boards for easy put backs and cleans up alot of garbage around the rim.

Jay asks him to play smart, I have not seem him take very many bad found and for his age this kid is really learning the game... sets solid picks and holds position... rolls to the rim fast and had a nice finish from a beautiful Marco pass along the baseline.

Kid has the raw skills, I just hope he doesn't decline when Reggi is ready to lace em up.

GO RAPS!

[Michel G]

A question from left field: Why did the Thunder back out of the Tyson Chandler deal last year? If OKC had him this year it would really increase their chances in making the playoffs. He would be awesome with those kids.

Blogger's note: His foot injury

[Hope Caper]

HI DOug,
It's cloudy here and no snow in NB. Just though you could use a change of topic.
Jojo if you really feel that way then don't let those nasty Raps make you! It seems some poeple feel if they are going to invest their time and\or money into a sports team the least they could do is be in first place and dominate the rest of the league.
Here's a thought. This is a business. Don't get caught up in any sentimentality that it is otherwise. The day of home grown products being lifers (and the attendant loyalty that goes with it) on a team is gone or almost. No matter what team sport (professional) you follow
this is the case. It wasn't that long ago that people were upset with Sundin for wanting to be loyal and cheating the city of potential draft picks. Now really how many of us would like to work in that environment?