It's bright and early and here's some stuff for you

All right, I’m not messing around with travel crap and Mother Nature today. Up bright and early here to get this finished so you can all be enthralled and have something to do when you should be working or studying.

Heckuva guy, aren’t I?

Anyway, here we go from cold, cold Milwaukee:

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THREE THINGS I LEARNED

He has to be better

Hedo Turkoglu, that is.

That was exactly the kind of game he had to take over and he didn’t and unless they start getting more and getting it more often from him, there’s no way they do anything other than muddle through.

Now, you know I never think one game’s entirely on one guy but, c’mon man, do something.

Go off for 30. Get a bit selfish. Take 20 shots.

Do something.

The big free agent signing’s been good some nights but never really great and it’s time he has one of those great games everyone’s expecting.

I know it’s not lost on his coaches, and I’m sure it’s not lost on his teammates. They are disappointed and know he can do so much more. A couple people with titles are already making mention of it in private conversations; nothing too harsh but the criticisms are there. And they might get louder.

I think he will improve and have a greater impact on a greater number of games. But I think he better do pretty soon or the grumblings are going to get louder.

Don’t know for sure if he needs as one insider put it “a foot up his ass every minute of every day,” but something has to start getting through to him.

I know he’s got more game than he’s shown, I’ve seen it, you’ve seen it and the folks who gave him a $53 million contract have sure seen it.

About time we see it again.

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A chatty fellow

We have a pretty good seat at Bucks games, on the baseline right by the visiting team bench, and it’s about as close as I’ve been at any game this season.

And let me tell you, Chris Bosh was in full throat last night.

I mentioned a couple of times in the Minnesota game that he was very talkative on defence right in front of us on the court but last night – maybe because there was no noise in the joint – saw it on the bench as well.

He was calling out screens, exhorting teammates and just talkative.

Didn’t work but still …

He was asked post game about one moment on the court, where he was getting after some teammates. And said this:

"Everybody listens. We were behind a little bit and it was all about trying to get back in the game. I was just telling everybody to keep your head up. It's a long game. We can't get hung up over one run or two quarters, anything like that. We just keep playing hard. We got back in it a little bit. We gave ourselves a chance, but we didn't stick to our principles."

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A big deal?

Or not.

A couple of guys I talked to last night entirely downplayed the game with Atlanta on Friday night and it’s redemptive significance.

Yes, the Hawks drilled them a week or so ago; it was the worst moment of the season by far.

But it was far, far more about what the Raptors didn’t do rather than what the Hawks did do and that’s what they need to concentrate on.

As we saw in Washington and Chicago and to a lesser degree against Minnesota but not in Milwaukee, they can get it done.

The fact that it’s the Hawks shouldn’t matter a lick.

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And in other news.

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I presume this news from Canada Basketball got widespread distribution yesterday.

It’d be a helluva thing to get the Olympic qualifier in Canada – and specifically in Toronto, which has the requisite number of top-notch game and practice facilities – and it’s probably going to come down to one thing.

Money.

Lots of it.

Canada Basketball needs to find a guy, or a couple of guys, or a couple of companies, to write some big old cheques to win the bid.

And unless that happens, I’m afraid Leo’s Road Warriors will be on the road again.

So if you’re out there, call Canada Basketball. They need you.

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Good to see Roko last night.

And good to see him have a good game.

I like his game – and I don’t like his jump shot but I do like his game – and I think he’s an NBA player.

As I mentioned in the notes in the paper, he was a bit frustrated about his role but he got a chance to play last night and played well.

And coach Scott Skiles noticed.

“Roko is a guy that every day is the same. I probably should have given him some more looks before this, he certainly earned some more looks now. He’s good with the ball, he made shots and he’s got a burst of quickness and you can certainly tell it’s evident when he’s out there.”

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A few days ago, we gave you a somewhat sappy but heartfelt list of five things I like about the game. It wasn’t comprehensive, I’m sure there’s more, but it was a nice jumping off point.

So today, let’s do the other side of the coin. The things that irk me. Again, not comprehensive but maybe it’ll give someone something to talk about.

Thunderstix and those goofy balloons they hand out to fans behind the stanchion.

They don’t do anything except make an infernal racket and I’m sure the use of voices and/or hands would make just as much. Of course, the night in Season One at the Dome when they handed them out at the wrong end and the fans still waved them was pretty comical.

Isolation plays.

It’s a game of movement and teamwork and cutting and passing. Ballet on hardwood. Four guys standing around while one guy goes one-on-one generally does nothing for me.

Piped-in music.

Thunderstix taken to the next level. Heard it last night in Milwaukee, see it in Jersey, too. All of a sudden there’s screaming and yelling and clapping and you look up in the stands and everyone is sitting there, sedate. Bogus. Make it go away.

Timeouts.

Now, I’m as big a fan of the June Taylor Dancers and The Chicken as the next guy but, really, there can be up to six timeouts in the final two minutes of a close game and that just kills it for me. Maybe that’s why I had respect for Butch Carter as a coach, he generally let ‘em play through those final frenetic seconds. Loved it.

The schedule

Yes, I know it’s got to do with TV and arenas and the like but back-to-backs, three-games-in-four-nights and four-games-in-five diminishes the product, wears down the athletes and, quite frankly, leads to some horrid basketball.

I suppose it’ll never change but if they were to lop off two weeks or so off the never-ending pre-season, that’d at least give them a little more time between games.

The product would be better, the health of the players would be better and the pre-season would be shorter.

Win. Win. Win.

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Speaking of Milwaukee, where it was bitter cold this morning by the way, here’s what they read in the paper today.

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Mail time, folks. There are a few in there that I can use but here’s your shot to get more in before the weekend hits.

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No practice today – it’s the usual after back-to-backs – but there will be some action around the arena, I’m sure.

The two most recently injured guys, Calderon and Bargnani, are sure to be in for some treatment and to head off the inevitable questions, I don’t know when they’ll be back.

They’ll get treatment today, go through shootaround tomorrow and then they’ll see how everyone feels.

There. That should save you from asking.

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Okay, off to catch the puddle-jumper to Cleveland to catch another puddle jumper to Toronto. I have no idea what time we’ll be back at the machine so if your comments take a while to get posted, well, tough noogies.

I’ll get to ‘em when I can.

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Comments

[LeeZ]

Was it just me, or did it seem like Roko got all Bosh on us and bulked up a bit during the off-season?

Blogger's note: A bit bigger, yeah

[Ted S.]

Great piece Doug. Spot on about Turk....and some nice props for Roko who looked better than serviceable.

I hope we have a healthy group against Atlanta, because more than a few guys owe this franchise a better effort in the rematch. As you said on GruntTV maybe that's why we watch them.

You had to impressed with Jennings. The Raps haven't had a rookie play like that for a long time. Any comments?

Blogger's note: Pretty good for a rookie; needs to put a tenth of the effort in to defence that he does on offence, though

[Don W.]

Shorthanded--No Chance

The honeymoon is over for a couple of days and things are back to normal. Shots not falling from the ouside as there is no one to get them the ball in the flow of the game. They would not have beaten anyone other than the T Wolves on Tuesday as again the offensive flow was terrible. From the defensive end the thing that kills them is the 3 point shot and this is the part of the scheme that doesn't work. Forget about blow-bys because they happen to every point guard every night. Point guards who can shoot have killed Jose in the past and killed Jack last night. Thank goodness there are not many as most of them can't hit anything beyond 12 feet.

One other thing--was Leo working for the T Wolves on Tuesday night. I sounded like it. Jack does the same thing especially if there playing against Nash or Paul. Too much love for opposing players.

[Matt M]

Hopefully this will help some fans realize just how much Calderon and Bargnani bring to the Raptors (especially when they are focused). I'm not sure what happened to Belinelli but I think we are starting to see the reason Nelson stapled him to the bench. He needs to bring more to this team on a more consistent basis. I really like the team the Bucks put together, and Skiles has done a great job getting them focused on defense. I hope they can push it to the next level because they have a nice team.

[fg]

Can we officially call HEDO a BUST? he has to be the most disapointing free agent signing in raps history>? any others come to mind Doug?? Please someone call out HEDO as much as we called out bargs, it helped bargs improve, HEDO needs to be called out until he improves. awful for a starting SF.

This TEAM just cant stop anyone , no players, no excuses on individual players, its all of them and the team defence, (wright is soo overated, not much of a defender and out of control, just gives hard fouls after he gets beat)

Blogger's note: No, you cannot call him a bust 24 games into his career and, no, he's not even remotely close to the worst free agent signing history. Troll through past transactions and you'll find lots.

[AS]

Doug,
I just realized the Raps have played 24 games. The next closest team has played 22. Do you think this has any correlation to our effort levels?

Blogger's note: A little. Very little

[kazbid]

hey doug. great job as always.

please explain one thing to me?
Why do the raptors (coaching staff) insist on this "switch on everything" defensive scheme. It's clearly not working. If it's not the initial mismatch that gets exploited, its the opposing team swinging the ball around to the original screen setter who is generally standing in his sweet spot with enough space to shoot (and nail it). I just don't understand why the raps, who are clearly struggling on D, spend most of the game defending mis-matches and scrambbling to get back in position after screens. You would think switch on everything would lead to less defensive lapses, that may be the rationale (keep it simple on D) but it seems to be causing more communication problems (i.e. butler last week strolling between hedo and bargnani for a dunk with less than 1 min left in the game).

[Dan W]

Hedo's carreer stats are around 12 points 4 rebounds and almost 3 assists. He had a really good year the season before last but has never been an all star and is now 30. He is a good player, but I think people expect too much from him because he was one of the top free agents in a weak free agent pool. HE got paid all star money because he can be a very good role player. I don't think he needs to have much better stats then he does now, it would just be better if it was more consistant instead of a 20 point game one night forllowed by an 8 point night. The same can be said for everyone else outside of Bosh too though.

Blogger's note: It's not stats, never is; it's impact. And there's a difference

[Earl]

I already miss Chris Bosh.

[Peter]

Roko looked good last night. I still think we gave up on him too early. He's probably just as good as Jack is now (going by last night's evidence), and will likely get better.

On another note, could Bogut be the most underrated center in the league? He's big, takes up a lot of space in the paint, changes shots, prevents easy lay-ups, has a decent low post game, and averages 15 and 9. Not exactly Dwight Howard numbers, but still pretty good.

[Grant]

Wow - a poor defensive outing with those soft, non-defending Euros - Calderon and Bargnani - sitting out! It must have been because of Turk and Rasho.

[Jack]

I'm sure we'll see a lot of "If only Bargnani was there" posts here. It wouldn't matter if Bargnani played last night. The Bucks played very well and executed their plays. They exploited situations to the fullest. Did you see that Delfino dunk over Rasho? Even if Bargnani was there, Delfino would have done the same thing because both Rasho and Bargnani don't challenge the shooters.
The game last night? Jay was outcoached by Skiles. On paper, the Raptors are stronger than the Bucks but the Bucks played as a unit. And Jennings was just great. He would just blow by Calderon, if he played last night.
This team needs a major shake-up. Players and/or coaches. It's almost a third of the season and they're still a mediocre team.

[HopeCaper]

Thanks Doug, good job as usual. It's a mess in ole NB this AM. I just wanted to comment on Bosh's performance. This guy has been just outstanding this year.

[Pipit]

You hit it on the spot Doug about Turks play. The reference to Jordan should be stop because it's a total disgrace to the best man who ever played the game. Just curious, in your opinion, is Jordan the best based on your standards?

Blogger's note: One of

[chris]

You just knew it was going to go this way when Turk took his first 2 weeks off. Who starts a new job with a "i'm kind of tired and need to rest".

You can tell by where and how he moves that he might be the smartest player on our team (outside of Rasho), but he just doesn't seem that competitive or intense.

Smiling and joking around iwth the other team (which he does all the time) doesn't help either.

[Travis]

Pretty pathetic effort last night, Doug. The Bucks got every shot they wanted in the fourth quarter and the Raptors didn't feel like putting up a fight.

I'm really worried about this team two years from now. Turk looks like he got his payday and he's content to just ride out the final years of his career. Bargnani is pretty much a finished product, and Calderon is declining due to various injuries that come with age and a heavy workload.
With these 3 locked in for the next half decade, I can't see us ever being anything more than mediocre... and I'm sure Bosh is smart enough to realize the same thing.

[BB]

SORRY to say but Turkoglu is what he is. He's playing EXACTLY at his career numbers and this is what you get with him according to minutes played and if you think you are going to get Vince Carter type play out of him you are wrong. He's a complimentary player who makes big shots when needed but not the type to take over games. He keeps under the radar for most of the game and tries to rise at the end when needed most. He's not a super energy guy and never will be.
If the Raptors truly want to increase their chances of success this year Derozen should be moved up to being the 2nd or 3rd scoring option on this team and really leave Calderon and Turkoglu to be facilitators. Teams that attack the basket win and with Bosh and Derozen attacking and getting to the line on a regular basis it will open the floor up for the shooters and change everything.
Go ahead - tell me I'm wrong!

[derek d]

I dont think its piped in music... Andrew Bogut purchases a number of seats (i think 100) he calls 'squad 6' for all 41 home games for the same group of people who sign some sort of contract promising they will attend and be loud and creative. if they are not rowdy, bogut finds out b/c appearently someone watches them - thats probably the noise you were referring too... houston does it too

Blogger's note: No, there was sound piped in quite aside from the 100 or so Bogut fans

[Julie]

Roko had a good game. Any comments on Delfino?

Blogger's note: He was pretty good. Determined

[O.J.]

You are right on the Turk front, he is starting to look like a bust. He's had 20 plus games to get in the flow of things, i'm not impressed by his play on either side of the court. I would give some of his and Wright's minutes to Weems because he has impressed me this year.

I still like Jack starting over Jose. I personally think that Jose is overrated (in terms of the 9 mil he's getting this year & the 10 mil he will get next) and I think when he comes back he should come off the bench. His offense and defensive lapses would be best suited with Amir, Wright & Evans (when he returns) as they are stronger defenders than our starters. I like Jack's defensive intensity on D and penetration to start games as it gives others open looks. Would you give Weems more burn? Would you allow Jack to continue in the starting role, at least for the 1st game, when Jose returns? I know it's premature & I hate to ask this already but what do think Bosh's value is on the market? I would say: A near all star, a sixth man & a high 1st rd pick would have to come our way.

[Kelsie]

'Pretty good for a rookie; needs to put a tenth of the effort in to defence that he does on offence, though'

I don't know Doug, Jennings is a decent ball hawk and can pressure guards.

Don't you think he frustrated Jack a bit with his ball pressure and using his quickness to take, or tip the ball away more than a few times?

Blogger's note: A bit, but got caught up on every screen, and looked entirely uninterested in trying to fight through them

[James C.]

Idiots like Matt M wants us to realize how much Calderon and Barney bring to the Raps. Well, if you asked Colangelo whether he can sign another PG at $9.5MM/yr for next 3 yrs and a C/PF at $10MM/yr for next 5 yrs, I'd hazard a guess he has second thoughts about keeping a no-shot, no-defense, lead-footed PG and a soft, hand waving defending, no paint presence, C/PF. But then again we asking the wrong guy since he wasted the $20MM+/yr towards the salary cap on JO last year. Wake up buddy before the con-man takes you for another ride!!

[Tiger]

Not quite the dog's breakfasts as in Atlanta, Charlotte or Chicago, but toss in a few games where the score flattered the loser and you have the answer as to why there are so many unoccupied seats we see around the league.
Doug, you mentioned hating isolation plays, but how about those nights when it seems like we're watching the old college stalls, without the fan frenzy?
I guess the NBA figured that fans would pay to see a few highlight reel moments, and I suppose it worked well when when you could count on seeing one player in the arena who was heads and tails above the rest. Not so good when the top stars are merely a bit better than the rest.
Even worse when idiotic schedules result in plagues of injuries and mental nights off.
No misplaced fretting over the NBA's or MLSE's fortunes here; if they can't provide an entertaining product, there are plenty of good alternatives (sometimes including other NBA games, of all ironies).

Blogger's note: I'll absolutely give you Atlanta and Charlotte, but haven't they beaten Chicago twice?

[Arun]

I don't have no clue why people even expect Hedo to have a monster game - we have been getting everything that we could get out of this guy. He is not Kobe, he is not Vince - all we are going to get out of this guy is 16~18 pt and few boards and dimes, that's it. He is NOT going to explode for 30 or 40 points, he is NOT going to get double doubles. He may hit a game winner or two but he will also miss 5 or 6 prior to that. Bottom line is, he is at best someone like Lamar Odom... just another piece that will contribute but not TAKE OVER THE GAME. $53 million? A definite overpay.

[Arun]

I meant 'I have no clue', not 'I don't have no clue'...