A bunch of Bargnani and some other stuff

Great game, no?

Best of the year by far and it has to be in the top 10 all-time, I imagine.

Well played, close all the way, dramatic win over a very, very, very good team.

If Jay had channeled his inner Brendan Malone and looked up at the fans on the far side pumping his fist at the buzzer, it would have been perfect.

Anyway on to the usual fare.

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THREE POINTERS

Talking it through

As they walked out of the final Toronto timeout, just before the game-winning drive and free throws, Hedo and Bosh were having a rather animated discussion about 15 feet in front of me.

It began right after the huddle broke and continued as they sauntered past halfcourt and it was calm and cool rather than heated.

At first I figured Hedo was saying “man, if I take this shot and miss it, these people are going to kill me like they kill Vince Carter” and then we had a chance to ask Jay for an explanation.

“He knew they were going to switch and that’s why he and Chris had that little talk on the way out. He said ‘if there’s a switch, let me have the middle of the floor’ and he came back to the middle and had a quicker step on a bigger guy.”

And watch Bosh if you get a chance to see the play again. He does set a first screen and the Lakers defend it perfectly. He does come back to set a second but as soon as he does, he moves a couple of steps to the far side of the court, giving Turk room to get around the corner.

It was just a heads-up play by a couple of vets who knew what they wanted to, what the Lakers would do and how they would counter that.

Impressive.

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An unstoppable shot

Raps down two, about 8 1-2 minutes to go and there’s a timeout.

What’s Jay call?

A post-up for Bargnani, who gets one-on-one coverage on the left side, takes a couple of dribbles to the paint, no other defender comes and he drops in a delightful jump hook over an over-matched Lamar Odom.

The ball’s not even through the net yet when Phil Jackson has Bynum up off the bench to go in for Odom because he realizes Bargnani will get – and likely make – that shot any time he wants.

We’ve seen incredible maturation in Bargnani’s game this year, especially near the basket, and that was a perfect example of the kid realizing what he could and doing it; and of the coach realizing what the kid can do and letting him do it.

The thing about that move is that he’s so long and shoots it so far over his head that it’s virtually unblockable, if that’s a word. And when teams figure out what he can do down there and start sending a second defender to help, I think Bargnani’s shown already that he’s a good enough passer that he’s going to be effective against double-teams.

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Oh, and one more

The final Lakers possession, fraught with peril that it was (and I know there were people in the arena dead sure that Kobe was going to make some heroic shot because I was one of them) was partially disrupted by a late change of mind by Jay Triano.

It wasn’t until the last second that he decided to put Bargnani on Luke Walton throwing the ball in and Jay would have used Bargnani regardless of which Laker was making that pass.

Bargnani was active and disruptive and made it hard for Walton to even see where he was passing, let alone make a great one. And the pass was just a tad off, about a foot this way when Bryant was going that way and threw him off just enough.

Watching Bagnani on that play kind of reminded me of one other great defence of an inbounds play in Raptors lore.

It wasn’t exactly the same but I remember one night in Detroit, way, way back in the day when Butch Carter put two long, active guys on an inbounder in the dying seconds of a close game, got a turnover and a Raptors win.

That took guts.

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Snippets and comments and stuff:

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How in the world did that conspiring David Stern let that foul be called? Didn’t he have his mind-meld going with the refs at that moment?

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Those three jump shots that Kobe Bryant made on consecutive possessions at the end of the first half, little fadeaways on the right side, were three of the most picture-perfect shots in rapid succession I’ve seen in a long, long time.

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Saw an interesting visitor at the game Sunday.

As I was walking the bowels of the joint at half time, saw Richard Peddie wandering around with none other than Adam Silver, who is only David Stern’s top henchman.

Haven’t had a chance yet to ask just what he was doing here (that pesky in-game blog and story to write kind of occupied my time) and it was probably just a routine visit to check out the new digs on the west side of the concourse.

Or maybe Silver wants to buy a condo.

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In Los Angeles, one of the eight writers following the Lakers filed this about that.

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Mavericks 128, Knicks 78.

Not sure what’s more surprising: That the Jason Kidd-less Mavs put such a beat-down on Knicks or that a 50-point drubbing wasn’t the most lopsided defeat in New York history.

The Syracuse Nationals once edged the Knickerbockers 162-100. That would have been a doozy.

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Not sure how many of you raced to rewind the last-second attempt by Kobe to see if he got it off in time but it was one of the first things the coaching staff looked at when they got back to the office after the game.

And I sure made sure to take a quick glance.

Yes, it would have counted had it gone in and that would have been one of the most incredible shots I’ve ever seen.

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So, what’s this week got?

Miami here Wednesday, at the Knicks Thursday and Indy here on Sunday, right?

I imagine 2-1 is probably how it ends up – and I can’t guess which will be the two and which will be the one, I just have sneaking suspicion that’s how it turns out.

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Comments

[LeeZ]

Great win and all, and I so didn't think they had it in them, but I have one question and one observation:

Question: Will the Raps send the game tape to NBA headquarters for possible disciplinary action against Fischer? That was a flat-out, blatant elbow to José's face. He actually went out of his way to deliver it; the replay is quite conclusive on that. And frankly, I wouldn't have minded it at all had the Raps, even at the risk of losing that game, had someone go after Fisher.

Observation: In years past, and heck, even in weeks past, Turk turns the corner and drives to the hoop. Recently, however, when he turns the corner, instead of angling in towards the hoop, he seems to be allowing his man to ride him off and angle him toward the side, the result being that he's clanging the ball off the backboard rather than laying it up and in. Any theory as to why this is happening (with frightening regularity)? Is it that he's simply lost a step?

Blogger's note: They may send a video, but the league reviews all games as a matter of course; and I think Hedo likes to avoid contact

[kathyt]

An extremely entertaining game, and topped off by a Raptor win. Sweet. I’m going to agree with your prediction of 2 – 1 for this week, but wouldn’t it be great if they went 3 – 0. Lets go Raptors!

[JT29]

Doug,
That was probably one of the best games, if not the best game I’ve seen in recent memory. A couple of questions/comments:
1.) I’ve noticed Bosh’s added muscle/bulk to start the year has now pretty much faded away (from watching his commercials and highlights from the beginning of the year). I know the rigours of an NBA season make it difficult to keep the work-out routine but is there any plan to try (as this half of the season is lighter in terms of more off-days) and add that bulk back? Only reason being that he’s really getting pushed around on defence again.
2.) Is Weems 100% yet? It doesn’t look like it and he’s hardly played since his injury. I thought he would have been excellent on Kobe yesterday.

Blogger's note: He's working as much as he can to maintain but it's tough during a season; they like the way Wright's defending and with Marco playing well there simply aren't any minutes for Sonny right now

[Bball]

Doug, that Butch Carter defensive play call you described on the inbounds play was one I'll never forget. It was a great play call. Butch Carter was hands down the best X's and O's coach this team has ever had.

[brennan]

best game of the season!
lots of yellow shirts in the ACC yesterday...great vibe.
worth the price of admission.

[Thane]

Looking at some of the Laker Fora after the game, there seems to be a huge amount of upset. Some of it is ridiculous (even more so than here, doom and gloom when you're 32-11?) but some really confused me. Some people were claiming the last whistle was 'controversial' and 'blatant flopping'.

Maybe I'm just being a homer, but that looked to be about as easy a call as it gets in basketball (and I realise they rarely get easy calls). Three guys falling on one driving player, obvious contact, and a clear attempt at a shot in the act.

Is there something I'm missing, or is it just sour grapes?

[jimt]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH all is allright here in dinoland eh!

Wowsers NYNY

Marion hit his first 3 yest on only his 10th attempt of the season.-weird

Doug your still not on the main page scroll of columnists.Whats up with that?lol

[Matt M]

Good game by the Raps, although one gets the feeling the Refs bailed them out in the end. I can't recall a game ending with free throws. Lots of cheap shots at Turk and his paycheck in other writers columns this morning. That's probably the worst thing about this era in basketball. It's a little tiring to read whether this player or that is earning their contract for any particular game. I'm starting to think that Turk legally changed his name to "Hidayet Turkoglu doesn't earn his 53 million". Oh well, maybe someday we can all earn so much.

[Steve]

"He fumbled (the inbounds pass), so I just knew he wasn't going to get a clean look. I'm like, `Oh, he's probably going to airball.' When he hit the rim, I was like ... `I'm going to be on another NBA amazing commercial.' Luckily, he missed it."

That quote by Wright made me laugh so hard. I can't recall the last time I read a quote that was so honest.

I think that was probably the best Raptor game I've been to. The crowd down the stretch trumped the crowds at the Orlando playoff games IMO.

[Anthony]

WoW, Raps in 7 VS LA in the FiNaL !!
Kidding but an amazing W

[Lawrence]

Definitely one of the best games so far of all time. Reminds me of the Bull's/Jordan game when we won. You mentioned "...top 10 of all time", what would be your top 10 of all time? If you can remember off the top of your head...or atleast 5.

Blogger's note: Five regular season games, with no thought (I was going to do it for the morning):
Golden State at the opener last year
A Portland overtime game.
Triple overtime here against Sacramento years ago
That one yesterday
Vince's first game back

[marc in panama]

Hola Doug,

I'll say one thing about the Raptors: As a team they get "jobbed" by the ref's and the league more than most: (clock screw up in Atlanta, no first round pick for 4 years, Bosh & Bargnani can't get a call to save their lives most nights...) but at least they don't whine about it like little bitches to the TV cameras like the Laker's do.

Great game -- Nice to see a call go our way, for a change, here's a tissue...

[dribbles]

Great game. When you imagine the frozen bodies and heartbeats of thousands of Raps fans on that last second Kobe shot, you can really appreciate why sports can be so damn fun.

Jarrett has an amazing ability to finish in the lane over bigs with that crazy over his head bank shot that I can`t describe. It looks like he`s out of control but he seems to make that shot almost every single time. That guy has put this team on his back the last couple of games and he has come along very nicely after a terrible start to the season. I was surprised he didn`t get back in the game until about 2.5 minutes left but a win is a win.

[Peter]

You mention that the Lakers are a very good team, and I can't argue, but I wonder if they are as good as their record? Cleveland achieved their record with the majority of their games being on the road, and now have a heavy home schedule to finish the season. The Lakers benefitted from a heavy home schedule, but now finish the season with a heavy road schedule, where they have been pretty pedestrian for a championship team. Do you really think the Lakers are that good, or has their record been inflated by their schedule?

Blogger's note: I think they're that good

[David]

Did anyone ask Jose about the elbow he took? I don't know if you saw it from where you were, but he was kicking stuff around and looking altogether pissed as he went down the tunnel to get the stitches. I'm curious as to whether he thought it was a dirty play (Fisher has been known for this, no?), or whether he was just upset to have to leave the game.

Blogger's note: Walked a few steps with Jose after his post-game scrum; he was miffed but not about to make any public declarations.

[kelsie]

Hey Doug,

Any insight from opposing scouts as to the defensive abilities of our 'bigs' specifically?

I hear a lot of commentary from fans that Andrea is our 'best defender' and that Bosh's defence is 'terrible' which I don't readily agree with. Instead of listening to know-it-all bloggers I was wondering what opposing scouts think of our bigs defensively (inlcuding Amir) if you have heard anything?

Thanks.

Good win last night as they battled and Lakers were up 4 with 1:30 to play. That shows some toughness and resiliency.

Blogger's note: Nothing specific but I'll see a few or a call a few this week and see what the word is

[Tiger]

Interesting tidbit in the LA Times story about Bynum putting out his bags to be picked up for the flight to Toronto then falling asleep and missing the flight.
Um, aren't there anti-terrorism measures to prevent unattended bags from being loaded onto planes? (bad joke)
More humorous was that no teammate or travelling staff was sent to wake him up, so he had to scrunch into a flying volkswagon. Phil Jackson quipped "His bags made it to Toronto, but he didn't."
Another of PJ's headgames?
Oh, yeah... there was a game, wasn't there? A dream game a Raps could only wish for, and we got it. 'nuff said.

[chris]

What an awesome game. I can't believe i'm saying this, but Bargs might be turning into our most dangerous player. Bosh is still our *best* player (and its not even close) but still.

Doug - speaking of conspiracies, why are so many of the premier games this season on sundays?

Lakers
Phoenix (twice)
Boston
Orlando
San Antonio
Dallas
Portland
OKC (probably not normally a huge draw, but they're getting there)

I split seasons with a couple of other guys, and sunday games went the fastest (BY FAR). We were joking that it was MLSE's way of improving attendance on what is otherwise the slowest day for them, though we know that they don't control the schedule...so just bad luck.

[Penny]

Doug - really enjoyed the game but we spent a lot of the time that DD was on the floor yelling at our TV hoping Jay could hear us to take him out. His poor shot selection and horrible defense at the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarters really cost us. It also would be nice if JJ would learn to pass now and then - 4 assists in 32 minutes is not very good for a PG.

[Danny]

A couple things... To the guy who was trying to get under Doug's skin yesterday in the blog comments, there is a difference between 20-and-10 games & double-doubles. Shocking I know! Next time you make a bravado move, at least back it up with facts. Secondly, to those who have a problem finding the chats etc. simply bookmark http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors . You'll never have to complain again!!! Finally, what a game! Hope they can build off of it!

[kelsey]

Nice win for the Raptors, glad Hedo drove the basket and didnt shoot. I have to say I dont like the way he always shouts out like he's dying when driving to the net (I know this is something players do), however it seems most times he tries harder making it look like a foul than actually finishing a lay up. Im just glad he got call this time. My brother said at start of season"watch 2months Jarrett will be starter". He is just tuff and aggressive, dont get me wrong still need Jose off the bench. Raps defense much improved. Let's Go Rap's!!!!

[Hope Caper]

Hey Doug,
Great game at least the parts I saw. Jay seems to be making an effort to steer clear of complaining about the refs which is very smart. The team is following the same strategy. I don't think a lot of us were aware Jose got the elbow, it was never mentioned in the tv coverage. The players on the floor didn't react. It was humerous to hear Jackson's description of the Raps D, I would have thought it a more accurate description of the fans.

[Pipit]

Great game but still we can all say that last night, luck was on Raptors side. Phil opted to let Kobe rest more in the fourth quarter and even Ron Artest is in the bench. Kobe wasn't that aggressive mostly the whole game opting to let his teammates be involved. But still, it’s a good win for the Raptors team. Doug, I can see that Jose was extremely disappointed last night especially after the collision with Fisher. I was disappointed to see him destroy a fixture in the arena as he went to the locker room. That is not how he wants to set his image. Do you think losing his minutes more on more to Jarrett is ticking him off more and more? It's quite evident the past few games that he's forcing more his shot eventually losing his playmaking ability which is his strength. I guess Doug, you might lose this battle of you preference to let Calderon start on the way Jack is playing right now. Any coach will be dumb to let this change happen right now.

[Jerry]

I have to admit that I roughly enjoyed watching Bargnani play defence.
Talk about leaps and bounds improvement in his play.
Then throw in new found aggressiveness in his driving to net.
I can't recall another big who had those types of driving dunks and lay-ups like Barney did yesterday!

[Pipit]

Doug, on your honest opinion, do you believe that there was a foul committed to Hedo's shot last night?

Blogger's note: Yes