A new title for snippets and the usual entertaining stuff

A dangerous trap game, sandwiched between a big road win and a big home game and they look utterly disinterested for much of the first half.

Time to fold, right?

Well, six weeks ago, a resounding yes to that question.

Now? Not so much.

Which is a testament to team growth, methinks.

-

THREE POINTERS

(It’s a bit more catchy, no? And it was maybe time for a change. Same basic format and I appreciate all the suggestions).

Go right, young man

A couple of things on that final basket by Bosh jumped out at me even more than him finishing, getting fouled and making the game-winning three-point play.

The first was that he “slipped” the high screen, that is he cut towards the basket before hitting the guy guarding Turkoglu. It was a heads-up play because Dalembert took a step out early to slow Turk, Bosh recognized and headed for space.

The play, an anonymous e-mailer replied after the game, was always designed for Bosh to get iso’d but he got set up more quickly because he decided to slip it rather than wait for the contact.

The second?

Well, the second was where he went once he got the ball.

I imagine there were more than a few among you who figured he’d take a jumper, especially when Dalembert played off him a little bit.

But the drive was the correct play, what made it entirely more interesting is that, from the left side of the court, Bosh went right.

A lefty, his default move in that spot is go to left, towards the baseline. Scouts know it, coaches know it, heck, I imagine even he knows it.

He goes right all the time on the other side of the court but I don’t know how many times he’s gone into the middle from the left side.

But I do know this: Knowing scouts and knowing coaches, now that he did it once and won a game, they’re going to be thinking, “oh, oh, now we can’t overplay him as much.”

-

Little play, big time move

In the scheme of things, it didn’t mean very much but there was an Amir Johnson play that, to me, was hugely impressive.

About seven minutes to go, if I’m reading my notes right, and Philly's Thaddeus Young is under the basket about to make a layup.

Johnson, behind him, not only blocks the shot, he takes the ball away from him in the same motion, an entirely difficult thing to do. They tied it up and a get a jump ball (I think Toronto’s up about three at the time) and the Raptors get possession after the jump.

The most surprising thing to me might have been the fact Johnson made the play without committing a foul.

Baby steps, baby steps.

-

Bad, then okay

By all accounts, Hedo Turkoglu was invisible last night. One of those games where he really had little impact at either end, or shooting or passing.

Still …

With about 4 1-2 minutes left, whatever lead Toronto had was all gone and Turk hit a huge three from the corner, the only one he made in four attempts during the game, that gave the Raptors a wee bit of a cushion.

And then on that last possession, before making the right, quick pass to Bosh for the game-winner, you know the Sixers were showing hard on whatever screen Bosh may have set because they fully expected that Turk was going to go around the corner and either take a shot or hit an open teammate in the corner.

Some times, even guys who don’t play well can make a play when it’s needed most.

-

In other matters that matter …

-

Your statistical anomaly of the night.

Chris Bosh led the Raptors in points (29), rebounds (nine), assists (six) and turnovers (six).

Not sure what that is, but it’s a Quadruple Something Or Other.

To say nothing of a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio.

-

I’m sitting there at the desk doing some typing after the game (I know, thrilling Friday night, no?) when I look up to catch a second of Cavs-Nuggets on the TV.

What do my eyes behold?

There’s Joey Graham posting up Anthony Parker, bumping him almost out of bounds and finishing with a nice floater in the lane.

That’s when I knew I was (a) too tired and should call it a night; (b) having some back flashback to a Raptors practice from any of the last three season, or (c) happy to see two ex-Raptors going at it each other, albeit early, in a game that mattered.

Still, it was kind of an odd feeling.

-

In Philly, where My Man Jasner got to catch up with people but, sadly, not me, they seem to be gunning for Eddie Jordan, already as this story shows.

Man, that’s cold.

-

Because I was able to watch the game on TV – and will mention the drunken scoreboard bug operator and the penchant for coming back late out of commercials to the first broadcast big shot I see – got to catch the little Antawn Jamison address to the Washington crowd during Sixers-Raptors halftime.

And, yes, it was probably a day late and a dollar short in many regards but it was also the first time the team was at home since the Arenas suspension.

It was a rather classy, quick speech from a classy young man.

It can’t possibly eliminate all the ill will created by the tawdry Arenas mess – and why do I have the feeling there might be more to this story as time unfolds? – but it was a baby step.

So was taking down the huge (and I mean four- or five-storey huge) picture of Arenas outside the arena.

-

So the Celtics lose in Atlanta and they’ll be chuffed when they get here for tomorrow’s matinee. Great, eh?

Here’s how the fishwraps summed up that one.

Because the desire is always to give you the news first here, I’ll let you know what tomorrow’s (yawn!) story is:

“We have to play tougher.” “We have to hit first.”

“We can’t let the Celtics come in here and punk us.”

“They play physical defence, we have to match that.”

I have no idea who’s going to say what but that’s what they’re going to say.

And some of us will collectively roll our eyes and think:

“Don’t tell me. Show me.”

-

All right, practice today (be the first time I’ve seen anyone since last Saturday in Boston, wonder if they missed me?) and then, perchance, a quiet time answering mail.

See ya.

Comments

[doug]

this is why i no longer follow the NCAA and this whole BCS fiasco...Alabama wins the national championship and the BCS trophy is on display in two Wal-marts this weekend in a "pre-arranged" marketing deal....an there all about the student athletes, what about allowing them time with the trophy??...what a farce...to the earlier poster that pointed out that picture we all know all about, what did you expect Jamision to do?, it was a moment that caught him by surprise an he is not going to state his displeasure in public, as he said himself he regrets that moment, as he regrets the whole situation that he had/wants no part of it....his feelings about Arenas are abundantly clear, as he said to the crowd he was embarassed by the act of his teammate.....thats not easy in the closed community of NBA players and locker rooms.....

[greg]

if Jose wasnt playing yesterday, the game would have been over from the first half. It would be a replay of our loss to say..Milwaukee last month. The people who are bashing Jose know nothing about basketball, especially if they think that the offence runs better with JJ. It really depends on the opponent they are up against. Typically this would be a road game the Raptors would lose, but this team is different from the team that started the season. Watching yesterdays game, for the most part made me happy that the Raptors are blessed enough to have so many options at PG.

[kathyt]

Hi Doug, a little late to the party, but what the heck, it’s 4:15pm Saturday afternoon… let’s see.

1. I've watched a repeat of last night game due to the fact that I fell asleep.
2. I've read your in game blog.
And
3. Read your thoughts on the game and just finished reading all the comments…. whew. I love lazy cold frigid days such as today.

I’d like to thank the few people, and to you as well for noting the TV coverage or lack of it at key points in the game. It’s very annoying, and if the people involved with the production read your blog - - STOP IT, please. The game comes first; at least the puck people know how to do it right.

As for the game, I think I was just as guilty as some of the players, in that all I was thinking of was the up coming game with Boston, and totally forgetting the 6ers (shame on me). Jack A. kept pointing it out during the game how this was a “trap” game. I had no idea what that meant until now, hmm learn something new. Anyhow, great 2nd half from the boys especially Bosh and Bargnani in the closing minutes. I've loved watch Bargnani these last few games.

I can’t believe there are still people clamoring over JJ and Jose. Kudos, to the few people who posted here regarding Jose’s game last night. If help is not there, then what are you suppose to do? There is no PG controversy people, the only controversy happening is the one going on in your heads : ))))) Please people, head over to raptors.com if you need too rag on Jose, they’re very good at it.

And finally… um, Hoss dear … chill dude, its only work. It’s not like someone is doing brain surgery and peeking in every so often…

Hey, and another thing, I just remembered what the little squares at the side of each post reminds me of -- Super Spiral Graphic (oops, sorry dating myself).

[zoma]

I was reading quotes from practice today and noticed that a lot of what Bosh said about Bargnani was a kind of backhanded compliment.

"I think he's just realizing what he can do. Sometimes you don't realize what you can do until you actually move your feet and stay in somebody, then it's like 'Wow, maybe I can play a little defence,' He's also been blocking shots and he's been rebounding a lot better. I think it helps us a lot, especially down the stretch. He is our starting center so we need him to do that."

I can play a litle defence? Is he saying Bargnani played no defence whatsoever before he actually started trying.

"That's how you know it's a good day. If Andrea does something like that, aw man, that's big, that's like, 'I need to pick my game up right now,' It gets me excited as well. I think when you do stuff like that, it's a lot more fun."

Here, Bosh is talking about Bargnani showing emotion on the court and it leads me to believe Bosh doesn't think Bargnani is giving full effort every game.

Am I reading to much into this? There have been questions for years about whether Bargnani and Bosh mesh on and off the court and I think a lot of Bosh's decision this summer will depend on whether he thinks Bargnani is the kind of player that can help him win a championship.
Sure, Bargnani is "stoic" and doesn't seem like the most friendly and outgoing guy, but is there any chance that Bosh has a purely professional relationship with him? I guess it doesn't matter that much, but I just think it's an important factor to consider when discussing Bosh's future.

[Joe]

What's up with the 76ers? Watching them play last night, I was impressed with the athleticism of many of their players..Iguadala, Williams, Young, etc. They certainly did not look like a 10-25 team.

[Juan]

To doug (not Smith)
I'm honestly not trying to slam the guy. My point only is that the photo seemed to catch his honest reaction - "this is pretty funny".
In his comments to the crowd he didn't say he was sorry.He said he was embarrassed and later said he used poor judgement- I'm not trying to be pedantic and maybe I'm too old school when it comes to this but I think that's a significant distinction. He seems like an intelligent guy so I'm surprised he didn't choose the words in his prepared comments more carefully - like that part about his teammates wanting to be role models. DeShawn Stevenson? C'mon.

[Aditya]

It was a rather classy, quick speech from a classy young man.

Um I don't know if you saw the whole speech, but it was more than a minute long...And yes, it was a very classy speech from a very classy fellow...My respect for A. Jamison has grown deeper...

[james]

nice new format, it will be helpful to understand plays better and learn more about basketball

[GM]

Phil A, I don't know if you read yesterday's comments or not, but I think the reason the +/- is all of a sudden brought up today is because an anti-Calderon poster used it to say 1) that Calderon was a minus something-or-other against the Magic (which was wrong: he was a plus and Jack was a zero), and 2) that no PG should ever be in the minus or a zero. So he kinda shot himself in the foot. We know the +/- stat doesn't mean much, but it's nice to show someone who knows nothing how wrong he is on a couple different levels. And at the very least it shows that when Calderon was on the floor last night, he and his teammates scored more than they gave up. That's all.

[KL8N]

Doug, the font, in which the name of the poster is written, is too faint. It's barely legible. It's hard to keep track of who is saying what.

[Jay]

+/- means nothing and people's comments on this blog are sad because it shows their knowledge on the Raps is very limited.

[Jim]

"I was absolutely flabbergasted to hear people slag Jose on the Fan after last night's game. I thought the guy clearly showed he can run the game more under control and in a much smoother way".
When the game was 95-93 (Raptors) Philly came down the court and Jack Armstrong annouced that "the Raps really need a stop here". Lou Williams (a rookie) blew by Calderon uncontested to the rim for two pts. Raps up by three after Turks hits his 3 ball, both teams trade baskets a time was called. After the t/o Lou Williams hits a uncontested three pointer cause Calderon was stuck on a screen (and Lou is the rookie). Once again Raps up by two (103-101), late in the game, need a stop -Lou Wiilams blows by Calderon leaving him standing there in his tracks watching Lou score uncontested - Philly would never tie them again after that. It happen during three important momments. It was so evident (Jose's lack of defensive responsablities), that it is no wonder (the coach) Jay Triano took Calderon out of the defensive play, subsituting for him (not J.Jack)for another player - twice at the end of the game. All Calderon could do was sit and watch on the bench - along with all the other "Calderon does enough in a game for us to forget his defense "costs" us during important plays" fans. Obvisously if Jay sais so, then the ones "like me" who said Calderon cannot play "D" were after all...right!

Blogger's note: You know, your argument, while basically flawed, might carry a modicum of merit if, in fact, Lou Williams was a rookie.
Other than that, though, you're bang on in your astute assessment.

[GM]

Jim, Louis Williams ain't a rookie. He's in his fifth year. Does that make a difference?

[Zombywoof]

Hey kathyt, it was called a "Spirograph". I had one. :)
(Are we too old for this blog?) Hee!

Blogger's note: Dang! That's what it was called. Been bugging me since yesterday afternoon! I had one, too. Very cool

[Lorie]

Hey Zombywoof: I believe kathyt was referring to the "Super" Spirograph, which was the updated (1969) version, and, no, I think we are just the right age for this blog!!!