Of rebounding and numbers and dancing in the streets of Ljubljana

Bulletin to those about to burn jerseys, rip the tops off bobbleheads or storm the ACC:

They will lose more games like they lost last night as the season goes on, beaten by inferior teams because they can’t put them away for whatever reason. It’s going to happen more than a few times, I suspect.

But they’re also going to win a few games against good teams when you least expect it, come out of nowhere to, oh, I dunno, beat San Antonio on the second half of a back-to-back or go into Orlando and win.

It’s just the way the game goes, and it’s fun.

Seriously, it’s fun.

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THREE POINTERS

(Is this growing on you?)

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Forcing the issue

How many times have so many of you lamented Toronto’s rather “reactionary” way of playing, doing things with rotations and play calls and defence to answer what opponents are doing?

Lots, right?

Well, against Indy they didn’t and despite the angst you all feel about the loss – and it might have set a season high for “I’m done with these mopes forever” comments – it was a rather good to see.

I’m talking about staying big when the Pacers went small, sticking with Bosh and Bargnani even when Indiana had Danny Granger at the four and three-point shooting Troy Murphy at the five.

It worked, too, for the most part.

They took advantage of the size difference on offence – it’s why Chris Bosh went to the line 16 times in the second half alone – and they did, all things considered, a good job of keeping Granger away from the rim and the paint.

Too many times, we might have seen a Toronto team sit one of its bigs in that situation, try to match the Pacers small lineup with a strange one of their own.

I’ve always thought it’s best to play to your strengths and last night they did.

Now, if they’d just won, it’d be an even more significant point.

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Andrea The Worm

Yes, 17 rebounds. It’s not a typo, it’s a career high and for one night, didn’t Andrea Bargnani look like a 7-foot glass-cleaning machine?

Well, sort of.

But when you watch it closely, part of the reason he gobbled up so many loose becomes pretty apparent.

On a handful of instances – not all, mind you – he was the lone big under the basket because Bosh was out taking care of Troy Murphy on the perimeter.

That made it relatively easy for him to grab up errant shots, and there certainly were a lot of them. One thing Andrea doesn’t do particularly well is rebounding traffic but when he’s one-on-one with a guy and there are fewer people crowding the paint, we’re starting to see him figure out how to go get the basketball.

I’m not suggesting it was a bad game on the boards because there have been times when he’s been isolated there and simply forgotten to box out or establish position. Seventeen rebounds, no matter how they are obtained, is a significant number.

The next step in his development is for him to consistently put up those numbers when there are a couple of more bigs around. Then, we’re talking The Italian Rodman.

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A bit of cheating

I noticed this the other day against Boston and then saw it again last night against Indiana. It’s a bit of a tweak, not a hugely significant change to playing defence but it’s worth noting because it works pretty well.

Watch the next time someone tries to drive the middle from the wing against Toronto, an off-guard or a small forward taking his man off the dribble from the wing into the paint.

Then watch the “other” Toronto guard, usually the point guard and a guy usually “hugging” his man on the weak side.

Now, instead of staying in contact with the guy he’s covering, that othe Raptors guard goes quickly and seriously to the free throw line to cut off the penetration that’s been killing Toronto for, well, forever.

They did it coming off Rondo on Sunday, they did it coming off Earl Watson last night and I would think they’d do it coming off Chris Duhon or Nate Robinson on Friday and Jason Kidd on Sunday afternoon.

Yes, if the guy driving the ball dishes quickly to his backcourt mate it gives up a pretty good 18- or 20-foot jumper but, you know what, I bet they’re okay with that.

I’m sure it’s been a part of the defensive philosophy all season and maybe they’ve been doing more often than I’ve noticed in the last two games. But I don’t think they’ve been doing it as effectively and if they defend like that, they’re going to be okay.

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And, the rest of the story, as they say

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It’s been about 10 hours since the game ended and I haven’t seen that Hedo Eats Pizza ad in that whole time.

My retinas are getting back to normal.

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Lots of incensed e-mails, well, a couple because you’ve been quite reserved so far, about third quarter and timeouts and why there weren’t any.

A lot of Fire Jay, What A Stupidhead He Is but, frankly, there wasn’t a run longer than two baskets by the Pacers in the entire quarter, no time when they rattled off a dozen points or anything ridiculous.

A 5-0 run made it 68-59 with about 8 1-2 minutes left; they settled down and another 5-0 run made it 72-68 with 6:30 to go and while maybe that’s the time for one, there’s a mandatory coming at the first stoppage below six minutes so why blow one.

I guess the only time would have been after a 5-0 run made it a two-point game with about 4:11 left but they actually survived that okay.

To suggest it was horrible clock management just isn’t right.

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Here’s what’s up in Indy in the aftermath. Don’t imagine there was a parade, but I bet they were whooping it up.

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Remember back in the day, when I used to trot out The Big Man Triple Double, a contrived stat contrived by an Old Grunt from around our place?

It’s for points, rebounds and made free throws and Chris Bosh now has two of them back-to-back.

It’s an impressive game and since power forwards and centres seldom have real triple-doubles (I don’t know that there’s been a 10-block game this year), it’s probably worth mentioning, so I will.

He had 20 and 10 and 15-20 at the line last night after 31 and 13 and a perfect 13-13 FTs the day before against Boston.

Those, despite coming in two losses, are pretty good numbers.

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How much do you love Rasho? Four minutes, six points on 3-3 shooting, three rebounds and two blocks? They’ll be dancing in the streets of Llubljana.

This after being he’d been a DNP-CD in seven of his last eight games.

Professional.

And the thing is: He got those minutes so Jay could grab some extra first-half rest for his regulars, knowing he’d go back to the usual bigs rotation in the second half.

Which is exactly what he did, and should have done.

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I believe an entire day went by yesterday without one zany Chris Bosh trade rumour.

Thank God for small mercies.

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Comments

[coachd]

Doug,
Any idea around the team of making Jose a two and having him spot up and shoot three-pointers all night. Seeing him, Jack and Hedo out there at the end of the game all trying to run the offence make the other one's look a little redundant. Jose may be our best three point shooter. Why not set up some plays to free him up?

[Aditya]

I'm not sure I like the "Big Man Triple Double". If you hit ten free throws, you've scored ten points -- pretty much guaranteeing two of the three. You could theoretically achieve it without making a field goal.
------

+1

[ChrisD1]

Doug...You were mentioned in Chris Sheridan's chat yesterday. Im not really following, perhaps you can clarify what you said.

Half of Canada is queuing up with defensive questions about how cosmopolitan Toronto is, etc. Yes, I have been there. Yes, I love it there. Yes, Minnesota is 100 times colder. I understand all that. To you, Ben, I disagree with the alpha dog argument. Bosh, at his very, very best, happened in Beijing when he came off the bench. Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, who has covered every game in Toronto Raptors history, swung by one day at the press section in Wukesong Arena and asked who the hyper-aggressive tall guy was on Team USA. If he and LeBron could team up in NY, or take a little less apiece and join DWade in Miami, I could see him seeing that as the next best logical step forward in his career and life progression. It won;t be an anti-Canada thing, and I think chris will make that known loud and clear, unlike McGrady and (to a greater degree) Vince did prior to their departures.

Blogger's note: Bosh has never, ever been better than he was in the Olympics playing alongside true greats. It wasn't all on him and he looked tremendous

[gdr]

Doug, quick question regarding UFA's. Is there a time limit on when teams can sign their own existing UFA's? Or, for example, can LBJ become a UFA, see what's available on the open market, but eventually still sign back with the Cavs or do the Cavs have to give up his rights? Thanks

Blogger's note: Not if they don't renounce him, no

[esajr]

Hedo had complained about having less the ball. However, he has not proven effective and I would say that previous losses like last night was his fault because of handling the ball too much. If you can see his plays when he penetrates he could hardly finish and his shots are way off the rim. When he penetrates he is trying to fish for contacts but is ineffective in doing so. He is no CB when it comes to fishing for fouls, he is scared of body contacts. I think the coach has something to do with the loss last night. He has lots of fresher legs but hesitated to use them and instead used tired starters.

[WSG]

Though your gentle observations on last night’s game were delivered with an underlying kindness this morning – and thanks for the effort (you do know the fan base, that’s for sure) – Bargnani said it best: It was a very stupid loss.

[Miguel]

Doesn't it seem like the Raptors are very fatigued this year? More than in past years and oftentimes more so than their opponent? Jack Armstrong couldn't talk enough how exhausted they looked during the broadcast last night. What's up with the conditioning staff?

[Blake Kennedy]

Doug:
I have implemented a rule on the team I'm coaching: if you allow a drive middle, you're telling me you're either too tired to play or you're overmatched: in either case, you have to come out. We simply cannot have guys having drives into the middle, it kills the defense. So we found players were using the "he made a great move" excuse, and sometimes they even had a point but when we took that excuse a way an amazing thing happened: the middle drives began to stop (working on the guarding the ball 25 minutes per day in practice didn't hurt either). Guys seemed to take it seriously, but at first they'd allow the guy to blow by in a straight line to the baseline, too. So we occasionally have to get on them about that, too.

I don't know why any defender would be "hugging his man on the weak side". Did you possibly mean that the Raptors deny the first reversal pass when an offensive player as at the top? Because I can't see being in a closed denial stance hugging your man when the ball's on the other side of the floor.

Help-and-recover is what we teach from the top (trying to help in early, and in the line of the ball because we do deny the first reversal pass when the ball is on a side), so I agree with what the Raptors are doing. Triano has made some adjustments to his defensive philosophy that IMO are quite good, which I won't get into here, but they make sense with what this team is personnel-wise. But middle drives are a total no-no, and I think Triano has to start combatting them at the point of responsibility: you give one up, you come out.

[chris]

Really wish we picked Danny Granger. Love how competitive he is.

We should have played Rasho, but that was hardly a differencemaker in the game. Our guys don't know how to stomp on an opponents throat when they've got them on the floor, and our coach (who i like overall) isn't great at stemming any tides or adjusting. He should have called a timeout, if only to cool some nerves.

[Pipit]

This is the poorest I've seen Jay coach this team. 2nd Quarter, 20 point lead and with the energy bunch inside (Rasho, Amir, Sonny, Marco and Jose), Jay decided to break this roster which is "on fire" and bring back some of the starters. What is he thinking? He's been saying all the time that whoever busted their guts on the floor are the ones whose gonna play. Why break-up this roster if their playing not just well but spectacular. Is it because those energy guys were already tired? I don't think so. Is it because he is afraid that some of the starters won't get their averages? Whatever his reason is, it just shows that he still needs a lot of improvement especially in terms of dealing with his players. Little respect coming from his players. Just imagine if we have some "hard headed" players in the roster like Rasheed or Iverson. Our players our as gentle as sheeps which shows how soft they play. Right now, I can't see Jay coaching an NBA team for years to come. This is his biggest break. If he blew this up, there will be no more chances coming his way again. Doug, what do you think of Jay as a coach? For the Raptors to go on the next level like contend for a championship, do you see Jay being a part of it?

Blogger's note: More than you do, obviously. And yes.

[kelsie]

Tough loss last night. Enough 'blame' to go around but young teams typically have difficulties closing out games and Raps fans should have no illusion, this team is a young team, especially when you don't get much from your 'acquired' vets, and I'm not talking about you Rasho (he was fine in his limited minutes).

A few years ago Doug I used to argue with you constantly about the TJ-Jose debate.....TJ losing his job to injury......my opinions on Calderon's game. Quite often it got a little tense......Seeing TJ on that bench last night and the numbers he's putting up this year......I just wanted to say I stand corrected, as you were definitely right.

Blogger's note: Not tense here, everyone's entitled to their opinion and, knowing you're a regular here, I respect yours.

[James Lull]

Marco Belinelli's +/- for the previous four games was best on the team, and last night he broke even. All Raptors starters were in negative land. When Belli is in the game, there is more movement and flow. Raptors' stand around offense does not take advantage of the talents of the roster. Get the team moving and give Belli a shot at more playing time.

[Sean]

Hedo's 4th quarter was appalling...just appalling. I am not giving up on the guy, but man, that was hard to watch.

And man, am I glad we traded TJ Ford.

[Rob]

I'm not calling for Jay's head. He's made some pretty good defensive game planning recently and tacticly he's been good out of time outs and at the end of games (defense/offense subs etc)

However this loss was all on him.
My first complaint was that he should have left the 2nd unit on while they were on fire in the 2nd. This may have extended the lead
Then in the 3rd when the lineup was really visibly gassed he should have called a timeout and subbed in some fresh legs. This certainly would have held the lead better
Then finally in the 4th quarter he continues to insist on the Calderon/Jack/Turk lineup to close out games despite every evidence shown so far that it's not an effective lineup.

I don't think that there's any good game to take off if you're the coach.

Blogger's note: Except for the evidence that it worked in Orlando and in Philly, you mean? Because if it's not effective once it doesn't mean it's never effective, right?

[Daniel]

It looked to me like they went in to the intermission, sat around for fifteen minutes, and when they tried to get up and start playing again their legs simply had nothing left. What happened in the second half was pretty simple - they couldn't make a shot to save their lives. What was it - 8 for 36 in the second half? That's what happens when the legs aren't there. As for the rotation - if you're having problems scoring, how can you rest Bosh and Bargnani? Who else on this team is gonna score?

[John]

You know whats fantastic! The 4th quarters actually seems to mean something lately. While they have not blown anyone out, they also have not laid a big egg recently. It also seems that last night was one of the few times they didn't hold on to or take the win in the final few minutes. They seem very confident finsihing out games, last night seemed the exception and Boston is a better team right now. Is there a stat for this?

[Pipit]

I almost banged my head on my tv set last night seeing the Raptors play especially those 2 dumb instances with Jack.

1. Less than a minute to play with the game on the line, everybody knows that it's gonna be an isolation play with Bosh. Jack keeps on dribbling, very scared to take the risk of giving the pass to Bosh (simply because a small defender is overplaying Bosh), decided to take the shot by his own. Not even a strong drive to the basket but a soft pull up jumper just nearly inside the 3 point line. If we're going for a spot-up jumper, Jack will be the last one to take it.
2. After the miss, Jack having an episode of amnesia, planted himself in the shaded lane (don't know who is he defending in their inside) while his offensive assignment shot an uncontested 3 and makes it.

Another big disappointment....

Triano called a timeout and as Jack casually walk in the bench, he didn't receive any comment, advise or even a shout from any coaching staff. Next play, Jack is still inside the court. Where are you Avery Johnson? If Jay can't single out a player, then he has no room for a coaching job in the NBA. Doug, what do you think of those 2 plays of Jack?

[Penny]

Maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there but it seems that every time the sub for Jack (either Jose or Banks)comes in and plays well, Jack feels like he has to take over the game when he gets back in. JJ played very well in the first quarter but after Jose came in with the second unit and they built up the lead so far, he started looking for his own shots and trying to do too much. This is when his turnovers started. It's been the same now for quite a few games. He has to realize that he is not the 1st, 2nd or even 3rd scoring threat on the team -especially in the 4th quarter!

[J.R.]

I don't know why there is any Jay hate. I think he's a solid coach and doing a pretty good job with the players he has been given.

I questioned the play out of the time out at the end of the game last night when they were down by 3 and Bosh looked like he was a deer caught in the headlights - but I saw Jay getting a coffee about an hour ago and asked him about it (I am assuming he hates those questions but comes with the territory). It was designed to be a 3 point play with Bargs setting the screen then Bosh passing to Bargs or Jose for the 3 - but Bargs didn't set the screen.

My point is here, the coach can only do so much. Jay is pretty solid with his subs and is a pretty good X's and O's guy.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

G'day Doug,
Moscow, Moscow man, Pops is gonna be a Moscow man (medical clearance pending), says Sporting Life. Hope The Legend can hold his vodka.
Didn't have a chance to see last night's game. From what I gather, and from where you were sitting, Doug, do you think some more minutes for fresher legs in the second half would have made the difference?
Tough stretch coming up. Go Raps!
Cheers.

Blogger's note: Maybe for a minute or two but who's to say they wouldn't have reverted to form

[The J]

Hey Doug,
I would argue with your response to Rob's comment. The Calderon/Jack/Turk lineup wasn't very effective in Orlando either. Yes, they won the game, but they barely hung on, and it seemed to be falling apart when that line-up hit the floor. Breaking up that line-up seems more effective, like in the Boston game. Yes, they lost that game, but a Jack/Belli/Turk line-up made it close.

[Noxleno]

Hey Doug

Do you think maybe Jose should have been taking a few more shots late last night? Coming down the stretch he was the most efficient from the arc at 2/3, and I kept thinking they'd get him to jack a few more but it didn't happen. If you agree, do you think this is a result of Calderon's unwillingness to shoot or are his teammates just ignoring his shooting prowess?

[Michael Sullivan]

"But they’re also going to win a few games against good teams when you least expect it, come out of nowhere to, oh, I dunno, beat San Antonio on the second half of a back-to-back or go into Orlando and win."

Some significant differences between last night's loss and the San Antonio win were:

- the Spurs were also on the second night of a back-to-back

- the Raptors were at home

- (if just to stir the pot a little more) Wright played instead of Hedo so we had better offensive/defensive balance

[fg]

we need a two guard and better wings,its just been a problem for the raptors for years. its glaring, its a whole and the scouting reports know it. Derozan isnt a nba player on a team fighting to be better than good. he needs time and leadership. we cant keep on playing two guard by committe, weems, beli, jack , calderon, just by how it goes that night, that is not a game plan, we need true leadership and consistency defined at the two guard. and TURK is awful. hope he picks it up, but awful. and he complains? geez boy i would love if we could fix our wing problem, too bad hedo cant be traded. only logical step which i feel queezy about, is using calderon or amir as trade bait... i dont want it, but we need team management, we have to fix our holes. we need a tweak. its just a fact all great teamss tweek, even the lakers, cavsceltics, tweak a bit. so someone is the odd man out, i think only calderon can bring a player back. hope BC finds a way to keep him , but we need the change

[Greg]

Their are teams that despite doing well or being an entertaining team, do not get good attendance at home. Atlanta for example. How does this affect the viablity of the franchise. Does the NBA have a process where profitable teams support the not so profitable ones.

In your opinion, is their any current nba market that you think is failing. For example New Jersey.

Do players factor in fan support when choosing teams to sign to as a free agent.

Blogger's note: All mailbag stuff; they have revenue sharing, lots of teams lose money; and yes