Good game, fun finish and some signs of life

Really entertaining game, wild finish, tough loss and the question now is if they can summon the same energy for Sunday night in Miami.

I wonder.

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THREE POINTERS

(And yes, Chris Bosh had a tough finish with missed free throws and bobbled balls and a couple of missed drives and jumpers and he could have been better. Let’s talk about something else).

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What else could they do?

Sometimes, you just don’t get a break.

On that last possession, the Raptors did pretty much everything they could all over the floor.

Antoine Wright did an excellent job on Carmelo, first by forcing him out about a yard further than he wanted to, and then by getting right up in him and forcing a jumper that was off from the second it left Anthony’s hand.

They got on the glass and boxed people out and it was a footrace to the loose ball over on the far side right by the sideline.

They didn’t win it – mostly because almost all of ‘em were inside their men on the glass – and when a play gets scrambled like that, no one knows what’s going to happen.

Boom, one pass, one shot, one bucket, one buzzer, one loss.

A tough one, no doubt but, as is often the case in pro sports, when things are going bad, a team cannot catch a break.

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Feeding the beast

Saw something in the third quarter last night I don’t remember seeing too often and it was quite refreshing, actually.

About four times in succession, maybe five of six possessions or something like that (chicken scratch barely legible), the Raptors ran stuff in the post for Andrea.

Yes, he had the under-sized Joey Graham trying to guard him and it only made sense that the Raptors would try to exploit that mismatch. But so many times this year there’ve been similar situations – not just with Andrea but more often than not -- and they’ve tended to ignore them, it was good to see they went back to him repeatedly. Part of the problem in the past was that Bargnani would float out to the three-point line instead of getting inside and doing some hard work down low; last night he was fully engaged and animated and it had to be the best all-around game he’s played in quite some time.

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Maybe one change

I know the matchups weren’t there because the Nuggets went small but I wonder if Andrea Bargnani shouldn’t have been on the court for that final Nugget possession.

I think everyone in the world knew that the play was going to be an iso for Carmelo so it’s not like Denver would have gone to the guy Andrea was guarding.

And the way Bargnani was rebounding, I think I would have liked him on the glass; and if Anthony hadn’t settled for a jump shot, I think I would have liked the team’s best shot-blocker trying to provide help.

Anyway, it wasn’t the reason they lost – it’s not like Andrea would have been quick enough to get to the loose ball as it squirted away – but he might have been able to do something on the initial miss to change the way the play unfolded.

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A couple of little things before I head to the big bird for the longish flight.

(And I vow not to say: “Get up, bird” when we take off).

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I really missed George Karl not being around last night.

He’s one of the visiting coaches you always want to go listen to before the game because you’ll usually get some good insight and a good quote.

A top five list? Sure.

I try never to miss pre-game, or at least shootaround chats with:

Doc Rivers.

Jerry Sloan

Stan Van Gundy

Larry Brown.

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A Did You Know

Yes, we all know Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony are Olympic gold medalists but there was a third on the court last night.

Leon Wood.

Yes, the referee, who is probably a more accomplished player than a lot of guys he was blowing the whistle on.

Wood was on the 1984 Olympic gold medal team (he would have played against Jay Triano in Los Angeles) and was a former first round draft pick (10th overall, 1984) by the Sixers.

Ran into him, Joey Crawford and Tony Brown after the worked the Portland game in a little decompression session back the hotel and he’s quite a good guy.

Soild ref, too.

And having played 274 NBA games, he will have had a lot longer career than a bunch of the guys on the court Friday night.

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What’d they write about in Denver?

Glad you asked.

You can find out right here.

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In keeping with a burgeoning tradition of telling stories about the city and team the Heroes Of The Hardcourt are facing next, here’s a little Miami yarn.

(And it’s a tradition that’s burgeoning because, quite frankly, there’s not much to say about THOTH every day right now. You like it?) Anyway, it’s a Sam Mitchell story so it’s pretty good and I’ll un-X rate it if I must.

Not sure of the year but they’re down there for a game and they’re getting drilled pretty badly, as I recall.

There have been some suspect calls throughout the game, at least in the opinion of the aggrieved S. Mitchell and, finally, he snaps.

Gets him tossed out of the game and I guess he figures that if he’s going to go, he’s going out with a bang.

He walks about 15 feet on to the court and points directly at each of the three officials, who are spread out over the floor. He points at each of them and says:

“Bleep you.

“Bleep you.

“And bleep you.”

Now, among the people courtside is a bigwig league official who was there on a playoff site survey checking out the arena and to this day, when I see that guy at an all-star game or finals, he tells he remains a it afraid of Our Man Sam.

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Okay, since the plan tonight is for a leisurely evening around the lounge at the Miami airport Marriott (flight gets in late evening, I’m not a beach guy, room rates were through the roof, early flight Monday so why not just stay there), I’ll have some time to do some mail.

So here’s one last call for your submissions.

Make ‘em good, please. No rants, nothing with “here’s my long-winded diatribe and what I think. Your thoughts?” and I’m not doing Bosh sign-and-trade stuff.

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Want good news? Chicago didn’t win.

Didn’t play, but still …

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Comments

[doug]

I had no problems with Bosh, in the scouting report for Bosh since he started playing would be these words" doesn't have soft hands", meaning he is not a good catcher of the ball, loses it and mishandles it at times..its always been that way, and people that attack missed free throws have to realize they are missed just like field goals in football,,,people think their automatic...

I really was perplexed by some of Jays moves, i wonder are they his moves or a assistants??..as not having Bargs in there a the end wasn't the only thing, when Bargs was going great in the 3rd and the quarter ended he took him out, then brought him back in with 6 minutes left.or so.....well with another player thats good strategy with Bargs it is not...as we all know when he's going you ride him as you don't know when he'll go on a roll again, he's a streak scrorer, player....he should have played him at the start of the 4th and then just let him play...giving him a blow at the 7 minute mark for a couple minutes....also when he had the starting unit back in with 5 minutes to go and let them play a long stretch it let the Nuggets back into the game and the Raps were tenative, he needed to change that unit up faster...as there were mis-matches with it at the beginning of the game when they were outplayed and there were then, it turned the momentum...

that last play by Melo is what it is, but what impressed me is this..Nene gets the loose ball doesn't panic as he has no shot, passes it to Billups, clock still ticking down, like 3-4 seconds left...Billups at the 3 point line is doubled has no shot, so he doesn't panic...turns and pases it to melo....now 1,2 seconds left...he doesn't just jack up a shot, he dribbles once, moves into position and shoots with .2 seconds on the clock....the patience, clock presence of all 3 was quite something to see

[mando]

I like your blog ,Doug, some of the correspondents are a bit dim though.

[Norrin Radd]

@disco great point!
Bosh has not been the same since he supposedly injured his ankle...I think he has another injury that nobody is making public...he just does not look the same....no explosiveness going to the hole. He could not even drive pass Nene out ther...yes Nene is a decent defender but come on! Bosh hasn't been his dominant self since coming back from his injury....either that or he is purposely playing soft so he doesn't get injured.....look at his free throw attempts per game before and after the injury.....

[Striker77]

Alright...

I am not a HUGE Bosh fan, but I am not going to jump on the train of blaming him for the loss last night.. First of all, you should never credit one guy for a loss, or for a win for that matter... Basketball (or any sport) just doesnt work that way.. Its all about perception...

Let me create another very possible result from last night... The raps keep possession of that last shot, it does not get kicked out to Anthony, or Anthony misses that buzzer beater and the raps win... So, do the Nuggets fans blame Melo for missing 2 FREE THROWS just a few moments earlier?

Or you can create a dozen more scenarios, or perceptions, or key points to put blame on someone... WHY DO IT? These guys finally played some good ball with heart, against one of the best teams in the league! Come on folks, lets stop pointing fingers, cause if Melo missed that shot, the same dude you are condemning would be your hero...

[Michel G]

I started to realize in the final 6 minutes of the game, when the Raps had trouble scoring, that there was something missing. I know that Hedo has his faults, but it would have been nice if he could have touched the ball a couple of times down the stretch. I know my comment is not congruent with some of the comments above which states that the Raps are better off without him. What do you think Doug?

[Blake Kennedy]

The general rule is when you're in a defensive situation is to put out as much speed and quickness as possible along with keeping coverage on the defensive board; keeping in mind that general rule, Amir Johnson would have been the better option than Bargnani and DeRozan would have been the better option than Wright, alongside Weems and Jack, as DeRozan is quicker and rebounds better than Wright. As much as you might be inclined to praise Bargnani's rebounding last night, Amir's was vastly superior: he grabbed over 53% of the defensive rebounds available to him when he was on the floor, against 34% for Bargnani. And he's been better on the glass all year on both ends than Bargnani. And he's actually the better shot-blocker, between him and Andrea, with Andrea blocking 3.0% of the shots opponents take and Amir blocking 3.5%, with Amir being on a real shot-blocking tear lately - maybe you missed the three blocks Amir had last game when you were busy complaining about his lack of rebounds in only 11 minutes of time.

I'm having a tough time seeing why Antoine Wright is on the floor at all. Even apart from his woeful lack of rebounding, poor shooting and turnover prone-ness, he's not an effective defender at all and his lack of speed and quickness really shows. On that last scramble, even after the initial defense on Carmelo, all he could manage to do was get over to the ball too slowly, and instead of grabbing it when it deflected into the interior, all he did was poke it with one hand back out to a Denver player which resulted in the final score. We keep putting him out there as a defender in clutch situations, except he never comes up with stops for us when we do. We're sacrificing quality minutes for two promising young players in Weems and DeRozan for one of the least productive players in the NBA? And now we play him at PF as well and take minutes away from another young promising player in Johnson? Makes no sense. If he did anything better than those players, it would be okay but he's even worse defensively than both Weems and DeRozan and certainly less so than Johnson.

[Rob.V]

Ok, I'm never one to blame too much on coaching however Triano is absolutley MIND BOGGLING!!!

You stick with Andrea and Hedo though 70 games (some nights with absolutley zero effort and ATROCIOUS play (without ever starting Johnson or Weems in front of them). Then, THEN!! when andrea finally has "THE GAME" we've all been waiting for for 4 Faaaaawking seasons.... you don't play him at the end of the game???

I've never coached a game in my life...but am 100% positive that I could not have screwed that up any more than Triano did. Sure, Bosh get's the rebound it's over... but still!!!

Doug, as you would say "FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S GOOD IN THE WORLD"!!!!

With fingers pointing:

Triano - bleep you!!
Bosh (if you're leaving) - bleep you!!
Feschuck - bleep you too!!... just because.

Rant over. Excuse me now while I go flip a coin to try to determine whether or not we are going to show up looking as razor sharp as the Wizards... or like the Lakers on Sunday night?

[Bob Wesley]

Hey Doug,any word on the Carlos Delfino injury?Hope he's OK.

Blogger's note: None

[David]

I've long supported Bosh this season, but his actions aren't matching his words. Why is he complaining about guys lacking "fire" when I haven't seen much "fire" from him the last few games? The guy just looks disinterested hoisting jumper after jumper since his injury. Either he's hurt or he's just checked out. I completely agree with Feschuck's article. Well written.

[ben]

if bosh goes up for that final rebound with two hands instead of one the raps win.

[Brian]

Chris Bosh may be a fine young man but he is not a max player. For the good of basketball in Toronto I sincerely hope he doesn't take our money.

[City Country]

Re: David

That's exactly what I'm saying. Bosh is embarrassing himself. I guess from his perspective, as long as he can keep the (generally not well informed) rest of the league convinced that the Raptors' problem is that Bosh is great and no one else on the team is providing him any support then he will still get his max contract elsewhere...

[Manale]

Nice to see Belinelli get some playing time (and make the most out of it).
Bosh is the best Raptor, but Marco is my favourite Raptor.

[LeeZ]

I'm guessing you won't reply to this one, since you did specifically ask for no Bosh stuff today, but I'll give it a shot anyway. For a while there, that idea of getting the ball to Bosh at the elbow worked well, but that was back when his jump shots were falling and he was (usually) making quick decisions. Now, however, the shots aren't falling, and he's holding onto the ball forever. Do you think they should reconsider the elbow thing, especially since the one time that he posted his man deep last night and got the entry pass, he made an easy bucket?

Blogger's note: I said I wasn't going to write about it, you guys and gals can do as you like. I do think with his shot not consistent, they could probably start him on the low block more often.

[WSG]

Hard to fathom why there’s any question about what’s going on w/ Bosh. I saw it clearly (CLEARLY) during the Warriors game (when the penny dropped for me) ... and I saw it up close, in person last Fri against the Thunder. He made his decision during the All Star break ... and nothing can change it ... and it is exactly why we see the hollowed out version of CB4 as compared to the player he was before the break. You can’t fake heart. He’ll get his stats, he’ll make a few ok plays here and there ... but that intangible thing that comes along with ‘heart’ ... cannot ... be ... faked. Hate to say ‘end of story’ fellow Raptors fans, but ... end of story. Go Raps.

Btw ... good comment, Erc.

[doug]

"city country" what do you mean when you say "generally not well informed" league...are you serious, do you actually think teams don't have a book on Bosh, players don't know his game insdie and out,GM's, coaches etc.??...they do, yes he has negatives, positives but whether you agree with it or not he is one of the top 10 players in the league...so doing simple math, there are 30 teams in the league, hence he wil get a max contract...is he a Kobe,Wade,Lebron no, but he is good and that tends to get lost here....he isn't a great leader, but in fariness to him thats something you either have or don't and few players do actually....so he'll do what is expected sign a max contract and perform as he always has as he is who he is...so give credit to GM's, coaches, scouts etc...they do know his game....but that being said i hope the raps don't re-sign him I am ust a fan of the Rockets model of building a team, lots of useable parts, different levels of athleticism, we are close to that, if we could do a sign and trade for Bosh and get back another piece that just fits in and knows there role to me that would be the route to go...and i think BC knows Bosh is not coming back , but thats just me...as he is to smart to have signed Hedo,Barg's,Jose,Jack to long -term deals and then bosh...thats 5 guys under long-term deals on a mediocre team....thats just suicide, so as soon as those guys were signed to me it was clear what was happening with Bosh...

[kazbid]

maybe the missed FT and another terrible "last offensive play" by bosh aren't enough to warrant the flak he's taking BUT he's definitely regressed in his play the last couple months

worst case scenario is we make the playoffs, get swept and re-sign bosh to the max and continue with this team; either we need to surround him with even more tough guys or trade him for some other pieces and build a new team

also this whole "go go go"/8 seconds or less type offense the raps are running isnt working..it hardly ever leads to an easy basket
i mean this whole d'antoni/euro/BC offense is contingent on having a great PG.its cool if we have c.paul, d.will jason kidd or nash but with jack/calderon..we need to get a slower/better play calling offense going
one that doesnt involve bosh holding the ball for 12 seconds before deciding he wants to jack a shot or just pass it back out

[GM]

So good to see the Raptors competing last night. What a pleasant change. Still can't figure out, though, why they keep playing stall-ball in the 4th quarter of close games. Do what got you there instead of abandoning it. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that, so it's pointless to say Jose should have been out there instead of Jack. I'm sure Jose would have played the pass-it-to-Bosh-and-watch game, too. Which leads me to believe it's a coaching decision rather than a choice of the players. The problem with that game is that no one can cut for fear of getting in his way if he decides to drive. So you're left with a) a Bosh drive, b) a Bosh outside shot, or, in rare circumstances, c) someone else taking a long shot with not much time left. I don't like those odds.

It was also great seeing Belinelli out there showing what he can do. He clearly deserves time, and more than a few minutes here and there even if he's not "on" right off the bat.

While I have problems with some of Triano's moves, I think he's learning on the job and if given the chance he'll be even better next season if he works on his "game" like the players are expected to.

[Aditya]

doug, i was just thinking, coaches have their flaws, and jay triano has his and sam mitchell had his when he was here.....now, jay triano seems like a good X's and O's coach (not great, but good)....plays coming out of timeouts are good and often well executed by the players....but i think its the other stuff that jay triano is unable to get his point across to the team...you knew sam mitchell's team would play hard no matter would (as he said it "its not about the X's and O's, its about the jimmy's and jo's")..... i just wish we could have a coach with a mixture of jay triano and sam mitchell....

[Aditya]

also, i was baffled why bosh wasn't facing up more on nene....he kept posting him up late in the game, when i thought he should be facing him up more and use his jumpshot or quickness to beat him

[Joe]

I don't get all of these anti-Bosh comments. Yes, he's played poorly in the last month. He's, the criticism thrown his way is accurate. Yes, he may not be worth a max deal. At the end of the day, however, Bosh has won more games for the Raptors than he's lost. Isn't he the same guy who beat Atlanta with a last second step back jumper last week. Isn't he the same guy who beat the 76ers in January on a last second drive to the hoop? Isn't he the same guy who has played hard and represented the Raptors with a ton of class since he was 19 years old? Right now, he looks tired and distracted...agreed. However, he remains one of the game's top players. Pau Gasol, the guy closest to him in style and ability, was considered soft during his time with Memphis. He gets to the Lakers, has guys he can play with and all of a sudden is no longer considered soft. If Bosh played with Nene and Billups all year instead of Turkoglu and few other guys on this team, how different would things be?

[Ian]

Lots of venom towards Bosh today. I'm not going to throw more fuel on the fire, but something does seem a little off with Chris recently. He does put up his regular numbers, but for some reason he doesn't seem to be a game changer right now. If he wants max money elsewhere next season he has to show other teams that he is a dangerous player in the last few seconds of a game. He has to be the guy that teams need to swarm when the game is on the line. What annoys me is that he has proven he can be that guy. He proved it against Atlanta that he is the man.

What I think (and what I think doesn't really mean much I know!!) is that he is getting tired of busting his balls every night only to see other players trot around on the court not giving a s***. What is frustrating is that Andrea has the ability to grab 10 boards and 15 points a game, but only does it when he is not "being lazy". Hedo has the ability to put down 14-15 points a game, but only does it when he is in the mood.

This team is good. They have proven that they have the talent, but Chris can only do so much. No player has the strength to carry a dead load on their back for 82 games. A team only wins when everyone wants to win, and there seems to be some guys who don't really care sometimes. Chris is definetly not one of them.

Rant over.

[James Online]

sm...I just state the truth about a young player, Marco, who deserves to start on this pathetic team. Look at his energy level, creativity, productivity, and how the Raptors do when he's on the floor. So long as he deserves the raves, I'll post them. He's the kind of player I was when I was his age, so there's an identity factor too.
That's called being a fan. Check out my website and read the piece I wrote on Marco; it will give you an insight into why I support him so enthusiastically.
(Two other NBA players I really like are Lou Amundson at Phoenix, and Eduardo Najera, now back at Dallas).
I have the feeling that Triano feels he has to put the GMs dream into practice...hence we get Hedo, DeMar etc. getting many more minutes than they deserve. That's Triano trying to save his job.
The Nuggets television team got a good laugh out of Sonny Weems playing so much: "he was never much of a defender when he was with us..." No range on the jump shot either.
Weems/Derozan are too similar. Figure out which one you want and move the other one. Neither plays defense, and that's where winning begins.
Triano is intimidated by his players, especially Wright.

[Paolo]

Just a personal story.
It's about 20 years ago. I was playing PG in Italy in a medium level team. For 3 years we did not reached the playoffs, with about 38-42% of wins at the end of each season. We had a great shooter in the team, a recognized great shooter, the official captain, with about 24-25 points per game and 6-7 rebounds. We (the teammates) respected him but he was not able to create a real relationship in the locker room. I was the second scorer with 11-12 PPG.
Ok, the team had some financial problems and the Ceo decided to sell (in Italy we have a different trading system) the best player. In the next season the coaches decided that I had to be the new captain asking me to help them in creating motivations with old teammates and the new 3 young guys to have almost a not terrible transition season.
At the end of the year we won 56% of the games, I was the 1st scorer (16 PPG) in a team in wich 6 players were over 11 PPG in the season. Everything changed. For 4 years we were in the playoff semifinals, without having ALLSTAR players. We became a strong team, with the best defense in the league without having big rebounders or fantastic shooters. But we became a family, with perfect chemistry, sharing the balls, battling on the field for each possess. We started using to eat together with wifes, girlfriends and children after the games and often almost after practises. In the second season we did not lose a game at home, winning 10 games with not much more than 3 points advanges. In the 4th season we did the same. Just to explain the chemistry and the easy way to comunicate in the team, during the time out in the last qurter the coach used to say only: "ok You know what to do!" or when I was getting nervous with refs: "you do not have a nice haircut tonight!". In my (and in my teammates) career worst shooting game (I ended 1-10 from 3 and 1-6 from 2) we were able to win 52-50 with an astonishing defensive performance. 20 years are over and actually I and some of my old companions go all together on hollidays with our families. I hope that something similaar could happen to Raptors with a good Sign&Trade for Bosh that, I think, has to move away from Toronto for the team's interest and to give a new improvement to his career.