No, not pretty but does that really matter?

All right, they beat a team with a horrible record, just like you’d expect them too and if it didn’t look pretty, big whoop.

As they say in that other game, it’s not how, it’s how many and now they’re at 34 35 and counting.

-

THREE POINTERS

Make a move?

Is it time now to do Antoine Wright for DeMar DeRozan, make Sonny Weems the first wing off the bench and see how the last 14 13 games of the season unfold?

I think I’d do it.

It’s not so much a knock against DeRozan, although the first six minutes last night were somewhat ghastly before he turned around, as it would be a move to shore up the rotation at the crucial time of the season.

Wright’s been playing pretty well the last two games and he is the team’s best perimeter defender and I think that’s what you need on the court to set the tone at the start of games and third quarters.

The thing with DeRozan was always about his development, even if there was a cost involved. He got good minutes against good players, didn’t really cost his team any games but now it’s time for a guy who’s been there to take over.

The next four games are pretty big and could very well define where they finish – especially the two roadies at Miami and Charlotte on the weekend.

It’s time for the guys who have been there to do it; time for Wright.

-

Big time plays

Yes, it hasn’t happened enough; no, he hasn’t played particularly well; yes, it’s been a huge disappointment bordering on a bust.

But there was a stretch in that fourth quarter that Hedo Turkoglu did precisely what he was brought here to do and if it’s a signal that things are turning about, that can’t hurt.

First, he made a big three to quell a Minnesota run, then he drove and kicked to an open Antoine Wright for another big three and he had the ball on every offensive set.

The difference? I was talking to one of the coaches the other day and he said they’d made some very minor tweaks that seem to be working.

First, they’re getting Turkoglu the ball more in the middle at the top, rather than on the wing, which gives him more options. And, most important, they want him to get it a few seconds earlier, again so there are more options on any high screen.

I have no idea what the next 14 games will prove with Turk but it has been more engaged and more active in the last four or five and that’s pretty huge.

And to sit here and whine about how bad he was early in the season really does nothing. He wasn’t good, it didn’t take Red Auerbach, or Red Buttons, to figure it out but it’s not like the season can’t be redeemed with a few weeks of excellent play.

-

Soft, soft, soft

So they go up by 14 with 5:54 left in the third and they should home and cooled out, no?

Um, no.

They get an offensive foul on Bosh, Bargnani’s blocked by Love, Jose commits a turnovers and Bosh misses a jumper.

In the meantime, that lock-down Raptors defence gives up makes on four of six possessions and all of sudden, that 14-point lead is down to five with 3:15 to go.

That’s atrocious.

If you get a bad team down, a team that’s just playing out the string, you need to close it out.

It didn’t come back and bite them in the bum last night; it will if they do it against any kind of good team and there are a lot of them left on the schedule.

-

Just a bit more

-

A story not apropos of anything, really, except Minneapolis and walking.

It was kind of funny to hear about the Raptors bus breaking down and the players having to take cabs to the arena – the coaches made the arduous five-block walk – for shootaround.

Reminded me of another Minneapolis walk that saved a season.

It was way back in 2002, March 19 to be exact, and the Raptors were drilled 112-80 by the Timberwolves in what I recall being a particularly ugly game.

They were 30-38 at the time, had lost four in a row, He Who Shall Not Be Named was hurt, I’m not entlrely sure the coach of the day, a Mr. Wilkens, was the hardest-working man in show biz and the season was in the toilet.

They were staying the night before heading off to Cleveland and Dell Curry and Antonio Davis decided to walk back to the hotel. It was during that conversation that the two veterans really got ticked at the team’s plight and decided enough was enough and that they’d finish strong. It was sort of the last straw.

Well, don’t they rattle off nine straight wins and 10 of 12 to finish the season in seventh in the East, AD plays his brains out for the entire stretch and they extend Detroit to five games in a best-of-five playoff series before losing.

Not sure what Dell said to Antonio on that walk but it sure worked.

Too bad someone didn’t walk with Turk to shootaround yesterday.

-

In Minneapolis, here’s the kind of stories they’re reading as the Timberwolves play out the string.

-

Miami 99, New Jersey 89

Chicago 98, Houston 88

Milwaukee 98, Atlanta 95

.

At least Charlotte didn’t win.

Oh, I think we can safely say the Bucks are out of reach and that sixth is the best they can finish.

-

The mind is a terrible thing to waste.

I knew that Nate Doornekamp went to Boston College, yet there I went in a story yesterday talking about how he went to Carleton as a bunch of players from the national team program who went to the same school.

Oh, dopey me.

-

First call of the week for mail, which you can send here. Thanks.

-

You know they’re now done with road games against the West and finish with an underwhelming 3-12 record.

The wins? At Minnesota, at the Clips and at New Orleans.

Road warriors they are not.

-

Comments

[Tom]

Hey Doug,

I couldn't agree more with the move to replace Derozan with Wright. Any inclination if Jay is considering this?

Thanks

[Andrew]

Hey Doug, I'm curious about Bosh in the last few weeks. He is not attacking the rim like he did early in the season, and not getting to the free throw line as much, either. Is this due to the bulk he put on in the summer coming off? Is he possibly hurt? Or could it be what my tinfoil hat is telling me - that he's worried about getting injured with the big payday coming? Any thoughts?

Blogger's note: I think there are only five players in the entire league who shoot more FTs a game than Bosh and he's less than two below his season average in the last six games, when he was fully back from the ankle. I think it's much to do about nothing

[NH]

Thanks again for the morning Blog Doug. In your opinion, who has the easier schdule for the rest of the seasons, Raps or Bulls? With Rose and Noah back, are you and the Raps afraid of a late surge by the Bulls for the 8 spot?

[Anthony]

Ugly yes... but Turk didn't play like a turkey and I seen Andrea reaching up above his head to grad rebounds, both two rare sights.
Lets hope they turned a corner here and we see some intensity to finish out the season, Bosh is pretty much back to All Star form and should put up some monster numbers very soon. We actually have a shot at playing Boston first round, lets hope we don't regret dreaming of this match up.

[erc]

Doug, I sincerely hope you take all the haters who rag on people who disagree with you to task.
If Dave Feschuk tuned in to this blog they;d be all over him and you'd likely have to ban him, much as you'd hate to do it.
Like someone posted yesterday, you and DF see things differently and that is good. So kindly rein in all those groupie-haters, even if you have to ban a few. This world would be a dull place with only one point of view, even it it's yours.
Thanks.
On another note, maybe last year wasn't an aberration for JC in regards to free throws. Maybe it's just, the further away he gets from regular shooting sessions with Dave Hopla, the worse he gets. Mmmm?!

[Hope Caper]

Hey Doug, haven't written much as there was not much to say except for the weather which after a cloudy winter has opened up into a sunny spring and unseasonably warm. Our sap season is done! I'm talking Maple here not Raps.
Just an observation on top of yours which I agree with but Jay had mentioned in one of the press scrums that the Raps were making more of an effort to crash the boards. I thought he meant offencive. Yet many times ( I should have counted) a rare jump shot would go up and there was no one under the boards. Which amounts to a turnover. Which gets'em running in the wrong direction and relying on their fantastic transitional defence. I know this has been something they have been emphasising through out the season and more so lately. If you get a chance to ask Jay or if you can answer it, why? It's not like these guys can't think. I've also seen several examples over the last few games of the Warren Moon Syndrome, hey I was open so I took the shot. Two words--shot selection!!

[Lola]

Hey, love that story. That was when I became a fan. Thanks for brining back the memories :)

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Good morning, Doug,
Quality, schmality, take the W and run, right?
Speaking of schmality, interesting article on MSNBC this morning – http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35984922/ns/business-sports_biz/ – about NBA teams needing to get a lot more creative to draw crowds these days, especially in venues where the quality of entertainment is, um, maybe not all that hot... Any moves afoot by MLSE that you're aware of?
Cheers. Go Raps! It's quality time!

Blogger's note: Not that I'm aware of, no

[David Morton]

Nice to see a positive spin on the game last night instead of "Mr. Half Glass Empty" Feschuk's column in the Star this morning. Sure they did not play a great game or a great team but they did win their second in a row and just maybe we should all focus on the positive for a few days.

[rocketman]

Couldn't agree more about Wright for Derozan, it's an absolute no-brainer!

[kelsey]

I have been quite harsh on Hedo this year. I will agree that he does at least look like he is trying. I guess he does the best for his skill set. The only issue is really, this team can not cause damage in playoffs as they have Turk and Bargnani in starting line up. These guys are talented, but they dont have the athleticism to get rebounds or stop players. Hedo can't jump.

At this point of the year, if Rap's planning to be a playoff team, then they have to start playing that type of ball. More Amir Johnson and yes replace A Wright. Allow Derozan to come off bench. Sonny Weems is playing more consistant than Derozan at this time as well.

I like Jack coming off bench, now at least he seems to be playing in more urgent times of the 3rd and 4th qtr. Its nice to see a guy look to drive to the rack. He is the best attacker on the team....Triano lets get into playoff mode, If Bargnani not scoring on the bench for Amir no more joking!!!!!

[Johnn19]

Doug
Your math is off again, I believe Raptors are after Minny 35-34 with 13 to play.

[Bill]

A question about technical fouls. Read from the web that Dwight Howard now has 15 techs for the year and that he will be suspended one game on the next one that he receives. If you are Stan, is it a smart move to tell you star center to get one say on the second last game of the season just to get it over with, rather than getting one say on a game 6 against the Raptors in round 1 of the playoffs? Is there any rule that punish a team/player for intentionally getting a tech that way to prevent being suspended for a more important game?

Blogger's note: The tally resets to zero for the playoffs

[Andrew]

Is it important that they finish higher in the standings? Like 5th (hypothetically), 6th, or 7th just as long as they don't get Cleavland at 8? (or miss the playoffs). Shouldn't Raptors fans be more concerned with the teams chemistry and confidence rather than if they're playing Orlando, Boston or Atlanta?

[Marco]

Don't they have 35 wins?

Blogger's note: They do; typo

[Matt]

Doug, I agree that it's best not to dwell on the horrific season Turk has had, and he did look good in the fourth quarter. Isn't a large part of that due to handling the ball on every offensive set down the stretch alongside Jack? It remains a problem playing him with Calderon to start games because they both want to dominate the ball. Going forward, whether the rest of this season or next, I think the team has to make a decision re: Calderon because his domination of the ball really undermines Turk's game. Thoughts?

[Drank]

RE: Hedo and the statement "...its not like the season can't be redeemed with a few weeks of excellent play."

Sorry, Doug, have to disagree with you. I supported Turk for the first 5 months of this season (including the training camp for which he called in tired). I can do so no more. He has slacked and partied his way through the season at a time when we needed him to help us show Chris we could be an elite team. He hasn't done it, the opportunity has been missed, and any good Raps fan can see that the life has pretty much left this group. Damage done.

[John MacDonald]

I just looked at the remaining schedule for the Raptors, Heat, and Bobcats and I have come to the conclusion that it will be very tough for the Raptors to finish any better than 8th. Knowing for sure that the number one team will be the Cavs the Raps coaches need to start planning for that matchup and putting things into the practices in order to get the best chance of winning against the cavs. I'm not sure 8th place in the east and no second round in the playoffs will keep Bosh. I hope BC has a really good plan B, otherwise he might be gone next year.

[SS]

I agree with you Doug that it's time to get the guys that's been there to start. I don't think Demar's time in the starting 5 was a bad thing but I can see him easily getting flustered when the playoffs begin and we can't afford to play catchup ball every game. Now I will say this, if it wasn't for Weems' inexperience I would start him at the 2 in a heartbeat but I can see him having the same issue as Derozen. That's the only reason I would go with Wright. But if you take into consideration consistency, Weems gets my pick.

[Blake Kennedy]

I disagree entirely that Antoine Wright is the team's best perimeter defender. That would generally be DeMar. Antoine is too slow and too foul-happy to be effective. I've tracked every minutes of Raptors' games this year using Project Defensive Score Sheet methodology (created by Dean Oliver, now with the Denver Nuggets) and he has a stop% of .498 and a defensive rating of 112.2 points allowed / 100 possessions: that's far worse than DeRozan's .519 and 111.3, especially considering that Antoine has played most of his minutes this year against bench players and DeRozan has played against fresh starters and better players.

I know you have a distaste for statistical metrics, but consider this: he doesn't rebound, he's both unproductive and extremely inefficient offensively, so at the very least Antoine Wright has to be phenomenally good defensively to even merit stepping on the floor ahead of two younger, more athletic players with far greater upside in Weems and DeRozan. And frankly, far from not being phenomenally good, he isn't even as good as those two guys - never mind better.

Antoine Wright needs to sit on the end of the bench and patiently wait for his contract to expire. Period. I notice every time he has a good game you say he should start, but then I also notice there's about 7 or 8 terrible games he plays in which you say nothing. Antoine Wright simply is not good enough on either end of the floor to deserve any playing time, let alone starter's minutes, let alone again over better, younger, more promising players. Because let's face it, Wright is probably not going to be with this team next year and DeMar will be.

Blogger's note: Imagine that, esoteric stats to prove your point. Never saw that coming.

[Penny]

Doug - you were right in one of your earlier blogs - Jack definitely should not be handling the ball in the latter part of games. He was terrible last night with all the missed passes between CB4 and him. Thankfully, Jay recognized the problem and put Turk back in to handle the offense. In games, though, where Turk is not playing well, Calderon has to be on the floor in the last part of the 4th quarter. At the end of the 3rd quarter Raps are up by 10, Jack comes in and suddenly, it's only a 2 point game.

[knickz]

i hope bc doesn't re sign cb...cb has alot of mileage on him n we already know what happens to big men who get huge contracts

[doug]

a successful coach takes a players skill set and tweaks the scheme to that, a unsuccessful one keeps trying to fit players intoa pre-conceived scheme...all this talk aobut Hedo being a bust is either made by people that don't know the game or don't watch the game....they have mis-used him all year, Hedo has came out and said it (but then he is labelled a whiner)....its taking this coaching staff until this point in the season to "tweak" their offence to find him touches....unbelievable, they tried that Jose-Jack combo for a long time which was doomed as you had hedo on the floor as well, 3 ball-handlers,... last night they actually had Hedo moreorless run the offence in conjunction with jack in the 4th and it was solid b-ball, even Armstrong was impressed......hedo has been so mis-cast it borders on either being funny or just sad, as what were they looking at all season?/...be interesting to see if it was a one game coaching aberration or will we see it in Utah ....and to take DD out of the starting 5, shouldn't happen, as it will just be like moving the deck chairs around on the titanic, it won't help....Wrights fine in the role he is playing now....

[Jacek]

I am not seeing enough hate for Turk. This guy basically ruined our franchise. I don't think he is trying his mentality is 'why should he, his money is already in the bank.' Write him off as a loss and send him back to Turkey please. I'm through being patient with him and it infuriates me to see this farce play.

[DaveT]

Doug, if it helps Aaron Doornekamp went to Carleton -- I TA'd him in first year business calculus a while ago. Honest mistake, right?