A sign of things to come?

You know what I think that was?

Typical of what we’ll see all year.

Not a bad game, close enough, they played hard for the most part, missed some makeable shots, had a chance in the final minute and came up short.

Now, for what we saw:

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THREE POINTERS

Taking The Hits

I don’t have the exact number in front of me but I can remember at least three charges the Raptors drew and that might have been the most promising thing of the night.

Jose had one in the paint, Andrea drew one on Stoudemire or Mozgov early and Reggie had one, too, as I recall.

It speaks to their intensity level that for the most part, was pretty good and high. If they keep playing like that, they’ll win some games.

The question is: Can they?

It’s one thing to do it opening night when everyone’s jazzed up and it’s a game they can win and there’s some adrenaline pumping through the veins.

I’m wondering about some Monday night in Sacramento or a Wednesday night in Charlotte because if they don’t play hard, there are going to be some loooooooooong nights ahead.

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And The Regend Grows

Sixteen rebounds, all kinds of hustle plays and only two shots? That’s about as good as you can get from Reggie Evans, who remains the biggest surprise of the season to a lot of us.

But, the one flaw that was exposed is that his utter lack of offence is going to be a problem.

I know he shouldn’t shoot much and needs to keep possessions alive with his work on the boards but at some point, he’s got to at least attempt a put-back or two just to keep defences honest.

A couple of times against the Knicks, after he’d grabbed offensive rebounds, the defenders all turned around the face-guarded their guys and it was difficult for Evans to find someone to pass the ball to.

A couple of times a game, he’s got to go back to the rim just so the other team knows he will. Not every time, but every now and then.

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A Rotational Tweak?

Not sure if it’ll happen all the time but using Leandro Barbosa as the first guy off the bench is all right with me.

He wasn’t all that great in the first have but when they went to him in the second, he immediately made a couple of baskets, got the tempo up a little bit and energized things.

I think it’s better than making the first sub of a game or half a big man because that doesn’t have the same impact on the speed of the game and we saw snippets last night of what Barbosa can really be.

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And, in other stuff …

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Phrase of the night goes to Mike D’Antoni, hands down.

He’s looking at Amare Stoudemire’s line of 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine turnovers and marveling at it:

“A cripple double.”

That’s gold, Jerry. Gold.

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I need some mail, desperately.

Had what I thought was a pretty good mailbag last week but I’m looking now and the pickings are slim.

Please help me out.

Click. Write. Send.

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A quick glance up at the out-of-town scoreboard last night showed the Bulls in an epic struggle with …

The Sonics.

And a wistful feeling rushed over media row.

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So what’d you all think of the grand opening, at least those of you who saw it?

I kind of liked the curtain had they actually shown video on it instead of superimposing a logo and some hokey saying and I fear it was a one-time gig instead of a straight steal from the Lakers.

Too bad, that and some kind of a karaoke thing where the whole crowd sings were the two game-ops adds I’d hoped to see.

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So we did a new thing with the game story, or game whatever it’s called in the paper today.

You had this, which went on the front with a picture, and then this, a kind of point-form recap of what went on.

Whaddya think? Does it work?

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Let’s see what My Man Sheridan had to say about that one.

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What do you think of the Knicks?

Kind of average, no?

Kind of like these guys?

Win some, lose some and one injury away from a surefire lottery pick?

I do like the Chandler kid, multiple positions and he killed Toronto’s bigs with his shooting range and a good guy to come off the bench.

But, after one glance, I will stick with my assertion that after the big three teams and the three mid-levels you can throw a blanket over a whole raft of teams and the Raptors and Knicks are two of them.

Trouble is, games between those teams are uber-important and they just let a home one get away.

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Comments

[JHK]

After watching the opener:
1. Andrea will get his numbers. People need to chill out.
2. Put a fork in Jose. He is done.
3. What 'Young Onez'? Although I still have a bit of faith in the 'youngest one'.
4. The Regend is real.
5. The last play call for a tying 3-point attemp by Jay, was by far the worst one I've ever seen.
6. Excluding Amare, Raps had a better team talent wise. Still, the team with a superstar prevails at the end.
7. 81 more to go.(I keed, I keed)

[Peter]

Like the new point form recap a lot. Was impressed that you called any particular game "uber" important, after your consistent assertion that no one game is more important then the next. :) Just bugging ya!

[Derek S]

Hi Doug,
I was at the game last night, and I have to agree that this was definitely a "winnable" game that the Raps let slip away. Too many guys were just too unproductive most or all of the night for them to make it work last night.

Its telling when Reggie was the best player for the Raps last night, with zero points. Incredible defense and rebounding all night long. Also had some tough calls go against him, some "borderline" foul calls that could have gone either way between him and Stoudemire.

Rough night for Weems and Amir, both of which were ineffective and non-factors. Both guys need to be much better. Anderson continued to play well, and outplayed both of these guys. Not a great night for DeRozan either, who was "ok" at times, but tends to disappear for long stretches in games. Needs to be more aggressive.

Kleiza and Barbosa both missed alot of shots they normally make in their sleep in the first half, but both turned it up in the 2nd half. Again, for this team to win, both guys need to play well overall, not just "half the night".

Jack played pretty well, Calderon not so well, and both guys need to be better.

Bargnani had an incredible first half. Did the dirty work down low, was aggressive and confident. I was equal parts shocked and awed watching him in the first half. Unfortunately in the 2nd half, he wasn't quite as effective. Too many times he gets the ball 12-15 feet from the basket and tries to turn it into a layup against 2 defenders.

The biggest thing I see with Bargnani (or rather, that I don't see), is that when he gets the ball 12-15 feet from the basket with a defender on his back, what he SHOULD be doing is kicking the ball out, reposting about 5 feet closer, and then having them feed the ball back to him. I didn't see that happen once last night, and can't recall EVER seeing that from the Raps (even in previous years when it was Bosh in the post). You see the "greats" make that move all the time. Maybe its just a trick Bargnani hasn't learned yet, or maybe he's worried the ball won't come back to him if he kicks it out, but PLEASE Doug, if you can mention that to Triano or the coaches in one of your practice scrums, I think it could really help their offence.

In closing, as much as I wanted to see the Raps get the win last night (and it was a winnable game) at least they were competitive and "in the game" right down to the end. Early in the 2nd quarter it started to get away from them (when they went scoreless for about 5 minutes) and got down by a bunch, but the Raps battled back and kept it close again after that. For the most part, they fought hard all night long, and as a paying fan, that's enough to make me happy. As Doug alluded to though, I just hope they can keep battling that way, even if they've lost 5 or 6 in a row, which might happen when they head out west.

[chris]

Doug - when Bargs goes inside and plays like a post player, he's actually pretty good. Last night he was up against a bunch of cream-puff bigs (Amare is a terrible defender), yet Andrea chose to mostly hang out on the perimeter.

What gives with this guy?? He's the biggest guy on the court.....

[Alex]

derek - re Bargs not kicking the ball out and reposting... it's because he knows he won't get the ball back. The Raps run a scrambly, "unprofessional" offence with very little ball movement, and guys know they will get 1 touch, if that, and then someone's going to either hoist a bad J or try to beat the entire team on a drive (usually under the net for a prayer reverse shot).

This team can be decent, but for all this talk of "team play", what I saw last night was a lot of individuals still looking to get theirs.

Except Reggie.. don't know what happened in the offseason, but the man looks like Rodman reincarnated, without the weird.

[Dan w]

The more I see Derozan the more I am reminded of Joey Graham. Super athletic, but doesn't have the basketball IQ to properlly use it.

[Jeff D]

Based on logic, albeit seriously flawed, one could now say that Cleveland is a better team than Miami. Cleveland beat Boston, who in turn beat Miami. I'm just sayin.

[Mr. Cook]

I was at the game last night and I was a little disappointed with the pre-game. To be fair, I was at the opener last year when they had the orchestra play Nas' "Hate Me Now" to a shaking ACC crowd, so my expectations may have been out of step. The game was pretty good--it was lost in two disappearing stints in the early second quarter and then a couple brain-misfires with about 4 minutes left in the game. Otherwise they seemed to play hard.
For anyone ripping on the last play of the game--it was an excellent play. Kleiza had a look, it appeared that Leandro had a better look but when the ball got to him it was unfortunately a much, much taller defender that came after him. C'est la vie. Are we really going to get all worked about about a loss from a team that most irregulars think will lose 50 or so anyway?

[LeeZ]

Doug, you're gonna roll your eyes, put your head in your hands and lament not ANOTHER "let's bring Dave Hopla back" plea, but...and hear me out...Derozean desperately needs him. I'm pretty knowledgable about tennis, and if I watch a junior toss the ball in preparation for his serve, I can predict with about 95% accuracy whether the serve will land inside the box. Likewise DD's shot. When he goes up quick and confident and gets his legs into it and shoots all in one motion, he's gonna make it way more times than not. But when he goes up tentative, doesn't release the ball right away but instead takes the ball BEHIND HIS FREAKING HEAD and "flings" it, he's gonna miss. It's a horrible "hitch" in his motion, and what's weird is he doesn't do it all the time, just...well, most of the time. Do you not think that this would be an ideal assignment for Herr Hopla?

[David]

Note to Chris: If Andrea had hung out on the perimeter like you claim, he would have had more three point attempts.

Note to Doug:Reggie was actually minus 1 on offence if you include his tech.

Doug, Reggie has to have some trade appeal as an energy rebounder off the bench for a playoff team. Even if he doesn't fetch much in return, BC could trade him for a smaller expiring or two-year contract and have a bit more room to use the full TPE without incurring tax. I'd say when Ed Davis is ready, really in shape, he can take Reggie's place and contribute a little offence to go with rebounding and (something Reggie doesn't really offer) shotblocking. Yes, Reggie right now is a better rebounder and defensive player than Davis, but if this is a developmental year, we have to assure Davis gets quality minutes.

[Jack]

You did not mention in your article about Bargnani that he disappeared in the second half. Ya, he made 22 points total but 18 of those were in the first half. When the team needed his scoring most, during the final minutes, he disappeared. And how many rebounds did he get in the closing minutes? One. How many points? Zero.
And you mentioned in your on-line blog last night that the team would count on him during the closing minutes?
Right.

[Kent]

After the game, Calderon says "chris who?". But then after a moment he realizes that he himself is a nobody (i.e., backup PG on a lottery team) and that it wouldn't make any sense for him to keep the act until the end. Jose, please leave that kind of stuff to famous people like Shaq, Kobe, Lebron, etc.

[jc]

Not the first time the Sonics (the late Supersonics that is) have made an appearance at the ACC. I meant to ask you to see if anyone on the scoreboard crew has a Seattle driver's license as the Thunder often appeared under that ghost name last year.

[shane]

Is this a crazy question to ask after game #1 but is tomorrow's game vs. Cleveland a must-win psychologically for the Raps? If they lose tomorrow, and go out on a tough 4 game road trip, there is a better than high chance they could be returning 0-6. If they can beat the Cavs, they may leave with some confidence and maybe pull out one win on the road and come back 2-4 with 2 winnable home games to follow. Am I being too dramatic?

[Nick]

so much for 82-0.

[pain777pas]

Morning Doug,

I don't know what to say but echo your sentiments. This may be as good as it gets. NY is not some powerhouse team but they are better than before and they fought early on. Reggie is playing very well and is certainly doing his job. Jay has to have the starters play for longer periods of time together to form a core. I like the starters right now and if they fill their roles they should be an underated team provided Andrea steps up as the go to guy. With the personel that this team has I think that would be the best thing for the team. Kleiza and Jack shooting, Demar slashing and Reggie rebounding. They are not going to fool anyone with the starters but they were effective and Jay to please the bench went to the bench. If Jack and Demar GET TIRED or are in FOUL trouble sub Jose and Barbosa. Leave the rest out there only try to sub 2 starters at one time until some of these guys get a rep. This team needs confidence and that will lead them to success. They are young and hungry fight for your team and put them in a position to be great later on even if that means failing sometimes. Cito gave Marcum some games where he pitched right into the 9th and almost or did blow it. They feel that level that the coach feels that they can close out games even if they lose they have the experience of having everything on the line.

[Nilay]

The Raps were life and death against the KNICKS! I guess thats what we should expect this year. The Raps looked bad for parts of the game last night Weems and Derozan didnt look that great and the bench did nothing for us Barbosa had 13 points on about 18 shots...that wont cut it from a bench that was suppose to out play most teams bench players. What happened to all the pressure "D" that the coaches and players all talked about in pre season ..not once did I see the full court press. Also why were the Raptors walking the ball up and slowing the game down into a halfcourt game? They need to run to use speed from guys like Weems and Barbosa and Amir but the whole game they walked the ball up the court except a few times. Jose looked awful..he looked slow,couldnt make a shot made some really bad passes and got blown by his man on way too many occasions. He is slowing the second unit down with his play, they arent getting turn overs like they were when Jack was with them. Maybe Banks is the better option right now.

Now lets get to the positives - REGGIE! - BARGS first half! and Jarret Jack swarming defense on Amre and dribble penetration - Excellent!

Reggie needs to put up at least 5 shots a game he deserves it and like doug said its will keep the other team honest. But really he works so so hard for the rebounds that I really dont mind if he takes a few bad shots here and there without Reggie last night the Raps get blown out in the first half of that game and its not even close...he and Jarret saved them and kept them in it last night!

The REGEND lives on!

[Pipit]

Doug, Jack also got an offensive foul from Mozgov on a Knicks fastbreak play. The Raptors play hard last night but it was pretty evident that they will likely lose on the dying minutes of the game where teams with superstars dominates the game. I hope that Jose will lose his slump and play consistently. I've been critical with him since Jack arrived but if this team wants to compete on a daily game basis, the team needs him to play like the old Jose. Doug, what's your assessment on Jose on why he's playing poorly? We all know how capable he is. Is it his hammy injury, a confidence thing or the botch trade in Charlotte?

[Tree]

Not sure I agree with the notion that Bargnani had a good night. Bargnani had 22pts ... seems great until you consider:

- He took 21 shots (making only 8)
- He scored only 4 points in the second half (0 in the 3rd quarter)
- He was 62% from the FT line
- He grabbed only 6 rebounds

These stats are not encouraging at all. His 6 rebounds and poor shooting seem to reflect a player not really willing to do the dirty work ...

If this performance was him 'delivering', then this team will be even worse that predicted. The Knicks aren't exactly world beaters, and if Bargs plays comparable against good teams, the Raps will lose by a lot more than 5.

Also, Triano was viciously outcoached. Poor substitutions, poor defensive assignments (Amir was simply awful on Chandler) and a questionable last play. It's going to be a loooong year.

[Mike D.]

Doug, I really like the new game reporting format. The only thing I would recommend is adding a Dorsey Watch to the point form recap. Even if he only sits on the bench like last night.

@Kent, when I watched that Jose interview clip I thought he just gave a long pause and then said "Who?". It looked like the locker-room equivalent of the old schoolyard "I dare you to say that again" and I think he's an intense guy, was in a bad mood after a loss, and was just conveying his displeasure with the question.

[Nilay]

to the guy that wants to trade Reggie just to make room for Davis...I disagree. Without Reggie last night Amare goes for 40pts and the Raps get blown out. I understand what you are saying but they need to keep seats in the building and Reggie is a fan favorite. You hold on to Reggie until trade deadline time and unload him for some draft pick. He will only be good for guys like Joey Dorsey and Ed Davis to learn from. Keep him around as long as you can.

The REGEND live on!

[Shawn]

Doug,

If you had to guess right now, would you say Derozan will: i)A perennial star ii)Make an all star game iii) Will be in the conversation but never make it iv) Will never be an all star talent

I know you don't like guessing... but just your thoughts of the kid and his future

Blogger's note: He certainly doesn't have all-star looks to him now

Thanks

[CC]

and Calderon was right... Chris who?

[Matt from Oakville]

@Kent

Jose's response might have been moreso from irritation given that the reporter asked a ridiculous question that had absolutely no bearing on the game he just played. I'm sure Calderon doesn't need to be asked about Chris Bosh at the conclusion of every game in the regular season, as he was asked after every single pre-season game.

[DaveT]

Maybe I didn't read on enough to know if someone commented on this already but really: the orchestra last year played Nas "Hate me now?" Any time an orchestra plays O Fortuna/Carmina Burana I think the credit should go to Carl Orff. Just my 2 cents.