A night when a lot of things worked out

Fun game, no?

They play like that and they’ll beat a bunch of bad teams and it seems there are some bad teams throughout the league.

Anyway …

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THREE POINTERS

Twice is not a coincidence

Two times in the last two games, we’ve seen plays that are designed and have worked to a tee and show that, yes, sometimes a lot of thought does go into rare instances.

Wednesday in Philly, Jose throws a nice little lob to Reggie from an out-of-bounds play on the baseline that the Regend finishes like he’s some smooth in-the-paint operator.

Fast forward to last night and I think it’s in the first quarter when Reggie’s making the in-bounds pass and he throws a nice soft lob that DeRozan catches and finishes with a lay-in.

Coincidence? Nope. Those are end out-of-bounds plays designed entirely for late shot-clock situations, plays they work on every now and then at practice and it’s nice to see something work like they expect it to.

Yes, we sometimes do minutia here.

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A charmed life

We know that Jay likes to go offence-defence late in close games and worked to near perfection at the end of last night’s win.

And almost didn’t get a chance to.

With about 2 1-2 minutes left and up five, he went to Sonny for Kleiza but it took a while for the bench to get the substitution in motion, or it almost took Sonny too long to get to the table because the refs had almost given the ball to the Rockets to inbound when the Raps were screaming “sub, sub, sub.”

Sonny eventually got there, got in the game and a second later, he helped team up with Amir for a key steal that led to a free throw and a few seconds ticking off the clock.

A couple of possessions later – and there was no stoppage when Toronto had the ball to get Kleiza back in for the offence part of the offence-defence move – Weems punctuated the night with a dunk off a Johnson block and a Bargnani outlet.

Sometimes small moves do pay off.

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Changing it up

Saw a fair bit of zone defence from Toronto last night and it seemed to confuse and confound the Rockets when they played it.

How do they decide what to do and when?

Well, it’s basically simple: If they score or if there’s a whistle, they go zone because they’ve got time to get everything set up; if they miss and in transition they go back to man so everyone can find someone to guard.

Not sure of the success rate of the zone on the handful of possessions they played it last night but it seemed they had a large measure of success and it might be something we see a bit more of.

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The rest of the stories? Sure.

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Stevie Boy Russell was at it again.

Here’s some crack photography from the game for your viewing enjoyment.

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Okay, I am inundated lately with Michael Beasley and Roy Hibbert questions as the Hindsighters are out in full force.

Hence this one early from the mail bag that will appear as usual tomorrow morning, my travel plans willing.

Q: Doug. I haven't been following the Raps as intently this season, but it seems to me that the TO media is overlooking what should be THE story of the Raps season: the Raps passing on Michael Beasley. Minny got him for two 2nd rounders, and he is two years removed from being the #2 overall pick. The Raps could have had him in the Bosh transaction, and still been left with a fairly significant trade exception (Beasley makes $5 mil, so the exception would be $9-10 mil instead of $14-15). I have friends who say that we have to wait until we see what happens with the bigger trade exception, but from where I am typing, this is an epic BC FAIL.

Your thoughts?

 

Ira U, Richmond Hill

A: THE story of the season? Um, don’t think so. First off, Mike Beasley’s definitely had a few good games for a very bad Minnesota team so far this season but it’s not like he’s leading the Lakers to a perfect record or anything.

But, truth be told, if there was a chance to get him last summer as part of the Bosh transaction, I would think the off-court issues that have plagued him since he got in the league had something to do with any decision that was made. I know nothing untoward has happened – yet – in Minnesota but back in July Bryan and 27 other GMs obviously thought there might be some trouble.

So, too, would be the fact he plays pretty much the same position as a guy they’ve invested a lot in (DeRozan) and if Beasley’s a four, well, there’s that Bargnani fellow there.

Beasley may indeed turn out to be a pretty good player, I have my doubts, and in the middle of last summer that was very, very, very questionable situation.

Hindsight’s great, isn’t it? What if Beasley had, you know, sucked on a bad Minnesota team, would I be hearing how smart Bryan was not to take him?

I wonder.

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What’s Jonathan’s take on that one?

Well, here it is from the Chronicle’s chronicles.

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So Friday is the first night I get to bust on Jose a little bit for Spain’s 4-0 football loss to Portugal and as I hold up four fingers on one hand and the other’s fist as he walks on to the court warm up, he knows what’s coming.

And of course he’s got an explanation.

He thinks that because Spain and Portugal planning to submit a joint bid to host a future World Cup it would have been bad form for the Spaniards to go into Portugal and win easily.

Guess it makes as much sense as anything.

(He’s joking, of course).

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Solomon Alabi goes for 13 points, seven rebounds and seven blocked shots in his D League debut and I’m thinking two things: What’s the D League really like? And is this kid Olajuwon or Ibaka?

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I’m usually the first one to suggest attendance figures may seem a tad, um, inflated some nights.

Now I’m wondering if they didn’t under-report Friday’s crowd.

According to the boxscore we got, there were 16,322 souls in the stands and it really looked and felt like a couple of thousand more.

And, as I’ve said from the start, I think people might end up liking this team because it plays hard and I’d suspect bigger audiences are in the future.

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Okay, you can take one last shot at the mail by clicking here but I’ve got a fair drive ahead of me and some reporting to do for a piece the stat of next week so no promises on how much we get to for the morning.

And no promises on when I get to the inevitable “Isn’t Andrea great” and “Man, Jose’s got to start” comments.

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Comments

[charles]

Amir Johnson must have had at least 5 deflections last night. He is improving on defense.
Keep up the good work on minutiae, Doug! We learn from the little things you see and point out - and this may be a season where satisfaction from love-understanding of the game needs to substitute for satisfaction from wins by our local heroes.

[Eric]

doug the d-league is the place where legends are born... once the mythic pape sow had a 27 points 24 rebound night

[Eddy]

Have you heard anything about the rumor this morning that "The Hornets will trade Peja Stojakovic along with Bayless to Toronto for Jarrett Jack, David Andersen and Marcus Banks?"

[Henry]

any validity to this rumoured Bayless and Stojakovic for Jack, Anderson, and Banks deal? I suspect not, as we usually hear from you first. However, I do like this as it would clear cap space, give us some 3 point shooting, and give us a clear starting and back up pg.

[dribbles]

I generally agree with Doug on Beasley, except he doesn't play the same position as DeMar at all. He's more of Kleiza type stuck between the 3 and 4, though his game is different than Kleiza. I thought I read that BC denies being offered Beasley in any Bosh trade but I imagine he could have picked him up when Riley was trying his hardest to get rid of him for anything.

The question to me is was he a gamble worth taking, especially given his contract and age. BC is a gambler but he seems allergic to questionable personalities. Alas, every GM but one didn't seem to be willing to take this gamble so BC gets a pass. That's still a lot of talent to pass up when the asking price was practically nothing.

[Karen P]

Hey Doug in my morning readings came across this. "The Hornets will trade Peja Stojakovic along with Bayless to Toronto for Jarrett Jack, David Andersen and Marcus Banks. SPORT 24..Have you been hearing any rumblings?

[CARLoS M.]

Was at the game last night and saw a Mini Chicken performing with the Chicken. Is this new? I thought the little dude was awesome!

Blogger's note: I believe it's a regular part of the Friday night frivolities

[Matt M]

I'm with you on on the hindsight crowd. In my (uneducated) estimation Beasly's game still has a long ways to go. Of course, if you only look at the box score then it will skew your perception a bit. At the very least, let's wait until he's playing forty minutes a game for a contender (or at least a very good team like Brandon Roy is on. Although I haven't heard much from the hindsight crowd about him lately) before saying the Raptors missed out. And it certainly wasn't only the Raptors who missed out on him as I seem to recall he was available to every team in the league for a similar price the 'wolves paid, not to mention Cleveland who it seems could have easily slotted him into that recently vacated small forward spot.

[Rich]

Doug,

EPSN is reporting Jack, Andersen and Banks for Stojakovic and Bayless. You have any details?

Rich

[Filip T]

hey doug,
can you comment on the Jack/Anderson/Banks for Peja/Bayless rumour?

[Ben]

Doug, any truth the the rumoured trade on ESPN.com? Jack, Anderson, Banks for Peja, Jaryd Bayless and cash?

[JHP]

Thanks for the great pictures and it was a welcomed addition. The piece from Houston has a familier ring to it. How would you grade the coach over the last 5 games ?

[mike]

ESPN's Chris Sheridan is reporting a Peja,Bayless for Jack, Anderson, Banks trade rumor? have you heard anything? any comment?

[SY]

Hi Doug,

Is there any legs to the 5 player trade - The Hornets will trade Peja Stojakovic along with Bayless to Toronto for Jarrett Jack, David Andersen and Marcus Banks. SPORT 24

Not sure if it is the best move....JJ helped out w/ the team to develop its young talent in the summer league......became a leader for the team........

Your thoughts?

Thanks.
-SY

[ashm]

Hey Doug
There rumors about the J.Jack trade with New Orleans in ESPN.
any truth to the news?

[doug]

Amir played a good smart game last night...he needs to understand his value to teh team, and that was shown as you described in the key block and just his defense down the stretch...foul trouble in the first half just doesn't help him or the team..Kleiza layed a smart game, as did jose...be interesting to see when Barbosa returns, i am thinking that Jack may becoming expendable, the Raps though can't make a move until they determine the seriousness of Barbosa's ongoing wrist issue...let's see waht happens as it stands now the rotations, combos the last couple games have been effective...

[doug]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5828835

be a interesting trade..would help as Peja is just a piece now but a smart piece...and clears the logjam that is upcoming...be a smart move..

[SheikYurBouti]

A fine blog yet again, giving us some insight toward Raptors' plays. During last night's in game blog, you mentioned a Sonny Weems "plugger" for today, unless I misunderstood. I was looking forward to it, but can't find it. Any clues?

Blogger's note: Page 2 of the section in my paper.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Well played, Raps! Keep those home fires burning. Tough one tomorrow – the Celts will be in no mood for frivolity after that loss to OKC.
Enjoy your travels through wine country, Doug. Cheers.

[John S]

ESPN is reporting that Peja/Bayless coming to Toronto for Jack/Banks/Anderson is a done deal.
Any word about this trade from your sources?
Also, with Peja making $15M this season, the salaries don't seem to work out unless Toronto is using up some of the trade exemption from the Bosh deal.

[Gavin]

ESPN is reporting that the Rap's are about to move Jack, Anderson and Banks to New Orleans for Stojackvic and Bayless. Have you heard anything from your Raptors sources regarding an imminent trade? Have the Raptors had interest in Peja in the past?

[Ian]

According to Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com, the Raptors and New Orleans Hornets are on the verge of a five-player trade that would see Peja Stojakovic and Jerryd Bayless shipped to Toronto for Jarrett Jack, David Andersen and Marcus Banks. Other than getting rid of Banks which is good for the Raps, this trade looks kinda of even (if it happens).

[Andrew]

Doug, have you been hearing anything about the Toronto- New Orleans trade rumors reported by ESPN?

[Matt G]

You're driving and Sheridan and Stein probably fill your mailbox to the rim with brim!

[Bob Wesley]

Hey Doug,you can't leave yet.mega trade coming!