And there's this about that one

Just the usual game stuff here this morning; end of a long, tough grind, a practice to get to and a trip down to the peninsula delayed.

Have fun, we’re back with mail tomorrow.

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THREE POINTERS

Troubling signs

Guess the most disheartening thing about the whole night was the effort, or toughness, or disposition, or intensity, or whatever it is you want to call it.

Lacking. In almost every player on almost every level and that’s a telling characteristic.

As we’ve said all along, this is a season about learning and the hope from the organization was that they’d learn all kinds of good things about the players; left often unsaid was the fact they could learn bad things.

Now, we are not even halfway through a truncated regular season that’s as odd as any have ever been with the absence of practice time and no real training camp and a schedule so screwed up that not once so far this season have the Raptors had even two days off between games.

And that explains some things but the feeling Friday night that we were witnessing true regression, that old habits of capitulation were creeping into the minds and bodies of the players was difficult to take.

I truly think Dwane Casey is an excellent coach, a good motivator, a fine tactitian and we have absolutely seen at times how he can get this team to play, primarily on defence where effort is just as big a factor as strategy or systems.

But now he’s got some trouble signs to work through. It’s like when things started to go bad Friday night they looked like they expected to lose rather than wanted to win.

And that’s a difficult lesson to swallow about a team with some good pieces being coached by a smart guy.

I’m not suggesting these next four days of practice – or three if he decides a day of rest is necessary – are the absolute turning point of the season but there are some hard lessons to be hammered home.

And it will be interesting to see how these guys react in a season that’s all about discovering what the players have in them.

That’s both good and bad.

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Forcing his hand

Really didn’t think much of it in the second quarter when Dwane went to Anthony Carter with about six minutes left because they needed to try something to get Reggie Williams stopped.

But when Casey went back to Carter in the second half and didn’t use the apparently-available Jerryd Bayless, an eyebrow or two might have been raised.

No big deal, as it turns out.

Casey told us after the game he just didn’t think Bayless had it, primarily because of the sore ankle that seems to still be bothering him.

Was a good idea, I guess, to at least run him out there for a few minutes; without Kleiza they needed to get some scoring from some other source, and with four days off now before the next game there’s lots of time for rest and rehab.

Trouble is, he didn’t have a lot to give.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

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So that’s what it looks like

It’s late in a game that’s probably already lost and it’s time for something out of the ordinary.

And we finally saw what the play at the end of the Lakers game – the one with the ill-fated non-timeout – was supposed to look like.

Except Jose made a shot.

It’s a really good looking play, a couple of backscreens for James Johnson, a lob to the rim and hopefully an easy basket. Second and third options are a guy in the corner and one at the top of the circle.

Trouble was, Jose threw the inbounds pass a bit too well, actually making the shot which, of course, is a violation.

But it was new that it was Calderon making the pass, not a bigger forward and it probably gave them another option, like the play at the end of the Utah game where he inbounded the ball and got a screen that freed him for an open three-pointer.

One of these days, maybe that first option for Johnson works; given the number of times they’ve tried it, you’d think it would.

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Okay; am off to do a mid-season report card on these lads before practice.

Wish me well.

 

 

 

Comments

[Wallace]

Nobody can put a good face on this anymore. Sick of hearing from BC press conferences about "a good young piece" or "an experienced piece" or cap room in the off season or a high draft pick in the future. He has assembled a team of players who simply cannot compete on most nights in the NBA. Coach Triano was sacrificed...Coach Casey will eventually follow him. The Raptor senior management and scouting system have failed miserably at putting a decent product on the court. The owners are good at one thing only...making money with sports bars and corporate seating plans. The product stinks. The emperor is finally naked.

[Beans]

Doug! I think I have a bad case of Bismack Biyombo fever!

[sam]

A disappointing result last night - Not sure what it is about the psyche of the HOTH that allows them to play well against teams like the Celtics, and Lakers and then play uninspired games against the Knicks and the Bobcats. If they used the same intensity in each game perhaps they would have a few more wins.
Losing to the Bobcats....only thing I can say is Yikes!

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:

Mid-season report cards? Wow! You're right, this is one messed up season! The grades will be interesting to see, no doubt. And, fortunately for you, all of your readers will agree with them 100% ;o)

Blogger's note: I fully expect across-the-board agreement as I undertake a task I'm not totally in favour of.

[Matt M]

I'm not sure the story for this one should be 'the Raptors failed to get up and therefore lost to an inferior team'. Three wins and 16 losses for 0.187 win% without Bargnani has pretty much cemented this team as one of the worst in the league, roughly on par with Charlotte, as the Raps win% without Bargnani isn't much better than Charlotte's win% of 0.133 for the season. I'm inclined to view this as a game between the two worst teams in the NBA with Charlotte winning solely on merit, as opposed to the Raptors losing due to dysfunction.
Nice to see DeRozan starting to pick up the pace a bit. Hopefully he can maintain his aggressive stance when Bargnani gets back. If the two of them can play together at an above average to all-star level that will go a long way towards the Raps turning this thing around.

[Lorie]

So, if you have to do mid-season report cards, probably means it's mid-season. Could be worse. You could've awoken this morning to find the last few weeks were all a dream and today's task is pre-season predictions. Cheers! Pollyanna-Type Ones.

[Binder]

Poor Jose, who you going to give the ball to

[doug]

@Matt M you hit the nail on the head with that comment, I am surprised not that the Raps lost but rather that others are....this team that was on the court last night with the Bobcats is just as bad as the Bobcats (as the result showed), the 2 most valuable players Barg's and Kleiza weren't playing and the 3rd DD played a decent game...the rest of the guys are disposable moving forward, keep Davis due to contract considerations and that's about it....guards are so over-valued in todays NBA, it's not a coincidence that the Celts played their best ball of the season without Rondo and the Bulls are doing likewise without Rose...they are fine players I am not for a second saying they aren't, their just over-valued...pecking order of talent in the NBA is athletic scoring wing men. followed by a athletic big men (Tyson Chandler), that's why BC knows his stuff, he drafted Barg's, and JV, tried to get Chandler for Jose, as those type of players don't grow on trees, the rest are interchangeable....this present group could practice until the cows came home and still be what they are, a group that needs a talent infusion plain and simple...defense doesn't win games, offense doesn't win games, talent does....so last nights result is what it is and not surprising in the least...cheers

[jimt]

the cats had something to play for. their owners birthday.Thats the speech that was preeched by Silas

[Penny]

James Johnston was having a good game last night. Why is it that he never seems to play at the end of games? It is obvious from the last few games that you can't have both DeRozan and Barbosa on the Court at the same time. Neither of them ever seems to pass the ball, both try to do too much and are turn-overs waiting to happen.

[Striker 77]

Haven't commented in a long time.. always reading though.

Seriously, is anyone surprised with the raptors results s far? Come on folks... I am a big a fan as anyone, and accept what is one of the worse teams in the NBA.. it wont be like this for too much longer, so lets keep that in mind. What else can be said??? Boo them? Hate them? Ask for Colangelo's head? What good does all that do? Patience..

[Norrin]

With regards to Jeremy Lin, Doug Smith says "Look, he’s a pretty good player with a flawed jumper and a shocking propensity for committing turnovers. I thing when it’s all said and done, he’s closer to Barea than he is Nash."

I just say Magic Johnson (arguably the best point guard the league has ever seen) say (on national television) that Jeremy Lin does many things that few points guards in the league do today. He can drive, dish, shoot....Magic continued to say that Jeremy Lin will be a star in the league....sorry Doug, I will have to go with the expert on this one (Magic) vs a guy who has not played a single competitive game of basketball in his life (Doug Smith).

Lin just scored 28 and dropped 14 assists against the Mavs who have the top defence in the league and were putting Marion on him as well as trapping him almost on every possession. Yes he had 7 turnovers but the he was a catalyst to the Knicks winning and put up numbers against a defence designed to stop him.

Blogger's note: Fine with me