One night's dull, the next night is grand; it all evens out

Well, that was a great game, wasn’t it?

Huge rally by the home side, contentious calls, excellent plays, close game.

Can’t ask for much more, can you?

I missed the three OT game but that one Wednesday was the best I’ve seen this year.

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THREE POINTERS

Got ‘em again

Wonder if an apology is coming again?

Of course that was a blown call on the final foul on Amir Johnson he was absolutely trying to take a shot when he got knocked down by Noah and it was all Dwane could do to hold his breath in his post-game media thingy lest he cost himself some money in a fine.

Too bad, really; although I will say there were other plays before that one that has much to do with the outcome as it did.

Still, that was a very below-average officiating crew that put up some dubious calls both ways, it blew one of the biggest of the game and the only recourse is to send the video to the league – and I promise they will – and hope for some kind of censure against those three, um, zebras.

Not sure they’ll get it but they should because if there was ever a blown call on a shooting/non-shooting foul it was on that play.

Now, it still would have meant Amir would have had to make two free throws to tie – and the way the night went that was no sure thing – but he should have had the chance.

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Welcome back, Kyle

Yes, that was just the kind of effort – for the most part – the Raptors need out of Lowry, a good mix of looking for his own stuff and getting his teammates involved.

And one thing struck me in the first half that might make some sense. Hang with me on this.

We all know he has a penchant for gambling a bit too much on defence – watch the next few nights to see how often he’s caught under the other team’s basket trying for some steal he won’t get – but there is a way to mitigate that.

Haven’t run this by anyone who knows more than I do but it strikes me he’s a far better defender – for this team and its system right now – when they’re playing zone, as they did for a huge chunk of that second quarter.

He can hang around and only has to sprint back to guard a spot rather than run back and find a man to cover; it doesn’t expose he or his teammates nearly as much.

Don’t think they can play all zone when he’s on the floor but maybe a wee bit more.

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A failing

I don’t know how many times Dwane’s talked about “attention to detail” and how it’s one of the team’s issues but last night there was one glaring example of not doing it that we saw an awful lot of.

This team sets horrible screens.

I mean they don’t even make contact with the guy they’re suppose to be screening, not even close, and there’s more than enough blame to go around.

First, the guy setting the screen – and this an Ed Davis issue I saw last night – seems way to intent on rolling rather than starting the contact and it gives the defender all kinds of time and space to avoid getting caught up.

Second, the guy using the screen – and this is a Kyle Lowry issue I saw last night – need to wait and set up his man, to run him into the guy setting the screen to use it effectively.

It’s a little thing but it’s an important one and if they do it right 10 more times a game, that might get them five more baskets and that means a world of difference most nights.

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A bit more?

Got a little, sure.

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So, everyone going to be glued to the TV tonight for the big all-star starter announcement?

Oh yeah, they’ve turned it into a grand television spectacle, turning what should take about 90 seconds to announce into a breathless, full-blown “show.”

Yawn.

Anyway, as you recall, this is the first time voters chose two guards and three “front-court” players because they figured – and I was part of it – that the bigs are so interchangeable it made sense.

Maybe.

I’d still think a more representative manner to chose starters would be one point guard, two wings and two bigs and maybe that’s the way things shake out in the future. Seems a bit more fair to me, although the difference in point guard and shooting guard can, and sometimes is, a bit blurred.

But I guess it doesn’t matter at all in the end.

The fans got to choose the starters and I presume there’ll be at least one head-scratcher among the 10 but it’s up to the coaches in each conference to fill out the roster with seven backups and they usually get it right.

The fans? Well, they can be part of the process because it’s all fun and games for them; even if they blow a choice or two, there is recourse to have it fixed, thanks to the coaches.

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Speaking of TV, was glancing at yet another Criminal Minds re-run yesterday afternoon – the one where the graphic cartoonist has the psychotic break after his girlfriend is killed and goes on his own murderous spree – and, of course, there are commercials and promos.

And I’m thinking that one of the things I’m most proud of in my entirely television watching life is that I have never, ever, not once watched an episode of either Hoarders or Intervention or the idiotic one about bidding on storage bins.

Yes, my good people, there are too, too many channels with nothing on.

I’d say about 57 of them, right?

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Let’s get at it folks, and you Irregulars know who you are.

I’ve got this afternoon and a bit of tomorrow in Philly to kill and perchance a period of Stool Time Saturday so …

Click. Write. Send.

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No, there’s not a chance in hell that I will intentionally watch any of this Oprah-Lance Armstrong telethon thing tonight.

I will either be at this cool sports bar under the arch at the Reading Terminal Market or on a stool at The Palm or somewhere like that; no way I’m paying attention to it.

Besides, I’m likely to have my phone fully charged and I’m pretty sure the tweeter thing will let me know what he says

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Okay, I have a few things on tap this morning and then the flight to Philly, will get back to comments as soon as I can.

And maybe it’ll give me time to get my head around this Manti Te’o story, which is one of the more incredible tales I’ve heard.

And, along with a story or two, will help me through tomorrow.

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Comments

How about the Deng push on Fields on the other end which led to the game winning bucket? I thought that was even more blatant than the Amir non call.

Blogger's note: Look, cut the crap out with the name, ok?

[mike, prague]

What do you think of Deng's shot?

Was it a foul?

It sure looked like one to me, but I'm no expert.

Blogger's note: Yeah, he pushed off a bit

[Hope Caper]

Good stuff on the game Doug. I had noticed the same thing about the screens and was blaming it on Lowry not waiting for it. Never noticed Ed leaving early but will watch for it. It was nice to see Lowry wake up although there was a stat mentioned in TV land about the Raps being 1 and some ungodly number when Lowry scores 20 or more. Not sure what that means. Sort of like Jose has the best assist to turn over Ratio in the league. This is on a losing team. Not sure what that means either.
This team really needs a big man who can move his feet. Boozer, Lopez, and Cousins ( I think it was) just walk through Amir and Ed. They have got be giving up close to 80 or 90 pounds on these guys.
Good luck in Philly and I'm giving the same attention to Lance as I did to LeBron and the "decision".

[Rob]

The one thing I was wondering about that last foul, if in fact it was an early foul before the shot then shouldn't they have been left with a lot more than 0.9 seconds on the clock? Seems like they didn't get their cake and didn't get to eat it too.

[Boko]

If we want to make the playoffs, we can't afford to be in close games where the refs can make a difference.

I saw the Nets game. Kyle was already looking better in it.

The hardest thing to do in all of basketball is to roll after setting a proper pick, especially when you're undersized.

I think that the reality is that we now have 1 PG, 3 Swings & 1 C. The skills of passing and shot blocking are unique and rare enough that they have to be kept separate. Otherwise, I'd just say 5 Swings.

Fortunately, there are enough one-hour murder mysteries on TV to keep anyone totally away from all reality shows (except the talent shows that highlight the great young singers).

[coachd]

Hi Doug,
I think that it's time that Casey put his money where his mouth is and tee off on the officials. I know he got a T last night (BANG!) but he probably should have gotten himself thrown out of the game. There were some absolutely brutal calls that went against the Raps last night. Sometimes, these are the things that a coach needs to do to get his team some respect. Sending the video to the league office isn't going to change anything.

[Eric-in-NS]

Thanks for the comment on the screens. I thought the execution seemed a little 'loose' but thought maybe there was some reason they were doing it that way. Guess not.

[AT]

intervention...bar stools... storage bins.. sports. soap opera... all the same thing
different strokes for different folks... and I will watch what I can of the Lance Armstrong confession...

diversion aside, if the rest of the games are as entertaining as last night.. then the balance of the season should be fun (almost as fun as a storage wars marathon!!)

[DaveB]

There were three blown calls late in the game. There may have been some that hurt the Bulls also, but I didn't notice any obvious ones.

The first was the out-of-bounds that went of Noah and after the review the Refs said it was off Amir. The TV review showed that Amir hit it but the last person to touch it was Noah.

The second was the go ahead basket when Luol Deng so obviously pushed off Fields - he had a full extended arm with the Ref standing right there. It was an obvious Offensive foul.

The third was the Amir foul at the end. This is not to mention the missed foul on Boozer when he pushed Lowry to the floor when Amir was called for fouling Boozer.

I am sure that there were many others but these were so obvious and had such an impact on the outcome of the game that they can;t be ignored. Now a case can be made that if the Raptors hadn't dug such a deep hole maybe the Refs couldn't have had such as impact. However, this is a case where the Refs made sure that the team that "was supposed to win" won. I think this is the most frustrating part of watching NBA games. I am also not sure why some Raptors didn't drive at Boozer after he had five fouls to get him out of the game.

While DeRozen had a lot of points, I thought he played rather passively last night. He really needs to drive to get contact instead of fading on almost every play. Good game by Acy and it is nice to see him get some time. It is the only way he will develop.

Are Matt, Leo and Jack employees of the Raptors? If so, I can see Jack getting a fine from the league with his rant on Post Up last night. He was correct but the League has the keep promoting the fallacy that their Referees as competent and fair. LeBron going something like 250 minutes without a foul is legit, right?

[Ren]

I know you can't review every call on the floor in crunch time, but the tv crew did, and the Raps were screwed 3 times during those tough minutes. 3 times. Never fails.

Demar was manned and fandangled several times with no call.

The officiating was atrocious throughout the game.

However, there were many other instances that blew the game for them. AMir's out of bounds step in, Amir's missed free throw (to win the game), an ill-advised Lowry three out of nowhere

Guess you have to be good, have others know you are good, have the respect of the officials, and get the right calls at the right time to win a close game. Just seems wrong sometimes, don't you think?

Blogger's note: Except for the time they over-turned the call and gave Toronto the ball, right?

[Rob.V]

Now what???
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Hey, are we still allowed to use the excuse we had from last year? You know, the one that says: if you removed the best player from most teams that they would have a losing record (Andrea?). Do we get a mulligan with that? Anyone know if this has this expired, or is this still applicable?
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No excuses in Chicago. Veteran guys just know how to get it done.
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So what's that, 3 losses in a row... 5 of the last 7!!. I guess climbing out of a 17 year hole is just going to take a little more time than expected.
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Officiating? Meh! Fields should ask the Jazz how they feel about the Bulls pushing off in crunch time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdPQ3QxDZ1s Those are "winning" plays.
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I will say this, Lowry's compete level is high, very high... however when the game is on the line I think you need to take the ball out of his hands as with the last basket to tie the game going into overtime. He scored the tying bucket however it was Jose that set that play up. He's better off the ball when you need experienced decision making.
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Fields? I love the effort however I will say this again. I cannot start a SF who will not shoot. I don't care if you miss however you MUST at least make an attempt i.e. Pietrus.
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The thing with this team is that I still do not know what we have. Who are the keepers? Other than JV I am perplexed if I'm the GM. Anyone of the players on this team could go.
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My patience threshold is generally 3-4 weeks (or shorter) than that of Raptors management so this tells me that Ross will start to get more developmental minutes, or maybe even be starting by mid February... when the Raptor poohbas realize the playoff dream is over for this season.
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So much for the aberration with some winning in December... and now back to our regularly scheduled out of the playoffs trade rumor fun. Yeaaah!.
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Price still too high for Rudy Gay? Suddenly "anyone" on this team (not name JV) looks appealing in a trade for Gay. Last week not so much. This week?, take your pick. Funny how that works for us fans... it's a game to game thing, isn't it.
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Josh Smith?, Gasol? Any buyers out there... what does everyone think?

[Boko]

Officiating: Yes, it can be better!

A rule is a rule, and a player is a player. It has been decades since NBA officiating looked both fair and professional. That's the plain truth, whether anyone else likes it or not. I, personally, prefer seeing refs consistently let the close calls go, and calling all the obvious calls, no matter who the player is, period.

[Alan C.]

Doug, just a great article on Casey's mentoring. Makes me think even more of the guy.

Blogger's note: Thanks

[Boko]

Rob V., we do have 6 "Keepers, in my opinion:
1) Jonas will peak during the next 7 years
2) Terrance will peak during the next 6 years
3) DeMar will peak during the next 4 years
4) Ed will also peak during the next 4 years
5) Amir is in his peak for the next 2 years ('13 & '14)
6) José is the only passer on our team, and we cannot let him get away, period.

EVERYBODY ELSE IS TRADE BAIT.

Note, our schedule is going to be tough until Feb 25, then relatively easy until Mar 20, then relatively hard for a couple of games, then the last 12 games are all winnable, providing we make the optimal moves by the trading deadline.

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

Just to save you the effort--I hear through the grapevine that Lance Armstrong used drugs when he was riding his bike.

You're welcome,

AG, Toronto

[Steve]

@Boko, Well you sure left a lot of "bait" on the table, listing 6 out of the 8 guys anybody is likely to want (the other two being Bargs and Lowry) in a trade as keepers.

Bryan's phone must be ringing off the hook with big offers for the rest of them. Dwight for Aaron straight up anyone?

[Mike kovacs]

Doug by your comments I take it that last night's officiating crew are known as below average?

Blogger's note: Scott Foster is lowly regarded by many

[Rob.V]

Boko - I don't entirely disagree about the upside however I'm assuming EVERYBODY ELSE means Andrea. The problem is Andrea (alone) is not going to net you an All Star via trade otherwise I think this would have already happened.
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I guess my point was - if there was ever any opportunity for this team to land a James Harden (giving up anyone on this team)... they missed out!
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I just believe it's time to think long and hard about what we have and whether some of the kids (and their "potential" upside) should be moved for an All Star caliber player today (if possible) because I'm not sure we have one. And the mantra was to "accelerate" the winning. If this is the case we're going to have to move away from such a young team. Look at the Bulls. Vets=wins.
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Someone mentioned a few weeks ago that maybe we should look to a Demarcus Cousins. I think my response at the time was "no way a young team like the Raptors could deal with him". Anyway, maybe they were right and the rest of us are wrong.
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This team needs more talent! and if they cant get more talent they need more experience. One of the two should be achievable.

[Heath]

Thanks for mentioning the screen issue. It's basketball 101 and it's driven me nuts for years. And it isn't just a Raptor problem, it's an epidemic throughout the NBA. God I miss Stockton/Malone.

[Boko]

We need two rotation players:
1) A starting SF that is better than any of the ones that we already have.
2) A substitute PG that wants to learn from José ...

Andrea, Kyle, Landry, Linus, Mickael, Alan, John, Quincy, Aaron, and a 1st rounder in 2015 can get us that, IMHO. It is critical to Bryan that we succeed, cause if we don't make the playoffs this year, he may not be re-signed for next year.

[Geoff Read]

Great blog today! Good insight on the screens, The Boss, and a diss on some tv shows that are among the most vacuous garbage in entertainment history! That's why I read this as often as I can.

[doug]

I have to admit through my life as a sports fan my interest in a sport or teams ebbs and flows, lone exception was the Expos....right now and throughout this year I find myself just not intrigued by the NBA as much as before....and a big part of it is the officiating I find that the NBA officiating has lost all integrity and in turn has affected and impacted my interest in the game....I don't mind charge calls or non-charge calls or whatever as their judgement calls and open to disagreement, but this year we have seen a ordinate amount of just terrible calls in relation to minor game offences, 5 second calls, the Amir end line infraction, non-calls on clear fouls, etc,etc,,,,to me the NBA has to get its officiating in line, it's easy to blame this ref or that ref but there is a far deeper issue to me.....somewhere from above the NBA is blowing it, its time for them to clean it up and get it in order as I want teams to decide the game fair and square not officials and right now its just not the case....and it is affecting my passion not for the game of b-ball but for the product the NBA is giving us.....good song choice today, what I don't get is how A&E can be called that anymore there is no Arts and entertainment on there or the History channel for that matter, its a shame.....ok cheers and happy hogie eating....

[D-Mac Ottawa]

@doug, Amen and Amen again! NBA officiating has gone entirely downhill the past two seasons. It DOES affect games in a big way, as well as the way we all perceive and enjoy them (or at least we try to). I think it's a HUGE issue and something that needs to be addressed right up top, up front, today, tomorrow and every day until it's on the table and under serious discussion.
The reffing situation is to basketball what the knucklehead goon situation is to hockey: a kind of joke that is really no laughing matter. Both are going a long way to kill respect for their sport. (Baseball umps are pretty notorious, too, for the vagaries of their strike zones, one ump to the next, one day or inning to the next. But I don't think baseball is losing ground because of anything to do with the way the game is being played or officiated.)
There's no better hockey than Olympic-style hockey, where there's not a goon or a fight to be found anywhere on the ice. And there's no better sport on the planet than basketball – when it's played on a level playing field, at its highest level, and by the book.
I can't think of anything that could help basketball more right now than to get serious about ensuring professional officiating. And I can't think of anything that could hurt basketball more right now than to ignore getting serious about ensuring professional officiating.
Maybe there should be some kind of campaign.
Cheers. Go Raps!

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

Sorry about the mild cursing in the link--I realize this is a family friendly blog--but this is the most insightful thing I've read all week about Lance Armstrong:

http://deadspin.com/5976386/lance-armstrongs-biggest-crime-was-being-a-huge-asshole

AG, Toronto

[doug]

also I have to say which i should have mentioned earlier...kudos to you for your honest and blunt statements in regards to last nights officiating and again in your statement regarding Scoot Foster ...many have accused you of siding with the refs me included in the past, so it should be noted and acknowledged when you not only don't but make a strong statement in regards to their ineptitude last night...so kudos,,,,