SB Nation - Chris Bosh

Hornets Can't Build on Denver Momentum, Dropped by Raptors

atthehive — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:37:53 -0000

2 days ago: New Orleans Hornets' Devin Brown, left, tries to find a way past Toronto Raptors' defensive duo of Chris Bosh, right, and DeMar DeRozan during first-half NBA basketball game action in Toronto on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Chris Young)

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Somebody should look up Toronto's record in Sunday morning games. It's one of the cooler traditions in the NBA (TOR getting Sunday morning games) that not too many fans know of. And our guys didn't seem to be up to the task.

A quick cap today, 'cause I'm currently in a transfer terminal outside of the country. Jump!

Chris Bosh killed us again, with 25 and 11. If it weren't for his 6 turnovers, it would easily have been among the best, most efficient lines the Hornets have allowed in the 2009 calendar year. Bosh was aggressive on offense, getting to the line a game high 6 times. Hedo Turkoglu, by contrast, shot pretty poorly from the floor. However, he still managed to be an integral part of the offense, dishing a team high 7 assists. Nobody else really stood out that much from Toronto, though Amir Johnson's 12 rebounds in 21 bench minutes killed us.

Nevertheless, the Hornets did out-rebound Toronto, getting just two fewer rebounds, despite missing 12 more shots. Additionally, the Hornets posted a better turnover rate and played the free throw battle to a standstill. Good old floor percentages were what killed us. 3 for 13 from Paul and 4 for 15 from Peja were more than enough to do us in.

And.. I'm boarding. Might have some more thoughts up later. Maybe.

Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game Report - Mo Questions

Raptors HQ - Vicious D — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:30:13 -0000

More photos » by Chris Young - AP

Chris Bosh seems quite happy with the way things are going. His team, however, still hasn't turned the corner in Vicious D's eyes.

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The Raptors sweep the Hornets for their second win in a row against yet another sub .500 team. Vicious D wonders what this team will do when they face a real challenger who doesn't shoot themselves in the foot.

Let's be honest for a moment.

There were a lot of things that had to break the Raptors' way for them to beat the New Orleans Hornets 98-92 yesterday.

With the Raptors last game against the Nets, I believed that they had not improved or implemented many different tactics to pull out a win against the worst team in the league. Instead, they were just playing the worst team in the league and the Raptors just were not as bad as the worst.

Against the Hornets?

Well, there was going to be a bigger challenge for the Raptors than the Nets, but the Raptors have recently played the Hornets fairly well year after year. Of course, Jose Calderon has always been a big part of that success and with Calderon sidelined indefinitely with his hip injury, Jarrett Jack came in and provided some offense despite fighting off an illness. More efficient than Paul, Jack was controlled with his offense and deferred appropriately to the others on the floor. He also challenged Paul to defend him by going to the basket throughout the game.

Then Marcus Banks came in and didn't miss a beat.

Now one might say that Marcus Banks has the widest shoulders of any player at his height which makes it that much more difficult for opposing guards to blow by him. In fact, he might actually have the widest frame of any Raptor this side of Joey Graham. With yet another quality performance under his belt, Banks seems to be rounding into form more and more. He is starting to resemble the backup that Phoenix saw many years ago who deserved a $4 million dollar contract. While Banks still does throw up the questionable shot once in a while, he does also try to use his body to his full advantage.

And thus, the arguments to trade Jose Calderon have begun.

Nevertheless, I'm not one to throw our starting point guard under the bus yet. Besides being one of the better "in control" players on this squad, he still is a high percentage shooter and is definitely one of the lowest turnover point guards in the league. More importantly, finding takers for a $9-10 million dollar contract over 3 1/2 years will not be an easy task and I don't believe his stock could be any lower than it is right now. However, Banks is definitely helping his own stock around the league as at least a serviceable second option for most teams and is definitely an important piece of Toronto's puzzle right now.

Of course, Amir Johnson was once again a major spark plug coming off the bench, and Andrea Bargnani has a couple key blocks down the stretch which almost made up for his fairly poor shooting. Chris Bosh also dropped down another 20 and 10 and DeMar DeRozan gave the Raptors a little bit of boost from his athleticism.

Besides that, there's little to be cheery about in this game.

The Hornets were pretty horrendous from all over the floor, shooting a horrid 39% from the floor and disgusting 14% from beyond the arc. Peja Stojakovic had an absolutely horrid shooting day going 1-7 from three and 4-15 overall after dropping a ton of shots on the Nuggets the other night. Many of the shots were open shots that the Hornets simply missed and the Raptors did very little to clean up the glass against Emeka Okafor and David West. One might point to the fact that the Raptors had three players in double figures for rebounding, but I would point to the horrid shooting of the Hornets as a large reason for those rebounds. Don't get me wrong. Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, and Amir Johnson especially, were not just standing around waiting for the ball. However, Okafor managed to get seven offensive rebounds for the game and probably would have lots more had Bargnani not been taken out due to foul trouble.

What was most disappointing for me was just watching the Raptors on the offensive side.

With the Hornets going "small" for the majority of the game, the Raptors insisted on keeping most of their shots on the outside and didn't attack the basket enough. Even when players like Chris Bosh got into the paint, they still ended up taking a fadeaway or an off-balanced hook in the paint rather than going up strong and racking up the fouls on the Hornets' big men. With Matt Devlin and Leo Rautins both pointing out that the Raptors needed to go inside and even reporting that Jay Triano was pleading for them to keep attacking the basket, the Raptors themselves seem content to keep taking outside shots.

And once again, I'm left shaking my head.

There is no question that the Raptors need to be beating this teams that they're facing right now. With Boston and San Antonio around to ring in the new year, they have to take advantage of every sub-.500 team match up they can. However, good teams will use this momentum to build and work on their faults. Like a sharpening stone, these sub-.500 teams are a good opportunity to practice the things you've worked on in practice and to establish good habits so that when you face the tougher opponents in the league, you have a good foundation to work on.

Right now? I'm seeing a lot of the same problems, just against lesser teams that can't take advantage of the Raptors' shortcomings. I've been asked repeatedly about improvements to this team and its chemistry, but to be honest, there's very little in the way of good news. About the only thing that's good is that the Raptors staff has been allowed to explore the depth of their bench, something that us fans have begged for since pre-season when we saw how both Sonny Weems and Amir Johnson played the floor. However, the main problems with the starting core remain the same. There is still too much of a tendency to do what comes easy in basketball rather than doing what will win them the close, tough games.

The wins are welcome, and the feelings around the team are good for now. but the sense of foreboding that I feel about the days ahead just can't be whisked away with these kinds of wins.

Somehow, this team has got to start taking care of their shortcomings or they're going to hit a wall very quick and very hard.

3 In The Key - Toronto Raptors Game Day Preview vs. New Orleans

Raptors HQ - Vicious D — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:30:13 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

Chris Paul almost got a well deserved triple double. Heck, he almost finished with a 30 and 20 night against the Nuggets. Will CP3 get that elusive triple double against the Raptors today?

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In a rematch where Chris Paul will play the team that injured him, the Raptors will face one of the league's most dynamic point guards. Of course, Mo Pete will be the talk of the town as Vicious D takes a look at the Hornets.

This is all Morris Peterson's fault.

Well, not really, but let's look at how Mo Pete left.

Back in the wonderous 2006-2007 season, the Raptors decided to start benching Mo Pete after years of loyal service. The Raptors had a new guy in Jorge Garbajosa who was a tough Spaniard who wasn't going to take guff from anyone. He was going to be our defensive stopper who just played hard in every game and who could defend bigger people while using his crafty mind to take out the smaller small forwards in the league. Mo Pete was benched and his minutes severely reduced. When Garbajosa went down with his Raptors Career-ending injury, the team picked Joey Graham to start over Mo Pete.

Thus ended Mo Pete's career in Toronto.

Getting snubbed once for a veteran player like Garbajosa was nothing to be ashamed about, but getting snubbed for the likes of Joey Graham was probably the straw that broke the camel's back. Since then, we have been without any real stoppers at the small forward position in Toronto. And yes, that includes the recently end-of-bencher Antoine Wright.

But good news:

Mo Pete is back in Toronto.

With the Hornets.

Doing not much of anything.

As part of their 15 years anniversary, the Raptors will be celebrating Mo Pete's service to the Raptors and the Raptors' community. Without a doubt, Peterson was a man who just got to become Mr. Raptor by being a subtle part of some very good teams. He was the Ironman of the Raptors and gave us some very important years with some good defense, some better shooting, and some miraculous plays.

He'll be a Raptor whom I'll definitely stand up and applaud from my condo.

Up next though, the Raptors still have a game to play and against the New Orleans Hornets, they will have it out a lot tougher than the Nets. That's why today's game will be a much better measuring stick for this Raptors team:

1) Protect Your "Glass Jaw"
The Raptors are simply bad when they have to do anything tough, but more than that, it seems as though whenever teams start trading baskets with the Raptors, they will fold. In boxing, a glass jaw boxer is a guy with a weak chin who will go down for the count whenever their opposition tags them on the chin. With these Raptors, their "chin" seems to be their paint and the Raptors get hit there way too often. It all eventually changes the game to their opposition's favour. It happened in the Nets game, albeit only in the second half after they built a sizable lead, and it's happened in just about every game where they've been blown out. We're going to keep mentioning it until the Raptors change their ways, but the fact is, this team's best defensive unit is probably Jarrett Jack, Marco Belinelli, Sonny Weems, Chris Bosh, and Amir Johnson.

That's four bench players with Chris Bosh. With Chris Paul almost dropping a triple double the last game against the Nuggets, the Raptors have to keep protecting their paint otherwise this game will get ugly real quick.

2) Stick and Jab
The Raptors on the other hand, have to keep going inside against the Hornets. New Orleans just doesn't have a very strong front court despite having one of the most overrated centers in the league in Emeka Okafor. Chris Paul as well, has a propensity to being exposed by opposing point guards, so the Raptors should keep slashing and slashing in the paint like there's no tomorrow. Attacking them with two points here and there will keep New Orleans on their toes until you find yourself for open threes. Which leads us to...

3) Power Punches
The Raptors have not been shooting the 3-pointer very well lately. However, a lot of that has to do with who is taking those threes. DeMar DeRozan, Antoine Wright, and the recently cold Italian Duo are all people that should be careful about shooting too many threes. But if the Raptors start by hitting the Hornets with lots of jabs, they'll expose them for open looks on the perimeter. The Raptors are a team that needs those open looks and they'll have to stick them as it's a major part of what makes the Raptors a dangerous offensive team. It's how the Raptors pulled out a win in New Orleans earlier this year after all. However it's all got to start from the inside out. The best boxers establish themselves with their jab and then unleashes hooks and uppercuts when need be. The Raptors will need to do the same.

Orlando Magic 118, Toronto Raptors 99

Ben Q Rock — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:09:03 -0000

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

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The Orlando Magic used a team-wide hot shooting performance against the Toronto Raptors' perpetually porous defense to cruise to a 118-99 win Wednesday night. Rashard Lewis led all scorers with 21 points--including 5 three-pointers--while Matt Barnes scored 20 points on 10 shots off the bench. Dwight Howard approached a triple-double with 18 points, 14 boards, and 8 blocked shots before checking out as the game got out of hand. Orlando held Toronto's Chris Bosh to 20 points, while former Magic player Hedo Turkoglu chipped in 14 (on 2-of-9 shooting) and Jarrett Jack added 13.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Raptors	94	105.4	46.6%	18.0	22.7	10.7
Magic	87	134.9	66.7%	24.0	27.6	16.0
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

The game transpired more or less like you might have figured it would based on these teams' reputations going in. The Raptors hung with the Magic early on, but the Magic created just enough separation with an 8-0 run late in the first quarter--fueled by a tough Vince Carter layup and back-to-back treys from Jason Williams--to take a 27-19 lead, and Toronto never really challenged after that. It wasn't always a question of effort, but rather ability; Orlando got whatever it wanted, the Raptors couldn't keep pace with the Magic's blistering shooting, and so it continued for the next 36 minutes. After a while, the Raptors appeared to just say, "screw it," and they mailed in the rest of the game. The way things went for the Magic, you can hardly blame them.

Okay, well, you can, to an extent, but I think you see my point. Things came entirely too easily for Orlando. The misses came on well-executed plays, open, and in rhythm, at least until garbage time, when Marcin Gortat started launching just any old thing he wanted. And by "old thing," I mean "15-footer early in the shot clock."

Howard missed 1 shot all game, and it was an off-balance tip-in attempt. Barnes shot 7-of-10, and one of those misses came on an inexplicably blown dunk with nobody around. Several of J.J. Redick's shots rattled around and out... and on it goes. Nary a blemish for Orlando offensively, at least not when the game really mattered. Turnovers were a bit of an issue, with Anthony Johnson--who scored a lively 13 points off the bench--twice losing the ball off his knee on his way to the hoop. and with the odd push-off against Howard or Redick. Overall, though, what is your chief complaint if you're the Magic? Maybe it's that Mickael Pietrus struggled in his 17 minutes, shooting 1-of-5 with 2 turnovers as he tried to battle through illness. Maybe it's that the Raptors came up with 6 steals, despite being the league's worst turnover-forcing unit. Maybe it's that Bosh scored 20 in 30 minutes, on 7-of-11 shooting. Still, his touches were few and far between, as the Magic dared Jack (13 points on 15 shots) and Andrea Bargnani (12 points on 12 shots) to beat them. A sound strategy, which they executed.

That sentence more or less summarizes the Magic's night. They had a game plan on both ends, they put it in motion, and they prevailed with ease. Really, I'm more impressed with the Magic's defense of the Raptors than I am with their offensive assault against them. A team as gifted as Orlando should light up the scoreboard against a sieve like Toronto. But the Raptors had the league's 4th-most efficient offense coming in, and Orlando shut it down. Howard's rejections helped, sure--and some of them could have been fouls or goaltends, if we're honest, but not nearly enough to swing momentum in Toronto's favor--but rarely did the Magic get burned on that end. So Antoine Wright peels himself off the end of the bench and scores 7 straight points late in the 4th: who cares? Two contested looks in the lane and a three-pointer for a career 29.3% long-distance shooter. You're happy giving those looks up.

Finally, how about Brandon Bass tonight? Coach Stan Van Gundy dusted off Orlando's sparingly used free-agent signee, who played both power forward and center, and he responded. 5 points, 1 rebound, 3 blocks (?!), and the usual energy and aggression in just over 9 minutes for Bass, who's probably a rotation player on just about every other NBA team. I see no reason or him to take minutes from three-point ace Ryan Anderson on a regular basis, but it's always good to know that your 11th man can come in immediately and make an impact.

Sorry if I seem more peppy than usual, but again, there's very little wrong with the way the Magic played tonight. A solid win against a worthy offensive foe, and a chance to rest up on the first night of a back-to-back set. Orlando jets to Miami to play the Heat--themselves fresh off a win against Toronto--tomorrow night.

Raptors Rapid Recap - Orlando 118 - Toronto 99

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:20:20 -0000

-Another Raptors' game, another blowout loss. I talked about this in this morning's post but that makes 11 on the season in terms of losses of 13 or more points. Again, by comparison, the 2005-06 Raptors' club that started 1 and 17 lost by 13 or more points only 13 times all season that year.

-Any positives to be gleamed? Precious few. Toronto allowed the Magic to shoot almost 70 PER CENT through most of this one and one could argue were never really in it.

-Chris Bosh led Toronto with 20 points and 6 rebounds but again just didn't have that extra bounce in his step. (Cue the "he's not giving the effort any more because this team is so bad" stories and rumours.) The rest of the team was fairly invisible aside from Hedo Turkoglu's early forays to the foul line (he was nine of nine on the night) and the occasional bench highlight. The bench in fact managed to get this one within 5 in the first half but after the starters returned, it was all downhill.

-For Orlando, they busted this one open early with a barrage of 3 pointers and they finished 14 of 30 on the night. This decimated the Raps' meager defensive efforts and soon the lanes opened up for the likes of Matt Barnes (20 points) and Anthony "Grampa" Johnson (13.)

-Up next for TO on what's slowly becoming the most disapointing season in team history? - The New Jersey Nets. And while this one looks like an easy W on paper (Nets are 2 and 24 on the season), with the way Toronto's played of late, fans know this could be a battle in reality.

PS - Tune in to the Fan590 right now to hear RaptorsHQ's Ray Bala (Canball report) talk ball with Zack Cooper and other guests!

Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game Report - A "Beastley" Performance

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:00:46 -0000

by Alan Diaz - AP

The Raptors had no answer for the intensity from Michael Beasley or the rest of the Miami Heat last night...

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The most agonizing and maddening season in Raptors' history only 27 games in? After yet another lackluster performance by the Dinos last night, Franchise ponders this question and compares the club to the hapless 2005-06 edition of the team...

Yesterday in his preview of Toronto's match with Miami, Howland compared watching this Raptor team to a bad relationship; games like the one against Houston on Sunday are enough of a tease to keep you hanging around even though the majority of the time, there aren't enough other reasons to justify your continued involvement.

Well, last night's 115 to 95 loss to the Miami Heat sure provided yet another "Exhibit A" to this argument.

Toronto was completely outworked again as Miami snapped a four-game home-slide and sent the Raps off to Orlando with their scaly tails between their legs.

Frankly, I'm running out of words to discuss this team's apathy.

Last night there wasn't a single Toronto player who looked locked-in aside from maybe Sonny Weems as even Chris Bosh, who again carried the team's scoring load with 28 points, had but two rebounds.

And it wasn't as if the team didn't need any more rebounds on the evening; the Raps were clocked on the glass and in the paint, and again, a Raptor opponent was essentially allowed to do whatever they wanted offensively.

Michael Beasley was particularly impressive, torching Andrea Bargnani for most of his 28 points using an array of jump shots, up-and-unders, drives and post-moves. And while Dwyane Wade, usually a Raptor-killer, was somewhat quiet with a measly 19 points on 8 of 19 shooting, he was nursing a sore right wrist and yet you'd never have known it.

And that's really all that needs to be said about last night's game folks as it's the same old story. I mean, I could write the script for tonight's game right now;

"Talented offensive team relies on hot shooting to keep things close for a while, even though defense allows opponent to do whatever they want. Opponent tightens things up defensively, said talented offensive team goes cold, then gets blown out."

Michael Bay, step right up, we've got one for you!

And I'm not even exaggerating here unfortunately. After last Friday's loss to the Hawks, I noted that Toronto had lost by 13 or more points this year on nine occasions already.

Last night made it number 10.

This got me curious as to the team's ineptitude in this capacity so I reached out to the great site, basketball-reference.com to compare this season to date, with Toronto's last great flop; the 2005-2006 season.

You remember that season right?

The one ironically where the Raps' lone win in the first 17 games came over last night's opponent, the Miami Heat?

Well here's a scary fact for you:

In the entire 2005-06 season, the Raps got blown out by 13 or more points 13 times. After 27 games, this current version of the Dinos is already at 10.

At this rate, the 2009-10 edition of the Raptors is going to smash that mark.

And considering how poor the 2005-06 team was, and the "talent" it contained, that previous statement should make you want to either puke, or start burning effigies of Hedo Turkoglu.

Or both.

And it gets worse.

That 2005-06 team lost games by an average of 3 points on the season. The 2009-10 Raptors are losing games by an average of 5 points already this year.

Nope, this is not what you'd call a good trend.

Am I saying for a fact that this current version of the Raptors is worse than the 2005-06 version?

Not exactly - but I think those numbers speak volumes as to the effort, grit, and fight that's lacking from a group that I would argue is massively more talented.

And this is the single-most infuriating thing for me about the team this season.

I expected them to struggle and have chemistry issues etc, etc. But to keep getting blown out in this fashion is ridiculous, and it's extremely hard as a fan to be passionate about a team that rarely displays any themselves!

I mean forget 13 point losses, the Raps have already been beaten by 20 points or more six times!! I love Sonny Weems, Amir Johnson and perhaps even have a bit of a soft spot for Marcus Banks strangely enough, but if we're seeing these guys this much it's not a good thing. I'm not naive. While most readers know I love second round picks and the "undiscovered upside types," these guys for the most part aren't the ones winning you games. These guys should be getting specific role duties or garbage time minutes.

And unfortunately the latter has been far too common so far this season.

So I'm not going to get into "3 keys" for tonight's game against Orlando.

Frankly, there's only one key on the night and for the rest of the season, and that's to show some pride, fight, grit...and other manifestations of testicular fortitude.

Some of this is indeed on the coaching staff, but in my books, the majority still falls on the players. They're the ones out there heaving ill-placed jump shots (ahem Hedo), missing box-outs (ahem Andrea), "protecting" the paint (ahem Bosh)...etc, etc.

It's got to be a team effort and if it doesn't start tonight, this season may end up much like the 2005-06 edition of the Toronto Raptors.

With a trip back to the NBA draft lottery.

Heat get much needed win in convincing fashion, beating Toronto by 20

DolPhanDave — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:23:37 -0000

More photos » by Alan Diaz - AP

If he stays healthy, who knows how high Dorell Wright may rise this season.

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Imagine my shock...I come home, power up the DVR, and what do I see? Not only was Diawara back in the starting lineup, but Carlos Arroyo as well? I guess a lineup shakeup could be expected with the way the Heat have been playing lately, but it seemed that Chalmers in the starting lineup was a foregone conclusion despite his erratic play. Arroyo responded to his first start in a Heat uniform well, hitting his first two shots in the opening minutes of the game.

Miami played a pretty decent 1^st quarter, leading it most of the way...just not the very beginning or the very end. In what's becoming unfortunately normal, D-Wade continues to take outside jumpers and miss them badly. Every year of his career he seemed to improve his J, gradually moving further away from the bucket as his shot got better. This year, however, I feel like he's taken a step backwards. The worst part is that he keeps chucking them up when he is more then capable of driving with the ball and either scoring or dishing the ball off to an open teammate.

Michael Beasley had a great sequence with about four minutes left in the 2^nd quarter. He came down with a real nice block on Toronto rookie DeMar DeRozen, passed it up to D-Wade and ran to the other end just in time to catch and slam a lob pass from Dwyane. That bucket put the Heat up by 9, their largest lead of the game at that point. It was also part of an 11-2 run for Miami.

While it was Toronto that got off to the quick start, shooting 55% in the opening quarter, the Heat closed out the first half just as hot. Miami matched their highest point total for a half, scoring 60 on 54% shooting and took a 10-point lead into the locker room. Michael Beasley led the way for Miami with 18 points (on 6-of-8 shooting) and 8 rebounds.

Chris Bosh came out firing in the 3^rd quarter, scoring the first 11 points for the Raptors. He went 4-for-6 in the entire 1^st half, but was 5-for-5 in the first 3:30 of the 2^nd half. Hedo Turkoglu was the first non-Bosh to score for Toronto, hitting a pair of foul shots 5 minutes into the quarter. Meanwhile, Miami was on a 13-4 scoring run capped off by a rare D-Wade three-pointer, and the Heat held a nice 14-point lead.

It didn't matter much who was in the game for the Heat, as everybody was scoring in the 3^rd quarter. Dorell Wright and Mario Chalmers were joining the scoring party and as a whole, the Heat dropped in another 31 points and took a nice 17-point lead into the final period.

Miami coasted through the 4^th quarter led by Dorell Wright. He is slowly starting to become a consistent contributor in the Heat's offense. Last night he scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, grabbed 8 rebounds and added 3 assists, a block and a steal. Also scoring in the 4^th was Yakhouba Diawara, whose dunk with 2 minutes left accounted for his first points of the season.

I have no idea why this guy has started the last two games, but hopefully this game was the last time we see Diawara get any kind of significant minutes. The Heat have much more talented players on their roster who will do more with the minutes then Kooba. There were a couple occasions during the game where he was the recipient of a nice pass down low, but either dropped the ball or just couldn't finish, reminding me of the ‘stone-hands' of Joel Anthony.

GAME NOTES

Toronto hit their first 14 foul shots, most of which came in the 1^st quarter. While it took Miami a little longer, they also hit their first 14 foul shots and only missed two all night, finishing 20-of-22.
Michael Beasley had 8 rebounds in the 1^st half while Chris Bosh had none. Beasley finished with 11 and Bosh finished with 2.
The turning point of the game was the beginning of the 2^nd quarter. With D-Wade on the bench, Miami hit 6 of their first 7 shots and began building on the lead they'd keep all night.
Dwayne Wade took only one 3-pointer, and hit it! He had made just 3 of his previous 25 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Heat had Michael Beasley taking their technical free throws last night. Why not? He's shooting 85% from the charity stripe this season, by far the best percentage of any Heat regular.
Miami had 19 fast break points (they average 9) and 27 assists (they average 18). I love stats like that, and those were courtesy of ‘the coach' Tony Fiorentino during the Heat's post-game show.
Off the bench Mario Chalmers had 6 points, 8 assists, 2 steals and more importantly 0 turnovers in 27 minutes. After the game Coach Spoelstra said the reason for Rio not starting was that he was late for shootaround, and that ‘the point guard must be the example for the team'.
With the benching, Spoelstra snapped Chalmers' streak of 104 consecutive starts.
Carlos Arroyo did fine in his first start of the year, scoring 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting (and 4-of-5 from the foul line), with 3 assists, a rebound and a steal in 21 minutes.

The Heat have very little time to catch their breath because coming in on Thursday night are our interstate rivals from O-Town. We can only hope that the Heat are able to keep up the good play, because I'm sure the Magic will be thinking about the last time these two teams played each other.

Raptors Rapid Recap - Miami 115 - Toronto 95

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:19:47 -0000

-From now on, it will be pretty hard to be upbeat about a Toronto Raptors' win...

...because all season they've been followed up by performances like tonight's against the Miami Heat.

-Outside of winning the free-throw battle, the Raptors were out-performed in every statistical category, most of them by a long shot. The team shot only 45% from the field, only 18% from downtown, was outrebounded 45 to 32 (including 12 to 4 on the offensive glass), had 11 less assists, and had only 8 fast break points while giving up 19 to Miami.

-Again, Toronto played no semblance of defense allowing Miami to shoot over 50% from the field, and let Michael Beasley torch them all night. Beasley finished tied with Bosh for a game-high 28 points, but he also had 11 rebounds to go with that. Bosh had only 1.

-In fact Bosh despite his scoring, didn't seem to bring it on both ends and the rest of his team followed suit. After 12 points in the first half, Andrea Bargnani finished with only 14, and Hedo Turkoglu made 3 of his 11 shots on the night to more than live up to his hefty contract.

-Bottom line? Again the Toronto Raptors were outworked by a club that isn't exactly a championship contender and now looks forward to an even tougher match tomorrow night against the Orlando Magic.

-Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and focus on something more cheery...like the ongoing Roy Halladay trade saga...

Game #23: Toronto Raptors (11-15) vs. Miami Heat (11-11)

DolPhanDave — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:41:31 -0000

More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

Yeah...this about sums it up

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It isn't often that I don't watch a game. Even when I know the results, and sometimes those results aren't pretty, I'll still watch. This time, however, I wasn't upset that I forgot to set my DVR before heading north to Jacksonville for the Dolphins game.

I kept track of the game for a while on my cell, and even without actually seeing any live game action, two free throws and six turnovers in the first quarter told me all I needed to know. I saw (or read) about Memphis getting to the foul line 17 times before the Heat took their first foul shot, which came with just seconds left in the 1^st quarter.

I had a bad feeling before the game even started though, as I first logged onto Twitter and saw that the Heat's starting small forward was going to be Yakhouba Diawara. Where the hell did that move come from? Spoelstra said after the game that he went with Kooba because he wanted to keep Dorell Wright within his role as the first perimeter guy off the bench, which I can understand.

But we have guys like James Jones and Daequan Cook who could use the minutes much more then Diawara. I think they need to give Cook as many minutes as they can spare because the only way he is going to get better and get out of this funk is by playing through it.

I'm hoping that the Heat use this game as some serious motivation. Immediately following the embarrassing home loss there was a team meeting that was about thirty minutes long. When asked about what was said in the meeting, D-Wade said that he kept quiet and only listened.

Udonis Haslem wasn't as quiet; talking to his teammates about the lack of effort they've put fourth of late, as well as the teams poor record at home. Bet you didn't realize that the Heat were under .500 at home (6-7) and over .500 on the road (5-4).

Looking at tonight's opponent, the Raptors are coming off of one of their better defensive efforts of the season, holding the Houston Rockets to just 88 points on 37% shooting in a 13-point victory. Keep an eye on Chris Bosh, Heat fans. We all know how much Pat Riley loves this guy, and more then likely is going to go after him more then any other free agent.

That being the case, just imagine what it will be like having this amazingly talented and athletic big guy dominating the post area and moving guys around in the paint, creating all kinds of space and lanes for Dwyane Wade to maneuver and score. Yea, I know that its way to early to assume anything...but if Bosh has any kind of inkling about playing in Miami with his boy D-Wade, you better believe that Pat Riley will make it happen.

GAME NOTES

After going 2-2 on a tough west coast road trip, the Heat are 0-2 so far on their 6-game homestand.
Toronto gives up the 2^nd most points in the league, allowing 108.0 points/game but are 6^th in the league in scoring, putting up 104.0 points/game.
On the other hand, Miami is right smack dab in the middle of the pack at points given up, surrendering 98.6. They aren't as good offensively, ranked 22^nd in the association by putting up 97.0.
The Raptors are a perfect 8-0 this season when holding their opponent under 100 points.
The 37 points surrendered by the Heat in the 1^st quarter against Memphis on Sunday was the second most points given up in a quarter this season by Miami. The most? So glad you asked...it was the 43 points scored in the second quarter of the Heat's visit to Toronto on November 20^th.
I wouldn't expect to see Quentin Richardson back in the lineup yet. He is officially listed as doubtful with his strained right hamstring.
For Toronto, guard Jose Calderon (hip) and forward Reggie Evans (foot) are both out.

Tuesday night tipoff from the AAA is set for 7:30.

Loud Links: 12|14|09

daddydai — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:21:54 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Lets hope Krstic and Green don't practice their high fives during this game.

Browse more photos »

Nuggets experiment by cutting back on shootarounds - The Denver Post
[So the Nuggets decide to experiment a bit before playing OKC. Let's hope their experiment fails. Sounds like Denver doesn't have the gym-rat mentality of OKC.] Morning shootarounds are becoming an endangered species in the NBA, and now the Nuggets are the latest team to tinker with cutting them back.

The Nuggets' practice Sunday served as their shootaround for tonight's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Denver coach George Karl, who was against the trend of not having traditional shootarounds, is now rethinking that philosophy. Sleep studies have been all the rage in the NBA this season, and they are showing that players and coaches aren't getting enough of it. The result is low energy levels for players on the court and decreased focus for everyone.

A reduction in shootarounds, thereby allowing players and coaches to sleep in longer on game days, has been the quick-fix answer for some teams. Karl hopes he will see increased focus and intensity out of his team. "I think we're listening to some needs of players and philosophies of some other teams, trying to get more focus and seriousness into the moments that we're together," Karl said. "Shootarounds seem to be very tedious and nonenthusiastic situations. "There's a lot of different philosophies out there. Some teams have totally gone away from shootarounds, some very good teams. We have a lot of every-other-day games. I think we have an opportunity over the next four or five games to experiment a little bit."

Daily Dime - ESPN
Also, it is not a given that your best player is the leader of the team, but Durant has distinguished himself as the leader of that group. He has stepped up into that role. He has the respect of his coaches and the other 14 guys in the locker room. The main thing he needs to do is learn how to compete on every play on both ends of the court. When your offense is going well, everybody is willing to get into their defensive stance and play hard to stop their opponent. But when you are not making shots, your defense and energy suffer. Becoming an above-average defender is the next step Durant has to take as he climbs the ladder of superstardom.

I appreciate what the Thunder have done as far as building a team through the draft. They have four players who can really play. That is why they are in position, as a young team, to be as exciting as it gets. I refer to Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green and James Harden as the "Core Four." Westbrook is a combo guard who can shoot and handle; like a lot of young guys, he needs to tighten up his decision-making. Green can switch out and guard four different positions. He is strong and tough and doesn't need the ball to be effective. And Harden is a silky smooth lefty. He is crafty, and he can knock down the 3 or slash and get to the basket.

If the Thunder can get a Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire-type player, they will be contenders in the West. They need a power forward who can draw double-teams, defend the post and rebound his position.

Hardwood Paroxysm " Blog Archive " Lion Face/Lemon Face 12.14.09: The Rudolph Harrison Gay Edition
He’s [LeBron] a damn freight train. I mean, he’s a FREAKING FREIGHT TRAIN when he wants to be. I understand that everyone is high on Oklahoma City. And even more people are high on Kevin Durant. He’s the hot new girl in school that everyone wants to be the first to kiss. But we’re forgetting this buxom fellow in Cleveland who likes to put on his little black dress every once in a while to remind us all that he still has the goods. LBJ pounced on the Thunder with 44 points (16/29 shooting!), seven rebounds, six assists, five threes, four steals and the W. He more than trumped Kevin Durant’s 29-point effort. Choo-choo. Choo-choo, baby.

Recap: Cavs 102, Thunder 89 (Or, The Time The Cavs Found A Win Far Beyond The Arc) " Cavs: The Blog
Durant is just so pretty. That little move where Z was keeping him from turning the corner, so he cut back to the middle of the lane and drained the little pull-up? That’s a work of art right there. Durant’s going to get his points, especially when his jumper’s falling, but the Cavs did a great job making sure he didn’t get his teammates involved. Durant recorded 2 assists and 7 turnovers, and actually finished with a game-low -17 despite working his perimeter game very nicely.

Jeff Green appears to have turned that corner. He used to be a guy whose versatility allowed him to get away with not being all that efficient, but now he’s being aggressive and looking to make decisive moves and high-percentage shots wherever he gets the ball, which is the point of the whole endeavor.

What this team needs is a playmaker who can be consistent. Westbrook has all the talent in the world and will be a very solid player in this league for a long time, but he can’t be counted on to be the primary playmaker night in and night out, and Harden isn’t ready to fill that gap yet. If he can come into his own and balance out what Westbrook brings in the backcourt, the Thunder are going to flat-out start humming offensively.

SLAM ONLINE | " Game Notes: Thunder at Grizzlies
[Slam had a nice recap of the Memphis game.] Serge Ibaka, OKC’s 20-year-old from Democratic Republic of the Congo, has the makings of an elite defender. He’s 6-10, wiry and gets very low in his defensive stance. He consistently got his hand right into the face of Rudy Gay or Zach Randolph. Because of his quickness, he was able to body up on Randolph and stifle his jumper, which the slower-footed Kristic wasn’t able to do.

Thunder’s hot start is no fluke | NewsOK.com
"They’re a totally different ballclub," said Cavs guard Mo Williams. "Those young guys are growing up...It’s no secret why they’re winning games right now." When ESPN.com published its playoff odds last week, the Thunder was projected to win 48 games and land the fifth seed in the playoffs. The projection also gave Oklahoma City a 23.3 percent chance of winning the Northwest division. That forecast, however lofty, doesn’t seem so farfetched now that the Thunder is challenging the league’s best. If the Thunder turns a few of these close-call losses into big-time wins, it could mean a playoff appearance this season. While a postseason party still hasn’t quite shifted from laughable to likely, the growing body of evidence proves the Thunder is close to something special.

Five Questions With Tim Legler | Thunder Rumblings
DM: What are your impressions of the Thunder’s start. Through 21 games the team is a surprising 12-9.

TL: I’ve been extremely impressed. Going back to the preseason when I wrote up my preseason previews for the league, I had them right on the fringe of making the playoffs in the Western Conference. I said if everything broke right and they stayed healthy and got maybe a couple of contributions from some guys that they expected I expected them to be able to fight for the last one or two spots in the conference. So they haven’t really surprised me because I expected them to be this good. They may be getting there a little bit quicker. But they’re a team that’s got everything that you want.

They’ve got a dominant go-to offensive machine in Kevin Durant. They’ve got the guy that I picked to be my breakout player of the year in Russell Westbrook at the point who is a future All-Star and a triple-double threat every night. Once he figures out that he can be, he’s a triple-double threat every night. Then you’ve got James Harden, who’s a perfect sixth man for that team. You’ve got offense off the bench. And then Jeff Green, who’s Mr. Consistency, Mr. Solid. So around those four guys you’ve got a little bit of everything you need to compete. And I’ve been extremely impressed with them. It’s great for the league.

I said the other day during a piece when asked to pick any player in the league, take him off the team he’s on and put him on any other team who would you pick for a Christmas wish list? And I said I would take Chris Bosh off the Raptors as a free agent and I would put him on Oklahoma City next year and you would have a team that could contend in the Western Conference every night. If they had a power forward that could help up front with more scoring in the paint and help them on the boards and help them match up better with other teams, that’s the only thing right now that they lack. A little bit of size and athleticism up front. They will be the next buzz team in the Western Conference, the team that’s going to be thrown into the mix over the next couple of years. And it’s good for the league because we need some new blood up there. We’re tired of talking about, as analysts, the same five or six teams all the time. It’s nice to see another team break through at that level, and Oklahoma City is that team. They’re the ones that will make that journey and get up to the top shelf over the next couple of seasons. It’s going to be fun to watch.