SB Nation - Amir Johnson

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...

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.

Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game Report - A Little Athleticism Goes a Long Way

Raptors HQ - Vicious D — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:46:47 -0000

More photos » by Ron Turenne - NBAE/Getty Images

The HQ has loved Sonny Weems for a while, and so should you. Here's just one example of why.

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Defeating one of the better teams in the Western Conference, the Toronto Raptors snapped their two game losing streak. Vicious D talks about the win and gives us a look at the game that was.

The fans wanted Jarrett Jack to start. With Jose Calderon out, they got what they wanted.

The fans wanted more athleticism on the floor, especially with regards to Sonny Weems. With fewer options as Jarrett Jack would need to play a lot of minutes at the point, the fans indeed got more Weems as well.

The fans wanted "the Legend" to get some burn. With the Rockets having few lumbering big men, Pops Mensah-Bonsu came into the game and showed the Rockets what they had let go.

Now that's not to say that every single opinion of every fan should be taken as the truth, but there's a reason why the Toronto Raptors took down a very capable Houston Rockets team 101-88 for their first Sunday win of the season. Jay Triano deserves quite a bit of credit for finally giving some burn to players we've clamored for all season, and Triano even went so far to start the second quarter without a single starter on the floor. As a result, the Raps were covering each other on defense, racking up nine blocks for the entire game. It was impressive seeing both Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Amir Johnson help each other out of jams with their tenacious defense. Both energized the crowd throughout the game with their tenacity and grit to get rebounds and to protect the Raptors' paint.

On the other end of the court, Sonny Weems gave the Raptors a fairly impressive boost from the bench. Scoring with drives and his jump shot, Weems managed to put up 11 points off the pine, a nice boost during the times when the Raptors offense stalled. Chris Bosh put in a fairly quiet 27 points leading all scorers, but the best player on the court yesterday had to be Jarrett Jack. Taking the ball inside and out, distributing effectively to his teammates, sticking his nose into the crowd to get rebounds, almost sitting on players in order to "defend" them, and even coming to the defense of teammates, Jack showed the heart that was sorely needed in the absence of Jose Calderon.

Sticking up for DeMar DeRozan after Trevor Ariza took a swing at the rookie, Jarrett Jack immediately stepped into Ariza and proceeded to defend the rook. All over the ACC, everyone was applauding the move as the Raptors have been too soft and too slow in the past to take such actions. It is this kind of heart that Jack has shown that has made him another leader in this team so far in this young season, something again, that this team sorely needs.

On the Rocket's end, you never really felt that the Raptors had complete control of the game as Houston managed to keep hanging around. And a late run brought Toronto's lead down to single digits. However with Ariza away from the game, the Raptors kept defensive pressure on the Rockets perimeter while making some key baskets down the stretch. Carl Landry and Luis Scola were both having their way in the paint, but beyond that, Houston just didn't get that many opportunities, especially on the break. Other than Aaron Brooks, who had 20 points, the rest of the Rockets team couldn't crack the 10 point plateau. The fatigue argument could be made for Houston but you still have to hand it to Toronto's defense on the afternoon.

With the next two games being their annual back-to-back trip to Miami and Orlando, the Dinos will need to sustain the effort that they put into yesterday's game. We've already seen that this Raptors team can overcome their defensive stigma if they only work on it a little and if the right personnel are given a chance. We are almost halfway through December and it's time that Jay Triano sticks with what works. Certain players have consistently shown a propensity to change the tempo of the game even when the starters sometimes have shown a lack of initiative.

So enough with the "set line-ups."

As the team draws near the trimester mark of the season, It's time they go with what works best in terms of playing time, even if this means injuring a few egos along the way.

After all, Bryan Colangelo talked about 50 wins to start the season.

With yesterday being only win number 11, this team still has a long ways to go but provided they can get near that 50 mark, I'm pretty sure both management and the fans won't care what line-ups help reach that plateau.

Gameday Preview vs Toronto Raptors

David Arnott — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:42:42 -0000

Pump Up Music: Superdrag -- "Sucked Out"

The Big Picture: The Bobcats and Raptors are bizarro versions of each other. The Raps are first in offensive efficiency and last in defensive efficiency, while the Cats are second in defense and third-worst on offense. In other words, we're going to see a contrast in styles, if ever there was one.

Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani, and Hedo Turkoglu are all devilishly difficult to guard, but none of them have ever been considered defensive stalwarts, and Chris Bosh... well, Bosh has played the first 15 games of the season about as well as he's ever played over a long stretch. Even if his defense isn't the greatest in the world (I don't think he's as long as KG), it's certainly decent, and he's no walk in the park for anyone, let alone a tag team pair featuring a 32-year old who never played great defense to begin with and a defensive specialist coming off a back injury.

Key to Victory: I don't think there's a solution for the Raptors' front court. Bargnani is shooting threes at better than 40% this season, and Bosh is first or second among East centers right now with Big Bad Dwight, so it's kind of a pick your poison situation. I think we'll end up seeing Boris Diaw on Bargnani and Chandler/Mohammed on Bosh, and we can just hope Bosh doesn't draw them out to 18 feet then either shoot or put the ball on the floor, because they'll get eaten alive if the Raptors can consistently force that choice.

There are two things the Cats can do, though. First, they can make a concerted effort to dominate the glass on both ends of the floor. Gerald Wallace is our primary weapon here, since he'll be charged with guarding Turkoglu when both first units are on the floor. Hedo hasn't been anything special as a rebounder, but Wallace has been a monster on the glass. The Cats can't afford to give the Raptors any "extra" possessions.

The second thing they can do is give Diaw more minutes at center and hope he can give Bosh problems. That would put either Stephen Jackson or Wallace on Bargnani, and allow Ronald Murray and (dare I dream) Gerald Henderson to take on DeMar DeRozan or Jarrett Jack when they go small in the backcourt. It's less than ideal for rebounding purposes, but might make sense if it contains Bargs.

Detail That Might Interest .08% of You: The Raptors have only 9 players who came out of the NCAA Div I-A. They could play a lineup entirely of foreigners (Calderon, Belinelli, Turkoglu, Bargnani, Nesterovic), and then Amir Johnson came out of high school.

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

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:32:05 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

Can the Raps slow down Danny Granger and the fast-paced Indiana attack tonight?

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RaptorsHQ makes its monthly media appearance at the Air Canada Center, this time to see Jarrett Jack's former club, the Indiana Pacers come for a visit.

When we started looking at the November schedule, tonight's game against the Indiana Pacers seemed to jump out a bit.

Why?

Well for starters, there weren't a lot of home games to choose from of course.

More importantly though, considering the tough schedule the Dinos had been involved with early on, this match seemed to mark the first of a somewhat easier stretch for Toronto.

Of course in the NBA, "easier" is a relative term.

The Knicks can get thumped one night, then take the Celtics to overtime another.

But on paper, the Raps' next bunch doesn't have the same "oh no" factor as did their previous Western Conference road trip, or even games against the likes of Orlando. Yes, they still need to close out the month against Phoenix and Boston, but apart from those two, things finally start to ease up a bit.

And talk about perfect timing.

The Raps come in a banged up bunch, already minus Reggie Evans of course, but with a gaggle of swingmen suddenly suffering from various issues. Antoine Wright, Hedo Turkoglu and Marco Belinelli have each missed time recently, and now, Amir Johnson has a tweaked knee as well.

Yesterday's reports out of practice however made it sound like Belinelli was going to be good to go, with Wright and Johnson likely as well provided no flare-ups occured overnight. It would be great to have a full staff on board for an important one tonight vs. Indiana.

The Pacers come in with a 5 and 6 record, having lost three in a row. Among those losses, some disappointing ones to New York and Charlotte. Danny Granger has been his usual phenomenal self, but he's struggled to get consistent help from teammates, especially with Troy Murphy being on the DL. Toronto will have to lock in on Granger tonight, the Pacers' main weapon, and that kicks off the first of our three keys:

1) Keep Granger in check.

Longtime readers know my affinity for Granger. He was my favourite college player in 2005 and I prayed that the Raps would grab him with their top pick. We all know how that story turned out and now he's one of the most lethal all-around players in the league. On the season, he's averaging 24 points, nearly 7 rebounds and 3 assists. He's Indiana's unquestioned stud, and a player that can easily heat up and drop 50 on you if you're not careful.

This evening then I'm hoping that Toronto limit his opportunities. While the Pacers under coach Jim O'Brien have traditionally seemed like an "all-offense/no-defense" group, this year the inverse is true. The Pacers rank 24th in offensive efficiency and 11th in defensive efficiency. Put it this way, this club struggles to score if Granger is kept under control.

Easier said than done obviously but as a first key tonight, I'll be looking to see the Raps get the ball out of Danny's hands so as to force the likes of TJ Ford and Brandon Rush into scorers.

2) Rebound the ball.

This is an area Toronto has struggled with all year but so have their foes tonight. Indiana and Toronto are neck-and-neck in terms of many of the rebounding stats (including rebounding rate) so whoever does a better job cleaning the glass should be able to tip the ball in their favour. While the Pacers likely won't have Murphy or the services of the tenacious Jeff Foster, both Roy Hibbert and rookie Tyler Hansbrough do a great job getting second chance opportunities for their club and wingmen like Granger and Dahntay Jones can cause dificulties as well.

3) Transition Defence.

The Raptors' defence has of course been much-maligned so far this year so perhaps having "defence" as a third key is again no surprise. However with an Indiana team that loves to get up and down the floor (they play at the league's second-fastest pace behind only Golden State), I'm really going to be honed in tonight on Toronto's ability to stop Indiana from getting easy looks in transition. I felt that against the Magic on Sunday, the Raps did a better job defending the paint and the perimeter, but far too often still were getting either beat down the floor, or were unable to slow down the charging Magic attack.

The Pacers have the ability to blow things wide open early based on this style so Toronto's back-court, Jose Calderon in particular, need to ensure that they lock things down as best as they can. As well, this point links to the previous one as if Toronto can't control the boards, this will likely lead to quick outlets by Indiana's "bigs," leading to quick transition points.

This one isn't quite a must-win game, but I think it's safe to say that should Toronto lose, this is one the club could look back on come April and having some serious regrets about not getting. I actually think a healthy Pacers' club makes the playoffs this year so again, it's quite likely that this is one of those teams the Raps will be competing with for playoff seeding.

Tonight's match could therefore go a long way in deciding future outcomes.

As well, Howland and I have media access to tonight's game so we'll be live-blogging from the ACC. Be sure to send us any questions you'd like us to ask the Raps post-game, and we'll have a full recap along with game photos tomorrow morning.

IC Cold Links: Jack Greets Pacers, Foster Hopes To Fix Defense

Tom Lewis — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:37:42 -0000

The Toronto Raptors made Jarrett Jack an offer he couldn't refuse this past summer, and when the Pacers were unwilling to match, Jack had to leave Indiana.

It was really tough to see a Jack go since he was a guy who bought into what the Pacers were doing and spilled his guts everyday on the court. But in hindsight, the move has been beneficial to both sides. Jack earned a real nice contract, especially considering the relatively little amount of cash NBA owners were throwing around last summer.

As for the Pacers, the spent half the money to sign Dahntay Jones and Jones has produced every bit as much, if not more than Jack did last year. The one thing Jack brought last year was, well, himself. He played all 82 games and though his production wasn't always consistent, the effort and intensity was. Hopefully, Dahntay keeps up his current pace for the rest of the season.

After the jump, a few links of interest including stories on Jack greeting the Pacers upon their arrival at the Air Canada Centre yesterday as well as more on Jim O'Brien's lineup change.

Pacers still reeling from loss at Charlotte
Mike Wells reports on Jim O'Brien's disdain for the defensive deficiencies in Charlotte prompting the Pacers' coach to try a different lineup. "We can't play Roy much unless they play Amir Johnsonor (Rasho) Nesterovic," O'Brien said. "We'll start Jeff at center because we're quicker and able to guard their pick-and-rolls."
NBA Toronto: Jack hopes his struggles are over
Mike Ganter has a cool story about Jarrett Jack greeting the Pacers after wrapping up his workout yesterday.
Nothing doin' for Nets - Vecsey
Peter Vecsey slips in a shot at Jim O'Brien's job security after the recent losses to the Knicks and Bobcats.
Jack trying to earn his keep
Michael Grange reports on Jarrett Jack trying to play up to his contract for the Raptors.
Raptors’ Jack wants to prove he deserved big contract
Eric Koreen reports on Jack greeting the Pacers and working his way into a groove for the Raps.
Showtime for Raptors' Calderon
Doug Smith reports on Raptors' PG, Jose Calderon developing a connection with rookie DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems. Calderon seems to scald the Pacers at least once a season, hopefully that won't be tonight.
Belinelli, Wright to return for Raptors; Evans still a mystery
Marco Belinelli and Antoine Wright will be available for the Raptors off the bench tonight.

Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game Report - Shattered Game-Plan

Raptors HQ - Vicious D — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:05:17 -0000

by Darren Calabrese - AP

DeRozan meets one of his childhood heroes up close and personal. It would be one of many common looks for DeRozan for the afternoon. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Darren Calabrese)

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The Raptors hung with the Magic for the majority of the the game, but just couldn't close the gap between the two teams talent-wise or on the scoreboard. With players like Marco Belinelli banged up, the Raptors were particular short at the wing positions. Vicious D takes a look at a loss that many probably expected...

I was waiting for it.

Jay Triano cracked a clipboard over his leg in the fourth quarter after yet another blown defensive assignment and no movement on the offense.

While some may be of the opinion that a 104-96 loss to the Magic is nothing to sneeze at, I'm very disappointed in the Raptors today, and quite possibly Jay Triano is too. It shouldn't be that surprising that the Raptors scored under 100 points for this game as they were without Marco Belinelli thanks to a pulled groin.

However, there are some things that we should all acknowledge about this team. Here's just a few of them, but the Raptors are continually making the same mistakes over and over again with no change in sight and it is driving.me.up.the.wall.

Jarrett Jack can score from the corners shooting 3s, he can drive to the basket for a layup. He should not ever take a 3-pointer from any other position and he should definitely not take a single shot off the bounce. If he hasn't figured it out, someone better sit him down.
Jose Calderon should not ever be guarding his man for shot. He should always be setting up to guard his man for dribble penetration. We see the blow-bys and it's because he stays close to his man and bites on every move back and forth that the Raptors end up with a point guard near the basket.
The Raptors should not be afraid of using their energy bench players down the stretch. If the starters insist on taking lazy jumpers and sitting back on defense, then Triano should play the players who will be aggressive. For this game, it happened because some players were in foul trouble, but Toronto has to use players that have gotten them back into games. It sends a message to the team.

At the end of the day, yes the more talented and deeper team won this game.

Nonetheless, the Raptors could have had this one and it's a repetition of errors that has cost them yet another W. Oh yeah and the refs once again didn't do the Raptors any favours either with momentum-changing blown calls down the stretch, but there is little that can be done about that.

The game started off well enough with the Raptors attacking Dwight Howard and getting two quick fouls on him. Toronto though, refused to continue to try and attack Howard and rack up more fouls on him. Bosh stayed to the outside in the 2nd quarter allowing Howard to conserve his fouls. And although Dwight picked up four personal foulss by the third quarter, the Rap just couldn't manage to take advantage. The team simply shied away from attacking the paint at the end of the game and therefore wasted a big opportunity to take out a big part of Orlando's game.

DeMar DeRozan also didn't do himself any favours with his horrible pick-and-roll work for the afternoon. He had the tough assignment of guarding Vince Carter, but if the Dinos are going to continue insisting on starting the rookie, I'm not going to pull many punches. Granted, part of his horrible game has to be shared with the Raptors' big man he was working with. Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani would often end up sticking to Dwight Howard on the pick rather than following Carter down or hedging to slow down Carter. DeRozan would then get hung up on the top of the screen, giving Carter little resistance to the basket or to pull up for an open jumper. In the second half Toronto started to do the switch, but only when Sonny Weems was on the floor. And just to illustrate that it wasn't all DeRozan, there was a particular play early in the 4th where Chris Bosh and Jarrett Jack were defending the pick and roll and ended up bumping each other, leaving Marcin Gortat with a wide open look in the paint and an easy basket.

Speaking of Jack, while I'd love to hate on the Jack and Calderon combination as is en vogue right now, Triano was left with little choice. Weems and DeRozan showed some questionable shot selection and their defense... well, I've covered that already. With both Marco Belinelli and Antoine Wright out with injuries, I'm going to give the Raptors a pass on the Jack and Calderon experiment for yesterday. However, it's something that this team has to stay away from once they're back to full strength.

Raptors with a fairly good afternoon?

Bargnani's work was pretty good despite being sick. The Italian fouled out of the game but he did try to post up several Magic players, grabbed some good rebounds, and did what he could despite feeling under the weather. Sonny Weems gave us another great dunk in the first half, but insisted on shooting from the outside for the majority of the game, only managing to make a few of these. We just did not see much of the aggressive Weems, especially with regards to dribble penetration and being active in the passing lanes.

No, the player of the game had to be Amir Johnson.

Asked to take on the role of being the Raptors' energy "big" off the bench, Johnson has quickly become one of the more aggressive Raptors night in and night out. His continued work on both ends of the floor as far as being an energetic presence on the interior has been a wonderful discovery. He was everywhere on the court; taking position away from Howard, drawing fouls on bigs, and even making the correct decision to come down into the paint from the perimeter to assist Weems with defensive mismatches on switches. Here's hoping that his banged leg at the end of the game was only a minor thing as it was tough watching him gingerly running down the floor towards the end of the game.

It's been argued that the Dinos will need to hang their hat on defense night in and night out to win games, and that even a MEDIUM level of D will go a long ways for this club. Defense is where Toronto has had the most trouble this year and Jack Armstrong has repeatedly called for the Raptors to pay more attention to it. It's been nearly a month of basketball now, and the conclusions have been there for all to see. Our starting and finishing units have a propensity to rely on jump shots down the stretch which has also led to a certain laziness on the defensive end. It is possible to win games like this, but even a small change of Marco Belinelli into the lineup has changed the make up of the unit at times. As Charles Oakley had pointed out on a broadcast several weeks ago, the Raptors have a good collection of players, but the balance is off because some of the Raptors most aggressive defenders are in the second unit and the Raps softest personnel are in the starting unit. It is a fairly big indictment against the starting and finishing units that Belinelli, a player not known for his defense, has been the most aggressive player on both ends of the floor at the end of games.

The question is, will one change be enough?

On a Raptors team that has had a month of good grace from me, I'm still not sure if this unit will be able to gut out those wins and not merely rely on the jump shots falling. More concerning is whether this group has the aggression and communication required to close out games with something more than a token defense.

If they don't, I'm bracing myself for many more broken clipboards this season...

Orlando Magic 104, Toronto Raptors 96

Ben Q Rock — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:27:42 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

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After a slow start that saw them trail by as many as 11 points, the Orlando Magic battled back on the road against the Toronto Raptors to win 104-96, for their fifth consecutive victory. Vince Carter's jumper just before the third-period buzzer knotted the game at 76, and the Magic's second unit started the final period on a 17-6 run to take control of the game. Carter, the reviled former Raptor, led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-24 shooting while also contributing 8 rebounds and 2 assists. J.J. Redick scored 19 points off Orlando's bench, with four three-pointers, and came up big in the fourth period. Chris Bosh paced Toronto with 22 points, as usual, but the Magic held him in check; he had averaged 30 points per game against them in their last 10 meetings.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Magic	88	118.5	46.4%	32.5	28.6	8.0
Raptors	87	110.7	48.1%	28.6	20.0	10.4
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

The spotlight always shines a bit brighter on Carter when he visits the Raptors, and looking at the boxscore it might be tempting to say he wilted today, with another inefficient game. I don't think that's fair, given how he played. He got to wherever he wanted on the floor with relative ease, and in the early going, he made the basket his destination. Unfortunately, he struggled to finish after absorbing contact, even missing two dunks. In the second half, perhaps irritated by the contact the officials were letting go, he turned his game more toward the perimeter. It worked. He shot 7-of-13 in the second half overall, scoring 18 points, with just 1 attempt at the basket; he also drew four free throws. For whatever reason, he was simply more comfortable from mid-range. The Magic should at least be happy that he tore through the Raptors' defense with relative ease, even if his finishing left a lot to be desired.

As well as he played--we can't discount those 8 rebounds--he was arguably the Magic's second-best shooting guard today. Redick was the star off the bench, lighting the Raptors up just as he did three weeks ago, when he scored 27 starting in Carter's place. With the game tied after three periods, Redick led the Magic's surge at the beginning of the fourth to take control. He shot 3-of-4 for 7 points, and assisted on 3 other field goals, thus accounting for 15 of the Magic's 28 points in the period. The Raptors' poor defense did him a favor by continuing to go under screens set for him, allowing J.J. to shoot uncontested much of the time. Interesting that coach Stan Van Gundy made Redick, and not starting point guard Jason Williams, the playmaker down the stretch. It's a move that paid off, though.

Dwight Howard continued to struggle offensively, in part due to Bosh's surprisingly good defense and in part due to his receiving a beating down low. Lots of off-line flings at the rim after getting hit for Howard, but it really didn't matter too much. He was still active on the offensive boards, as 5 of his game-high 12 rebounds came on that end. He's improved as a passer, finding Redick in the opposite corner for a three-pointer after one of those rebounds.

Really, the story of the day was the Magic's secondary players filling in well for the stars. Rashard Lewis was set to have a big game, but could not stay out of foul trouble. In his place, Ryan Anderson scored 8 points on 2-of-6 shooting, all from beyond the arc. Lewis missed all of his three-point attempts, but made up for it by driving to the basket or pulling up from mid-range if his defender bought his head-fakes.

Williams, too, made an impact. He played Jose Calderon, who is at his very best a borderline All-Star, to a draw: Williams scored 16, grabbed 5 rebounds, and tallied 3 assists with no turnovers; Calderon also scored 16, with 2 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 turnovers. Williams' 34-year-old legs didn't betray him, sinking two three-pointers in the fourth quarter despite playing 39 minutes, his highest total since logging 42 minutes against Charlotte in March 2008. His to more-or-less matching Calderon in a game in which the Magic's top players struggled to score efficiently proved to be huge.

The biggest cause for concern here isn't the offense. Carter, Howard, and Lewis will all come around. But nobody the Magic had seemed to be able to contain reserve ~~pogo-stick~~ power forward Amir Johnson, who contributed 14 points and 8 rebounds in 29 minutes. Defensively, he altered shots inside, and drew a charge on Howard. Offensively, the Magic didn't have an answer. He can't create his own offense, but relies on missed shots and his teammates' passing savvy to get him buckets. Orlando continued to lose track of him, on both backboards and in transition, and he nearly won the Raptors the game today. In the waning minutes of the third quarter, Johnson scored 9 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, just by running the floor and being active; he even out-leaped Howard for a few of those boards. The East has plenty of these sorts of players--J.J. Hickson of Cleveland comes to mind, as does Josh Smith of Atlanta--and the Magic cannot go through the whole season letting them get whatever they want. Lewis is the Magic's best defender at power forward, but he's not athletic enough to keep up with them; look no further than his futile attempt to avoid fouling Johnson after a head-fake late in the fourth quarter today for evidence. If Brandon Bass, who earned his second consecutive did not play-coach's decision today, can prove he has both the athleticism and the awareness to stick with the more athletic power forwards of the East, he could carve his way back into the rotation.

Overall, it's great for Orlando to win its 5th straight, especially on the road in a particularly hostile environment. It played hard and executed on both ends of the floor. Had the Magic managed to keep a body on Johnson throughout the game, and had Howard been able to avoid early foul trouble, they would have won this one much more easily. They get two days off before a difficult stretch this Thanksgiving weekend, in which they'll play 4 games in 5 nights in 4 different cities.

Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game Report - A Reoccurring Theme

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:44:48 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

All Triano could do was gaze in horror at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter of last night's affair.

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Toronto came out flat last night against the Utah Jazz and as Franchise notes in his recap, he's seen this movie a few times too many already this season...

8 and 4.

Should that be the Toronto Raptors' record right now?

With last night's 104 to 91 loss to the Utah Jazz, Toronto fell to 5 and 7 this young season, however as a fan, it's hard not to look back at a number of games already and say "what if?"

For instance, shouldn't the loss to Memphis been avoidable?

What about the letdown against an under-manned Spurs team?

And maybe the Phoenix loss was one you'd place in the "anyone's game" column and therefore not a "shouldahadit," but last night's loss to the Jazz was one in my books that definitely should not have ended with the L.

For those who missed it, Toronto again took nearly an entire first half to get into game-mode, and then even though they managed to nearly pull even with Utah after being down by as many as 18, they ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.

However I don't think you can hang this one simply on "running out of gas," or "being tired on a back-to-back, and the final game of a Western conference road swing." Pure and simple, players aren't playing up to par on offense, and this team still is borderline atrocious defensively. Last night the Dinos had no answer for the small-ball back-court of Deron Williams and rookie Eric Maynor and while these two caused havoc for Toronto defensively, at the other end, the Raps didn't exactly do themselves any favours in terms of their own shot selection and strategy.

No need for panic, I was after all expecting a 5 and 13 start, but we're 12 games in, and it's time for some call-outs and early observations.

1) The Jarrett Jack signing isn't looking so hot.

Here are the facts. Jack is shooting 36 per cent from the field so far this season, 32 per cent from long-range, averaging less than 7 points, and most telling, went into last night's game with an almost even assist to turnover ratio.

I'm pretty sure that's not what fans or management expected when they invested their mid-level exception in him this past summer.

So, as one poster put it last night in our live game-chat, "is Jack the new Fred Jones?"

It's only 12 games in so again, I'm not ready to jump ship yet, but it's certainly a concern. Outside of his statistical follies, he just hasn't looked like the aggressive defender I expected, nor has he attacked the rim with even the same zeal as he did in pre-season.

And worst of all in my books? His ball-handling and decision making. I threw this out there during the game-blog last night and I will again; it scares me to say this but I felt more comfortable with Roko Ukic handling the ball last year than I do with Jack.

2) Bosh needs more help.

Bosh is putting up MVP-type numbers so far this season. Last night he dropped 32 points and 17 rebounds on the Jazz, but didn't get much help outside of Marco Belinelli in terms of offence.

While Hedo Turkoglu and Andrea Bargnani at times have given him a boost on O, both of them, along with Jose Calderon have hardly been consistent. If this team is going to struggle as much as it has on D, then it needs a full spread of offense each and every night. This is particularly true if the team wants to keep trotting out DeMar DeRozan as a starter. I like that they're trying to ensure minutes for his development, but he's really not a factor the majority of the time on O. This is backed up by 82games.com which lists Toronto's best starting line-up in terms of percentage of time on the court ahead on the scoreboard (80%) as the Calderon-Belinelli-Turkoglu-Bosh-Bargs combination.

TSN.ca's Tim Chisholm noted this on Twitter last night and I completely agree; if this team wants to keep Bosh around, the players BC has brought in or held onto as starters need to start playing like ones each and every night.

3) The defense needs to improve.

I don't think anyone expected this club to be a lock-down type. However this is getting a bit ridiculous. Toronto now is allowing opponents on average to score almost 108 points per game this season, and is last in the league in terms of defensive efficiency. They're actually last by a good shot too, a full 3 points per game worse than both Memphis and Golden State.

Yes the Dinos rank atop the league in offensive efficiency, but considering their record, it speaks volumes as to how woeful their defense is.

4) Shot selection and offensive strategy need work.

Additionally, the team's offense is still far too reliant on hitting jump shots and 3-pointers. When things go cold, the club isn't attacking the rim, and of course defensively they aren't able to keep things close. This means that quarters like last night's fourth occur, something that's extremely frustrating to watch as a fan. No one goes to the basket yet the jump shots keep going up, and without a solid defensive scheme, the other team takes advantage and blows the game wide open.

It happened against Denver the previous night. It happened early against the Clippers, and Bulls, late against the Spurs, and for stretches against the Suns and Pistons. Last night the Dinos were 5 for 19 in the fourth and if you look back at the type of shots taken, you'll see that Toronto just kept jacking them up, attempting only four foul shots.

I understand that this team's strength is in shooting the J, but if they're not going down, TO desperately needs a plan B.

5) Where would this team be without Amir Johnson and Marco Belinelli?

I cringe to think of what would have happened had the Raps' front office not figured out that sign-and-trade option enabling them to grab Hedo AND the likes of Antoine Wright, Amir Johnson, Marco Belinelli and Sonny Weems.

Remember, BC wanted to sign Hedo outright regardless!

Johnson and Belinelli in particular have been huge for this club so far with Belinelli playing a mini-Ben Gordon role and Johnson giving Toronto a much-needed boost of defense, rebounding and shot-blocking off the pine. Wright has also been a nice piece and even Sonny Weems has looked good in limited minutes. The bench is making up for some of the starters' flaws at the moment and as mentioned earlier, this needs to be corrected.

After this weekend's matches against Miami and Orlando at home, the schedule eases up a bit so we may get a more true indication of this team's abilities during that time. The club still is a long way from gelling, especially at the defensive end of the court, but there have been some positives to take from most games.

The team desperately needs to build on those over the next while to avoid falling too far behind in the standings so early in the season.

Raptors' Rapid Recap - Utah 104 - Toronto 91

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:49:55 -0000

-Toronto ends its four-game Western Conference road trip with a 104 to 91 loss to the Utah Jazz tonight.

-Much like earlier in the week against the Clippers, the Raps got in a big hole early with some extremely lazy play at both ends. However again like the LA game, after being down big (18 points), Toronto charged back, getting as close as 3 points in the fourth quarter.

-Unfortunately that's as close as things got. The Dinos shooting went ice cold in the fourth quarter and they had no match for Utah's small back-court of Deron Williams and Eric Maynor.

-Bosh led the Raps with 32 and 17, and Marco Belinelli and Amir Johnson made huge contributions off the bench.

-For Utah, Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 18 rebounds, while Andrei Kirilenko pitched in a quiet 20 off the bench.

-Again, this game was another prime example of what happens when TO's jump-shots stop falling. The team shot only 37 per cent from the field, 24 per cent from long-range, and yet kept heaving them up.

-The club therefore finishes the roadie with a 1 and 3 record and drops two games under .500. And even though Toronto's next game is back at home, it's against a hot Miami team, and that's followed up by another tough home match against Orlando.

Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game Report - 75% of the Way There?

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:06:27 -0000

More photos » by Colin Braley - AP

Deron Williams and the Jazz have felt plenty of pain of late...

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After a loss to a more-talented Denver team last night, the Raptors prepare to take on the Utah Jazz tonight in a back-to-back. The HQ looks at last night's loss and discusses the keys to rebounding tonight with a W...

With the Raptors facing another tough test tonight against the Utah Jazz, I thought it would be apt to post a recap/preview combo a bit later today than usual.

After all, there's not a lot to discuss regarding last night's loss.

The Raptors hung tight with Denver for three quarters, even leading the game for most of the first half. Then in Part II of the affair, Toronto started to run out of gas on offence, and us fans all know that when that happens, the defense usually isn't good enough to keep things close.

This is especially the case when playing against a team as talented as the Denver Nuggets, a squad I described in my preview yesterday as being maybe the most balanced in the league.

You could see that balance last night too. If Melo wasn't attacking from inside and out, Denver was pounding the ball down low to Nene, or getting half-court heaves from JR Smith. Throw in some clutch 3's by Arron Afflalo, D in the post by Kenyon Martin, shot blocking by The Birdman, and of course, heady play at the point by Chauncey Billups, and they're a pretty intimidating group.

Toronto was simply out-classed talent-wise in the end, especially with Hedo Turkoglu sitting this one out, and kudos to Jay Triano for realizing this with lots of time left in the fourth quarter; with about six minutes left Raptors' fans were treated to the Patrick O'Bryant show.

Even the newest old Raptor got some minutes. (Although strangely, Marcus Banks did not - how much does Triano have to hate Banks for O'Bryant to play and not Banks???)

Yes, Pops Mensah-Bonsu is back with the Dinos as he was snatched off of waivers yesterday, and even in limited time late in the game, showed the same qualities that made him a desperately needed commodity last season. The kid simply brings it every night, and is a tenacious rebounder and defender. I mean, how many players get signed into the season, then in garbage time take a painful charge in a blowout?

That's Pops.

However as much as I like Pops, I've been pulling for Toronto to take a flyer on him since he left George Washington, I'm not quite sure I like the fit this time around. When Reggie Evans returns it gives the team seven big men for two positions; meanwhile, the wing positions, the 3 in particular, looks quite shallow. I love Sonny Weems but he's not quite big enough to guard the Carmelos and Kobes of the league. Outside of Hedo Turkoglu, Antoine Wright is the only player with the size for the 3.

Can Mensah-Bonsu play the 3?

Perhaps defensively, and maybe that's what BC and co envision with this signing.

However last season I remember him being much more effective at the 4 and if that's the case, I think he's going to have a tough time finding minutes unless Evans ends up being out for a very long time.

Is there anything else to break down from last night's loss?

Not really in my book, although I do want to touch on Toronto's play in the first half. Even minus Hedo, that was the best the team looked in my eyes (especially the first quarter) all season at both ends of the court. The club seemed very prepared and while they had no answer for Anthony, they didn't come unglued at the seams when he was putting on a clinic. Toronto played to its strengths and did a nice job keeping the rest of Denver in check.

Well, except for JR Smith.

But how exactly do you guard a player like that when he's taking shots from five feet behind the 3-point line and has the athleticism to get to the rim at will?

It's very difficult; he's like Ben Gordon on Red Bull and HGH.

Overall though, I've seen some nice stretches from the Dinos over the past week, even in losses and I'd actually say that last night's game was an analogy for how this team looks to me at present; three quarters of the way there.

When the defense is at least somewhat locked-in and the gang-rebounding is in effect, TO's offence is powerful enough to beat most teams in this league. The chemistry is coming (Jose looks like his old self again) and outside of Jarrett Jack, the players seem to be settling into their roles; DeMar DeRozan, Amir Johnson and Marco Belinelli in particular.

The light seemed to come on for DeMar in particular last night, and I'm hoping to see a continuation of this tonight against the Jazz.

Incidentally he helps lead off our first key:

1) Supporting Cast Play.

The Jazz are banged up. They're already short on the bench minus CJ Miles and Kyle Korver, and while Deron Williams appears to be playing tonight, he's missed the past few games to take care of some personal issues. Add these to the fact that Utah comes in with a disappointing 4 and 6 record and this is a great chance for Toronto to grab a win in a notoriously tough arena.

However to do it, they're going to need more than just the usual suspects.

As previously mentioned, players like Johnson, Belinelli, DeRozan, and even Sonny Weems have been providing solid minutes lately and I'm expecting that to continue tonight. Utah doesn't take a night off under Jerry Sloan and on the second night of a back-to-back, it's even more imperative that these types bring their respective fortes.

If they can do that I believe it seriously tips the scales in the Raptors' favour.

2) Bosh and Bargnani.

While the referees were hardly doing these two any favours last night, both weren't nearly aggressive enough offensively last night, something that they'll have to remedy this evening. The two have tough match-ups (Bargs looking at himself in the mirror in a sense if he's guarding Okur) but Toronto will need to lean a bit more on their scoring if they want to achieve victory and keep pace with what's become a high-scoring Utah team.

3) Pride.

One thing that irritated me last night, even in garbage time, was JR Smith's showboating. Toronto was already down big, and Smith bowing to the crowd and performing other theatrics was hardly endearing to me, and probably many others. In fact I was hoping that Pops would catch him with a good clothesline the next time down the court.

Point being, this team has had a rep of being "soft" for years now. Some of Toronto's additions this past off-season are trying to change that, but there's still a lot of work to be done. Contrast that with the Jazz who for decades under Sloan have held a "non-crème-puff" status and who generally fight and claw on each possession.

Therefore I'm wondering if tonight's game may end up being decided by simply "who wants this more."

Toronto and Utah believe it or not are actually quite similar statistically (great in terms of offensive efficiency, bad to terrible in terms of defensive ability) so this isn't a game where the Raps can just rely on streaky shooting. The Dinos need to come out hungry from the tip in order to grab an important W and I'll be looking for this all night.

No weak "second night playing in a row, Western conference road trip, blah, blah, blah" excuses.

If the Raptors want to be considered one of the better clubs in the league this season, they need to start winning these "gut it out" type of games.