SB Nation - Sonny Weems

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

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

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.

Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game Report - Easy Breezy

Raptors HQ - Vicious D — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:30:14 -0000

More photos » by Nathan Denette - AP

When Bargnani is out-hustling you for plays, you know that something is wrong with your team

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In what might have been the easiest Raptors win of the year, the New Jersey Nets showed why they set the NBA record for worst start to a season. Vicious D, however, takes a pessimistic look at an easy win

You know, a recap like this should be easy.

It would go something like "Raptors beat a lousy team 118-95. It wasn't even close. Notch one for the good guys."

It's easy to look at this game and say "Ok, this team is now going to play five teams that they should clobber because this Raptors team can at least beat bad teams."

It's easy to go look at the Raptors record after this next stretch and say "Oh, they're only a couple games below .500"

It's easy to say that this team can play defense to win games because they can hold teams under 90 points and that they're doing better because they're doing it more often.

All of that is easy because the Raptors beat the Nets so badly in the first half that they didn't even need to try in the second half.

But all of that is the problem with this Raptors team. This team often takes the easy way out and looks at itself with rose-coloured glasses when things go well. This team is the one that features players who forget to go into the paint when they did it so well in the first quarter. This team will take the easy way out because being behind by 10 points means that it's really hard for the team to come back. It requires determination, and when this team requires determination, they seem to just implode and say "Ok, let's let our opponents keep scoring so we can get out of here ASAP."

I'm refusing to take the easy way out in this recap.

Fact of the matter is, the Raptors came out of this with a win because New Jersey is a pretty bad team that played a pretty bad game. Should the Raptors hang their laurels on this game? I'm sure that they aren't, but there are some disturbing signs from even this game.

For instance, discounting the first half for a moment, in the second half, the Nets outscored the Raptors 63-48. In those quarters, the Raptors did play a lot of bench players. Nevertheless, the effort in these quarters was largely lacking. In the third quarter, it was particularly disturbing to see the Raptors starters jack up shots from the field. When they went cold, the starters seemed to forget about what got them the lead in the first place. They stopped going to the paint and stopped deferring to DeMar DeRozan; the one player on the starters who was absolutely committed to continue going to the basket.

Then, the Nets started to take the Raptors to task in the paint. Devin Harris and Brook Lopez kept scoring on the inside and the same lackadaisical Raptors defense was there for everyone to see. Most of the Nets baskets came from blow-bys, interior passing, and just an unwillingness to protect the paint. How many times did we see the Nets finish off in a run? How many other times did we see the Nets cut through Jack, Turkoglu, and Bosh all in one play to the rim? Heck, how did Brook Lopez not pick up any more fouls for the entire second half after getting three limiting fouls in the first?

Meanwhile, Matt Devlin and Jack Armstrong were busy talking about how the Raptors had played good defense by holding the Nets to just 33 points at the half.

But let's not just stay negative.

There are positives coming from today's game, and those largely have to do with that "hustle group" that we've seen on the floor. I'm talking of course about the close knit group of Amir Johnson, Marco Belinelli, Sonny Weems, and DeMar DeRozan. All of these players gave some kind of hustle on the floor that kept extending the lead throughout the game. It's these players that seem to have developed a chemistry that even the starters haven't been able to find. It's not surprising either that they're the hardest working bunch, night in, night out. And even Belinelli, who had a pretty horrendous shooting night still kept his hands active and managed to grab two steals and multiple deflections.

Oh, and the Toronto crowd loves them too because if there's one thing Torontonians love, it's a hard worker.

A long time ago, I was told a simple truth about life. The truth was that the right decision and the right thing to do is often the hard path, while the easy path is often the one most treaded and the one that never produces growth. For 29 games now, this Raptors team has shown a propensity to take the easy path far too often. When faced with the need to dig deep, to attack and keep a game close, or to get that one stop, this team just doesn't seem to have it. The only wins this team seems to be interested in are blowouts and that's not the mark of any championship competitor. Problem is, we may very well have four blowouts in the next four games.

In the next few games, the Raptors should display some ability to put away some teams and pad the stats of some of their players. These games will allow the Raptors to showcase some pieces and hopefully entice other general managers. The fact is, the Raptors will have a window of opportunity to showcase players and make changes before things get desperate.

I just wonder if anyone in this organization has the fortitude to take the hard path.

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.

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.

Raptors Rapid Recap - Toronto 101 - Houston 88

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:40:12 -0000

-Best game of the year so far by the Toronto Raptors? It's quite possible as Toronto pulled off a surprising win this afternoon against a tough Houston squad using some smothering defense.

-How good was the D? The Raps held the Rockets to only 88 points on 37 per cent shooting. Houston helped matters by having an atrocious shooting day from downtown (13 per cent) and outside of the interior of Carl Landry and Luis Scola (46 of the team's 88 points), didn't get much of a boost from their perimeter players.

-In fact, in a very strange incident, wing Trevor Ariza was tossed in the third quarter for throwing an elbow at the back of DeMar DeRozan's head. From the replays, it was hard to tell if it was intentional or simply a reactionary play after DeRozan stole the ball from him and started the fast break. It wouldn't be surprising though to see a suspension come from Ariza's actions.

-But back to Toronto here. Chris Bosh led the way again with 27 points but he finally got some great balance on O from the rest of his teammates. Hedo Turkoglu busted out of his slump with 23 points, Andrea Bargnani had an efficient 14 points and 7 rebounds, and Sonny Weems even chipped in 11 off the pine.

-The player of the game though was Jarrett Jack, who was masterful at both ends of the court finishing with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. He led the charge in terms of intensity and gave the team a huge boost of grit and toughness enabling them to hold the lead for the game's duration.

-The other person on the Raps who deserves major recognition is Jay Triano. Triano finally saw the light in regards to playing TO's most effective players and it resulted more minutes for the likes of Weems and Mensah-Bonsu, and less for players like Belinelli and Wright (who didn't get off the pine.)

-We'll break down this win further in the morning but safe to say it was a biggie. Toronto desperately needed to get a W before heading to Miami and Orlando and now have some momentum going into those two tough matches.

3 In the Key: Toronto Raptors Game Day Preview vs. Houston

Raptors HQ - Vicious D — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:47:24 -0000

More photos » by Chris Young - AP

The Raptors are going to need a lot of this kind of play if they hope to keep pace with an extremely balanced Rockets team.

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Vicious D looks at today's game and is quite envious of the Houston Rockets who are extremely good despite not having their two best players. The Raptors will be in it tough today if they don't play like a team.

Oh hey.

If the last two Raptors games gave you a migraine, I don't blame you. I'm starting to think I'm a sadist as this will be the third game that I'll be attending in this young year. In all honesty, I usually make it a rule to go to games in the second half of the season after the Christmas break, just to make sure the team has started to hit their stride. The Raptors, after having a flash of "let's play defense" for two games against weaker opponents, have now lost against two fairly good teams who have exposed the Raptors' "improved defense" for what it is: a paper tiger.

Now you might say, "ok, the Raptors were down Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani as both weren't 100%". Ok, but our opponents today are the Houston Rockets. They're a team that has been arguably down at least one of their two best players for what seems like an eternity, and yet, they remain competitive, focused to win, and have depth in spades.

So much so that they could even cast off Pops Mensah-Bonsu without even batting an eye.

However, it's not like we were all gun-ho about all the moves that were made. It was back in the middle of the summer when most of the Raptors' Nation was in awe of Colangelo's Great Canadian Raptors Makeover Part Deux. Bryan Colangelo decided to let Pops walk, go for Hedo Turkoglu, fill his rosters with a coveted European and signed Jarrett Jack. At this point, while most of the Raptors nation was marveling at the moves, Franchise and Howland were both grumbling. We had one of our Raptors HQ meetings where I posed the situation and question:

Bryan Colangelo for all his flaws, has always been a good GM because he's left himself flexibility to get out from players that have underperformed. He's always seemed to have expiring contracts that he could trade away and get something back for. Now let's say this team is merely good at best, and at worst, terrible. Who can he trade away and change? Besides Chris Bosh, just about everyone is locked up for the next 3-4 years at least. That's starting and backup point guard, starting small forward, starting center. That doesn't exactly allow you make changes if you need to.

And so here we are, a team that will need to play extremely hard just to get a mediocre defensive effort. A team that has to rely on a high powered offense, which by the way, isn't all that high powered having lost in every good ol' fashioned shootout with just about every team out there this young season.

Yup, that almost just screams at Chris Bosh to stay.

But back to Houston. The Rockets are a team that have managed to stay relatively consistent thanks to some veteran leaders, some smart drafting, and keeping their roster full of athletes who have good basketball IQ. In fact, you could even argue that the Rockets are a much more dangerous team without T-Mac than with. Coming into today's game having won two in a row, having beaten both L.A. and Cleveland, the Rockets are a team that wins thanks to true balance throughout their roster. They are the well-oiled machine to the Raptors' own greasy mess, so our boys will have a tough time. To keep things competitive so that we can see a rare Sunday win, the Raptors will need to:

1) Minimalize the Loss of Calderon
Everyone's taken shots at the Spaniard this year. I've always defended Calderon over the years for his abilities, and he's been one of the players on this team who actually stands up for himself and his team. Those who wanted Jarrett Jack to start will now have a healthy dose of Jack for a while. The question is just how the bench will respond. We've long proposed to have a lot more Belinelli instead of Banks since he's comfortable with the ball and quick enough to defend against most point guards, but the trickle down effect should also mean that Sonny Weems will get more play time.

On the other hand, a lot of people have mentioned that this will maybe give Turkoglu more minutes handling the ball, but I'm not convinced that the reason the Turk has struggled has been because he doesn't have the ball enough. In any case, the Raptors have lost a leader, a guy who has been a fairly good shooter, and one of the hearts of this edition of the Raptors.

How the Raptors will overcome that will need to start today.

2) Team Play
The only way the Raptors will play good defense against the Rockets is if they communicate and act like a team. One of the reasons for the Rockets' success is that different players have stepped up over the course of the season to make big plays. The tough part about playing a team like the Rockets is that anyone can be a potential threat. So the Raptors will need to be organized on defense, they'll need players to have personal responsibility while they're defending their man, and they'll need to communicate. Otherwise, the Rockets will find that one or two weak spots and the whole defensive scheme will fall apart.

3) No Sleep For the Bench
In Friday's game against Philadelphia, the Rockets had six players in double figures. Their top scorer? Carl Landry off the bench. The Rockets are a team that are unabashed about playing their bench. With players who can get double digit nights when needed, and consistent rebounding that doesn't seem to drop off, the Rockets' bench has always seemed to be an X-Factor. Kyle Lowry and Chase Budinger are both ready to come in and steady the shop along with Landry when the starters aren't getting it done. It's allowed this Rocket team to weather storms and pull out some close victories.

Outside of last Saturday's win, the Raptors have lost on every single weekend game so far this season. This win won't be easy to come by, especially since the Raptors will need to make adjustments to compensate for the injured Calderon. But the Raptors have traditionally been fairly strong against the Rockets at home. Here's hoping the Raptors figure it out and manage to pull out a much needed quality win.

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...

Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game Report - Jacked

RaptorsHQ - Howland — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:16:37 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

After drawing comparisons to Roko, Jarrett Jack awoke from an early season slumber and was key in the Raps victory Friday night. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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The Raptors continued their roller-coaster ways on Friday night. After taking a commanding lead early in Friday night's affair the Dinos allowed the Heat back into the game and barely managed to secure the 120-113 win after some big shots from an unexpected source.....Mr. Jarrett Jack

After games like this one I have a difficult time trying to recap what transpired.

I mean, where do I begin?

Well, there is no better place than the beginning...and at the beginning it was all good.

Although things started slow out of the gate (a pace that favours the Heat) the Raps were staying in the game, as opposed to say... falling behind by 20. Actually, had it not been for a few turnovers the Raps would have been beating the Heat at their own game.

Having managed to stave off a slow start things started to turn heavily in the Raps favour when Coach Triano went to the bench - Sonny Weems and Pops Mensah Bonsu in particular. In a somewhat surprising move the first two guys off the Raptors bench were not named Marco Belinelli or Amir Johnson. The insertion of Weems and Pops sent a clear message to anyone who cared to take note. That message? Guys willing to play defense will get playing time. A commendable message and one that needed to be sent.

At that point the Raps really turned up the temperature on the Heat. The Raps were holding their opponents to a more than respectable shooting percentage and their offense started to click. Suddenly the tempo of the game was more up-beat and the Raptors offense was starting to thrive off the D. The Raps started to play what we all view as "Raptors Basketball".

Triano's message seemed to have reached it's intended targets. When Johnson and Marco entered the game both seemed focused and ready to play - in particular Marco. Belinelli was a force in the second quarter. Not only was the "chucker" making his shots but he was also creating for others (4 assists).

The bench play seemed to inspire the starters and before you knew it the Raps were up by 20. The proverbial shoe, was now on the other foot.

Now if you only watched the first half and then looked at the box score this morning it looks like all went well in the last 24 minutes. What the box score tells you is that Turkoglu was strong in all areas, Bargs had a double-double (gasp), Bosh continued to be a beast and Calderon handed out 10 assists. Well this is one of those times when the box score doesn't really tell you what happened.

The box score doesn't tell you how the Raps managed to do a complete about face and fall back into being the team we saw on the West Coast.

So what happened?

First off, Coach Triano, seemed to go completely rogue. After showcasing an impeccable substitution strategy in the first half, the Raptors Head Coach shortened the bench and for unknown reasons seemed committed to leaving the same guys responsible for the great first half on the bench. In the alternative, Triano favored playing Jose Calderon and Jarrett Jack at the same time and for the majority of the second half.

As Franchise and Defensive Stance have discussed, this back-court duo just is not getting it done when playing together. It was no different tonight. Jose and Jack just don't make good back-court mates and the statistics support that proposition. Watching Triano see the J&J back-court squander the double digit lead without so much batting an eye or turning to the bench is baffling. I am left scratching my head.. I can understand why Triano didn't want DeRozan guarding Wade (early on Wade was schooling the rook), and Marco had apparently tweaked his ankle, but I am not sure why Triano wouldn't have gone with Jack at the point with Weems at the two.

Why no Calderon you ask?

Well, it is quite simple.

First, Calderon is playing horrible defense right now. Actually horrible is probably an understatement. Jose is getting killed off the bounce and as a result the Raps collective team defense is suffering. This was clearly obvious in the second half where Calderon's defense left the Raps big men no choice but to leave their man to help resulting in some open looks for the Heat. Jose was also the man guarding Mario Chalmers who helped shoot Miami back into the game.

Second, last night Jarrett Jack played easily his best game as a Raptor.

After a slow start to the season Jack finally broke out and was absolutely clutch down the stretch scoring 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter including two big three point shots. His was more confident shooting the ball he simply looked more "in control". He not only has a nice scoring night but he also had three assists with no turnovers. Hopefully this is a turning point for Jack and he can start playing at a level we all expect. He is a much better player than shown so far.

Speaking of turnovers, the Raps did a poor job protecting the basketball and this was a major factor in allowing the Heat back into the game. The Raps turned the ball over 20 times as compared to the Heat's 9. The turnover differential really hurt given they were shooting so much better than the Heat (57.5% vs. 43.8%). The Raptors gave the Heat more opportunities to score and Dwyane Wade and Co. took advantage.

The Raps, despite a terrible second half, still managed to get the win and now find themselves just one game under .500. It is nice to see the Raps get back to winning but I have to wonder whether this type of basketball is conducive to winning.

The most concerning thing in my eyes is the lack of consistent effort that continues to plague this team. It's clear that this team can play respectable defense and when sharing the ball the offense can be an unstoppable force. Yet for some reason, they cannot, or at least they have not, put it all together. As a result we are seeing 20 point deficits turn into close games and 20 point leads disappear in a quarter.

Does it make for entertaining ball? Absolutely.

Does it make for winning ball? On this evening yes, but long term I have my doubts.

Up next for the Raps is another team from the Southwest Division...the Orlando Magic.

The Magic are coming off a statement win in Boston where even without Jameer Nelson they were able to get a W at the Garden.

So what are the three key's to tomorrow's game?

1. Stay Afloat Early - This upcoming game strikes me as one where the Raps could find themselves down by 20 in a blink of an eye much like what happened in Denver. Even without Nelson the Magic had a lot of firepower and if facing little resistance on the defensive end could bag this game early. Don't forget this Magic team, even without Carter and Rashard Lewis, put 125 points up on the Raps in the last meeting. The Raps need to protect home court and not allow this game to get out of hand. If they can stay in it early the fans should give them the much needed extra boost (with Carter in town) to try and steal the win.

2. Bosh vs. Howard - Remember in the last match-up when good friends CB4 and Dwight Howard got into it under the hoop and Bosh didn't back down? It's that kind of attitude which can help this team win. No-one on the Raps can back down and that includes Bosh who is going to have to put up another massive game. Bosh, and Bargnani for that matter, will have to attack Howard time and time again in hopes of either putting Goliath into foul trouble. If Howard is given the chance to dominate the painted area it is going to be an uphill battle. Look for Rasho to get some burn as well.

3. Jarrett Jack - Now that Jack had his breakout game let's see if he can continue to build off that performance. Given the lack of depth the Magic have at the PG position Jack will need to take advantage of the likes of Anthony Johnson. Again second unit play is going to be big in this game. Here's hoping that Jack gets his minutes at the PG spot on Sunday because if J&J end up together on the floor again I may just have to turn to football.