The 2012-2013 Toronto Raptors thread: My Name is Jonas

[Kin]

What the hell Raptors!?!?

I had the misfortune of watching Sunday's game in person and today's game on tv in full. In both cases the Raptors got off to a great start against a better team, with a 20 point lead vs. the Bucks and a 10 point lead vs. the Nets, and then completely fell of the rails. The Milwaukee game was getting me enraged from my seat. With the game tonight, the Nets went on a little run and Toronto couldn't stop the bleeding for the rest of the game.

The just don't have that offensive presence who you want to have the ball in his hands in the 4th. Stinks but I think that was a weakness of the team we knew going in.

 

[Justin]

What the hell Raptors!?!?

I had the misfortune of watching Sunday's game in person and today's game on tv in full. In both cases the Raptors got off to a great start against a better team, with a 20 point lead vs. the Bucks and a 10 point lead vs. the Nets, and then completely fell of the rails. The Milwaukee game was getting me enraged from my seat. With the game tonight, the Nets went on a little run and Toronto couldn't stop the bleeding for the rest of the game.

The just don't have that offensive presence who you want to have the ball in his hands in the 4th. Stinks but I think that was a weakness of the team we knew going in.

It's true. Any team can grab an early lead but only good teams can finish. The Raptors cannot finish lately.

 

[Derk]

Little disappointed in the Raps of late, particularly the last couple games where they blew big leads and lost in OT. Shoulda had Chicago, but as soon as Amir Johnson missed his last free throw with 11 seconds left in regulation, I had a hunch they would lose in OT.

 

[Justin]

Little disappointed in the Raps of late, particularly the last couple games where they blew big leads and lost in OT. Shoulda had Chicago, but as soon as Amir Johnson missed his last free throw with 11 seconds left in regulation, I had a hunch they would lose in OT.

Amir Johnson is just horrendous. He routinely racks up the most fouls of every Raptor almost every game and SUCKS at free throws. I can't stand him.

 

[Kin]

Amir Johnson is just horrendous.

Yeah, no. He's the team's best offensive rebounder, has the best true shooting percentage, grades out as their best defensive player, shot blocker...yeah, you'd like it if he shot a better % from the stripe but he's not Dwight Howard. He's at 70%.

 

[Justin]

Amir Johnson is just horrendous.

Yeah, no. He's the team's best offensive rebounder, has the best true shooting percentage, grades out as their best defensive player, shot blocker...yeah, you'd like it if he shot a better % from the stripe but he's not Dwight Howard. He's at 70%.

Fine, he's not horrendous per se but time and time again he takes inopportune fouls late in the game. He leads the team in personal fouls BY FAR. 141 fouls to Davis' 2nd place 95. I'm sick of it. His rebounds are valued especially on a team that struggles in that area but he has to learn to constantly stop sending the other team to the line.

 

[Kin]

Fine, he's not horrendous per se but time and time again he takes inopportune fouls late in the game. He leads the team in personal fouls BY FAR. 141 fouls to Davis' 2nd place 95. I'm stick of it. His rebounds are valued especially on a team that struggles in that area but he has to learn to constantly stop sending the other team to the line.

I disagree. I think the fact that he's more or less the team's only physical, interior defensive presence is why he's committing most of those fouls. I think the problem is that the team's so weak on the perimeter that Johnson is the last line of defense so often.

And his lead is only what it is in the foul category because of injury. Amir's at 3.6 fouls a game, Lowry is at 3.2 but has played in 12 fewer games. If Lowry had played 39 games he'd be at 125 fouls.

It's really no coincidence that the team's two best defenders are also the two guys who get whistled the most. If you look at the guys Johnson's around in terms of leading the league in fouls it's good defensive big men like Larry Sanders and Dwight Howard.

 

[Justin]

Fine, he's not horrendous per se but time and time again he takes inopportune fouls late in the game. He leads the team in personal fouls BY FAR. 141 fouls to Davis' 2nd place 95. I'm stick of it. His rebounds are valued especially on a team that struggles in that area but he has to learn to constantly stop sending the other team to the line.

I disagree. I think the fact that he's more or less the team's only physical, interior defensive presence is why he's committing most of those fouls. I think the problem is that the team's so weak on the perimeter that Johnson is the last line of defense so often.

Perhaps, but it's never good when the Raptors are trying to preserve a lead or come back late in the game and Johnson sends a player to the line. It's kind of like being prone to taking bad penalties in hockey, that's Amir. If he cleans up his game and becomes a little more disciplined he can be a solid bench guy. He provides high energy and good defense, he just needs to stay out of foul trouble.

 

[Kin]

Perhaps, but it's never good when the Raptors are trying to preserve a lead or come back late in the game and Johnson sends a player to the line.

Except it is good if the other option is Johnson being less aggressive on defense and not committing the foul means an easy bucket for the other club. I don't think Johnson commits a lot of bad fouls but his teammates do put him in bad position a lot.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Nice victory Sunday at home over the L.A. Lakers, with the Raps Landry Fields given the job with covering Kobe Bryant, and quite possibly having played his best game of the season so far.

Jose Calderon 22 points and Ed Davis' 18 pts. respectively, led the offence for the Raptors.

Final score was 108-103.

For the complete story, go to:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/2013/01/20/toronto_raptors_post_up_lakers/

 

[Kin]

Another tough OT loss to the Heat because the team didn't rebound effectively and didn't have a go-to scorer when it came to crunch time.

 

[Justin]

It was a very winnable game.

-Calderon hits two 3?s in a row late and we don?t go to him after that?
-Why was Davis not on the floor? Aaron Gray?s a plug.
-Alan Anderson shot bricks in OT. We kept on giving the ball to this guy because??
-7-0 run for Miami in OT is just unacceptable.

Amir Johnson also fouled a guy in the last minute of the game. If that doesn't happen the Heat might not get the 2 and the Raptors win. But whatever, I'm pinning this on Dwayne Casey. Some of the decisions he mate late in the game were flabbergasting. Where were Davis and Lowry?

 

[Kin]

-Calderon hits two 3?s in a row late and we don?t go to him after that?
-Why was Davis not on the floor? Aaron Gray?s a plug.
-Alan Anderson shot bricks in OT. We kept on giving the ball to this guy because??
-7-0 run for Miami in OT is just unacceptable.

Calderon had the ball in his hands plenty after his two threes. He just can't create his own shot, especially not when he's being guarded by Wade. Likewise, Anderson was the guy they were finding for good looks, he just wasn't hitting them. That's on Anderson, not the coach.

 

[Justin]

-Calderon hits two 3?s in a row late and we don?t go to him after that?
-Why was Davis not on the floor? Aaron Gray?s a plug.
-Alan Anderson shot bricks in OT. We kept on giving the ball to this guy because??
-7-0 run for Miami in OT is just unacceptable.

Calderon had the ball in his hands plenty after his two threes. He just can't create his own shot, especially not when he's being guarded by Wade. Likewise, Anderson was the guy they were finding for good looks, he just wasn't hitting them. That's on Anderson, not the coach.

Calderon wasn't getting the ball in scoring opportunities at all after those threes. The rest of the team had to work to get him open and they didn't. Instead they kept on going to Anderson who embarrassed himself in OT. You're right that Anderson's bricks aren't on the coach, but it is Casey's fault that he didn't pull the plug on Anderson. Terrence Ross played well tonight, I would have liked to see him in there instead. Also, how do you justify playing Aaron Gray over Ed Davis and keeping Lowry on the bench for much of overtime? Casey was incompetent. This became our game to lose and we lost it.

 

[Kin]

Calderon wasn't getting the ball in scoring opportunities at all after those threes.

Offensively, Calderon is essentially a spot up shooter if he doesn't have the ball in his hands and he's never been terrific at moving without the ball. As soon as he started hitting those shots, Wade played him pretty tight. Not much the Raptors can do about that if they can't exploit the space it leaves for others. 

Also, how do you justify playing Aaron Gray over Ed Davis and keeping Lowry on the bench for much of overtime? Casey was incompetent. This became our game to lose and we lost it.

Well, the Lowry thing was easy. You can't have both Calderon and Lowry out too much together because then one of them has to cover Wade and that's a disaster. Calderon, because he'd been hitting shots, got the call.

Gray is sort of a by-product of that. Miami was getting to the hoop pretty easily. In that situation going with the bigger body, in the hopes that he can create some traffic, isn't the worst way to go.

I don't get all the hyperbole. Casey is incompetent, Johnson is horrendous, the decisions are flabbergasting! The Raptors don't match up well against the Heat. That it was as tight a game as it was on the road is a testament to the good things the team did, why focus on the fact that the significantly better team pulled away in OT as some sort of horrible failing from the coach?

 

[Justin]

Nik, you can't justify not having Lowry out there. He's only our BEST offensive weapon. If Wade was playing Calderon so tight at least there would have been another good "go-to guy" in Lowry. It's also ridiculous to leave Davis off the floor for and end-of-the-bench scrub. Miami was dominating us on the glass even with Gray. We're in OT with nothing to lose on the road against Miami and we leave Lowry and Davis on the bench? Come on, use your head.

 

[Kin]

Nik, you can't justify not having Lowry out there.

Sure I can. Basketball is a two way sport. You have to account for guys on both ends of the floor. Neither Lowry nor Calderon can effectively guard Wade so you can only have one of the two on the court for extended stretches. Calderon shot well last night, Lowry didn't. That's why Calderon got the time in OT.

If Wade was playing Calderon so tight at least there would have been another good "go-to guy" in Lowry.

Except Lowry, for all of his strengths, isn't a great shooter. He's at 42% for the season and was 4-11 last night.

It's also ridiculous to leave Davis off the floor for and end-of-the-bench scrub. Miami was dominating us on the glass even with Gray.

OMG! It was the most calamitous tragedy of all time!!!!! Fire Casey out of a CANNON INTO THE SUN!!!!!!!

Calm down. Davis hadn't done a good job on Bosh all night. Gray's not a good option but nothing was working and Gray, who'd only played 4 minutes before OT, at least had fresh legs.

 

[Justin]

Nik, you can't justify not having Lowry out there.

Sure I can. Basketball is a two way sport. You have to account for guys on both ends of the floor. Neither Lowry nor Calderon can effectively guard Wade so you can only have one of the two on the court for extended stretches. Calderon shot well last night, Lowry didn't. That's why Calderon got the time in OT.

If Wade was playing Calderon so tight at least there would have been another good "go-to guy" in Lowry.

Except Lowry, for all of his strengths, isn't a great shooter. He's at 42% for the season and was 4-11 last night.

It's also ridiculous to leave Davis off the floor for and end-of-the-bench scrub. Miami was dominating us on the glass even with Gray.

OMG! It was the most calamitous tragedy of all time!!!!! Fire Casey out of a CANNON INTO THE SUN!!!!!!!

Calm down. Davis hadn't done a good job on Bosh all night. Gray's not a good option but nothing was working and Gray, who'd only played 4 minutes before OT, at least had fresh legs.

Lowry creates offence. He's a dynamic player that can make things happen. As I said, he's our best offensive option. When you're trying to outscore a high-powered Miami team in OT you have your best weapons on the floor. It's simple. Casey decided not to do that, in sitting Davis and Lowry. As a coach he didn't give his team the best chance to win.

 

[Kin]

When you're trying to outscore a high-powered Miami team in OT you have your best weapons on the floor.

And just ignore defense? Forget that Miami has two of the ten best offensive players in the league and hope that they can be guarded by whoever? It doesn't matter who the Raptors have on the court, if they're not well defensively matched up against Lebron/Wade/Bosh they'll get beat.

It's simple.

That's one word for it, sure.

 

[Erndog]

When you're trying to outscore a high-powered Miami team

I think thats the problem right there.

Generally the Heat get beat when the defensive "clamps" get thrown down on them.  My Pacers have done it.  Beat em 87-77.  Had they tried to "outscore" the Heat they would have lost by 20.