Posts Tagged ‘Amir Johnson’

Spurs at Raptors Points Per Game:

- February 16th, 2012

Another good game, another tough loss. The Raptors are making an art of entertaining their fans, while still losing enough to stay in the Anthony Davis hunt. As usual, a few thoughts on the game and then some quotes I couldn’t get in to my story.

- DeMar DeRozan really needed that game after being a no-show too often of late. I keep harping on this, but he needs to be that aggressive player in order to succeed. He also took better control of the ball, which is needed since he can’t be turning it over off of strips 1-3 times every night.

- You have to appreciate the Spurs. Nobody ever pays any attention to them, yet all they do is win. Tony Parker: “We are nine in a row so if nobody talks about us, that’s good, we’ll keep playing good basketball.”

- Definitely some strange units out there. Dwane Casey said he was searching for offence with Bargnani, Bayless and Kleiza out. That left more defensive-minded players like James Johnson benched. He said he gave the red hot DeRozan a long break because of the back-to-back. Thought DeRozan would be able to give more down the stretch if he did that.

- Anthony Carter looked finished earlier this year, but now has found his game and is contributing.

- This team sure finds novel ways to lose eh? Five second call one night, two hands on the ball another. A foul out of bounds …

- The Raptors need to have better court awareness and stop taking a ton of offensive fouls. Too many Raptors are charging into opponents and it hurt them on Wednesday.

- Amir Johnson had been struggling mightily to hit mid-range jump shots this season, but he was nailing them on Wednesday

ONE OF A KIND

Metta World Peace one game, Popovich, the next? As a reporter, you can’t beat that.

The irascible Popovich is always a riot. With a dry, quick wit, Pop mixes bemusement with frustration as well as anybody.

He had some gems before the game:

To a larger crowd of media than he is used to: “It’s Toronto and San Antonio, take a break.”

On whether Cory Joseph should have stayed longer at Texas: “What am I, the answer man?”

On Joseph’s biggest challenge: “(Said dryly and in a short manner) “He’s a rookie.”

Some quotes on Joseph:

Cory Joseph:

“I don’t try to put pressure on myself, I just try to focus on the gameplan, play hard and let everything decide itself.

(Talks to Tristan about once a week). Only had like a week of training camp. Wanted me to get some game experience. Everybody looks at the D-League like it’s a bad thing, but Austin’s a good thing for me. Good coaching staff. (Soak up) A whole lot. Decision-making, what decisions I should do within the system. Just try to soak up as much as possible. Anybody can play in this league just given the opportunity.

(Watch Texas?) Obviously I miss it, but I’m happy where I am now. I watch them a couple of times when I’m able to. Hopefully they can win this next couple of games to solidify themselves in the tournament. That would make me happier.

Talk to Myck. Tell him to run your team, make sure you get the wins.”

Tony Parker:

“They played them all the way to the end. Just tough games for Toronto.

If we play like that, move the ball great and everybody’s healthy, we have a good chance to go all the way.

We played basketball all season long then TD got hurt and Manu went down the last game (last year).

On Cory: It’s tough as a point guard he’s not playing that much and we don’t practise so it’s tough for him to get some minutes because he doesn’t know the system, he doesn’t know the plays and Pop, sometimes he calls plays he didn’t call for 10 games. I’ve been here 11 years so I know the plays, so it’s tough for Cory. When you’re a point guard and you have a coach like Pop, you need practice time and you need to know all the plays and right now we never practice, we just rest, play, rest, play. He’s talented, we just have to be patient with him.”

Dwane Casey:

“Health is an important thing in this league and when you don’t have it you search. Tonight I was searching for any group that could help us.

This is a difficult team to play. We’ve played three emontional games, and I think our team competed in each of them. My hat is off to our guys because I think they competed and any basketball person, in seeing who we have in the floor, talked about how we competed.

That’s important to me, to the organization going forward. It’s going to help us once we get our program on the right spot. We want to continue this culture of playing hard, competing and putting yourself in position to win. What we have to do is execute … executing down the stretch. The game within the game (double dribble, holding call even though he was out of bounds). All the young guys need to learn how to play in those situations.”

“DeRozan. His major challenge this summer is going to be getting in the weight room, getting bigger, getting stronger. (Looking at Kobe and LeBron) looking at how big and strong those guys are and keeping the athleticism.”

“Good for psyche? No question. We don’t want to be satisfied with close, but with the growth that we’re making against the top teams (without top scorers), my hat is off to the guys who competed. The guys took up the slack.”

Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories: General, NBA, Toronto Raptors | No comments

Boston Celtics at Toronto Raptors Points Per Game:

- February 11th, 2012

So, that’s why they play the games eh? It wasn’t impossible to see this one coming (I noted yesterday that for once, the Raptors would be at home rested waiting for a tired opponent and then the Celtics went to overtime in a battle with the Lakers to exhaust them even more). But still, considering Boston had taken 17-of-19 from the Raptors and beat up on them multiple times this season, it was still somewhat of a shock that Toronto upended Boston on Friday night.

- Boston had been averaging 98 points to Toronto’s 68.5 in the season series, shooting 50% to 35.9% for the Dinos.

- After being called out by Dwane Casey and humbled by the Celtics repeatedly, the Raptors showed some pride by taking this one. Gold quote from Amir Johnson:

“Excuse my language but I guess we just got tired of getting our asses busted,” said Amir Johnson, who had 12 points to go with 12 rebounds. “They have been beating us all season and the preseason. We finally stood up and hit them in the mouth.”

- The trick for the Raptors will be building on this without a letdown against the Lakers on Sunday. Los Angeles is going to be coming for the jugular thanks to their struggles.

- Casey showed some smart coaching by making his team run on the tired Celtics, who are old in the first place and had nothing in the tank after Thursday. Starting off hot was a key, jumping on Boston early was the only way to beat them. Toronto managed that with a higher compete level and an extra effort for 50/50 balls and second chance opportunities. Toronto has the young legs and athletes to do that all the time. It’s just a question of effort and willingness to do so.

- Jose Calderon rebounded from some spotty efforts with 14 assists and zero turnovers. The turnovers were the key as he had been making some uncharacteristic mistakes the past few weeks. I believe he’s the first Raptor ever to post 14 assists or more in three straight games, though Damon Stoudamire also might have pulled it off.

- Aaron Gray was one of the rare effective Raptors in Boston this season, and he had another nice night, pulling in 11 rebounds. I like the spacing he gives the team with his size and his screens. Will be interesting to see a Bargnani-Gray combo once Andrea gets back.

- Have to love what James Johnson is giving the Raptors at both ends. He has proven that at worst he is going to be a great reserve forward and defensive stopper going forward, and possibly much more than that. While Bryan Colangelo deserves the hammering he takes for some of his disastrous moves (Giving up all-star Roy Hibbert and more for Jermaine O’Neal, than giving up way too much to get rid of O’Neal and allowing Miami to get the cap space to form the Big Three for example), but stealing Johnson for a late pick in a bad draft was a heist that keeps looking increasingly astute.

- And, just to get some pageviews, the Jeremy Lin story is absolutely ridiculous and very cool to see. Even if he turns back into a pumpkin on Saturday, it has been a fantastic story and a reminder of why we love sports. Linsanity will be in the house Vinsanity built on Tuesday and all of a sudden a dull meeting with the possibly Melo and Amare-less Knicks becomes a likely sellout and a must-see for basketball fans.

 

Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories: General, NBA, Toronto Raptors | No comments

Raptors at Suns Points Per Game:

- January 25th, 2012

Finally, a win. Gutsy effort in Phoenix and a lineup change results in a victory to end a long losing streak. Oh, Andrea Bargnani might have had something to do with it.

- Bargnani proved again that he is an all-star, rebounding from a bad shooting start to absolutely pick apart the Suns. Sure Marcin Gortat lit up the Raptors, but Bargnani was only defending him part of the time and did better on that end than others.

- I liked the move to start Aaron Gray, I predicted at the start of the year (before Gray had his health problems) that he would start beside Bargnani for many matchups. Gives the team more size and a better screen-setter at the five. Also sends Amir Johnson a message – get your game back in gear, and he seemed to read it loud and clear. Johnson only played just shy of 13 minutes, but was back to his old active self. Plus the move forced me to try to remember the last time the Raptors started two 7-footers … I can’t remember that ever happening actually, since none of Chris Bosh, Jermaine O’Neal, Antonio Davis or Donyell Marshall are 7-footers.

- Toronto’s 3-pt shooting was a big positive. Beside Bargnani’s 4-for-6, the rest of the team went 4-for-9. That kept them in it when Phoenix was hot, and was a major reason why the end result was a win. Which leads to …

- Leandro Barbosa. He was the reason the Raptors were within four at the half in a game Phoenix should have had well in hand. Barbosa went 3-for-3 from three and was brilliant, particularly in the second quarter against his former team.

- Barbosa’s strong play helped mask another invisible night from DeMar DeRozan. This is at the troubling point now, especially since Bargnani was back, which was supposed to help DeRozan return to form. I liked his agressiveness early, but DeRozan failed to get to the free throw line and could not finish his chances.  His regression is the most negative aspect of this Raptors season, which is now a quarter of the way complete. Something needs to change and quickly. Right now DeRozan looks like a reserve, not a major piece of Toronto’s rebuild.

- I like what Ronnie Price has done for the Suns. Gives them a defensive boost. What the heck happened to Channing Frye? He can’t play anymore. Like at all.

- One more negative before I get to some positives. One of the reasons Toronto’s defence doesn’t look as good as it did early on is because Jose Calderon is no longer keeping anybody in front of him anymore. That’s been the case the past few games and didn’t change against the great Steve Nash. Nash blew by Calderon, this time with guile, not the speed other point guards have been using. Calderon, like most, to be fair, had no answers for Nash and his crafty, change of pace maneuvers. Another concern, re: Calderon, is the fact that he is making 1-2 bad passes at critical times (leaving his feet after dribbling into no-man’s land) throwing the ball away at inopportune times. It almost cost Toronto the game and would have had Phoenix hit more shots in the clutch. He did make some better decisions late that helped the Raptors win the game.

- James Johnson followed up his best game of the season with an even better one. He defended well and was solid on offence. His play would be one of the brighters spots of this season, though I’m sure Bryan Colangelo would prefer to have Johnson showing little instead of DeRozan and Ed Davis both showing next to nothing so far, aside from a fast start from DeRozan.

- Linas Kleiza continues to help the bench with his ability to score.

- I believe Toronto turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter but ended up with 16 total, so obviously the team did a much better job taking care of the ball as the game went on.

- OK one more negative. Marcin Gortat abused the team for three quarters. There was little resistance, he rolled to the hoop unguarded or overpowered the Raptors. The team finally guarded him better in the fourth.
- Dwane Casey drew up some good plays, including one to end the first half and bring the Raptors within four when Calderon went to James Johnson for a dunk. His team also used screens very well and Phoenix puzzlingly didn’t figure out that leaving Bargnani open off of screen and rolls or pick and pops was a very bad decision.

All in all, more good things to say than bad, but DeRozan and Davis need to get on track or else Colangelo doesn’t have nearly as much in his cupboard as he thinks and this retool is in worse shape than we thought.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories: General, NBA, Toronto Raptors | No comments

Raptors at Clippers Points Per Game:

- January 23rd, 2012

So, eight losses in a row. All but maybe two of them well-deserved. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark right now with the Raptors and it seems Dwane Casey is at his wit’s end. Some thoughts:

- Casey sat down Ed Davis earlier this year when he felt he wasn’t playing hard enough, not running the floor the way he can, etc. Casey did the same thing on Sunday against the Clippers to Amir Johnson who has not looked like himself of late. Another change to the starting lineup could be coming, unless Casey wants to see if Johnson finds himself when Andrea Bargnani comes back, likely on Tuesday in Phoenix. If Bargnani isn’t back, Casey needs to give Aaron Gray – who played well – a look. The Davis-Johnson combo is too small and slight and is getting lit up every game now.

- Casey sent a message by playing his bench – which has been better than the starters for two or three game snow – for large portions of the game.

- The Raptors aren’t playing like a team. Some evidence of it I noticed came in the fourth when the just-returned Jerryd Bayless got absolutely annihilated on a screen that Linas Kleiza (or anybody else in the vicinity) failed to warn him about. That’s how team chemistry suffers.

- Jose Calderon is back to not being able to keep anybody in front of him. He did a decent job of it early in the season, but something has happened and a system that was covering for it well is no longer doing so. It wasn’t just Calderon who had trouble with this though, as the other Clippers guards did whatever they wanted against whoever was guarding them. Most notably, Mo Williams,who scored the first 17 points for Los Angeles in the fourth quarter and 25 in all.

- Clips have an embarassment of riches at the point. Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups, Mo Williams would all be upgrades for the Raptors and Eric Bledsoe is much more of a true point guard prospect than Jerryd Bayless, though I like Bayless in a Leandro Barbosa role long-term.

- Horrendous performance by the starters, but you probably already know that, and a decent effort from the bench to at least give the Raptors the feeling they were in it a couple of times.

- Davis has a lot of work to do on his offensive game. Another reason why Johnson/Davis doesn’t work as a starting frontcourt stems from their offensive failings. Neither can create for themself and while Johnson can hit a few jumpers, Davis currently is lacking any semblance of an effective jump shot. That needs to change.

- As a whole, Toronto’s shot selection without Bargnani has been mostly horrible. Where is the basketball IQ? Bad shot after bad shot with no spacing or movement. For a few games they were getting good looks but just missing, but against the Clippers, the offence looked completely out of sorts and the players looked exhausted. The stagnant group missed 10 straight at one point.

- Another fatal flaw is the fact that Toronto tends to foul like nobody’s business but doesn’t draw enough at the other end. You can’t win if that keeps up.

- Finally, the zone again worked for a while and continues to be a good weapon for Casey’s Raptors, but like any scheme, it loses its effectiveness the longer it is used. The Clips figured out how to beat it eventually and that was that.

- Positives? The bench. Drew fouls, scored, hit from long-range. Linas Kleiza: Played reasonably well. Bayless: Returned to the lineup. Gray: Did his job.

We end today with a quote from Casey:

“We compete in practice harder than we do to start the game. Our starts in the first quarter and third quarter aren’t who we are. I’ve got to find seven or eight guys who are going to come out and compete.”

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories: General, NBA, Toronto Raptors | No comments

Wolves at Raptors Points Per Game

- January 10th, 2012

Some thoughts on a good Raptors win over Minnesota after I’ve had a night to reflect on it:

- Raptors continue to show the ability to beat the NBA’s lesser teams. They have held tough with playoff squads, but Jersey aside, have handled the minnows quite well.

- Incredible effort from Amir Johnson despite battling sickness and a thumb injury. The thumb issue helps explain why he has had trouble hanging onto balls this season and hasn’t finished as well. Despite denials from Kevin Love, who said his bad night was all him. Johnson was a major reason why he was off.

- Again, Andrea Bargnani was outstanding. His offensive play is self-explanatory – he is simply killing opponents with his fakes and footwork right now, daring them to challenge his shot and then darting by them. But it is his defence that remains the shocker. The man D is improved (not that it was terrible before), but his ability to cover ground and help out his teammates on switches and fighting through screens has been superb. He played 45 minutes against Minnesota, will be interesting to see what he has left against Washington

- James Johnson was also great. As has been the case many games this year, Johnson seemed to be everywhere on the court. And this time he didn’t make as many errors as is sometimes the case from overcommiting and trying to do too much. Johnson has some Jerome Williams in him – ie. doing too much, gambling, over-reading on plays, but I think he is going to be a better player. His jumper even looked good in extended warmup drills and the few times he shot during the game.

- DeMar DeRozan looks tired. Perhaps the effort required on defence and the schedule is hurting him on the offensive end? HE started very well when he was rested. He was more aggressive and even posted up. He needs to do more of that.

- Ricky Rubio is a real talent – duh. I like the Luke Ridnour-Rubio combo offensively, but the Wolves got punished defensively when they were on the court.

- Derrick Williams showed me it is just a matter of time until he becomes an impact player in the NBA. Still like him as a 4, but that obviously can’t happen, given how good Love is.

- Another game where the Raptors hold an opponent under 40% (34%). Impressive stuff, though this crazy NBA schedule has something to do with it.

- Dwane Casey said one of these days something is going to go in for Rasual Butler. Butler is doing his job defensively quite well, but is hurting the team by missing all of his shots. Doesn’t sound like a lineup switch is coming anytime soon.

- Linas Kleiza should learn his fate today. Team seems to be expecting him back on Wednesday against Sacramento, with Jerryd Bayless more likely for the weekend.

A few quotes I couldn’t work into my story:

Kevin Love:

“Just an off night. Nobody scored the ball particularly well and they just executed down the stretch. We had a couple of turnovers and that was the game.”

“The best thing about the NBA is there is another game tomorrow …  everybody has nights like that and I’ll bounce back.”

Rick Adelman:

“We have to finish at the basket and we have to be a little bit tougher than we were tonight.”

Ricky Rubio:

“(Calderon’s) a great defender, he can (play) defence very well. He knows how to defend, he’s smart on offence and defence and he has legs, he’s strong and he can guard everybody.”

Rubio has no regrets with staying in Spain: “I was with a team that won almost everything over there. I know how to handle the pressure (now) because of that.”

This just in, Jose has legs! (For some reason I found that quote hilarious).

Dwane Casey:

“I was pleased by the disposition (of the team after the disappointing second half in Philadelphia). But there were still a lot of subtle things (to work on).”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories: General, NBA, Toronto Raptors | No comments

Monday musings

- October 18th, 2010

Let’s start with Canada Basketball, before moving on to the Raptors and the NBA in general.

- Leo Rautins is going to get a two-year extension today. A lot of fans might not be happy with the move, but the organization has shown a commitment to Leo and the Dalembert incident aside – he has done a passable job with the team. He got them into the World Championship when nobody thought they’d get there. Yes, they were pretty terrible once there, but they weren’t exactly running out an imposing roster. Let’s see what he can do with some talent, before we write him off.

The one problem with that line of thinking is I have heard chatter from a handful of people who happen to have the ears of some of Canada’s up-and-coming star-calibre prospects, and the word is some of them would prefer to play for a younger coach that they have more of a connection with. That would make developmental coach Greg Francis the guy in my eyes, but I’ve heard he might not be who they want to play for either. Who is? No idea.

I’m going to side with Canada basketball on this one. You can’t have the players running the show, no matter how talented and promising they are. Once they start calling the shots on any team, you’re done. Ask the Raptors how letting Carter or Bosh run things went.

Leo has improved as a coach over the years and he will have to get a lot better yet in order to last the next two years. He will be the guy that will try to get Canada into the 2012 London Olympics. It is possible, but more realistic is 2014 (worlds in Spain) and beyond. By that point, Canada, talent-wise, should be top 5 or 6 in the world. Right now we’re more like 15-25.

- As for the Raptors, still not feeling the Jose Calderon, Reggie Evans version of the starting lineup. I see the logic – Evans’ rebounding helps make up for Bargnani’s failings in that regard and Amir Johnson is rolling with the second unit, but I’d still rather see Johnson – who also plays great with Bargnani – starting.

The argument for Calderon is he isn’t doing terrible, he doesn’t turn the ball over and Jarrett Jack is running the bench brigade brilliantly. I understand that, but at this point, to me, Jack is a much better player than Calderon, particularly defensively and I think it is going to get ugly if Calderon is starting against guys like Paul, Williams, Rondo, Collison, Holiday, and on and on. He’s far more suited to guarding backup point guards.

- Time to admit I was wrong about Linas Kleiza. He is a much better player now than he was before heading over to Europe. I was judging him on his years in Denver. He’s not the same guy. Is it crazy to think Kleiza might be the team’s best player? I don’t think so. He can score in a variety of ways, hits the boards and competes hard, is a good passer and isn’t completely useless defensively.

- Still can’t believe Phoenix agreed to (A) Take Turkoglu and (B) send back Barbosa. Highway robbery. I feel bad for Steve Nash. By next year at the latest I expect him to be sent elsewhere. He will get extremely frustrated trying to carry Turkoglu on his back.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Categories: General | No comments

Some thoughts for a Wednesday

- October 13th, 2010

- The Raptors are a lot closer to the team that got crushed by the Bulls Tuesday than the one that hammered the Suns by 51 to start the pre-season. This team is going to be hard-pressed to win 30 games (though 32 still is my prediction). There is not enough consistent scoring on hand. The team’s top rebounder Amir Johnson can’t stay on the court due to foul trouble, and Andrea Bargnani/David Andersen is not a centre tandem that scares anybody in terms of presence defensively.

- Speaking of Bargnani, he’s been pretty bad, but showed signs of improvement against the Bulls. He’ll come around offensively. He was one of only two Raptors with a positive +/- vs. the Bulls.

- Gilbert Arenas thinks differently than most of us. Can’t believe he faked an injury in order to sit out and get his buddy Nick Young more playing time Tuesday. But maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, Gilbert is a different kind of guy.

- Marcus Banks has value as an expiring contract, but if I’m the Raps I hold on to him. With Jose Calderon’s injury history, it would be pretty ballsy to deal Banks (unless another point guard is coming back). Jarrett Jack can’t play 48 minutes and Leandro Barbosa at the 1 is a disaster waiting to happen based on his time in Phoenix.

- Reggie Evans is another story. Great guy, adds a lot to the team with his attitude and grit, but Joey Dorsey is a younger, far cheaper version, so Evans is expendable.

- Going forward, I believe the Raptors need to add a star-level point guard (many will be available in the 2011 draft) and move Calderon and need to add a true centre who blocks shots and rebounds at a high level. Bargnani, Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Linas Kleiza, Sonny Weems, Ed Davis, Leandro Barbosa and Amir Johnson are all nice pieces to have.

Solomon Alabi and Dorsey are cheap bigs with some upside, always useful to have arond. That leaves 5 spots for other players including a star PG that will eventually push Jack to the bench and a bruising 7-footer in the Brendan Haywood/prime Erick Dampier mold.

Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo has Calderon, Evans, Banks and a $14.5 million trade exception (+draft picks if he foolishly wants to surrender them) as bait to land a top talent or two. With shooting guard, small forward and power forward all stocked nicely going forward, centre and point guard are the areas which need to be addressed. Historically speaking, those happen to be the two toughest positions to fill with quality, though there has been a run on elite point guards the past five years or so.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories: General | No comments

Assorted thoughts after a week of Raptor camp

- October 4th, 2010

Not in Vancouver, unfortunately, so thought I’d sum up my thoughts after watching and talking to the Raptors in Toronto for a week:

DeMar DeRozan looks bigger and seems more confident in every way. He has very high expectations for himself and the team seems to be trying to make him the next “star” of the team because he is an easier sell than the more staid Andrea Bargnani.

Bargnani is also confident and much more at ease talking to the media. If he is feeling extra pressure with Chris Bosh gone, it certainly is not showing.

Will be interesting to see if Bargnani and DeRozan can take big steps forward with so much more attention coming their way from defences.

Amir Johnson isn’t feeling any pressure thanks to his new contract. He’s looking to do the same things defensively, push his rebound total up to 10 a game while staying out of foul trouble. Good to see he’s ambitious, but a double-double is out of the question unless he can stay on the court for about 28 minutes a night. In the past he’s barely been able to play half that many minutes.

This team has a better mix of personalities than recent Raptor squads. There are still a bunch of good guys, but it isn’t all good guys anymore, and that’s a good thing. Linas Kleiza, Reggie Evans, Amir Johnson, Jarrett Jack and a couple others all play with an edge.

Sonny Weems might be the most confident player on the roster. He has massive expecations for himself at both ends of the floor.

Players always are confident and thinking big at this time of year, but it seems even more the case this year. While some of the goals are unrealistic, it’s always good to see players trying to get a lot better instead of just coasting, like that Turkoglu guy.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories: General | 1 comment

Media day wrapup

- September 28th, 2010

Here’s the best of what I got at Raptors media day Monday that did not make the stories I wrote for the paper:

Andrea Bargnani:

Kind of weird (Bosh) has been here last four years (Bargnani has been here), I wish him all the
best.

He’s gone, so we just keep playing, we’ve got new guys, we’ve got to get better. Other guys are going to
have the chance to step up and that’s what we look for. We have a very young team.
When Chris was out? I had the chance to play agaist double-teams, defence
was more focused on me. Is this your team?

We have a great chemistry, that’s important.

On playing with Amir Johnson: ,I’m great with him on the
court. He runs the floor better than me glad to play with him.
We have lots of guys who speak in the locker room, don’t worry.

Rebounding: Not enough time (to concentrate on it with Italy this summer). I played in the low post, I was the main guy, I had to score a lot every night, get the touches at the end of the game. I was playing 30, 40 minutes a night, wasn’t something I was focusing on. Wasn’t focusing on one thing.

DeMar DeRozan:
Had a great summer, worked on a lot of things. Just trying to get better.
Ball-handling is the main thing. Face of franchise? I’m up for the challenge, trying to get
better every night. Don’t look at it as pressure. I love being the underdog.
On Bosh: We’ll miss him, but we’ve got to keep moving. I sat right next to him, he always talked to me, when I first got here, he talked to me about a lot of stuff. Our first pre-=season game he said to me, don’t mess up. That’s something that will always stick with me.
Now he’s the enemy.

Sonny Weems:
I expect big thing. I feel real good. We have a bunch of guys here who want to play.

Great opportunity. I feel like I can be one of the premier players on this team, that’s what I’m
striving for. But individual success will come.

On predictions that the Raptors will be terrible: It’s just a bunch of guys who sit behind a desk and all they do is
talk. That’s why I call it opinions, because everybody has one. It definitely gives you motivation because you want to prove people wrong.

Goal is to be a starter? That’s what I’m aiming for, I think with me playing the way I
have been, I think I can get it.
Contract. Not thinking about it. It’s going to come, will take care of itself.

On battling with Linas Kleiza, a friend from Denver: Just a friendly rivalry, that’s all. No amimosity towards each
other, just part of the job.

Jarrett Jack:

On Chris Bosh leaving:

It’s just like college, he left me after one year. The only advice I ever gave him was to do whatever your heart thought was best for you. He thought Miami was best for him so you can’t fault him for that.

Amir Johnson:

The opportunity is definitely there. Instead of a guy relying on a guy scoring 20-30 points a night, we’ll play more as a team. Instead of Chris Bosh, it will be the Raptors.

Absolutely, I think we’ll improve. We’re going to be an up-and-down team, everybody will get a chance to score. We just make the offence come to us. I score my points on put-backs and rebounds, I definitely improved on my offensive game over the summer. One of my goals is to average a double-double.

Johnson asked about his Foul Trouble video. Said he is ready to cut down on the fouls and play more minutes.

“More time you get, the better you get at not fouling. More time I played, the better I got.”

Will he be able to avoid foul trouble against Miami, will the rest of the league?

I think I’ll be alright. (Will they be at the line the whole game?) … No they won’t.

s:
Just made the wrong move. Knew there was something funny going on.
Not being healthy: Not trying to get used to it, it’s real tough to deal
with after my wrist injury. Just try to work, try to get stronger.
Dad: Just try to take the positive from it. Work on my shot, do all the
little things. I feel good, I’m riding the bike, working on the treadmill.
Just when they clear me when I’m strong enough to play.
Far behind: I think it puts me behind a lot, will be a learning experience,
but it puts me far behind.
Like Toronto. Plan is not to come back with a brace.
Very frustrating because I never missed a game until I broke my wrist.
Not about how you start the season, all about how you finish the year.
Being in the NBA has been a lifelong dream, but I’m getting used to it.
Under wing: I feel like it’s a family, everyone just takes you in and if you
need anything you can call anytime of the night. Like brothers, showing me
what’s what, what to do, what not to do. They have their inside jokes, I
known DeMar since AAU, you can tell they have a good friendship and that’s a
good thing.

Bargnani: Kind of weird he’s been here last four years, I wish him all the
best. Expecations on everybody, I want to be the best player possible, keep
getting better. I played with the national team a couple of months, I played
back to the basket, was the main guy there (double teams) was good for me.
Make up for Chris? He’s gone, so we just keep playing, we’ve got new guys,
can’t wait to start training camp. I mean, we didn’t come from a
championship last year, we’ve got to get better. Other guys are going to
have the chance to step up and that’s what we look for. We have a very young
team.
When Chris was out? I had the chance to play agaist double-teams, defence
was more focussed on me. Is this your team? This is Raptors team. No, you
don’t say at the microphone, it is something you say on the court. Game
after game. Not something that you just say before the season ever starts.
A team. We have a great chemistry, that’s importatn, like I said, last year
we didn’t make the playoffs.
On Amir, will play much more minutes together. I’m great with him on the
court. He runs the floor better than me glad to play with him.
I’m thinking I got better last year. Try to play more inside, be more
aggressive with double teams. We have lots of guys who speak in the locker
room, don’t worry.
I have to be a good player, best player as possible, try to get better.
Rebounding: Not enough time. I played in the low post, I was the main guy, I
had to score a lot every night, get the touches at the end of the game. I
was playing 30, 40 minutes a night, wasn’t something I was focusing on.
Wasn’t focusing on one thing.

Triano: Had a great summer with the national team. Have to get better at the
defensive end. I love the challenge. I love the challenge when people tell
us.

DeRozan:
Had a great summer, worked on a lot of things. Just trying to get better.
Ball-handling. Face of franchise. I’m up for the challenge, trying to get
better every night. Don’t look at it as pressure. I love being the underdog.
We’re trying to find where Ed lives. We need guys like him.
We’ll miss him, but we’ve got to keep moving. Bosh was, I sat right next to
him, he always talked to me, when I first got here, he talked to me about a
lot of stuff. Our first pre-=season game he said to me, don’t mess up.
Now he’s the enemy.
Young Gunz: Helps a lot. It really brings us together. Being able to be
friends like that outside of basketball. It’s fun.
Amir/Bargnani. Will be even better Amir worked a lot this summer. He’s
definitely ready. We should be able to surprise a lot of people.
Do you need a franchise player? Not really, we have a lot of great players.
We’ve gotta change the name,. Everybody in Toronto knows it’s our
trademarkt. It’s cool.

Weems:
I expect big thing. Get up and down the court. Post-Bosh era. I feel real
good. We have a bunch of guys here who want to play. Can rebound, block
shots, play defence.
Been up and down since I’ve been in the league. Great opportunity. I feel
like I can be one of the premier players on this team, that’s what I’m
striving for. But individual success will come. Was close with guys in
Denver. It’s very very rare when you have a team where everybody likes each
other. Know each other’s likes, dislikes, it carries onto the court. If you
have that relationship, it carries onto the court.
Bargnani is going to step up in a big role, I mean he has to. He’s basically
our guy. It’s just a bunch of guys who sit behind a desk and all they do is
talk. That’s why I call it opinions, because everybody has one. It
definitely gives you motivation because you want to prove people wrong.
Davis bump in the road, that’s what he’s going through. When he comes back
he’ll get his minutes. On this team, he’s going to be able to play because
he does a lot of things some of the big guys in the league don’t do, block
shots and rebound.
We’ll come up with another name, something like Young Ones.
For starter? That’s what I’m aiming for, I think we me playing the way I
have been, I think I can get it.
Contract. Not thinking about it. It’s going to come, will take care of
itself. Just a friendly rivalry, that’s all. No amimosity towards each
other, just part of the job.
I think my man is going to leave. That’s my boy, I’m with him 100%.

Kleiza:

Jack: Never a bad thing when you take a liking to someone. I know a lot of guys, during the season you talke, after the season we don’t. If you are close, you will go that extra mile.

It’s just like college, he left me after one year. The only advice I ever gave him was to do whatever your heart thought was best for you. He thought Miami was best for him so you can’t fault him for that.

Andrea ready. I think you’ve seen tremendous growth in Andrea since he’s been in the league. Amir looks a lot more comfortable in the post. Get Andrea the ball inside more? We know what he can do on the perimeter, if it calls for that, we’ll definitely give him the ball.

Johnson: The opportunity is definitely there. Instead of a guy relying on a guy scoring 20-30 points a night, we’ll play more as a team. Instead of Chris Bosh, it will be the Raptors.

Absolutely, I think we’ll improve. We’re going to be an up=and-down team, everybody will get a chance to score. We just make the offence come to us. I score my points on put-backs and rebounds, I definitely improved on my offensive game over the summer. One of my goals is to average a double-double.

Close to guys? It definitely helps, when you spend time together, we talk all the time, why not talk on the court on the defensive end? Just kind of treat it like a family. Stick together, stick together on the court.

English taught him? Secret, you have to see it in a game, I’ll explain it then.

Johnson asked about his Foul Trouble video. Said he is ready to cut down on the fouls and play more minutes. More time you get, the better you get at not fouling. More time I played, the better I got. Against Miami? I think I’ll be alright. At line the whole game … no they won’t. We’ll see what happens.

Cool to look back? Absolutely. Definitely feel comfortable, kind of relief. Got a lot of weight off my back, think I’ll do better. No pressure at all.

Colangelo on Bargnani:

He’s been progressing every year, getting better every year, to some degree, in the shadow of Crhis. He’s going to have a lot more opportunities to score, to express himself on the court. He had a great year, he was the leader of the (Italian national) team and was doing the things in the post. He told me he spent so much time in the post, I really got more comfortable.

I don’t know how giant a step (he will take). There will definitely be a step and people ask me all the time, who’s the leader of the team – I don’t know who the true leader will be – I don’t know if I could tell you who the true leader of the team was last year – I know who the leading scorer of the team was – I can estimate the leading scorer of this team is going to be Andrea. It’s because he’s already poised to be that.He’s the natural scoring leader, if you will.

Who’s going to lead the team? That’s a different story.

When you’ve got a guy scoring 24 pts and taking out 10-11 rebounds a game there’s obviously someone that’s not going to get those opportunities. In some cases, it was Andrea. Again, it’s not a knock on Chris. Chris did tend to hold the ball. Andrea was expected to be away from the basket and open up those lanes. And a lot of times Chris got to the lane because had that room to work. But that stops other players from making plays.

Andrea, I don’t think, showed the frustration but of course his 17 points is probably going to increase because we’ll be going to him a little more in the post and little more outside. There should even be a few boards for him to pick up.

It’s moving (his development) in the direction we thought it would. I don’t think there was  ever a time frame put on it. At 17 and 6 last year, the biggest disaapoinment is his rebounds were only six per game…I anticipate he’s going to move up from the 17 pts he scored last year and we hope that he moves up from six rebounds. He’s well on his way … You look around the league at the bigs, the 7-footers, who has his versatility and skill set. Again, every team that calls wants to ask about Andrea. Is he available? They smell blood in the water. They read articiles about how bad he is.

Tags: , , , , ,
Categories: General | No comments

Checking in

- August 5th, 2010

Just a quick post to say I’m back from vacation and will be writing on an almost-daily basis on the Raptors and basketball in general.

The most interesting thing I’ve come across today is updated NBA salaries by the best salary guy in the business, Sham at shamsports.

He has the Amir Johnson contract for $30 million total, not the $34 million that has been bandied about. That will appease at least a few of the many people howling about how bad a contract it is. If you’re a regular reader, you would know I’m definitely not in that camp. I thought it was OK at $34 million, I think it is very reasonable at $30 mil. The bottom line is the Raptors play a lot better defensively when Johnson is on the floor and the offence doesn’t suffer much either because he converts so well inside and off the pick-and-roll.

Tags: ,
Categories: General | No comments

« Older Entries