Posts Tagged ‘Jonas Valanciunas’

Cavaliers at Raptors Points Per Game: You wanted the rookies and now you’re going to get them; Amir for MIP? At least DeRozan attacked; Catching up with Thompson

- March 11th, 2013

Those no-quit Raptors resurfaced on Sunday, rallying to beat a Cleveland squad that couldn’t figure out how to play once star point guard Kyrie Irving was forced out due to an injury. There is little question that Amir Johnson is the team’s MVP for 2012-13, just as he deserved that honour for the 2010-11 season (he had a poor season sandwiched in between). Adrian Wojnarowski first floated this, but Johnson probably is going to get some votes for most improved player simply because most people don’t remember what he did two years ago at all, but just recall that he wasn’t very good last season. Paul George has the award sewn up, but if Amir gets in the top 5, it will be well-deserved. He definitely is a better player than he was last year and he’s also better than he was two years ago.

Some thoughts:

-DeMar DeRozan struggled without Rudy Gay, but one of the good things he did was continue to attack the basket (eight free throw attempts) He could have done that more often early, but he at least made a point of doing it. He also moved the ball well to set up his teammates (6 assists) an under-reported area of improvement this season. He’s gone from an extremely poor passer to an above-average facilitator.

- Rudy Gay is expected to return Friday, but expect him to be rested liberally to close the season. The team knows he’s not right and it’s impacting his production. No point letting him play through this. Sounds like Andrea Bargnani could be out a while after hurting his sore elbow. The doctors in L.A. immediately told him to shut it down so it’s not like he’s embellishing or anything. It’s unfortunate, as he needed a good stretch here to up his trade value. Dealing him won’t be the easiest thing in the world this summer (well, dealing him for any kind of value that is) but somebody will pony up something. We’ve seen far worse players and contracts dealt over the years (though the new CBA is more restrictive, which limits the market further).

- You’ve probably read a half-dozen stories now about Amir, so we’ll leave out the fact that he turned in another standout performance in a season filled with them.

- Minus Gay and with DeRozan struggling, Alan Anderson stepped up, leading the team in scoring, and Landry Fields did a nice job again all-around.

- Casey said he’s going to roll with Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross now down the stretch, as long as they aren’t making mistakes on every second play. If their errors become too frequent, they’ll sit until they learn what they’re doing wrong, but the expectation is, they’ll be able to stay on the court for 25-30 minutes every night to close out this season. Ross was a little shot happy early, but eventually started to use his elite athleticism to his advantage. He needs to do more of that. He made mistakes, but also contributed across the board with five rebounds, three assists and 14 points. He also couldn’t quite finish a couple of spectacular drives. Valanciunas was his usual solid self and once he gets featured more in the offence (next season) the efficiency of DeRozan and Gay should improve.

- Casey again defended his decisions on the road in sitting Valanciunas and Ross. I absolutely agree with rookies needing to adapt to the speed of the game and that Valanciunas  has had some issues with that, but we’re going to agree to disagree about what Aaron Gray provides and how effective Valanciunas had been against Dwight Howard compared to Gray and leave it at that. I do agree that it didn’t make sense to throw Ross in against Kobe or the artist formerly known as Ron Artest.

- Kyle Lowry again looked more like the Lowry of old, the one the team needs going forward. He still needs to take more shots (it seems like he took all of the complaining about his early-season “chucking” to heart and is completely going away from it) there has to be a balance. That “no he didn’t … yes he did!” turnaround to seal the game was an example of the shots he needs to take. He’s capable of hitting them and it puts pressure on opponents, since they know he can score from anywhere at any time, when he feels like it.

- Casey on the need for three-point shooting next year:

“Corner threes. We dearly need it. We’re 22nd or 23rd in three-point shooting. To open up the floor for DeMar and Rudy, we need somebody to get that shot. We need consistent three-point shooting to open up.

There’s nowhere for he or DeMar to go (with no three-point threats).

Could be next evolution of DeMar’s career. Rudy is still struggling with his back I think that effects his shot from the first week he’s here.” As I pointed out last game, DeRozan has had far more success shooting corner threes than his long attempts from elsewhere on the court, so there’s a good chance he can add that to his arsenal.

- Valanciunas said he’s getting more acclimated to the NBA every day.

“I’m working a lot on my post moves. I feel comfortable every game, it’s getting better. That was a great effort in the second half. We were down big-time we regrouped and we came back,” he said.

“There is up and down nights because one night you feel tired, one night you feel tired. You need to adjust. I’ve been here like five months already. Every month I feel more and more comfortable.”

- Always enjoy catching up with Tristan Thompson. I’ve been covering Tristan since he was in high school and Frank Zicarelli even covered him in the Sun when he was still playing high school ball in Canada. Like Valanciunas, who went one pick after him, he’s a genuine guy who hasn’t changed, despite being drafted fourth overall and despite the money and fame that has come with that. He’s a hard worker and that relentlessness has paid off since he’s a heck of a lot better this season than he was as a rookie. The difference in his confidence on offence is night and day. Thompson said everything was a rush last year due to the lockout (no time to adjust to the NBA, being thrown right into the fire) and being more prepared and understanding the NBA game more has really paid off. Thompson sees himself as one of the leaders of the Canadian national team for the next decade or so and keeps a close eye on what his fellow Canadians are doing in the NCAA. He’s happy good friend Myck Kabongo has been tremendous since coming back from his suspension and has definitely seen what Kelly Olynyk and Kevin Pangos have been doing at Gonzaga. It’s by no means set in stone that Thompson and Olynyk will pair up for Canada (since Andrew Nicholson and Anthony Bennett, among others, are also fantastic players), but if they do, Thompson believes they will play well together.

“We complement each other well. He’s a pick and pop guy, I’m a space eater, so we play off each other and we’re good together,” Thompson told me.

More from Tristan:

Tristan:

“It’s definitely been tough (losing Anderson Varejao to injury) because Andy, he meant a lot to us, he was 14 and 14. He played with a sense of pride and just a hunger to play hard every night, so we definitely do miss him, but, the opportunity came for me to play and I can show a little bit more, so you have to take advantage of it. It’s part of the league, injuries happen, but we wish Andy was with us right now,” he said.

On Texas struggling:

“We wish Texas could get a bit more wins, but it happens in college basketball. Some years it goes through, some years it doesn’t. As long as the young guys keep getting better, one day, we’ll get back to the promised land.”

Thompson also said he was happy that Toronto was able to create a buzz in the city by acquiring Rudy Gay. Thinks Gay will be a big addition for the team. While Thompson is a proud Cav, he loves the city and prefers to see the Raptors doing well and getting noticed (as long as they aren’t playing Cleveland).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Raptors at Lakers Points Per Game: The season summed up in one game; Witnessing Kobe Bryant’s greatness; Play Valanciunas through his mistakes; Not fouling is on the players; Casey not helping his cause

- March 9th, 2013

First, a tip of the cap to Kobe Bryant. Like with LeBron James, we are all witnessing greatness in real time. Forget a drop-off, like Tim Duncan, Bryant has been better this season than he has been in years. Maybe three players in the entire league pull off what Kobe did last night, making ridiculous shots, willing his team to a win. Sure, going away from Landry Fields on him might have hurt – Fields was doing a reasonably solid job on him again – but it’s not like Alan Anderson was doing anything particularly wrong defensively. Kobe just went off and did his thing.

- Now, on to the Raptors. It’s hyperbole, but late in games, don’t these guys seem a little Washington Generals-esque this season?  Everyone wants to blame the head coach for all of it, but the players deserve blame too. This was (at least) the second time Casey told his guys to foul (Al Jefferson being other big example) and they screwed up, plain and simple. That’s on the players, not the coach. They knew what they had to do, but, inexplicably, didn’t do it. Everyone on the planet knew what was going to happen, who was going to get the ball. 1- You can’t let him even have an opportunity to catch that ball and 2 – if he somehow does, you have to be in a position to foul him before he can get off a shot. Just terrible execution. For the season as a whole, all of the blown fourth quarter leads/late game failures are on both the players and Dwane Casey and his staff.

- Where you can fault the coach fully is the rotation. While Terrence Ross needs run to develop, I fully understand wanting to win this final “statement/relevancy” game and going with Alan Anderson. It is best for the franchise long-term to get Ross out there, but very few coaches, especially ones with only a year remaining on their deal, will ever go with rookies over vets. But … not playing Jonas Valanciunas much (or at all) in fourth quarters is  something I disagree with. I don’t get it at all. Since returning from injury, Valanciunas has been one of the team’s four best players overall and on most individual nights. Going small can work sometimes, but having an athletic, smart, 7-footer who can play beside a 6-foot-10 guy (Amir Johnson) who shares some of those qualities, is a good thing as well. Aaron Gray sets better screens than Valanciunas and has veteran smarts, but he still doesn’t help the team more than he’s out there than Valanciunas, rookie mistakes and all. He’s simply a much better player. Plus he’s the face of the franchise (with Rudy Gay) going forward and needs to be out there as much as possible to prepare for the time where he will be a key player in crunch time at both ends. It’s baffling and unfortunately, because he’s a great guy who coached his ass off last season, it might be one of the main things that catches up with Casey after this season. Yes, you can point to his defensive mistakes but why ignore all of the good things he does that Gray simply isn’t physically capable of doing? Lithuania made the mistake of not throwing him into the fire and the Raptors are doing it as well.

- Something clearly isn’t right with Rudy Gay. He’s far better than what he’s shown. Part of it is forcing things, trying to assert himself as “the man” part of it likely is his sore shoulder, part of it could be adjusting his shot and shooting zones (as he told Michael Grange in a recent interview). Add it all up, and it’s not pretty, especially when the contract is brought into the equation. But, I don’t think Raptor fans need to worry about Gay. He’ll be settled in by the start of next season and will be healthy and much, much more effective. The Gay I’ve been watching since his college game doesn’t shoot airballs and miss as badly as he has. Sure, his basketball IQ isn’t as high as it could be and his shot selection needs to get a lot better, but he’s far better than he’s shown so far.

- I was all but certain, based on everything I’ve heard all year, that Casey and Bryan Colangelo would have their options picked up and given a final chance to show what they can do next season. But, after a dozen or so lost fourth quarters, after the odd rotational decisions and after being unable to connect with most talented player Kyle Lowry (which granted, isn’t the easiest thing to do given how mercurial Lowry is … though franchise has given him the keys and needs him at his best), will MLSE add it all up and cancel out the many positives Casey brings to the table? It was crazy to even suggest such a thing earlier in the year, but, now, my gut says it’s 55% Casey isn’t back to 45% he is. Or, might we see a Maple Leafs scenario where Casey is forced to part with some of his top assistants the way Ron Wilson was in a final attempt to make Wilson work in Toronto (the Leafs made Wilson get rid of his two close friends and top assistants, while then-GM Brian Burke brought in replacements of his choosing … Interestingly, new head coach Randy Carlyle ended up keeping both of the parachuted-in assistants on his staff after replacing Wilson and kept them again this season). The trouble there is Johnny Davis is closest on staff to Lowry and Gay owing to their time together in Memphis so probably not wise to remove him from equation.

- Don’t see how the Raptors will find the money to bring back Anderson next year, and while his offence (when on) and defence will be missed, Landry Fields deserves more run and likely will get it.

- Would like to end with positives after all of that (needed) negativity so here they are”

Again, Rudy Gay is a lot better than he’s shown. No need to panic now. If he’s doing this in December, go ahead and freak out. He’ll likely never be “worth” $18 million a season, but I’d rather overpay a good player than a not-so-good player and Gay is definitely a well above average player. Lowry is too and Valanciunas should be one day and DeRozan can be if he gets his defence up to a league average level and cuts down on his bad shots.

Speaking of DeRozan, he played a fantastic game. One of the keys was limiting those aforementioned bad shot attempts. Long twos are the worst shots in the game. DeRozan needs to either attempt more threes or take a step in on every jumper. That will help his efficiency greatly. On Friday, DeRozan only took what I would call four “bad” shots and he made three of them. And three of those “bad” shots actually might be “good” shots for DeRozan but bad ones for most other players since he’s hit 52.5% of them (long twos from the left corner) on the season. He’s just 31% on the same shots from the other side of the floor, so those ones need to be avoided at all costs. He is around 30% on corner threes so those should probably be the only threes he takes. If he can focus on where his good shots come from and taking them from there and on becoming even an average defender, the future of the franchise looks a lot more promising. DeRozan has the work ethic and smarts to pull it off, but it is by no means a given.

- Covered Casey, will get to Colangelo next time.

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Grizzlies at Raptors Points Per Game: Gay, Davis non-factors against former teams; Memphis doesn’t mess around on defence; Telfair deal close

- February 21st, 2013

Memphis wasn’t about to let Rudy Gay show them up. The team double-teamed its former scoring leader and hounded him into a tough performance. Those gritty Grizz basically hounded everyone, including familiar target DeMar DeRozan, in one of the more hideous games you’ll see (thankfully) this season.

Tony Allen admitted he was fired up for the game after Gay said DeRozan, not Allen or O.J. Mayo, was the best shooting guard he’d ever played with. Allen’s a great competitor who looks for slights to fire him up. It worked, his defence was some of the best I’ve seen this season. After the game he praised the Raptors, saying it felt like a playoff game. It looked like one too at times, with scoring only a rumour and hand-to-hand combat more prevalent than made buckets.

Some thoughts:

- Not a good night for the Gay-DeRozan combo after a string of good games. Memphis bottled them up and forced them into bad shots all evening. The Raptors badly need a consistent outside threat to take pressure off of them. Andrea Bargnani isn’t that guy and now he’s being booed by the ACC faithful at every turn. That’s not a good development, as it’s highly unlikely the Raptors pull off a trade by today’s deadline involving Bargnani.

- Still impressed by the compete level of Jonas Valanciunas.

- Good to see Ed Davis, who looked quite a bit happier than the last time I saw him in Atlanta. Davis was crushed that night, with news of his trade to Memphis still settling in and after an emotional goodbye with his teammates. You can tell he’s still adjusting to his new digs and life on the bench after vaulting into the spotlight as a starter in Toronto. Life apart from best friend DeRozan has been a challenge, but he’s starting to get more comfortable in Memphis and is finally going to move out of his hotel and into a place. He’s looking forward to being in the playoffs.

“It’s going to be my first time in the playoffs. Just being a part of it is going to be great,” Davis said.

I asked Davis about the difference between Toronto, where Dwane Casey wants his team to have a defensive identity, and Memphis, where Lionel Hollins helms the second-best defensive group in the NBA.

“We’ve got a lot of defensive-minded, tough guys on this team and that helps when you have guys that just want to preach defence,” he said.

- Tony Allen on preparing for Rudy Gay:

“Ain’t going to be like nothing. Just like preparing for a regular game, you see I’m watching? Some of the things he’s doing. That’s all. Just a regular routine of a scout,” Allen told me, while watching video on his iPad of Gay’s favourite moves. Allen’s lockdown defence isn’t just something that magically happens. Sure he’s a great athlete with tremendous intensity, but the man studies his opponents like few others.

- Though Gay and Davis kind of downplayed the return beforehand, and neither ended up playing well, their coaches knew this game meant extra to them.

“It’s going to be emotional. Anybody that says it’s not is not being totally honest,” Casey said beforehand.

“You always want to do well when you go back and face your old team. It doesn’t change anything, but it makes you feel good to go and put it on them,” Hollins said.

“We have guys here, Jerryd Bayless and Ed Davis and Toronto has Rudy Gay, and somewhat Kyle Lowry, although he’s one team removed, he still likes to play well against us.”

- One more thought as Sebastian Telfair is close to becoming a Raptor for a second-round pick. If it’s a pick that actually is going to be conveyed it’s an odd move. Telfair will help, but John Lucas III is playing well. Seconds aren’t massive assets, but they are assets nonetheless and teams strike gold with them once in a while. But not if they don’t have them. In a cap world with penalties for exceeding the cap and getting into the luxury tax getting more punishing each year, cheap assets help. Dealing a pick for a two-month rental in a season that is basically done anyway (in terms of making the playoffs) seems unnecessary.

 

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Rockets at Raptors points per game: Move the ball, play some D, success will follow; Calderon NBA’s most professional player; Sabonis, the all-time great, in the house

- December 17th, 2012

Funny what having everybody on the same page and everybody trying hard does for a team. The Raptors have been locked in, have had a focus to playing defence and a commitment to playing team basketball at both ends over the past three games, and have been rewarded with two victories (and a big lead against Brooklyn that they couldn’t hold).

There’s a clear difference between the sorry outfit we saw in November (and parts of December). A key has been getting off to better starts. Regular readers know I vouched for an Ed Davis, Jonas Valanciunas starting frontcourt and they are doing what I expected. Even though the numbers didn’t exactly jump out after the first quarter either on Friday or Sunday, it was clear, the duo were major reasons why the Raptors played well from the jump. Once Valanciunas gets stronger and puts on some more meat they’ll be even more effective, but even right now, they out-rebound opponents, get easy buckets above the rim and alter and block shots, making life more difficult for opponents.

Some thoughts on Sunday’s game:

Alan Anderson has emerged as an X-factor for the team. He might be the best perimeter defender on the squad (though Terrence Ross gets better in that regard every day), he has confidence and swagger and is extremely shifty while also having a good enough three-point shot to keep opponents honest. He’s a really nice glue player to have on the roster and played extremely well.

Jose Calderon said he doesn’t worry about who is starting or how much he is playing and just wants to be the most professional player in the league. Great quote. He’s the consummate pro. He would prefer to start elsewhere, but is going to do whatever he can to help the team play well.

That said, not about to start a point guard controversy. Kyle Lowry is a better all-around player and a better fit for a Dwane Casey-led team. Lowry just needs to settle in, stop forcing things and gamble a bit less on defence upon his return. He’ll be fine. If Calderon can be moved for value, great, if not, a lot of teams would kill to have a Lowry-Calderon combo, it’s certainly not the worst thing in the world.

I thought the Raptors stuck around to set good screens a little better on Sunday and it helped give players like Calderon, DeRozan and Anderson more room.

John Lucas’ shot seems to be back and he’s getting teammates involved too. This is by far the best he has played since starring in the pre-season.

As Casey said after the game, Toronto’s pressure and aggressiveness eventually threw Houston off from three-point range. We saw it in the third quarter and it also was very apparent down the stretch, when the Raptors forced Houston into three air balls late.

Casey sat Davis for the fourth even though he turned the game around in the third with 13 points and … it was the right call. If he wasn’t going to go big (normal?) with two 6-10 or bigger players, going with Amir Johnson over Davis as the lone big makes more sense. Davis has become one of Toronto’s best help/team defenders, but Johnson remains the best on the team in that regard. He is a bit quicker and more instinctual in terms of reading and reacting for switches and did a nice job helping on James Harden.

“Amir did a heck of a job and he was in the flow of the game. Down the stretch. I thought that Amir would be better for switching onto Harden,” Casey confirmed. Playing Davis and Johnson might have worked, we’ll never know, but if you were going to play only one, Johnson made sense this time.

Johnson was amusing afterwards when asked about how talking more on defence has helped the team. He basically said not only do they tell each other where to be or what is happening, they also just yell out random stuff at times to try to throw off and confuse opponents.

Aside from the first time I was around MJ, I haven’t been star-struck in this job before, but shaking hands and scrumming Arvydas Sabonis was pretty damn cool. There aren’t many living basketball legends, but he is one of them. Probably one of the 20 most talented players ever and I didn’t even see him before his injuries. Just from 1992 (on NBC and since then, on tape) and from when he finally came over to the NBA with Portland. Even then, when he was a shadow of his former self, you could see just how absurdly talented the man was. He’s also the biggest man I’ve ever met, bigger even than Shaq. Spoke pretty well of Jonas, but made it clear he expects a lot more from him in the future and believes Jonas will meet the challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Raptors at Nuggets Points Per Game: Too little too late; The pieces don’t fit; All about effort; Time to move Bargnani to the bench

- December 4th, 2012

When you are 4-14, moral victories mean very little. It’s great that the Raptors dug deep and made a game out of what could have been a blowout. But does it really matter? The end result was still another loss. Instead of furiously battling back in games, how about showing up in every quarter for a change?

Toronto actually did well early, playing a decent first quarter, but the killer even in that quarter – and we won’t even talk about the nightmare of a second quarter that decided the game – the killer in the first was effort. You simply cannot get massacred on the offensive boards the way the Raptors were. The final stats showed 23 O-boards for Denver, 9 for the Raptors. The ratio was even worse after a quarter. That can’t happen. It’s unacceptable. The pieces don’t fit properly.

Some thoughts:

Toronto isn’t as talented as most of its opponents, and certainly not as talented as Denver … but, you can make up for some of that by playing hard and playing smart. Boxing out, making smart decisions, etc. Too often, this team doesn’t do that. Boneheaded errors lead to turnovers and fast break points the other way. Lack of effort leads to easy points created by offensive rebounding.

Andrea Bargnani had one of his better outings and still wasn’t a big plus for the team. Again, it’s time for a divorce. An important moment came at the half when he allowed Ty Lawson, a foot shorter, to grab an offensive rebound and turn that into a putback. Bargnani barely moved, barely tried to corral the rebound. The blame can be spread around though. Jonas Valanciunas had a fine start and was poor after that. Kyle Lowry had a terrible first half and a great second half. DeMar DeRozan might have been the best Raptor, but needed to be more aggressive. He got to the line just once. Jose Calderon struggled, Mickael Pietrus was a non-factor.

What would I do? Keeping in mind that nobody is just going to gift a talent upgrade to this team and assuming, as the whispers indicate, that the market for Bargnani is underwhelming at the moment … Put Ed Davis with the starters and let Bargnani provide scoring on the second unit with Calderon and Amir Johnson working off of him, as they have done well in the past.

The first group might be limited offensively, but it won’t get outworked and outrebounded as often since Davis is the team’s best rebounder and has become one of its best defenders. Let Lowry and DeRozan be the scorers. Let Pietrus bomb away from the corners, let Davis pick up the trash and let Valanciunas show a little more of his already impressive offensive game.

We’ve been over this, but let’s reiterate: Bargnani sets a bad example with his floundering effort level, with his lack of rebounding and with his wavering defensive abilities (to be fair, he was locked in for parts of the night defensively and was nowhere close to the worst offender in that category).

If you can’t deal him now, let him become a force off of the bench and give your starters a better chance of staying in games.

It’s not like the current setup is working.

A few positives:

The fight again was good to see, even if it was too little, too late.

Terrence Ross played well. Davis had an impact once he got some minutes. Lowry rebounded from his tough first half, to give the excellent Lawson fits at both ends. DeRozan did strong work on the boards.

That’s about it. Too many bad shots – Bargnani should not have taken that three late, but there were a lot of bad decisions by everybody. Too little attention to staying with energy players like Corey Brewer. Laughably bad effort on the glass.

The good news? Sacramento is a winnable game. The pieces fit even worse there and no team has more head cases per capita.

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Raptors at Grizzlies Points Per Game: Not dead yet so put away the shovels, Lowry says

- November 29th, 2012

MEMPHIS — Really, what did you all expect? Memphis is one heck of a basketball team. Toronto is not, yet matched the Grizz for 24 minutes. After that, Memphis took over. That said, it wasn’t all talent. A lot of what happened in the third quarter – a complete Toronto collapse – was because of effort and experience. The Grizzlies played hard, as they usually do and that veteran-laden team, a rare squad that has kept its starters intact for years – played like the men they are against a Toronto team that still has a lot of growing up to do. You can understand that, but you can’t understand, or accept, the lack of fight in the third. Young Terrence Ross said he realized that and maintained he and his teammates will catch on.

“When a team turns it up, we have to follow and turn it up too. We’ll catch on to it. I think it’s just a mental thing at this point. We’ve just got to fight through it,” Ross said.

More thoughts and some post-game quotes:

-Jonas Valanciunas said he was fine after a scary-looking fall. “Good thing I have big chest,” he said with a laugh. He was in decent spirits considering the fall, yet another loss and since it was his worst game in weeks.

-Kyle Lowry looked like a prizefighter with his eye half-closed after getting poked in the eye. He didn’t see the  zaniness that was going on when it happened, so all he could do was laugh when told Quincy Acy got him, then gave Rudy Gay a good shot, while Gay gave Valanciunas a shot to the groin.

Lowry insists the Raptors aren’t dead yet. They have some dirt on them “five feet deep,” he said, but he believes they will pull out of it, starting with the game against Phoenix.

Lowry doesn’t look right. He’s clearly battling to get back in form. He wasn’t in great shape to start the year thanks to his injury and then got hurt again, which has limited his effectiveness.

-More Ross, talking Grizzlies: “They have good ball movement. They know how to score, what works for them.”

-Doesn’t sound like Andrea Bargnani will be sidelined for long with his ankle injury. Amir Johnson said he’s fine after what looked like a brutal ankle sprain. “I’m the rubber band man, I bounce back,” Johnson said, adding he felt fine.

game gives him and play through whatever defence Tony Allen throws at him.

-Weird that Lowry wasn’t champing at the bit against his former teams these past two games (even without being in peak form) and that Jerryd Bayless had a bad one against Toronto.

-Mickael Pietrus is a good fit, especially if Landry Fields is out longer than anticipated. Once they’re both healthy, the Raptors will have a decent foursome at the wing. Is there enough minutes for four guys? Sure. DeRozan probably plays 32-35 minutes a night, the other three 20-25.

-Casey didn’t like the lack of ball movement and found the play out of the half “alarming,” but believes the unselfishness will return and this was an aberration. As for the passion out of the half? He doesn’t know.

-Sounds like Ed Davis was one of the only players he was pleased with, so expect more minutes for Boss.

“Ed came in and played well, really battled two of the most physical guys in the league, that’s a positive,” Casey said.

The bad news? Casey liked the two point guard look of Calderon and Lucas. The sooner the team is done with the dual point guard look, the better.

-One more on the Memphis side of things. The team doesn’t have the best record in basketball by accident. Those guys don’t lack confidence either. They know they are good.

Lionel Hollins said this:

“Our defence, it was overwhelming in the third quarter. It was just outstanding. We held them to 14. We scored 33 on a lot of transition buckets … our defence energized our offence. We had 23 deflections. We didn an outstanding job all around.”

By the way, Hollins also pointed out that Lowry isn’t back to his usual self, since he’s just back from his ankle injury and indicated that helped Memphis a lot.

 

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Raptors vs. Thunder Points Per Game: Knocked around, Lowry goes down and Jonas gets crowned

- November 7th, 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY — One of the darker nights in recent Raptors history, no?

Blowout loss. Lose Kyle Lowry to a scary-looking ankle injury. Jonas Valanciunas gets dunked on rather rudely by Kevin Durant.

The blowout wasn’t a huge surprise, this is an extremely talented OKC team that could well make it back to the Finals, especially if the old Lakers and Spurs break down. Plus, the Thunder was out for blood after stumbling through the early post-James Harden days.

The ankle was a product of Lowry being Lowry, he’s in on every play, wants to grab every rebound, even though he’s a foot shorter than many of the guys he is going up against and he doesn’t quit. He was under the net many times in the game and just got tangled up with Serge Ibaka in an unfortunate wrong place, wrong time type of thing.

Some more thoughts:

-       The Thunder misses Harden, but this is still a fantastic team. Thabo Sefolosha is underrated, he’s a very poor man’s Scottie Pippen. Eric Maynor is a top-notch backup point guard, and the bench has some depth and intrigue, with youngsters like Perry Jones III, Lamb, Maynor and even Hasheem Thabeet, who looked serviceable.

-       Andrea Bargnani finally got going offensively, but was brutal defensively, like most of his teammates. He did look more engaged and grabbed four rebounds in the first quarter.

-       The Raptors ran on the Thunder early, then gave that up for some reason. OKC is good, but the Raptors only offered token resistance most of the night and the give up mentality was a bad sign.

-       Valanciunas was great. He wasn’t scared of Perkins and rebounded to getting dunked on the way you want a competitor to. He wants to get Durant back, as his “maybe next time it will be the opposite” comment to me illustrated.

- Was a tough night for DeMar DeRozan, but offensively his line looks a lot worse than how he actually performed. DeRozan attacked the rim early, but didn’t get any calls, a recurring theme. The officiating annoyed both sides in the first half and multiple technicals were called and there could have been a lot more. Westbrook and Perkins outright glared at the refs several times.

-       Dwane Casey didn’t like the way the Raptors competed, but he loved the way Valanciunas did. Valanciunas didn’t think he did anything special, said he goes hard all the time no matter how the game is going and wants to establish himself as that type of player.

- Kevin Martin compared Westbrook and Lowry to each other. “They’re both fiery little guys.”

Before the game OKC coach Scott Brooks and guard Russell Westbrook both said the Raptors are a much-improved outfit. “They have good players,” Westbrook said.

Lowry is extremely doubtful for Wednesday’s game in Dallas and was hobbling out of the arena. He’ll try to demand re-entry to the lineup, and it will be up to the training staff to hold the competitor back until he is 100%.

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The return of Points Per Game: Pacers at Raptors PPG

- November 1st, 2012

New season means it’s time for a new season of my post-game thoughts, which will appear by Noon the morning after games.

Here we go with Pacers vs. Raptors Points Per Game:

- First off, that was the best atmosphere I’ve seen at the ACC in years. The fans were great, they were into the game and it was a heck of a contest. This Raptors team plays the way fans in this city like their teams, with an edge, at a fast pace.

- Kyle Lowry was superb. I tweeted he’s the best all-around Raptor since Vince Carter, sorry Chris Bosh, and I believe it. Made a difference at both ends of the floor.

- That said, Lowry’s main weakness is shot selection. He fires at will and at times that’s great, but down the stretch of a tight game, he needs to make better decisions. Ditto Jose Calderon, who got a bit trigger happy at the end, which is rare.

- People are blaming Andrea Bargnani for West going off, but Bargnani actually did a decent job defensively on him. Sure, he hedged too much late, but where was his help? It’s the lost offence, particularly from deep, that should cause concern where Bargnani is concerned. He’s never going to rebound, but his defence was pretty good last night. He needs to rediscover his form from outside. His overall shooting line could have been better, but the refs blew two wild shot attempts that should have led to free throw attempts.

- DeMar DeRozan had terrible timing. Really hurt the team, was completely locked down by Paul George and looked off all night. The pressure is going to be on DeRozan now that the Raptors overpaid to lock him up.

- Landry Fields had an even worse night and quickly bolted the room afterwards.

- Hard not to be impressed by Jonas Valanciunas. Played like a man against a tough opponent in Roy Hibbert. Also, Ed Davis and Amir Johnson are two solid reserve big men. Will give Raptors a lift all year.

- Referees clearly gave the proven Pacers the benefit of the doubt with the calls. Raptors better get used to that. This is how the NBA works until you establish an identity.

Some more thoughts from the paper:
The Raptors did some things quite well in the 2012-13 opener, but enough negatives crept in to deny the team a win against Indiana.
Head coach Dwane Casey foreshadowed the outing pretty well earlier in the day, when discussing how he thought the season would go overall.
“We’re taking steps in the right direction,” Casey said.
“To say that we’ve got to make the playoffs, it’s a bust if we don’t … I don’t buy into that.”
This could be the story of the season. Great effort, some distinct positives and a lot of tough losses.
Casey knows many people don’t think much of his team, but also believes that the pressure of making the playoffs shouldn’t be pushed onto the group.
“I’m excited about this team, I want to prove (the critics) wrong, and our players should want to prove them wrong. But we can’t have it where they’re predicting or saying (the Raptors) will win 30 games the next person says the season is a bust if they don’t make the playoffs. So, it’s confusing,” Casey said.
What the coach wants, is for the Raptors to show “Great growth … and maybe (if that happens) we’ll be knocking on the door at the end of the year. And that’s our goal, our internal goal.”
PLAY ‘EM ALL
Casey went deep into his bench, playing all but forward Linas Kleiza. Getting so many Raptors in early kept them fresh and ready for work later on.
He subbed wisely, using behomth Aaron Gray at times to try to slow down Roy Hibbert, who was giving Jonas Valanciunas trouble due to his sheer size.
Ed Davis gave the club a huge lift late in the third quarter when the game appeared to be in danger of slipping away, hitting a couple of shots, blocking one and getting on the glass.
The two point guard lineup of Kyle Lowry, who was spectacular and Jose Calderon also was used to great effect. Going with veteran Alan Anderson and nailing a complexly out-of-sorts Landry Fields to the bench also paid dividends for Casey.
GREAT, BUT
As good as Lowry and Calderon were (36 points, 11 assists, 6 steals, 3 turnovers), the duo made some uncharacteristic mistakes down the stretch, taking bad shot after bad shot and failing to run the offence properly, allowing Indiana to erase a big Toronto lead and score all of the game’s points in the final four minutes.
Lowry put the team on his shoulders and Calderon excelled as well, but they have to be smarter late in games.
BENCH BOAST
When asked what the main difference was between his first Raptors team and this one, Casey was succinct: “Our bench basically were our starters,” Casey said.
DeMar DeRozan said the feeling around the team is different as well.
“You see the hunger more in guys that’s been here and been through the tough times and you see the hunger in guys like Landry, (Lowry), that’s been in tough positions and been winning,” DeRozan said before the game.
“The hunger is there in everybody and we’re just going to bring it out tonight.”
The Raptors definitely did, but could not overcome 36.3% shooting from the field.
ROOKIE NERVES?
Rookies Valanciunas and Terrence Ross said they were nervous beforehand since they had watched many openers on television and now would be a part of NBA basketball.
Valanciunas said he had trouble sleeping.
But they didn’t show it. Valanciunas had one of the better first quarter debuts in team history, compiling six points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks.
But Hibbert frustrated Valanciunas for a while after that until the Lithuanian showed the vet some things at both ends in the third quarter.
Before the contest, Valanciunas said he had goals for this season:
“Win games. And win rookie of the year.”
DeRozan was the last rookie to start for the Raptors on opening night (Damon Stoudamire, Vince Carter and Joey Graham were the others) and had some advice.
“You’re going to be nervous, without a doubt. Just go out there, stay focused and do your job and don’t think too much.”
Afterwards, Valanciunas said he had fun, but was upset about the loss.
When reminded that there were still 81 games to go, he seemed surprised.
“That many?” Then reminded observers that he played 86 games for Lietuvos Rytas last season and about 100 overall, counting his matches with the Lithuanian national team.
He didn’t have to wait long to find out the answer to one of his pre-game musings:
“I like fans, maybe fans are going to like me? I hope so,” he said.
Valanciunas got one of the loudest pre-game roars and was cheered throughout the evening like a conquering hero, particularly when he tried to rip down the basket in a Shaq-like display on a dunk.
His counterpart, Ross was more tentative, missing a pair of three point attempts early and failing to see action in the second half.

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Kyle Lowry might want a change of scenery – expect the Raptors to kick the tires

- May 26th, 2012

Rockets point guard Kyle Lowry doesn’t sound like someone who would prefer to return to Houston next season.

On Friday, Lowry told Rockets beat writer Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle he can’t see both he and unrestricted free agent Goran Dragic coming back.

Just a few weeks after surgery to fix torn abductor muscles and a sports hernia, Lowry told Feigen:

“I don’t think so. I honestly think it would be tough. Things have to be addressed. The situation would have to be addressed.

“If things aren’t addressed coaching-wise, I guess I have to be moved.”

Lowry made it clear that he has undisclosed problems with head coach Kevin McHale. Though McHale and general manager Daryl Morey downplayed any issues, Lowry clearly is unhappy.

Morey told Feigen:

“I think Kyle and coach McHale are both winners and both competitive guys. “I don’t anticipate any issues going forward.”

At one point during the season, Lowry had to be restrained from going after the coach.

A tremendous defender and rebounder, Lowry averaged career highs of 14.3 points, 6.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game in 47 contests (In 38 starts, Lowry’s numbers were 15.9 points, 7.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game).  However, his injuries opened the door for Dragic, who averaged 18 points, 8.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game in 28 starts of his own.

Dragic is a far better shooter and finisher than Lowry, except for from three-point range and from the free throw line, where they shoot about the same. Lowry is an elite defender at the point guard spot and a better rebounder.

For his career, Lowry has averaged 10.4 points and 4.8 assists. Lowry has two very reasonable years remaining on his contract and will earn $5.75 million in 2012-1 and $6.2 million in 2013-14.

The Raptors are extremely high on Lowry, so there is little doubt – despite Morey’s desire to keep Lowry in the fold – that he and Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo will discuss a Lowry deal. If that falls through the Raptors could instead pursue Dragic, though I do not know if he is a favourite of theirs like Lowry or not.

After Lowry burned the Raptors for a game-high 26 points (including 4-for-4 from three) in a three-point win in Houston, I asked Raptors head coach Dwane Casey what he thought of Lowry and Casey lauded the guard for his toughness and ability.

“He’s a hell of a competitor. He’s their heart and soul and spirit of their team and I love the way he plays,” Casey said.

Long-time Raptor Alvin Williams, now a scout with the team, is extremely close with Lowry and is one of his mentors. Both are from Philadelphia and both played for Villanova. “Alvin is my main man,” Lowry once said.

Complicating a potential deal would be the fact that Houston would have to be sure Dragic will re-sign long-term with the club to be its starter before opting to trade Lowry. That won’t happen until July 1st, after the draft. It would likely be Toronto’s pick – 8th before Wednesday’s lottery – that Houston would be after. The Rockets own the 14th pick (again, pre-lottery) and the 16th. It’s hard to see the Rockets wanting anything besides Toronto’s pick in a potential Lowry deal since Jonas Valanciunas and Andrea Bargnani won’t be on the table. DeMar DeRozan’s advanced stats likely don’t impress Morey, who is a huge believer in advanced statistical analysis.

Plus there’s the fact other teams could make better offers. Lowry and Luis Scola nearly became Lakers last season in exchange for Pau Gasol and Gasol is very much on the block again and the Rockets have always coveted him.

As well, Lowry has had injury issues including a torn ACL early in his career and has an edge. He was charged with battery after being accused of throwing a ball at a female referee during the lockout. Lowry apologized, received 100 hours of community service and impulse-control counseling.

However, for years the Raptors have lacked extremely competitive, hard-nosed players and that’s a major reason why they haven’t had much success.

Unless Dragic says he’s not coming back, Lowry’s likely moving somewhere. Would he be OK with supplanting Jose Calderon as starter in Toronto if Calderon is still seeing considerable time, some of it in the same backcourt as Lowry? Who knows.

What we do know  is he is not interested in splitting time with Dragic.

“We’re both capable starters. We both want it. It’s going to have to be a situation where they make a decision on one of us.

“It has nothing to do with Goran. I’m not happy with the way coaches handled things. If management wants to do something to keep Goran, I think I’ll have to be moved,” Lowry told Feigen.

“I think I’m still a foundation guy. You can build around me. If I’m not here, that’s welcomed. If I’m here, I guess that’s welcome, too.”

Interesting stuff indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Celtics at Raptors Points Per Game:

- April 14th, 2012

Quite a victory by the Raptors and head coach Dwane Casey over Boston on Friday wasn’t it?

Not even the most hardcore of Raptor fans thought the team had a chance against Boston. Rajon Rondo clearly wasn’t into this one and Ray Allen was out, but this was still a statement game for Casey and his club. They won’t back down against anybody, they will fight and scrap and play above their talent level. It’s a very good sign for a franchise that has rarely had that over the course of its existence.

Some thoughts:

- I really liked the way DeMar DeRozan played. As he said afterwards, the shots weren’t falling so he decided to take it inside. He hit all 13 of his free throw attempts and consistently got elite defender Avery Bradley into trouble. As the clear No. 1 option, DeRozan stepped up. Now he’s going to have to learn how to do that in a complementary role going forward.

“Shots were’t falling so I was just trying to be aggressive. Get some easy points from the free throw line,” DeRozan said.

- Casey wants DeRozan to finish his and-ones more frequently, seeing that as “the next evolution” for the shooting guard.

- It was the seventh victory in team history when shooting under 35% fewest number of made field goals in a win.

- Full credit to Ben Uzoh for playing a great game. He has a knack for getting on the boards and was a major reason why the Raptors hammered Boston on the glass, a key to the win. He looked more confident and in control. Along with Justin Dentmon, he kept the turnovers to a minimum, another key.

“We defended and played together as a team, played hard. They really pick up the pressure, they really thrive on their defence. They’ve been on a roll. For us to get this win, this definitely boosts our confidence and shows what we’re capable of when we play hard, play together,” Uzoh said.

- Ed Davis remains a complete non-factor on offence and that jumper can’t be re-worked soon enough, but he is getting his on the boards. He had a game-high 12 rebounds and now has hit double figures in three straight games.

“Ed is putting his work in, paying his dues so let’s see where he is,” Casey said before the game.

- Casey’s comments about Bargnani were interesting. He basically said Bargnani (or other players) will be under a much different standard next season as the Raptors start to (hopefully) turn the corner. Minor ailments won’t mean missed games or extended absences. The toughness level and pain threshold will have to rise because the team is going to be intent on making a run at 7th or 8th in the weak East, which should be realistic with a number of upgrades coming via the draft, Lithuania, trades and through free agency.

- Casey said Bargnani’s standout first 13 games are “all he has to go on,” but later added that it might be unrealistic to think Bargnani can play at quite that high a level – particularly defensively, where he ranked No. 9 overall in the entire league, according to Synergy. Still, the coach wants him to be much closer to that level than to the Bargnani of old. As Casey says, he’s shown he can do it now, so it’s on him if he turns back into a pumpkin.

- Also interesting were Casey’s draft comments. I’ll have more on that another time, but suffice to say how hard a prospect plays will be a major factor for the Raptors. Valanciunas projects as a high impact guy with a great motor. Bryan Colangelo’s trick will be scooping up another prospect like that.

INFIRMARY UPDATE
Calderon was held out for “precautionary measures” so that he wouldn’t do anymore damage to his stitched up eye. He will try to return either Sunday or Monday against Atlanta.
His backup, Jerryd Bayless, is itching to play, but team doctors are expected to hold the restricted free agent out for the rest of the season.
Kleiza (knee) and Amir Johnson (back, foot) were able to play.

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