Posts Tagged ‘Jose Calderon’

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Raptors at Houston Rockets Points Per Game

- February 28th, 2012

All the attention is probably going to be on DeMar DeRozan’s tweet afterwards (he didn’t play in the fourth quarter, despite leading the team in scoring), but there are other things to discuss.

- What’s up with Jose Calderon? He’s fantastic at home, below average on the road. His home-road splits show quite a disparity. Calderon averages 13.7 points, 10.4 assists and 51% shooting at home, but away he averages 8.5 and 7.5 on 41% shooting.

- Raptors and Rockets have gone in opposite directions since the start of the season. Houston opened 3-7, but has gone 18-7 since (and 15-4 at home overall), while the Raptors went a surprising 4-5 early on, but slumped to 6-19 since.

- Toronto got Linas Kleiza back following a three-game injury absence. Casey said he’d be cautious with Kleiza’s minutes. “I’ll try to be smart. I haven’t been accused of that too often,” Casey cracked. Andrea Bargnani is doing on-court running, but the team is being cautious. “He’s got to listen to his body and go with that. Kind of on his terms, as far as his calf is concerned,” Casey said.

- I talked to Leandro Barbosa and he said all the trade rumours aren’t bothering him at all. He knows it is part of the business and out of his control. But it might not all be. Sources tell me quietly, potential landing spots willing to extend-and-trade Barbosa are being sniffed out. Barbosa said he loves Toronto and would happily sign long-term. As always though, we’ll see if the price is right and if the Raptors get an offer they can’t refuse.

- I don’t blame DeRozan for being frustrated. Unlike Calderon and Jerryd Bayless, who didn’t play in the fourth (aside from 11 seconds for Calderon), DeRozan was playing decent-well. Casey said he was thinking ahead to Wednesday’s game in New Orleans, but it seemed like an odd call, especially with Kleiza just back from injury. DeRozan played the entire third quarter, scoring 10 points before sitting.

- Like Casey, I’m a big fan of Kyle Lowry. Was convinced he’d be better than Villanova teammate Randy Foye and that certainly has proven correct. He does so many things well and as Casey said: “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.”

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

Charlotte Bobcats at Raptors Points Per Game, Naughty By Nature edition:

- February 18th, 2012

Disappointed I didn’t get to see Naughty by Nature at halftime, also wondering why the heck Treach and Co. are doing halftime shows now? Sorry Matt and Jack, but I’m not as crushed about missing your halftime show.

- The Raptors let winless Washington beat them earlier this year, so perhaps it isn’t a surprise that Charlotte’s 16-game losing streak also ended against Toronto. The Raptors need to stop playing down, or up, to the competition.

- Raptors were smart to run on Charlotte early. You don’t really think of the Bobcats as a team to run on, but that definitely can be done against them. They should have ran a lot more.

- If Jose Calderon has played at a higher level either in the NBA or internationally, it is news to us.

- Charlotte has been knocked for not playing hard this season, but you could tell they were quite anxious to end a brutal 16-game losing streak. Getting D.J. Augustin back is going to help the Bobcats win a few games. He has become the squad’s best player. The Raptors were desperate not to let-down against such a brutal team, but the squad did not come out with the same energy as in the past few games. It took until late in the first half before the effort level seemed to pick up for the home side. The shooting also cooled noticeably from recent 50% or so shooting outings.

- Ed Davis seems to have a lot more comfortable taking jump shots. Tom Sterner helped James Johnson in that regard, and it appears Davis has improved based on those sessions as well. Not only does his form look better, but Davis also looks more comfortable when he is hoisting his shots, which any shooter knows is a big part of the battle. (Note, I am definitely not a shooter, but I know that is true). The Raptors have been giving Davis more minutes and a bigger role of late in an effort to see what they have in him.

- Don’t really like Kemba Walker off the ball as Charlotte played him a bit on Friday. Don’t think he’s a true point guard either, but he needs to have the ball and to be making the decisions. If his jumper develops, perhaps he can grow into a Ben Gordon-esque role, but that’s not his game yet. Walker’s a great slasher and can set up his teammates, but he’s not going to be an effective NBAer until he greatly improves his jumper and shot selection.

- Raptors director of sport science Alex McKechnie has headed to Lithuania to work with Jonas Valanciunas.

- With Jerryd Bayless back, didn’t expect to see the Calderon-Anthony Carter backcourt again, but it gave Toronto some decent minutes late in the first half.

- DeMar DeRozan could learn some bad things from Corey Maggette, but he also could learn some good. Few players can get to the free throw line as easily and often as Maggette. He’s a bit of a ball-stopper, but he really knows how to put defences on their heels, how to draw contact and create a ton of free throw opportunities. Maggette is best neutralized by turning him into a jump shooter. Meanwhile, DeRozan has really rebounded of late after a concerning stretch of the season. He had 18 points in the first half alone.

- Leandro Barbosa, Amir Johnson and Davis keyed the fourth quarter Raptors comeback, but it wasn’t enough and the team was booed off the court on fan night.

 

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

Raptors at Sixers Points Per Game

- January 8th, 2012

Ugly.

Not sure what else to say about Saturday’s debacle in Philly, but here goes:

-Toronto kept it close in the first half, staying in a game it really shouldn’t have been in. That was largely due to the strong early play of Andrea Bargnani, Amir Johnson and even Ed Davis (who sat for a long time despite the good start and did little the rest of the way). Nobody besides Bargnani really created anything on the offensive end and that caught up to the Raptors later.

- Where was the fight?  Davis told me before the game the team would come out hard and was desperate for a win, but that hunger disappeared after two quarters. If the team is fatigued now, as Casey claims, what are they going to do on Tuesday or Wednesday in the midst of a back-to-back-to-back.

- Philly is a good team even though Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala aren’t the same as they once were. The Sixers play hard and get after the ball defensively. They swat, poke and pry at everything, box out well and are constantly looking to grab boards and run. They have some good shooters and can make opponents pay. Whenever they swap the huge salaries of Brand and Iguodala for a stud PF or C they will be a contender.

- Casey is adamant the team didn’t revert back to last year by giving in and failing to protect the paint in the second half.

“The third was more physical and mental fatigure more than it was disposition,” Casey said.

- Casey also said leaving his starters in late in a blowout wasn’t a message to them to play better. Rather, said the coach, it was a message to the team that they must fight until the end of games no matter what the scoreboard reads. “I wanted to go down swinging, let the guys know we’re not just coming here to come in.

- DeMar DeRozan is really frustrated, even though he says he isn’t. He looked at the refs several times on Saturday night after either not getting a call, or being whistled for a charge that clearly should have been a blocking call on Philadelphia. Teams are game-planning around DeRozan for the first time, and he isn’t responding well. Luckily, as he said, this is happening early and he has plenty of time to look at tape to figure out what he can do better.

- Toronto built a 30-18 rebounding edge at the half but gave it all up and ended up on the negative side of the battle for the boards.

- Amir Johnson has not had the same touch inside this season as he showed last year. Bobbles have been a nightly theme and that continued on Saturday, to the point where Johnson looked to the sky after blowing an easy layup, set up by Bargnani.

 

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

Raptors vs. Nets Points Per Game

- January 7th, 2012

Here we go with the second edition of Points Per Game. Remember, this will be my look at various talking points from the previous Raptors game. Will be posted by the morning after each game.

- Raptors again hold an opponent to sub-.400 shooting percentage. Yet more proof that the team is buying in to what Dwane Casey is selling. The remarkable turnaround continues. On the negative side, it seemed like every shot the Nets made came from three point range. The team made 48.4% of its three-point attempts, which negates a good chunk of what Toronto was doing defensively.

If a team hits about half its shots from three, it counteracts most of the misses from two.

Not to mention Deron Williams had his way with Jose Calderon.

- Second chance points absolutely killed the Raptors. Kris Humphries grabbed nine offensive boards. That can’t happen if a team wants to win a game. Ed Davis was very good again, pulling down eight rebounds to go with his 11 points, but the rest of the Raptors were subpar.

- Another strong outing offensively from  Calderon, 19 points, 8 assists, 0 turnovers, but again, letting  Williams get to the line 13 times was one of the major reasons Toronto lost this game.

- Another good game from Andrea Bargnani. Nobody saw this start coming.

- Anthony Morrow had been horrible this season, but was one of New Jersey’s biggest contributors on Friday. Morrow was on and consistently burned the Raptors, particularly from downtown. Morrow nailed six three pointers.

- Linas Kleiza is close to returning from off-season surgery and could play on Saturday in Philadelphia.

- DeMar DeRozan was due for a stinker and this one was it. He just didn’t have it.

-  Casey said in training camp that no system can stop everything and the Raptors might have to surrender a fair number of threes in order to shut down team elsewhere on the court. On Friday, especially when the Raptors went zone, the team didn’t close out as well as it has and allowed the Nets to get far too many good looks. Most teams aren’t going to hit half of their threes, but still, Toronto needs to defend the outside shot better. All part of the process, but I’m sure Casey’s not a happy man right about now.

- The Sixers looked impressive in a big win over Detroit, but like Toronto, are starting a seven games in nine night stretch. Philly has a lot of shooters, so Toronto will have to fix some of its mistakes from Friday quickly in order to pull off an upset win against a playoff team.

Tags: , , , ,
Categories: General, NBA, Toronto Raptors | 2 comments

The debut of Points Per Game – Cavaliers at Raptors January 4

- January 5th, 2012

Today I’m debuting a new feature here at the blog – Points Per Game – a brief recap of things that caught my eye during or after each Raptor game. It will run the morning after every game.

- Jose Calderon is off to a spectacular start and making Bryan Colangelo feel a lot better about  the big contract he handed the highest-paid Raptor. Calderon hasn’t been this good since his excellent 2007-08 and 2008-09 campaigns, the ones where he shot 50% fromt he field (or close), 40% from 3 and 90%+ from the line.

His defence, never as bad as it appeared to the naked eye (the stats backed up the fact that Jarrett Jack, for example, wasn’t doing any better defensively, he just wasn’t as targeted by opponents as often), has improved under Dwane Casey’s system and his offence has been all-star level good. Though it is only six games in, Calderon is shooting better than ever from the field, from three and from the line, is just shy of his best per-season scoring numbers and is averaging 10 assists per game.

He seemed to take some offense to my question last night about whether he is feeling healthier and more confident so far than he has over the past couple of seasons:

“Everybody knows my problems a few years ago. I’m good, feeling great and you don’t forget about how to play basketball,” Calderon said rather pointedly.

Casey certainly is sold: “I came away with a different opinion of Jose (after watching him direct Spain at the EuroBasket in Lithuania this summer). Anytime you win a championship the way he has, that tells you something and he’s much better than people give him credit for,” Casey said.

- Andrea Bargnani is really feeling it. Offensively he’s never looked better – opponents look clueless about how to stop him and every jumper he takes seems to be on its way in. He’s really in a zone. We’ve seen similar streaks from Bargnani offensively before, but the effort and intensity level and emotion he is showing on the court is novel for him. He seems far more engaged and is much more of a presence defensively. Always a fine man-to-man defender, he is shockingly looking above average in a help role, which, along with rebounding, was his biggest deficiency since entering the league in 2006.

“Andrea? Hewasn’t that good tonight,” Calderon said with a laugh, before heaving some praise his way.

“So nice to see him smile every time. He’s really comfortable playing out there. We’ve been playing together for a long time, so it’s nice to see.”

- Casey didn’t like what he saw from Ed Davis against Orlando and New York and brought him in for a meeting and video session before the game. It worked, Davis looked far more active and played very well at both ends.

“I brought Ed in to watch film after shootaround to show him the difference in his effort during the last Cleveland game vs. his effort in New York which I thought was not himself,” Casey explained.

“I need energy, we want to develop Ed Davis, but he’s got to earn it and he did tonight. We as a staff are not going to give away minutes, but he earned them tonight and that’s what he’s got to do.”

- Casey also said James Johnson earned himself more time (not because of his 1-8 shooting) but because of his defence and rebounding.

- Finally, the coach cautioned there was still much work to be done:

“We’re nowhere near where we need to be. We’re playing the style it takes to play in the playoffs. I don’t think (we’re a playoff team).” He was happy to see the Raptors cut down on the turnovers substantially.

- And a brief mention of DeMar DeRozan. His ability to now hit three pointers with ease is a testament to the hours he put in during the lockout. This is no Shawn Kemp, people. DeRozan lived on the court and it is showing.

- Tough Toronto debut for Tristan Thompson. As my man Grange pointed out, he was going at a ridiculous clip during the warmup, maybe he burned himself out? Maybe it was the nerves – though he strongly denied that – maybe it was sitting at the scorer’s table for 5 minutes before a stoppage of play allowed him to finally come in. Whatever it was, don’t expect to see a repeat performance the next time he is in town.

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

Hoops Q and A

- October 26th, 2011

I took questions this week via Twitter @WolstatSun on all things basketball.

@gaudioa201: do you think the lockout benefits “older” and experienced teams like Dallas and San Antonio?

Depends. If the whole season is lost, absolutely not. Both are veteran squads that have a small window to win. They don’t want to see the whole year wiped out. If you’re talking is a 50-70 game season preferable to an 82 game sked, the answer is absolutely. They don’t need any more wear and tear, they only really need 25-30 games to get in peak form.

@nahom1319: if they going 2 be made in2 the bad guys, why not actually use it 2 adv. and make actual demands.

I assume you are talking about the players. They are making actual demands and they aren’t willing to cave to all of the demands of the owners.

@B_Viddy: What do the Raps want to get out of the new CBA? Safe to assume they are not hardliners?

They want a more balanced playing field. More punitive luxury tax to keep the mega-spenders from going too crazy. I’d say they are mid-liners, want to play, but want to see the system altered as well to help them out going forward in terms of being more competitive and making even more money.

@buddhacosby: will the raptors’ gm search come to an end soon? (Asked before Thursday’s news)

Yes!

@buddhacosby: do you expect the NBA to continue to cancel games in 2 week increments or will they follow thru /w threat and cancel thru Xmas?

Can’t see them cancelling more than a month at a time and more likely they will keep doing it two weeks at a time if further progress isn’t made.

@pakdawgie: won’t high payroll teams need to amnesty good players not mentioned to get under cap?

Only if the cap goes way down, which is highly unlikely. All the talk is any drastic changes to the cap or luxury tax would be phased in so teams with huge payrolls would have some time to pare down their salary commitments.

@illicious: Should there be a season, do you think Bayless or Calderon starts the majority of Raps games next season?

Calderon would be the starter from Day 1 unless Bayless has a ridiculous abbreviated pre-season but Bayless will get an opportunity to win the job. Calderon is not the future. Bayless might not be either, but the team needs to give him a chance to show what he can do and would be wise to eventually make him the starter at the expense of Calderon.

@m_schantz: Did you hear Bill Simmon’s podcast with Billy Hunter? What were your thoughts? How do you feel he represented the players side?

Didn’t hear it yet, but caught a bit of a recap. I think the cap should stay but there must be a realistic floor which forces the cheap/poor teams to spend a certain amount and heavily penalizes the rich teams from going too crazy. My idea was a doubling of the current luxury tax (so $2 dollars for every dollar over, with the money given to teams that spend at least the minimum, but not above the luxury tax line). Apparently some owners wanted a 4-1 tax and I don’t see that ever happening.

@anotherjaysblog: What type of player do you see Davis and DeRozan becoming? I can’t help, but think they are just bright lights on a bad team.

I think they are more than that, but also might be a tad on the overrated side. I like both. DeRozan has an excellent work ethic, as good as almost anybody’s in the league so will get better. Davis isn’t as self-motivated, but will go above and beyond if asked to. They both have the athleticism, heart and tools to be impact players. Top three players on a contender? Wouldn’t say that for Ed, though DeMar probably could be, but at the least, starters on a contender is well within the realm of possibility.

I think the Raptors need to add two players significantly better than DeMar (Andrea doesn’t count in my books) before they go anywhere. Valanciunas probably can be one of them in three years and they might get the other in this obscene draft.

@nahom1319: as Jonas hasn’t inked his first contract with us yet, why aren’t T.O’s staff allowed to talk to him

Teams are barred from talking about anybody who is property of that franchise, signed or not. Minnesota couldn’t talk about Ricky Rubio signed or not.

Thanks for the questions everybody, send me more questions @WolstatSun would like to make this a weekly or bi-weekly thing.

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

« Older Entries