Thread Tools

Display Modes

**ballocks** · 03-16-2005, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedythief

You know we had a time out left at the end? I assumed we didn't when Milt raced down the floor, but after the game I counted and it didn't add-up, and looking at the NBA recap it seems we indeed had one left.

I haven't been harsh on Milt at all this year, really. I think if you have realistic expectations on how he'll play, you'll be satisfied if not impressed by the way he handles himself on the court. Most of the time he plays within himself, if that means anything. He certainly doesn't force shots like he did last year and has totally abandoned his limited three-point game, which is for the better.

But what the hell was he thinking? Not only did it take him a good two or three of our five seconds to actually get into high gear and race across the half court line, but he had Davis on him all the way up the floor and thought he could take him right to the rack, with no time left for a pump fake or a pass. Did Mitchell tell him to go or was that his call? If so, what the hell was he thinking letting Palacio of all people take the game-breaker, especially when Jalen and Rafer were hot?

I figured the play would be to drive and kick it out to Jalen, who would draw the double and dish to someone else for the shot. Somehow we turned five seconds into about two with a slow start and it would've been tough to get any decent shot off at the end regardless. Hate to hang a strong effort by our team on a mental lapse, but then again I rated this team a 4 out of 10 in basketball IQ earlier this week and it's times like these that cause me to distrust them.

...

Rafer, though, played with a lot of passion tonight. Him and Jalen really tried to take control of the game after Bosh was sidelined. Both of them were angry, motivated, confident, and prepared to do whatever it took to get this win. This mentality hasn't been regular with this team but it was good to see it given the circumstances. They could've hung their heads after Bosh went out and the Celtics kept the lead to 10+, but they continued to battle.

Jalen went to the rack ferociously tonight. I was really impressed with the way he played. He went after offensive rebounds, he tried to get his team fired-up and he was our leader.

One thing that won't be mentioned in the rags and probably by many people on this board is that Toronto actually played good defense late in the game, which was what sparked our comeback. Whenever you give-up 100+ points, or surrender a lot of points in the paint, it's easy to assume that you didn't get the job done on D. But we're a team that gives up 100 a game on average as it is, and one of the weakest rebounding teams in the League to boot. The way I see it, you really only need to make a couple of important defensive stops during the game in order to put yourself in a position to win. That's not to say you don't have to work hard all game, but sometimes all the defense in the world isn't going to prevent good scorers, like Walker and Davis. You just have to make sure your stops are timely. We did that in the fourth.

Tough break, but that was a hell of an entertaining game.

first of all, bravo. that was a hell of an entertaining post.

if you're right about the timeout at the end, i think the blame should probably fall on both mitchell and palacio. i think the coaching staff should've been in cardiac arrest on the sidelines to get milt to stop the play and it didn't appear that they were. i absolutely agree about the two or three ticks after we pulled down the rebound- milt was taking his jolly time. he should've been flying downcourt (literally!) at 100 clicks an hour to call the last timeout. it's too bad.

i think we would've been in a much better position to win had chris been on the floor, though, and that kind of feels good. i don't really say that about many players. chris is becoming a bona fide star. we're lucky to have him and i'm glad he's appreciated.

you're (speedy) also right about that being an entertaining game- i had a blast watching that one. chuck and jack were cracking me up for one thing, the bonner video was jokes, pierce was doing the things that make him an unpopular figure in my world, jalen was doing the things that qualify him as near-royalty in the same world, etc. it was just very fun.

one thing that had me on the floor was lamond murray in the first half. i mean, when he came on, it had me interested right away since chuck and jack didn't notice the substitution. then he hit an 18-footer and chuck almost exploded out of his seat: "lamond--- MURRAY! after 4 straight dnp-cds! knocks down the jumper!!!"

if you weren't paying attention, you would've mistaken the sequence for the palacio possession in the fourth. it put a beautiful smile on my face as our two favourite broadcasters were struggling for the right words to describe a relatively basic development. it was nice.

the thing that sticks out about this game, at least from my point of view, is jalen rose. it'll be convenient to say this after he pretty much saturated the boxscore tonight, but i truly believe i'd be saying this even if his impressive stats were ignored: this guy is incredibly important to our team. sure, he's been a "loser" since the '01 finals, he's played on some horrid teams, he's way overpaid, but this guy (imo) holds it together. i really don't know where we'd be without him, honestly. we're developing a contender around these parts, sure, but he is not only accelerating that process in my world, he is allowing that process to go forward in the first place.

for one thing, we are never intimidated when jalen is on the floor- or even the bench. that's awesome. this guy appears to allow our most insecure players to feel relatively comfortable out there- he allows for a bit of a team attitude. with our youth- and it'll become even more of an issue over the next two years- his brand of veteran leadership is probably the most valuable attribute he offers. we are never intimidated, and while some people take that minor comfort for granted, i think it's more important than that. i don't think it should be slept on anymore. imo, it's one thing that's allowing these kids to become men, and it's definitely fun to watch.

i know there are quite a few people around here who want to deal jalen for cap room, and that's understandable, but i seriously hope we know the player who would be recruited with that capspace before we decide to get it. if not, i think it's one of those moves that looks great in the short term and not so great over the long term. the intangibles that jalen brings- that jalen has brought since he got here- are significant, imo, and while he might have another $35M on his contract, i think he could be the perfect transition player to tie our old era to our new era. he could be the buffer we need.

and i think he's almost too good to be true in terms of ushering along a new generation of inexperienced youth. but what do i know, i'm just a fan...

good game otherwise. i'm sort of glad that bonner went scoreless tonight because boston was probably going to be one of those teams that would make a run at him. i don't think teams put too much value into individual games, but then again they do. i think it's that much harder to throw big money at a player, home-grown or otherwise, who puts zeroes across the board in one of his only trips back home. i think we'll re-sign bonner, i think i've thought that for some time already, and tonight only helped to achieve that outcome.

peace

MonsterBosh · 03-16-2005, 10:16 PM

ballocks .... I too am changing my opinion on Rose, and he may be the veteran glue that could help a team of rookies stay together over an NBA season. Rose realizes he is not very marketable with his contract so he might as well make the best of it in Toronto ... besides he is still paid in US$$$$$$$.

However I am not too sure of Bonner wanting to stay with the Raptors in Canada ..... and neither am I sure that the Raptors may want Bonner either. Who needs a slow reacting 3-point set shooter when you can get athletic young rookies and develop them over the next several years.

It's not as if the Raptors intend to make the playoffs in the foreseeable future, so why commit to a player like Bonner who really has peaked in his basketball development. With Bonner, what you see now is what you are going to get for the next 2-4 years .... nothing more.

**TDrake** · 03-16-2005, 10:19 PM

Nice post, Ballocks.

Chuck was saying something at the end of the game about not believing in calling a timeout to let the defence get set, so I assumed that meant we did have a timeout left.

rapsfan4life · 03-16-2005, 10:23 PM

JACK AND GRAHAM would be looking mighty fine as our defensive perimeter stoppers, hmmmmmmmmm

**ballocks** · 03-16-2005, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TDrake

Nice post, Ballocks.

Chuck was saying something at the end of the game about not believing in calling a timeout to let the defence get set, so I assumed that meant we did have a timeout left.

yeah, i just came back after i heard mitchell justify the non-call over the radio and it makes sense. i too am part of the membership that believes we call too many timeouts in basketball these days and, in retrospect, i think i support tonight's decision to not call a TO. i mean, we can sit around complaining about the result, and we often do, but i think we probably had a better shot to win by not stopping the clock tonight than we would have had we drawn up a play. i think it was a good (non-)call.

i think it was a solid strategy to attack them in transition with the personnel we left on the floor (rose, mop, marshall, skip, the other guy)- we had just enough time to win the game while not leaving enough time for a celtic prayer. i guess the palacio-davis theatrics might've cost us tonight, and ultimately donned milt with tunnel vision at the buzzer, but i can't complain anymore. i like the strategy. the ball just doesn't go in the basket every time.

can't win 'em all.

peace

MonsterBosh · 03-16-2005, 11:14 PM

From the TV replay, it looked like Milt was slightly fouled when he took that awkward left-sided right-handed wrong-footed layup and could not adjust his rock hands for the speed he had developed going into the basket.

But the refs were not about to whistle a foul against the home team in the last 4 seconds of the game ...... particularily in Boston where fan riots are not unheard of .....

trick · 03-16-2005, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ballocks

i know there are quite a few people around here who want to deal jalen for cap room, and that's understandable, but i seriously hope we know the player who would be recruited with that capspace before we decide to get it. if not, i think it's one of those moves that looks great in the short term and not so great over the long term. the intangibles that jalen brings- that jalen has brought since he got here- are significant, imo, and while he might have another $35M on his contract, i think he could be the perfect transition player to tie our old era to our new era. he could be the buffer we need.

and i think he's almost too good to be true in terms of ushering along a new generation of inexperienced youth. but what do i know, i'm just a fan...

true

i mentionied earlier in this thread how i love the effect he has on bosh to be more competitive, to be more ferocious, to be more hungry for that win...and i do believe this comes from rose.

the more i think about it, rose's attitude and mindframe heading into games are exactly what a retooling team, stockpiled with picks, needs most importantly. it's not even about his scoring, it's about the veteran leadership he brings to the table. the way he overwhelmingly congratulates teammates during good plays, the swagger he brings on the opponents, and his reputation among the league is something that you can always get from any other veteran.

**madman** · 03-17-2005, 06:09 AM

in the last couple of weeks i have been saying that rose is worth the money, we arent going to resign him when his contract is up but for now we need a scorer and that is what he is

Porn_Player · 03-17-2005, 06:52 AM

this one hurt cant believe we lost its really the nail in our playoff coffin. dam milt sum1 start an "i hate milt" club and sign me up the dude is a chump give the ball to rose who was on fire arrrrgh god damn him!

lucky777s · 03-17-2005, 07:31 AM

Milt did nothing wrong. Sam could have called the timeout from the sideline. He didn't want one. He felt the Raps would get a better look in a scramble situation rather than against a set D.

Milt wasn't sure if the team was calling a timeout and hesitated for a second. He had only 4 seconds to get upcourt and create a shot. If you watch the breakout all the other Raptors just faded to the wings and did nothing to present themselves as a passing option for Milt. Celts had 5 defenders on 4 Raps as Jalen slowly trailed the play.

Given how loud the crowd was down the stretch and the time pressure on Milt it is a bit much to expect him to somehow know exactly where Jalen was 10 feet behind him. If Milt had tried to look behind him to see if a pass was even possible he may have lost any chance to get a shot off. Or he may have been stripped, because he was so closely guarded/fouled.

You can question whether Milt should have pulled up for a 10-12 foot J instead of going all the way, but he gave himself a chance to be fouled and was finishing his drives well all night. Hard to blame him for that play.

Jalen got stuffed by Payton to end the last Boston game, and of course we saw VC blow a couple of easy layups to end games this year.

Defense, as usual, was the problem for the Raptors. And missed FT's. Can't miss 9/30 FT's in a tough road game.

Al Jefferson · 03-17-2005, 03:39 PM

You guys played a helluva game..
My opinion.. If Bosh is in the game .. The Raps leave Boston with a win.
We just didn't play any Defense at all during the 4th..

PdP

Thread Tools Display Modes

Thread Tools

Display Modes