seifer0406

I think it is time for Mitchell to change the starting lineup. The NJ game included, the current starting 5 has played poorly in each of the first 5 games. I think the problem lies in Kapono and Bargnani. With both of them on the floor to begin the game we are counting on them to score some points. When that doesn't happen right off the bat, it sets a bad tone defense/rebounding wise and has often given us a deficit for our 2nd unit to climb out of. Because Joey Graham is hurt and Garbo's leg hasn't healed, I think it might be better if we start Delfino instead of Kapono or Rasho instead of Bargnani. We can even start Humphries or Graham(when he's healthy) instead of Kapono and go with a big lineup up front. Either way, we cannot allow ourselves to be weak defensively in the early going because once the other team scores some easy points, their confidence goes way up and someone like Desmond Mason can drop 10/10 on you. And regarding that, Mitchell needs to do a better job recognizing mismatches. I mean, if Mason scored on Kapono 3 straight times down the court, with 2 baskets being and1s, maybe it's time to try something else and not wait until we're down 15.

One final thing is, we should never have a lineup on the court where Juan Dixon is the core of our offense. He is too streaky and doesn't pass when you put the ball in his hand. He is better used as a set shooter and someone that goes inside occasionally, not someone that the offense revolves around.

Mr_B

The problem is the slow starts you can't shoot 33% for 3 quarters then turn it on in the 4th and expect to win also on offense I notice alot of standing around when Tj or Bosh has the ball , to me the raps still look like there still playing there way into game shape

Jizzy

Defense.

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Here is something you can't understand

ballocks

that was a revealing game, imo. definitely early season. i know it's popular to criticize the defense right now but i wouldn't be so sure. i mean, obviously the defense has left something to be desired, but why? that's the key. can't just say "play better defense"- if we're going to improve, we need to know how.

it's just my opinion but when your offense is stale, your defense falls accordingly- not because it's necessarily worse (i.e. "i don't want to play defense anymore") but more because your opponent is taking the ball off the glass and preying on your inability to set up at the other end. doesn't always lead to fast break points, no, but your legs are weak from having just run the length of the floor without the ball, your mind's weak from your impotent offense, and you're just not in a prime spot- neither in body nor in mind- to play defense effectively. it's only the special players who manage to fight through that struggle. i don't know how many of them even exist these days.

i'm not saying it starts with the offense- but i am saying it doesn't start with the defense. it's both. when you come out of the gates 0/10 and don't manage to hit a field goal for the first 6+ mins of the game, your defense will almost always be terrible.

a few things:

1) for a guy who prides himself on being fast, tj ford has an awfully hard time recovering from offensive misses. he and rasho are too often the last ones down the floor. rasho has an excuse because he's slow, while his check is also enormous and is running alongside him. tj's check is leading the break, though, too often 10-15 steps ahead of him. for a pg who plays on average 30 mins/game, tj gets tired easily. i don't like that.

2) i don't want to get into the calderon vs tj debate, it's too easy to waste time on it, but last night was absolutely a night to leave jose in the game. tj showed up at the scorer's desk with around five mins left to play, but the next whistle wasn't heard for roughly two minutes so he was just waiting there. by that time, the team had closed the gap considerably and was on a figurative roll. calderon himself had managed to knock down a trey and was clearly hotter than he had been all night. to bring tj in the game with 3.5 mins left was a disaster waiting to happen. i don't know why anyone would do that- save for the explanation that tj is the "starter" and should be "closing out games", because that's pride and that's not good enough for me. it shouldn't be good enough for anyone.

i don't care if it's baston instead of bosh. pride is the last thing you can afford to listen to if you hope to win the game. i don't know if we would've won, but we surely wouldn't have suffered through another 0-8 run while tj got his feet wet again.

what's more, it leaves tj in a vulnerable position. he's got jerks like me talking about him today, and i'm sure he went home last night thinking it was primarily his fault that we lost. just watch the last three minutes of the game, it all stems from his first possession. he makes a mistake initially, at which point he presumably begins to wonder why he's in the game himself, and then spends the next three possessions trying to make up for it while the rest of the crew just watches him = game. my point is that that one decision could send tj into an extended drought, one that may last for longer than just one game. anyway.

3) parker looks like a man playing under the burden of expectation. two games in a row now he's taken similar shots that are, by definition, not anthony parker: settling for an 18 foot jump shot on the break with no one under the boards to corral the rebound. he doesn't even get his feet set, and that's the key symptom imo. anthony parker does not take wild shots without first ensuring someone's on the glass, but he almost certainly does not take those shots off balance. well, he's been taking them. i think he's in an awful slump.

4) what is dwight howard going to do 12-15 feet from the basket? why is he being doubled immediately, regardless of where he is on the floor? this tendency to double down indiscriminately, always, is very hard for me to explain. at least wait until he forces himself down onto the box. and with his handles, i don't know if he can even do that. but regardless, why are we hanging our defense out to dry with 15 left on the shot clock? be patient, man. at least make him prove that he can do something before you put the blinders on and send a body at him like a rabid animal. we don't have to always make the first move. i can guarantee our coaches don't play chess.

peace

Victor Page

The primary reason the Raptors lost was an inability to defend - Hedo and Howard were double teamed, and Nelson, Garrity, Hedo and Lewis drained a ton of open 3s. NBA teams always over-use the double team - it's better to let Howard shoot 60% from inside than allow Lewis, Turkoglu, etc... to shoot 60% from 3 point land (good NBA shooters will hit 60 percent of open threes).

The secondary reason was that Bosh and Bargnani sat for 5 minutes from the end of the third through the beginning of the 4th quarter. A 4 point deficit turned into an 11 point deficit for which they were able to come back but didn't have enough left to get over the top.

The Ford / Calderon debate is pointless - had they defended sensibly, and put their best players on the court for most of the game, they would have won the game.

Timbaland

So far I'm not a fan of Smitch's rotations. The second unit seems out of sync right now and when they are out there it really hurts us. Bosh and Bargs are our best players, you should ride them hard. Maybe I'm being a bit too critical because it's early in the season.

TRON

some additional reasons:

1. Our wings were totally outclassed on Offense and Defense, how we allowed Hedo freaking Terkoglu to get 15 boards is unfathomable, not to metnion Bogans getting 11 boards
AP (1-6) :2 pts
Kapono (3-11):9 pts

Terkoglu: 24/15/6
Bogans: 17/11/3

2. We have absolutely no center playing for most of the game. Absolutely nobody protecting the paint. Teams will attack us at will until Sam figures that out. the Bosh/Bargs frontcourt is a failure until Bargs learns to guard centers so Bosh isn't forced to guard bigger players, that will wear him down as the game goes on.

solution: more Rasho, and have Bargs coming off the bench

3.Questionable coaching: for the thrid game in a row, Sam has been so focused on stoping the oppentents bigs and sending help, that we've been getting killed by perimeter players.

the zone defense that Mitchell has employed is slow to react and has created WIDE OPEN opportunities for teams. Plus with no center to speak of, we were just daring teams to pick our zone apart by going to the bucket.....which Orlando did with regularity.

solution: scrap the zone, go back to man on man and put a real 7 footer in the middle until Bargnani can guard his positon

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"and they aware of us though,
but we don't give a flying 747 **** though,
stayin on my hustle" -Nas

"To be honest, sometimes in this game, telling the truth is the best smokescreen of all." - Raptors GM Bryan Collangelo

TRON

you're like the 3/4 person I've heard this from.....If it's so clear for the average fan to see this, I don't know how an NBA coach can't see this.

__________________
"and they aware of us though,
but we don't give a flying 747 **** though,
stayin on my hustle" -Nas

"To be honest, sometimes in this game, telling the truth is the best smokescreen of all." - Raptors GM Bryan Collangelo

Porn_Player

Being abstract from the actual situation helps. The average fan usually manages to pick the better draft picks over who most teams slump for (esp obvious for us Toronto Raptor fans).. I just wish Smitch read this board or Realgm he could learn so much.

I say all that in 100% belief it would help him.

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