In Raptorville, something changed last night … and it wasn’t good
When you look at these 4 post-game interviews from last night’s Tor/PHI match-up …
it is plain to see that a different “attitude” has now settled in amongst the current group of Raptors, which no longer resembles the squad that functioned as a unit, through good times and in bad for Toronto, during the tenure of much-maligned former Head Coach, Sam Mitchell.
This corner is NOT suggesting that this “new” attitude has arisen recently as a by-product of Sam Mitchell’s dismissal, back in December, and/or the specific role Interim Head Coach, Jay Triano, has played since then.
On the contrary, actually.
According to these eyes … this “new” change is one which has only just come to light in the last few days, coinciding with:
* The team’s current 6-game losing streak
* It’s ever-dwindling hopes to make the playoffs
* The departures of Jermaine O’Neal [to Miami], Jamario Moon [to Miami], Will Solomon [to Sactown] and Nathan Jawai [to the NBDL]
* The arrivals of Shawn Marion [from Miami], Marcus Banks [from Miami] and Patrick O’Bryant [from Boston].
These are the remaining games on the Raptors’ regular season schedule:
|
Date |
Opponent |
Result |
|
Feb 27 |
at Phoenix |
L |
|
Mar 1 |
at Dallas |
L |
|
Mar 3 |
at Houston |
L |
|
Mar 6 |
vs Miami |
L |
|
Mar 8 |
vs Utah |
L |
|
Mar 11 |
at Philadelphia |
L |
|
Mar 13 |
vs Detroit |
? |
|
Mar 15 |
vs Indiana |
? |
|
Mar 16 |
at Charlotte |
? |
|
Mar 20 |
vs Charlotte |
? |
|
Mar 22 |
vs LA Clippers |
? |
|
Mar 25 |
vs Milwaukee |
? |
|
Mar 27 |
vs Oklahoma City |
? |
|
Mar 29 |
vs Chicago |
? |
|
Apr 1 |
at Orlando |
? |
|
Apr 4 |
at New York |
? |
|
Apr 5 |
vs New York |
? |
|
Apr 7 |
vs Atlanta |
? |
|
Apr 8 |
at Indiana |
? |
|
Apr 10 |
vs Washington |
? |
|
Apr 12 |
vs Philadelphia |
? |
|
Apr 13 |
at Washington |
? |
|
Apr 15 |
at Chicago |
? |
Unless there’s a dramatic re-focus on what it means to be a REAL Team and what it takes to play together like a REAL Team should … i.e. With [i] Cohesive Team Defense, [ii] Shared Team Offense, and a [iii] Unified Battle On the Boards … there will not be many more W’s to be found this season in a toxic wasteland like the Raptors’ locker-room was last night.
————————————————————
FINAL SCORE: Tor 106, PHI 115
Complete Game Info
FWIW …
There were two dramatic change points in this game, from the Raptors’ perspective:
CHANGE POINT I – during the first 06:10 of the 2nd quarter
When the Raptors went from being tied on the scoreboard, 19-19, to being down by double-digits with the following 5-Man Units on the floor:
-5 = Ukic/PG + Kapono/OG + Graham/SF + Marion/PF + Bosh/C
-4 = Ukic/PG-OG + Banks/OG-PG + Graham/SF + Marion/PF + Bosh/C
-1 = Ukic/PG-OG + Banks/OG-PG + Parker/SF + Bosh/PF + Bargnani/C
CHANGE POINT II – from 07:03-04:41 of the 4th quarter
When the Raptors saw their comeback efforts completely nullified … as their opponents re-established their once 18-pt lead during this span, after seeing it cut to just 9-pts … with the following 5-Man Units on the floor together:
-3 = Ukic/PG + Graham/OG √ + Mensah-Bonsu/SF √ + Marion/PF √ + Bosh/C √
-6 = Calderon/PG + Parker/OG + Marion/SF √ + Bosh/PF √ + Bargnani/C
——————
LEGEND:
Bold – Player Subbed into the game; Italics – Player Shifted to a new position; √ - Solid Rebounder, at this position.
Tags: Anthony Parker, Chris Bosh, Jamario Moon, Jay Triano, Jermaine O'Neal, Marcus Banks, Nathan Jawai, Patrick O'Bryant, Shawn Marion, Will Solomon
March 12th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
[...] khandor’s sports blog » In Raptorville, Something changed last night … and it was… – [...]
March 13th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Khandor,
surely you don’t believe the “new attitude” has only manifested itself over the last few days. Came to light, to some, perhaps. But to suggest this has not been going since, at the very least, December 2008 does not seem accurate IMO.
This group has been playing without chemistry for a long long time, in these eyes, and I am having a hard time believing you believe the chemistry has gone sour during this week.
March 13th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
* going on
March 13th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Flux,
I didn’t say anything about a “lack of chemistry” with this team.
IMO, the “attitude” which is coming to the surface now … during this 7-game losing streak … is in fact very different than the attitude which existed with this team from Dec 3 thru to the trade deadline [Feb 22].
As I said prior to the announcement of the trades with Miami and the trade with Sacramento and the trade with Boston being announced, this was not what the Raptors should have done at this point in the current season, which has been a complete debacle.
What the Raptors should have done, instead, to salvage this mess … was sit tight, bite the bullett, and stand pat until the coming off-season.
Despite what others think they might have seen from Bosh & Calderon & Parker & Graham, since the beginning of the year, in terms of these players having “mailed it in” long ago or having “given up” on one another, IMO, this has not been the case at all and those observations are flat-out WRONG perceptions about what’s actually happened with the Raptors’ core players under the direction of Sam Mitchell and now Jay Triano.
IMO, what has changed recently has arrived with the addition of:
Shawn Marion
Marcus Banks, and
Patrick O’Bryant
and the departures of:
Jermaine O’Neal [to Miami]
Jamario Moon [to Miami]
Will Solomon [to Sactown], and
Nathan Jawai [to the NBDL].
March 14th, 2009 at 4:01 am
[...] khandor’s sports blog » In Raptorville, Something changed last night … and it was… [...]