Toronto Raptors Season Preview: Game 5
re: How an astute NBA observer might expect the first part of the schedule to unfold for the Raptors this year
Game 5 – @ New Orleans [Fri Nov 06]
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RAPTORS |
ADV |
HORNETS |
||
|
PG |
Calderon |
à |
PG |
Paul |
|
OG |
DeRozan * |
à |
OG |
Stojakovic |
|
SF |
Turkoglu $^ |
= |
SF |
Posey |
|
PF |
Bosh |
= |
PF |
West |
|
C |
Bargnani |
= |
C |
Okafor ^ |
|
|
|
|
||
|
PG |
Jack # |
ß |
PG |
Collison * |
|
OG |
Belinelli ^ |
= |
OG |
Peterson |
|
SF |
Wright ^ |
= |
SF |
Wright |
|
PF |
Evans ^ |
= |
PF |
Songaila ^ |
|
C |
Nesterovic $ |
= |
C |
Armstrong |
|
|
|
|
||
|
G/F |
Douby |
= |
G/F |
Brown |
|
PF |
Johnson ^ |
= |
F |
Diogu $ |
|
|
|
|
||
|
HC |
Triano |
à |
HC |
Scott |
|
|
|
|
||
|
+1 |
OUTCOME |
+3 |
||
|
Legend: ADV – Individual match-up advantage; * - 2009 NBA Draftee; ^ - Acquired via trade; # – Restricted free agent; #M – Restricted free agent, matched offer; $ – Unrestricted free agent; $R – Unrestricted free agent, re-signed; $^ – Acquired via Sign & Trade; Italics – Returning player. |
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Q1. What’s the reason Chris Bosh should be playing Center for the Raptors rather than Power Foward?
A1. Difficult individual match-ups like this vs David West [PF].
Instead of being able to use his significant quickness advantage against an upright player like Emeka Okafor [C], Bosh is forced to bang with one of the best scoring under-sized PF’s in the league. CP3′s combination of quickness and strength makes him a difficult check for Jose Calderon. Very seldom will a rookie [i.e. DeRozan] outperform an established player like Peja Stojakovic, especially, in a road game. Byron Scott is a first rate head coach.
Raptors expected W-L Record: L, 2-3
Tags: Amir Johnson, Andrea Bargnani, Antoine Wright, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Darius Songaila, Darren Collison, David West, Devin Brown, Emeka Okafor, Hedo Turkoglu, Hilton Armstrong, Ike Diogu, James Posey, Jarrett Jack, Jay Triano, Jose Calderon, Julian Wright, Marco Belinelli, Morris Peterson, New Orleans Hornets, Peja Stojakovic, Quincy Douby, Rasho Nesterovic, Reggie Evans, Toronto Raptors
September 25th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Hedo = James Posey?!?! If that’s what 50M gets us, we’re in trouble…
While Po-Z is no doubt a valuable role player who can stick the open 3 and play solid D, he’s just nowhere near as talented on the offensive end as Hedo. Don’t disagree with the rest of this, although I do think that Bosh has an advantage over West (albeit a small one, for the reason you mention above).
September 25th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
[...] Khandor’s Sports Blog Q1. What’s the reason Chris Bosh should be playing Center for the Raptors rather than Power Foward? [...]
September 25th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
for a guy who writes a blog on the raptors it doesnt seem as you like them very much. bosh is better then west u should give him the benefit of the +1 for him against almost every team.
case and point – how many gms do u think would take west over bosh? or offer him more money? which one of them won a gold medal at the olympics while the other was at home watching him win it?
September 25th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Reply — here’s my opinion of why the matchup of CB4 v DW is closer than their independent ability would indicate (that is, I agree that CB4 is a far better player than DW in the abstract, but far less so when playing against DW)…
CB4 has two major advantages over most bigs — first, his quickness, which allows him to blow by bigger players and draw contact (since he’s not quite explosive enough to finish a lot of plays) to get to the FT line; second, his jumper, which forces bigs to play him tighter than they’d like, given his quickness.
Against centers, these attributes become even more valuable, since most centers are FAR slower than CB4.
BUT, against a guy like DW, who is just as quick as CB4, smaller, but stronger, these attributes are largely neutralized. In theory, if CB4 were more of a power player, he could use his height advantage… but he’s NOT, and bullying people just ISN’T his game, regardless of the matchup. That is why he’s best used at the position that pits him against guys he CAN’T bully, but he CAN blow by with ease.
For the record, my first post noted that I agree with you that CB4 is an advantage over DW, but this is a tough matchup for CB4 given DW’s quickness.
September 25th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Scott G – I can see now why someone would rate bosh = to DW in that paticular match-up, I wouldnt but I can see why others would.
I’ll just leave it to bosh to prove hes on the winning end of that match up.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Reply,
Welcome aboard!
It would be a mistake in judgment to think that I am someone who does not value and appreciate the game of Chris Bosh.
e.g. Exhibit A and Exhibit B
Understanding how exactly he matches-up with a player like David West at the #4/PF position, in a NBA game, however, is a different matter altogether.
Scott G. has done a good job already providing an explanation for you. Suffice to say that I agree with his perception of this individual match-up, i.e. although Bosh is the better player, overall; he has a minimal advantage, if any, when playing vs West, as a #4/PF.
FYI …
Here’s a neat tool that’s now available at Basketballreference.com:
Bosh vs West, Head-2-head
as a rudimentary means of statistical-only comparison.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Scott G.,
re: West vs Bosh
Great job!
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re: Turk vs Posey
I agree with Otis Smith & Dave Twardzik, i.e. Turk isn’t worth a $50.0 M 5-yr contract.
A top notch NBA coach can effectively shut down Turkoglu with a very good role player like James Posey.
Turkoglu has good NBA talent but he’s a complementary player, not a foundation building block.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Why do you think Hedo guards Posey and not Peja? Hedo + Double De = Posey + Peja.
Isn’t Okafor someone that Bargnani could totally torch?
September 26th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Brain,
If you prefer that the match-ups look like this:
DeRozan vs Posey and Turkoglu vs Stojakovic
rather than
DeRozan vs Stojakovic and Turkoglu vs Posey
that’s not a problem. There really isn’t a great deal of difference, IMO. This is one of the beauties involved with a player like Posey, who … although he is far from being great … is a very versatile player.
——————————————————–
re: Okafor vs Bargnani
Whatever advantage Bargnani has in terms of scoring points he gives right back on the defense & rebounding fronts.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Khan — thanks!
re turk v posey: my take is that posey COULD very well shut down Hedo on some nights, but other nights that won’t be the case. At the other end of the floor, posey won’t ever really torch anyone. While it’s again not a big advantage, I think that matchup is definitely in the raps favor. I guess time will tell…
Either way, 50M is ridiculous…
September 28th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Scott G.,
In case you’re not familiar with this new handy dandy tool provided by Basketball-reference.com, please take a look at the head-2-head match-up stats seen here.
Turk and Posey are certainly different types of players but I’m not sure it’s completely accurate to say that Hedo is flat-out better, if/when you consider the defensive flexibility and rebounding that James brings to the table for his team.
In my book, Turk and Posey are both complementary players with a different focus to their individual games … i.e. Turk = Offensive; Posey = Defensive … regardless how much $$$ they paid.
In general, defensive contributions are not tracked well by the stats recorded for most NBA games, and it’s difficult to demonstrate clearly just how good a cat like Posey is compared to Turkoglu … especially when he gets a chance to fit in with a top notch player or two [e.g. D-Wade, Garnett/Allen/Pierce, and CP3].
You’re absolutely correct, however, that Posey is unlikely to ever torch his own check 1-on-1.
September 28th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
hmmm… you’re absolutely right: If I have LBJ/D-wade on my team, I want Po-Z beside him; If I have Trevor Ariza, I want Hedo beside him. It’s about putting the puzzle pieces together…
November 7th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Wow. This forecast was very wrong. I had the raps winning every starter matchup except DeRozan and Calderon who were each even with their NO counterpart.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Brain,
The Hornets have gotten off to a slow start so far this season … however, I wouldn’t be so quick to write them off completely, and assert that your interpretation of their players’ skillsets, in comparison with the Raptors’, is highly accurate while mine was/is not.
When the Raptors shoot the 3ball at an exceptionally high percentage they have a solid chance to win games against any team in the NBA, in a one-off situation.
Time will tell, however, regarding how consistent they can be when it comes to this aspect of the game.