khandor’s sports blog

Despite the best efforts of this corner to assert otherwise over the course of the last 2+ years, there are still a fair share of individuals who would try to suggest that the image which exists of Toronto, Canada in the hearts and minds of most American-born professional athletes is that of a backwater wasteland.

Well … for the  benefit of those people:

Why Pro Athletes Love Toronto

Today, however, Toronto is a road trip just about every pro athlete looks forward to. Some say the city has a cool, international vibe that increasingly stands out. Some like the plentitude of cheap concert tickets—a boon for athletes with big posses—or the convenience of the must-be-19 drinking law. (Rookie guard DeMar DeRozan of the Raptors, who is 20, was ordering chocolate milk at dinner before his teammates told him the good news).

Athletes get a warm welcome at the city’s relatively libertine gentlemen’s clubs which, according to a spokeswoman for the Toronto Convention and Visitors Bureau, tend to “clear out the champagne room” for visiting athletes. And it helps that the tentacles of the tabloids and gossip Web sites rarely extend this far into the frozen north. “People like to come here to party,” says Raptors power forward Chris Bosh.

Basketball stars like LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Jamaal Magloire of the Miami Heat (a Toronto native) have come to Toronto for fun—even during the NBA offseason. Since the Buffalo Bills began playing annual games at Toronto’s Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome) in 2008, an increasing number of NFL players have started passing through “the 416,” which is the city’s area code. Baseball players, who’ve been coming here since 1977 to play the Blue Jays, have good memories.

———————

From a reputable source like the Wall Street Journal, no less.

Nuff said.

As was indicated yesterday, in this space, just might be the case today, if the Raptors were to make a series of mistakes in judgment against a much-improved group of Sacramento Kings [22-43] last night …

This is what the current standings look like in the Eastern Conference:

following Toronto’s loss and the wins by Charlotte [at Philadelphia] and Miami [vs the LA Clippers].

If the rest of the regular season schedule should, in fact, play out in a way that approximates the following results for each of these 5 contending teams:

there is now a fairly good possibility that the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference will only be determined by the outcomes of the last 3 games for the Raptors and the Bulls.

Given the complete overhaul of their roster which the Raptors made last summer:

- Trading for Reggie Evans [#1]
- Selecting DeMar DeRozan [#2], No. 9 [overall] in the 2009 NBA Draft
- Signing Jarrett Jack [#3], as a restricted free agent
- Trading for Amir Johnson [#4] and Sonny Weems [#5]
- Trading for Marco Belinelli [#6]
- Trading for Hedo Turkoglu [#7] and Antoine Wright [#8]

in hopes of significantly upgrading the talent level of the players around Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani, it is difficult to believe that this is the type of final result which Toronto’s basketball braintrust was expecting from this season.

With last night’s loss to the LA Lakers, the Raptors [32-30] have now come up short in 6 of their last 7 games, and occupy the No. 6 position in the Eastern Conference standings, just 1.5 games ahead of the 9th place Chicago Bulls [31-32]. 

As they take the court for this evening’s tilt, in Sacramento [21-43], Toronto knows full well that another loss could see them drop into a virtual 3-way tie with Charlotte [31-31] and Miami [32-32] for 8th place in the East, if the Bobcats can overcome the 76ers [23-40], on the road, and the Heat can win, at home, against the hapless LA Clippers [25-39].

This is the line-up which Sacramento used last night, at Portland:

which, in turn, might generate the following individual match-ups this evening:

If the Raptors are going to stem the downward tide which has engulfed their team over the last 2 weeks, it will be up to:

A. Their 3 best players [overall] to dominate their respective checks;

B. Their head coach to match wits successfully with his counterpart;

and,

C. Their main wing players to contain the offensive fireworks that can sometimes erupt from the Kings’ pair of outstanding rookies, Tyreke Evans and Omri Casspi.

Anything less than this will put Toronto squarely behind the 8-ball heading towards their final 2 games of this road trip, back-to-back encounters with Golden State [Sat] and Portland [Sun].

Although the Kings have also lost 4 of their last 5 games, each was against a very tough opponent and decided in the final minute of regulation time:

L, at Oklahoma City [35-23], 107-113
W, at Houston [30-29], 84-81
L, at Dallas [41-21], 100-108
L, vs Oklahoma City [35-23], 102-108
L, at Portland, 81-88 [37-28]

In fact, Sacramento is beginning to turn around what had deteriorated last season into a significant mess … especially, for a once-proud franchise, led by a very solid GM [Geoff Petrie].

If the Raptors under-estimate their foes this evening, in any respect, whatsoever, the Kings are more than good enough to hang another L on the visitors, in what is gradually turning out to be another season of overall mediocrity for the Dinos. 

Heading towards their 61st game of the regular season … this evening against the Los Angeles Lakers, at the Staples Center … the most productive players for the Toronto Raptors have been:

——————————-
LEGEND:

KPER = khandor’s Player Effeciency Rating [PTS - (FGA-FGM) - (FTA-FTM) + TReb + Ast + St + BS - TO - PF]

KPER/MP - khandor’s Player Efficiency Rating Per Minute Played 
———————————–

If the Raptors were to use their players in an 8-Man rotation which looks like this:

they would qualify for the Eastern Conference playoffs without a great deal of difficulty.

The chief reason the Raptors have not used their players in the proper way … at least, thus far … this season is connected with the flawed Basketball Philosophy of their GM, Bryan Colangelo, who has consistently prioritized “offensively” skilled players, when constructing his teams in Phoenix and Toronto, rather than players with an abundance of “defensive and rebounding” skills.

Since the Raptors have now lost 5 of their last 6 games, and dropped into 6th place in the Eastern Conference, discussion [i.e. A and B] has been rekindled regarding the proper use of DeMar DeRozan/OG, Antoine Wright/OG-SF and Sonny Weems/OG-SF.

When making an initial evaluation of these 3 wing players for the Raptors, this season, it can be helpful to consider a simple stat, like KPER, which is derived from readily available boxscore information.

[i.e. khandor's Player Efficiency Rating = PTS - (FGA-FGM) - (FTA-FTM) + TREB + AST + ST + BS - TO - PF]

This basic measure generates the following raw scores for these 3 players:

DeMar DeRozan, +304
Sonny Weems, +227
Antoine Wright, +204

When Minutes Played are factored into the equation, it becomes even more obvious which of these 3 players has generated the most on-court production for the Raptors this season:

Over the course of their remaining 22 games … at least, if the Raptors hope to secure a playoff position above the No. 8 seed … Toronto would do well to ensure that Antoine Wright actually has his MP reduced; while, both, DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems have their MP increased.  

When crunch time happens in a NBA game, it’s the team which can respond with the best Offensive/Defensive/Rebounding execution that usually triumphs.

Philadelphia 76ers 114
TORONTO RAPTORS 101
Complete Game Info

In yesterday’s contest:

After Toronto cut Philly’s lead to 7 points, mid-way in the 4th quarter…

[Full Play-By-Play]

the Raptors responded by scoring on only 3 of their 7 ensuing possessions …

i.e. J2; J3; O-Reb-LU; J3; OFF PF/TO; DLU; J3 [Conversion = 42.9%] 

while the 76ers responded by scoring on 7 on their next 8 possessions …

i.e. FA-J2; FA-J2; LU; LU; J3; DLU; J2; O-Reb-J2 [Conversion = 87.5%].

Specifically, what happened during these 15 possessions to cement the victory for the 76ers? 

FOR PHILADELPHIA

- Andre Iguodala hit a tough fade-away jump shot vs Antoine Wright … primarily because Iguodala is a better basketball player than Wright, with a higher skill level, overall and superior athleticism

- Elton Brand made a tough [i.e. highly contested], fade-away jump shot in a right block post-up situation vs Chris Bosh

- Jrue Holiday made 2 terrific drives to the basket vs Jarrett Jack [Primary Defender] and Andrea Bargnani [Secondary Defender/Made unsuccessful shot block attempt]

- Holiday made a big 3PT shot when the Raptors were scrambled on defense, switching between Man-2-Man and Zone coverage

- Samuel Dalembert [Primary defender] and Iguodala [Secondary defender] did a good job contesting Chris Bosh’s driving layup attempt without fouling

- Dalembert secured a big offensive rebound and made a solid jump shot vs Chris Bosh

FOR TORONTO

- Jarrett Jack was repeatedly beaten off the dribble by Jrue Holiday

- Andrea Bargnani missed a 3PT shot

- After keeping the Raptors in the game with 2 big made jump shots, Jose Calderon made an uncharacteristic Turnover [Offensive PF] and missed a 3PT shot 

- Chris Bosh was ineffective … after re-injuring his ankle during the early stages of the 4th quarter [10:19], leaving to have it re-tapped, and then re-entering the game at the 7:54 mark … and surrendered a difficult fade-away jump shot to Elton Brand and an uncontested jump shot to Samuel Dalembert [after giving up an offensive rebound]

IN GENERAL

- Philadelphia’s two 5-man units of …

a. Holiday + Williams + Iguodala + Young + Brand
b. Holiday + Williams + Iguodala + Young + Dalembert

were too athletic and dynamic for the Raptors’ quintet of …

Calderon + Jack [?]+ Wright [?] + Bosh [re-injured?] + Bargnani [?].

LOOKING AHEAD

If the Raptors are going to maintain their current 6th place standing in the Eastern Conference, working through their upcoming 4-game west coast road trip, they will need to:

1. Have the services of a healthy Chris Bosh;

and,

2. Use a different combination of players to finish games.

If the Raptors do not have these 2 things occur, however, their fans will need to brace themselves for the rocky road ahead …

which just might see this team:

i. Lose, at least, 3 of their next 4 games;

ii. A. Have to battle the Chicago Bulls for the 8th and final playoff position, coming down the stretch, and the right to be eliminated from the post-season by the Cleveland Cavaliers/#1;

or,

ii. B. Perhaps miss the playoffs entirely;

and, then,

iii. Have a very difficult time retaining the future services of Chris Bosh, as he heads towards unrestricted free agency this coming summer.

—————————-

Related:

Raptor alarmed by lack of team focus

Last night’s game was a must-win situation for Toronto [5th; 28 L's], looking ahead to the 4-game west coast road trip which begins next week:

Game 62, at LAL [46-17, L?]
Game 63, at SAC [21-41, L?]
Game 64, at GSW [17-44, W?]
Game 65, at POR [37-27, L?]

and in the rear-view mirror, as Milwaukee [6th; 29 L's], Chicago [7th; 30 L's], Miami [8th; 31 L's] and Charlotte [9th; 31 L's] each continue their pursuit of a playoff position [i.e. #5-8] in the Eastern Conference.

New York Knicks 96
TORONTO RAPTORS 102
Complete Game Info

Operating without the services of Chris Bosh for the 7th consecutive game, the Raptors were able to post a solid victory, led by the stellar offensive performance of Sonny Weems and Jose Calderon: