khandor’s sports blog

FINAL SCORE: Raptors 99, MAVERICKS 108
Complete Game Info

Down by 7 points at the half, the Raptors quickly closed the gap on the Mavericks to open up the 3rd quarter scoring on 3 of their first 4 possessions:

Full Play-By-Play

At the 10:36 mark, however, when Joey Graham [SF] was called for his 4th PF and was then replaced by Marcus Banks [OG/PG], the Mavericks responded by inserting James Singleton [F] into their line-up, replacing Eric Dampier [C]. After pulling down 5 Rebounds in the first half, Singleton collected 9 more in the 3rd quarter, which allowed the Mavericks to match-up successfully with the Raptors’ “small” line-up and still retain their Rebounding superiority.

When the Mavericks then replaced Antoine Wright [OG/SF] with Jason Terry [OG/PG], to further spread the floor, it was Toronto that could not match-up successfully with Dallas, as the home team opened up a 9-point margin … on the strength of [i] 2 Fts by Jason Kidd, [ii] a putback dunk by Singleton, and [iii] consecutive jumpshots by Dirk Nowitzki [one 2FG & one 3FG] … that it would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

When the Raptors then chose to end the quarter with the following line-up:

1/Ukic + 2/Banks + 3/Kapono + 4/Bosh + 5/Bargnani

[i.e. Chris Bosh plus 4 non-Solid Rebounders]

any hope of a 2nd half comeback was eliminated, as the lead then ballooned to 15-points [75-90].

If/when you compare [B] where the Raptors could/SHOULD have been with their player roster for the 2008-2009 season and [A] where they stand today, in relation to a team like the Mavericks:

it’s quite stunning just how much the talent level of this team’s overall roster has declined this season.

As the NBA’s pre-season continues to move forward, it becomes increasingly interesting to evaluate some of the Draft Night transactions which involved young men who had yet to play a single game in the NBA and were deemed by certain GM’s to be valuable building blocks for their respective franchises, or not.

Such is the case for Roy Hibbert [C, 7-2, 278, 2008 NBA Draft, No. 17 (overall) Selection].

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Hibbert shows he can score
Hibbert, the No. 17 pick in last summer’s draft, had his best offensive game of the preseason, scoring 17 points against the Grizzlies on Monday.

“We really like Roy,” Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said. “He works his heart out. He knows how to put the ball in the basket around the basket. We couldn’t be happier with Roy right now.”

Hibbert came out of Georgetown labeled as being primarily a defensive player. Hibbert will help the Pacers defensively — he had three blocked shots against the Grizzlies — but he’ll also offer more. He had nine rebounds in 23 minutes.

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Time will tell just how effective Roy Hibbert is eventually going to be, in the NBA … but if this corner’s assessment proves to be correct, he is destined to have a long and productive career, as a ‘Robert Parrish-esque’ player, i.e. no fuss-no muss, consistent on both ends of the floor, plays within himself at all times, Rock Solid Big … following in the grand tradition of Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutumbo, Alonzo Mourning and [to a far lesser extent] Othella Harrington.

Of further intrigue, at least, to this corner, is the fact that he was acquired on Draft Night by a GM like Larry Legend [of all people ], as part of the Pacers’ trade with the Raptors … i.e. Jermaine O’Neal + the 2008 NBA Draft No. 41 (overall) Selection [Nathan Jawai], in exchange for TJ Ford [PG] + Rasho Nesterovic [PF/C] + Maceo Baston [PF].

5 years from today … it is going to be very interesting to assess where the Raptors have gone, in the interim, with the front-court players they have right now … i.e. Chris Bosh, O’Neal, Andrea Bargnani, Kris Humphries, Nathan Jawai & Jamal Sampson … in comparison with the Pacers [i.e. Rasho Nesterovic, Jeff Foster, Troy Murphy, Austin Croshere, Josh McRoberts, Maceo Baston & Roy Hibbert].

It says here … that Larry Bird has his Center for the next 10-15 years, and the Pacers are but one or two more moves away from returning to the EC playoffs on a consistent basis.

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UPDATE:
* A 2nd set of solid numbers for Roy Hibbert
Box Score: Pacers 100, Mavericks 93 [Wed Oct 15 2008].

There’s an interesting interview with Larry Bird on NBA.com today which gives his interpretation of the Pacers’ situation looking forward to this season and their future in the next few years ahead.

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NBA.com: What do you see as the No. 1 area of improvement for the Pacers this season?
Larry Bird: Obviously we have to get better on the defensive end. Last year we committed too many fouls and we didn’t defend the three-point shot. So overall our defense has to get better to win games. Offensively, we’ll score a lot of points. Defense was the problem last year. As far as the team goes, I think we did something in the draft to help us overall, and I think we solidified our point guard position with Travis [Diener],T.J., and Jarrett Jack so we’re very strong in that area right now.

NBA.com: How big of an impact will rookie Roy Hibbert have on the defensive end in the role of shot blocker, overall defensive presence?
Larry Bird: It’s always good to have a big guy in there. Without Jermaine last year we didn’t have that potential to block shots. With Roy in there he takes up a lot of space and even if we don’t block a lot of shots, you can get guys to shoot up over him and maybe distract them a little bit. I think it’s going to be a major plus for us. Obviously he’s a rookie and he’s got a lot of learning to do, but in the long run he’ll be fine.

NBA.com: Who is the team leader?
Larry Bird: I think it can be a couple guys. We’ve had some players around here just waiting for the opportunity to step in and I think now they’ll look at the training camp and go through and you’ll sort of see after a while who the players gravitate to.

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What’s of most interest to this corner is:

(1) The possible location of two former Raptors on Indiana’s current depth chart, i.e. TJ Ford and Rasho Nesterovic; and,

(2) The overall level of optimism Larry Legend has for the likes of Mike Dunleavy, Danny Granger, Troy Murphy, Roy Hibbert, et al., as a core group of players which the Pacers can build around over the next few seasons …

specifically, in comparison with the current roster of the Pacers’ trading partner in the deal they made this summer for Jermaine O’Neal.

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While most of the ’2008-2009 NBA Season Forecasts’ these eyes have read, thus far, see the Pacers finishing toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference; and, the Raptors with a solid chance to finish in the top third of the EC … looking strictly at the rosters of these two teams, paints a very different picture in the mind of this NBA connoisseur.

Is it possible that the Raptors manage to navigate the entire NBA season without a significant injury to one [or more] of their key players [i.e. Bosh, O'Neal or Calderon]?

Yes it is.

If so … then, it is certainly possible to see how the Raptors might finish this campaign higher in the EC standings than the Pacers.

However, on the flip side … even if Toronto goes injury-free this year …

Is it also possible to see how this Pacers’ roster … with the Quality Depth it has … might, in fact, be able to generate just as many W’s this season as the Toronto Raptors?

Yes it is … if Larry legend is correct and the players he’s mentioned are indeed capable of stepping up their games to assume Leadership Roles with their team this season.

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From the perspective of this corner, these are just two of many teams in the EC that could realistically finish anywhere from #6-14 this season should the breaks go their way or not.

Which one of these two player rosters would you prefer to have, going forward from this point, if you were Jerry West and you were the GM for the Toronto Raptors?

[please read the question carefully]

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1. Make a choice between A or B.
2. Provide your rationale, if possible.

The Raptors play the 2^nd half of a back-to-back at Golden State this evening.

Based on individual player/coach match-ups:

this might be THE game that Toronto can steal on its extended road-trip.

Jose Calderon is well-rested after only playing 20 minutes last night against the Lakers.

If he can use his size & strength to neutralize the natural advantages Baron Davis has when matched-up against many of the other PG’s in the league

AND

Sam Mitchell actually uses Kris Humphries (for substantial minutes/25+) vs the combination of Harrington & Croshere

this could be a highly entertaining game that finishes with a final score closer than the current wagering line suggests … i.e. GSW -10.

If you’re watching live tonight ,,, keep your eye tuned to the Rebounding Differential, where the Warriors are 30^th in the NBA; and, the Raptors are 22nd.