khandor’s sports blog

Philadelphia 76ers 79 [2-0]
TORONTO RAPTORS 84 [0-2]
Game Scoreboard

What exactly do you need to know about this specific game?

… as Part II to the back-2-back affairs which these teams played Tuesday [in London ON] and Wednesday [in Toronto ON]

1. Bosh, Turkoglu and Wright were out, once again, for the Raptors; while Rodney Carney was absent again for the 76ers.

2. The back-up players for each of these two teams are just THAT … i.e. ”Back-up quality” players, in the NBA, as opposed to being “Starter quality” players who “just happen to be coming off the bench”.

3. At the 10:23 mark of the 4th quarter, the score was tied 64-64, with the following line-ups on the court:

Philadelphia
PG/Sean Singletary,  OG/Royal Ivey, SF/Brandon Bowman, PF/Jason Smith and C/Marreese Speights

Toronto
PG/Jarrett Jack, OG/Quincy Douby, SF/Sonny Weems, PF/Amir Johnson and C/Patrick O’Bryant

from which point, each team made the following substitutions during the final stages of the game:

Philadelphia
PG/Jrue Holiday [for Sean Singletary]
SF/Thaddeus Young [for Brandon Bowman]
PF/Brandon Bowman [for Jason Smith]

Toronto
PG/Marcus Banks [for Jarrett Jack]
OG/DeMar DeRozan [for Sonny Weems]
OG/Sonny Weems [for DeMar DeRozan]

as the 76ers proceeded to outscore the Raptors 20-15 the rest of the way … while playing on the road.

4. Philadelphia and Toronto are each going to have their hands full this season qualifying for the playoffs in the EC with [at least] the likes of Boston, Orlando, Cleveland, Atlanta, Washington, Miami, Chicago, Charlotte and Detroit all appearing to superior personnel, from top-to-bottom, on their roster. 

A video recap of last night’s action …

Toronto Raptors 98
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS 107
Game Scoreboard

Game 1 of the pre-season schedule is now in the books for the Raptors and the 76ers. 

Initial observations from last night:

Both of these squads have a long way to go if they are going to contend for a playoff spot in the EC this season.

PS. Pre-season Game 1, video recap …

The 5 teams in the Atlantic Division finished in the following order last season:

1. Boston Celtics, 62-20/.756, 2nd East, Lost 2nd Round 
2. Philadelphia 76ers, 41-41/.500, 6th East, Lost 1st Round  
3. New Jersey Nets, 34-48/.415, 3rd East, Missed Playoffs
4. Toronto Raptors, 33-49/.402, 13th East, Missed Playoffs
5. New York Knicks, 32-50/.390, 14th East, Missed Playoffs

At this point in the off season, the teams have made the following player personnel changes:

BOSTON CELTICS
Significant Losses
1. Leon Powe [PF], UFA
2. Mikki Moore [PF-C], UFA
3. Stephon Marbury [PG]
4. Gabe Pruitt [PG-OG]

Significant Adds
1. Lester Hudson/2nd Round Draft Pick [No. 58, overall]
2. Rasheed Wallace, UFA
3. Sheldon Williams, UFA
4. Marquis Daniels, UFA

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
Significant Losses
1. Reggie Evans [PF], trade
2. Andre Miller [PG], UFA
3. Theo Ratliff [PF-C], UFA

Significant Adds
1. Elton Brand [PF], returns from injury
2. Jason Smith [PF-C], returns from injury
3. Jason Kapono [SF], trade
4. Jrue Holiday [PG], 1st Round Draft Pick [No. 19, overall]  
5. Rodney Carney [SF], UFA

NEW JERSEY NETS
Significant Losses
1. Vince Carter [SF-OG], trade
2. Ryan Anderson [PF], trade

Significant Adds
1. Terrence Williams [SF-OG], 1st Round Draft Pick [No. 11, overall]
2. Courtney Lee [OG], trade
3. Rafer Alston [PG], trade
4. Tony Battie [PF-C], trade

TORONTO RAPTORS
Significant Losses
1. Jason Kapono [SF], trade
2. Shawn Marion [PF-SF], UFA/Sign & trade
3. Kris Humphries [PF], trade
4. Nathan Jawai [PF-C], trade
5. Anthony Parker [OG-SF-PG], UFA
6. Joey Graham [SF], UFA
7. Roko Ukic [PG], trade
8. Carlos Delfino [SF-OG], trade

Significant Adds
1. Reggie Evans [PF], trade
2. DeMar DeRozan [OG-SF], 1st Round Draft Pick [No. 9, overall]
3. Hedo Turkoglu [SF], Sign & trade
4. Antoine Wright [SF-OG], trade
5. Jarrett Jack [PG-OG], RFA
6. Marco Belinelli [OG-SF-PG], trade
7. Rasho Nesterovic [C-PF], UFA
8. Amir Johnson [PF], trade 

NEW YORK KNICKS
Significant Losses
1. Quentin Richardson [SF-OG], trade
2. Chris Wilcox, PF-C], UFA

Significant Adds
1. Danilo Gallinari [SF-PF], returns from injury
2. Jordan Hill [PF-C], 1st Round Draft Pick [No. 8, overall]
3. Toney Douglas [PG-OG], 1st Round Draft Pick [No. 29, overall]
4. Darko Milicic [PF-C], trade
5. Sun Yue [PG], UFA

While several NBA observers seem to think the Raptors SHOULD be much improved this coming season, based on the wholesale changes made to their roster … this corner does not necessarily share that same opinion, when evaluated against the LOSSESS & ADDS of the other teams in their Division.

Q1. Have the Raptors improved, overall, from last season, relative to their competition?

A1. Maybe; maybe not … is the correct answer, at this point.

The Knicks and Nets are in re-building mode, and the Raptors SHOULD have been expected to finish this coming season in NO WORSE than 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, behind the Celtics and, possibly, the 76ers … even if they would have done “nothing” substantive to improve their team this summer.

However, given that doing “nothing” was in fact the OPPOSITE of what the Raptors decided to do this off season … i.e. see above … it SHOULD now be EXPECTED that this supposedly improved team SHOULD finish NO WORSE than in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division behind the Boston Celtics.

Once this expectation is established, what then becomes interesting is …

if the divisional standings eventually look something like this:

ATLANTIC
1 Boston
2 Toronto or Philadelphia
3 Philadelphia or Toronto
4 New York or New Jersey
5 New Jersey or New York

and the conference standings eventually look something like this:

SOUTHEAST
1 Orlando
2 Atlanta or Miami or Washington
3 Miami Atlanto or Washington
4 Washington or Atlanta or Miami
5 Charlotte

CENTRAL
1 Cleveland
2 Detroit or Chicago or Indiana
3 Chicago or Detroit or Indiana
4 Indiana or Detroit or Chicago
5 Milwaukee

and the playoff race eventually looks something like this:

Eastern Conference
1-2-3 Orlando – High End, Southeast
1-2-3 Cleveland – High End, Central
1-2-3 Boston – High End, Atlantic

4-5-6 Atlanta – Upper Middle, Southeast
4-5-6 Miami – Upper Middle, Southeast
4-5-6 Washington – Upper Middle, Southeast

7-8-9-10-11-12 Detroit – Middle, Central
7-8-9-10-11-12 Chicago – Middle, Central
7-8-9-10-11-12 Indiana – Middle, Central
7-8-9-10-11-12 Toronto – Middle, Atlantic
7-8-9-10-11-12 Philadelphia – Middle, Atlantic
7-8-9-10-11-12 Charlotte – Low End, Southwest

12-13-14-15 Milwaukee – Low End, Central
12-13-14-15 New York – Low End, Atlantic
12-13-14-15 New Jersey – Low End, Atlantic

indicating, perhaps, that the relative strength of each division may be shifting this season:

#1. Southeast
#2. Central
#3. Atlantic 

IF a scenario like this is eventually what plays out this season, then, how much will the Raptors really have improved this summer, relative to the other teams in their Division and the Eastern Conference, as a whole?

Earlier this summer, this was Philadelphia’s projected roster:

Tier 2B – Questionable Playoff Contenders

With this news today, however …

76ers agree to terms with Carney

… there is now, at least, a good possibility that Philadelphia might actually choose to field a line-up with a different configuration, when the regular season starts, which looks like this:

Key Differences

• Shifting Andre Iguodala to the Starting OG position.
• Shifting Thaddeus Young to the Starting SF postion.
• Shifting Elton Brand into the Starting PF position.
• Shifting Willie Green into the Back-up OG position.
• Shifting Jason Kapono into an Extra OG position.
• Inserting Rodney Carney into the Back-up SF position.

… in which case, the 76ers would warrant proper re-classification into the slightly higher category of Tier 2A – Possible Playoff Contenders, i.e. along with Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, Detroit, Charlotte, Toronto and Washington.

The moves which Ed Stefanski has made, thus far, this summer, in an effort to continue the gradual development of the 76ers have all been solid:

1. Hiring a sound, experienced NBA head coach [i.e. Eddie Jordan].

2. Trading Reggie Evans [an excess Back-up PF/Rebounder] for Jason Kapono [a Back-up SF-OG/Spot-up Shooter].

3. Drafting a young athletic PG-of-the-future with good size.

4. Allowing Andre Miller [veteran PG] to leave, via UFA.

5. Re-signing Royal Ivey [still youngish veteran 3rd-string PG] to a cost-effective contract, via UFA.

6. Re-signing Rodney Carney [still youngish veteran Back-up SF-OG/Defender-Rebounder-3PT-Shooter] to a cost-effective contract, via UFA.

This is now [I] a VERY athletic group of players, with [II] good size [especially, at the PG, OG, SF and C positions], [III] an elevated FG shooting percentage [on the whole], [IV] a solid core of returnees, and [V] a significant number of highly serviceable new additions that were not part of last year’s squad, including:

#1/Elton Brand/returning from an injury
#2/Jason Smith/returning from an injury
#3/Jrue Holiday/2009 1st Round Draft Pick [No. 17]
#4/Jason Kapono/via trade
#5/Primoz Brezec/via UFA; and,
#6/Rodney Carney/via UFA.

The group of players and coaches now on Philly’s roster should be able to compete night-in and night-out for a 3rd consecutive berth in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  

It’s interesting when others in the blogosphere attempt to rank NBA players, by position, according to a metric which is based, at least, in part, on standardized game statistics, e.g. PPG, RPG, APG, TS% and PER.

Ranking Eastern Conference Power Forwards
As always, these rankings are meant to project how I think they’ll perform next season, not what they’ve done in the past. The numbers next to each player are last season’s points, assists and rebounds per 36 minutes, their True Shooting percentage (TS%) and their Player Efficiency Ratings (PER).

1. Chris Bosh, Toronto — 2008-09 numbers: 21.5 PTS, 2.3 AST, 9.5 REB, .569 TS%, 22.1 PER
CB4 probably belongs on the top of this list even if he just delivers the same numbers he has over the past four seasons, but it’s a contract year and he wants to prove he’s worth a max contract. I don’t know if his scoring numbers will increase, but I think he’s going to jack up his intensity on defence and on the boards.

2. Kevin Garnett, Boston — 2008-09 numbers: 18.3 PTS, 2.9 AST, 9.9 REB, .563 TS%, 21.2 PER
Before KG screwed up his knee, he was easily the best power forward in the East. Since he’s 33 years old, I’m skeptical that he can return with the same athleticism and explosiveness he’s known for. Of course, Boston fans will tell you that he’ll more than make up for that with heart, intensity, and plain ol’ Celtic Pride. (Pausing to vomit profusely in wastebasket.)

3. Rashard Lewis, Orlando — 2008-09 numbers: 17.6 PTS, 2.6 AST, 5.7 REB, .580 TS%, 16.8 PER
Rashard scored in double figures in all 19 playoff games leading up to the NBA Finals — he was particularly devastating in helping to dispatch the favoured Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals. He might end up sliding over to small forward while new team-mate Brandon Bass mans the four-spot, but without confirmation I’ll assume that Lewis will remain the starting power forward and an excellent complement to Dwight Howard’s power game.

4. Josh Smith, Atlanta — 2008-09 numbers: 16.0 PTS, 2.5 AST, 7.4 REB, .533 TS%, 17.2 PER
Sure, he’s a knucklehead, but a very talented one. If he stops jacking up ill-advised threes and returns to being one of the most devastating shot-blockers in the league, Smith’s $10.8 million salary next season might actually seem like a relative bargain.

5. Elton Brand, Philadelphia — 2008-09 numbers: 15.6 PTS, 1.4 AST, 9.9 REB, .484 TS%, 14.6 PER
If he was still in his prime, Brand would easily be third on this list. Unfortunately, he was in the bottom half of Eastern power forwards last season because he was labouring with a bum shoulder and he only played in 29 games. There isn’t a strong track record of big men in their 30s returning to their prior glory after a bad run of injuries (see: Jermaine O’Neal) but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he can get his shooting percentage back up to pre-injury form since he claims he’s feeling like his old self again.

6. Antawn Jamison, Washington — 2008-09 numbers: 20.9 PTS, 1.8 AST, 8.4 REB, .549 TS%, 20.6 PER
Jamison has always put up good numbers and as far as I know, he’s always been a terrible defender. That might help explain why the Wizards had the second-worst record in the NBA last season.

7. Troy Murphy, Indiana — 2008-09 numbers: 15.1 PTS, 2.5 AST, 12.5 REB, .614 TS%, 17.8 PER
Is Troy Murphy a better athlete than Andrea Bargnani? And if not, how does Troy grab twice as many rebounds as Andrea per 36 minutes? Murphy is just as deadly from beyond the arc (45% last season) as Bargnani, but our guy gets the edge on defence because Murph is lousy on that end.

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Or, do they reveal a bias of some sort … i.e. in favour or against specific players; or, a specific “type” of player … at this position?

FWIW …

Here are the preferences of this corner when it comes to choosing the best Power Forward from the Eastern Conference, from this list, if the goal is Winning … e.g. a Do-or-Die Playoff Game … this coming season.

As different NBA off-season previews begin to surface in the blogosphere …

Bleacher Report
Pro Basketball Fans
Sports Alchemist

it can be very interesting to see which specific teams are perceived by different NBA observers to be head and shoulders above their immediate competition.

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Despite what some observers may perceive to be a heightened level of NBA  ”talent” on the Raptors’ roster this season, at this point, at least, this corner would suggest treading softly, instead, if your plan involves jumping on the Dino’s mounting bandwagon, as a former lower-echelon team with a legit chance to make major W-L gains in the standings.  

Last year the Raptors started their season 8-9, fired their head coach [Sam Mitchell], and proceeded to lose 40 of their remaining 65 games [.385], to miss the playoffs completely; while, the 76ers began their campaign 9-14, fired their coach [Maurice Cheeks], and then went on to win 32 of their remaining 59 games [.542], to make the playoffs as the 6th seed.

Debate in the Paint: Fear the Raptors
Debate in the Paint: Raptors just can’t escape mediocrity

Hmmmmmm …

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“The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” – Anonymous

Mason Won’t Return to Thunder
Mason’s agent, Roger Montgomery, confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that talks between the nine-year NBA veteran and the Thunder had broken down and the two sides wouldn’t be agreeing on a new contract.

Mason had expressed his desire to return to Oklahoma City after a knee injury forced him to miss the second half of last season. Montgomery says the two sides weren’t able to agree on a role for Mason, who still wants to make significant contributions instead of simply being a mentor for younger players.

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At the moment, Philadelphia is one of several teams that has yet to use its MLE this off-season. The 76ers’ roster looks like this:

If he’s 100% healthy, adding a veteran Wing, with the athleticism, skill-set and coachability of Desmond Mason, who can still contribute in a significant way, as a competent role player … like he did last year for the Thunder, prior to sustaining his season-ending injury … might be a solid fit for the 76ers, working under Eddie Jordan’s system, if they intend to legitimately compete hard for an EC playoff spot.

* Tyler Hansbrough makes his summer league debut. Those who think that Larry Bird made a mistake with the No. 13 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft are going to be in for a surprise this season.

* Colangelo works fast and hard to get Turkoglu. Hedo is many things but a player who “creates” shots working off the dribble he is not. Expect THAT from him, without the benefit of a pick and you’ll be in for disappointment Raptors fans.

* What’s next? As the old adage goes: “Some of the best deals a team ever makes are the ones it doesn’t make, in the first place.” Solace for Blazers fans in the aftermath of winning losing the Hedo Turkoglu Sweepstakes.

* Buyer Beware! Things are not always as they first appear to be, when it comes to advantageous signings during the NBA’s free agency period.  

* Nick Collison says Thunder is ready for the next step. Sleep on Oklahoma City this coming season at your own peril.

… given the specifics of this trade

and,

* Knowing who the Raptors’ FOUNDATION player is [Jun 04, 2009]

* Five off-season moves for the Raptors which would have helped to address their Treadmill status [May 29, 2009]

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1. Now is not the time to rejoice, in Raptorville; as,

2. Reggie Evans might not prove to be the “best fit” for their team; and, 

3. According to Bryan Colangelo [GM], “We’re not done yet.”

The 76ers are one of three teams in the Atlantic Division that finished with a better Won-Lost Record than the Raptors [33-49/.402] this past season:

1. Boston Celtics, 62-20/.756
2. Philadelphia 76ers, 41-41/.500
3. New Jersey Nets, 34-48/.415

and, for all intents and purposes, give up nothing of value in this deal … given the list of Bigs which they have on their current roster; while adding a spot-up 3PT-shooter who they can use in limited minutes to stretch the defense and augment their more athletic slashing players.

On the other hand, the Raptors now have a glut of players at their Big spots … including Bosh & Bargnani, their two most talented players … and remain relatively “unathletic” at the Wing position without a dynamic scorer who can consistently create his own shot:

Depending on the OTHER moves which the Raptors decide to make this off-season, including who they select in the upcoming NBA Draft, time will tell if this trade is the first phase of an actual resurgence for their team, relative to the other squads in the Atlantic Division [and the Eastern Conference, in general], or not.

At this point, however, at least it’s a start down a better path.

Really like what’s been coming out of the 76ers’ training camp, so far.

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Sixers’ Brand, Dalembert learning to work together
Elton Brand isn’t accustomed to playing with a shot-blocking center who has a penchant for catching lobs at the other end of the floor. Samuel Dalembert isn’t accustomed to playing with a power forward who sets up regularly in the low post and commands a double-team.

Time to go to work.

With three preseason games remaining, starting tomorrow night in Cleveland, 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks has plans “to try and get those guys on the same page.”

“Defensively, in terms of rebounding, there’s no space that’s not taken up by both,” Cheeks said before practice yesterday at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. “The challenge is at the offensive end, because more often than not, Elton’s going to have the ball. Sam will either be underneath, or stepping out on top, or screening a guard. Sam’s spot will be defined by where Elton has the ball.

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Q1. Will they be good enough to be considered one of the upper echelon teams in the NBA this season?

A1. No, not yet. However, this team is most definitely heading in the right direction … ↑↑↑.

[Note 1: The most impressive Sixer these eyes saw last week, during their exhibition W vs the Raptors, was their young Big, Mauresse Speights. If Elton Brand can stay healthy, over the next few years, this team is going to get a whole lot better, with the continued maturation of Andre Iguodala, Louis Williams, Thaddeus Young, Jason Smith, etc., under the steady hands of Andre Miller (PG), Maurice Cheeks & Ed Stefanski.]