khandor’s sports blog

FINAL SCORE: TORONTO 100, Miami 108
Complete Game Info

Despite what certain Raptors fans might want choose to believe, the reason Toronto lost last night’s game was not due to the less-than-stellar play of Jose Calderon [or the inability of Chris Bosh to perform as a Franchise Player should, i.e. making a series of clutch plays coming down the stretch of a close game].

As has been detailed in this space plenty of times before … Rebounding and Defense - specifically, FROM THE 3 OTHER PLAYERS ON THE COURT BESIDE BOSH & CALDERON - are the Raptors major short-comings, on a consistent basis … not the sometimes erratic Offensive production levels of their two most important players [i.e. Bosh & Calderon].

Until this team commits to:

* Playing at least 2 more Solid Rebounder/Defenders in a 5-Man Unit with Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon

and

* Playing at least 3 Solid Rebounder/Defenders together, in a 5-Man Unit anytime Jose Calderon is off the floor

… it is not going to be able to sustain a consistent effort for 48 minutes against a High End team in this league.

When Eric Spoelstra called Time-out at the 09:40 mark of the 4th quarter and substituted Dwyane Wade [42 Pts; 74.0 FG%; including 3 Treys and only 5 FTs] and Mario Chalmers back into the game … Jay Triano HAD to respond accordingly and re-insert some combination of:

A. Shawn Marion
B. Chris Bosh
C. Anthony Parker
D. Shawn Marion & Chris Bosh
E. Shawn Marion & Anthony Parker
F. Chris Bosh & Anthony Parker
G. Shawn Marion, Chris Bosh & Anthony Parker

to ensure that the Raptors had enough [i.e. at least 3] Rebounder/Defenders on the floor, at that crucial juncture of the game, to cope effectively with a DYNAMIC player like Dwyane Wade.

Instead of doing this, however … when Jay Triano left Jose Calderon, Jason Kapono and Andrea Bargnani on together [none of whom should be classified as a Solid Rebounder] with Joey Graham and Pops Mensah-Bonsu [who are both solid Rebounders], it was The Beginning of the End for the Raptors last night, as the Heat pumped its lead back up to 10 points.

Then, when Coach Spoelstra substituted Udonis Haslem back into the game, at the 07:09 mark, and Coach Triano responded, by replacing Joey Graham and Jason Kapono with Chris Bosh and Anthony Parker, leaving the Raptors with only 2 Solid Rebounders on the floor again, it was Time To Turn Out The Lights … as the Heat then increased its lead to 15 points, from which the Dinos were never able to fully recover, thereafter, even though they did eventually go to a solid 5-Man Unit which included 3 Solid Rebounder/Defenders [at their respective positions] at the 06:05 mark [i.e. PG/A-Parker, SF/Marion, and PF/Bosh].

It’s highly questionable personnel decisions like these, made by the Raptors’ President/General Manager and/or their Head Coach that consistently put this squad squarely behind the 8-ball, and eventually leads to the unhappiness/frustration of their best players [e.g. Wince Carter, Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon].  

Comparing the state of the Raptors’ franchise, at the moment, to that of the Miami Heat … their opponent this evening … is an interesting exercise.

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In the 2003-2004 season, the Raptors finished 33-49/.402, 6th in the Central Division, missed the Playoffs, and secured the No. 4 [overall] Selection in the 2004 NBA Draft Lottery, Chris Bosh.

Since then, the team has:

2004-2005
Finished 33-49/.402, 4th in the Atlantic Division, missed the Playoffs, and secured the No. 8 [overall] Selection in the 2005 NBA Draft Lottery, Rafael Araujo

2005-2006
Finished 27-55/.329, 4th in the Atlantc Division, missed the Playoffs, and secured the No. 1 [overall] Selection in the 2006 NBA Draft Lottery, Andrea Bargnani

2006-2007
Finished 47-35/.573, 1st in the Atlantic Division, with a 1st Rd Playoff exit 

2007-2008
Finished 41-41/.500, 2nd in the Atlantic Division, with a 1st Rd Playoff exit

2008-2009
Is currently 23-39/.371, 5th in the Atlantic Division, and out of the Playoffs. Bryan Colangelo is the President/GM and Jay Triano is the Head Coach. This is their player roster.

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In the 2003-2004 season, the Heat finished 42-40/.512, 2nd Atlantic Division, with a 2nd Rd Playoff exit, and selected Dwyane Wade with the No. 5 [overall] Selection in the 2004 NBA Draft Lottery.

Since then, the team has:

2004-2005
Finished 59-23/.720, 1st Southeast Division, lost Eastern Conference Final

2005-2006
Finished 52-30/.634, 1st Southeast Division … WON their 1st NBA Championship

2006-2007
Finished 44-38/.537, 1st Southeast Division, with a 1st Rd Playoff exit

2007-2008
Finished 15-67/.183, 5th Southeast Division, missed the Playoffs, secured the No. 2 [overall] Selection in the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery, Michael Beasley

2008-2009
Is currently 32-28/.533, 2nd Southeast Division, 5th in the Eastern Conference. Pat Riley is the President/GM and Eric Spoelstra is the Head Coach. This is their player roster.

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How good are the Miami Heat at the moment?

According to this corner, good enough to say, “No Deal,” to all potential suitors for Shawn Marion [PF/SF] … even those prepared to take Marcus Banks‘ bad contract off the Heat’s ledger. 

Why is that?

At the moment, Miami has a 24-29/.558 W-L Record, is in 3rd place in the Southeast Division, and in 6th place in the Eastern Conference, with a 7-6 mark since Jan 1, having picked up two Quality W’s in their most recent games vs Orlando [1st Southest] and Atlanta [2nd Southeast].

However, when you examine these respective Box Scores more closely:

GAME 1

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GAME 2

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… what you’ll see is that an interesting transformation is taking place with this team right now, in the absence of Shawn Marion.

* After playing “0″ minutes in the month of December …

Mark Blount [C, 7-0, 250] averaged 19 MPG against Orlando & Miami.

* After receiving “0″ minutes during the Heat’s first 15 games this season, and then only sporadic minutes through the month of December [during their next 13 games], since Jan 1, 2009 …

Jamaal Magloire [C, 6-11, 265] has averaged 15.4 MPG and got his first start of the season against the Hawks.

* After working as the Heat’s Starting Center for the month of December and averaging almost 18 MPG, on the season as a whole …

Joel Anthony [C, 6-9, 260] did not start at Center for the Heat vs Atlanta and averaged only 7.5 MPG against the Magic and the Hawks.

* After playing sporadically in Nov-Dec-Jan …

Yakhouba Diawara [SF, 6-7, 225] averaged 21 MPG against the Magic and the Hawks.

* After playing “0″ minutes at all prior to Jan 9, 2009 …

James Jones [SF, 6-8, 200], an UFA acquisition from Portland this past summer, averaged 8.5 MPG against the Magic and the Hawks.

Using a revamped 12-Man line-up:

STARTERS

PG - Mario Chalmers [6-1, 190] 
OG - Dwyane Wade [6-4, 212]
SF - Yakhouba Diawara [Shawn Marion, when healthy?]
PF - Udonis Haslem [6-8, 235]
C - Jamaal Magloire

KEY BENCH SUBS

PG - Chris Quinn [6-2, 185]
OG - Daequan Cook [6-5, 210] [or James Jones]
SF - James Jones [or Yakhouba Diawara]
PF - Michael Beasley [6-8, 235]
C - Mark Blount

RESERVES

PF/SF - Shawn Marion [or Daquan Cook or James Jones]
PF/C - Joel Anthony

the Heat, under the direction of Eric Spoelstra [1st-yr], is plenty big and tough and good enough to challenge for a berth in the EC Finals or, at least, the Semi-finals, this season … carried by a healthy D-Wade.

Then, once the off season arrives, Pat Riley [GM] will be sitting in the catbird’s seat, in position to:

1A. Re-sign Shawn Marion, if both parties are so inclined;

1B. Execute a Sign & Trade with Shawn Marion, if a suitable deal is on the table for Miami;

1C. Allow Shawn Marion to walk away … and use the available capitol instead to sign a player or two or three who might be a better fit upfront with the Heat than an injured former All-Star like Jermaine O’Neal [C/PF, Toronto] or a serviceable but strictly ordinary Big like Brad Miller [C, Sacramento];

2. While adding another Key Rotation Player to the mix for the Heat from the 2009 NBA Draft.

Come on Pat … Show this corner what you’ve got! … When it comes to being an authentic TOP NOTCH Executive in the NBA.

Have some patience, ride it out, and the Heat will be rewarded BIG TIME, down-the-road.

Afterall, that’s exactly what building an upper echelon team is all about, in the NBA, when you’ve got the right type of Basketball Acumen, in the first place.

When there are 8 teams in the Eastern Conference separated in the standings by only 4.5 games, between the 7th and 14th positions, at the half-way point of the regular season schedule, it speaks to the parity which exists today in the NBA.

The fact is …

There is very little tangible separation between any of these teams, whether they fall into the Middle-of-the-Pack or the Low End categories.

Injuries, coaching decisions and the different managerial moves which each team makes in-season will determine [i] which ones qualify for the playoffs this spring and/or [ii] become a likely candidate for substantial improvement heading towards next season and beyond.