khandor’s sports blog

During Wednesday’s television broadcast of the Orlando/Toronto game, Jack Armstrong, Toronto’s analyst, made the following observation about the perceived talent level for this year’s Raptors team:  

Then, on Thursday evening , during the FAN590’s ”Hoops” broadcast, Eric Smith, Toronto’s radio analyst, tried to re-iterated this same point of view, when a caller suggested that the Charlotte Bobcats should actually be considered as “a better team with more NBA talent than the Raptors” … along with, at least, 4 other teams in the Estern Conference, i.e. Boston, Orlando, Cleveland and Atlanta.

After hearing Eric’s response to that caller, this is the exact comment [including errors] which was submitted by yours truly to his FAN590 blog, The Rap, on Friday, Dec 18 2009, at 2:17 PM:

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Hi, Eric.

I heard you on speak with a caller on last night’s show, just prior to 8:00 PM, concerning your belief that the Raptors [11-17/.393] are a better team than the Bobcats [10-14/.417]. According to what you said, your opinion was based on conversations you have had with various NBA insiders who you have encountered across the league and what their impression of Toronto and Charlotte has been to this point in the season.

Respectfully, it is my contention that you … and these NBA insiders who you happened to have communicated with regarding the relative strength of these two teams … happen to be incorrect in this assessment, and will eventually be proven wrong are the season plays itself out.

After starting the season poorly, without Stephen Jackson on their roster, the Bobcats have begun to climb up the standings in the Eastern Conference, and are now ahead of the Raptors. Although the Raptors [#4] have played a more difficult schedule than the Bobcats [#15], to this point, IMO, Charlotte has more “NBA talent” on its current roster, and should probably be expected to close out the current season by finishing ahead of Toronto in the final standings.

Calderon [+1] > Felton
DeRozan < Jackson [+1]
Turkoglu < Wallace [+2]
Bosh [+2] > Diaw
Bargnani < Chandler [+3]
———————-
Jack = Augustin
Belinelli < Henderson [+4]
Wright < Brown [+5]
Johnson = Mohammed
Nesterovic [+3] > Diop
———————-
Banks < Murray [+6]
Seems [+4] > Law
 Mensah-Bonsu = Graham
Evans [+5] ?
O’Bryant = Ajinca
———————-
Triano < Brown [+7]

PS. Hopefully, the fanbase should now be able to see that we’ve been saying for a while now, re: Jose Calderon’s relative lack of individual defensive prowess not being the major catalyst for the team’s many short-comings on that side of the ball, has been a highly accurate assessment.

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As you can clearly see there are several typos and what appear to be “publication errors” contained in that specific comment, which was submitted rather hurriedly and is still awaiting moderation/publication at The Rap.

In an effort to clear up any mis-understanding which Eric Smith - or other visitors to his blog - might have … 

Here is a more “in-depth” analysis of the rosters for the Raptors and the Bobcats, with a few adjustments to the initial ratings that more accurately reflect the current state of affairs with these two teams, from the perspective of this coner:

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Visitors here are invited to elaborate further on their own answer to this question in the comments section.

Concerning the current state of the Raptors’ defense and their prospects for success, both, this season and down-the-road …

PART I … Please read carefully what was written in this space yesterday:

Placing blame on the wrong player[s] won’t solve the Raptors’ defensive problems

then, pay close attention to what you hear next, straight from a real live NBA assistant coach/scout in …

PART II … Please take the time to click on the following link:

Defense, Prince, Moustaches and More 

and listen to the podcast you will find there, involving Eric Smith, Jack Armstrong and [most importantly] Gordon Chiesa [former longtime NBA assistant coach/Utah Jazz; current NBA scout/Memphis Grizzlies], re: How Defense Actually Works in the NBA Game.

As they say, from time to time, in courtroom movies …

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, [in this case, at least] the Defense now rests.”

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There are a great many people operating in the on-line hoops community today who attempt to pass themselves off as a truly knowledgeable person when it comes to understanding properly how the game is played at the highest levels of competition.

Sadly, the simple fact is … not very many of them have the slightest clue about what’s actually involved with the workings of, either:

i. The X’s and O’s; or,

ii. The Jimmy’s and Joe’s;

that are on display each and every day in the National Basketball Association.

If you’re a basketball fan …

Spend your time wisely, listening to those few folks who do.

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PS. Which means, unfortunately, if you happen to visit fan-based web sites which use “approval ratings” that include different forms of “thumb-up/thumb-down” comment ratings, you should most likely pay heed to the ones which lead the way in terms of accumulating ”thumbs-downs”.

For the benefit of Raptors fans everywhere …

Sam Mitchell speaks on the FAN590 [Fri Sep 12 2008]

[audio=http://qml.quiettouch.com/files/radio/fan590/hotaudio/sammitchell2-gp-20080912.mp3|bgcolor=#0000ff|leftbg=#ff0000|slider=#00ff00]

… about the arrival of Jermaine O’Neal, the play of Chris Bosh & Jose Calderon at the Olympics, the quality of his wardrobe, the expected improvement of Andrea Bargnani, what builds good character, which players are going to get the most playing time this season and at what positions, plus what’s needed for the Raptors to advance in the NBA Playoffs.

Pay particular attention to the final half of the interview … from the 7:15 mark on …

“We’ve got to rebound the basketball. I think we’ve proven, since I’ve been here, that we’ve been able to score the basketball fairly well … but our Defense & Rebounding, it starts with the Defense and you finish it off [on the] on the Defensive Boards. We got to play D and Rebound the basketball … you’re not going to win, you’re not going to win … being 29th in the league in Rebounding.”

and, then, what he has to say in his closing comments:

“We’re not going to change a lot of things. A lot of the stuff we run Chris & Jermaine can do. We run a lot of Double-High Post-ups, which is great for those guys … and the difference is … you know, also … we can put both Chris and Jermaine down on that Low Post, at times, [and] and command the basketball … we’re excited with the team, I like our basketball team, on paper … if we can stay healthy … but, again, it’s all going to be decided once we get on the floor.”

It is going to be a most interesting season in Raptorville.