khandor’s sports blog

Raptors’ inconsistency a cause for concern
One telling play in Friday’s loss was a dunk by Boston’s Paul Pierce over Chris Bosh that ended with Pierce being hit with a taunting technical for flexing over the falling Raptor. That brought coach Jay Triano and his staff off the bench to scream at Pierce, but elicited no response from the other players.

“I was pretty focused on what was going on in front of me. I didn’t realize until I watched it on tape that we had backed off as much as we did,” Triano said. “I think if I was Chris I would confront my teammates.

“Any time one of your guys goes down – and you don’t have to go out there and start fighting – just go over and help your teammate and we didn’t even do that. He laid there on the floor without anybody going over to see how he was.”

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PART I

A Top Notch NBA head coach does NOT talk in this way, concerning what happens to one of HIS players in a game:

“I was pretty focused on what was going on in front of me. I didn’t realize … ”

A Top Notch NBA head coach is aware of EVERY SINGLE THING that happens on the floor, and on the bench, with regard to HIS team.

A Top Notch NBA head coach … misses NOTHING.

Ever.

Because he is just THAT aware of:

1. What’s happened in the game, to that point;

2. What’s happening in the game, at that exact moment; and,

3. What’s most likely ABOUT to happen in the game, in the immediate future.

This is one of the personal attributes which separates a Top Notch NBA head coach from everyone else. 

PART II

A Top Notch NBA head coach does NOT talk in this way, either:

A. To;

or,

B. About;

the players on HIS own team.

He does NOT use the phrase:

“I think if I was ____ ____, I would ________ __ _________.”

He does NOT talk in public … either to, or about, HIS players … in terms of hypothetical directives.

A Top Notch NBA head coach is, either:

A. Purposely obtuse/indirect; or,

B. Purposely acute/direct;

in his dealings with reporters, scribes, bloggers, etc., concerning goings-on with HIS players, in order to convey a highly specific message that either:

i. Relieves the pressure of a situation from the entire team; or,

ii. Narrows the focus to a certain thing/individual within the entire group.

Of all the goings-on which have occurred in Raptorville, to this point, this season … these specific words spoken by their head coach, Jay Triano, are the most disconcerting.   

FACTS FROM FRIDAY NIGHT’S INCIDENT VS BOSTON

1. The first Raptors’ coach to get up from his seat, in response to what was done to Chris Bosh [by Paul Pierce] … was ALEX ENGLISH.

2. The most demonstrative Raptors’ coach who actually went after the Celtics’ bench contingent [i.e. Doc Rivers, Tom Thibodeau, Rasheed Wallace, etc.], in response to what was done to Chris Bosh [by Paul Pierce] … was MARC IAVARONI.

The Raptors have assembled a team in the image of Bryan Colangelo … and, it’s going to be most interesting, indeed, to see where they’ll go from here. 

In the interview Bryan Colangelo did with Eric Smith [FAN590], prior to the Raptors’ win vs the Bulls [Nov 11 2009], he said the following words:

“We’ll know what we’ve got by the end of the month.”

The Bosh Factor: Bryan Colangelo Won’t Be Patient With Early Losses

At the time, Toronto’s W-L Record was 3-4/.429.

11 days later, it is now 6-7/.462, good enough for 2nd place in the Atlantic Division and 9th place in the Eastern Conference.

Beginning with this afternoon’s home game vs Orlando, the Raptors will play 7 games over the next 11 days:

Game 14 Sun Nov 22 vs Orl [10-3/.769; 1st Southeast, 2nd EC]

Game 15 Tue Nov 24 vs Ind [5-5/.500; 4th Central, 8th EC]
Game 16 Wed Nov 25 @ CHA [3-9/.250; 4th (tie) Southeast, 10th (tie) EC]

Game 17 Fri Nov 27 @ BOS [9-4/.692; 1st Atlantic, 4th EC]

Game 18 Sun Nov 29 vs Pho [10-3/.769; 1st Pacific, 1st (tie) WC]

Game 19 Tue Dec 01 vs Was [3-9/.250; 4th (tie) Southeast, 12th (tie) EC]
Game 20 Wed Dec 02 @ ATL [11-3/.786; 1st Southeast, 1st EC]

which will take the team to the 1/4 pole of the regular season schedule.

This is the specific stretch of games that will reveal exactly what type of team the Raptors have, at the moment, and what can be expected from this group for the remainder of the season should there be no further major player personnel and/or coaching changes going forward.

While some voices in Raptorville believe the team’s performance during this stretch will turn out to be a source of tremendous optimism, and preceed a gradual upswing in the standings, as the season progresses …

45 Wins, and How the Raptors Will Get There [5-2, Nov 22 to Dec 02]

looking ahead, in September, from the vantage point of an astute NBA observer, this corner did not share that same perspective:

Raptors half-way through their first 20 games

According to his record, as a General Manager, Bryan Colangelo has a well-documented history of making an assessment of his team’s situation sometime in the first two weeks of December.

Tic toc, tic toc, tic toc … [Apr 11 2008]

If he likes what he has seen to that point, he continues moving forward, as is.

If, however, he does NOT like what he “thinks” he sees from his team … then, the fanbase best be prepared for a seismic shift, in terms of either player personnel and/or the head coach position.

Of scorpions, frogs, GMs & coaches [Apr 30 2008]

Wait a second … what’s really going on here [Dec 04 2008]

What is really going on here: Part II [Dec 05 2008]

Of scorpions, frogs, GMs & faces of the franchise [Mar 25 2009]

The next 2 weeks should prove to be a most interesting time in the 15 year history of the Toronto Raptors franchise. 

Related:

VC Declines Honour

Although Dave Feschuk usually does a solid job of pointing out which things are working well in Raptorville, at any given point in time, and which things are in need of improvement, on occasion, even he can “swing and miss”, when it comes to solving the riddle that has now become,

“What is really at the heart of the Raptors defensive woes, when it comes to relentlessly conceding dribble penetration to opponent ball-handlers using a Pick from a Big?”

Feschuk: Solution to Raptors’ weak defence? Start Jack
[1] So much for this corner’s pre-season thinking the Raptors are offensively gifted enough to stay in any given game so long as they’re shooting the ball well.

“(Giving up) dribble penetration was our biggest problem (on Sunday),” said Jay Triano, the Raptors coach. “We have to get better (at stopping it) as a team.”

[2]The problem is widespread, of course, and every regular could be singled out for some blame. But let’s be honest: [3] The problem of allowing opposing players into the paint starts at point guard. The past two losses have seen opposing No. 1s – Memphis’ middle-of-the-road Mike Conley and Orlando’s all-star Jameer Nelson – zip past Jose Calderon with too much ease. It’s a familiar plotline for Raptor fans, who watched Calderon cede similar ground last season, when a six-centimetre tear in his hamstring limited his mobility.

The Spaniard claims to be back to full health now, which could be worrisome, or perhaps an off-season of rest is the easy explanation for his early-going rust. Maybe he’ll be back in form in no time, as early as Wednesday’s home game against the Detroit Pistons.

[4] Don’t get it wrong: It’s not all Calderon’s fault. Defence, at the NBA level, is a team scheme. But there are degrees of getting beat.

“It’s tough for anybody to do something perfect all the time,” said Jarrett Jack, the Raptors’ backup point guard. “You might not get beat to where they lay it in the basket. You might just get beat to where the guy gets past you for a dribble until somebody can step up and we force them to swing it to the weak side.”

Calderon, to this eye, has been getting beat for lay-ins too often, although he says his defence has been “better than (his) offence” this season, which gives you an idea of what he thinks about his shooting stroke.

So what are the Raptors to do? Junking it up might be an option. Jack Armstrong, the high-energy broadcaster, was on the radio show he co-hosts with Eric Smith on The Fan 590 on Monday making an argument for Toronto’s occasional playing of multi-look zone defence. If you’ve got a glaring weakness, it makes some sense to be at least a little bit deceptive about where it is. But don’t expect changes. The Raptors coaching staff, particularly Jay Triano and lead assistant Marc Iavaroni, has invested a lot of time and effort into developing its current system.

“I don’t want to abandon what we’re doing,” said Triano. “In years past we’ve had a defensive philosophy and we’d go, `Oh, this is hurting us. Let’s abandon it and do something different.’ We’re not going to do that.”

[5] The truth is Calderon’s best defence is balancing out the ledger with his shooting stroke and minimal turnover rate. [6] But if his play doesn’t improve Triano might be forced to make a change. It’s just an idea, but Jack, as poorly as he has played adjusting to his role in Toronto, might eventually make more sense as a starting point guard. Jack is more defensively minded, physically stronger, a little bit quicker. And Hedo Turkoglu is just as capable at running the top-of-the-key pick and roll with Chris Bosh or Andrea Bargnani.

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1. Teams that win big in the NBA habitually rank at the head of the class when it comes to 5 specific aspects of the game:

* Points Allowed per game

* Defensive FG%

* Points Scored Differential [For minus Against]

* Rebounding Differential

* Pick and Roll/Pop Defensive Efficiency

The truth of the matter is that the NBA game is predicated to large extent upon how well an individual team is able to stop its opponents from scoring the ball during crucial segments of a specific contest … given the fact that it is RELATIVELY EASY for each and every team in the league to score the ball with a fair degree of regularity - i.e. in general, scores range from 80-120 points per game - since the rules of play actually legislate a distinct advantage to the offensive players [e.g. an offensive player who is fouled in the act of attempting to score a field goal is awarded with the immediate opportunity to shoot two free throws; while a defensive player who is fouled in the act of attempting to stop a field goal from being scored is not duely rewarded with a similar opportunity to score immediately from the free throw line].

2. Every On-ball Defender, Picker’s Defender, Designated Help Defender, and Designated Help-the-Helper Defender must be held accountable for his performance in this specific aspect of the game … not just Jose Calderon.

3. Given the actual size of the “Bigs” who are used to set these Picks, in the NBA game, effective Pick & Roll/Pop Defense does, in fact, NOT start with the Point Guard, himself.

4. In the NBA game, effective Pick and Roll/Pop Defense proceeds in the following order:

PART I. The specific technique which a coaching staff decides to use vs a specific action by the opponent’s offense and the highly specific parameters under which it is supposed to be applied by the players, e.g. Fight [which includes different types of Hedges and Recovers], Switch or Trap.

PART II. The specific response and technique used by the Picker’s Defender to initiate the proper Team Response.

PART III. The specific response and technique used by the Picker’s Defender to maintain control of the ball-handler.

PART IV. The specific response and technique used by the On-ball Defender to maintain control of the ball-handler.

PART V. The specific response and technique of the Desiginated Help Defender, to maintain control of the ball-handler.

PART VI. The specific response and technique of the Designated Help-the-Helper Defender, to maintain control of the other 3 offensive players not directly involved in the Pick and Roll/Pop action.

5. This is an absolutely correct observation about Jose Calderon’s individual game, as a very good PG, in the NBA, whose strength exists on Offense.

6. A starting 5-man unit which looks like this:

Jack + DeRozan + Turkoglu + Bosh + Bargnani

will NOT be substantially better at preventing dribble penetration when a Pick is set by an opponent’s Big on a perimeter ball-handler … since it does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to effectively address PART I, PART II, PART III, PART V and PART VI of a team’s Pick and Roll/Pop Defense, as outlined above.

In general, opposition ball-handlers have not been able to dribble penetrate relentlessly against the Raptors so far this season with the benefit of a Pick from a Big because …

* Jose Calderon is not “defensive minded” enough; or,

* Jose Calderon is not “physically strong” enough; or,

* Jose Calderon is not “physically quick” enough …

to get the job done, in comparison with Jarret Jack.

They’ve been able to do just that because the various Raptors assigned with the individual responsibility of executing PART I, PART II, PART III, PART V and PART VI, respectively, versus any specific “Big Pick-on-Little” action, have been unable to do their jobs properly on a consistent basis.

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Those who actually understand how the “Big Pick-on-Little” action really works, in the NBA game, from a defensive perspective, can ascertain fairly quickly which specific player[s] on the Raptors’ squad this season have been consistently deficient in terms of executing their individual responsibilities within the team’s various defensive schemes.

The cold, harsh reality is that … the biggest culprets overall happen NOT to be named Jose Calderon.

According to published reports, Toronto will use the the following line-up for this evening’s first game of the regular season [at home vs Cleveland]:

* - Solid rebounder at this position. 

The final standings in the Eastern Conference this season will most likely feature an exceptionally close finish between the No. 6 and No. 12 positions, as every team below the top 3 entries … i.e. Boston, Cleveland and Orlando, aka, Tier One … may be capable of playing well enough to legitimately compete for the 8th playoff position. 

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Q1. What do the Raptors need to do in oder to give themselves the best possible chance of being in the playoff hunt for the entire season?

A1. Play their best players at their best positions AND set aside the damaged egos of those in the organization who still believe that former 2006 No. 1 [overall] Draft Pick, Andrea Bargnani [7-0, 250], has done enough, to point this in his NBA career, to warrant designation as the team’s Starting Center, in place of Chris Bosh [6-10, 230].

If the Raptors eventually use the following line-up, instead, this season:

* - Solid rebounder at this position. 

which provides better balance overall for their team, by improving the Rebounding and Defense of their starting unit AND the Offensive fire-power coming from their bench …

they will give themselves the best chance possible to:

1. Make the playoffs;
2. Earn a Top 6 seed;
3. Win their 1st Round series; and,
4. RETAIN the services of their lone All-Star, Chris Bosh, when he exercises his right to pursue unrestricted free agency next summer.

The major problems with this year’s Raptors team …

i. Relatively poor Rebounding;
ii. Poor Transition Defense; and,
iii. Very poor Pick & Roll/Pop Defense;

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For the importance of ii. and iii. …

The Second Big Man
Transition defense is a very important part of the NBA game. It’s one of the two most important areas of defense; the other is pick and roll defense. Every team spends a tremendous amount of time on these areas, and Stopping these two areas of the game is what leads teams to very successful seasons.
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… can all be overcome effectively by reducing [not increasing] the role of Andrea Bargnani [C, 7-0, 250] and using him properly, for the first time since his rookie season, as the primary back-up for Chris Bosh [C, 6-10, 230].

Hopefully, the Raptors’ brain-trust [i.e. Bryan Colangelo, Maurizio Gherardini, Jay Triano & Co.] is able to figure this out, sooner rather than later.

Related:

NBA secret scout nails description of Bargnani

When certain Raptors fans cannot accept legitimate criticism of the former No. 1 [overall] Draft Pick/2006, they should be pointed toward this specific assessment of his individual game, which includes Offense, Defense and Rebounding:

SI.com’s NBA Enemy Lines: An opposing team’s scout sizes up the Raptors
Andrea Bargnani has to become more “NBA-ized.” By that I mean he still has a lot of that European stuff to his game. He doesn’t get back fast enough defensively, he doesn’t get physical enough and he settles too much for the jump shot as a 7-footer. He should be more of an asset inside, especially as a rebounder, though I did see signs of him trying to do that last year. He hasn’t shown that he’s a real tough, hard-nosed guy. He’s very skilled and he knows how to play, but he needs to be more in tune with what it takes to be successful in the NBA.

Right now, Bargnani can’t defend any position other than the 5, so he has to get stronger and do his work early defensively rather than wait for his man to take position in the post and then try to guard him, because by then it’s too late. He doesn’t move his feet well defensively, and that needs to be addressed in order for him to take it to the next level and be a starting center for a playoff team. As a 4 man, he can’t guard the position at all. I guess he needs to model his game after Mehmet Okur, a perimeter-shooting center who can handle himself physically inside. I trust Bargnani as a shooter. If it’s not a highly contested shot, I feel like it’s going to go in. He has a great release, form and arc with great range and pretty good quickness to get the shot off.

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Those with credible basketball experience are the ones who can see clearly what this young man’s specific strengths and weaknesses actually are, as a highly serviceable [back-up?] Center, in the NBA:

STRENGTHS
1. Has a high offensive skill level and knows “how” to play on this side of the floor.
2. A trustworthy shooter … but, only of shots which are not highly contested.
3. Good form on his perimeter shot with an adequately quick release.

WEAKNESSES
1. Doesn’t get back quickly enough in defensive transition.
2. Lacks NBA “physicality”, “strength” and “toughness”.
3. Not enough of an asset as a rebounder.
4. Cannot defend ANY position other than Center.
5. Fails to do “early work” defensively vs his individual check.
6. Fails to “move his feet well” on defense.
7. Cannot guard the Power Forward position at all.

not those who think that he is still capable of becoming a “franchise” player, as a perimeter-based Power [or over-sized Small] Forward.

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PS. As well, please take note that when a real life NBA scout describes what he actually sees when he looks at and assesses the abilities of an NBA player he DOES NOT include a single “game stat average” in that evaluation.

25 years later … the 1983 World Championship Philadelphia 76ers team … with Dr. J, Moses, the Jones Boys, ‘the Italian Stallion’, ‘the Boston Strangler’, and ‘Li’l Mo’ … remains the all-time favourite NBA team of this observer.

As the Sixers take the court this evening in Boston (against their arch-rivals) … and, having (finally!) reached the .500 mark (35-35) this season … it is only fitting that the man most responsible for their re-birth is, himself, an indelible link to that same Sixers’ team which captured the imagination, heart & mind of certain NBA aficionados back in the day.

When his name is mentioned today, as a candidate for ‘Coach Of the Year’ honours … these are the bookend set of images which come to mind of the giant little man from West Texas State … 

(1) the Little Engine … that did

and

(2) the Duet Maestro who …

has always understood, implicitly, what it means to be a Point Guard … in this world.

A salute to Maurice Cheeks! 

UPDATE:
10:34 PM … Final Score: BOS 90, Phi 95 … My, Oh, My!