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RAPTORS vs Knicks: Game Review, plus look ahead

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

Last night’s game was a must-win situation for Toronto [5th; 28 L's], looking ahead to the 4-game west coast road trip which begins next week:

Game 62, at LAL [46-17, L?]
Game 63, at SAC [21-41, L?]
Game 64, at GSW [17-44, W?]
Game 65, at POR [37-27, L?]

and in the rear-view mirror, as Milwaukee [6th; 29 L's], Chicago [7th; 30 L's], Miami [8th; 31 L's] and Charlotte [9th; 31 L's] each continue their pursuit of a playoff position [i.e. #5-8] in the Eastern Conference.

New York Knicks 96
TORONTO RAPTORS 102
Complete Game Info

Operating without the services of Chris Bosh for the 7th consecutive game, the Raptors were able to post a solid victory, led by the stellar offensive performance of Sonny Weems and Jose Calderon:

 PLAYER

pos

min

fgm-a

3pm-a

ftm-a

+/-

REB
off

REB
def

REB
tot

ast

pf

st

to

bs

ba

pts

KPER

Turkoglu

F

25:13

3-6

2-3

4-6

-10

1

8

9

4

2

0

2

1

1

12

+9

Johnson

F

30:35

7-13

0-0

0-0

+12

5

3

8

0

3

1

0

0

0

14

+14

Bargnani

C

37:05

4-15

1-3

0-2

+9

1

3

4

2

1

0

1

1

1

9

+1

DeRozan

G

24:44

5-8

0-0

0-0

+2

0

2

2

2

4

1

0

0

0

10

+8

Jack

G

28:19

7-11

0-1

0-0

-5

1

3

4

2

3

3

3

0

1

14

+13

Calderon

 

27:52

8-13

0-1

0-0

+14

0

3

3

6

1

0

1

0

0

16

+18

Wright

 

32:37

3-8

1-4

0-0

+6

1

1

2

0

1

1

1

1

0

7

+4

Weems

 

28:28

9-16

0-0

2-2

+4

2

7

9

2

0

1

0

1

0

20

+26

Evans

 

05:05

0-1

0-0

0-1

-2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

-2

Nesterovic

 

00:02

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

who were simply too quick, strong, and athletic for their counterparts on the Knicks to contain off the dribble.

If the Raptors can secure another W tomorrow afternoon, at home against the still struggling 76ers, it would ensure that Toronto [32-28] will be able to return to the cozy confines of the ACC [22-9] for Games 66 and 67 on their schedule, against Atlanta [40-21; Away/15-14] and Oklahoma [37-24; Away/17-13], respectively, no worse than 1 game above the .500 mark [i.e. if they somehow manage to go O-for on their road trip].

With the favourable upcoming schedules held by Charlotte and Miami, and with Milwaukee playing much improved basketball of late … following their acquisitions of John Salmons/G-F and Jerry Stackhouse/G-F … it looks like the battle for the 8th seed in the East might come down to the final 3 games of the regular season for, either, Toronto or Chicago:

TORONTO
Game 80, vs Chicago [W?]
Game 81, at Detroit [L?]
Game 82, vs New York [W?]  

CHICAGO
Game 80, at Toronto [L?]
Game 81, vs Boston [L?]
Game 82, at Charlotte [L?]

where the Raptors should have a decided edge.

When the Knicks are shooting well from beyond the arc, they can be a difficult opponent to play against.

However, when they shoot like they did yesterday [3-16/.188], they become easy pickings for a high-scoring, offensively oriented, team like the Raptors.

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Posted in Analytics, Basketball, NBA | 4 Comments »

Pistons’ main problem this year is their head coach

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

For those who watched last night’s Pistons-Celtics game,

Boston Celtics 105
DETROIT PISTONS 100

Complete Game Info

you saw all the evidence you need to realize that Detroit actually has a good deal of solid “NBA talent” on its current roster that is simply under-acheiving this season under the direction of John Kuester.

For example …

- using Rip Hamilton as a SF is a mistake

- using Will Bynum as a primary back-up PG to Rodney Stuckey is a mistake … when you also have Ben Gordon/OG-PG and Rip Hamilton [OG] on your squad, since there are simply not enough minutes available at the OG position, exclusively, for both Rip and BG to develop their rhythm properly in a given game

- using Ben Wallace as their starting C is a mistake … as opposed to using Kwame Brown in this lead “supporting” role and then shifting BW to the role of his primary back-up

- using Austin Daye [being wasted, thus far], Jonas Jerebko [just beginning to be used] and DeJuan Summers [being wasted, thus far] properly this season, should be a priority for the Pistons, as each one of these players has the capacity to develop into a front-line performer for Detroit … which is simply not happening this year under Coach Kuester

- signing offensive players like Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon and then NOT using them correctly, by actually running specific set plays designed to get them high percentage shots on a consistent basis, is a mistake … and certainly not what Joe D had in mind when he made those two roster moves this past summer

Those who think that the following list of players, used in the following way:

STARTERS
Stuckey/PG, Hamilton/OG, Prince/SF, Maxiell/PF and Brown/C

KEY SUBS
Gordon/OG-PG, Jerebko/SF-PF, Villanueva/PF-SF and Wallace/C

RESERVES
Daye/OG-SF and Summers/SF-PF

EXTRAS/OUTS
Atkins/PG, Bynum/PG [who should be traded in a package deal for a front-line multi-purpose Big] and Wilcox/PF-C

does not contain “enough” NBA talent to be a top 6 team in the Eastern Conference this season, and beyond, do not possess a high degree of basketball acumen.

Despite the injuries which the Pistons have faced this season, this group of players, if used properly, has more than enough NBA talent to be in the thick of the battle for the #5-8 playoff spots in the east …

Evaluating The NBA Talent Level

of Legitimate Playoff Contenders

in the Eastern Conference

Pos

TORONTO

31-28/.525

5TH

RK

CHICAGO

31-29/.517

6TH

RK

MILWAUKEE

30-29/.508

7TH

RK

MIAMI

29-31/.483

8TH

RK

CHARLOTTE

28-30/.483

9TH

RK

DETROIT

21-39/.350

12TH

RK

 

COACH

 

 

Triano

5

Del Negro

4

Skiles

2

Spoelstra

3

Brown

1

Kuester

6

SUB-TOTAL

5

 

4

 

2

 

3

 

1

 

6

 

STARTERS

 

PG

Jack

3

Rose

1

Jennings

5

Alston

6

Felton

4

Stuckey

2

OG

DeRozan

6

Hinrich

4

Delfino

5

Wade

1

Jackson

2

Hamilton

3

SF

Turkoglu

4

Deng

3

Salmons

5

Richardson

6

Wallace

1

Prince

2

PF

Bosh

1

Gibson

6

LRMAM

3

Beasley

5

Diaw

2

Maxiell

4

C

Bargnani

3

Noah

2

Bogut

1

O’Neal

4

Chandler

6

Brown

5

SUB-TOTAL

17

 

16

 

19

 

22

 

15

 

16

 

KEY SUBS

 

PG

Calderon

1

Brown

5

Ridnour

6

Chalmers

4

Augustin

3

Gordon

2

OG

Weems

4

Murray

1

Bell

2

Cook

5

Graham

6

Daye

3

SF

Wright

5

Johnson

6

Stackhouse

1

Wright

2

Brown

4

Jerebko

3

PF

Johnson

6

Warrick

5

Ilyasova

4

Haslem

1

Thomas

2

Villanueva

3

C

Nesterovic

5

Miller

1

Thomas

4

Anthony

6

Mohammed

2

Wallace

3

SUB-TOTAL

21

 

18

 

17

 

18

 

17

 

14

 

RESERVES

 

G

Belinelli

3

Law

5

Ivey

6

Arroyo

2

Henderson

4

Bynum

1

F/C

Evans

3

James

6

Gadzuric

4

Magloire

2

Diop

1

Summers

5

SUB-TOTAL

6

 

11

 

10

 

4

 

5

 

6

TOTAL

49

 

49

 

48

 

47

 

38

 

42

 

EXTRAS/OUT

 

 

Banks

5

Pargo

3

Redd

1

Jones

2

Ratliff

4

Atkins

 

 

O’Bryant

4

Hunter

1

Brezec

2

Diawara

3

Ajinca

5

Wilcox

 

 

 

 

Alexander

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEGEND: Pos – Position; RK – Ranking.

and, the only reason Detroit is now on the outside looking in is because of their head coach, John Kuester.

i.e. re: Legitimate Contenders to Win the NBA Championship, The Pistons are No. 9 in Rebounding Differential and No. 10 in Points Allowed. The fact that they are also No. 25 in Points Scored Differential is primarily attributable to the relatively poor work of their coach, at the offensive end of the floor, based on how he has decided to use their personnel, thus far.

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Posted in Analytics, Basketball, NBA | No Comments »

Raptors best not fall asleep, in pursuit of a playoff position

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

The battle for the final 4 playoff spots in the Eastern Conference is shaping up as a doozy with the current standings looking like this:

 

2009-2010 Eastern Conference Regular Season Standings

TEAM

W

L

PCT

GB

CONF

DIV

HOME

ROAD

L 10

STREAK

Cleveland1

47

14

0.770

0.0

27-8

6-1

26-4

21-10

7-3

W 4

Orlando2

41

20

0.672

6.0

29-11

7-4

23-6

18-14

7-3

W 2

Atlanta3

38

21

0.644

8.0

20-12

4-6

23-7

15-14

6-4

W 2

Boston4

36

21

0.632

9.0

23-13

10-2

16-11

20-10

5-5

L 2

Toronto5

31

28

0.525

15.0

22-17

7-3

21-9

10-19

5-5

L 4

Chicago6

31

29

0.517

15.5

19-18

8-4

19-10

12-19

6-4

L 2

Milwaukee7

30

29

0.508

16.0

21-15

7-5

18-9

12-20

7-3

L 1

Miami8

29

31

0.483

17.5

18-17

7-5

14-14

15-17

5-5

L 4

Charlotte

28

30

0.483

17.5

17-18

5-4

20-8

8-22

4-6

L 1

Although the Raptors’ head coach, Jay Triano, neglected to mention the Miami Heat in his post-game comments last night …

————————–
Shorthanded Raptors lurch to another defeat

With Jose Calderon sitting out due to a cut on his right elbow, Hedo Turkoglu taking the second half off with a bad ankle and with Chris Bosh back home in Toronto nursing his sore left ankle, the Raptors were drilled 116-92 by the Rockets here Monday in a game that evoked memories of the horrific defence of the first six weeks of the season.

And coach Jay Triano sounded some warning signs after the loss.

“I don’t know what you mean about playoffs. I would say that we’re not even close to being in the playoffs yet,” he said when the topic of the post-season was broached.

“We’re going to be in a fight until the last day in the schedule. Milwaukee’s playing well, Chicago’s playing well, Charlotte’s playing well. We’re going to be in a fight for a playoff spot right down to the very end.”
————————–

it could well be the case that:

1. Any of these 5 teams could be the 1 to miss out on this year’s playoffs …

Given the “relative strength” of the current rosters for these teams:

Pos

TORONTO

31-28/.525

5TH

RK

CHICAGO

31-29/.517

6TH

RK

MILWAUKEE

30-29/.508

7TH

RK

MIAMI

29-31/.483

8TH

RK

CHARLOTTE

28-30/.483

9TH

RK

 

COACH

 

 

Triano

5

Del Negro

4

Skiles

2

Spoelstra

3

Brown

1

SUB-TOTAL

5

 

4

 

2

 

3

 

1

 

STARTERS

 

PG

Jack

2

Rose

1

Jennings

4

Alston

5

Felton

3

OG

DeRozan

5

Hinrich

3

Delfino

4

Wade

1

Jackson

2

SF

Turkoglu

3

Deng

2

Salmons

4

Richardson

5

Wallace

1

PF

Bosh

1

Gibson

5

LRMAM

3

Beasley

4

Diaw

2

C

Bargnani

3

Noah

2

Bogut

1

O’Neal

4

Chandler

5

SUB-TOTAL

14

 

13

 

16

 

19

 

13

 

KEY SUBS

 

PG

Calderon

1

Brown

4

Ridnour

5

Chalmers

3

Augustin

2

OG

Weems

3

Murray

1

Bell

2

Cook

4

Graham

5

SF

Wright

4

Johnson

5

Stackhouse

1

Wright

2

Brown

3

PF

Johnson

5

Warrick

4

Ilyasova

3

Haslem

1

Thomas

2

C

Nesterovic

4

Miller

1

Thomas

3

Anthony

5

Mohammed

2

SUB-TOTAL

17

 

15

 

14

 

15

 

14

 

RESERVES

 

G

Belinelli

2

Law

4

Ivey

5

Arroyo

1

Henderson

3

F/C

Evans

3

James

5

Gadzuric

4

Magloire

2

Diop

1

SUB-TOTAL

5

 

9

 

9

 

3

 

4

TOTAL

41

 

41

 

41

 

40

 

32

 

EXTRAS/OUT

 

 

Banks

5

Pargo

3

Redd

1

Jones

2

Ratliff

4

 

O’Bryant

4

Hunter

1

Brezec

2

Diawara

3

Ajinca

5

 

 

 

Alexander

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEGEND: Pos – Position; RK – Ranking.

and,

2. Charlotte and Miami could be the 2 teams from this group with the best chances of reaching the post-season this season …

Given the remaining games to be played:

Can Raptors retain Chris Bosh with another 1st Round Exit?

Place

No. 5

No. 6

No. 7

No. 8

No. 9

Team

TOR

CHI

MIL

MIA

CHA

W-L

31-28

31-29

30-29

29-31

28-30

%

.525

.517

.508

.483

.483

G 59

 

 

 

 

@ BOS,L

G 60

vs NYK,W

 

vs WAS,W

 

vs LAL,L

G 61

vs PHI,W

vs MEM,W

@ WAS,L

vs GSW,W

vs GSW,W

G 62

@ LAL,L 

vs DAL,W

vs CLE,L

vs LAL,L

vs MIA,W

G 63

@ SAC,L

vs UTA,W

vs BOS,L

vs ATL,W

@ PHI,L

G 64

@ GSW,W

@ ORL,L

vs UTA,W

@ CHA,L

vs LAC,W

G 65

@ POR,L

@ MIA,L

vs IND,W

vs LAC,W

@ ORL,L

G 66

vs ATL,W

@ MEM,L

@ LAC,L

vs CHI,W

@ IND,L

G 67

vs OKC,W

@ DAL,L

@ SAC,L

vs PHI,W

vs OKC,W

G 68

@ NJN,W

vs CLE,L