khandor’s sports blog

Toronto was listed as a 10 point home favourite in their match-up against the LA Clippers last night.

Despite the size of this “number”, the Raptors were also the “best selection” on the NBA board, according to yours truly.

LA Clippers [27-48] 92
TORONTO RAPTORS [37-37] 114
Complete Game Info

QUESTION
For what specific reasons?

ANSWER

From the Clippers’ Perspective

1. The Clippers were playing without their Starting Point Guard, i.e. Baron Davis, which left the combination of Steve Blake and Bobby Brown to match-up with Jose Calderon and Jarrett Jack.

MAJOR ADVANTAGE for TORONTO

2. The Clippers were playing in the 2nd half of an away-away back-2-back, i.e. @ Milwaukee [Tue, Loss, 89-107] and @ Toronto [Wed], while the Raptors were playing after having an off day on Tuesday [following their win, at Charlotte, on Monday].  

MAJOR ADVANTAGE for TORONTO

3. Since firing Mike Dunleavy, first, as their head coach, and second, as their GM, the Clippers have been operating with an unproven leadership team [i.e. Kim Hughes and Neil Olshey, respectively], at the helm of their franchise. 

MINOR ADVANTAGE for TORONTO

From the Raptors’ Perspective

If you take a close look at the Substitution Chart for the 2nd half of last night’s game:

and, the Plus-Minus Charts for Specific Pairs of Raptors Players:

… what you should be able to see is that:

4. Since adjusting their Principal Rotation, by shifting:

PART I – Jarrett Jack/PG;
PART II - DeMar DeRozan/OG [but still giving the rookie plenty of valuable playing time, especially, with all-star Chris Bosh]; and,
PART III - Hedo Turkoglu/SF;

to their 2nd Unit, and inserting:

PART I – Jose Calderon/PG;
PART II – Sonny Weems/OG; and,
PART III – Antoine Wright/SF;

in their place, with the 1st Unit, the Raptors have re-worked the blend of Defense, Rebounding and Offense with their team, in a way that creates better balance, overall, and places increased emphasis on the specific contributions of certain players who are less focused on scoring.

MAJOR ADVANTAGE for TORONTO

5. Specifically, this shift in personnel has allowed the Raptors to:

i. Use Sonny Weems/OG and DeMar DeRozan/SF together, along with either Jose Calderon/PG [i.e. not a line-up they have used frequently this season, despite the repeated urgings of yours truly ] or Jarrett jack/PG;

ii. Use Demar DeRozan for an increased number of minutes in the 2nd half [Amen!];

iii. Use Sonny Weems [athletic] + DeMar DeRozan [athletic] + Jarrett Jack [athletic] + Reggie Evans/Amir Johnson [good rebounders], in conjunction with Andrea Bargnani [non-athletic, non-defending, non-rebounder], if/when Chris Bosh is off the floor [Hallelujah!];

and,

iv. Improve their overall ability to match-up effectively with individual opponents, at each of the 5 positions, in a specific game, without simply adhering to the rigid confines of a carved-in-stone line-up that has:

A. Hedo Turkoglu/SF,
B. Andrea Bargnani/C, and
C. Jose Calderon/PG

… each of whom is a liability on the defensive end of the floor …

together in the same “1st Unit” which is used to:

* Begin each game
* Begin each 2nd Half, and
* Finish every game.

MAJOR ADVANTAGE for TORONTO

6. Chris Bosh [i.e. 34 Pts; 11 Rebs; +13] is a much better basketball player than, either, Chris Kaman [22 Pts; 13 Rebs; -18] or DeAndre Jordan [i.e. 3 Pts; 3 Rebs; -27].

MAJOR ADVANTAGE for TORONTO

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The simple fact is …

Despite their many struggles of the past few weeks, right now, the Raptors are a much better team than the sad-sack LA Clippers.

re: How an astute NBA observer might expect the first part of the schedule to unfold for the Raptors this year

Game 9– @ LA Clippers [Fri Nov 13]

This is where the schedule begins to get considerably tougher for the Raptors this year, as they embark on their 2nd road trip to the WC, for the first of 4 games in a span of just 6 days, ending with a back-2-back in Utah.

Toronto actually matches-up quite well with the Clippers and has a solid shot at securing the W in what will be a critical “swing” game against a beatable opponent on the road. Unfortunately, when the Clips will be playing their last of 4 games during a homestand, on a day’s rest, with a refurbished Baron Davis at the helm, this is unlikely to be a cakewalk for the Dinos. That said … the Raptors do have enough weaponry to emerge with the W in this spot, provided that Jay Triano can actually hold his own vs Mike D. in the final minutes of the 4th quarter.

Raptors expected W-L Record: W, 4-5

FINAL SCORE: Raptors 92, Hornets 101
Game Info; Box Score; Full Play-By-Play; Video Highlights

When you only use 8 players, and your starting Center & Power Forward combine to make 10 Turnovers … 5 apiece, both with a negative AST:TO [3:5] … and their primary back-up off the bench also commits 2 Turnovers, for a total of 12 from these two positions; with the entire team committing just 16 [i.e. 12-16/75%] … there should not be any mystery, whatsoever, when a team is unable to play through its post players coming down the stretch of a close game, in the NBA, on the road.

When the Hornets are forced to play without Chris Paul [PG] and Tyson Chandler [C], and the Raptors still cannot close the deal, despite leading by 8 pts [83-75] at the 06:52 mark of the 4th quarter … and in spite of playing without Chris Bosh, themselves … by [i] losing the Turnover Battle, [ii] losing the Rebound Battle [34-36], yet again, and [iii] getting hammered from the 3PT Line, to the tune of 24 Pts [21-45] … it is a harbinger of troubled times ahead for the Dinos.

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To wit:

Failing and falling and finding blame
Action: Another late-game meltdown.

Reaction: When they have fallen completely apart, and it happens with shocking regularity, there’s always been a measure of, not calmness, but togetherness in the locker room.

But when does that fall completely apart like the team does? When do they start turning on each for the brain cramps that kill them night after night after night?

There were a few sideways glances and rolled eyes at times in the New Orleans game and a few in the locker room after.

Maybe Bargnani could pass the ball a wee bit more.

Maybe Jamario could not take silly jumpers.

Maybe Jose could feed O’Neal more and not try to get everyone else involved, or ask them to get the ball in the post.

I’m not saying they’re at each other’s throats but with each blown game, I get a sense an explosion is closer to reality. That might not be a bad thing, mind you, but the danger is that they really start getting on each other and it’s counter-productive. Some creative differences are good, a meltdown of any semblance of team chemistry is not.

This losing is getting to them, I can just tell by the terse answers, or lack of answers, we’re getting to innocuous questions. Nerves are frayed and this is a dangerous, dangerous time.

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There is now a solid chance that things will actually become even WORSE, in Raptorville, before they eventually end up getting BETTER.

RAPTORS SCHEDULE

Jan 30 vs Milwaukee L 85-96
Feb 01 vs Orlando L 90-113
Feb 03 at Cleveland L 83-101
Feb 04 vs LA Lakers L 107-115
Feb 06 at New Orleans L 92-101
Feb 07 at Memphis ?
Feb 10 at Minnesota ?
Feb 11 vs San Antonio ?
Feb 15 All-Star Game
Feb 18 vs Cleveland ?
Feb 19 Trade Deadline
Feb 20 at New York ?