Basketball Blog

Senin, 16 April 2012

Raptors Match Last Year's Win Total With Yet Another Upset Win, This Time, Over Hawks (Rapid Recap)

-The Toronto Raptors pulled off a huge upset on Friday night by beating the Boston Celtics. They upped the ante tonight by polishing off the Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta, 102 to 86, their D League troops again dominating NBA vets.

-And yes I do mean dominate. Joe Johnson, the Atlanta Hawks' go-to scorer, was 2 of 12 on the night, and his club wasn't much better shooting 40 per cent from the field. The Hawks, much like the Celtics on Friday, seemed to have looked at the roster they were facing, and attempted to mail it in hoping for an easy W.

-As has been the case all season, opposing teams simply can't play that way against Casey's Raptors. Toronto used a 28 to 16 second quarter advantage to enter the half with a 14 point lead, and they really never looked back en route to win number 22 on the year, tying last year's win total but doing so in 61 games as opposed to 82.

-DeMar DeRozan and Alan Anderson were lights out in this one combining for 39 points on 14 of 24 shooting. We've been pretty hard on DeMar but he was great tonight, getting to the free-throw line 11 times and looking to attack on nearly every occasion.

-This wasn't just a two-man show though as Ed Davis had another solid outing, Ben Uzoh and Justin Dentmon were again solid replacing Jose Calderon, who sat out his second straight match, and James Johnson returned to relevance as well! Johnson had 15 points and 4 rebounds off the bench in his most effective outing in quite some time.

-So here's a question. What the hell does this mean? The Raptors were supposed to be dead meat in these final matches considering their personnel and the teams they were playing. But again, Dwane Casey had his troops ready to go and Atlanta, besides looking like they hardly cared to be on the court, to say the least, also looked lost at both ends.

-And suddenly tomorrow night's tilt becomes quite intriguing as the Hawks turn around and fly to Toronto for a rematch. Who knows if Jose will be back but regardless, we'll likely get a good idea after tomorrow night's tilt, whether tonight's match was indeed a product of a superior Raptors' game-plan, or the result of a Hawks team that already has its eyes on a first-round playoff match with the Boston Celtics.

Get the Tanking Back in Order - Toronto @ Atlanta (3 in the Key)

Can the Raptors find a way to waive this guy? He's seriously putting a dent in our tanking efforts. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-US PRESSWIRE

With their surprise Friday the 13th victory, the Raptors head into Sam Mitchell's back yard for a home-and-home back-to-back series with the Hawks. Kinnon Yee looks at how the Raptors can get the tank train back on the rails.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Great win and all by the Raptors the other night.

After foretelling that the Raptors would almost have no way of beating the Celtics, the Raptors went out and well... Beat the Celtics.

No matter how enjoyable it might have been to take a bunch of D-leaguers and stuff it to the Celtics (and boy, it was pretty enjoyable) you have to wonder how many more games the Raptors could have won had their team been composed slightly differently.

I originally felt/feared that the Raptors would win 27 games this year, and while I was pretty far off, my logic is now being played through.

See when I made my prediction, I hadn't counted on one thing:

Rasual Butler wasn't going to be the equivalent of a retired Mo Pete.

I was wholly expecting Butler to knock down all the chances he would have in the Raptors offense since he was, traditionally, a pretty good three-point shooter. But after getting bitten by a virus seemingly only available here in Toronto (let's call it the Kapono-itis), Butler turned out to be a pretty ineffective and horrible shooter.

Now with Anderson doing at least a halfway decent job, and suddenly, the Raptors are winning games like the other night.

And down the stretch, this has me worried.

We're going to see more and more teams come in with the mindset that they just want to get to the playoffs without injury, and with this Raptors team, on any given night, you just might get some hot shooters who will suddenly "click" and give you a win.

In my books, that's a pretty dangerous combination.

So the question now becomes, how do we make sure this stops from happening again?

Because as much as I can tell you about Atlanta always being a thorn in the Raptors' side and Joe Johnson being a pretty streaky shooter himself, the threat will always be there. As long as the Raptors have players who can light it up beyond the arc, Dwane Casey will definitely have a chance to get a defensive minded team a win.

In any case, if you're on the side that's just simply looking for a win, here's how the Raptors need to perform to get it

1) DeMar DeRozan Getting to the Line - He didn't have a terribly great shooting night, but he figured it out as the night went a long thanks to some foul shots. In the two losses to Atlanta earlier this year, DeRozan only averaged 9.5 points in the losses. Atlanta's got the right set of players to keep up with him, but with this back-to-back, DeRozan needs to find a way past Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams

2) Hot Shooting - The Raptors got great 3 point shooting from both Alan Anderson and Linas Kleiza in their win, and if they continue to get hot 3 point shooting, it'll at least put them in contention against the Hawks. Just as important has been the restrained yet effective play of Ben Uzoh who understands his range and has been very efficient on the floor. If Jose Calderon makes it in tonight, that will continue to extend the Raptors' range of attack and gives them another offensive weapon.

3) Possessing Possessions - Rebounding and turnovers. Quite simply, the more chances the Raptors have at getting the rock in the hoop, the better. In their two losses earlier this year, the Raptors turned it over an average of 17 times, which really allows Atlanta to fully display their athleticism. For the Raptors, they have to control the ball and they have to keep up with the Hawks in rebounding, something they did quite well in both losses.

Poll

How can we get the tank back in the game?

The One On One with Nike Hoop Summit Coach Roy Rana

Can Ball Ray steals some minutes from the guy who coached the World Team to a steal of a win at Nike Hoop Summit. (Photo: Ryerson University)

If you were out of the country or in a coma, you might have missed the news of the World Team defeating the US Team in the annual Nike Hoop Summit in Portland this past Easter Weekend. If you missed that then you also missed that Canada's Roy Rana was the head coach of that World Team. Can Ball Ray got a few moments to talk to Rana when he returned from his week in Portland to talk about the event and the Canadian contingent Anthony Bennett and the game's breakout star Andrew Wiggins all right here ...

Coach Roy Rana, head coach of the Ryerson University Rams Men's basketball team and current head of the Cadet Men's National Team, took some time out to give us a look into his experiences and impressions of the Nike Hoop Summit right here ...

Can Ball Ray: Well Coach Rana, congratulations on beating the US with the World Team at last week's Nike Hoop Summit. How was it going over to coach the World Team again for the second time? Where there any differences from last year?

Roy Rana: I'm a little more accustomed to how it works now. I know what to expect, you know how many people are around and when open practices are and closed practices are, so you have a feel for how the process works (now).

CBR: What was the biggest challenge this time around for you?

RR: Really just keeping it simple. Not over coaching, not putting too many different things, trying to help our kids manage (the) distractions of the many NBA people around the event.

Also, a big hurdle was the language. For the most part they all understood the language but we (sometimes) fail to realize some of the slang, the way we say things here in Canada and North America are maybe not as clear from an English perspective. So just being conscious of what we're saying. And for the Wang Zhelin he had a translator so (just always being mindful).

CBR: For the most part, the World Team consisted of guys that have already been playing as professionals for a couple of years. How was coaching them and were there any differences between Bennett and Wiggins and these players?

RR: It was pretty easy, really. Some of these kids, they're being coached by legends in their home countries and the professional level so their IQs are high and they understand how to play. Are the significant differences between Anthony and Wiggins I wouldn't say so. All the kids seemed to pick up on the stuff rather quickly, bought in and were great.

CBR: The World Team won the game over the US but how do you feel your team performed?

RR: I thought for three, three and a half quarters we were pretty good. We had one stretch where we got pretty sloppy with turnovers and allowed the US to convert on those turnovers but other than that I thought we were very, very good.

CBR: Now let's backtrack a little bit. How did you even get to this point coaching at this event in the first place?

RR: Last year, the coach of the team Rob Beveridge who coaches professionally in Australia in Perth had been the long time coach at the Hoops summit, going on nine years. But the (NBL) play off schedule ran a little later (that season) and he wasn't able to do the event and they were looking for someone to take it on and my name got pushed forward. Fortunately, when the weighed all the candidates and options they decided I'd be a good fit. I've been lucky and fortunate and they liked what happened last year when (the World Team) only lost by 12 to an absolutely incredible US Team and I was asked to come back.

CBR: The big buzz was about Andrew Wiggins after his great performance. You've coached him for a few summers before now. How do you feel Andrew's come along as a player?

RR: He's just continues to reinforce what his potential is going to be. Not only did he have a great game but a great week. He showed his versatility, his skill set (and) obviously he's a great athlete. He basically showed all his strengths, and a couple of weaknesses but those are more youth and inexperience. There is no question he's very unique in the world.

CBR: Now you saw him match up with the high school National Player of the Year in Shabazz Muhammad. Compare his performance to that of Shabazz.

RR: Andrew matched him in the first half bucket for bucket and defensively gave him a lot of trouble. He forced him to shoot a low percentage. If you're talking about differences, Andrew scored in so many different ways: catch and shoot three, off the dribble pull up, get to the basket and finish at the rim, scoring through defense. He created plays in so many different ways that it said a lot about him as a player.

CBR: Anthony Bennett is another player you had been able to coach for a few summers before last weekend. Now he was coming off an injury this season and he seemed to be limping at one point in the game. How about did you feel Bennett fared?

RR: He was a monster on the glass and he grabbed key ones down the stretch. He continues to develop himself as an elite shooter and he's a great shooter for his size and position. Inside he's a finisher and he showed that in practice. He's got some work to do but I think he's established himself as a potential NBA prospect all week as well as showing great leadership.

CBR: How do you feel now about these two players and where they are presently after having coached them in previous years?

RR: You just can't help but be excited for them and for the country. They're maturing nicely and not only their games but (themselves as) people. They're just character kids and great young men and I think they carried themselves well and represented their country well. The sky's the limit for them and they will hopefully be huge pieces of our national team moving forward.

CBR: Do you think that these two players, and other at events like this, are helping to build a profile for the game in Canada?

RR: It certainly can't hurt. They're building a real following for the sport in Canada and internationally people are seriously thinking that there is a pool of talent in this country. I keep telling people that it's not a fluke, continue to expect more coming down the pipeline and it's exciting. (Both kids) along with Cory and Tristan, Pangos and Kabongo are building a buzz with young kids in the sport and it'll only help grow the sport and they are doing great things as ambassadors (for the game here).

CBR: Thanks once again for taking the time to speak to us Coach Rana. We'll look forward to seeing a lot more of you come summertime.

If you missed any of the action you can check out the official Nike Hoop Summit here and watch the entire game right here.