Man, I love watching this team lately (unlike another team I can think of). Their ability to close out games with good defense and big plays is excellent. And Hedo showed up! Good thing, because they really needed him tonight. Great chance to put some ground between them and Miami/Charlotte before the all-star break, and maybe even cut the distance between them and Orlando.
when games are on the line, I'll take a 2 man game with Turk handling the ball with Bosh in the post every time.
Bargniani really frustrates me. I think the guy could be the next Dirk (or larry legend) in a few years, but his lack of interest in getting under the rim is killing me. I'd like to see him take a few guys into the post now and then - just to understand what it is like. He does have a good nose for blocking shots down low, but is too slow to react on the rotations more often than not. Still...... his game is coming along.
I like Calderon off the bench with the second unit. Armstrong called it bang on tonight when he said that Calderon and Johnson appear to be showing some great chemistry together. Calderon is best when he knows what each guy on the floor is going to do. Johnson is a guy who knows the limits in his game and doesn't stray too far from it. It's working.
Calderon was awesome stepping up tonight in that second quarter. He took control when the team was stagnant, took his own shots, and made them. Great to see.
Jack was strong as well.
Bosh was strong.
Turk was handling the ball on key posessions with Jack and Calderon on the wings - a nice switch up and coaching decision.
__________________
"OOOOOOHHHHHHH those Russians" - Boney M
when games are on the line, I'll take a 2 man game with Turk handling the ball with Bosh in the post every time.
Bargniani really frustrates me. I think the guy could be the next Dirk (or larry legend) in a few years, but his lack of interest in getting under the rim is killing me. I'd like to see him take a few guys into the post now and then - just to understand what it is like. He does have a good nose for blocking shots down low, but is too slow to react on the rotations more often than not. Still...... his game is coming along.
I like Calderon off the bench with the second unit. Armstrong called it bang on tonight when he said that Calderon and Johnson appear to be showing some great chemistry together. Calderon is best when he knows what each guy on the floor is going to do. Johnson is a guy who knows the limits in his game and doesn't stray too far from it. It's working.
Calderon was awesome stepping up tonight in that second quarter. He took control when the team was stagnant, took his own shots, and made them. Great to see.
Jack was strong as well.
Bosh was strong.
Turk was handling the ball on key posessions with Jack and Calderon on the wings - a nice switch up and coaching decision.
Relax, hes been really good in January, everyone has a bad and this was the 2nd of the back to back.
Re: all the trade talk from earlier. This is the espn trade machine. I tried the one I suggested earlier and since both Tor and La are over the cap a trade wouldn't work no matter what...
Re: NBA officiating, it is a joke. We are not alone. Paul Jones responded to an email I sent him and he's been there for a while but especially passionate this year. As you could guess, we're in accord, thus we're all in concert.
I love how the the knicks, the bucks, the lakers et al. are all getting calls to keep them in the game. The only thing that I would consider to really be fair was the Hedo call because he earned that one. He wouldn't have got that in the playoffs, but in that time, considering all the away calls, it worked for the home team.
Re: Raps and the upcoming 2 week sched they have seems to be a good chance to secure 5th and push Orl/ATL for 4th and home court. This upcoming sched looks real weak: IND/ @IND, NJ, SAC, PHI. That until the Griz come. The g1rizz have been stockpiling athletes and the other 7 Foot spanish caveman. So easy... !
The guy is a 7 footer getting over 30 minutes a game. He is paid to be a superstar.
How many games this season has he hit 10 rebounds?
He should be a 15 and 10 kind of guy. He is getting the 15, but (lack of) effort is preventing the 10.
Bargs is making less than $7M, that's well below the average salary for "superstar" big men.
Furthermore, I disagree with declaring Barg's problem is lack of effort.
Bargs isn't the type to jump out of the gym, he has athleticism but it's in the form of deliberate co-ordination.
Amare and Dwight Howard have terrific pure "pogo-stick" athletic ability and their rebounding is simply a function of effort and "Bball IQ." These two block shots with timing and jumping, Bargs relies on positioning for blocks.
Bargs jumps like he's trying to get out of a deep snowbank. For better or worse, that's the toolbox he's working with. This year Bargs has clearly made a concerted effort to knock the ball into the air if it's out of reach, just to keep it alive for himself or teammates. That tells me he is working hard and understands his style.
Perhaps this precludes him from being an elite center (or even a legitimate NBA center), but attributing his poor rebounding numbers solely to laziness is just a cop out.
__________________
There's always two sides to an argument, and it's always a tie.
Last edited by Gozer; 01-30-2010 at 10:02 AM.
The Following User Says Thank You to Gozer For This Useful Post:
For a guy with his basketball smarts - which I do think he has plenty - pure technique should be able to get him 8 a game. It isn't a big stretch to move that to 10, but it takes some willingness to bang and he has shown ZERO interest in doing that. Zero.
__________________
"OOOOOOHHHHHHH those Russians" - Boney M
The Following User Says Thank You to killer_carlson For This Useful Post:
Bargs is making less than $7M, that's well below the average salary for "superstar" big men.
Furthermore, I disagree with declaring Barg's problem is lack of effort.
Bargs isn't the type to jump out of the gym, he has athleticism but it's in the form of deliberate co-ordination.
Amare and Dwight Howard have terrific pure "pogo-stick" athletic ability and their rebounding is simply a function of effort and "Bball IQ." These two block shots with timing and jumping, Bargs relies on positioning for blocks.
Bargs jumps like he's trying to get out of a deep snowbank. For better or worse, that's the toolbox he's working with. This year Bargs has clearly made a concerted effort to knock the ball into the air if it's out of reach, just to keep it alive for himself or teammates. That tells me he is working hard and understands his style.
Perhaps this precludes him from being an elite center (or even a legitimate NBA center), but attributing his poor rebounding numbers solely to laziness is just a cop out.
Good analysis. I'd be annoyed if he displayed great leaping ability on offense that he wasn't using on defense, but that's not the case. His best dunks are always off the drive, and he can get pretty vertical when he generates a bit of speed, but from a stand-still or one-step situation, he's not a natural leaper. I like his ability to read plays as a help defender (where he gets most of his blocks) and he's improving his low post defense, but he still struggles against big-men who play well away from the basket.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure I've heard Triano or other coaches praise his work ethic. He's one of those guys who tends to hang his head a bit when his offense isn't going, and that's a maturity thing, and when he can come in at the end of a game like the NY one where he's struggled all night, and make two crucial rebounds and a block in the last couple minutes, that's a sign that he's learning how he needs to contribute.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to octothorp For This Useful Post:
Killer, I just think that the talent level competing against Andrea sees that his 'pure technique' won't get him a consistent 8. How often does he aggressively box out? He's starting recently, but that is an integral variable in 'pure technique' if you ask me. If he get's better at holding his ground and boxing out quicker, then we could see 8 rpg for that guy consistently. He's not very strong but he's getting stronger and is willing to learn to play that gritty style. He's very finesse oriented, but his willingness to work on his game accentuates his potential further. He reminds me of KLove with less rebounding technique. Both are limited athletically but KLove's numbers are impressive, because he has more 'pure technique' than bargs even though the former is shorter than the latter.
For a guy with his basketball smarts - which I do think he has plenty - pure technique should be able to get him 8 a game. It isn't a big stretch to move that to 10, but it takes some willingness to bang and he has shown ZERO interest in doing that. Zero.
Bargs is averaging 0.145 defensive rebounds per minute this year.
In '07, Rasho (with great technique) was in a comparable defensive role and averaging 0.143
Rasho pulled more offensive boards, but Bargs isn't asked to crash the glass on offense.
__________________
There's always two sides to an argument, and it's always a tie.
Rasho was more willing to get his nose dirty. Bargniani isn't. That's effort and attitude. Johnson shouldn't be getting more boards than Bargniani out there. It just shouldn't happen.
In any event, good team game tonight. Real solid effort. A couple of brain farts to let Indiana back in the game, but the same team that would have folded the tent three months ago, held tough and put the game away with a run of their own in response. Calderon and Johnson have some awesome chemistry out there. One or two pick and rolls with these two were so perfectly timed that it was as if they had been playing together for years. Looked great and awesome for the second unit.
Hedo goes down with a small, non-displaced fracture of his orbital bone. Don't think he'll miss too much time, but given the schedule and the huge amount of time off coming up, this is about the best time of year this sort of thing could happen.
As they did on the broadcast, the schedule coming up has a great chance to make this current streak 9 straight as we're playing weak teams.
__________________
"OOOOOOHHHHHHH those Russians" - Boney M
I really like Bargniani. He seems like a guy willing to put in the work to get better and it shows by how he keeps improving every year. I see him more as 20-8 guy rather then a 15-10. He plays too much behind the 3-point line to really see a big increase in his offensive boards.
Here are his stats for the past three years. It looks like a guy who hasn’t reached his ceiling yet.
Year Off Def Tot Blk PPG
2007-08 0.6 3.1 3.7 0.5 10.2
2008-09 0.9 4.4 5.3 1.2 15.4
2009-10 1.3 4.9 6.3 1.4 17.2
Last edited by Suave; 02-02-2010 at 11:24 AM.
Reason: Frig I can't seem to format the table to look nice
Tonight's game is really big: win it, and a five game winning streak has the potential to stretch into double digits with the schedule they have ahead of them.
Brutal effort on defense, but winning on the road in the nba is a tough thing to do. This team still has some soft comp upcoming, but no matter what we won't surpass ATL for fourth. This team has to keep working and look at evans as a deadline acquisition. And who hasn't thought that belli is a way better fit than Kapono. They both shoot well when spotting up, but Belli is a better athlete and player. That kind of cancels out a need for another piece in the backcourt or the wing. Evans could do a lot for this squad with his toughness and interior work ethic.
Before Calderon hurt his ankle I was saying him for Haywood and a dudf(1-2 mill) contract, but who knows now? HOw about that value?
It's too bad they play again so quick because I think the game tape from last night would be a great learning tool. That game was there to be had, but a few mistakes at key moments cost it. They were preventable mistakes and the kind that i think they could beat out with one video session.
__________________
"OOOOOOHHHHHHH those Russians" - Boney M
today's game against Sacramento. A bit of a brain fart in the second and third quarter. They let Sacramento hang around.
The 4th quarter the D picked up and they went from being three down to running away with it.
The passing and chemistry displayed by the entire team today was something to behold. All 5 guys touching the ball on sharp quick passes without the ball hitting the floor, leading to a layup, dunk, or wide open shot. Guys making the extra pass and finding the cutting player for easy scores. Toronto was well over 60% in the final quarter. Really fun to watch, real impressive team game.
The point guards struggled today as did Johnson. The big three for Toronto were awesome (Bargniani even ventured into the key on offence on a couple of occasions looking for rebounds). Turk was great. Bosh was utterly awesome.
Coming off the bench Wright was great today. Tough defence and I don't think he missed until the final shot with 2 seconds left and the game out of reach. Great, great game.
The best part of this game was that as dominating as they were at times, it will provide a great coaching opportunity and there is time off to take advantage of the opportunity. There were mistakes and there was sloppy play which led to turnovers. There were times in the second and third where guys were just standing around or took the quick shot. It can easily be juxtaposed against the 4th quarter where ball management was exceptional and defence went to the next level as well.
The Raptors team who showed up today has everything it needs to be a miserable matchup for a top 4 seed in the playoffs...
__________________
"OOOOOOHHHHHHH those Russians" - Boney M
