Toronto Raptors 2013/14 Season

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Dont run the offence through JV, but the guy should get 10 to 12 attempts per game minimum.

He is vastly under utilized to coddle Derozan's and Gay's ego.

Gay's one of the only guys on the team that actually passes to JV. Even in the Boston game, he got a couple passes in the post from Gay, more any other Raptor (one of which he fumbled out of bounds and the other he passed back out). And I noticed it last year as well that Gay did a good job of looking for JV. He doesn't pass enough for my liking, but at least when he does, he's usually looking inside.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

I completely agree with your post, but you know that basketball is technically NOT a contact sport, right? Hence fouls for making physical contact with another player, similar to soccer.

That's not true. Certain types of contact are not allowed, others are. Boxing out is legal and a huge part of the game.

[kmart]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

I completely agree with your post, but you know that basketball is technically NOT a contact sport, right? Hence fouls for making physical contact with another player, similar to soccer.

I'd say its a contact sport, there are a lot of situations where contact is allowed. One thing that basketball isn't, is a collision sport.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

That's not true. Certain types of contact are not allowed, others are. Boxing out is legal and a huge part of the game.

That's different. Soccer is the same way as basketball in that they allow an individual to their personal space and they can move their body to occupy a space, but they can't use their limbs to make contact (and I know that you see a lot more contact than that, but that's how it's actually supposed to be).

Someone said it's not a collision sport, well if that's what you need to distinguish it than so be it. The word "contact" to me has always been applied to football, hockey, rugby, lacrosse, hurling etc. Non-contact has always been applied to soccer, baseball, basketball, etc. I'm just using the traditional sense of the word.

[octothorp]

Nice first half to start the season. The bench looks surprisingly good, with the usual 'it's only Boston' caveat.

Also, word is that Knicks fans are already booing Bargnani, 10 minutes into his first game.

[SportsJunky]

Undefeated.

[killer_carlson]

Im already putting derozan on watch one game in. Nothing has changed with this unproductive ball hog.

6 for 19
1 for 3 from the line
5 turnovers

He is a black hole on offence and needs to go to the second unit.

[St. Pats]

That was one ugly win. They allowed a ton of pts in the third quarter and almost blew the game. They didn't pass the ball and the 2nd unit looked pathetic. Starters all logging large minutes and they scrape out a victory against one of the weakest teams in the conference. Unimpressive overall. Gay and TH played well though. Lowry and DD were hopeless. Johnson and Big Val put in solid performances.

I agree with Killer. Move DD to the 2nd unit. Ross can play with the first unit and concentrate on defense and firing 3's.

[Senator Clay Davis]

A win is a win, and Boston will be better than people think. Stevens is a great coach who will have them in positions to succeed. Bizarre watching Amir shooting 3's but if he can become a 40% shooter from deep it can make a huge difference. Just don't become like Bosh and live out there.

The nice thing about DeRozan is his contract is actually very good which should help in attracting a trade partner. Someone will look at him and view the upside without a terrible deal and might make a move. Just a bad year for trading for first rounders because of how stacked the draft is.

[octothorp]

It's fascinating to see that the general sentiment from fans and media after one game is that 'sure, the Raptors won, but not by enough.' Suddenly style-points apparently count.

Last year, this team was anti-clutch. Like, one of the absolute worst in the league in close games (http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/1...in-the-clutch/). It didn't matter if they were playing Charlotte or Miami; they couldn't close anything out. Here, the starting unit is put out with nearly eight minutes left in the game, and over the next 5 minutes, go on an 12-2 run to make a tie game a 10 point lead. It was a clutch performance, that started with hard work on the defensive end (keyed by Lowry rushing back to break up what could have been an easy fast-break layup, which lead to the Amir Johnson 3 at the other end to give them the lead).

So yeah, there's a lot of problems with this team. JV was having trouble hanging onto the ball in the post. Poor shot selection by Gay and DeRozan. Bad decision-making on offense by Lowry. Amir Johnson not getting as involved as he usually does. But for one night, they were clutch. That positive outweighs all the other negatives.

[The Big Chill]

No shortage of empty seats in Atlanta..

[Julio]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

No shortage of empty seats in Atlanta..

There never is...but it really is sad when you see all those freebie t shirts hanging off those seats.

[St. Pats]

Casey sits JV. Actually sat Gay's butt for a minute or two. They scrape out another win and haven't looked good in any of the games so far. Fields is the only guy who has been consistent. Gay is looking lost, DD is up and down, JV is trying too hard on offense, Lowry has some spark but is also up and down, TH is his usual abrasive self, Amir is always a contributor.

I'll be generous and say that they are working out some early season kinks.

Methinks they will get worked by the Heat on Tuesday.

[killer_carlson]

I like Fields' game a lot as he keeps people moving on offence with his passing and off the ball screens.

I like JV and think Casey is taking a big risk sitting JV for Fields. Even moreso when we see DD get lit up defensively all night but not take his turn on the pine.

Im curious to watch Boston's handling of Olynik vs Toronto's handling of JV and see who develops more this season.

The guy

[Senator Clay Davis]

They cannot trade Rudy Gay fast enough. The Raps finally pounded the ball inside to Jonas last night and lo and behold it was working well. But then Rudy has to jack up his forces and it just kills the teams momentum. At least it was nice watching Jonas take advantage of a crappy front line like he should though.

[octothorp]

Well, now they're going to need to wait for Gay's value to return before they can trade him, because with his current production and his option for next year, he's got to be in the running for least tradeable guy in the league.

I really want to see Stone get some meaningful playing time, because Augustine has been a disaster. And with Lowry being inconsistent, it would be nice to be able to sit him and refocus him, but right now they need to max out Lowry's minutes because the #2 option is so bad.

And Casey deciding that he's just going to go head-to-head smallball with the best smallball team in the league (arguably in the history of the league) is really difficult to explain.

[Senator Clay Davis]

So two things...

1. Rudy Gay sucks, trade him now.
2. That was the worst clock management I've ever seen from Casey at the end. 1.9 second differential and you don't foul? Like really???

[The Big Chill]

The clock management was comical. Total amateur hour.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

The clock management was comical. Total amateur hour.

I assume you're talking about the decision not to foul? Good grief, I couldn't believe that. The decision to foul seemed so obvious for so many different reasons, but not to Casey.

[Senator Clay Davis]

What was he thinking? That they were gonna run out the shot clock and not shoot? That the clock stops once they shoot? I mean how long has he been in basketball? It generally takes at least a full 2 seconds to get a shot off and grab the rebound and call timeout. I mean I thought it was just common knowledge that unless the differential is greater than 4 or 5 seconds you just foul.