Puffers Posts - Raps Vs Celtics. Isn't This Preseason?

This did not look like a pre-season game until part way through the fourth quarter. When you have Garnett arguing with officials, Bosh diving to the floor for a loose ball, starters getting major minutes in a non-NBA market, you have to think you are not in Kansas anymore.

Right from the opening buzzer the intensity in this game was much more akin to a regular season game. The third quarter was closer to a regular season game late in the season, when the final seeding was on the line. Of course, Doc Rivers can be excused for playing his regular starting five a lot. He needs to see them, and they need to see each other in game time situations and do as much gelling as possible before Oct. 31.

Sam sat his starting five for about half the floor time so that he could get a better look at numbers 6 through 16. But when the first unit was on the floor, they played with intensity. I don't know if this is as a result of all the hype surrounding Bostons "Big Three" or simply a carryover from Sam's pre-season mantra of defense, defense, defense, but they looked pretty effective. As expected, the scoring wasn't much of a problem barring Anthony Parkers cold hand. Bosh did not get as many touches as one would like, but Kapono, Bagnani and Ford showed that any team can't afford to double Bosh without getting hurt bad.

What was a bit of a surprise was the overall defensive effectiveness of the Raptors 9 man rotation. Kapono was no liability on the floor. He got beat by Pierce a few times, but so does everyone in the league. TJ was effective, Parker and Bosh also, as expected. Bargnani was a pleasant surprise. Aside from one embarrassing baseline move by Garnett that left Andrea standing looking over his shoulder, he played pretty effectively facing his man, whether Garnett or Perkins.

The rest of the Raps came through defensively as well. Rasho looked very good, man-to-man or playing help defense. Garbo was as per usual. Delphino established that he is an effective defender, rarely losing his man and staying in front, forcing the pass and getting a few steals. Jose was again effective and even Juan Dixon did not look out of place. Graham had what I thought was his usual good/bad game. Baston, Moon, Humphries did not impress and I'm afraid Luke Jackson had better step up or start waving.

Hey, it's just one game, it's just exhibition, but I think the Raps were playing for something, and I think they showed a better defensive effort in this one than they did in half their games last year.

Puffers Posts - Three Pointers in Raptors Future?

Let’s talk about three point shooting on the Raptors in the coming season, an obvious area of strength for the team. If everything stays the same as last year, the Raps will have two players among the top 5 three point experts in the league, in Jason Kapono, ranked #1 last year, and Anthony Parker who tied for #5. The question on everybody’s mind should be, will this continue?

I have high expectations that it will. Jason had the good fortune to be on a team with two of the foremost offensive threats in the league, in Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Wade (thanks Granville for pointing out I had Dwight Howards name here. What was I thinking?) playing with him. You would expect this to open the floor and give him more open looks.

Actually, Shaq only played 6 games in the first 4 months of the season. These were the months when Jason played his best, when he played the most minutes. He shot 61% in November in 15 m/pg, 50% in Dec. in 26 m/pg, 58% in Jan. in 32 m/pg and 46% in Feb. in 33 m/pg. Jason has a rep as getting his shot off relativley quickly, so he maybe doesn't need as much space on the floor as you would think.

March was a bit of an anomaly. He only played 2 games, averaged 26 minutes a game and only hit for 17%. It looks to me like teams started to pay attention to Jason and were able to affect his shot a little. I didn’t check the game by game stats, but I wonder if he didn’t spend a chunk of time on the bench once Shaq got back. Shooters need to shoot to keep their hands hot.

Looking at Anthony Parker, he shot a terrible 28% in November, his first month back in the NBA. December's mark improved to 48%, as he found his rhythm and Sam Mitchell found out how better to use him. January he hit his peak for the year, ringing up 53% from downtown on 60 attempts. February he slumped a little, only achieving 43% andMarch was a bad month, with his percentage sinking to 33% on 27 shots attempted.

I wonder if he was hitting his own "rookie wall?" Note also that that is his lowest recorded shot attempts of the season. April AP bounced back with a 49% average on 61 shots.

Both of these players did better when they had the playing time. This year they are both slated to begin the season as starters. What is this going to mean for the Raps offensive strategies?

There can be no question on anybodies mind that opposing teams are not going to be able to double down on Bosh this year, the way they could last year. With two 3 point artists on the floor with the big power forward, unless they can smother Chris before he gets a chance to pass, they are going to be leaving themselves open for a world of hurt. Chris has been slow to get rid of the ball at times, but in pre-season interviews he identified passing out of double teams as one of the things he has worked on over the summer. Of course, Kapono and Parker are not his only two options.

TJ Ford showed last year that he has the kind of first step that can get him to the basket virtually anytime he wants to. The complaint from the fans was that sometimes he wanted to too much. But his field goal percentage and free throw percentages were at career highs last year. Shooting 82% from the stripe should mean you want him to drive as often as possible. If TJ stopped shooting threes, his FG% would be significantly higher. His only month above 33% for 3 pointers last year was Dec. yet he still managed to drop almost 44% of his shots from the field. Chris and TJ had an excellent pick and roll game going last year. There is no reason to think it won’t continue to be as effective. Stockton and Malone lived off this bread and butter play for most of their careers.

I should mention Toronto’s other three point threat, Andrea Bargnani. His season’s results stand out because of the contrasts. November and December he shot 33% and 28% respectively. These were his first two months in the league, of course, when Sam was still trying to work him into the rotation. For January, February and March he shot 39%, 48% and 37%. In March he only played in 8 games. If you remember, through March and April he was struggling with the flu and appendicitis. April’s abysmal 20% mark is attributable to his struggles coming back. In the playoffs he was back to form, hitting 41%.

So, putting the most optimistic light on things possible (and that’s what fans do in the pre-season) Anthony Parker should not have the slow beginning he did last year. Coming back as one of the starters, playing with players he is already familiar with should add up to better results from the corner, if anything. Jason Kapono will be starting, something that helps his % significantly. He will once again be in the enviable position of playing with serious scoring threats that need to be defended against, giving him open looks. And Adrea Bargnani has the good fortune to be established on the team, in familiar surroundings, and presumably not likely to suffer appendicitis again. I expect a good start from him, after his experience this summer playing ball in Europe.

Quite frankly, adding Chris Bosh and TJ Ford into this mix, there is not a starting 5 in the East that has a chance of playing effective defense against the Raps. The next big question…can the Raps play effective enough defense against anyone else to allow their significant scoring punch to win them games? Check back in December and we will all know better

Puffers Posts - Coach to Scout to Coach - Mike Evans

Mike Evans, previously a scout for the Toronto Raptors, now their latest assistant coach, comes with a significant NBA pedigree.

In college Mike was twice selected Big Eight Player of the Year, while playing as a guard with Kansas State. Drafted 21st in 1978 by the Denver Nuggets, he was traded on draft day to Kansas City but started his playing career with San Antonio in 1979.

Mike played with three different NBA teams, the Spurs, Milwaukee and Cleveland before latching on with the Nuggets in a mid-season trade in 1983. He finished his playing career in Denver and remains in the top five Denver players in three pointers attempted and made. Mike was among the league leaders in 3 pt. percentages for several years. During his playing days he was known for his quickness and accuracy from long range.

Mike joined the Denver coaching staff in 1991. In 1995 he was promoted to Director of Player Personnel. In addition to coaching, he served as a TV analyst for the teams broadcasts throught the 1996-97 season.

In 2001, after firing Dan Issel, the team promoted Mike to Head Coach for the rest of the season. He was not able to turn the team around.

Now the question asked is, what does he bring to the table in the Raptors camp? And the answer is, time will tell

Puffers Posts - Second Season, Second Unit

So with the Toronto Raptors a guaranteed playoff team, what can we expect? As a team, when they move the ball well, they are stacked with shooters at virtually every position, and have numerous players that can slash to the basket, create their own shot or stretch the defence with jumpers from 15 + feet out. As a team they are shooting field goals at a .464 clip, tied for 7th in the league. The Raps are 9th in 3 pointers, at .363. They have a good assist to turnover ratio and rank 11th in the NBA in APG. These are pretty good numbers and suggest they deserve to be having the season they are.

On the down side their transition defence is suspect or poor. Their rebounding is abysmal, often giving up second chance opportunities to the opposing team. They are ranked 27th in the league. Funny thing is though, they are only 2 rebounds a game behind Washington, which is ranked 10th. Their stat for steals is similar in that they are ranked 19th, but they are only 1 steal a game behind Washington, who is ranked 4th.

So statistically, they are in the upper third of the league offensively, and the bottom third defensively. What does this all mean?

Well, the Raps are going to be in trouble in a grind it out style of game. Missing rebounds, defensive ones in particular, mean second chances for the other side. Teams that walk it up the floor, run set plays and have players that can operate in the paint are going to score against the Raptors. On their side, the Raps have been playing better defensively. Adrea will be back for the playoffs, and his defensive positioning has improved tremendously since day one. Another big boost to the Raps has been the arrival of Kris Humphries as a confident second line player. With Garbs out, Kris has been the player to make the most of his minutes, showing a previously untapped scoring touch and showing the kind of aggression needed to actually grab some boards. His play has toughened up the second unit significantly. In fact, the second unit is the Raps secret weapon leading into the palyoffs.

It has been one of the lead stories all year, and it just keeps getting better. With the stellar play of Calderon, the emergence of Humphries, the move of Peterson to the bench, the trade for Dixon, Joey Grahams recent surge, Bargnani's continually improved play, and even the pick up of Luke Jackson, the Raps have, no argument, the deepest roster in the conference.

The starting five for the playoff run is going to be Bosh, Ford, Graham, Nesterovic and Parker, unless we see the reappearance of "Bad" Joey. Mitchells biggest problem may well be, how do you shorten the rotation. when you have so many players playing so well?

Calderon, Bargnani and Dixon are guaranteed to be in the mix, assuming they are healthy. Peterson has shown he is still a defensive stopper, the last couple of games, and has been able to take it to the cup when Sam wanted the Raps to go inside. Humphries has been a beast, playing well against both Shaq and Dwight Howard. Mitchell has plenty of options, and I suspect what he will do is play the matchups, and forget about doling out minutes. The players on this team have shown their willingness to do whatever it takes and not complain. So Sam has the luxury to play both strategic and tactical basketball, going into games with a plan, but having the players to move around on the board when and as he has to.

If the Raps have any particular advantages it is these two. They can afford to go like hell, not worrying about saving any energy for the last 5 minutes, because they can spell each other off, with not much loss in scoring or even in defense. And Sam can play his players strategically, to counter the other teams roster moves. Most of the time, in the playoffs, teams shorten the rotation. it will be interesting to see what Sam does. He may wind up lengthening his, compared to the start of the year.

For interest' sake, I made a note of the bench's scoring for the year. These numbers tell a story.

Juan Dixon..........................11.8
Andrea Bargnani..................11.5
Morris Peterson.....................9.2
Jose Calderon.......................8.7
Kris Humphries....................3.4
Luke Jackson........................2.5
Total....................................47.1

The Other Side - Crunch Time for BryCo

Around this time last year, Bryan Colangelo made a lot of people scratch their heads by leaving one of the best teams in the league, the Phoenix Suns, to come to one of the worst: the Toronto Raptors. It was an inconceivable move to some: why walk away from a cushy job, in a city where it's always summer, to come to the "frozen wastes of Canada" and a team that lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv? Madness.

Or was it? Those who follow basketball closely could come up with several reasons for Colangelo to jump, not least of which was the chance to get out from under his father's shadow. Jerru Colangelo is a legend in the NBA, and is responsible for some of the best trades in league history. As long as Bryan was in Phoenix, there was always going to be an element that believed good old dad was pulling the strings, not him. This same element probably believed he didn't deserve the job he had. A change of scenery gave him the chance to prove that he could build his own team, without help from dad, while simultaneously showing his father that he was just as good.

Coming a close second was the situation he was coming to. Phoenix had been built from the ground up, with shrewd cap management, intelligent trades and scouting, and a touch of luck. Colangelo appears to be a GM who believes in building around what you have, and not in changing what you have to build according to your ideal mould. Phoenix is an athletic, small running team that puts up ridiculous offensive numbers. They can do this because of 3 players: Nash, Marion and Stoudamire. Everyone else fits around them. Toronto had nothing worth keeping outside of Bosh, Mo Pete and Villanueva, so there was a lot more room for Colangelo to manouvre. The Raptors also had ridiculous cap room and a city hungry for a team to cheer. This was jsut the clean slate that Colangelo needed to prove his point.

So, the jump having been made, Colangelo set about building his team. Out went the dregs of other team's benches. Out went draft mistakes. In came multi-faceted players from overseas, an underutilised but athletic 2-guard, a couple of role players and, in the most controversial move, out went Villanueva, one of last season's top 3 rookies, for a point guard with a questionable spine but undoubted quicks and mercurial talent. Before a shot had been taken, this team was either doomed to the lottery, or headed for the playoffs, depending on who you listened to. Colangelo, having heard it all before in Phoenix, smiled and waited.

Preseason came, and the Raptors played out of this world. Everything they tried worked. The team gelled well. Fred Jones, who most people thought was a good pickup despite also being a second choice behind John Salmons, caught fire. Still, the negativity was rife. Preseason means nothing, came the cry. They're playing against scrubs. Colangelo, who'd heard all of it before, smiled, waited, and cheered on his team.

Start of the season, and the Raptors struggled out of the gate. The negative crowd started rolling the pastry for the crust of a most excellent crow pie to feed the positive crowd. They, in turn, were pointing to a lack of familiarity with each other and a nasty road schedule to start the season, as excuses. Bargnani, the team's first ever number 1 overall pick, looked lost. So did the European imports. Bosh was playing well, and TJ Ford was doing OK, but we were losing. Sam Mitchell's job was called into question. Colangelo, who was used to hearing all this, smiled, waited, cheered on his team, and watched them improve.

And now here we are, scant weeks from the team's first playoff appearance in several seasons. Colangelo has made mistakes, namely Fred Jones and PJ Tucker, and has corrected them both: Jones was traded for Juan Dixon, and Tucker has now been released and replaced with former lottery pick Luke Jackson. Dixon has been playing very well on both ends, and costs less than Jones did, which is a plus. Jackson is a good shooter who can penetrate but has suspect defense...which should ring familiar to Raptor fanse.

What comes next, though, will determine if Colangelo has "Onions baby, onions!" or if it's time to "Get out the salami and cheese, momma, this general manager job is OVER!". And, unlike most GM's in the league, very little will rely on his team's performance in the playoffs. The negative crowd will tell you that, despite the team's offensive prowess and their undoubted defensive improvement over last year, the team is still a poor rebounding unit, and well sub-par defensively. They will also point to the number of wins this team has had this year against other teams missing their top stars. None of our success of this season is likely to be repeated next year unless the rebounding and defense are rectified. They are pointing to siging Luke Jackson as evidence of this. Those who are more optimistic will point to the fact that adding one defensive stopper to 14 sieves on defence is like using a cocktail umbrella in a hurricane: largely pointless and unlikely to last. Instead of trying to address a glaring hole with a very small plug, instead improve and already good area of the team and add a slightly different dimension to it. There is precedent, albeit from other sports: the great Brazillian soccer teams win games by the mantra: "It doesn't matter if you score 3 goals, we'll score 5 anyway". This seams to be the way Toronto are going. In the East, there are not many teams who can trade shots with Toronto, Washington being the best equipped. Of the playoff-bound teams, only Detroit is good enough to shut down the Raptors on a night when the shots are falling.

Next season, though, Colangelo has some serious work ahead of him. Bosh and Ford have their extensions activated, together earning over $20 million. The salary cap has been estimated around $57 million. Peterson is likely to leave, possibly via sign and trade, but we'll presume not for the purpose of this article. Sow is not likely to be extended, and Darrick Martin may be asked to move behind the bench. That's about $12 million off. Given we're currently under by about $2 million, and the cap is going up about $3 million, we're still over the cap. Meaning less flexibility. Colangelo will have a mid-level exception to work with, around $5.7 million, plus the possibility of trading Joey Graham, a possible sign and trade for Mo Pete, and a draft pick. Somehow, he has to turn those assets into 2 or 3 players who can rebound and defend at something approaching the league average for their positions. And it's not the best year for it.

There's no glaring impending free agent that rebounds or makes stops, so we're relying on Colangelo's ability to find hidden gems, either overseas, on the ends of benches, or on the trading blocks. He also has to remember that Calderon is going to need extending, and will want big money after the way he's played this year. Ultimately, the way Mr Colangelo handles the next 4-6 months will determine his legacy in this league, more than anything he has done until now. Only time will tell if he is as good as he says he is, or if daddy dearest was the one with the brains.

Puffers Posts -Dave Hopla, Shooting Coach

Dave Hopla, acknowledged as the best shooting coach in the US, was brought in to help the Raps improve their percentages in what was to be a season of 100 shots a game average. The reasoning was obvious. If you could get that many shots, and your % was in the high 40's, you were going to score 106 - 110 per game. And your lack of defence would not be such an issue. And your lack of offensive rebounds wouldn't hurt as much, because there would be fewer rebounds under the opponents basket to get.

I did a little looking around the internet and found out a little more about Mr. Hopla. He is a regular on the motivational speakers circuit. His talks are entertaining because he shoots hoops all through his talks, making close to 99% of his shots. His theme is Success requires Practice. Here's a summary I found from a website featuring Massie Lectures about learning:

"Dave's message is pure - learning is about memory, and skills need to be practiced to be learned. Most of what we learn fades quickly from short-term memory. To push learning from short to long-term memory, you need to practice, regularly and often. The lesson we have to learn is that the 'sheep-dip' experience is wildly unproductive, unless there is follow-through and practice. If those in the learning game have one lesson to learn - this is it. The classroom and many business courses completely ignore this principle, yet it is the formula for success in most types of learning."

Hopla has played ball professionally, just never in the NBA. He spent his time toiling away in the CBA, Europe and South America. I couldn't find references to how he graduated from playing to coaching, but when Ray Allen was at Uconn, he was working with Hopla to perfect his stroke. Dave has worked with NBA, WNBA, college and high school teams. He has worked with individual players from the NBA and the WNBA:

"Dave has not only helped my shooting but he improved my overall game. He has given me the confidence in all phases of my game."Ray Allen, Seattle Supersonics

"I never miss an opportunity to work with Dave. He's the best in the business."Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

"Dave has helped me achieve many of my goals and improved my overall game."Gilbert Arenas, Washington Wizards

(promo material from Hopla's website)

So what has his impact been on the Raptors players he is supposed to be helping. Well, there are a lot of complimentary quotes floating around:

"Morris Peterson, who has tweaked his mechanics under the guru's watch, calls Hopla's contribution "tremendous." Jorge Garbajosa, who has struggled to break out of a season-long slump, lauds Hopla for inspiring him to persevere."

"'He's helped a lot,' says Chris Bosh, who has markedly increased his shooting range this year. 'I had a lot of things I was doing wrong in my mechanics, my preparation to shoot. And he got with me. I took his criticism and it's been paying off.'"

But the payoff is in the numbers. What do the numbers say? Here's the breakdown on some of the Raps shooters, from the start of the season to now:

Player (Start of the season %) [Current %] Improvement?
Jose Calderon (53.4 per cent), [ 53.5%] - Same
T.J. Ford (47.3) [44.1] - Worse
Chris Bosh (47.2) [50.5%] - Better
Jorge Garbajosa (42.1) [42%] - Marginal Improvement
Anthony Parker (43.7) [46.9%] - Better
Morris Peterson (40.0) [44.5%] - Better

The Raptors have increased their field-goal shooting percentage every month this season, from 44.2 per cent in November to 47.5 per cent in January.They've increased their three-point percentage every month, from 30 per cent in November to 40 per cent in January

In doing the research for this post I ran across this anecdote by Paul Jones talking about coaching shooting:

"One well-respected veteran assistant coach and former head coach told me last year that 'I don't know how to teach shooting. I go to Europe and they got these kids sitting in classrooms, practicing without basketballs and doing all kinds of stuff and hey, they are pretty good shooters.'"

Makes you wonder. I've heard numerous times that pro teams don't spend any time on fundamentals. You are supposed to have all that after your high school and college careers. Of course, with so many athletes only spending one year or less at college, one wonders where they will get the instruction. During the summer, on their own time? I know the Players Association has restricitions on what clubs can and can't do with regards to off-season work with their players. I also know that the pre-season in Europe isn't just 6 weeks long. The teams are together for months before the season starts. And many players come up through the club system, where they get the fundamental coaching they need.

At any rate, I would say that Hopla has clearly helped the Raps. Positive endoresements from the players; nly one retrogression and some significant improvements in others. We all know that the Raps shooting has won them a pile of games. Their defense sure hasn't. Now where can they get a coach for that?

Away at the Bucks

8:10 - game hasn't even started and Chuck is all about Bargs and how he looked in warmups. I mean, jesus...get over the manlove.

8:15 - Charlie Bell is allowed through the Raptors turnstile defence, following the red carpet to a lay-up.

8:17 - the arena is so empty, the players voices are echoing.

8:20 - first airing of the Hair On The Court commercial which is the most annoying commercial of the season. The second most annoying will be up soon, trust me.

8:25 - TJ Ford officially on fire...welcome home.

8:27 - Bargs first shot is on a drive to the bucket. Nice to see.

8:31 - the Raptors are the professors in school tonight. 22-6 run.

8:34 - end of 1...37-24 Raps, ending with an mp3 download.

8:39 - after the first impressive drive by Bargs, every one of his shots after that has come from the outside and all have missed badly.

8:42 - Mo is playing hard tonight. Shows that if a starting unit hustles, it becomes infectious.

8:48 - so for you avid Chuck watchers: does he always sound like he's gonna kill himself when Bargs misses a shot?

8:48 - the boo birds come out. Quite fitting, though, since the Bucks are playing like you'd expect the altraps.com team would play: hope Puffer can pull us out.

8:55 - yikes...Bosh yells at AP to "shoot it" after getting called for 3 in the key. By my count that is 4 violations in the past 2 games. Not sure AP deserved that outburst. Somewhat classless by Bosh.

9:04 - every time Charlie Bell hits a shot, they play "ring my bell". Lord.

9:05 - first Bosh pose of the night. Just for you Jawz.

9:06 - end of the half...62-46.

9:27 - my word....Garbo follows a shot for an easy putback!?!?

9:31 - Raps are 2-10 in the 3rd. What, me worry?

9:32 - Ford is having fun out there. Good to see.

9:43 - Humphries draws an "and-1" to stop the Bucks surge....THE BEAST!

9:49 - MoPete gets called on a grab with 2.6 left....horrible.

9:50 - end of third..86-76 Raps.

9:56 - Redd finally hits a 3.

9:57 - Raps getting a lot of favourable calls..only to be turned around by a stupid MoPete tech.

9:59 - 3 leak outs by Milwaukee in the past 5 minutes = 6 easy points..lead now 8.

9:59 - ANOTHER 3 in the key call against the Raps.

9:59 - Chuck eating crow and sounding like his mother just died.

10:02 - raps outrebounded 22-14 since 2nd quarter.

10:04 - seriously, somebody tell me why Bosh continues taking outside shots especially in second halves of games??

10:08 - monster block by Bosh on Patterson and a good job of keeping it in play.

10:17 - Bogut misses 2 huge free throws...could be the beginning of the end.

10:20 - Salami & Cheese call after a Bosh putback.

10:22 - Bogut with a push on Bosh..intentional...gone for the game. Bosh throws the ball at him for his own T and Ford steps in for another T. Welcome to hockey in Milwaukee!

10:24 - Slokar in...the true sign of Salami and Cheese.

10:25 - Raps win 108-93.


Gotta be happy with the decisive win. Don't know why they got away from what they did in the first, but good to see they fought off 3 comebacks. Great energy on the backend of a back to back.


RSFL

Scott.