Kapono is obviously not playing up to his strength. The Raps will pay Kapono $24 million US over the next four seasons to score, particularly from beyond the arc, and to play some defence, not to rebound or distribute the ball. But not only is he not hitting any threes, he’s not even getting the looks from beyond the arc.
His overall stats have wavered. In 58 games this season, he is averaging 19.5 minutes per game, seven minutes less than last season when he was with the Miami Heat. He is averaging 7.8 points per game, which also is down from last season’s totals.
There was talk that having T.J. Ford back at the point would be a boon to Kapono’s game, because with Ford out 31 games this season, the Raptors’ bench players weren’t getting the quality passes and open looks that they might have been with a bonafide, well-rested point guard running the offence. But Ford has been back for the past six games and Kapono still hasn’t broken out.
Raptors point guard Jose Calderon might have been ripped off in terms of not being named to play in the NBA all-star game this season, but he is becoming a serious candidate for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.
The annual award, which is selected by NBA writers and broadcasters, was won by Monte Ellis of the Golden State Warriors last season.
More and more, Calderon is being mentioned as a serious candidate to win the award for the 2007-08 season.
Chris Bosh worked out at the Champions Sports Complex in Orlando yesterday, though not with his teammates.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva played in Toronto for only one season (2005-06) but he continually tells people that he misses the city in a big way. In fact, Villanueva, who was traded to the Bucks for T.J. Ford in June 2006, recently reported that he is looking for a summer home in Ontario’s capital.
"When Jason played in Miami, he had Shaq and (Udonis) Haslem rebounding the basketball," said Sam Mitchell, the Toronto coach. "Jason was out (running). They kicked the ball ahead, got a shot."
But given Toronto’s woes on the defensive boards – heightened by the current absence of Chris Bosh, their best player and leading boardman – all five Raptors are supposed to be helping box out. After averaging about three attempts per game from behind the line last season, Kapono is averaging 1.7 attempts for the Raptors.
"Now (Kapono) has got to go to the glass. Everybody’s got to (freaking) go," Mitchell said. "There’s no transition game any more."
Why can’t the Raptors find a way to free up their flamethrower in the halfcourt offence? That question brings up another weakness.
"We’re running plays for him, but then you’ve got to get good picks. … You’ve got to have somebody head-hunt his guy and get him open," Mitchell said. "Rebounding and setting good picks, two things we don’t do well as a basketball team."
While Colangelo didn’t have any players in his sights, or have anyone on the Raptors roster who wanted a buyout so he could go elsewhere, he sees the whole thing as a win-win.
"If a team can get a little relief and a player gets to potentially move on to a so-called better situation," he said, "especially one that was the result of a recent trade … I think it’s nice for a team to reach a mutual conclusion where they save a little money and a guy gets some relief and ends up playing with another team."
Had a whole bunch of “What’s wrong with Jose?” questions over the last couple of days, given his rather ordinary play this last week.
I think it’s a combination of fatigue and the expected lulls that all players hit at some time during the season.
I don’t for a second think it’s got anything to do with T.J. coming back, as more than a few of you suggested. Calderon has played well alongside Ford in the past, he will again in the future and I know his personality, he’s not one to worry about who else is on the roster or on the floor or on the bench waiting to take his place.
Yes, they rebound horribly. They give up way too many offensive rebounds and second chance points. Yes, it’s got as much to do with blow-bys on the perimeter scrambling the defence and getting the bigs out of position.
But here’s one for you: The Raptors have actually out-rebounded the opposition in 28 of their 58 games so far this season.
Can’t imagine it happening tonight.
The Raptors’ pattern has been firmly established: defend well and shoot well and they can win against nearly anyone and often win big. Do one and not the other and they’re at least competitive night and night out.
But what happens when they mail in a couple of games, as the Raptors did against the Indiana Pacers at home last Friday and on Sunday against the Bobcats in Charlotte, where they set a NBA record by recording not a single second-chance basket, while giving up 32 second-effort points to the woeful Bobcats?
Well, nothing really happens.
Oh, sometimes they get all bothered and bounce back in shame. Embarrassing losses to the short-handed Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks of late have inspired blowouts in response.
But the reality is, thanks to their cozy Eastern Conference address, there is no immediate consequence for losing games that could have been won.
More minutes for Rasho Nesterovic with Bosh out. Watching Rasho defend Howard should be mandatory viewing for anyone who thinks that savvy and under-stated toughness (read: the willingness to take the odd elbow to the chops and/or get dunked on) are no match for outrageous athleticism. I mean, I’m like you: I’d rather have the outrageous athleticism – I was talking to an advance scout for the Magic who suggested Howard might be the most athletic (defined narrowly as speed, power, size – though he’s pretty co-ordinated too) person on earth. I can’t argue, really. Rasho is not that, but he’s heady and determined and relies on a fairly simple formula to defend Howard: meet him early in the possession to make it hard for Howard to get deep post position and then box him out almost to the point where he sacrifices getting the rebound as long as Howard doesn’t.
More minutes for Brezec. At the least in the six minutes it will take Primoz to pick up his six fouls, there’s a chance that Howard will be too busy giggling to be tearing down the rim.
There is no way to make watching the Bobcats grab 18 offensive rebounds, leading to 32 second-chance points, pleasing to the eyes.
"You got to tell them what it is. We watched the film," coach Sam Mitchell said of his strategy for Monday’s practice. "We put just about all 34 of them points up there on the clip and let them watch it."
Yes, Mitchell miscalculated the total by a basket. To be fair, it happened so often that 32 points does seem a little low.
The more often their opponents get layups, the less often the Raptors do. And operating the half-court offence every time down the floor is not easy.
This affects all of the Raptors who depend on open jumpers for their baskets, pretty much every player but Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon and T.J. Ford.
Transition offence resulted in plenty of open three-point attempts for Jason Kapono last year with Miami. With Toronto, he has taken just three since Jan. 30.
"When Jason played in Miami, he had Shaq and [Udonis] Haslem rebounding the ball," Mitchell said. "So now Jason was out. They kicked the ball to him, and he gets a shot."
Until the Raptors address their problem, Kapono’s shots from behind the arc will continue to wane. Nobody knows, however, whether there is an answer within this roster.
"Keep preaching it. Keep talking [about] it," Mitchell said. "Keep doing it. Keep going over it. Keep showing it."
While Howard has a decisive edge, the Raptors counter with point guards Jose Calderon and T.J. Ford, hitting the Magic where they are most vulnerable. Calderon torched the Magic in Toronto when Nelson and Dooling were healthy, running the pick-and-roll to perfection. Now the Raptors also can go to Ford — a 6-foot waterbug who is back from a neck injury.
What might the Raptors be able to do against Arroyo and Turkoglu? Or the still-recovering Nelson and/or Dooling?
Coach Stan Van Gundy calls Calderon and Ford "two of the quickest guys in the league, two of the best pick-and-roll guys. It does make it difficult."
Van Gundy is so impressed that he mentions Calderon in the same sentence with the Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash, a two-time league MVP.
"He’s a great ball-handler with good quickness and can get to wherever he wants on the court. He’s just a very creative guy. He reminds me a lot of Steve Nash," Van Gundy said. "He’s probably not as good a finisher as Nash in the lane, but he’s a pretty darn good finisher."
Van Gundy said that Bosh’s absence turns the Raps into even more of a pick-and-roll team. He said the Magic "have tried to make some adjustments. We have spent a lot of time since that [Toronto] game on high pick-and-roll defense. I’m not going to say we found some magic solution, but we hope we do a better job with it."
If the Magic slip, they could face a tougher first-round series against Toronto. If the Magic and Raps finish with the same records at the end of the season, the first tiebreaker for playoff seeding will be head-to-head matchups. Role players could play a big role in that tonight.
For most of his career, Dixon has been labeled a shooting guard, but that started to change in Toronto this season when the Raptors’ T.J. Ford went down with a back injury.
"Coach (Sam) Mitchell allowed me to play some point," Dixon said. "I’m pretty comfortable with it, but it’s the first time I’ve done it in a long time. It’s something I’ve got to get familiar with."
There were warning signs that this might be a one-step-forward, two-steps-back season. Way back in October, the fantasy mag I picked up to prepare for my draft called a spade and spade and dug a 43-win grave for the Raptors, with a first-round playoff loss. That seemed about right (a lot more right than taking that late-round flyer on Corey Brewer, by the way).
The Raptors’ window to do something will be open a lot longer than it will be for almost anyone else in the East. This season has been all about the nesting instinct kicking in (this from a single guy with no prospects, ironically enough). Like Chris Bosh when he has a choice to try and get to the rim and just put up another jumper, it’s all about settling and hoping it will get better, not today, not tomorrow, but eventually.
Yes it is true the Raptors have lost 2 games in a row. Time to panic and freak out for a lot of Raptor fans. Maybe it is having a long memory or having put up with so many bad seasons but I look at things with a little bit of perspective. I am just as unhappy as anyone about the team’s recent performance. But I remember the Mike James, Chris Jefferies, Hoffa and many other Raptors that were part of dark seasons in Raptor history. Chris Bosh does too I would imagine. He remembers the first few years of his career where the playoffs were a far off land that he could just experience as a reporter for NBA TV. But these days the playoffs are an expected thing for the Raptor Star and his team. Bryan Colangelo has come to Toronto and totally changed the attitude and culture of the Toronto Raptors. That may be why Raptor fans are so disappointed and concerned. They forget the bad times and are living in the moment. There is of course the people that hopped back on the bandwagon and you know who you are. I mean I watched seasons with 16 wins back in the day. Unless you weren’t born and you didn’t than you are not a diehard. But that is cool the fact the ACC is full each and every night is a great thing. MLSE is more than happy to take your money to make up for the lost playoff revenue for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They are going to be golfing for the Playoffs in the NHL for a 3rd straight year. Raptors are not going golfing in April or whatever Basketball players do in the off season. I have seen evidence in the Charity Golf Tourneys that it isn’t golf. Maybe golf on the Playstation 3.
Toronto Raptors: Now we starts getting into teams that really have no chance. Biggest question for the Raptors is Chris Bosh’s health. If he remains out, the Raptors could fall out of the playoffs.
Besides Memphis Grizzlies forward Mike Miller, the Clippers also heavily targeted Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon before the Feb. 21 trading deadline.
The failed offers centered on future draft picks, but the Raptors rebuffed the Clippers’ attempts.
Clyde Frazier was asked last night if the Raptors stand a chance of winning the Eastern conference. ‘ No way. The Raptors lack quality players ‘ said the ex Knicks great. What ? How about what the homers are saying that the Raps’ bench is 10 deep ? Maybe the bench is 6 feet deep . Six feet deep down under !
The successive defeats by the Raptors were atrocious. ‘ The Raptors played like they don’t care . They were completely outrebounded ‘ said radio/TV sports show host Bobcat of the loss to the Bobcats during the telecast of his program this afternoon
Though Rasho Nesterovic has played well against Howard in the past, it seems unlikely that that success would continue without Bosh on the floor alongside him. Plus, Howard has a lot more weapons this year – specifically the 1-2 punch of Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis; two athletic big men that can provide help up front or simply stretch out a defense with their perimeter games as well.
Yes, it’s true, that you can’t take Jason Kapono (for example) and magically turn him into Charles Oakley or Denis Rodman. And, yes, it’s also true that some players are just born with a nose for the ball.
But I think you can teach positioning. And I’m not even putting on the onus on Mitchell or the coaching staff specifically. I think the players have to look in the mirror as well. Working together – coach and player – can you not make a bad or average rebounder better? Can you not improve on positioning? Can you not learn how to ready your body, block out an opposing player, or improve on your knowledge of how the ball may carom a certain way off the rim?
Rebounding has been an issue for the Raptors all season and it will continue to be one as long as Bosh is out. And even when CB4 returns, the woes on the boards will have to improve as Toronto forges ahead towards the post-season and a possible 1ST round match up against either the Magic or another solid rebounding team (and the third-best offensive rebounding team in the league right now) … the Cleveland Cavaliers.
March is a very difficult month, with an 8-9 record (or worse) looking like a real possibility. Nine of seventeen games are on the road.
This month includes a tough stretch of games on a western swing (LA, GSW, Utah, Denver, Kings) along with home games against Denver, Detroit, Washington and New Orleans plus Cleveland on the road.
If the Raptors are going to take a run at 47 wins again and assuming they win only 8 games in March (which seems likely), then they will need to win all 8 games in April.
Is that likely? No way.
There is a slight ray of hope as the Raptors have a very easy schedule in April with games against Atlanta, Charlotte, New Jersey (2), Milwaukee, Detroit, Miami and Chicago. So running the table in April is a possibility – albeit very remote.
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