Here we go, for the last time and I only bring it up now because I’ve read too many comments about it to let it go unmentioned:
There was a play, it was the high screen and roll, a play they’ve run about a billion times, best one they’ve got in their playbook.
It was a play involving a point guard who had made four of his five shots in the final quarter and the team’s all-star power forward, who was shooting just under 50 per cent from the field in that game. Two best players on the court by far.
And options? You want options? There were four:
Calderon comes off the screen, beats his man and drives.
Calderon comes off the screen, everyone backs up and he shoots.Bosh gets the ball and drives if Howard’s right up on him.
Bosh gets the ball and shoots a jumper if Howard backs up.There.
A play call with four options.
You may not be satisfied with either the call or the option chosen but there is no one connected with team who has a problem with either the call or the decision. And no one here who does, either. If I’ve got one shot to win a game with the team that was on the floor then, I want Chris Bosh making the decision. And so would any NBA coach.
Look, Chris Bosh had a great shot. Here’s the funny thing — I sort of laugh at the coverage, nothing personal, guys. I do. Because here’s what coaching comes down to: When Chris Bosh raises up to shoot that shot at the end of the game, and the ball is in the air, stop it right there. Stop it, write your stories. Write your stories right now. Did Sam do a good job, or not do a good job? Write your stories right then, without seeing the ball bounce out. Because if it goes in, you’re writing about their resilience, how Sam kept them in the game, he made great adjustments and the whole thing. And it bounces out and all Sam’s adjustments are screwing them up, they’re confused. You know, that’s the game, and that’s coaching. The ball is in the air, and you guys are going to write your stories based on whether it bounces out or goes in. That’s the bottom line. There’s nobody writing what they wrote if that ball went in.
"Then to me, [if the shot goes in] my team fell apart, I didn’t keep ‘em in it. otherwise you guys write about, well, they made the comeback but they showed the toughness to stay in. That’s the game. My brother [Jeff] used to say we lost in Miami [in 1999] on that Allan Houston shot that bounced in, and the conventional thinking then was if New York had lost that series, Jeff was getting fired. The ball went in and they went into The Finals. Now Allan Houston’s shot hit the rim and bounced up in the air. Like my brother said, that’s where I got the line from: Stop it right there, ball’s in the air. Can he coach, or not coach? And that’s what you guys write it based on, whether you guys admit it or not, is it’s all a matter of whether Chris Bosh’s shot bounced in or bounced out, on whether Sam did a good job or I did a good job. Bottom line.
Amen, coach…amen.
Despite Ford’s shooting woes, Chris Bosh said it was crucial that Ford keep shooting, maybe even more often.
"Sometimes he has to be a shoot-first guy, and that’s the fact of the matter," Bosh said. "If he’s a shoot-first guy tonight, that will really get him going. It will make him aggressive tonight. Even if he doesn’t make all his shots, that will have the defence thinking twice about leaving him."
Orlando’s Jameer Nelson, who guards Ford, has been helping out on Bosh defensively. And for that to change, Bosh thinks Ford needs to embrace his jump shot.
"Sometimes he overpenetrates and gets too deep in the lane, because he’s what, not even 6-feet tall, so it gets tougher for him," Bosh said of Ford. "That 15-foot jump shot is good for him."
Despite a disappointing loss in Sunday’s Game 1, Bosh went out to dinner with Orlando’s Dwight Howard after the game. The stars, who are good friends. split the bill.
Before fans start to wax nostalgic over the days when players did not socialize when they were locked in a post-season series, Bosh thinks those facts should be checked.
"I always hear stories about Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell being friends," Bosh said. "That was a little ritual they had. They always ate dinner together before the game, the day before or something like that. I think it’s always been like that."
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it’s true, he makes a valid point. for me, coming off a screen and roll for a deep jumper from someone not known as a clutch shooter, is the issue here.
i’m actually disgusted that bosh and howard went out for dinner after the game. what the fuck happened to this league? they are all pussies, hanging out, hugging it up, patting each other on the back. fuck i miss 90s bulls/knicks wars. pippen dunking on xavier mcdaniel and lording over him, jordan marginally acknowledging his opponents.
toughness man…means u dont break bread with the guy you are trying to beat in a 7 game series. fuck…
Raps Fans last blog post..Raptors vs Magic – 2008 Playoffs Game 3 – April 24, 2008
good find here man, kudos.
Raps Fans last blog post..Raptors vs Magic – 2008 Playoffs Game 3 – April 24, 2008
I just think it’s disgusting that we, as a playoff team, sacrifice our coach. We sit and complain all year about the lack of talent he has to work with, yet 2 games into a series against a third seed, he should be fired.
If it was 1-1, what would people write about?
If he sucks, why are other teams already circling waiting to snap him up?
I’m with you on the friend thing. I subscribe to the Oakley mindset: you have all summer to hang with your buddies. While still in season, they are your enemy. They are standing in the way of your next bonus cheque.
First off, these stupid isolation plays have been happening for years… since when Vince used to play here. Since Vince left, Bosh has been the isolation guy.
Does anyone notice that the frequency of made attempts from these 4 on 1 isolation plays are not good? Does anyone notice how they get even worse when you get less athletic players attempting these moves?
This move needs to be taken away from the Toronto “arsenal”. Rasheed Wallace had a great quote the other day when he said:
“I think you can get more done with five individuals than you can [with] one individual,” he said. “If you’ve got one guy you know is going to get that ball in crunch time, it’s easier to defend him. But if you have five guys who can get that ball in crunch time, it’s harder.”
No kidding! Granted we don’t have the talent that the Pistons have, but I think we would be a whole lot better if we just let all 5 players play at the same time. I have blamed Mitchell a lot for this in the last couple of years, and I will continue to do so.
THE problem isn’t Sam.
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the fact of the matter is we aren’t 1-1, and that is why the vultures are circling for smitch’s head. i don’t think mitchell is the guy to get this team deep into the playoffs. granted the guys he has aren’t the most motivated bunch…changes are necessary all around.
Raps Fans last blog post..Raptors vs Magic – 2008 Playoffs Game 3 – April 24, 2008
Okay, blame Sam. Take the ball out of Bosh’s hands for 50% of his possessions. Who do you go to?
We need defenders, end of story. Spudz, even your hero Rasho throwing up great games got us…..a losing month. Score all you want. Until you stop somebody, it won’t matter.
If our play calling sucks, how is it, again, if you remove the first quarter from each game, we’d be up 2-0? You going to tell me they ran Sams plays in quarter one, and not the rest of either game? Guess Sam did a pisspoor job designing those “okay, so lose your dribble” and “pass the ball while you are falling down” plays since they turned into turnovers and easy buckets the other way.
Please.
Yeah, circling to pick him up as their own coach. Quite the compliment, in my opinion.
I don’t think Sam is able to out-coach the best coaches, but I also think that, unlike the opinion of some, he has done a fair job in getting effort from this bunch and also babysitting TJ.
To flip an earlier argument, how many more games do the Lakers lose if Sam is their coach?
there wasn’t an adjustment made for game 2 though. he put the same group out there, and expected a different effort/result. that doesn’t seem like much of an adjustment form the coach, does it?
is it reasonable to expect that by putting the same group on the floor, a different result will be realized? seriously? it has always been a different crew that got the job done, then the one that started. takes him two games to figure that out?
what about last season? joey graham WAY too much time, and that got us nowhere. as a manager of talent, you have to put the right people in the right roles. i have to do the same thing at work, i have to determine which one of my idiot monkeys i can task with a specifc function. i can’t expect a guy who can’t manage resources well to be a project manager.
same thing with the raptors. since we can’t count on bargnani to do anything different, why not play kapono more, and at least get some offensive production to counter the defensive lapses? just an idea…
Raps Fans last blog post..Raptors vs Magic – 2008 Playoffs Game 3 – April 24, 2008
wow…where to start.
how do you apply that argument to the regular season? If you open the year with 5 starters and you lose the first game, you change for game 2? Even in the real world scenario of this series, did you not think that start by Orlando was extraordinary as opposed to us just playing poorly? They were on fire, so, yes, I fully expected (and said so here) a different result in game 2…and I will continue to say that if we hadn’t have committed stupid unforced turnovers, the result would have been completely different.
A lot of Joeys time last year came out of injury need and his play in practice. Can you say the same this year? If not, what’s your point?
Kapono has been underutilized all year in my opinion, but I also think that is due to Moon and not having a solid starter in that spot. It’s trickle down. Also, Sam is a D-first guy. We had so much bleeding this year he was forced to try and stop it with what he had.
Look, are there coaching decisions that I disagree with? Absolutely. All of you have seen me wave the Hump and Maceo flag all season. Are they the answer? Long term? No. But they are what Bryan has given Sam to use….and that ain’t much.
I don’t think I said anything about Sam being our only problem, but the lack of a playbook for seasons at a time coupled with poor inbounds plays, coupled with poor plays out of timeouts, coupled with a completely new playbook for game1, coupled with horrible substitutions… says he’s a problem.
After game3, I still think Sam is a bad coach. I’ve said it for YEARS. Just happens that the lesser Van Gundy is also not a great coach.
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