while it was just an intrasquad scrimmage as the Raptors broke camp here after five days, the defence was good enough to put a smile on the head coach’s face.
“We’ve still got a lot of stuff to put in, we’ve still got a long way to go but I’m pleased with the scrimmage this afternoon and not just from a scoring standpoint,” Mitchell said. “We did a lot of good things defensively, we saw some guys do some things we’ve been really working with them on over the summer.”
“Defence has been the emphasis of our entire camp,” O’Neal said. “I don’t think anybody has forgotten or doesn’t understand what is the most important part of this team. Offensively, this team has done very, very well over the last few years but defensively, they have struggled so they kind of went back to the basics on defensive slides, close outs. It has been really quite a challenge.
“We did some things that I haven’t done since the start of my basketball career,” O’Neal said.
“Defensive slides, fullcourt … and the coaches demand us to move our feet and play together as a team and talk as a team. If we continue to do that and play that way throughout the pre- season and be as aggressive as possible in the pre- season, and approach them like regular season games, I think come Oct. 31 we will be ahead of schedule.”
It was fitting, if a bit startling, that Kris Humphries, a guy who earns his minutes banging for rebounds and putting his body in harm’s way as he makes things as difficult as possible for opposing offences, was hearing chants of MVP from the Ottawa-area crowd after a stellar afternoon at the gym saw him score 18 points while doing all the dirty work he normally handles.
“Today was the first day that I really kind of put everything together and really felt comfortable with the flow of the offence and also just finding my way,” O’Neal said. “I think guys did a great job of looking for me and also each other on offence. But this is just one small step towards where we need to be. We are not there yet but we’re getting pretty close.”
O’Neal also likes the progress he and Chris Bosh are making as they learn to work together in close confines and bring out the best in each other.
“I think we are really starting to adjust to one another,” he said. “One thing we understand now is that when I get the rebound he is going to run out, and when he gets it, I will run out. That’s kind of the biggest piece of the puzzle when you talk about two bigs that can really score in the box. It’s not as tough as I think a lot of people thought it would be.”
“Andrea did a lot of different things, scored in a lot of different ways, played defence. He was in there battling, rebounding the basketball, he had a couple of blocked shots,” Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said of Bargnani’s game. “It’s just a little bit more maturity, confidence, feeling (he has) something to prove, not just to people but himself.”
“Hump is another important piece to what we’re trying to accomplish. Hump is playing well, you can see he’s worked on his game and his body is bigger and stronger,” Mitchell said. “I’m happy and proud to see how Hump played and the players are as well.”
Mitchell and the Raptors headed home to Toronto optimistic about the upcoming season.
“These guys are excited,” Mitchell said. “They look around in that room and they look at the different pieces we have. Everybody complements everybody and they’re excited about having the opportunity to go out and play.
“I have no complaints for the first week of training camp, none.”
Having held training camps here, St. Catharines and Waterloo in the past four years – with a trip to Europe thrown in last season – they like the idea of moving around.
“The thing Bryan (Colangelo) has talked about is if we can find different places to go throughout Canada that have the facilities, that’s something we’d consider,” said Mitchell.
There have also been rumblings that the Raptors are in line for another trip to Europe or Asia next year for camp.
“You earn that leeway,” said Mitchell. “When a guy’s out there throwing his body around, getting you extra possessions, setting picks, rebounding, doing the dirty work, every now and then you have to turn your head when he takes that jump shot … because he’s playing so hard and giving it to you on the other end. You live with that stuff.”
There is every chance Humphries will revert to the rambunctious youngster who tends to forget what earned him his playing time. For now, though, the 23-year-old knows his place, which is behind starters Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal and the equally impressive Andrea Bargnani.
“You’ve got C.B., all-star, J.O., all-star, Andrea shooting the ball real well (with) improved skills around the basket and all that, (and) me improving as well,” Humphries said. “I feel like when me and Andrea come in the game, we have a whole other element to bring, as far as getting out and running, Andrea being able to shoot the three, me being able to beat people down the floor.”
Here’s Sam, after the Saturday run, on how he sees them being used:
“The perfect world would be having Chris and Andrea at different times on the court because both of those guys can go outside and Hump and Jermaine can go inside.
“But you know what? I think there’s going to be nights when we play Hump and Jermaine together. And we’ve already played Chris and Andrea together … they’ve started and played games together. So it’s not going to matter.
“The perfect scenario for me (would be) to try to make sure we always have one big out there who can shoot and another big down there that can play in the paint and rebound and do the tough stuff.
“But if you look, Andrea’s down there doing the tough stuff. As one of my coaches says, he’s going where it hurts now.”
Going where it hurts? Now that’s not something many said about Bargnani a year ago.
Watch Roko Ukic’s jumper if you get a chance. On every one he takes, he leans as he elevates. Looks really odd. I’m not sure if they’re to break down and rebuild his stroke like they do with golf swings but some serious reconstructive surgery is necessary.
Luckily, there are guys around to help.
One of the most constant things we saw whenever Benevolent Sam let us in the gym after practice, was Ukic off to the side working on his shot with assistant coach Gord Herbert. I’ve got a feeling those two guys are going to be spending an awful lot of time together.
One thing was that Hassan Adams probably could have reported in better shape – no, wait, he absolutely could have reported in better shape – but he didn’t look too bad in the scrimmage. Can’t shoot a lick but that’s not what they got him for. He’s here to push guys in practice, maybe fight his way into the rotation with tough defence, rebounding and doing all those little things Sam loves so much.
Another thing is that Joey is going to be way behind whenever he gets back on the court, which is troubling because I do think they had some idea he might be able to play some backup minuets to Jamario at the small forward. I know it’s a long, long time until anyone has to do anything for real but Graham missing a week was tough break.
No word on when Jawai will get a final determination on whatever the “cardiac issue” is. One guy whispered to me that they think he’ll get cleared and could be on the court the middle or end of next week. But that guy wasn’t a doctor or a heart specialist.
With the league’s exhibition schedule set to kick off in only days, the folks at Celticsblog have started their annual tradition of blogger team previews.
We of course volunteered to look at our beloved Raptors, and the following is a general overview of this year’s club.
Tomorrow we’ll be looking at the team in more specific detail but for now, here’s a glance at some of the major issues that will likely be on the minds of Dino fans this season:
“It was amazing, I had never seen a professional basketball team before,” said 13-year-old Charles-Albert Lefebvre Asselin of Ottawa.
“The atmosphere in the building was like something I had never felt before. I really enjoyed the warmup and the way the players were trying to impress the crowd with their dunks. Jamario Moon and Chris Bosh were unbelievable.”
Alexander McDonald and his twin sister Laura had seen the Raptors in action before, but couldn’t pass up the chance to see their favourite basketball players this close to home.
“I’ve been to the ACC a couple of times but, because we live in Ottawa, it’s impossible to go there all the time,” Alexander said. “This was the first time I saw the players this close. It was incredible. I couldn’t believe how tall they were. It was fun watching them watching them fooling around, dunking shots and trying different things.”
Ryan Pownall and Matt Kelly, two buddies from Orléans, have been Raptors fans for years, but had never seen them in person.
Yesterday’s live matinée performance gave the 16-year-olds something to remember.
“We’ve never been this close to the Raptors before,” Matt said. “We were in the first row on the floor when they were introduced. We touched them as they walked by us and even said a couple of words to Andrea Bargnani. It was awesome.”
The power forward joins THE FAN 590′s Eric Smith on becoming the newest Raptor and on what type of game he brings to the team.
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