For the better part of 36 hours leading up to the Raptors’ first game action of the 2008-09 campaign, Sam Mitchell warned everyone within earshot that the game meant nothing.
And for a half his Raptors played like it. A team that would not attack the basket a year ago went right back to settling for jumpers and treating the paint like it was some sort of sacred ground. The defence, the focus of their entire training camp, wasn’t much better, and that more than anything else concerned the head coach.
But a third-quarter turnaround, orchestrated by the Raptors starters and then followed by an equally determined second unit sent everyone home relatively happy with a 104-84 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“We have a lot of work to do … but we got better as the game progressed,” Mitchell said. “We made a lot of mistake defensively, especially in that first quarter. We can’t give up 28 points in the first quarter. But the effort was there.”
“I will promise you when we do the grading (Bargnani) will grade out high defensively because he was where he was supposed to be in the traps and the rotations,” Mitchell said. “That’s what I’m looking for right now. I told the guys you have to carry out your assignments defensively and that’s what I’m looking for and then finish it off by rebounding the basketball and he did that tonight.”
It also was a big learning night for Will Solomon, who was seeing his first NBA action in six years.
Cavs point guard Mo Williams was picking up Solomon from the Raptors half of the court and giving the Toronto backup point guard a heavy dose of NBA pressure. Mitchell saw it happening and left Solomon out there for a team-high 32 minutes, figuring this was a perfect learning opportunity.
Solomon appreciated it.
“I was thrown in the fire, but I appreciate it,” Solomon said.
“He showed me confidence and the only thing I could do is play hard and help the team.”
For a guy who just went through media training the day before, Mitchell was in a rather unco-operative mood yesterday in his pre-game media scrum.
“We haven’t played a game yet,” Mitchell announced before a question had been asked so whatever y’all are going to ask me I only have one answer, ‘I don’t know.’ ”
Mitchell did answer a few questions although like his players an hour or so later on the floor, was far from mid-season form. So what did Sam get out of his media training? “Media training 101, it says do not trust anyone with a camera, a microphone, or a pen.”
“He was a lot more patient,” Mitchell said of Bargnani. “He missed some people early (taking shots instead of moving the ball) but he found some guys in the second half with some passes, he slowed down in rhythm and got to that 17-, 18-foot spot and made some shots.
“I promise you, when we do the grading, Andrea will probably grade out high defensively because he was where he was supposed to be in the traps and rotations. That’s the thing I’m looking for right now.”
But it still was a first pre-season game.
“We got better as the game progressed,” said Mitchell. “We made a lot of mistakes defensively, especially in that first quarter … you can’t give up 28 points in the first quarter.”
As for intricate new strategy? The coach won’t even discuss it publicly, let alone show much of it in his team’s first game.
“If I tell you that, then I’m telling you what we’re trying to accomplish, our identity defensively as a team, and I can’t do that,” he said before the contest.
Chris Bosh started alongside Jermaine O’Neal as everyone expected, but Bosh also played with Kris Humphries and Bargnani, as did O’Neal. They set high screens and rolled to the basket, they took mid-range jumpers over defenders who didn’t want to come out and challenge them.
Anthony Parker was in his usual role as the starting shooting guard for the Raptors last night and it’s becoming more obvious each day that coach Sam Mitchell will stick with what he knows rather than switch to Jason Kapono.
“In talking to those guys, I don’t think they really care,” Mitchell said before the club opened its pre-season schedule against the Cavaliers.
“I talked to A.P. about it, I talked to Jason about it, just briefly and they were like, `What difference does it really make?’”
Mitchell had suggested during training camp that Kapono would be a possible starter but that the smooth shooter would split time almost evenly with Parker.
“It’s not even anything I spent any time thinking about or worrying about,” said Mitchell.
“It’s refreshing for me to know I’ve got two guys it’s not even an issue to them. It’s all about the team. It allows me to think about other things.”
That doesn’t mean the Raptors exploits don’t deserve attention. Preseason or not, they made their opponents take notice by adding Jermaine O’Neal in the summer in a trade with the Indiana Pacers.
“It’s a great pickup for them,” said Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown, an assistant with the Indiana Pacers for two seasons. “He’s a good guy. I liked him as a person and he’s got a terrific family. And he’s a talent. You got a 1-2 combination at your four and five spot in Jermaine and Chris Bosh. It’s a nice tandem to have. People in Toronto will see a lot of good basketball there.”
It will take time to judge. “The main thing is getting to opening night healthy,” Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said, playing down the idea that he would be watching his team with an added bit of interest, given it marked the debut of O’Neal in a Raptors uniform.
O’Neal acknowledged that he wasn’t exactly feeling goose bumps in the moments before the tip.
“Not at all,” he said when asked whether he had any butterflies on the eve of his 13th NBA preseason. “Maybe when I’m in Toronto.”
But as for his game readiness? Well, that’s still a work in progress. He looked crisp on a gorgeous spin move to his left hand, but failed to finish the play. He looked wooden on as he drove baseline, but had his layup attempt gobbled up by the Cavaliers Sasha Pavlovic. He picked up three defensive rebounds, but just one offensively.
He looked sharper in the second half than in the first, though in all it was a performance that screamed that the regular season is three weeks away.
Another early-season theme to be monitored is the development of Andrea Bargnani, the franchise’s “X-factor;” If he delivers on his talent, he would give the Raptors a roster of elite big men. If he fizzles, he would be a drag on the bottom line and the club’s long-term prospects.
The early returns showed some promise and some concern, depending on how full your glass might be at any given moment. He looked to put it on the floor, but was called for one charge and should have been called for another.
But he showed some nice mid-range moves off the dribble and his confidence seemed to grow as the game went on — his six third-quarter points led the Raptors to a 35-22 advantage in the decisive period.
“With Jermaine, you see the effect he can have as he gets healthier and healthier. The space that he commands in the post makes us a different basketball team,” Mitchell said after the team’s training camp in Ottawa ended on Saturday. “And Chris is already ready to go.”
Behind starter Jose Calderon, 30-year-old Will Solomon received all of the backup minutes at point guard, with rookie Roko Ukic only getting into the game late.
And there was a reason for Solomon’s increased workload. Newly acquired Cleveland point guard Mo Williams formerly of Milwaukee, was pressing Solomon almost the moment he received the inbound pass.
“I left Will out there because I liked the way Mo Williams was playing,” Mitchell said. “He wasn’t just dropping back like a normal pre-season game.
“That was good for Will.”
At the beginning, Solomon looked a bit overwhelmed in his first NBA game since the 2001-02 season. He made three turnovers in the first half.
He did the same in the second half, but his output improved. He ended up with a game-high 17 points in 32 minutes.
“I got more comfortable in the second half,” said Solomon, who played in Greece, Israel and Turkey since leaving the Memphis Grizzlies in 2002. “[Mitchell] told me the same thing: Just get used to the game plan, with my first official game in the NBA in six years. He kept me out there. He had confidence in me.”
Coach Mike Brown said the Cavs considered trading for O’Neal over the summer when Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird basically made his whole team available as he started a makeover.
Brown coached O’Neal for two seasons when he was an assistant with the Pacers from 2003 to 2005 and knows him well. But the two sides never could reach an agreement on a deal.
“He was talked about as were other guys on their team that were talked about for trade possibilities,” Brown said. “We couldn’t get anything worked out.”
The Pacers were looking for a starter-quality center in return for O’Neal, which made it tough to make a deal work for the Cavs. They are not permitted to trade Anderson Varejao without his permission until at least Dec. 5 because of collective bargaining rules because they matched an offer sheet he signed on that date last year. And they were not interested in parting with Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
It’s difficult for Pistons fans to look at Chris Bosh and not think about what could have been when the Pistons used the second pick in the 2003 NBA Draft to snag Serbian prospect Darko Milicic.
Pistons head coach Michael Curry says he sees a lot of Bosh in second-year guard Rodney Stuckey.
I’m sitting here thinking of how to make my next video as funny as possible. We’re in Cleveland now because we have our first pre-season game tomorrow. I can’t believe I have another game! It came so fast and it seems like it was yesterday when I had a jersey with USA on the front. I’m ready to start playing again though. I think playing this summer with the National team has really helped my game because I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life. I had to get used to shooting the ball again, but that wasn’t hard for me to pick back up.
Anyway, like I was saying. I’m in the creative process for my next video for me and Baron’s competition. I have no idea what he’s going to do, but I think it’s going to be funny so I have to make sure I bring it. There’s a little pressure on me because Baron’s videos are good and I’m kind of competing with myself too because of my own videos from the past. I’m confident though. I think I’m going to start filming next week and edit it the week after so it will be in motion very soon. I wish I could tell everyone what it’s going to be, but I have to keep my secret safe… Plus Baron might be reading and watching.
Other than that everything is going pretty well. I’m excited to start playing again and things are really starting to pick up for me since. I’m going to launch Chris-bosh.com 2.0 at the end of the month. It’s going to look really good and a lot more creative. I felt it was time to change up things a little and freshen up the website. I hope you guys like it when I update it. Another positive thing going on is that my fantasy team is rolling! Out of all of my friends I’m doing the best. The fantasy league at rotohog.com is a little different, but I’m starting to get the hang of it. We’ve been talking a lot of trash since it started so I’ve got to back up my words.
Now that I think of it, the new NBA2K came out today. I really don’t play it that much, but my friends do and a lot of people I know play it too. I know more people play 2K than Madden so I have to start practicing since I don’t play it much. I’m already the best at every other video game out of me and my friends (especially Madden and Halo) so I might as well start playing NBA2K and be the best at that one too.
Well… Tomorrow is the start of a long season so wish me luck!!!!!!!!
Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo has taken criticism for making Italian 7-foot center Andrea Bargnani the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft. Colangelo even heard before the 2008 draft that Knicks
rookie Danilo Gallinari, selected No. 6, was the better Italian prospect.
Colangelo disagrees. With Gallinari (bulging disc) missing his showdown vs. Bargnani tonight, Colangelo believes his guy still is the class of Italy.
“I think the upside Bargnani has is different,” Colangelo told The Post. “He’s a 7-footer vs. 6-9. He has the advantage of size. When some Italian [scouts] told me Danilo was a better prospect, I’ve always politely disagreed. Danilo has a bright future if his health holds up. But if you’re going to say who will be better, I’d bet on a 7-footer who has already had success in the NBA.”
Trading T. J. Ford was a great move for several reasons. It put the offense exclusively in the capable hands of Jose Calderon, who tends to over-handle, but who’s stronger, slightly better defensively, and less prone to force shots than Ford. The trade also brought Jermaine O’Neal, who can hopefully cure the power shortage that has hampered the Raptors for so many years.
Even so, the roster remains top-heavy with shooters: Marshmallow-soft Andreas Bargnani. High-flying Jamario Moon. And Jason Kapono, who has no other NBA qualifications. Only Anthony Parker has a complete game, and is in fact one of the league’s most underrated players.
Chris Bosh remains the face of the franchise, a slasher and mid-range jump shooter, who should be the primary beneficiary of O’Neal’s husky presence in the paint.
But O’Neal remains the key to the Raptors’ fortunes. In the past, playing in the low post has either worn him down or resulted in crippling injuries. Also, O’Neal has never been accused of delivering in clutch situations. Still, if he’s willing to battle and bang in the paint, the Raptors will finally have a big man who will demand double-teaming. The result should be even more unchallenged long-distance jumpers than ever.
Even if O’Neal supplies the requisite interior force, the Raptors overall defense and lack of quality backups would remain problematic.
As for Anthony Parker, the problem with him is that he’s old. He’s 33 right now and seems to tire out in the fourth quarter and starts front-rimming his jumpers and FTs. That’s really the biggest knock on the guy, he’s a good player who’s playing beyond his means – 32+ minutes last year is stretching the guy to his outer limits. He’s probably the most complete guard we have and we’d all be even more happy to have him if he was 25.
Danilo Gallinari chatted with his Italian homeboy, Andrea Bargnani, earlier today and the Raptors big man says Gallo “is getting better, but he’s not ready yet.”
So what does Bargnani think of Gallinari’s future once he does get healthy enough to play?
“He can do everything,” Bargnani told Michael Grange of the Globe & Mail. “He can play two guard, he can shoot, he can play with his back to the basket. He is a typical Mike D’Antoni player.”
Can’t get too excited about a pre-season game, but a win is always better then a loss (might as well start the winning mentality from the get go).I did my best to follow the audio feed, but listening to a pre-season game is a tall order, even for yours truly. Regardless, they didn’t need my support as Lebron got 8 minutes of burn which translated into an automatic win, even for the Raptor bench.
A few things from the box score that caught my attention:
(video) Preseason hilights
(video) Game hilights
Video:
http://nba-tube.com/raptors-training-camp-2008-all-access-with-cb4/
http://nba-tube.com/jason-kapono-interview-oct-7-2008/
http://nba-tube.com/anthony-parker-interview-oct-7-2008/
Pictures from the game can be found on our post from last night.
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