Welcome to the first post-game report of the (pre)-season! I should warn you that I only had half an eye and one ear on the game, since I was writing a paper at the same time. Darn pesky real life getting in the way. As a result, this is going to be short, sweet and not in the usual bullet-point format you can expect from me with other games. So, let’s go!
What’s Old Is New Again
The first thing that came to my attention in this loss to the Sixers was that we seem to have a new Jamario, a new JYD, a new AD and…well, the same old Rasho. Respectively Sonny Weems, Reggie Evans and Amir Johnson. OK so the AD-Amir comparison is a stretch, but it’s raining and I’m grumpy. Perhaps the new Joey Graham is more apt. ANYWAY, these three guys all brought effort last night.
Reggie doesn’t know any other way to play, and if he can stay out of foul trouble he’s going to be an important addition to the team. He’s the kind of player that every team needs: doesn’t care if he scores, or starts, or if he’s playing centre or power forward. He gives you everything he has, keeps the team focused, and infects everyone with his style of play. If Reggie Evans is guarding you, you know about it. He might not be the best defender in the league, but you will feel like someone ran you through a wringer by the time he sits down again. You could see a difference in the whole team when he was on the floor: scrapping for loose balls, tipping rebounds to keep them alive, getting into the paint more. There seems to be less fear on the part of Raptors players to penetrate, because they know they’re less likely to get flattened with Reggie around. He’ll either block you off from the driver, or in the event that you do get through he’ll give you a bumpy ride on the other end. That type of play is EXACTLY what made people love JYD and Matt Bonner, and this guy has more physical presence and is a better rebounder. More please.
Sonny Weems is going to win himself a lot of fans too, if last night’s play is anything to go by. If I’m Banks, Douby or POB I’m getting myself fitted for some snazzy suits, since I will not be in the dressed 12 at this rate. The ACC crowds have always been willing to overlook some questionable shots for some energy and flash, and Weems provided both in the opportunities he got last night. I didn’t see enough to comment on his defense or his jump shot, but it seemed like every time Devlin got excited it was down to Weems. As an aside…how many people thought Weems was a white guy from the Netherlands before they saw him?
Johnson…as with the old Joey, it depends on which one shows up. If you can keep him and Reggie on the floor together, Bad Amir might be scared to show his face. Good Amir is VERY good at what he does, and is a great bench piece for a team that HAS to be aiming for Conference finals at the very least (although I reckon they’ll settle for a second round exit if truth be known). As long as he avoids the threes and keeps playing like he wants to be there, he’ll be worthy of minutes. Not sure where they’ll come from, but that’s a problem for Triano to figure out.
Rookie Mistakes
I don’t know why, but it was heart-warming to see DeRozan get the ultra-rapid hook in the fourth quarter after heaving up a couple of masonry specials. Triano is clearly not afraid to make a substitution if it’s warranted, especially with the game on the line. Even if it is only pre-season, you start as you mean to go on and by setting this benchmark early on Triano has set his stall out too.
What was even more heartening was to see and hear DeRozan’s reaction. Despite being the team’s leading scorer all through college (which he pointed out…), he mentioned that he’s new to the NBA and needs to know that he can’t jack up shots as soon as he comes in. He didn’t seem bitter, his body language was all right and he displayed a genuine desire to improve in the future. As long as it’s the NEAR future.
From what I saw of DDR, it’s clear the kid has some ability. He’s coming in to the league at a rough position, and I hope the coaching staff know enough not to start him early in the season: the first 10 games see LeBron James, Vince Carter, Rip Hamilton, Manu Ginobli and Jason Terry on his potential defensive plate. Joey Graham had a similar start to his rookie year, and never recovered.
I think DeRozan’s night was summed up perfectly by a sequence in the first quarter where he left his feet for a pass, turned the ball over, got the steal and hit a layup, then got beaten by Iguodala on a pull-up jumper. Some good, some bad.
Hope Springs Eternal
I’m not blindly optimistic, but I think these two performances leave some reason to be happy about our prospects this season. Against a good Philly team, missing only Rodney Carney as a contributor, we held our own and did not get blown out. Both Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala played 20+ minutes a night, and there was a definite desire to win on the Sixers’ part. On the other hand the Raptors were missing their best player, their likely second-leading scorer and a defensive contributor.
The rebounding has improved, so far anyway, although Bargnani still looks lost when the ball doesn’t land in his arms. A quick look at last night’s box score reveals that points in the paint and rebounds were kept pretty close, and that’s the feeling I got from watching the game. Too often last season I felt like jumping through the screen and pushing some red shirts into the painted area, but last night the effort was definitely there.
Il Pylon
Oh Andrea. That’s just not going to cut it. This is what, your fourth year in the league? And you haven’t figured out how to set a legal screen yet? I do not and will never question Bargnani’s offensive skills, and he is a decent to good shot blocker, but the man has to learn how to play OFF the ball too. We’ve heard so much about how he’s bulked up, has been worked hard by Reggie Evans, has developed his post game…I don’t care about that. Can he rebound? Can he read the game and cover the gaps? Can he stop leaving his man to try and block a shot, only to give up a dunk? Tell me THESE answers, Toronto media!
Virtual Loving
Trust me, that subheading was a lot less family-friendly before I proofread this column. Did anyone else feel like making Matt Devlin’s dentist a very happy man last night? I’ve said on the forums that I prefer Chuck to Devlin because Chuck had some things about him I actively liked as well as some I actively disliked. Devlin is just sort of…there. What I should have added was “except when he’s giving a verbal reach-around to the MLSE flavour of the month”. This is something that Swirsky used to do too much, and to hear Devlin talk about what an upgrade Jarrett Jack was going to be EVERY TIME HE TOUCHED THE BALL would have been bad enough if Jack had had a good game. As it is he looked like a bench player, and a deep one at that, and Devlin as a result looked stupid.
Random Observations
I’m hoping it was an off-night, but if we shoot threes and frees like that in the regular season, we in trouble.
O’Bryant looked pretty good for his 6 boards and 3 blocks, but “pretty good” for O’Bryant is not going to cut it I’m afraid. At least he seems to have improved.
This team still cannot defend an active offence. The slightest bit of movement or rotation throws everything off and invariably a man can slip his marker for an easy two. Not many teams can keep up a motion offence all game, but we need to figure out a way to defend it or we won’t be able to get stops in crunch time. AGAIN.
As encouraged as I was by how competitive the team has been, I worry that bringing in two key pieces is going to render all this work useless. It’s not like integrating a 10-minute guy, you’re talking two 40-minute guys who will have the ball in their hands A LOT. They don’t know most of these players and haven’t had a chance to work with them. That needs to be rectified before Cleveland come to visit.
Right then, that’s all from me. I hope you enjoyed my (normally unique) take on the game and the ramifications thereof. I will hopefully be back for the next game, providing I can find it somewhere. Stay cool, rock hard.
Lansdell – Out.
