Built Ford Tough

Being the warrior that he is, Nash would get up, re-set his broken nose, throw 10 assists and drain a game winning three for good measure.

The thing is that DeRozan is probably the best wing player on the team too. I could understand if he was a raw rookie or something like last season, but I honestly think he is the best wing player on the team so it makes sense to play him not only to develop him, but also to give you the best chance at winning the game. Just look no further than his play in the 2nd half for evidence of this. He has played very well and is the major spark behind the Raptors cutting this lead to 7 points.

The Raptors help defense is bad on most nights, but when they go up against a team who runs their stuff as effectively as Utah does, it makes really magnifies just how bad this team is defensively. They are getting aboslutely picked apart by Utah. To make matters worse, the Jazz are absolutely dominating when it comes to fast break points as well. The Raptors getting completely dominated doesn't annoy me because it is clear that the Raptors aren't going to beat any of the good teams and are completely outmatched when going against a team the caliber of Utah. What does annoy me is the fact that it is clear that this is a rebuilding season and you have DeRozan playing less than 10 minutes in the first half and Barbosa playing something like 15. There is simply no valid reason for DeRozan to be getting less than 10 minutes in a half unless he is in serious foul trouble. To make matters worse, DeRozan played less minutes than Weems and Kleiza as well. Why? Triano's rotations are just so damn baffling at times. Oh yeah, Amir Johnson played 1 minute while David Andersen and Joey Dorsey combined for 13 and a half while Evans got 15. Brilliant minute distribution.

I expected a brutal game, but I can't say I expected the Raptors to give up 41 points, 26 points in the paint, 15 fast break points and shoot 68% from the field. Also, it's pretty sad that Joey Dorsey is getting minutes ahead of Amir Johnson. The Raptors are definitely going to grow to regret that contract. I tried to defend that deal based on how effective Johnson was last season, particularly as a starter down the stretch, but it is becoming quite clear that he will never figure it out. I guess the fact that he has had the same problems since coming into the league 5 or so years ago should've been a good indicator of this.

I get the feeling that not only will Deron Williams break out of his slump, but Al Jefferson is going to have a big game as well. I can definitely see him abusing Bargnani, Evans, Andersen and Johnson down low. This Jazz team is a pretty bad matchup for Toronto. Not only do they have good/great players at the two weakest positions for the Raptors, at least defensively, but they are extremely well coached and disciplined, which the Raptors have always struggled with. I'm looking forward to seeing how Evans plays tonight. He has dominated the glass so far this year, but he has gone up against some pretty average front courts (Cousins being in foul trouble made the Kings vulnerable on the glass). With Jefferson and Millsap it is going to be tough for Evans to bully his way to every rebound.

Except that the Heat have absolutely nothing that would interest the Raptors. They have no young talent (Chalmers is a 3rd string point guard and he is probably their best young player), nothing to help the Raptors financially and they gave up basically all of their draft picks for the next half decade in order to get Bosh and James. Then there is the fact that I highly doubt Colangelo is going to jump at the opportunity to deal with Riley again, considering how poorly the last two moves he has made with him have gone. The bottom line is that the Heat have absolutely nothing to offer for a guy like Jack. Toronto is not going to just dump him considering he is on a very solid contract, is the leader of this team and is a mentor to guys like DeRozan, Weems, Johnson and Davis.

Blatche screws up again. 3 turnovers in overtime and he has probably touched the ball 4 times. What a tough shot by Brand. Wow. I thought he missed his opportunity to get the shot off when he put the ball on the floor, but he nailed that very tough fadeaway bank shot.

Blatche is terrible. I hate watching him play. Very impressive hustle from Wall to get back and nearly come up with a spectacular block on Iguodala. That is two times in a row that Wall has bailed Blatche out after he made a terrible play. Wall has some insanely quick hands. What is that, 9 now? Isn't that close to the Wizards franchise record?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/2010/11/andray-blatche-focused-on-gett.html I just don't understand why big men constantly fall in love with their jumpers when they don't have a reliable one. When you shoot 5 of 20 from outside of 10 feet, that should be a clear indication that you need to get your [expletive] on the block, especially when you are the only player on the team who is capable of being a low post threat on offense. This Washington team really needs an attitude change. I don't think that Saunders is the right coach for this team because the players seem to constantly walk all over him (and, well, he isn't a very good coach in the first place as far as I'm concerned).

If Smith is moved, it would be because of salary reasons, so I highly doubt that they would move him for somebody like Marc Gasol or Melo considering the fact that both of those players are free agents after this season and will be looking at contracts of $10M and a max respectively. Plus, there is the fact that I don't think Melo would ever ok a trade to Atlanta, so I can't see the Hawks ever trading Smith for half a season of Melo. As a complete homer, I'll say Smith to Toronto for their TPE, Reggie Evans and Sonny Weems/Leandro Barbosa. Clears their financial problems, get a gritty rebounder in Evans who will do the dirty work for them, a cheap asset in Weems or an energet spark plug off of the bench in Barbosa. Not that I can ever see this happening, but I can dream. On a more serious note, I like what Nitro said about Memphis. They were the first team that came to my mind when reading this and, like you, I thought of Randolph as well. I'm not sure how close to the tax the Hawks are so I'm not sure if he would put them over it or not, but it would give them a bonafide post scorer to compliment their perimeter oriented iso game. Phoenix would be a nice fit, but they wouldn't have anything of value to offer the Hawks so I don't see a deal getting done there.

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/69896/20101102/payroll_could_mean_hawks_will_shop_smith/#ixzz149FV5sFm This doesn't surprise me at all. Once they gave Johnson that contract in the summer, you knew that there would be no way the Hawks would be able to keep their core together considering all of them would want raises over their current deals. Somebody was bound to be the odd man out and with Horford being locked up to a long term extension, their hands are going to be tied. Smith could probably get you a pretty nice return so it may be wise to move him if you get an offer that you simply can't refuse.

Pretty poor decision. I don't remember how much time was left, but in that situation you have to take the three, especially considering that would be the only opportunity that you would get to take a three. If I recall correctly, the Raptors didn't have any more timeouts so even if they did get a quick two, foul the Kings they still would've had to advance the ball from the backcourt in a very small amount of time. Again, this Raptors team is going to make a lot of mistakes at the end of close games. Like I said above, they don't have a go to scorer in short clock scenarios but then when you add in a young and inexperienced team with a questionable coach, there are going to be some poor decisions made at the end of games.

The Raptors are going to win few close games this season and it is because of rebounding. The only player on the team who is able to get any of the tough rebounds in traffic is Reggie Evans, but the problem with having him on the floor in a close game is that you are playing 4 on 5 offensively. If the Raptors had a legitimate creator they could sacrifice offense for rebounding by having Evans on the floor in late clock situations, but they can't afford to leave him on the floor with the lack of creativity. DeRozan is starting to show some of these abilities, but he doesn't have a good enough handle and isn't mature enough to react to double teams or the help rotating over. I'm kind of disappointed that the Raptors blew this game, but it wasn't unexpected as I mentioned. When I saw how well the Raptors played in the first half, only to be up by 11, I could just tell that this was going to be one of those games that they would find a way to lose down the stretch. There are going to be a lot of games like this one this year, but it really is kind of frusturating that the Raptors could easily be 3-0 right now instead of 1-2. Hell, I'd even go as far to say that they should be 3-0 right now. Oh well. Casspi was huge in the 4th hitting dagger shot after dagger shot. He was absolutely lights out in the 4th and hit some huge threes at absolutely critical times in the game. Cousins was throwing Bargnani around like a rag doll down low and you could tell when Evans wasn't in the game. He was man handling Bargs, but was getting abused by Evans. It really is too bad that the Raptors couldn't morph Bargnani and Evans into one player. As much as I like Weems, he really needs to see his minutes cut down a bit. He has been awful this season, with the exception of the 2nd half against the Cavs when he was ok, and is just chucking way too much. With how well DeRozan has been playing to start the year, I think he should be getting some more of Weems' minutes. Here is an interesting stat. In the last two games, Reggie Evans has pulled down 34 rebounds. Andrea Bargnani has pulled down 3. Trust me, I've thought about it, especially now that the free League Pass is over. EDIT: One thing that I feel worth mentioning is that this game could've gone in a completely different direction if a couple of questionable calls went the other way. For instance, the continuation that they gave Carl Landry midway through the 4th was very questionable. What got me the most was Landry's foul on DeRozan with about 2 minutes left in the game. How that wasn't a flagrant foul was beyond me considering he didn't really make a play for the ball (fouled him at the waist while the ball was at his shoulders at least) and yanked him down by his jersey (which should be an automatic flagrant). If they call a flagrant there, like they should, this game could've changed completely. Not to make any excuses because like I said above, the Raptors were simply out worked and out hustled down the stretch and that was the difference in the game. I just thought that there was some questionable calls in that 4th quarter and most of them seemed to go against Toronto.

I really enjoyed watching the DeRozan/Evans matchup during that first half. Both of them were going right at each other and both were very productive out there. Evans was doing more one-on-one stuff while DeRozan was doing a lot of his damage in the open court, but it was definitely a fun matchup to watch during that first half. Bargnani and DeRozan were both fantastic that half. I already talked about DeRozan, but Bargs has been very efficient. I don't know the exact numbers but getting 17ish points on about 7 or 8 shots is very impressive, especially considering it is Bargnani who is usually more of a volume shooter. Him and DeRozan were both very efficient from the floor and I loved the 14 or so free throws between the two of them. Calderon was solid in that half as well. I really like the fact that he wasn't settling for jumpers and was trying to get into the paint. Once he saw those two layups go in, you could just see his confidence increase. It seems like it is mandatory for the backup point guard on the Raptors to outplay the starter and Calderon has been doing that over the past game and a half. As far as Sacramento is concerned, obviously Evans is the reason why they are still in this game. He had a superb half. If he ever develops a consistent jump shot, he is going to be an absolute nightmare offensively considering the fact that he may already be the strongest guard in the league. It has basically been the Evans show, but I also liked the fearlessness that Cousins showed. He hasn't contributed much, but he you've got to love a rookie that picks up two quick fouls, gets his shot blocked on two straight occasions and still comes at you hard on the next possession. Oh yeah, Amir Johnson got 2 fouls in 3 minutes. It is a bit concerning that the Raptors played so well in that half and yet they are only up by 11 points. I can definitely see the Kings coming back and taking control in the 2nd half. Something just doesn't feel right.

Like the last game against, Cleveland, I'll post my thoughts at certain points in the game. Again, sorry if I repeat anything already said as I'm not going to read any posts until after I watch the game. Just finished the first quarter and I think that was the best basketball I have ever seen from DeRozan. Aside from a pretty weak effort defensively on that one Evans layup and fouling Evans about 35 feet from the hoop, I think he was basically flawless that quarter. He was being very aggressive, did a solid job on Evans for the most part, was active on defense, getting to the line and sticking a couple of jumpers. He has developed a really nice spin to create seperation for himself to get a shot off. Loved the way he played there. Evans is just an animal on the glass. I think he might've outrebounded the entire Kings team in the 1st quarter with his 10 boards. He also chipped in with something like 6 points, which is a huge bonus, especially considering he wasn't forcing his offense and taking shots within the flow of the offense. Speaking of Evans, Samuel Dalembert could learn a thing or two from him. I think that Dalembert could be a very effective player if he would just focus on defense, rebounding and being active instead of thinking that he is some kind of offensive threat. I cringe every time I see the ball go to him as I know some wild shot is going to be put up. Kind of disapointed that Cousins got into early foul trouble, but that was to be expected considering Bargnani's perimeter game being a huge mismatch. All in all, that was a superb 1st quarter for the Raptors. Very impressive performance on both ends of the floor from them.

Raptors TV (I guess it is NBA TV Canada now) is showing a replay at 10, so even if NBALP was over today, I could've just caught that. I get off work at 10:30 so I only would've missed the first quarter and a bit of the 2nd quarter. Not too bad.

I think everybody knows about ATDHE. It doesn't really do you any good when you get home anywhere from 2 to 5 hours after a game has finished, though.

Toronto sports fans in general are insanely hot and cold, at least from my experience. The Leafs got off to a hot start this season and people were talking about them being a lock for the playoffs, blah blah blah. Then they lose a couple in a row and it was "this team sucks". They beat Florida and they are suddenly a playoff team again and now they've been shut out two games in a row and they are the worst team in the league, everybody other than Kessel and Schenn should be traded and they are a lock to finish last place. I love it.

Don't forget Davis when he returns will be getting at least 15 minutes a night as well. Also, it isn't his offense that is raw, it is his entire game at this point. He definitely has defensive potential, but he is still absurdly raw on that end of the court as well. Does this really surprise anybody? I think it was a given that he would be sent to the D-League from the moment he was drafted as it is pretty clear he is not capable of contributing anything other than fouls at this point in his development. I think every Raptor fan knew that he would be spending some time in the D-League this season, the only question was how much time he would spend there. Personally, I say let him play out an entire D-League season. If the Raptors front court get his hard by injuries then call him up, but otherwise I think it would be most beneficial for his development to spend as much time in the D-League as possible.

When is the free league pass preview over? I work tonight and I'm not sure if the preview is over today or tomorrow. Hopefully it is tomorrow as I really want to watch this game, not only because of it being the Raptors but I'm really interested in seeing the Kings play. They have a lot of players on their roster that I like especially Cousins, Thompson and Casspi.

Sounds like a deal will be finalized before the deadline tonight. If I had to guess, I'll say the contract will something along the lines of 5 years, $55M. I think Horford wouldn't sign an extension for any less than that with the belief that if he were to make it to free agency he wouldn't get anything less than $10M a season.

No deal has been reached yet. http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/69867/20101031/hawks_horford_still_talking_extension/#ixzz13zkLyfGu Sounds like a deal will be reached before the deadline, though. How much do you think he will get, assuming he does in fact sign an extension?

Not to mention it wouls give the Raptors 3 picks in the 11 draft which could be packaged to move up or something like that. We've seen in the past how having multiple picks in a draft opens up so many opportunities for trades. Also, no matter how great Evans rebounds the basketball, no team is going to give up any legitimate young talent for him, headliner. It would be a 7th or 8th man at best (and that is probably being generous) and the Raptors don't need more role players as they have put together a nice group of role players already. They just need the superstar and the all-star, which will hopefully come in the next couple of drafts (or maybe DeRozan becomes the 2nd option all-star player, who knows).

I could be wrong, but I think he meant sorting the teams by standings like you did last year. The Eastern Conference team forums would be ranked 1-15 and same for the West. I don't even remember having the standings listed on the sidebar last season.

I'm just posting here to get a free rep like everybody else. -_-