Built Ford Tough

Didn't want to post a new thread for this, but according to Doug Smith, Calderon is a good enough defender. The only players in the NBA that can make Calderon a good enough defender would be a prime Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard and a healthy Greg Oden. The sad thing is that Calderon has been putting more effort into his defense so far this preseason than I have seen since he was backing up TJ Ford and he is still arguably the worst defensive point guard in the league. Maybe he means it is good enough for the Raptors to finish dead last?

Wasn't he terrible during the World Championships before suffering the hamstring (I think) injury? I remember reading over at Real GM about how awful Calderon looked during the WC and that the Spanish team was so much better when Rubio was playing and Jose was on the bench. Also, he was pretty bad towards the end of last season as well, and he wasn't injured during that time period. As much as I would love to blame injuries for his poor play, I just don't think it is a legitimate reason.

Over the last 3 months of the 09/10 season, Calderon averaged (roughly) 8 ppg/6 apg on 44% shooting and 39% from three in around 25 minutes a night. So far this preseason he is averaging 4.7 ppg/5.1 apg on 28.2 FG% and 0.91 3PT% in 21.6 minutes per game. He went from being one of the more effective shooters in the league, regularly flirting with 50/40/90 averages to not even being able to knock down an open jumper from 15 feet. He was basically automatic when coming off of a screen and pulling up from 18 feet, and now he clanks everything he takes. He was very good at turning the corner off of pick and roles as he did a good job of mixing up speeds and being deceptive with his quickness, and now he can't even turn the corner with somebody like Steve Nash guarding him. When he does get into the paint, he can't finish at all anymore. Then there is obviously the problem with his defense. He has never been a good defender, but he was never this bad either. He can't keep anybody in front of him anymore. Sure, it doesn't help to have weak defenders around him, but it still doesn't change the fact that he looks like a complete pylon out there now. Losing Bosh obviously hurt him as so much of his game relied on him, but you can't place all of the blame on that because he was playing awful last season with Bosh in the lineup. Really, what the hell happened to Calderon? He was never a great player, but he was probably a top 15 point guard in the league and a borderline starter 2-3 seasons ago, yet now he is closer to being a borderline NBA player than a borderline starter. According to Doug Smith, management seem to be worried about his play as well. http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/2010/10/the-usual-fun-and-frivolity-the-day-after-a-game.html

Basically my thoughts. I loved the way that he played tonight against the Bulls (not sure if you saw the game or not). He finished with 15 or 16 rebounds in about 25 minutes of action and only took 2 shots all game. He was crashing the offensive glass like crazy and finished with around 7 or 8 offensive boards and was probably directly responsible for another 2 or 3 by keeping the ball alive and having a teammate come down with it. He was still weak defensively as he simply isn't big enough to defend post players, quick enough to defend players who can step outside the paint and doesn't react fast enough to provide much help defense, but he was great on the glass, which is needed when playing beside Bargnani. He is like Kris Humphries when he was with the team. A good energy guy when he plays within himself, but gets into these moments when he tries to do way too much and winds up hurting the team way more than helping. On a somewhat unrelated note, after watching todays game (and looking at the box scores of others) I've come to the conclusion that Amir Johnson can't start on this team. He fouled out in only 16 minutes today and if he were to be a starter it would really put a strain on the bench when he is constantly having to be yanked early due to picking up 2 quick fouls. I think I may have to agree with Triano and it is the right move to start Evans with Johnson coming off of the bench. Depending on how Davis does when he returns, my opinion on the matter may change again, though.

I find it pretty funny how you complain about all of my posts being too long and unecessary (which I admit to being pretty bad at), yet you constantly go on these incoherent rants that can be summed up in one sentence.

Jarrett Jack >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Jose Calderon. I'm fine with Calderon starting (although I'd much rather have Jack start) as long as Jack gets 30 minutes a night. He is so much better than Calderon that it is inexcusable for him to have to split his minutes 50/50 with Jose. Also, the Raptors bench is better than their starting lineup by a fairly substantial amount. I think they may be the only team in the league whos bench would beat their starters in a game. Omer Asik is awesome, by the way. I really liked the way that he played during the first game these two teams played and I am even more impressed with him tonight. He seems to alter every shot inside the paint.

An article posted on Raptors HQ after the Suns game. There is a lot more to the article than what is posted here. http://www.raptorshq.com/2010/10/19/1760346/the-importance-of-reggie-evans#storyjump I've made my opinions of starting Evans pretty clear, but the writer does bring up some very interesting arguments in this article. I still stand by what I said in the other thread about Evans starting, but I can understand where the writer is coming from as well. Thoughts on this?

A little part of the preview with the 3 keys to the game for Toronto from Raptors HQ. http://www.raptorshq.com/2010/10/20/1762802/3-in-the-key-raptors-game-day-preview-vs-the-bulls Don't work tonight and there isn't a Leaf game on, so I'll probably be catching the entire game tonight, which would be my first full game of the preseason. They looked like complete [expletive] in the last game against the Bulls, so hopefully they play a bit better tonight. I'm not expecting much, though, because the Bulls are simply a brutal matchup for the Raptors.

Crawford has made it crystal clear that he either wants an extension or to be traded to a team that will be willing to give him an extension. He has stated on multiple occasions that he wants to stay with Atlanta but he wants that financial security as well. The problem is that Atlanta just gave Johnson a max contract, have guys like Williams and Smith locked into sizeable contracts and will need to work out an extension for Al Horford. The Hawks may be reaching their internal budget and the amount that it will take to re-sign Crawford may push them over that budget. How much longer will Crawford stay with the Hawks? Will they come to terms on an extension or will he be traded at some point this season?

Yeah, Weems is going to be in full blown Mike James-esque chucker mode this season. Sadly, I can't see him putting up the kind of percentages that James put up during his one year stint in Toronto. Contract year + lottery team + Weems never seeing a shot he doesn't like - defined star/roles = a lot of Weems chucking.

Saw most of the 4th quarter and a little bit o fthe 3rd, and Amir Johnson, Jarrett Jack and Linas Kleiza looked very good for Toronto. Johnson finished with 17/11 on 8-9 shooting in 24 minutes. I think he had 7 offensive rebounds, was keep balls alive on both the offensive and defensive glass, was diving on the floor for loose balls and did a great job of not forcing anything offensively. As usual, fouls were a problem for him, though. He had at least 4 fouls in the first 17 minutes of playing time that he received. I'm not sure if he picked up a 5th, but regardless, he still needs a lot of work on cutting down his fouls. Kleiza looks like he will be the Raptors best player this season, at least offensively. He was scoring off of the bounce, posting up and hitting from deep. He was also doing a nice job of getting his teammates involved and getting on the glass as I think he finished with 4 or 5 assists and around 7 rebounds as well. Good game from him and he seems like he really enjoys playing against the Suns. Lastly, Jack looked good in the limited action that I saw him. He had around 16 points I think and was doing a good job of beating Dragic off of the bench and getting easy looks. I'm not sure what his other numbers looked like, but he was impressive in the time that I saw him on the floor. After his play last season and so far this pre-season, I think he has put an end to any debate about who the better point guard is between him and Calderon. Didn't really see much of anybody else as Bargnani, DeRozan, Barbosa and Calderon didn't really play much, if at all, while I was watching. Weems was chucking a bit (I wish he would stop shooting threes) and Banks looked pretty solid for the 2nd game in a row, but it is the pre-season so who really knows what is going to happen.

According to what Triano has been saying since the beginning of Training Camp, he will be implementing more of his offense, using a more traditional rotation and all that crap. I work in an hour and a half and there is a Leaf game on, so I'll probably not see much of this, but I hope that the Raptors actually take a "regular season" approach to this game and play their best players the most instead of guys like Andersen and Evans. Also, hopefully Bargnani can at least shoot 30% tonight.

For a mid-pre-season game, this has definitely been a hard fought game as both teams are leaving it all on the floor. I know the Sixers arent playing their best lineup with guys like Iguodala, Young and Williams on the bench, but it is nice to see the Raptors putting so much effort into this game. Nice bucket by DeRozan to give them the 1 point lead, followed up by a nice defensive possession by Barbosa to create a turnover. EDIT: GREAT pass from Jack to Johnson for the slam to give the Raptors a 3 point lead with 6 seconds left in the 2nd OT. 2nd EDIT: Raptors win. Barbosa got absolutely destroyed from that Brand (I think) screen. Tough break for Holiday missing the open look, but I question whether or not he should've even been able to get that look because that definitely looked like an illegal screen. Oh well, looked like a pretty entertaining pre-season game. A lot better than the disaster that was last night against Chicago.

Tough break for DeRozan. It would've really boosted his confidence if he was able to knock down that second free throw and ice the game. I'm not liking the whole double OT in a pre-season game, though. It seems kind of unecessary and is just asking for an injury to occur. Seems like an exciting game and the Leaf game is over now so I'll be able to watch the 2nd OT. Jrue Holiday has looked very impressive from what I have seen. I know it is the pre-season and it is the Raptors, but a triple double is a triple double regardless. I really think he is going to have a stellar year this season.

There is a Leaf game on half an hour after this game starts, so I'll probably watch a limited amount of this game. I want to make sure that I catch at least some of this game, though. It will be the first time I'll be able to watch Kleiza in a Raptors uniform, which I'm looking forward to. DeRozan was invisible last night, so I'm hoping he is more assertive this season. On the Sixers side, I want to see how Holiday looks and, especially Evan Turner. People have already started calling him a bust based on his play in the Summer League and his first few pre-season games, which I think is absolutely ridiculous. Hopefully Triano tightens up the rotation and actually starts to get the team to run their stuff on offense. It was embarassing watching the Raptors on offense last night seeing everybody trying to do everything individually. I know that the pre-season doesn't mean all that much, but it is about time that he starts developing a set rotation, implementing the system and defining roles offensively. Enough with the lineup experiments and handing out equal minutes.

Raptors look like a lock for a top 4 pick.

Can't really comment on anything other than this game, but it seems like he just isn't fitting in with the way that the Raptors are playing. He has always been more of a system guy that flourishes when shots are created for him and struggles when he is forced to create his own offense. The Raptors are playing 100% individual basketball right now and everybody is basically trying to take their own man off of the dribble, which doesn't suit Bargnani's game. He isn't the kind of player that you can give the ball to 20 feet away from the hoop and tell him to create something for himself. None of the Raptors are really capable of doing that. With Bosh gone, the Raptors don't have any inside presence offensively so teams don't have to worry about that, nor do they have to worry about sending any extra defensive attention to anybody which means Bargnani isn't getting the open looks that he used to get. He also isn't getting as many touches when the defense is scrambling trying to get back into position or are completely out of position, which is when he is able to create off of the bounce. Jack isn't really that good at creating for others, and Calderon isn't a creative enough playmaker either, so that, along with the limitations on guys like DeRozan, Weems and Barbosa as playmakers, are making the Raptors offense really stagnant and lethargic. Bargnani is at his best when the ball and the defense are constantly moving. As much as I'd like to blame the system, Bargnani hasn't looked all that interested or sharp either, both from what I saw tonight and have read after previous games. He simply has to play better whether the system best suits him or not. Triano did say that the last 4 games of the preseason is when he is going to really focus on tightening up the rotation, defining roles and running more offensive sets, so I'm not going to make any real assumptions until I'm able to watch those 4 games.

This is going to be a very fun season. Watching this team on offense is going to be painful as they clearly don't have anybody capable of creating their own shot or creating for others. I'm expecting a lot of possessions to end up with a forced jumper as the shot clock expires. That last possession was awesome. I don't think they had anybody even close to the paint. Sadly, they will probably be even worse defensively than they will be offensively.

I didn't even come across Smith's little blurb until half way through the thread, but good catch. I didn't really pay too much attention to the way that Smith listed the lineup. Either way, it doesn't really matter as my point of Evans starting over Johnson still stands, which was really the main point of my thoughts. It's not like Evans is any more capable of defending legit centers than Bargnani or Johnson are considering the noticable size differential between him and 99% of the centers in the league. He will get abused because of that, and because of the fact that he simply isn't a good defender.

Niklas Hjalmarsson also got two games for his hit on Jason Pomminville last night.

First game that I'll be at home for (I've been working the other games) and of course this one isn't even televised here. Oh well, guess I'll have to try and find a link. From what Doug Smith posted in his blog this morning, sounds like Kleiza might get the night off tonight as he has a sore knee, and play tomorrow night against Philly. Kind of bummed as I was hoping to be able to see him in action. Hopefully Amir Johnson gets the start tonight and gets a decent amount of burn. I'm going to hate it if he is stuck behind Reggie Evans in the rotation as that makes absolutely no sense. It will just be nice to finally watch some Raptors basketball again. Other than watching episodes of Raptors Today on Youtube (because apperantly Raptors TV figures it is more beneficial to show re-runs of the Heat scrimmage/training camp for the 100th time), I haven't been able to watch anything Raptors related for what seems like forever. I'm tired of reading other peoples opinions and thoughts, or sifting through box scores,haha.

Amir Johnson was a bit banged up prior to the game in Vancouver against the Suns, but as far as I know, he was fine against the Celtics, but Evans still started the game for the Raptors. I know that it is just the pre-season and nothing is set in stone, but the fact that Evans has not only started each game so far, but also player more minutes than Johnson makes you wonder if the Raptors will start the season with him in their starting lineup. Triano has also said that he likes Evans alongside Bargnani, so that is even more fuel for the fire. Lastly, this was posted in Doug's blog: http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/2010/10/another-relatively-slow-day-itll-be-nice-to-have-everyone-back-in-town-tomorrow-so-things-get-back-into-some-sense-of-r.html I just don't understand the logic behind starting Evans over Johnson or even Ed Davis when he returns from injury. This is going to be Evans' last year with the Raptors while Johnson and Davis both seem to factor into the Raptors long term plans, not to mention the fact that you just gave Johnson that large contract. It would be one thing if Evans was actually a better player than Johnson or Davis, but I honestly don't see how that argument can even be made. All he does is rebound as he is a weak defender and a liability on offense (which is even worse because he is a blackhole as well). I understand if they wanted to try and boost his trade value or something, but to be perfectly honest, I think him starting will have a negative effect on his value as teams will be able to see all of the glaring flaws in his game if he is getting 25 minutes a night. I really don't get the logic behind the decision to start Reggie Evans. It does no good for the Raptors short term or long term. Just let Johnson start and see what he can do. If he gets into foul trouble then bring Evans off of the bench, but there is no reason to start Evans as far as I am concerned. It would be one thing if he actually earned a starting spot based on his play, but I don't even see how that can be the case either. This is just baffling to me.

I agree that it would've been nice to see him take a stand last season when the Raptors had a team that should've made the playoffs, and might have if Triano was a bit harder on plyers. However, it is nice to see that Triano is learning from his mistakes in the past and he is not going to repeat them. It would be even more of a joke if Triano and the Raptors continued to let players feel entitled, walk all over them and things like that after seeing how well that worked for them last season.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/nba/raptors/article/873582--feschuk-no-more-mr-nice-guy One of Triano's biggest weaknesses as a coach is that he is too soft, at least according to what most people believe. Who knows how long he will continue to "crack the whip" but I like the fact that he isn't coddling players like he did last season, especially considering the fact that nobody on this team should be considered a lock for anything, Bargnani and DeRozan included. As far as I am concerned, the minutes should be earned based upon the players play. I don't want to see another Turkoglu situation where he is being spoon fed minutes because of his name and name only. If the players aren't performing, are making mental mistakes and showing a general level of disinterest on the floor, sit them down and bring in somebody who will be willing to give it their all when they are on the floor. I hope he continues this kind of attitude into the regular season. He tried being Mr. Nice Guy last season and it resulted in the team walking all over him. The question is whether or not he will keep this up or not.

Bargnani is really lighting it up this pre-season. Is he even shooting above 10% from the floor? I was at work so I wasn't able to watch the game (if it wasn't even televised here) but I don't understand how the game was only a 4 point loss for Toronto considering they shot below 40% from the floor and only 59% from the stripe compared to Boston's 50+% and 70% respectively. I guess the Celtics were basically playing the end of their bench, though. That is probably the reason why it was so close.