Jump to content

Toronto at Sacramento


Real Deal
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • 1 month later...

Tonight’s game starts a four game road trip in the western conference. Every season it’s the same thing which they have a tendency to lose due to lack of defence whenever they play most teams in the league. Through the first two games the Raptors have shown an improved team defence and tonight will be a great test for the team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Owner

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.

It lasts until November 2nd, so lucky you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It lasts until November 2nd, so lucky you.

 

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tuned into this game at the start of the 4th quarter, and I'm really pissed I watched MNF over the first 3 quarters. Evans is killing it, the Sacramento crowd is getting load and the teams are playing their hearts out...all you can ask for from two (likely) lottery teams.

 

That last sequence with Evans making the pass from his knees to Casspi to Cousins was sick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was getting worried for the Kings when I saw the Raptors leading by about 10-15 points somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd quarter. I was going to tune into the game but then I realised Cousins was in foul trouble and I only wanted to watch the game to watch Cousins so I just passed on that since I was sure Cousins wouldn't get that much playing time with the way he was going.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. :lol:

 

 

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.

Edited by Built Ford Tough
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...