Toronto at Utah

[Real Deal]

TIME: 9:00 PM ET

TV: n/a

[headliner]

The raptors are going to play a well discipline team in Utah Jazz couple important things is that they can’t have a defensive collapse as they did against Sacramento Kings. They’re going to need to contain Deron Williams and not give up wide open three’s.

 

Thing I’m going to be looking for is whether or not Demar is able continue his performance from the Sacramento game to tonight’s game.

[Check my Stats]

Utah has been worse so far than us it seems, who bets Deron hits his stride tonight though? we are the best for giving slumping players break out games.

[headliner]

Utah has been worse so far than us it seems, who bets Deron hits his stride tonight though? we are the best for giving slumping players break out games.

It’s true it always seems that a lot of NBA players get off their slide against the Raptors but the Raptors have been a poor defensive team for some time and thus far I think they’re better but they can not allow another defensive collapse like they did against Sacramento Kings.

[Built Ford Tough]

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.

[headliner]

Just a terrible start to the game giving up 41 points in the first quarter

[Built Ford Tough]

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.

[headliner]

It's only game four of the season and Amir at some point will get his act together and start playing better basketball. Besides Dorsey is doing a decent job compared to the rest of the bigs on the team.

 

Everything is clicking for the Jazz and the raptors need to do something to disrupt the Jazz. Like get back on defence and not to turn over the ball.

[Built Ford Tough]

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.

[headliner]

Your absolutely right. Jay is coaching to win the game and for that reason I understand why he does some of his moves but my problem is Demar doesn't get any looks and it's put Demar in the position where he takes a shot or forces it because there is no play called for him. Demar clearly wants to prove his worth and prove how good he is and I just think Jay needs to put him in the position to do so.

[Built Ford Tough]

Your absolutely right. Jay is coaching to win the game and for that reason I understand why he does some of his moves but my problem is Demar doesn't get any looks and it's put Demar in the position where he takes a shot or forces it because there is no play called for him. Demar clearly wants to prove his worth and prove how good he is and I just think Jay needs to put him in the position to do so.

 

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.

[headliner]

Andrea has put up 13 points in the third to bring the raptors within 5

Edited November 4, 2010 by headliner

[Built Ford Tough]

That is what Weems needs to do more of. He settles for jumpers way too much and doesn't make use of any of his natural abilities. He has very good athleticism, has good size and length and has good speed. When he gets a mismatch in the post or out on the perimeter, he needs to attack instead of constantly settling for jumpers. That is what is so frustrating about him because you know the talent is there, he just doesn't make use of it.

 

Pretty lousy end to what was otherwise a fantastic quarter for the Raptors. What should've been a 4 point game heading into the 4th became a 7 point game after a careless turnover by DeRozan and a lucky bank shot 3 by Miles.

 

Hopefully the Raptors can keep this close for the first bit of the 4th quarter without Bargnani, DeRozan or Jack on the floor. The three of them were the catalysts behind that great 3rd quarter and all three of them are on the bench right now. The bench needs to keep this game within 8 points and not allow it to get back into double digits, which they've already allowed.

[headliner]

Start the 4th with the second unit which resulted in the team being down 13 points. Jack is just not taking care of the ball and the Jazz are back on track shooting 8 of 13 in the 4 quarter

[headliner]

Jack was sloppy in my mind and I’m surprised that he only had 3 turnovers because it seem like it was a lot more to me. He had only 4 assist and scored 14 points. Jack needs to take better care of the ball and look to disturbed the ball more.

 

Sonny Weems was solid on the offensive end scoring 23 point 7 of 13 from the field. As for Andrea scoring 26 points and had 9 rebounds. Its clear Andrea is more than capable of being the leading scorer he just needs to improve defensively and the raptors need a consistent effort on the boards.

 

Demar in my opinion needs more touches. The team invested time into Demar last season and he has clearly put in the work but he needs ball to produce. In the third quarter he put up 8 points. Demar and Andrea was the reason why the managed to cut the lead down to 1. Like I said before I think Jay is doing a poor job of handling Demar thus far this early season.

 

Calderon is just inconsistent and has been for the past 2 seasons. Right now the teams point guard situation is very shaky and it needs to be resolved either internally or externally.

[Built Ford Tough]

Game went basically how I expected it.

 

- Deron Williams picked the Raptors apart all night long. He was getting into the paint at will which constantly put the Raptors defense on their heels. He is just too good of a player to continue struggling like he was, and those struggles definitely wouldn't continue against a defense like Toronto's.

 

- Al Jefferson made the Raptors bigs look foolish in the post. I think he used the same move (a pump fake followed by an up and under) about three times and every time the Raptor defender (Bargnani twice and I think Andersen once) bit on the fake which allowed an open layup for him. I knew that he had a nice post game, but I didn't expect some of the passes that he made out there. He was throwing some really nice passes out of the post. Last time I watched him for any extended amount of time he was basically a black hole down there, so it is nice to see the improvement.

 

- Millsap was fantastic as well. Not sure what kind of numbers he had, but he had a noticable impact on the game and the Jazz just looked like a much better team with him on the floor. He has been very strong to start the season and I think that he is going to have a very good season with Boozer no longer in the picture.

 

- DeRozan was once again very effective for Toronto. He played really well despite getting limited minutes and opportunities, which is a shame considering how well he played the previous game against Sacramento. Last game he showed his ability to create contact and get to the line while tonight he showed his mid range game as he was making some nice moves to create seperation for himself to get a shot off, which he usually burried. His 3 point shot looked a lot better than last season as well as he made one and was close to knocking down two others, although I'd rather see him continue to look to get into the paint and not settle.

 

- Bargnani had a good game offensively, an ok game on the glass and was brutal defensively. He has shown so far this season that he has no problems puttting up points, but his defense was especially awful tonight. I lost count of how many times the Jazz got a layup while Bargnani had his back to the play and provided absolutely no help defense at all. On the glass he did have 9 rebounds, but a lot of those sort of fell into his lap because the Jazz were sending two, sometimes even three players to Evans to ensure that he wouldn't come down with any boards. They were all over him the minute a shot went up so Bargs got a lot be default. Still, 9 rebounds by default is better than the 3 per game he was averaging prior to this.

 

- Jack was good in the 3rd quarter, awful during the rest of the game. He was making terrible decisions with the ball and really forcing the issue. In the 3rd quarter he let the game come to him and it resulted in a strong quarter for not only him, but Toronto as a whole. After that he started pressing again and just looked bad out there.

 

- Weems had his best game of the year by far. He took a couple of dumb shots early on, but he really settled down as the game went on. I loved the 10 free throw attempts from him and I think he really needs to make it a focal point to get to the line more. He was posting up more, attacking off of the bounce and just played a much smarter game. Like I said before, he can be a very effective bench scorer if he plays aggressively and doesn't just settle for jumpers all of the time and tonight showed that. He needs to continue the aggressive play.

 

I still think it is a joke that DeRozan was under 30 minutes yet again. He should be above 30 minutes basically every night and so far he has only been above 30 once in 4 games, and even that game was something like 31 minutes. Even if you aren't going to give him 30 minutes, at least make him a focal point in the offense while he is out there. They are doing a very poor job with him so far this season if you ask me.

 

All in all, the Raptors showed some promising things tonight, mainly in the 3rd quarter, but also showed the fatal flaws that will plauge them all season long and why they will be finishing near the bottom of the league.

Edited November 4, 2010 by Built Ford Tough

[Built Ford Tough]

Best part of this game? Jay Triano's post game interview. Went something like this:

 

"He's playing one of the best point guards in the NBA. He's trying to be as assertive as a baseball hitter when you're pitching against Lincecum. What the [expletive] are you gonna do, alright?"

 

 

EDIT: Here is the link:

 

http://www.twitvid.com/V7TMD

Edited November 4, 2010 by Built Ford Tough

[Check my Stats]

So when are we going to stop kidding ourselves (or the Raptors at least) and stop playing the vets like Barbosa more than [expletive]ing Derozan? Give Demar 30-35 minutes a night, I don't care if he is struggling, let him play through it.

[headliner]

Both Bryan and Jay are proud men and they believe this team is going to surprise the league but thus far they're proving everyone right and Demar isn't getting enough playing time but at some point Bryan and Jay need to realize they're in rebuilding mode.