alcstarheel Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 Detroit @ Toronto Time: 7:00 PM ETTV: -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headliner Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 I just got back from my vacation yesterday and I haven’t seen a single raptor game yet so I’m eager to see this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owner Real Deal Posted November 4, 2009 Owner Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 The Pistons are coming off of that big, big win against the Magic last night. It makes me wonder how well they will do against an improved Raptors team. Toronto should win, but as Toronto fans have stated constantly now, the Raptors are pretty good at blowing leads. Bargnani and Bosh need to come out attacking the Pistons' bigs, and getting shooters involved late in the game to counter all of Detroit's twos with three pointers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 Toronto should be able to come away with the victory tonight. The Pistons are missing two of their best players in Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton. Some would even consider them to be the best players on the Pistons. Add to that the fact that they are on the 2nd half of a back-to-back makes this a must win for the Raptors. The Raptors are going to need Jose Calderon or Andrea Bargnani to have a consistent effort from start to finish for the Raptors to pull out the victory though. They need one of these two players to come out and play like they are capable of for a full 48 minutes and not go through extended periods of time being non-existent. Should be a fun game to watch. The Raptors need this W though because heading out West with a record of 2-2 is much better than 1-3, if you ask me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 Raptors got off to a very poor start defensively (again...) but they have picked it up here. Their second unit in particular have been great. The lineup Jack/Belinelli/Wright/Johnson/Bargnani have played with great hustle and energy on defense and built the lead up to 10 (its at 7 now). The Raptors need to play with this kind of energy defensively all of the time. Their effort defensively has led to easy buckets in trasition. The Raps bench have scored 24 of the Raptors 45 points. Ben Gordon has been playing great tonight though. Scoring the ball very efficitently and is tearing the Raps apart off of the bounce. He is the reason for the Pistons getting off to a great start and since he has come back they have played much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 - Hedo Turkoglu has had a very good half. He may not be scoring a lot but he is having a huge impact on the game with his playmaking and exploiting of mismatches. He has knocked down some jumpers as well and is keeping the defense on their toes because of it. He had had some very nice drives and when the defense collapsed down he has made some very nice passes to teammates, particularly Chris Bosh. He has been making awesome decisions in the first half. I really like the chemistry that Bosh and Turkoglu seem to have been developing on offense over the last couple of games. Turkoglu can definitely get Bosh some very easy looks as the season goes along. - Jarrett Jack and Antoine Wright completely changed the course of the game when they came in off of the bench. They both have been very good offensively and defensively. Jack is playing in control and not forcing things like he has in the first 3 games of the season. He is just letting the game come to him and picking his spots very nicely. Wright has done a very good job on Ben Gordon and did a pretty good job of keeping him in check after his hot start. Offensively he has been chipping in as well with 8 points. When these two came into the game they brought life back into the Raptors and the crowd as well. Great job from both of these reserves. - Jose Calderon has been god awful yet again. He is contributing nothing on offense, in fact, I would even go as far as saying that he is holding the offense back because he is taking the ball out of Turkoglu's hands. On defense it is just embarassing seeing him trying to guard players like Rodney Stuckey, Ben Gordon and even Will Bynum. They are going around him like he isn't even there. He is literally causing more harm then good right now by being on the floor. I'm almost at the point where I would rather see Marcus Banks on the floor over him. The only good Calderon has done so far is hadning out Gatorade at the half. - Bosh and Bargnani have both done a good job offensively. Bosh has been aggressive and getting to the free throw line. He just needs to start knocking them down more. 7/10 isn't terrible by any means but Bosh is a better free throw shooter then he has shown thus far. Bargnani has done a good job mixing it up and not just standing outside jacking up shots. In regards to Bargnani I am most impressed with his 6 boards though. - Marco Belinelli was very good as well. I hated that he only played 4 minutes Sunday against Orlando and he showed why he deserves more minutes tonight. He is quickly becoming one of my favourite players on this team with his play. He is good offensively but what I like the most about him is his defense. It isn't great by any means but he is not nearly as bad defensively as some people make him out to be. - The Raptors second unit completely turned the tide of this game though. That strong second quarter play was sparked by the energy that the second unit, plus Bargnani, played with to start the quarter. The bench has been the difference so far today and is the reason why the Raptors have the lead heading into the 2nd half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 key stat for Andrea: only 3 fouls and 2 turnovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliCurbStomppa Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 key stat for Andrea: only 3 fouls and 2 turnovers. Hes been playing very well this year. I remember people talking how he was a bust and he really changed his game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owner Real Deal Posted November 5, 2009 Owner Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 LOL Sean, you aren't very fond of Calderon, are you? Detroit lost the game because they just couldn't handle the Toronto frontcourt, didn't matter if they played like true bigs or hybrid power forwards. And from the parts I saw of the game, Calderon was a problem. I'm not sure if I want Jose shooting eight or more times a game, let alone the 11-12 shots he took. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 They actually want him to take the shots. The reason they play him with Jack and Hedo is for the ball to be handle by different play makers, not just him. Calderon still needs to adjust, this is the first summer where he hasn't worked with the Spain team and actually took the summer off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 LOL Sean, you aren't very fond of Calderon, are you? Detroit lost the game because they just couldn't handle the Toronto frontcourt, didn't matter if they played like true bigs or hybrid power forwards. And from the parts I saw of the game, Calderon was a problem. I'm not sure if I want Jose shooting eight or more times a game, let alone the 11-12 shots he took. I've never been a fan of Calderon's. I felt that Raptor fans (some, not all) built him up to be better than he actually is. I also don't really like his game too much either. I could live with his horrendous defense last season because he contributed offensively whether it was with his efficient play. This season though, he is arguably even worse defensively than he was last season but he isn't negated his pylon defense with his offense because he is not doing anything at that end of the floor either. He is good on the offensive end (not great like some people try to make him out to be) and a liability on the defensive end. It just annoyed me when people were talking about him like a upper echelon point guard and that one year when people were saying that he should've been an All-Star (the year that Ford missed an extended part of the season, can't remember off of the top of my head but I think it was 2 years ago) just completely turned me off of him. I do my best to tell it like it is and not let homerism cloud my judgement and I honestly don't think that Calderon is anything special as a point guard. I may be too hard on him right now, but I honestly don't see what exactly it is that he contributes to the team right now. He is hurting more than helping them imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headliner Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 (edited) I've never been a fan of Calderon's. I felt that Raptor fans (some, not all) built him up to be better than he actually is. I also don't really like his game too much either. I could live with his horrendous defense last season because he contributed offensively whether it was with his efficient play. This season though, he is arguably even worse defensively than he was last season but he isn't negated his pylon defense with his offense because he is not doing anything at that end of the floor either. Calderon is not the greatest defender but to say his defence is even worst I believe you are overreacting because he has always been bad. He does a bad job of fighting over screens which allows the quicker players to split down the middle. He just doesn’t have the lateral quickness to keep most point guards in front of him. In this league the most point guards are arguably very quick. Not to say Calderon isn’t fast he just not as quick as other point guards. In my mind Calderon is a solid point guard in terms of running a team on the offensive end I honestly believe he will bounce back as he gets into better game shape then he is right now. The biggest thing with Calderon is that he has gotten away from what made him successful 2 seasons ago and his hamstring really held him. Fans have to understand that when a player comes off an injury it may take them a few games to get comfortable and not to second guess his game. Edited November 5, 2009 by headliner1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 Calderon is not the greatest defender but to say his defence is even worst I believe you are overreacting because he has always been bad. He does a bad job of fighting over screens which allows the quicker players to split down the middle. He just doesn’t have the lateral quickness to keep most point guards in front of him. In this league the most point guards are arguably very quick. Not to say Calderon isn’t fast he just not as quick as other point guards. In my mind Calderon is a solid point guard in terms of running a team on the offensive end I honestly believe he will bounce back as he gets into better game shape then he is right now. The biggest thing with Calderon is that he has gotten away from what made him successful 2 seasons ago and his hamstring really held him. Fans have to understand that when a player comes off an injury it may take them a few games to get comfortable and not to second guess his game. I said his defense is arguably as bad as it was last season. I didn't say that it was worse than it was last season, I said that you can argue that it may be. That isn't overreacting, that is the truth. I have no doubts that Calderson will eventually find his shot and get going offensively, but that doesn't change my stance on his horrid defense. I understand the hamstring injury, but I am really getting sick of hearing this excuse for Calderon. For the last year whenever I mention Jose's matador defense somebody will bring up his hamstring almost instantly. It is really getting tiresome hearing about the hamstring injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headliner Posted November 6, 2009 Report Share Posted November 6, 2009 I’m not saying that his hamstring his hampering him now that’s not the reason for his poor play. Calderon hasn’t played basketball for five months which in that time he rested his body which he hasn’t done for the past couple of summers. This slow start should be expected. As for his defence I don’t disagree that it’s horrible he has never been a good defender but I believe he is a better team defender than he is an individual defender. Right now I just feel that he is not in game shape and having Hedo in there which takes the ball away from Calderon’s hands is a huge adjustment that may take quite a few games for him to adapt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.