Built Ford Tough Posted October 7, 2009 Report Share Posted October 7, 2009 Everything preseason can go in this thread. Talk about the games, post observations of the new and old Raptor players or anything else related to the preseason. They are playing Philly right now on Raptors TV for those of you that have the channel and were unaware of this. With all of this talk about Bargnani being better in the post and looking for contact down low, I sure as hell haven't seen it in the first 8 minutes of this game. He has played exactly like he did last season which was 15 feet and out facing the basket. He has gradually drifted further and further away from the basket since I have been watching. He hasn't had a bad game or anything but with all of this talk about him looking for contact down low I would've expected him to actually, you know, go down low. Reggie Evans has looked good though. Loving his hustle already. He is definitely going to be a fan favourite this season if he plays with the same intensity that I have seen from him in the first quarter of this game. Belinelli has looked pretty good from what I have seen as well. His jumper is very smooth and he does not need much space to get it off which is an added benefit. He has put the ball on the floor looking to create a couple of times as well, one of which led to a nice draw and kick for an open Jack jumper. I do keep on confusing him and Calderon though since Belinelli decided to wear #0 and he and Calderon look sort of similar from a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 7, 2009 Report Share Posted October 7, 2009 I feellike Weems will be a fan fav. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted October 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2009 Very nice behind the back pass from DeRozan to Weems for a transition layup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headliner Posted October 7, 2009 Report Share Posted October 7, 2009 Andrea is looking very good to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 7, 2009 Report Share Posted October 7, 2009 (edited) 2nd game vs the Sixers tn. We need Wright to come back. So Marco can go back to the bench and give some shooting for thr bench. Edited October 7, 2009 by Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted October 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 Douby is terrible. I like him and all but man he is just not a good basketball player and sure as hell can't play the point. The only thing that he can do is shoot, but he really isn't that good of a shooter. No biggie though, you can't expect much from a 13th player on the team anyways. I've been watching on and off so I don't really have much to say. Weems had a nice post up but it was on Kapono so it really doesn't mean much. I could probably go in there and score on Kapono in the post. He does look like an interesting prospect though. He is a great athlete and is very long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted October 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 (edited) Great team defense right there. Johnson and O'Bryant made great use of their length and athleticism there to alter and block shots down low. That great defensive stand also led to a 3-0 fast break for the Raptors and an alley-oop from Weems. I knew that the Raptors were a more athletic bunch this season, but I didn't realize that they were this athletic. They have a very athletic group with guys like DeRozan, Weems, Johnson, O'Bryant and even people like Bosh, Belinelli and Jack have some nice athleticism. Nice move from Douby there. Looked like he got hit on the arm but no call there. Raps down 2 here with around 20 seconds left. EDIT: Speights just went 2/2 from the line to extend it to a 4 point lead with 19 seconds left. He also gave a pretty hard foul to Banks considering it is a preseason game lol. Edited October 8, 2009 by Built Ford Tough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted October 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 (edited) Raptors on an 8-0 run right now and have been getting after it on the offensive glass with their athletic lineup. DeRozan had a very nice put back jam right there and guys like O'Bryant and Amir Johnson have both been playing very hard and battling for boards as well. I know that it is preseason and all but I am really impressed with the effort given by the Raptors down low both offensively and defensively. DeRozan has also had a very strong game thus far. He has 19 points. Johnson has also been impressive as well with 12 boards tonight. Paul Davis just scored and is at the line for an And 1. Raps up 96-91 as Davis just completed the And 1 with 1 minute to go. Jack and Davis just traded buckets to make it a 98-93 game with about 40 seconds left. Jack also just got fouled and is going to the line for two free throws. He converted both to push it to a 100-93 game with 35 seconds left. Raptors win the game by a score of 100-93 to even up their preseason record at 2-2. I was very impressed with how the Raptors were able to consistently get to the line as well and not just settling for jumpers like they would in years past. They converted 36-40 from the line to make it 74 free throw attempts over their past two games. Hopefully they can continue this aggressive play during the season. Last season there is absolutely no way that the Raptors could shoot under 40% from the field and still manage to pull out a victory. If they really want to be a viable threat in the Eastern Conference they are going to have to win games like these when their shots aren't falling. I know that it is preseason and all and most people are still getting their legs under them, but I have really loved the effort that the Raptors have given so far in the preseason and the intensity that they have played with. Edited October 11, 2009 by Built Ford Tough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headliner Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Looks like Reggie is injured Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owner Real Deal Posted October 15, 2009 Owner Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 DeRozan isn't doing bad at all, but sometimes, he looks a little lost on offense, and maybe intimidated back on defense. Could be the rookie in him, though, but from what I've seen, he can be a pretty good player in the league someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted October 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 DeRozan isn't doing bad at all, but sometimes, he looks a little lost on offense, and maybe intimidated back on defense. Could be the rookie in him, though, but from what I've seen, he can be a pretty good player in the league someday. What I've been most impressed with him is his ability to get to the free throw line. He has done a really good job of getting to the line, and most importantly, converting his free throws into points. At USC he got to the line 4 times a game but he only shot 64% from the stripe. So far in the preseason he has gotten to the line 28 times and made 24 of them including a 10-10 game against Washington. His jumper still needs work and the same can be said for his handles, but I am impressed with the improvements from him at getting to the line and making them as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted October 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 Looks like Reggie is injured He is out for the rest of the preseason. The Raptors are going to have to do with one fewer big man for the rest of the pre-season. Reggie Evans, who suffered a “left mid-foot sprain” in Wednesday’s loss to Boston, has no return date specified, although all the team’s release says it is “likely that he misses the remainder of the pre-season.” That would be Thursday night against Houston, a Sunday afternoon rematch with Boston and the pre-season finale a week from Friday in Sioux Falls, S.D., against Minnesota. It’s just another in a rash of injuries that have hit the team since before camp and if the goal of any NBA franchise is to escape the pre-season healthy, the Raptors have failed miserably. Antoine Wright hasn’t played yet with a sore knee, Sonny Weems missed a game with a sore knee, Chris Bosh sat out a couple with a hamstring and now Evans is on the shelf. Evans’s injury opens up more time for Amir Johnson and Rasho Nesterovic in a backup big man role. http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/2009/10/tough-break-for-the-tough-guy-2.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 Sucks for Evans cause they aren't sure when he will be back. We will really need him against the CAvs cause we will need all the help we can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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