After 10 games

[headliner]

Were 10 games into the season and I just wanted to get a feel from everyone how they felt about the season thus far. Please discuss anything that has stood out to you thus far.

Edited November 17, 2009 by headliner1

[Real Deal]

Lack of defensive intensity, no consistency on offense after taking double-digit leads, Hedo isn't involved in the offense as much as he probably should be (in regards to facilitating), Wright is playing too much and taking too many contested jumpers, and the team needs to go to Bargnani more down the stretch.

[Check my Stats]

We don't 'go' to Bargnani he just hits spot up threes most of the time lol. Bargnani is just a mismatch monster that is pretty much it, he doesn't do much out of his comfort zone which is shooting jumpers. He shows glimpses but you can see he is still most comfortable taking jumpers. His rebounding is terrible, there was a point last night it was a rebound on our glass and he didn't even go up, luckily it bounced out of Amare's hands out of bounds, I was yelling at my TV, that doesn't usually happen, his lack of rebounding effort drives me insane.

 

I agree on the Hedo comment, with him and Jose out there together it almost seems awkward, neither does anything but stand at the 3 point line when they don't have the ball.

 

Our defense is definitely a work in progress but is getting better game after game. While we surely will never be a great defensive team, hell probably not even good, I think we can be tolerable. We played solid D last night, if you compare last night to the game vs Memphis you can see that we are getting better each game, still terrible off the pick and roll on defense though, our defensive rotations are improving, players just have to take note that they can't help off of 3 point specialists, that burned us last night with Frye.

 

Jack has been horrible, I thought he played well last night at times, I hate how he is being used as a shooter when he isn't. He gets into the lane well and one play I remember he drove and kicked it to Marco wide open in the corner for a 3, would like to see more of that. 10 games in, I am hoping/expecting him to get more comfortable and play his game, but while we say it is 'just' 10 games that won't be an excuse much longer. TAKE NO MORE JUMPERS JARRET.

 

Wright needs to start playing within himself, no other bench player confuses their role more than him, we don't see Amir calling for post ups, we don't see Demar calling for Isos, there is no reason nor excuse for Wright to be trying to create for himself, especially off the dribble, it is cringe worthy when he tries to and often results in a turnover, or disrupts the flow of the offense.

 

Bosh needs to remain aggressive, the refs weren't calling much last night but he needs to continue to try and draw fouls. I felt like we stopped going to him quite a bit in the second half, took a lot of jumpers instead of giving it to the big fella.

 

We finish the month against Denver, Utah, Denver, Miami, Orlando, Indiana, Charlotte, Boston and Phoenix. That is a tough stretch, if we could come out of that 4-5 that would be great, going into December one game below .500 playing lots of good teams to test our new players together. After that December is a really light schedule with only 3 or 4 tough games everything else would pin us as the favourites unless I am missing something. YOu hope by December everything is figured out and our team hits it's stride, December is a crucial month because we will have to finish well above .500.

 

To be honest, at this point I just hope we can escape November still in the playoff picture or at least close to it, I don't want us to be playing too much catch up in December, I would rather see is establishing ourselves in the playoff picture. I am anxious to see what kind of impact Reggie will have, not just rebounding but he will demand the best from our players, especially on the defensive end. He is sitting on the bench and getting in the huddles, talking to the guys, I feel like if someone isn't pulling their weight he won't be afraid to let them know.

 

All in all, I think 5-5 is what we expected and hoped for, if we can come out of November close to or at .500 you have to be happy as a fan. I didn't vote because I didn't 'expect' them to be anywhere, I had hoped for .500 or above, but I would not have been surprised if we'd been worse, still an inexperienced coach, new system, new players. Still working out the kinks, at least I hope so.

 

EDIT- Holy [expletive] this turned into a rant.

Edited November 17, 2009 by travesy3

[headliner]

I can be somewhat of a homer and I got sucked up into all the hype during this past offseason. It’s only been 10 games and I’m left a little disappointed mainly because of their inability to get stops when they really needed it and also not being able to convert at the offensive end in crucial moments.

The defence in my mind is not that bad regardless of what the stats indicate. I see three things to be their main problem which is they allow too much dribble penetration which makes the defence collapse which gives shooter open shots. The second thing is failure to recognize who has the hot hand/3pt shooters and the third thing is not getting the defensive rebound to close out a defensive stand. In the next few weeks the one thing I want to see improve with their defence is their toughness and pride on defence.

 

Demar has done a decent job defending. He had done a good job with the minutes that he got but I feel like he can be more aggressive both on the offensive end and the defensive end. He in my mind is too passive but he is slowly getting better.

 

I think playing Jack at the 2 guard isn’t working out thus far. He just doesn’t look comfortable and I agree he has taken too many jumpers and that’s just not his game.

 

I’ve seen some good things from Wright on the defensive end and on the offensive end I just scratch my head.

Amir has been excellent thus far and he keeps getting better.

Bosh is just killing it.

 

Andrea has done well thus far and shame on his teammates for not recognizing when he has the hot hand. Needs to be more aggressive down low and needs to rebound more. Andrea’s defence for the most part has been pretty good.

I personally think Hedo jacks up too many shots other than that he is just as advertised and I believe we have seen Hedo at his best yet.

 

All in all, I think 5-5 is what we expected and hoped for, if we can come out of November close to or at .500 you have to be happy as a fan. I didn't vote because I didn't 'expect' them to be anywhere, I had hoped for .500 or above, but I would not have been surprised if we'd been worse, still an inexperienced coach, new system, new players. Still working out the kinks, at least I hope so.

 

EDIT- Holy [expletive] this turned into a rant.

I understand that he is an inexperienced NBA head coach but he has got a lot of coaching experience with the national team and 7 seasons with the raptors. The biggest thing is Jay is very smart and everyone will see that when this team’s chemistry improves.

[Real Deal]

Leaving the topic shortly...all of you Raptors fans have been doing a great job posting. I'm really impressed, guys.

[Doc]

I would like to say im Happy but who is happy at .500. We are doing better than our sch lets us. Big wins over Cavs, Detroit. Should of had the ones against the Grizz and the Suns.

 

Its gonna take awhile for the new players to get to know each other and get the chem right. Bosh and Turk missed alot of the preseason and Evans is out for awhile. Some players have to step up still.

 

I feel like we aren't using Bargs enough in the system. It seems like we tend to stay away from time to time. We need to keep him going.