End this season already
Posted by Arsenalist on April 6th, 2008
I miss The Oak.Big it up for eastcoastrapsfan for stepping up and doing a great job covering what appeared to be two unwatchable games that were the lowest points of the season. I’d like to think it can’t get any worse but Charlie Villanueva has yet to explode against his old team and there couldn’t be a sweeter time to do it than Wednesday. There are two things that make this stretch the Raptors are in even more unbearable 1) These are very important games that shouldn’t be hard to get motivated for and instead of stepping up and playing at a higher level, the team has malfunctioned and has once again shown how flawed it is at its core and 2) The opposition isn’t exactly great.
Barring something unforeseen and entirely out-of-the-blue, this Raptors team is headed for a one and done in the post-season. If that is to be the case, I’m hoping it’s a very humiliating series where this team is ripped apart in every game starting from tipoff to final buzzer. There shouldn’t be any doubts or questions about what the flaws of this team are, what the talent level on it is, how hard working the players are, how bad the coaching is, how suspect the preparation is and how watered down the on-court product is. The last thing I want is a first-round exit where we win two or three games and give false hope to the fans and management that this group might be more than a .500 team in a weak East. That’s one school of thought. The other is that we somehow win a playoff round (facing Orlando or whoever) and build on it in the off-season replacing key components instead of blowing the whole thing up. Fine, this might be a legitimate roadmap and something that I still subscribe to but what the previous fortnight has shown me is that instead of requiring maybe a legit 3 and a rebounder, we need a legit 3, a real rebounder, a better shooting guard, a better coach, another decent 3 and maybe something else.
We’re a jump shooting team and Dave Feschuk correctly summarized the reason for the NJ loss in a single sentence:
“..their jump-shot-heavy offense couldn’t produce the preferable haul of long-range swishes”
We can talk about our defense for eons at a time but the heavy reliance of our offense on outside jumpers is too much. The always crucial Points in the Paint stat has always been against us and over the last three years there’s been nothing done to remedy that. Yeah we average 100.24 which is good for 13th in the league but what gets masqueraded is that we get into long stretches where we’re comfortable trading baskets with teams that know very well that when it comes down to it in the fourth quarter, they’ll be able to get a stop and we won’t. We lack a clutch performer, Chris Bosh is a power forward and that’s probably the last position player you want originating your offense in the clutch, it’s not a shock that the fourth quarter is usually his worst. I respect Chris Bosh for playing hard on both ends but his clutch game focuses on trying to get fouled rather than trying to score – not a good #1 strategy. In another Feschuk article, he’s absolving Sam Mitchell and blaming the fourth quarter blues on Bosh:
…if your $13 million all-star can’t stick an elbow in a smaller man’s eye and score at a game’s biggest moments, in a league in which the best player on the floor so often prevails, you’ve got bigger problems than the contents of the clipboard.
Harsh but warranted criticism. However, Sam Mitchell gets a big fat F on his coaching this season regardless of how well Bosh has done in the clutch. His failure to establish a consistent rotation, develop Bargnani (yes, he takes some blame for that), handle the TJ Ford situation and tighten up his X’s and O’s have no doubt proven that the Coach of the Year awards don’t mean shit. His post-game analysis of things has become mundane and it always boils down to making shots and just playing “better”. Sure, he doesn’t have much to work with but its not like he’s helped improve one area of this team from opening day. Even Sam Vincent’s ahead of Mitchell at this point.
As I’m typing this Kevin Durant just hit a deeeep bomb to tie the game in overtime at 135.
The question is how do the Raptors salvage the rest of the season and the playoffs. What can they do that might make this campaign a relative success and not a drastic reverse from last season? Winning a playoff round is looking more and more unlikely, the development of Andrea Bargnani (arguably our core piece) has been a huge disappointment, our successful PG combo from last year has been a source of more disruption than production, our bench has declined (especially defensively) and generally speaking there hasn’t been a single area where we’ve improved from last year. The answer of course I don’t have (maybe we need a hero?) But I know that even if we do somehow manage to fluke some playoff success by some sheer stroke of luck, it’s going to be a hollow victory because the knowing supporter is well aware of the problems that this team has.
We have five games left and even if we win all five, it won’t mean a damn thing aside from getting some soon to be squashed momentum on our side. I want Atlanta to catch us so we can drop to 8th and face Boston, at least Bosh will get an up-close look at greatness when he faces Kevin Garnett and take something away from the experience. If we face Detroit they’ll just put on a technical marvel of how to dismantle a team broken at the nucleus – if you think the Raptors have issues shooting the ball right now, wait till Billups, Wallace and Co. get done clamping down on Parker, Bosh and Forderon.
Let’s look past the technical issues, the thing to be most questioned about this team is its mental toughness and willingness to fight. There have been very few occasions where this team has played playoff intensity basketball or shown a determined grit and desire to make a consistent defensive stand. Never have we stood up for a teammate after a hard foul, rarely have we shown a willingness to win a game in the paint and play tenacious physical basketball in the trenches, almost never to be found is that deep confidence that even the hated Vince Carter displayed late in the fourth quarter. The swagger and killer instinct hasn’t been there all year and it’s left up to the smallest guys on the court to rev up a team whose heart seems to be missing.
There are times when one thinks back to Charles Oakley and even Antonio Davis (like him or hate him) and realizes that those types of players bought intangibles to a team that are almost a necessity to any rebuilding project. It’s that touch that we miss right now. Say what you will about Glen Grunwald but when he saw a problem, he tried to fix it. It may have gotten him in trouble once in a while but at least he acted and built a pretty damn good team at one point – it was Lenny that couldn’t figure his end out.
This summer is looming large for the Raptors, we need to take a long hard look at Andrea Bargnani and see what we have in him, if it’s just a continuation of status quo, we need to dump him right after bumping up his trade value. The TJ/Jose thing is a mess and someone needs to go (TJ has some great value, I sincerely believe that), summer signings and trades (note the plural) are almost a must if we plan on finishing anything above than 4th in the Atlantic. Our scouts (taking Final Four off) need to look at the draft and see if there are any sleepers that can help this team right now, we don’t need any more Joey Grahams or Jamario Moons, we need some players that can take the pressure off of Bosh. In other words, we have a lot of work to do and Bryan Colangelo and Maurizio Gherardini better not have any vacations planned.
One might even say that the summer has already started.
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April 7th, 2008 at 2:18 am
i used to like reading your blogs.i think your bollocks have disappeared just like the raptors .now its just antiquated watered down hogwash like the rest of the bleeding heart liberal crap out there in the apathetic blogosphere reporting on the raps…..u know whats going on(or maybe you really dont!)….well,2 bad you dont have the spine to blog on it.
April 7th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Unnecessary andiamo. It is very hard to post interesting/original stuff when the same crap is being watched day in and out. Arsenalist is one of few folks who does a good job all the time. Typical that those who criticize a man’s art don’t have any of their own to showcase…
April 7th, 2008 at 6:59 am
not to say your stuff isn’t interesting bro…you know what I mean, LOL!
April 7th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Well said, there’s plenty of work to do and our current form just sucks for us to have any chance of having a good playoff run. We just picked the worse time to go in a slump. As soon as the games started meaning something we folded, that’s hard to swallow for me and shows how mentally tough this team is.
You’re right about the SG position, I used to think Parker would fill that role for a couple more years adequately but he’s not cutting it consistently enough. Offseason = changes.
@Andiamo: The only thing you finds interesting is “TJ Ford sucks”, “Sam Mitchell should be fired”, “BC is retarded” and such. Ripping on them gets a little old after a while, you have to evaluate the bigger picture. Arsenalist hates Mitchell and likes Ford better than Calderon and doubts BC’s plan but there’s no point bringing it up every day…kapish?
April 7th, 2008 at 8:55 am
i think parker does a good job overall. he is definitely over-extended, but he doesn’t have a viable backup, which makes his job that much harder. the lack of support around him has pushed him into the 3rd scoring option on the team, and that isn’t his role. i still think he has a solid couple seasons left in him, and is definitely a starter in this league.
April 7th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Hey Arse,
I enjoyed it. It seems like you got me before the word got out though becasue Grange is using my stuff in his blog now. BTW I hope I didn’t cause Andiamo to abandon your blog with my submissions.
peace,
EC
April 7th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Ha, I saw that, good stuff:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080407.WBwbbasketball20080407082241/WBStory/WBwbbasketball/
Congratulations.
This post is depressing, please put a more positive spin next time. I don’t want to hear how our superstar can’t handle Trenton Hassell in the low-block. It was hard to watch stumble around as Hassell was just holding his ground. Also good to see the Raptors ignoring the talent at the Final Four – Who needs NCAA products when you have The Godfather scouting the seven seas for 7-foot 3-pt shooters.
This team is depressing.
April 7th, 2008 at 11:41 am
[...] – Arsenalist [...]
April 7th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Most of you probably know what I think about this team, ie Mitchell and TJ Ford. But kudos to Arsenalist for expressing similar thoughts and view points of mine. To many people always look at the silver lining. We did this during the Babcock era as well. The more you look for a silver lining the more you will realize you are just putting this team in a position to fail and lower your expectations further.
Also… Derrick Rose is a baller. He will go one or two… can only wish we get him.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Did someone mention a ‘silver lining’?
Time for me to enter the fray … (i) speaking of Michael’s Grange’s blog, and (ii) different threads over at RealGM.com, concerning the present plight of the Raptors.
I have a great deal of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. for both Grange & Arsenalist, on account of HOW they choose to operate their blogs … i.e. neither one is a Fascist, in any sense of the word … who serves as a ‘propoganda machine’ for the ‘good folk’ at MLSE, with their toxic Kool-Aid.
Some astute basketball observers (on the local scene) long ago detected accurately where this organization was (in fact?) headed down-the-road, as far back as 18 months ago (Sept/06) … when most other Raptors ‘supporters’ made the mistake of being duped by the ‘Horse Thieves’ who run MLSE.
The business of a ‘Pro Sports’ franchise is a TOP DOWN affair with the CULTURE of an organization determined from the ownership down … through the Board of Directors (if there is one), to the Presidents, VP’s & GM’s, then the Head Coach and his Staff, and then finally the players.
Did the CULTURE of the Raptors fundamentally change with the hiring of Bryan Colangelo, in Feb/06 … due to the type of ‘limited’ success he had in Phoenix?
NOT ACCORDING TO THIS OBSERVER … at least, not if you evaluated carefully what the Suns actually achieved on the court during his reign there, as their GM, and the flurry of personnel moves which have followed in Toronto … only some of which have been sound (i.e. signing Rasho Nesterovic).
What’s wrong with the Raptors?
http://khandorssportsblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/the-problem-at-bay-street-lakeshore-blvd/
April 7th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Wow harsh words from the cheap seats about this blog.
Arsenalist is one of the good guys. He can do a great post even though I know it kills him to rehash a bad game.
There is always a different angle than the mainstream media and his passion for the team shows.
It is cool to differ in opinion but why be a hater towards a blog??
April 7th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Arsenalist.. i cannot believe you wrote this… what the heck is going on dude?
I know things have gotten out of hand … and fast… but you are jumping off the edge of the cliff here.
Your assessment of Sam and Andrea I couldn’t disagree with any more then I already do.. but you just took it to another level.
Although, I’m glad you finally came around regarding the mental toughness and killer qualities.. something only TJ has. The rest of these clowns crumble like a paper cup in the rain.
Andiamo.. wow your insight is really breathtaking… I stay up at night wondering how you come up with these gems! Your comprehension skills scare me… please don’t breed. Thank you!
April 7th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
————————–
re: something only TJ has
————————–
Dead wrong.
April 7th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Khandor.. I see nothing has changed… pleasure as always..
Oh yeah?… who else has killer instinct on this team…enlighten me please… (to me) TJ appears to be the only one to “ball” in the 4th.. everyone else is running around with their diaper full.
April 7th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
maceo baston has a killer instinct!
April 7th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
FLUX,
Please read this carefully …
IMO, Ford has the kind of ‘instinct’ that gets ‘killed’ … on the big possessions … of important games … against top quality opponents … with a 1st-Class Point Guard.
This is where I think what you said before was/is dead wrong.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:02 am
I hate to tell you this, but the current edition of the Raptors will not get to the second round for the next 3-5 years .. all because of Boston and their ‘bought’ all-stars. The Celtics have it all tied up for at least 3 years, and nobody in the Eastern Conference will get past them, with only the Pistons having an outside chance.
In the next 3-5 years, the Raptors and their fans will have to endure a long rebuilding, and not expecting any US bigs to join this ‘foreign’ team. BC has it right with Gherardidi and Ujiri on his staff. Toronto must be built up as an international team of players and not based on US college draft picks or FAs.
I ask you to fantacize with me, even though it’s somewhat futile, and imagine Barbosa(Brazil) and Diaw(France) playing on the Raptor team together with Jose(Spain) and Bargnani(Italy) or Rasho(Croatia) .. and of course the ‘franchise’ Bosh(USA). That would be an entertaining starting five.
I suggest Raptor fans also stop fantacizing that some great US FA will join the Raptors for a sudden turnaround, because no decent FA will want to play for the current edition of the Raptors for love nor money. Believe it.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:50 am
FAQ,
You are so wrong in that opinion … it’s not even worth responding to … other than to say, quite simply,
“If you build it, they will come.”
Jeez, Louise.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:51 am
THE problem in Toronto, today, is with the BUILDER’s philosophy.
April 8th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Raps Fan… I said the same thing when we signed him… or at least I asked Khandor if he thought he had it in him.
Khandor… lol! I guess I’d rather see him try and fail then give it Jose, who runs around sucking his thumb crying about his diaper being full.
FAQ… Rasho is Slovenian.
April 8th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
FLUX,
No, I don’t think Maceo Baston has a Killa Instict.
April 8th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
oops … instinct
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