A solid effort by the Raptors last night, over-coming the hometown 76ers in the first game of the regular season for both teams.
Highlights for Toronto included solid work by key players Chris Bosh [4/5] & Jose Calderon [1], and back-ups Jason Kapono [2] & Roko Ukic [1].
Philadelphia, on the other hand, looked disjointed and was never able to find a rhythm suited to their new personnel.
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FINAL SCORE: Raptors 95 Sixers 84
Game Info
POSITIVE SIGNS
* 9-man rotation: 1st Unit – 1/Calderon, 2/Parker [3], 3/Moon, 4/Bosh, 5/O’Neal; 2nd Unit – 1/Ukic, 2/Kapono, 3/Graham, 4-5/Bargnani
* Assist:Turnover vs Opp: 24-9 [+15] vs 15-17 [-2] … +17
* 3PTM-A [%] vs Opp: 10-16 [.625] vs 5-19 [.263] … +15 Pts
* FGM-A [%] vs Opp: 36-81 [44.4] vs 29-84 [34.5] … +9.9%
* PTS Against: Under 90
IMPROVEMENT NEEDED
* Rebounds vs Opp: 10-23-33-11-44 vs 23-33-56-11-67 … -23
[Off-Def-Tot-Team-Combined]
* FTM-A [%] vs Opp: 13-17 [76.5] vs 21-28 [75.0] … -8/-9
KEY POSSESSION OUTCOMES
* 3rd Q, 06:08 … Tor 57, Phi 56: Tor/Bosh, O-Reb & Fouled; Made 2 FT’s
* 4th Q, 09:56 … Tor 76, Phi 70: Phi/Young, Made Layup Disallowed; Basket Interference
* 4th Q, 02:19 … Tor 88, Phi 82: Tor/Bosh, Made Elbow Jumpshot [High Rub]
* 4th Q, 01:41 … Tor 90, Phi 82: Tor/Kapono, Made Corner 3 [High Rub]
Tags: Chris Bosh, Jason Kapono, Jose Calderon, Roko Ukic
Khandor's Sports Blog 
October 30, 2008 at 3:09 pm |
Khandor, what did you think of the “play” the Raptors ran for
* 4th Q, 02:19 … Tor 88, Phi 82: Tor/Bosh, Made Elbow Jumpshot [High Rub]
October 30, 2008 at 3:30 pm |
Nice! Love the “play” jpeg!
October 30, 2008 at 4:00 pm |
That “graphic” is sick!! Very nice.
October 30, 2008 at 7:09 pm |
Arsenalist,
It was the same play they ran and scored with at the 01:41 mark of the 4th Q.
As I said in the diagram, it’s a simple but effective set play.
The specific angle on the Pick is something which the Spurs have utilized for several years, usually with Duncan & Parker, in the key ball-handling spots, and either Ginobili or Finley in the Corner, as the principle shooter.
In contrast to a more intricate play, with various cuts and screens, this one is based on spacing and an individual player’s unique skill set, i.e. it’s important to have Bosh set the Pick on the right side of the ball defender [from the PG’s perspective] so that he can Pop Out to the Left Top [area of the court], as a Left-handed player, with JK … the ‘world’s best shooter’ … in the Left Corner.
When Chris hit the 1st jumper [at the 02:41], above the Left Elbow, it forced X2 to rotate out to check him more quickly the next time [at the 01:41 mark], rather than just waiting for Dalembert to recover back from his responsibility to stop Jose’s initial dribble penetration.
If the Raptors run this same play later this season and/or against a better defensive team they will not end up with this specific shot from this specific sequence of actions,
e.g. a better defensive team [i.e. Boston or San Antonio, etc.] would have sent X2 much earlier to defend Bosh ‘on the catch’ and rotated Brand to ‘run Kapono off that sitting duck Corner spot-up shot’, forcing JK to put it on the floor, penetrate the lane, and find a kick-out shot for either Parker [3] or Jose [1].
Although there were several key possessions in the game, the single most important one might have been the disallowed basket at the 09:56 mark of the 4th Q.
If the 76ers had been permitted to keep those 2 pts it would have cut the Raptors’ lead to only 4, 76-72, and dramatically changed the momentum of the game. Instead, the next points scored by either team were 2 Made FT’s by Bosh which increased the lead to 8 pts, 78-70.
From that point on, the Raptors were never really threatened by the 76ers.
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Having Jose Calderon play the important minutes of each and every game this team plays this season, with a capable PG like Ukic as his back-up, will be the major benefit of the TJ Ford trade, not Jermaine O’Neal.
IMO, if the Raptors had played last night’s game with Nesterovic [in place of JO] & Delfino [in place of Adams, i.e. meaning that he didn’t get in the game at all] on the roster … they still would have won … and, probably even easier … as long as they used Calderon, Ukic, Parker, Kapono, Moon, Graham, Bargnani and Bosh in a similar 9-man rotation.
That’s HOW important it was for this team to get rid of TJ Ford … his obvious NBA talent level notwithstanding … in consideration of how he viewed himself exclusively as ‘a starter’, and his generally erratic decision-making skills as the team’s primary ball-handler.
October 30, 2008 at 7:11 pm |
Sorrow & Flux,
Glad you liked it! 🙂
October 31, 2008 at 10:18 am |
“e.g. a better defensive team [i.e. Boston or San Antonio, etc.] would have sent X2 much earlier to defend Bosh ‘on the catch’ and rotated Brand to ‘run Kapono off that sitting duck Corner spot-up shot’, forcing JK to put it on the floor, penetrate the lane, and find a kick-out shot for either Parker [3] or Jose [1].”
In this case would it be a good idea for the Raps to set up Parker as the primary shooter instead of Kaps, since he is much more adept at driving (not great, but better than JK) and passing – with Calderon and Kapono as the [3] and [1] options?
October 31, 2008 at 10:19 am |
PS – the diagram was a GREAT touch – awesome way to communicate your ideas/views.
October 31, 2008 at 11:08 am |
Dan H,
Thanks, glad you liked the diagram. 🙂
It really depends on what your preference happens to be as a coach, in the NBA, and what your personnel is.
i.e. If you flip-flop Parker & Kapono … then the best defenses will have less of a need to run AP off the 3PT Line and might choose to let him fire away from that spot – because he is not as deadly as JK – rather than let Bosh beat them to the rack, at the FTL, or on that Elbow jumpshot of his; versus, what you’re going to get from doing it this way, when Kapono is influenced by the best defenses to penetrate and find an open shot for someone else after making at least one more pass.
Time & score also enter into the equation, as do all kinds of other things, e.g. the opponent’s personnel & what their individual strengths and weaknesses might happen to be … i.e. Because the specific match-up vs Philly was Brand on O’Neal, the Raptors probably felt very comfortable that Elton was not going to be able to get to JK quickly enough to deter his 3-ball no matter what, or, at least, that if JK had to dribble-drive past someone to create an open shot for a teammate, he could do this with some aplomb vs a close-out by Brand [on the heels of his achilles re-hab … pun intended 🙂 ].
One of the great things about the NBA game are the thousands of ‘games-within-a-game’ that occur on a nightly basis, in terms of individual match-ups, and which determine their eventual outcomes when added up all together. 😉
November 5, 2008 at 12:33 pm |
The Sixers are playing well, but the Allen Iverson trade worries me for the playoffs, we’ll see how it plays out. Go Philadelphia!
January 15, 2009 at 4:10 pm |
Sixers are finally get hot. Maybe they are starting to turn this season around.
http://www.philly.eshopsports.com/
January 15, 2009 at 11:27 pm |
Frank,
5 wins in a row is a solid achievement for the 76ers. Their challenge will be how they re-incorporate Elton Brand. Their team is at its best when their players are out and running … which is not something that the injured one is very good at doing.
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