Jerryd Bayless left the game for the Raptors @ the 9:08 of the second quarter when the Mavs were leading 31-25 and did not return in the game and the Mavs scored the next 4 points and it was 35-25. The Mavs got it as high as 12 @ 44-32 and that is when the Raptors went on a 12-0 in 3 minutes and tied the game @ 44 but the Mavs went on a 2 minute 6-0 run to make it 50-44 and they lead @ half 50-46.
The Mavs were helped out by their bench play that outscored the Raptors 56-26 with big games from Ian Mahinmi who had 19 points and Jason Terry had 17 points while the Raptors got 20 from Leandro Barbosa off the bench as the Mavs won their first game of the season 99-86 @ home. The point that it was at home was a huge thing because they still shot 44 % from the floor and were shooting just over 41% from the floor and they took advantage a very nice whistle as the Raptors were charged with 23 fouls and a number of them were simply bail out calls and yes I know that it does happen that home teams especially the more popular teams and the Raptors were hurt by a very slow whistle so they got pushed around and lost the ball and it was a turnover instead of a foul.
Andrea Bargnani played a very big game and went to the hoop more often then he usually does and was the reason the Raptors got to the line more than in the first two games this season as he went 6 for 8 from the line while the rest of the team went 8 for 10 from the line while he also lead the team with 7 of the teams 38 boards and finally put up 30 points as he went 11 for 18 but missed the last 5 shots he took. Jose Calderon had 11 points and 7 assists but I really feel that Jamaal Magloire because he was victim of two of the phantom calls as he was given a foul when Lamar Odeom went down on his with no contact and got the foul called because he just laid on the court until it was called and did not even leave the court after the call and then Ian Mahinmi went for a walk with the ball and instead of been called for traveling the play went on and Magloire was called for another phantom call played only 6 minutes and two boards.
For Dallas the team still does not look right but the Big Dirk was the one of two starters in double figures with with 18 points as Shawn Marion also had 12 points but big Dirk was not done as he had 4 assists, 4 blocks, and a steal. While Brendan Haywood had 9 boards in the game and 7 of them in the first half (all 5 of his offensive boards).
Now the Raptors head to Walt Disney World for New Years' Eve as they will be playing New Years' Day in Orlando and lets hope they have the same effort as tonight
Friday, December 30, 2011
Raptors start a long weekend road trip in Dallas to face an angry bear in the mavs
Raptors are in for a hard long night and after the miracle in Dallas when on December 28,2010 the Raptors went into Dallas little to nobody and the Dallas Mavericks were without the Big Dirk. Tonight when the Raptors lace up their shoes and set on the floor with the Maverick they will be facing a very angry Big Dirk especially after Keven Durant with the Mavs winning with 1.4 seconds and took the inbound pass and was open for a three to win the game at the buzzer.
The 0 and 3 Mavs have been given up 108 points a game which means that they are missing their defensive coach Dwayne Casey who is now the head coach of the Toronto Raptors and Mavs will be getting a massive game from Big Dirk who is get with the fad away jumper which is untouchable and Andrea Bargnani could only wish to have a jump like Big Dirk.
If the Raptors have a chance to win the game then Boo Carter will be the one tossing up the rock and because he still has not figured out that he is not the man and that he needs to be a team player as he has shot 8 for 22 in the 58 minutes he has played in the Mavs three losses and he has 3 for 8 from the free throw lines and 5 for 9 from three and has a total of 6 boards in the season. Jason Terry is the second leading scorer for the Mavs with 15 boards and the team has been shooting just over 40% and are averaging 26 boards a game and the Raptors will need a 30 minute performance from DeMar DeRozan who has played well in the fourth quarter of both the Raptors first two games.
The Raptors will need to bring four hard hats each (one for each of the quarters) and will need Ed Davis and Amir Johnson (who is averaging 11.5) just crushing the boards because if the Raptors play tough on the boards then I do not know if the Mavs supporting cast like Shawn Marion and that Kardashian Lamar Odom.
Then they head to Orlando and New York Sunday and Monday which is the first three in four night this season
Tom Mehegan
The 0 and 3 Mavs have been given up 108 points a game which means that they are missing their defensive coach Dwayne Casey who is now the head coach of the Toronto Raptors and Mavs will be getting a massive game from Big Dirk who is get with the fad away jumper which is untouchable and Andrea Bargnani could only wish to have a jump like Big Dirk.
If the Raptors have a chance to win the game then Boo Carter will be the one tossing up the rock and because he still has not figured out that he is not the man and that he needs to be a team player as he has shot 8 for 22 in the 58 minutes he has played in the Mavs three losses and he has 3 for 8 from the free throw lines and 5 for 9 from three and has a total of 6 boards in the season. Jason Terry is the second leading scorer for the Mavs with 15 boards and the team has been shooting just over 40% and are averaging 26 boards a game and the Raptors will need a 30 minute performance from DeMar DeRozan who has played well in the fourth quarter of both the Raptors first two games.
The Raptors will need to bring four hard hats each (one for each of the quarters) and will need Ed Davis and Amir Johnson (who is averaging 11.5) just crushing the boards because if the Raptors play tough on the boards then I do not know if the Mavs supporting cast like Shawn Marion and that Kardashian Lamar Odom.
Then they head to Orlando and New York Sunday and Monday which is the first three in four night this season
Tom Mehegan
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Toronto Raptors Game 2 - 1-1 - Raptors had too many turnovers against the Pacers in sluggish match
The Crowd was loud but the team themselves struggled throughout the first half of the game with the Pacers leading 38-34 at half with the Pacers shooting under 40% in the first half while the Raptors shoot 40% from the floor and the Pacers' Paul George had 13 points in the first half with 8 points in the second quarter and the Raptors' Andrea Bargnani had 13 points with 9 of them in the second quarter.
In the second half of the game the Pacers and the Raptors both scored over 50 points in the half with the Pacers outscored Raptors 52-51 and won the game 90-85 which came down to the Raptors being down by 11 points with 6 minutes to go in the game and then the Raptors started to chip away at the lead with them getting it down to 5 points with 3 minutes left and the Raptors got it down to two points with a three point play. Then the Pacers got lucky with their offense as George lost the ball and it went right to Danny Granger who hit a three pointer to give the Pacers a 86-81 lead and with the Pacers up 3 points with 30.9 seconds the Raptors decided to play straight up defense and David West made a tough shot to finish the Raptors who are now 1 and 1.
The Raptors were lead by DeMar DeRozan who had 22 points with 16 of the Raptors 30 fourth quarter points and Andrea Bargnani had 21 points with 13 in the first half and Amir Johnson had 10 boards. The Pacers were lead by Danny Granger had 21 points and Paul George had 18 points and both Roy Hibbert (12 points and 10 boards) and Darren Collison (10 points and 12 boards) both had double-double.
The Pacers made 19 (of 22) free throws which was almost three time more than the Raptors 7 (of 13) free throws while the Raptors had three more turnovers (19-16) with 7 turnovers in the first quarter and 6 in the third quarter which is why the Raptors lost the game because the Raptors shot 45.6% and held the Pacers to 39.5% while the had 21 assists on the 36 made shoots from the floor.
Raps are 1 and 1
Tom Mehegan
In the second half of the game the Pacers and the Raptors both scored over 50 points in the half with the Pacers outscored Raptors 52-51 and won the game 90-85 which came down to the Raptors being down by 11 points with 6 minutes to go in the game and then the Raptors started to chip away at the lead with them getting it down to 5 points with 3 minutes left and the Raptors got it down to two points with a three point play. Then the Pacers got lucky with their offense as George lost the ball and it went right to Danny Granger who hit a three pointer to give the Pacers a 86-81 lead and with the Pacers up 3 points with 30.9 seconds the Raptors decided to play straight up defense and David West made a tough shot to finish the Raptors who are now 1 and 1.
The Raptors were lead by DeMar DeRozan who had 22 points with 16 of the Raptors 30 fourth quarter points and Andrea Bargnani had 21 points with 13 in the first half and Amir Johnson had 10 boards. The Pacers were lead by Danny Granger had 21 points and Paul George had 18 points and both Roy Hibbert (12 points and 10 boards) and Darren Collison (10 points and 12 boards) both had double-double.
The Pacers made 19 (of 22) free throws which was almost three time more than the Raptors 7 (of 13) free throws while the Raptors had three more turnovers (19-16) with 7 turnovers in the first quarter and 6 in the third quarter which is why the Raptors lost the game because the Raptors shot 45.6% and held the Pacers to 39.5% while the had 21 assists on the 36 made shoots from the floor.
Raps are 1 and 1
Tom Mehegan
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Pacers and Raptors preview for tomorrow home opener
Raptors will have a chance to win two wins in a row as the Indiana Pacers come to town for the Raptors home opener and they are coming into town off a victory against the Detroit Pistons 91-79 in their home opener. So tomorrow night @ the ACC @ 6:00 the Raptors who won only 16 games @ the ACC last season and the Pacers who made the playoffs last season and only won 12 road games last season and the Raptors need to dominate opponents at home and should win 25 games @ home with opposite leaving the ACC without being battered and bruised.
The Pacers are much better at home than on the road and they have two board crashers of the board in both Roy Hibbert who had 14 and David West who had 12 in the game against the Pistons and it will be a challenge for Ed Davis to use his mass away from the basket and be tougher going up for boards and Amir Johnson will have to play as hard as he did against the Cavs on Monday when he took down 13 rebounds and 13 points in the game.
Also Danny Granger is the guy who puts put the most shots up with 18 shots and if a guy like Bagnani or Johnson can keep Granger away from the hoop because the further away from the hoop as Granger his shooting% goes way down and the Raptors need to not give up easy points and continue the strong defense that they played against the Cavs as they played tough defense for two thirds of the game.
The Raptors played well with the ball because they shared the ball as 83.3% of the shoots that were made had an assist which is a great formula for easy baskets and the better defense will give Amir and DeMar easy baskets which could build to stronger season than expected.
See U later
Tom Mehegan
The Pacers are much better at home than on the road and they have two board crashers of the board in both Roy Hibbert who had 14 and David West who had 12 in the game against the Pistons and it will be a challenge for Ed Davis to use his mass away from the basket and be tougher going up for boards and Amir Johnson will have to play as hard as he did against the Cavs on Monday when he took down 13 rebounds and 13 points in the game.
Also Danny Granger is the guy who puts put the most shots up with 18 shots and if a guy like Bagnani or Johnson can keep Granger away from the hoop because the further away from the hoop as Granger his shooting% goes way down and the Raptors need to not give up easy points and continue the strong defense that they played against the Cavs as they played tough defense for two thirds of the game.
The Raptors played well with the ball because they shared the ball as 83.3% of the shoots that were made had an assist which is a great formula for easy baskets and the better defense will give Amir and DeMar easy baskets which could build to stronger season than expected.
See U later
Tom Mehegan
Monday, December 26, 2011
The Raptors defense in the fourth quarter allowed them to beat the young Cavs
The game with 9 minutes left in the game the Raptors were up 2 points 82-80 after they had been up 15 points in the third quarter but then the Raptors put up a defensive stand against the Cavs which was some of the best defensive has seen the Raptors played in a long time as over the span of 8 and a half minutes the Raptors only allowed 11 Cavs points while they built up lead back up to 10 @ 101-91.
The Raptors in their 104-96 victory the Raps had four of their five starters were in double figures lead by DeMar DeRozen and Jose Calderon who both had 15 points in the game and Calderon had a double double with his 11 assists. Amir Johnson as a starter as he had a double double with 13 points and 13 boards in the game and off the bench the Raptors had double figures from Leandro Barbosa and Ed Davis who both had 14 points and also Jerryd Bayless had 10 points.
The Raptors had 35 assists on 42 made shots which means they had an assist on 83.3% their made shots and they out rebounded the Cavs 45-37 and they had 9 blocks in the first half which was a franchise high for a game. The Raptors had a 10 point lead @ halftime 52-42 and the Raptors shoot 53.7% and their defense held the Cavs to 34.1% shooting but in the first 15 minutes of the second half the Cavs outscored the Raps 38-30 and they shot over 50% in that time.
The Cavs really showed how inexperienced they are as the three veterans on team that took most of their shots Antawn Jamison (6 of 20), Anderson Varejao (6 of 12), and Ramon Sessions (6 of 12) went 18 of 44 from the floor and the No. 1 draft pick in this past draft Kyrie Irving went 2 of 12 from the floor. Varejao controlled the boards with 10 and especially the offensive boards with 7 and Sessions had 18 points to lead the team and Irving lead them with 7 assists and they outscored the Raps from the free throw line as they made 20 of 28 lead by Canadian Tristan Thompson who went 6 of 8 (14 points in total) from the line while the Raps 11 of 13 and it took the Raps more than 40 minutes for the Raps to take their 9 shot from the line.
The Raptors were very lucky to get a lot of open shots and they made them and in the end the Raptors held the Cavs to 41.2 shooting from the floor while the Raptors shot 53.2 from the floor so they put together a great effort against the Cavs and if they tightened up their defensive even more than Dwayne Casey's plans will turn into wins because there are more winnable middle of the pack teams that the Raptors can beat with defensive effort.
Raptors win their season opener
Tom Mehegan
The Raptors in their 104-96 victory the Raps had four of their five starters were in double figures lead by DeMar DeRozen and Jose Calderon who both had 15 points in the game and Calderon had a double double with his 11 assists. Amir Johnson as a starter as he had a double double with 13 points and 13 boards in the game and off the bench the Raptors had double figures from Leandro Barbosa and Ed Davis who both had 14 points and also Jerryd Bayless had 10 points.
The Raptors had 35 assists on 42 made shots which means they had an assist on 83.3% their made shots and they out rebounded the Cavs 45-37 and they had 9 blocks in the first half which was a franchise high for a game. The Raptors had a 10 point lead @ halftime 52-42 and the Raptors shoot 53.7% and their defense held the Cavs to 34.1% shooting but in the first 15 minutes of the second half the Cavs outscored the Raps 38-30 and they shot over 50% in that time.
The Cavs really showed how inexperienced they are as the three veterans on team that took most of their shots Antawn Jamison (6 of 20), Anderson Varejao (6 of 12), and Ramon Sessions (6 of 12) went 18 of 44 from the floor and the No. 1 draft pick in this past draft Kyrie Irving went 2 of 12 from the floor. Varejao controlled the boards with 10 and especially the offensive boards with 7 and Sessions had 18 points to lead the team and Irving lead them with 7 assists and they outscored the Raps from the free throw line as they made 20 of 28 lead by Canadian Tristan Thompson who went 6 of 8 (14 points in total) from the line while the Raps 11 of 13 and it took the Raps more than 40 minutes for the Raps to take their 9 shot from the line.
The Raptors were very lucky to get a lot of open shots and they made them and in the end the Raptors held the Cavs to 41.2 shooting from the floor while the Raptors shot 53.2 from the floor so they put together a great effort against the Cavs and if they tightened up their defensive even more than Dwayne Casey's plans will turn into wins because there are more winnable middle of the pack teams that the Raptors can beat with defensive effort.
Raptors win their season opener
Tom Mehegan
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Tristan Thompson makes his NBA debut against hometown Raptors
Tristan Thompson who was born in the Greater Toronto Area and went down to Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey as a teenager to go to school and play basketball as a High School sophomore and then headed to the University of Texas where he played a year with the longhorns and put up 13 points with 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks a game in his 36 regular season games. So Tristan Thompson will be hitting the boards hard against Ed Davis and Reggie Evans which will be a huge test for the 20-year-old Thompson but if he gets one-on-one with Andrea Bargnani he will take apart him and put up huge numbers.
Also Kyrie Irving the No.1 pick in the 2012 draft will be coming off the bench and putting up points and to think that Demar DeRozan is the one who will likely be the one that needs to contest most of those shoots is scary as hell as DeRozan on the Raptors a team who has not shown a quince of defense is probably one of the weaker defenders and would like to just go shot for shot with Irving which would not be a great formula for a win for the raptors.
For the Raptors to be able to go into Cleveland and take game one of 66 it will take a good defensive effort because if the Raptors play hard defensively against Cleveland than the offense will come in easy baskets going the other way so Reggie and Ed can set the tone for the Raptors effort but the big question in the game will be if the rest of the team will follow their lead. Going into the game the Raptors with opponents shooting .482 from the floor and putting up 105.4 points a game which is embarrassing and if the Raptors want to win games they will need to hold as many opponents under 100 points and most likely under 95 points in a game along with opponents shooting% under 42% and closer to 40%. So it will come down to can Bargnani guard anyone and can DeRozan make life tougher for opposing shooting guards and will Jose Calderon be able to stay health one and two stay infront of opposing points and get his hands in the air to make the passes more difficult to complete or if Jerryd Bayless can come off the bench and show Calderon how its done.
The bench will be very important going forward with ANTHONY CARTER, JAMAAL MAGLIORE, RASUL BUTLER, AARON GRAY, and GARY FORBES having a lot of opportunities to show what they are made of in the 66 game season where the Raptors will be playing 3 in four nights and 4 in five nights and thats going to be the norm this season so when they are given an opportunity to eat up minutes they will need to work hard on the defense and create plays offensively to allow the starters the chance to take a breather.
First game on Boxing day Go Raps Go
Tom Mehegan
Also Kyrie Irving the No.1 pick in the 2012 draft will be coming off the bench and putting up points and to think that Demar DeRozan is the one who will likely be the one that needs to contest most of those shoots is scary as hell as DeRozan on the Raptors a team who has not shown a quince of defense is probably one of the weaker defenders and would like to just go shot for shot with Irving which would not be a great formula for a win for the raptors.
For the Raptors to be able to go into Cleveland and take game one of 66 it will take a good defensive effort because if the Raptors play hard defensively against Cleveland than the offense will come in easy baskets going the other way so Reggie and Ed can set the tone for the Raptors effort but the big question in the game will be if the rest of the team will follow their lead. Going into the game the Raptors with opponents shooting .482 from the floor and putting up 105.4 points a game which is embarrassing and if the Raptors want to win games they will need to hold as many opponents under 100 points and most likely under 95 points in a game along with opponents shooting% under 42% and closer to 40%. So it will come down to can Bargnani guard anyone and can DeRozan make life tougher for opposing shooting guards and will Jose Calderon be able to stay health one and two stay infront of opposing points and get his hands in the air to make the passes more difficult to complete or if Jerryd Bayless can come off the bench and show Calderon how its done.
The bench will be very important going forward with ANTHONY CARTER, JAMAAL MAGLIORE, RASUL BUTLER, AARON GRAY, and GARY FORBES having a lot of opportunities to show what they are made of in the 66 game season where the Raptors will be playing 3 in four nights and 4 in five nights and thats going to be the norm this season so when they are given an opportunity to eat up minutes they will need to work hard on the defense and create plays offensively to allow the starters the chance to take a breather.
First game on Boxing day Go Raps Go
Tom Mehegan
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Jamaal Magloire is finally playing for Canada but is it simply a tactic sell more tickets by the Raptors
So the guy who went to school down the street from me and was the reason that Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute was mentioned inside my high school Danforth Tech and how good the basketball team and it turned out to be Jamaal Magloire. Now it turns out that Magloire finally heading back to Toronto after years of people asking what if Magloire was a Raptor and has spent his first 11 seasons playing for teams down south with his first and most productive spot was with the Charlotte Hornets and his career peaked in 2004 when he was named to the Eastern Conference for the all-star game as he averaged 13.6 points and 10.3 rebounds a game. Then he moved around a lot by going from Charlotte to Milwaukee, Portland, New Jersey, and Dallas before landing in Miami for the last three seasons which included only playing 18 games off the bench last season.
Magloire who has had given team Canada a chance over his NBA career by not even coming out for a single training camp and shooting down requests for years to come and play for Canada at an Olympic trails and now after he has tried every where else he is coming back to Canada to give himself one last kick at the can to play Basketball in the NBA. Maybe 5 or 6 seasons ago I would maybe give Magloire a chance with the Raptors but the 6'11 center is a shell of the kind of player he was in Charlotte and will most likely be a very deep bench player as he has to get in line behind the likes of Ed Davis, Reggie Evans, Andrea Bargnani, and the Johnson boys to just name a few.
So Magloire is saying all the right things but the words are so hollow as he is saying “I’m not going to let my country, and this team down” as he has already let down the country by not representing it in Olympic qualifying and along with his “I want to leave some kind of legacy behind” and “I am the one that is gritty, will work hard and do whatever it takes to get wins at the end of the day” quotes it comes down to little to nothing left in the task to contribute anything.
It diffidently would be nice if he could push the likes of Bargnani and the Johnsons to work harder for their minutes on the court but the reality is that it is simply a marketing tactic just like bring in Master P at the turn of the century and on this club that will be hard pressed to play tough defense night in, night out to win games I do nor know how many extra tickets a 2011-12 Magloire will bring in for the Raptors.
I really wished he had taken time out of his off seasons to try and better Team Canada and he just has to look at how Steve Nash made himself a more well rounded player during his time on Team Canada
Tom Mehegan
Magloire who has had given team Canada a chance over his NBA career by not even coming out for a single training camp and shooting down requests for years to come and play for Canada at an Olympic trails and now after he has tried every where else he is coming back to Canada to give himself one last kick at the can to play Basketball in the NBA. Maybe 5 or 6 seasons ago I would maybe give Magloire a chance with the Raptors but the 6'11 center is a shell of the kind of player he was in Charlotte and will most likely be a very deep bench player as he has to get in line behind the likes of Ed Davis, Reggie Evans, Andrea Bargnani, and the Johnson boys to just name a few.
So Magloire is saying all the right things but the words are so hollow as he is saying “I’m not going to let my country, and this team down” as he has already let down the country by not representing it in Olympic qualifying and along with his “I want to leave some kind of legacy behind” and “I am the one that is gritty, will work hard and do whatever it takes to get wins at the end of the day” quotes it comes down to little to nothing left in the task to contribute anything.
It diffidently would be nice if he could push the likes of Bargnani and the Johnsons to work harder for their minutes on the court but the reality is that it is simply a marketing tactic just like bring in Master P at the turn of the century and on this club that will be hard pressed to play tough defense night in, night out to win games I do nor know how many extra tickets a 2011-12 Magloire will bring in for the Raptors.
I really wished he had taken time out of his off seasons to try and better Team Canada and he just has to look at how Steve Nash made himself a more well rounded player during his time on Team Canada
Tom Mehegan
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