Windex Aside, How About Some Rolaids?

The post-game chatter after last night’s action was all about the glass… How in the world do you allow a team like the Hawks to snag 18 offensive boards?? The consensus around the locker room was effort and intensity – the two go hand in hand.

The Raptors were trying to get the season-sweep over Atlanta, win their 6th straight against the Hawks (which would even up their lifetime versus record at 21-21), all while trying to snap their 4-game losing streak…

None of that happened.

Hawks 113, Raptors 111 (OT)

While the rebounding differential was hideous (49-36 in favour of ATL), one glaring stat to me was bench points. I knew this would be my post-game report even before tip-off.

When the final numbers were tallied, Atlanta’s reserves outscored Toronto’s 25-9. Antonio Davis sat this one out with a “sprained lower back,” and in his place Matt Bonner got his 6th start of the season. That means yet another “scorer” from the bench would be in the starting 5.

Trouble.

Joey Graham, while having arguably his best defensive game (statwise: 3 blocks, 2 steals), was 0/5 from the field (a perfect 4/4 from the charity stripe, though). Jose Calderon took 5 shots and made 2. Other than that, no field goal attempts from an offensively challenged bench that played a total of 64 minutes.

What this also means is that the starters had to log extended, and draining, minutes. Chris Bosh played 51:25 and scored a game-high 27 points. In contrast, he grabbed only 6 rebounds (0 of the offensive variety) and missed all 3 of his shots in overtime.
I asked Bosh if there was added pressure with the bench not contributing offensively.

“You know what? We can all improve. The bench can definitely improve, I can improve… everybody can do things better, but that’s just from playing tentative, like we’ve been talking about. They just need to go out there and play, do the things they’ve been working on.”

This whole bench problem started when Charlie Villanueva cracked the starting squad. He used to be the top scorer off the pine – now it’s Matt Bonner (who started, remember). Charlie finished with 25 points and 11 boards (6 offensive), and I asked him about his thoughts on the bench’s struggles.

“I think the guys coming off the bench are struggling a little bit. But we know they can help us, and we need them those guys. Those guys can definitely help us out a lot, and right now they’re struggling a little bit… but they’ll have to overcome that.”

Mike James had 21 points but ducked out before anyone could talk to him. Mo Pete also added 21, which meant for the second time in 3 games (but only the third time in franchise history) 4 Raptors scored 20+ points.

While that is a nice stat… it just means the starters need to carry more of the load for a paper-thin bench.

*
Losing to the Hawks, aside, though… Some great news out of Raptor land came just the day before.

The Press Conference

Instant Credibility. Immediate Respect. Unbelievable Asset.

Bryan Colangelo, as rumoured, was officially introduced as the new General Manager and President of the Toronto Raptors. While the hiring did make waves around the league, it was far from a tidal wave; more of a gentle breeze pushing a thin layer of polluted Lake Ontario water onto the littered beach at Ash Bridges Bay.

ESPN.com had the hiring as the 3rd story on their side panel.

This guy is the reigning NBA Exec of the Year, and just jumped ship from one of the best, to one of the worst teams in the league.

This was huge… for the Raptors.

My responsibility was to get player reaction.

Mike James slipped away before we could get his comments (like both before and after the Atlanta game), and so Mo Pete was first up.

As you know, usually when a new GM comes aboard, he likes to bring his own staff (coaches, scouts, etc.). But the main theme from the Raptors was their unwavering support of keeping Sam Mitchell as the bench boss.

Mo: “Ever since Sam has been here, I’ve seen him grow. I’ve seen him grow a lot as a coach, and he’s done a lot for this team. He’s helped develop guys like Chris Bosh, he’s helped me get better. He’s done a lot, so it would be nice to see Coach around, because I think he deserves it.”

Bosh: “We just have to talk to [Colangelo]. I’ll make sure that I express my liking to the coaching staff we have now. All I can do is add my two cents, because at the end of the day, he’s going to make his decision but I think if we, as a group, express how happy we are with the coaching staff now, he might listen to it.”

After all this, it led to probably the best conversation I’ve ever had with Mitchell. Granted, he was in a good mood after hearing Colangelo had no plans to uproot the coaches (“they all have a clean slate”), but he was very accommodating. I’ll spare you the full-length discussion, but give you his thoughts on what his players were saying about keeping him aboard.

Mitchell: “It makes you feel good because I’m tough on my guys, but I love those guys, and they know it. We talk about that a lot and they understand why I’m pushing so hard… because I see what they can be and I’m not going to give up on them.”

All in all, it was a great day for the Raptors, and a great day for myself. The reports I feel were some of the best I’d done (although my post-Hawks game report was my favorite).

Now the Raptors need to hold up their end of the bargain and do what they can do. i.e. Stop losing close games.

*
Yet another tough loss came in South Beach… The Raptors were tied with the Heat until about the 8:30 mark of the 4th, when Miami took over.

Heat 101, Raptors 94

The Heat trounced the Raps in the paint (72-28) courtesy of the Diesel. As is the yearly routine for Shaq, he used the all-star break as his gas-pedal. Between O’Neal and Wade, the two combined for 59 points and collectively missed only 9 of their 35 shots.

Hack-a-Shaq seemed to be working for the most-part, though, as Kazaam went just 5/15 from the free-throw line.

Regardless, the game marked Miami’s season-high 6th straight win.

Mike James had a Raptor-high 26 points, but his shot selection down the stretch started to hurt Toronto (that's the sound of a broken record, folks)(3/9 from beyond the arc… not good). Bosh and Mo each added 19 points, while Charlie V contributed 16 points and 11 boards.

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The Raptors have back-to-back 1pm’ers on Sat (in NJ) and Sun (at home to Boston).
Shortly after that, barring an unfortunate incident (knock on e-wood for me), I’ll finally get my chance to see Lebron in person.

Keep checking in and keep leaving comments/sending those e-mails… I love hearing from people who are checking in here. And I love that you are checking in here.

Thank you.