Raptor of the Week: April 15-22

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Joshua Howe

We are nearing the end of the regular season and “the tank” seems to be fully rolling now. The Raptors won only one of four games this week and all of the teams they played happened to be playoff teams; except for Detroit last Sunday.

Johnson's defence could keep him around next season

The Raps played back-to-back games against Atlanta and then took on the Heat and Pistons for the last times this season. And with Bargs out and DeRozan not playing so hot, the team really seemed to be looking forward to the summer.

The best player this week was James Johnson, who has not managed to snag a “Raptor of the Week” spot until now. He played exceedingly well in every game this week except for the loss to Detroit, but we’ll give him that one.

Johnson averaged 14ppg, 4.7rpg, 3apg and 1.2stp. That’s a pretty impressive stat line for a guy who only played an average of 25.5 minutes over that stretch. He shot a red hot 55% from the field and managed to get himself to the free throw line 14 times where he shot 71.4%.

His most notable game this week was stepping up against Miami. He scored 18 points in that game and grabbed 6 boards. He had 3 steals, made all 3 of his free throws and went 7-12 from the floor. Unfortunately, the Raps came up short that game.

Johnson’s season stats are 8.9ppg, 4.6rpg and 1.9apg.

Johnson has continued to improve this season and has started playing more aggressively on defence, where he is at his best. He has made some huge blocks over the course of the season and also worked on his mid-range jump shot. All that work is starting to pay off.

We’ll see if that Continue reading →

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Raptors out-tank Pistons; ‘lose’ 76-73

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Kiyan Sobhani

In a night where the Raptors were winning by five at half-time, Linas Kleiza put the tank on his shoulders and missed a wide-open three-pointer that would’ve sent the game into overtime.

It was just a miss; but it’s amazing how far one miss can take you.

More ping pong balls, and more chances at Anthony Davis – that’s where it can take you.

The referee gave the tank a little push too.

With 23.9 seconds remaining, Greg Munroe grabbed an Alan Anderson shot in mid-air. It was either an incredibly well executed block, or a blatant goal-tend.

Replays suggested the latter.

In any other significant game, that ‘no-call’ would’ve been  big cheese. In this game though, either team would’ve been happy to be on the wrong end of that decision.

DeMar DeRozan was the most solid player for the Raptors – scoring 16 points in 28 minutes. Dwane Casey put an end to that nonsense though, by benching DeMar in the fourth quarter.

It’s these kinds of games that Raptor – and probably Piston – fans wish the season was over already.

No one wants to play these meaningless Continue reading →

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Game Preview: Toronto @ Detroit

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Dale

Both these bottom feeding eastern conference teams hired two competitive coaches in this lockout ladened season. Detroit is slightly ahead of Toronto in the standings with the season series tied at one a piece, although both teams are simply looking forward to the end of the season.

When tanks collide

Detroit has created a solid foundation in big man Greg Monroe with season averages of 15.6ppg and 9.5rpg, and rookie point guard Brandon Knight who has had a modest season averaging 12ppg and 3.8apg. With a high pick at their disposal in the upcoming draft, nothing seems more brighter at the moment than their own future.

The last time these two teams met the backcourt duo of Knight and Rodney Stuckey lit up the Raptors for 39 points for an efficient 15 for 25 shooting night. Though Stuckey has been in a rut in April averaging just 11.5ppg on .378% after going through a sizzling March where he put up 20.3ppg and 4.8apg. It may very well happen that Stuckey could come out flat against Toronto.

The Raptors had a shooting nightmare last Continue reading →

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Dwane Casey: Pound the Rock

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Joshua Howe

Casey has truly changed Toronto's culture

For the last few seasons, the Toronto Raptors have been ridiculed and laughed at for their atrocious defence. They continually struggled against nearly every opponent and ended up at the bottom of the barrel every season, where fans complained it was because of their lack of solid “D”.

Enter Dwane Casey.

Casey has brought about an absolute culture change to the Raptors team that has played this season. He is an old style coach and is respected in many NBA circles. To play for him, you have to earn your minutes or else you better get yourself very acquainted with the bench.

For nearly every season that he has played in the NBA, Andrea Bargnani has been teased and mocked for his defensive effort. And if you had said to anyone that one guy could come in and change the way that Bargnani plays defence, they probably would have laughed you out of the room.

But before his unfortunate injury, Bargs was playing perhaps his best ball as a pro. People were saying his name in the same sentence as All-Star and his defensive intensity seemed to be cranked up a few notches.

And what else has Casey done? Well, he has taken a Continue reading →

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Raptors say ‘Tank You’; lose 96-72 to Heat

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Kiyan Sobhani

No Dwyane Wade, no Chris Bosh.

No problem.

In a night where Miami’s starting line-up consisted of Udonis Haslem, Dexter Pittman, James Jones, and Mario Chalmers; Lebron James took care of business – torching the Raptors for 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting in just 30 minutes.

“It’s just how I am,” LeBron said. “When I go on the floor, if I’m in uniform, I’m trying to play at the highest level. If I’m in uniform, I don’t try to take minutes off or take games off when I can. … I just want to be the best.”

Even the capricious Mike Miller scored 13 points, and was 3-of-4 from behind the arc.

Besides James Johnson’s team-high 18 points off the bench; the Raptors didn’t have any bright spots. The only positives to take from this game were mistakes that will serve as learning points.

With Jerryd Bayless, Jose Calderon, Linas Kleiza, and Andrea Bargnani all side-lined; the Raptors had Continue reading →

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Game Preview: Raptors @ Heat

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Kiyan Sobhani

Great defense.

We could potentially see Ben Uzoh and Alan Anderson match-up against Dwane Wade and Lebron James.

It would take something truly necromantic for the Heat to let this one slip.

Although, we may not see all of the Heat’s big three – Dwane Wade has been sidelined with an ankle injury as of late – and since the Heat are well into playoff mode, they’re not too interested in rushing him back.

Miami does still have something to play for though – and that is to catch up to the Chicago Bulls for the top seed in the East.

They’re 2.5 games back, and it would mean the difference between playing against Philadelphia or New York in the first round.

Jose Calderon (eye) isn’t officially shut down for the season; but Dwane Casey said that he will only call upon the Spaniard in emergency situations.

With tank mode in full gear, I can’t foresee any such situation.

If there’s any chance in Toronto beating Miami tomorrow night, it would lie in the Heat’s complacency.

The Heat are 15-10 since the All-Star break; with room for improvement as the playoffs draw near.

By now, Miami is used to seeing Continue reading →

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Hawks take down Raptors 109-87

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Kiyan Sobhani

Well.. At least Alabi got in.

“Our disposition was a little different [Monday] than it was [Sunday] for reasons I don’t know,” Casey said. “I thought we ran out of gas having a shortened roster.”

Indeed, that was the main difference between Sunday night’s win and Monday night’s loss – energy.

On Sunday, the Raptors came out of the gates roaring, and continued that impetus for the entire four quarters.

On Monday, the Raptors went toe-to-toe with the Hawks until half-time; even out-scoring them 30-14 in the paint in the first half – but they simply ran out of gas in the second half.

The Hawks were led by Ivan Johnson’s career-high 21 points; while Jeff Teague helped them propel away from Raptors in the third quarter – scoring eight points and dishing out four assists in that frame.

Teague finished the game with 19 points and 10 assists.

“They did a good job packing the paint but that wasn’t keeping [anybody] out … we still had the backdoor,” said James Johnson. “They had good denial defence and their help was better, but I think we still could have [gone] into the paint a lot more.”

Without Jose Calderon, the Raptors struggled immensely at Continue reading →

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Raptors look to stun Hawks again

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Kiyan Sobhani

If the odds were profoundly stockpiled against the wounded Raptors last night in Atlanta; they will have doubled tonight in the unlikely occurrence that the Raptors can pull off two victories in consecutive against a hungry Hawks team.

“Very flat,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said in the loss. “The energy level was very low.”

The Hawks have now fallen to a fifth place tie with Orlando in the Eastern Conference – 1/2 game back of the Boston Celtics in the race to secure home-court advantage in the playoffs.

If the Hawks are to have a better chance at beating the Raptors tonight, they’ll need a better effort from Joe Johnson, who shot just 2-of-12 from the field last night.

It was the first time in 24 game where Johnson failed to reach double-digits.

Notes

Today the Raptors signed Continue reading →

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Raptors stun Hawks; win 102-86

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Kiyan Sobhani

No Andrea Bargnani, and no Jose Calderon – yet the Toronto Raptors somehow managed to find a way to not only beat, but blowout the Hawks for their second consecutive win.

It was also their second consecutive unlikely win against a playoff team – the first one coming at the hands of Boston.

And it’s not like they were playing against a scrub. The Hawks are in the midst of clinching home-court advantage in the playoffs.

The Raptors were led by DeMar DeRozan’s team-high 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting. DeRozan was aggressive, and did a great job of attacking the rim.

He got to the line 11 times, and has been getting more calls his way as of late as a reward for his tenacity.

“He’s doing a heck of a job of being aggressive,” Casey said of DeRozan. “They’re really doing a good job of getting into him, bodying him and forcing him to drive and he’s doing a good job of attacking.”

It was a balanced-scoring affair for the Raptors. Besides DeRozan, five other played ended up in double figures.

One of them was James Johnson, who bounced back with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting off the bench.

It was one of those rare efforts where the Raptors Continue reading →

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Raptor of the Week: April 8-15

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Joshua Howe

The Raptors’ week started off the way many fans expected it to, with three consequtive losses to keep the tank rolling. But as we have all learned, Dwane Casey is not a fan of the tank and thus the Raps fought to gain two victories at the end of the week. The first against Boston, a playoff team and the second against Atlanta, another playoff team.

Anderson has earned his time in TO

If anything, those wins signify what we can expect to see from Casey and his Raptors in the near future.

But until then, we can relish in the hard fought victories that we achieved this week. Or not, depending on your personal opinion.

There is no doubt however, that a pivotal player in this week’s games was Alan Anderson. He was brought in from the D-League not very long ago and was told that he was going to have to show Casey something pretty good to earn minutes.

And boy, did he do that.

Anderson proved that he can shoot, something that Rasual Butler could Continue reading →

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