December 3, 2007
Raps vs. Bobcats Preview
Jay wrote this today:
It’s time for the Raptors to take a quick peek at the end of the season. Jersey, Detroit, Miami, Chicago. Three out of those games are going to be tough. So why am I talking about the end of the season now? Because with the way the Raptors are tossing away games, they have to start either thinking about the games they should be winning now or start thinking about the games they may have to win down the stretch.
After a completely disappointing loss to the Wizards, a game which they should have won, the Raptors now have the Bobcats coming into the ACC (what is this, the ugly uni part of the season? First the Wiz, now the Bobcats?). This is a game they need to have. This is a game they where they have to iron out all of the kinks, because the last thing you want to do walking into games with the Suns and the Celtics is start worrying about parts of your game.
This game shapes up nicely for the Raptors for a variety of reasons. First, the Bobcats can’t score. 23rd in the league with 93.3 points per game and 23rd in the league in FG% at 43.9. They are almost as bad of a rebounding team as the Raptors are (20th to Toronto’s 23rd ranking) and they don’t have the fastest bunch of guys on the floor. Keep in mind that in the past 5 games, the Bobcats have given up an average of 107 points per game, against the following competition: Wizards, Magic, Celtics, Heat and Bulls. Surely you would say, well, okay, the Magic and Bulls are big teams, right? Well, strangely enough, they held the Celtics to 96 points and lost by 1. They got flat out pasted by the Magic and then somehow, they got their asses served to them by the Bulls. When that happens, when THE BULLS run you for 111 points, that is what we call demoralizing.
Sum that all up and throw in the fact that subconsciously, they have to feel slightly insecure in their back-country high school uniforms and this should be a game the Raptors are able to handle.
Wallace and Richardson are doing their thing, leading the team in scoring. Raymond Felton is starting to round his game out a bit more, but you would like to see your PG shoot better than 78% from the free throw line and also cut down on the 3s seeing that he shoots 38% from there. The guy is probably also the slowest PG in the league, offensively and defensively.
Okafor is a beast defensively, but the guy just doesn’t have a big offensive game in my opinion. Felton doesn’t look to him down low and when you have a man that size as a PF and you’re not feeding him the ball on a regular basis, something is wrong. The talent you have outside of him (Wallace and Richardson) is good, but not good enough for him to be your third option. Okafor just isn’t aggressive enough offensively, when he should be using the “Power” part of his position’s title.
Even though Okafor is a presence on the inside, it is imperative that the Raptors do not forget about working inside. This cannot turn into another jump shot game for the Raptors, because they will be providing the Bobcats with an opportunity to stay in the game. Luckily, the Raptors don’t have to worry as much about getting back on transition D, but that still doesn’t mean that they can take it easy.
Bargnani needs to decide what kind of player he wants to be. The second year tells a lot about a guy, if he is able to adapt to the changes other teams have made against him, if he is able to take the pushes and shoves. Right now, I am starting to see too much hesitation and fear in his game. He needs to trust in his ability a bit more and diversify his game.
Alright, enjoy.
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