Game thread: Raptors vs. Nuggets

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Denver Nuggets, Game thread on Jan 27, 2012

Start time: 9:00 PM ET
Channel: TSN2
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson, Amir Johnson, Aaron Gray
Denver: Andre Miller, Arron Afflalo Danilo Gallinari, Nene, Kosta Koufos

Injury report

Toronto: Andrea Bargnani is expected to be out until at least early February.

Denver: Arron Afflalo and Rudy Fernandez are probable, Ty Lawson and DeMarre Carroll are doubtful.

The Nuggets will be aiming for their sixth straight win while the Raptors will try to win their third straight, but only one of these teams will have their Italian scoring machine in the lineup tonight. Hint: It’s not Toronto.

After breaking a 14-game losing streak against the Suns on Tuesday and a 12-game losing streak against the Jazz on Wednesday, the Raptors will attempt to break an eight-game losing streak against the Nuggets. Since the Raptors are 0-6 this season when Bargnani isn’t in the lineup, I don’t like their chances.

Expect the Raptors’ new, hardier defense to be put to its toughest test yet tonight — the Nuggets have both the league’s fastest pace and the most efficient offense, and they’ve scored over 110 points in eight of their 18 games. Meanwhile, the Raptors haven’t allowed more than 106 points in any of their 19 games. If Ty Lawson misses tonight’s game as expected, the Raptors should be able to keep the Nuggets’ offense from running them completely ragged. That doesn’t mean that Raptors have a good chance of winning this game, mind you — they’re 12.5-point underdogs.

Random thoughts…

  • I tweeted about this earlier, but somebody asked me about my all-time favorite athlete today. To my surprise, I decided it’s Anderson Silva. I’m afraid to ask Raptors fans who their favorite athlete because I don’t want to be deluged with “Vince Carter” answers.
  • I don’t care how many times Kevin Garnett said “bar fight” in this “interview” with Craig Sager, I’ll bet he’s never actually been in one.
  • Have you ever seen an advertisement for Jagermeister? Dave Attell hasn’t seen one, but he has some suggestions.

No Comments

No Damage, but No Timetable for Bargnani’s Return

Posted by Joseph Casciaro under Andrea Bargnani on Jan 27, 2012

When Andrea Bargnani limped off of the floor in Utah on Wednesday night, then proceeded to tell reporters that he would likely be out for a while, and that his re-aggravated calf injury was “much worse” than the last time, we assumed we’d have to get used to life without Bargnani again, just a few days after trying to get reacquainted to life with A.B.

Now an MRI in Denver has concluded that Bargnani did not suffer any structural damage, but that there is also no timetable for his return. Based on the fact that the calf strain he suffered in a loss to the Kings earlier this month kept him out of action for 13 days and six games, I’m just going to assume that Bargs will be out for at least that long again.

Given that the All Star game is already just a month away, I think we can kiss any hopes of Andrea being there in Orlando goodbye. As most of us have already said repeatedly, the shame is that Bargnani was enjoying an All Star caliber season, despite the fact that he only played in 13 of the team’s 19 games.

Bargnani was averaging 23.5 points (sixth in the NBA) on 47.6 per cent shooting to go along with 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and a Player Efficiency Rating of 22.48 (17th in the NBA). Most impressive, Bargnani had transformed himself from a defensive liability to the hardest working player on the defensive side of the ball. That work ethic translated into Bargnani boasting the NBA’s best individual defensive rating.

Watching the hustle and passion Bargnani was playing with this season, evidenced by his visible frustration (throwing his mouth-guard, tearing his hair out) when he realized he had re-injured his calf, was a treat for Raptors fans. Yes, it was only a 13-game sample, and we likely won’t see Bargnani try to build on that performance until weeks from now, but as I wrote recently, I think the Raptors and Raptors fans are beginning to realize that they just might have an All Star power forward in their lineup for the next few years.

As for the Raptors as a team. With Bargnani in the lineup, they’ve actually gone 6-7 this season, and are 6-5 when he plays 30 minutes or more. Not to mention, three of those six wins have come at Madison Square Garden, at Phoenix and at Utah. I don’t think it’s crazy to look at those results, then look at the Eastern Conference, and believe that with a healthy Bargnani, the Raptors could have made a run at the East’s eighth seed.

The ugly side of the Raptors’ first quarter of the season, of course, occurred without Andrea in the lineup. The team is 0-6 without him, and 0-8 in games he played less than 30 minutes. The difference in their level of play is staggering.

With Andrea, they are a surprisingly good defensive team that can balance it out with a decent offence. Without Andrea, they are an average defensive team that scores just 81 points per game themselves.

Looking at the schedule, it might be difficult for the Raptors to pick up that elusive win sans Bargnani any time soon. Toronto’s next seven games are either against winning teams or are against teams that have already beaten the Raptors this season, with five of those seven matchups coming on the road.

If Bargnani’s latest setback keeps him out of action for a while, then it might be time to consider that the back-to-back road wins over the Suns and Jazz may have been as good as it gets for the Raptors this season.

2 Comments

Happy Birthday, Vince…I Guess

Posted by Joseph Casciaro under Archives, Vince Carter on Jan 26, 2012

While we await the news and results from Andrea Bargnani’s MRI (RaptorBlog will have a post up on Bargnani’s injury some time Thursday evening or Friday morning), I thought I’d pass along this gem of a video to bring you back to simpler times.

Thanks to theScore’s facebook page for reminding us that today is Vince Carter’s 35th birthday. So in the spirit of celebrating “Vinsanity” instead of “Wince-anity” just for one day, here’s Vince Carter jumping around, dancing through the streets and saving cats in old-school Raptors’ purple:

Simpler times, indeed.

First, if this really was Joe Budden rapping (as youtube comments and a couple of our RaptorBlog commenters believe), that’s a pretty big get (at the time) for a simple Raptors-related Nike commercial.

Secondly, the fact that a song dedicated to Vince Carter contained the lyrics “I got my game face on, ready to give back, pronto, Give back to the fans, give back to Toronto” just seems like a sick, cruel joke in hindsight.

8 Comments

Fouling Out: Six Personal Thoughts on the Game

Posted by Joseph Casciaro under Amir Johnson, Andrea Bargnani, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson, Jose Calderon, Linas Kleiza, Recap, Utah Jazz on Jan 26, 2012

Game No. 19: Raptors 111, Jazz 106 (2-OT)

One night after beating the Suns for the first time since 2004 and snapping a 14-game losing streak against Phoenix, the Raptors emerge victorious in double-overtime to beat the Jazz for the first time since 2004, snapping a 12-game losing streak to Utah, with both wins coming on the road.

They may still be 6-13, but I think it’s safe to say these aren’t your older brother’s Raptors.

Much like Tuesday night’s win in Phoenix, the Raptors started sluggishly, dug an early hole, made up the deficit in the second quarter, and then eventually pulled away. The Raps were down 18 in the first half and didn’t take their first lead until the score was 50-48.

Now here are some thoughts on the game:

1- As nice as the W in Phoenix was, this win was 10 times more impressive, and I would have been saying that even if the Raptors had lost in overtime. On Tuesday, Toronto beat a poor Suns team. But on this night, on the back end of a back-to-back, the Raptors rallied from down 18 early and rallied from down nine with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter to outlast a 10-5 team (8-2 at home) that had been off for four days. Even more impressive, they did it despite Andrea Bargnani going down in overtime.

2- Speaking of Bargnani, that didn’t look good. I obviously have no background in medicine, but given the way Bargs was limping after going down with the same injury that sidelined him for two weeks already this month, I think it’s safe to assume that Il Mago will be out of action for at least that long again. Whether it’s warranted or not, most fans will likely point to the fact that in his first two games back after that aforementioned two-week break, Bargnani logged 82 minutes in just a 24-hour span. I’ll admit that even I was going to bring up my concern for Bargnani’s minutes in this post before he even went down.

It really is a shame. Andrea was playing like an All Star on both ends of the court, and I don’t know if I ever saw him put as much effort into defence as I saw Wednesday in Utah.

3- I’d like to dedicate some more time to DeMar DeRozan. I liked his game tonight. DeMar competed on the defensive end, scored 17 points on just 11 shots and grabbed eight rebounds to go with two assists and two steals. While I appreciated the fact that DeRozan didn’t try to force anything when it wasn’t there for him offensively, I didn’t like that he seemed to shy away from the ball down the stretch and in the two overtime periods (where he attempted just one shot). Part of it is obviously not getting looks from his teammates, but part of it has to fall on DeMar’s shoulders too. I really want to see him almost demand the ball in tight games like he did last season, particularly when Bargnani isn’t on the floor.

4- Bargnani played noticeably well when he was in the ball game. Linas Kleiza probably won the game for the Raptors in crunch time. Jose Calderon threw up some prayers and had them answered. DeRozan, as mentioned, was good. But two players who I thought made a big impact despite flying under the radar were the two Johnsons, James and Amir. They combined for just eight points on four-of-nine shooting and six rebounds, but their fantastic efforts on the defensive side of the ball should be lauded. Both came up with some much-needed defensive stops and some huge blocks when the Raptors needed them. As a team, Toronto had an impressive 10 blocks…James (six) and Amir (three) combined for nine of them.

5- A quick word on the Jazz. This is a team that I thought was criminally underrated coming into the season and a team I thought could even make the playoffs in the West. What they’re doing this season (currently 10-6, fifth in West) shouldn’t surprise people. They have a loaded front court with Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson (who didn’t play tonight) and a couple of nice young bigs in Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter. They’re not spectacular on the wings, but they have depth and players who can hold their own. And despite his regression, they have a more than capable point guard in Devin Harris. I’m not saying fans and analysts should have predicted the Jazz to be contenders, but on paper, I don’t see where people interpreted this team as a cellar-dweller.

6- And finally, a word on your Toronto Raptors, and expectations. I don’t know whether it’s an indication of how impressive Dwane Casey has been in getting maximum output out of a lackluster roster, or just an indication of how little we all expected from this team, but at 6-13 through 19 games, the Raptors are actually exceeding my expectations. In case you missed it or forgot, I predicted the Raptors to finish 20-46, and that was considered a pretty optimistic outlook compared to others. In addition, I had them pegged at 4-15 at this point in the season, and had them winning just five games on the road all season. We’re only just past the quarter-point, and they already have four away wins.

Does it mean they’re going to “over-achieve,” or wind up with two more wins than I originally predicted? No, but like I said, it’s interesting that despite losing 13 of 19 and already going through an eight-game losing streak, they’re still doing better than a lot of us expected.

Raptors Player of the Game: Linas Kleiza – 33 Min, 25 Pts, 8-16 FG, 4-9 3PT, 5-5 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 TO

Jazz Player of the Game: Paul Millsap – 49 Min, 31 Pts, 11 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 3 TO

14 Comments

Game thread: Raptors vs. Jazz

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Game thread, Utah Jazz on Jan 25, 2012

Paul Millsap

Start time: 9:00 PM ET
Channel: TSN2
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson, Andrea Bargnani, Aaron Gray
Utah Jazz: Devin Harris, Raja Bell, Gordon Hayward, Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson

Injury report

Toronto: No injuries reported.

Utah: Al Jefferson and Josh Howard are probable while Jamaal Tinsley is questionable for tonight.

Last night, the Raptors broke a 14-game losing streak against the Phoenix Suns. Tonight, they’re in Utah to try to end a 12-game winless run against the Jazz. When you’ve been as bad as the Raptors have been for a while, you tend to have streaks like this.

The Jazz have always been a tough team to beat in Salt Lake City, but they’re been even tougher than expected so far this season with an 8-2 record at home (10-5 overall). Their two home losses were both by three points — they lost to the Lakers in overtime and the Mavericks in regulation. A lot of the credit for their early success has to go to their beastly frontline of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap. In particular, Millsap has been an absolute monster — he’s currently third in the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating (PER) behind LeBron and Kobe.

I usually roll my eyes when commentators talk about “key matchups” before NBA games, but that term definitely applies to the matchup of Millsap vs. Bargnani tonight. Which will cause more problems for their opponent: Bargnani’s length or Millsap’s strength? Bargnani almost certainly has to outperform P.M. Brawn (TM) tonight if the Raptors are going to pull off an upset.

Random thoughts…

  • Does it strike anyone else as odd that the Jazz haven’t played since Saturday? I didn’t think any NBA team was allowed to have two consecutive days off this season.
  • Kudos to #TBJ commenter “Norb” for his suggestion for the Hornets’ fish-themed arena name: “The Grouperdome”
  • This Steve Nash video would have made more sense at the end of yesterday’s Raptors-Suns game thread, but I just found out about this now, so… yeah.

4 Comments

Ultimate Raptors Rankings – No. 6: Morris Peterson

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Score video, Ultimate Raptors Rankings on Jan 25, 2012

Morris Peterson

The Ultimate Raptors Rankings are the RaptorBlog editors’ attempt to rank the top 30 Toronto Raptors of all time. These rankings are obviously somewhat arbitrary and endlessly debatable, but they’re based on each player’s contribution, performance and longevity as a Raptor, and on how beloved they are by Raptors fans. We’ll count down a new Raptor every other Wednesday on this blog.

Morris Peterson’s Raptors résumé:

  • 1st in games played (542)
  • 1st in most consecutive games played (371)
  • 2nd in minutes played (16,060)
  • 3rd in points (6,498)
  • 1st in three-pointers made (801)
  • 2nd in steals

Morris Peterson’s résumé speaks for itself. He didn’t spend his entire NBA career with the Raptors, but in seven seasons and 542 games, his prime years were in Toronto. He was never the best player on the team and he never approached All-Star status, but from February 12, 2002 through November 20, 2006, Peterson played in every single Raptors game. I can’t say this was “through the good and the bad” because the Raptors were mostly bad over that period. In fact, his streak began with the Raptors losing 13 games in a row and 17 out of 18 games – although they improbably squeaked into the 2002 playoffs with a 42-40 record by following that calamitous run with a 12-2 finish to the regular season.

Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments

Fouling Out: Six Personal Thoughts on the Game

Posted by Joseph Casciaro under Andrea Bargnani, DeMar DeRozan, Ed Davis, James Johnson, Phoenix Suns, Recap on Jan 25, 2012

Game No. 18: Raptors 99, Suns 96

Despite another sluggish start and early double-digit deficit, the Raptors were able to battle back on the road in Phoenix for just their fifth win of the season. The game was won between the second and third quarters, when the Raptors put together their first back-to-back 30-point quarters of the season.

In addition to snapping an eight-game losing streak, the Raptors also beat the Suns for the first time since February 10, 2004, and for the first time since November 2, 2001, they beat a Steve Nash-led team.

Now here are my thoughts on the game:

1- It’s a bit easier to get some offence going and get a W when you have an All-Star in the lineup, and I continue to believe that’s the caliber of play Andrea Bargnani is bringing this season. Despite missing six games with a strained calf and being out of action for 13 days, Bargnani picked up right where he left off. Sure, he got off to a slow start offensively (0-of-4 from the floor), but he was still doing the little things on the floor and staying aggressive, which told me he was mentally into the game and just needed to get his timing back.

What I didn’t anticipate was how quickly that timing would return. Bargnani exploded for 18 points in the third quarter alone, when the Raptors really turned the tide in the ball game, and finished with a game-high and personal season-high of 36 points. Even better, he did it on 21 shots while playing some solid defence and coming up with six rebounds. Andrea the All-Star? Yes, Andrea the All-Star.

2- As if Ed Davis’ season hasn’t been frustrating enough, the young big man had to feel like he hit rock bottom tonight. Three minutes of playing time, zero points on 0-for-1 shooting, one rebound, one turnover, three personal fouls.  Ouch, that’s really all there is to say. This has to be the bottom of the barrel for Davis…right?!

3- I mentioned that the Raptors had to claw back after another sluggish start to a game and another early double-digit deficit. For a young team that should be able to pounce on older teams early, these first quarter woes are really becoming a major concern for Toronto. In their last six first quarters, the Raptors have been outscored by a combined 159-88 (an average of about 26.5-14.7), have trailed by anywhere from eight-to-16 points after the last six opening frames and haven’t scored more than 18 points in a first quarter in any of those games. With that aforementioned youth, I assumed the Raptors would lose a lot of games this season after opening up surprising leads early on. Instead, they’re almost facing an uphill battle by the game’s first stoppage.

4- As bad as the first quarter was for the Raptors in this game, the third quarter was that much better. Carried by a barrage of Bargnani buckets, Toronto outscored Phoenix 31-19 (Bargnani himself, with 18 points in the third, almost matched the Suns’ entire output for the quarter), and went from being down four at halftime to up eight heading into the fourth quarter. It was definitely one of the best, most complete quarters of the season for the Raptors, if not the best so far this year, both from an offensive and defensive standpoint.

5- Here’s my quick take on the Suns. Outside of Steve Nash, and maybe Marcin Gortat, I don’t think you can name one player on that roster who is an NBA starter at this point in their career. Even beyond looking for starters, can you even find more than three or four guys on that roster who can legitimately impact a game on any given night? The Suns need to blow it up and start all over again, and that process will be made easier when about $30 million comes off their books this off-season. But they can speed up the rebuilding process by trading Steve Nash before the trade deadline (and freeing him from this mess of a situation) and stock-piling some good young talent, which they have none of right now. Trading Nash mid-season would also likely put them in better position for the stacked 2012 Draft.

They owe it to Nash, and they owe it to themselves.

6- I could spend my last thought knocking another lackluster performance from DeMar DeRozan, but I’ve said enough about his recent play already. Instead, I’ll take the high road and talk about a positive right now, and that’s James Johnson. Johnson finished with 18 points (on seven-of-12 shooting) to go along with 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. In addition, he played more minutes than anyone besides Bargnani and turned the ball over just twice in those 35 minutes. In his last three games, Johnson is averaging 16 points on 54 per cent shooting to go along with six rebounds and about two blocks and two steals.

He doesn’t have to score that prolifically, but as I’ve mentioned recently, if Johnson can even become an average offensive option when the Raptors need him, then coupled with his versatile defence, I’d say at 24, he definitely has a place in the Raptors’ future in some capacity.

***

Next up for the Raptors is the back end of a back-to-back in Utah on Wednesday night. The Jazz are an underrated team in the Western Conference and are sitting at home well rested, so the Raps could and should get knocked back down to earth after this win.

Never the less, even in a mostly lost season more about draft positioning than anything else, you still don’t want to see double-digit losing streaks, so this was a much-needed victory for the young Raptors.

Raptors Player of the Game: Andrea Bargnani – 42 Min, 36 Pts, 10-21 FG, 4-6 3PT, 12-12 FT, 6 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO

Suns Player of the Game: Marcin Gortat – 38 Min, 21 Pts, 9-16 FG, 3-5 FT, 12 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Blk

12 Comments

Game thread: Raptors vs. Suns

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Game thread, Phoenix Suns on Jan 24, 2012

Start time: 9:00 PM ET
Channel: TSN
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson, Ed Davis, Amir Johnson
Phoenix: Steve Nash, Ronnie Price, Grant Hill, Markieff Morris, Marcin Gortat

Injury report

Toronto: Andrea Bargnani is questionable for tonight.

Phoenix: No injuries reported.

What a tremendously depressing game this is. The Raptors are depressing because they’re tied with the Hornets for the NBA’s longest ongoing losing streak (at eight games) and the Suns are depressing because Steve Nash is being wasted on a pitiful Suns squad. Nash is still awesome and Marcin Gortat is now unquestionably a top 10 center, but there’s a huge dropoff in talent after those two. Their third-best player is either Jared Dudley or Markieff Morris.

The Raptors really, really, really need Andrea Bargnani to return to the starting lineup soon. You already knew that, but did you also know that the Raptors are averaging a league-worst 19.3 points in the first quarter? They don’t have a “go-to” guy who is likely to get hot early and stake the team to an early lead. It may be faint praise to say that anyone is the MVP on this suckhole team, but there’s no longer any question that Bargnani is the MVP of this team. And no, I never thought I would type, say or even think those words in that particular sequence.

Random thoughts…

  • Is it weird that I’m happy that Jerryd Bayless is back? I just enjoy watching him play. I don’t know if he’ll ever be a starter on a winning team, though.
  • As a Jays fan, I’m perfectly fine with Alex Anthopoulos not trying to top the nine-year, $214-million contract that Prince Fielder just signed with the Tigers. That deal is probably going to look really ugly by the sixth year, if not sooner.
  • I’m surprised it’s taken me this long into the season to share a “That Mitchell and Webb Look” video with y’all in these posts but now that I’ve remembered that show, you’ll be seeing a lot of these.

No Comments

DeRozan’s Disappointing Performance Has Been Recognized

Posted by Joseph Casciaro under DeMar DeRozan on Jan 24, 2012

Any Raptors fan who has paid any attention the last few weeks knows how utterly disappointing DeMar DeRozan has been.

After starting the season with an eyebrow-raising performance through six games that saw him and Andrea Bargnani, the league’s best defender, form one of the NBA’s highest scoring duos, DeRozan’s game has flown South faster than a Canada Goose.

Remember, this is a guy who picked it up big time over the second half of the 2010-2011 season and was dropping 20-points plus on a regular basis as a 21-year-old. So when he appeared to have added a three-point shot and extra range to his offensive game and then seemed to start the 2011-2012 season right where he left off last year, a lot of NBA fans and analysts thought this could be a real break-out season for DeRozan.

While that can certainly still happen over the next three months and 49 games, it becomes less likely with every four-of-19 performance and each passing day.

Just like his meteoric rise grabbed some attention from around the Association, DeRozan’s equally fast fall is attracting plenty of eyeballs too.

Today, ESPN Insider John Hollinger rightfully named DeMar to his first quarter All-Disappointment Team. Here’s what Hollinger had to write about DeRozan:

“Remember all those positive stories the first week of the season about DeRozan’s improved 3-point stroke? That went away fast, huh? DeRozan is indeed shooting slightly better on 3s (12-for-38 after making a total of nine in his first two pro seasons).

Unfortunately for the Raptors, he’s only making 39.2 percent of his 2s, and for a player whose only redeeming quality is shot creation, that’s a major problem. DeRozan’s PER has slipped nearly five points in what was supposed to be his breakout year; in additional to the shooting woes, he’s turning the ball over more and passing it less than ever.”

Just how bad has DeRozan’s performance been over the last few weeks? He went from 18.5 points on 47.6 per cent shooting (10-of-16 from three-point range) in his first six games to 12.6 points on a disastrous 32.9 per cent shooting (two-of-22) in his last 11 contests. In addition, a notoriously poor ball handler, DeMar turned the ball over 10 times in those first six games. Since then, he’s turned it over 28 times in 11 games.

As a whole, DeRozan’s recent slump brings his season averages to 14.8 points on 38 per cent shooting and 31.6 per cent three-point shooting, 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.2 turnovers. From his sophomore season to this season so far, his scoring is down, his overall shooting is down, his rebounding and assists are slightly down, and his turnover rate is noticeably up.

One positive sign that DeRozan may finally be committing to attacking the basket to get out of this funk comes in the form of his free throw attempts. After totaling just 17 attempts in a five-game span, DeMar has gone to the line 18 times over his last two games. He’s going to have to continue to stay aggressive if he wants to start getting calls and scoring on a consistent basis again.

It’s still too early to be panicking about DeRozan. After all, he was born in 1989 and still has plenty of time to develop his overall game. His struggles are being magnified right now because with Bargnani out, DeMar is being asked to be the lead scorer, and he has shown an inability to be that guy.

Having said that, I also think it’s foolish to simply sweep the last three weeks under the rug just because DeMar is young. At the end of the day, he has to realize that he is being both counted on and promoted as one of the building blocks of this franchise’s future. Be aggressive, get to the free throw line, be a little more selective with your shot-selection, make defence a priority and contribute in other facets of the game. It sounds like a lot, but DeRozan’s slowly getting to a point where his age and inexperience can no longer be an excuse.

DeMar DeRozan has the potential to be a complete player and one of those aforementioned legitimate franchise building blocks for the Raptors, but right now, his game has too many holes for it to happen over night.

I just wonder at what point this “slump” stops being considered a simple slump, and just gets chalked up to a forgettable, wasted season in DeRozan’s development.

5 Comments

Of Course Andrea Bargnani Has the Best Defensive Rating in the NBA

Posted by Joseph Casciaro under Andrea Bargnani, Stats geekery on Jan 24, 2012

We already knew Andrea Bargnani was playing at a career-best level before a calf strain put him on the shelf, maybe even at an All Star level. Most of that was based on his impressive and efficient offensive arsenal to start the season, and also on what fans and experts alike agreed was a dramatic improvement in his team defence (he was already a decent man-to-man defender, whether you want to believe it or not).

But nobody, not even the most optimistic Raptors fan or Bargnani supporter could have predicted or imagined this:

After I got over the shock of this tweet, I began to wonder what exactly this meant. Did it mean Bargnani had the lowest Defensive Points Per Possession rating when he was on the floor? Did it mean Bargnani had the best rating in terms of one-on-one situations? There’s obviously a big difference.

Luckily for us, Hardwood Paroxysm founder Matt Moore responds to tweets and gladly answered my questions. Here are his responses:

I won’t argue with you if you say 11 games is too small a sample to officially proclaim Bargnani a changed player, but as I wrote yesterday, there hasn’t been that much to get excited about in the first quarter of this season, so Bargnani’s apparent evolution from one-dimensional bust to a complete package and possible All Star (if he gets back on the court this week and picks up where he left off) is what we’re left with.

Who knows how Bargnani will look and play when he returns from injury? Maybe a month from now we’re all frustrated about the return of “Old Bargnani.” But for right now, Andrea continues to provide us with hope and evidence (even when he’s not playing) that the Raptors have at least one of their five positions filled with an above average player, on both ends of the floor, for the next few years.

6 Comments
« Older Entries