Court Surfing

Back to the Future, Raptors Style: The Week that Was and Week that Will Be: Week Two

Joe Casciaro — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:22:00 GMT

Week that Was:

Nov. 4 – 110-99 W vs. Detroit – After a 1-2 opening week that ended with a couple of duds, Toronto Raptors fans were nervous coming into this one. Toronto had just been man-handled by an under-manned Magic team at home, and now faced a short-handed Pistons team that had defeated the Magic the night before. The Raptors came out slow, relied on their bench to create a spark, then rode that spark to a 17-point third quarter lead. Cue the expected meltdown, as the Pistons climbed all the way back, taking a one-point lead midway through the fourth. The Raptors defence stepped up, specifically Jarrett Jack on Ben Gordon, and they were able to come away with an important win before heading out West.

Nov. 6 – 107-90 W @ New Orleans – The Raptors played their best game since an opening night domination of the Cavaliers. They were not particularly good in the first half, but they played well enough on the road to stay in the game, and that’s all you can ask for. Then the second half began, and the Raptors put on a shooting expedition that showcased just how scary this team can be when their offence gets rolling and they step up their defence. The Raptors were walking away with back-to-back double digit victories.

Nov. 7 – 101-129 L @ Dallas – The talk of the day leading to tip-off was the possibility of Chris Bosh getting his first professional victory in Dallas. After all, the Raptors were coming off of an impressive road victory. For the second night in a row, Toronto played just well enough to remain in a road game at halftime. Only on this night, they were the team being absolutely lit up in the second half. Dallas outscored Toronto 74-53 over the final two frames (including a 44-point fourth quarter), putting a ridiculous 129 points on the board. Bosh was still winless in Dallas, and the Raptors came back down to earth.

Summary: From a fan’s perspective, it is often a case of “what have you done for me lately?” If that is the case, then all Raptors fans can remember is having the barn doors blown off in a 28-point loss. When we look at the week as a whole, we can see that the Raptors had a fairly successful week. Sure, they blew a large lead at home to Detroit before pulling away late and were shellacked by Dallas, but the win in New Orleans was impressive. Coming into the week, an ideal situation would have been to take care of Detroit at home and then get a split of the back-to-back . The Raptors achieved that, though next time I’d like to see them be less content with a split. 3-3 after six games for this team? That’s about right.

Raptor of the Week: Chris Bosh – 32.3 MPG, 26 PPG, 9 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1 BPG 1 SPG (Andrea gave him a run for his money, but Bosh takes the honour for the second week in a row)

Week that Will Be:

Mon. @ San Antonio – In years past, maybe the Raptors and their fans would be just fine leaving a three-game Western road trip with one win, but not this season. The Raptors have shown they can play at a high level, and against a struggling Spurs team (I’ve never said that before), who will be missing Tony Parker, the Raptors should be looking to steal two of three games on this short trip. Having said that, I suspect we will see an improved Spurs team, desperate to get a home win against an inferior opponent. The key matchup will be Bosh versus Duncan, without question.

Wed. vs. Chicago – While I believe the Raptors are the better team, the Bulls can not, and should not be taken lightly. Derrick Rose is an explosive player who can take over a game in a matter of minutes. As a whole, the Bulls are similar to the Raptors in that they can beat any team in the league on their best night, and look down right awful on their worst. Much like the Pistons game last Wednesday, this is a home game the Raptors should get before the second half of a road-heavy portion of the schedule begins. I’m looking for the Raptors’ bench to be the key here. The Bulls are not a deep team and have a few bodies out of the lineup (Aaron Gray, Tyrus Thomas, Jerome James).

Fri. @ L.A. Clippers – If there is one team you would usually want to play to begin a Western road trip, it’s the Clippers. There is nothing like getting your confidence going to kick-start a road trip. But this year’s edition of the Clippers are not to be taken lightly, and the Raptors will be embarrassed if they make that mistake. After starting 0-4, L.A. has reeled off three straight wins and will be looking at Toronto the same way Toronto is looking at them: “we should beat these guys.” The key matchup will be the Raptors combo of Bosh and Bargnani versus Camby and Kaman. Camby is not what he once was and Kaman is more of a pure inside presence. If Chris and Andrea can get those two out of their comfort zone, it will be a long night for the Clippers’ bigs.

Sun. @ Phoenix – Out of all the games this week, this is the one to be fearful of. The Raptors will be playing their fourth game in seven nights, will be in the midst of a gruelling road trip and will still be a poor defensive club, facing the most potent offence in the league on their home floor. This is not a game I am expecting the Raptors to be in, much less win. What is scary to think about is how many points the Suns can put on the board if the Raptors don’t shore things up defensively. Calderon versus Nash will be interesting, but the matchup I want to see is Amare versus Bosh. Remember Stoudemire’s quote that he is better than Bosh, “without a doubt?”

On the Hot Seat: Andrea Bargnani – Nobody stuck out this week like Calderon did last week, and I have been quite impressed with Andrea through six games. The reason I selected him as the Raptor who needs to step up is for his rebounding work. Bargnani has proven he can score, almost at will, and he has improved the balance in his offensive game between inside and the perimeter. However, aside from a 12-rebound performance against Detroit, Bargnani has yet to consistently establish himself on the glass. I am not expecting 10 rebounds per game, but would like to see less of the five-rebound performances too.

The Recap: November 8th, 2009

Holly MacKenzie — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

It was a relatively quiet Saturday night around the association with seven games on the slate and a lot of blowouts. News of the day was Chris Douglas-Roberts being diagnosed with H1N1 and Allen Iverson leaving the Memphis Grizzlies for "personal reasons."

Hawks 125, Nuggets 100 - One night after getting their tails kicked in Miami, the Denver Nuggets were unable to give a better effort in Atlanta, getting blown out 125-100. Falling behind by nine after the first quarter, the Hawks did not let up, led by Josh Smith and his monster line. The Hawks outrebounded Denver by 11 while recording 30 team assists to just eight turnovers.

Quote of the game: “I had opportunities to succeed and I seized the moment. I have wonderful guys to pass the ball to and I was really looking to crash the boards." - Josh Smith

Player of the game: Josh Smith - 22 pts, 8-10 fgs, 9 rebs, 7 asts, 6 blks

Celtics 86, Nets 75 - After Chris Douglas-Roberts was diagnosed with H1N1, the Nets were again with eight bodies in uniform. Eight bodies in uniform on the second night of a back to back and still, the Nets hung with the Celtics until the fourth quarter where their energy gave out on them and they were outscored 27-15 while also giving up 20 steals to the Celtics.

Quote of the game: “Well, we’re down to the great eight.” - Lawrence Frank

Player of the game: Rajon Rondo - 16 pts, 8-11 fgs, 4 rebs, 3 asts, 5 stls

Bulls 93, Bobcats 90 - One night after taking down the Atlanta Hawks, the Charlotte Bobcats gave up a nine-point lead thanks to a 16-0 run by the the Chicago Bulls spanning the third and forth quarters. While the Bulls got sloppy in the final minutes, the Bobcats couldn't take advantage and Chicago escaped with the victory, thanks to a 27-point night from John Salmons.

Quote of the game: “I know I’m not going to score 21 points every night. I think that I want to see consistently is my rebounding and my defensive effort. I feel like offensively, I’m just going to try to clean up the glass." - Joakim Noah

Player of the game: Joakim Noah - 21 pts, 10-12 fgs, 16 rebs, 3 asts, 4 blks,

Mavericks 129, Raptors 101 - One night after stomping all over the New Orleans Hornets in New Orleans, the Toronto Raptors went to Dallas and were stomped by the Mavericks. Keeping the game close in the first half, fatigue hit the Raptors hard at halftime and the team fell apart in the third, falling behind by 15 at the end of the third quarter. Things only got uglier in the fourth as they gave up a 44-point quarter to the Dallas squad.

Quote of the game: “I was nervous as heck out there, but after I made my first couple free throws, I was fine.” - Josh Howard

Player of the game: Dirk Nowitzki - 29 pts, 12-20 fgs, 9 rebs, 4 asts, 2 stls, 1 blk

Bucks 102, Knicks 87 - Not a lot to say about this one, except at one point the Knicks trailed by 27 points when they had scored only 26. Yes, the Bucks more than doubled them and the Knicks coaching staff and front office execs had to watch Brandon Jennings --the rookie they didn't pick-- play 26 minutes and score 17 points while Jodie Meeks --the Bucks second-round pick-- score 19 points while their draft pick, Jordan Hill contributed seven points.

Quote of the game: “I think we were all stunned. I’ve taken a licking before, but I don’t know what’s worse that that." - Mike D'Antoni

Player of the game: Andrew Bogut - 22 pts, 8-14 fg, 8 rebs, 4 asts, 1 stl

Kings 104, Jazz 99 - This one wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated, with the Kings rallying together after losing Kevin Martin for 6-8 weeks to surgery. It was rookie Tyreke Evans who led the way over a Jazz team that had took down the San Antonio Spurs the night before. Evans finished with 32 points and seven assists, while getting to the line 19 times, converting 16 attempts. The Jazz lost despite a dazzling performance from Deron Williams who contributed 29 points and 15 assists in the loss.

Quote of the game: "My confidence is up. When I see guys like D-Will step on the court, I just want to go in there and attack. I want to put the pressure on them and I think I did that tonight." - Tyreke Evans

Player of the game: Tyreke Evans - 32 pts, 7-15 fgs, 2-3pt fgs, 16-19 fts, 3 rebs, 7 asts, 1 stl

Clippers 113, Grizzlies 110 - In the nightcap of a Saturday night with lots of blow outs, the Grizzlies and Clippers kept it close. With the biggest buzz surrounding the Grizzlies being the news about Allen Iverson's departure from the team, Memphis came out and battled against the Clippers before falling behind in the final minutes, falling just short after Baron Davis and Rasual Butler each split a pair of free throws and a three-point attempt by Rudy Gay was too strong.

Player of the game: Chris Kaman - 26 pts, 8-16 fgs, 9 rebs, 4 asts, 1 stl, 1 blk

The Recap: November 7th, 2009

Holly MacKenzie — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:05:00 GMT

Coming into a busy Friday night in the association, there were two teams boasting undefeated records. The Celtics and Nuggets both fell last night, leaving no team unbeaten and the Nets as the only team left waiting to get into the win column. Lots of action below, including Kobe Bryant going for 41 points while becoming the youngest player to reach 24,000 career points.

Bobcats 103, Hawks 83 - After winning their last two on the road, the Atlanta Hawks were road weary against the Bobcats and fell hard, dropping the 103-83 decision after scoring just 14 points in the fourth quarter. Trailing just four at the end of the first quarter, that deficit grew to 13 at the half and was over 20 in the third. While the Hawks fell apart, Raja Bell found his groove for the Bobcats, scoring 24 points, including 5-for-6 from the three-point line and Gerald Wallace was a beast on the boards pulling down 18.

Quote of the game: “I don’t know when we all of a sudden just really became a selfish team. Now everybody wants to go one-on-one. It’s me, me, me. It’s crazy, man.” - Joe Johnson

Player of the game: Raja Bell - 24 pts, 9-12 fg, 5-6 3pt fg, 4 asts

Pacers 102, Wizards 86 - In an ugly game at Conseco Field House, the Pacers rolled over the Wizards, despite both teams struggling from the floor. Rookie Tyler Hansbrough made his NBA debut and finished with 13 points in his 13 minutes of playing time as Indiana had a field day at the free throw line, connecting on more free throws (27 of 36 attempts) than the Wizards attempted (15-26). Dahntay Jones continued his scoring ways, finishing with 18 for the Pacers as T.J. Ford finished with 18 points and 10 boards. Caron Butler scored 24 points to go with 12 boards for the Wiz.

Quote of the game: “He brings that intensity, kind of that mad-dog intensity, I like to refer to him as a pitbull on the loose." - Danny Granger on Hansbrough

Player of the game: Roy Hibbert - 12 points, 5-9 fgs, 11 rebounds, 5 blks, 2 asts

76ers 97, Nets 94 - It was a win, but an ugly one for the Sixers, playing against a Nets team that had only four players on it's bench. Tight in the final minutes, Andre Iguodala hit a three-pointer to give his team the lead (although they almost did themselves in with costly misses at the free throw line), then got the deflection on Nets rookie Terrence Williams to prevent the Nets from tying the game, in a 97-94 victory last night in Philadelphia. The loss dropped the Nets to 0-6 on the season as three of their players topped the 40 minute mark for the game.

Quote of the game: “I wish we could have played better,” Iguodala said. “We’ll still take the win. It counts.”

Player of the game: Lou Williams - 18 pts, 6-14 fgs, 9 rebs, 6 asts, 1 stl

Magic 110 Pistons 103 - After the Pistons held the Magic to just 80 points in a victory early this week, the defending Eastern Conference champs came roaring back Friday night. Never trailing in the game, they jumped out to a 19-point lead early in the first half and did not allow the Pistons to get any closer than six in the game. Outscoring the Pistons 40-23 at the end of the first quarter, it was a long night for a Detroit team that lost despite shooting 51% from the floor.

Quote of the game: "Sometimes you have ugly games, and tonight the fourth quarter was ugly, but we still got a good win.” - Dwight Howard

Player of the game: Dwight Howard - 22 pts, 7-8 fgs, 8-9 fts, 12 rebs, 3 asts, 2 blks

Raptors 107, Hornets 90 - In their first game of a three-game west coast roadtrip the Toronto Raptors used hot shooting beyond the arc to take down the New Orleans Hornets. Trailing early, the Raptors outscored New Orleans 34-14 in the third quarter as they hit a barrage of three-pointers to break the game open. Want to know how bad it was for the Hornets? They had six field goals in the third quarter. The Raptors connected on eight three-pointers in the third quarter. Yikes. Chris Bosh was perfect from the floor, finishing 7-7 with 27 points and seven rebounds. Chris Paul was brilliant in the loss, scoring 21 points and dishing 18 assists to go with seven rebounds.

Quote of the game: “Out of the eight 3-pointers made, I saw us contend two. I saw a lack of energy. For the life of me, I can't understand why we came out without any energy.” - Byron Scott

Player of the game: Chris Paul - 21 pts, 8-13 fgs, 18 asts, 7 rebs, 2 stls

Suns 110, Celtics 103 - Coming into Friday night, the Celtics were undefeated, starting the season 6-0. That changed after a matchup against the Suns, and a 34-point performance from Jason Richardson. While the Suns led early and throughout the game, the Celtics made a push late and cut the lead to four before Steve Nash responded for the Suns, knocking down a three-pointer with 51 seconds remaining to give his team some breathing room. J. Rich finished a sizzling 6-for-7 from beyond the arc and scored his 34 points on just 16 field goal attempts. With the victory the Suns improved to 5-1 on the season.

Quote of the game: It was a feel tonight, like everything you throw up is going to go in. I wanted to come out, be aggressive and take it from there.” - Jason Richardson

Player of the game: Jason Richardson - 34 pts, 10-16 fgs, 6-7 3pt fgs, 10 rebs, 2 asts, 1 stl

Cavaliers 100, Knicks 91 - The outcome of this one doesn't really even matter. The Cavs won, big surprise. The Knicks have been atrocious so far this season, falling to 1-5 with the loss, but the story here is LeBron James making his only visit to the Garden this season. While he finished with 33, a fine total, it had the makings of a special night for James as he finished with 19 points, five assists and three rebounds after the first quarter. He slowed down as did the Cavs, but when the final buzzer sounded, he had the victory, he had the cheers and he was the apple of the Big Apple's eye.

Quote of the game: “You almost feel like you’re a performer sitting on the stage and they’re watching you perform.” - LeBron James on playing at MSG

Player of the game: LeBron James - 33 pts, 12-17 fgs, 8 rebs, 9 ats, 3 stls

Bucks 87, Timberwolves 72 - It was a game that many didn't count as must-see, but for fans of rookie point guards Johnny Flynn and Brandon Jennings (read: this girl), it was a game to watch. While Jennings struggled (4-for-16 from the floor), Flynn excelled yet Flynn's team came up on the losing end as Jennings got plently of help from his teammates this time around, coming back from a 10-point deficit at the end of the first quarter by outscoring Minnesota 31-14 in the third quarter.

Quote of the game: “I believe Scott Skiles had something to do with that. I would’ve loved to hear what he had to say in the locker room." - Jonny Flynn on the Bucks coming out strong in the second half

Player of the game: Andrew Bogut - 17 pts, 8-14 fgs, 10 rebs, 4 asts, 2 stls, 2 blks

Rockets 105, Thunder 94 - After winning their previous 10 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Houston Rockets had five of their players reach double figures, with Trevor Ariza and Carl Landry scoring 21 points apiece to extend their run to 11 straight. While the game was never entirely out of reach for the Thunder, they simply could not get the stops they needed, allowing the Rockets to shoot 53% from the floor for the game.

Quote of the game: "We’ve got unselfish guys on this team. Nobody on this team is playing for themselves. We are playing together, and everybody has got one goal in mind, and that is to win games." - Chase Budinger

Player of the game: Russell Westbrook - 33 pts, 14-25, 7 asts, 5 rebs, 1 stl

Heat 96, Nuggets 88 - Coming into the game undefeated, the Nuggets held the league's highest scoring average at 115.4 points per game. Things unraveled quickly for Denver against the Heat. With 19 turnovers and a 23-point defict at the end of the third quarter, not being able to top 90 points was the least of the Nuggets worries. 2-for-13 from the three-point line, just 10 team assists to 19 turnovers and getting outrebounded by the Heat, it simply was not Denver's night. On the Miami side of things, the Heat continue to impress with their defensive energy and cohesion on the offensive end of the court.

Quote of the game: “I’m not going to give anyone an ‘A’ on this one, we all have to be disappointed on how we showed up.” -George Karl

Player of the game: Mario Chalmers - 16 pts, 6-9 fgs, 4-5 3pt fgs, 5 rebs, 4 asts, 1 stl

Lakers 114, Grizzlies 98 - While the talk to start the season has been all about Melo being the early pick for MVP, Kobe Bryant has quietly been making his case, game by game. Scoring 41 points on 19-for-30 shooting, Bryant became the youngest player to top 24,000 points on the NBA career scoring list. The man who was drafted first in the 1996 draft by Bryant's hometown Sixers, Allen Iverson logged 21 minutes off of the bench and attempted just five field goals, finishing with eight points.

Player of the game: Kobe Bryant - 41 pts, 19-30 fgs, 4 rebs, 1 stl, 1 ast

Clippers 104, Warriors 89 - Baron Davis has always liked playing in Golden State's arena. Even though he's a Clipper now, it still feels like home. Against his former team, Davis put in a 25-point, 13-assist night as his current team grabbed their first W of the season thanks to a 30-point first quarter that saw them leading by 11 after the first 12 minutes of the game. While the Clippers shot a scorching 57% from the floor, the Warriors managed just 34% shooting on a night when nothing went right for the home team.

Quote of the game: "We all should be embarrassed. This is a terrible game. Terrible performance. We looked like we ddn't know what were doing out there. We looked like a high school team. We didn't do nothing." - Monta Ellis

Player of the game: Baron Davis - 25 pts, 8-13 fgs, 7 asts, 3 rebs, 4 stls,

Blazers 96, Spurs 84 - It was an ugly, ugly game for the Spurs. Looking older than they'd like, a slow start did them in once again, this time with the Blazers leading 27-14 at the end of the first quarter. While San Antonio woke up soon after and stayed with the Blazers for the rest of the game, they simply couldn't get the stops to dig themselves out of the hole they had gotten themselves into, shooting just 38% from the floor for in the contest.

Player of the game: Brandon Roy - 25 pts, 9-15 fgs, 5 rebs, 2 asts

The Recap: November 6, 2009

Joe Casciaro — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:39:00 GMT

Only two games on the docket on this night, as per usual on Thursday nights. I can't lie and say we witnessed two good basketball games, but they were interesting, as two title contenders fell.

Bulls 86, Cavaliers 85 - One thing appears evident after a week of this NBA season; either the Cleveland Cavaliers will take time to gel, or they just are not the team we all thought they would be. As has been the case through the previous five games, Cleveland could not find their rhythm and even LeBron James could not save the Cavs, as he was stopped on a game-ending drive.

Quote of the Game: "We had a chance to win at the end. If we limit some of our silly mistakes, we'll be fine." - Shaquille O'Neal

Player of the Game: LeBron James - 25 Pts, 9-17 FG, 1-4 3Pt, 6-9 FT, 7 Reb, 6 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk

Jazz 113, Spurs 99 – The Jazz beating the Spurs in Utah wasn’t a shocker, even considering how poorly Utah was playing to begin the season. The surprise of this game was that the Spurs (or at least the Spurs we have come to know) never seemed to be in the building. Tim Duncan looked ok, Tony Parker couldn’t penetrate a solid Utah defence, Manu Ginobili looked like a shadow of himself and Richard Jefferson hardly looked like the prized off-season acquisition he was made out to be. As for the Jazz, Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer combined for 54 points, 21 rebounds, 12 assists, three steals and three blocks.

Quote of the Game: “We've got a lot of work to do to become a good defensive team and Utah obviously took advantage of that tonight.” - Gregg Popovich

Player of the Game: Carlos Boozer – 27 Pts, 12-20 FG, 3-3 FT, 14 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 Blk

We're talking about practice: Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Holly MacKenzie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:41:00 GMT

- My goodness there are a lot of quotes from the Raps today. While the team won their game last night, they still went long in their practice session this a.m., pushing their flight back until they were satisfied with the work they put in, prepping for the New Orleans Hornets tomorrow evening.

- One of the best parts of last night was getting to hear Charles Oakley talk to us pregame. He went on for awhile, and of course had some gems. Our guy Eric Koreen from the National Post has a rundown of some of his best. Loved the quote about the summer of 2010. Wish I had been around to cover this guy on a daily basis.

- If you want to see my take on the game last night, check out my game story for nba.com.

- I hadn't realized Jarrett Jack and Antoine Wright have known each other since high school, but Jack told us this last night when he was saying they've been around the league for awhile and have a really good relationship as teammates who challenge each other. Hearing each talk about talking to the other while they were on the bench in the game last night gives a good impression of the basketball IQs of each of these guys. They are two of the most vocal guys on the team in terms of talking while they are on the floor and for pulling their teammates aside to give them pointers and/or advice. Another thing the two share is their defensive mindset. Both are gritty players who understand and value the importance of doing the little things right, every time they are on the floor.

- Almost had a potentially embarrassing moment in Chris Bosh's scrum today. Jack and Wright were shooting halfcourt shots and three-pointers while Alvin Williams rebounded and heckled them at the same time. Williams whipped a pass to Wright that was this close to hitting me. I had one hand raised in the scrum, holding my recorder. The other I used to shield myself while reminding myself not to scream or I'd sound like a baby on the evening edition of Raptors Today, messing up Bosh's scrum. Luckily, Wright saved the pass, Williams sheepishly said he wasn't trying to hit me and I still had flashbacks of every broken nose I've ever seen. Yuck.

- Jack connected on a halfcourt shot, if you're keeping score.

Jay Triano scrum

- On the lineup in the fourth to finish the game: "We decided to go back in the fourth quarter to our traditional lineup and ask our bigs to guard some of the smaller guys and for the most part they did a good job. Then we were able to get things flowing offensively again, because we had that poor third quarter."

- Jose Calderon's play and the drop in his assist numbers through four games: "We're playing Jose with two other guys who can make plays. It makes it tough for teams to guard us and I think that's one of the reasons why we have so many more points. Yes his assists are down, but it's not because he's not playing well, its because we have other guys that can handle and other guys that can make plays. Defences have a more difficult time focusing on one particular player in any type of screen and roll action."

- Andrea Bargnani's passing abilities: "He's a good passer. Sometimes he likes to make the home-run pass, instead of the simple pass but he's getting better at it. I think the one thing, this team has shared the ball very well and our assist numbers are very good as a team compared to field goals made."

- Calderon again: "I don't know if he's playing as well as he'd like right now, but he's playing at a very high energy level for sure. A lot of that may have to do with the rust and with the fact for the first time in his career, he has taken a five-month period of time away from competitive basketball. We have no doubts he's bouncing back and even last night, he played much better in the second half."

- Facing Chris Paul, Jason Kidd and Tony Parker on this three-game road trip: "Very good point guards and it doesn't stop there. We come home and play Derrick Rose, and then it's Baron Davis, Steve Nash, it just keeps going. That's what this league is. It's about being able to stop point guards. We're going to have to get a little better at it then we are now, but I think we're still doing a pretty good job and our focus today in practice was on Chris Paul and how we're going to try to stop the Hornets."

- The luxury of having Jack on the bench: "It's one of the reasons we did what we did in the off-season -- getting depth at that position. I think we got a lot of help from Antoine Wright as well, from Marco in a game earlier this year. Our bigs, Amir played well last night, Rasho has played extremely steady. The one thing this team has is a lot more depth. When guys aren't playing as well, or are struggling a bit, that's when we go to the bench and hope those guys pick it up and so far they have."

- The unselfishness of this team: "We had a lot of guys say very unselfish things last night. Antoine, I thought about putting him in late in the game for defensive purposes and he said 'Coach, these guys are rolling, let them go. They're doing fine,' and that's just the sign of a guy who is wiling to sacrifice minutes for the sake of our team staying on a roll. That's one of the things we have to try to maintain over 82 games."

- Bosh getting to the line:"The first thing we talked about in training camp was to get fouled. It puts the other team in the bonus a little bit earlier, puts one of their players in jeopardy of having to leave and it gives you an opportunity to go to the line where you should be able to shoot 80%."

Calderon scrum

- Is he pleased with his play to start the season? "No, no. I think I can get better on both ends of the floor and you know, offence and defence got to be much better. It's only four games into the season, I've given my best. It's not going really good right now, but we're winning, we won last night so it doesn't matter right now. I just have to keep on practising and try to get into my best basketball. We've got guys who've been playing really good and it's great."

- The defence in the fourth quarter: "The last five minutes were good. Everybody was talking and helping each other and I think that was missing in the first quarter a little bit and in some points of the third quarter too. We've got to be able to do that for 48 minutes. I think it's easier for everybody but sometimes, I don't know why, we just make some mistakes, we relax and there's no talking and we've got to get back to that. The last five minutes were pretty good. Everybody was talking, everybody was comfortable, everybody was helping each other and you knew what your help was and it was great."

Bosh scrum

On Jack being able to make it easier for Calderon: "That's good. I think that's good. It's not as much pressure on Jose and once he finds his way... Sometimes that's what it's about, being able to find your way in the offence. We have new guards who can handle the ball so he doesn't have to handle the ball as much as he used to. Maybe he just needs to find a different way to go about things while playing his game at the same time."

- On having depth in your bench: "It's nice. It's a good feeling to know that if you're playing well or not playing well there's going to be some guys coming off the bench who can really give adequate minutes and can come in and kind of change the tempo of the game, either sustain or build the lead. That's very important for us and the starters have to do a better job of establishing the tempo and give them a little bit of a lead. Right now we're digging holes, not bad, but six, seven, four or five points. We need to give the bench something better to work with."

- What Jack brings to the court: "He's always been the same player. He always talks a lot, he's going to get to the basket. He's a good point guard, he's going to control the team, control the tempo and push the ball for us. Anytime you have a leader on the floor like that, it's very important for us."

- On the ticket situation when he goes home to Dallas: "I just go. I have my two tickets I have two friends and I let my mom and dad take care of all of the other stuff. I stopped stressing over it. I probably say now, after the game when I go over to talk to everybody, it's probably half of a section... I don't know any of my friends from junior high. A few from high school, high school coach, I had two of them and they want to bring their players, yeah its a lot of people." (laughs)

- Does he buy all of the tickets? "No, it comes out of my dad's pocket, which I guess is my pocket, too, (laughs), but he buys a lot of tickets. My mom buys a lot of tickets and they just give them away accordingly. Now they're trying to take my ticket and I'm like, 'I've just got two.' I used to be really excited about it, now it's just another game I really want to win."

Jack scrum

- Assessing his play in the game last night: "I just played aggressive. I played like typical me, I guess. I've been kind of beating myself up over the past three games because I knew I could be a little more effective out there than I was. I'm just happy I went out there and helped my team get a W. Coach pulled me aside a couple of times and told me to just play. It took a couple of rough games for me to really take his advice. I finally did and I thought it worked out for me."

- On building camaraderie on the road: "I don't know if guys have got to go out and get dinner and get a movie together. I think as long as all of us are focused every time we step out on the court, things will come. As long as whenever Coach is going over a game plan, we're in shootaround -- obviously for the next game we're going over Chris Paul, he's the focal point of their offence -- as long as everybody is paying attention to the coverages and everybody is on the same page as that, that's all that matters."

- Is Paul the hardest point guard in the league to guard? "I think so. I'll give you him, there's a number of guys, like Deron Williams, but Chris has the ball so much. He has the ball 104% of the time if you can calculate that, if you catch my drift. He's scoring the ball, he's making the pass for somebody else to score, just trying to corral him, obviously, which isn't something easy to do, that's the thing we really need to stress this upcoming game."

- How the Hornets have changed since Jack played in the Western Conference: "Their team has gotten a little older. They were a lot more athletic when we played them obviously with him and Tyson, the connection they had, throwing all of the lobs and stuff like that. Still, they are no slouch. They still have Peja, an incredible force coming off of the bench right now. Emeka and David West, another all-star. They do have other guys, other than Chris who can bring it, we've just got to be ready."

The Recap: November 5, 2009

Joe Casciaro — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:46:00 GMT

Another busy Wednesday of NBA action has passed us by, and if you missed any of it, then here is your trusted recap:

Magic 122, Suns 100 – No Vince Carter, no Rashard Lewis and one of the last remaining undefeated teams stroll into town. That’s just perfect for the Magic. The Magic not only beat the 4-0 Suns, they blew them out of the water. Again, Orlando’s depth continues to be an early-season story, as six Magic players scored in double figures to deliver yet another short-handed win.

Quote of the Game: “Well, dreams of an undefeated season have gone down.” – Alvin Gentry

Player of the Game: Ryan Anderson – 20 Pts, 8-14 FG, 3-3 3Pt, 1-3 FT, 10 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl

Heat 93, Wizards 89 – Dwyane Wade had to play every second of the second half and played a total of 43 minutes when it was all said and done, but at the end of the day, his Miami Heat won a divisional battle, and that’s all that matters. On the opposite side, after a solid opening week to his comeback season, Gilbert Arenas looked far from good on Wednesday night(despite scoring 32), taking a whopping 27 shots, and only making nine.

Quote of the Game: “This was one of those games where you have to will your team to victory as the leader.” – Dwyane Wade

Player of the Game: Dwyane Wade – 40 points, 14-26 FG, 2-5 3Pt, 10-13 FT, 4 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk

Raptors 110, Pistons 99 – On a night when the Toronto Raptors celebrated their 15th anniversary, the team was looking pretty vintage Raptors early in the fourth, having completed blowing a 17-point lead. But much like they did last Wednesday against the Cavs, the Raptors withstood a rally and answered back with a run of their own, only theirs was to close the game. Of note, Chris Bosh went to the line 20 times.

Quote of the Game: “It just seemed like we just ran out of gas.” – Charlie Villanueva

Player of the Game: Andrea Bargnani – 22 Pts, 8-16 FG, 2-6 3Pt, 4-5 FT, 12 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk

Nuggets 122, Nets 94 – Coming into this contest, you could have argued that things could not go much better for the Nuggets, and couldn’t possibly get worse for the Nets. That appeared correct at half-time, as the Nets held a one-point advantage over the undefeated Nuggets. Denver then dismantled the Nets in the second half, outscoring New Jersey 72-43 over the final 24 minutes. Denver is off to their best start since the 80s, the Nets, their worst start in franchise history. Now you could say it can’t get better for the Nuggets or worse for the Nets.

Quote of the Game: “I wasn't happy with the way things were going in the first half, so in the second half, I think we all wanted to pick it up in a hurry.” – Carmelo Anthony

Player of the Game: Ty Lawson – 23 Pts, 9-10 FG, 3-3 3Pt, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl

Pacers 101, Knicks 89 – While one New York team was wrapping up their 27th championship, another was looking like they’d be lucky to reach 27 wins. The latest Knicks assassins? The previously winless Indiana Pacers, who strolled into Madison Square Garden, played awful for 24 minutes, then managed to hold Mike D’Antoni’s “explosive” Knicks to just 33 second half points. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you beat the mighty Knicks.

Quote of the Game: “For whatever reason, it seems every time we get stuck or whatever, instead of having a little more determination or patience, we just jack one up…” – Mike D’Antoni

Player of the Game: David Lee – 20 Pts, 9-17 FG, 2-3 FT, 19 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 Blk

Celtics 92, Timberwolves 90 – How good can these Celtics be? How good are they already? Let’s put it into perspective. They just won a game to go to 6-0 on the young season, and it was considered a disappointment; not because they only narrowly escaped against a lowly Wolves team, but because they allowed a season-high 90 points. Yes, through six games, the worst defensive performance by the undefeated Celtics was allowing 90 points.

Quote of the Game: “I'm so numb when I come in here.” – Kevin Garnett, on returning to Minnesota

Player of the Game: Rajon Rondo – 18 Pts, 8-16 FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Reb, 6 Ast, 3 Stl

Lakers 103, Rockets 102 (OT) – Not taking anything away from the Artest-Ariza matchup, the Lakers or another brilliant performance by Kobe Bryant, the story, once again, was the Houston Rockets. If you weren’t buying in already, the Rockets went blow-for-blow with the defending champions and had a chance to win on the last play of the game. Trevor Ariza coughed up the ball, but nonetheless, the Rockets have to be the most impressive team through one week.

Quote of the Game: “I was only here one year and really didn't do nothing. I didn't expect anything but to come out here and see Kobe get his 50.” – Ron Artest

Player of the Game: Kobe Bryant – 41 Pts, 15-30 FG, 0-3 3Pt, 11-15 FT, 6 Reb, 4 Ast, 4 Stl

Hornets 114, Mavericks 107 (OT) – Hey, remember Peja Stojakovic? The Mavericks sure do, because on Wednesday night, Peja turned back the clocks and drilled a game-tying three pointer to send the game to overtime, where Chris Paul would take over. What stings even more for the Mavs? Stojakovic was 0-7 on the night, besides that shot.

Quote of the Game: “Just because we win one game doesn't mean everything's solved.” – Chris Paul

Player of the Game: Chris Paul – 39 Pts, 14-23 FG, 3-4 3Pt, 8-8 FT, 5 Reb, 7 Ast, 2 Stl

Hawks 113, Kings 105 – Good teams just know how to take over, and then close out, games on the road. The Atlanta Hawks have slowly grown into a very good basketball team before our eyes. Wednesday night was a telling example. Sure, it was against the lowly Kings, but the Hawks outscored Sacramento 30-18 in the fourth quarter, and that’s an impressive fourth quarter on the road, no matter who it’s against. Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford combined to score 52 points.

Quote of the Game: “We couldn't stop them pretty much the whole game. They really executed well and went to their big time players. All of them.” – Paul Westphal

Player of the Game: Jamal Crawford – 26 Pts, 10-15 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 3-4 FT, 2 Reb, 4 Ast

Warriors 113, Grizzlies 105 – A late game between two of the league’s bottom-feeders is hardly something to rave about, but for those who like up-tempo, offensive basketball, this was the game for you. The final field goal percentages were 48.8 per cent and 54 per cent. The teams combined for 53 assists. Five guys scored 20-plus points and nine were in double figures. This was an offensive showcase, through and through. And what do you know? It’s one of the rare instances a Grizzlies or Warriors win could be predicted.

Quote of the Game: “We don't guard anybody. We haven't guarded anybody the last four or five games since the season started.” – Lionel Hollins

Player of the Game: Monta Ellis – 24 Pts, 10-23 FG, 4-6 FT, 7 Reb, 12 Ast, 5 Stl

The Recap: November 4, 2009

Scott Carefoot — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:45:00 GMT

Cavaliers 102, Wizards 90 -- After opening the season 2-2 and trailing by 18 to the Wizards last night, the Shaq experiment in Cleveland was beginning to reek of failure. But the Cavs' defence clamped down and Cleveland outscored their opponents 85-59 in the last three quarters for a convincing win. Shaq easily had his best game of the season with 21 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes.

Quote of the game: "It's an age thing. I don't really take it personal. I just have to let them know I'm still here and have to be reckoned with. I understand I'm not 27 or 19." -- Shaq on being guarded one-on-one

Player of the game: LeBron James -- 27 Pts, 7-16 FG, 2-7 3Pt, 11-13 FT, 8 Reb, 6 Ast, 3 Stl

Nuggets 111, Pacers 93 -- Denver jumped out to a 30-13 lead after one quarter and never looked back to bring them to 4-0 on the season. On the other side, the Pacers are off to their first 0-3 start since the 1996-97 season.

Quote of the game: "We have a real good aura, a real good feel about what we can be as a team this year." -- Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups

Player of the game: Nene -- 16 Pts, 4-10 FG, 8-11 FT, 13 Reb, 2 Ast

Celtics 105, 76ers 74 -- Boston's second unit shone last night in Philly as three of their bench players scored in double figures and four of them were plus-24 or better on the night. The easy win made the Celtics the only 5-0 team in the NBA and allowed the veteran starters to have a relatively light workload as none of them played more than 31 minutes.

Quote of the game: "I just wanted to get my point across." -- Rasheed Wallace on getting called for a technical in the third quarter

Player of the game: Rasheed Wallace -- 20 Pts, 7-10 FG, 6-8 3Pt, 6 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 Blk, Plus-30

Pistons 85, Magic 80 -- Sometimes the shots fall for the Orlando Magic and sometimes they don't. Last night, they weren't falling as they only made 10 out of 35 three-point attempts -- Ryan Anderson was 1-for-11 from deep. Meanwhile, the Pistons attacked Dwight Howard with their smaller lineup and Howard fouled out in just 17 minutes.

Quote of the game: "I'm a big guy, but it still hurts when I'm getting hit this much. It's getting worse, but I have to keep my composure and try not to complain. The last two games, though, I've been very close to going off." -- Dwight Howard

Player of the game: Ben Gordon -- 23 Pts, 6-10 FG, 11-11 FT, 5 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl

Suns 104, Heat 96 -- In a battle of two 3-0 teams, the Suns remained undefeated after they used zone defence to shut down the Heat in the fourth quarter, outscoring them 29-15 in the final frame. Steve Nash made 10 of his last 11 shots to lead the Suns' offensive charge.

Quote of the game: "I thought the zone was for college, personally. I thought that was the difference between the NBA and college." -- Heat guard Quentin Richardson

Player of the game: Steve Nash -- 30 Pts, 11-15 FG, 4-5 3Pt, 4-4 FT, 3 Reb, 8 Ast, 1 Stl

Bulls 83, Bucks 81 -- Ersan Ilysova missed the Bucks' potential game-winning three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left, while Luol Deng became the first Chicago Bull since Marcus Fizer in April 2004 to have a 20-point, 20-rebound game.

Quote of the game: "(Deng) owes me a meal or something. I was blocking out rebounders so he could go get about five rebounds. He's glad I'm an old guy who doesn't really need the stats." -- Bulls center Brad Miller

Player of the game: Luol Deng -- 24 Pts, 7-16 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 9-11 FT, 20 Reb, 2 Blk

Lakers 101, Thunder 98 (OT) -- A crowd of 18,203 in Oklahoma City was going nuts as the Thunder took the champion Lakers into overtime, but Kobe Bryant hit the go-ahead bucket in overtime to preserve the NBA's natural order for another night. Bryant fought through the flu and made his shots when they mattered, in spite of having an off-night by his standards.

Quote of the game: "Going into overtime against a team like the Lakers is something that we say we can pride ourselves on. Even though we lost, we had a lot of opportunities to win this game." -- Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha

Player of the game: Kobe Bryant -- 31 Pts, 9-22 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 4 Reb, 2 Ast, 3 Stl, 1 Blk

Mavericks 96, Jazz 85 -- After the Mavs scored just 52 points in the first three quarters, Dirk Nowitzki clearly decided he had to single-handedly resuscitate their offence when he went off for a franchise-record 29 points in the fourth quarter. Nowitzki's performance topped Mark Aguirre's 24-point quarter against Denver in March 1984.

Quote of the game: "Obviously, there wasn't anything we were able to do with Nowitzki. He was sensational." -- Jazz coach Jerry Sloan

Player of the game: Dirk Nowitzki -- 40 Pts, 12-22 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 15-16 FT, 11 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 Stl, 5 Blk

Hawks 97, Trail Blazers 91 -- Jamal Crawford scored 27 points off the bench to lead both teams and help the Hawks go 3-1 to start the season. Portland led by 12 early in the second quarter, but Atlanta narrowed the lead to one by the half. The Blazers missed three 3-point attempts in the final 15 seconds of the game.

Quote of the game: "(Jamal) was huge. He's a shotmaker. I haven't had a big-time guy off the bench like that who can score the ball." -- Hawks coach Mike Woodson

Player of the game: Jamal Crawford -- 27 Pts, 8-16 FG, 2-4 3Pt, 9-9 FT, 2 Reb, 7 Ast

We're Talking About Practice: Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Holly MacKenzie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:49:00 GMT

- If you haven't heard, the Raptors will be honoring our boy Alvin Wililams and the man, the myth, the legend, the one and only, Charles Oakley at tomorrow's game. It somehow seems appropriate that Oak and Alvin, two of the toughest, most hard-nosed players the Raptors have ever seen, will be getting their due in front of the Pistons, a franchise known for their blue-collar ways.

- I'm fully expecting to get misty-eyed on press row tomorrow, because I'm that girl. Basketball makes me cry. I felt a lump in my throat on opening night when the crowd gave Alvin Williams the loudest cheers of the night during the coaching intros.

- Practice was fun today and I stayed late, after the interviews were done to watch Marco Belinelli and Hedo Turkoglu go through shooting drills. As they had to get 10 combined makes from each of the five stops around the arc, each make counted up towards 10, while each miss subtracted their total. It ended up taking them forever on the final stop because Alex English --who was rebounding and keeping score-- kept on shaving off points and robbing them of their total. Hilarious to see the tandem of Turk and Belli arguing about the total while English cracked up.

- It started in training camp, when things were new and fun and fresh and not yet familiar. The chemistry that was built in a university gym in Ottawa is still flowing through this team, with Turk and Belinelli encouraging one another and joking like the best of friends. With Jarrett Jack finally finishing his solo shooting drill and stopping by to heckle Bellinelli on his way out, with the camaraderie between Belinelli and one of the assistants who stayed after Turk was finished the drill, to play one-on-one with him. Trash-talk flying, smiles flashing and then wiped clean as concentration took over, there is just a good vibe surrounding this team.

- Tomorrow Amir Johnson will face his former team, the Detroit Pistons. Drafted as an 18 year-old with potential, he learned from the vets in Detroit and couldn't help but smile when asked about facing his former team. If there is one player on this Raptors team I'm actively rooting for to figure it out, it's Johnson. He works so hard, brings energy and effort with every step and clearly wants to get better so very much. Here's hoping he can slow down, calm down with his fouls and find a spot in the rotation to contribute to this team.

- Antoine Wright update: Wright practised today and is expected to play after missing yesterday's practice with an ankle tweak.

Chris Bosh scrum

- On his own strong performances, but losses in the past two games: "I think we're close as a team. I think we're doing pretty good given the time that we've had together. My numbers are okay. Just trying to stay consistent and keep it going. I'm just happy with getting offensive rebounds."

- Starting out the season strong and fading as the year goes on: "Yeah. That was one of the major concerns coming into the summer. Not only the second half of the season, but second half of games. Just being able to stay strong and keep it going. its easier said than done but, the second half of the season is a little ways away. I'm just trying to stay consistent, that's my main thing this year. I know last year I got off to a really good start and I really, really digressed as the season progressed. I'm trying to keep it steady this year."

- Reason for the offensive rebounds: "I'm more inside on the offense. I'm in the right position. You have to get position early and you have to be strong with guys."

- Importance of getting a win against the Pistons before heading out to play seven of the next nine on the road: "It's important to defend your home court anway. I didn't even realize we had seven of our next nine on the road, thanks for telling me (laughs). You always want to defend homecourt no matter what happens. That does make it a little more important because we do have a tough three game stretch on the road coming up. We're trying to get all three, but we need to go into that with a win."

- On the positives of a road trip this early in the season: "You've got to come together a lot faster. you're out of your comfort zone. The comfort of home isn't there so we have to turn to each other to make things go."

- How things feel offensively: "Offence is going to come. I don't think we've shot the ball as well as we can. Hedo struggled a little bit from the three but once he gets his confidence and that shot starts going in a little more that will make us more deadly from the outside. Jose, too. It's going to come. I think it's good for us [having the struggles from deep early], because it will make us more aggressive going to the basket."

Johnson scrum

- On facing the Pistons tomorrow evening: "It's going to be fun. It's going to be a fun game, Ima definitely go at everybody, talk a little mess."

- New-look Pistons: "It's a pretty different team but they've got some of the same players still. They've got Tayshaun, Rip, Max, we [Maxiell and himself] got drafted in together so it's going to be fun going up gainst those guys.

- Any hard feelings with Detroit? "Not at all. It's a business, people get traded every day. It happens. I'm just going to have fun and play my game and get a win."

- How are things feeling with this team? "I believe we're getting better every game as a team. It's a learning process. Even though we lose a couple of games, we can't get down on ourselves, we have to come back stronger in practice and then in the game. Get a good mindset and come back stronger."

- Who did he learn from as a rookie in Detroit? "Sheed was one of the guys, McDyess, Lindsay Hunter, Ben Wallace when he was there. There was a bunch of guys, a bunch of old vets. Dale Davis, Kelvin Cato, man. There were a bunch of guys who really helped my game. Really brought me a toughness, it was a battle every practice."

- Excited to see his former teamamtes: "Yeah. I'm excited to play them and I'll be more excited when we beat them."

- Does bringing energy come naturally? "It's my ability. I play the game to the best of my ability and one of the things I do is bring energy. So when I get in, I'm supposed to do that, bring energy to the floor. We brought a bunch of energy, cutting the score down and that's what I do."

Triano scrum

- Is it important to get a win before heading out on a road trip? "We talked about the importance of the game but nothing to do with the fact that we're getting ready to get on the road. It's one game and we're going to focus on that game. We have an opportunity to watch them tonight, we run through some of their sets today in practice and hopefully make some adjustments based on what we see tonight when they play against Orlando."

- Are there positives about a road trip this early in the season with a new team? "You take it for what it is. We're going to prepare for every game, it's going to be a chance for the team to come together a little bit. I haven't really looked at that and I won't think about the road trip until Thursday when I figure out how many suits are going to go in the bag. Right now we have to focus on tomorrow night and we haven't thought about the road trip yet."

- Will it be easier for Bosh to maintain the strong start he has had thanks to his off-season conditioning? "I think the work that he did in the off-season building up his body, building up his strength is going to pay dividends in the second half of the season. He can withstand more. He can withstand more minutes, more pounding and I think that it's given him a lot of confidence at the start of the season and I think it's something he'll be able to maintain. Let's face it, he'll go through his slumps, but our goal is that he's healthy throughout the whole year."

- Reggie Evans update: "He's walking. We have to do that first, he's getting treatment and putting a little more weight on it all of the time. I don't know the timeline, but it's a good thing he's actually moving around and he's got rid of the crutches."

- On Bosh not knowing that seven of the next nine were on the road, and whether the rest of his team also haven't looked that far into the future: "I hope so. I'm glad that he didn't know. He'll find out after the game tomorrow that he has to pack to come to practice. That's good, that means his focus is where it's supposed to be and that's the next game which is right in front of us."

- Pleased with where things are right now in terms of the guys meshing with one another: "I see signs where we share the ball really well and cover for each other and then I see signs where it looks like we don't know each other. I think it's going to be like that for a little bit. For the most part, I'm pleased with where we are. Do I want it to get better? Absolutely. And will it get better? Yes."

The Recap: November 3, 2009

Scott Carefoot — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:50:00 GMT

Bobcats 79, Nets 68 -- The Nets went over 10 minutes without scoring a point on the way to bringing their record to 0-4 as clearly one of the worst teams in the NBA. Gerald Wallace led the Bobcats with 24 points and a career-high 20 rebounds.

Quote of the game: "Larry Brown, he says I should get every rebound that comes off the rim." -- Gerald Wallace

Player of the game: Gerald Wallace -- 24 Pts, 7-14 FG, 10-13 FT, 20 Reb, 4 Stl, 1 Blk

Knicks 117, Hornets 111 -- After getting outscored 72-38 in their previous two first quarters, the New York Knicks got off to a good start this game by jumping out to an 18-8 lead and then finished strong as well to hold off a late Hornets run. Larry Hughes was a surprise insertion into the Knicks' starting lineup after he didn't play in his previous two games, and he responded with a 20-point effort.

Quote of the game: "When I dove, my head hit (Chris Paul's) knee. He might have slipped a couple of jabs in there. It didn't affect me. You know I fight in the summer, so it's all good." -- Knicks forward Al Harrington

Player of the game: Chris Paul -- 32 Pts, 12-18 FG, 4-5 3Pt, 4-5 FT, 5 Reb, 13 Ast, 1 Stl

Rockets 113, Jazz 96 -- It would seem the reports of the Houston Rockets' demise (due to the absence of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady) were greatly exaggerated. They're off to a 3-1 start this season, thanks in part to some excellent three-point shooting. They made 10-of-19 shots from deep last night, with five of them coming in the fourth quarter when they broke an 80-80 tie and bombed their way to victory.

Quote of the game: "All I have heard of is how tough it is to win here (in Utah). People are just amazed how bad we kind of beat them just because that doesn't happen here." -- Rockets rookie Chase Budinger

Player of the game: Luis Scola -- 14 Pts, 5-10 FG, 4-7 FT, 15 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk

Kings 127, Grizzlies 116 -- Sacramento coach Paul Westphal won his first game with the team in their home debut, with some help from a 48-point performance by Kevin Martin. This was Martin's fourth career game scoring more than 45 points. Allen Iverson scored 11 points in 18 minutes off the bench in his first game with the Grizzlies.

Quote of the game: "Go look at my resume and that will show you that I'm not a sixth man. I don't think it has anything to do with me being selfish. It's just who I am. I don't want to change what gave me all the success that I've had since I've been in this league." -- Allen Iverson

Player of the game: Kevin Martin -- 48 Pts, 14-27 FG, 7-10 3Pt, 13-18 FT, 5 Reb, 4 Ast, 4 Stl, 1 Blk

Clippers 93, Timberwolves 90 -- Rasual Butler hit four clutch free throws in the final seconds of the fourth quarter to deliver the Clippers their first win of the season. Corey Brewer missed the potential game-tying three-pointer for the T-Wolves as time expired.

Quote of the game: "We haven't yet gotten to the point where we know what play we're going to run with a low-clock situation and no timeouts when you've got to get the ball up the floor. That's my fault that we haven't had the time to work on plays in that situation, but I like the fact that they got back in the ballgame and gave themselves a chance to win." -- Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis

Player of the game: Chris Kaman -- 25 Pts, 10-15 FG, 5-7 FT, 11 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk

Back to the Future: Raptors Week that Was and Week that Will Be: Week One

Joe Casciaro — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:14:00 GMT

With a new season comes new ideas, and this is one of them. At the beginning of every week, I’ll be breaking down the week that was for the Toronto Raptors, looking at players who stepped up and players that need to step up, as well as looking ahead to the new week.

Let’s get into the first instalment of Back to the Future.

Week that Was:

Oct. 28 – 101-91 W vs. Cleveland – The city was pumped, the Air Canada Centre was electric and the team was ready to silence critics who foresaw a tough start for a roster comprising of nine new players. And what a way to start. The Raptors not just beat, but dominated a desperate Cavs team looking to avoid an 0-2 start. More impressive than the win itself was the way the Raptors responded to a challenge, pulling away from the Cavs after surrendering a large lead. Who can forget the defence? In one of the best team defensive performances in recent memory, Toronto held Cleveland to just 35 per cent shooting from the field and allowed more than 22 points in just one of four quarters.

Oct. 30 – 107-115 L @ Memphis – Unlike recent Raptors teams, this edition remained in a road game despite shooting poorly because they held their own on the defensive end. Then the fourth quarter came, the Raptors allowed 39 points (the same amount they allowed in the entire first half against Cleveland) and before you knew it, this “different” Raptors team looked all too familiar, and sat at a pedestrian 1-1. Any emotional high from the home opener had quickly evaporated.

Nov. 1 – 116-125 L vs. Orlando – The Magic came in to Toronto missing Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis and Mickael Pietrus. They shot 44 per cent from the field and allowed the Raptors to shoot 54 per cent. They were even out-rebounded by the defensively challenged home team. Surely they were doomed against the new and improved Raptors, right? Think again. J.J. Redick looked like Ray Allen, Dwight Howard knocked down 14 of 16 free-throw attempts and the Magic as a team hit 17 threes. For all intents and purposes, the game was over in the first half, and the Magic cruised to a nine-point victory. Moral victories? Chris Bosh got mixed up with Dwight Howard after administering a hard foul on Superman. No, seriously.

Summary: It is too easy to point to the two losses as an indicator that we are watching the same old Raptors. Having said that, an impressive opening night victory is but a distant memory. What should we make of the Raptors’ 1-2 opening week? To be honest, nothing. Whether you are the defending champions or the weakest team in the league, conclusions should not be drawn from opening week. Raptors fans who witnessed a 3-0 start last season know better than that. We’ll get a better gage of this team in the coming week, when they face two solid Western conference teams on the road.

Raptor of the Week: Chris Bosh – 39.3 MPG, 31 PPG, 14.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1 BPG

Week Ahead:

Wed. – vs. Detroit – There is no such thing as a must-win in the first week of November. But this is a game that will hurt the Raptors dearly if they don’t get it. A key to any Raptors success this season has to be protecting home court. The loss to Orlando is in the past, and if they can knock off the Pistons, a team expected to be in the bottom half of the Eastern playoff race with the Raptors, they can continue to build confidence at home. A sound defensive performance would assure fans that the Orlando game, not the Cleveland game, was an early blip on the radar. The key matchup will be the Raptors’ bench versus the Pistons’ bench. Detroit is not a deep team and may be without Richard Hamilton. It’s time for the revamped Raptors’ bench to make a statement.

Fri. @ New Orleans – While a road game against a tough Western opponent is not ideal for a team searching for its identity, it will provide a good early test. If the Raptors are truly a tougher team, they must show they can steal games on the road. Management has assembled a team deep enough that a losing road trip should no longer be a foregone conclusion. Without a doubt, the key matchup will be the Raptors’ point guards versus Chris Paul. If the Raptors are to have any chance of winning this game, Calderon and Jack must serve as some line of defence against CP3’s penetration.

Sat. @ Dallas – The deeper, improved Mavericks will provide another tough task for the Raptors. Toronto will be coming off of the Hornets and the Mavs will be the well-rested home team. Again, Raptors fans won’t be expecting a win, but if they are to believe this Raptors team has a new mental make-up, being in a tough road game until the final possessions will go a long way in proving it. The key matchup I’ll be watching is Marion-Turkoglu. It’s a classic clash of athleticism and flash versus consistency and steadiness. Which style prevails when pitted against each other?

On the Hot Seat: Jose Calderon – Calderon’s unusual free throw misses and low scoring numbers are not a concern. We know he is going to score. We know he will knock down that mid-range jump shot. We know he will shoot somewhere around or over 90 per cent from the stripe. The concern remains Calderon’s defence, or rather, his lack of it. One of the assumed contributions to a better Raptors’ defence was Calderon’s healthy, rested legs. After three games, Calderon remains one of the worst defensive point guards in the NBA. With matchups against Rodney Stuckey, Chris Paul and Jason Kidd on the horizon, it’s no wonder I selected Jose Calderon as the Raptor who needs to step up this week.

We're Talking About Practice: Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Holly MacKenzie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:18:00 GMT

- While we were waiting to get into practice today, Reggie Evans made his way to the elevator to go downstairs to the locker room. He had shoes on both feet and looked good. I didn't get a chance to ask him how he's feeling, but he looked so much better without the walking boot.

- Also appearing in the hallway, was Chrysa Chin, otherwise known as "the hat-lady" on draft day. Come on, NBA junkies, I know you know who I mean. She's the lady (who might just be even shorter than I am), who hands the freshly drafted player their hat and tells them to keep it up high enough so that it doesn't block out their eyes when they smile while holding Commissioner Stern's hand. I honestly love this woman. She's been there for years and she's a part of my own personal "Christmas morning" aka, the NBA draft. When I saw her walk through, I literally did a double-take and when the Raptors head of security confirmed it was indeed, Chin, it made my Monday that much sweeter.

- Antoine Wright left the practice court early, holding his basketball shoes in his hands. I noticed this looking down at his black sock-clad feet in the scrum. When I asked Raptors PR why he had left early, I was told he didn't participate in practice. Coach Jay Triano said he did not participate because he tweaked an ankle and it was a precautionary measure to keep him out for today. It didn't sound serious and I didn't notice any type of limp or favoring of the ankle when Wright exited to the elevator, so here's hoping he just needed a day off and he'll be ready to go on Wednesday.

- Jose Calderon was talking about his free throw misses and saying everyone just needs to stop thinking about the 98-percent finish last season. When a beat writer jokingly says, "Maybe you'll finish 88-percent this year?" Calderon dismisses that quickly saying, "No, over 90-percent for sure. That's how I'll finish."

- Before we jump into the quotes from today, something to think about: Dwight Howard shoots 14-of-16 from the free throw line last night while Chris Bosh finishes 13-of-19. On any other night those numbers would have been reversed. Had Bosh (and Calderon, who is almost always automatic from the line), made their free throws as they usually do, the outcome may have been different.

- Quote of the day: "It's kind of like when you're the new kid in the new school and you know the answer to the question, but you're kind of hesitant to raise your hand. That's kind of like how we are. We're all new, you might see an opening but you're like, I don't want to break the play, that sort of thing. I think we all just need to relax a little bit, take the weight off of our shoulders and do what we're capable of doing, and that's playing basketball." - Jarrett Jack on the team still being in "unselfish" mode. Check the Jack scrum for some more from him. Interesting to hear his take on defence in the NBA and how he feels the drills they are doing in practice is helping to instill a defensive mentality in the team.

Triano scrum

- On the lack of focus and intensity when starting out games: "I think at the start of the game we're so concerned with trying to do the right thing that we're not reacting. We're thinking our way through it. It's like paralysis by analysis. We're just thinking about everything and finally when we just started to play and we started to attack the basket we became a much better basketball team and shot a much better percentage. It's funny, you start turning the ball over a lot less when you are more aggressive. When we were passive and just moving the ball around and trying to play iso's and one-on-one, that's when you turn the ball over and you're not affective."

- Has he thought about starting Wright over DeMar DeRozan? "Not for a second. No. I think the rookie has been very good in limited minutes and we're happy with where he is right now. I don't think he's hurt us at the beginning of games. Antoine is going to play minutes. I'd rather have Antoine playing at the end of the game, getting stops than at the beginning."

- What was the biggest problem yesterday: "Dribble-penetration was our biggest problem last night. We showed them three clips, I think we had 12 (we could have showed). This means guys have to help and that's how they allowed to kick for threes. We worked on our close outs today. We have to get better as a team. We're not a super-quick team so we have to get better at closing out. I think when they make a few shots, you close out a little bit more, your hands are up and you become susceptible to more blow-bys. Good teams make you pay for that and they made us pay for that yesterday."

- On Andrea Bargnani having one rebound through 20 minutes of play : "He needs to rebound the ball better. He knows that. He's one of our five men and we expect that. He's a scorer, we know that. This is a part of his game that he has to get better at. I think everybody got caught blowing him up after Game 1. The thing that keeps Andrea on the floor so that he can score is the way he rebounds and defends. It's a work, not just for him, it's for everybody. We all have to get better at it. I don't think Chris is defending the way he should be defending yet, but we'll get there."

Bosh scrum

- Putting in huge performances after two losses, what does he try to improve upon?: "I ask the coaches. I see if there's any mistakes I can learn from, things that I can do better and just take it from there. See what they say and try to work on it. [They say] just keep doing what you're doing and be a little more sound on defence."

- How you get a strong start in a game: "It's just a mental mindset. The way you get it is to come out and attack first. They attacked us first and we looked up and we were down 10 points and then we were down 20."

- On the last two loses, despite his strong performances: "It's three games. Three games. We'll forget stuff like this. I'm going to forget this day, I'm going to forget this game in January, February, March. When we're doing well down the road nobody is going to remember that we're 1-2 or 1 and whatever. We win one more game and we're .500. That's all that matters. It's early and we just have to keep playing and that's really it."

Jack scrum

- On Bosh's big performances and the team still losing: "That just shows that we can't let him carry us, so to speak. I don't think one player can do it all alone. As good as Chris is, we have to give him some help. Guys coming off the bench, guys in the lineup, we have to bring some offensive scoring as well so when it comes down to crunch time they're not doubling him, they make thing to play him one-on-one because we've been keeping them honest from the perimeter as well."

- On his play: "I had a talk with Coach today, I think we had a really, really excellent practice tody that is going to help us prepare for a win on Wednesday. He just wants me to be really aggressive. They showed me some things where, when I was aggressive, I was scoring, making plays and then when I wasn't aggressive, the offence looked kind of stagnant and the group I played with, they want me to be really aggressive. Just look for me to be in pick-and-rolls a lot more the next couple of games."

- How he has adjusted to being an offensively aggressive point guard: "Just keep looking at tape afterwards. I'm going back over it and then I can look and be like 'Man, I could have been aggressive there I could have picked my spot better there,' just reviewing myself, reviewing everything I'm going through, that's really helping me."

- How the majority of the league can score, but not everyone defends: "When you're out there on the playground, everybody is out there scoring. There's no guy out there pumping his fist like, 'Yeah, I played defence!' I think that's something you learn how to do. You learn how to compete on both sides. As you get older you take pride on playing defence. Everybody in the league is born with offensive capabilities. I think it just takes pride on the other end and I think that's something within you and something that comes with time."

- Does he enjoy playing defence? "Yeah, now. Because it's not common. It's kind of cool to be the different one so to speak. I think all of us are starting to get excited about it. Coach has this drill as to where you win the drill, the way you win points is you have to get on defence. Each time you get a stop you get a point. Even if you're on offence and you make a basket, it doesn't count. You make a basket so you can get on defence. So, in order to score in order to win, you've got to keep getting stops. So you want to play defence, so if you get a stop and the other team, if they keep being on offence, they are losing. You're like 'YEAH, we got a stop, lets get another one.' It's an allotted amount of time, maybe a minute or so. You try to get as many stops as you can before the time runs out... These are things that helps build just wanting to play defence. Getting excited about being able to stop someone. That's an incredible feeling, knowing that you guys are going to have to work together, and the only way you're going to win is to get the rebound and get the stop. That's how we're helping develop that defensive mentality."

The Recap: November 2, 2009

Scott Carefoot — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:15:00 GMT

Seven games on Sunday consisted of four shootouts and three defensive battles in a day of NBA extremes.

Magic 125, Raptors 116 -- Orlando was lights-out from long-range as they made 17 of their 32 three-point attempts and Dwight Howard was uncharacteristically automatic from the charity stripe, making 14 of his 16 attempts. Starting in place of the injured Vince Carter, J.J. Redick contributed to the Magic's arsenal with a career-high 27-point performance.

Quote of the game: "Coach K called me right after the (previous) game. He said, 'It's right there, you're going to have one of your games where you knock down five or six 3s.' I didn't know it would be this soon." -- J.J. Redick

Player of the game: Chris Bosh -- 35 Pts, 10-20 FG, 2-2 3Pt, 13-19 FT, 16 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Blk

Celtics 97, Hornets 87 -- New Orleans was within three points with four minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but the Hornets were held to a single field goal for the rest of the game as the Celtics pulled away. The big story of the game was an altercation between Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo in the second quarter that led to a double-technical and Paul trying to pursue Rondo into the Celtics' locker room after the game. Paul Pierce led both teams with 27 points and sealed the game with a three-pointer that put Boston up 95-86 with just over a minute to go.

Quote of the game: "Rajon has requested you not ask anything about Chris Paul now, tomorrow, or any other time." -- Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss

Player of the game: Paul Pierce -- 27 Pts, 10-14 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 4-6 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl

Heat 95, Bulls 87 -- Dwyane Wade became the 43rd active NBA player to reach the 10,000-point mark for his career as he led the head to victory with his 25-point performance. Among the other 42 active players on that list, only LeBron James and Allen Iverson have a higher scoring average. Jermaine O'Neal suffered a broken nose in the fourth quarter while going for a rebound, but he claims he won't miss any time or wear a protective mask.

Quote of the game: "Those are two very evenly matched teams. Well played game. At the end, it was like a gang fight." -- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra

Player of the game: Udonis Haslem -- 19 Pts, 9-13 FG, 1-1 FT, 11 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Blk

Trail Blazers 83, Thunder 74 -- This was a game to forget for Kevin Durant, who couldn't buy a bucket as he made just three of his 21 field goal attempts. Meanwhile, Steve Blake could barely miss for the Blazers and he stuck a dagger in the Thunder with his fourth three-pointer to put Portland up by nine with 1:30 remaining. LaMarcus Aldridge left the game with a bone bruise in the first quarter and the Blazers have not yet announced when he will return.

Quote of the game: "My goal tonight was to get up and body (Durant) and make every shot he took contested and difficult." -- Blazer SF Martell Webster

Player of the game: Martell Webster, for his role in containing Durant

Nuggets 133, Grizzlies 123 -- Denver is off to a 3-0 start this season thanks in large part to Carmelo Anthony's 37.6 PPG average, including a 42-point performance to help the Nuggets beat the visiting Grizzlies. O.J. Mayo had 40 points to lead Memphis, but the Grizzlies were behind by at least five points for the entire fourth quarter as they couldn't defend well enough to get back in the game.

Quote of the game: "Whenever push comes to shove, we've just got to get the ball to (Carmelo) and get out the way." -- Nuggets guard Anthony Carter

Player of the game: Carmelo Anthony -- 42 Pts, 15-26 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 11-12 FT, 7 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 Stl

Suns 120, Timberwolves 112 -- Double-doubles from both Grant Hill (23 points, 10 rebounds) and Steve Nash (14 points, 14 assists) helped propel the Suns to a 3-0 record. The last time Phoenix started a season 3-0 was in 2004-05 when they won a franchise-high 62 games.

Quote of the game: "These guys are young. Without experience or knowledge, they don't know how to play against (the Suns). They don't understand all the nuances of playing a team like that." -- Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis

Player of the game: Ryan Gomes -- 23 Pts, 10-13 FG, 2-2 3Pt, 1-2 FT, 15 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 Stl

Lakers 118, Hawks 110 -- Joe Johnson had 19 first-quarter points but then Ron Artest went into "lockdown mode" and limited Johnson to just eight more points the rest of the game. The final score makes the game look closer than it was, as L.A. was up by double figures from early in the third quarter right up until Atlanta ended the game on a meaningless 8-0 run.

Quote of the game: "Joe (Johnson) started early, but Kobe is able to keep it going. He just made Kobe mad, which is not very smart." -- Lakers center Andrew Bynum

Player of the game: Kobe Bryant -- 41 Pts, 15-29 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 10-11 FT, 8 Reb, 3 Ast, 5 Stl

The Recap: November 1, 2009

Joe Casciaro — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:25:00 GMT

A Halloween Saturday gave us seven games on the schedule, with some truly eerie moments, including Stephon Marbury courtside in NYC and Manu Ginobili going “Karate Kid” on us.

Wizards 123, Nets 104 – After three games of the Washington Wizards’ season, one thing appears evident, Gilbert Arenas is back. Arenas turned in another great performance Saturday night to help lead the Wizards (minus Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler) to an easy win over the hapless Nets. While Arenas gets all of the attention, how about some love for Andray Blatche? Yes, Andray Blatche, who lit up the Nets for 30.

Quote of the Game: “We've been waiting for this for four or five years now.” – Gilbert Arenas on Blatche

Player of the Game: Gilbert Arenas – 32 Pts, 9-13 FG, 3-4 3Pt, 11-12 FT, 7 Ast, 1 Reb, 1 Stl

Cavaliers 90, Bobcats 79 – After starting the season a disappointing 0-2, the Cavs have come back with two straight wins to even their record out at 2-2. On the night Delonte West returned to the lineup, the Cavs were hardly impressive though. Against a weak Bobcats team that went to double-overtime last night, the Cavs never seemed as dominate as they should have been. Then again, they allowed only 79 points while shooting 58 per cent themselves.

Quote of the Game: “It's vital that we have everybody as we take this journey.” – Shaquille O’Neal

Player of the Game: Mo Williams – 24 Pts, 9-14 FG, 5-8 3Pt, 1-2 FT, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk

76ers 141, Knicks 127 (OT) – One night after losing a double-overtime heart-breaker to the Bobcats, the Knicks were at it again. They looked golden in the fourth quarter, dropping an astounding 41 points on the Sixers and out-scoring them by 15 to force overtime. Then overtime arrived, and any hopes for Knicks fans quickly vanished as the Sixers out-scored the Knicks 19-5 in the extra period. Stephon Marbury was sitting courtside, but, not for long.

Quote of the Game: “They're a team that can shoot themselves out of a game and they can shoot themselves into a game.” – Andre Iguodala

Player of the Game: Andre Iguodala – 32 Pts, 12-21 FG, 2-3 3Pt, 6-7 FT, 11 Reb, 7 Ast

Rockets 111, Trail Blazers 107 – While everyone else feels sorry for the Houston Rockets and their horrible luck with injuries, Rick Adelman will not allow his team to sit around and feel sorry for themselves. Case in point, a four-point victory at home over a team that is supposed to be one of the West’s elite. This one hurts the Blazers more than it helps the Rockets.

Quote of the Game: “No matter how tired we are, no matter what the situation is or what the odds are. If we want to win, we have to play that way every night.” – Trevor Ariza

Player of the Game: Brandon Roy – 42 Pts, 12-20 FG, 5-7 3Pt, 13-13 FT, 6 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl

Bucks 96, Pistons 85 – It’s not likely a team will have a couple of guys combine for 45 points, have no one else score 10, face an opponent that has five guys score in double figures and yet still come away with a win. Well, it happened on Saturday for the Bucks. It was the Brandon Jennings and Hakim Warrick show in Milwaukee, and apparently, that’s all the Bucks needed against a less than inspired Pistons squad.

Quote of the Game: “We just kept chipping away at the lead and next thing you know, we had the lead and we never looked back.” – Brandon Jennings

Player of the Game: Brandon Jennings – 24 Pts, 9-15 FG, 3-4 3Pt, 3-4 FT, 2 Reb, 3 Ast, 3 Stl

Spurs 113, Kings 94 – In a game like Spurs-Kings on Saturday night, you need something out of the ordinary to keep you awake, much less interested. On a night when the far superior Spurs dominated the feeble Kings, Manu Ginobili provided that out of this world moment, and it had nothing to do with basketball. A bat (yes, a bat on Halloween) was flying around the arena, wreaking havoc on the game before Ginobili swatted it out of mid-air like a fly, then calmly picked up its lifeless body and handed it off. You know P.E.T.A. will be all over this.

Quote of the Game: “btw, I don’t think I kill the poor thing. I felt it moving in my hand...”- Manu Ginobli via his Twitter, on the “bat incident”

Player of the Game: Tony Parker – 24 Pts, 10-16 FG, 4-4 FT, 3 Reb, 7 Ast, 2 Stl

Mavericks 93, Clippers 84 – A night after knocking off the champs, the Mavs were expected to easily handle a winless Clippers team. That wasn’t the case in the first half, as the teams headed to the locker rooms tied at 55. The Mavs took control of the third quarter, but the Clippers can’t say they didn’t have a chance to win it. They held Dallas to just 13 points in the fourth, but could only muster 13 themselves. Anaemic offence cancelled out great defence.

Quote of the Game: “The Clippers are a much better team than their record reflects.” - Rick Carlisle

Player of the Game: Chris Kaman – 27 Pts, 12-19 FG, 3-3 FT, 11 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 Blk, 1 Stl

We're Talking About Practice: Saturday, October 31st, 2009

Holly MacKenzie — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:19:00 GMT

- Wow, that was a rough one last night wasn't it? Up 88-80 in the fourth and unable to hold on for the victory. Marc Gasol was so quick to those offensive rebounds, then one of my favourite second year players in OJ Mayo decided to drain some shots late and there was the ball game.

- I'm at the ACC typing this report up as they are setting up for the Jay-Z show tonight. They're doing sound checks and all I want is for Jay himself to come out and see how things are sounding. Waiting for the Magic to finish up their practice. We were told they sometimes go longer than scheduled and somehow that doesn't surprise me when it comes to coach Stan Van Gundy.

- My new favourite part of practice? Marc Iavaroni, A. Williams and Al English shooting free throws against one another. The competitive spirts of this trio warms my heart and it would warm yours too because it proves daily that once the game steals your heart, it doesn't ever give it back. Also, the trash talk between these three is brilliant.

- Who stayed late after practice again today? Jarrett Jack and Marcus Banks, getting some extra shooting in. Jack has become a seemingly permanent fixture after practice, getting extra shots up. He's a workhorse, that's for sure.

- We've got the rest of the day to try to get Patrick O'Bryant to his goal of 2500 followers. If so, there will be a nice donation of 8k or so to the Raptors foundation. If you're on Twitter, give him a follow at @13POB13 and then stop by and follow me @stackmack.

Chris Bosh scrum

- On the game last night: "We flat out just got beat last night. There's no science to it, they beat us. "

- On whether it was a matter of effort: "I don't think it's effort, I think it's just intensity. You do things but you have to do things with intensity. There were a couple of things where we got caught off guard just a bit and that kind of got them rolling. They get offensive rebounds and score in the paint... Teams see the ball go in the hole like that, that builds confidence for them. they're going to start taking any kind of shot, they're going to have confidence on defense they're going to feel like they can stop you. Before you know it you're in a dogfight."

- What the difference was between the game in Memphis and the Cleveland game: "I think they just had a little bit better conditioning than the Cavaliers. They were coming up a lot harder, their fastbreak. I don't think Cleveland did a very good job at fastbreaking against us and that put a lot of pressure on us."

- Consistency: "We're going to have to be consistent. There were a couple of times where we had wide open shots and we missed them, but no matter what happens... Like we've been talking about since preseason, we have to get it done on the defensive end of the floor. 88-80, [and] nobody scores the rest of the game, we win the game."

- What Orlando will do tomorrow: "They're going to do a good job of clogging the paint up. Stan alays does a very good job of instructing those guys to do that and they do a good job of following those instructions. I'm going to play my same aggressive game.

Jay Triano scrum

- On what the approach was after the loss: "82 games, we have 80 left. What are we oing to do? Beat them up? Bench guys? What we did was take clips from last night that will help us in our coverages for tomorrow agaiinst Dwight Howard and Vince Carter. We're going to clean some things up, we're not going to let things go, but we did it in a constructive way."

- Chris said the issue was intensity more than effort, Triano's thoughts on this: "More intensity than effort. I agree. We're looking at that team, watching the tape, I can't say it wasn't effort. They're younger and quicker at almost every position and we're going to face that a lot and that's where we're going to have to be a little bit more crafty with how we play the game. I still think we didn't chase the ball and rebound the ball the way that we can. I mean that from all positions, not just our bigs."

- On facing Howard tomorrow - "Make it difficult for him to go where he wants to go. He's got a great cast of people to spread the floor extremely well so it makes it very difficult to help."

- On trying to get Howard at the foul line rather than the charge circle - "He jumps over people from the foul line, too (laughs). We have to be a little more cognizant of disrupting his flow to the basket for sure. We didn't do a very good job of that last night."

- On the mindset as a coach when the status of Vince Carter (left the game with a sprained ankle in New Jersey) is unknown: "He's playing. He's playing. If he doesn't we're ready. If I contemplate that he's not playing and he plays, then we're not ready. He's playing and if he doesn't, then we're still ready."

- On Jose Calderon's play - " He didn't wake up this morning and become a bad player. It's there. We just let him play through it. He's got to play and play through it and he's going to be fine. Jose, we showed clips today of wide open shots. When the score was 88-80 we had three wide open threes and we didn't make them. My point is we have to still take those shots. And then we've got Mayo who hadn't made a shot hits one with a hand in his face, Gay hits one that Antoine actually deflected on the way up, he regains control and makes it. They made shots and we didn't. Now, should the game have ever come down to it being that close where we make shots and they [don't], no, but my point is, offensively, we still have to shoot the ball. We have to make the simple plays and shoot the ball and we'll be good. Should the game have been that close at that point? We don't think so, had we defended like we were supposed to."

The Recap: October 31st, 2009

Holly MacKenzie — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:27:00 GMT

Lots of action in the league last night. In case you missed it, read on and get yourself caught up.

Also: If you do one thing this weekend, take two hours and get out to see More Than A Game. I cannot say enough about this documentary. If you'e in Toronto, it's showing at Scotiabank Theater and you may catch me there, taking it in for a second time.

Suns 123, Warriors 101 - Yes, yes, this one was all about Canada's golden boy as Steve Nash dropped in 20 dimes getting all of his teammates involved as all five Phoenix staters finished in double figures in the rout of the Warriors. The Suns shot 53.5% from the floor and had 30 assists to the Warriors 16, breaking the game open in the third quarter.

Quote of the game: “I’ll wait for you guys to decide when I’m over the hill.” - Steve Nash on his big night

Player of the game: Steve Nash, 18 pts, 7-17 fgs, 6 rebs, 20 asts, 1 blk

76ers 99, Bucks 86 - Despite a phenomenal debut by rookie point guard Brandon Jennings, the Bucks dropped their season opener to the 76ers after getting outscored 35-20 in the third quarter as the Sixers had six players finish in double figures.

Quote of the game: “He’s banging, he’s fighting in there, he’s in the trenches. When you feel like things are going your way, it sort of builds your momentum." - Philly coach Eddie Jordan on Elton Brand working his way back.

Player of the game: Andre Iguodala - 19 pts, 6-12 fgs, 9 rebs, 7 asts, 2 stls, 1 blk

Bobcats 102, Knicks 100 2OT - Yes, it took these teams two extra sessions to break 100. It was that kind of game. Neither deserved to win it, with both shooting under 40% from the floor. In the end, it was the 32-13 New York deficit at the end of the first quarter that stood out as the ugliest stat of the game. In the end it was DJ Augustin to knock down two free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining to win the game for the Bobcats.

Quote of the game: “I’m just proud of our team. Without Raja, without Flip and with Boris and Chandler not 100 percent, we need games like this.”- Larry Brown on the fight his team showed in getting the W.

Player of the game Raymond Felton - 22 pts, 8-18 fgs, 8 rebs, 9 asts, 2 stls.

Hawks 100 Wizards 89 - With less than five minutes remaining in the Hawks/Wiz game, Josh Smith became the youngest player in NBA history to record 900 career blocked shots. He got a win as well, with his team taking the lead late in the first quarter and refusing to surrender it, not allowing Washington to get any closer than seven points in the final period.

Quote of the game: “They got to the free throw line. That’s where the game was won.” - Gilbert Arenas on the Hawks going 31-34 from the free throw line.

Player of the game: Josh Smith - 20 pts, 8-11 fgs, 8 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blks

Grizzlies 115, Raptors 107 - Chris Bosh had 20 points before halftime, the Raptors led by eight early in the fourth quarter, yet still the Raptors lost to the Grizzlies. While Toronto's shots stopped falling late, the Grizz found their rhythm and the final score was reflected in both shooting percentages --51% for the Grizz compared to 44% for the Raps-- and offensive rebounds snagged by Marc Gasol late, giving his team extra possessions that OJ Mayo made use of.

Quote of the game: “We were very disappointed in ourselves, and the way we opened up the season.We wanted to come out and prove a point. That this is how we’re going to play this year.” - Mike Conley on the victory.

Player of the game: Zach Randolph - 30 pts, 13-21 fgs, 7 rebs, 3 asts, 1 blk

Heat 93, Pacers 86 - While many people have written off the Heat as a team in the East to fall, when Dwyane Wade is on the roster, you've got to give some respect. Last night, Wade put in a 32-point performance, Jermaine O'Neal had another strong night with 22 points and 12 boards and the Miami Heat took down the Pacers. After jumping out to a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter, the Heat blew the game open with a 30-16 point third quarter.

Quote of the game: "I’m glad we were able to jump out the way we did and withstand their run. I really saw a lot from my young team today.” - Dwyane Wade

Player of the game: Dwyane Wade - 32 pts, 9-19 fgs, 14-19 fts, 3 rebs, 4 asts, 3 stls, 1 blk

Hornets 97, Kings 92 - While the Hornets struggled early, they came up big late, outscoring the Sacramento Kings 28-17 in the fourth quarter and using two late blocks from offseason acquisition Emeka Okafor to take down the Kings in New Orleans last night. While Okafor was protecting the paint, Chris Paul was in scoring mode as he scored 13 of the Hornets final 17 in the victory.

Quote of the game: "I’m just happy that I was able to contribute, considering that I didn’t have a preseason, that I could come in, have a couple decent starts and kind of put everybody’s mind at ease." - Emeka Okafor

Player of the game: Emeka Okafor - 11 pts, 5-8 fgs, 13 rebs, 2 asts, 1 stl, 4 blks

Celtics 118, Bulls 90 - One night after taking down the San Antonio Spurs in their opener, the Bulls hit the wall hard against the Boston Celtics, dropping a 118-90 decision on a night where Rajon Rondo dished 16 assists. Trailing only four points after the first quarter, the Bulls were outscored 67-44 over the second and third periods, with the game turning into a blowout before the final quarter began.

Quote of the game: “That was beautiful to watch." - Kevin Garnett on his teammates Paul Pierce and Ray Allen

Player of the game: Rajon Rondo - 2 pts, 8 rebs, 16 asts, 1 stl

Magic 95, Nets 85 - The Magic lost Vince Carter to an ankle sprain early in the second quarter against the Nets, but it didn't matter because they had Dwight Howard. Howard absolutely killed it for his fantasy owners (yours truly, included), finishing with a 20/20 night.

Quote of the game: “I heal like a young guy so I’ll be good tomorrow, hopefully, I’ll be back Sunday." - Vince Carter speaking about the ankle and playing in Toronto on Sunday

Player of the game: Dwight Howard - 20 pts, 8-11 fgs, 22 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 blks

Cavaliers 104, TWolves 87 - The Minnesota Timberwolves were no match for a Cavs team that has opened up their season 0-2. One game after earning his 25th career triple-double, LeBron James had 24 points and nine boards and was able to rest the final period as his team held on to the 25-18 advantage after one.

Quote of the game: "We kind of know how to feel off each other and go off each other." - James, talking about the team knowing how to play together when Shaquille O'Neal was on the bench in foul trouble.

Player of the game: LeBron James - 24 pts, 10-18 fgs, 9 rebs, 6 asts, 1 stl, 1 blk

Thunder 91, Pistons 83 - The youthful Thunder put together a strong fourth quarter against the Pistons to overcome a 24-16 deficit in the first quarter to take the victory, thanks to an 11-point effort from Kevin Durant in the final period.

Quote of the game: “It is a big win, to go into one of the best arenas in the league and win their home opener. - OKC coach Scott Brooks on his young team's victory after starting the season 2-0 after going 1-16 to start the season last year.

Player of the game: Kevin Durant - 25 pts, 8-19 fgs, 12 rebs, 1 ast, 2 stls

Jazz 111, Clippers 98 - Trailing to the 0-2 Clippers, the Jazz used a 15-0 run late and held Los Angeles' other team to just 14 fourth quarter points to pull away and snag the 111-98 victory. Outrebounding LA 48-35, the Jazz grabbed 12 offensive rebounds, thre from Paul Millsap who finished with 23 points and nine rebounds off of the bench.

Quote of the game: “He scores in bunches. He’s one of those guys that gets hot and starts feeling it. He did that at the right time tonight.” - Deron Williams on Millsap scoring at the right time for his team.

Player of the game: Paul Millsap - 23 pts, 9-12 fg, 9 rebs, 1 stl, 2 blks

Mavericks 94, Lakers 80 - All of the talk surrounding the Lakers has been about how many wins they can get this season. After dropping their opener to the Wizards, the Mavs were not about to listen to any more talk. Going out and silencing all of LA by turning a seven-point halftime advantage into a 20-point lead late in the third quarter, the Mavs held on to blow out the Lakers.

Quote of the game: “That was one of the longest nights we’ve had in this building. We should refund the money to our fans. Every time we got momentum we shot ourselves in our own foot.” - Lakers coach Phil Jackson on his team's performance.

Player of the game: Dirk Nowitzki - 21 pts, 5-14 fg, 10 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk