Jack Is Back In Dino Nation Blog

Well it is a bit of good fortune that I had scheduled a talk with Jack Armstrong and we had some big news happen. Allen Iverson was heading to the Pistons for Billups and McDyess. In addition to that some Raptor News as Chris Bosh was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. That is the two things that we talk about in the starting 5. The audio on this was a bit of a challenge. But I think I have fixed it up fairly well. So here is the link to the Starting 5 with Jack and your Dino Blogger.

Jack Armstrong in the Starting 5

I did an entire blog about the fact I was happy with the comments made by Jermaine O’Neal. He stressed how he felt that the Raptors were a team of nice guys and they would help guys up and that this year they were not going to be that way. I asked Jack for his reaction to those comments made by Jermaine O’Neal.

Jack Armstrong- I like it. I think this team has taken on Sam Mitchell’s personality more so than any team he has had here in Toronto. They respond to him. He got that technical foul the other night( vs. Bucks ) the team automatically responded to him. After time outs they responded to him. I think when you have a guy like Jermaine O’Neal that a very passionate intense guys. Along with Bosh who has just been incredible. Your going to have a better chance at success. I think Jermaine O’Neal has brought good things rebounding and shot blocking wise. If he can do that consistently time will tell. His offense quite frankly has been up and down. If they can get the numbers they are getting from him right now you can say this was a good trade if he can continue with these kind of numbers.

So can Jermaine be the leader on defense in the same way that Calderon is the leader on the floor for Mitchell in directing the offense?

Jack Armstrong- I think everyone has bought in James, I really do. Chris Bosh in particular has shown me a greater level of alertness, in regards to what is going on around him as a player. Jermaine O’Neal backs that up a little bit in how he blocks shots and how aggressive he is in the lane. I think they will be an interesting team to watch as we go along.

One thing fans will be watching with both interest and concern about is the Raptor bench. Andrea Bargnani and Jason Kapono have been doing well in some respects but beyond that nothing to speak of. I asked Jack if fans should be concerned about this going forward.

Jack Armstrong- When you are 3-0 you tend to kind of look past some of those problems. When you look at the minutes through the first 3 games you only have 2 players playing significant minutes in Kapono and Bargnani. Can an eighth guy and a ninth guy develop for the Raptors. I think that becomes that much more important as you move along and play more games. In finding that eighth or ninth that is going to play consistent minutes for you. That is going to be important because it is a long year and injuries are going to happen and fatigue is going to happen. You need to have that in your repertoire to utilize.

Sam Mitchell will be the one that needs to find those guys to fill that roles. But Sam takes a lot of heat from folks. I think 3 games in he has done a fantastic job with the Raptors. I asked Jack if he agreed that Sam had performed well to this point.

Jack Armstrong- I think his team is playing really hard. I think they are getting better defensively. He knows exactly what he wants. He knows this roster very well and has a number of returning guys. I think he came into the season knowing how he wanted to have the whole thing play out. This is a team that if they stay healthy despite the fact if they are on the road or at home, they have enough talent to be a contender. If they actually content and get in that is another story. But I think this team has enough potential to contend. Part of the reason why is they have a coach who’s players are buying into his philosophy big time as a coach.

Part of that philosophy has been an increased use of zone defense. I asked Jack if he was a fan of the Raptors making more use of the zone. Jack had this to say about the Raptors use of zone defense.

Jack Armstrong- I said that in the pre-season as well. I really felt strongly that this was a team that needed to look long and hard at looking to use zone sometimes. They are not the most quickest team out on the perimeter. You have find a way to have a happy balance. Keep you defense in it and keep you team in it. Sometime I think not being stuck on individual match-up and man to man and instead playing some zone defense. I think is a big factor for the Raptors.

I asked Jack about his thoughts on the new combination of Bosh and O’Neal and how he feels it is working at this early stages of the season. Is he happy with what he was seen thus far?

Jack Armstrong- I think so, I have been pleased with it. I think O’Neal is still a little rusty offensively. But defensively he has been very effective. I just kind of like what I have seen from this team overall. I think they have been really locked in and engaged. I am seeing some stuff that I like. Depth is an issue , let’s hope they find a way to work that out. But I think they will find it. That eight guy and that ninth guy to get them over the hump. But what we are seeing from those first seven guys I think we are seeing some really good things.

I to am encouraged by the changes we have seen. Speaking of change it is election day in the Untied States. Awhile a go I wrote about NBA players getting involved in politics and the election. I didn’t ask Jack who he is voting for. But I did ask what he thought about the involvement of a lot of NBA folks in this election. Did he think it was a good thing to have players getting involved in the politics and the election.

Jack Armstrong- I think political activism is good. Getting involved in your community, caring about the issues and caring about people is an important thing. I do think I can honestly say that I could careless about what a player or coach has to say about who I vote for. I don’t think it is going to sway me in any way. But i do think it is good to have people that are passionate about the political machinations of where they live and what they do.

Chris Bosh was not one of those folks that got into all of the politics and the United States Election. After all he has his own campaign to run for M.V.P of the NBA. As for Jack he has a very busy season of basketball ahead of him. So we have talked and he will be back to visit but it might be for awhile. Jack has radio show, a blog, he covers the NCAA and NBA he is a very busy guy. But I thank him for making time for us. He promises he will be back at least a few more times through out the season. He is after all our most frequent guest. He is also a favourite guest as well. But you all can talk to Jack both on his show the “Game Plan” on Fan 590(2-4 Weekdays) and he will be back on HOOPS (Thursdays 7pm)  as well with Eric and Paul Jones. Hoops is scheduled to kick off this Thursday. I will be calling the show as I always have.

But we keep working hard and I actually have another guest for you tomorrow. He is new guest making his first appearance in the Dino Nation Blog. So I hope he will get a warm welcome. Sherman Hamilton from Raptors T.V and The Score drops in to visit with us. I had a long converstaion with Sherm about a lot of things. I think it will be something very interesting that you will enjoy. I have to thank Matt Devlin who gave me the intorduction to Sherm at the Raptors pre-season game vs the T-Wolves that I attended. Sherm has been busy working hard on Raptors TV even working on the weekends a bit right before the season starts. So it is great he was able to make some time for the Dino Nation Blog.

Rapid Fire Raptors

There is a lot of stuff to get done today for me. So today’s blog will be a bit shorter than usual. Part of the reason for that is I will be talking with Jack Armstrong today for an interview. I always look forward to talking with Jack. I know that personally I always learn a lot from our conversations. He told me the Raptors would be better off with this smaller roster. Seems at least to this point Jack was on the money. He just has a lot of knowledge about basketball and at the core is a sports fan. That is why he makes a great guest and is always great to hear from.

But that is later today and will likely be in tomorrow’s blog may get it up late tonight but will see. The Raptors will be back at work today after getting a well deserved day off.  You really could not have asked for a better start for the Raptors. They sit on top of the Atlantic Division and will get a chance to take on the defending NBA Champion Celtics on November 10th.

So how has this 3-0 start happened? I will give you some of my reasons why the Raptors have been successful so far.

1. CB4- Chris Bosh is always the beginning of any conversation that is about Raptor success. He has taken his game to a exciting new level. His numbers have been off the charts. He has not only been producing more on offense. He has been picking it up on the defensive side as well. Chris Bosh is in the very early conversation for the M.V.P of the N.B.A. That is just how good he has been

2. Jose is Jose- I admit that I thought he may slow down a bit and have the new challenge of being the last point guard standing take a little time to get use too. Well no signs of that so far. In fact he is coming off a career high in points and still had 9 assists. Calderon has been outstanding and he at times has been able to get a bit of rest when Roko Ukic is performing well. You still worry a bit about the huge amounts of minutes Jose will be playing and has been playing. But thus far he has been up to the challenge.  So for all of you that have had faith is Jose he is rewarding your faith in him.

3. The J.O Factor- We talked a lot about this yesterday. Basically J.O has been health and active of defense. But he has added a lot to others defensive effort as well. Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh and Jamario Moon are all helping out with Jermaine’s nightly block party. Raptors are able to make those key stops that in the past. But above all of this as it was said yesterday, J.O makes the Raptors tougher. Jose Calderon said of the game vs the Bucks that last season that was a game they would have lost by 10. Well now that is not the case as the Raptors have got mental toughness to hang in the fight. J.O can take credit for some of that.

4. The New Andrea- Yes two games he has not scored a single point. But he has in all 3 games been a factor on defensive end. Blocking some shots grabbing the odd rebound. It is something that we would not have seen from Andrea last season. His effort was directly connected to his point total. That is progress and he has been committed to scoring on the inside. We have seen less of that hanging out beyond the 3 point line waiting for a shot.

5. Jason Kapono is Money- Jason Kapono is likely to be on of the people most impacted by the moves in the off-season in a positive way. He is shooting the ball well and he will get to see a lot more open looks at making those shots. He will be a key part of the bench and be counted on to produce points off the bench. Jason Kapono is up to the challenge.  I think he will be a big X-factor for the Raptors on most nights. So keep shooting J.K and we will see you at the All-Star Game to defend that 3-ball title for a third year. He is likely going to have some friends joining him the way the Raptors are playing.

So that is my thoughts on some of the early keys to success. You can add your thoughts on why the Raptors are 3-0 in your view. Love to hear from all of you and a lot of you have excellent points of your own. So share them with us. Have a great day and be sure to check back tomorrow for “The Coach” Jack Armstrong.

Bucks and Raps – Raptor Rewind V308

DANGER…DANGER!!! I have heard a lot of talk of 3-0 today. Yes the Raptors are better than the Bucks. But this is a rested Bucks team and it is their home opener.  Add a history for the Raptors that has not been the greatest versus the Bucks.  But on the positive side Luke Ridnour a scratch for the Bucks. But is it really as this will give Ramon Sessions his first chance to get in and show what he can do. I expect the Raptors to win but just like Barack Obama is telling people not to be over confident and get out and vote. I want Raptor Fans to not take anything for granted as well. I know Chris Bosh remembers a 2-0 Raptor team that was embarrassed at the hands of a Bucks team not to long ago in Raptor History. The good news is the Raps to not play again till next Wednesday so no excuses not to go all out tonight.

Charlie V would score the first points of this game on a nice look that gave him an easy lay in. Villianueva  was fired up as he got an early foul on Bosh on the next trip and made both free throws. Raptors were 0-3 and Richard Jefferson hit a mid range jumper and the score was 6-0.  The Bucks continued to get it done as Andrew Bogut took a feed from Charlie V and it was 8-0 and reason for Sam Mitchell to call time early.

Out of the time out Raptors wanted to get the ball to Bosh but Bucks denied it, so Jamario Moon would get a look from 3 point range that he would hit. But the Bucks would keep control of this game. Early on it was Charlie V and Richard Jefferson getting it done. The score was 12-5 for the Bucks early on.  Jose Calderon was given an open 3 pointer which he was happy to take and make. A Moon steal and another basket for Jose with his foot on the line for a two pointer this time. Raptors had it going now as Bosh would continue what was now a 7-0 run. It was all set up by a J.O block. Jermaine would then get his on offense.  Bosh with another 2 points and Raptors have an 11-0 run and a 16-12 lead.

Michael Redd would end the run by getting to the line and making a couple of free throws. Calderon would hook up Bosh for a jam and Raptors were rolling along. Jose would then make a shot on the next trip and the run was 15-2 for Raptors. Raps would cool slightly as the quarter was coming to an end. But the still had a 6 point advantage after Jose Calderon headed to the line for a couple. The Bucks would run off back to back baskets to close the quarter and Raptors had a slim 24-22 lead. But when you consider the way the quarter started it was pretty good.

Roko Ukic was in to start the second quarter. Kapono and Joey Graham along with Bargnani and J.O was your Raptor starting-5 for second quarter. J.O had a basket it would be answered with a Michael Redd 3-ball. Charlie Bell would give the Bucks a two point advantage. Both teams were struggling to score but the Bucks still held a slim 29-27 lead. Andrea Bargnani had yet to score but got a nice block on Richard Jefferson and had a few rebounds as well. Roko Ukic was really ineffective in getting the offense going and it was time for Calderon and Bosh to return.

Bargnani was having a cold shooting night thus far he remained scoreless with a couple more misses. Offensively we were seeing more of the jump shots and not the dominant inside play from last night. Bucks had not taken much advantage of this Raptor scoring drought as they on lead 31-27. It was not just Bargnani though as no one on the bench had any points. But the Bucks were struggling as well. Jose Calderon would finally score as everyone on both sides were missing shots at a rapid pace. Jason Kapono would get the bench on the board from the free throw line and the game was tied at 31 points. Charlie V would hit a 3 pointer to give the Bucks their lead back.

Chris Humphries was in for his first action of the season. But it was Anthony Parker who was hitting a big 3 point shot and Raptors had a lead. Jose Calderon on the next trip had a 3-ball as well. Raptors had a 39-34 lead after sleep walking on offense through the majority of this quarter. Bosh would get to the line and hit a couple the score was 41-37. But Bosh was not done he had a big rejection on the other end. A little to big though as the ball would go out of bounds and the Bucks would turn that into 2 points. Raptors would struggle with a short clock out of a time out and commit a shot clock violation. But the Bucks could not do anything with the extra chance and the Raptors had a 41-39 lead with far from an “A” performance in the first half.

Checking the out of town scoreboard. T.J Ford had 19 points and a win over the Celtics. Some of you may boo, but before you do there was a point beyond my love of T.J. Jose Calderon in a half had 16 points and 5 assists. That was one more than the 4 T.J had as far as assists go in the entire game vs Boston. Also beyond the Ford vs Jose debate with a win Raptors could get first in the Atlantic early on if they could hang on for a win. So I made it all relevant and still got to give a little love for the little engine. This game has a second half to play so let’s get to that.

The Bucks would start the half going to Andrew Bogut who would score. Anthony Parker would answer on the other end. A.P made it back to back scores. Charlie V would have another big score for the Bucks with a second 3 pointer on the night. Charlie was at it again with 5 points in the 3rd quarter.  J.O would get his first 2 point in awhile and Raptors had a narrow 51-48 advantage. Bucks had a chance to take the lead but Jamario Moon would deny them with a block causing a turnover.

Sam Mitchell was enraged about a double dribble call against Jose Calderon and Sam Mitchell had his first Technical Foul of the season. Raptors would respond after Redd missed the Tech. J.O would get a rejection on defensive end and a score on the offensive end. It was 53-50 Raptors, until J.o decided he was not done as he got another bucket make that 55-50 Raptors. Bosh hooked up J.O on the high to low feed.  Jose Calderon would continue the run after the Mitchell technical foul. Raptors were on a 12-0 run since the Sam Mitchell Meltdown. Give Sam so credit he got the troops motivated and they were leading 63-50. Charlie V would finally end the Raptor run with a basket. Jamario Moon would hit a three pointer Raptors lead 66-53.

Back to  back turnovers for the Raptors and the Bucks were looking to claw back into the game with score 66-57. Anthony Parker would score but than on the defensive end get called for a foul on Micheal Redd. He would make the shot and nail the free throw. Jason Kapono had checked in and he hit a duece. The Raptors would finish the quarter with a 70-60 lead.

Charlie V would take an early seat in the fourth quarter as Chris Bosh took advantage of his former team mate drawing the foul. Raptors were nursing an 8 point lead 73-65.  Andrea Bargnani would reject Richard Jefferson leading to a turnover for the Bucks. Jason Kapono would hit the jumper from 18 feet in the corner. The Bucks would make a little bit of a push as Richard Jefferon went at J.O drawing a foul the score was 75-69.  Richard Jefferson would get a steal that was converted into a transition dunk. Andrew Bogut would get nailed for a foul.  But Bosh would only go 1-2 and Raptors lead was 76-71. Jefferson was a man on a mission as he would drive to the basket drawing a blocking foul on O’Neal again. They would only go one for two but got a steal on Bosh put they would fumble the ball out of bounds. Raptors would have to hang on with out Jermaine O’Neal who picked up an offensive Foul and he was out of the game. Raptors had a 4 point lead and there was still over 5 minutes to play.

Jamario Moon came in to replace J.O the Raptors were playing small matching the Bucks small line-up. Andrew Bogut had 6 straight points and Raptors were on the ropes big time. The Bucks would take the lead on an R.J lay-up. 80-79 for the Bucks who had come out strong in the 4th quarter and the Raptors had not been able to match it to this point. Bucks had out scored the Raptors 20-9 in the 4th quarter. Chris Bosh would score out of the time out driving on Jefferson. Ramon Session would reply and than it was Jamario Moon from deep. Raptors had 84-82 lead. Raptors would have a miss from A.P and the Bucks down 84-83 would have the ball with under 5o seconds to play. Another thrilling finish in the span of about 24 hours was in the cards.  The Bucks would convert out of the time out with a basket from their UCLA rookie Mbah a Moute. Raptors ball with 36 seconds left down 85-84. Calderon would make a clutch three point out of the Raptor time out. He was having a great night and Raptors lead 87-85. 21 seconds to go. Micheal Redd would get a long look for 2 that did not fall and Jamario Moon got the board and was fouled right away. He converted both and the Raptors lead 89-85 with now just 11 seconds to play. How cool has the last two nights been from an entertainment stand point? Michael Redd would score quickly with a Redd lay-up. Now just 7 seconds left and Bucks poised to foul. Calderon would get fouled and head to the line. Fitting he would have a chance to end this one. He made the first and the second. Redd would get a 3 pointer off but it missed and the Raptors hang on to win. 91-87.

Calderon had 25 points and 9 assists and was the star of the game for the Raptors with out question. For all the rest of the stat goodies you can check out boxscore below. But the biggest stat of all is 3-0 and first in the Atlantic Division. That is as good as it gets. First time since 99-00 the Raptors have started 2-0 on the road.

Bucks vs Raptors- Boxscore

The Podcast

Dino Blogger’s Post Game Podcast

Halloween Treat For You- Matt Devlin Joins Us

I am happy to give everyone here at the Dino Nation Blog a Halloween surprise. I had a chance to chat with Matt Devlin. He has been a guest with us on several occasions and he manged to multi-task and talk with us as he was getting ready for Halloween yesterday afternoon. In the starting 5 Matt Devlin gets his Halloween Treats while he talks some basketball with us. We talk O’Neal and Bosh as well his thoughts from broadcasting his first Raptor regular season game. We catch up with Matt as he is Halloween shopping.

Starting 5- With Matt Devlin

So that was a lot of fun. I also got a kick out of the reference to “Good” Joey in last night’s game. Joey was good in that game even I said he was. But it was also proof that Matt is learning the Raptor fan language.  But it comes to mind that Matt Devlin has a fresh perspective on Joey Graham. He has not been here to have experienced the frustration of the whole “Good” Joey and “Bad” Joey saga. Maybe he can have an answer to how we see the “Good” Joey remain and leave “Bad” Joey behind. Matt’s thoughts on how we can make “Good” Joey stay and what it will take.

Matt Devlin- Consistency, and how do you get consistency? That is an unknown. Joey Graham is a player that if he could bottle up the “Good” Joey and be consistent, he becomes the player everyone expects him to be. How do you answer that? Who knows. Some guys get it and the get it early and they ride it out. Some guys they struggle to get it and it finally happens for them. You just hope for Joey that things are going to come together for him. Because the Raptors ultimately need him to be a consistent player and a consistent force. Because that is a important position in this league.

I understand the frustration of fans because there are players like this throughout the league. When I was in Memphis Stromile Swift was a player was a player like that. From an athletic standpoint was just so over the top. You just looked at him and said if he could only put it altogether. Boy we would really have something.

Despite what some might think I do hope Joey can come through. I just have been let down to many times by Joey. I am going to be the last one to believe or among the last. But I do hope he can prove me wrong. As for Swift he was a lottery pick for the Grizzles back when they were Canada’s Grizzles and he like Big Country and a host of other picks did not work out well for them. Joey Graham did play a lot of zone in his days as an OSU Cowboy. The Raptors last night did a lot of zone defense vs the Sixers. So was this a sign of things to come or was it a case of match-ups versus the Sixers. Matt Devlin gives us his take:

Matt Devlin- I think it has to do with the match-up. I thought it worked really well against Philadelphia, a team that struggles beyond the 3-point line. Dead last in the NBA a season ago. I thought it was brilliant on their part to mix that in. They mixed it in at the right time. They trusted in it even though they got out rebounded in it. But at the end of the day it paid off.

The fear of fans about the lack of depth at point guard got a major test last night. Jose Calderon went down at a key point of the game down the stretch. It turned out he had whacked his funny bone and it forced Roko Ukic back into the game for some unexpected minutes in crunch time. I asked Matt for his thoughts on that and an overall opinion on how Roko did.  Here is what he thought.

Matt Devlin- He really did well. I thought he was steady as you could be. I thought he really did exactly what you hoped he would do. I really liked what I saw from him. Forget about the 2-7, he didn’t turn the basketball over.

A guy Matt Devlin does knows really well is Jason Kapono. He has been called ” The World’s Greatest Shooter” on air by Matt. But I did not realize the man that coined the phrase was actually Anthony Parker. Matt Devlin was quick to give the credit to A.P. Is Kapono that. I am not sure if he is or if he isn’t. But it is clear that with back to back 3-point shooting titles to his credit and career percentages that are among the best all time. He is a very good shooter. The Addition of Jermaine O’Neal to this Raptor roster has had many point to Kapono’s time in Miami. He was asked about it last night and he does see the same type of things for himself as he had back in those days. I asked Matt to give his take on what this will mean for Jason Kapono with the Raptors this year. Will it be like that time in Miami?

Matt Devlin- That is because (The Comparison) with that presence on the inside, with teams having to look to the inside defensively. All it does is give Jason a split second. That is ultimately all he needs. Cause he is that deadly of a shooter. That reference back to Miami is obviously based on the fact he had Shaq O’Neal on the inside.

When we headed into the season when people were asked who will be that 4th guy beyond Bosh, Calderon and O’Neal,  Kapono and Andrea Bargnani were the most common answers. Kapono was scoring and making shots but not so for Andrea. But still he did get some boards and was hanging around the paint. In fact, despite the lack of points on the board. Matt Devlin found things to be positive about in relation to Andrea Bargnani. He tells us about what he liked about Andrea and his efforts:

Matt Devlin- You know I think he played a really solid game last night. Forget about the 0-4 from the floor he had 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. He was a presence on the inside. If you combine Bargnani, Bosh and O’Neal and their rebounds, in comparison to the team rebounds they had 24 of 33. So the three of them did what they needed to do. I do think he has made great progress.

I was not as impressed as Matt to be honest. But I am happy to give credit to the fact that Andrea did stay engaged in the game. I had said to Matt that last year if Andrea did not score there was no way he would have got 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. I will also say that he is staying in the fight and trying to play more in the paint. It is going to be a process and the signs he is at least willing to keep at it in the paint have been clear. Some will look at the 0 points and just be frustrated by that.  But I do see that Andrea also can contribute in other ways. I think he sees that as well, more than he has in the past.

I asked Matt about his thoughts on the Sixers. He thinks they are a good team and they will be fine. He gave credit to the Raptors gameplan for why the Raptors were better on the night. The fact by playing the zone and sticking to it caused the Sixers to think they could make shots. But when all is said and done the Raptors stayed in the zone and the Sixers struggled to shot. In fact Matt pointed to that as the big need for the Sixers is a guy who can step up and being a long range shooter for them. But to keep with the Raptors and what they are doing. Matt gave a lot of praise to the Raptors gameplan. That is set by Sam Mitchell and we have heard Mitchell get hammered by many folks for his lack of X’s and O’s skill. But not just Matt Devlin but Jermaine O’Neal was impressed by Mitchell. O’Neal gave credit to his coach and the staff for the “Genius” of how they had several plays running out of the same sets. He thought it confused the Sixers and was a key to victory. So given all of that I asked for Matt’s thoughts on Sam Mitchell as a coach from a tactical point of view.

Matt Devlin- Last night when you look at the game plan, it was carried through and they executed. From a coaching standpoint, you gotta have your game plan in place, you have to be able to make adjustments and then your players have to ultimately execute.  The game plan was there and the adjustments that were necessary were made and the players executed. So from my stand point, Sam did a fantastic job. It is always the case it doesn’t matter what town or what city, people are always going to look at the coach and that is just the name of the game. People even come out and get after a Phil Jackson or a Pat Riley. That unfortunately is just all part of it. Sam recognizes that.

I often have said in this blog that Sam Mitchell for whatever you care to say is good at motivating his team to play hard. He commands his teams attention and is able to get guys that make millions of dollars as athletes to give effort. That is a skill to that is far to often over looked. Matt Devlin agreed with me about that. We both to agree that Sam is also very entertaining. In fact if the day came that Sam was ever not the coach of the Toronto Raptors, Matt Devlin had a suggestion for a career move for Sam.

Matt Devlin- Listen, Sam could sit next to Charles Barkley on Thursday Night’s on TNT.

The games on TNT on Thursday nights are part of the package that has been scheduled for TSN 2. That is a important issue with Raptor fans. I have expressed my rage and displeasure. Matt Devlin is going to be on the network as well as TSN. But he has made an effort to keep fans in the loop on the issue in his blog. I asked him for his thoughts on the issue from the fans perspective. He had this to say on the TSN2 matter.

Matt Devlin- I am a rogers customer as well. I would love for it to work out. I hope that it works out soon. Tonight (Interview was Yesterday Afternoon) TNT double header and it is on TSN 2, I want to watch it. That is what I have been doing for a long time. I just hope that everybody can come together and work on it, for the fans sake, fans of the NBA. I hope it all gets worked out.

On the main network of TSN this Saturday we will get to see Matt, along with the one thing TSN did get right, the recently hired Jack Armstrong. He may be new to TSN but Jack has been part of basketball with the Raptors for over a decade. He is also not new to Matt Devlin and I asked if Matt was excited to get back on the air again with “The Coach” Jack Armstrong.

Matt Devlin- I am also excited to have Jack. Jack and I have known each other for years and worked together before. He is a great man. I can’t wait to do it, because he is a guy that is just a great person and everyone knows that. Jack, Leo and Sherm, all three of them, they are all outstanding with what they do. There is not another team in the NBA with the depth that the Raptors have in the annalist chair.

I joked with Matt that people may have questions about the Raptors depth on the court but in the broadcast booth they have major depth. He got a laugh from that. But he may not be an annalist, he is the play by play man, I will take him to be my annalist here. The Toronto Raptors take on the Golden State Warriors tonight. So I asked him for his thoughts on the Raptors versus Warriors match-up which he will be calling tonight on The Score. A different challenge for the Raptors in the Warriors?

Matt Devlin- You know what from a standpoint of the principles they used last night. Transition defense is going to be extremely important against Golden State. That is number one because Golden State they do want to get out and go. All five of there guys want to get it on the floor and go. So you are going to have to get back. If you don’t get back they are going to burn you. I watched them last night when I got home against New Orleans. They took New Orleans down to the end. So from my standpoint that is going to be the most important thing. That along with don’t turn it over because if you do they are going to be successful in the transition game.

How bout some key match-ups to look at?

Matt Devlin- Jose Calderon he has a good match-up there that he can take advantage of. When you look inside to the guys on the inside. Do what you did against Philadelphia. That is the truth. If you can do that all season long your really going to be in a great position. But here is the thing about Golden State in Comparison to Philadelphia inside. They might be smaller but they are also athletic and that is thing you have to remember with them.

I am always thankful for some expert help. Matt makes very valid points and I would add that Corey Maggette has a history of being a guy that has given the Raptors fits in his time with the Clippers. It should not change with a change of uniform. Moon and Graham or whoever is guarding Maggette will have to do a good job. I look forward tonight’s game.

I want to wish all of you a Happy Halloween. Please whatever your plans for the evening are be careful and keep your eyes looking for those kids looking for the goodies that Matt was getting for his home. Also if you are going out for a more adult night out. Please be safe and don’t drink and drive. It is important everyday of the year. But on a night when kids are out on streets looking for candies it is even more of a message that needs to be taken seriously. So have fun but be safe and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM YOUR FRIENDLY DINO BLOGGER.

Impressive Start For The Raptors

I got to say that I was impressed by what I saw last night. Well not the start of the game. It was like the Raptors had missed the memo that the game was starting at 6pm. But all of what happened after that rocky start was good. We saw some things we have not seen in a long time for the Toronto Raptors. Jermaine O’Neal only had 1 blocked shot but was challenging a lot of others. Chris Bosh looked like the player he always has been. That was the best season opening performance of his NBA Career. The Raptors have a true dynamic duo that is going to be a force to deal with for teams. When you consider that Philly has one of the better big man duos in Sam Dalembert and Elton Brand. It makes you think that other teams in the east with less skilled duos have to be afraid of what they can do to stop this.

This also adds to the value of guys shooting it like Parker, Calderon and Kapono. The looks that Jason Kapono was getting were very good. Paul Jones in the post game scrum asked Jason if he had been getting looks like he did back in his days in Miami with Shaq. Kapono said it was like that and if that is true we should see a big year Jason Kapono.

Don’t get me wrong it was not perfect yet. There were some breakdowns and bad perimeter defense. Rebounding needs to be better too. But it was a good first effort. Even Andrea Bargnani, who scored 0 points did at least get on the glass and get 5 rebounds which for him is news. Another person that sometimes catches my wrath is Joey Graham. But I have nothing but love for Joey today. That is what I want to see from Joey Graham. Go out there and bang and hustle and grind. I will forgive the mistakes if I am seeing that kind of effort. So that is 1 good Joey night with 81 to go.

We also saw the Raptors playing a lot more zone defense than we ever had in the past. It is something the Raptors may continue with to cover up some defensive players that are not exactly up to speed. It will not work for all teams but the way the Sixers were shooting last night it made sense and it worked. Oh and for all you Sam Mitchell Lovers and Haters…J.O has something for you.  You may not think Sam Mitchell is a good play caller or knows his X’s and O’s. But J.O said that it was the genius of Sam Mitchell and his plays on offense that allowed Bosh and himself to score out of certain sets. He talked about the variations in those sets that were able to confuse the Sixers. So for the next person that wants to run Sam Mitchell into the ground, go tell J.O what you think. I dare you.

Basically it was a very good start to a long journey for the Toronto Raptors. People had doubt heading into this game. I won’t lie about it even I had my questions. They may not have answered them all but they did enough to restore my confidence. It is only one game out of 82 in season. But as I said yesterday prior to this game it was a bit more important than your average opening game based on the team they facing. It was important to get a leg up on the Sixers. If the Raptors can do it again in a few weeks they will already have at worst a season series split with the Sixers. That could be very important when all is said and done.

So Raptor fans after a pre-season that caused them to have doubts can feel better after the performance they saw last night. It was something that Raptor fans needed to feel good about this team and their chances for success in this upcoming season.

The Raptors now look to start the season on a positive note at home taking on the Golden State Warriors who offer a much different challenge than that of the Sixers. But the Warriors are a team that has lost Baron Davis and Monte Ellis to injury and have a lot of question marks. But they did add Corey Maggette and are a team that plays a high up tempo style that could be something that will be a challenge for the Raptors. It will be interesting to see how they handle it. What will be equally interesting is how the Warriors try to deal with the Bosh and O’Neal combo.

Around The League

Last Night’s Scoreboard

Among the highlights around the rest of the league. The Knicks actually won the debut game for Mike D’Antoni over the Miami Heat. The Hawks also suprised the Magic and Nets were able to beat the Wizards. T.J Ford and the Pacers lost to the Pistons who the Raptors will be facing early next week.  Out west it was the Suns getting the win over the Spurs. The Warriors who will be trick or treating here in Toronto lost to New Orleans.  Lakers are 2-0 after taking care of the other L.A team the Clippers making it look very easy.

Some Things Of Note For Dino Nation Blog:

Some things are being done behind the scenes and it may call for making some technical changes as we move forward. They are all part of what is coming up very soon for Dino Nation Blog on November 19th. That will be a big day so if you don’t read the blog everyday make a note to check it out on that day. Not just to get ready for the Heat and Raptors but to hear the exciting news about the Dino Nation blog. But until that date we will be making some changes and it will include a transition from wordpress to another blog platform provider. So if you are having trouble getting the blog be sure to check here for info on what has gone on. But if you use www.dinonationblog.com it will bring you to the new site home. This is not going to happen tomorrow or anything but it will happen before November 19th as part of the news that will be announced on that day. So I thank you for your patience in this time of transition. The Dino Nation Blog is not going anywhere don’t worry about that. We are just making chances to make things better for the Blog and hopefully you it readers. If you have the site linked to wordpress or have an a feed you use it may require changing that to keep up to date on things. I am sorry to cause anyone any inconvenience in this transition but it will be for the better in the long run.

Raptor Hit Philly For Game 1- Raptor Rewind

We have been waiting for this for a long time. The Raptors will get an early start the season. It is going to be interesting indeed all year long. The one question that has been answered is that Jamario Moon will be back as the starting role for now. But how will Bosh and O’Neal perform together? Is Andrea Bargnani going to bounce back this year? Can the Raptors manage with only one experienced Point Guard? Will the defense be improved? Can this bench be any good at all? Well the time has come to start to find out some answers to all these questions. It is a brand new season and if you are any kind of a fan you have to be excited. So let’s see what happens when the Raptors take on their Atlantic Division rivals the Sixers. I was asked to Live Blog this puppy so what the heck. I am going to let you see the Raptor Rewind as it is being done.

So from the toss up state of Pennsylvania, we are ready to do just that. It will be Matt Devlin’s regular season debut in the booth. He has been good to the blog so I wish him well. Not a good start as Thaddeus Young hit a 3 pointer to start for Philly. Bosh misfired on his first attempt of the year. Elton Brand meanwhile would score in the paint and it was 5-0 for Philly. Bosh would split a pair of free throws and Raptors were on the board. But Elton Brand would follow up with another basket and an early 7-1 lead.

Raptors had started the season 0-6 from the field that is not good. Raptors still had not made a basket 5 minutes in. That would be broken by Jose Claderon with a 3-ball. But Iggy had an answer with 2 point of his own and the score was 11-4 Sixers half way through the first. The Raptors were looking lost on offense and a time out was called as they trailed 13-6.

Jose Calderon had 5 of the Raptors 6 points but that is not exactly the game plan. Sixers were killing Raptors on the glass as well with an 11-2 advantage on the glass. Jamario Moon hits a 3 point shot not exactly his strength but at this point will take it. Bosh hooked up J.O on a high low feed and despite all of the bad things the Raptors trailed by just 4 points at 15-11. Andrea Bargnani enters the game for his first action of the year and he was the first off the bench. Leo Rautins “favourite” player Sam Dalembert had a pair of free throws. But from there J.O had another basket and A.P hit a three point shot and the Raptors were down just 1 point. The Raptors had a chance to take the lead which they would not connect and the Sixers ran off 4 straight points to get the lead back to 5 points.

Chris Bosh would get a steal and than hit his first shot of the year cutting the lead to just 3 points. But after another nice defensive effort the Raptors gave up an offensive rebound. The Raptors would cause a shot clock violation and allow them not to pay the price this time. Jamario Moon had a chance to cut the lead to just one from the line with a couple of free throws but he would not hit them and the Raptors trailed after one 21-18.

The Raptors were in this game despite being beat down on the glass and getting off to a terrible shooting start. Raptors were out rebounded 22-5. Both team’s were shooting horrible at under 35% for both.  Joey Graham and Roko Ukic and Kapono were all in the game.  Bosh would get a score and Lou Williams hit a 3 on the other end and Sixers lead 24-20. Joey Graham with a spining scoring effort. But he would get beat on the other end. Jason Kapono would reply and it was Philly up a basket 26-24.  Joey Graham showing some hustle got a basket on pure hustle and we were all tied at 26. Roko Ukic would get his first NBA basket on a long outlet pass from Bosh on a rebound and the Raptors were in the lead 28-26.

Raptors were showing some hustle and it lead to a Bosh dunk. Joey Graham was having an impact of the bench. I know, I am giving Joey some love you are shocked, but it was true this had been a good Joey night so far. Sixers would tie the game up at 30 only to see Jason Kapono answer their 3-ball with one of his own. Keep in mind this was all being done with Roko Ukic on the floor running the show. He did not show any signs of nerves in his first NBA game.

Joey Graham checked out for Anthony Parker but like I said good effort from Joey. Raptors were holding on to the lead as Chris bosh was heating up and Raptors had a 37-33 lead. Sam Dalembert would convert on a basket and foul and the lead was just one point. An A.P three pointer on a mis-match with Dalembert on him and the Raptors had it going. Chris Bosh would score on the next trip up the floor Raptors were leading by 8 points after the less than impressive start. The score on “The Score” was Raptors 44 and Sixers 36.

O’Neal and Calderon had checked back in for Toronto. Jermaine O’Neal got Matt Devlin excited with a left handed throw down and a foul. He would hit the foul shot and Raptors had their largest lead of the night at 47-38. The game was going back and forth and Raptors were not being able to play this way with Philly. The Sixers would cut the lead down to 4. But Chris Bosh would answer with a jam of his own. Andrea Iguodala had a chance to narrow the lead from the line but he would miss both. Making the score at the half 51-45 for the Raptors.

Chris Bosh after a slow start had 15 points and 7 rebounds at the half to lead the Raptors and all scorers in this game. Jermaine O’Neal had 9 points and 4 rebounds for his efforts. Sam Dalembert had 12 rebounds and 7 points for the Sixers. Even Leo has to be impressed with that. So with that knowledge it is almost time for the second half.

Bosh would start the second half with a miss on a jumper. Elton Brand scored on his first effort of the half his total up to 10 on the night. Raptors had misfired on thier first 3 trips up the floor. Sixers meantime got a basket from Dalembert and had lead down to 2 points. But Parker would hook up O’Neal and than a stel for A.P would lead to a Bosh basket and the lead was back to 6 points at 55-49.

One thing that was clear the Raptors defense was much better than it had been at the end of the pre-season. While on offense they had been very careful with just 2 turnovers. They now had a 8 point advantage on a Jamario Moon basket. Sixers would get very unique three point play with a goaltending call and a foul it would make the score 57-52 with 7:30 to play. Raptors had gone cold and the Sixers had a 7-0 run going and cut the lead to just one. Chris Bosh would draw a foul and but an end to that run. Raptors lead 59-56 now. Jermaine O’Neal returned for a less than effective Andrea Bargnani. J.O would get right to work with a basket and than on defensive end caused a jump ball.

J.O was continued to bring it on defense cause Andrea Iguodala to alter a shot and miss. The next time around Iggy would draw a foul on J.O and the Raptors had a 62-58 lead. A. Parker out of a time out would hit a 3 point shot from 18 parkerville court in the corner.  Raptors would cause a 24 second violation thanks to a CB4 block. Bosh would head down on the other end and draw a foul on Sam Dalemebert. He would hit both foul shots and the lead was back the largest of the night at 9 with the score 67-58. J.O would get the Raptors to a double digit lead with a jumper and a now 11 point lead.  The Raptors slow start was a distant memory. Now Calderon hits a shot and Raptors lead 71-58. Sixers would score only to see Jose hit a three pointer  the next time up the floor and Raptor lead was 74-60.  A mistake by Roko Ukic gave the Sixers a chance to cut the lead down to single digits at the end of the quarter with 3 shots from the line. The would make them all and the score was 74-65 after 3 quarters of play.

36 points, 17 rebounds and a block each was a nice three quarters of work from Bosh and O’Neal. Raptors also had 21 points off Sixers turnovers as well. Jason Kapono hits the first shot of the quarter for the Raptors. But the Sixers would answer with a 3 point shot and the lead was down to 6 points. Jose Calderon was back in for likely the rest of this one.  J.O would have a basket taken away on a travel. Jose Calderon would hit a 3 point shot and the lead was back to 9 points for the men in black. The Raptors were wearing the new third jerseys on this night, sorry I forgot to mention that earlier.

7:50 left to go and the Raptors still had the 9 point lead on the scoreboard with a time out on the floor. Jose Calderon was a bit banged up and Roko Ukic had checked in. Jose seemed to bang his elbow or hand on an offensive foul prior to the time out. He seemed to have taken a hit on his funny bone but it was not funny for the Raptors at all. But Chris Bosh would drive to the basket Jose or no Jose. He would get fouled and make both and Raptors had an 11 point advantage. J.O would foul Brand and there was a time out with 5:51 left to go. We will see if Jose returns after the time out.

But it should be said Roko was not making any mistakes in what is a big time situation to be put in for your first NBA game. Calderon was not back it was still Ukic as the Raptors lead was at 10 after Brand split a pair at the line. Jason Kapono was stroking it and he hit a 3 point shot on the offensive end. Jose was back as Andrea Miller was at the line shooting two. He would only make one and Jose would have an 11 point lead to defend with the score 86-75. Chris Bosh went right at Sam Dalemebert who had 5 fouls and he would score. Sixers would cling to life and started a mini 4-0 run the score was 88-79. Lou Williams would score and draw a foul causing Sam Mitchell to call time.

Lou Williams made the shot and the lead was 88-82 with 2:27 to go. CB4 gets a clutch basket to push the lead to 8. Sixers would send the ball out of bounds on their offensive trip and Jason Kapono would make them pay with a 3 point shot. The lead was right back to 11 in the blink of an eye with 1:41 left to play.  Sixers would misfire again out of a the time out. Less than a minute to go and the Raptors had a 9 point lead after Andrea Miller would finally come through for the Sixers.  J.O was at the line with 44 seconds and he would hit both and this game is about done as the Raptors had this one wraped up. Someone some where was talking about Salami and Cheese. Sixers missed on a couple of attempts and Raptors just took a shot clock Violation as they had no need to score anymore. The Raptors new look had a win in the first game that mattered.

Bosh had 27 points and 11 rebounds on the night that is a strong effort for the franchise player. 44 points 19 rebounds for Toronto’s Dynamic Duo. Bryan Colangelo was in Philly and had to be very pleased with what he saw. The final score was Raptors winning 95-84 over the rival Sixers. Your boxscore  with eveyone’s numbers.

Sixers and Raps- Boxscore

My Podcast is on the way. I think I will have a lot of good things to say. It will be here very soon. Raptors are 1-0 and that is a good thing.

Dino Blogger’s Post Game Podcast

So It Begins, Ready or Not Raptors Season Set To Start

This is why you write all these blogs in the summer time. This is why you do all those interviews, this is why you bust your butt everyday. So get out there and type those keys like you mean it!!! Yes like the old Kurtis Blow song says: ” There playing basketball OOOH we love that basketball”. I have to agree that is what the Dino Nation Blog is all about a love of basketball, Raptors and Canada. It is also about all of you and your passion for the Toronto Raptors and basketball.

A Big Game On Night One?

I have to say, that to make the claim that the first game of the season is a huge game normally would not make a lot of sense.  But call me in April and tell me if this game means a lot to you. It is expected that the Sixers and Raptors are going to battle all season for position in both the East and Atlantic. The first tie breaker is always the season series between the two teams. So for the loser of tonight’s opener that will mean they need to win 2 of the remaining 3 games just to get a split. So this is a bigger game for the Raptors than it will be in the home opener versus a non conference team like Golden State.

J.O vs Brand

Both Elton Brand and Jermaine O’Neal have a lot to prove to new fans in towns that do not exactly have a lot of patience. So a good start against the other guy is likely required. Brand looked fairly good in the Sixers pre-season visit to the ACC. While Jermaine was a scratch for the second half of Raptors last pre-season game. But he is all set to go for the opener in Philly. Brand and O’Neal are expected to be the key part to making two teams that were around the .500 level last year to 50 win type teams. Who will get off to that first right step in that direction with a win.

Chris Bosh Is Big Time

I have been reading on how people have Chris Bosh going everywhere in 2010. Some point to the fact he could gain more attention in a major U.S Market. But honestly Chris Bosh gets his fair share of media attention. I offer you proof from last night. NBA T.V’s Kick off show had an interview with Bosh from Philadelphia. The truth is that Bosh will not leave Toronto based on wanting to get more attention. If he is to leave at all, it will be to win and have a better chance to win. But I am not convinced he leaves at all and I am not that worried about 2010 when it is 2008 today. Bryan Colangelo has positioned this franchise to be able to make an offer for Bosh that will be able to match what others may want to try to pay him.

Who is Healthy For Toronto?

Well not Will Solomon, as he is still sidelined and Roko Ukic is expected to play behind Jose Calderon. Jamario Moon was back at practice. But Jason Kapono was not. Kapono is expected to be able to go tonight though despite a bang he took to his knee. Ditto for Moon who had some achilles issues. Nathan Jawai still remains in dry dock as he waits for his heart test results and figure out what is wrong if anything. Hassan Adams has had issues through out the pre-season as well. But at this point J.O, Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon are going to play. Each time the Raptors can say that they will have a chance to win this season. Any time they can not say that for any of the 3 players it will be awful tough.

After All The Hype The Starting Small Forward Is…..

Jamario Moon. This is according to Doug Smith in the Star. But till we see it do we really know? I mean Sam Mitchell has surprised us all before. But if Doug is right that is sad news for all the Joey Graham fans. But I have to tell you that the idea of Joey Graham as a starter on this team scared the hell out of me. I am not saying that if I am wrong and Joey shows that he indeed has finally got it, he can not than be the starter. But I really don’t think a summer league and half a pre-season is enough for me to say Joey has earned a spot in the starting line-up. Truth is if Jamraio Moon had not had such an awful pre-season this would not have even been a conversation heading into opening night.

Fall Back To See The Game

Just a reminder that because of the World Series this game is getting an early start of 6 PM. You can watch in on THE SCORE and Listen on the Fan 590 at that time. It is one less hour that we have to wait to see the start of the season. I think it is a great thing the Sixers are doing for their fans to allow them to see the Phillies try to win a World Series but still support the Sixers.  I as always will have you Raptor Rewind later tonight roughly an hour after the game is done. Podcast, Boxscore and my own personal re-cap of the game. It is what I do here at Dino Nation Blog. Raptors Rewind gives you my personal take on the game

Last Night In NBA

Oden Debut is A Bust.

Greg Oden coming off an injury that sidelined him for an entire season plays his first game and gets injured. I had said that I would have taken Kevin Durant instead of Oden and I still am waiting for any evidence that I was wrong. Meanwhile the game itself saw the NBA Champion favourites the L.A Lakers put the boots to the Blazers. Kobe Bryant 23 points and 11 rebounds making his first pitch of 82 to defend his M.V.P Trophy. Impressive stuff from the Lakers and Kobe.

Lakers 96 Blazers 76

Get Out The Salami and Cheese…Bulls WIn, Bulls Win

So I did not listen to this on the net or anything. I have no idea what Chuck Swirsky thought of this one. What Swirsky saw was a balanced scoring effort from the Bulls with 6 players scoring in double digits. Michael Redd was good for the Bucks with 30 points. Great for people who have him in fantasy but in reality his Bucks got hammered. First pick in the draft Derrick Rose had 11 points and 9 assists in his debut.

Bulls 108 Bucks 95

Rings, A Win, Things Are All Good In Boston

An emotional Paul Pierce rallied his Boston mates after trailing by 7 at halftime to King James and the Cavs. Pierce had 27 points to lead the Celtics.  King James meanwhile had a mortal 22. What about the new point guard for the Cavs. Mo Williams not exactly busting loose in the opener with 12 points and only 2 assists. It was great to see the Celtics perform after getting their rings. Gary Payton on NBATV recalled when his Heat got blown out by like 40 to the Bulls a few years ago.

Boston 90 Cavs 85

Raptors Pre-Season Offers Few Answers

The Toronto Raptors entered the Pre-Season with a lot of questions. Well the Pre-Season is now done and we have perhaps even more questions and few answers. In today’s blog we will take a look back at the pre-season and what we wanted to learn but really have not got the answers too. Things like who will be the back the back up point guard?  How bout the starting small forward how did that battle turn out?  The Raptors bench did they let us learn anything about them? Is Andrea Bargnani ready to impress in year number three? How bout J.O how would he look in that red and white number 6 jersey.  That is a lot of questions and there are probably a few more as we go along. So we better get going.

Is it Moon? Kapono? or Joey G?

Well based on who started in the pre-season it seems you can count Jason Kapono out of this mix off the top. Although I am not totally sure if you can even do that. Kapono had a good but not great pre-season.  The main negative against Jason Kapono and him playing as the starting small forward is his lack of defense. But the addition of J.O was suppose to help the defense and Kapono but did that happen? We will talk defense later.

The front runner heading into camp was said to have been Jamario Moon. This came as a bit of a surprise as it had been said by Doug Smith that Moon was not in the good books for his late arrival to Canada. He made it back just before the official training camp was set to begin. But many of the Raptors had been hear long before that. Smith in his blog made a suggestion that Moon late return had put him in the bad books with some in the Raptors Organization. But those things did not seem to have merit as it was Moon that started the first 4 games of the pre-season. Though Joey Graham was also injured during that time with a hamstring injury.  Regardless Moon had the job he had most of last year at the start of camp.  Moon through in the pre-season had not exactly impressed anyone though. We had been hopeful to see a slightly bigger and more driving Jamario Moon. But what we got was a Moon that was not even on the same level as the guy that caught the imagination of the fan base last year. I think anything above disappointing would be misleading people in talking about Jamario and his pre-season.

So Joey Graham is now in the hunt? I was there to see the big pre-season debut of Graham vs the T-Wolves at the ACC. He would get the start on that night and the next two games after. But last night it was Moon who was back in the starting line-up last night. We saw some “Good” Joey. A couple nice poster dunks vs. Lakers and last night versus the Nuggets. We saw some “Bad” Joey. He just struggles to be a consistent scorer and he has taken steps on defense but still is not the lock down defender we were promised on his draft night. If Joey Graham is the starter vs. the Sixers on October 29th it would be as much about Moon struggling as it would be about Joey earning the spot. But I give credit to the Joey Graham fan club, they never lose faith in their guy. I admire that even though I really do not understand it. The one thing I think we all can agree on is that this is the last chance for Joey to finally get it right. As of right now Joey Graham is not in the Raptors long term plan beyond this season. It will be Joey’s job to change that regardless of it he starts or not.

So we had hoped to see someone step up and take the starting job at the 3. Instead we got a lot more of the same. It is one of the most disappointing aspects of this pre-season to me. Jamario Moon needs to do better and remember all the things that got him to this point. He did not get to the Raptors because of his great skill as a shooter. To quote ex-football player turned announcer Dieon Sanders, ” Do what you do”. Actually that is not right. Do more than what you did. Sarah Palin says ” Drill Baby Drill”. I say “Drive Jamario Drive”. Basically Sam Mitchell is still looking for someone to step up and say they want this job. If no one does maybe we see that idea that Bryan Colangelo floated about Andrea Bargnani at the three might be something we see. I don’t think that is the answer the Raptors want or need but at this point who can really say has earned the spot at this point. The answer is nobody and that is not what the Raptors had hoped for at this point.

Roko or Will

O.K we did learn at least one thing from the back-up point guard battle. Will likes to shoot and Roko likes to pass. Both have some issues with the others strengths. But if anyone thought the Raptors would be able to just not give a second thought to dealing T.J Ford away. Sorry to break the news to you but the Raptors are going to have some serious issues at this position. Look at is this way in a sense the guy that takes this job is basically replacing Jose Calderon. Both are a far cry from him or T.J Ford.  That being said most fans understood this was going to be a step back. Will Solomon is banged up at the moment but he is drawing comparisons to Ex-Raptor Mike James. People are not meaning it as praise to him. They are making reference to James and his shoot first attitude. Let’s give the guy a break, He was counted on to score in Europe and it will take time to adjust to a new role here with Raptors.

Roko Ukic is a lot of what people should have expected. There is a lot of comparisons of year one Jose to year one Roko. I will say that I think Roko may be a touch better than that. I think we all forget that Jose Calderon was no where near the player he is now when he was in his first season. I like what I have seen from Roko. He has the base for what could be a solid back-up point guard eventually. But he has a lot to learn and is not ready to be effective in any long periods of time.

Unfortunately I walked away from the pre-season having some concerns about this position as well at least in the short term. I think by say January I will feel more settled about things. But how the Raptors get to that point in time where Roko is ready to be a legit back-up is a real concern. Jose Calderon will need to play huge amounts of minutes and remain healthy and that is a concern. Calderon goes down and this whole Raptor team is in serious and likely fatal trouble.

J.O…Come On…Yes!!!…Oh No

That title sums up the Jermaine O’Neal pre-season. So let’s get started and that was what Raptor fans were saying to J.O early on. It was not exactly the J.O people wanted to see of the start. He was slow and some people were concerned about his overall shape and health. But it was about to get better when the Raptors took off for L.A.

J.O must love L.A because he started to hit his stride vs the Clippers. The new Raptor Dynamic Duo never looked better in the pre-season than they did in L.A. We got to see what this combination can do together and the signs were very encouraging. But there still is a long way to go and we need to see more of that defense we saw from J.O in the game versus the Clippers. As for that overall impact on the defense one was hoping for by the addition of J.O. That has not been the case to this point. J.O will need to take this team by the neck just like Kevin Garnett did with the Celtics last year and convince them to work harder on defense.

That health question seemed to have an answer up until the second half of last night’s game versus Nuggets. J.O would not return for the second half and what was reported to be a sore right knee or was it a hip as Sam Mitchell suggested in his post game comments. Let’s go with the hockey injury speak of lower body injury to the right side. So lower right body injury?  Not exactly what fans wanted to hear after the last pre-season game. J.O and his health have always been a major question mark from the day this trade was learned about. So I guess the question of health is going to linger on for the rest of the season like it or not.

(For those wondering the knee that had all the issues for J.O is the left one not the right.)

Defense??? Thought It Was Suppose To Be Better?

I think coming off an Olympics that we saw much better defense from Chris Bosh than we have ever seen from him, along with adding a shot blocking threat in J.O it was looking good. But the results on the court have not made the Raptors the defensive force some might have thought they could become. At times they have looked awful on the defensive end. It takes time to develop trust which is a big factor in playing good defense but still I expected more. There have been flashes of good defense but when the reserves have been on the floor the defense has been truly brutal. Much more work needs to be done. Thankfully there is a whole week to get it looking better by the time the Raptors head to Philadelphia.

Andrea- Bigger, Faster, Stronger?

It was all the talk heading into training camp. Andrea was in fact bigger and he in turn had to be stronger. But could he rebound and had he learned where the paint was? I think we do have an answer for this one. At least a start of an answer. Andrea has shown signs of more aggression and a very at this point basic post game. I have to say I am optimistic based on what I have seen from Andrea. I think we will see the outside stuff added back to his game now that we are playing for real. The combination of the two should be good for Andrea as long as he does not revert back to old habits.

It is going to be a process for Andrea as he learns to use these new tools as part of his overall game. I think we are starting to see a much more confident Andrea and even when he struggles he continues to put in the effort. At times last season when he was having trouble he would seem to grow disinterested and frustrated. So I think Andrea is on the right path as he was second in scoring for the Raptors through the pre-season.

CB4 FOR M V P ???

I am pretty sure pre-season results like playoffs results don’t count towards M.V.P. Just ask Dirk about the playoff results thing. But seriously, Chris Bosh said he wants to be in the running for M.V.P. I am not going to get into how realistic that is because that to me is not the point. The point is that he thinks he is in the running to be a contender. This is no doubt that his Olympic experience is a huge factor in this.

Remember when Bosh was working for Jay Leno. He wanted to borrow the M.V.P Trophy from Kobe for a day. But now he wants it all to himself for an entire year. He considers himself one of the top players in the NBA and he is coming to understand just how good he really is. He did nothing but add evidence to the fact of how good he is in the pre-season.

The challenge for Bosh to make his goal come through is to get the team around him to rise to a level that is much better than what we have seen to this point. It is going to be a very hard challenge for him to do this. I am not sure if he can but I am sure that he will do all that he can to make it happen. Chris Bosh has come so far since coming here from Georgia Tech a skinny kid that a lot of folks really didn’t know a lot about here in Toronto. Now everyone in Toronto and Canada know Chris Bosh. Thanks to YouTube even people that are not basketball fans probably know who he is. Bosh is the best thing about the Toronto Raptors and you can bring in a guy like J.O and even he realizes that this is Chris Bosh’s team and he accepts it. But it still has to be good to know for Bosh that if he is healthy J.O will allow him to have a much easier time at getting to his goal of being M.V.P. I think we all wish him well in the attempt.

The Bench

This will not be very long. The fact is they need to do much better. It was made painfully clear in the game versus the Lakers that this group needs to do a lot more if the Raptors are going to win more games and be successful. Much like in Boston last year this bench is a very huge question mark. They need to step up and answer the question in a positive way.

Not to make excuses but they did have a lot of injuries to contend with. No one expected Nathan Jawai to be sidelined with a heart issue that still is to be determined. Others had a lot of bumps and bruises. But still this is not enough to justify the brutal efforts we saw from this group as a unit on the floor.

So What Have We Learned?

I think we have learned that all the questions we had about this team heading into the pre-season have merit and are indeed valid. Unfortunately we are not closer to the answers for a lot of them. I think at this point there is a lot to be concerned about and a lot more than you would like at this point. There were flashes of good things and some truly awful things. The Raptors were 41-41 last year and they were 4-4 this pre-season.  So status remains the same at this point. But the hopes are much higher than being just a .500 team this season. The Eastern Conference is a better place as well and no one can guarantee .500 is even good enough to make the playoffs this season. So the Raptors have a week to learn from what went wrong in this pre-season and build on what they did get right.

That is a RAP…Let’s get started already!!!

S.O.S Raptor Reserves In Trouble

For as impressive as Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal looked in L.A, the joy of that has had a wet blanket thrown on it by the play of the bench. The Raptors last year were a team with in most peoples mind a huge amount of depth. That was going to be the strength of the Raptors. But that did not work out so well for the Raptors. So Bryan Colangelo had to give up that depth and exchange it for a second star in Jermaine O’Neal. It is a risk along the lines of the one the Celtics took last year when they build the Big 3 of Garnett, Pierce and Allen. Their bench was going to be the end of them in the eyes of some. Eddie House, James Posey, Leon Powe, Tony Allen and Paul “Big Baby” Davis made up this crew. Not exactly a bunch of guys pushing to be starters in the league. But this group would endure a couple tweaks along the way with a few editions but by the end of the year became a strength and not a weakness for the Celtics.

So can the Raptors take Jason Kapono, Andrea Bargnani, Joey Graham or Jamario Moon (Who ever doesn’t start), Will Solomon or Roko Ukic ( Who ever ends up  back-up point guard) and Kris Humphries and do the same thing?  That group could include Hassan Adams and Nathan Jawai but at this point Adams has had one good game and Jawai status remains up in the air. The key to that answer is going to be getting this group to be able to play some defense. Something that was lacking in major ways last night in L.A. They also need to be able to score which was also sadly lacking last night. I offer you some numbers to make this point.

The Bench vs. L.A

16 for 48 (33.3%), 13 rebounds (Not Good), 8 assists, 7 steals

But let’s look at what happened on the other side of the coin with Lakers  bench

26 for 52 ( 50% ), 32 rebounds,  17 assists, 7 steals.

But on Yahoo they also give us +/- just like the stat in hockey. I haven’t done these numbers yet but I am thinking the difference is going to be glaring. Let’s see if I am right:

Raptors Bench +/- :  -115 ( The best Raptor bench player was Will Solomon at -2 )

Lakers Bench +/-: + 87 ( Tied for Best For Lakers Farmar and Ariza at +29)

It is an example that shows this bench has a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. Sam Mitchell is going to have to run the risk of playing his starters long amounts of minutes until he can trust this group to perform. Which may not be advisable as the key thing everyone is worried about is injuries. If you thought the addition of Jermaine O’Neal would make Sam Mitchell’s job easier you would be wrong. Now more than ever Sam will have to manage this roster in a way that he can keep his stars healthy but at the same time try to build a bench made up of not much beyond Kapono and Bargnani.

The one thing Kevin Garnett was very successful in last year in Boston was getting his entire team to buy into playing better defense. The time for Jermaine O’Neal to step up and make his team do the same if this thing is going to work. The fact that he and Bosh are building up a chemistry on the floor. But the need for improvement on defense is required and after last night is necessary ASAP.

The good news is the Raptors will only play one more pre-season game vs the Nuggets. They are going to have several days to re-group and get ready for the Sixers on opening night. It will also allow all these guys with bumps and bruises to get back to 100% before the season gets rolling. The Raptors need to get better on defense and that is most true of this second unit that needs to show improvement if any of them want to see playing time. Sam Mitchell refers to these pre-season games as an extension of practise. Well if that was a high school practise last night I think the Raptors may still be running laps for the performance they had last night.

Some Happier Things

I know a lot of you out west are excited about the Raptors coming out to Edmonton and being in your part of Canada. I saved some of my most recent chat with Matt Devlin to get his thoughts on his trip out to Edmonton and the Raptors trying to be Canada’s team. I will have that in tomorrow’s blog. I want to say that from my perspective I have always wanted to see the Raptors build that national Identity. The Toronto Raptors are becoming the team of choice for a lot folks from around the world. So it only makes sense that this country as a whole gets behind the Raptors. The Raptors are a unique franchise as they are the only one based outside of the United States.  They have yet to take over this country like the Toronto Blue Jays did back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I am hopefully this season is the start of the Raptors becoming that kind of franchise. Where people from coast to coast are all turned on by the Toronto Raptors and basketball. I have an obvious interest in that happening. However just as a fan of the game of basketball and a person who wants to see people in this country start to love more than just hockey I hope we are on that path.

Some Fantasy News From Dino Nation Blog

I have a number of things for you as far our Fantasy Leagues go. I first want to remind you of our League on the NBA Stock Exchange on NBA.Com. The Market Opens on October 24th so if you want to get in on the action before the prices of players starts to change you need to get signed up and select you team in the next few days. Here is the info on that league which can also be found on the Dino Nation Blog Fantasy Sports Page on the right side of our main page. You need to have you free membership on NBA.Com to be part of the fantasy sports on there as well. But here is the league info:

League ID: 105921

Password: dinos

Link to OUR LEAGUE:

http://nbase.nba.com/group/nba/joinleagues/viewleague?leagueid=105921

If the NBA Stock Market is a little to much for you as far as time goes. NBA.com has one of the most simple fantasy games you can take part in. It is called the Pick One Challenge and basically it works like this:

Everyday of the season you select a player to count for your fantasy score. You can only select a player once through the entire season. The only trick to it is that Rookies get you double the points when you select them.  So pick your O.J Mayo and Greg Oden days wisely.  Here is the info to be part of our league and see how you stack up against other Dino Nation Blog Readers and Me:

Dino Nation Blog

League Id: 100231 (NO PASSWORD IS REQUIRED)

Lastly as a sort of proof I plan on being around for a longtime I have started a keeper league. It is the first time I have tried one of these and I REALLY want to see people be a part of this league for years to come. It is just like a regular Fantasy head to head league but it carries on for the next season and you keep players for your roster for future seasons. So I really encourage you to take part in this league as I want it to be something that we can have as part of growing and getting to know you folks and have some fun with you. That is why I am running all of these Fantasy Leagues because I want you to be able to have some fun and have a chance to get to know other readers as well as me. So if you plan on reading the Dino Nation Blog for a longtime I encourage you to be a part of this league:

Draft: October 25th 4pm (Saturday)

League id: 2000000527

Password: dinos

URL to Sign Up:

Main Fantasy Page For NBA.Com Click on Ultimate Fantasy Commissioner

That is it for today, I thank you for reading the Dino Nation Blog and I welcome you back again tomorrow as we get set for Raptors and Nuggets in Edmonton with some thoughts from Matt Devlin as part of that. I also have invited Matt back to the blog to talk about his experience out in Edmonton and look ahead to the start of the season. He has agreed to do that and we will be setting up a date once he returns. I am always hard at work trying to bring us guests to the blog and expanding that group of guests to include more people. It takes a lot of time and effort but I feel it adds value for us all by making the effort to do this.

Lakers vs Raptors-Raptor Rewind

Ok before we get started thanks to you readers for the heads up. Tunez gave me the link to watch the game on the computer and DUI let me know the game was on Raps T.V. So to both of them I dedicate this edition of Raptors Rewind. To get you caught up with the game The Raptors and Lakers traded baskets till we got to 11-11. It is the Lakers on a 10-0 run since than and Kobe Bryant was in this game and causing the Raptors fits. He had a few steals and a break away dunk off one of them to but the Lakers up 21-11. Kobe was now at the line and looking to extend that lead to 12, which he did. Jermaine O’Neal finally ended the Laker 12-0 run with a bucket down low. Oh by the way Andrew Bynum is back for the Lakers too and he replied with an amazing effort at the other end.

Raptors seemed to have made it through the Laker surge. Bosh was heading to the line with a chance to cut the lead down to 7. Prior to that Jason Kapono had a nice long range 3-ball as part of the Raptors push back. Andrea Bargnani was back in the line-up after sitting out last night versus the Clippers. Bosh meanwhile did go 2 for 2 from the line and the score was 25-18 with 2:10 to play. Former Knick Trevor Ariza made a bucket for the Lakers they would add another basket. Andrea Bargnani would than hit his first shot of the night. Raptors would have one last chance to cut the lead to 7 but Bargnani would miss on attempt number 2 of the night. The Lakers had a 29-20 lead after 1 quarter of play.

Second Quarter would see the Lakers build their advantage back up to 15 points. Raptors were going with the second unit with Solomon,Bargnani, Kapono, Graham and Hump on the floor. Lakers had second unit guys as well. Calderon and Bosh would come back and try to turn around a 40-25 score. Calderon made a bullet pass to Bosh for the jam finish. But the Lakers were still in front and able to hang on to the lead they had built. This was a big test for the Raptors as the Lakers are expected to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference this year as they look to make a second trip back to the finals. Bosh would have a chance to cut the lead to 10 as he scored and would make the free throw. So the score stood at 44-34 with just under 5 minutes to play in the half.

Andrea Bargnani would get his own old fasion 3 point play and the lead was just 7. Joey Graham showed you something from the “Good” Joey playbook. A highlight worthy throw down and the Raptors were now on a 10-0 run and the score was 44-41. Chris Mihm will now be on a Joey Graham poster that all you Joey Graham fans will find in stores soon no doubt. Jason Kapono and Coby Karl would exchange 3 point shots. Joey Graham was given a technical foul for what it is unclear as he was fouled by Coby Karl. Raptors would have 5.9 seconds and a chance to cut the lead to two or one. But Kapono would miss a three point shot. Lakers take a 4 point lead to the locker room.

Raptors starters returned for start of the second half and they included Joey Graham once again. Anthony Parker hit back to back shots and Joey Graham was looking to get a bucket and one but he would miss the free throw and the Raptors were down 2. Until J.O would drive and score and we were all tied at 57. The first time the game had been tied since 11-11 early in the first. Kobe Bryant still makes magic even in the pre-season as he had an amazing dunk and that gave the Lakers a 63-60 lead with just over 7 minutes to play. Raptors would take their first lead of the game on an Anthony Parker jumper from the corner about 18 feet away from the hoop and Raptors lead 65-63. Hassan Adams was in the game and making contributions as he scored after a Laker turnover. Adams has had at least 3 baskets that I can remember in this one to this point. He has looked good for the first time since summer league.

An Adams steal would lead to Jermaine O’Neal with a chance to convert a 3 point play which he would and the Raptors had their only lead of the night up to 7 at this point. Bosh was than fouled by Gasol and he looked to add to the lead but he would have a rare 0-2 trip to the line. Bosh shot a career high 84% from the line last season. The Lakers would run off 7 straight points after the Bosh misses from the line and were all tied at 70-70 late in the 3rd Quarter.

Lakers on the strength of a 10-2 run  now had a 73-72 lead. But Andrea Bargnani hit a couple shots in a row and the teams were trading the lead down the end of the quarter. A third Bargnani shot would not fall and the Raptors would end up sending Gasol to the line at the other end. He would split a pair and Lakers lead 78-76 . Jordan Farmar would make a steal and dunk in the face of Chris Bosh and the Lakers had an 80-76 lead after 3 quarters of play.

This had been an entertaining game for the pre-season as we headed to the last quarter. Lamar Odom would hit a shot to open the fourth and another Laker theft and dunk and the Lakers had built back to an 8 point lead of 84-76. The run would continue that from the point when the Raptor lead by 7 was a 23-6 run.  But for the fourth quarter the score was 8-0 Lakers causing Sam Mitchell to call a time-out.

The Lakers were finishing strong so far in the fourth they had a 92-80 lead. Outscoring the Raptors 12-4 in the fourth quarter. The Raptors looked to be out of gas but both teams had player the night before. Granted the Raptors faced a tougher test in the Clippers as the Lakers rolled over a Euro-League foe from Spain. Lakers had a 98-84 lead as the clock just went passed the mid way point of the final quarter. The lead would increase to 18 points there largest lead of the night. In the battle of reserve units the Raptors were getting killed. Hassan Adams would hit a shot to stop what seemed like an endless run by the Lakers. The beatdown would continue after a time-out as Tervor Ariza would make the Laker lead at 20. Thankfully there was only 2 more minutes of this 4th quarter left to endure. The final score of this one would be Lakers 112 and Raptors 89.

This was a case of the Lakers Reserves are MUCH better than the Raptor Reserves and that was on clear display in the 4th quarter.  So good night L.A, Canada and the Dino Nation. The Next Stop and Final Stop of Raptors Pre-Season will be in Edmonton vs the Nuggets. Which reminds me if you are in the Edmonton area and know how to use your camera( I didn’t when I went to T-Wolves Game) I would love to have some fan photos from the game. You can send those to me at dinonationblog@sourcecable.net that is how you can contact me for any reason. So Good Night Everybody!!!

Your Boxscore – Raps vs Lakers