Trying to figure out – do you actually celebrate after a 2pt come from behind win over a 1-11 team on your home floor?? Guess it beats the alternative, but I feel like I just barely out-armwrestled my girlfriend, and had to cheat by tickling her feet to do it.
Garcia ( C ) – struggled with the shot beyond a few cuts, but was helping on the glass. Some solid passes to set people up. Finally hit his first three of the season in the 4th. Scrappy game making some contributions here and there in various areas, but mixed in with poor shooting and a variety of bad plays. Kind of settling into a role as a low level utility starter just trying to fill in the holes. Going to go ahead and grade him on that sort of scale rather than a no minute rookie scale.
Reef ( B+ ) – in the first half was unstoppable in there inside vs. the defenseless Raptors, and we actually fed Reef to take advantage of it. Scored on by Rafael Araujo but it took Chris Bosh a while to get going against him. In the early going was providing no boards, but picked it up as the game went along. Quieted down in the second half, and down the stretch was rarely heard from. In the end, ended up with pretty much a draw against Bosh, which is pretty much the best we could have hoped for coming in. Thought about the A- here, but multiple A's in such a sad game seemed unwarranted, there was a late game fade, and the Raptors generally had a very easy go of it inside once again and I'm trying to find some way to factor in our pathetic defense in these grades. Still one of Reef's better games for us, and had an impact tonight.
Miller ( B+ ) – early on having problems against Rafael Araujo of all people on defense, while the rebounding started off was better than it has been, but faded on us. Was occasionally playing a little "bigger" role from down in the post as opposed to staying up at the elbow. Quit rebounding in the third, but returned to passing. The Raptors were as unimpressed as most teams with his defense of the lane. Yet another one of his remarkably consistent 16 8 8 efforts, and is going to get his normal 16 8 8 grade.
Bonzi ( A- ) – Bonzi rides to the rescue again. Solid first half playing his game, but really began to assert his physical inside game in the third, and broke up a stupid selfish fastbreak by Mike James for good measure. Got into it with several of the more physical Raptors (Araujo, Graham). Began to lose control of Jalen Rose defensively in the third. Along with Bibby, really bailed us out down the stretch by swelling up big on the glass and inside, and then capped it off by hitting the game winning post shot with 2 seconds to go. Another 9 rebound effort, and still backing it up on the court.
Bibby ( B+ ) – started off well offensively, but not able to stay with the superquick Mike James early on defense. Splashed in lots of threes again to compensate for the lack for Peja, and it looks like Rick has made an adjustment which finds Mike in Peja’s corners while the SF is out. Hit a number of big shots later in the game to hold us in it. Is really getting one-dimensional right now – big scoring night after big scoring night and those shooting woes are long gone. But assists, boards, defense…25pts 3rebs 1ast -- odd numbers from a PG. Nonetheless, one of two guys (the other being Bonzi) most responsible for saving us from the big embarrassment.
Thomas ( C ) – extended 2nd quarter minutes where he did a little of this and a little of that. Wild behind the back pass in the early 4th missed by a mile and almost deserves an extra "minus" all by itself. Is the only "big" coming off the bench at all for us right now, and this was another non-impact effort.
Hart ( D+ ) - not much in either of his stints once again – guy is rather frighteningly resembling the PG who was given up on by the Spurs rather than the guy who seemed to step forward for the Bobcats last year., Scored on a cut in the 4th, notable just because it came within the flow of the offense. But then came right back and made a turnover up top. Continues to make an argument for just playing Mike 48min, and is frustrating his friendly grader here by giving me no grounds to give him any positive ticks. D+ just because he’s often been worse in this young season.
Martin ( D+ ) – Came back down to earth with a thud, and could get nothing going offensively. That inconsistency problem again. Came right in and missed a wild shot and never looked really comfortable. Did make some subtler contributions though – a pass to set up Reef, drew an offensive foul against Mike James, stepped into the passing lanes for a steal up top etc.. Gave us absolutely no punch off the bench, but not a completely worthless outing.
Adelman ( B- ) – This….was not a confidence booster. A record booster, but not one that makes you feel better about us. Complete lack of defense in the first half had me worried – that would be the template of how to lose to the Raptors. They will not stop you under any circumstances, but if you return the favor, who knows? And sure enough, by the end of the game we had scored our expected 100+, but then again, so had the Raptors who frolicked right through the lane at will. We damn near gave this one away, and on several occasions in the 4th were one or two possessions form being knocked out of the game by the team with the worst record in the league, on our home floor. Started to hear the boobirds a bit in the 4th, and damnit if I don’t understand their frustration, much as I dislike booing the home team. With the game in some real danger finally decided to play just enough defense in the final 6 minutes to secure the victory, but even so, the final shot/nail in our coffin missed by about 2 inches. Rick has settled into a short 3 man bench right now, but is just getting nothing on every other night. Our only "big" off the bench is 6’7". Our backup PG sucks, and there are no options except some undrafted rookie. And Kevin is wildly up and down. Team did not feel like it had any real intensity tonight, and it was up to a couple of individual players (notably Bonzi) in the late going to crank it up and save us. Peja was out again, and you wouldn’t have thought it would matter against this team. And actually it really did not. We scored just fine. We just refused to stop anybody. Liked Rick milking Shareef inside early, and the post play for Bonzi to win it was risky, but worked. Took advantage of the one on one abilities of those two players more than we have been. They say a win is a win. I say B.S., and this is not the first time this season I have caught myself thinking that maybe it wouldn't be that bad for us to lose one of these things just to teach our guys a bleeping lesson and snap them out of the malaise. But nonetheless, a "W" it is, no matter how ignominious, now all we have to do is beat the expansion Bobcats on Monday to make it back to a wobbly .500. Of course if we give this same effort, that’s no guarantee.
Garcia ( C ) – struggled with the shot beyond a few cuts, but was helping on the glass. Some solid passes to set people up. Finally hit his first three of the season in the 4th. Scrappy game making some contributions here and there in various areas, but mixed in with poor shooting and a variety of bad plays. Kind of settling into a role as a low level utility starter just trying to fill in the holes. Going to go ahead and grade him on that sort of scale rather than a no minute rookie scale.
Reef ( B+ ) – in the first half was unstoppable in there inside vs. the defenseless Raptors, and we actually fed Reef to take advantage of it. Scored on by Rafael Araujo but it took Chris Bosh a while to get going against him. In the early going was providing no boards, but picked it up as the game went along. Quieted down in the second half, and down the stretch was rarely heard from. In the end, ended up with pretty much a draw against Bosh, which is pretty much the best we could have hoped for coming in. Thought about the A- here, but multiple A's in such a sad game seemed unwarranted, there was a late game fade, and the Raptors generally had a very easy go of it inside once again and I'm trying to find some way to factor in our pathetic defense in these grades. Still one of Reef's better games for us, and had an impact tonight.
Miller ( B+ ) – early on having problems against Rafael Araujo of all people on defense, while the rebounding started off was better than it has been, but faded on us. Was occasionally playing a little "bigger" role from down in the post as opposed to staying up at the elbow. Quit rebounding in the third, but returned to passing. The Raptors were as unimpressed as most teams with his defense of the lane. Yet another one of his remarkably consistent 16 8 8 efforts, and is going to get his normal 16 8 8 grade.
Bonzi ( A- ) – Bonzi rides to the rescue again. Solid first half playing his game, but really began to assert his physical inside game in the third, and broke up a stupid selfish fastbreak by Mike James for good measure. Got into it with several of the more physical Raptors (Araujo, Graham). Began to lose control of Jalen Rose defensively in the third. Along with Bibby, really bailed us out down the stretch by swelling up big on the glass and inside, and then capped it off by hitting the game winning post shot with 2 seconds to go. Another 9 rebound effort, and still backing it up on the court.
Bibby ( B+ ) – started off well offensively, but not able to stay with the superquick Mike James early on defense. Splashed in lots of threes again to compensate for the lack for Peja, and it looks like Rick has made an adjustment which finds Mike in Peja’s corners while the SF is out. Hit a number of big shots later in the game to hold us in it. Is really getting one-dimensional right now – big scoring night after big scoring night and those shooting woes are long gone. But assists, boards, defense…25pts 3rebs 1ast -- odd numbers from a PG. Nonetheless, one of two guys (the other being Bonzi) most responsible for saving us from the big embarrassment.
Thomas ( C ) – extended 2nd quarter minutes where he did a little of this and a little of that. Wild behind the back pass in the early 4th missed by a mile and almost deserves an extra "minus" all by itself. Is the only "big" coming off the bench at all for us right now, and this was another non-impact effort.
Hart ( D+ ) - not much in either of his stints once again – guy is rather frighteningly resembling the PG who was given up on by the Spurs rather than the guy who seemed to step forward for the Bobcats last year., Scored on a cut in the 4th, notable just because it came within the flow of the offense. But then came right back and made a turnover up top. Continues to make an argument for just playing Mike 48min, and is frustrating his friendly grader here by giving me no grounds to give him any positive ticks. D+ just because he’s often been worse in this young season.
Martin ( D+ ) – Came back down to earth with a thud, and could get nothing going offensively. That inconsistency problem again. Came right in and missed a wild shot and never looked really comfortable. Did make some subtler contributions though – a pass to set up Reef, drew an offensive foul against Mike James, stepped into the passing lanes for a steal up top etc.. Gave us absolutely no punch off the bench, but not a completely worthless outing.
Adelman ( B- ) – This….was not a confidence booster. A record booster, but not one that makes you feel better about us. Complete lack of defense in the first half had me worried – that would be the template of how to lose to the Raptors. They will not stop you under any circumstances, but if you return the favor, who knows? And sure enough, by the end of the game we had scored our expected 100+, but then again, so had the Raptors who frolicked right through the lane at will. We damn near gave this one away, and on several occasions in the 4th were one or two possessions form being knocked out of the game by the team with the worst record in the league, on our home floor. Started to hear the boobirds a bit in the 4th, and damnit if I don’t understand their frustration, much as I dislike booing the home team. With the game in some real danger finally decided to play just enough defense in the final 6 minutes to secure the victory, but even so, the final shot/nail in our coffin missed by about 2 inches. Rick has settled into a short 3 man bench right now, but is just getting nothing on every other night. Our only "big" off the bench is 6’7". Our backup PG sucks, and there are no options except some undrafted rookie. And Kevin is wildly up and down. Team did not feel like it had any real intensity tonight, and it was up to a couple of individual players (notably Bonzi) in the late going to crank it up and save us. Peja was out again, and you wouldn’t have thought it would matter against this team. And actually it really did not. We scored just fine. We just refused to stop anybody. Liked Rick milking Shareef inside early, and the post play for Bonzi to win it was risky, but worked. Took advantage of the one on one abilities of those two players more than we have been. They say a win is a win. I say B.S., and this is not the first time this season I have caught myself thinking that maybe it wouldn't be that bad for us to lose one of these things just to teach our guys a bleeping lesson and snap them out of the malaise. But nonetheless, a "W" it is, no matter how ignominious, now all we have to do is beat the expansion Bobcats on Monday to make it back to a wobbly .500. Of course if we give this same effort, that’s no guarantee.
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