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The 2012-2013 Toronto Raptors thread: My Name is Jonas

hockeyfan1 said:
Liked the way the Raptors were able to keep up the tempo of the game.  While their defence still needs work, the offence starred in this game, particularly Valenciunas.  He set a Raptor rookie record (previously held by Damon Stoudemire) with a "double-double" --
12 pts. & 10 rebounds.

Matched up at centre against Roy Hibbert ? one of the strongest, most skilled big men in the NBA ? Valanciunas more than held his own...

Casey described the match-up as ?being thrown to the wolves?.

But the 7-foot, 257-pound Valanciunas refused to back down and won some of the battles as the game progressed. He hustled, he battled and he demonstrated a nice touch and a court presence, though he did make a few mistakes on defence.

?The first half (was) a learning experience for him, Hibbert had his way a little bit,? Casey said. ?But he made adjustments, made Hibbert work the second half, did an excellent job against him. I was proud of the way he played. If he can give us that and continue to improve ... making adjustments, making the passes, defensive presence in the paint, his rebounds in traffic are exactly what we need.?

For more:
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/31/valanciunas-picks-up-double-double-in-debut
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And to think the Raptors drafted Hibbert and then traded him away for Jermaine O'Neal! That trade was a complete disaster for Toronto.

O'Neal and Jawai for TJ Ford, Rasho, Roy Hibbert, and Maceo Baston. Christ!
 
Is it just me or is the reffing in this game hugely one-sided?

I've seen a few blatant pushes on rebounds not called against Brooklyn and Toronto seems to get called for any tiny infraction.

Lowry looks like the real deal (although he's a bit of a turnover machine). Valanciunas is having a bit of a rough game, and boy does Fields look totally not worth that contract!
 
Bad results, obviously, but I think there's a lot to be optimistic about with these first two games.
 
Nik V. Debs said:
Bad results, obviously, but I think there's a lot to be optimistic about with these first two games.
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Agreed. Obviously Bargnani needs to be better, but there's lots of good on this team. Casey looks as if he's got a group who will work hard every night and that's a big element.

My worry, if playoffs are the goal, is that the bench just isn't deep enough. That stretch in the 2nd Quarter towards the end where Calderon, Lucas, Anderson, Fields and Grey (?) were on the floor was awful.
 
Chev-boyar-sky said:
Agreed. Obviously Bargnani needs to be better, but there's lots of good on this team. Casey looks as if he's got a group who will work hard every night and that's a big element.

My worry, if playoffs are the goal, is that the bench just isn't deep enough. That stretch in the 2nd Quarter towards the end where Calderon, Lucas, Anderson, Fields and Grey (?) were on the floor was awful.
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Probably because that's a pretty awful group to be putting out there. If what you say is accurate, that's a really weirdly constructed lineup. So-so defensively, but undersized in three positions and only one semi-decent offensive option.

I missed the game due to work, but it looks like Lowry had another fantastic night and Valaciunas had a rookie big man night.
 
Raps face off against the Thunder tonight. Raps are coming off a solid win and the Harden-less Thunder are looking a little slow coming out of the gate. If the Raps could ever beat the Thunder, this would be their chance to do it. OKC's still working on integrating their new players and dealing with the loss of their glue guy.

With that said, the Thunder will probably destroy the Raptors, but I'd say tonight if they play well, they should have a fighting chance.
 
Raptors lose 108-88.  Never really were into the game to begin with as the Thunder took a 37-17 early run lead and never looked back.  Oklahoma out-rebounded the Raptors and forced them to shoot from the outside, putting pressure on both the offence and the defence.  Lowry's ankle sprain didn't help matters especially on a night when most of the team couldn't tame the more aggressive opposition.

It's just another loss.  They'll rebound from it, hopefully, as early as tonight when they play the Mavericks in Dallas.  Coach Casey plans to utilize John Lucas iii in place of Lowry and expects an overall better total team effort.

Game notes:  Valenciunas with 18 pts., and Bargnani with 16 led the Raptors.

Source:  Sportsnet
 
Derk said:
How do the Raptors get outscored 32-7 in the 2nd quarter? Yikes! :o
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They're playing a little thin without Lowry which is going to felt most in the second unit, hence the lousy second quarter. They rebounded with a pretty good third though.
 
Nik V. Debs said:
Derk said:
How do the Raptors get outscored 32-7 in the 2nd quarter? Yikes! :o
Click to expand...

They're playing a little thin without Lowry which is going to felt most in the second unit, hence the lousy second quarter. They rebounded with a pretty good third though.
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Execution is huge though too. I mean, so far this season they haven't shown an ability to be consistent at either end of the floor and without Lowry, I don't think they have a guy who can make big plays. All that means that they are going to struggle closing out games and making comebacks.
 
Thoroughly disappointing game especially considering Bynum was out for Philly. I had lots of optimism for this team heading into the season but every last bit of that but a shred is gone. It's early I know, but this does not look like a playoff team.

The only thing the Raptors have going for them is that there's so many shit teams that they still might actually have a shot of making the playoffs with 37 or even 36 wins. 
 
#1PilarFan said:
Execution is huge though too. I mean, so far this season they haven't shown an ability to be consistent at either end of the floor and without Lowry, I don't think they have a guy who can make big plays. All that means that they are going to struggle closing out games and making comebacks.
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Yeah, but it's five games, two of which were without the team's best player. There's no need to read too much into it just yet.
 
After losing to the Utah Jazz at the ACC Sunday afternoon 140-133 in triple overtime -- the first of it's kind played at home in 12 years -- the Raptors were bound to be fatigued, but still managing to eke out a victory last night against the Indiana Pacers (in Indiana), by a score of 74-72.

Led by guard Jos? Carderon's triple double and sharpshooting from DeRozan, the Raptors hung on for the win.

"We were tired," Calderon said. "I think that's why we started missing shots and making bad decisions. I think everybody started getting into a little bit of a rush because we were trying to win the game, but maybe the legs weren't there anymore."

"We were exhausted," DeRozan said. "But it's about gutting it out. We had to rely on something, and it wasn't our offence tonight. It was all mental and heart."

For more on the story, go to:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/2012/11/13/raptors_pacers_nov13_recap/
 
Justin said:
The Raptors scored only 5 points in the 4th quarter last night, 74 points overall, and still won.

D-FENCE
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Yup, "D-FENCE" alright.  I like the way Casey has them making consistent efforts to improve.  If the Raptors can string together a couple of wins, it would do wonders for their morale.  The fact that they 3 of their players are nursing injuries shows the willingness of this team to pick up where it left off in terms of showing up to play in each game.  All teams have are periodically off their game at some point, but the Raptors can ill afford to be so too often, which is why the buzzword here is consistency as much as possible.

If the Raps keep on improving, they'll soon be no easy team to beat, especially on home court.
 
I was at the game yesterday.

The Raptors surrendered a 13 point lead in the 3rd quarter after leading the whole time but fortunately battled back to win comfortably (as they should against Orlando). Usually when the Raptors surrender a lead like that it's game over but I was impressed to see them battle back and really fleece the Magic in the 4th quarter. Linas Kleiza hit some great clutch shots late in the game.

The Raps play next on Tuesday night in Philly with the hope they can make up for that loss to the depleted 76'ers last week. After that it's a couple of more road games that they should win, at Charlotte and Detroit.
 
Justin said:
I was at the game yesterday.

The Raptors surrendered a 13 point lead in the 3rd quarter after leading the whole time but fortunately battled back to win comfortably (as they should against Orlando). Usually when the Raptors surrender a lead like that it's game over but I was impressed to see them battle back and really fleece the Magic in the 4th quarter. Linas Kleiza hit some great clutch shots late in the game.

The Raps play next on Tuesday night in Philly with the hope they can make up for that loss to the depleted 76'ers last week. After that it's a couple of more road games that they should win, at Charlotte and Detroit.
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It would do the team well if they could win most of their games against these 'low' teams and likewise, while doing well against the rest.  Consistency once again is the key here. 
 
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