An ugly, ugly game for the Raps, who ended up having to scrap this one out at the very end. If I were to be completely honest, I'd say that we got lucky last night. The Raps played some pretty terrible basketball, but Philadelphia played equally bad; and as the game progressed, the Raptors gradually improved while the 76ers slowly deteriorated. In the final minutes, the Raptors pulled it together and executed.
Just over 102 points per 100 possessions for the Raptors, which is pretty bad -- but it's also what the Raps are averaging on the season, so I guess we'd better get used to it. Ordinarily this is something that one can live with since the Raps have hustled and owned the offensive glass, staying active and earning those couple of extra possessions that are desperately needed to put us over the top. However, this hasn't been the case in the last couple of games. One doesn't have to look much farther than Amir Johnson; he's limiting himself and his minutes by committing the same quick, cheap fouls that had him on the bench during preseason. Dude needs to settle down and start playing some smart basketball; we need his hustle!
Great games for Bargnarni and Weems, who poured in 30 and 25 points respectively. More impressive is that they only needed a combined 36 shots to score those 55 points. What's going to be key to the Raptors' offense moving forward is a commitment to high-percentage field goal attempts. With our offense already limited as it is, we have to make sure to waste as little amount of possessions as possible -- which means shots in the paint; good, clean looks; and limit the threes. If I'm Traino and I see anyone other than Bargs, Calderon, and Kleiza take a three, I'm pissed.
And if I'm Triano, I'm also concerned about Jack's floor game right now. He shot 2-13 from the field and only had 2 assists in almost 23 minutes of play. That's a lot of wasted possessions, and that's unacceptable. Definitely not saying that Calderon should start, because he shouldn't, but Triano and Jack need to get on the same page in terms of Jack's priorities on the floor.
Seven rebounds for Bargs, who's starting to get it. All of our bigs rebound well, including Kleiza and Andersen, which is pretty exciting.
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