Last night is a perfect example of ...
Posted: Sun Jan 3, 2010 7:00 pm
... why this group needs to stay together. I had a good feeling we'd lose last night and we didn't lose because of talent. We lost (for what feels like the million time I've said this) because we didn't show patience and poise. We didn't run our stuff and completely played into Boston's gameplan and tempo. Despite the fact that they were missing 3 of there best players, Boston still had veterans in Rasheed and Allen who led the way for them. Combine that with a veteran coaching staff and role players who know there positions and roles (due to the veterans and coaching staff around them) and you see a team that has intangibles that the Raptors completely lacked. While there role players didn't do anything out of there limits, ours were taking shots and trying to make plays that were out of there limits (specifically our wings ...).
Banks was our best role player last nigght and really changed things on the defensive end but on the offensive ends, he was doing things that would cause veteran coaches to commit suicide. Same goes with guys like Wright, Derozan, Weems and Belinelli who all make boneheaded plays occasionally. Derozan despite being athletic, has to realize that he can't go into a pack of 3-4 guys and expect to come out victorious. Antoine Wright was a perfect role players for Carlisle but on the Raptors has played out of the rotation because of his boneheadedness (is that a word?) on the offensive end. There isn't a shot that Sonny Weems doesn't like despite the fact that he is a terrible shooter. Belinelli makes the game to complicated for himself and much harder by trying to take fadeaways and make fancy plays rather then getting the job done.
Even our guys like Jose, JJack, Bosh and Bargnani are all to soft when it counts. These guys seem to buckle in the pressure. Despite the fact that Hedo seems to laidback sometimes, when he knows he has to pick it up, he picks it up. Bargs has yet to give a full games effort despite his talent and he doesn't show enough emotions and isn't vocal. Sometimes I'm frustrated with his role because he could be a much bigger asset but at the same time, he has to step into it and demand that position on the team. When he wants to snare a rebound, he does it ... but that only seems to happen randomly when he feels like it. Jose has good games about twice a month ... and to be honest, when he has a good game we usually win but again doesn't step up. JJack buckled last night and god knows why. Bosh has demand more from his team and take that leadership role seriously. Last night, we completely ignored Bosh on the offensive end. But Bosh made no demands, he didn't fight for position, he didn't angry that his teammates didn't deliver him the ball when he had position and he was just quiet ...
So why does this team need to stick together? Because the answer is simple ... its experience. Alot of these things come with experience. Veterans and experienced players win games. The only guy over 30 getting significant minutes is Hedo. The average age of our team is 24.XX . I believe only Bosh, Hedo, Reggie Evans, and Rasho have played over 6 seasons in this league. We are a treadmill team right now but we are a young treadmill team. I don't think we realize how young we actually are. There is talent on this team and thats why we can beat out teams on our level on a consistent basis. The reason why we suck against teams that are good because they simply more experienced then us, they show more poise and patience. Things that are only gained with time and experience. If we keep getting younger, we will be doing the opposite of what it takes to win and build chemistry. People compare this team to the 06/07 but remember that the 06/07 had guys who had experience and knew what it took to win. AP/Garbo were veterans and brought a lot of experience despite not playing in the NBA. Even a role player like Delfino came from the Pistons who had vets like Billups/Hamilton/Rasheed/Prince. Of course to top of it, we had Rasho as a big man vet. We had veterans who were playing big minutes for us ... this season the only veterans playing big minutes for is Hedo.
Its something I'd like everyone to keep in the back of there minds ... I know I get as frustrated with this team as most of you do at times. But the future is positive and hopefully this team continues to grow as they gain more experience.
Banks was our best role player last nigght and really changed things on the defensive end but on the offensive ends, he was doing things that would cause veteran coaches to commit suicide. Same goes with guys like Wright, Derozan, Weems and Belinelli who all make boneheaded plays occasionally. Derozan despite being athletic, has to realize that he can't go into a pack of 3-4 guys and expect to come out victorious. Antoine Wright was a perfect role players for Carlisle but on the Raptors has played out of the rotation because of his boneheadedness (is that a word?) on the offensive end. There isn't a shot that Sonny Weems doesn't like despite the fact that he is a terrible shooter. Belinelli makes the game to complicated for himself and much harder by trying to take fadeaways and make fancy plays rather then getting the job done.
Even our guys like Jose, JJack, Bosh and Bargnani are all to soft when it counts. These guys seem to buckle in the pressure. Despite the fact that Hedo seems to laidback sometimes, when he knows he has to pick it up, he picks it up. Bargs has yet to give a full games effort despite his talent and he doesn't show enough emotions and isn't vocal. Sometimes I'm frustrated with his role because he could be a much bigger asset but at the same time, he has to step into it and demand that position on the team. When he wants to snare a rebound, he does it ... but that only seems to happen randomly when he feels like it. Jose has good games about twice a month ... and to be honest, when he has a good game we usually win but again doesn't step up. JJack buckled last night and god knows why. Bosh has demand more from his team and take that leadership role seriously. Last night, we completely ignored Bosh on the offensive end. But Bosh made no demands, he didn't fight for position, he didn't angry that his teammates didn't deliver him the ball when he had position and he was just quiet ...
So why does this team need to stick together? Because the answer is simple ... its experience. Alot of these things come with experience. Veterans and experienced players win games. The only guy over 30 getting significant minutes is Hedo. The average age of our team is 24.XX . I believe only Bosh, Hedo, Reggie Evans, and Rasho have played over 6 seasons in this league. We are a treadmill team right now but we are a young treadmill team. I don't think we realize how young we actually are. There is talent on this team and thats why we can beat out teams on our level on a consistent basis. The reason why we suck against teams that are good because they simply more experienced then us, they show more poise and patience. Things that are only gained with time and experience. If we keep getting younger, we will be doing the opposite of what it takes to win and build chemistry. People compare this team to the 06/07 but remember that the 06/07 had guys who had experience and knew what it took to win. AP/Garbo were veterans and brought a lot of experience despite not playing in the NBA. Even a role player like Delfino came from the Pistons who had vets like Billups/Hamilton/Rasheed/Prince. Of course to top of it, we had Rasho as a big man vet. We had veterans who were playing big minutes for us ... this season the only veterans playing big minutes for is Hedo.
Its something I'd like everyone to keep in the back of there minds ... I know I get as frustrated with this team as most of you do at times. But the future is positive and hopefully this team continues to grow as they gain more experience.