Game 35/82: Raptors (12-23) @ Celtics (27-7) Open Thread
Posted by Ryan DeGama on Jan 7, 2011
Didn't We Just See This Guy?
Toronto at Boston
7:30 P.M. ET
TD Garden
CSNNE
Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 105.3 points/100 possessions (11th)
Opponent: 102.5 points/100 possessions (17th)
Defensive Efficiency:
Boston: 96.6 points allowed/100 possessions (1st)
Opponent: 108.1 points allowed/100 possessions (27th)
Probable Toronto starters: Linas Kleiza (SF), Amir Johnson (PF), Andrea Bargnani (C), Jose Calderon (PG), DeMar DeRozan (SG)
Thumbnail: This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between these Atlantic Division opponents. The Celtics have taken two of the first three, including a 93-79 victory last Sunday north of the border. Like the C’s, now over a week into Kevin Garnett’s convalescence, the Raps are nursing multiple injuries with Jerryd Bayless and Sonny Weems (and the ever-unavailable Peja Stojakovic) expected to sit this one out.
Preview: As this is our fourth game with the Raptors and second in the last week, we’ve got some tactical familiarity with how the C’s match up with Toronto (see here and here), so we fired off a few questions to Sam Holako, over at the excellent Raptors Republic to take a bigger picture view of the state of the Raps. This was also a great way to get Sam to write most of the preview for me.
Thanks for that, Sam.
I also fielded a few questions on the state of the Celtics over at Raptors Republic, equivocating on the best playoff matchups for the C’s and guessing blindly at Kendrick Perkins‘ free-agent future.
Onwards, triumphantly, to the Q&A:
CelticsHub: The Raptors are within spitting distance of the playoffs but ensconced in yet another rebuild. This feels like an endless process for Toronto fans. What kind of faith do you have in Bryan Colangelo’s ability to put together a team that can challenge the Eastern Conference powers?
Raptors Republic: Yes they are, but they are also four games from last in the East. Toronto sports fans are used to perennial treadmill teams that give us just enough hope to hail an Andrea Bargnani as an elite player, but continually disappoint us when he only grabs 5 rebounds a game. I have faith that Colangelo can put together a 45-55 win team that can make some noise, but he was unable to win with a championship caliber team with Steve Nash in his prime and Amare Stoudamire filling the lane… so no, I don’t have faith that he can build a team that will challenge Boston, Miami and Orlando (or even the Knicks and Bulls in the second tier).
CH: You know Toronto’s a great city. I know Toronto’s a great city. The GTA (greater-Toronto-area) is undeniably a huge media market. What will it take for the Raptors to start drawing regular free agent attention and exercising some economic might?
RR: White Vegas baby! Don’t forget that the Raptors scored the biggest free agent last summer in stealing Hedo Turkoglu away from the Portland Trailblazers. While that signing ultimately proved to be brutal for the team, it was a big coup. The fact of the matter is that once the Raptors put together a good team, free agent attention will come. Simple as that. Toronto is one of the best cities after New York, Chicago and Los Angeles; no one can honestly claim that players would rather live/play in Utah, Milwaukee, Minnesota or Cleveland instead of Toronto.
CH: DeMar DeRozan has had some impressive nights lately, including against the Celtics. What’s your take on his development and his ceiling?
RR: He’s definitely starting to hit his stride, and the recent injury to Bargnani has given him the ball and space to operate a bit more. I really wish he would take a page out of Ray Allen’s book and learn to run around the court without the ball, and get open. He has the athletic ability to be a devastating player off the bounce, and to his credit, has been attacking much more this season.
I have two knocks on his game:
- He needs to shoot the ball at a higher rate; this would keep defenders honest and open up some space to put it on the floor.
- He needs to do more than just scoring. His rebounding, while not bad at 3.4 a game, needs to jump, and he needs to move the ball around much more for a guy who has the ability to drive and draw an extra defender.
CH: Ed Davis. Do tell.
RR: The injury to start the season cost him some development, but we’ve been super happy with the kid so far. He’s an athletic, active big guy who defends (blocks shots, plays good man-to-man AND positional defense) and crashes the boards; both are qualities everyone loves in their bigs. He’s got nice touch around the rim on offense, but the shot isn’t there, which I can live with because we have Bargnani who likes to live on the perimeter. His recent 17pts 12reb game against the Mavs was an eye opener, and shot him into the rookie top 10 ranking which he deserves to be. David Thorpe says he’s shaping up to be the steal of the lottery, and so far, I’m inclined to agree.
CH: Having had a bit of time to digest the trade with New Orleans, what’s your preliminary verdict?
RR: I liked it when the trade was made, and I like it even more now that there hasn’t been much of a fall-off in production at the point, with Jack shipping off and Bayless taking over. One of the best developments of the trade was that Jose Calderon became the undisputed #1 point guard on the team, and has really risen to the job, averaging about 13pts 12ast since the trade. This is significant because there there has been point guard controversy with this team since TJ Ford was here, with who’s the starter, and such.
The forgotten piece is Peja’s expiring contract which may or may not be used in a trade. If that could be flipped into a starting small forward who can create his own shot and defend, and a draft pick, this could easily be one of the best trades in Raptor history.
You can find Sam and the Raptors Republic crew on twitter right here.
WHAT WE WANT TO SEE FROM BOSTON TONIGHT:
The Celtics really should be 3-0 against this Raptors team, and with Boston’s health coming around a bit, with Jermaine O’Neal looking better by the game, and with Toronto battling injuries, anything less than a 10-point-plus win will be a disappointment, although the game may be close in the first half.
A thought starter – the NBA record for assists in a single game is 30 (Scott Skiles).
At some point in his career, Rajon Rondo is going to break that record. That night will likely come against a team like the Raptors.
Just sayin’.
PREDICTION:
Boston 100 Toronto 89
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