2013 Slam Dunk Champion – A look back at Terrence Ross’ winning night #RTZ

February 17, 2013 Nat Raptor Raves

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He Came. He Dunked. He Won.

Raptor fans have had little to get excited about as of late but their new rookie changed that last night. It began with the campaign of #LetRossDunk as he threw down some jaw dropping in-game slams over the last couple months.

He had the fans support followed by a strong endorsement from All-Star and east captain Dwyane Wade. Once Ross was selected to take part in the 2013 slam dunk championship, the hype went into another gear. #LetRossDunk become #RossShallDunk

Two of his teammates have been under the shining lights of All-Star Saturday night and prepped the rookie as much as they could. The nerves were evident but Ross threw ‘em down with flair and force. The ‘Behind the back’ was new, the ’360′ was safe, the ‘Tribute to Vince Carter’ was beautiful and the ‘Between the legs’ powerful.

When all was said and done, he was the best on the night and there wasn’t much doubt. The shy rookie grinned from ear to ear as he brought home the only trophy that had ever made it north of the border. #RossJustDunked

Check out some pics, video and twitter reactions after the jump » Read more..

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Heels @ The Game – Raptors let one get away vs. the Bucks

January 14, 2013 Nat Heels at the Game

team-bucksThe Raptors ended their 6 game home home stand with a 107-96 loss coming at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks. This was a big one, this was one they needed. But after coughing up a 20 point first quarter lead, the Raptors have to settle for the 3-3 record they put together to start 2013.

The Raptors came out picking up where they left off against the Bobcats while the Bucks starters looked like they may have enjoyed “White Vegas” the night before. Enter both teams benches and the story was flipped. The Raptors opened up a bakery, turnovers for everyone, as they coughed it up 10 times in the second quarter to let the Bucks back into it. Toronto had gone 121 minutes without trailing but as the fourth quarter rolled around the starters who tallied 89 points on this day, couldn’t get back the momentum they had built in the first quarter.

The Raptors hit the road and play their next three against formidable opponents. This team can’t afford too many stretches like they had early on in the season if they want to be playing games that matter in April. In order for that to happen, they can’t have games like today. They have to do it as a team.

The Night in Numbers

7 Points off the bench for the Raptors. The Raptors bench has been a strong point during the teams latest success but there will be days like today and the fact that they are shorthanded which leaves coach Casey with no other place to go to find some offence. The Bucks on the other hand got the boost they needed from their bench (43 points) to get back in the game and close it out.

“Our bench has been great all year, I can’t commend them enough on how they come in and change the game or at least maintain it for us, but today for whatever reason their bench came in and outplayed us,” said coach Dwane Casey post game. “They clearly outplayed us, defensively, offensively, all around.”

15 Turnovers for the Raptors which led to 16 points. After coughing it up just once in the first quarter the Raptors had some costly turnovers at key times and a stretch of 5 straight possessions that resulted in turnovers to start the second quarter allowing the Bucks to go on a run, give them momentum and get back in the game.

16 Rebounds for the duo of Ed and Amir. These two have been doing it all. Logging heaving minutes, putting up big stats and most importantly they are on the same page.

“They’re both doing an unbelievable job, everywhere, defence, offence, rebounding. We need them to win games,” Calderon said after the game.

“Those two as a tandem are doing a heck of a job together.” echoed Casey, “but now we have to have guys from the bench step in and do something”.

52% shooting for the Bucks. The Raptors who shot close to 67% in the first quarter ended the day shooting just 42% and a miserable 23% from deep, quite the contrast from last game against the Bobcats.

“If you’ve watched our games recently this is kind of how we do it,” Bucks coach Jim Boylan said on the team’s turnaround after a slow start to the game. “We fight our way back. I’ve got a good group of guys, they don’t quit.”

23 points from DeMar who took a while to get going as has become his MO as of late. He struggled against Charlotte but managed to find another gear, got aggressive and went to the line 10 times against the Bucks.

8 straight losses to the Bucks now after the Raptors failed to build on a huge first quarter lead.

“We were 20 points up and we gave up the lead so quickly, it was so fast, we’ve got to work a little better to get those leads and keep those leads,” Calderon said. “In this league, you cannot relax for a minute. We should control this game the whole game, and we didn’t.”

0 Points for Kyle Lowry who has really bought into this whole team thing but seems to have lost himself in the process. For the Raptors to be successful they need Lowry to play his game when he is on the floor.

 

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Heels @ The Game – Raptors get payback and then some vs. the Bobcats

January 12, 2013 Nat Heels at the Game

Amir JohnsonThe Raptors continued their winning ways with a dominating 99-78 win over the Bobcats last night. After opening up an early lead, they managed to keep the pedal to the metal, played as a team for a full 48 and were rewarded with one of their easiest wins of the season. On the other end of the spectrum, the Bobcats looked as bad as their record states. The looks on the Bobcats’ players faces were eerily similar to those that were found in the Raptors locker room just four weeks ago. The Cats have won just 2 of their last 23 where as the Raptors have now won 10 of their last 13 (two of those losses coming against the Spurs and Thunder). It’s a long season and there is always time to turn it around. The Raptors are proof of that. They have taken care of business winning games they are “supposed” to, playing as a team with different guys stepping up when needed and most importantly they look like they are having fun playing basketball. With this home stand wrapping up, it’s time for the Raptors to get ready to take this new show on the road.

The Night in Numbers

24 points was the largest lead of the night as the Raptors led from wire to wire. That makes its three of their last five that the team has managed to control the game for a full 48.

“The hardest thing to do in this league is to play with a lead,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “You have to move the ball every play and keep playing with the same effort on every play.”

11 rebounds from Landry Fields. Since being inserted into the starting lineup, Fields has put up back to back double digit rebounding games. The jumper is still going to take some time but for now he is bringing lots of intangibles to the floor and working hard on the defensive end guarding up to four positions.

10 players in the scoring column for the Raptors reinforces this team ball approach they have bought into as of late. Even on a night when DeMar DeRozan struggled, other guys stepped up and added value.

“Any night, it could be anybody,” Anderson said of Toronto’s balanced scoring. “I don’t know who it was tonight.” (then smiled when he was told it was him on this night.)

12 three pointers made by the Raptors led by Alan Anderson’s four from deep. He led all scorers in the game and has really made himself an integral part of this team. While the 27 three’s attempted compared to 11 free throws attempted stat is not pleasing to the eye, the long ball was working on this night for the Raptors who shot 44% from deep.

5 offensive rebounds for Acy who saw a career high 18 minutes of playing time. Casey threw him out there early to match up with some of the energy from the Charlotte front court and he left his mark tying a career best six points to go along with six rebounds.

37% shooting by the Bobcats as they were swarmed by the Raptors D. This young team is still learning to play together but better ball movement would help their cause. With several pure shooters on the team, it is inexcusable to rack up a stat like the one they did last night.

“The group out there is young,” said coach Mike Dunlap. “They just have to learn in order to find the rim and paint, the ball has to move a little more freely.”

14 minutes of playing time for Terrence Ross after missing the last two games with a bum ankle. He came out guns blazing and even provided fans one of these as part of his 7 points on the night.

25 assists for the Raptors who continue to share the ball well. This makes it 12 of their last 14 games where the Raps have dished out 20+ assists. Goes without saying this stat goes hand in hand with their winning ways.

“Everybody was looking for the open guy. Sharing is fun when you do that. It was great to see everybody scoring and moving the ball.” – Jose Calderon

Bonus stat via @checktheticker – The Raptors allow less than 80 points in back-to-back wins for the first time since Jan 4-7, 2004

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Toronto Raptors – A Daunting Road Ahead

November 10, 2012 Nat Raptor Ramblings

15 of the first 22 games on the road
5 sets of back to back games, 3 on the road
3 trips to play against Western Conference teams

The Raptors need to adopt a road warrior mentality for the next 6 weeks

“The road part is going to be a big test for us and that will test us early. Our growth may not show until after the first 22 games of how far we are down the road, until we are off the road and get out of that mix. This is the NBA, no one is feeling sorry for us.” – Dwane Casey, when asked about the start of the season.

It may be Coach Casey’s second season at the helm with the Raptors but the three new faces in the starting lineup have some catching up to do, and fast. The schedule is not kind to the Raptors through the first six weeks and with little practice time thanks to all the traveling, this young team is going to have to learn on the fly.

The Raptors are home tonight after a two game swing in OKC and Dallas. Five games in and they sit with a 1-4 record along with two casualties. Kyle Lowry sprained his ankle against the Thunder and will sit out his second straight game. Landry Fields, who has struggled mightily so far with his new team, is also sitting this one out due to concerns about his hand. It was never going to be easy but this was hardly the start fans envisioned for the team. Unfortunately, it may get a lot worse before it gets better.

The team has a brutal schedule through December and the big question right now is, will the Andrea Bargnani from the start of last season be showing up this year? Bargnani has some off the pressure off his shoulders with the media watching rookie Jonas Valanciunas’ every move but he won’t be able to fly under the radar too long. There were glimpses in Dallas but this team needs him to be a scorer, get to the line and occasionally even make it look like he is crashing the boards.

The bright spot so far has been DeMar DeRozan. He got the fat new contract that shocked the basketball blogosphere but since then he has made it look like he was worth every penny. He has been playing focused, aggressive, smart basketball. Showing a better handle with the ball, getting to the line and even making shots from deep. One gets the feeling that having Lowry around has helped light a fire under DeMar. The team has made a long term commitment to him, now he needs to show they made the right decision. If there was any time the team needed him, it is now as they keep battling through the schedule.

Talking about battle, Jonas Valanciunas seems to be doing that every night with the refs. Or so says his body language. With so much hype around him right now, coach Casey keeps stressing that Jonas is getting the “baptism by fire” treatment. It’s interesting how the two rookies on this team are being brought along so differently. Jonas gets thrown into the fire while Terrence Ross is being brought along cautiously. Sure Valanciunas has played with the big boys before but its going to be a test to see how much he can handle. Can he hold his frustrations in check. How long ’til he can figure out the NBA game and make the proper adjustments. Having this tough schedule to start may be a good thing that doesn’t allow him to dwell on things but it could go the other way and find him hitting the rookie wall earlier than expected.

Kyle Lowry has won over this city in just a handful of games and while his injury is unfortunate, it is better to have happened early in the season rather than midway if the team had momentum. It helps that his backup is not too shabby but Calderon has been hesitant shooting as of late and the team can hardly afford that. He is one of the better shooters on this team and now that he is back in the starting lineup, albeit temporarily, Jose needs to contribute more for this team to succeed.

All this said, this is the big leagues. With little time to dwell on losses or celebrate wins, the Raptors can not afford to fall back too far. Basketball is a team game and that is what they need to rely on. There is no superstar on this team yet to carry them. They need to carry each other. With the daunting road that lies ahead, the only way to get through the journey is to do it as a team.

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The Night in Numbers – Raptors unable to play spoiler in Brooklyn

November 4, 2012 Nat Raptors Report

This wasn’t just any game on the NBA schedule. Pro sports back in Brooklyn was the storyline but that become the sidebar after Superstorm Sandy blew through the city. The Nets’ original opening night game was postponed and the hype just kept building. The Raptors knew it was going to be a tough building to go into but had the right mindset.

“We’ve gotta go in there and throw the first punch. We’ve gotta go in there and just suck the air out of it.” – John Lucas III

The Raptors did manage to throw the first punch but the Nets got in the second, third and last punch to ensure the Raptors didn’t get to spoil their big night. Sloppy play and a big disparity at the free throw line put the Raptors in a hole that turned out to be too deep to dig out of. Lowry tried to play the role of hero once again but came up short at the end of the night.

Another close game. Another tough loss. The Raptors are 0-2 with the games being decided by a combined 9 points and the schedule looking ahead isn’t doing them any favours.

The Night in Numbers

28 Points to go along with eight assists, eight rebounds and three steals for Kyle Lowry. He started off on fire from deep (3-4) but when they stopped falling (he ended the night 4-10 from deep), he stayed aggressive an attacked the basket. With his line, Lowry became the 1st #Raptor since Damon Stoudamire, to record at least 21 pts, 7 reb, 8 assts in back-to-back gms. (via @MattDevlinRaps)

31 Fouls by the Raptors which led to 37 free throw attempts for the Nets. In comparison the Raps got to the charity stripe just 25 times. Brook Lopez had a field day in the lane and got to the line 15 times. Coach Casey even tried changing things up at the half giving Aaron Gray more playing time to use his size against the Nets’ big men.

14 Turnovers doesn’t sound that bad but it was more about when they happened in the game. “We had a good tempo going, a good pace going, a close game and then all at once we had those turnovers and they converted on them.” – Dwane Casey. The Nets capitalized late in the game, finishing with 21 fast break points and 15 points off the Raptors 14 turnovers.

0 Minutes for Terrence Ross who on opening night was the first guy off the bench. The DNP-CD is something fans may see a lot of. Ross is going to be brought along slowly while Coach Casey is using a different approach with Valanciunas. Jonas did struggle in this game, racking up the fouls and playing just 12.

52-34 points in the paint for the Nets. The Nets set up shop in the paint and the Raptors were unable to do the same on the other end. If it wasn’t Brook Lopez getting 3 foot hooks it was Deron cutting to the basket. The Raptors were simple unable to get stops, their only solution was fouling. With Andrea mostly lurking the perimeter this is not an uncommon stat to be pointing out, but things need to change for this team to really start competing.

10 points was the largest lead for the Raptors thanks to the 35 points on 62% shooting in the first quarter. The Nets jumped on the Raptors’ bench in the second quarter, holding them to just 17 points while building a nine point lead for themselves. The shooting percentages evened out to a respectable number towards the end of the game but it was a positive sign to see the shots falling after a rough outing in game one of the season.

14 points for Joe Johnson who ended the night +13 but was held in check by DeMar DeRozan. Johnson, an elite scorer in this league, faced what was probably the best defensive effort from DeMar we have seen in a while. Not to be overlooked, DeMar was locked in on the other end as well, scoring 25 points.

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