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Cleveland at Toronto


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  • 1 month later...

Looking at the Raptors schedule, if they don't win this game I could easily see them only winning about 3 games before Decemeber considering they head out West for a 4 game road trip, come home and play Golden State and Charlotte, head to Miami, Orlando, Washington and Philly for a 4 game trip (2 back to backs with 2 days rest in between), come home to face Houston, Boston and Philly and then finish the month off with games @ Boston and vs. Atlanta.

 

Obviously they can pull of an upset or two, but it wouldn't be a shock to me at all if they have less than 4 or 5 wins when December rolls around.

 

 

As for this game, I work until 11PM so I'll miss the entire game, at least while it is live. I'll probably come home and hopefully find somewhere to watch it online (not sure if I'll be able to watch it on LP considering Raptor games have been blacked out for me in the past even though I live closer to teams like Portland and Seattle [when they were around] than I do Toronto)

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The Raptors out hustled us this whole game. So much for us playing with the same underdog mentality every night.

 

You can really tell Verajao's absence killed us. Evans was all over every rebound, and David Anderson made every shot it seemed.

 

If we don't come out competitive against the Kings tomorrow, I'll be concerned.

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So let's see here...

 

On October 26, Boston beats Miami

 

On October 27, Cleveland beats Boston

 

On October 29, Toronto beats Cleveland

 

 

So in conclusion... Raptors > Cavs > Celtics > Heat

 

Ya u got it, Cavs as the 8th seed would own the ghetto Heat.

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Just got home from work and started watching it now. I'll post my thoughts at half time and after the game, even though I know the game has already finished.

 

Sorry if I repeat anything that has already been said as I'm not going to read any of the comments made in this thread to avoid knowing how the game goes, the final score, etc...

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- Loved the way that DeRozan came out. He was really aggressive on offense, but he was pretty invisible for the rest of the half as I barely even noticed him out there aside from a nice drive and dish to Kleiza, although Kleiza never finished. He has shown glimpses in the first game and a half that he has played, but he also has those stretches where he is a ghost out there. It should be interesting to see his progression thoughout the year.

 

- The Raptors really went to Bargs a lot in the 1st half. He has played pretty well, although I would definitely like to see him getting inside more and not just staying on the perimeter. He was awesome in the 1st half against New York because he kept the defense on their toes by mixing it up offensively. Hopefully he doesn't continue to settle all night long, but I guess if he is making his shots you can't complain too much.

 

- I liked Kleiza's play in the 1st half. He wasn't spectacular at all, but he did a nice job of stretching the defense by hitting those two early threes and he has done a nice job on the glass with around 4 I think so far. He is never going to wow you with his play, but I think he can become a very solid player for this team. I like his game from what I have seen so far.

 

- Jose Calderon, oh my. What happened to him? He can't do anything on the floor anymore. His jumper is just awful now and he clanks everything. His shots aren't even close to going in either. Jack has been pretty average as well. He is really forcing it and making some questionable decisions with the ball. He is trying to get too fancy instead of making the simple play which has resulted in some turnovers.

 

- Amir Johnson didn't pick up one foul in the 1st half. Wow!

 

- Sonny Weems needs to stop shooting threes. I don't care if he worked on it during the offseason, it is clear that he is not a deep threat and he continues to take them. His mid range game is very good, so stick with that. I like the guy and all, but man is he a gunner.

 

- All in all, a pretty sloppy 1st half. I'd like to think that the Raptors defense is the main reason why the Cavs are shooting so poorly, but to be honest, I don't think that is the case. The Cavs have been getting some pretty decent looks but they just aren't knocking them down. The Raptors have been solid defensively, but not enough to cause this low of a shooting percentage.

 

Will post some more after the game. I'll try to get some Cavs thoughts into my next post and not make it 100% Raptor oriented.

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Man, I didn't see the game...but is Weems really playing like that? Dude has to try and play above the rim more, even if it means playing Corey Maggette basketball and getting to the line 60 times a night. Sucks to hear that.

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- The Raptors crushed the Cavs spirit in that third quarter, particularly Kleiza who was awesome. He was just abusing Jamario Moon in the post and torched him for 13 points and I think something like 8 straight in the post. He can really take advantage of the smaller 3's down low as he was just bullying Moon around.

 

- DeRozan had a very good 3rd quarter. He was really doing a nice job of breaking the defense down and creating opportunities for himself and his teammates. His numbers won't blow you away (14 points and like 3 assists) but I thought that he played a very good game tonight, excluding that 10 minute stretch where he was practically invisible. He was great in the 3rd.

 

- Evans is hilarious to watch. He just runs around full speed banging into everybody and going after every loose ball. He is awful on offense and average at best on defense, but he is such an awesome rebounder. He has 30 rebounds in the Raptors first two games.

 

- Even though he couldn't knock down anything, I thought that Calderon played pretty well in the 3rd quarter. He was doing a nice job of running the offense and getting his teammates some easy looks down low. It helped that the Cavs were playing so pretty awful defense and presented him with some very easy passes, but he was solid.

 

- The bench was pretty solid tonight. Weems was chucking a bit, but he played much better in 2nd half than he did the 1st, but I still wasn't too impressed with his play. Andersen is very good at hitting that 15 foot corner jumper off of pick and pops, but it is pretty comical watching him try and do anything else. Barbosa was pretty solid tonight getting to the basket and using his speed to put pressure on the Cavs defense. Johnson was solid as well. He can be such a nice spark off of the bench when he actually stays out of foul trouble. I already mentioned Calderon above.

 

 

I know I said that I was going to try and make some comments about the Cavs, but to be honest, I can sum up my entire thoughts on them tonight in one word:

 

awful

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I’m not a fan of Calderon and to suggest that is defence was good is genuinely funny to me. Look at the point guards he was facing. Sessions wasn’t a real offensive threat to Calderon which made his defensive assignment very easy for him. I’m more than positive that throughout the year were going to hate his defence.

 

I loved what Demar accomplished in this game but I felt that his teammates did a poor job of looking for him. Whenever he got the ball he was able to create for himself and others. He defence on Parker was very good but just would like to see him more involved in the overall offensive scheme because he is capable of putting up more than 14 points and 3 assist.

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Evans is going to earn us a first round pick at the deadline if he keeps this up.

Even if he does net us a first round pick chances are it’s going to me a late first round pick. I don’t think it’s possible but I would rather have a good young talent in return if Evans is one of the top rebounders in the league.

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I know it'd be a late round pick, but no pick is a bad pick... picks are assets... you draft a Marc Gasol late and then maybe you wind up with a top 3 PF later on.

 

Not to mention it wouls give the Raptors 3 picks in the 11 draft which could be packaged to move up or something like that. We've seen in the past how having multiple picks in a draft opens up so many opportunities for trades.

 

Also, no matter how great Evans rebounds the basketball, no team is going to give up any legitimate young talent for him, headliner. It would be a 7th or 8th man at best (and that is probably being generous) and the Raptors don't need more role players as they have put together a nice group of role players already. They just need the superstar and the all-star, which will hopefully come in the next couple of drafts (or maybe DeRozan becomes the 2nd option all-star player, who knows).

Edited by Built Ford Tough
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Also, no matter how great Evans rebounds the basketball, no team is going to give up any legitimate young talent for him, headliner.

 

I realize that we would not land a legit young talent for Evans. It may have to be a bigger deal for us to net a legitimate young talent in return. When the trade deadline comes around and teams need an energy guy who you know that night in and night out he is going to provide you the effort each night. There will be teams who will take a chance on Evans if it means it will help them win more games come playoff time. I think anything is possible. Especially with the opportunity that Evans has to be the leading rebounder on this team that really has no one who can do what Evans does. It’s an asset at the end of the day; correct me if I am wrong he is also an expiring contract which would make him more appealing for teams.

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