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Dec29
Game No. 33, live: Raptors (12-18) at Warriors (9-23)
Filed under: Commentary;FOURTH QUARTER:
** Marco’s living right with that 3-pointer rolling in.
** Not only did Turiaf play that S/R light years better than Biedrins has been doing it, he forced an ugly turnover out of Jose Calderon, who coughs those up about once every 10 days or so.
** Holy crap: I didn’t see which referee it was, but that was a spectacular no-call on their part, allowing Turiaf and Joey Graham to come together without feeling the need to parse which one was 51 percent in the right and which was only 49.
** Raptors are already in the bonus, while having committed no fouls of their own. (Make that one now.) That could prove to be critical.
** Too funny: Stephen Jackson, who’s been demolished more times than I can count by Nelson for his lack of rebounding, sneaks in for the critcal putback.
** Biedrins is coming in for Turiaf at the 5:25 mark, a trade of superior post defense (Turiaf) for increased rebounding (AB has 12 of the W’s 26 defensive boards).
** Bosh overpowers Jackson in the right block, leaving the captain to look to the bench with his arms open in a “now what?” pose.
** Terrible, dreadful possession: Crawford dribbles out the shot clock, hoists a no-hope 3-pointer, then Watson fouls Calderon while going for the rebound.
** Hey, Marc Davis, way to try to insert yourself into the outcome of the game.
** Two good looks at go-ahead treys that the Warriors survived, followed by a Biedrins putback to make it a two-possession game once again.
** Closing out a game is about four times as hard as it should be when you can’t defensive board worth a damn.
** That’s some cojones for Watson to take that 16-footer over Bosh.
** The Warriors are lucky Graham fouled Belinelli in the backcourt , because he was only a couple of seconds from taking an 8-second call, and there was nobody in the front court available to help him.
** Hey, an inbounds play that worked as drawn up!
** Double hey, an inbounds play that didn’t work — only this time it’s the opposition with the turnover, not the Warriors.
THIRD QUARTER:
** Smallball opens the third, and Chris Bosh taps home an easy bucket in celebration.
** And for once, the scrub of the night belongs to the Warriors rather than the opposition (C.J. Watson, come on down!)
** Jose Calderon: You haven’t missed a free throw all season, you’ve got Watson floating in midair after giving him a head fake . . . why on Earth do you pass that ball out to Bargnani instead of going up, drawing contact and pocketing the easy two points?
Awful.
** The Warriors aren’t good enough to get sloppy like this . . . unless it’s subtle tanking, of course.
** Offensive foul (drawn) No. 9 in three games for Belinelli.
** The C.J. Watson joyride appears to be over.
** Toronto cuts the lead to seven, W’s timeout. It’s interesting to watch Nelson and Smart sitting, side by side, across from the players. Smart is doing the diagramming (presumably of a defensive adjustment) and Nelson is driving the point home with Turiaf, who now checks out.
** Only the fact that Kris Humphries and Joey Graham are so woeful is saving the Warriors right now as they leak offensive rebounds.
** Biedrins is getting slaughtered right now on the high screen/roll. It’s just brutal.
HALFTIME:
** I’ve written before that I don’t think the Warriors’ slight drop in official attendance (which has actually improved in the three weeks since I wrote about it) is going to significantly impact their bottom line. Looking around the arena tonight, however, there is a more worrisome trend: At least 12 of the 72 Oracle luxury suites are empty. I don’t have attendance data for those suites, but anecdotally speaking, that’s a high number of vacancies, even if it is the Raptors.
SECOND QUARTER:
** It’s funny, because in Toronto, the Warriors attacked with three bigs on the floor for much of the game, whereas tonight we probably won’t see even a second big man until after halftime.
** Belinelli thought he was home free, and then Jamario Moon showed how athleticism can trump smarts pretty easily, given the proper circumstances.
** With the Warriors in the bonus already, this is one of the times that Corey Maggette would come in handy. If he were healthy, they could keep feeding him the ball on isolation plays and rack up the points at the line.
** We just received a note that Jermaine O’Neal is “questionable” with flu-like symptoms. I didn’t realize “can’t hang with a small-ball lineup” qualifies as “flu-like” symptoms. Must be a byproduct of that socialized health care in Canada.
** With only two offensive rebounds, it’s very much an all-or-nothing proposition on offense for the Warriors right now.
** CC: That’s the problem with scouting in this league; teams know that Azubuike’s not much of a ballhandler, so they instruct their players to make him put it on the floor whenever possible. That was just a smart bit of gamesmanship by Calderon.
** Another offensive foul drawn by Belinelli. That’s eight in the last 2 1/2 games.
** Hey, Jay, you might want to guard the 3-point line. Just a thought.
** Jackson’s 3-point shooting in the 2 1/2 games since resting his injured left hand: 35.7 percent (5-for-14). The Warriors as a whole: 44.6 percent (25-for-56).
FIRST QUARTER:
** Andris Biedrins is making a living on his overplays right now.
** The Oracle crowd has loved Marco Belinelli since that first Summer League explosion, and they’re loving every minute of his emergence.
** Brandan Wright makes up for fairly pedestrian ball-handling skills by doing a great job of working himself into open spaces; he found a sweet spot for a pass from Jackson after his man doubled Jack and was rewarded with a pass from the captain for an easy 6-footer. But that means the Warriors have to have someone who can deliver him the ball.
** Jermaine O’Neal is looking like Methusaleh nowadays. He was lurking in the lane, waiting for Jackson to spin baseline, and guessed right, but still could do nothing but commit a foul.
** Marc Davis is going to kick himself at the half when he sees just how far O’Neal’s foot was planted inside the circle on that “charge.”
** Bad move by Belinelli to float so far off Kapono, whose sole NBA-caliber attribute is shooting standstill 3-pointers.
** Smallball is back, baby!
** Payback from Kapono, leaving Belinelli wide open in the right corner.
** Just because you’ve converted a couple of fadeaway jumpers off the isolation plays, Captain Jack, doesn’t mean you should keep calling that play’s number.
** Don Nelson is decidedly unsatisified with Scott Foster’s explanation for the charging call on Kelenna Azubuike.
** When Jake Voskuhl picks you clean . . . cripes, do I even need a punchline here?
PREGAME:
** It’s easy to forget how badly the Raptors have stumbled to start this season. And I guess Jay Triano (4-9) isn’t the answer.
** Who guards Bosh? If it’s Jackson, can Brandan Wright keep Jamario Moon off the offensive glass?
– Geoff
17 Responses to “Game No. 33, live: Raptors (12-18) at Warriors (9-23)”
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And what a crowd it is…
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Wright is terrible. We should dump him, pronto.
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Crawful tonight?
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Boy, these TOR scrubs are really GOOD!
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The Smart Defense is really something, huh?
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Belinelli is a genius.
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Azubuike has to go. Like right now.
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Our scouting is great.
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Just think… this kind of game PLEASES people!
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Bosh is demanding a trade. It’s happening this year. TOR just lost Bosh.
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Refs gone wild.
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That Belinelli flop is pure gold, every time.
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That should be an O foul and a tech on Jackcons. Tard.
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Beli forgot to flop on that one.
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One bad team routs another.
That is all. -
This is world class Euro/D-League basketball here.
We’re such a crappy team. -
Oh yeah, this one was earned. Nite Geoff.
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