In the final game of a three game set back at the ACC, the Raps went into the game looking to take down the visiting Pacers to end the home stand at a mark of 2-1. Coming off one of his strongest games as a Raptor Sunday against Orlando, Jack looked to follow up that performance against Indiana, playing his former team for the first time. With the Pacers having lost three in a row, this is a game that the Raps could not come out taking lightly. Whenever you’re up against a scorer like Danny Granger who can easily drop 30+ on any given night (especially when your team’s on a skid), you need to be on your toes. I was hoping to have some confidence restored after the Raptors sucked the life out of me on Sunday against Orlando. Prior to the game, in my head, I kept saying “48 minutes, 48 minutes, 48 minutes…”

To start the game, the intensity, drive and enthusiasm seemed to be present for the Raptors. In the first handful of possessions, DeMar took it to the rack a number of times making a couple buckets and getting to the line, and Jose continued his “I need to prove something” attitude against TJ by taking it hard to the hole on a few occasions. One thing that was out of the ordinary for the Raptors at the beginning of the game was the lack of touches for Bosh. The offense was going through the guards, which I wasn’t opposed to – you need to stick with what’s working for you. One thing I was cautious about was that the Raps would get too comfortable with this and forget about Bosh, which wouldn’t be a wise move. Eventually we saw Bosh get some touches, but it was nice to see that he wasn’t fully relied on in the first half. Jack also seemed more at ease for the second straight game as he had better command of the offense, creating shots for himself and his teammates.

One observation that made me feel a little bit more confident than I have been over the course of the season so far was the seemingly improved play of Turkoglu. It seemed that Hedo finally found his place in the Raptors sets and is starting to settle in to how he can be a solid contributor. He was more active without the ball, and commanded some defense attention when he did have the ball. He was playing smart basketball and noticing what the Indiana defense was allowing him to do – he seems to have that basketball IQ that can ultimately change the course of a game in so many different ways. With time winding down in the first quarter, Hedo took a three early in the shot clock (nailing it), ensuring the Raps would get the ball back for the final shot. Little things like these 2 for 1 possessions, although small, do make a difference.

Rasho is a baller. I love what he brings. You know you’re not going to get 10 points and 5 boards in a half from him all the time, but he is a consummate pro. He knows where to be on the floor. From a point guard’s perspective, this must be a real treat for the guys running the Raps flow. Rasho will find a seam, set a good pick, or box out to get us some second chances. I thought Rasho deserved a shout out, since who knows the next time he will get this much burn on the court.

At half the Raps were shooting a ridiculous 64% from the field. This wasn’t due to lights out triple shooting or lucky bounces – this was due to working in the movement of the offense, not forcing anything, and letting the game come to them. They were making it look easy. Two quarters in the books with a Raptors lead of 74-53 over the Pacers: 24 minutes to go for complete game.

So much for a full 48 minutes. You know that old saying, ‘bend but don’t break’? Yeah, that doesn’t apply to that third quarter. We didn’t quite break, but it was more than a bend – let’s call it a bad sprain. Although we came out up eight points, we did a number of things far from perfect. I won’t get into too much detail on the negatives, as they were fairly obvious and consistent with trends over the course of the year. Why did we continually give Danny Granger shots? Why did we start settling for jumpers when taking it to the rack was working? Why did we not continue to talk on defense? Does Triano need to make you run more on defense Raps? We weren’t getting back on defense as good as the first half. We lost energy.

The fourth was far from pretty either, but the Raps managed to hang on for the win. Bargnani came up big in the fourth, hitting a couple timely shots that stymied the Pacers push. Jack, while shooting a perfect 7/7 from the field in the game, played well in the fourth keeping his game under control and seemingly not losing his composure with the ball in his hands. Poise. Bosh had a tough night, we could all see that. Regardless of his 5/19 shooting performance, he still wanted the ball in his hands down the stretch. He came through, as he almost always does, and helped the Raps close out the game.

Now I’m not Doctor, or don’t pretend to be, but I know that a lot of people will tell you that a bad sprain is sometimes worse than a break. Up to this point in the season, it seems that the Raptors inability to play a full 48 minutes has not ceased, or shown signs of letting up. It seems like it’s that nagging sprain that annoys you for far too long, but no matter what you do, you can’t get rid of it. That’s my metaphor for this game. It’s something that makes me a little nervous still. Learn from Rasho – he’s been in winning situations before and can probably teach the younger guys a thing or two.

I find it hard to keep using the “well it’s still early” argument. We’re 15 games into an 82 game season people – that’s a fairly significant chunk. I, for one, don’t want to keep making excuses for the Raps – they need to figure it out, and figure it out soon.

Raptors win, Raptors win, Raptors win… One game closer to .500. The Raptors take down the Pacers 123 – 112.

Jordan Steffler
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Rizwan Jafri 2009-11-26 10:50:08 | Quote I agree with you, not being able to play a full 48 minutes is killing the Raps win or lose. If they were able to play hard in the second have the starters would have gotten a lot of rest for the next game of the back-to-back and until they realise these types of things they are going to get burned out. Let's hope that it is still just "too early" in the season and they atart picking it up. 0 0

Rizwan Jafri  - re: 2009-11-26 10:52:15 | Quote Rizwan Jafri wrote: I agree with you, not being able to play a full 48 minutes is killing the Raps win or lose. If they were able to play hard in the second half the starters would have gotten a lot of rest for the next game of the back-to-back and until they realise these types of things they are going to get burned out. Let's hope that it is still just "too early" in the season and they start picking it up. yikes, too many mistakes 0 0

Mark Gariepy 2009-11-26 11:55:17 | Quote WOW! What a game that was last night! Total domination, they really took it to them! The Bobcats did I mean. The offensive juggernaut Bobcats showed why they are scoring a whooping 87.50% a game. Or was it that the stifling defense of the Raptors showing why they are one of team last in points allowed. Sure it was a back-to-back game, and they looked exhausted out there, but there are no excuses to come out and suck that much. I just hope they learn from this, and this loss does not come back to hurt them in the long run. And after such a convincing win on Tuesday they come out on Wednesday and lay an egg. We will place that loss under the “oops” column and hope there will not be anymore of these. I still think they can be in the 4th -5th playoff spot. 0 0