Given the way the Raps have played in the past couple weeks, my expectations coming into this game were somewhat tempered. Honestly, when I sat down to watch, I was looking for improvement, simple as that. A lot has been made today about this ‘meeting’ they had and all I wanted was to see some sort of tangible difference between the team that lost their last five and the team that took the floor tonight.

While it wasn’t exactly the prettiest game I’ve ever seen – 17 turnovers, 19 Wizard o-boards –, for long stretches of the game I saw some of the energy that has been sorely lacking so far in the season. Maybe it was the meeting, maybe it was Triano’s quicker substitutions or maybe it was just a team that is fed up with losing. Whatever it was, I saw a fire in these guys that I haven’t seen in a pretty long time and it was fun as hell to watch.

Aside from 11 turnovers, the first half was some of the best ball we’ve seen these guys play in weeks. They were running the break, moving the ball and making a concerted effort to attack the rim rather than settling for jumpers. This up-tempo pace played right into DeRozan’s hands and he had probably his best half of his young career. He dropped 16 highlighted by 3 emphatic dunks. Turkoglu played some of his best ball we’ve seen too as he showed us what he can do when he is assertive and tries to create for himself. He finished the half with something like 13.

As we all know, the offensive end isn’t where the problems with this team lie. The real improvement that I saw in the Raps tonight, especially in the first half, was at the other end of the floor. Again, I don’t know where the extra energy came from but they looked like a completely different team out there. Everyone from Bargs down to Calderon were rotating well and fighting hard through screens. They were getting out on shooters and generally making the Wizards’ collective lives difficult. The effort showed up on the scoreboard too; they held the Wiz, who are playing some good ball of late, to only 31% in the half.

I don’t know what they do in the locker room in between halves but I suggest they change it. As has been the case in all too many a game they came out flat from the break. Though it wasn’t as drastic a collapse as we’ve become accustomed to, they once again allowed a game that was firmly in their pocket to slip away by giving up wide open three after wide open three. Either that or by allowing another middle of the pack player – Nick Young – to look like an all star in the making. If it wasn’t for some gritty heroics by CB4, the third might have given this one to the Wizards. His determination on the offensive glass seriously kept us above water; I take back anything I said about him hitting a wall. He was fucking incredible tonight.

The fourth looked a lot like the third except we started hitting shots. Until late in the quarter the Wiz were still getting just about everything they wanted and were pacing themselves to a come from behind win. I have to hand it to the Raps for keeping it within striking distance. Down 6 with 5 minutes left, Bosh and Bargs combined for our last 16 points and willed us back into it. Credit goes to Bargs for shooting through an awful game – 6-20 fg – and putting them down when it counted. Credit also goes to the Raps D which stepped up in a big way to get the stops they needed. After a pretty weak play for Turk to try to beat the buzzer, we were off to our first OT experience of the year.

When we brought Turk to Toronto, one of the biggest reasons was to give us someone who could get us clutch buckets late in the shot clock at crucial points in the game. Until tonight, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that he’s been seriously underwhelming in that regard. A couple of huge shots in the 5th tonight though definitely start him down a path to redeeming himself. After an Arenas 3 with 30 seconds left erased what was once a convincing 5 point OT lead and a botched play left us with 4 seconds on the shot clock and the ball out of bounds, Triano drew up a play for his best late game shooter. Turk responded with a huge fading J on the baseline that eventually proved to be the winner.

Like I said, this wasn’t the prettiest win I’ve ever seen. It was filled with frustrations and we saw a lot of the stuff that caused us to come into the game 7-13. What we also saw was a Raps team that was as energetic and engaged in the game as they’ve been in weeks. They were feeding off each other and making plays when it counted on both ends of the floor. I seriously hope that something clicked in this squad since that embarrassing loss to Atlanta and that they’re ready to put forth the effort necessary to win at this level. I may be reading too hard into one game but tonight was definitely a step in the right direction.

GO RAPS!

Seb Beitel
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Jordan Steffler 2009-12-05 16:29:00 | Quote I'll take the W as well. That's what matters at the end of the night. Baby steps are nice, improvements are nice, but in the end if those improvements don't translate into a win, then you're still on the wrong side of the fence. The Raps pulled it out. I would have liked to see Turk hit the 3 to end regulation. Although he hit the jumper in OT with 8 seconds left, I think a straight up buzzer beater would have had more of an emotional impact on the team. Let's make it 2 in a row tonight! 0 0