No Easy Task To Make It Two In A Row.

I have to say the fact the Utah Jazz are 10-5, winners of 4 of their last 5 games is quite a surprise. The Jazz now without Jerry Sloan and Deron Williams you would think would be in full rebuild. After all Tyrone Corbin who took over from Sloan was only 8-20 last season. The trade that saw Williams go to the Nets did bring the Jazz some young talent in Derrick Favours and Devin Harris but this was not a team expected to do much this year by most. They have two solid bigs that are the main pieces to the puzzle in Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, they are the teams top scorers as well. Truth is by looking at the Jazz it just doesn't look all that impressive on paper. But the Jazz are by and large still a team that it is about the system more than the parts that make up the system. Corbin coached for years as an assistant to Sloan so that system for them mostly remains the same.

The Raptors have had almost the same lack of success vs the Jazz as they have had with last night's opponent that Suns. Raptors have lost to Utah 12 straight times. Two very different teams in terms of style. What it always largely comes down to when facing the Jazz is how you defend the pick and roll and if you are able to compete with them on the glass. The Raptors for the first time this season are pretty much healthy and have the full roster in place that Bryan Colangelo has assembled for this season. Dwane Casey is making some bold choices in terms of the roster of late. Unless your name is Andrea Bargnani it seems pretty clear you better perform or you could find yourself on bench. Rasaul Butler and Amir Johnson have already played their way out of the starting five. Demar DeRozan has been shown perhaps some more patience but to suggest he is secure in his starting role would not seem to be wise. If his production and decisions do not improve with Bargnani now back he could be delivered a message as well with a seat on the bench.

Heading in the opposite direction is a guy like James Johnson. Already a defensive type player, which with Casey is always going to give you opportunity. He is starting to make his presence known on the other end of the floor. Beyond the struggles of the Raptors youngsters in DeRozan and Ed Davis, the biggest glaring problem has been the lack of production from the small forward position. Linas Kleiza almost had won the job by not playing a single game. That is how bad Butler and Johnson had been. Ultimately Linas has not really been bad, but on a bench that needs scoring, he along with Leandro Barbosa have been the only two players providing that consistently. Johnson has been putting in work on his shot and over the last couple games we have started to see some results.

Ultimately the questions for the Raptors seem to be if they can produce on the offensive end of the floor. Is this going to be a Kevin O'Neil like offence that struggles to score, or can they be better than that. On nights when Andrea Bargnani is scoring the answer is better. But can we really expect this on a nightly basis? Andrea is averaging 23.4 points a game, That is a point or so better than Vince Carter under Kevin O'Neil with 22.5 per game. Here is where things differ though, Jalen Rose was the 2nd leading scorer on the Raptor squad in 03-04 after he arrived in a trade with Bulls. He averaged 16. 2 points per game, tied with Donyell Marshall who came in the same trade and averaged the same point per game total. Demar DeRozan and Leandro Barbosa are second and third in scoring on this Raptor squad at 14. 2 and 13.2 points per game. They also I think most would agree are not as consistent scorers as Rose and Marshall were. The Raptors Offence is ranked 29th in the league. That is second last in the league which is where the O'Neil led Raptors were as they were 28th with the NBA having one less franchise back in the 2003-04 season.

We can all agree the Raptors defence is at least heading in the right direction. 19th overall is a lot better than 30th. But the Kevin O'Neil Raptors were even better at 7th in the league out of 29 teams. The comparison between the two is not exactly a fair one. The team O'Neil had was far more talented than the one Dwane Casey has currently. But still that is the only real bench mark we have for a defensive minded Raptors basketball team. Tonight will be a challenge on both ends of the floor as the Jazz have a solid offence they run that is ranked 11th in the league and a defence that is middle of the pack at 16th.

Not to mention the schedule that helped the Raptors last night when they played a tired Suns team flips on them tonight playing a rested Jazz team that last played on Saturday. It was a 108-98 win over Minnesota. So if the Raptors get off to a slow start tonight as has been the pattern of this season the chances they make a comeback like last night is greatly reduced.

3 Keys:

Strike First, Strike Hard: Yes the immortal words of Strike Force. If the Raptors start off slow like they did in Phoenix you can just call the Jazz Demolition and give them the win. Anyone who has played basketball will admit this freely. To play from behind is a lot tougher than it is to play with a lead. Dwane Casey to his credit played every guy dressed last night vs the Suns. He will hope it pays off with more energy for his club tonight. But if they don't use it right away they will be in serious trouble.

Protect The Glass: The worst thing you can do against the Jazz is allow them to get rolling on the offensive glass. If they do, the Raptors will get 2nd chanced pointed to death. Any defence, no matter how good, always has to complete stops with defensive rebounds. The odds you stop a team the second time around drop off dramatically.

Secondary Scoring: I am never sure if you can doubt anything much about Andrea these days, but I will go out on a limb and say he isn't scoring 30+ tonight. Can the Raptors with Bargnani scoring at around his average find enough offence to keep pace with the Jazz? If they can they will have a chance to be in the game. If not they have no shot.

Recap tonight and tomorrow at some point will be talking with Raptors play by play announcer on the T.V side of things Matt Devlin. Should be fun to have Matt in The Starting 5 tomorrow. So look forward to that. If we are talking about a 2nd win in a row for the Raptors that would be a surprise but a welcomed one. Game is on TSN2 tonight at 9pm with Matt and Jack calling all the action from Salt Lake City.

4th Quarter Jazz Music Has Raps Singing The Blues

Reggie is dressed and it the building for the Raptors. No Bargnani for the Raptors with the London Flu and Jazz have no AK-47 or Millsap. Net result advantage Raptors. Jazz got smashed in New York it was so bad Andy Rautins got to see the floor. He is already half way to Leo's told minutes on the floor in NBA. That is just an estimate but not far off.

Raps drew first blood and it was a 4-4 start with both teams shooting terrible to start. James Johnson comet like rise to Raptor popularity fizzled in London but early in this one a drive and foul for old fashion 3 point play and Raptors led 9-6 and it sparked a run. Raps get buckets from Davis and Amit Johnson for a 7-0 run and a 13-6 lead. Jazz clawed back into it and on a Devin Harris 3 the game was tied at 15. Amir Johnson who has been a warrior all year came down on Ed Davis foot and turned his ankle badly with score 17-17. Amir limps back to the Locker Room. Reggie Checks in for the injured Amir in an ironic twist of an ankle and fate. Al Jefferson went to work in the paint and Jazz had built a 5 point lead since Amir hit the locker room with score 26-21 Jazz with under 2 to play. Reggie Evans in the books with a basket and a couple of boards but Raptors were up against it down 31-26 after 1.

Raptors thanks to the Blur would get it to within 1 getting the first 4 points of the 2nd. Sonny Weems in full I am pissed mode comes in the game and give the Raptors the lead. If Sonny is selfish and looks to pad his stats the rest of this year, I am down with that because this team has made their choice. Ed Davis got the start and has been doing some nice things and a score by him gave the Raptors a 41-37 lead. Demar could not put a basket down in the paint and Jazz had closed to within 3 thanks to some Raptor sloppy play. Raptors lead was evaporating like the boilling water in my (Not Primo) pasta on the stove. By time I returned the Jazz were up 4. Raptor had 9 turnovers which would not go well with my spaghetti. Ed Davis had 12 at the half with no meatballs and Raptors trailed 52-50.

So as I finished up my bowl of pasta the Jazz went to work on the Raptors starting the half on a 8-2 run. Al Jefferson doing some of the damage and had 22 on the night to this point with Jazz winning 60-52. A DeRozan throw down got the Raptors on a roll and it got Raps back to down just 64-60. No Bargs, No Amir, No problem as DeRozan was not done finishing off the comeback with a basket and a foul that he made at the line 69-68 Raptors. Raptor from their would build their own lead at 76-70. Raptors would add 2 more before time expired in 3rd and led 78-70 after 3 in the books.

Sonny Weems started the 4th quarter making a bucket to kick things off. Raptors went on an 8-2 run to start the quarter with bookend Weems hoops as part of that run. The Raptors were looking good up 86-72 with 8:21 to go. But this is the Raptors and as we have seen all year long no lead is truly safe until the final buzzer goes. The Jazz would answer that Raptor run with a 10-2 run of their own with a couple three balls coming from Watson and Harris as part of the run. Raptors 14 point lead had been trimmed to 88-82. A couple free throws for Weems who had 16 off the bench. But then back to back threes for Miles and the Jazz all of the sudden were down just 2 with 3:24 to play. Calderon missed a couple threes and while Harris scored to close to within just 1. Jefferson would get back to back baskets and the 14 point lead was history and The Jazz with a 17 point turnaround led 94-91 with just a minute to play. The Raptors would get a huge three from Barbosa who just had 7 on the night but the game was tied at 94. The Jazz on the final possession were able to get away with an apparent travel by Devin Harris and a Jefferson tap back at the buzzer. Count the basket give him 34 points on the night and the Jazz a 96-94 win at the Buzzer.

Miles and Harris had 23 and Jefferson the aforementioned 34 that adds up to 80 of the Jazz 96 points. DeRozan had 17 and 8 rebounds with no Bargnani in the line-up. Reggie Evans in his return had a classic Reggie line with just 2 points and 11 boards. Amir Johnson did not return in this game. He would later tweet post game he was ok and thanked people for all their well wishes. Amir has been closest thing to Alvin Williams we have seen on this team. He is always going to say he is good but if he can go Friday will see. We know he will want to go. It will be just a question of can he go. As for the Bargnani flu....who knows. A sad and familiar script for Raptor fans.

V-Log- Post Game Thoughts On Raps and Jazz

I decided to take to the video today to provide my thoughts on the Raptors and Jazz. If you want a detailed recount of how it went down you can go check out the live blog from last night on The Score. Always enjoying doing the Raps games for The Score it is great to get a feel for what folks are thinking. Here is the boxscore in all it's awful glory. Now on to our feature presentation you know him, you hopefully love him...Me Aka James Borbath.



Why do the video? It is a nice change of pace. It beats having to write about that mess and re-live it in a longer way. Plus I am starting doing a regular bit on Raptorspace so I was already in that video mode. Also, you can all get to witness, my goatee turn grey from this season. A preview of the Lakers and Raptors tomorrow and I promise to try not use the number 81.

All That Jazz On Raps And Utah

Toronto Raptors continue their 4 game road trip tonight in Utah. The Raptors will face the new look Jazz who come into this one riding high.

The Basics : Utah 1-2 (Coming off double digit win over Thunder) Raptors 1-2 (9th in Points Allowed- 96.6 PPG)

Last Time We Saw Them: The Raptors stormed out of the gate at Arco vs Kings only to let their large first quarter lead slip away. Reggie Evans continued to impress on the glass with 19 rebounds. Demar DeRozan tied his career high in points with 24. Andrea Bargnani had 28 points in the loss. The Kings took the lead midway through the 4th Quarter and held on for the 111-108 win.

Key Match ups: The Raptors did not get great point guard play from Jarrett Jack and he will need to be better facing one of the NBA's best in Deron Williams. He was great in Utah's first win of the season over the Thunder with 16 points with 15 Assists. How the Raps play the pick and roll will determine their fate. It won't be Carlos Boozer on those pick and rolls anymore. Al Jefferson the former Celtic and Minnesota player fills his shoes. 3 games into his Jazz career he is averaging 16.3 points and 8.7 rebounds. Those rebounds will be hard to come by as he will be matched up with Reggie Evans. Thanks in large part to Evans the Raptors are actually in the top third of the league in rebounding. Evans also has been given credit for the Raptors improvement defensively as well according to Demar DeRozan in his post game comments after the Kings game.

Other Things To Note: Amir Johnson has struggled so far this season with just 4.7 points and 2.3 rebounds largely in part because he can not stay on the floor. He is averaging 4 fouls and as a result just 14.3 minutes of floor time. It has been a long time since the Raptors got a win in Salt Lake City. November 10th, 2004 was last time the Raptors won there. Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 20 and Vince Carter had 16. Yeah that was A LONG TIME AGO. In fact that pre-dates Deron Williams who has never lost to Toronto on his home floor. The Raptors next two opponents the Lakers and Blazers both won last night beating the Grizzlies and Bucks.

Where You Can Find The Dino Blogger: I will be live blogging this game for The Score.com and Score Mobile and after the game you can hear me(listen on line) on the Sports Grind talking about the Raptors and the NBA. Sometime after the game around midnight EST.

The Overtime Extra Point: If the expected happens in the next 2 games this will be an early test to this Raptor team's moral. A tough loss to the Kings now 2 games that are almost certainly losses will test this new found locker room chemistry. There are going to be losing streaks for this Raptors team and this will be an early test in how they deal with them.

Round Ball Review From Minnesota

Well the last leg of the road trip is taking a toll on the guys from the round ball review. Amazingly Joey has been right about the Raptors losing and it is clearly going to his head. J.B is clearly reaching the end of his rope. While Joey G has truly taken his rumour spreading to insane new levels. That is your preview of what to look forward to in this edition on the round ball review.



Now is Joey truly going to be fired? Not likely but it would be cool if you have seen a few of these to get your thoughts. I have got feedback from a lot of folks on them privately and they seem to be a big hit. I think they add some much needed humour in a season that has been in bad need of it. So if you care to take the time to chime in it would be welcomed.

It should also be noted that Joey G referenced Al Jefferson as the reason the T-Wolves would win. I guess he did not hear the bad news that Jefferson has a torn ACL and is out the rest of the season.