Trio pacing resurgent Raptors
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 | 03:51 PM ET
I’m sorry I haven’t hollered at you for a minute, but I’m knee-deep in my other basketball lives.
My Sheridan Bruins are ranked number one in Ontario and fifth in the country. My son’s under-12 team, the Mississauga Monarchs, is preparing for their Ontario Championships, which take place in March. And my under-16 boys’ team has been invited to a tournament in France this spring, so the coaches and I are trying to get the team organized for the journey across the Atlantic.
Despite the distractions, I'm still on top of what's going on with the Raptors.
What’s happened with the team over the past few weeks is nothing short of extraordinary. The Raptors have won seven of their past 10 games since Lebron James put on an offensive clinic and single-handedly beat Toronto at home 93-90. James went off for 24 points and three assists (all leading to three pointers) in the fourth quarter after Chris Bosh’s girlfriend laughed at King James after he missed a dunk.
Since that game in early January, the Raptors have beaten Philadelphia, New York, Portland, Sacramento, Atlanta, Boston and Milwaukee (yes, they beat Boston). Toronto’s only two losses during that span have been to Detroit and Philadelphia.
The keys to the team’s success over those nine games has been the slow awakening of Andrea Bargnani, the resurgence of Chris Bosh and the stellar play of Jose Calderon.
Bargnani has actually found a remnant of his shooting touch. Over the last two games he’s shooting 11 for 26 from the field. Nothing to brag about, but it’s a start in a positive direction. He also pulled down seven rebounds in each of those games. If you can get a 20 point, seven rebound, seven assist night out Bargnani, which is what he did against Boston, the Raptors would be a very tough team to beat.
The problem is consistency. How long before Bargnani has one of his three points, zero rebounds nights, like he did against Detroit? Time will only tell.
As for Bosh, well if there was any doubt he would be named to the Eastern Conference all-star team, he sure has squashed those thoughts. Bosh has been nothing short of spectacular over the past month. Since Dec. 31, Bosh has only had one game where hasn’t scored 20-plus points, and that was in the loss to Detroit. In that span he has also notched four double-doubles (double digits in rebounds and points) and was named the Eastern Conference player of the week.
I believe that Bosh is arguably one of the ten best players in the NBA. He reminds me of a young Tim Duncan, who every night put up solid numbers but because he wasn’t flashy he didn’t get the attention he deserved from the fans and basketball pundits. It wasn’t until Duncan led his team to a championship that he was considered a superstar. Bosh will hopefully get accorded that status before the Raptors win a championship.
The last month has also been incredible for Calderon. He’s played so well that his name is being thrown around as a guy who could make the NBA Eastern Conference all-star team. Not bad for a guy who has been in the league for only three years and has been a perennial back up. But since T.J. Ford’s injury against Atlanta back on Dec. 11, Calderon has been one of the best point guards in the NBA.
No disrespect to Ford, but how do you take Calderon out of the starting lineup when Ford comes back from his injury?
Aside from Bosh, Calderon is the only Raptor who brings his A-game every time he takes the court. He’s fifth in the league in assists with 8.6 per game, averages 12.1 points per game, shoots 51 percent from the field, 92 percent from the free throw line.
Calderon also leads all starting point guards in the league in assists-to-turnover ratio with a 5.54 rating. This stat is one of the true measures of point guard’s value. For every five assists Calderon makes he only turns the ball over one time. This shows that he’s taking care of the ball and he’s also creating offence for his teammates.
In a fair world, Calderon will join Bosh, Jamario Moon (dunk contest) and Bargnani (rookie-sophomore game) in New Orleans for the 2008 NBA All-star game in a couple of weeks.
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About the Author
Nick Davis is the senior producer of Metro Morning on CBC Radio One 99.1 FM. He's been involved in basketball since 1978 when he played the game for the first time as an eighth grader. He has covered basketball as a reporter from 1987 to 2001 including college and university basketball, the Canadian national team program and the Toronto Raptors.
An assistant with Sheridan College for the past 13 years, Davis still finds time to coach youth hoops in Toronto. Some of the players Nick has coached include NBAer Jamaal Magloire, European pro Wayne Smith, and Canadian national team members Sherman Douglas and Michael Meeks.
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- Wednesday, February 27, 2008
- The imminent return of T.J. Ford
- Thursday, February 7, 2008
- Trio pacing resurgent Raptors
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- Current crop of Raptors not getting it done
- Wednesday, January 9, 2008
- The tale of two sophomores
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Comments
matthew
toronto
Did I mention how young all of these guys are? It is so much fun watching a TEAM grow up and grow better together. The next few years should be a great deal of fun for all Raptors and every basketball fan.
Posted February 1, 2008 12:22 AM