Monday January 31 2011 – 9:47pm Eastern – Indianapolis, IN

Toronto falls to 13-36 on the season, losing to the Indiana Pacers, 104-93

THE START

Raptors - started the game off well and led 13-10 but allowed Indy to go on a 22-8 run to close the QRT and go up 11 after 1 QRT 
Pacers – shot 57.1% FG as a team;  had 3 players (Mike Dunleavy, Darren Collison, and Roy Hibbert) score 8 or more PTS in the QRT

AT THE HALF

Raptors – falls down by 20 at 48-28 but they close the half on a 17-3 run to trail by only 6 (51-45) at the break
Pacers - get out-scored by Toronto 16-6 in the paint and shot just 7/20 in the QRT after going 12/21 FG in the 1st

AFTER 3

Raptors - Toronto shaved 1 off the 6-point halftime deficit to trail by 5 going into the 4th, 75-70;  Raptors shot 50% FG in the QRT
Pacers – Indy’s offence continue to struggle, shooting just 8/25 FG (32%);  Danny Granger had 7 points and 6 rebounds in the QRT

THE FINAL FRAME

Raptors – Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan finished the game, each, 3/15 FG and TOR shot just 41% for the game;  out-scored 29-23 in the 4th 
Pacers - Paul George had 11 points in the QRT (16 in the game);  gave up 11 points off turnovers in the QRT but still out-scored TOR … and won the game

———-

ALSO OF NOTE

Leandro Barbosa, Linas Kleiza, and Reggie Evans did not travel to Indy for this game

Toronto has now lost 12 in a row — matching a skid they had in 2003 — and they’re now 23 games below .500

Toronto had a 17-game losing streak in 1997-98

Pacers matched their season-high with 25 turnovers (allowing 23 points off those 25 turnovers)

Hibbert had a game-high 24 points and a game-high 11 rebounds

Ed Davis was solid again for T.O. … finishing with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 24:39 minutes

That’s win #1 for Pacers interim coach, Frank Vogel

———-

Post-game interview with Indiana Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough (14 PTS, 6 REB) + some of the highlights from the game:

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/hansbrough-es-20110131.mp3]

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/highlights-gb-20110131.mp3]

———-

Due to poor weather conditions in Indianapolis, the Raptors will spend the night here and HOPE to fly to Atlanta at some point tomorrow.  The Raptors play the Hawks on Wednesday night.  Paul Jones and I will be on the air that night at 7pm Eastern with the pre game show and we’ll have the tip off just after 730pm.

Have a good one

E. Smith

Monday January 31 2011 – 12:48pm Eastern – Indianapolis, IN

We took the day off yesterday — no blog … no VLOG … no nothin’.

In fact, I spent almost 3 hours of my day yesterday teaching Jack Armstrong how to work his new BlackBerry (getting his email set up and showing him how to search the browser, used BlackBerry Messenger, etc).  Fun times.

But we’re back at it today … getting set for the Pacers and Raptors.

It’s a new ‘era’ for Indy tonight … under interim head coach Frank Vogel (a former video coordinator for the Pacers (see, ‘dreams’ do come true)).

Paul Jones and I break it all down in the latest edition of the world-famous Sportsnet Radio, The Fan 590 VLOG:

The 7pm tip tonight means … no pre game.  So you’ll hear from us right before the action starts.

All bodies are expected to be on-deck tonight; Jerryd Bayless may be a game-time decision … Barbosa, Kleiza, and Evans are still back in T.O.

Have a good one folks

E. Smith

Saturday January 29 2011 – 9:53pm Central – Minneapolis, MN 

Toronto falls to 13-35 on the season, losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 103-87

THE START

Raptors - 8/24 FG (33.3%);  Andrea Bargnani 2/8 FG but Toronto hanging in on the glass (15-15) and down only 1 at the break (21-20)
Wolves – Kevin Love en route to another fine performance with 11 points and 3 rebounds in the first frame

AT THE HALF

Raptors – shot 5/22 in the QRT and at the half were down by 10 while shooting only 28.3% FG;  DeMar DeRozan 0/3 FG in the 1st half
Wolves - Love continuing to roll with 14 and 7 rebounds at the half;  Minnesota held Toronto to 8 points in the paint in the 1st half

AFTER 3

Raptors - 8/30 in the QRT and now 21/76 overall in the game (27.6%);  Bargnani 5/23 FG through 3 QRTs (15 PTS, 3 REB)
Wolves – out-rebounding Toronto 46-37 through 3 QRTs;  Love with 21 points and 12 rebounds;  Michael Beasley just 2/12 FG through 3

THE FINAL FRAME

Raptors – fell down by as many as 28 points;  had 13 FGs in the 4th alone after having only 21 through the opening 3 QRTs
Wolves - Martell Webster had 10 in the QRT (15 in the game);  only got out-scored 14-12 in the game in 2nd chance points in spite of a 19-9 advantage for Toronto in offensive rebounding

———-

ALSO OF NOTE

Leandro Barbosa, Linas Kleiza, and Reggie Evans did not travel to Minny for this game

Toronto has now lost 11 in a row and they’re now 22 games below .500

The Raptors are 4-7 on the 2nd half of back to backs

Toronto shot a season-low 33.7%

Toronto had a 17-game losing streak in 1997-98

Minnesota snapped a 12-game losing streak against Toronto with this win

The Raptors’ 39 points in the 1st half were an opponent’s low for Minny this year

This was Kevin Love’s 33rd consecutive double-double (21 and 12)

Ed Davis (the lone bright spot for Toronto tonight) had his 4th career double double (15 points, 11 rebounds)

———-

Post-game interview with Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jonny Flynn + some of the highlights from the game:

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/flynn-es-20110129.mp3]

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/highlights-es-20110129.mp3]

———-

The Raptors will hop on a flight to Indianapolis getting set to face the Pacers on Monday night.  Paul Jones and I will be on the air that night at 7pm Eastern with the tip off.

Have a good one

E. Smith

Saturday January 29 2011 – 12:39pm Central – Minneapolis, MN

Normally when I think of “TEN” … this is what comes to mind:

But for the Toronto Raptors, “TEN” equates to 10 losses in a row following last night’s overtime defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Jay Triano and company may have to steal some inspiration from one of the tracks on Pearl Jam’s “TEN” album — “Alive”:

“Oh I, oh, I’m still alive ….. Hey, I, I, oh, I’m still alive …. Hey I, oh, I’m still alive ….”

Anyway, somebody is busting out of a funk tonight in Minnesota … as Toronto comes in with that 10-game skid and the Timberwolves have lost 6-straight. 

We break it all down – and more – in our latest world-famous Sportsnet Radio, The Fan 590 VLOG:

We’ll be on the air at 730pm Eastern tonight with the pre game show and we’ll have the tip-off of the Wolves and Raps just after 8pm

Have a good one

E. Smith

* Another Pearl Jam / basketball reference … their original band name was actually “Mookie Blaylock” (former NBA guard)

Friday January 28 2011 – 10:17pm Eastern – Toronto, ON 

Toronto falls to 13-34 on the season, losing in overtime to the Milwaukee Bucks, 116-110

THE START

Raptors - DeMar DeRozan picked up 2 fouls in the frame and had to check out shooting just 0/1 FG (averaging 25+ PPG over his last 5 games)
Bucks – shot 54.5% FG and led by 10 (32-22) after 12:00 min;  Andrew Bogut was 6/7 FG for a game-high 12 points

AT THE HALF

Raptors – Alexis Ajinca sparked the team off the bench with 8 PTS (10 in the half);  Toronto was up 8 at one point (an 18-point swing) and led 57-55 at the half
Bucks - Corey Maggette scored 10 in the QRT (16 in the half);  Milwaukee gave up 8 points off turnovers in the QRT

AFTER 3

Raptors - DeRozan shooting just 1/7 FG through 3 QRTs;  Toronto shot 9/24 FG in the QRT … coughing up their 2-point halftime lead
Bucks – went up by 3 after 3 QRTs (81-78) … with Toronto just 3-27 this year when trailing after 3 QRTs;  Milwaukee shot 9/13 FG in the QRT

THE FINAL FRAME?

Raptors – Andrea Bargnani came alive with 11 in the QRT (team-high 23 in the game);  Amir Johnson with key FTs (5/6) to help tie it and send it to OT
Bucks - Ersan Ilyasova scored 11 in the QRT on 5/5 FG but fouled out late as Toronto tied it at 104 and sent the game to overtime.  Ilyasova with 25 points on 9/10 FG (added 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks too)

OVERTIME

Raptors – shot only 3/9 in the 5-minute frame and weren’t able to contain Bogut
Bucks – a perfect 4/4 FG in overtime

———-

ALSO OF NOTE

Leandro Barbosa (hamstring) and  Reggie Evans (foot) were each a no-go for Toronto.

Linas Kleiza (knee) did not play for the 5th time in 6 games (after briefly coming back Friday night in Orlando)

Toronto has now lost 10 in a row and they’re now 21 games below .500

The Raptors are now 1-10 on the first night of a back to back

Toronto is 3-28 when trailing after 3 QRTs

Bogut was 3/3 FG in overtime (4/5 in the 2nd half) … and 12/14 FG in the game.  He added 7 rebounds and 4 blocks too

DeRozan was just 5/14 in the game for 11 points

———-

Post-game interview with Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut + some of the highlights from the game:

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/bogut-es-20110128.mp3]

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/highlights-es-20110128.mp3]

———-

The Raptors will hop on a flight to Minnesota, getting set to face the Timberwolves on the back to back tomorrow night.  Paul Jones and I will be on the air with the pre-game show at 7:30pm Eastern and we’ll  have the tip off just after 8pm.

Have a good one

E. Smith

Friday January 28 2011 – 3:13pm Eastern – Toronto, ON 

The league’s worst offence … against the league’s worst defence.  It’s a battle of wills tonight at the ACC.

Toronto is allowing opponents to shoot nearly 50% from the floor against them this season and they’ve coughed up just under 110 points per game over their last 4.  To say the Raptors are struggling (having lost 9 in a row) is an understatement. 

But IF there’s a light at the end of the tunnel … perhaps it could come via the train-wreck of an offence that is the Milwaukee Bucks. 

The boys from Wisconsin could be going at it tonight with Brandon Jennings, John Salmons, and Drew Gooden and there’s no denying that Scott Skiles could use some of that fire-power in his line up:

                                    Bucks Issues on OFFENCE

                                                                 NBA Rank

                               Points – 91.2              Last
                               FG%  – 42.3               Last
                               Assists – 18.0            Last
                               3PT FG%  – 34.6         19th

The Raptors will be hoping to avoid their 10TH straight loss (and 5TH straight at home) … two ‘streaks’ they haven’t had to face in nearly 5 years!  The last time things were this bad for T.O. … it was late March / early April, 2006.

One man that could present some serious issues for Toronto is Bucks big man Andrew Bogut.  Not only is he a solid rebounder and a centre with a good nose for the hoop as well (he averaged 20+ PPG in 3 games against the Raptors last season) but he’s the #1 shot-blocker in the NBA too:

 Andrew Bogut (MIL) - 2.69 blocks
JaVale Mcgee (WSH) – 2.56 blocks
Darko Milicic (MIN) – 2.33 blocks
Amare Stoudemire (NY) – 2.24 blocks
Dwight Howard (ORL) – 2.23 blocks

Paul Jones and I will be on the air at 7pm tonight on Sportsnet Radio, The FAN 590. 

Also, if you’re heading down to the ACC this evening … don’t forget that hip hop legend Rob Base will be performing at the half.

Have a good one

E. Smith

* Thanks to Jumpin Johnny Rusin for his help with some of these stats

Thursday January 27 2011 – 7:51pm Eastern – Toronto, ON

The NBA All Star STARTERS were announced (based on fan voting) less than an hour ago … and I’ve got them right here for ya folks: 

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Dwyane Wade
Derrick Rose
LeBron James
Amare Stoudemire
Dwight Howard

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Chris Paul
Kobe Bryant
Carmelo Anthony
Kevin Durant
Yao Ming

——————–

I know we get into this every year … but ‘fan voting’ is such a joke.  If you want to give the fans PART of the vote — a percentage — fine.  But to give 100% of the decision to the fans is a complete farce when a guy like Yao Ming is selected as a starter.

Ming has appeared in only 5 games this year!

Listen, I may be making a bit of a leap here … ‘rushing to judgment’ as they say … but I have to believe that a bulk of these votes are coming from Yao’s international fan-base. 

IF that’s the case, those votes cheapen the process and make everything appear to be disingenuous.  

The All Star RESERVES – as selected by the coaches – will be announced next Thursday.  I’ll make my selections (guessing) in a future blog in the coming days.

E. Smith 

Wednesday January 26 2011 – 11:39pm Eastern – Toronto, ON 

Toronto falls to 13-33 on the season, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers, 107-94

THE START

Raptors - went on a 7 of 7 run from the floor after starting 3/8 & finished the QRT 12/23 for 52.2% and led by 9 after 1 QRT;  DeMar DeRozan had 11 PTS
Sixers – shot just 36.4% from the floor and had no player score more than 6 points in the QRT;  trailed 29-20 after 12:00 minutes

AT THE HALF

Raptors – coughed up 5 turnovers in the QRT and saw their 9-point lead erased;  Saw action for both new Raptors Trey Johnson & Alexis Ajinca
Sixers - Marreese Speights scored 13 points in 4 minutes at one point and finished the QRT with 17 (game-high);  PHI/TOR tied at 50 at the half

AFTER 3

Raptors - got 8 more from DeRozan in the QRT (he led all scorers after 3 with 25 points);  fell down by 11 points after being tied at 50 at the half
Sixers – shot 15/26 FG as a team and got 11 points on 4/4 FG in the QRT from Lou Williams;  up 7 after 3 QRTs (84-77)

THE FINAL FRAME

Raptors – fell down by as many as 14 points — adding up to a 23-point swing if you go back to Toronto’s early 9-point lead — and lost their 9th straight
Sixers - got 18 of their 23 points in the 4th QRT from their 2nd unit of Williams, Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young, and Speights

———-

ALSO OF NOTE

Leandro Barbosa (hamstring) and  Reggie Evans (foot) were each a no-go for Toronto.

Linas Kleiza (knee) did not play for the 5th time in 6 games (after briefly coming back Friday night in Orlando)

Joey Dorsey did not play with a strained right patella (suffered last night in Orlando)

Toronto has now lost 9 in a row and they’re now 20 games below .500

Philly got 58 points from the bench — showing why they’re the #1 team in the league in bench scoring

Points in the Paint:  56 (PHI) – 30 (TOR)

The Raptors were out-done on the offensive glass, 17-9.  Philly, thus, outscored T.O. on 2nd chance points … 18-6

———-

Post-game interview with Philadelphia 76ers forward Elton Brand + some of the highlights from the game and audio from our post game show, “The Rap” …

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/brand-es-20110126.mp3]

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/highlights-es-20110126.mp3]

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/therap-es-20110126.mp3]

———-

The Raptors will stay in Toronto and get set to play host to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.  Paul Jones and I will be on the air that night at 7pm Eastern with the tip off.

Have a good one

E. Smith

Wednesday January 26 2011 - 3:09pm Eastern – Toronto, ON 

The 3-point streak may be over but there’s a new Trey in town …

The Toronto Raptors have signed guard Trey Johnson to a 10-day contract.  In order to clear room for Johnson on the roster, the Raptors had to release guard Sundiata Gaines from his second 10-day contract.

Johnson is the leading scorer in the NBA’s D-League this season … averaging 25.8 PPG, 4.3 REB, and 4.3 ASST (shooting 51% FG) for the Bakersfield Jam.

There is a slight Raptor-connection with Johnson as well … in that his head coach in the D-League in 2007-08 was none other than current Toronto assistant coach, Scott Roth.

The 6’5″ guard appeared – briefly – in 4 games with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2008-09 season and his only other sniff at the NBA came last October when he was invited to training camp with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Johnson will be in uniform tonight when the Raptors host the Philadelphia 76ers.

Speaking of tonight …

The Sixers have had quite the turn-around this season since their rough start to the year.  Check out what they’ve done to put them back in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race (albeit at 19-25); currently sitting in 7th overall.

Sixers Turning it Around

                                    1ST 16 Games       Last 28 Games

Record                                 3-13                16-12
Opponents PPG                   101.8               94.7
Turnovers per game              15.1                 12.3
FT per game Differential        -6.1                 +1.7

And, finally, as bad as the ‘injury bug’ has been for the Raptors this year … Toronto is still a few bodies away from tying or surpassing the franchise ‘record’ for the number of (different) players to dress for T.O. in one season. 

With the addition(s) of Alexis Ajinca and Trey Johnson, Toronto has had 21 different players where the red/white/black in 2010-11.  That ties the number they had in 1996-97.  But it’s the 1997-98 squad that leads the way:

1997-98                      24 different players
2003-04                      23 different players
1996-97                      21 different players
2010-11                     21 different players
2000-01                      20 different players

Paul Jones and I will be on Sportsnet Radio, The FAN 590 at 7pm tonight with all of the action between the Sixers and Raptors.  After the final buzzer … we’ll stay on the air until 11pm … taking your phone calls on “The Rap”. 

Have a good one!

E. Smith

Tuesday January 25 2011 – 2:14pm Eastern – Toronto, ON 

As you all know by now … the Raptors “3-point streak” came to an end last night against the Memphis Grizzlies.  For the first time since February 1999, Toronto failed to hit a single three-point shot, ending a run of 986 straight games. 

Although the streak did set an NBA record – for most games in a row with a 3-ball – it’s a feat that is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things and I can all-but guarantee you that every player in the locker room last night cared less about their 12-year run coming to an end and more about the fact that T.O. had just lost its eighth-straight game!

That said, let’s look at some of the key points, statistics, and storylines that all tied-in to Toronto’s 986-game stretch. 

The streak started on February 26 1999 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.  The Raptors were 4 of 10 from distance in that game and won the game, 102-92.

Here are the other benchmarks that Toronto hit along the way:

100 straight games with a 3-ball – MAR 8 2000 at LAC
200 straight games with a 3-ball – APR 11 2001 at DET
300 straight games with a 3-ball – NOV 27 2002 vs NYK
400 straight games with a 3-ball – JAN 4 2004 vs PHX
500 straight games with a 3-ball – FEB 9 2005 vs MIL
594 straight games with a 3-ball – MAR 10 2006 vs DEN
595 straight games with a 3-ball – MAR 12 2006 vs IND
600 straight games with a 3-ball – MAR 22 2006 at BOS
700 straight games with a 3-ball – NOV 6 2007 at MIL
800 straight games with a 3-ball – DEC 12 2008 at NJ
900 straight games with a 3-ball – JAN 15 2010 at NYK
986 straight games with a 3-ball – JAN 22 2011 at MIA

The reason games number 594 and 595 are significant is because that’s when Toronto initially tied and then broke the then-existing record, held by the Miami Heat.  Thus, their run of 986 games obliterated the previous high by nearly 400 games!

The last time Toronto failed to hit a 3-pointer – before last night – was February 24 1999 at Indiana (the Raptors were 0/6 that night).

There were 25 games during the streak in which the Raptors nailed only one triple, but the most dramatic shot came in Dallas on November 29 2006, when Darrick Martin hit a three-pointer with 0.5 seconds remaining in the game.  

Ironically, while the Raptors kept on rolling for nearly 12 years, they have held their opponents without a 3-pointer 8 times since the streak began:

vs Washington – February 25 2004
vs Washington – March 4 2003
vs Chicago – December 6 2002
vs Utah – November 17 2002
vs Philadelphia – March 3 2002
vs Chicago – December 20 2001
at Golden State – November 14 2001
vs New York – April 8 2000

The Raptors made 5876 three-pointers during “the streak” but these are the top contributors for T.O. over the 986 games:

Morris Peterson (801/2158 – 37.1%)
Vince Carter (551/1432 – 38.4%)
Andrea Bargnani (478/1278 – 37.4%)
Anthony Parker (342/806 – 42.4%)
Jose Calderon (300/763 – 39.3%)

Perhaps this run was destined to end this year – and maybe even LAST NIGHT specifically – given that the 2010-11 season has been Toronto’s worst, statistically, since the streak began in the 1998-99 season.  And against the Grizzlies on Monday night, the Raptors were without 2 of their top 3 long-distance shooters … Jose Calderon (44.3% this season) and Leandro Barbosa (34.1%).  In fact, if you include the absence of Linas Kleiza last night as well, Toronto was actually without 3 of its top 5 long-bombers.  The only real threats on the floor for T.O. against Memphis were Andrea Bargnani (who went 0 for 4 ) and Jerryd Bayless (0/3).  Sundiata Gaines was also 0 for 4 and DeMar DeRozan was 0 for 2 … all contributing to Toronto’s 0 for 13 night … and the streak ending at 986 straight games.

Here’s how the Raptors have shot – as a TEAM (including their league ranking) – since the record started back in ’98-99:

2010-11 – 216 of 660 – 32.7% – 29^TH
2009-10 – 518 of 1397 – 37.1% – 6^TH
2008-09 – 479 of 1289 – 37.2% – 12^TH
2007-08 – 572 of 1459 – 39.2% – 2^ND
2006-07 – 531 of 1464 – 36.3% – 9^TH
2005-06 – 608 of 1620 – 37.5% – 7^TH
2004-05 – 648 of 1681 – 38.5% – 2^ND
2003-04 – 461 of 1294 – 35.6% – 8^TH
2002-03 – 409 of 1193 – 34.3% – 19^TH
2001-02 – 387 of 1109 – 34.9% – 17^TH
2000-01 – 429 of 1164 – 36.9% – 6^TH
1999-00 – 425 of 1171 – 36.3% – 11^TH
1998-99 – 226 of 662 – 34.1% – 14^TH

Finally, a fun fact about “the streak” …

The Raptors run of 986 straight games with at least one three-pointer out-lasted no less than 10 arenas; 10 buildings that are no longer in the NBA:

Market Square Arena (Indianapolis)
Miami Arena (Miami)
GM Place (Vancouver)
Alamodome (San Antonio)
The Spectrum (Philadelphia)
Pyramid Arena (Memphis)
Reunion Arena (Dallas)
Compaq Center (Houston)
Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte)
Key Arena (Seattle)
Amway Arena(Orlando)
IZOD Center (New Jersey)

But, again, this is a statistic that is essentially meaningless … and it’s one that most (all?) fans and every player would exchange for, simply put, MORE WINS. 

The Raptors are 13-32 as they get set to host the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow night at the ACC.

Have a good one folks

E. Smith