Score 1 [or 29] for Kapono

He's averaging less playing time than in Miami. He's not playing with Shaq and Wade. He's sometimes a forgotten man, regardless of his out of this world shooting stroke. He has, however, never publicly complained. He just uses his minutes efficiently, by shooting a high percentage from both within, and beyond, the three point arc. These facts have led me to wish Mitchell played him more often. Yes, Moon is long, athletic, and a block machine. Parker is probably the Raptors best defender in the half court set, and Delfino seems to bring a bit of everything to the table. I hoped, however, that Mitchell could find SOME consistent use for Kapono, as his percentages were just too high to ignore.
You can understand my joy, therefore, after Toronto's fourth straight win tonight, this time at the expense of the Indiana Pacers. Kapono simply went off, scoring 29 points, including 6-7 from three. In the fourth quarter alone, Kapono scored 17 points and was a perfect 4-4 from three, including one ridiculous looking two-handed push shot that was just about the quickest release I had ever seen. Of course, he might play all of 15 minutes against Boston, even after this performance, but at least he showed the fans that he is certainly worth the money he got in the off season, and will be a valuable piece of the Raptors puzzle this season.

Now, onto the game:

The fact that the Raptors came back from 17 points, on the road no less, speaks volumes about where the team is at mentally right now. Furthermore, the win came with Ford on the bench, Rasho ineffective, and Bargnani still MIA. What worked was the career high in point by Kapono, the career high in assists by Calderon, the 'still riding high' play of The Hump, and the rounding into all-star form from Chris Bosh.

Box Score Worthy
- Jose Calderon: 18 points, 16 assists, 2 turnovers, 5 rebounds
- Chris Bosh: 22 points, 16 rebounds, including 8 offensive
- Jason Kapono: 29 points on 9-14 shooting, 6-7 from 3, 5-5 from FT line
- Kris Humphries: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
- Carlos Delfino: 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 big, big block

The Raptors record stands at 14-10, which puts them in sole possession of 4th in the Eastern Conference, a couple games behind Detroit/ Orlando, and a game up on Washington. It also puts them at 10th in the league, which means they should make it into the top 10 in monday's ESPN and NBA.com power rankings. If they beat Boston, they could potentially jump up to 8th. If they lose, they shouldn't drop further than 11th, considering two of their four wins came on the road against .500 teams, and their two home wins came against two of the Western Conference powers [Houston still needs to be considered a power, record aside].

The Update

Okay, it's been too long. I've put my blogging duties aside [xmas shopping, job hunting, laziness], but I am back now and will catch up on what was missed.

Quarter Point

Power Rankings
- We have more or less reached the quarter point of the NBA season. The power rankings are getting more and more difficult, as the Suns and Magic have hit a bit of a slide, the Spurs are trying to hang on without Duncan, and Boston still hasn't played a tough opponent recently. By record, Boston leads the NBA by a landslide [2 losses, SA with 5], and San Antonio, Phoenix, Detroit, and Orlando rounding out the top 5. Amazingly, the East has more teams in the top 5 record-wise than the West. However, if you get rid of the top 3 teams in each conference, the West still produces 6 other teams with winning records, while the East has only 2.

Surprises
- There are good and bad surprises. I am surprised that Boston is 18-2, but would not be surprised if they don't win the East.
- I am amazed that Chicago is 7-13, but not surprised that New York and Miami have joined them at the bottom of the East.
- I am surprised that New Orleans has a better record than Dallas, Utah, and Houston, and, matter of fact, surprised that Dallas is a 6 seed in the West right now, Utah is a 7, and Houston is out of the playoff picture.
- I am surprised that the Oden-less Blazers are 10-12.
- I am not surprised that the worst team in the league is Minnesota, the team KG left to play, oddly enough [?], for the best team in the league.

Come on, MVP?
- Just as muddled as the power rankings right now. Dwight Howard has the stats, and his team is playing at a high level. Lebron has more stats, but his team is struggling. Nash is too easy of a pick. KG is on the best team in the league by record, but doesn't really have the stats of the other three. Either of those 4 could take it right now.

Raptors
- Three in a row for the Raps: one win on the road against a .500 team, followed by two nice home wins against two of the big three from Texas. All this without two healthy point guards, and one MIA big man [Bargnani]. Luckily, Calderon has played incredible, Kapono has been as steady as a shooter as the Raptors have had since Curry, Bosh has been bringing the energy and intensity the team sorely needs, Delfino has been making Joe Dumars look silly, and a guy named Hump has been making Hoffa look like... well, Hoffa who?
- With all that being said, the Raptors need healthy bodies. They can hang on for now, but they could be a very dangerous team with Ford AND Calderon leading the charge, and Bargnani scoring 15 and grabbing 6. When that day comes, hopefully soon for when the schedule turns in their favour, the Raptors can maybe put together a nice string of victories to give them a cushion in the East, and maybe secure a 3-5 spot.

Hand hits head, head hits court
- It was unintentional, but stupid. Luckily, Ford will be okay, and Horford said, and did, all the right things afterwards. He'll know next time to grab the guy by the waist, and not just swing away. Even so, the one game suspension was justified, a good call, and I cannot see any appeal on Horford's part.
- What made the situation worse was the comments LeBron made. Yes, the Raptors may lack toughness, and if, as Doug Smith pointed out, another player besides Ford was knocked down, Ford would probably have been the first one in the guys face, but we have to look at the severity of the fall. If it's a hard foul, usually the first one to get upset is the guy who was taken down, and it snowballs from there. If the guy who was taken down can't get up, and has to get taken off on a stretcher, I hardly think that toughness needs to be shown. How about, the players show concern for the hurt player, which they did, and settle things on the basketball court, which they did. A week off because of a sprained finger doesn't make LeBron out to be the toughest of characters either, so I don't know why he was the one to talk [did Calderon play after dislocating his finger? Thought so...]

The Raptors After 20 Games

01-02: 12-8
02-03: 7-13
03-04: 12-8
04-05: 7-13
05-06: 3-17
06-07: 7-13
07-08: 10-10

Considering the two seasons before this they were a combined 10-30 after 20 games each, we can't be too hard on a 10-10 record. Especially when you look at the state of the Eastern Conference these days, where there are only three teams sporting above .500 records as of Sunday morning. What is a cause for concern though, is injuries. Forget Charlotte, the Raptors need Bosh and Bargnani back ASAP. If one of them is healthy, they will be okay for a game or two, but they need both bigs back together, because it is putting far too much pressure on Hump, Rasho, and Baston. Moon and Graham can play big on occasion, depending on matchups, but with Garbo already out, the Raptors are thin up front. With all that being said, I think the Raptors should be happy with a .500 record at the end of 2007, and then make a push in the new year again.

Raptors players vs. the rest of the NBA
- Jamario Moon has cracked the top 20 in blocks per game at 1.7
- Calderon is 9th in the league in assists at 7.7 a game [in 26 mins]
- Ford is 12th in the league in assists at 6.9 a game [in 26 mins]
- Ford is tied for 10th in the league in FT% at 90%
- Bosh is 11th in the league in FT attempts, averaging 7.5 attempts a game [and 11th in the league in FT makes, making 6.6 of the 7.5 for an 87.6 success rate]
- The Raptors have FOUR players in the top 16 in the league in 3FG%:
- 1st. Kapono. 51.7%
- 6th. Parker. 49.3%
- 12th. Bargnani. 45.2%
- 16th. Delfino. 44.7%

Raptors leaders
- Bosh is leading the team in points with 18.8 a game
- Moon is leading the team in blocks at 1.7 a game
- Delfino is leading the team in steals with 1.2 a game
- Calderon is leading the team in assists at 7.7 a game
- Bosh is leading the team in rebounds at 7.9 [Moon hot on his heels with 7.6]

Raptors vs. the other teams
- The Raptors are right in the middle of the league [15th] in ppg at 99.2, and are 10th best in the league by giving up 96.9 ppg.
- Even with Moon's block party, the Raptors only average 3.9 blocks a game [Josh Smith averages 3.6 a game himself], and sit tied for 3rd worse in the league
- The Raptors are 4th best in the league at taking care of the ball, averaging only 12.2 turnovers a game
- The Raptors are 7th in the league in assists, averaging 23 a game
- Not surprisingly, they sit in the bottom third in the league in rebounds per game
- Once again, the Raptors are great when they're at the line [2nd in the league], but never get there [dead last in attempts]
- The Raptors lead in the league in 3 point percentage, shooting 43.7% as a team, but are right in the middle of the league in FG%, at 45.4 percent.

Conclusion
- Bosh's line of 18.8 and 7.9 is not what was expected from the all star, but he was showing signs of turning it around before he got injured. I think, by the end of the year, he should be back up to 23 and 9, maybe 10.
- Bargnani is averaging 12 points and almost 5 boards a game. To be fair though, he's only playing 25 minutes a game. To be more fair though, he would be playing more if he could stay out of foul trouble.
- Jamario Speedwagon is filling up the statsheet nicely: 8.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and 1.1 steals. If only he stopped shooting 3's and attacked the rim [26% from three, only 1.1 attempts a game from the FT line]
- Delfino and Moon have both played great, and Parker is rounding into last years form, but I wish we saw more of Jason Kapono. He is shooting over 50% from the field and from three, but is averaging less than 23 minutes a game.

Player of the Year so far....
I'm going to cop out and give it to no one. Because of injuries, and depth, no Raptors really plays enough time to stand out on the statsheet. If I had to pick the best player in the last 10 games or so, it'd be Calderon.

Week 5 Power Rankings

I had to. I had to toss 'win-loss' record aside and focus on the little things. While the teams are the same, the order is different.

1. San Antonion [15-3]
Sure, Duncan is out. But, it shouldn't be for very long, and with the way Manu and Tony are playing, it might not even matter. A brutal schedule ahead though for the Spurs: Dallas, Utah, Golden State, LA LAkers, Denver.

2. Orlando [15-4]
They've played 12 of their 19 games on the road, beat the Celtics [in fact, they're 9-1 against the East overall], and the combined record of the teams they lost to is 39-12. They could be #1.

3. Phoenix Suns [13-4]
Grant Hill for comeback player of the year? Sure, and Super Jamario for ROY, and Delfino for 6th man. All unlikely, but not out of the question. Hill just had a monster game for Phoenix, who are right in the thick of things at the top of the league.

4. Boston Celtics [14-2]
ESPN tells us that they have only beaten four teams with winning records - Toronto, Denver, Golden State, LA Lakers [barely winning records] and have played 9 of their 16 games at home. This is why they're #4 even with a 14-2 record. Their upcoming schedule means they won't be returning to #1 anytime soon. Not because it's brutal, but because the combined record of their next five opponents is 31-47. And their previous five games [a 4-1 record over those five]: combined 33-50 record.

5. Utah Jazz [12-5]
The Jazz are 7-2 against the rest of the West, and 12-5 overall, but are mostly locked into this 5 spot until a team above them makes a big slip. Expect the Jazz to hang around for the long haul though.

____

On the Rise:
- Detroit has won 3 in a row, pushing their overall record to 11-5. I have a feeling the Celtics and Magic are going to have competition at the end of the year for the East crown.
- Golden State is the hottest team in the league. They've won 6 in a row, 9 of 10, and could be in the top 5 if not for their awful first 6 games.

Stumbling:
- As soon as I give Milwaukee some recognition, they lose four in a row, dropping out of first in the division, and dropping below .500.
- The Raptors may have caught a break. They are without Bargnani, Garbo, Ford, and Bosh for tonight's contest against Charlotte, but the Bobcats have lost 5 in a row, and are only 1-5 on the road.
- Maybe Portland does need Oden after all. After showing promising signs, the Blazers have lost four in a row, dropping to 0-9 on the road, and 1-9 in their last 10.
- LA Clippers... injury prone, and bad. A 4-1 record all but forgotten due to 5 straight losses and a 2-8 record in their last 10.

The Raptors
- There's certainly no salami and cheese out yet for tonight's game, but it will be a big win if they can hold on. The Raptors big 3 will need to be healthy if they have any chance of winning their next three games [after Charlotte] against Phoenix, Boston, and Houston. A 10-8 record would put them around 11th or 12th in the league, and that's about where I would have them in the rankings. Not top 10 yet, but not far off.