Toronto at New Jersey: Games 3 & 4 recaps
The Nets take control of the series in Jersey
By Vincent Thomas
This series is, in effect, over. And the Rapts have gone about sealing their fate with a good deal of ineptitude and, in Bosh’s case, a whimper. Games 3 and 4 were essentially the same in that the series three superstars performed similarly. Jason Kidd was (as I said in the preview) the most impactful player on the floor, Vince abused anyone the Rapts sent at him and Bosh went about his game without any emotion or resolve. Hence, two blowouts that made the Rapts look no more worthy of postseason play than the Orlando Magic or injury-riddled Wizards…or the Champs for that matter.
The thing about Toronto is that you can see a squad forming, here. The 47 wins was a magnificent accomplishment, so you gotta give up props there. But part of the reason that few people – other than the legion of sensitive Rapts fans – were picking the Nets to win is because you could tell that they just weren’t ready. Even if the pieces are falling into place.
For instance…
TJ Ford was sick for Game 4, after a pace-pushing, “I get my shot when I please” Game 3. If you look at the league’s top flight point guards, you have Kidd, Nash, Chauncey and a healthy Too Easy at the top, with Lil’ Chris Paul not too far behind. After that five, you could make an argument for Ford over everyone else. Gilbert and Tony Parker aren’t point guards; they just play them on the court. And there’s no clear-cut case for going with Deron Williams, Hinrich or anyone else over Ford. My dude Tony even mentioned that TJ should’ve been in the running for Most Improved Player, since he went from trade-bait in Milwaukee (losing time to Mo Williams) to the undisputed floor general for a squad that nearly won 50 games. Backing him up is Calderon, who had a great Game 2, made Kidd look old a few times in Game 3 and then started clangin’ in Game 4. These two dudes are probably the most solid young PG-tandem in the league. When they’re shots fall, NJ has shown no consistent solution to stopping them. But they’ve proved inconsistent in this series, specifically when it comes to running a proficient offense. It’s cool if you can get you shot off, but can you get the struggling Joey Graham a lay-up?
The two wings are the typical, tough, athletic kats that become important cogs on contenders. If Colangelo is trying to mirror the Rapts after the Suns, then Parker is Raja Bell and that ain’t bad. Graham and Mo Pete make up a nice offense-defense due at the 3. But these kats submarined in Games 3 and 4. After Game 3, a frustrated Sam Mitchell explained why Graham was touching mad pine for most of the second half. To paraphrase, he said Graham wasn’t getting it done, that Joey’s only job was to find Jefferson when a shot went up, so that Jefferson wouldn’t streak down the court for transition buckets. Graham wasn’t doing that, so Mitch sought other options. Meanwhile, Vince was making Parker his son. You get the feeling, though, that you might get some better performances next year. Inexperience was usually the first reason cited for why the No. 2 seed was gonna get sent home in early May…and it wouldn’t even be considered an upset. Parker and Graham’s performances have been indicative of this.
Everyone on the Raptors squad was submarining, but none worse than Bosh. The thing about Bosh is that he’s such a finesse dude. I wondered in the series preview whether the Nets big men would bother him, rough him up, and get him off his game. And that’s what has happened. Mikki Moore and Jason Collins are good for nothing other than physicality. They don’t bring skill, they bring brawn and they play their roles well. Bosh is a skinny dude to begin with, but he also lacks that friskiness, too. Time and again, during these last two games, he gets muscled off the block, ends up getting the ball 20 feet from the bucket and ends up shooting jumpers. When he’s making those shots, cool…when he’s missing, it’s not cool. And in Games 3 and 4, he’s not even taking the shots. He attempted a total of just 22 shots between Games 3 and 4 and it wasn’t because he was on the bench in foul trouble. He’s uninvolved and it’s because he seems to lack resolve. Resolve (or will, or heart) is a salient trait amongst the superstars of the League. It’s what allows them to impose as opposed to being imposed upon. Even when Bosh is knocking down the 18 and 20 foot jumpers, those buckets don’t carry the same import and weight as bucket scored in the trenches. It makes matters worse when Bosh demurely trots up and down the court. KG had (maybe still has) the tendency to operate too far away from the basket on the offensive end, but at least he’s ultra-emotional. When he dunks, he fumes. Bosh follows his dunks with stoicism. There were two cases in the first half of Game 4, with the Rapts down by double-digits, where Bosh caught a couple passes down low and yammed on the sleeping Nets interior. It was at those moments when he should’ve started growling and cursing and stalking and letting the rest of the squad know that it was time to get it poppin’, show his squad and the Nets that he wasn’t scared.
Except, he was scared and maybe even unprepared. Steve Kerr reported that Bosh mentioned how the intensity of the playoffs surprised him. It’s comments like these that made me sure the young Rapts wouldn’t beat the vet Nets four times in the Playoffs. But then moments later, David Aldridge reported that Bosh claimed his nerves were wrecked. This is the franchise player spouting this to the media. If that’s how Bosh is carrying this new experience, then Toronto has no chance. Maybe next year, fueled by this embarrassment, things might go differently, but it’s obvious the Rapts – chiefly Bosh – weren’t prepared.
If you couple this with the recent Vince-brilliance and the continued excellence of the best point guard in the League (Kidd is averaging a triple-double for the series and 16-16-12 for Games 3 and 4), then that spells doom for Toronto.
Now, Kidd probably won’t hit 5 of 6 treys on Tuesday and Carter could quickly turn back into a jump-shooter and the Toronto faithful could imbue the Rapts with new life…a bunch of things can go differently in Game 5 and end with a Toronto win. That is far from an unlikely scenario. However, the Nets are clicking and Toronto appears to be a squad full of “Shook Ones”. I said Nets in 5 from the jump, didn’t I?
23 Responses to “Toronto at New Jersey: Games 3 & 4 recaps”
Apr.30 at 2:22 pm
dez says:
The record books would have to be re-written if Jason Kidd had an above average jumpshot.
Fact.
Apr.30 at 2:37 pm
Darksaber says:
Forget the series lead, the unjustified hype surrounding VC, focus on game. On a PG who had microfracture surgery a while back, who’s over 30, and who seems to attract drama like noone else. Forget all that, 16 - 16 - 19. Those are Mr. Kidd’s vital triple double Stats from game 3. Ason, i bow before thee. Nashty going for 23 assists is incredible enough, but how does the point, one with limited (if any) hops grab SIXTEEN Rebounds (!!!) in an Nba playoff game. HOW?
Apr.30 at 2:39 pm
Darksaber says:
And Vince? Welcome back, the way you sliced and diced in the last two games, right on. Thats the most gifted athlete i remember from way back.
Apr.30 at 2:41 pm
Roy Twist says:
Thank You Finally some Dirty Jersey Coverage .. between ESPN and TNT having this weird rule with not talking about or acknowledging any game not played on their network Ive been starving for some good Nets coverage.
Apr.30 at 2:47 pm
Joe_X says:
Sam Mitchell needs to be dumped, and this series hi-lights in dramatic fashion why this is true. He is being completely outcoached by Frank. He’s got no answers for NJ’s defence (NJ’s defence!). It took him 3 games to realize that Joey Graham was a liability. He has yet to figure out how to get Bosh the ball in the low post (which is partially Bosh’s fault, sure), and in the rare event that it happens, the rest of the players aren’t moving or spaced properly to help him if he’s doubled. Offensive rebounding? Non-existant - because Sam Mitchell apparently doesn’t realize that if he asks his best rebounder (Bosh) to be a mid-range jump shooter, then there won’t be ANYBODY under the rim to rebound. And what about Toronto’s defensive sets? How many post-ups of TJ Ford does it take to for Mitchell to realize that Kidd is having his way? I expected Vince’s streaky performances, and I expected the Raptors’ nervousness, but I didn’t expect (to this extent) how out-coached Toronto would get. The best part of it all was a Mitchell quote in the Toronto Star today, which I’ll paraphrase: “I’m not going to bother getting in to the details of why the butt-kicking happened with my guys…” Brilliant - Frank creates a great strategy to defeat his opponents, and when Mitchell gets a chance to respond in kind, he chooses to just not coach at all. Bye-bye, Sam. You were always useless, you just had a bunch of guys with heart on your team. I’m pretty worked up over this, and despite the randomness of this rant I’m going to post it over at the Series recap page, too.
Apr.30 at 2:51 pm
Darksaber says:
Oh and Vince, better get ready for the next round, because the basketball world’s equivalent to a Mac Truck is just around the corner, yeah, the one who sprained his ankle and is still destroying the Wiz. That one.
Apr.30 at 3:04 pm
Chris says:
The difference between the teams in this series (okay, one of the differences) is the number of easy shots each team is getting. Jersey behind the brillance of JKidd, get plenty of of easy shot, lay-ups, dunks, wide open 3 pointers. JKidd creates for Mikki Moore, RJeff, Boki and Vince, plus Vince is being aggressive and creating for his teammates as well (as well as hitting a bunch of ridiculous shots). Toronto’s (as you mentioned) point guards aren’t setting guys up consistently (Bosh has been spoon fed a couple of dunks and oops but that’s it), that’s definately what separates the Jkidd and Nash from the rest, the ability to elevate the games of the people areound them. the Raps aren’t even getting open looks from 3, and that had been a staple in their offense. This is where the Raps miss Garbajosa, with his pump fake, Garbajosa is good at forcing the defense to move then he passes it off. Bosh needs to develop his back to the basket game, although he has been double teamed, so i guess there’s only so much he can do. New Jersey has shut down the raps offense. The raps are being out played and out coached, which is disappointing, hat’s off to jersey
Apr.30 at 3:16 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
No one in their right mind would want to play the Nets right now.
Apr.30 at 3:16 pm
Chris says:
Whoa, slow down Joe_X. I agree Sam is being outcoached, but I don’t think they should dump him. Obviously if there is a CLEAR upgrade out there you got to take it, a la a phill jackson, or a pat riley. yeah I know those guys would never ever EVER happen but my point is that you shouldn’t get rid of Sam unless you KNOW the guy you’re getting will definately be better. Don’t get rid of sam and gamble on someone who’s never been a nba head coach before (Ivaroni), or has just had average success elsewhere (most of the other unemployed head coaches). With Sam you know what you have and Sam has proven in his tenure in toronto the ability to learn from his mistakes and improve, remember lawrence frank has tons of playoff coaching experience (two finals trips), Sam is a better coach now than he was last year, and he’ll be better next year than he is now. I say keep him around.
Apr.30 at 3:54 pm
Matt says:
Sam Mitchell is gone. He was gone before the series even started. Coach of the year or not, he only got it thanks to Colangelo’s strong moves. He isn’t the type of coach this team needs. Ask yourself, would he fit in coaching Phoenix? Probably more like Indiana or the Knicks.
Apr.30 at 3:59 pm
O'Neezy says:
The only entertaining thing about that game was a drunk Bruce Willis cursing when talking to one of the sideline reporters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDaKAQLexVE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdeadspin%2Ecom%2F
Apr.30 at 4:00 pm
O'Neezy says:
This was the only entertaining part of the game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDaKAQLexVE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdeadspin%2Ecom%2F
Apr.30 at 4:14 pm
Vince Thomas says:
Sam has definitely been the culprit of some questionable play calling and rotation management and matchup exploiting/solving…but I think Bosh bears just as much blame, if not more…similar to Dirk. Could Mitchell put Bosh into better positions to score? Maybe. But perhaps its that Bish isn’t comfortable in the trenches and would rather take 18 foot jumpers from the wings and key. And aside from that, Mitchell isn’t telling Bosh to behave demure and unaffected.
Apr.30 at 4:30 pm
Mike C says:
Did anybody else catch the Raptors game on the Canadian broadcast? They interviewed Bruce Willis courtside, and he was bombed. To close the chat, the interviewer said “Thanks Bruce, yippee-ki-yay.” To which Bruce replied, on live TV, “yippee-ki-yay motherf*cker”. For once, Chuck Swirsky was left speechless.
Apr.30 at 4:32 pm
IllyPhilly6 says:
Yea “Smitch” has got to go. Terrible coaching decisions throughout the series.
-starting Joey Graham the first two games and expect him to guard VC or RJ.
-REFUSING to PLAY A ZONE!
-VC is killing any Raptor 1 on 1, would it hurt to play a zone? I mean your getting killed from beyond the arc anyway, at least take away the drive. Can you really expect Bargnani to cover VC 1 on 1?
-PLaying the Nets 1 on 1, results in one of two things:
(1) Carter scoring in the paint
(2) Kidd breaking down the defense and getting wide open shots for everyone else. Oh and CB4 sucks! He is not a KG or TD type franchise player.At least VC faked having a heart, Bosh is as emotionless as the tin-man (same for TD but at least he’s winner). Ahhhh damn Raptors!!!
Apr.30 at 4:42 pm
O'Neezy says:
Mike C, heres the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDaKAQLexVE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdeadspin%2Ecom%2F
Apr.30 at 5:26 pm
Willebrandt says:
ay New Guy, i think maybe you are Michel de Notredame aka nostradamus because you were flat out on THE MONEY about this series! do you all out there in SLAMland agree. Eh!!
Apr.30 at 6:41 pm
8-Ball says:
3-1. its jkidd. what’s good?
Apr.30 at 8:13 pm
Paps says:
Sam will be back. The coaches and team are all young and talented. You can’t mess with that. Sam is the coach of the year. He’s proven that he can groom players. He’s taken Bosh, a skinny kid and helped him become an Allstar, he’ll do the same with Andrea. Calderon is twice as good than last year and Ford will be too. He’ll get them over the hump and have a 2nd division title to go with it!
Apr.30 at 9:37 pm
benny says:
O’Neezy, thanks a lot, man. I was looking for that clip. Classic. Anyway, what’s the deal with all the Smitch hate? He’s not the first - & won’t be the last - coach to lose at NBA chess. Sam’s, obviously, more a motivator than an orchestrator. Most Raps fans know what went down this season. Sam, a lame duck employee nursing the new boss’ lottery newborn, did a helluva job absent veteran talent. Kidd played excellent. Maybe an adjustment (or three) slows down the train, but the man defended, rebounded, scored and passed. It’s like Kobe’s 81. “You can plan a pretty picnic, but you can’t predict the weather”
Apr.30 at 9:39 pm
benny says:
Oh, BTW, Carter’s pretty good.
Apr.30 at 10:58 pm
FLUXLAND says:
Hey Chris … Lawrence Frank went to the Finals? Twice? WOW. When was this, man? Check your info before you post it and sound like a tool, dude!
May.1 at 3:20 am
Darksaber says:
Thanks for all the links to the John Mclane interview. Bruce ROCKS.