Real Madrid vs. Toronto Raptors Running Diary

Preseason Matchup: Real Madrid vs. Raptors

Since this is the game that kicks off the Raptors' 2012-13 season I thought I would write a running diary. I can't be held responsible for what I say if the Raptors start to play badly.

First Quarter

Calderon, Derozan, Fields, Bargs, and Gray start. No Jonas or Lowry tonight. Both sitting out with injuries.

Rudy Fernandez isn't playing in the NBA anymore? Uh, okay. He's starting for Real Madrid.

Demar Derozan attacking the rim in his first few possessions. Same with Bargs - fouled on a dunk attempt. That's right, a dunk attempt.

Raps down 11-8. Three mins in.

Raps just got blocked three times in a row. Derozan, Fields then Bargs. Madrid comes down the floor and Fernandez finished an alley oop. Raps call timeout, down 14-8.

Raps come out of a timeout with a post up for Bargs. And-one hook shot.... Misses free throw. Nice.

Announcers gushing about Arvydas Sabonis in his prime. Any viewers under the age of 20 probably have no idea who they're talking about.

Rudy just passed the ball through Grey's legs. Why is he not in the NBA! Oh right, because it was Aaron Gray.

Derozan misses a WIDE OPEN layup in transition.

Raps can't get a bucket. Down 18-10. Bargs gets shook guarding LLull, point guard for Real Madrid. 20-10.

Derozan decides to "wisely" take a jump shot since his layups aren't dropping. And-one. Derozan becomes much more ineffective when he stops attacking the rim and settles for jumpers instead

Amir and Kleiza check into the game. Amir finishes a pick and roll with Calderon. The next time down Amir returns the favour and hits a cutting Calderon for a bucket. Is Amir the x-factor on the court right now? Is that the first and last time I will ever think that? Raps cut the lead to 20-18 with a Bargs mid-range jumper. Time out Real Madrid.

Graphic coming back from the break showed that the most games played by any Raptor player was by Morris Peterson. I love Mo-Pete but come on, can we finally get a franchise player that wants to stay in Toronto?

All subs in the game now. Lucas, Ross, Kleiza, Amir and Davis.

Kleiza with a 15 foot hook shot. I hate Kleiza.

Davis working in the post with something that resembles a post game. I'm somewhat impressed. The fact that I'm impressed with "something that resembles a post game" from Davis reflects how poor his offensive game was last season.

Raps are running! Lucas with a nice outlet to Ross, then Ross with a pass to Amir for what should have been an and-one dunk. I really hope that Derozan finally makes that jump to a next level type of player. If he doesn't, at least we have Ross to hope for until he disappoints us.

Amir misses both free throws but Raps hustle on the boards, get the rebound, and feed Amir on a pick and roll for an and-one dunk. Hits the free throw this time.

This second unit for the Raps has been shutting Real Madrid down. They haven't score since the subs came in. Raps haven't really either. It's 21-20 Raps.

It feels like the Raps are missing a lot of free throws. Davis just missed two in a row. Lucas is doing a good job pushing the ball. Cans a three ball.

Amir steals an inbound pass and assaults the rim! I'm terrified. 27-22 Raps. This second unit is bringing energy. I like em - except for Kleiza.

Kleiza with a nice one on one bucket. I still don't like him. 19-2 run for the second unit.

End of the first quarter. 29-22 Raps.

Raps shot 44 per cent from the floor. Held Real Madrid to 39 per cent shooting. Raps shot 6/13 from the FT line. Ouch. +6 rebound margin for the Raps. I know this is only a Euroleague team but it's nice to see the Raptors outrebounding an opponent.

Second Quarter

Quick clip of the team fishing during a boat ride in Halifax (where they held their training camp). I think there's a reason that most basketball players never have fishing as a hobby. None of the guys shown looked like they knew what they were doing.
 
New line up in. Lucas, Ross, Davis, Amir and Dominic McGuire. I can honestly say I have no idea who McGuire is. Usually I would Google players I don't know, but what's the point? He won't be on the team come the start of the season.

Three fouls in the first 40 seconds of the quarter on the Raps.

Ross with a silky smooth jumper from just above the elbow.

Sergio Rodriguez is drawing fouls on the Raps on what seems like every time down the floor. He's quick and crafty.

Sherman Hamilton: "One thing that became evident in training camp was that John Lucas is one of the best shooters on this team." No kidding. Has he seen the type of shooters we have on this team?

Amir just did his patented completely-wild-it-looks-like-I-have-no-idea-what-I'm-doing drive. Gets his own rebound and scores. Real Madrid finishes an alley-oop going the other way. 36-32 Raps.

Starting lineup back in with McGuire at the three. Time to lose the lead.

Sherman Hamilton: "Duncan McGuire is a vet. Solid pick up for the Raptors." He must be solid, you didn't even get his name right.

Derozan with a sweet spin move to split a double and score.  He has 10 points. 40-36 Raps. Fernandez cuts the lead to one with a three. Raps timeout.

Fields in for McGuire. Turns the ball over then commits a foul. Did I mention the Raps signed him to a 3 year, 19 million dollar contract this offseason?

Real Madrid hits a 3. 44-40 RM.

Bargs misses a deep three. He's not playing too well. Derozan recovers the Fields' blocked shot and hits a nice layup. He's really hustling today for rebounds and on D. If he's not going to be the prolific player that we all want him to be, it's nice to see that he's at least busting his ass.

Fields' dunk in transition after a steal where Bargnani was literally standing straight up guarding his man on the wing and the ball was deflected to him. The typical Bargnani defense is back! 46-45 Raps.

Fields beats his man and loses the ball out of bounds. Have I mentioned the Raps signed him to a 3 year, 19 million dollar contract this offseason?

End of first half. Raps lead 50-48.

Raps shooting 42 per cent for the game. Still holding Real Madrid to 37 per cent shooting. Raps didn't shoot a single FT in that quarter. Real Madrid is shooting 16/20 so far from the line. +8 rebound margin for the Raps.

Third Quarter

Jose, Bargs, Amir, Derozan and Fields start the game and are immediately scored on by a sick over the head touch pass by a cutting Fernandez. Tie game. 50-50.

Jose hits a three and just got Bruce Bowen'd (foot under the shooter as he's coming down)! He's infuriated at the refs that it wasn't called. Replay doesn't look nearly as bad as Calderon made it out to be. He's running around fine now. False Bowen'd alarm.

Raps playing pretty good D right now. Real Madrid have only scored two points in two and a half minutes. 59-52 Raps.

Fields knocks down a three. Have a I mentioned that the Raps got him for a steal at 3 years, for 19 million dollars? Fields turns it over. This is a rollercoaster of emotion.

Derozan has missed a few chippies tonight. He has 14 points. He should have at least 20.

Euroleague veteran Allen Anderson checks in for the Raps. Nice.

Kleiza checks in for Fields. I don't know who's worse.

65-65 game.

Loose ball foul on Amir. This game has lost any exciting pace it once had. Foul after foul is being called. Nothing worse than watching a bunch of dudes shoot free throws.

Lucas check in for Calderon! I'm way too excited about that.

Third loose ball foul for the Raps in the last minute. This sucks.

Matt Devlin:" Kleiza saves it! Then throws it away." Yep, I dislike Kleiza more than I dislike Fields.

Lucas hits a jumper in transition. 69-68 Raps.

McGuire plows through a screen while his man nails a three. And-one. How did he get back in the game?

Breaking News: John Lucas is really fast. Nice floater in the lane.

Raps continue to foul Real Madrid at will. 73-73 game.

Lucas with an off balance jumper to put the Raps up by 2 before the quarter ends. 12 points off the bench. 5/7 from the floor. Solid game off the bench from him. Reassuring to know that we may have a reliable third string point guard if Lowry or Calderon get injured.

Raps shooting 41 per cent through three quarters. Real Madrid shooting 38 per cent. Real Madrid have shot 36 free throws through three quarters to the Raps' 23 attempts. Absolutely bonkers. Raps are outrebounding Real Madrid 44-31.

Fourth Quarter

Lucas, Ross, Kleiza, Davis, and Anderson start the fourth.

Anderson with the and-one baseline drive. He's been beating his man with a baseline pivot all night. 80-78 Raps.

Ross hits an open three. When was the last time we had a two guard that could knock down threes? The 2008-09 season with Anthony Parker? 83-79 Raps.
 
Ross takes a charge a couple plays later. I like this kid. Hits another three! Fouls his man on a jumper the next play down the floor. Can't ask for too much. He's just a rookie, after all. 86-81 Raps.

Lucas hits a long two with the shot clock running down. Shooting 6/8 for 14 points. He's outplaying Jose.

Bargs checks in for Kleiza giving the Raps a slightly different, but still ugly defensive look.
Anderson scores a bucket. "He refused to give up on the play," said Hamilton. What Sherm really means is that Anderson brutally forced the play but got lucky and managed to still score. 90-81 Raps.

Lucas hits another 2. Raps up by 11. Seems like they're pulling away. Just when I type that LLull does a nasty spin move that leads to an easy bucket for a Slaughter, a Real Madrid big.

LLull and Slaughter hook up again for a pretty alleyoop. Amir and Jose answer back with an alleyoop of their own. 96-85 Raps.

Derozan stays aggressive and converts a layup. 100-90 Raps after Llull splits a double and finds an open Fernandez. Llull finishes an easy layup to cut their deficit to 8 points. He's played well tonight and has had some real flashy plays. Llull hits a meaningless three to bring the score to 102-95 for the Raps.

The Raptors shot 44 per cent while Real Madrid shot 42 per cent. Raps were imposing on the boards tonight, outrebounding Real Madrid 51-39 and grabbing 16 offensive rebounds to Real Madrid's five.

Game Recap

The Raps played pretty well tonight but they turned the ball over too often and committed too many fouls. The foul problem should resolve itself once players get into better shape. As for turnovers, the Raps were right around their average from last season at 16. Still too high, but with Lowry and Jose handling the ball, the turnovers should be manageables thanks to their high assist-turnover ratios.

Despite missing a few easy layups, Derozan played pretty well. He finished with 18 points, six rebounds, three steals, and a block. If he can continue to put up numbers like that, he's got my vote as starter.

Bargnani had one of his wait-is-Bargnani-playing? games. Bargs played 30 minutes, scored 14 points and had four rebounds. Can you rebound the damn ball?

Lucas had a great game. He probably won't get too much playing time once Lowry is healthy though.

I'm still excited to see the full roster when everyone is healthy. I've yet to see the Lithuanian Lug play and I thought Lowry was entertaining when he played for the Rockets.

Valanciunus is scheduled to play against the Pistons on Wednesday, Oct 10, but Lowry is still out.

I won't be writing running diaries very often as writing notes down for every game will become a major pain in the ass. See you guys and girls next week.