Raptors fall to Pacers 90-88
The Raptors opened up their season at home against the Pacers. I'm in no position to give any constructive feedback on their play since I was working. I never saw a second of the action; however, I did watch the highlight package on NBA.com. What follows will be extremely informed analysis.
Apparently Kyle Lowry put together a nice game, finishing with 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and five steals. There's absolutely no way Lowry will be able to produce at that level all season and he won't have to with Calderon coming off the bench, a role Calderon is better suited for.
Judging from the box score, it looks like Bargnani had a mediocre game. He scored 16 points and grabbed three rebounds, and I think there might be a typo in the box score because it said he finished with three blocks too.
Coming off a newly signed contract worth $38 million dollars over four years, DeRozan underperformed. He finished with 10 points, five rebounds, and one assist. If I have to take one good thing away from his stat line, I guess it would be the rebounds? Yes, that was meant to be phrased as a question.
Valanciunas notched a double double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 boards in a little over 23 minutes of playing time. These are nice numbers for a rookie big in his first regular season game, but his defence needs to improve. I make that claim having seen one highlight of him failing to rotate on a screen and roll.
Some other unsubstantiated assessments about the Raptors from their first game:
- Bargnani played too soft
- DeRozan needs more alley-oops
- Terrence Ross needs to play more.
- The Raptors earned the respect of almost everyone by not playing Kleiza
James Harden has a monster game
If anyone was wondering whether James Harden deserves that max contract the Rockets offered him, yes, yes he does. Harden poured in 37 points and added 12 assists, six rebounds, and four steals. His 12 assists were a career high.
Now, regarding the trade, there are two camps. One camp claims that Harden was too greedy, while the other claims the Thunder undervalued Harden and traded him when he never accepted the team's offer.
I'm of the opinion that the Thunder handled this situation poorly. Harden was still under contract until the end of next season. The Thunder could've at least had one more season with Harden's production on their team before deciding not to resign him for the max. Instead, the team is left with Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb to try and make up for the huge hole that Harden left.
Martin can come off the bench and provide a scoring punch similar to Harden but he is nowhere near as proficient. There's no need to really compare the two players. Harden is just a better player, period.
Lamb is an intriguing prospect. I have no idea if he has what it takes to be a big-time player; however, I do know that he's talented and will most likely not have the opportunity to thrive in Oklahoma City and realize his potential. He's a rookie on a team with established vets. He'll see minutes sparingly.
With the Thunder trading away Harden, the Lakers now have a legitimate chance of capturing the West. Granted, the Lakers have looked pretty bad in their first two games, but a team that has that much talent can never be underestimated. Yes, they have aged stars who can't produce at the same clip as they did in their primes but they have Dwight Howard. He's the best center in the league and will average over 30 points a game if he keeps hitting his free throws (he shot 15-19 last game).
Just for some perspective: Howard has only shot better than 60 per cent for the season once in his career, his rookie year. Oh yeah, the game before his 15-19 free throw shooting display, Howard shot 3-14 from the line. Really, who knows how he'll shoot?
The most awesome t-shirt gun ever created
Apparently this gun is called Big Bella. The only reason I think this is real is because I would be too disappointed if it wasn't. And I watched a video of it firing during a Sixers game.
Check out The700Level for a copy of the news release and the video.
Very constructive feedback.
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