It was a good win for the Raptors Monday night.
Yes, I know people are saying that it was a game they should have won as it was only the Charlotte Bobcats, but Charlotte has had a good month. They finished March with a 9-7 record, setting a franchise record for most wins in a month and putting up only the fourth winning month in club history.
The Bobcats entered Monday night’s tilt against Toronto with a three-game win streak and having won three out of four on their recently completed west coast trip, including wins in Portland and Los Angeles over the Lakers.
Toronto needs to hone its defensive focus over the final eight games of the regular season, particularly against non-playoff teams. Yes, talent is important, but coaches will tell you that it doesn’t matter if you are not playing well heading into the playoffs.
The talent provides a vehicle to turn it around and potentially win games, but a more talented squad can still be had by a team that is playing better and has its team cohesiveness in order.
As one NBA-lifer said, Toronto needs to remember what it took last year to get to where they were and eventually accomplish what it did. You can’t just fast forward to the point where you were eliminated last season, or else you become the Dallas Mavericks.
Last season the Mavs simply wanted to get back to the finals and make amends for the loss to Miami after blowing a 2-0 series lead. They forgot about getting past all their other opponents first, and the Warriors knocked them off.
John Lucas is back with the Raptors as he continues to split his time between the team and his duties at the John Lucas Basketball and Resource Centre in Houston.
On Monday before the Bobcats game, Luke, as he is known, and Raptors basketball development consultant Eric Hughes put players through the early stages of the pre-game warm up. We’re talking early here, some three-to-three and-a-half hours before the game.
The drills were competitive and closely re-created game situations. Add in a hungry, new player like Linton Johnson and it was amazing how the intensity level was raised. Just sitting and watching you could tell this was not your typical warm up.
You could also tell it’s getting close to playoff time around the NBA as the seats on media row designated for scouts were more often than not filled to capacity. The scouts were making note of every play call, watching players’ body language, taking note of five man units on the floor and heck, even trading information to make sure they all got it right.
Monday night in Charlotte there were scouts representing a number of teams in the event they meet Toronto in the playoffs. It was interesting to hear them trading information about Toronto’s play calls and offensive sets at half time in the media dining area.
They know opposing teams’ plays so well that one scout was talking to another about a play that the Raptors were supposed to run, but didn’t execute. When they both talked about the play, one of them gave details of the play without hearing it from the Raptor bench. I guess he’d been following Toronto for a while and just knew what the new play was without hearing a call or seeing a signal.
How did I know he was accurate? I’ve heard that call many times by Toronto and I know exactly what is supposed to happen, pending of course, the defense’s reaction. Suffice to say, these guys know their stuff.
An advance scout, depending on the team, will submit a report to the head coach and his staff upwards of 50 pages. The report might include a depth chart, team stats, personnel reports and keys to the game for both teams on the offensive and defensive sides. There are also diagrams with plays and on occasion, box scores. It’s amazing to see what these people do and how quickly they put it together as they are often working four-to-five games ahead of where the team is on the schedule.
The role of the advance scout is vital in preparation for not only individual games but potential upcoming playoff series. And trust me, these guys don’t just watch a team once and then buzz off, they follow a team for three or four consecutive games.
One scout of a potential first round opponent for the Raptors was laughing about the log jam at the bottom of the East and how it has him jetting all over the place trying to see all the possible opponents.
Can’t wait for the playoffs!
