For the detailed boxscore, go here: Queen City Hoops Stats Page
Score: 89-79 Raptors
Bobcats Record: 2-4
Meritorious Player: Matt Carroll - 7 points (3 attempts), 3 assists, but only 2 turnovers (in only 7 opportunities). Matt had a decent game, but his selection shows how limited the viable candidates were. The Bobcats were +9 with Hammer on the court, with a net efficiency of +28.2 in about 12 and a half minutes.
The defense was decent (do not be fooled by the low score, those 89 points came on only 83 possessions, so an efficiency 107.2 is pretty good - if you are Toronto, but less so for the Bobcats' defense) - not horrible, but certainly not good. The offense, however, was sub-par, to say the least. It was the worst the Bobcats had been since the opener, and they gave that a run - 92.9 points per 100 possessions for the Bobcats tonight. That ineptitude was low-lighted by a 7 minute, 5 second drought in the 4th quarter, during which the Bobcats went from up 2, 74-72, to down 15, 89-74. I got home and saw the score and was so glad that I did not manage to talk the Queen into going to the game after all.
Good news: The Bobcats won the turnover battle, 11-9. Raymond "led" the Bobcats with 3 turnovers, in 21 chances, for a too-high turnover rate of 14%. Bad news: That is actually below his season number of 15.5. This seems to be a case of early season jitters, as through out his career, Raymond has been closer to 11 or 12.
Bad news: The Bobcats were out-rebounded 47-44, with Emeka only grabbing 6 rebounds. Though, it is tough to win the battle of the boards when your opponent shoots more than 10 percentage points better than you from the floor (Raptors shot 49.3% - Bobcats 37%) - there are a lot fewer defensive rebounds to grab. Good news: The Bobcats did grab 13 offensive rebounds, to 7 for the Raptors (but the same caveat applies - fewer chances for them).
Good news: The starters won when they were on the court. The starting 5 was +3 for the game, with an offensive efficiency of 109.1 and a defensive mark of 91.3. They only played 13 minutes and 31 seconds together - maybe in part due to Emeka foul trouble (finished with 4 fouls and only 26 minutes and 15 seconds of action)? That is going to be my guess since there was no tv of the game around here. If someone knows differently, please let me hear it in the comments.
A bit of a letdown after the big win against the Hornets, but a good sign in the form of the starters holding their own. D.J. Augustin and Adam Morrison also managed to contribute, though Adam's shot was still not falling consistently. If anyone can weigh in on the drought, please do - otherwise, note the positives from this one and look forward to the next.
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| David Arnott Says: | Emeka was sick, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. That's why Mohammed came in the game so early. It's also why Dudley played a little at center. I was at the game and looking forward to the Augustin-Carroll-Morrison-Wallace-Okafor lineup, since it had been so devastating to the Hornets, because Augustin appeared to be so good with the drive and kick. In fact, against the Raptors, if O'Neal or Bargnani weren't on the floor, I was hoping for a little four-guard action with Felton or Augustin at point, then Carroll, Morrison, and Richardson complementing Okafor or Dudley (if going super-small seemed attractive at all). Instead, we were treated to an Augustin-Felton backcourt in crunch time. I can't shake the feeling that Brown is wedded to Augustin's success because he was the one who drafted him, essentially. Again, he had trouble on defense, with Calderon shooting over him several times, and when the two points share the floor, we're left with two guys who aren't particularly good twos and definitely will have trouble guarding whoever the other two is. Besides the Augustin-Felton thing, the drought might also be partially attributable to Richardson's presence. It seems that whenever Richardson is in the game, they get away from drive and kick. and Wallace defers to him. Thus, in the past couple games, when Richardson is out there, it's been kind of a surprise when anyone else scores, but when it was Augustin-Carroll-Morrison-Wallace, I didn't know where the ball was going. |
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| Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:22 am |
