Two sides of Raptors' opening night loss
There were reasons for hope and for despair in the Raptors' season opening loss to the Knicks. Bargnani delivered, the bench didn't.
By Doug SmithSports Reporter
Wed., Oct. 27, 2010timer2 min. read
HOPE FOR THE SEASON
There was a question of how Andrea Bargnani might react given a larger role in the Raptor offence. He seems to have handled the opener pretty well, and that has to bode well for the folks looking for the good out of Wednesday's home opener against the Knicks.
He looked confident and capable, willing to go inside and not float outside the three-point line and finished with 22 points in Toronto's 98-93 loss to New York.
Now, he has had big games followed by bad ones before in his career, but it's obvious he is going to be a central figure in whatever Toronto does offensively.
The Raptors called their first play of the season for him, a post-up that he turned into a trip to the line, and they seemed to look for him at all kinds of different places on the court.
Toronto is still going to have to get some balanced scoring most nights, and there have always been questions about Bargnani's ability and willingness to go inside and do the dirty work, but the good sign Wednesday was that he did.
So much so that the Knicks started shading a second defender toward him on a handful of second-half possessions; he has to work a bit harder at getting free to get the ball.
But overall the positive signs far outweighed the negative for a guy who is going to have to step up his game for Toronto to have success.
FEAR FOR THE YEAR AHEAD
The Raptor depth everyone keeps talking about?
It didn't amount to much for long stretches Wednesday night and it's going to have to be a staple for the Raptors to do anything of substance this season.
In the first half of the loss to the Knicks, the bench provided a measly six points, going a collective 3-for-11 as Toronto fell behind by as many as 16 points in the first half.
And while it was the bench that got them back in the game late in the third quarter — primarily Leandro Barbosa, who had a big quarter — they are going to need consistent production from the five guys coach Jay Triano is using in an extended rotation.
Amir Johnson, who can usually provide consistent energy and effort, was a non-factor, playing just 12 minutes while getting two points, four fouls and one rebound.
The Raptors have been built to go 10-deep with what they think is a capable backup at every position, but they didn't get enough production in the opener.
Only Barbosa, with 13 points, was in double figures on offence and the bench was a combined 14-for-37 from the field.
If that keeps up, it could be a long, long season.