Raptor Fans And The Bulls Got A Glimpse Of 'Lethal Weapon 3'
By Walter DubowecOn Friday, I watched the Raptors/Bulls preseason game live and in-person. There were a number of things which caught my eye. First, it was a sloppy, yet entertaining game that showcased a bunch of players who will not see as much playing time during the regular season.
In no particular order, this is what made me take notice at the Air Canada Centre during the Raptors 92-82 victory.
Andrea Bargnani: This kid is good. At times, scary good. No doubt he scared the Bulls. Every time he made a ball fake, he had a couple of Bulls lunging at him afraid they would be embarrassed by an Andrea long distance dagger.
Barnani’s shot is effortless. His passing is excellent. His defence is fine and improving. And while he only grabbed one board, his rebounding was not a problem. He guarded Thomas and Kryapa much of the night and they spent a lot of time on the perimeter in the Bulls offensive sets. Hard to rebound when your man is 20 feet from the basket.
Bargnani snapped his only board away from Thomas in impressive fashion. He also was solid in boxing out and allowing the tandem of Graham and Delfino swoop in for rebounds.
Without Bosh in the line-up, the Bulls keyed on the Big
Bargnani played only 24 minutes, yet still finished with 19 points. Bargnani's preseason scoring average is now 15.2 points a game on 54% shooting, while also firing at a rate of 50% from beyond the arc.
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Kapono and 'Lethal Weapon 3': Kapono looked more comfortable and effective in his brief appearance. Clearly, Sam has him penciled in as a starter.
Best of all, Raptor fans got a sneak peak at the three-headed three point shooting monster called “Lethal Weapon 3”, which consists of Kapono, Bargs and AP.
It was a treat to watch the ball skip quickly around the perimeter between Bargnani, Parker and finally Kapono who nailed the trey. (I thought of calling them 'Barkerono', but that’s way too lame).
Having three players with the ability to shoot three pointers at a rate of anywhere between 45% and 50% is scary. Not sure there has ever been an NBA team who could be this lethal beyond the arc.
Jamario Moon: Wow. This guy has mad hops and not a bad shooting stroke either. He was good for a wicked jam and followed that up with two three-balls which led to a solid 10 point night. Moon and Humphries hooked up on a nice pick and roll that led to an easy dunk by Kris.
Coach Sam Mitchell liked what he saw in Moon. "He's got some skills, we know he can shoot the basketball, we think he's got a chance, that's why we've kept him around.”
While not a finished product by any means, I fully expect Jamario to make the Raptors roster and that Luke Jackson will be the odd man out. Certainly seems that Bryan Colangelo picked up another player who could become a decent pro.
Delfino and Joey: The play of both Delfino and Graham showed improvement, but not enough to give either a clear edge. I think Delfino looked better overall. However, his shooting stroke was clearly off last night.
Joakim Noah: The Bulls selected Noah ninth overall in the 2007 draft. Some boards had him going much higher if he had declared a year earlier with Bargnani’s draft class. We finally got a chance to see Noah in person for the first time. He's a guy I liked a lot in college. Here’s the scoop on Joakim in the NBA.
Joakim Noah will never be a starter with a legit NBA contender. The kid looks all wrong for the NBA.
Noah is an out-of-control bundle of energy with no focus, direction or singular outstanding basketball skill. He’s not a great defender, he has no offensive skills outside of three feet, he doesn’t rebound all that well and he’s foul prone.
Noah is hyper-intense and that intensity works against him in the NBA. He seems to rely too much on emotion and is missing NBA-style court sense, calm and vision.
Bottomline is the style of play that helped Noah succeed at Florida simply does not translate well to the NBA. I can’t remember ever being so disappointed in seeing a player for the first time as I was with Joakim Noah.
Adam Morrison disappointed first time I saw him, but not like Noah. In fact, Rafael Araujo showed better fundamentals in his rookie preseason game than Noah. Ouch.
Here are highlights from the Raptors/Bulls game.
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