The "I Can't Think of a Proper Headline" Post
Was a weird day. My hockey team defeated the best team in the NHL on the road. And my basketball team barely got past the 2nd worst team in the NBA at home. What to make of all this???
I'll give it a try.
But some personal notes first.
This has been one of those weeks. I've been swamped with work. Didn't even have time to watch the Raptors' loss to the Celtics. I caught a bit of the fourth quarter after the fact, and the way it played out, I am glad I didn't see it live. What a frustrating end there.
And we had the Leafs-Raptors double header today, both with the 9:30 a.m. starting time. I focused mostly on hockey because the Leafs-Bolts was the more interesting matchup than the Raptors-Suns, I thought.. We were walking (skating?) into the arena of the best team in the NHL (by a mile, too), where we suffered a pretty bad loss about a month earlier. And back at Scotiabank Arena, the Raptors were hosting the worst team in the West. The loss to the Celtics notwithstanding, we'd been playing really well since that debacle in San Antonio.
My pre-game expectations went something like this. I figured the Leafs were going to battle but come up short. And the Raptors would run the Suns off the court in the first quarter and cruise to an easy W.
Well, that's not exactly how things played out, of course. The bottom line, though, is we both won. That's all that matters in the end.
On to my thoughts. Maybe not so much about the wins themselves, but about issues surrounding the boys of late.
Matching Game
I just have to post the highlight for this Kadri goal, because there's so much I like about it:
Naz and Marleau working the corner, double-teaming Stralman to dig out the puck. Marleau feeding it to the circle for Kapanen, and Kadri going to the net. When the rebound came, Naz was all alone to beat Vasilevsky... That was a total team goal, right there.
Yup, Kapanen and those two others were on the same line in this one. To shake things up after a meh stretch, Babs reunited Matthew with Hyman and Nylander, a productive unit from last season. Johnsson took Hyman's spot on JTs line. Then it was Kadri centering Marleau and Kapanen.
And that line was the best Leafs line today. It wasn't just the stats (though they were nice, as both Kadri and Marleau had a goal and an assist each, and Kapanen had a helper and was +3). It was the way they attacked the net and forechecked with abandon that stood out for me.
I've talked about my belief that skills and speed will still be enough to take us deep into the playoffs. I am not really a fan of those "heavy hockey" talks. We can still play the cycle game and dominate the puck without throwing bodies around.
That belief was severely tested in losses to Boston and the Avs recently. And losing to the Capitals and the Bruins in the past two 1st rounds should have taught me something.
But after watching us beat the Bolts, I came away with this impression.
I think we match up better against teams that are similarly built: with offensive talent but not necessarily much brawn. Tampa has as much scoring depth as anyone (these guys were AVERAGING 4 goals a game before netting just two against the Leafs) but if we can get into a track meet against them in a seven-game series, I think we can hold our own.
(Of course, the big factor when facing the Lightning will always be goaltending. Vasilevsky is just a massive presence in goal. Getting three past him today (one being an empty-netter) was no mean feat.)
But someone like the B's? I must begrudgingly admit we have to figure out ways to beat them in a playoff series without always relying on our strengths. Trying to play the skills-based game hasn't worked in the regular season against them, even when the Bruins didn't have their full complement of players.
I almost think (ALMOST) we should maybe drop to a wild card spot and set up a first-round meeting against the Bolts. For one, it'll be far more entertaining to watch than Leafs-Bruins, thanks to the teams' pace, absence of Brad Marchand in the series and some acrobatic saves that are sure to come from both goalies.
Oh well, it may just happen that way, unless we get our act together fast. And we'd still run into Boston in the 2nd round anyway, even if we somehow get past Tampa.
This is just me thinking out loud.
On to basketball.
New Option?
This is even better than Kadri goal. No explanation needed.
Pascal "Spicy P" Siakam winning the game for us with the LEFT HAND!! And the best part of the video? Kawhi, who didn't play because it was the 2nd end of a back-to-back, was smiling.
(Between that primal scream after and-1 play vs. Celtics and that smile, I don't believe I've ever seen Kawhi get this emotional on a basketball court.)
The final stretch in the Celtics game was brutal. Kawhi made the FT on that above play to put us up 104-100 with about 4 minutes to go. We scored just four more points the rest of the game, while Boston reeled off 17.
I have covered our tendency to give Kawhi the ball and get the hell out of the way in tight games (and that's what Kyle said, too). Kawhi is awesome, but he's human, though he may not seem like it at times. And the trick has become so predictable as to make it easy for opponents to game-plan against us down the stretch. It hasn't helped we haven't been shooting particularly well from 3. So it's not like Kawhi could play the drive-and-kick out game and watch teammates drain treys. Most of the time, he's had to do things on his own, whether it's making mid-range jumpers or driving to the basket and trying to set up three-point plays.
It can work against certain teams, but not as well against such a strong defensive team as Boston(What is it about Toronto and Boston in the NHL and the NBA? I don't really have much animosity toward either of the Bruins or the Celtics, though it could change this spring/summer). If it wasn't obvious before, it should be by now. We can't just give the ball to Kawhi and keep our fingers crossed all the time.
It just happened that we needed some last-minute heroics in the very next game, and Kawhi wasn't even in the lineup. Coach Nurse had to be creative. And boy, did he ever, prompting his Suns counterpart, Igor Kokoskov, to say, "I'd say we were surprised."
I would have been happy with any of the four other guys taking the last shot: Kyle, despite his struggles, FVV, Danny G and Serge (the hero in 2OT win over the Wiz). The worst-case scenario was going into an OT at home. I'll take that.
But Siakam executed the play perfectly. Blew by the first guy on just a couple of steps, shot over the help defender with his off hand, and didn't leave any time on the clock.
The man is impossible to stop in transition. And this one-on-one bucket surely gives us a higher-percentage option in the final moments than some prayer by our guards.
And who can guard Siakam in situations like this? Most guards or small forwards are obviously too small. Most 4s and 5s may have the size but not the agility. Off the top of my head: Giannis, LeBron, PG-13, KD... maybe that's it??
Well, the cat's out now. Teams will have to keep Siakam on their mind in these situations. If Kawhi had played today, he probably would have taken the final shot. Or maybe Coach Nurse would still have called Siakam's number to catch the Suns off guard, because pretty much everyone on the court would have expected Kawhi to be the man.
On a closing note, great to see CJ make some shots! He was 3-of-5 from downtown and scored 13 off the bench. Hoping this will prove to be his turnaround game for the season.
I'll give it a try.
But some personal notes first.
This has been one of those weeks. I've been swamped with work. Didn't even have time to watch the Raptors' loss to the Celtics. I caught a bit of the fourth quarter after the fact, and the way it played out, I am glad I didn't see it live. What a frustrating end there.
And we had the Leafs-Raptors double header today, both with the 9:30 a.m. starting time. I focused mostly on hockey because the Leafs-Bolts was the more interesting matchup than the Raptors-Suns, I thought.. We were walking (skating?) into the arena of the best team in the NHL (by a mile, too), where we suffered a pretty bad loss about a month earlier. And back at Scotiabank Arena, the Raptors were hosting the worst team in the West. The loss to the Celtics notwithstanding, we'd been playing really well since that debacle in San Antonio.
My pre-game expectations went something like this. I figured the Leafs were going to battle but come up short. And the Raptors would run the Suns off the court in the first quarter and cruise to an easy W.
Well, that's not exactly how things played out, of course. The bottom line, though, is we both won. That's all that matters in the end.
On to my thoughts. Maybe not so much about the wins themselves, but about issues surrounding the boys of late.
Matching Game
I just have to post the highlight for this Kadri goal, because there's so much I like about it:
Naz and Marleau working the corner, double-teaming Stralman to dig out the puck. Marleau feeding it to the circle for Kapanen, and Kadri going to the net. When the rebound came, Naz was all alone to beat Vasilevsky... That was a total team goal, right there.
Yup, Kapanen and those two others were on the same line in this one. To shake things up after a meh stretch, Babs reunited Matthew with Hyman and Nylander, a productive unit from last season. Johnsson took Hyman's spot on JTs line. Then it was Kadri centering Marleau and Kapanen.
And that line was the best Leafs line today. It wasn't just the stats (though they were nice, as both Kadri and Marleau had a goal and an assist each, and Kapanen had a helper and was +3). It was the way they attacked the net and forechecked with abandon that stood out for me.
I've talked about my belief that skills and speed will still be enough to take us deep into the playoffs. I am not really a fan of those "heavy hockey" talks. We can still play the cycle game and dominate the puck without throwing bodies around.
That belief was severely tested in losses to Boston and the Avs recently. And losing to the Capitals and the Bruins in the past two 1st rounds should have taught me something.
But after watching us beat the Bolts, I came away with this impression.
I think we match up better against teams that are similarly built: with offensive talent but not necessarily much brawn. Tampa has as much scoring depth as anyone (these guys were AVERAGING 4 goals a game before netting just two against the Leafs) but if we can get into a track meet against them in a seven-game series, I think we can hold our own.
(Of course, the big factor when facing the Lightning will always be goaltending. Vasilevsky is just a massive presence in goal. Getting three past him today (one being an empty-netter) was no mean feat.)
But someone like the B's? I must begrudgingly admit we have to figure out ways to beat them in a playoff series without always relying on our strengths. Trying to play the skills-based game hasn't worked in the regular season against them, even when the Bruins didn't have their full complement of players.
I almost think (ALMOST) we should maybe drop to a wild card spot and set up a first-round meeting against the Bolts. For one, it'll be far more entertaining to watch than Leafs-Bruins, thanks to the teams' pace, absence of Brad Marchand in the series and some acrobatic saves that are sure to come from both goalies.
Oh well, it may just happen that way, unless we get our act together fast. And we'd still run into Boston in the 2nd round anyway, even if we somehow get past Tampa.
This is just me thinking out loud.
On to basketball.
New Option?
This is even better than Kadri goal. No explanation needed.
Pascal "Spicy P" Siakam winning the game for us with the LEFT HAND!! And the best part of the video? Kawhi, who didn't play because it was the 2nd end of a back-to-back, was smiling.
(Between that primal scream after and-1 play vs. Celtics and that smile, I don't believe I've ever seen Kawhi get this emotional on a basketball court.)
The final stretch in the Celtics game was brutal. Kawhi made the FT on that above play to put us up 104-100 with about 4 minutes to go. We scored just four more points the rest of the game, while Boston reeled off 17.
I have covered our tendency to give Kawhi the ball and get the hell out of the way in tight games (and that's what Kyle said, too). Kawhi is awesome, but he's human, though he may not seem like it at times. And the trick has become so predictable as to make it easy for opponents to game-plan against us down the stretch. It hasn't helped we haven't been shooting particularly well from 3. So it's not like Kawhi could play the drive-and-kick out game and watch teammates drain treys. Most of the time, he's had to do things on his own, whether it's making mid-range jumpers or driving to the basket and trying to set up three-point plays.
It can work against certain teams, but not as well against such a strong defensive team as Boston(What is it about Toronto and Boston in the NHL and the NBA? I don't really have much animosity toward either of the Bruins or the Celtics, though it could change this spring/summer). If it wasn't obvious before, it should be by now. We can't just give the ball to Kawhi and keep our fingers crossed all the time.
It just happened that we needed some last-minute heroics in the very next game, and Kawhi wasn't even in the lineup. Coach Nurse had to be creative. And boy, did he ever, prompting his Suns counterpart, Igor Kokoskov, to say, "I'd say we were surprised."
I would have been happy with any of the four other guys taking the last shot: Kyle, despite his struggles, FVV, Danny G and Serge (the hero in 2OT win over the Wiz). The worst-case scenario was going into an OT at home. I'll take that.
But Siakam executed the play perfectly. Blew by the first guy on just a couple of steps, shot over the help defender with his off hand, and didn't leave any time on the clock.
The man is impossible to stop in transition. And this one-on-one bucket surely gives us a higher-percentage option in the final moments than some prayer by our guards.
And who can guard Siakam in situations like this? Most guards or small forwards are obviously too small. Most 4s and 5s may have the size but not the agility. Off the top of my head: Giannis, LeBron, PG-13, KD... maybe that's it??
Well, the cat's out now. Teams will have to keep Siakam on their mind in these situations. If Kawhi had played today, he probably would have taken the final shot. Or maybe Coach Nurse would still have called Siakam's number to catch the Suns off guard, because pretty much everyone on the court would have expected Kawhi to be the man.
On a closing note, great to see CJ make some shots! He was 3-of-5 from downtown and scored 13 off the bench. Hoping this will prove to be his turnaround game for the season.
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