12/7/09
by: Scott
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Well, well, well! Look what our Raptors got up to last weekend while I was making bank (well, $165 probably doesn't qualify as "bank") at the Fallsview Casino poker room! An exciting O.T. victory over the Wizards followed by a thorough curb-stomping of the Bulls — both wins coming on the road, no less.
I missed the entire Bulls game but I caught the last few minutes of the fourth quarter and all of overtime for the Wizards game, which was easily the most exciting Raptors game of the season. Like most of you, I was furious when Hedo Turkoglu jacked up and missed a three-pointer at the end of regulation time, with the score tied. I couldn't figure out why they wouldn't try to get the ball to Bosh down low so he could try to score or draw a foul. He had been playing like a beast and I figured he deserved the chance to win the game for the Raptors. Apparently, Jay Triano didn't feel that way in the moment.
Fortunately, Hedo had an opportunity to redeem himself in overtime — and he did, making two of his three shot attempts in extra time, including the game winning 20-footer with eight seconds left. Shots like that are how he got (notice I'm not saying "earned") his reputation for being one of the great clutch players in the league. After the game, Caron Butler referred to him as "Turkish Jordan".
This game really beefed up the "RaptorBlog Clutch Stats" database where I'm tracking the Raptors' performance when the score differential is five points or less and they're either in overtime or there's less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter. The final seven minutes of the Wizards game all counted as "clutch time" since the lead was never more than five points during that time. For the first time this season, Chris Bosh got involved in the action and he acquitted himself well with a short hook shot late in the fourth and a 19-footer two minutes into overtime that gave the Raptors a one-point lead. Of course, Turkoglu remains the Raptors' alpha dog during clutch time, as he's taken almost half of the team's shots during these situations.
At the pace we're going, it looks like Turkoglu might get to take around 40 field goal attempts during clutch situations this season, which should be an interesting sample size to find out if he lives up to his rep and earns the $2-3 million extra beyond what I actually think he's worth. Without question, he came up big at the end of overtime on Saturday. But let's not forget that he missed game-winning attempts in two previous games and also missed at the end of regulation on Friday. So in the "potential game-winner" category, Hedo's 1-for-4 this season.
Trust me, I'm not trying to pile on the man and I'm not rooting against him. Far from it, I would love for him to show that he can duplicate Friday's game-capper multiple times this season. I'm not just prepared to start hanging off the dude's nuts after one shot a quarter of the way into the season. Plus, I'd like to see some of his teammates have the opportunity to be the hero for a change. How can we say that Bosh or Bargnani or Calderon aren't clutch if they're never given a chance to prove us wrong? 
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