Tuesday, November 24, 2009

15 Games Into the Season...are the Raptors who we thought they were?

15 games have gone by and it's fair to say we have been an inconsistent bunch. There was much hype surrounding the Toronto Raptors due to the reconstruction of our line-up. Speculation has surrounded this team and it's franchise player. Big league contracts where dished out to Bargnani, Turkoglu and Jack. Were they worth the cap space and future? Our bench is revamped and energetic at times. Will they stay the course through 82 games? Our rookie is extremely raw and has struggled through some ugly games. Is it worth benching him and potentially stunting his growth? Many standards were set for this team by Bryan Colangelo. We certainly could not expect all of the moves to pan out. It's just unrealistic. But, what have we done right and what have we done wrong so far in this still uncertain season?

Chris Bosh is having the year he was hoping for so far. Contract year usually equals contract numbers. In my opinion he is certainly a max player on the "right team". The problem is that I'm not sure this team is the right team for him and us to succeed. I'm not sure what MLSE and Colangelo have in their minds as a standard of success. I consider success not to be a 2nd tier team in this league. I consider success to not be a guaranteed win for Orlando and Boston when they face us. I follow this team with pride. Chris Bosh I feel plays with pride. We as a team have committed our cap space to Turkoglu, Calderon, Jack and Bargnani as our core. Does Bosh fit into the long term? There are too many scenario's that could play out so it's not an easy answer. Let's look at the top tear teams:

Boston:
PG: Rajon Rondo
SG: Ray Allen
SF: Paul Pierce
PF: Kevin Garnett
C: Kendrick Perkins

Success came quickly with a championship title. How did they get there? They teamed up the big three.

Orlando:
PG: Jameer Nelson
SG: Vince Carter
SF: Michael Pietrus
PF: Rashad Lewis
C: Dwight Howard

They were representing the East in the finals last year and had a record of 59W-23L. The Finals were not enough for them and they made a big trade acquiring Vince Carter to push them all the way. Maybe we could learn something from that?

Los Angeles(Lakers of course)
PG: Derek Fisher
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Ron Artest
PF: Pau Gasol
C: Andrew Bynum

The Lakers are defending champions and represented the Western conference in the last two NBA finals. In 2007/08 they stole Pau Gasol in a game changing deal with Memphis and he elevated them to the upper echelon instantly.

Toronto:
PG: Jose Calderon
SG: DeMar DeRozan
SF: Hedo Turkoglu
PF: Chris Bosh
C: Andrea Bargnani

This is a team riddled with uncertainty and what if's. With Calderon's defensive woes and Bargnani's weak rebounding game could we manifest ourselves that one true goal for a professional sports team? To win the championship?

We picked up Hedo Turkoglu this off season to boost our starting line-up. It looks great on paper and so far we have reaped the benefits of a stellar offense that can shoot the lights out with consistency. We are currently standing in 4th place for points per game. That's very impressive. He looks great in the 4th quarter and almost won us the game back in Phoenix. I'm sensing Triano will use Turkoglu as the main ball distributor in the 4th quarter and we will see a lot of Calderon and Jack in the corner's. Unfortunately Calderon and Jack are both struggling with their shot.

Bargnani's offensive game is still on the rise. Right now he's averaging around 17ppg and 6rpg. His free throw percentage is one of the best in the league. Yet he is a defensive liability and does not look to be improving on the other end. He is best against slower offenses but seems to get lost too easily against uptempo teams. His rotation is weak and he manages to get out rebounded by his opponent more than not. What does he need to do? Defense generally is about focus and a solid plan that's executable. By executable I mean having able bodies playing to their strengths instead of their weaknesses. The house system they implemented is slowly coming together. If the Raptors honed their focus in crucial parts of the Orlando game on Sunday they could have pulled out a win. Focus and execution of a plan.

Triano is smart. He adapts to the moment and is not afraid to change things up. It's very admirable. With the "House" style of defense he is playing to the strengths of our team. Dribble penetration is a major issue and he implements a strategy that forces players to make shots by blocking off the lanes with clever rotation. The problem we have had is often enough the fellas seem to lose their man. The opponent slips into the key for an easy put back or a gimmie offensive rebound and a fresh shot clock. What happens next is demoralization and mental exhaustion which leads to more defensive lapses. We need to give them time to gel on this but I think change must come soon.

Our guards have been an intriguing story. Calderon and Jack sharing back court duties has failed. Some are calling for a simple point guard rotation and that the experiment should end. I'd have to find a grey area in this argument. I believe once Jack becomes more comfortable we could see much success out of the combo guard. He played well for Indy last year and could find his form soon. I do however believe we are seeing some of Belineli's best so far in the NBA. When his shot is on he knows how to get open. He is extremely active which I'm sure gives Jay something to smile about. If we see more of Belinelli's emergence, there may not be a need for the Combo guard in Jack and the pressure is off. However, there is no offensive game in Antoine Wright and he tries to do too much. You can't play a guy who's taking shots away from your key starters. It's a shame because he is our best defender and most nights should be defending the best wing players in the league. If Triano can pursue a more defined role for Wright I could see him starting over DeRozan. It's only a matter of time before we start the Vet over the Rook.

Cool Hand Luke

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