Raptor Rant – This Offense is Offensive

January 22, 2012 Nat Raptor Rants

The Raptors have dropped seven in a row and things can get a lot worse as they kick off their longest road trip of the season today. While the team has been markedly improved on the defensive end, bottom line is, you still need to score points in this league to win. The condensed schedule has left little time to practice and with Andrea Bargnani out of the lineup, offensive production has become the biggest issue for the Raptors during this stretch.

Blake Kennedy, wrote a great post on RaptorBlog pointing out the offensive struggles we have seen this season but unlike him, I saw it coming. A new coach who preaches defense first, the minimal practice time to implement a new offense and above all, the lack of guys who can create for themselves.

Andrea Bargnani was playing at an All-Star level before he was sidelined with the calf injury and this team just doesn’t have the personnel to make up for the 20+ PPG they lose with him out. Jose Calderon has been playing like the guy who was rewarded with that fat contract but he rather stay in his comfort zone of being the distributer, a bit of a problem when he is one of the better spot up shooters on this team. The Rasual Butler experiment seems to have finally come to an end as he continues to struggle with the one thing he was brought in to do but his replacement James Johnson is not someone the team can rely on offensively.

Probably the biggest disappointment so far has been the inconsistency from DeMar DeRozan. James Herbert wrote in his defense, but no matter how you slice it, DeRozan has regressed. After the most recent loss to the Blazers, DeMar admitted he is aware of the issues — “The last couple of games I have not gotten to the line. I have to be aggressive. Just going to the contact and not trying to avoid it, that’s my main issue.” He is taking more jumpers and they each look too strong and too flat. Maybe it is the adjustment he made in order to hit the long range shot but it has hindered his mid-range game a lot. Last season DeMar developed a spin move in the lane as his go to move, he has gone away from that and his resistance to contact has led to his numbers going down in almost every offensive category.

You know that phrase, basketball is a game of runs? Well the Raptors have yet to find  a way to avoid 5 minute offensive dry spells to make their runs count. Until they can get consistant production from guys not named Andrea Bargnani, they are going to be a tough team to watch. Hellloooo (Jack Armstrong voice) Kevin O’Neill era revisited!

No comments , , , , ,

Clawing The Net – Dwane Casey Edition (20/01/2012)

January 20, 2012 Nat Raptors Report

The blog had to take a back seat for a couple of weeks as I settled into my new job. With that taken care of, its time to introduce a new friday feature.

Between the 10 mainstream media outlets and countless blogs, there are a ton of good Raptor reads each week. Every Friday I will pick my favorites and link them for those who may have missed out. If I miss any you liked, be sure to put them in the comments.

The Basketball Jones with another instant classic! If this doesn’t get you to vote for Bargnani, nothing will.

  • What Dwane Casey can and cannot say as the Toronto Raptors struggle - Eric Koreen (National Post)
  • Statophile Volume 23 | Bad without Bargnani, Find minutes for Forbes, DeRozan’s (not) Driving - Tom Liston (Raptors Republic
  • Paroxysm At Gametime: Dwane Casey Is Building Something - James Herbert (Hardwood Paroxysm)
  • Casey sees light at end of tunnel - Ryan Wolstat (Toronto Sun)
  • No “D” in “Free” - Joseph Casciaro (RaptorBlog)
    • No comments

    Raptors Play Big, Silence The Wolves

    January 10, 2012 Nat Heels at the Game

    Photo Credit: APNot gonna lie. I walked into the Air Canada Centre tonight looking forward to watching the Kevin Love – Ricky Rubio show, and walked away with a new found appreciation for the heart and hustle of Amir Johnson. Postgame, coach Casey revealed that Amir was dealing with the flu but it sure didn’t affect his game. Aside from putting up 19 points and 11 rebounds, Amir had Kevin Love on lockdown. He made sure Love earned everything — that ended up being a poor, 3-16 from the field.

    Amir wasn’t the only Raptor to impress, Andrea Bargnani continued to silence his critics, putting together his third 30 point game of the season. The Timberwolves bit on Andrea’s fake at the 3 point line all night and he rarely settled for the jumper. He put that quick first step to use and went to the hoop early and often. Tallying 31 points to go with 9 rebounds, one has to think this new version of Bargnani is here to stay. While the Raptor bigs carried the load offensively, the play of James Johnson cannot be overlooked. He made use of his five fouls and showed again why he should soon get that starting SF spot over Rasual Butler who has surely left his jump shot south of the border.

    For most of the night it felt like the Raptors were dominating but the scoreboard told a different story. They had managed to contain Rubio & Co. for the most part but the additional free throws and three’s kept the Timberwolves in the game. The Raptors upped the ante on defense in the 4th, and Minny managed just six made field goals in the frame. There were moments where Rubio dazzled but his counterpart and mentor Calderon, held his own. The Raptors’ starters logged major minutes in order to close this one out but may be running on fumes as they hop on a plane and prepare to face the Wizards in less than 24 hours.

    The Night in Numbers

    9 blocks for the Raptors as a team. James Johnson, who was in the zone all night tied a career high with 4.
    75-37 the Raptors starters outscored the Timberwolves’ starting five. 50 of the 75 coming from Bargnani and A. Johnson.
    34% FG for the Wolves. The revamped Raptors D was in full effect tonight. This is the fifth time in nine games the Raptors have held an opponent to under 40% from the floor. They only pulled that off five times all of last season. They shot 44% on the night.
    3 made three’s for the Raptors. The team struggled from deep going just 3 of 19. Minnesota made 5 of their 8 three’s in the first quarter.
    9 points for DeMar Derozan who is struggling to find consistency on the offensive end. He did attack the basket more once that jumper wasn’t falling.
    20 second chance points for the Raptors who crashed the offensive boards hard tonight. Amir Johnson had 8 ORB’s and the Raptors had 14 as a team.
    45 minutes of playing time for Bargnani. He made the most of them but it is to be seen how the legs hold up in he second and third games of the back to back to back.
    26 FT’s made by the Raptors. The team stayed aggressive when the 3 ball was not falling and got to the line 28 times. Barbosa was perfect from the line going 9-9.

    Top 10 tweets from the #RTZ chat on twitter (LINK)

    Up Next: Raptors @ Wizards. Tuesday, 10th Jan. 2012. 7PM
    No comments , , , ,

    Raptor Rant – Two Games. One Story

    January 9, 2012 Nat Raptor Rants

    The Raptors are in the middle of a tough stretch of 7 games in 9 nights, where the first two were hardly ones to waste DVR space on. Less than a week ago, the team sat with a .500 record and all the talk was mostly positive. Fast forward to today as they get set to face the Timberwolves, and there is a familiar “sky is falling” vibe amongst the fan-base.

    When the Raptors took on the Nets last week, coach Casey stressed that there were “no easy wins” in the NBA and the team proved that. Unable to close out on shooters and letting Kris Humphries grab 16 rebounds were two of the many factors that did them in that night. Deron Williams ran circles around Jose Calderon and when things weren’t going well on the offensive end, the Raptors started falling into bad defensive habits from previous seasons.

    The next night against the 76′ers a similar pattern began to occur. 11 first half turnovers and the inability to find an offensive flow set the team back pedalling on defense. Inconsistency seems to be trend here early in the season. Outside of Bargnani, none of the guys have been able to produce constantly on the offensive end with the SF and SG spot being the glaring issues. James Johnson brings everything the team needs on D but is an absolute black hole on offense at the moment. Rasual Butler has yet to find that range he is known for and Barbosa is less blur and more bricks these days. DeRozan too has been unable to string together a few good games from start to finish. For him he may need to reconsider how he starts off — go to the basket instead of checking if your jumper is falling.

    This version of the Raptors is not going to be breaking any offensive records but once they start scrambling to score, the easy rebounds and fast breaks lead to defensive breakdowns and the rest just spirals from there. Right now this team needs to stop worrying about scoring and just keep building on the new defensive fundamentals being brought on by coach Casey. “Old habits die hard” they say, in this case, those old habits are probably going to keep this team lottery bound for one more year. For a big group of the fan base, that sounds like a plan!

    Up Next: Timberwolves @ Raptors. Monday, 9th Jan. 2012

    Here is what @jaysatur from Raptors.com is looking for from tonight’s matchup

    One comment

    Raptors Clamp Down On D, Dominate The Cavs

    January 5, 2012 Nat Heels at the Game

    andrea Primo Pregame, the story was all about Tristan Thompson’s homecoming. The highest drafted Canuck was preparing to suit up for the first time in front of family and friends, in an arena where not too long ago, he sat in the nosebleed’s to cheer on the same team he was about to face. The Toronto Raptors couldn’t care less, they were preparing to win. And win they did. It took them a while to get going offensively but another big night from Bargnani and DeRozan gave the Raptors(3-3) the 92-77 victory over the Cavs last night.

    Defensively this was the best effort put forth by the team so far in this young season. The Raptors are making it hard for their opponents to get the easy buckets they were knowing for giving up. They held the Cavs to under 30% from the floor and it is starting to become a pattern. Casey has made these guys, essentially the same core from last season, do a 180. The bad habits show up from time to time but its hard to miss all the talking going on, the improved defensive rotations and the shot contests. While the Cavs are hardly a benchmark to judge against, the Raps have been showing this new look for 6 games now. It suits them. Offensively they still have a ways to go because DeMar isn’t going to give them 5 three’s a night and Andrea is going to start facing a double team soon. If there was a weakness in this one it has to be the lack of production from the small forward spot once again. Butler is just a black hole right now, and James Johnson needs to find a jumper.

    Once the team starts putting things together on both ends of the floor, which I believe they will, expect there to be lots of empty room on the “TankNation” bandwagon.

    The Night in Numbers

    29.6% from the field were the Cavs who were stifled by the Raptors D all night. The Raptors are currently the only team holding opponents to an average of under 40% from the floor. Impressive for anyone, more so for a team never mentioned when talking defence.

    3 double-doubles for Jose Calderon after he put up 13 and 11 against the Cavs last night. Jose is playing some of the best ball of his career right now and has built a chemistry with both Andrea and Amir on that pick ‘n roll or pick ‘n pop.

    “He is much better than people give him credit for as far as his solid play, running the team, shooting the basketball.” – Dwane Casey on Calderon’s play early in the season.

    31 points from Andrea Bargnani and they all came within the flow of the offense. He is averaging 24 points on the season (7th best in the league) and doing it efficiently. Even more surprising, he is fully committed on the defensive end of the floor and it hasn’t taken away from what everyone knew he could do, which is score.

    “He is playing at an all-star level. I am totally impressed with his approach, defensively and offensively.” — Dwane Casey on Andrea

    5 made 3′s for DeRozan. He made 5 all of last season. DeMar put in a lot of work on that jumper this offseason, he was in the gym making 300 three pointers a day. Against the Cavs he picked his spots but that hard work is already paying off. The percentages are off the charts right now compared to last year but even if they come down to earth, its nice that he has this as an arsenal to use.

    “He opens up the floor for everybody else. Now you have to honour him. It’s going to help us a lot offensively, especially on the pick and roll” — Dwane Casey on DeMar’s extended range

    11 Turnovers, a category the team is still a little up and down with. They were much better handling the ball against the Cavs and sit around the middle of the pack in terms of coughing the ball up. Having the leader in AST-TO ratio in Jose, the Raptors should be fine over the course of the season. On the other end of the spectrum, the Raps are last in opponent turnovers per game. (source)

    -13 in the FT category. The Raptors are near the bottom of the league when it comes to getting to the line. Most of that has to do with the fact that Andrea, and for the most part this season, DeMar have been playing outside the paint. The positive from last night, the Raptors gave nothing easy. Opponents are made to earn it at the line in coach Casey’s new system.

    4 fast break points. Though coach Casey has stated he wants the team to get out and run it’s not happening. The Raptors are very much half court team right now, a lot has to do with the style of play from Calderon and Bargnani. As @Liston pointed out in his stats breakdown on Raptors Republic – Toronto has the fifth slowest pace factor in the league at 88.8.

    Up Next: Nets @ Raptors. 7PM on Friday, 6th Jan. 2012.
    One comment , , , ,
    « Older Entries