Breaking news: Raptors are soft, don’t play defense
Chris Bosh, Dime #33
Today I came across a column where the writer listed some things Tiger Woods should do if he decides to go on an image-repair campaign: Sign more autographs, smile more often, be nicer to the media, that kind of thing.
Allow me to vigorously disagree. (So much that I had to use the word “vigorously.”) If Tiger all of a sudden re-emerges from this scandal shaking hands and kissing babies, it will come across as blatantly fake, because we all know that’s not Tiger’s natural way. Everybody will smell the fishy odor, and if you think Tiger is being portrayed as a lying snake now, imagine when he tries to get over on the rest of the world like he was getting over on the people close to him. If I were advising Tiger, I’d tell him to just keep acting the way he usually acts in public and with the media, and eventually people will get back on his side when he starts racking up wins on the golf course.
The point is, in sports, change is not always a good thing.
But in the case of the Toronto Raptors, change is overdue. Not so long ago, the Raps were seen as an up-and-coming contender in the Eastern Conference, with a low-post franchise cornerstone in Chris Bosh, a borderline All-Star point guard in Jose Calderon, and a young scorer with Dirk Nowitzki-ish potential in Andrea Bargnani. Today those pieces are still in place, but there’s been no overall progress: Toronto backed into the ‘08 playoffs and quietly exited in the first round, they only won 33 games last season, and this year they’re off to a disappointing 11-16 start even after signing a big-name free agent in Hedo Turkoglu and adding talented Lottery pick DeMar DeRozan.
The problems that have plagued Toronto over the last couple of seasons are still there, despite an allegedly new attitude under coach Jay Triano. The Raps still don’t play good enough defense, and they’re still accused of being soft. When Jarrett Jack stood up to Houston’s Trevor Ariza over the weekend after Ariza swung an elbow at DeRozan, Jack was applauded for going outside Toronto’s norm. But then last night’s loss at Miami was a shining example of the same ol’, same ol’.
Getting blown out by 20 in a game where Dwyane Wade sat out the fourth quarter, the Raps were out-rebounded 45-32, and gave up 52 points in the paint.
“They don’t talk on defense. They don’t play any defense,” courtside spectator Charles Oakley told the Toronto Star. Columnist Dave Feschuk had more:
The coaches harp, but is anyone listening? Marc Iavaroni, the assistant who specializes in defense, was seen chewing out reserve guard Marco Belinelli during last night’s third quarter. Belinelli’s response? He snapped back at Iavaroni, then moved down the bench a few seats so he was out of shouting range.
Late in the game Andrea Bargnani, who’d been the victim of much of Michael Beasley’s 28-point performance, put in a decent defensive possession against the Miami scorer. Beasley missed a jump shot. But the rest of the Raptors missed their rebounding assignment. Dorell Wright, no unstoppable attacker of the glass, punctuated the ineptitude with a follow-up slam dunk. Bargnani gave a dismissive wave of his hand, mouthed profanities and retired to the end of the bench.
Said Jay Triano, the head coach: “Defensively we had guys hustling and playing, but one guy misses an assignment every time down the floor. … It would be great to point a finger at one guy and say, ‘Hey, you missed it.’ But it was different people at different times.”
Said Bargnani: “It’s very disappointing. From the beginning of the season, we do this stuff. We played great in the first game (of the season) against Cleveland, and in the second game we played bad against Memphis. It’s going on all year long. I honestly don’t know the answer.”
So what do they do? This is something of an in-limbo year for the franchise. Bosh is a free agent next summer, and with no one sure what he wants to do, it’s wait-and-see on what the Raptors will look like in the long-term. Will Bosh stick around as the centerpiece? Will Bargnani assume the role? Will it be Turkoglu or a 2010 acquisition?
For now, the Raptors aren’t out of it. There’s still time to turn this ship around and make the playoffs, but they have to shore up the defense and get tougher.
In the few times I’ve seen Bosh play this year, he at least seems to have the act down. He’s been snarling more, showing emotion, showing he really cares about winning and losing and will take on the responsibility of a leader in that regard. He put on extra muscle in the offseason and has been solid, averaging 24.2 points and 11.5 boards. (Last night, however, Bosh only had two rebounds.)
But it takes more than just one player, even if he is the face of the organization. The players around Bosh need to man up. As with every team Oakley has ever played for that finds itself struggling, some have suggested bringing Oakley back as a special assistant in charge of cracking heads. That’s a fun first step, but on a larger scale, the Raptors need to just take some pride in the other part of the game besides scoring. Make the other team’s point total the most important number in the building.
They’ve heard all of this before, though. Even as the coaches and players change in Toronto, the problems stay the same.
What do you think the Raptors should do to fix their situation?
December 16th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
I believe the fishy odor you speak of is mostly likey one of the cocktail waitresses Tiger slept with.
December 16th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
*Most likely ha ha
December 16th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
sh!tfaced says:
The Raps need to find a time machine/fountain of youth and sign Oakley.
When the dust settles and all the smoke clears up for Tiger, he’ll be bigger than ever. Because he’s a lot more interesting now…
December 16th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Talented says:
Lol, the Raptors are always soft. I remember reading an article about their downy like attributes either here or Slamonline. How do you build toughness though? Or atleast get rid of that marshmellow texture they walking round with…Most players that get to this level already have that toughness
December 16th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
sh!tfaced says:
@1 hahaha. good one, man
December 16th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Shakashi says:
i’d be piss 2 if my teammates weren’t playin D in a official game
December 16th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Tex says:
Tiger should join Amway, and then recruit all of his “girlfriends”, as Amway also screws everything that moves. Amway is a scam, and here’s why: Amway wants to pay out as little money as they can get away with, so they support the higher level IBOs ripping off their downline via the tool scam. As a result, about 99% of IBOs operate at a net loss, while the top 1% make several TIMES more from their Amway tool scam than from the Amway products. Read about it on my blog, I suggest you start here: http://tiny.cc/D5oJh and forward the information to everyone you know, so they don’t get scammed.
December 16th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
QQ says:
‘Snarling more’ means you’re more committed? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Damn, that made me LITERALLY LMAO.
I guess I just have to snarl myself in every situation in my life. People will think I am REALLY serious and determined.
PS: Best unintentional comedy line ever.
December 16th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
LakeShow84 says:
Like the Dwight Howard article said..
The Raps need an ENFORCER.. you cant expect Bosh to do EVERYTHING.. Hes been tearing it up but he isnt a enforcer and he needs his energy for the offense.. they need a player who does all the dirty at the C spot.. and with his skill set Bosh is NOT a C.. hes got PF written all over him..
Like the example above.. you think a tough gritty C is going to let that rebound get away?? Fluck no..
December 16th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
IG says:
They traded for an “enforcer” who was having a good camp but got injured, Reggie Evans.
December 16th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Taj says:
Breaking news?? LOL!!
I’d love to think that Reggie Evans woulda knocked some people on their asses but I think they need more than that.. I thought Sam Mitchell got into his team and challenged them, but that wore out as well as his voice box.. I like that Jarrett Jack has stepped up to be the on court vocal leader.. It seems like the other big name guys are afraid… But its not going to fix the problem.
Who knows what will…
December 16th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Dagomar says:
Great post.
Besides waiting for Evans to return, I’m not sure what the Raptors CAN do besides exerting more effort on a nightly basis. Frankly the roster is loaded with excellent offensive players who have never been known for their defense, so it should be no surprise that this is a dynamic offensive team that plays no defense. Instilling a tougher attitude and teaching defense is much, much easier said than done. Either way if the team keeps on its current course Bosh will be gone next year and it’ll be rebuilding time. Sadly that might be the only answer.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
mbar says:
Raps need to change from giving the fans pizza if the score over 100 points, to giving the fans pizza if they hold the opposing team UNDER 100 points
December 16th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
TomGfromCanada says:
not breaking news, at least not to me
December 16th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
CJ says:
not lookin good for the raps. ain’t no way cb4 is gonna re-up with this crew if they don’t start winning. bargs started off well, but man, can a 7 footer play any smaller? as for jose? i bet opposing pg’s are lickin’ their chops everytime they play toronto. he makes them look like all stars! horrible defender and injury or not, he hasn’t improved in the last 2 years.
December 16th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
confusedraptorsfan says:
People in Toronto are fed up of trying to build a team around Chris Bosh. He is not a franchise player. He is the best player on the team and most likely will get max money. But his defense like he entire team is terrible. Even his rebounding has gone south in the last few games. Chris Bosh has always started the season strong to finish with a whimper. For many fans, he is over-rated. Torontonians look forward to the new era without Chris Bosh. The experiment has failed and it is time to move on.
December 16th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Kermit The Washington says:
LOL @ TEX!!!!
What is this, 1987?? AMWAY?! Really?!?! Wow, I know this site gets spammed from time to time, most notably by the “talldatingsite.com” thing, but WOW who in the world is still messin’ with AMWAY?
December 17th, 2009 at 1:33 am
K Dizzle says:
They need Evans to suit up for real and they gotta find minutes for Pops. That dude cracks skulls
December 17th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Bron42 aka Had Springs before Slamball says:
they need to quit with all these euro junk players.
December 17th, 2009 at 1:58 am
Bron42 aka Had Springs before Slamball says:
@kermit, amway owns the orlando magic so their alive and kickin lol and its called quixtar now or something
December 17th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Bron42 aka Had Springs before Slamball says:
@confusedraptorsfan, stupid sad comments like that are why every superstar your corny team has ever had wants to bounce.
December 17th, 2009 at 3:25 am
QQ says:
To be real honest, I don’t wassup’s with Chris Bosh. Every tim I watch him play, he’s a beast, he can play with the best PG in the game. But his team plays like shit every year, so he’s also clearly not a leader that wins.
I guess kid can play like a franchise baller, that’s a given.
But about winning? I don’t think he knows that yet.
December 17th, 2009 at 3:34 am
fLaVa says:
sign danny fortson to lay some guys on the ground and with when evans comes back, things SHOULD get a little better
December 17th, 2009 at 6:10 am
b says:
raptors should start rebuilding. trade bosh for some major talent, he’s leaving anyways at the end of the season, going to Miama…. i like hedu, but unless the get some defence at the 1, they should loose him too to make some cap room…
December 17th, 2009 at 9:19 am
karizmatic says:
They might as well change the name of the Toronto Raptors to the Toronto International All-Stars, one thing I’ve noticed about international players is they seem not to really care at all about playing defense. They have high basketball IQ’s can shoot the lights out and play team ball, until it comes to defense. Many American players are guilty of the same thing, but can at least be induced to play defense for the sake of shutting down an opposing all-star or getting blocks up or steals up, not that it really helps defense a lot of these stats are inflated by bad gambles, but my point is where are the European versions of Bruce Bowen, Shane Battier, or Ben Wallace? This is relevant to the Raptors because they have a high number of international players playing big minutes and a bunch of other guys who aren’t known to play any semblance of defense. Simply put the only way you get better defense out of that roster is to get rid of some of the players. Of course Bosh and Jack could help if they started to really put emphasis on the defensive end. The team has no real defensive leader.
December 17th, 2009 at 11:23 am
chris says:
reggie evans isn’t coming back any time soon, he is still in a walking cast 28 games into the season…like it or not, he was probably the craptors most important acquisition last summer, as they really needed his defence to offset the lack of d they knew they were getting by adding turkoglu and derozan. really scary when the raps have nesterovic, bargnani, turkoglu, bellinelli, and calderon on the floor…all white, all slow, no help on d, and they all want to shoot from outside on offence! antoine wright isn’t nearly as good on d as hoped, and without all 5 players on the floor committed to helping out and moving fast on defence, they get picked apart anytime their opposition makes more than 3 passes. their best 5 for d will be bosh, evans, johnson, jack, derozan, once evans is back, with turkoglu or bargnani (but not both at the same time) coming in to jack up some shots when bosh or derozan need a blow. maybe a .500 team while evans is healthy, once he settles in.