Defense by … um, oh well
Monday, October 26th, 2009Unfortunately, it’s articles and season forecasts like this …
No time to waste? Fast-forward through the 2009-2010 season
Surprise Team
They stand a far better chance of holding a UN summit than the Larry O’Brien trophy. But the Raptors, who speak more languages than Berlitz, will throw a memorable season-long going-away party for Chris Bosh. Six new players will figure into the rotation, which raises the possibility of a chaotic first few months. But everyone on the roster has a specific role. Ballhandling by Jose Calderon. Outside shooting by Andrea Bargnani. Rebounding by Reggie Evans. Toughness by Jarret Jack. Scoring off the dribble by Hedo Turkoglu. Young bounce by DeMar DeRozan. Defense by … um, oh well. You won’t fall in love with any one player, but you’ll fall in like with several. Plus, Bosh is playing for money. They’ll finish top-6 in the East, make the playoffs, pull a first-round surprise and then reach for a hanky when Bosh goes off to … drum roll … Miami.
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that consistently get it wrong/backwards, when it comes to, “How to properly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a NBA team,” considering the three main phases of the game: 1. Defense, 2. Rebounding, and 3. Offense.
Instead of including these five [5] simple words in the middle of this paragraph … regarding the Raptors’ collective inability to get stops at crucial times in games played this season, against quality opponents … and surrounding them with 140+ words about the:
- International flavour of the roster
- roster make-over this summer [with 9 new faces on-board]
- roles filled by only 6 players [in a game that needs, at least, 8-9]
- team’s offensive capabilities, i.e. ballhandling, shooting and scoring
- team’s infusion of toughness
- expectation to qualify for the playoffs and win a 1st Round series
- the possible departure of the team’s lone All-Star player
what Shaun Powell should have done is LEAD with it … since Defense and Rebounding are so much more important to a NBA team’s actual success or failure [as opposed to Offense, rumours and/or W-L predictions].
The teams that finish toward the top of the standings in this league, year-after-year, are the ones which perform the best in these two specific areas of the game, irrespective of the particular tools used to measure them, e.g. Points Differential, Points Allowed, Defensive Efficiency Ratings, Rebounding Differential, Rebounding Percentages and Ratings [etc.].
When any so-called “NBA analyst” uses a 30:1, like this, in her/his description of the prospects for a certain team [between the words devouted to "Offense and Others Things" vs "Defense and Rebounding"] what s/he’s really showing you is that s/he does NOT understand how the game works at this level of competition.
The only people the Raptors are going to surprise this season are those who have yet to read the work of individuals like David Berri, John Hollinger, Brad Doolittle & Kevin Pelton, Wayne Winston … and yours truly. 
