khandor’s sports blog

MISSING OUT ON LONG TERM GAIN WHILE ACHIEVING SHORT TERM OBJECTIVES

As of Friday, November 19, 2010 the Raptors’ W-L Record was 4-9/.308, which placed them firmly in the bottom section of the Eastern Conference Standings.

On the heels of consecutive home court victories, over the Philadelphia 76ers and the Houston Rockets, the Raptors then made 2 related trades on Saturday, November 20, 2010, which saw them acquire Jerryd Bayless [PG] and Peja Stojakovic [SF], from the New Orleans Hornets, in exchange for Jarrett Jack [PG], David Andersen [C] and Marcus Banks [PG].

On Sunday, November 21, 2010 the Raptors defeated the visiting Boston Celtics [102-101].

On Wednesday, Novmeber 24, 2010 the Raptors defeated the visiting Philadelphia 76ers, once again, to extend their winning streak to 4 games.

On Friday, November 26, 2010 the Raptors were defeated by the Celtics [101-110], in Boston; while, simultaneously, Ed Davis [PF] was making his debut with the Erie Bayhawks of the NBA’s D-League. Also, it was during this game that Reggie Evans [PF] was lost to injury with a broken foot.

On Sunday, November 28, 2010 the Raptors were resoundingly defeated at the ACC by the visiting Atlanta Hawks; while, simultaneously, Ed Davis was playing his 2nd game with the Bayhawks [vs the Fort Wayne Mad Ants].

Then, in last night’s game, against Washington [at the ACC], the Raptors routed the last place Wizards [127-108] … with both Jerryd Bayless and Ed Davis in their line-up for the first time this season.

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While there have been plenty of so-called “NBA Analysts/Experts” – i.e. including, both, “stats gurus” and non-”stats gurus”- voice their opinion, thus far this season, that the Raptors might have one of the worst rosters in the entire league and, as a result, would most likely finish with one of the worst W-L records, yours truly has not been one of them.

Instead, what has been said in this corner is that:

* In an effort to obtain the rights to one of the Top 3 Selections in the 2011 NBA Draft, what the Raptors should do this season is maintain the status quo, i.e. by retaining the roster that began the 2010-2011 regular season, which includes making no significant trades, keeping Reggie Evans in their regular rotation and keeping Ed Davis out of their line-up for a 12 month period from the date of his initial torn meniscus.

By following this specific course of action, this particular season, the Raptors would give themselves the best opportunity possible to add a legitimate “Top 3 Player” to their future roster which, in turn, would then allow them to make a gradual climb up the standings in the Eastern Conference … over a period of consecutive years … with the ultimate destination being the upper echelon [i.e. Top 4] and achieving full-blown status as a perennial contender for the League Championship.

OTOH …

* If what the Raptors are really trying to do this season is [i] improve their chances of making the playoffs and [ii] sustain their current status as a “competitive” but far-from-top-notch franchise in the middle section of NBA that [iii] achieves an annual profit for its ownership group, then, what the Raptors should do this year is not maintain the status quo, i.e. by upgrading the roster which began the 2010-2011 regular season, which includes making a significant trade, or two, removing Reggie Evans from the regular rotation and replacing him with Ed Davis.

By following this specific course of action, this particular season, the Raptors would give themselves the best opportunity to attain their 3 principal short term objectives, while also ensuring that they make negligible progress towards the long term goal of reaching the upper echelon in the Eastern Conference [i.e. Top 4] and achieving full-blown status as a perennial contender for the League Championship.

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While some active participants in the blogosphere have expressed their opinion that the acquisitions of Bayless and Stojakovic would most likely “downgrade” the Raptors’ current roster, yours truly has made the observation that this would, in fact, not be the case at all … and that, in fact, these changes would most likely bring about the opposite effect for Toronto this season.

For the remainder of this season it should prove to be very interesting to keep track of how Toronto actually performs in each of the following situational categories:

and what the eventual effects will be on their team’s overall development during the course of the next several seasons.

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“Luck is the residue of design.” – Branch Rickey

When Toronto’s basketball brain-trust made the decision to complete the two trades which they made this past weekend that obtained the following 2 players:

Jerryd Bayless [PG/OG] and Peja Stojakovic [SF]

in exchange for the following 3 players:

Jarrett Jack [PG/OG], David Andersen [C] and Marcus Banks [PG]

it accomplished several inter-related things:

1. Opened up a roster spot that will probably be used to sign Erick Dampier [C];

2. Solidified Jose Calderon’s role with this year’s squad, as the Starting PG;

3. Opened up increased playing time for the No. 9 [overall] Selection from the 2010 NBA Draft – i.e. Ed Davis [PF-C] - who is due to re-join their active roster shortly after completing his rehabilitation assignment to the D-League;

4. Improved their chances of competing for a lower tier playoff spot in the Eastern Conference [i.e. No. 6, No. 7 and No. 8] this season;

5. Reduced their chances of finishing in the basement of the Eastern Conference this season;

and,

6. Effectively eliminated their opportunity to obtain Harrison Barnes [G/F, 6-8, 210], as a franchise-changing player who will be available this summer … as a likely Top 3 Selection in the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery.

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This is what the NBA Standings look like today, in the aftermath of yesterday’s thrilling victory by the Raptors [5-9/.357, T-12th] over the visiting Celtics [9-4/.692, 2nd];

and, this – i.e. please click on the link - is a comparative evaluation of the rosters for the different teams in the East that should now be able to effectively compete for the last 3 playoff spots this year, as the regular season continues to unfold.

Where the Raptors once had a legitimate chance to obtain a dominant player in next summer’s NBA Draft Lottery, today, this is no longer the case.

Unfortunately …

Personnel moves like these are yet more instances of this franchise opting for a “short term” boost in on-court performance with increased financial flexibility, rather than following a detailed, costly and highly integrated “long term” plan which is designed to gradually improve the organization over a period of years, while also increasing their opportunity to achieve major success, as one of the authentic dominant teams in the NBA.

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Update:

Please see this specific blog entry - from Tuesday, November 24, 2010 - for a more expansive version of why these two trades from this past weekend have improved the NBA talent level on the Raptors’ current – and future – roster this season. 

According to Ryan Wolstat [whose basketball opinions are usual quite sound] …

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Calderon vs Jack; NBA pitching contraction

A few quick things today. Had a good discussion on Twitter Thursday about Jose Calderon vs. Jarrett Jack in the starting lineup. I don’t get it and it seems very few people do. Jose looks like a shell of his former self, he isn’t helping the team much and he is helping his trade value even less.

I’m not huge into the +- stat in basketball, but it isn’t completely useless. Calderon is -15 for the pre-season playing almost exclusively with the starters, Jack is +29 playing mostly with the reserves. Calderon is shooting 28% and 9% fromt three, meanwhile Jack is posting absurd numbers that won’t last (north of 70% from three). I know Jack is playing extremely well with the second unit, but the Raptors aren’t going to win games if the first unit puts them in a hole – which it will if Calderon tries to guard the likes of Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Jrue Holiday, John Wall, etc., etc., etc. Teams don’t do well when they are always battling back from a deficit. At least if Calderon is coming off the bench he will only have to guard backup point guards.

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If, however, you take a careful look at …

A. The actual Play-By-Play from Wednesday’s game between the Raptors [i.e. Calderon & Jack] and the Bulls [i.e. Rose & Watson],

and, then, examine:

B. The following “Substitution Chart”:

what you should be able to see is that:

C. The Plus/Minus [+/-] comparison between the 4 Point Guards

Reveals the following 3 observations:

#1. It is a complete fallacy to believe/perceive/think/suggest that Jose Calderon was/is unable to be successful defensively when matched-up against the likes of Derrick Rose [i.e. the Bulls' starting PG], in comparison with Jarrett Jack;

and,

#2. A main reason why the Raptors were, in fact, able to maintain contact with the Bulls in this game, in the first place, was because of the way in which Jarrett Jack was able to succeed during his shifts on the floor vs CJ Watson [not Derrick Rose];

and,

#3. Two main reasons why the Raptors were not able to eventually beat the Bulls were:

i. The relatively poor play of Jose Calderon against both Derrick Rose and CJ Watson;

and,

ii. The exceptionally poor play of Jarrett Jack against Derrick Rose, specifically.

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PS. In addition to the 3 points mentioned above, what should also be quite clear from the “Substitution Chart” is the actual degree to which Coach Triano’s decision to use the combination of Jarrett Jack [PG] and Leandro Barbosa [OG] against the Bull’s back-court pairing of Derrick Rose [PG] and Ronnie Brewer [OG] was wholly unsuccessful!

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Definition for the word conundrum.
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In Raptorville, it’s a simple question …

Jose Calderon vs Jarrett Jack

which will gradually become a dominant topic, as the regular season unfolds, and the Raptors continue to struggle on the defensive end of the floor.

However, instead of placing the blame for the team’s poor defensive performance, overall, squarely where it belongs, on:

1. GM/President, Bryan Colangelo;

2. Head Coach, Jay Triano;

3. Center, Andrea Bargnani; and,

4. Wing Players, DeMar DeRozan, Linas Kleiza, Leandro Barbosa, Sonny Weems and Julian Wright;

expect the team’s brain-trust to eventually allow the media and the fanbase to focus their attention on the perceived performance of the team’s Point Guards – i.e. Calderon and Jack – as the supposed “first line” of defense or, in this case, the lack-there-of. 

Once sufficient time has passed, and this year’s squad is, again, determined to be one of the worst defensive units in the NBA …

NOTE: After 6 games in this year’s pre-season, the Raptors have an “average points allowed” [APA] of 101.8/ppg, which in last year’s NBA would have had them ranked 17th in the entire league – an improvement of 11 positions from their actual performance. This current APA, however, also includes at least two games which are distinct anomalies – i.e. Game 1 vs Phoenix [only 78 pts for a traditionally high-scoring team] and Game 4 vs Philadelphia [116 pts in a 2 OT contest]. If the first of these two games is removed from the equation, then, the Raptors APA this pre-season increases to 106.6/ppg – which would have had them ranked 29th in last year’s NBA. If the second game is then removed, as well, the Raptors APA decreases to 104.3/ppg - which would still have had them ranked only 24th in last year’s NBA.  

… what you should expect to see happen next is:

i. The team’s seeming inability to Stop Dribble Penetration prominently identified, as its major area of weakness; 

ii. Jarrett Jack supplant Jose Calderon, as the Starting PG, since Jack is generally thought to be the better defensive player, overall;

and,

iii. The Raptors’ W-L record still continue to stagnate for the balance of the season.

Q1. How come, you ask?

Q2. Because, in the NBA, good Team Defense DOES NOT stem from having a Point Guard who is something MORE than an average-to-less-than-average individual defensive player.

Good Team Defense, in this league, actually stems from having a top notch:

I. GM, who truly understands the value of a Starting Center, and an assortment of Wing Players, with the Ability to Defend … and Rebound … in a first class way;

II. Head Coach, who truly understands the value of a defensive emphasis which rewards … and, therefore, prioritizes properly … the best defensive players at the Center and Wing positions with the most playing time, in the regular rotation;

and,

III. Starting PG with:

i. A High Basketball IQ, in general;

ii. Strong Leadership Ability;

iii. Good Size;

iv. A High Assist:Turnover Ratio;

v. The Ability to Shoot a High Percentage on 3PT shots; and,

vi. The Ability to Run a Team Properly, primarily, from An Offensive Perspective … to ensure that good – i.e. high percentage – shots are The Norm and not an anomaly.    

3 BASIC TRUTHS ABOUT GOOD TEAM DEFENSE IN THE NBA GAME

* Bad shots taken on Offense lead to easy transitions scores for the opposition … and the perception of bad Team Defense, overall, for the team in question.

* Bad Defensive Wing Players, in general, lead to easy scores - i.e. both, in transition and half-court situations – by the opposition’s main offensive weapons … who, in today’s game, are most frequently Off Guards and/or Small Forwards.

* A Bad Defensive Center – i.e. from a Team Concept perspective – leads to an overall LACK OF CONFIDENCE by the group that “defensive mistakes” which are made are, in fact, GOING TO BE EFFECTIVELY ERASED BY THE TEAM’S LAST LINE OF DEFENSE – IT’S STARTING CENTER - who is generally deployed closest to the defensive basket and is actually RESPONSIBLE FOR DEFENDING THE HOOP AGAINST EACH OF THE OPPONENT’S FIVE [5] PLAYERS, and not just his own individual defensive check. 

The Raptors will only be able to effectively address their woeful Team Defense when: [1] Jose Calderon is used as their primary PG … because he is a substantially better player at the offensive end of the floor when compared with Jarett Jack; [2] Andrea Bargnani is no longer used as their primary C … because he is a very poor Team Defender, when compared with the other Centers in the league today; and, [3] they obtain at least 1 legitimate Wing Player, who is capable of defending adequately – i.e. from both a physical and skill-based standpoint – against the likes of Kobe Bryant, D-Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Paul Pierce, Manu Ginobili, Carmelo Anthony, Brandon Roy, Ray Allen, Vince Carter, Joe Johnson, Rudy Gay, Tyreke Evans, Richard Hamilton, Danilo Gallinari, Danny Granger, Andre Iguodala, Grant Hill, Richard Jefferson, Stephen Jackson, Jason Richardson and Caron Butler, etc. 

Last year, the specific talk coming from Raptors training camp was about the team’s new over-riding Defensive Philosophy, referred to as, “Protecting the House,” in an all-out effort to improve their Defensive FG%. 

Unfortunately, last year’s Raptors then finished the 2009-2010 season as one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA.

Now, during this year’s training camp, this is what is currently being said about the Raptors Point of Emphasis, defensively, for the coming season:

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Raptors focus on fine art of defence

It is a delicate balance the Raptors seek as they try to improve the weakest aspect of their game.

They have to teach aggression tempered with intelligence. Quickness rather than speed.

They need continuity from a group of relative strangers and a dedication to a cause that brings with it little glory.

Easy? Not so much, but if they don’t shore up their defence and find a system that suits their personnel, any chance of being even a mildly surprising team in the coming NBA season is gone out the window.

It is the topic as training camp drones on, the one thing that coach Jay Triano and his assistants are more worried about than any other.

“One, you’ve got a number of new guys who are going to be in the rotation so that’s immediately a challenge,” said assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo. “Two, you don’t have a lot of continuity. Even though you could say it’s Jay’s third year, it’s at least a second, if not a third, different roster so it’s not like he’s had two years to install his system and the same guys are playing his system.

“The good news is you have some young guys with some quickness and enthusiasm. The bad news is you have young guys and inexperienced guys.”

What the Raptors want to do defensively sounds so simple: They want to apply pressure as much as possible, take away outside shots, force turnovers and score off their defence.

“I’d say we’re more aggressive,” said Triano. “Last year we had a tendency to sit on boxes (in the low post) and elbows (at the top of the free-throw lane) and protect the paint and the house and all that. This year, we’re just out and guarding guys.”

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1. Pressure the ball.

and,

2. Create more turnovers.

Hmmm …

Simple to do, perhaps … if you have enough of the right type of players on your roster, in the first place.

When you actually compare the individual defensive ability of the 15 players on the present roster for the Raptors to the group which ended the 2009-2010 campaign, what you get looks something like this:

Those who think the Team Defensive woes of the 2009-2010 Toronto Raptors will be cured by this year’s squad making a renewed commitment to ”applying increased ball pressure”, over the course of an 82-game regular season are, quite simply, unfamiliar with the way in which the NBA actually works:

General Truths About the NBA Game, From a Defensive Perspective:

1. “Less experienced” players are not superior Individual or Team defenders, in comparison with veteran players.

2. “Faster” players do not necessarily prove to be superior Individual or Team defenders, in comparison with slower players.

3. Authentic “high end” Team Defensive ability stems, primarily, from just 2 sources:

i. Having enough rotational players whose specific WEAKNESS does not originate in their own Individual and/or Team defensive game;

 and,

ii. A head coach’s PERSONAL COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE, on the defensive side of the floor, based upon the successful implementation/execution of sound and highly integrated strategic and/or tactical concepts. [NOTE: Please recognize the plural form of the final word in this last sentence.]

When a team is atrocious on the defensive side of the ball, however, it does not become significantly better by:

while retaining non defensive stalwarts like:

in their existing roles, in the regular rotation, AND retaining the same head coach who was responsible for the implementation of the Defensive Philosophy which was used the previous season, even if the nature of THAT specific philosophy is supposedly going to change for the new campaign.

Scoring enough points to win games … against high end competition … has not been a major problem for the Raptors during the last several seasons. Preventing high end opponents from doing likewise, however, has consistently been one of the Dinos main problems.

With the set of players, coaches, and GM – i.e. who is responsible for putting together the roster – currently in place for this team, do not expect this reality to change this season.    

While certain basketball “stats gurus” have projected the Raptors to finish at the very bottom of the Eastern Conference this season, given the current configuration of their roster …

2010-2011 Forecast: Toronto Raptors [Insider access required]

ESPN Insider: Hollinger’s Raptors Outlook

Turkoglu is gone, so is “Ball”

other NBA observers actually think that Toronto … sans:

1 Chris Bosh [C/PF]
2 Hedo Turkoglu [PF/SF]
3 Antoine Wright [SF/OG]
4 Marco Belinelli [OG/PG]
5 Rasho Nesterovic [C], and
6 Patrick O’Bryant

may not be that bad this season, with the arrival of 7 new players:

1 Ed Davis [PF, injured]
2 Solomon Alabi [C]
3 Linas Kleiza [SF/PF]
4 Leandro Barbosa [OG/PG]
5 David Andersen [C]
6 Julian Wright [SF], and
7 Ronald Dupree [SF, training camp invite]

and, the continued growth and development of still youngish hold-overs like:

9 Andrea Bargnani [C/PF]
10 DeMar DeRozan [OG/SF]
11 Sonny Weems [OG/SF]
12 Amir Johnson [PF], and
13 Joey Dorsey [PF],

especially, if/when they decide to use their TPE …

2010-2011 NBA Season Preview: Toronto Raptors.

This corner, however, is not in agreement with either of these two “extreme positions”, as being the most likely outcome for the Dinos this season.

When you examine how each of the current Eastern Conference rosters look, in comparison with the Raptors, on an individual-by-individual basis:

WHERE THE RAPTORS ARE MOST LIKELY TO FINISH THIS SEASON, BASED UPON AN INDIVIDUAL-BY-INDIVIDUAL MATCH-UP ASSESSMENT OF TEAM ROSTERS

what you should be able to see is that there are 4 teams, in addition to the Raptors, that should all be in the mix for positions #11 thru #15 in the Final Standings this season.

As always, where these mid-to-lower tier teams will actual finish … as far as exact win and loss totals are concerned … will actually be determined, in large part, by specific factors which are beyond their own control, including, for example:

i. Injuries;
ii. Unforeseen, anomalous circumstances [e.g. suspensions or arrests, etc.]; and,
iii. Blind [either, good or bad] luck.   

The most insightful remark derived from yesterday’s media day for the Toronto Raptors was provided by one of the team’s point guards.

While some of the team’s observers rush to take as gospel every form of propoganda which is distributed by various employees of MLSE, it is certainly refreshing to read/hear that someone like Jarrett Jack [PG] does not fit into this same naive category:

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Rapcast #88: Raptors Media Day

Jack also took a swipe at Colangelo about his criticism of Bosh:

I feel like if you felt like that, why didn’t you say it or tell him about it while it was going on? I’m going to approach you while it was going on, while it’s fresh. We can have a healthy discussion about it. Saying it now, it doesn’t matter. He’s with the Miami Heat now. Like Dan Gilbert, he did all that stuff with LeBron, that he was a quitter and all this other stuff. But if LeBron would have signed back with Cleveland, you would have welcomed him back with open arms.

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Some of the ridiculous verbage which has eminated from certain Raptors’ brass this off season … who should really know better than to make disparaging remarks like these about the former captain of their team:

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Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo slams Chris Bosh [Jul 27 2010]

However, Colangelo thinks that Bosh just didn’t care by then.

“Whether he was mentally checked out or just wasn’t quite into it down the stretch, he wasn’t the same guy. I think everybody saw that, but no one wanted to acknowledge it.”

“At the same time, I never felt we were quite in the game (in terms of signing Bosh to a new contract). There was too much out there, too much built up for him to take an easy out here, and he decided to do that.”

Yikes. I’m not quite sure whether “mentally checked out” or “[took] an easy out” is a bigger indictment of Bosh, but it’s good to see Colangelo covering all the bases. Just really carpet-bombing to make sure he addresses all of Bosh’s flaws.

But to really drive home his point, Colangelo reached for the big gun — “he’s not a franchise player” one.

“We tried in vain to put pieces around Chris. Different pieces, different styles. It didn’t work out.”

“No matter what type of player we brought in, it didn’t seem to have the right mix with him as that centrepiece.”

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Will Chris Bosh be a silent partner? [Sep 26 2010]

In setting up his own team’s season, Raptors coach Jay Triano also offered a potential clue to how the Heat’s season might set up beyond the court.

“When you talk about Chris being the leader in the locker room,” Triano told a Toronto radio station, “I think it’s the one thing that he wasn’t for us.

“He did a great job of getting 24 points and 10, 11 rebounds on a regular basis, but Chris did not really take the leadership role into the locker room. He’s not a vocal person; he’s not a guy who really did that.” [...]

“I think in the years that he’s been here,” Triano said, “he’s almost deferred to different people.

“Everybody kind of waited for him to take the reins last year and it could’ve been part of the issues we had.”

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has only served to further embarass the Raptors franchise … as an organization which lacks authentic class … in the eyes of the best players in the NBA.

Kudos to Mr. Jack … for being intelligent enough to not simplistically rink the proverbial kool-aid, in this instance.

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PS. It is going to be a long season for the Raptors, filled with an assortment of tap-dancing routines like these.

According to Doug Smith, long time basketball columnist for the Toronto Star, these are some of the most important questions which the Raptors will face this coming season:

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Big questions loom at Raptor camp

1. Who will play as the primary PG this year? [i.e. Jose Calderon or Jarrett Jack]

2. Who will play as the primary SF this year? [i.e. Linas Kleiza or Sonny Weems]

3. How much will the team’s defense improve? [i.e. last year theirs was one of the worst in the NBA]

4. Which player will become the primary scorer? [i.e. now that Chris Bosh is gone]

5. Who will be the front-court running mate for Andrea Bargnani/C? [i.e. Amir Johnson, Reggie Evans, Ed Davis [injured] or Linas Kleiza]

6. Will the GM’s trolling for additional trades prove to be a constant distraction?

7. Is DeMar DeRozan [2009, No. 9 Draft Pick] ready to step up as a major contributor?

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Unfortunately, though, Mr. Smith does not provide any ”answers” in his column.

Hence …

ANSWERS TO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR RAPTORS FANS THIS SEASON

1. When the best teams in the NBA are faced with a decision between two relatively equal players at the PG position, they consistently choose to go with the superior offensive player as their primary “starter” and the superior defensive player, as their primary “back-up”. The Raptors SHOULD use Jose Calderon as their primary starter this season.

2. Sonny Weems is 6-6, 203. Linas Kleiza is 6-8, 245. Sonny Weems is best equipped to defend the opponent’s Off Guard, not their Small Forward. Although Linas Kleiza is too slow and lacks the degree of explosive athleticism a legitimate elite level team would prefer to see in its primary “starter” at the SF position, he is much better equipped to handle this chore day-in-and-day-out than any other player on the Raptors’ current roster [including Julian Wright, who is still a "low end" player at this stage of his fledgling NBA career].

If Kleiza is unable to succeed in this specific role, DeMar DeRozan [6-7, 220] – although of a too slight build himself – is the team’s best OPTION B, at this point.  

3. Unfortunately, not much … at least, as long as Andrea Bargnani/C is their primary “starter”, and there is no multi-dimensional wing player on the roster who can assert himself effectively at the defensive end of the floor, while also being a consistent contributor on offensive. 

When a NBA team elects to use a one-way, offensively focused player like Bargnani at this position, it severely damages their chances of ever becoming an adequate defensive unit. How come? Even the best offensive players in the league do not make “positive contributions” to their team on greater than 75% of their possessions. The worst defensive players in the league, however, who are used for “starter’s” minutes by their team are able to make “negative contributions” on more than 75% of their defensive possessions … which consistently provides easy points for their opponents and translates into L’s on the scoreboard.

To this point in their respective pro careers, none of DeMar DeRozan, Sonny Weems, Linas Kleiza, or Julian Wright have demonstrated the capacity to function as a first-class, multi-dimensional wing player for a high end NBA team.

4. Andrea Bargnani/C will become the primary “scorer” for the Raptors.

Scoring has never been a problem for Bargnani.

Team Defense and Rebounding are his main areas of on-going deficiency.

5. Ed Davis/PF will eventual become the primary front-court “running mate” for Andrea Bargnani/C.

This summer’s No. 13 NBA Draft Pick is already the 2nd best player, overall, on the roster [i.e. after Jose Calderon/PG].

6. Yes, the GM’s repeated trolling for trades will be a constant distraction for the Raptors this season.

If you examine his 17 year history, as a GM, in the NBA, you will see that Bryan Colangelo is someone who rarely exercises a great deal of patience.

7. No, unfortunately, DeMar DeRozan will not be ready to assert himself, in this regard, as a consistent contributor to a winning Raptors team, in the role of a high functioning multi-dimensional wing player … although, unquestionably, he is someone with a fair degree of NBA-level talent.

His decision-making is still far too erratic and in need of further time to mature.

Going forward from this point …

Which player[s] should become the new face[s] of the Raptors franchise?

If the primary long term objective is to win as many NBA championships as possible then the correct answer is quite simple.

PART I

Basketball is a game with 3 distinct phases.

i. Defense – i.e. When your opponent has possession of the ball.

ii. Rebounding – i.e. When neither team has possession of the ball.

iii. Offense – i.e. When your team has possession of the ball.

In the grand history of the NBA, the best teams in the league have consistently been built with multi-dimensional players, as the key foundation pieces.

PART II

Which player[s] on the Raptors’ current roster:

is someone who displays a high degree of proficiency in at least 2 of the 3 main phases of the game, without also being abysmal in the 3rd component?

Answer this exact question properly … and, it will tell you who, if anyone, on the Raptors SHOULD become the new face[s] of the franchise.

[NOTE: 1. R - Rookie. 2. The above classifications are based on accumulated Basketball Acumen. For the benefit of those who need to rely on game stats to make an accurate assesment of these things, feel free to peruse the available information at Hoopdata which pertains to these players. ]

Unfortunately, you might not end up liking what you will find.

As presently constituted …

* There is no Low-Post scoring Big Man on the roster.

* There is no Low-Post scoring Forward or Guard on the roster.

* Without a Low-Post scoring Big Man on the roster, there will be far less room for perimeter-based shooters to find uncontested shots, in half-court offensive situations.

* To a large extent, 4th quarter scoring in the NBA is driven by the main offensive players on a team who are capable of commanding a double-team from the defense. The Raptors have no such player[s] on their roster.

* To a large extent, consistent 4th quarter scoring in the NBA is reliant upon a team’s ability to generate easy points [i.e. high efficiency scoring opportunities] from the Foul Line. The Raptors have no players on their roster with the ability to generate large numbers of Free Throw Attempts in the 4th quarter.

* In half-court offensive situations there are few-to-no players with the ability to “break down” their individual defender off the dribble – without the benefit of a pick - in order to penetrate the perimeter of the defense and create easy scoring opportunities for their teammates.

* There are too many players with negative career Assist-to-Turnover Ratios who will need to play major minutes.

* The Raptors were a poor Points Allowed team last season and have added no experienced players this off season who should be capable of scoring more points themselves than the number of points which they will be responsible for allowing to their opponent, while still being adequate performers at the offensive end of the floor.

* The Raptors were a mediocre-to-poor rebounding team last season and have added no experienced players this off season who should be capable of securing more rebounds themselves than the number of rebounds which they will be responsible for allowing to their opponent, while still being adequate performers at the offensive end of the floor.

* While the Raptors have lost their best player from last year [i.e. Chris Bosh/C-PF], many of their opponents in the Eastern Conference have not and, in fact, have added other quality players to their roster this off season:

MIAMI HEAT, 5th place
Noteworthy:
Retain – Wade/D
Add - James/L, Bosh/C, Miller/M, Ilgauskas/Z and Howard/J
Lose - O’Neal/J, Richardson/Q, Wright/D and Beasley/M

ORLANDO MAGIC, 2nd place
Noteworthy:
Add - Duhon/C and Richardson/Q
Lose – Williams/J and Barnes/M

ATLANTA HAWKS, 3rd place
Noteworthy:
Retain – Johnson/J
Add – Larry Drew and Powell/J [?]
Lose – Mike Woodson

BOSTON CELTICS, 4th place
Noteworthy:
Retain – Pierce/P, Allen/R and Robinson/N
Add – O’Neal/J
Lose – Thom Thibodeau, Wallace/R and Allen/T

MILWAUKEE BUCKS, 6th place
Noteworthy:
Retain: Salmons/J
Add – Maggette/C, Douglas-Roberts/C, Gooden/D and Brockman/J
Lose – Ridnour/L, Bell/C, Gadzuric/D and Jackson/D

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS, 7th place
Noteworthy:
Retain: Thomas/T
Add – Dampier/E, Najera/E and Carroll/M
Lose – Felton/R and Chandler/T

CHICAGO BULLS, 8th place
Noteworthy:
Add – Thom Thibodeau, Boozer/C, Korver/K and Watson/CJ
Lose – Vinny Del Negro, Hinrich/K and Miller/B

INDIANA PACERS, 9th place
Noteworthy:
Add – George/P and Stephenson/L
Lose – None

NEW YORK KNICKS, 10th place
Noteworthy:
Add – Stoudemire/A, Randolph/A, Turiaf/R, Fields/L and Jordan/J
Lose – Lee/D, Harrington/A and Duhon/C

DETROIT PISTONS, 11th place
Noteworthy:
Add – Monroe/G
Lose - Brown/K 

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS, 12th place
Noteworthy:
Add – Doug Collins, Nocioni/A, Hawes/S, Battie/T [?] and Turner/E
Lose – Dalembert/S

NEW JERSEY NETS, 15th place
Noteworthy:
Add – Avery Johnson, Outlaw/T, Farmar/J, Morrow/A and Favors/D
Lose – Kiki Vandeweghe, Douglas-Roberts/C, Boone/J and Jianlian/Y

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PLEASE NOTE:

Although the Raptors just finished the Las Vegas Summer League with a 5-0 record, this performance was achieved without Andrea Bargnani [C] playing a single minute beside some combination of DeMar DeRozan, Sonny Weems, Ed Davis and Solomon Alabi … which is a fact the team’s basketball brain-trust WOULD DO WELL TO KEEP IN MIND, as the 2010-2011 season unfolds.

Related:

The Architecture of the Raptors

Can Toronto Overcome the Loss of Chris Bosh