B.C's Flexibilty Equals Uncertainty For Many Raptors

One of the goals of Bryan Colangelo was not to use any cap space and enter into this off-season with the ultimate amount of flexibility. In terms of that it has been mission accomplished. It does leave some question marks for a number of players heading into this off-season. At the top of that list is Jerryd Bayless who had a frustrating season in which injuries robbed him of opportunities especially down the stretch of this season, in which like last year Jose Calderon was not being used. Bayless turned heads with that chance at the end of last season. He had impressive numbers down the stretch as the Raptors starting point guard by default. An early season ankle turn  cost him a great deal of time right at the beginning of the season. Not exactly ideal when you have a new coach in place attempting to create a new identity for the franchise. He came back and was playing catch up with everyone else in a season that offered few chances to practice that made getting up to speed even more of a challenge. Then another injury to his oblique muscle and the end of his season opened the door for Ben Uzoh to walk through it and get a chance to play as a 10 day contract guy and earn ultimately a position with the team for the remainder of the season. Even Bayless admits he is still searching for his role and game at this point. He also could be searching for a new team to play for. The Raptors passed on the chance to extend him and he ultimately he could end up a RFA or even a free gent if the Raptors choose not to pick up their rights to him as an RFA. It made for a bit of an awkward exit interview with so much uncertainty on his future with this team. That said he still expressed his desire to remain in Toronto and that is something that has been consistent in since he has arrived.

The Raptors once had a similar type player in Chancey Billups. There was the same questions on what he was. Is he a point guard? A combo guard or a under sized shooting guard. Ultimately the answer was not found in Toronto but in Detroit were "Mr Big Shot" was born playing at the point for a championship team with the Pistons. While you would like to believe and hope that Bayless could find a path to his true identity as a NBA Player, you also have to wonder how long you are expected to wait. Watching Bayless can be a truly frustrating experience at times. He can make a true great spectacular play and the next time up the floor a totally unexplainable turnover. "His Gift" as Dwane Casey refers to it is his ability to score and get into the paint. It can also be his curse at times. He sometimes will call his own number and end up with a highly difficult attempt instead of making the simple pass and the smart play to a open player.

What makes this all the more frustrating and puzzling is I would venture to say Bayless is one of the most intelligent people in just terms of brains in that locker. Taking that to the basketball court, that intelligence is sometimes clouded by his competitive fire. He absolutely hates to lose and gets personally disgusted by the experience. On top of everything he is a nice young man that truly has embraced Toronto and legitimately loves the city. We would kill for more people who felt that way in the NBA that want to play and live in Toronto. Yet it really seems like a hard choice to make based on basketball alone.

In addition to Bayless there are other guys like Maglorie, Aaron Gray to decide about. I am not sure there is anyway you can see both Aaron Gray and Jaamal back. It would seem to make little logic to do so. There is already lots of speculation that Maglorie will return and he is even making playoff guarantees on behalf of the team. I would see this has a slap in the face to Aaron Gray if he ends up out and Jaamal in. Gray has done more in terms of on the floor and seems the perfect fit to play back-up 5 minutes behind Jonas Valanciunas. It is not like Aaron Gray is going to be worried about minutes. Although unlike Jaamal he can log major minutes if required. So, if you have Valanciunas having troubles adjusting to NBA game in terms of picking up fouls, Gray is able to plug in and fill those minutes. If Aaron Gray was from Toronto and Jaamal was from Charlotte this is not even a conversation. People will deny it, same as they did with Jay Triano but the Canadian passport that Magloire has gives him added value as the organization might view it from a PR point of view. He is well spoken and many respect what he has accomplished making it to the NBA out of the Raptors home town. Still numbers don't lie and the Raptors attendance did not trend upwards by bringing home the hometown hero. The simple fact as I have stated many times is the hometown hero stopped being an effective or at least significant NBA talent in 2003. I find his song and dance about his pride for playing for his hometown team to be somewhat hypocritical, as he likely had several chances to come here sooner than he actually did. Ultimately ask yourself this question. If Aaron Gray or Jaamal Magloire is cut loose by the Raptors who likely is still in the NBA next season. The answer is Aaron Gray who always seems to find a landing spot despite not being able to find a long term home in the NBA.

Aside from those mentioned you have Solomon Alabi, Ben Uzoh and Alan Anderson all without contracts heading into next year. In terms of Solo it was kind of nice to see him finally get a chance to play, but in reality there is little chance he has a future with the Raptors or in the NBA. The Raptors have consistently failed to find gold in the second round of the NBA Draft and he is just the latest example of that. He seems like a great person and is well liked by everyone but ultimately is like the last kid that is picked in a pick up game on a school yard in NBA Terms. Both Alan Anderson and Ben Uzoh to a lesser extent have made claims that they belong in the NBA. That said given the high expectations for this off-season if it is with the Raptors it would be viewed or should be viewed as failure on Colangelo's part to upgrade the talent on this roster.

Just because you have a contract that doesn't leave you safe either as the Raptors do have some attractive contracts they could easily move if they so desired to do so, on guys like Gary Forbes and others. Even Amir Johnson's deal is not unreasonable by the standards of what a solid power forward is going for these days in free agency. Colangelo's flexibility gives him options, but it also gives most of this roster insecurity. Aside from Calderon, Bargnani and perhaps DeRozan it is easy to see anyone being moved. Even under the right circumstances these 3 could be moved as well but it would be highly unlikely based on the comments of Colangelo today in his press conference.

Looking Back On The Season So Far.

I have to say it has been nice to have a break form the grind of this season. Sunday I even decided to take a day off. That will change from now on at least on Sundays. We are going to starting doing a 30 minute Podcast called "This Week in Raptor Land". It will take a look back on the week that was for the Raptors. It should be something fun to try and do. Hopefully it grows into one the the staple things we do here in the DNB. As we close in on the unofficial half way mark of the NBA Season maybe I will just give some random thoughts on the Raptors. Will likely have some of that in the podcast on Sunday as well.

Raptor Surprises?

I will start with a guy that I really don't care a lot for, Jose Calderon has been a surprise to me in many ways. First and foremost, the fact he is playing at all. Given the amount of games, the schedule and the fact Jerryd Bayless has been out more than he has been in that shocks me. I am not alone in having had questions about Calderon's durability in the past. However, this season he has been there night in and night out. He has done more than been there, producing to levels we have not seen in a long time from him. It pains me to say it, but if he wants to remain and play out the final year of his deal, the Raptors might not have any better options. No point guards in the draft look to be the answer long term for Toronto at least not to start in their first season. While I haven't studied it to any great degree, there is no real stud point guard that will be a free agent in this upcoming class either. The idea to amnesty Calderon seems silly at this point. This is not to say that I would endorse going any further with Jose beyond this contract. I still think that he has had a long run here and the team has failed to produce under his leadership or lack of it at the point guard position. He too seems like he would welcome a change, maybe he hasn't said it and never will, but ultimately both he and Raptors have been unsuccessful overall. That said his numbers and durability have been a surprise. You might even be able to trade him in that final year of his contract, or the Raptors can keep him and let him walk and take a run at Brandon Jennings or someone else with the 10 million plus in cap space him leaving would create. But Calderon in a season of a lot of underachievement has overachieved to a great extent. I have even seen flashes of effort on defense.

If you had told me at the start of this season that the Raptors best pick up in the off-season would be Aaron Gray I think I would have laughed you out of the room. After a rocky start with his health issues with his heart, he has been a contributor to the team. He lacks any real skill on offense, but for a team that let it's best rebounder walk away in Reggie Evans he has helped out in that regard. He also is a decent defender, nothing spectacular but decent. He is the best signing in part based on how awful everyone else has been. Rasaul Butler has been a train wreck from the word go. Jamaal Magloire is so bad that the fact he is Canadian does not keep people from stating the obvious that he has been awful. There was lots made about him coming home and playing in his hometown of Toronto. But honestly, did any other NBA team want him at this stage of his career? If they did would they now? Anthony Carter is no Jeremy Lin. In fact he maybe no Darrick Martin and maybe only slightly more valuable than Marcus Banks. Gary Forbes might be the only guy that you would even consider, but he has barely seen the floor and is pretty much a non factor most nights. So is it by omission that Aaron Gray is the Raptors best pick up. Yes in part, but he has done something which is more than can be said for the others.

Dwane Casey's impact on this team. I admit the whole "Pound The Rock" thing didn't play with me a bit. It still doesn't to any large degree. However, the fact the Dwane Casey has been able to make progress with this group on defense so quickly is a surprise to me. I know, he won a ring in Dallas and was the guru behind there D that shut down Miami. However, this was the Raptors, a team that for the majority of their existence have been a team challenged to play even average defense. The fact he has been able to even get Andrea Bargnani to look like he is actually trying to play defense is pretty amazing. In that building of defense first mindset, Casey has brought back something that had been lacking for a long time in Toronto. Accountability was something we never saw under Jay Triano and to be honest you are left to question how much the Raptors truly respected Triano in the role of head coach. No one is questioning if they respect Dwane Casey. I recently came up with an expression I like about Casey. In terms of how he deals with the media. He is a less entertaining version of Sam Mitchell. He like Sam did tells it like it is, but just does it in a very low key way. While Sam Mitchell might have said of the loss to Bobcats, that we let the Washington Generals come into our home and kick our butts. Casey said of his great disappointment in how his team performed and failed to show up. Sam's makes the better quote, but the honesty is there from both. All the candy coating losses and players is pretty much gone. Which is something we can all appreciate.

Raptor Disappointments

Demar and Ed were suppose to be part of what made this season somewhat bearable at the end of the day. To watch them develop into part of this young core that Colangelo keeps telling us we have. Both have failed to show consistency from night to night. They also have shown very few signs of improvement. Beyond the fact that now and then Demar DeRozan can make the occasional three point shot not much has improved. While there are some very legitimate excuses as to why this has been, it does not change the fact it has been. It seems that when Ed Davis has big days, it is on days when the Raptors as a whole struggle. Case and point the last game vs the Bobcats. While DeRozan has had his fair share of issues on both ends of the floor. Andrea Bargnani not being around has shifted the spotlight to DeRozan and made his flaws more glaring and obvious. While Andrea has proven he can play some defense under Casey, the same can not be said for Demar. Also when you are playing along side the team's best defender for many in James Johnson that makes it more obvious as well. While on offense he has at times drifted away from his strengths and been exposed for his below average handling of the basketball. This off-season for both and what is left of this season, are going to be vital for both Davis and DeRozan to step up and be counted. At this point you have to say in terms of both, we have seen regression not progression.

On a team that lacks a roster that is very talented in comparison to many other teams around the league, the last thing you need is injuries. While in the brief amount of time he has played we have seen a much improved Andrea Bargnani, that does very little to help when he is not playing. In fact it does nothing at all. His injury and subsequent re-injury of his calf has been the most glaring and obvious issue. But the Raptors have seen Jerryd Bayless barely play at all on top of it. We touched on this earlier in talking about both Carter and Calderon. Missing Bayless has been also a big deal, if for no other reason than it allows Jose Calderon to have more gas in his tank. You started the season without Linas Kleiza and Aaron Gray both who when healthy have contributed. It has been a season in which we have seen very little of the Raptors at 100% in terms of healthy bodies. This is not unique to them in this crazy NBA season. Almost every team has had to endure injuries and some teams to key players like Al Horford in Atlanta who is out for the season. But the Raptors given their lack of talent to start with are hurt more by this than other teams.

Were almost halfway through this season. When I look back on this year five years from now I probably will just be thankfully that I survived it. This has not been one of the more fun times in the history of the Toronto Raptors or the NBA in general. Sure there have been moments. But aside from looking back on the start of Jeremy Lin's hall of fame career what will I honestly remember? Maybe nothing, and maybe Jeremy Lin is not even around. But at the end of the day as much as we may love basketball, this season will not be one that has made you more of a fan, it will be one that you have endured and looked for reasons to be excited. That maybe a contributing factor in the rise of Linsanity. While it is a great story it makes up for all the ugly basketball that has been seen throughout this season. There has been a lot of that. Raptor fans have seen some of it first hand just like they got to see Linsanity come to town.

But in any case we are almost halfway home in a season that from the outset had never been promised to be anything but a hard season to deal with. It has delivered on that promise to a great extent.

Raptors Start Strong and Fizzle Late At ACC

This was a game fitting of the date on the calender. It was if you have not checked a calender today Friday the 13th. Lots of odd things would occur at the ACC on this night as the Raptors limped in to face the Pacers without Andrea Bargnani. This game was not going to be pretty. How on earth would the Raptors make up for the 22 points that Andrea Bargnani both averages and scored that exact number vs Pacers in the home opener. Demar DeRozan was heading into this one having perhaps the worst stretch of games in his young career. Everything pointed to a Pacers blowout win. But that is not what happened at all.

The Raptor came out like a house on fire. DeRozan was scoring and getting to the line at will. The Raptors at one point had built up a 16 point lead in the first half. It was pretty stunning to say the least. Raptors had come out and dominated the first 27-15 but after peaking at that 16 point lead in the 2nd the Pacers would quickly cut that lead to 8. As part of the Pacers comeback Danny Granger would block Ed Davis who started for Bargnani on the night. Granger would decide to taunt him and get a tech. Which although stupid was not a big deal except he already had a tech early in the game for arguing a call. So Mr. Granger would be sent to the his Bat Cave away from home in the visitors locker room. The Pacers would push on and get the lead down to 5 at the half with the score 45-40.

The Pacers came out of the locker room minus Granger and quickly got the game to within 2 points. The Raptors showed they had some moxie and rebuild there lead to 10. But the Pacers kept coming and the Raptors were struggling to hang on. The battle would be tight all through the 4th quarter and then some terrible mistakes in the final moments would seal the Raptors all to familiar fate. The first mistake came on the second of two Pacer free throws with the game tied at 90. Pacers would make the first but miss the second. But they would end up getting the rebound and be fouled and go back to the line. It would be the 6th for Amir Johnson ending his night with just 9 points and 5 rebounds. So that gave the Pacers a 93-90 lead. Raptors need a 3 now to get this game to overtime. Jamaal Magloire was not going to be the guy to make that three pointer but he was on the floor. In defence of Casey it was likely to rebound a missed three and give the Raptors a second chance to make it. But what happened was inexpiable. The ball would be inbounded to Magloire and he was fouled be it intentionally or by accident, regardless it was a wise move by the Pacers. Hack-A-Canadian is how I referred to it on Twitter. Aside from the obvious that the Raptors could not make a three, Magloire is also terrible at the line. In his career just 64.2 % from the line but has not shot above 60% since 2003-04 season which is the point his career started to nose dive. He would miss both badly at the line. Pacers would follow it up 2 points and seal it up for a 95-90 win. The second win for them in Toronto in the last 30 days.

DeRozan after the hot start would end up with the same 23 points he scored to lead the Raptors in the previous loss to the Pacers. Barbosa continued to be effective off the bench with 20. Calderon also had a decent stat line. In the end the key stat is this game was at the line. Pacers went 32-38 from the charity stripe and the Raptors just 20-32. It was a solid performance from the Raptors on the night. They really deserved to win this game. But in the end they have no one to blame but themselves for why they didn't. Things get no easier as they head to Chicago to take on the Bulls who are currently about to get a win over the Celtics. Bulls will have the best record in the NBA at 11-2 and are a perfect 4-0 at the United Center.

Note: Minor Error on my Part.....DeRozan had 22 in the opener vs the Pacers in opener and Bargnani 21. Sorry about that.

Raptors Better Than Advertised?

I generally take pride in having a good take on the Toronto Raptors. To have that feeling of knowing what to expect. It is not unlike when you are a wrestling fan you know what is coming next before it happens. As an example fans had been told someone was coming to the WWE and they already had Y2J signs ready to display. How did they know? Mainly because wrestling is predictable and scripted. Sports does not follow a script and as much as you can think you know sometimes you don't know. Could anyone have predicted the Denver Broncos would make the playoffs with Tim Tebow as their quarterback when the season began? He wasn't even the starter. Life and sports are dynamic.

In a lot of ways despite the Raptors making big strides under Dwane Casey some of the same old issues are still lingering around. Raptors no matter what defensive system they have employed have all seemed to have issues with defending the three point line. The Raptors traditionally have always had issues holding leads even with some of the best rosters they have put on the court.

It gets to the point as a long time fan you don't just hope it won't happen but you know it will happen. The Raptors could have as big a lead as you like at any point in the first three quarters of a game and you wait for that other shoe to drop. To not expect that to happen makes you incredibly loyal or ignorant to history. But the history really shouldn't apply after all this team has many different parts, but this has been a theme that has lasted longer than anyone on this roster.

The idea of changing culture gets thrown around a lot in this organization over the years. You know when that really happens? When people honestly don't go into a 4th quarter expecting the worst and hoping for the best. When you have enough confidence to sit there calm and secure that your team can win the game.

When you start to break this down to the individuals there are positives and negatives. Dwane Casey is all positive to this point. You can't help but applaud his effort to take a core group of players, that many felt it would be next to impossible to get them to play defence and he has made it happen. The poster boy for that lack of belief was Andrea Bargnani. If you had never seen the first 6 seasons of this guys career you would not believe how awful he has been in terms of his effort and defence for 6 years. Is 5 games enough to wash away 6 years of a bad taste in your mouth? No not really, but it is enough to make you stop and wait and see.

The player that has been wildly inconsistent has not been Bargnani it has been DeRozan. Last night we saw his most complete performance of the season. Ed Davis who many had high expectations for has had his issues. He also has had his opportunities reduced by the improvment and position change of Bargnani. About the only thing that seems to be consistent in what we have known about the Raptors in the past is Jose Calderon. If you love Jose you point to how he is still one of the most efficient floor generals in the NBA. If you hate Jose you point out he still can not stay in front of almost any point guard he faces. You point to his shooting and on one night his fans will see glimpses of the shooter he once was, on another you will see the shooter he has become for his detractors.

In terms of the new Raptors you have seen a Jamaal Magloire that is offensively challenged but has at times made an impact on the glass. Much as I hate to admit it a lot like what you could get out of Reggie Evans. If not for the other factors that bother me about Magloire I would almost like him. The main difference to me is Reggie is so genuine and I find Magloire to be the opposite. He has embraced this role has the hometown guy that has finally come home. But I can't help but think the chance was there long before the end of his career and his lack of playing for this country ever makes it hard for me to accept him as any kind of Canadian Hero. But if we keep it to basketball a game like last night is what a Reggie Evans could do on the floor.

Anthony Carter really would not have been playing at this point if not for Bayless and his injury. If you take that into account it is hard to tear the guy apart. Would he have been my choice as the 3rd point guard for this team? No. But given his role I don't expect much. He to me is a different more defensively sound version of Derrick Martin. Who was half coach and half player. Now we get on to perhaps the most puzzling of all. Rasual Butler who until the 2nd half in NYC last night did not look like he belonged starting in the D-League forget about on an NBA roster. He came alive late to make some key shots and boards to help secure the win last night. Maybe it was to harsh to expect more given in a normal season last night would have been the second last game of the pre-season more or less. In terms of Aaron Gray he has been sidelined with heart issues. Makes you wonder if Raptors were aware when they signed him? Same thing happened with Nathan Jawai in terms of finding out about heart issues with him on eve of training camp. Is this simple bad luck or did the Raptors miss something? Never going know the answer. But it is hard to be angry about something like that with the player. You just hope the best for their lives screw basketball. As for Gary Forbes seems like a great guy have not seen near enough of him to have any strong opinion.

When you look at this team as whole it really is not all that impressive. It looks like the team that many had very little in terms of expectations. But some how they are able to come together and find a way to hang around and be in games. The improved defence is the reason. Some even have fired off things like this team can be in hunt for the playoffs in the East. The people cheering for lottery balls are very dismayed by that. I am just not to the point of being convinced they can be that. However if they can build on what they did in New York and find ways to hang on and grind out wins maybe I can be swayed. When this season started I said the Raptors would be able to hang around in more games than people think. So far that is true. But I also said they would likely lose more of those games than they would win. That is the part I am starting to question. It would make you feel more confident if Knicks had Amare Soudemire in the line-up and the Raptors had the same result. In this crazy season you are going to catch and have to endure a lot of good and bad breaks in terms of the schedule and injuries. The Raptors had the bad draw in terms of the schedule last night but got the good draw in terms of injures. No Bayless vs no Amare is advantage Raptors.

So maybe at the end of it all. The Raptors are who I thought they were. But I remain willing to accept they could be better than that. But I have no real indication of if that is true yet. I am pretty excited to be going to see it in person tomorrow night. Tristan Thompson and the Cavs get a second shot at the Raptors. This will also be a good test to see what a team does after getting a look at the Raptors improved defence the second time around. Tomorrow could hold some answers on if this team truly can be as this blog asks, better than advertised?