"ESPN Scouts Takes": Toronto soft inside

[BobLoblaw]

An article mainly about Charlotte, but it has a few Toronto gems.

An Eastern Conference scout on the Bobcats’ surge to within a game of .500:
“They’re no joke. [First-year coach] Steve Clifford has obviously brought them a strong defensive concept and they’re defending at a high level. He deserves a lot of credit for what they’ve got going when you remember where they were and where they’ve been.

“He’s in the [Tom] Thibodeau mold. It’s a grinding style where he gets them very compacted, nothing [allowed] in transition, everyone gets back. It’s a 'you’re not going to score in our paint' mentality and the guys have bought into it.

“They also have players fitting their roles very well and they’ve got two guys they can go to when their offense gets stuck: Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson. And now they’ve added some shooting with the trade [for Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour], which I thought was a great trade.

“They’re the fourth-best team in the East to me. Chicago is the third-best team; everybody knows they have problems scoring but I promise you no one wants to play the Bulls in the playoffs. Then I like Charlotte.

“The Nets are going to have problems playing defense in the playoffs consistently. They rely a lot on experience and that’s not something you can rely on all the time. And I just think Toronto is a little soft inside. Their defense isn’t good enough to sustain for four [wins] in a series, and if you really get after DeMar [DeRozan] or Kyle Lowry, they’re going to struggle to score. I like Charlotte better than both of those teams.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/marc-stein/p...ong-easts-best

[MACK11]

Well to me Derozan is like Bosh both are easy to guard in the playoffs because if you body them up and play physical with them they can't score and get frustrated. But he's wrong about Kyle! Kyle loves contact and chippy games. Also this writer said we are soft inside which I don't believe because Amir is vastly underrated and JV is no slouch. And also for him to say we cannot sustain our defense to win 4 games is ludicrous because we have been top10 in defense all season! So how can't we not do it in a series?

[GLF]

An article mainly about Charlotte, but it has a few Toronto gems.



http://espn.go.com/blog/marc-stein/p...ong-easts-best

I actually agree with this guy. I think he says our defense can't sustain because we don't play good defense for the whole game. We think we can just turn everything on in the second half and we will learn the hard way when the playoffs come. Also he is completely right when it comes to Demar. I like the way Charlotte and Chicago play much more than Toronto at this point. I think both those teams are more built for the playoffs. We will struggle. I just want our guys to get that experience so hopefully they learn from it. He's off with the Kyle thing though. But if Kyle has to do it all with little help from DD, we will struggle to win. Just like today. I don't know, the way we play has worried me for a long time when I think of the playoffs. The regular season we will be fine but I just think our team isn't mature enough for the playoffs and takes plays off way too much. Or we make way too many boneheaded mistakes that you can't get away with in the playoffs. But it's very understandable seeing as we have a very young team. We will see. Hopefully both me and this guy are proven wrong but I truly only think we can win in the first round if it's Washington. Anyone else and we lose. Just my gut feeling. MAYBE Brooklyn as well just because their age can hurt them just as much as it helps them. But I'm a pessimist I guess so ignore me lol.

[BigCamB]

Of course you agree with him, you'd probably like the Bucks against us in a 7 game series.

Charlotte are a mediocre team that is going nowhere fast, I'll take the raptors any day of the week. Now AND more importantly in the future.

[2KJ]

They're underestimating the frontcourt, which is good. Amir is the heart and soul of this team, playing through pain, trying his best every game. JV is still developing, but he's a beast when he gets the opportunity (and when those zebras don't bully him by calling iffy fouls). Tyler Hansbrough is a pest, he hustles, he's like the Colton Orr of the Raps. I just wish he could shoot better fts. Chuck Hayes is an excellent post defender for a short big, esp without the jumping ability. The guys just uses his ass to box out and defend. I think he would be key to stopping guys like Al Jefferson, Boozer, etc. who usually gives the Raps problems in the paint. He could be the Oakley of this team (he played with Yao Ming's Rockets). And then we have 2Pat, who is the stretch 4. He may be a poor post defender but he's a good help defender.

Can't wait for the playoffs!

[Nilanka]

Charlotte has owned us this season....

[Balls of Steel]

The book is out on Derozan. Teams are being physical with him. Other guys need to step up.

[Axel]

It's funny that this is written from a Charlotte angle; cause if we play them, I'd think Lowry's physicality with Kemba Walker would be one of our biggest assets in a best of 7 series.

[slaw]

The book is out on Derozan. Teams are being physical with him. Other guys need to step up.

Teams have played Derozan like this forever. You can go back 2-3 years and watch how the Celtics guarded him. Taking away his time and space is essential cause he's not terrific with the ball. This year, they've alleviated the issue by running him off a tonne of pindowns, successive screens and hand-offs to clear defenders and give him more time and space. Also, Derozan's done a far better job dealing with it by: finishing or getting to the line OR moving the ball. It's when he tries to do too much that he gets in trouble.... like in the PHX game.

[planetmars]

Yeah.. Toronto could be considered soft inside but so is Miami and they have been to the finals 3 straight years. So I'm okay with that label. Toronto however does have a top 10 defense in the league so that's pretty good.

What Toronto doesn't have is an elite talent.. but they do have Lowry and that's still pretty awesome.

[RandomGuy]

I don't care what these analytics say, I'm just thrilled to watch Raptors playoffs this year!

[OptimalOptimist]

Of course we are soft when Patterson is out and subbed by Novak.

Hansbrough, Amir, JV, and 2pat don't back down on anybody and are always a defensive presence in the paint whenver someone is driving. Always contesting shot and doing a great job of not fouling.

And remember when Chuck Hayes owned Cousins on following possesions? 2 steals in a row followed by a traditionnal hand in the face contested fadeaway jumper in which Cousins hit the frontrim, not getting any legs in his shot.

Raptors bigs are far from soft, however, they struggle when matched with a super athletic frontcourt, but who doesn't.

[ceez]

I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you who'd win a best of 7 playoff series with charlotte and honestly would be uncomfortable betting on the raps. the guy is right in many respects.

i do like certain matchups of ours but i do like jefferson to just devour our interior. it's all going to really depend on who's ready for the big stage more.

[Bendit]

He doesn't speak of the resilience nor the bench though. He is right about the "pain" on the inside game....other than Hansbro we dont really have much sustainability there. JV hopefully grows some more...he can start hacking some more cause they dont call it too close in the playoffs....unless its a star of course.

[BigCamB]

I'm not super confident we'd beat Charlotte, but I'm not put off by their 3-0 record against us either. My prediction would be a low scoring slog that went 6 or 7 games.
I'd certainly rather be the Raptors though, I much prefer our team long term.