The hope that DeMar DeRozan’s return from injury would cure the defensive issues has died. Before Thursday’s NBA games, the Raptors ranked 17th in the league in points allowed per possession since DeRozan came back on Jan. 14. That is an improvement on their performance without DeRozan, but it is also an incomplete truth: Of the 13 games that they have played during that stretch, four have been against teams in the top half of the league in offensive efficiency, while nine have been against teams in the bottom half, including two against Philadelphia, the NBA’s worst scoring team. The Raptors’ defence has performed in mediocre fashion against largely tepid opposition. Meanwhile, the Raptors’ next eight games come against teams with above-average offences. The Clippers, who score more efficiently than any team in the league, visit Toronto on Friday. If the Raptors’ defence does not take a huge leap over the next few weeks, it will be exposed in an embarrassing way.
DeMar DeRozan, in particular, took offence to the notion that the floundering Raptors, a team that has been awful defensively for much of the season, though quite solid offensively most of the time, need a boost from the outside to get back on track. “We’re still second in the East,” said DeRozan, an incredulous smile pursing his lips. “We’re not a team fighting for the playoffs, in 10th place. We don’t look at that factor playing in anything right now. If it happens, it happens, then we have to deal with it then, but I think we’re not panicking or nothing like that.” Asked if he believes Toronto has the pieces to be a contender, DeRozan was direct. “I think so, but our job is to go out there and play and perform. We leave all that other stuff and question marks to whoever needs to fulfill them … The position we are in now, it’s not by accident, it’s the hard work and the talent and the guys that we’ve got here. Granted, we had a couple of injuries here and there — me being out, (James Johnson) missing a few games — but I think once we’re back on our feet, we’ll get back to how we were at the start of the season.”
“You look at history where teams have been in a positive situation, they’ve been winning or maybe they’re lost but they’re in a great situation as far as standings go, but then they make a trade and the next thing you know that trade messes up the chemistry,” said Patterson after a short practice with Ujiri looking on from the sidelines. In short, Patterson said, trying to fix things via the trade route can backfire. Without good chemistry — something the Raptors have touted as a strength this season — a little slump can rapidly become an ugly downwards spiral, he warned. “It causes them to play horribly, to have problems in the locker room, resulting in a horrible season after that and losing in the playoffs too early. You look in the past, that’s happened a number of times,” said Patterson. Besides, Patterson added, the team already has the right mix of players to make a deep playoff run; dealing someone away ahead of the Feb. 19 trade deadline just isn’t necessary.
Expectations may be too high for the Raptors. | SportsonEarth.com
On the season, the Raptors are a top five team in offensive efficiency, but have lingered near the bottom ten in defense all year. They’re currently ranked 21st in the league in defensive efficiency, allowing 104.6 points per 100 possessions. In January, a month in which they went 9-7, the Raptors were a bottom five defensive team. Casey often talks about finding a balance on both ends of the floor. To achieve this balance, and to try and address the team’s ongoing defensive woes, 22-year-old starting center Jonas Valanciunas has found himself on the bench in the fourth quarter of games, as was the case on Monday against Milwaukee. In his third season, Valanciunas is averaging 17.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per 36 minutes. He’s shooting 56.4 percent from the field and has improved his post-up game and play around the rim. Casey’s defensive schemes require his big men to show on pick-and-rolls and rotate, and Valanciunas’ lack of quickness means he’s not the best option on the floor on some nights. The stats support Casey’s choice to opt for a frontline that excludes his starting center. On the season, when Valanciunas has been on the floor with either Amir Johnson or Patrick Patterson, the team has produced a negative net rating. Meanwhile, the combination of Johnson and Patterson on the floor has produced a +11.5 net rating in 273 minutes. If you narrow those numbers to the fourth quarter, the Johnson-Patterson pairing has a +15.6 rating in 109 minutes.
Kyle Lowry To Participate In 2015 Taco Bell Skills Challenge | Toronto Raptors
As part of this year’s Taco Bell Skills Challenge, four lucky teens will be paired with the NBA participants. Through the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens, $120,000 will be donated to local Boys & Girls Clubs in support of educational scholarships and teen empowerment. Each teen participating in the Challenge will receive educational scholarships between $10,000 and $30,000.
Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan fined $15Gs for contact with Nets’ Bogdanovic | Toronto Sun
After the game, DeRozan had mentioned that he wasn’t pleased with the way some of the Nets had been celebrating during the course of the game. Speaking of the game in general, DeRozan admitted after practice on Thursday “a little frustration kicks in when things don’t go your way.” Head coach Dwane Casey didn’t think DeRozan had done anything too untoward. “You never want to have a frustration foul. I don’t think DeMar intended to hit him or hurt him, the young man that went down. I don’t even know if he hit him that hard. I think he might have been trying to sell it to official,” Casey said, admitting he liked the fire. “You don’t want anybody to come into the gym and show you up or anything like that. (But) you don’t want to take your frustration out and take the chance of being suspended. I don’t mind hard fouls as long as you don’t let the guy score. But don’t put yourself (in a position) to hurt the team. And I don’t think DeMar did that last night.”
Making reading a slam dunk opportunity | Town Crier
DeRozan agrees and says he wants to be the one the kids look up to while learning it’s important to get an education. “Reading is a skill they’ll need for life and key to their success,” he told the Town Crier in email. “When I was a kid, I wanted someone to look up to and I want to be that person these kids look up to.” Rutledge says DeRozan is “a big part of the success of this program,” beyond merely lending his name to it. While DeRozan says his favourite part is the day he comes to the kids’ gym to visit and “hang out and talk with them,” he’s also been vital to seeing the program continue. One year, in which funding cuts to after-school programs threatened the book club, DeRozan didn’t hesitate in giving $15,000 to keep it running. “I didn’t want the boys to lose out,” he said. “They were improving their reading skills and the program was gaining momentum so it was a no-brainer to me to step up and donate the money.”
Discuss: Should The Raptors Change Their Starting Lineup? | Raptors HQ
Our own Daniel Hackett made his case for starting Patrick Patterson last week. Today, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun suggested inserting Patterson along with James Johnson (when he returns from his groin injury) into the starting lineup. Of course, the counterpoint here is that it would send Amir Johnson to the bench. No one will ever call Amir a selfish player, but you have to wonder how he’d take a “demotion” to the second unit, especially as he enters free agency this offseason.
NBA AM: Raptors Still Looking For A Big Man | Basketball Insiders
It’s unlikely the Raptors look at anything involving Williams, but it seems that any combination of the others would get traction from Toronto’s side. The Raptors do own almost all of their future picks both in the first round and the second round, with their 2015 second going to Atlanta as the only traded pick at this point. The Raptors do have a couple of pick swap options, but for the most part they have draft picks to play with if so inclined. There was a long running rumor that Raptors swing man Terrence Ross could be the chip that gets a deal done, however league sources continue to say Toronto won’t engage on anything involving Ross.
Raptors Jonas Valanciunas Still Learning, Trusts Coach Casey | Pro Bball Report
As the Raptors only true center in Head Coach Dwane Casey’s rotation, there have been a lot of calls lately to get Valanciunas more playing time against a broader variety of opponents. However, Casey has been reluctant to leave his young center in games against more mobile big men that like to hang out on the perimeter and Valanciunas trusts Casey’s judgment. “I trust Coach and Coach trusts me and that’s it,” Valanciunas said. “I am still learning and sky is the limit. I still have a lot of things to learn and we’ll see what I can do.” This isn’t just a response to the recent deluge of questions from the media about his role. Valanciunas has been consistent about his expectations for himself and what he can and can’t do. “I am happy right now,” Valanciunas told Pro Bball Report earlier this season. “For me personally it is way better to play against a typical center, a big guy who is in the paint wrestling because I do the same thing, for me (that) is much easier. I am not used to going (out to) the three-point line and cover stretch big guys who can really shoot the ball. I just don’t like that. I am not fast enough.”
Taj Gibson On The Move? | Da Windy City
Raptors-Clippers: Friday game preview | Toronto Star
The Clippers arrive in Toronto to wind up a back-to-back that began Thursday night in Cleveland . . . Note the unique starting time, necessitated by the fact ESPN will broadcast the game to the entire United States . . . The Clippers are by one measurable standard the best offensive team in the league, scoring 110.6 points per 100 possessions to top the offensive efficiency rankings . . . Intriguing matchup between Jamal Crawford of the Clippers and Toronto’s Lou Williams, two guys who would get consideration today for the Sixth Man of the Year award .
Photo Credit: Mark J. Terrill/AP
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