There have certainly been tell-tale signs of a team headed in that direction going into the break. Wins over the Clippers, the Spurs and the Wizards were stellar at times, but it’s still not second nature to this group like it was a year ago. Atlanta will provide the perfect test Friday night to see whether that defensive improvement before the break was a step in the right direction of just another blip in a season that has seen the Raptors yo-yoing from good to bad to indifferent defence throughout the course of the year. It may also be interesting to see whether his first all-star experience has changed Lowry in any way. It’s no secret the Raptors starting point guard and leader has worked long and hard to gain that sort of acceptance in the NBA. Now that he has it, which way does he go. Best guess is it’s only going to make him stronger and more driven to make the next logical jump to playoff mainstay.
Raptors set to enter tough five-game stretch | Toronto Star
Kicking off their trip to the U.S. south, the Raptors face the Atlanta Hawks at Phillips Arena, where the team’s four all-stars—Jeff Teague, Al Horford, Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver—have lead the way to 10 straight wins in front of their home crowd. The Hawks lead the Eastern Conference with a 43-11 record after racking up a perfect January, and are 6 ½ games ahead of the second-place Raptors (36-17). From Atlanta, they’ll through Houston, New Orleans and Dallas, where they will meet three more teams well above .500. They don’t catch much of a break when they come home, either: On Feb. 27, they merely have to face the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry, a top contender for league MVP.
For about a calendar year, teams were reticent to deal their own first-round picks. In October 2013, Washington dealt its first-round pick to Phoenix for Marcin Gortat. Then, a deep freeze set in, with no more 2014 first-round picks being moved. This year, things have opened up, if only a little bit. New Orleans moved its pick in the summer for Omer Asik; Dallas traded its pick as part of a package for Rajon Rondo; Cleveland moved its pick and a future selection for Timofey Mozgov; the Thunder funnelled their pick through Cleveland to Denver for Dion Waiters. Undoubtedly, the relative openness of the championship chase has made teams more aggressive. Would the Raptors do the same before Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline? The Raptors’ pick is all but guaranteed to fall somewhere in the 20s, where yielding a player of much substance is at best a 50-50 proposition. Or would they give up on Terrence Ross, with his value the lowest it has ever been, to improve the rotation?
Ujiri doesn’t see Raptors moving Ross at deadline | Sportsnet.ca
“I would be shocked if we did something with Terrence,” Ujiri said Tuesday night. “Trust me. I can’t tell you more how I totally don’t think that would happen before Thursday.” It’s not that Ujiri is entirely enamoured with Ross’s play of late: He was removed from the starting lineup on Jan 19 and has regressed slightly both offensively and defensively this season. But Ujiri remains confident that Ross can provide what every team in the NBA needs: an athletic wing player who can stretch defences and who can guard their own position and perhaps one more. They’re hard to find, so Ujiri is loath to send Ross away for the crime of only doing it in spurts so far in his young career. “How many guys on our team can raise up and make a shot with someone in their face, like Terrence? They aren’t many in the league,” said Ujiri. “He’s had lapses on defence but that’s something you grow out of with experience. He is really a two-way player; he has ability to stay in front of guys, he can hit a shot; he’s athletic as hell and he can hit threes. Every team is looking for players like that.
Quick Stat Hits: DeRozan the Passer | Raptors HQ
But over the past eight games, DeRozan has had an awakening of sorts. He’s posted a 25.2 AST%, while keeping his always good turnover rate at a tidy 10 percent. In those eight games, the Raptors have gone 6-2 against some pretty decent competition (WAS twice, LAC, SAS, BKN twice, MIL; all project to be playoff teams, plus SAC who has been a matchup issue for the Raptors). They’ve posted an average offensive rating of 112.3 points per 100 possessions. That would rank second in the league. If DeRozan can keep this up, as well as rediscover his own offense (his true shooting percentage has dipped well under .500 of late), and the team continues improving defensively with James Johnson playing significant minutes, the Raptors could be in for a very successful second half of the season.
DeMar DeRozan’s Shooting Struggles May Doom The Toronto Raptors | Sir Charles in Charge
Modern day analytics says that long 2’s are a big no-no in today’s game, and the Raptors seem to believe in that, as they are in the bottom 10 in the amount of attempted long 2’s, per basketball-reference.com. Maybe it has to do with the decrease in shooting at the rim. After shooting a career-high 71.2 percent at the rim last season, DeRozan is only shooting 62.1 per from there. Not the worst of his career, but a pretty steep drop-off. One thing that has killed DeRozan’s shooting percentage is the amount of shots he has assisted. He’s had every 3-pointer he’s made assisted (mind you he’s only made nine so far this season), but his 2-point shots are a different story. He’s had only 44.6 percent of his 2-pointers assisted, a career low, and a far-cry from his career average of 55.2 percent. And, miraculously, despite 2 of their 3 leading scorers (DeRozan and Lou Williams) shooting under 40 percent, the Raptors are in the top-10 in field goal percentage, clocking in at 9th on 45.7 percent shooting.
Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
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