Quote:
Originally Posted by Gozer
Johnny, who would you consider to be the Raptors best defensive starter?
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They don't have a superior one on one defender. Nor did they when they won 47 games and finished first in the Atlantic division. They had a mediocre at best defense and a good offense. Not unlike the vast majority of teams in the East. Heck even Detroit is moving to a more offensive setup this year. Putting a good defensive team on the floor ain't easy in the NBA. There are a ton of me first players and the league is riddled with crappy defensive teams.
It requires committment from one of your star players like a Tim Duncan for example. A top notch two way player. Something Bosh could easily do a better job of though he ain't never going be in Duncan's league defensively. Bargnani improved in this area a lot last year.
The worst thing is the likes of Kapono were steppin in off the bench. Turnover machines and lousy d combined.
They don't need to be a defensive powerhouse. There a very, very few teams in that category in the NBA. They just need to actually play some. I watched a ton of NBA games last year and I can tell you as I'm sure any BB fan knows there wasn't a heck of a lot of defense played in the hardly any of them. It's a scorer's league and that's who gets the dough.
What you need is a team committment starting at the top. Bosh has to quit doing the wimp act. When he plays inspired he can indeed play decent defense. He has proved that at times with the Raps and at the OLY's.
That's why they bring in Iavaroni to establish a defensive system which is something Smitch never had. Triano and he both have an actual training camp to get their systems in place which should help a lot this season. Plus they bring in a whole bench full of players who will give them solid defense. Wright, Evans, Jack, Rasho etc. all going to give them good minutes.
Their offense is going to be good. Their defense just needs to not suck beyond belief.
Does that make them conference winners--NO. But in the the hunt for the 4/5? Yep. Because the rest of the teams in that category all have as big as weaknesses as the Raps.