Raptors 2014-2015 season

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by kmart

That's not a very valid statement when the stats clearly show that DeRozan helps their defense. He may only be average on ball and a good off ball defender, but Lou Williams and Grevis Vasquez are awful defensively. Between the 2 bench players they make DeRozan look like he's Bruce Bowen. Yes, DeRozan helps the defense. They went through one stretch where they lost to good teams without their All star guard now that he's back, it would be fair to make an assessment starting now, not when the Raptors had to start bench worthy players.

I'm excited for the game against the Hawks as well. Their ball movement is unreal and Horford, although he's not flashy, is a all star big man. If he wasn't playing for Atlanta he would truly get more coverage and be one of the stars in this league.

When you have to qualify a guy's defense with "he don't suck as much as the other dufii" then you know you ain't got much. I hope they put JJ in the starting five and put Ross on the bench. That would help their defense.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by St. Pats

When you have to qualify a guy's defense with "he don't suck as much as the other dufii" then you know you ain't got much. I hope they put JJ in the starting five and put Ross on the bench. That would help their defense.

DeRozan helps the defense a lot by getting to the free throw line. That creates several extra possessions a game where out defense gets to start from a set position.

I'd like to see JJ start for Ross, too. I just don't think Ross contributes enough on either end to justify starters minutes.

[kmart]

Originally Posted by St. Pats

When you have to qualify a guy's defense with "he don't suck as much as the other dufii" then you know you ain't got much. I hope they put JJ in the starting five and put Ross on the bench. That would help their defense.

When the stats show DeRozan is a pretty underrated defender and the sample size is larger than 12 games I'd say you have something.

As for JJ in the starting role it could be troublesome on the offensive end because he can't shoot.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Well this is an ass kicking. Division is a lock but could be the 3 seed again or even 4.

[Zach]

Hawks are just too good

[St. Pats]

Raptors are going through a tough spell but regardless MU better be burning the phone lines. Look at all the deals there have been of late. Lots of teams trying to improve. Meanwhile the Raps doing nothing. From the moment they decided to not tank last year they gave themselves two options. Trades or free agents. Free agents coming North / yeah right. They need to be the king of the horse traders / sooner better than later.

[killer_carlson]

haven't seen a lot of games the last 3 weeks or so. Have they fallen back into the stagnent offence where every play is for Lowry to drive and then look to dish to 4 players standing still?

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

haven't seen a lot of games the last 3 weeks or so. Have they fallen back into the stagnent offence where every play is for Lowry to drive and then look to dish to 4 players standing still?

I haven't watched a lot but it's more or less that. Not enough energy, which shouldn't be the case as they rotate the lineup more than most teams given their depth. Lowry's been taking some really dumb shots, and has been bitchin and complaining on every missed foul call, like when they first brought him in. But it's also a coaching issue. The team is deep. When a player is coming out flat, they have to pull them for someone else. Too much mediocrity right now.

[St. Pats]

They started reading the press clippings. Now they are off the opinion that they actually are good individually. They worked together as a unit last year and at the start of this season. Now it's far from just one player as it's the whole team not working. Defense is where they have really dropped. They give up like 110 pts a game.

Got zilch to do with what Lowry is or isn't doing.

They aren't playing like a team anymore. There is zero hustle. Without those two elements they are at best playoff fodder.

[Antithesis]

Wow - some ugly ball in the 3rd quarter. Yet another quarter of low-20% shooting. They are up 6 due to some sound defense but should be up 20 points or so. I don't know exactly how many foul shots they missed but I know I've counted at least 5. Brutal.

[Antithesis]

And halfway through the 4th, the Raptors are shooting 25%. They've missed all three technical free throws in this game. It is not much fun at all to watch this team lately.

[puffnstuff]

Anyone else see the Bucks tshirt cannon thing? its a gatling gun! 60 shirts into the crowd in about 5 seconds...maybe i dont get out enough...but i thought it was cool.

Raps by 2 with a minute left

[Antithesis]

That was an ugly, ugly win. Lowry's foul shots at the end should have finally put the nail in the Bucks' coffin, but of course he missed both. Did they go 14-25 from the foul line (including 3 technical shots)? Barf.

[The Big Chill]

Did JV get injured? I only caught the first quarter but the stats say he only played 18 minutes. He got 13 boards and 11 points. He wasn't in foul trouble either, so if he wasn't hurt then it would be ridiculous to not play him more.

[octothorp]

Yeah, this team has been depressing to watch the last couple weeks, even in wins. A good quarter here and there, but overall they look stagnant on offense and easily exploitable on defense.

I'm more curious about why James Johnson didn't play at all despite reportedly being healthy. His body-language looked good on the bench, often the first guy up and cheering after a make, so if this was Casey benching him for something, I'm going to trust that he's got the maturity to deal with it this time round.

[The Big Chill]

The wheels are falling off. No ball movement whatsoever. Everything is a forced jumpshot from long range.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Down 9 to Philly after allowing a 15-1 run in the 4th. All the promise of the start of the year is turning into a team that looks like it'll be lucky to win a round. No cohesion on offense right now at all, nothing but iso ball.

[The Big Chill]

Good job getting the win in the end, but that wasn't pretty. Casey needs to find something that works and get these guys fired up again.

[Antithesis]

Starting off as another one of 'those' games. Down 13-6 with 5 left in the first.

[Antithesis]

What a weird quarter. Go down 9-0 to start, come all the way back to go up 21-20, and then Indiana goes on an 8-0 run in the last 90 seconds of the quarter to lead 28-21.