How the Toronto Raptors Hit Rock Bottom

Coming off of what was the most embarrassing loss of the season, the men in red might want to do a little soul searching before they head to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves. On Saturday night, the Raptors dropped a game in the fourth quarter to the Memphis Grizzlies who were without their stud forward Rudy Gay.

What does this team lack? They have three big men who could start on most NBA teams, a point guard who was apparently so good that they traded away TJ Ford just to give him starter status, and a bunch of wing players who are each supposed to specialize in something. What's the problem?

Let's go through them one by one by damn one.

1. Bad Coaching, Bad system

Culprit: Sam Mitchell, Jay Triano

I found myself getting worse and worse at video games this past year, and it never occurred to me that I was putting Jay Triano's and Sam Mitchell's deeply flawed system into practice in virtual reality.

I find myself doubling constantly, scrambling and getting into mismatches, and leaving shooters wide open at the worst possible times. Who's at fault here? Is it the players who simply aren't rotating, or is it the coaching staff who have no idea what they're doing?

Perhaps it's Colangelo's fault that he's given both coaches such a miserable group of defenders to work with. Outside of O'Neal, Bargnani, Parker, Ukic, and at times Graham, every player on this team is a below average defender. In the case of Calderon and Kapono, we're probably talking about two of the worst defenders in the league. What is a coach to do?

2. Poor Defensive Players

Culprit: Jose Calderon, Chris Bosh, Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono, Bryan Colangelo

Extending from the first point, three of your four highest paid players are horrible defenders. If help comes down for Bosh against a big from the wing, for Calderon from a big, or for Kapono from everyone, it's the job of these players to switch over and ninety percent of the time, they're just not doing it.

Calderon is the absolute best example of poor defense this team his seen since the days of Lamond Murray. He sees his man beat him, and sees the help coming from either Bargnani or O'Neal. Instead of covering their man to the best of his ability, he sticks to the player he's guarding, following them from behind.

This leads to one of two things: It leaves a seven-footer in the paint for a rebound or an easy layup, and if that seven-footer is covered over by a wing player, it leaves a shooter wide open in the corner. Where does it start? Jose Calderon.

Kapono hardly seems worth mentioning. His job is to provide the team with an offensive spark off the bench, and indeed in hindsight, I'm sure Colangelo sees what the rest of the league probably saw. Guys like Kapono should play a maximum of seven to eight minutes per night, and should earn less than three million dollars per year for doing it. Colangelo doubled up.

In the process, he gave the Raptors a player with the lateral quickness of a fifty year old. Luckily for the Raptors, Kapono is a smart player defensively and his lack of quickness never hurts the Raptors as much as Calderon's lack of focus.

Bosh is the final culprit, and considering he wants max money, I'd certainly be a little hesitant to give it to him before he can show some improvement on the other end of the floor. Bargnani took a big leap forward this season, and if Bosh took even half that leap, the Raptors would be sitting in playoff contention right now.

His being unable to guard opposing bigs creates a lot of problems for the Raptors, and considering he doesn't really try to defend, he usually doesn't get into foul trouble. If the Raptors have one flaw, it is that they find their defense from their offense. Most good teams do it the other way, and unfortunately, Bosh hasn't seen that in his first six seasons.

3. Lack of closer/Slasher

Culprit: Bryan Colangelo

You really can't win in this league without a guy who can guarantee you two points. May that be Kobe, Turkoglu, Duncan, Ginobili, or Bibby. The point is, the Raptors have no one, and because of this lack of closer, they've been attempting to go to Bosh down the stretch of close games.

The result is more than often a turnover, a missed shot, or simply a bad shot. Colangelo should work the phones to see if he can find a wing player who the Raptors can work through in the crunch. They don't grow on trees, but having one means you're never truly out of a game until it's over.

At this point, your best slashers are Roko Ukic and Joey Graham, followed by Bosh and Bargnani. Not quite Ginobili, Bryant, or Maggette. Slashers create open shots for their teammates, and put pressure on the defense to constantly be on their toes, and perhaps out of place.

If the Raptors' best slasher is a talented third string point guard who can't shoot, and an inconsistent small forward who can't do much with the ball in terms of creativity, one might say this could explain why a guy like Kapono has been so ineffective this season. I wouldn't bring back TJ Ford, but I think we can accept he wasn't the problem with this team.

4. Lack of Desire and Toughness

Culprit: Everyone

They look like a team that quits on games, lies down, and takes punches instead of delivering them. Perhaps this extends back to their Captain Chris Bosh who is among the most emotionally reactive and mentally weak players I've seen in a long time.

It just makes you think that this team was so used to the mental boost they received from Sam Mitchell, that under a quieter coach, they've simply caved. For the record, the reason Mitchell kept his job as long as he did was because Colangelo felt the players played hard for him in the worst of times. I'd imagine Triano is wondering why they're not playing with as much intensity for him.

5. Roster Imbalance

Culprit: Bryan Colangelo

The three best players on this team are natural power forwards, and two can fill in admirably at center. The fact remains that Moon, Kapono, and Graham are three small forwards that fall to the bottom end of the Raptor roster. Trading either Bosh, O'Neal or Bargnani for a wing would be the best move Colangelo can make right now. It certainly beats the hell out of making the 7’0”, 260-pound Bargnani play small forward.

Diagnosis

1. Trade

Trading Calderon, Bosh, Kapono seems needed, and if not all three then at least two. A team cannot win when it's giving up nearly half its salary to three guys who can't spell defense.

2. Change coaches

Yes, again. Triano isn't the right guy for this job, and while I'm happy that he got a chance, he's going to end this season at the bottom of the Raptor coaching ranks for his win-loss percentage. Bringing in a coach that can teach a young team defense, and at the same time actually has a defensive system might be helpful. Where is Jeff Van Gundy when you need him? Messina?