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Following the latest embarrassment in Minnesota, the Raptors ended the preseason with just two wins and six losses. Worse, Hedo Turkoglu left the game early after tweaking an ankle and the Raptors’ abysmal three-point shooting continued.
After an exciting offseason of change brought in nine new players, many Raptors fans are now beginning to fear the worst.
Some current quotes:
“Expect 2-8 out of the gate.”
“…this team will start the year 2-10.″
Even: “Raptors will miss the playoffs.”
Some comments from fans:
“...the team has no chemistry”
“Bosh and Bargnani can’t work together.”
“Raptors, I can only see three wins in the first 33 games”
“If the **** hits the fan, 10-35.″
And what has brought about these fears?
For a start, this team was expected to score easily and often but has averaged only 95 points per game and shot only 24 percent from three.
Jay Triano has preached defense since the start of training camp, but the team is giving up six more points per game than it scores.
Jose Calderon started preseason in the worst physical condition of his NBA career. He actually looked ill at the first game in London.
Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu couldn’t start the preseason on time because of minor injuries and fatigue? In their first games back, they didn’t play well.
Jay Triano has been featuring the duo point guard lineup of Calderon and Jack throughout the preseason with very limited chemistry shown between the two guards.
Antoine Wright, the defensive specialist from Dallas, had to have his knee drained after a training camp mishap and missed every preseason game until the last one.
The early fan favorite, Reggie Evans, sprained his foot and will miss the home opener.
The supposed depth players that Colangelo added in the offseason are playing worse as the preseason progresses.
Every player on the team has preseason statistics that are much worse than expected.
The Raptors keep losing to teams fans expect them to beat during the regular season!
A slow start to the regular season should be easy to explain and easy to accept, except that fans rarely find ways to accept losing streaks.
The Raptors face two of the top teams in the NBA at home to start the season and quickly follow that with a three-game, then a four-game Western road trip against teams expecting to make the playoffs.
Early wins will likely have to come against Memphis on the road or Detroit and Chicago at home.
Only winning two of these games is a real possibility and does not reflect the team’s ability as the season progresses. There is no justification for panic over a slow start based on this opening schedule. Winning four or more of the first 12 is cause for genuine optimism.
The chemistry issue is likely to be very real early in the season. When the division-winning 2006 Raptors brought in nine new faces, it took them 20 games to get their act together and started the season with just seven wins and 13 losses.
The lack of offense during the preseason has been surprising, but not so surprising when Raptors coach Jay Triano says he hasn’t implemented their core offensive plays yet in preseason.
The Raptors have lived on the pick and roll in the past and Triano has held off implementing the team’s best play until the regular season starts.
The shooting concerns will undoubtedly be resolved on their own. Players tend to shoot the percentages they usually shoot over time. The results from a short preseason schedule playing short minutes is not reflective of what should be expected during the regular season.
The effectiveness of the Raptors’ defense has been questionable, giving up 46 percent shooting by their preseason opponents. But like summer league, the intensity of the games has not been high.
Lineups have been based more on talent evaluation and getting certain veterans’ conditioning up to speed. It is very hard to project how the defense will look from watching these games.
Jose Calderon, Hedo Turkoglu, and Chris Bosh have all used the preseason to get their conditioning ready for the regular season. Their much lower than normal personal statistics in the preseason reflect this.
Chris Bosh: 25.2 minutes, 15.5 points, 6.7 rebounds.
Jose Calderon: 23.8 minutes, 8.4 points, 3.9 assists.
Hedo Turkoglu: 21.3 minutes, 8.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists.
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