Toronto Raptors Turning The Corner?

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Coming into the season, Toronto’s problems were obvious. They had nine new faces, a franchise player looking for reasons to stay, did not look scary defensively and had an inexperienced head coach. There were also concerns that their big free agent acquisition, Hedo Turkoglu, would not mesh well with their current PG, Jose Calderon. Up until a few weeks ago, most of these issues were still seen as problems. Toronto was one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA, the rotation had yet to be defined and many were pointing fingers at the likely target, Coach Jay Triano. What was worse is there were rumors that there was a cultural divide in the Raptors locker room between the North American players and the Europeans. Apparently, due to lack of familiarity with their teammates and cultural differences, some players were afraid to call out others for their defensive mistakes and communicate with each other on the floor. The team called a meeting to air out any lingering concerns and address the issue and since then it has not appeared to be a problem. This meeting played a big part in bringing this team together, however, they still seemed to struggle a little and still appeared to be soft defensively.

Toronto did not realize that the answer to their problems would be an injury to starting PG Jose Calderon. Jose is in no way a chemistry killer and he’s easily one of the best players on the team, however the adjustments that head coach Jay Triano was forced to make as a result really set the team in motion. With Calderon out, Jarrett Jack would take over as the starter and his defensive presence, as well as his ability to play of the ball, gave the Raptors the boost the needed on the defensive side of the court and also allowed Turkoglu to handle the ball more, thereby making both the PG and the SF positions more effective on offense. The team rolled with Calderon out, winning six of seven prior to Wednesday’s match-up with the Orlando magic, which marked the return of Jose Calderon from injury. Calderon, never one to put himself above the team, willingly came off the bench and added a spark to the second unit which had been struggling. With Jose back in the line-up, the Raptors were able to squeak out a win against a magic squad which generally gives them troubles. I know it was only one game, but with Jose finally back, I think it was a great indication of what is to come.

First of all, after watching how well the starters did without him, we finally got to see how Jose would fit back into all of this, especially with the team rolling. Bringing Calderon off the bench seems to be an excellent idea for the chemistry of both the first and second units. As most are well aware, Calderon and Turk struggle while on the floor for significant stretches together. Jack has proven that he can keep the starting unit going and now the reserves have a top notch floor general, in Jose, to keep them steady when they lack focus and to get the players easy buckets and hopefully generate some offense off the bench. Calderon will still get his minutes and will still see some time with jack in the backcourt, and even be on the floor a lot with Turkoglu.  Actually, from what I saw Wednesday, Jose looks like he might actually be getting better playing off Turk. Jose made a few nice shots -both set jump shots and pull ups - in the win over the Magic. If Jose can keep that jumper falling and play off the ball, he will likely see his minutes remain the same, he will just be finishing games instead of starting them all.

Something else that I saw against Orlando which impressed me was Bargnani’s defense on Dwight Howard, as well as his willingness to rebound. I think Barg’s defense has always been a little underrated, at least his man-to-man D. He got called for quite a few questionable calls late in the quarter against Howard, which is going to happen when a younger player guards an all-star, but he has to find a way to avoid this. I believe these calls prevent him from furthering his defensive game because he can’t be as aggressive as he should be. This is evident in his weak help defense. However, I think this will improve with confidence and conditioning. If Bargs can continue to improve defensively, as well as commit to rebounding the ball the way he did against the magic, the raptors will no doubt be play-off bound. The team used a first overall selection to pick him; they need more from him on that end.

Speaking of high draft picks, I’ve also liked what I’ve seen from DeMar Derozan, I just haven’t liked how often I’ve seen him. Double D has been playing very well, but at the end of games, always seems to be the odd man out. In Wednesday’s match-up, Triano was substituting Weems and Wright for Calderon and Belinelli, leaving Derozan to watch on the bench. I understand he’s a rookie, but eventually you want to groom him to be the type of defender that Weems and Wright as, as well as handle the ball and contribute offensively as Belinelli does, so you have to find a way to get him in there. Rookies will make mistakes, but what can Derozan do that’s any worse than some of the questionable 3 pt shots which Wright attempts late in games.  In the end, it’s Triano’s call and I’m fine with it if that is what he wants to do. Besides, it is only a minor detail as long as the Raptors keep winning.