Toronto Raptors: What We Learned from the First Game of Preseason

The Toronto played their first preseason game today against the Boston Celtics in Toronto. The final score was 75-76 in Boston's favor and there were many positives that we saw, as well as many negatives.

NEGATIVES:

Let us start with the negatives. One major problem this morning was turnovers. The Toronto Raptors had  21 turnovers, which lead to many points by the Celtics.

This is too high of a number and the players should be more cautious when making passes and must watch their footwork. The Raptors need to make some smarter decisions if they want to put up some points on the board.

Another negative that we saw was consistency. The raptors shot for a measly 38.4 percent from the field, while shooting only 36.8 percent from beyond the arc. The shot selection needs to be much smarter for the team. 

The offense overall did not have a great game. They only scored 75 points, which is a low number compared to the 99 they averaged last season. If they are able to be more consistent and turn the ball over less times, they can score much more points.

The final negative for the game was the offense. It seemed as if the offense was rushed a little too much. Shots were taken with twenty seconds left on the shot-clock, and many shots were just rushed overall.

Now onto the positives. This section is going to be a little bit more focused on the play of the players, more than the team.

POSITIVES:

Let us start with Andrea Bargnani. The first overall pick in 2006 has been constantly attacked for his inability to rebound and play defense. Against the Celtics, Bargnani proved he can rebound and play defense while scoring. Bargnani had nine rebounds and one block in 32 minutes.

He hustled for the ball, and had a great game.

Ed Davis was finally able to participate in his first training camp this season, and with the extra work, Davis can be a real stud coming off the bench for the Raptors. In only 20 minutes, Davis got the only double double of the game, scoring ten points and grabbing ten boards. If he can continuously put up numbers like that off the bench, that will be great for the team.

DeRozan was mocked for his inability to shoot the ball from mid and long range last season. Against the Celtics, he shot two for two from beyond the arc, and took more jumpers compared to driving in. He still needs to polish his shot a little bit more, but it has improved greatly from two seasons ago.

One final comment in terms of a player is James Johnson. He had limited minutes, seeing the court for only about ten minutes, but in those ten minutes Johnson amassed a total of four blocks! That is amazing for the amount of time he was on the court.

No one is going to expect these numbers in those minutes again, but if he can play like that, Johnson has a chance to win defensive player of the year. 

In terms of team play, the team played amazing on defense. They held the Celtics to only 39.4 percent shooting and held them to only 76 points. This is great, as last season, the team allowed 105 points per game. 

If they can hold their opponents to around 90 points on a nightly basis, it will be a great improvement from last season.