The first of a mini-series examining the Raptor players, and how they stack up in regards to a particular facet of the game. In this case: Defense.
The Starters
Calderon
You do a lot of running around, your arms are active, you’re always yelling, but not a whole lot of defense is going on. Amazing really. Yes you were injured for most of the year, but what about the last two years??
Verdict: 2 Thumbs Down
You are destined to defend your pig farm from the swine flu. Fortunately, there is medicine you can give them once you fail at that too.
DeRozan
You have the tools grasshopper, you will have the freedom to put things together and find your groove.
Verdict: 2 Thumbs Up
Expectations aren’t outrageous, and you have a year grace period. I imagine you will block a couple ridiculous shots in the mold of Tayshaun Prince that will make AltRaps clap, hop and giggle like a little girl.
Turkoglu
For now, all folks can think about is that block you had on Kobe in the finals. BryCo got you for your offense, we aren’t fooling anyone here.
Verdict: 2 Thumb Up
You’re tall, coordinated and know how to ball. You can disrupt passing lanes, and make that entry that much harder to toss. As long as you don’t take plays/games off, and grab some boards, you won’t hear a peep from me.
Bosh
While you’re no Duncan or KG, you are a solid team defender who does everything good, but nothing great. Too bad that a team defender needs a team to be effective.
Verdict: 2 Thumbs Up
This years crop is the best lot you’ve had to play with in years. So when you help on defense, someone will actually rotate over to cover your check, and not hang you out to dry.
Bargnani
LOL…VL plays defense like he rebounds – dude is 7ft, so just standing there, something is bound to happen. Yes you get a block or two a game, but when you put your hands up, you approaching 9ft. It’s not like a 6ft9 Ben Wallace who goes after it.
Verdict: 1 Thumb Up
By virtue of your size, you’re going to block some shots. You are getting stronger and tougher to push in the low blocks, but your defensive acumen is very low. I can’t recall a time when you rotated on a defensive play, or played that roll well. You’re a scorer, so put the ball through the hoop. I imagine you will have to put up 27/game to even the rest out. Jam on it son.
The Bench
Jack
Lil-big person, Jose is going to looking over his shoulder, which is a good thing. You are quick and physical and will give the backcourt a different look in more ways then one.
Verdict: 2 Thumbs Up
I don’t have much to add here, just make your presence felt, pick a couple pockets, and get up in peoples grill.
Wright
We were told that we will love your blue collar hustle. I’m not super familiar with your game, but you come with good reviews with your “get-at-it-ness”.
Verdict: 2 Thumbs Up
Long, athletic and willing to grind. That’s all I need to hear.
Evans
If only you would play defense like you molested Kaman. You are tough and intimidating, which is something the Raptors have been missing since Oakley/Davis/JYD left.
Verdict: 1 Thumb Up
The new Humphries, that’s what pops in my head when I think of Reggie. He plays like Calderon, seems like he’s a good defender, but really isn’t. Fortunately we don’t have a defensive game plan for Reggie to eff-up.
Belinelli
Apparently his defense is much more solid then people think, which is great because I think he is just an offensive player. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since I don’t know too much about him.
Verdict: 1 Thumb Up
I hope he’s up to task since he will be getting some burn.
Ukic
His defense is far more consistent then his offense, sadly. He’s quick, long, and can disrupt passing lanes.
Verdict: 1 Thumb Up
He has the tools to defend the point well, tall and quick, just has to be consistent and build on the uggg….mole hill he built last year.
Douby
Quick and aggressive on the perimeter. He has long arms, and can surprise if people get sloppy with the ball.
Verdict: 1 Thumb Up
Our boy is known more for his offense then defense, which is quite telling. Ultimately, no matter how good he played during summer league, he is sitting at 4th on the depth chart at the PG, so as long as he doesn’t play bad, he doesn’t have to play good; if that made any sense.
Nesterovic
He never makes the spectacular plays, but he’s consistent, and there is something to say about that on a team full of guys who aren’t.
Verdict: 2 Thumbs Up
Solid, dude is solid. He isn’t the greatest defender, but he brings that veteran presence on defense which means we wont get nervous when he subs into the game in any situation….segue…
O’Bryant
You would think he would be a poor man’s Bargnani on defense (lol first time that has been said); he’s 7″ with a 15″ wing span, a little defense should fall into his lap (blocks, tips, steals…). Sadly it doesn’t
Verdict: Zero
Zero
Banks
Zero
Verdict: Zero
Zero
So, we have 17 of a possible 28 thumbs up. Not great, but better then average.
29 Raps
Funny….I could swear Bargs is more than 7 inches tall
semantics
lol
HA sorry bout that.
I am surprised with this…I think you have been a little generous with a few of these thumbs up…I mean our entire playable bench has thumbs up??? I dunno about that one…evans as Hump??? as much as i loved hump and was sad to see him go…in no way did i think he was tough…just a hustle player…
Yep, I thought the same.
Anyway, if this optimistic view were to be confirmed come the reg season, we might as well go for > 50 wins.
I keep thinking that the fundamental keys and variables to a major success this season (versus a ’simple’ 42-47 wins) are still the pace of development of Demar (especially on D, considering that on offense Raps should be fine…), and the final maturation of Bargs, who still doesn’t convince me completely when it comes to attitude and character. He’s blessed by nature and has amazing skills, but he hasn’t come out of the shell completely yet. Will he ever?
Bench scoring and bench defense are two other major points, but BC has addressed them explicitly during the off-season, so I hope they’ll be fine.
If Demar and Bargs take a leap, if the bench provides defense and points to a good extent, and of course if BC, Jose and Hedo confirm performances and stay healthy, the Raps might be able to write a very important chapter of their short life. In any case, it will be a season to remember, even in failure.
I was a bit generous for sure, but at the end of it, the team is adequate. They are 3 thumbs up over .500, which isn’t that great. If I was doing half-thumbs-up, Ukic, Douby and Evans would have received them. Not sure that is such an optimistic view. We still don’t have “that guy” who can make a defensive stand in critical situations.
This breakdown actually makes us look like we have a good defensive team….
exactly my point
How does 17 out of 28 equate to good? Better then average, but not good.
Well, adding Banks an O’Bryant’s numbers into the mix skews it negatively even they in all likelihood will (and should) never get a nano-second of floor time. That leaves us with 17/24 which is starting to look even more respectable without taking any other factors into consideration. Anyway, I hope we’re this good defensively – it’s just that our defense has been so terrible in the past that a complete 180 would be too good to be true.
You can’t look at it like that, otherwise we would be 17 of 30 since we are only carrying 14 of 15 roster spots, which makes it even worse.
Im just saying we should only be grading the people who will be playing.
No love for the Jose Calderon patented “hand clap” defense?! ;)
Forget the thumbs down…it should have been two hand claps up!!!!!!!!!
Or is that just low hanging fruit??
2 thumbs up for CB4 you gotta be kidding me. He is a imposter on defence! seriously he was emberassing defensively last season.
The Bosh critique which includes a reference to “team defense” is where you make your best point. Individual defense works only for short periods. A long season and frequent lagging by teammates on defense takes its toll on the good individuals. Remember Bosh had a terrific Olympic tournament defensively. It was a short stint and everyone must have been committed to the switches etc.
In the context of the above you could have mentioned a “thumbs” rating on coaching of a system and holding individuals accountable especially now that the team have viable backups.
I wanted to rate the coaching, but I am not very familiar with Iavaroni (infact, he showed zero in Memphis) and Triano hasn’t shown much during his brief tenure.
We are still missing a viable backup SF by my count.
I think DD, 6′7″, is going to get most of his minutes at SF since we have a glut of “capable” SG.
But you’re right, we still need another SF.
Antoine Wright is listed at 6′7″, 215lbs and should be able to play 10 minutes a night backing up Hedo.
And there is always a case to bring back Joey – maybe he’d play smarter playing behind a smarter player?
You’re probably right about DD, and we’ll have to play him at the 3, but I still think we could get the best out of him at the 2, where he could take advantage of his physical superiority, hopefully without too much paying the mismatch in defense…
And yes, another huge variable for the new season is the performance of coaching staff, which is still being run in, and never worked together at high level.
I think Wright and Belinelli are more of backup wings rather than assigning more specific positions, but i digress, Wright can be the backup sf and Belinelli the backup sg, while at the same time DD can move over to sf when the team wants run more. Heck I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to see the Raps go small with a backcourt of Jack and Jose and Belinelli over at sf. All that being said, if Turk stays healthy, which he has been over his career, backup sf isnt going to see much playing time anyways.
Great post. I can’t see how Bargnani and Turkoglu are in the positive on D, though. Belinelli, either. All three of those guys are sieves. In your system, I’d give ‘em all two down.
Yes, and that makes 3 starters (Jose, Andrea, Hedo) out of five with defensive flaws (and let’s not start a discussion about Bosh’s defensive skills). I hope they will defend a little better than expected, and that Iavaroni’s touch on the bigs kicks in fast. Otherwise, we’ll have to be deadly efficient on offense every night, which I’m afraid it’s not possible.
Bargnani gets a thumbs up because he clogs the lane and will get a block a game. Not the greatest, but again, I wasn’t doing half thumbs, so…
Turkoglu…he makes big stops from time to time. He challenges that entry pass to post, and is another tall guy who disrupts passing lanes.
Belinelli, from what I have read, has the size and quickness to be a good defender. Judging him based on his Golden State time isn’t a good judge of anything.
This is a great use of down time and fun to read. Howeer, there is some talk about Ukic not being around. Word has it that He is gone in a sign-and-trade deal that includes Delfino to the Bucks for Amir Johnson and another.
(ed: don’t use comments to promote your own blog, that’s what the URL box is for. thanks. not to mention we had a post up on here about the possible trade.)
This is a good way to see the strengths and weaknesses of our players. I suggest you do an overall wrap up at the end of your “mini-series”. Good job though. :)
Food for thought: will Bargs have the poise and reputation to get a few more calls go his way this year? If so that would give him some momentum into two thumbs territory.
Contract year for Bosh, and a nagging claim of “soft” attached I think he’ll be a stud on both ends of the floor to push his max salary status.
With Jack nipping at Jose’s heels I think he’s gonna have to pull up his socks to one thumb territory, after all Turk will end up running the offence half the time.
Personally i think that we should change up the starting line up a bit….
Jose-Wright-Turkoglu-Bosh-Bargs
Jack-Bellineli-DeRozan-Evans- Rash
POB,Banks and Johnson + “?”
Making Wright SG in the starting five will give them a defensive focused player. All of the guys in the starting 5 can shoot well and we don’t need another scorer with Derozan. Derozan will give energy to a bench that is not that athletic plus allow him to be the go to guy among the bench players, that is how he will get NBA ready. When Wright’s contract expires at the end of the season then we can move Derozan to the starting SG.