THE RAPTORS LAST HOPE IS THAT THEY CATCH LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE.

With their confidence at its lowest level and their best game stuck way back in its last game in Boston the Raptors are about to put the seal on a season that can most assuredly be qualified as a year of regression. This was a club that had the talent to take the next step up the ladder of NBA success, but instead they fell back a couple of rungs and are in danger of losing the positive energy gained last year and completely frittering this season away.

So, what went wrong? Ah, the perils of youth. This club constantly showed its immaturity and a lack of understanding of the work ethic needed to succeed in the NBA. Youthful errors come from thinking that time is on their side--but in reality t simply isn’t the time to waste. They played far too many casual games--played far too many like it was just another game on the long NBA schedule. By not taking each game with the proper amount of seriousness they didn’t give themselves any margin for error, and when they lost their better players and began to lose their rhythm they didn’t have that comfort zone on which to rely.

By giving away so may games in the early portion of the schedule, and not focussing on the task at hand when playing inferior clubs, they allowed the season to disintegrate into failure. It is the major difference between where the Raptors want to go (the upper echelon) and where they actually reside (mediocrity)

It seems as if the club geared itself up for game number two on the schedule, and when they played terrific and absolutely humiliated last year’s playoff vanquishers in New Jersey they appeared ready for a much deeper post-season run. The only problem was that there was another 80 games of regular season left to play.

They showed flashes of brilliance this season. They went out and destroyed clubs when they absolutely needed a win, but as they began to wear down from the constant struggle of the season they found it much more difficult to find it within themselves to play the perfect game. The last great memory is beating the league best Celtics in Boston…but that was half a season ago.

This was definitely a season of change. They lost TJ early and that forced Calderon to be the man. In time Calderon proved he could be the man. But then TJ came back and just couldn’t get it going as a reserve. Then they lost Bosh at a most inopportune time. They were slowly working out the kinks when Bosh went down, and this not only caused all the kinks to return but brought with it a whole lot more of them. Out west they were a shadow of their former selves. Back east their defence became such an issue that it began to affect their offence--thus nullifying the great equalizer for a poor defensive club.

They did it to themselves. If they had played hard each game they would have marked off a much higher number in the win column and allowed them to stay afloat even through their misfortunes.

The last gasp came when Calderon volunteered to step back for TJ. Wirth just a few games remaining the Raptors had to again learn on the run. While TJ is better as a starter it is obvious that Calderon’s unselfishness has affected his game and he often seems a step slow and seems hesitant to shoot--even though he is among the club’s more accurate shooters. The bench has become non-existent. Delfino would prefer to throw up treys rather than work for 16 footers. Kapono won’t take a shot unless he’s wide open—and he rarely is--and Bargnani, while immensely talented, is proving to be a slow learner. He still has not figured out how a mid-range game would better suit him--only drive to the basket when the path is clear, and put up a three when he knows he can make it.

Why is it so hard for this club to understand the benefits of the mid range game? Most offensive sets start with Bosh and while this is the bedrock of their game plan their supposed plethora of shooters should be able to create an open shot for themselves off a pick and roll. Why can’t Delfino work off a Rasho or a Bosh pick to free himself for an 18 foot jump shot. He would knock those down at a much higher rate than he does with the his present philosophy of hoisting threes. Parker seems to be the only player capable of coming off a screen to free himself up for a shot.

Often times the offence stagnates. This is when TJ believes he needs to break defenses down and that is when he usually gets carried away with his own importance. He isn’t a good enough scorer to think that he must always score. There isn’t enough penetration and dishing in this offence. Why doesn’t TJ run at Kapono’s man and when the defender slides over to help he can dish off to Kapono who should be ready to shoot. Of course the problem is that Kapono has lost his confidence and it would results in a wasted drive as the shooter would wait until he could give the ball back to TJ.

The regression seen this year in Bargain and Kapono is directly related to the regression in this year’s club. Bargnani was expected to be that second scorer, but he always seems a step slow and a little out of focus. Kapono expects perfection from himself and thus the more he misses the more reluctant he is to shoot. Except for a couple of game on the recent west coast swing Kapono hasn’t been a part of the offence since early in the year.

What takes place in the off-season is anyone’s guess. We all understand where the weakness of the team lies—evident to anyone who has spent more than a passing moment watching basketball. And if we know…you can be sure that the organization is certainly aware of their shortcomings. The trust needed among players to defend has been lost. Nobody believes that their fellow player can guard his man. This opens up lanes to the basket and results in too many easy points.

Their defensive failures are now affecting their offence. Parker hasn’t been able to shoot in some time, Bargnani can’t find the bottom of the basket and Kapono is afraid to shoot at all. So it’s left to Bosh and Rasho to carry the load inside and work with the point guards to create nearly all of the offensive production. Certainly not nearly enough when they posses a defence that gives up points from outside, points from inside, points in transition, and points off turnovers. There isn’t one aspect of the Raptor defence that the players can feel strongly about and make into their identity. They can’t close out on the perimeter and that allows penetration. This forces the inside guys to move into the lane to protect the basket and makes the club vulnerable to short passes, easy lay-ups, and offensive rebounds.

It shouldn’t be this tough. There’s enough talent and strength on the court to produce decent defence (expecting great defence is like dreaming of a Ferrari while driving a Hyundai. So it comes down to effort—and here is where I have the biggest problem with this year’s club. So sure of their seeding they played the entire regular season as if they couldn’t wait for the playoffs to begin. They didn’t understand that to maintain fluidity, maintain confidence, maintain cohesion and get better as a whole they needed to produce consistent efforts. This very immature squad could not understand that simple fact.

And now, with those precious playoffs approaching the club has lost their synergy. They look like first round fodder for their opponent. They have lost the tag of being a very dangerous club. The only hope is that they strike lightning in a bottle before the season ends. But it has to happen soon. Very soon.

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