December 28, 2008

IF THE RAPTORS INSIST ON WATCHING THE GAME THEN THEY SHOULD BE MADE TO BUY TICKETS

“They don’t jump.”

That was the criticism bouncing down the halls of the ACC Monday night after the Raptors were caught standing and watching by a Nets team that ran past and leaped over them. 

Of course they don’t jump.  When the ball goes up they all stop and watch where it goes.  The opposition is actually moving however and that usually results in another scoring attempt.  After enough of these flash moments--when it appears Raptor players are posing for a photograph-- occur it causes a competitive game to be lost.  

This newly installed defensive system is showing results and keeping the team in games, but the inability to force only one shot for each possession is turning tight games into losses.

Here’s my advice to the Raptors—since you are playing in the game it would be better if you stopped watching the game.

Colangelo brought in Jermaine O’Neal to add toughness to a marshmallow club, but while O’Neal has occasionally shown the tough interior defense he was purported to bring he can’t do it himself.  His teammates often think he can.  How often has O’Neal blocked a shot only to have an unblocked offender put in the rebound? 

The team not only doesn’t jump—it doesn’t box out either.

Instead of watching the ball and the reacting to it the bigger bodies on the Raptors should find the nearest enemy member and push him away and let the guards find it. Isn’t that how Jason Kidd snags double digit rebounds in many games?

The positives that come from the development of this solid defensive system are shielded by the mistakes being made within it.  Soon those negatives will outweigh the positives and losses will become less about improvement and will be caused more by panic.

The team needs to see consistent success from this system if they are to completely believe in it.  They need to understand the vagaries.  They need to realize that by keeping teams to outside shots chances are rebounds will bounce away from the basket.  Find the direction of the ball and guess as to where it will bounce after it hits the rim or the backboard.  Expect the ball to miss.  Right now they expect the ball to fall so they stop working for it.

Motion.  On Offense and on defense.  STANDING STILL NEVER WORKS

The Raptors can salvage this season.  They are that close to putting it together.  They need to keep working toward it.  If they don’t they won’t be a contender this year and only the mediocrity at the bottom of the conference will allow them, on talent alone, to make the playoffs.  Where they will be first round fodder for an actual contender once again..

100 GAMES OF BAD HABITS WON’T DISAPPEAR IN A FEW DAYS FOR THE RAPTORS—IT’S GOING TO TAKE TIME

The Toronto Raptors are a club that can, when playing well, compete with any team in the league.  Unfortunately those moments come only in spurts—at the first sign of failure they resort to the bad habits that have plagued them since the start of last season. 

The prevailing attitude was always---it’s a long season, and the mistakes will eventually be worked through.  Its 100 games now since that 47 win club, with the vast amount of potential, lost to the Nets in the playoffs.  Mediocrity has followed them ever since.

The Raptors are not nearly strong enough mentally right now to compete against the better clubs—they have to hope that in time they can remedy, or at least lessen, the damage caused by their biggest flaws.  And no flaw causes as much damage as those nasty moments when the players on the court get caught watching the game instead of playing in it.

These nasty habits have been culled from a fear of failure.  Last season the team’s interior defence was so soft that it could be sliced open by even average players—and there was very little hope of containing the better ones.   Perimeter defenders developed the bad habit of cheating inside to help—and that would free up shooters enough to make open shots. 

This bad habit seemed to have been eradicated from their mindset early this year.  O’Neal’s presence inside gave the team enough confidence to simply guard their men outside.  But Jermaine got hurt, and the wheels fell off the wagon.  Once again players were able to penetrate through to the basket untouched—and that nasty habit of helping inside returned.

Sunday versus Portland.  A last second loss for a team desperate for a win.  At one point Oden was backing O’Neal down on the block.  For a brief moment Anthony Parker lost confidence in his team-mate and moved inside to help.  Oden passed it out.  Two bullet passes around the perimeter created a circus as others tried to close the gap.  The open shooter in the corner drained a three. 

There was no reason for Parker to cheat inside to help since Oden’s offensive skills are raw at best, and the Blazers are filled with athletic players who can shoot.  The better play would be to simply let Oden handle the ball and guard everyone else.  But bad habits are hard to break.

Or how about the particularly basic play that exposes their poor defensive recognition.  The most basic offensive play in basketball is the pick and roll.  Teams will use this play three and four times during a single possession.  The Raptors love this play--it is often their only offensive play. However on defence, with the first pick and roll of a possession occurring, the Raptor forward hesitates in rotation as the guard is being picked by the opposing forward.  This leaves a good shooter open for a shot from a make-able distance—and good shooters usually make that open shot.  Even if they miss one of his team-mates will likely grab the rebound anyway.

Bad habits.  It’s hard to trust your team-mate when everything is going wrong—but in order for this season to get back on course that trust will need to return, and be impenetrable when it does.

Triano has had positive moments even if the team has not had a positive outcome.  And his insistence that they protect the paint first and close on shooters second is a solid and successful plan—its how the Celtics play, and win.  But for the plan to work the trust the players have for each other, and their ability to guard,  will need to withstand those moments when it isn’t working.  No plan works all the time—but this one has a chance to work enough to win, if the players believe. 

The better teams--the Celtics, the Lakers, and the Cavaliers—worry less about their own play and more about beating their opponents.  The struggling clubs--the Raptors, the Sixers—are concerned with their own play, not near comfortable enough to just look at the opposition.  They are still trying to find their own personality, their confidence, and their game.

Preview my new fictional novel A Walking Parody at www.michaelghobson.com

Catch my weekly radio spot Friday nights on Late Night with Norm Rumack on the Fan 590.