NBABasketblog: What's wrong with the Raptors?

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This year, the words 'Pound the Rock' are written on the walls of the Toronto Raptors facilities. The phrase has got a nice ring to it, doesn't it? But what does it mean?

Essentially, it means 'never give up' or 'never stop trying'. Pound the rock until it breaks. Inspiring. In an obtuse kind of way.

The Raptors do, in fact, have a lot of 'pounding' to do. There is much work to be done to move from the butt of the NBA to a team that is taken seriously.

Take Tuesday night's game for example. If there is any time the Raptors should be expected to win, it's against the league's worst team. The Washington Wizards - who had not won a game until Tuesday - should have been a piece of cake for Toronto. At least the Raptors have proven they can win games this season, even if it hasn't been very many.

But on the contrary, the basketball world was expecting the winless Wizards to finally earn a victory. They were playing only the lowly Raptors... And the basketball world was right. Of course the Wizards got their first win against poor, laughable Toronto.

As sad as all that is, the Raptors have actually shown signs of real change this season, and that hasn't happened in a while.

They're being led by the defensive mind (head coach Dwane Casey) that helped the Dallas Mavericks earn a championship last year, and it shows.  A lot of the time, they look like they're playing playoff basketball. Translation: they look like they're trying really hard to keep the other team from scoring.

That can't be said for all NBA teams and it certainly can't be said for last year's Raptors squad.

This season, on average, they're allowing just over 92 points per game. That's a pretty impressive number when you compare it to last season's 105.4.

Even Andrea Bargnani, who is known for sometimes being less than enthusiastic on defence, is averaging more rebounds this season. Casey is already having an effect on Bargnani's mindset, and that will prove to be essential in elevating the Raptors throughout the next couple seasons.

So if Toronto's superstar is finally playing defence, then why aren't the Raptors really any better?

The problem is that the Raptors 'rebuild' is going to take much longer than most expected. They've got a young core that is still gaining the experience needed in a real playoff contender, and as much as their defence has improved, their offence is still paltry compared to the rest of the league.

Bargnani is the only Raptor averaging more than 20 points a game, and the drop off after him and Demar DeRozan (14.2) is significant. Simply put, Toronto doesn't score enough. Either players like Amir Johnson and Leandro Barbosa need to start averaging double-digits or the Raptors need to pick up a bonafide offensive superstar.

Or we could all put our hopes in dreams in Toronto's first-round draft pick, Jonas Valanciunas.

Valanciunas is still playing rather inconsistently in Lithuania this year, leading to the possible conclusion that he's not 'developing' fast enough to make a real difference in Toronto next year.

We're still too far removed from next season to predict what the Raptors will look like with any accuracy.

As for this year, expect much more of the same. Mostly losses. Some played well. Some played disastrously. And sprinkle in the occasional win against a team like the New York Knicks that makes you question your initial pessimistic assessment.

Don't worry though, after wins like that they always do something to reassure you that thinking they might have a shot at the playoffs would be foolish.

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