The Full Court Press

The trade deadline came and went and the Toronto Raptors did very little to enhance their chances of securing homecourt advantage in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

Two issues the Raptors needed to address were rebounding and interior defense. As much as I appreciate all 7’1” of Primoz Brezec, who Toronto acquired for Juan Dixon, he doesn’t address the rebounding or defense liabilities of the Raptors. Despite Brezec’s 11 point, 3 rebound performance against the New York Knicks on Sunday (Feb 24), last night against Indiana he didn’t sniff the court.

I’m not saying the Raptors should have kept Dixon. I’m with Raptors General Manager Bryan Colangelo, get rid of people who don’t want to be on your team. But Brezec is not the answer. There were quality big men available before the trade deadline sitting on the benches of other teams.

The Raptors play three very winnable games this week. They play Miami on Monday (Feb. 4), the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday (Feb. 8) and then cap off the week on Sunday (Feb. 10) against Minnesota.

Should be a relatively stress-free week in terms of games, considering Toronto has four days off after the Miami game. But there’s something that could happen later this week that may cause the team some angst.

What’s happened with the Toronto Raptors over the past few weeks is nothing short of extraordinary.

The Raptors have won seven of their past 10 games since Lebron James put on an offensive clinic and single-handedly beat Toronto at home 93-90. James went off for 24 points and three assists (all leading to 3 pointers) in the fourth quarter after Chris Bosh’s girlfriend laughed at King James after he missed a dunk.

The New Year didn't bring many good tidings for the Raptors. After taking care of the surging New Orleans Hornets on New Year's Eve night, the Raptors began 2008 with back-to-back home losses against Cleveland and Detroit.

What's disturbing about both losses was not that they lost, but how they lost.

Last night (Dec. 19) the Toronto Raptors hit a wall, scoring only 13 points in the fourth quarter, on the way to a 101-96 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Raptors started the game off shooting well, racking up 83 points in the first three quarters, before fatigue caught up with them in their second game on back-to-back nights.

Last night’s game was dominated by last year’s NBA Rookie of the Year and sixth overall draft pick, Portland’s Brandon Roy. He finished the game with 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists - all team highs. This was in stark comparison to last year’s top overall draft pick, Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani (runner-up in rookie of the year voting), who had two points, two rebounds and one assist.

After the success Roy and Bargnani achieved last year it looked like the two sophomores were well on their way to establishing themselves as the class of last year’s draft and potential future NBA All-Stars. But so far this year, it looks like Roy is the only one headed in that direction.

After the Raptors game ended yesterday, my 11-year-old son turned to me and said, “I can’t believe I wasn’t a fan of Chris Bosh.” I’ve been trying for years to tell him that Bosh is the real deal. But like many young NBA fans, they can’t see past Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James (and with good reason by the way).

Bosh showed, in Toronto’s 93-80 win over the Houston Rockets, why he is one of the most talented players in the league. His stat line read: 21 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocked shots, 2 steals and 0 turnovers in 41 minutes. Not bad for a guy who just missed six games because of a groin injury.

What was really impressive about Bosh’s performance yesterday was that even though he struggled offensively in the first half, he was a huge presence throughout the game on defence.

No Bosh, no Bargnani, no Ford - no problem. Without their big three, the Raptors cruised to an easy 98-79 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats last night. It’s a testament to the depth of the team that general manager Bryan Colangelo, assistant GM Maurizio Gherardini and senior basketball advisor Wayne Embry have put together.

But before people fall in love with the Raptors depth, you have to see how that depth stacks up against a better quality opponent than the Bobcats.

The real test comes the rest of this week when the Raptors take on the high-flying Phoenix Suns tomorrow (Dec. 5), the league-leading Boston Celtics on Friday (Dec. 7) and the always tough Houston Rockets on Sunday (Dec. 11). Will Toronto’s depth be able to compete with some of the NBA’s best talent?

I drank the purple Kool-Aid and am now a full-fledged Moonie. And no, I’m not a member of the Unification Church that follows the doctrine of Sun Myung Moon. I’m not that kind of Moonie. I’m a convert to the doctrine of Jamario Moon - the Raptors starting small forward.

I was pretty skeptical at the beginning of the season about the Raptors signing a relatively unknown player like Moon to a roster spot, especially when I felt there were more established players with better credentials available. But he’s made a believer out of me.

The Raptors solved their defensive deficiencies the past two games by inserting Rasho Nesterovic and Jamario “over the” Moon into the starting lineup. Both of them are much better defenders than the guys they replaced - Andrea Bargnani and Jason Kapono. The addition of Nesterovic and Moon to the starting lineup also made Toronto a better rebounding team.

Last Saturday (Nov. 10), Toronto held Chicago to 71 points and out-rebounded them 44-38 in a Raptor win in the Windy City. And last night (Nov. 14) they held the number one scoring team in the league, the Utah Jazz (111 points per game), to just 92 points. Toronto also out-rebounded the Jazz 50 to 46. But that didn’t add up to a Toronto win.

There are two statistics that stood out most for me after reading the boxscore of Toronto’s game last night against the Jazz - a game Toronto lost 92-88.

The Toronto Raptors started the season on a good note winning their first two games out the gate before losing a heartbreaker in overtime to the new and improved Boston Celtics - thanks to a three-point basket from Jesus (Ray Allen). They then ran into the mighty Milwaukee Bucks. At least they seemed mighty on Tuesday night.

Milwaukee pasted the Raptors 112-85 in a non-performance the Raptors nearly repeated last night against the Orlando Magic in a 105-96 loss. I say nearly repeated because after missing their first 10 shots against the Magic and being down 17-4, the Raptors woke up and had a chance to win if they could have hit some shots down the stretch.

The Raptors are now 2-3 on the season. And as good as they looked defensively in their first two games, the Raptors have been very Maple Leaf-like in their own end of the court the past three games.