8/82 down, 2-6 record, big time disappointment around the team so far. There is still hope. GOOD Jonas Valanciunas is already a useful player. Coach Casey is keeping a tight leash on the Lithuanian but he is performing in limited minutes. He is fouling too much but it is 50/50 between him and the referees who have been absolutely atrocious. He looks like he'll be a double-double centre within his first three years in the NBA provided he gets the playing time he requires to develop. BETTER DeMar DeRozan is living up to his new deal. He has stepped up his game. Raptors fans are optimistic he can continue is fine run of form deep into the season. He should be getting more free throws but that's not his fault. He's trying. With support from Lowry and a big man, preferably Bargnani, he could be the first option on offense. He badly needs a small forward who can contribute something on offense. BEST Kyle Lowry is a stud. He does it all. If the team can keep him healthy, he could be the engine that powers the squad back into relevance. BAD Andrea Bargnani has topped-out as a professional in Toronto. There is no more upside to his game. He's been largely anonymous since the season began. WORSE Alan Anderson, Linas Kleiza, and Landry Fields combining for a shooting percentage of .300, providing no support to DeRozan (who is logging close to 40 minutes per game as a result). Fields has been especially poor, shooting .200 from the field and 0 from three point range. Outside of DeRozan our wing play has been abysmal. WORST Coach Casey's rotations have contributed to the 2-6 start. Valanciunas' burn is cut-off early in the second half and he's usually benched for the remainder of the game. Ed Davis is getting less playing time despite Bargnani's cold start. Terrence Ross is not playing. Dominic McGuire is a starter. Casey needs to know the fans will not forgive him if he misses the playoffs AND misses the opportunity to develop the young talent on the team.
I think we can be a little bit more optimistic. Most of our losses have been very close. Good - Amir and Ed. Showing that they are great off the bench bigs Better - Val in limited minutes has shown flashes of greatness. I think we have found a long term answer at centre. Casey needs to play him more! Demar has also been pretty good. He needs more calls but thats not really his fault. Refs are hating on the raps for some reason. Best - Lowry. Nothing else to say. Just come back soon please! Alright - Calderon has put up great stats but he really has made some dumb mistakes (turning it over several times at the end of the Jazz game, giving it to Amir for a three in the Indy game). Bad - Casey's rotations. I agree he's been terrible but he's been limited by the personnel somewhat. The wings are pretty bad so he has no choice to start McGuire. The rookies need more playing time, no reason to play Gray in the fourth. Ever. Worse - Bargnani. He has been downright awful. Tunnel vision and still bad rebounding/defense. Worst - Fields. And BC for giving him that terrible contract.
I generally like to have to play the best teams early on in the season before they've figured out how to dominate, or before they've earned the officiating edge, but the schedule has hurt our start. I think we are better than 2-6.
Man, Bargs has been such a huge disappointment this season, he's basically useless in the fourth. Like last night, he wasn't contributing anything at all. In the past, we'd have him out there because he can provide some spacing with his outside shooting but if his shot doesn't fall, he has nothing to contribute. I'd rather have Davis or Jonas out there, at least they can rebound and provide some offense down low. I've been happy with Calderon, he's showcasing himself and it's gonna make trading him easier if it gets to that point (IE. Raps have no hope of making playoffs by deadline). I don't know what to say about Fields, the bar is so low for him but he's still playing below expectations. All he really has to do is hit open shots and provide rebound support but it's just not happening for him. And, Aaron Gray playing in the 4th blows my mind...seriously, what the hell.
