At least we're not Washington. POSITIVE SIGNS Last time we checked in the Raptors had an 8-19 record. They've since improved to 12-21 (+2), edging to 3½ games behind 8th place (Boston). The Raps dropped a "trap game" to Sacto yesterday, perhaps looking ahead to OKC a little too much, but otherwise have been stellar for three weeks. The Raptors picked up a couple of road wins at New Orleans and Orlando, demolishing both teams by a combined 42 points. They won in Cleveland last month by 14. The Raps road record is still a horrendous 4-15 but that's better than 1-15. The Raps have also become a winning team at home with 8 wins to 6 losses. In the absence of Andrea Bargnani and Jonas Valanciunas, a few Raptors have had to step up and instead we've seen pretty much the whole team jump to a new level of performance. Jose Calderon has had six games with 9 or more assists and double-digit points in recent victories, Ed Davis has seven games with double-digit points, Alan Anderson is averaging almost 15 points a game in his last nine, Kyle Lowry's averaging 14 points and 7 assists since his return, and perhaps most surprisingly of all, Landry Fields is shooting 71% from the field post-surgery. Terrence Hot Sauce Ross notched 26 points shooting 8-14 against Portland in the best game of his young NBA career. Developing consistency will be key for Ross who shot 13%, 60%, 57%, and 14% in his last four outings. Meanwhile, DeMar DeRozan put the team on his back against the Hornets/Pelicans, logging 49 minutes and leading the game with 30 points. NEGATIVE SIGNS Home cooking and a favourable lineup of opponents has worked in the Raps favour over the last month but it's easy to get carried away thinking the team is "good" rather than "better than the worst". The Raps wins have come at the expense of some truly lifeless squads playing for nothing and with no fire. Toronto has six home games in their next eight contests but will face OKC, Brooklyn, Chicago with Rose, Philly twice, and the Lakers. Winning five or six of the next eight would be a real indicator that this team has turned the corner and not just preyed on the sick and limping. Not much else to say since things are going pretty okay at the moment. Aaron Gray has the worst hands in the NBA and probably shouldn't be starting ahead of Amir Johnson. Barg's return this month or early next will be a problem. Bryan Colangelo has reappeared in the tunnel, his job safe for the time being--but hopefully the pressure isn't just magically off his shoulders after a few wins. Jack Armstrong's only 50?
The main takeaway from this current streak for me is that Ed Davis has made Bargs expendable, scoring wise Davis might not be as skilled but if he has a game where he's not scoring, at least he can contribute in other ways. Second thing is that with the way Calderon is playing, BC needs to leverage this somehow, I am not expecting a trade right away but I hope he's at least putting out some feelers.
Calderon is getting a new contract. Davis' defense is not good. To be a full time starter in the league he needs to show he can do better.
The problem with Davis' defense (and Val and Amir) is their lack of strength. He's a good help defender because of his lateral quickness and IQ but just lacks the strength to hang with guys like Cousins and Pekovic. Ross has also been a revelation. I was in the Drummond camp on draft night (and still kinda am) but Ross has been proving me wrong, especially his defense and athleticism. Ticking down to Bargnani's trade.
Lots of talk online about Ed being tired. Dude's been patiently waiting for a track to explode on for two years and now he's tired? He's only played more than thirty minutes five times since the beginning of December.
