15-26 (.366) has become 18-32 (.360), Toronto is 7½ back of eighth... but that isn't what everyone wants to talk about anymore is it? POSITIVE SIGNS The team is reinvigorated after a much needed roster shake-up involving long time point guard Jose Calderon, third year forward Ed Davis, and newcomer Rudy Gay. Fans are happy about the trade in general. The offensive tempo has picked up considerably now that the team runs a fast break. Imagine that. The athleticism of the team has become an advantage, according to Isiah Thomas, who sees the combination of DeRozan, Ross, and Gay as one that is difficult to deal with for opposing teams. Gay's impact has been immediate. The six year pro out of UConn is averaging 24/6/2/3/1 and debuted in a bombastic win over the LA Clippers. The team is 2-2 with Gay in the lineup, going even through a difficult stretch of games against the Clippers, Heat, Celtics, and Pacers. Gay fought through a poor shooting night against the Pacers to set up the score that forced overtime with a key steal and then hit the game winner with ten seconds left in OT. Gay has 9 steals and 17 rebounds in the last two games. Compared to the non-production we've been getting from the three spot this season, he's been a revelation. He's stolen a lot of Alan Anderson's minutes as well so there is joy there, too. The return of Jonas Valanciunas has been a happy one. Coach Casey has eased Big Val back into the rotation, playing him a total of 20 minutes in the first three games before letting him loose on the Pacers on Thursday. In 26 minutes, Val put up 14 points on 6-10 shooting, pulled down 13 rebounds, blocked two shots, hit his free throws, and managed to stay in the game despite ticky-tack foul calling by the officials and a nasty tumble at the hands of "Psycho T" Tyler Hansborough (that saw Valanciunas briefly leave the game to have his freshly healed finger inspected). The big man was especially effective on the offensive boards grabbing five rebounds and asserting himself on the block. Although he got worked over in a mismatch against David West late in the game he didn't get frustrated. Hopefully he will be back in the starting lineup before long. Aaron Gray has filled in well but it's time for him to GTFO of the way. Amir Johnson is a boss. Not really a positive sign for the Raptors but still something to feel good about--Jose Calderon's playing very well in Detroit. He's helped the team to wins over the Spurs and Bucks. Sadly, Ed Davis is hardly playing in Memphis. He's stuck behind veterans. Hope things work out for him. NEGATIVE SIGNS Not a lot has changed in terms of the outlook for the team this season. We're still too far behind to make the playoffs without at least two of the teams completely imploding. By the end of the season there will be four to six teams worse than us, putting us likely out of a top-3 pick in the lottery and therefore out of a pick altogether. The goal going forward can only be to develop our young players and build cohesion among the players that will stay with us going forward. The Rudy Gay trade has completely displaced new signing Landry Fields. With Ross' minutes being more important than his, there is no place on the team for Fields, and he's burning significant salary. Redundancy on the roster was only partially addressed with the trade, necessitating another deal. Unfortunately Fields is one of the least likely players in the league to be traded because of his onerous contract and the fact he can't stay healthy this season. Andrea Bargnani has returned to the lineup but so far has only featured off the bench. Amir Johnson's outstanding play could suffer if he starts getting a short hook on fouls from Coach Casey. Bargnani's on-court absence helped foster better chemistry for the team--can he return without tipping the cart? John Lucas III is now an important rotation player on the team. Thankfully, Colangelo is scouring the league for another Jose Calderon-type "pure PG" for Coach Casey to put on the floor with Kyle Lowry for extended minutes in crunch time every game. Speaking of which, if we thought the two-PG system would leave with Calderon, we were mistaken. Casey still relies on it even when our personnel isn't up to the task. Having Lucas and Lowry in the game together should really only happen under very rare circumstances. Thankfully the presence of Gay seems to be forcing him to go PG-wing-forward-forward-big so far. If Johnson can keep from fouling out and JoVa stays in games late, we'll be okay. Otherwise we'll keep getting ill-advised JL3 shots in the fourth.
I actually think having Bargnani back should be a positive. He's been good in the sixth man role and is strong enough to defend players Val can't. His shot selection has been good and his effort is there when he has to only do it in short spurts. At the very least, his return will help his trade value. Could not agree more about Mr. Lucas. He's just a chucker and can't run a team at all which is terrible since Lowry isn't very good at it either. This is why I liked having Calderon as a backup, gave us the ability to show defenses two different types of teams. Would we be able to get someone like Ridnour? I want a pg who is solid but definitely worse than Lowry so we don't get another PG controversy. Yea I still don't understand why Memphis wanted Ed. He averages like 2 minutes a game. I guess they just want a young prospect to develop for when Randolph retires but I doubt he will want to stay after his contract ends if he's getting no minutes. I don't really mind bringing Val off the bench, as long as he gets 25-30 minutes. Puts less pressure on him and allows him to just go out and play. Gray should be used more if the match up demands it, he's definitely a serviceble, token starter. Johnson's shot at the end of regulation against the Pacers was AMIRacle. But seriously, yes, straight up boss. Casey's rotations are still a head scratcher sometimes but I think he might be getting told by BC to play the young guys more. Alan "mr everywhere" Anderson only played 4 minutes last game, which is basically the best thing to happen all season. Ross wasn't very effective in his 18 minutes but i think if he consistently gets that much, he'll produce. The wind positions should only include Demar, Gay, Ross and Fields. No one else. Lastly, the small ball lineup with Lowry, Ross, Demar, Gay, Amir will produce some great highlight.
Gotta give credit to Luke tonight, played well. AA might need to ride some pine for a few games, though.
