Feschuk supports deception!!!

deception · Nov 3, 2009

(Giving up) dribble penetration was our biggest problem (on Sunday)," said Jay Triano, the Raptors coach. "We have to get better (at stopping it) as a team."

The problem is widespread, of course, and every regular could be singled out for some blame. But let's be honest: The problem of allowing opposing players into the paint starts at point guard. The past two losses have seen opposing No. 1s – Memphis' middle-of-the-road Mike Conley and Orlando's all-star Jameer Nelson – zip past Jose Calderon with too much ease. It's a familiar plotline for Raptor fans, who watched Calderon cede similar ground last season, when a six-centimetre tear in his hamstring limited his mobility.

The Spaniard claims to be back to full health now, which could be worrisome, or perhaps an off-season of rest is the easy explanation for his early-going rust. Maybe he'll be back in form in no time, as early as Wednesday's home game against the Detroit Pistons.

Don't get it wrong: It's not all Calderon's fault. Defence, at the NBA level, is a team scheme. But there are degrees of getting beat.

"It's tough for anybody to do something perfect all the time," said Jarrett Jack, the Raptors' backup point guard. "You might not get beat to where they lay it in the basket. You might just get beat to where the guy gets past you for a dribble until somebody can step up and we force them to swing it to the weak side."

Calderon, to this eye, has been getting beat for lay-ins too often, although he says his defence has been "better than (his) offence" this season, which gives you an idea of what he thinks about his shooting stroke.

So what are the Raptors to do? Junking it up might be an option. Jack Armstrong, the high-energy broadcaster, was on the radio show he co-hosts with Eric Smith on The Fan 590 on Monday making an argument for Toronto's occasional playing of multi-look zone defence. If you've got a glaring weakness, it makes some sense to be at least a little bit deceptive about where it is. But don't expect changes. The Raptors coaching staff, particularly Jay Triano and lead assistant Marc Iavaroni, has invested a lot of time and effort into developing its current system.

"I don't want to abandon what we're doing," said Triano. "In years past we've had a defensive philosophy and we'd go, `Oh, this is hurting us. Let's abandon it and do something different.' We're not going to do that."

The truth is Calderon's best defence is balancing out the ledger with his shooting stroke and minimal turnover rate. But if his play doesn't improve Triano might be forced to make a change. It's just an idea, but Jack, as poorly as he has played adjusting to his role in Toronto, might eventually make more sense as a starting point guard. Jack is more defensively minded, physically stronger, a little bit quicker. And Hedo Turkoglu is just as capable at running the top-of-the-key pick and roll with Chris Bosh or Andrea Bargnani.

And Calderon, don't let anybody kid you, has had his best NBA moments playing against second-string players. Swapping the point-guard batting order wouldn't lead to a replay of Toronto's 2007-08 who-should-start controversy – Calderon and Jack are exponentially better team players than T.J. Ford
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http://www.thestar.com/sports/nba/r...k-solution-to-raptors-weak-defence-start-jack

-many years ago when i was poster here (pre-ban) i used to be critical of vince and some of the posters here were convinced i was feschuk

speeds · Nov 4, 2009

Feschuk is a little wiener kid.

Calderon needs to get his legs back and the rest of the starters need to play better team defense.

Right now we're playing five offensive specialists at once and it's no wonder we're showing defensive lapses. Starting Wright and letting him guard the PG might be a good option against teams without fast off-guards.

Pulling Calderon out of the starting lineup seems quick-fix and hasty.

Chutney · Nov 4, 2009

Did anybody else see that Feschuck and Grange wrote a snarky critical book about the Maple Leafs? I've seen ads for it all over downtown. Sometimes I just don't understand this city's sports media.

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Feschuk supports deception!!!

deception JBB Banned Member

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Chutney MON-STRAWRRR!!1!

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Feschuk supports deception!!!

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deception JBB Banned Member

speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

Chutney MON-STRAWRRR!!1!

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