"The good news is the Raptors know what they want to do defensively. The bad news is they're not yet doing it with any consistency. The Chicago Bulls scored early, often, and at times far too easily in a 109-90 win over the visiting Raptors dropping Toronto's pre-season record to 1-2. Obviously the win loss record is irrelevant, but any strides the Raptors aggressive, pressure defence was making in the early going sprung some huge leaks Tuesday night against the Bulls. Derrick Rose, the Bulls point guard and one of the quicker guys in the league, had his way with the Raps in the first quarter putting up 14 points and 23 overall. But even with backup C.J. Watson running the point in the second half, the Bulls barely missed a step. When the two were on the court together for the final five minutes of the second it was more of the same. What the Raptors want to do is be proactive on defence. It's the exact opposite approach to last year's "Protect the paint" approach. As head coach Jay Triano said before the game: "Listen, we had nowhere to go. We had to change the way we played at the defensive end and we'll find ways to score offensively." Jose Calderon, a guy who got called out plenty for his defensive shortcomings a year ago, says the new philosophy eliminates some of the uncertainty of a year ago. "Last year we had different options in our defence and that confused guys," Calderon said. "It's not like everybody was making mistakes or always the same guy, but it would happen." Calderon likes the idea of getting up on the speedier point guards as opposed to waiting for them to build up a head of steam and then coming at him. "When those guys coming at you full speed you just have to make a decision and it's a 50% chance. Left or right. Sometimes last year if we (Jarrett Jack or Calderon) got beat one on one it was all the way to the basket. It was like there was no one there. It was tough because it looked worse than it really was." With less confusion and fewer options, the help defence that went missing on plays like that last year, should, by design, be there this year." http://www.torontosun.com/sports/basketball/2010/10/13/15670206.html
