Fixing the Raptors – Part 2 of 2

Yesterday I postulated the biggest reasons why the Toronto Raptors have taken a severe tumble since the calendar clicked over to 2015. While some of the reasons for the team’s scuffling are fixable in the short term, others are not. Let’s take a look.

(1) This isn’t the Raptors’ year.

I suspect we all knew that, but the heady early days of this season were seductive. Could our guys truly be a championship-calibre team? If we finish first or second in the Eastern Conference, the Raps might have a short-cut to the Finals.

Feb 4, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward Bruno Caboclo (5) watches the play during the fourth quarter in a game against the Brooklyn Nets at Air Canada Centre. The Brooklyn Nets won 109-93. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

The prognosticators all but conceded the East to either Chicago or Cleveland. Early on, the Cavs in particular were having a miserable time, but they have figured out how to use the plethora of talent wearing wine and gold, and are looking like a top seed. Atlanta has been superb, and Chicago, while wobbly, remains formidable. With our current roster, we would need our opponents to be battling either injuries or dysfunction. That’s not the case.

(2) Our third-year players haven’t made the kind of progress we thought we’d see.

While I think a lot of the problems experienced by Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross are attributable to their usage, ultimately the kids aren’t alright. It’s on them to overcome bizarre substitution patterns and rarely having plays run for them, and force their way into more playing time.

We have a chicken-or-egg problem here. If coach Dwane Casey trusted them more, could he look past their frequent stumbles, and play them in crunch time? To me, he must. If I were Masai Ujiri, I’d be telling my coach to play the kids. Casey has the luxury of a contract extension, and isn’t under any pressure to deliver a title this season. If these players are our future, they need to be our present also.

(3) We have no impact rookie. That state of affairs won’t be changing this season, so we need to be at peace with it. Even so, there’s no reason why coach can’t test-drive Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira a few times. Once the Atlantic Division title has been nailed down, I hope our kids get a look. And what about DeAndre Daniels?

(4) Our offense is too predictable. Of all our issues, this is the most fixable in the short term. There are enough players rotting on the bench to offer a different look to opponents, if nothing else. When we go small, we’re getting clobbered. Why not allow Greg Stiemsma (or Chuck Hayes?) to get some PT when Jonas needs a rest? At least Steamer can offer some rim protection, and maybe pull down a few boards. If defense initiates offense, we need a rebounder out there all the time, to get our fast break started. Watching San Antonio enjoy second- and third-chance(!) opportunities the other night was too much to bear.

I don’t know if there’s much comfort in a cliche, but here goes: “You’re never as good as you appear when you’re hot, or as bad as you look when you’re cold.” The Raps are frosty at the moment, but they won’t go 1-9 again.

I called 50-32 before the season began, and our team will need to go 12-6 to achieve that. With a few changes, and an open mind from coach Casey, we can get there.