3 ideas to help "fix" the Raptors
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Coming into the season, many expected the Toronto Raptors to be a good team and one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. And for the first couple months of the season, that's exactly what they were. They were off to a 24-7 start, first in the conference, and in the middle of their west coast road trip, then seemed to collapse against the Portland Trailblazers. They were up double digits in the 4th quarter and fell in overtime, mostly due to clutch plays by Damian Lillard, as well as the Raps going cold from the field. The next game they played well against the Warriors only for them to lose by 21 after an incredible 2nd half from the Splash Bros, but that's when the slide started. The 2 games they got blown out by Phoenix and lost to the struggling Charlotte Hornets. Since then, the Raptors are 4-5 with understandable losses to Memphis and the reeling Atlanta Hawks, but also with some inexplicable losses against the Detroit Pistons and the New Orleans Pelicans who were without Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday. Since the start of December the Raptors rank in the bottom 10 in defensive efficiency, and have seen guys like Terrence Ross struggle. Ross's struggles got so bad that coach Dwane Casey was forced to move him to the bench for Greivis Vasquez, which in turn took arguably their best defender, James Johnson, out of the rotation. The Raptors are about to start a key stretch of games leading up to the All-Star break. Luckily they play against some of the bottom teams in the league including Indiana, Sacramento, and Brooklyn, but also in that stretch they play the Wizards twice, the Clippers and the Spurs, three of which are at the ACC. The Raps will need to win a great share of those games in order to try and pass Washington for the #2 seed in the East as well as fend off the Bulls who are right behind them. Here are some ideas that I have that could possibly help the Raps before the All-Star break as well as help them go into the final stretch of the regular season.
1. Make more changes to the starting lineup.
Like I mentioned above, the Raptors were forced to move the struggling Terrence Ross in favor of Greivis Vasquez. The move has helped in certain ways. Vasquez has played decent next to Lowry in the starting lineup, and Ross has had some nice games coming off of the bench, but the key part of that move is that James Johnson's playing time has decreased exponentially. Over the Raptors last 5 games, Johnson has played a total of 31 minutes. A stretch of games where the Raps have struggled on both ends of the floor. Casey has been asked several times on why he decided to move Vasquez into the starting lineup over Johnson, and he said it was simply due to the fact that he liked Vasquez next to Lowry, and it would also help with floor spacing. The change to the lineup I would make is move James Johnson into the starting SF spot, which would move DeMar back to the 2 and Vasquez back to the bench, and to keep the spacing idea alive, I would move Patrick Patterson into the starting lineup and Amir Johnson to the bench. Anyone who follows the Raptors knows that Amir is the heart and soul of this team, but they would also know that there have been several stretches where Amir has also looked fatigued and simply injured. Casey before the Pistons game last night told reporters that Amir has been dealing with a right shoulder injury as well as ankle injuries for the better part of a month, which in turn has effected his play. Moving Amir to the bench would reduce his minutes, but I think it would also increase his effectiveness, and help him be fresher when the Raps get to playoff time. Patterson in the starting lineup would help immensely with floor spacing, due to the fact he's shooting 41% from 3-pt range this season. Patterson is also 2nd in reserves this year in +/- and 24th overall in that same stat. JJ in the lineup would help with their all around defense because of his ability to defend the wings and help from the weak side.
2. Give Amir a break
Like I mentioned before, Amir Johnson is the heart and soul of this team. Anyone who watches, or follows this team knows that. It's a shame though that we've had to see him struggle this year. Once again battling ankle injuries, and now dealing with a shoulder injury. I've noticed many times this year that Amir has been fatigued and lethargic in his play, whether it's the dribble handoffs that the Raptors love to execute, or staying with his man on defense. Amir has been wildly inconsistent and I think it's because of the ever growing wear and tear on his body. Although Amir is only 28 years old, he's been in the league for 10 years and it's looking like it's starting to take a toll. If I were coach Casey, I would be willing to rest Amir until after the All-Star break, even if it meant giving more minutes to Tyler Hansbrough and Chuck Hayes. Giving Amir this break would not only help him be more fresh for the stretch run, but help the Raptors play better on the court as well.
3. Move the ball
When it comes to ball movement, it seems to come and go for the Raptors for stretches. When the Raptors have good ball movement, it's amazingly fun to watch. Everyone gets involved, they get the defense scrambling, and they get good shots. We've seen the Raptors become way too inconsistent in that regard. I noticed it in last night's game against Detroit. Raptors started off the game moving the ball getting great looks, and ended up getting a double digit lead early into the 2nd quarter. Then the Raptors settled into too many isolation possessions, where someone like DeMar, Kyle, or Lou would and go one on one and try to do it all themselves, it ended up letting the Pistons get back into the game. In the Raptors wins this year they're averaging 21 assists per game compared to 18 in their losses. Not much of a disparity when you look at the stats straight up, but you can tell when you watch the games that ball movement is a key part in what they do, and a key part in what makes them great. If you look at teams like the Spurs in past years and the Hawks this year, they have great ball movement. Everyone gets a chance to touch the ball, and they get great looks on offense, which ends up leading to wins more often than not. If the Raptors can gain some consistency in their ball movement and building up their assist numbers, they can win more ball games and hopefully catch up to Atlanta for the top seed.
