For years now we as Raptors fans have lamented the complete lack of consequence at the rim that this team provides to deter opponents from attacking the basket...teams run lay-up drills vs the Raps on a game-by-game, year-by-year basis...the last time there was any shot blockers or shot changers in the paint for the Raps the names were guys like Oakley/Antonio Davis/Keon Clark...for years we as Raps fans have put up with would-be replacements for those guys that would provide toughness and skill in the paint...
We have said hello, and quickly get lost, to several players that the Organization has tried to use to plus the gaping hole of big-man talent in the paint...guys like Loren Woods...Eric Williams...Rafael Araujo (...ahem.......)...Charlie V...Robert Archibald...Rasho...Maceo Baston...Primoz Brezec...Nathan Jawai...Joey G...Michael Bradley...Nate Huffman...Garth Joseph...Zendon Hamilton...Jerome Moiso...Patrick O'Bryant...Pape Sow...Mamadou N'diaye...Greg Foster...Corie Blount...a whole lot of YIKES here folks...
To add insult to injury we see that Pacers C Roy Hibbert is averaging 1.8 Blocks per game this season...only Keon Clark and Jermaine O'Neal averaged more than that for the Raps in the 2000's, and Clark only played 46 games and O'Neal just 41 whereas Hibbert is already at 51 and counting...Hibbert was drafted by the Raps in 2008 only to be traded to Indy as part of the Jermaine O'Neal trade...in this recent off-season GM Brian Colangelo tried to acquire C Tyson Chandler from the Bobcats, but Charlotte owner Michael Jordan found a deal he liked better with the Mavs and Chandler is currently blocking 1.2 shots per game in Big D - more than any player in the T-Dot...
The obvious place to criticize here is the drafting and player-personnel moves that have failed to provide any skill in the paint...but I will add this to the mix too...how about the Coaches on the Raps bench...when I watch the Bobcats lately I am struck that they are getting production from Kwame Brown...in the last 4 years Brown has had one game where he got at least 13 points with at least 15 rebounds...in the month of Jan 2011 he had 2 of those games...has he found his game?!?! Perhaps, but I point to Bobcats Assistant Coach Charles Oakley as a guy who is working with Brown daily, and is in his ear during the games helping to coach and motivate Kwame...some of the Assistant Coach's contributions with the big men are obvious...Patrick Ewing works with Dwight Howard in Orlando...Kareem works with Andrew Bynum in LA...but there is much more out there too...
Let's take a look at the Assistant Coaches on the NBA benches that are improving big-men on a daily basis...
Sam Mitchell, Popeye Jones, Larry Krystowiak (Nets)...Afrain Griffin, Ed Pinlney (Bulls)...Herb Williams (Knicks)...Walter McCarty, Vitaly Potapenko (Pacers)...Tyrone Hill (Hawks)...Bob McAdoo (Heat)...Jack Sikma (Rockets)...Bill Laimbeer (T-Wolves)...Bill Cartwright (Suns)...plus we mentioned Oak/Ewing/Kareem...
We know a large issue in Toronto is that Jay Triano is not a NBA Head Coach...he does seem to do nice work as an Assistant Coach, but his in-game strategy leaves a ton to be desired...But we also see on the Raps bench a lack of a teacher/motivator/guide/sounding board to help out the big men...rookie Ed Davis is the future of this team as far as Power Forward and I see no one here capable of helping him progress his game...we have only seen fellow rookie Soloman Alabi for very short spurts in his 8 games as a pro, but his 0 NBA blocks also tell the story that there is no one here to develop and assist the big-men...
I lost my faith in Colangelo when he gave all the Free Agent $$$ to Jason Kapono a few years ago...I never believed that Jay Triano was a legit option as a NBA Head Coach...I did not mind hiring P.J. Carlesimo to assist this year...but all-in-all I am in favor of complete overhauls in upper management, and with the coaching staff...I can only hope that the culture of this team can be improved to the point where the roster, and the coaches, are able to provide a major upswing as far as how the Raps defend in the paint going forward...this past week alone we saw the Spurs and Trail Blazers come to town and each did whatever they wanted to do in the paint vs the Raps...unfortunately for us as fans that abuse is all too common vs our beloved Craptors...
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craig.ballard@hotmail.com
