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by RaptorsHQ - Defensive Stance on Dec 3, 2009 1:55 PM EST in Daily Links

The Toronto Raptors are the worst defensive team you've ever seen, according to Kelly Dwyer (and a lot of other people). On Wednesday, the Atlanta Hawks scored over 152 points per 100 possessions, shot 59 percent, 52 percent from long range, hit 31 free throws, grabbed an offensive rebound after over 41 percent of its misses and only turned the ball over nine times.

ESPN's John Hollinger called the Raptors defence "truly pathetic" during yesterday's chat (and that was BEFORE the Atlanta game).

Check out the recap from Hawks blog Peachtree Hoops, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Rapors blogs Mediocre Forever an the Zan Tabak Herald. The Fan 590's Eric Smith sums things up nicely.

~~Former Raptor~~ Chris Bosh lashes out over the Raptors defensive collapse and admits "we're just not a good team." He's also not a fan of the cold weather, apparently.

Jarrett Jack and Antoine Wright criticize coach Jay Triano. Ironically, the man Triano replaced, Sam Mitchell, was on hand last night to witness the carnage.

The Globe and Mail's Michael Grange thinks the Raptors are at the beginning of a crisis.

Raptors Republic describes the Dinos' situation as dire.

Here's a pair of basketball shoes that will allow people to overvalue your contributions and cause you to disappear down the stretch of close games.

Tuesday's contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves might look like a winnable game... unless Kevin Love has something to say about it.

Amidst all the negativity, here's a feel-good story about Jack doing the right thing.

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What a depressing time for the Raps. Love that Jack story BTW.

by Vic De Zen on Dec 3, 2009 3:25 PM EST reply actions

82games.com

I see where RaptorsHQ refers to 82games.com quite a bit. I happen to also think that they provide some meaningful basketball stats.

Talking about Net Production.

Johnson who still doesn’t have any plays run for him has a higher net production than Bargnani and a higer net production than Calderon.

I don’t know if Johnson is ready to start at this point for a number of reasons including his career high foul rate which is almost as high as the Raptors points allowed per game.

However, I can say unequivocally that Johnson can score the ball. He has already had several games of scoring around 10 points in 20 minutes without having any plays run for him and is shooting 65%.

The Pistons never wanted him to shoot and so he developed a reputation an an energy defensive guy but I have seen him operate on offense when he has the green light and plays are run for him. He can defintely score and bring the home crowed to its feet in the process.

The Raptors need to start running a couple of plays per half for him and watch what happens. I think that most Raptors fans and writers will be more than pleasantly surprised at the result.

Having said that I think he still comes off the bench at least until he can show that he can play 30 plus minutes of solid ball without fouling out and the Raptors incorporate him into their offense plays.

by Buddahfan on Dec 3, 2009 5:16 PM EST reply actions

please colangelo trade jose

i seriously think jose needs to be traded because we dont need jose if we have turkoglu jose should be traded for some1 who can play defence they dont need to be good offensivly they just need to play amazing defence i dont care if we downgrade for some one who can play defence

by raptors_run_the_show on Dec 3, 2009 7:01 PM EST reply actions

Signing Turkoglu was a big mistake they spent in all on him alone for 5 years. Not only is it a waste, he is not even producing. The only reason why he looked so good in Sacramento and Orlando was because he had Webber, Divac, Howard and Lewis who can and could open up the perimeter for him. Raptors should have kept Marion and not picked up Hedo. Bargnani is not worth for being a #1 draft pick They can invest in something better Now Raptors have 2 guys who are tall and slow and can’t play D signed for 5 years in Hedo and Andrea getting pushed around inside they opt to keep shooting from outside.

by anen87 on Dec 4, 2009 3:53 PM EST reply actions