The Toronto Raptors went undefeated last year in Summer League play, but we all know how the season turned out.
This year they've yet to win a game so hopefully the inverse is true.
Last night the Raps dropped their third straight match, losing 85 to 75 to the Dallas Mavericks and if you watched this one online, it was hardly a Piece de Summer League Resistance. In fact, after three matches, I think it's safe to say that this isn't exactly the best Summer League squad the Dinos have ever had in Vegas.
In last night's affair we saw many of the same problems that have plagued the team from day one in Vegas; poor shooting, poor defence, and poor offensive execution. The Raps shot only 43 per cent from the field and a putrid 19 per cent from downtown. The Mavs on the other hand hit 40 per cent from long range and coupled with a solid rebounding advantage (37 to 29), grabbed a 50 to 30 lead at the half and never looked back.
Well, the Raps did make a run in the second half but simply couldn't get over the hump. They were led by Ed Davis with 23 points and seven rebounds, but other than some offense off the pine from Bobby Brown (19 points off 8 of 14 shooting), there wasn't much else to write home about.
Wings Kyle Weems, Terrence Ross and Chris Wright hit only 8 of 26 shots so...well...you know.
Meanwhile Dominique Jones led the Mavericks with 21 points but Jae Crowder, and Bernard James also had strong games for Big D, and the club got contributions from numerous other players.
Without going too much into it yet, point guard play has been a major issue for the Raps so far in Vegas. Ben Uzoh had only one turnover to six assists yesterday, but neither he or Bobby Brown, or Devoe Joseph for that matter, have been stellar in running the club. With reports that the Dinos are still shopping Jose Calderon it's pretty safe to say that Bryan Colangelo will be on the hunt for some legit help behind Kyle Lowry.