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Tuesday, November 14, 2000
Raptors: Time could heal wounds
ESPN.com
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For every NBA team that is on a roll, there is a team that isn't. That's why we need the doctor -- Dr. Jack Ramsay. Each week in Dr. Jack's Prescription, the Hall of Fame coach will analyze a team in distress, and offer a cure to what ails them.
This week: Toronto Raptors
|  | | Vince Carter is scoring more points than last year, but he needs help. |
The Symptoms
The Raptors are off to a slow start (2-3). They got blown away by a Jerry
Stackhouse's career-high 44 points in their home-opening loss to Detroit. Then
they lost close games -- to Boston (93-91), after holding a 21-point lead; and
to the Sixers (104-98) after leading by 10 at the end of the first period,
and holding a two-point lead in the fourth.
Toronto got its first win at home against Washington, building a six-point lead
by halftime and then holding on to that margin in each of the remaining
periods. A win is a win is a win, coaches like to say ... and it did stop the
bleeding. Then on Tuesday, they beat up a Celtics team without Kenny Anderson and whose leading scorer got 12 points.
The truth is that the Raptors haven't been impressive in any of
their outings so far. Where there was great optimism, there is now concern.
Toronto lost Tracy McGrady (free agency) and Doug Christie (trade for Corliss
Williamson) -- two significant players -- in the offseason. They retained a
great scorer in Vince Carter; solid front-line veterans (Antonio Davis,
Charles Oakley and Kevin Willis), acquired veteran point guard Mark Jackson to make the offense gel, and small forward Williamson; picked up a highly
regarded rookie (Morris Peterson) from whom nice things are predicted; and have a
pretty good bench. Factor in new coach Lenny Wilkens, possessor of the most coaching wins in NBA history, and Raptor fans thought they were in for a banner
season, despite the loss of McGrady. But this team has not come together at
either end of the floor yet.
The Diagnosis
As always when a team is struggling, look first to the defense. Toronto ranks
fifth from last in points allowed (99.2). It has been unable to stop opposing
teams' best scorers ... Stackhouse, Allen Iverson, Antoine Walker or Paul
Pierce. Part of the problem may be Wilkens' different defensive scheme and having new players -- Jackson, Williamson and Peterson -- getting significant minutes. Defense is tougher to teach than offense. The Raptors also lack a true center, someone to shot-block and intimidate at the defensive basket. Team rebounding is adequate.
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| Davis |
But it's not only the defense that is lacking. At the other end of the floor,
Carter is just about the whole offense on many nights. Entering Tuesday, Vince had taken 90 of the team's 335 shots to date. No one else has taken more than 36. Carter
averages 29.5 points per game -- and only two other players (Davis at 12.5 and Alvin Williams, 10.5) are in double figures. At crunch time, everybody in the arena knows that
Vince is going to take the last shot, and defenses gang up on him.
The Cure
Time will help solve their woes ... if they don't get into too deep a hole.
This team needs a chance to absorb its new players, and will get better under
Wilkens' calm, steady hand. But teams don't get a lot of practice time in
the NBA, and the defensive problems must be addressed. Jackson and Williamson
need help in defending quicker players. This requires consistent weak-side
adjusting. To use a coach Pat Riley expression, give help, then help the
helper. The Raptors must make their defense come alive as a unit to get stops
-- especially at the critical part of the game. Remember the old adage: An
ounce of prevention (defense) is worth a pound of cure.
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| Jackson |
Carter is a great offensive player, but he must find a way to get his
teammates more involved in the scoring. Michael Jordan did it by burning
double-teaming defenses with passes to open teammates for easy scores. Vince
has the ability to do the same. In the win over the Wizards, the Raptors had
five players in double figures. In the second Boston game, three players topped 20 points. The team needs that kind of point
distribution -- and it has an excellent playmaker in Jackson, who's leading the league in assists.
It's really too early to push the panic button, and I don't think Wilkens
is at all worried. But I'm equally sure he'd rather be winning those close
games than losing them.
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