And away we go...

And away we go...

So far most of the things I have mentioned in the last post has come to fruition. The only things that have come of note is that Amir is having more of an impact then I anticipated. I don't know why, but Amir always seems to surprise me when he plays well and I guess it really shouldn't anymore. Derozan is not playing up to his potential. We have no real small forward on the team. Our bench consists of a mish mash of garbage players that other teams would avoid and tip toe around like dog doo doo.

The biggest story so far for this team is of course the play of Andrea Bargnani, who seems to have woken from some sort of 5 year long daze and seems to be a more complete player on both ends of the floor than previous incarnations of AB7. Wanna see how well he is actually doing?

He's on the front F'n page of ESPN beside Kobe Bryant for frig sakes. He's been linked to trades to LA and he's in the top 10 in scoring for the league. He's got a great PER which you can see him put together most games. He's actually putting in an effort on the boards. Still not rebounding as much as he should but the difference is noticeable and I'll take that compared to what he used to give us on the boards any day of the week. He seems more aware of his position on the court, opponents positions on the court and he's making defensive plays that a normal starting center in the NBA will make. Like once in a while actually trying to swipe the ball away from an opponent and getting his hands into passing lanes.

He seems to create a lot more contact now and that's earning him and his team more trips to the line. He's coming off a high pick and roll with Jose which Jose has the option of curling and pulling up for a jumper or slip the pass to Drea. Andrea then has the option to shoot, pump fake to draw the foul (which he does amazingly well and should get more credit for), or pump fake and drive where he has been having a lot of success hitting or drawing the foul. This is the Raptor's bread and butter play. That or they have Andrea come across the weak side of the court under the basket and iso for a post-up play. Nice and simple.None of this convoluted crap that they used to run in previous season.

Demar Derozan, Rasual Butler: We suck! Add James Johnson to that mix too. These guys shouldn't be allowed to shoot when they're on the floor. At least James J and Butler provide some decent D when they're on the floor but I think the Raptor's fanbase collectively clinch their sphincters and cringe in unison every time one of these jackasses have jacked up a shot in the past few games. Sure they might have a good game here or there between the four of them. But every blind squirrel eventually finds a nut if he sniffs around the ground long enough. 

As far as the next few weeks, I'd like to see the Raptors continue doing what they're doing. Winning a few here and there, losing the majority and continue to have Drea develop and score. Hopefully by the Allstar game we'll have a new allstar on this team and also have BC pull off some half decent trades.

Breaking down the 3 stars of the team:

Amir Johnson: Defensive sound and responsible. Plays with high energy, and intensity but at the same time he plays under control and knows his limits. The work he's put in off the court regarding adding strength and working on that 15-18 foot jump shot. Teams are more then happy to let him try that shot judging by past history so it's a great opportunity for Amir to oblige. He's also always got the one-two punch combo with Jose where Jose seems to be able to pass the ball to him as he's moving up the gut of the paint. Amir uses his long arms to catch the pass and while keeping it up in the air, he deposits it for an easy 2 points. This play has been seen time and again and is very effective.

Jose Calderon: He's playing injury free and seems to be having a second wind in his career. Maybe the poor defense really was due more to his injuries that seemed to have restricted his lateral movement. He's not point guard stopper but maybe it's more his success running the team on the other end that have made me overlook his defensive deficiencies. He's running out of gas during games as he, like Andrea, have been playing a ton of minutes to make up for the lack of talent on the rest of the roster. But when he's fresh he's running the pick and roll like a champ, putting pressure of the other team's d, and just causing mass confusion for opponents while averaging nearly double digits in assists. This is the best he's played in years and I am really enjoying watching it despite the recent losses.

Andrea Bargnani: Fueled by Primo pasta and sauce. This pasty pasta peddler is finally putting it all together and showing us where all that potential they talked about on the 2006 draft night is coming from. He has always done most of these sorts of things like driving, posting up, shooting well. But only recently have we seen him put it together game after game. He looks comfortable on the floor. Some might be attributed to him not being fluent in English the past years. I mean how are you going to communicate on the court if you literally don't understand what your teammates are saying. Some of it also seems like a light has click on in his brain and he realizes what he can to do to a lot of the slower power forwards and centers in the league. I want to see him drive more and post up more and shoot that 3 pointer less than 4 times in a game. Keep on keepin' on.