12/24/09
by: Scott
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As frustrated as we've been many times this season watching the Raptors' inability to stop opponents from scoring, imagine how frustrated Pistons fans must be attempting to root for a team that can't shoot worth a damn. With no Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon or Tayshaun Prince in Detroit's lineup, the Raptors were able to employ their "pack-the-paint" defence to great effect last night as they held the Pistons to 28 percent shooting and a franchise-low 64 points. Say what you will about how bad this Pistons offence is without those three guys, but I bet none of us thought the Raptors would be holding any team to a franchise-low scoring mark in any game this season.
Early on, there seemed to be real potential for this to be one of those games where the Raptors lose to a clearly inferior team because they simply get outworked on the boards. Detroit pulled down 11 offensive boards in the first quarter alone and they scored 10 of their 21 points in that quarter on those second chances. But after the Pistons managed to tie the score at 27 early in the second quarter, the Raptors went on a 10-0 run after that and it became clear that Detroit simply didn't have the horsepower (get it? Detroit? Horsepower? Ah, forget it... pearls before swine) to keep up.
I haven't thrown a lot of compliments Jay Triano's way in this blog, but I have to give him credit for figuring out which reserve players deserve playing time (particularly Amir and Sonny) and which players should be towel-wavers (Antoine and, as much as I hate to admit it, Rasho). One of the main deficiencies of the Raptors' early-season rotations was a lack of athleticism, and that changes from a deficiency to a strength when Amir and Sonny are on the floor. They seem to have a really good rapport when they're out there together — and last night's Weems-to-Johnson alley-oop pass off the backboard won't be the last one we see this season.
Jarrett Jack continues to do a solid job filling in for Jose Calderon as starting point guard, and the movement to trade Jose continues to grow. Even Bill Simmons has proposed the same "Calderon to the Lakers for Jordan Farmar and Adam Morrison" scenario that I've been pushing for weeks.
Of course, Calderon still has some defenders, most notably Doug and Eric Smith. I didn't hear this myself, but my colleague Andrew Stoeten from Drunk Jays Fans emailed me last night that he heard them attacking people who think the Raptors should trade Calderon by saying, "Just because you have an Internet connection and like basketball, that doesn't mean you know anything." Again, I didn't hear this myself so I don't want to treat this as a direct quote, but let me be clear that I would never have that kind of contempt for my readers, regardless of whether or not they agree with me. To be fair, they were probably referring specifically to Simmons with that comment since I imagine a bunch of people emailed them about his column.
Anyway, the way both Jack and Turkoglu (who had a season-high 11 assists last night) have performed in Calderon's absence makes it pretty clear to me that this team simply runs better with Jack handing the ball off to Turkoglu early in the shot clock rather than having Calderon run the offence. Jose could theoretically be a useful sixth man on this team — and I hope that's the role he fills when he eventually returns from injury — but it would be even better if Bryan Colangelo can figure out a way to trade him and clear the remaining three years, $29 million off the books.
The Raptors' next two games are home dates against Detroit and Charlotte so there's a real opportunity to put together a five-game winning streak and get within a game of .500 before they enter a brutal five-game stretch where they play Boston twice, San Antonio at home and Philly and Orlando on the road. If making the playoffs in this pitiful conference is their goal, Toronto just needs to stay within shouting distance of .500 for the rest of the season. Hell, Charlotte has a .407 winning percentage and they have the eighth seed in the East right now. In the West, that would put them in 14th place. 
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