Raps Wrap Pre-Season

The Raps finished their pre-season with another loss and another game where Triano could not use his regular rotation. Turkoglu suffered a minor ankle sprain which limited him to 14 minutes and Evans is still out with his injury. The overall preseason for the team was pretty dismal, but then again the Leafs had a hot preseason and that did not translate well when the regular games began. The team will also benefit by having almost a week off before the first game.

Despite not having the full team to work with, some of Triano’s rotation is starting to come together. The most interesting aspect is how he plans to use DeRozan. The thought is to let the rookie start and then determine his playing time based on how well he does. Instead of giving him minutes later in each half he will start but will likely not see action as the first half and the game wind down. Initially he may only play 15 minutes a game.

This approach makes sense. It lets DeRozan get playing time with the first unit and allows him to play against the league’s best. It also saves him from having to be on the court at crunch time when a veteran like Wright is more useful. As long as the first unit plays well and keeps the team in the game, this approach will let DeRozan earn more minutes as the season goes on. His confidence should also grow by playing at a less intense time of the game. A very positive early sign is DeRozan’s desire to drive to the basket and ability to draw fouls.

With Evans on the shelf, the first players come off the bench will be Wright, Jack and Johnson. If Johnson can provide efficient energy minutes along with solid defense and rebounding, Nesterovic’s minutes will be limited to games where they need him to bump against some of the bigger centers. Evans will become a fan favorite and his toughness will be missed early. Once he joins the rotation the Raptors will have a nice diverse set of skills to be able to bring into the game depending on who is on the court for the other team.

From the early look of things the team will need Belinelli to provide outside shooting off the bench. The Raptors were terrible from the 3 point line during the preseason and need this to turn around to provide more room for the skilled big men.

The only item we haven’t touched on so far is Chris Bosh and he will be the story for the team this year. Physically he seems to be coming into form and finished with a strong 27 point, 14 rebound game. He realizes that he needs to take his game up a notch this year and I am confident he will start out that way.

If the team plays well and settles into a playoff position record wise they should improve as the season goes on. If on the other hand they start off slow there is a real concern that the team could implode by Christmas. If they are well below .500 after 20 games the Bosh free agency talk will escalate and it will be hard for him, and the team, to focus.

What has to be remembered is that this is largely a new team with a coach that is starting his first full season as an NBA head coach. While I like the pieces Colangelo has put together the team is entering a high risk year that could go either way.

The schedule does not do them any favors. They play 8 of their first 12 games on the road and their first two home games are against eastern conference powers Cleveland and Orlando. A 5-7 start through that stretch would be great and allow them to get on a roll when the schedule becomes easier in December.

Maybe I’m still shell shocked by the start of the Leafs this year, but I see them struggling towards a 40-42 season which should let them sneak into the final playoff spot. Let’s hope that I’m wrong and they push for 5 seed. For that to happen, the big three of Bosh, Bargnani and Turkoglu will have to mesh into a top front court quickly.