[pistonsmanParticipant]

The Raptors are doing great. They have great players like Bosh, Parker, Jarret Jack he’s on the bench but he had a good game last night. I think the Raptors will make the playoffs this year and go to the 2nd round.

[JNixonParticipant]

It depends on if they defend. I think they have plenty of good offensive talents, but who on their team is considered a good defender? Antoine Wright?

[pistonsmanParticipant]

Ok, Bosh doesn’t have much defense skills but Calderon gets in the passing lanes and Anythony Parker is a pretty good on ball defender.

[R-Dot-13Participant]

Calderon is a very poor defender, parker is a Cav.
Antoine Wright is a very good defender and Jack is solidr

[DarSParticipant]

Hum….did you know that anthony parker was playing for cleveland…..except antoine wright they don’t really have other great defender and we saw it against the Grizz..!!!

[B-ball fanParticipant]

Bosh is solid, but Bargnani is bad. They have poor interior defense. They will make the playoffs, but not win in them. They need better defense and rebounding from their bigs. Bargnani is a huge liability on that defense and he doesn’t rebound.

[llperez]

well you have to lose some credit for starting a thread about the raptors and then talking about Anthony parker get’s it done on defense for them. THe raptors do have talent and should make the playoffs certainly. But they don’t play defense just like iggy said. I watched pretty much their whole game against orlando, and the Magic scored at will even with both Lewis and carter out that game. I do think they match up well with Cleavland though because Barganni should light up Shaq just by standing behind the 3 point line.

[Toronto16Participant]

It doesn’t help the Raptors cause that they have the worst defensive starting point guard in the league.

[StarbucksSucksParticipant]

The Raptors are modeled after the 7 seconds Phoenix Suns with a dead eye PG and offensive players at every position with capable perimeter games that can get up and down the floor competently. When attempting to build a contender you generally emphasize being above average on one side of the ball and attempt to get gradually more proficient on the other. With the tenuous relationship the Raps have had with their fan base they have adopted an entertaining scoring approach in an attempt to entertain the ticket purchasers. I am sure Colangelo and the rest of the front office would like consideration as a title contender, but I am willing to bet they would be willing to settle for a top 4/5 finish in the newly daunting East while fostering an identity that would allow young players to develop (Bargnani, Derozan) at the same time allowing them the ability to try and retain Bosh. They are going to win more games in the high 90’s low 100’s then in the 80’s.

[td8118Participant]

You know what…I am impressed with them too…I had high expectations at the beginning of last year but they dissapointed so I was very hesitant to give them much respect but seeing them play they look great…Bargnani is much better then I ever thought he’d be

[borlackParticipant]

obviously the offence is there….especially with turk in the mix. but there is some potential in the defence. the defensive lineup would look something like..
PG Jarrett Jack…strong defender
SG Demar Derozen…..quick feet, can keep himslef infront of the opposition
SF Antoine Wright…just all around good defender
PF Bosh/Bargnani…its interesting because with boshs more muscular frame he can rebound and position himself very well although he doesnt block or steal the ball. but bargnani has surprising quick feet and can block pretty well. obviously bargnani has gotten a bad wrap becuase when hes defended on the big stage its been against dwight and he was horrible against dwight but not too many ppl can defend him. but bargnani has always improved on one aspect of his game each year im expecting defense and rebounding to be the nex steps.
C Rasho Nesterovic…crafty veteran understands how to play great defense

also calderon is going to show some slower movement cause of the hamstring injury and not playing for 5 months, so hes going to be an extra step slower for a bit. and hes not a good defender to begin with so its going to be even harder for the raps to overcome his injury.

colangelo isnt really building a defensive team…its pretty clear hes trying to build an offensive team (not like phoenix but the same idea) but he has marc ivorni to preach defence. its pretty clear that the only time this season the raps were defense minded was facing off with lebron. hopefully they get to at least the second round this coming playoffs.

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