Raptors Defence

[The Great One]

I have my own theory why the Raptors defense have slipped up.

The Rptors have a tendency of playing casually offensively and defensively against bad teams. And the Raptors have played a lot of real bad teams the last couple of weeks. And i mean real bad. Miami, Houston and Indy are the exceptions.

I thought the Raptors played great D when they played those teams(Miami, Indy and Houston). Even though Houston scored 103, i thought the Raptors defense was tremendous when they played them.

I think the Raps need to have that underdog mentality back. They need to stop taking teams lightly. Tomorrow's game IMO is a must win. These next 3 games is a must win. We'll see how they responds. I think we'll see the old Raps defence back.

[isaacthompson]

Agreed. With how fast this team has achieved success, it's probably not far off to assume it's gotten to their heads a little. I think Casey's done a good job of keeping these guys mentally tough (also consider we're starting 2 sophomores), but this is what we need most heading down the stretch and into the playoffs.

[JimiCliff]

My theory is that the idea that Casey is a defensive gueru is horseshit.

Still, I haven't heard one good answer as to why we were excellent defensively the first year he coached, and then mediocre defensively last year. If anyone can can provide a logical reason for this, I'm all ears.

All of the good of this year's team begins and ends with Lowry. Offensively and defensively. Kevin O'Neill could have been coaching this team and we'd be exactly where we are now.

[JawsGT]

My theory is that the idea that Casey is a defensive gueru is horseshit.

Still, I haven't heard one good answer as to why we were excellent defensively the first year he coached, and then mediocre defensively last year. If anyone can can provide a logical reason for this, I'm all ears.

All of the good of this year's team begins and ends with Lowry. Offensively and defensively. Kevin O'Neill could have been coaching this team and we'd be exactly where we are now.

Defense is mostly effort, and the players are obviously not putting forth their best effort defensively over the last month or so. Is that Casey's fault? Maybe, it is his job to get these guys up to play. But I don't think it has anything to do with his schemes or adjustments. He has gotten this team to commit to defense at times this season, and when they are committed they have been one of the best in the league, despite not having a great rim protector, despite giving 38 min/game to a "subpar" wing defender, despite having a "subpar" PG defender coming off the bench, despite starting two sophomores that had/have glaring, obvious issues defensively. By rights, this team should be nowhere near the top10 defensively. Amir and Lowry's injuries are certainly factors in the recent dropoff.

As for the drop off in defense between the first seasons he coached, I have no reasonable explanation, but does it even matter? There were many other issues surrounding the team that could have easily affected the team defensively. No team with Bargs will be great defensively. BC didn't seem to want to give Casey full on-court control. A lack of chemistry, no culture, the acquisition of Gay, Lowry not being allowed to be Lowry (this could very well be Casey's fault, but I wonder if the desire to use Bargs (BC, I would imagine) meant less usage for Lowry), even the injury surrounding Fields could be a factor. Of course, none of that could even matter, but I guess the point is that there were other, larger issues surrounding the team that could affect the on-court play. Whether it did or not, or whether the drop off is an indication that Casey is not that good, well, your guess is as good as mine.

Personally, I'm not that concerned about his first two seasons here, and that drop off you mention is really not an issue at all for me. Last year, the Knicks had great defense under Woodson, this year they do not, is that his fault?

[iblastoff]

My theory is that the idea that Casey is a defensive gueru is horseshit.

Still, I haven't heard one good answer as to why we were excellent defensively the first year he coached, and then mediocre defensively last year. If anyone can can provide a logical reason for this, I'm all ears.

All of the good of this year's team begins and ends with Lowry. Offensively and defensively. Kevin O'Neill could have been coaching this team and we'd be exactly where we are now.

probably because our lineups for the most part in the past have REALLY been shitty?

last year = rookies JV and T ross obviously. followed by lowry and gay who were risk-taking defenders. lowry has cleaned it up this year. t ross has really grown defensively and JV is just getting there now.

[wallz]

My theory is that the idea that Casey is a defensive gueru is horseshit.

Still, I haven't heard one good answer as to why we were excellent defensively the first year he coached, and then mediocre defensively last year. If anyone can can provide a logical reason for this, I'm all ears.

All of the good of this year's team begins and ends with Lowry. Offensively and defensively. Kevin O'Neill could have been coaching this team and we'd be exactly where we are now.

Colangelo made it clear that he wanted the team to be a fast break, offense oriented team that year. Those needs didn't match Casey's strengths as a coach at all


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[JimiCliff]

Personally, I'm not that concerned about his first two seasons here, and that drop off you mention is really not an issue at all for me. Last year, the Knicks had great defense under Woodson, this year they do not, is that his fault?

If Woodson was hanging his hat on being a defensive coach, then you'd have to consider it, but he doesn't, so I think it's a different situation.

Of course, none of that could even matter, but I guess the point is that there were other, larger issues surrounding the team that could affect the on-court play. Whether it did or not, or whether the drop off is an indication that Casey is not that good, well, your guess is as good as mine.

Exactly, it's really hard to say. I just find it curious.

probably because our lineups for the most part in the past have REALLY been shitty?

last year = rookies JV and T ross obviously. followed by lowry and gay who were risk-taking defenders. lowry has cleaned it up this year. t ross has really grown defensively and JV is just getting there now.

I suppose simply having a rookie C starting for you will cause a noticeable drop off. Ross, though, was barely playing. I thought Lowry was being insubordinate from the moment he got neutered onward, so that wouldn't have helped things. And, you're right, neither would adding Gay to the roster, especially mid-season.

[Letter N]

Defense is mostly effort, and the players are obviously not putting forth their best effort defensively over the last month or so.

I find this to be a bullshit line of thinking that a lot of people have.

Running proper defensive sets is just is just as much (as little) about effort as running proper offensive ones. If you teach your personnel how to play defense through positioning and proper understanding of help D then it's not "all about effort." That's like saying offense is all about making the shots, sure that's the final factor that results in a good or bad play but if you do the proper things before that then you maximize your chance at success.

This isn't the YMCA where the little guy shadowing you for 94 feet is a great defender cause he hustles, great D comes from practicing positioning and movement. A well taught group can be as lazy as they want and they'll still play pretty good defense.

[Mediumcore]

My theory and really hoping its true, us due to injuries. Knicks game was the first time that Amir, Lowry and PP were all in the game, and Amir was pretty rusty and pP rounding into form. Raps gotta use the last few games to get that defensive edge back or first round exit is a wide open possibility.