How do we fix our defense?

[Lupe]

Right now it's our biggest problem. The offense is fine ranked 4th and we're keeping turnovers to a minimum (3rd least per game) so that's not the issue. We're ranked 24th defensively per basketballreference and 22nd on NBA.com. We've regressed back to our 2014-15 levels on that end.

How do you guys think we can fix it? Surely it can't all be attributed to losing Biyombo? It seems like our defense at the point of attack has gotten worse though and we're getting absolutely killed in pick and roll situations leading to a lot of easy baskets at the rim or wide open threes when we're forced to scramble.

[ogi]

Yeah, just want to enjoy this run and looking forward to the playoffs, excitedly now. But one thing we do have to clear up here is that Kyle Lowry was not "super ordinary" before he came to the Raptors. In both 2011 and 2012 Lowry made appearances on the NBA MVP ladder top 10 rankings, while playing for Houston. It's hard to find the original Nba.com links now, but you'll have to take my word for it and check out the links below. Lowry's previous issues were injuries and inability to sustain his play over a whole season, but he wasn't some scrub off the scrap heap that was mentored by Casey. The issue was his attitude and the story of Masai giving him "the talk" has been told many times over, as well as the initial mis-use of Lowry by Casey. Glad that's all behind us.

NBA MVP Power Rankings: Static On Top As Kyle Lowry, Kyrie Irving Rise Up / Jan 25, 2012, 10:01am EST


http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/1/2...y-kyrie-irving

UPDATED NBA MVP RANKINGS January 10, 2012


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...a-mvp-rankings

Yeah it's known Lowry was always a super talented dude who played hard. But what really surprised me is that those numbers get you to 7th in the MVP race lol.

[SkywalkerAC]

This constitutes an epic defensive improvement - kudos all around!

[golden]

Oh I totally agree. MU does look for players that fit and have great attitude. So do the Spurs. But to think that Pop doesn't play a big role in their success is crazy right? And remember before the trade for tucker and Ibaka and prior to This seasons version of DeMar, this team looked pretty ordinary. Lowry with a bunch of scrubs which Casey helped to make look like legit talent. And how great was Lowry before Casey started maximizing his talent? I think we take for granted that Lowry and DeMar blossomed under Casey. Both guys were super ordinary previously.

Anyway don't want to add to the same old argument. As we get near the playoffs I'm just hoping everyone gets behind both the team and coach. For better or worse this is the team we are going into the playoffs with so I'm going to support everyone.

Yeah, just want to enjoy this run and looking forward to the playoffs, excitedly now. But one thing we do have to clear up here is that Kyle Lowry was not "super ordinary" before he came to the Raptors. In both 2011 and 2012 Lowry made appearances on the NBA MVP ladder top 10 rankings, while playing for Houston. It's hard to find the original Nba.com links now, but you'll have to take my word for it and check out the links below. Lowry's previous issues were injuries and inability to sustain his play over a whole season, but he wasn't some scrub off the scrap heap that was mentored by Casey. The issue was his attitude and the story of Masai giving him "the talk" has been told many times over, as well as the initial mis-use of Lowry by Casey. Glad that's all behind us.

NBA MVP Power Rankings: Static On Top As Kyle Lowry, Kyrie Irving Rise Up / Jan 25, 2012, 10:01am EST

7. Kyle Lowry Rockets 16.5 points on .564 TS%, 8.7 assists, 6.9 rebounds, 2.1 steals 10
The Rockets are now reflecting Lowry's genius, riding a hot streak into the playoff seeds. If Lowry and Kevin Martin can carry Houston all of the way into the postseason in Kevin McHale's first full season as a head coach, a whole lot of crow will be eaten around the league.

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/1/2...y-kyrie-irving

UPDATED NBA MVP RANKINGS January 10, 2012

10. Kyle Lowry, PG Houston Rockets
Stats: 15.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 0.3 blocks, 3.2 turnovers, 43.8 percent shooting

Lowry has played at an All-Star level since long before last season ended, but he's only just starting to gain attention in the public sphere.He's fantastic at facilitating the offense for the Rockets and is incredibly involved at both ends of the court. This isn't a new trend for Lowry, and as long as he can stay healthy, it's hard to imagine his pace of play dropping off to the point where he doesn't remain firmly fixated in the mix.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...a-mvp-rankings

[LJ2]

The GM is doing more than his job, compared to other GMs. Talent alone doesn't win. Talent + fit + attitude wins. I think this is where Masai separates himself from other GMs. He seems obsessed with things like fit and attitude, beyond talent and is loathe to mess with a successful team chemistry - but rather he continues to slowly tweak around the edges. That's why I was positive he would never bring in a guy like Cousins, who some feel is the most talented center in the NBA.

Look at Ibaka and Tucker. Could you imagine 2 more perfect fits for this team at a time when the season was heading south? And they were picked up for next to nothing at the trade deadline, where the sellers are trying to get you into an auction. That's brilliant GM'ing, putting a coach in a great position to win. Masai just seems to have that knack of acquiring what we need and giving up what we don't, for the most part.

Conversely, look at what Boston did at the trade deadline, with their motherlode of priceless trade assets. Crickets. And remember when the Celtics tanked the season for that one in a decade Wiggins draft. The big payoff was ......... Marcus Smart. lol.

Oh I totally agree. MU does look for players that fit and have great attitude. So do the Spurs. But to think that Pop doesn't play a big role in their success is crazy right? And remember before the trade for tucker and Ibaka and prior to This seasons version of DeMar, this team looked pretty ordinary. Lowry with a bunch of scrubs which Casey helped to make look like legit talent. And how great was Lowry before Casey started maximizing his talent? I think we take for granted that Lowry and DeMar blossomed under Casey. Both guys were super ordinary previously.

Anyway don't want to add to the same old argument. As we get near the playoffs I'm just hoping everyone gets behind both the team and coach. For better or worse this is the team we are going into the playoffs with so I'm going to support everyone.

[golden]

The GM did his job and got the talent. The coach is doing his job and translating that talent into winning. plenty of scenarios where talented teams didn't live up to expectations but so far so good for this years Raptors. Let's see what this team looks like once Lowry gets back. Oh and for everyone that has written off Carroll, I have a feeling that he continues his recent trend and improves once Lowry gets back.

The GM is doing more than his job, compared to other GMs. Talent alone doesn't win. Talent + fit + attitude wins. I think this is where Masai separates himself from other GMs. He seems obsessed with things like fit and attitude, beyond talent and is loathe to mess with a successful team chemistry - but rather he continues to slowly tweak around the edges. That's why I was positive he would never bring in a guy like Cousins, who some feel is the most talented center in the NBA.

Look at Ibaka and Tucker. Could you imagine 2 more perfect fits for this team at a time when the season was heading south? And they were picked up for next to nothing at the trade deadline, where the sellers are trying to get you into an auction. That's brilliant GM'ing, putting a coach in a great position to win. Masai just seems to have that knack of acquiring what we need and giving up what we don't, for the most part.

Conversely, look at what Boston did at the trade deadline, with their motherlode of priceless trade assets. Crickets. And remember when the Celtics tanked the season for that one in a decade Wiggins draft. The big payoff was ......... Marcus Smart. lol.

[Rudy Bargnani]

I think it's gonna be tough to move Carroll without throwing in a sweetener. I hope it doesn't cost us a pick but it might. Remember we will be trying to dump salary and not bring much back.

Maybe trading back in the draft allows the raps to move him to a team with space. For example the Raps are projected to have the 22nd pick, while Brooklynn is projected to have the 25 and 26 pick. (From Washington and Boston).
So something like Carroll and the 22nd pick to Brooklynn for the 25th pick and a guy we can immediately cut.

Obviously I'd prefer to trade him without having to do add a prospect or a pick but I think it's unlikely there will be a big market for Carroll.

[Ball]

Judging from your profile pick, Colangelo

Hmm I just thought of an even bigger sucker: Vlade Divac

[Ebonhawke]

Judging from your profile pick, Colangelo

I think Colangelo will end up making a move at the draft, however I don't think acquiring Carroll is the move. The 76ers have four second round picks this year (currently 35, 40, 46, and 49), and I don't think the 76ers want to add 5 more youngsters to an already young team. I'd look for the 76ers to try and package two of the picks to move up into the late first round

Depending on the draft order, there may be teams at the back of the first round, who have an eye on a specific player or two that may already be gone by the time they pick, so would be completely comfortable sliding back a few spots to acquire another asset. I'm looking at you San Antonio. For the later picks, you may have teams without a 2nd round pick this year (Cleveland, Toronto, etc) who may be willing to acquire one of the latter two picks to draft someone on their board who has slid a bit.

(Sorry, I know we're drifting off topic)

[tonious35]

At this point I'm hoping there's a sucker out there we can fleece a 2017 first rounder off for him.

Judging from your profile pick, Colangelo

[LJ2]

The GM did his job and got the talent. The coach is doing his job and translating that talent into winning. plenty of scenarios where talented teams didn't live up to expectations but so far so good for this years Raptors. Let's see what this team looks like once Lowry gets back. Oh and for everyone that has written off Carroll, I have a feeling that he continues his recent trend and improves once Lowry gets back.

[golden]

It's both. You need the right scheme but most importantly you need the players that fit the scheme. JV, Bebe and Sully don't really fit the scheme raps want to play defensively because of thier lack of mobility. PJ, 2pat, Ibaka and Yak do.

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But again, by that logic almost any coach can make any reasonable scheme work as long as he is supported by a GM who is patient and also skilled enough to get him the players he needs. It's taken Masai about 5 years and a lot of deft asset management to land 2 elite defenders in their prime, like PJ and Serge without sacrificing core or replaceable assets. A lot of it still seems to come back to the GM.

[Chr1s1anL]

Casey's done great, but if we use that line of reasoning then coaches don't matter. Only GMs do.

It's both. You need the right scheme but most importantly you need the players that fit the scheme. JV, Bebe and Sully don't really fit the scheme raps want to play defensively because of thier lack of mobility. PJ, 2pat, Ibaka and Yak do.

Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk

[Chr1s1anL]

Basically Casey's scheme is very dependant on bigs being able to switch/guard on the perimeter as well as being able to hedge and recover. Before the trade we had JV, Bebe and Sully attempting to do that majority of the time. Now we have PJ, 2pat, Ibaka and Yak. Big difference!

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[golden]

It's all about having the right PERSONNEL.

People kept whining early in the year about Casey and the defence. We lost a big time/ key defensive player in the offseason in Biz. And we didn't really replace the guy. Obviously the D is going to suffer big time.

Now that we added Ibaka and Tucker, we're a top 10 defensive team again.

It's all about having the right personnel.

Casey's done great, but if we use that line of reasoning then coaches don't matter. Only GMs do.