Early Season Implosion, what happened?

[Rapstor4Life]

Saying less Bargnani isnt really fair if he was hitting half of his usual shots the record would be different I want him traded but, if his shot was on like it usaully is the Raps would be waiting on his return right now.

[thead]

To all the the peeps speaking about rotations.

It doesn't really help a coach when their is no discernible difference in talent amongst the ten people most often on the court.

I mean you have DeRozan

and then you have Ross/Anderson/Fields/Kleiza/Pietrus all of which offer a different look

Davis/Valanciunas/Amir <----- who really is a starter here with Aaron Gray also on the bench.

Calderon or Lowry <-----Both can you win you a basketball game.

If our starters were better there would be no issues with rotations. As is it now...Casey can't look at Pietrus, Ross, Kleiza, Davis, Fields etc...and know what he is going to get on any given night. Even DeRozan has the odd game where he disappears. When Calderon and Amir Johnson are your models for consistency your rotations are going to vary until someone reaches up and takes the job.

[Rapstor4Life]

Its multiple things.
-better effort
-better passing
-better team defense
-better team chemistry
-easier schedule with home games
-the refs are giving the better calls to the home team
-better rotations
-lowry is much better/healed since the injuries
-less bargnani

THIS, cause honestly those early games the talent was there, the team just wasnt clicking chemistry wise. O you can add too much Dominic McGuire to that list as well.

[IROR]

If casey hadn't taken his time settling on a rotation, the rotation we have now might not be apparent. While it was awful for team chemistry, I believe it was part of this whole "building plan"--Casey was seeing what he had. That being said, it likely won't happen again in Casey's subsequent years with the team--hope not anyway.

If there were any other issues besides chemistry, I would say schedule, unfamiliarity (Lowry mainly, but also Fields, Val, Ross), and that there has been a natural maturation within the locker room that stems from Casey's unrelenting calls for defense, mental toughness and team ball.

[pesterm1]

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dumbfounded by the raptors current winstreak. From how they were playing only a couple of weeks ago, I would never have expected this kind of rebound. I have no explanation. So I turn to you guys. Why are raptors winning games now? Why did they play so bad only a short while ago?

Its multiple things.
-better effort
-better passing
-better team defense
-better team chemistry
-easier schedule with home games
-the refs are giving the better calls to the home team
-better rotations
-lowry is much better/healed since the injuries
-less bargnani

[optifan]

Raps played well enough to win some games early in the season, but they collectively went into the fetal position down the stretch of many games, and buckled under the pressure. And each close loss simply added more pressure with the next game, and the snowball continued.

That, combined with Casey's whacky rotations, nobody (outside of Bargnani and DeRozan) knew what their role was, or how many minutes they'd play from one night to the next. Casey was inadvertently preventing his team from developing any consistency/chemistry by not sticking to a rotation.

But now with all the injuries, Casey's been forced to shorten his rotation, and low and behold, we're finally seeing some cohesion on the court.

Agree with all of the above. But don't forget the schedule, it's a big big factor as well.

[Nilanka]

Raps played well enough to win some games early in the season, but they collectively went into the fetal position down the stretch of many games, and buckled under the pressure. And each close loss simply added more pressure with the next game, and the snowball continued.

That, combined with Casey's whacky rotations, nobody (outside of Bargnani and DeRozan) knew what their role was, or how many minutes they'd play from one night to the next. Casey was inadvertently preventing his team from developing any consistency/chemistry by not sticking to a rotation.

But now with all the injuries, Casey's been forced to shorten his rotation, and low and behold, we're finally seeing some cohesion on the court.

[phez]

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dumbfounded by the raptors current winstreak. From how they were playing only a couple of weeks ago, I would never have expected this kind of rebound. I have no explanation. So I turn to you guys. Why are raptors winning games now? Why did they play so bad only a short while ago?