The Raptors return from a difficult west coast swing with the hope that their team can once again find their illusive consistency. Kinnon Yee takes a look at the week that was.

Absence of Bosh

How much does the absence of Chris Bosh matter? Looking at the stats, we’ve seen the Raptors allow teams to shoot an average in excess of 50% per game. The question is just how much does Bosh add to the overall team defense? After all, it’s not just one person from opposing teams going off, but usually four or five.

The Raptors’ defense is largely run on several different principals. One of the primary principals is the ability to funnel defenders into the lane or baseline and get help from a post position player. In most cases, it’s been Chris Bosh’s ability to defend in the post which allows players like Jose Calderon and Jamario Moon to have help with their usual speedy or strong defensive assignments. While Bosh might not have blocked shots or taken charges on a consistent basis, he’s much more adept at moving over to cover the post at the correct time; something Andrea Bargnani is quite weak at doing at this stage in his development. It’s not a knock against Rasho Nesterovic either, but emphasizes just how good Bosh is at defending the post and being a vocal person on the floor.

How does this one play affect everyone? Well, if players are too worried to play up to their man on the perimeter, it allows for penetration into the key. As others begin to collapse into the paint to help out due to the lack of Chris Bosh on the inside, it allows good shooters on opposing teams to set up shop around the perimeter for easy makes. By not taking away at least one weapon from opposing teams, the Raptors become exposed from all over the court and teams are able to register monster shooting nights. With the reinsertion of Bosh on Wednesday, it will be interesting to see if the Raptors are able to display a similar kind of defensive intensity before Bosh went down with the injury. The first test will be against Cleveland on Friday.

Rasho the Mighty

Where would the Raptors be without Rasho Nesterovic? After many last year called for a trade to remove Nesterovic from the Raptors lineup at the conclusion of the New Jersey Nets playoff series, Nesterovic prepared himself by losing weight and playing like a man possessed in the FIBA tournament over the summer. When he began the Raptors’ season, Nesterovic quietly waited for his time to come by providing the Raptors with some of the interior defense and rebounding that was so sorely needed.

Then, Chris Bosh goes down with an injury this month.

So far in the month of March, Nesterovic’s minutes have increased to 30 minutes per game (up from roughly 15 per game for the rest of the season). With increased playing time, he has shot 55% from the floor while averaging 13 points per game (about three times his season average) while increasing his rebounding to just over seven per game. Most shocking are his assists, which have jumped to just under two per game while the team has had difficulty shooting the rock. At eight million dollars a year, Nesterovic just might be one piece that Bryan Colangelo will have to think long and hard about before dealing away in the off season.

The Garbajosa Soap Opera Continues

The Raptors were worried in the summer that if Jorge Garbajosa played against their doctor’s wishes he would re-injure himself. They believed Garbajosa would require further surgery, but understood his need to play for his country in the Spain-hosted tournament. However, to protect themselves they asked the Spanish Federation to put up money, to the tune of $1 million, in the event that Garbajosa would get injured. Months later, it has been discovered that Garbajosa does need surgery and the Raptors are glad they insisted on a policy.

However it’s here where things get muddled. Although the Raptors received documents regarding Garbajosa’s coverage, it was a translated version of a Spanish document. At issue now, is whether the Federation had the proper coverage to protect the Raptors should Jorge Garbajosa have re-injured his leg, and at the center of the lawsuit seems to be the translation of the document. Matthew Serekes of the Globe and Mail breaks it down further by saying that he doesn’t believe the Raptors’ case will see the light of day but instead will be settled out of court.

The Spanish Federation first cleared Garbajosa using their doctors and now it’s unclear if he was insured properly to the Raptors’ standards. It’s doubtful this decision will have an impact on the Raptors’ further relationship with international basketball, especially in regards to one Jose Manuel Calderon, as both sides understand that continued good relations will keep both sides happy for the foreseeable future.

Criticism of T.J. Ford Mounts

Although not appearing in their main articles, both Doug Smith (Toronto Star) and Michael Grange (Globe and Mail) have begun to question the effectiveness of T.J. Ford on the team, and how it might spill over into Jose Calderon’s game, if it hasn’t already. However, Ford’s uses and skills are not lost forever. We’ve seen that upon his immediate return from spinal stenosis he was able to effectively find Rasho Nesterovic in the post and create a nice two-man game with him and also kick the ball out to Jason Kapono for some great looking perimeter shots. It was after his abdominal strain and subsequent return from that injury where difficulties began to occur.

The words “never back down” seem to describe T.J Ford to perfection. Ford’s game has always been effective due to two major strengths he has as a player. The first being his natural speed, is something innate to his body and just can’t be replicated by most players in the league. The second is his confidence in himself as a person and his ability to use that confidence to play without fear on the court.

Nevertheless, like most strengths, these are double edged swords. When his shot isn’t falling, he still believes his next shot will. If his teammates aren’t making their shots, he feels it must be up to him to change the game and shoulder the responsibility to try and change the game into his team’s favour.

On a team such as the Raptors, it can produce an ugly product on the court at times, but it’s important not to forget it’s these same gifts that allowed Ford to win several games for the Raptors in the middle of last year when Chris Bosh went down with an injury. It’s this same ability that makes him an effective Yin to Calderon’s Yang, in not so much that they are at odds with each other, but that they compliment each others skills so well. It’s easy to forget that Ford has this confidence-aspect within his game which few in the Raptors organization have, and it’s even easier to forget when his percentages and his teammates’ percentages are down. Moving forward, it’s an aspect of Ford’s game that should be one day appreciated by all because he’ll be the one that’s confident and willing to bury the money shot when the clock is winding down.