This season one of the more frustrating aspects of watching the Toronto Raptors play has been their lack  of a sense of urgency on the defensive end. Some nights they’ll hold teams to under 40% from the floor and secure a big win but then they’ll allow a team shot close to 60% and get blown out.

Despite there being a clear correlation between winning the games where they step up and play gritty defense, the team still finds themselves looking disinterested on the defensive end far too often.

Needless to say I was impressed on Sunday when Marcus Banks talked with the media about good defense being about playing with heart.

“You just have to slow opponents down and use the other four guys on the floor to get stops,” Banks explained. “Keep your defensive principles and go out there and play. Defense comes from the heart. You have to want to play defense. When you have that capability, the sky’s the limit.”

This isn’t the first time the team has heard about the need to play with heart on defense because when former fan-favourite Charles Oakley was in town to be honoured by the franchise he talked about the need for some players to play more gritty on defense.

Heck, even Antoine Wright has talked with the media about players needing to step things up on defense (even though it appears it earned him a spot in his coaches dog house).

Now the only question is when or if his teammates will embrace this mentality. If they do they have a chance to rebound from a tough start and have a strong season, but if they don’t the team will continue to flounder while frustrating fans by teasing them with their potential.