Training Camp is over, lets talk!

So as a quiet week in Ottawa concludes and a new level of excitement is presented with the introduction of the 2009 preseason, I thought it would be best to quickly present a couple of observations from this years preseason.

The Good

Reggie Evans

I am not even going to hide my bias when it comes to Reggie Evans, I am infatuated with just about everything he brings to a team on and off the court.  This is a guy that I have been hoping we would target back since 2000 when he came on the scene with the Seattle Supersonics.  The man came with the billing of being a tough, unrelenting rebounding presence and he has definitely delivered through one week at training camp.  

What has surprised me are the other traits he brings that makes this team and people around him better, and the impact he is/will have on this team.  For what ever reason it seems like the guy has been around the league forever, so ignorantly without doing my homework I thought Reggie was already in his 30's with his best days behind him, thus making his role a minor one.  Reggie Evans is 29 and by all accounts in the prime of his career.  He has clearly outplayed Amir Johnson, his primary competition for minutes, and to a lesser degree Rasho Nesterovic by gobbling up every rebound in practice, challenging players on defense, and more specifically challenging Andrea Bargnani.  

Most remember the last time the Raptors went out and acquired a tough veteran player that did the dirty work, and was physically imposing enough to challenge the young stars on the team.  Charles Oakley was able to reign in and focus Vince Carter enough to get some of the most professional and productive years out of the young high flyer.  

Evans has done this with Andrea Bargnani starting from day one, and so far it has worked out beautifully.

Andrea Bargnani

After the first day of training camp Andrea must have been wondering what parallel universe he was in.  After 3 years of training camps where all the players went through light contact and were primarily trying to avoid each other and injury, Andrea ran into the mack truck that is Reggie Evans.  Evans challenged him in the low block with plenty of contact and intensity and in a training camp tidbit that may be to most intriguing and exciting,  Bargnani licked his wounds, came back a day later and brought it to Evans responding to his challenge.  

This could be a pivotal breakthrough year for Bargnani, with a new contract comes security, with a new coach comes confidence, and with a bad ass bruiser potentially comes a focus and intensity that will bring Bargnani to elite status.    

The Bad

Injuries

There is no question that not being able to see Turkoglu and Bosh do some work on the and gel with their new teammates was disappointing, but their is also no questions that the injuries are not serious and there is plenty of time.

The concern is that with 12 new players from the beginning of last season until now, and with training camps and practice time before and during the season so limited you have to hope that these two guys will be able to integrate into the line-up and develop a chemistry quickly with their teammates, especially the starting line.

Hope is the prevailing emotion around this team right now due in large part because of the acquisition of Hedo Turkoglu because of his impact on the franchise both literally (the Toronto Raptors) and figuratively (Chris Bosh).  If the team gets off to a slow start and the preverbal wind comes out of the teams sails, lack of chemistry may be the excuse, and lack of time to gel may be the cause. 

Jose Calderon

Two schools of thought could be used to explain Jose Calderon in training camp, and they revolve around the phrase 'no news is good news'.  Yes, the fact that we have not heard of Calderon in the injury report is great news considering what transpired a season ago, and how his injury affected both him and the team.  

On the other hand when you ask people that have seen practices and scrimmages who has impressed the most, Jose's name seldom comes up.  While this alone is not cause for concern in the final scrimmage Jose seemed pretty invisible and had very little impact throughout the game.  This may just be a veteran being a veteran but his defense still has been lacking and with Jarrett Jack making an impact throughout training camp, it does exasperate the problem and causes mild concern.   

The Mixed

Belinelli

It is very simple with Marco Belinelli, offensively impressive, defensively there are concerns.  Coming into training camp I was one of the many that believed Marco could have a major impact on the court this year as a 6th man of the year candidate.  In training camp he was as advertised, a guy that could create a lot of offense for himself or teammates which is great.

The problem is that if he does not make the commitment to play defense, his minutes could be lowered significantly.  I do think there are some quiet concerns around his defense and a renewed commitment must be shown in preseason going forward

Derozen

This is also very simple, Demar is what we thought he would be.  During practices he has had trouble grasping some of the intricacies and nuances of NBA basketball both on the offense and defensive end.  His shot is a work in progress but his basketball instincts are good and that showed during the inter-squad game going to the basket on multiple occasions and scoring 13 points.

If Demar can show consistent energy and effort on the defensive end, and concentrate on what he does best at the offensive end (going to the basket) then the rookie will have a good rookie year.

Weems

Sonny is apparently funny... So thats good.

- J.Moore