Posting up the Regular season- Taking on a bigger sample size

It has been a while since this space has produced anything new, or anything of value.

I thought the opinions cast in url code were starting to get stale, combine that with the fact that life had begun to get a little busy and the results are clear, not a heck of a lot.

The hiatus is over now, and it's time to get into everything Raptors.

So, here we go...

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The Raptors are what they are, and realize it may not be good...

One thing that has become abundantly clear over the past 5 games. Over 3 wins (Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago) and 2 losses (Dallas, San Antonio) the Raptors do not seem to have any influence on the outcome of the game. I know your probably thinking, Moore, that may be the boldest and dumbest thing you have said in a while.

Maybe your right, but here me out.

The Raptors have shown that they can score, that is well documented and obvious. The boys have only once managed to not score 100 points in a game and that was last night to Chicago. What else is well documented and obvious is that the Raptors cannot play any semblance of defense. In the two losses to San Antonio and Dallas the Raptors gave up a combined 265 points, which by the way is mind-blowing.

The silver lining coming into the game against Chicago last night was that, when the effort was there, the Raptors could play defense, but for the most part, they just didn't feel like it most nights. Against Cleveland, Detroit, and New Orleans the Raptors held their opponent to under 100 points which seems to be the magical Mendoza line.

The problem is, that through 7 games I was convinced that the Raptors had no influence on the opponents bad shooting percentage and thus 'holding' their opponents to under that magical line. There was no defense being played, it just turned out that the opposition had bad shooting nights.

Look at the Cavaliers last night against the Magic who were one of the best defensive teams in the league last season, and arguably have even more defensive talent this year. Cleveland put up 102 points, and probably could have put up more but the game was over after 3 quarters.

Do you really think that the mighty defensive juggernaut that is the Raptors shut down the Cavs? No, the answer is they had a bad night. The same case can be made about the other wins they have attained.

What is funny about this years version of hardwood heroes is that they may be the barometer for every team in the league. The Raptors are going to beat the bad team because they put up a lot of points, but if they play a good team they are going to loose because good teams will take advantage of their defensive ineptitude, plain and simple.

That is one scary conclusion if you are a Raptors fan. Realizing that your team had no influence on the outcome of the game. If the opponent hits open shots, they loose, if they don't hit open shots, they win.

That was until last night.

Find Hope in- The win against Chicago

Heading into last nights game the keys to winning were all too familiar and repetitive. Give effort and intensity on the defensive end, limit the point total to under 100 by your opponent, and you will win. The way to do that as I have said before is to come out strong and step on the other teams throat.

Like clock work, the Raptors came out flat defensively, allowed the Bulls open shots and offensive rebounds and the general thought must have been, here we go again, this is going to be a long frustrating season.

Then something happened. Something unfamiliar yet surprisingly pleasant. Intensity showed it's face... And it was the Raptors that showed it.

Chicago did miss some shots in the second half that maybe good teams make but that being said, the Raptors did a lot more good then they or the Bulls did bad. The bottom line is when a team only scores 29 points in a half after scoring 60 points in the previous half, you have to give credit where it is due.

The Raptors came out and in the 3rd and 4th quarter played with a play-off like intensity that if persists, will make them one of the tougher team to beat in the league. On a night where their collective offense wasn't clicking on all cylinders (40.9 FG%, 25 3FG%) the Raptors influenced and won the game with defense and rebounding.

Note: Previous statement may never be written here again, so take it in

Find Hope in- DeMar DeRozen

The young rookie, who is usually green with inexperience and awe put those attributes aside for a night and played basketball. Much has been made about how the rookie will be brought along slowly and how the expectations are low on the young high flyer. The conventional wisdom is that whatever he gives is gravy.

Well at least for one night it looked like the young man decided that green wasn't his color and was a spark plug on the floor, especially in the second half. DeRozen was aggressive early and often but what was most impressive was that when Chicago came out and scored a few early baskets and pushed the lead to double digits in the third quarter, it was not Bosh that cued the comeback, or Hedo, it was DeMar DeRozen that spawned the 'TSN turning point'.

He did it not by scoring, but with great weak side defense blocking Lual Deng and pulling down 7 rebounds in the 3 quarter alone on route to an early career high 9 rebounds, taking the Raptors from -10 rebounds in the first half to +1 rebound to end the game.

This is the kind of energy, intensity and hustle you would expect from a veteran not from a player in his second month of professional basketball and it had a contagious effect on his team. If young DeMar has more nights where he can utilize and harness his athleticism to produce these kind of results, the byproduct might be a decent Raptors defense.

Find Hope in- The Coaching

Two things that concerned me about Jay Triano coming into the season, and early on this season.

His ability to motivate, and his ability or more appropriately willingness to change what doesn't work.

Coming into the season I thought that the one thing former coach Sam Mitchell had over Triano was his innate ability to motivate his players. Sam had a way of getting maximum effort and output out of his players but lacked the 'x's and o's' of the game. Triano, many thought may have been the opposite.

The other concern after 7 games was that the defensive system that he had implemented had not seemed to compliment the skill set or to be frank lateral quickness, of his team. The results, poor rotations and losses.

Well after the first half Wednesday night both of those questions were answered.

Whatever he said at halftime produced intensity, a tactical change produced a win. One critical change he made at halftime confused the Bulls just enough to prevent them from gaining any offensive continuity or rhythm. Triano decided to switch on the pick and roll instead of having the screened player (usually Jose Calderon) go over the screen. In the first half the decision to go over the screens resulted in blow bye's and opposition points. The switch (particularly with Amir Johnson) threw the bulls off.

That subtle change, and others like putting Antoine Wright (a bigger stronger defender) on Rose are the details that can win teams ball games.

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So for at least one night the collective panic button has been depressed.

Onto a western road trip, get your hands on the button and ready...

- J.Moore