Small-forward position remains a question mark

MICHAEL GRANGE

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

October 8, 2007 at 8:52 PM EDT

MADRID — In many NBA cities, small forward is a glamour position, where the guy with the most talent roams free, causing defences to fiddle, adjust or just plain panic.

And if it's not the small forward, then it's definitely the shooting guard where athletic assaults on the rim get started.

That's what happens when LeBron James takes the floor for the Cleveland Cavaliers, for instance, or when Dwyane Wade is healthy for the Miami Heat.

For all the excitement about Kevin Garnett going to Boston, the real puzzle there is how any team is going to cover Paul Pierce and Ray Allen at the same time.

Luol Deng in Chicago is close to commanding an automatic double team.

Tayshaun Prince in Detroit isn't in that category offensively, but is so dominant defensively that he can ruin an opposing team's game plans by erasing its most dangerous player.

In Toronto, the small-forward position is mostly a question mark, and regardless of what's the answer, it's unlikely the Raptors will have a 3-spot who instills fear in the minds of their opponents.

Add in the fact that Anthony Parker, who is solid and worthy at the 2-spot, but hardly an impossible physical matchup, is Toronto's shooting guard and the Raptors are going against recent NBA tradition by not having a playmaking wing in their starting lineup.

As they prepare for their third exhibition game, against Real Madrid here on Thursday, Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell says the small-forward spot remains a question mark for his team, with newcomers Jason Kapono and Carlos Delfino battling with incumbent Joey Graham for minutes.

"I'm going to start some different guys," Mitchell said. "Jason started [last Saturday], Carlos started [on Sunday]. The next game I'll probably come back to Jason. It's probably going to go up to the last week before the season before I settle on who's going to start at that spot."

On Saturday, Kapono started, but Delfino was perhaps more impressive as he got into the chest of his man defensively and was active enough to pull down five rebounds in 22 minutes, while making three of four shots. Kapono got called for some touch fouls on the perimeter and was good on two of five.

On Sunday, Delfino started, but Kapono finished the game, with the free agent from Miami going 4-for-7 in the second half and making all four of his free-throw attempts for 13 points.

"I just come with the mindset, 'Hey, I'm going to use my skills to help my team win,' " Kapono said. "If I'm in the starting lineup or coming off the bench, I'm going to play the same, no matter what. All my career, I've been coming off the bench, and last season I started 40 games, so I feel I can do both. It doesn't affect how I play."

Delfino offered the same point of view after playing without quite the same jump on Sunday as on Saturday.

Each brings something different. Kapono's shooting range and in-between offensive game should work well as a complementary piece in an offence that gets the ball into the hands of Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani and T.J. Ford most often.

Delfino doesn't have Kapono's deep shooting touch — he's a 32.2-per-cent three-point shooter to Kapono's 45.9 mark — but he's more of a threat to attack seams in the defence off the dribble and is perhaps a better one-on-one defender and rebounder.

While Kapono was the team's No.ƒ|1 free-agent signing, receiving a four-year, $24-million (U.S.) contract after leading the NBA in three-point shooting, Mitchell said that won't be a factor in filling out his lineup.

"Getting a pay cheque in this league all depends on when you become a free agent, period," said Mitchell, who benefited from the same principle in earning his own long-term deal in the off-season.

"That's just how it is. It has nothing to do with anything but timing," he said. "If it's your time and you have a good year, you get compensated for it."

Perhaps the ideal candidate to give the Raptors what they don't have at the 3-spot is Graham, who has the potential to provide the athleticism and physicality other teams have at the position, but has shown it only in bursts during his first two NBA seasons.

Graham may get another chance on Thursday against Real Madrid as the Raptors spend this week showcasing their Spanish stars, Jose Calderon and Jorge Garbajosa, in front of their home crowds.

But Mitchell said Garbajosa, who played small forward for the Raptors on several occasions last season, may figure into the equation, and he even floated the possibility of high-flying Jamario Moon, an undrafted free agent in his first NBA camp, getting a start.

"That spot was the biggest question mark and we're going to take the whole preseason, all [seven] games, to see who gets the spot," Mitchell said. "We're going take the time figure it out."

And he's not playing favourites.

"I got a soft spot for all my guys," he said. "I like them all as people. I want all their dreams to come true. But you have to go get it."

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