4
If it's Wednesday, it could be Joey Graham. Or maybe Jason Kapono. But it won't be Carlos Delfino.
The Toronto Raptors will get their fourth exhibition game out of the way tonight when they play host to Zalgiris Kaunus, a Lithuanian power and the Raptors' third European opponent of the exhibition season.
Toronto will be trying to avoid dropping to 1-2 this year against European teams and 2-3 overall.
Once again, the focus will be on the small forward position.
Chicago Bulls centre Ben Wallace tries to block Toronto Raptors forward Joey Graham as he drives to the hoop during the first half of their NBA basketball game in Toronto Dec. 29, 2006. (J.P. Moczulski/Reuters)
Three different players have started there so far – Kapono, Delfino and Graham.
But of those, head coach Sam Mitchell was leaning toward Kapono and Graham as the first of the three to get a second look with the starting unit.
And Delfino, the Argentine who was acquired in an off-season trade with the Detroit Pistons?
“Right now, based on the last few practices, he's got to pick it up,” Mitchell said. “Jason and Joey have really been working harder.”
While Delfino impressed off the bench during the Raptors' first exhibition game, that was considered a departure from his play during the first stage of training camp. Apparently, this more recent stage has been more of the same.
“You've got to have a track record either from other teams and what you've done consistently, or you have to have a track record with the coach you're with at the time,” Mitchell said. “If you don't have that, it's your responsibility to start carving out that track record. You have to do that.”
On Monday, Mitchell was lamenting about the inconsistent play by Kris Humphries. The Raptors' coach would like him to provide a more reliable high-energy presence, which Mitchell believes is the way the fourth-year power forward can best contribute. Humphries said yesterday that he's trying.
“We all have to make the effort,” he said. “We need to have three guys to the offensive glass and play tough. It's a team thing. It's something where I've found myself in that role. I didn't necessarily come into the NBA doing just that, so I have to keep continuing to do that, and as you get more minutes your role expands.”
Humphries, who averaged 7.0 points and 7.1 rebounds in the final 10 games of last season, admits playing a narrowly defined role is not something that comes easily to most players.
“It's tough for everyone,” he said. “Only a select few guys are really going to come in and do what they want to do. That's what makes this team good. We all take pride in doing those small things, and when you put it together, it's a basketball team.
“We don't have five or six of the best one-on-one players in the league,” he said. “I play video games and stuff, and you play with our team and you're not beating a whole lot of guys one-on-one. Maybe with Chris [Bosh] and T.J. [Ford] a little bit.”
Jamario Moon, who signed as a free agent, is looking like a better and better bet to make the team, which will likely require some adjustments at the end of the roster as the team needs to get to 15 players – from 16 – by the start of the regular season, but there is no rush.
“We have 15 days until the end of training camp,” Mitchell said. “We don't have to do anything until then but pay our taxes.”
Moon got some playing time at power forward yesterday, but that was only because Chris Bosh missed another day because of his injured left knee. “We're being extra cautious with Chris,” Mitchell said. “We don't want this to be something that lingers.”
