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Before the NBA season began, Toronto Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell would speak wishfully about what would happen if his team could improve to 15th or better in league defence from 20th.
The thrust was that his young team would make the jump from 47 wins and a first-round playoff loser to the NBA's elite, which would be 50-plus wins and a deep playoff run.
Everyone would nod in agreement because the Raptors' offence, it was assumed, was like a tap: turn it on and it would run.
And, eight games into the season, the Raptors have made strides defensively. By some measures, they're the seventh best team in the NBA, giving up 98.1 points for each 100 possessions.
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- Boston Celtics
- Golden State Warriors
- Indiana Pacers
- Toronto Raptors
- Utah Jazz
- Andrea Bargnani
- Chris Bosh
- Kris Humphries
- Rasho Nesterovic
They held the red-hot Boston Celtics, who lead the NBA by shooting 50.1 per cent from the floor, to just 44.2-per-cent shooting. On Wednesday, the Raptors held the Utah Jazz, the league's top-scoring team, to 19 points under their average and outrebounded them, too.
The problem is that no one anticipated Toronto, with top-notch point-guard play, layers of proved shooters and a focal point, Chris Bosh, who routinely commands a double-team, would have an ice-cold offence.
"Our defence and rebounding were great, we just didn't make shots," was Raptors' head coach Sam Mitchell's morning-after assessment of his team's effort on Wednesday, a disheartening loss to the visiting Jazz. It was the Raptors' third successive loss at the Air Canada Centre.
"Same thing against Boston, Orlando, we didn't make enough shots. But we're hanging in the game with our defence and we got guys who can make shots. When that floodgate opens, it's going to be nice to see."
The Raptors rank a middling 18th in the NBA in shooting percentage at 43.9, but that only tells half of the story, as they are shooting just 40.3 per cent at home, a rate that would put them 28th in the NBA.
One problem is they aren't being precise in their spacing on the floor and even being a few feet out of place can offer an advantage to a defence as they scramble to catch up to the ball moving from one side of the court to the other.
The results are shots that are tougher to make. And often one miss begets the next, particularly at home as the crowd gets restless and players press, even unconsciously.
The ultimate trickledown is when confidence is at such a premium that even routine scoring opportunities — fast breaks, for example — get botched. The Raptors blew at least four and possibly five chances that way on Wednesday, four or five chances that the offence would ordinarily have to get some positive momentum that carries over into the next possession.
"We're playing so loose on the road [where the Raptors are 3-1], I think sometimes at home you go up and down the court, miss a few shots the fans start getting a little restless," Mitchell said. "That's to be expected. We have to block all that out and go play."
The quality of Toronto's opponents at home hasn't helped: Boston, Orlando and Utah have a combined 21-4 record. The Raptors can put that excuse away over the weekend, though, as tonight they will play the Indiana Pacers, the losers of five games in a row, and on Sunday they will play the Golden State Warriors, who entered play last night 0-6.
The challenge now will be to get their supposedly reliable offensive options producing. Second-year forward Andrea Bargnani shot only 1-for-11 on Wednesday and is shooting just 31.6 per cent in his past six games after being the Raptors' best player in the opening two games of the season and much of exhibition play.
Bargnani said he plans to stay the course.
"I shoot bad in other games," he said. "I don't have a ranking of my worst games. I'm happy you always think I shoot good, [because] it's not the first time I shoot bad."
With centre Rasho Nesterovic possibly unavailable tonight because of an ankle sprain, Bargnani may return to the starting lineup, though Kris Humphries (four points and 14 rebounds on Wednesday) may get some consideration.
